Christa's Big Project

In the web division, Christa did a mini celebration last week when we launched the new web site design for Beefmaster Breeders United. This project has been in development for about a month and has been keeping Christa busy! We are really excited to be working with the Beefmaster group and invite you to check out that site.
www.beefmasters.org

When the Beefmaster group talked to us a few months ago about a proposal - we were really excited because we also do the Charolais Association web site and Brahman Association web site, and we love it! Working with these organizations is such a pleasure because of their talented staff. We're on a daily communication schedule with Chris Shivers and Armi Ibarra at the Brahman Association. I have Molly Mader's email address memorized and we can pretty much quote you any detail or upcoming event of the Charolais Assn from memory. And so now, we are happy to be working with Dr. Perkins and Collin Osbourn at Beefmasters.

I have to say -- I've really become a fan of Beefmasters over the past few years. A couple of years ago I purchased a pair of Beefmaster E6 replacement heifers from Collier Farms. They are just about the coolest recip cows I have on the ranch -- their chocolate colored motley faces and they are best friends. I loved them so much I went back and bought a few more last year too! So Beefmaster E6's are top of my list.

Plus -- two very important friends in my life - Kim Candler McCuistion and Matt Karisch are both Beefmaster enthusiasts. :)

So, we invite you to check out the new site and leave us your comments on what you think!

August Ad Reminder

It's that time of year again when all of our midwest clients are busy snapping photos of their calves and getting ready for the fall bid off sales.

This is our favorite time of the year in the print division because for about the past month we have been in super ad design mode working on ads for August publications. We made an in-office rule that if the number of ads to design on our list gets over 100 that we aren't going to take any new ads until we get it below 100 again. But lucky for us (and our new clients) we are managing to get several approvals per day so we're getting ads off the list as soon as new ones come on the list. Last week our ADC (Average Daily Count) was around 76, and this week we've got it around 45 -- so we're making a lot of progress! With the July 1 deadline for most major magazines like Show Circuit and Livestock Plus and The ShowTimes -- we do see an end in sight!!

About a month ago when Travis Pembrook was down at our house he asked me if I had to can I just get into an "ad design mode" and just start cranking things out. And I replied to him -- um, yeah, every month! But to be real honest, I love it. The way we have our print division set up is that as soon as we have the clients information, we put them into our production schedule, and they usually get a proof in a day or two. Then each day I schedule X number of ads to work on. I do all the major design work as far as design, concepts, and layout. Once I have the 1st proof on the ad started, I turn it over to Liz, who is the one who sends the proofs out to the clients and then makes any necessary corrections.

So, the only thing that is kinda bad now is that it's June 25th and I personally know what ads I like, and which ones I think are the "cool" ones -- but we have to wait 5 weeks until they actually come out in the club calf handbook aka August Show Circuit. It's a little anti-climatic but it's still fun when you actually see them come out in print.

This is just a reminder to those of you who haven't send in your ad information for your August ads -- go ahead and get it sent in. There's a few days left til the ads are due on next Wednesday so call us or email us and let's get it knocked out before the deadline!

Yard Sale Fabulousity

Last weekend, I had to unfortunately miss the very big VIP event -- Matt Lautner Golf Outing -- because we were hosting another very big (but not so VIP) event...the multi-family huge YARD SALE hosted at Catherine's house.

What made us get the bright idea to host the yard sale in the middle of a giant Texas heat wave? Well, about a month ago we moved all of Luke's stuff from college down here, which added a lot of inventory to our already cluttered houses. Then last week, I officially listed my house in COllege Station on the market -- creating even MORE stuff with no where to go. So, me, Catherine and my mom get the bright idea that we'll have a YARD SALE. Let's keep in mind that the last time we had a yard sale was, oh, TEN years ago!

After a few days of planning and discussion, we decide to go for it. We decide to go ahead and choose our date for last weekend (June 13). Turns out lucky for Dad...he was already booked to judge a show so he got out of the weekend of madness.

Now I'll be the first to say, we know nothing about yard sales. But, we do know about marketing. And I'm happy to report that you can use all of your basic livestock marketing strategies to put on a very succesful yard sale just as you can a very successful livestock sale.

Our plan...

Get in a Group - We joined up in basically the "Pro Tour" of Garage Sales. When we scheduled our date, we picked the same weekend as the Wharton, Texas City-Wide Garage Sale Weekend. We're about 15 minutes away from Wharton -- but we were still able to capitalize on their event.

Hire a Sale Consultant - Our aunt Linda Johnston of Tulsa is a garage sale expert. In fact, her nickname is Martha Vila (Martha Stewart/Bob Vila) because she is so talented at anything and everything around a house. So we called her up and asked her if she'd be willing to come down and help us and she gladly said yes!

Advertising Blowout - We decided to run a 2x2 ad in the local paper, which in terms of garage sales, that is the equivalent of a 6 page foldout in The Show Circuit :) While all the other ads had your basic Times New Roman centered text ad, we did it up right! Our ad was complete with graphics and custom fonts. So of course...our ad STOOD OUT!!

So as the day approaches, we are all in super yard sale mode. The event was hosted at Cat's house because it's less than one mile off the main drag and is a great location. We make a 3 car caravan from College Station carrying home furniture and items from my house there. We've all gone through all of our closets and went over our items with a fine tooth comb. Since I'm a clothing addict, I probably sold over 1,000 items of clothes....embarassingly some of them even had tags on them still. My dad just couldn't understand how someone can still have clothes in their closet that have never been word. Hmmm....I guess it's just a girl thing!

If anyone has hosted a garage sale, you know the money to be made, but also the giant headaches of pricing, sorting, and staffing the event. Each of us had specific jobs to pull it off. Luke and Catherine were the cashier's. I was the merchandise organizer and PR person. Mom was a salesman/babysitter. My grandma was security.

So on the day of the event, we're bright eyed and ready for the day starting at 6:00 a.m. And I'll say, getting Catherine Williams up and functioning at that time of day is quite a feat in itself. Our sale officially started at 7:00 a.m. and we had people there at 6:30 a.m.

We started out the day with a bang. Lots of our furniture items sold right away. Our rubbermaid containers (priced at $5) also sold right away. Our file cabinets from the old RHD office in College Station were also hot sellers. Two Aerobeds (one at $1 and another at $5) also were fast sellers.

Our not so hot sellers....versions of Adobe CS2--- we had 4 old versions, priced at $10 (retail over $1000) that were some of the last items to sell. Cable Modem - $2 - late seller. I was suprised at what clothes of mine sold quick and what sold slow. There is one shirt specifically that I have worn to the Houston stock show two years in a row....so this is what I consider one of my "best shirts". It looks totally cute with my zebra print belt. I had it priced at .25 cents and didn't even have a taker. So what does that tell me? Maybe I should re-evaluate my style.

Our sale ended at noon, and by around 11 a.m. we were just wanting to get rid of things. So our salesman Luann invented a new sales tactic which was basically the garage sale buffet which allows you to enter our yard sale for $1 admission and you can take anything and everything you want. Take 100 items -- pay $1. As word spread of this, we got another rush of patrons, but hey, we just wanted to get rid of it.

During this $1 buffet, we still have a table of about 10 pairs of shoes for sale. Luke is trying to persuade one of our spanish-speaking clients to buy a pair...to which the man replies that they don't fit him. We then see Luke pushing him towards a pair of ladies high-heals and saying "Zapatos por su esposa" and we're like -- SINCE WHEN did Luke become bi-lingual??

All in all, we had a very successful sale. We each came away with a good chunk of change that we were pleased with for our efforts. We are talking about having another one in the fall. But let's be real, it'll probably be another ten years before we get brave enough to do it again!

Meet Emily & Dollie....

This week we welcomed two new part-time employees at RHD....Emily Forgason and Dollie Petrosky. Both of these young ladies will be working part time here at RHD starting this summer and continuing in the fall. Most likely if you are a RHD client you'll get to "meet" them when they answer the phone or help you with a web update on your site.

So I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about each of them. First, Emily Forgason..... doesn't she look amazing in this picture! It's the good genetics we share with the Forgason family ha ha :) Emily is mine and Catherine's cousin and she has worked here for the past two summers occassionally whenever her busy schedule allowed. But, knowing how busy high school students can be....it ended up being about 10 days per summer. This year, since she is a senior, she is going to be working on a daily basis. In the fall, she is going to be doing a half-day work program at her high school so she'll be here every afternoon. Our loyal blog readers might recognize her from the blog posting of my dream prom---in which Emily was the one who looked the best in the red dress :)

Emily is somewhere like mine and Catherine's 3rd or 4th cousin. My dad Jim and her dad Lex are first cousins. So whatever that makes us. Emily has grown up showing Brahmans her entire life as her family is part of J.D. Hudgins Ranch. In addition to RHD, we love to hang out with the Forgasons at all kinds of events like Boling Little League Softball, Brahman shows, Larry's Mexican Restaurant, and of course hanging out at the Forgason's pool.

Even though she has only been here a week, I can already tell we're in for a lot of fun! For example, on her first day, she informed me that "she doesn't negotiate...she just bosses!" So yeah, it looks like apparently I might have a 17 year old telling me what to do at RHD ha ha. But seriously, we really love her and we're really glad she's here. And considering she's the oldest of 3 Forgason girls....hopefully she can start a tradition of them working here and we'll also be able to hire her sisters Erin and Ellie when they get older too!

Our second addition is the very talented Dollie Petrosky. Dollie is another Boling Bulldog, and she recently graduated in May. She is going to be attending the local junior college this summer and we are happy to have her joining our team for at least a year or two while she gets her basics out of the way at WCJC.

We have known Dollie pretty much all of her life, because we go to Abell Street Church of Christ together. So not only is she so cute on the outside -- she's also a great person on the inside too! Catherine has always been a super-fan of Dollie and she always says how nice and fun Dollie is. We knew we needed another part-time helper at RHD starting in the summer but me and Cat just couldn't quite find the perfect person. Then in May, we went to the Boling FFA Banquet and Dollie was an officer and I'll tell you--- she just blew everyone away! She was such a talented speaker and she won quite a bit of awards. Christa's husband is the ag teacher at Boling and he highly recommended her. She gave a speech at the banquet that totally impressed us and within an hour of the banquet ending we had talked to Dollie and offered her a job! Then afterwards me and Cat were both like -- Duh...why didn't we think of Dollie sooner! She is smart, fun, a Christian, and has a livestock background.

A little bit about Dollie. Well first you'll notice that she is really TAN! This is because she is a lifeguard for the City of Wharton. We're all super jealous of her tan and how in shape she stays with all the swimming! In high school, she was a 2-year officer of Boling FFA and she has a Lone Star FFA degree. She was also the high school mascot.

As far as a cattle background, Dollie has shown Red Brangus heifers since 5th grade, and she is currently a national junior board member for Red Brangus. She also has shown pigs and goats and steers at the fair. All of her Red Brangus have came from Wharton superstars Charles and Sue Atkinson. Dollie's dad is a contractor who built the Forgason's house and also renovated my bunkhouse. They live like 5 minutes or less from me, Catherine, and Christa so we've got another very talented Boling citizen working here.

So, next time you call the office and get a "Ranch House Designs....this is Emily" or "...this is Dollie" -- you'll know a little more about these two awesome ladies! We're glad to have them here and I'm sure you'll enjoy working with them as much as we do!

Fast Web Updates Time Ever for RHD

Our speed demon web updater, Jessica Amber Hobbs, has been working her pants off this month on web updates and has recorded the FASTEST web update turnaround time EVER at RHD in our 10 year history. This month we completed 158 client web site updates. Average turnaround time...DRUMROLL please :)

2 hours

Of course, she had a little help, because the web update team members include Christa, Rachel, Catherine, and even Luke. But, since Jessica does the majority of the updates, we're giving her the credit!

The Grand Champion Web Updater for June is our California cowboy, Jimmy Dismukes of Dismukes Ranch. Despite their new addition to the family (Miss Shayla Dismukes), Jimmy and Jennifer still hosted a great private treaty spring sale and topped our list with 10 updates in the month of May.

Reserve Grand Champion Web Updater for June - Stock Horse of Texas.

Other contender's for this month's title were Beef Improvement Federation, Brahman Assn., Charolais Assn., Illinois Club Pig Assn., Kneese Show Pigs, M Lazy Heart, and Matt Lautner Cattle.

What We've Been Up To....

Recently I had a friend remind me that we needed to do a blog because we haven't done one in a while. I guess that's a good sign - meaning we are so busy at work that we don't have a lot of free time to catch up on Blogger :)

I'll admit that since we have recently gotten into twitter and started paying more attention to our RHD Fan Page on Facebook, we have put the blog on the back burner. It's a lot easier to put a one liner on those pages than write a blog!

So what have we been up to for the past two weeks? Well lots! Everyone here enjoyed a short work week with the Memorial Holiday. We have implemented a summer office hours policy for the web division, which means they get to leave at 4:00 p.m each day instead of 5 as long as all of the web updates are done. Which, since we are so fast at updates, this has become a daily occurrance for Jessica. I guess that extra hour in the summer sun is motivation to get the updates done promptly! :)

We have been posting a lot of videos to client web sites. A lot of you ask if this is a possibility and yes - it definitely is! Videos are the "hot thing" it seems right now. Last week we put up videos for Bauman Cattle which were done by the famous Kassi Bauman herself. I thought they were great! If you are looking for someon to do your videos, I'd recommend Kassi for sure! We also put up a lot of videos for another Wyoming ranch - M Lazy Heart. Everyone always loves the M Lazy Heart calves -- we always look forward to getting those pictures in. Both of those sales end this weekend so check out their sites.

Last weekend was the opening week for the pool at the Wharton Country Club - which I am now a proud member of. So I was excited to start my summer tanning regime and enjoy a few hours poolside reading and relaxing.

We also met with Catherine's wedding planner last week and finalized their wedding menu -- it's going to be delicious! Next week we are doing invitations and we can't wait for that.

We've also been doing the "Boling thing" quite a lot lately, going to all the end of year functions. We hit the Boling FFA Banquet, where Christa's husband Jason is one of the ag teachers. Rachel and Catherine are both past presidents of Boling FFA and so it's always a treat to see how succesful that chapter is and see all of the talented members they have. We will be hiring two Boling FFA members to work as student workers here at RHD starting this summer -- Emily Forgason and Dollie Petrosky. So we are especially proud of those two young ladies and their accomplishments in Boling FFA.

We then hit up the Boling Athletic Banquet, because we are so athletic -- NOT! Our family and the Forgason family gives an award each year in honor of Lanier H. Forgason who is my great granddad. This is the "Fighting Heart Award" and is a real honor for a senior girl and boy athlete to receive. We have a new football coach this year at Boling so hopes are high for the Bulldogs next year!

So here it is 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon and we've got all our work done, all updates done, all ads submitted, and 3 new web sites posted this week. While I'm here at work waiting for my Garmin update to be completed (it's taken all day fyi) I've checked out all my favorite sites -- Cattle.com, Steer Planet, and J. Crew. So we decided to call it a day and start our weekend a little early!

Be sure to check out our twitter and Facebook pages!

RHD Print Item in Druckenmiller Benefit Auction

We invite everyone to check out the Druckenmiller Family Benefit Auction, going on now through May 25th at Clubcalves.com.

This online auction is set up to help support some of our fellow friends in the cattle business. Bode and Brystol Druckenmiller of Iowa are two wonderful boys with loving, caring parents. Both are hemophiliacs with Factor 8 deficiencies and Brystol was also born with a complex heart defect requiring multiple additional cardiac surgeries. Each has has multiple recurrent hospitalizations over essentially their entire lives, yet today they are strong, bright young boys that I hope the cattle community will see fit to help.

RHD has donated a 1 page ad design that can be used for your ads in the August 2009 State Fair issues. We will create and design your ad for you that you can place in any magazine(s) you wish, or even have flyers made of this ad if you don't plan on advertising anywhere.

We are also working on getting a web site donated too!
Our print ad donation item is at http://members.boardhost.com/druckenmillers/msg/1242931832.html

If you are the winning bidder we will need your ad materials by June 25th and you will need to contact the publication of your choice and let them know that you are wanting an ad.

If anyone is interested and has questions just email rachel@ranchhousedesigns.com