2012-2013 RHD Scholars Announced

Twenty-seven young professionals have been selected to participate in the first annual RHD Scholars program! We are so proud to have created this mentorship program designed to recognize and build the brightest aspiring livestock marketing and advertising professionals. We had more than 100 applicants from 35 different universities, and are excited to be working with this group of students.

The 2012-2013 RHD scholars are:

Adelyn Allen, a junior agricultural leadership and development major at Texas A&M University;

Sierra Angell, a junior agriculture major at University of Missouri;

Kali Begalka, a senior animal science and agricultural communications major at Oklahoma State University;

Emily Brinkman, a senior agricultural communications major at Oklahoma State University;

Michaela Buford, a sophomore agribusiness major at Lone Star College;

Sarah Caffey, a sophomore agricultural communications major at Texas A&M University;

Bailey Core, a freshman animal science and agricultural communications major at Iowa State University;

Ashley Culpepper, a senior agricultural communications major at Auburn University;

Carrie Elmore, a senior animal science major at Clemson University;

Chloe Geye, a junior animal science major at Texas A&M University;

Victoria Glaser, a freshman agricultural business major at Louisiana State University;

Kelsey Jones, a junior agricultural communications major at Texas Tech University;

Jordan Kuhn, a freshman agricultural communications major at Purdue University;

Meredith Larson, a junior agribusiness major at Texas A&M University;

Keegan Langford, a junior agricultural communications major at Texas Tech University;

Lynsey Meharg, a sophomore agricultural communications major at Connors State College;

Morgan Meisenheimer, a senior agricultural communications major at Oklahoma State University;

Hannah Miller, a senior agricultural communications major at Tarleton State University;

Stefanie M. Neuhaus, a junior agricultural communications major at Texas Tech University;

Bethany Nolan, a sophomore agricultural communications major at Texas A&M University;

Elizabeth Oliver, a senior agribusiness management major at Michigan State University;

Victoria Pilger, a senior agricultural communications major at Texas A&M University;

Brooke Prather, a junior agricultural communications major at Louisiana State University;

Tana Simmons, a freshman agricultural communications major at Purdue University;

Meagan Stephens, a senior agricultural communications major at Oklahoma State University;

Cally Thomas, a senior animal science major at Kansas State University;

Ashley Vogel, a junior agricultural communications major at Iowa State University;

Additionally, two graduate students were selected to the program:

Chelsey Ahrens, a doctoral candidate studying agricultural communications at Texas Tech University; and

Lyndi Jury, a master’s candidate studying animal and dairy science at Mississippi State University.

The students will begin a 1-year mentorship program with RHD, in which they will focus on building their professional skills in livestock advertising and web design, livestock marketing, photography, video, journalism, and social media. The students will participate in mentorship opportunities at the American Royal, North American, Denver, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston Livestock Shows. Additionally, each student will be paired with an industry mentor who will help the students achieve their career goals. 

Why we hate the words "CLICK HERE TO...."

People here at RHD affectionately (NOT) refer to me as the web updates nazi at certain points because I have very particular pet peeves and standards that we follow for all web updates. For example, consistency in captions like things like using Exhibited by vs. Shown by vs. Owned by for captions. Another example is consistent image sizes, or not using music on websites, and things like that.

Perhaps my biggest pet peeve and web design no-no is the use of the words CLICK HERE TO.....bla bla bla. As in:

Click here to view videos
Click here to read our newsletter
Click here to see our sale catalog

The only way this could be worse would be if it is accompanied by a flashing icon that says CLICK HERE

Ugh I almost have a panic attack just looking at that!!!

Yet continually, we do have clients who ask us to put in the words "CLICK HERE TO..." and though we do it if the client specifically asks, I really hate to do it. And here is why.

The bottom line is it is insulting to your viewer. It implies that people aren't smart enough to know that if there is something that's a link, that you click on it to access it.

Second, it's unnecessary words. As trained journalists we are always working to keep things as concise as possible. Get your message out in the least amount of words as possible. Click here to is 3 un-necessary words. 

As the updates nazi, I suggest replacing the words Click Here To" with something as simple as:

View Video or Watch Video

Read our Newsletter 

Browse our Sale Catalog 

All of these are active voice, direct, to the point, and the least amount of words as possible.

Here's another great blog on the history of why not to say CLICK HERE....
So CLICK HERE TO READ THE BLOG. 

HA HA HA I just had to say it!

Top 5 Marketing Tools for Club Calf Producers

The fall season is often times the ‘make or break’ time of year for club calf producers. Since most producers use the fall to market their calves, usually the business’s entire year of cash flow can come down to a few days before, during and after the sale. Ranch House Designs, Inc. recommends the following five tools as key to finding success in marketing club calves.

Start With A Quality Product. This is the basic fundamental of success in any cattle operation. Producers must strive to raise high quality cattle that others will desire. In the club calf business, an easy way to do this is to utilize semen from the most popular sires in the busines, which are usually readily available and affordable. In order to be successful, club calf producers should buy the best breeding animals they can afford, and then breed them to the best sire they can afford. Owning quality livestock is a way to continually build and grow your cattle assets over time. Only quality reproduces quality, and as time goes by, the net worth difference between great livestock and mediocre livestock continually becomes larger and larger.

1. Quality Photos and Videos are a Necessity
Just as good cattle are the fundamental to having a good marketing program, good photos and video are the next step. Today’s consumers want to see a photo, and preferably a video, before making a drive to come visit your farm in person. In some cases, especially in online auctions, some buyers may even purchase cattle based on the photo and video alone. For this reason, we recommend hiring a professional photographer or video team to photograph your cattle for your sales.

2. Word of Mouth Advertising
The club calf business is a people business just as much as it is a cattle business. Word of mouth advertising is the most effective means of advertising your cattle.  Personal communication such as telephone calls, texts, a letter, an email, or most effectively a personal visit, help build relationships and strengthen a marketing program. Letting others know about your product should be your #1 job in marketing. Attend shows and talk about your cattle. Share your news with your friends and neighbors. Utilize your marketing network such as semen distributers, customers, and neighbors. Remember the old adage, No Tell = No Sell.

3. Year Round Exposure Through Your Website
By today’s standards, every club calf producer should have, at minimum, a website that can be used as the building block of their marketing program. At it’s basic level, the website is used as a constant online reference for people to find your phone number, contact information, and learn about your program. Every producer should have their own address (i.e. mattlautnercattle.com) and a stand alone site. The website should also be the go-to place that unites all of your online efforts such as social media, email blasts, and blogs. Every club calf producer should also purchase a link on www.showsteers.com that directs the viewer to back to their own site. While once thought of as a high tech marketing tool, today a website is a basic requirement for all marketing efforts in the club calf business.

4. Social Media, Blogs & Email Advertising
Once club calf producers have their own website established, it is now necessary to take your online advertising to the next level by integrating social media, blogs, and email blasts into your online mix. Online advertising is affordable, sometimes even free, and reaches the mass public instantly.

Facebook, twitter, and blogs are three very common marketing tools currently being used by club calf producers, but may be viewed as challenging by older producers. This is a great opportunity to involve wives and children in the farm’s marketing efforts.

Blogging is also a useful tool, but may not be for everyone. Even if you do not blog personally, producers should take advantage of the blogs of others in the club calf business. Many farms and bull owners have blogs where they gladly feature their clients photos free of charge. Producers should most definitely take advantage of this shared marketing exposure.

Email blasts are also crucial in promoting club calf sales. Generally email blasts costs less than $300 and reach tens of thousands of producers. The ideal email blast strategy should include 2 email blasts. The first should go out approximately 2 weeks before the sale, or as soon as photos of the sale offering are posted on your website. The second blast serves as a reminder of the sale and should go out approximately 3-5 days prior to the event. If a producer uses online sales, a third blast should be sent the day that the online auction closes as a final reminder.

5. Print Advertising During Key Times of the Year
Print advertising, though expensive, is still considered a marketing must due to the exposure given during select times of year. RHD recommends advertising during key times of year in relation to your marketing schedule. For example, if you host a fall sale, you must advertise in the August show publications of your choice. If you sell semen on club calf bulls, spring advertising is a necessity.

Good print ads include excellent photos, usually taken by a professional, and pertinent information such as sires represented and sale information. When there are 300 other ads in a magazine, you must do an excellent job of convincing the reader why they should pick your farm above the other 299 ads in the magazine.

Most club calf producers will find that 1-2 ads per year will give them the exposure needed. However, simply running an ad alone won’t get the job done. The print advertising should be one part of the total marketing efforts. Producers should have their website in place prior to running a print ad so that the website URL can be boldly referenced in the ad for readers to access for more information. The print ad should also be email blasted as the sale date approaches.

Putting it All Together
A good rule of thumb is that a club calf producer should prepare to spend 1 to 5% of their gross annual sales in advertising, with the website being the most important tool in the marketing mix. Successful marketing involves planning, implementing, maintaining, and evaluating. For more on marketing, we recommend purchasing the Livestock Merchandising book, available at www.ranchhousedesigns.com > Shop.

Proper Cattle Showmanship Attire

Over the past 3 days I have heard more discussion on "What is proper showring attire" than I have heard in the past 3 years. This is mostly due to the creation of Stock Show Wonka...a new twitter handle that is dead-on as far as writing hilarious, but often very true, comments about stock shows.

Back in my day as a junior showman, no one ever thought of me as a fashion trendsetter, or even one of the "hottest" girls on the junior show circuit by any means. But they did think of me as a darn good showman, and I'm proud to say I won multiple national showmanship titles in two breeds (Brahman & Shorthorn). I think Blake Bloomberg can top me and say he was champion showman of three breeds, but I don't think there are many other people out there who can claim those honors. 

So what is proper showring attire? According to StockShowWonka, (whoever that is) it isn't Wranglers, isn't a cowboy hat, isn't Miss Me Jeans, isn't bling, and it isn't Sperrys. Some of that I agree with, some I disagree with.

So, here is my opinion of what is appropriate showring attire:

1. Dark jeans that are boot cut and proper length. Skinny jeans are not acceptable. Limit the bling on your jeans (see below). If you are a boy, don't wear bling jeans. Starched or neatly pressed jeans look best. Jeans should be long enough to avoid being "high waters" but should not be dragging the ground either. Here in the south, we still show in Wranglers, a lot. So to me, Wranglers are just fine for guys, especially in open shows.

A great ladies showmanship outfit - Kendall Bauman

2. A collared shirt, preferably button down, and in showmanship, preferably long sleeve. Different schools of thought say you have to wear long sleeve all the time, but that is a preference. I personally do not think long sleeves are required in the summer. But others out there are adamant that long sleeves are a requirement in showmanship no matter what time of year. Make sure your shirt tail is long enough to stay tucked in throughout the show. A trick my grandma taught me is that you can get those press on velcro strips and use them stuck to the shirt-tail of your shirt and the inside of your jeans if you need it. A starched or neatly pressed shirt look best. In the winter, a solid color sweater or sweater vest worn over a button down shirt also looks very nice.

A great young men's showmanship outfit - Jake Bloomberg

3. Boots. In my opinion boots are also a requirement, and casual shoes like Sperrys are not acceptable at all.  The boots should be dark colored, and not too flashy. Do not ever tuck your jeans into your boots, no matter what.

4. A Belt. A western-type belt such as a plain leather belt, or hand-tooled leather belt always look professional. The belt should go through your belt loops. If you have a concho belt, sometimes this is not possible because the conchos are too big, and that's okay as long as the belt is at your waist. However the fashion belts that fit snugly over your ribcage are not acceptable in the ring. If you want to have some bling, the belt is the best place to do it. More people down south tend to wear belt buckles, but up north it seems belt buckles are not as common.

Cowboy hats and Wrangler jeans are still
very popular in open shows

5. A cowboy hat? Yes or no? This is certainly acceptable, especially the further south you go or if you compete in open shows. A rule of thumb we use here in Texas is that you start wearing your felt hat around Dallas (State fair of Texas - early October) and you start wearing your straw hat sometime after Houston (late March). This is important, you don't want to wear a felt hat in the summer and look out of place. Cowboy hats are almost a staple in the show ring for men at some of the more traditional western stock shows like Denver or Fort Worth. 



6. Hair and Makeup. Hair for ladies should be pulled back out of your face, either in a pony tail, or partially pinned back so that your hair isn't constantly getting in your eyes and distracting you. Guys, hair should be neatly cut and at a proper length. If you like to grow your hair out longer, but you have a big show coming up, unfortunately you're going to need to get that hair cut! No respected judge is going to use someone with a Justin Bieber haircut in the showring, especially not in showmanship. For ladies, your makeup should also be done tastefully.

Proper equipment is just as important as your outfit in showmanship. Your show halter should have a lead strap of preferably 3-4 feet or longer. Never show with a lead strap that is 6 inches. It doesn't make you look cool. This is fine if your calf is gentle, but even the gentlest calf can get spooked and in that case, you are going to need the extra lead strap.


Your showstick should be solid in color. You might like a pink zebra print showstick, or a camo bling showstick, and that is fine, but use a different showstick in showmanship if that's the case. Obviously a guy would not want to use a bling showstick, but girls should avoid this too. Seriously, can you picture Christy Collins (or Shirley Watts for us Brahman people) showing with a bling zebra showstick? HA. Definitely not.

These ladies have very tasteful outfits, and both have
won their fair share of showmanship competitions.

And finally...Limit the bling. A little bling is just fine, for example a flashy concho belt or a tastefully bling-y belt. Limit the bling on your jeans. If you are a boy, don't wear bling jeans. Ladies, careful when wearing extremely large hoop earrings or chandelier earrings, both for safety and professionalism. You don't want your jewelry to be distracting, you want it to complement your outfit and your calf. 


Bling on your show halter or show harness can be done if done tastefully. I say as a good rule of thumb, if you have more than 6 gems of bling anywhere on your equipment or your body, that is too much. (A bling belt counts for 1 piece of bling.) You might get away with one or two rhinestones on your harness, or maybe even one or two on your show halter. 


For me, I prefer no bling at all, other than a concho belt. But, I'm probably no-bling-extreme. Here's a tip, get to know your showmanship judge and their preference. Obviously if a lady like me, Deb Core, or Christy Collins is judging, you would tone down the bling. Most older, male judges who are real-life cattleman also tend to think negatively of all the bling. But, if your judge is a college age judge or those judges who may tend to dress a little more flashier themselves, you could probably get away with more bling. 

My typical outfit for any stock show is usually the same,
whether I'm just attending or showing. 

Some might say my opinion on proper showring attire is dull and boring. Some might even say that I personally dress dull and boring, which is probably true because my standard outfit is usually Silver jeans or 7 jeans, a starched solid color button down Ralph Lauren shirt, a leather cowboy belt and belt buckle, and Rios of Mercedes boots. So no, I'm not a fashionista by any means of the word. But in showing cattle, you should look the part of a showman, and by showman, I mean a cattlewoman or a cattleman. Go change back into your normal outfits as soon as you get out of the ring, but when you're showing cattle, you need to look the part of a stockman.

And, I love you @StockShowWonka , but I'm curious to know how many showmanship contests have YOU won? :)

Blog Saturation

I almost named this post "Should I start a blog?" because we get that question nearly daily at RHD.

So.....who do we have to blame for this.....MATT LAUTNER. I say that with the utmost respect. I have had a long-standing professional relationship promoting the Lautner brand since 2003, and I clearly acknowledge Matt as the best show cattle blogger in our industry. He has an extreme commitment to blogging and his success has inspired many to imitate his efforts.

I went through my files this morning trying to locate when Matt first started his blog. While we don't currently maintain his blog, RHD initially recommended blogging to Matt, and set up his blog for him. (Stephanie Steck currently maintains it.) He has always been one to look out for the "next big thing" and we had suggested a blog so that he could update his news from the road (hence the blog title) without having to send in everything as a web update. Because honestly, he was sending in 10-20 updates per day and it almost took a full time web updates team member just to work on his website.

We were using Blogger for our blog through RHD, and thus we chose blogger for Matt's blog. I've also thought to myself, Blogger should seriously consider paying me royalties because since Matt's blog went up, everyone and their dog uses Blogger for their show cattle blogs.  Which explains why I chose the title "Blog Saturation" because I often see all of the new show cattle blogs going up weekly - even daily - and I'm beginning to ask myself - "Is the show cattle blog thing being over-done?" 

With that said, blogging isn't for everyone. Starting a blog and posting funny text messages won't make you an instant club calf success just like getting Photoshop and trying to design a website doesn't instantly make you Ranch House Designs. 

Here are our tips to help you decide if blogging is for you, and how to improve your blog if you have one.

1. Be original. Imitations are never as successful as their original. While everyone loves News from the Road, Matt's blog is Matt's blog. Don't try to attempt to copy his style by posting text messages from people are posting funny pictures. Which brings me to point #2....

2. Provide relevant content. Zane Mai of ZNT Cattle does a great job at this. Zane's blog is popular because he often provides well written, educational, or thought provoking content. You don't have to write a novel, but a paragraph or two always makes for interesting reading. Tell stories. Share insights. Give opinions. People always enjoy reading well written, grammatically correct, interesting blogs.


3. Make a commitment to frequent updates. A good blog is updated several times a week, at minimum. Not everyone has the time to post daily updates, or even multiple updates per day like some of the more popular cattle blogs. But definitely, a blog should be frequently updated. If you feel like you aren't going to have time to update at least 3 times a week, a blog probably isn't for you.

With that said, don't feel pressure to update at a certain time frame. It is better to provide good content, than to write a blog like "Well, not much is going on here today." Nobody cares.

4. Be accurate. I have a M.S. in journalism and so accuracy in media is something I insist on. Don't post anything on your blog that is gossip, something you read on an anonymous message board, or hearsay. Always remember the old saying, "just because someone posts it on the internet, doesn't mean it is true."

A good post on legal guides for bloggers is here: https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal

5. Keep it positive, and for all audiences. If you have a show cattle blog, you will have readers from ages 8 to 80.  Keep your content clean enough for children. Never post profanity or anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable with your grandmother reading.

6. Make sure your blog identity matches the rest of your business brand identity.  This is where people like me come in. Your blog look and graphics should match the identity of your other marketing materials, like your website, logo, catalogs, etc. A good example of this is Wade Rodgers blog. In this blog, his designer Chris Rosa has done a tremendous job of making an eye-appealing graphics header, and using the same overall fonts and style for his blog, his semen catalog, and his banners. We are actually in the process of re-doing his website now to tie into this great look. If you need help with blog graphics, we can help you with this.

7. Avoid the ego.  It's easy to get a big head when you become a blogger, especially if people start telling you how much they enjoy reading. Don't become an ego-maniac through your blog. And don't start thinking of yourself as some overnight expert, authority figure or celebrity either. We're all just normal, every-day people and blogging is just one way to express our personal opinions.

8. Tie in your facebook and twitter accounts to your blog. Again, I have to give Matt as an example of great use of integrating all of his social media into his blog. Whenever he makes a blog post, he also tweets that the new blog is up and mentions people he thinks will be interested in the blog. This helps generate traffic and interest, and also makes people feel good when they get a @ mention on twitter, too.

9. Don't think that a blog will replace the need for a website. Matt is the only person I know who has successfully transitioned his blog into his website, but this definitely will not work for everyone. While it's tempting to think, 'I can eliminate that $600 I pay each year for a website and just use a free blog....' that's not the case.

 A professionally designed website lends credibility to the business. A blog is best used when it is one component of your marketing plan, and one segment of your website. A good example of integrating a blog into a website would be V8 Ranch's website, where you find the blog by going to the "News" page. This type of setup allows for the site owner to still have a professional look for their website, but the flexibility of updating their own blog too when they have news to post. It's the best of both worlds.

It's easy to start a blog, but sometimes hard to keep it going. Hopefully these tips will help you on your blogging road to success. If you are interested in doing blogging, we can certainly help you get on the right track.

Livestock Merchandising Book

The paperback book is now ready! If you pre-ordered the book or just ordered it over the holiday weekend, the books will mail on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thank you to everyone for ordering online. This is a great book that is filled with tips and strategy on every phase of the livestock marketing and advertising process. 

In this book, you'll find lots of great success stories and examples. Many of these come from projects I have completed through the years here at RHD but it also includes favorites and successful campaigns from several other leading designers and marketers who helped me with this book. If I say so myself, it is truly a book that features the best of the best in the livestock business. Here are just a few of the ranches and businesses that are featured:

• LiveAuctions.tv
• Cattle In Motion
• Cattle Mail USA
• J.D. Hudgins, Inc.
• V8 Ranch
• Pembrook Cattle
• GKB Cattle
• Purple Reign Cattle
• Circle T Cattle Co.
• Sullivan Farms
• Conley Angus / Conley Cattle
• Cates Farms
• Matt Lautner Cattle
• R.A. Brown Ranch
• Showpig.com
• Tusa Cattle
• The Exposure Sale
• Ankony
• Limestone LLC
• Top Cut Genetics
• Teague Family Shorthorns
• Bauman Cattle Co.
• Wintex Farms
• Bulls Eye Ranch
• Duelms Prevailing Genetics
• Dismukes Ranch
• Express Ranch
• Rosanky Cattle
• Michigan State University
• Studer Shorthorns
• Ratcliff Ranches
• Bushy Park Farm
• Thomas Charolais
• Cyclone Trace
• Detering Red Brahmans
• Leachman Cattle of Colorado
• Great Shorthorn Revival
• Habeger Show Cattle
• Lautner Farms
• Topline Angus
• LaMuneca Cattle

 Livestock marketing professionals and other designers featured:

• Carlos Guerra
• Martha Garrett
• Julie French
• Christy Collins
• Brad Hook
• Arin Strasburg
• Joelynn Donough
• Chris Rosa
• Stephanie Cronin
• Jon Fisher
• Matt Lautner
• Jim Williams
• Bob Hudgins
• Tim Lockhart

So, this really is a very comprehensive, informational book that covers everything you need to know about livestock advertising. Thanks to everyone who has ordered so far! If you would like to order, you can visit http://ranchhousedesigns.mybigcommerce.com/livestock-merchandising-paperback/

Livestock Merchandising Kindle Book

Livestock Merchandising, my new book, is now available as a kindle book! How exciting to be on Amazon!

If you're a techhy person with an iPad or Kindle, you can download the book now. You can also get a good preview of the book on Amazon too and download a sample. 

Book Update

For the past few months I have been working steadily on my first book, Livestock Merchandising, A Complete Guide to Livestock Advertising and Promotion. Well...it's finally finished and to the printer as of today!


This book is 180 pages based on my experiences here at RHD and also at V8 Ranch.

The art and strategy of merchandising and promoting purebred livestock is one that captures the attention of many purebred livestock producers. Whether you are a seasoned producer, or just getting started, this contains the tools to create a brand identity, establish an advertising and promotion plan, or evaluate your current promotional efforts to improve sales and exposure.


Here are a few topics in the book:
• Components Used in Advertising Campaign
• Basics of Good Livestock Advertising
• Livestock Photography & Video
• Livestock Web Design
• Advertising at Shows and Sales
• Sire promotion basics
• Email Marketing and Social Media for Ranchers
• Determining an advertising budget
• The role of the showring in advertising
• Ethics in livestock advertising

And much more! The book is full of examples from my team here at RHD as well as other leading industry professionals like Christy Collins, Arin Strasburg, Julie French, Martha Garrett and more.

So how can you get one?
Hard Copy: Currently, it is being printed. So if you prefer an actual hard copy of the book, you'll have to wait about 3 weeks. We are taking pre-orders, but please note that they will not be available until after January 1.

E-Book: If you're one of those who just wants an electronic copy, you can purchase and download a PDF e-book here for $9.99.

For more advanced e-book users, it will also be available for Amazon's Kindle by December 15th.

Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement on the book! I hope y'all like it!

What makes a great livestock ad?

Ever wonder what makes a great livestock ad? Since 1999, we've designed some of the cattle business's most memorable and well known livestock ad campaigns for the various clients we have the honor to work with. Rachel Cutrer shares the RHD philosophy on the four most important components of making a great livestock ad!

Thanks to Ideal Video Productions for working with us on this project!

New Modern Livestock Merchandising Article

We have a new article available that would make great editorial for upcoming magazines and publications. This article is called "More than a website: A web presence." and it discusses websites, blogs, Facebook, twitter, and participation in the online community.

All of the Modern Livestock Merchandising articles are now available for instant download at http://ranchhousedesigns.mybigcommerce.com/modern-livestock-merchandising-articles/.

The stories are priced starting at $50 and include both a word document as well as a camera ready PDF that is already designed and ready to be placed in your magazine.

Photoshop Action Tips

As promised, from time to time we are going to be writing some blogs talking about some technical tips that we like to use a lot here at RHD. The first one we are going to talk about is Photoshop Actions. If you've got Photoshop on your computer, I'm sure you've played around a lot with the special effects the program can do to your pictures. When I first started playing around in Photoshop, the first place I went was the Filters tab at the top, where you can do all kinds of stuff like make watercolors, cutouts, liquify, etc. You can waste hours just tooling around with all of the features under this tab.

One of the things I have grown to use on a daily basis is "Actions". If you don't have the "Actions" menu displayed on your default screen, you can get to it by choosing the Window menu, then clicking "Actions". This will bring up a new menu box that I like to keep open on my screen at all times.



Photoshop comes pre-loaded with several actions already built in. These would be called your "Default Actions" as well as "Image Effects", production actions, etc. Honestly I rarely use any of these default actions, other than the ones that convert to Sepia images. There are 2 actions under "Image Effects" that I like that are called "Soft Focus" and "Soft Flat Color" that are cool. But they are like your basic old actions.

Using Actions to Speed Things Up
Probably the way we use actions here the most is by creating our own personalized actions for things that we do over and over and over and over and over again daily. For example, if you look in that graphic I have above, you'll see one called RGB to CMYK 300. This is an action I made that will convert a picture to 300 resolution, CMYK format. I use it all of the time when I'm doing print ads or catalogs to make sure my images are all at 300 resolution and CMYK.

Another you'll see is one that is called Image Resize 250. This is what we use to resize photos for web sites.

Basically, when you make your own action, you're telling Photoshop a series of 'actions' to do. To make a new action, you click on the upper right hand tab of the actions palette and choose "New Action". Then you can name whatever you're fixing to do, something like how we have it named Test Action. Then you will click on the button that says "record"

Once you do that, Photoshop starts remembering all of the steps you do. Such as going to the Image Menu, choosing the size you want to make the photos, etc. You just go about your work as normal until you finish the steps you need. The red record button means Photoshop is recording your steps. Then, when you're finished, you will need to tell Photoshop to "Stop recording" by just clicking the button at the bottom of your Actions palette that looks like a "stop" button.



Actions come in handy tremendously when doing things like sale catalogs, or when you're working with a bunch of photos, because you can even record the action to tell Photoshop where you want to save the photos. Every time I do a new catalog, I make a new action for that project, usually with these steps: Converting the picture to CMYK, 300 resolution, then saving as a JPG in the appropriate client folder. See below:

So even on a catalog that might have 300 photos, all I have to do is just click and "play" the action, and Photoshop does all of the rest.

Finding Actions Online
Despite the actions that come default with Photoshop, there are literally THOUSANDS of actions you can download for free or purchase off the internet. These are GREAT for people who like to do photography or play around on their home computers, because there are a TON of actions that will greatly enhance your images. Google around for "photoshop actions" or "Photoshop retouching actions" and see what you come up with. You'll be amazed. Plus, the great thing about using actions like these is that they make you look like a total professional photographer and it only takes a matter of seconds! Then all you have to do is download the actions, load them in Photoshop, and totally impress your friends!!!

Here are some samples of quick image enhancing done with some actions just to show some basic stuff.

Original Picture (my dog, Tori):

Here's the picture using one action that improves the color. It also makes the picture look sharper in the areas you want to focus on (like the dog) and blurs the background. This took all of ONE SECOND to do. I just hit the "play" button on the action.

Here is another example of using an action for photos. This time, I just made the color a little warmer. Again, this took about 1 second.

Here's a different example of making a photo into black and white by using Photoshop Actions. It kind of makes it black and white and look grungy.

Now, being the big fan of ethical photo-retouching that I am, I would be remiss to say that you can be a Photoshop whiz but that doesn't take the place of people with actual technical training in photography. For example, my cousin who took all my wedding photos for me and did our RHD open house photos doesn't even OWN Photoshop! He does all of his wonders with just his knowledge and his camera. I love working in Photoshop, and having fun playing around with pictures, but I have a HUGE amount of respect for those professionals like my cousin and Christy Collins who do all of their magic with just a camera and a lens!



Training Tutorials for Web and Graphic Design

Some good advice given to me by Christy Collins about 5 years ago: "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." We tell ourselves that almost daily here at RHD, and as it's been pointed out numerous times, a lot of graphic designers imitate the design styles created by RHD. About a year ago we started the RHD Boot Camps, as a way to help train others in the graphic design and web design skills. We've found that helping others develop professionally is just one of the rewards of being at the top. That's why we're happy to help people when they have a technical question. Or happy to give advice to a starting designer who needs some professional direction. People like Julie French did that for me, and I'm happy to do it for others.

The RHD Boot Camps have been a huge hit. We've had people from the United States and even Australia come here to learn from us. We've had individual ranchers wanting to learn more about doing their own advertising, staff members from corporate businesses, and communications professionals from organizations and associations. Each day we spend at a boot camp is fun for both us and the campers. It's a great feeling when people say things like "WOW!! That's going to save me tons of time!" or like...."Nice...I never knew how to do that!"

Maybe one of my favorite boot camp stories is about Kelli Brown of R.A. Brown Ranch. They just had a tremendous bull sale. Kelli is responsible for putting together their sale catalog....which is about 200 pages. Prior to coming to RHD Boot Camp, she was spending about 6 weeks on the catalog, and typing in each pedigree one by one. After coming to boot camp, she learned how to do automated data merge, which cut her production time in half!!!!

Boot camps are currently being scheduled through December. The holidays make a great time to come down to Texas. The camp costs $500 and you can choose your preference of what you want to learn: web, print, or both. It's your day and we customize it to help you get the most out of the camp.

Another option we are going to be adding is online tutorials on this blog. These will be short little instructional bits that will help other designers or aspiring designers with common tips to speed up your workflow and improve the quality of your work. We'll try to do one a week, but you know during busy times we sometimes forget to blog, so don't hold us to that!

We are also offering our graphic design template packages available for sale at $25. Watch for more nifo on this in future blogs. This package will include the basic templates needed for graphic designers with set up templates for different size ads and formats such as full page 4-c ads, signs and banners, 2 page ads, half page ads, etc. These come in really handy when you are getting started to help you make sure you are following guidelines for page size, bleed, and margins.

So watch for upcoming information coming soon, and keep checking weekly for new training information!