Today was the first meeting of the SOJAA Web Marketing task force. Our aim is to specify and then have built a web site that will support all the members of SOJAA by promoting their alpacas for sale.

The project breaks down into a series tasks starting with the initial functional specification.

Building a web site that is attractive for potential buyers and easy to use for members is but the first step.

The much bigger hurdle is driving traffic to that web site over an extended time period. It is envisaged that as an AOBA Affiliate SOJAA will acquire from AOBA the various sales leads and then send to those leads a series of e-mails and other promotional items.

The maintenance of this prospect database and the management of the e-mail campaigns will all have to be outsourced to a third party as SOJAA have no resources other than the members and the tasks we are planning a re too technical and large to be expected of the average volunteer.

THE 2009 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES SWEEPSTAKES

Want to see the Alpaca Float?
Win 2009 Rose Bowl Game tickets Or 2009 VIP Rose Parade tickets.
The Sweepstakes is valid November 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM (PST) through January 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM (PST). The odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

Congress To Raise Alpacas To Aid Struggling Economy

The Onion is a United States-based parody newspaper published weekly in print and daily online. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper and website known as The A.V. Club. It claims a national print circulation of 710,000 and says 67 percent of its Web site viewers are between 18 and 44 years old. Here is a very funny piece they published about how alpacas might just be the financial saviours of the American economy.......

WASHINGTON—Members of Congress assured Americans that they have a definitive plan for reviving the slumping economy when they unveiled on Monday a bold new fiscal stimulus package that calls for the purchase of a pair of alpacas.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the proposal, which is expected to solve the sub-prime mortgage crisis, boost consumer confidence, and pump much-needed liquid capital into the market, will be put into motion as soon as the first issue of Alpaca World magazine arrives and Congress has a chance to go through the catalog and select the perfect mating pair.



"We're confident that breeding alpacas will jump-start the economy and lift this nation out of debt once we get the start-up money," said McConnell, who insists the exotic livestock require very little maintenance and are of a gentler temperament than their cousin the llama. "All you need is a fertile male and a female in heat, and nature takes it course. Before you know it, the money is rolling in and there's alpacas everywhere."
After weeks of debate, a bipartisan commission finally chose the alpaca initiative over a number of other proposals, including handcrafting turquoise jewelry, an extensive job-training program in the nation's most impoverished regions, and opening a U.S. Congress seller's account on Ebay. McConnell said the group was swayed toward the idea of mating alpacas and also shearing them for their valuable fleece because it required the fewest resources and was a "super-easy" way to rake in cash.
"It is time to stop bickering and take real steps to revive the U.S. dollar—which is why we're sending a fact-finding delegation out to the alpaca farm in Hagerstown [MD] next weekend," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said. "Senator Chuck Hagel's brother-in-law said we could borrow his truck to pick up the alpacas from the National Zoological Society on Saturday."

"I can't believe we ever wasted our time with tariffs, raising interest rates, and tax hikes," Pelosi added. "This is such a no-brainer."
Under the new proposal, a Senate subcommittee will be formed to attend to the day-to-day care of the alpacas, providing food and water, cleaning up their communal dung pile, and securing the animals in their pen inside the Senate chamber at night. In addition, Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ) made his office available for storing buckets and shovels, saying the space is usually empty anyway since he prefers to work from home.
A Senate majority has already voted to name the alpacas Jefferson and Bongo.
Advocates also claimed that using the alpacas' fleece for knitted and woven items would energize the textile industry and eliminate the nation's dependence on foreign- produced ponchos.
"If we are truly committed and learn to spin our own fibers, we can cut out the middleman and sell socks, hats, and gloves directly to the American public," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said. "People don't realize how much softer alpaca wool is because they've never had a chance to try it. Once they do, though—let's just say this war could be paid for in no time."
While initial reaction has been positive, critics of the plan have pointed out that Congress has still not paid back the money it borrowed from the American public to start that silk-screen T-shirt business it was so excited about in 2004, and many were concerned that this will just be a repeat of the Bedazzling the Economy Act of 2000.
The bill's sponsors, however, claimed that they had thought it all through, and that this economic stimulus package "can't miss."



"If for some reason it doesn't work out—which it will—we can always allocate some additional spending for a goat and convert the venture into an executive petting zoo," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) said. "Those other projects required too much overhead. With alpacas, it's just grass, and we already have the whole National Mall right across the street."
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), a well-known fiscal conservative, remained one of the sole voices against the proposal.
"This harebrained scheme is shortsighted, ill conceived, and an absolute waste of time and effort," Martinez said. "Which is why from the beginning I said, let's raise emus. Not only do you have meat and eggs, but you can probably get some money for those feathers too."
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday called the new plan "intriguing," but stressed that the nation's economic policy should continue to center around Sen. Robert Byrd's (R-WV) practice of selling soda and candy bars out of his office, which accounted for almost 30 percent of last year's gross domestic product.

THE 2009 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES SWEEPSTAKES

Want to see the Alpaca Float?
Win 2009 Rose Bowl Game tickets Or 2009 VIP Rose Parade tickets.
The Sweepstakes is valid November 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM (PST) through January 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM (PST). The odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

This morning we completed the vitamin A&D injections on the male alpacas and while we were at it we trimmed some toe nails and checked out their body scores.
The snow didn't get any deeper overnight and as the sun came out it all looked very picturesque.


Now that the A&D have been done its time to think about using the Corid. Normally only available in gallon jars I found some pint sized bottles in Big R yesterday which will be just perfect.



For the Eimeria macusaniensis, we use Corid at a dose of 10mg/kg for 15 consecutive days (OSU's recommendation).
Corid comes in a 9.6% solution (96mg/ml) and must be diluted to ~1.5% solution (15mg/ml) to prevent oral and esophageal erosions. Corid can also cause a die-off of the thiamine producing bacteria in the C1 compartment which in turn can cause a thiamine deficiency and result in polioencephalomalacia...to prevent this our vet Leslie Richardson recommends administering injectible thiamine every 2-3 days during the treatment.

Corid dose:
per 100# body weight administer 4.7ml corid and dilute with ~25ml of water to a total volume of ~30ml and a resulting concentration of ~1.5%.

Thiamine dose:
the dose is 3-5mg/kg, the thiamine we have is 200mg/ml so you could give ~1ml per 100# body weight every 2-3 days.

If you are thinking about buying alpacas then you need to do your homework before hand and we have a simple and easy to use buyers guide which you can read before going on a farm visit just to whet your appetite.

There are some other informational and entertaining alpaca articles in the farm library.

Yes today was one of those wonderful days which started with I wish I had checked that the needles we have will fit these syringes...luckily they did. Followed quickly by I wish I had put the electronic alpaca scales on charge last night so they would be ready this morning...I hadn't.....or if only I had put the injectible A&D inside the house rather than out in the barn it wouldn't look like treacle....and if only I had put the tractor back in the barn....



The snow is thick and wet the temperature is rising but I suspect there is more snow on the way...






Which reminds me its off to Medford to collect the latest batch of alpaca feed.

And of course my eldest boy Jamie is 21 today...how the years fly by...he has gone off skiing with his buddies as the university is closed today because of the snow....

The day started off with very decent weather and we walked the 4 miles into town and had a coffee.....it started to rain while we were in town so being wimps we hitched a ride home and then around lunch time the rain turned to snow and its still snowing four hours later.



The alpacas tolerated the snow for a while and then made a mad dash for the shelter of the barn and some decent hay...very wise.



Some alpacas are just too curious for their own good and will still stand outside the barn...just in case they are missing something appears to be their motivation....but that's just a guess I have no idea what thoughts or ambitions lurk in the mind of an alpaca while it stands and shews the cud....

Well must go now my daughter has called to say she is stuck in the snow and needs me to tow her home....that is the second time this year I have had to rescue her..maybe four wheel drive would be a wise investment when she eventually changes her car!

Happy farming keep warm and I'll be back tomorrow to give the vitamin A&D injections.

If you are thinking about buying alpacas then you need to do your homework before hand and we have a simple and easy to use buyers guide which you can read before going on a farm visit just to whet your appetite.

There are some other informational and entertaining alpaca articles in the farm library.

This weekend is the annual alpaca Fibre to Fashion event is Las Vegas.

At Fiber to Fashion, there is everything from hands-on fiber arts workshops, a fashion show extravaganza, fleece show, alpaca health discussions, social gatherings for fun and ample time for networking. Regardless of your level of experience in the industry, you will discover an array of important seminars led by instructors with comprehensive knowledge of the alpaca industry. Vendors of fine fashion will bring you the latest in alpaca products.

Event Location

Riviera Hotel & Casino, 2901 Las Vegas Blvd., South, Las Vegas, NV, 89109
Phone: (615) 834-4195,
Event Directions: www.alpacaowners.com/F2F/index.asp

Agenda

Saturday, January 26, 2008


7:00am - 7:00pm Registration Desk Open
8:00am - 5:00pm Vendors open
8:00am to 5:00pm Fleece Judging (2nd and final day)
9:30am to 1:30pm Educational Breakouts and workshops
2:00pm to 3:00pm Cash Bar and reception starts
3:00pm to 5:00pm Fashion Show


Sunday, January 27, 2008


7:00am - 11:00am Registration Desk Open
8:00am to 11:00am Fleece Display
8:00am - 11:00am Vendors open
9:00am - 10:00am Fleece Oral Reasons
11:00am  1:00 pm Fleece Checkout
11:00am  1:00 pm Spin-off, Skein & Fiber Arts pickup

the event will also be the venue for the annual meeting of AFCNA the Alpaca Fibre Cooperative of North America. And the Affiliate Congress which is essentially the presidents of the various affiliates around the USA.

Spring is around the corner and its time to start thinking about those breedings...



When it comes to choosing males for our alpaca females we nearly always use Studmaster Males. Studmaster males have been very carefully selected to take into account all the characteristics of their fleece, their pedigrees and conformation traits such as bite, bone density, size and movement. Most emphasis however is placed on their siblings and their cria. This is called progeny testing and it is the only way to identify an alpaca's genotype.

members of the Ideal Alpaca Community believe that progeny testing is the most effective way to select herdsire males with high breeding value. This involves using the selection index (see "Alpacas: Synthesis of a Miracle") to evaluate a stud's offspring for important traits, such as fleece weight, fineness, and density. This means not just evaluating the stud's outstanding cria; either all of the offspring, or a random sample large enough to ensure accuracy, must be measured.

By way of example, alpaca shows have a class called Get-of-Sire where three offspring are shown together, hopefully representing the male's production capacity. As a breeder looking to purchase a replacement male or stud services, would you rather base your decision on the three offspring that the exhibitor brought to the show or a complete survey of the cria from the stud's production?

This year we will be getting the first set of estimated progeny differences (EPDs) for the Studmaster males and I expect to be able to improve my breeding choices considerably as a result. We live in exciting times.

THE 2009 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES SWEEPSTAKES

Want to see the Alpaca Float?
Win 2009 Rose Bowl Game tickets Or 2009 VIP Rose Parade tickets.
The Sweepstakes is valid November 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM (PST) through January 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM (PST). The odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

Yes its that time of year again, time for the vitamin shots. Vitamins A & D

The majority of an alpacas vitamin A requirements are met by feeding a high quality forage containing carotene. This carotenoid is converted to vitamin A in the animal's liver or gut wall.

Vitamin D is a different story, alpacas evolved in the high altitudes of South America. At these altitudes, even though the animals have thick fleeces blocking ultraviolet light, they still acquire enough light to convert to vitamin D3.

However, in the northern latitudes, lack of sufficient ultraviolet light can indeed be a problem. During the winter months because of the orientation of the sun, very little ultraviolet light reaches the earth. The sun is as bright as ever, essentially the light is spread over a much greater area so diluting its effect.

This can be a problem in the case of fall-born crias, because when they are born later in the seasons they may not be able to acquire sufficient ultraviolet light for vitamin D production.

Since milk is a very poor source of vitamin D, and if young animals are not provided supplemental vitamin D, they may develop rickets (Fowler, 1992; Hoffman and Fowler, 1995; Smith, 1996).
When a summer is unusually cloudy, or if alpacas are kept indoors, or in areas of thick fog where ultraviolet rays are obscured, rickets can be a reality. Rickets can also occur with insufficient amounts of phosphorus, calcium or magnesium.

My own protocol is 1cc per 75lbs of body weight. But always check with your own veterinarian regarding the need to supplement and the dosage required.

THE 2009 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES SWEEPSTAKES

Win 2009 Rose Bowl Game tickets Or 2009 VIP Rose Parade tickets.
The Sweepstakes is valid November 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM (PST) through January 31, 2008 at 11:59 PM (PST). The odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

A few of my regular readers asked what are the stages to putting a Rose Parade float together and while I am no expert on the subject....someone who is, tells me that the following is a fairly typical sequence of events.

First, the Rose Bowl Committee announces its theme. The theme is always something that will appeal to a broad church and offend no one. The theme for the 2009 Rose Parade is Hats Off to Entertainment

Next, companies and organizations that want to participate design proposals for the various floats. The Rose Bowl Committee then approves or declines that various designs.

Art directors then create scale models and computer renderings of the floats that they send to the specialist float makers.

The various float makers lay out a full-scale grid on their barn floor and begin to construct the float. Welders create the structure of the float, a kind of steel 3D skeleton.

The float is built on a rolling chassis--that can carry up to 50 tons. the tires are filled with gel to avoid embarrassing blowouts or punctures on parade day.

The 3D steel skeleton is then covered in a layer of chicken wire and sprayed with expanded polystyrene foam.

Next comes road-testing. The exhibitors are under growing pressure to use animation on their floats. During road testing the animations are tested and re-tested to ensure their reliability and repeatability.

The float is painted to match the designers color scheme, and materials are chosen to cover the float. Every square inch of the float must be covered in living (or once living) materials. Traditionally, this meant flowers, but increasingly, a range of exotic seeds are used to create a variety of colors and textures. This could be where alpaca fiber comes into play.....

Last but not least, a mass of volunteers does the detail work. The actual roses are only applied a few days before the show--or in some cases the day before the parade.

Well I hope that answers the curious among you as to how a Rose Parade float is constructed.

If you want to see floats being tested before they are decorated there is a video on You Tube.

If you want to win tickets to the 2009 Rose Parade which will be the 120th parade then the official site has a sweep stake which ends in 8 days time on Jan 31st...

Good luck !

As you will have already noticed on this website and maybe you even received the AOBA flyer there is a task force of AOBA volunteers working hard to raise money for a float in the 2009 Rose Parade, the float would be dedicated to Alpacas.
Sometime during the year this group will be launching their own website called www.alpacaroseparade.com in fact as my AOBA flyer was late the web site may even be up and running as I type, so check it out sometime.



The Tournament of Roses Parade was established, and first held, on January 1, 1890, in Pasadena, California, about 30 minutes northeast of Downtown Los Angeles.

Starting January 1, 1923, it is traditionally followed by the Tournament's other event, the Rose Bowl college football game. The parade is broadcast on multiple television networks, watched by upwards of one million spectators on the parade route, and seen by millions more on television.

The parade is televised on ABC (as the official network of the tournament and the Rose Bowl game itself), but coverage is also available on NBC, Univision (in Spanish), HGTV, The Travel Channel, and KTLA (the latter three tout commercial-free coverage, although KTLA repeats the parade throughout the day with commercials).

Typically 48 to 72 hours prior to parade day interested folks can view several of the floats being decorated with flowers, in the various 'float barns' that dot the Arroyo Seco - Rose Bowl area in West Pasadena, not far from the starting off point of the parade. Most of the float are built by volunteers but the designs come from a few well established float design companies.
After the parade, all the floats are 'parked' in a large open area known as Victory Park, and are on display for at least two days after parade day. You can buy a ticket to go look at the floats. Obviously, none of the float riders and B list celebrities who rode the floats on parade day will be there for two days of viewing.

Each year there is a different theme for the Rose Parade and here is a short list of the themes since 2000:

2000 - Celebration 2000: Visions of the Future
2001 - Fabric of America
2002 - Good Times
2003 - Children's Dreams, Wishes and Imagination
2004 - Music Music Music
2005 - Celebrate Family
2006 - It's Magical
2007 - Our Good Nature
2008 - Passport to the World's Celebrations
2009 - Hats Off to Entertainment

So the theme we will be working towards in 2009 is "Hats Off to Entertainment" not quite sure how the design experts will achieve that using roses and some association with alpacas...but I guess that is the magic of the float designers.

Thank you to all those kind folks who sent in their letters of comfort following the loss of Gifford my Australian Shepherd last Friday. You have all been very generous with your time and thoughts and I am very grateful.

The snow which arrived so quickly yesterday has now retreated up the mountain.



In this picture you can see the house and the new alpaca barn as we still call it.

Tonight I have to get my thinking cap on and write my alpaca column for the UK alpaca magazine...sometimes it come seasily and sometimes it feels like drawing teeth.

Following my sale of an alpaca picture to a national magazine last month. I had an e-mail out of the blue today from a publisher looking for pictures of llamas for an upcoming book... I was very flattered as this has never happened to me before.....if I tell you I was so impressed when I sold my first picture I photocopied the check and framed it you will probably start to get some idea of just what a milestone that was for me and my photography.

The temperature is falling fast now and we are looking at minus 9 degrees celsius tonight.....so its time to wrap up warm and stay indoors...

If you are thinking about buying alpacas then you need to do your homework before hand and we have a simple and easy to use buyers guide which you can read before going on a farm visit just to whet your appetite.

There are some other informational and entertaining alpaca articles in the farm library.

As we went to bed the sky was clear and stars were shining.....but when we awoke...



By lunchtime the sun was out and within 2 hours the snow had gone..much to everyone's relief. It was beautiful while it lasted. And the alpacas totally ignore that kind of whether they can't even be bothered to walk to the barn and hay where its try and wind free.

The blog will be back in force tomorrow its been a tough weekend.

A drawing of Gifford which my son gave me for Christmas.

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to say my beautiful Australian Shepherd, Gifford has passed away.



Everyday was a new and exciting adventure for Gifford. A day to be lived to the full no half measures.



Gifford would often toy with me when we were racing....but he always won in the end.



Irrigation season was one giant water park as far as Gifford was concerned.



Damn he was a good looking dog, so proud.



Resting in the shade of an old oak tree.



Always by my side I will miss him dreadfully. These are the prints we left today when we walked together for the last time.....eventually the rain will wash them away. The happy memories and times we shared I will cherish forever. Thank you for everything Mr.Gifford.......

Gifford De Abquisto
May 27th 2004 - January 18th 2008

It must have been something I said last week about using the web to market alpacas and the up coming Alpaca Marketing Conference that SOJAA is organising. But I have received e-mails ever since about what the priorities should be when you build a web site to market alpacas.

So for those of you that are interested here are the key steps in order of priority. The rest of you can go get a coffee now and read the newspaper......

Begin with the basics and develop the tried and tested methods that have worked in the past and will continue to deliver results, then move on to the new exciting and much harder to control and measure activities.
1. Optimize Content
First and foremost, we need to continue to optimize alpaca website content. Making sure it is easily read by both potential buyers and search engines. An essential variable applied by Search Engines in the way in which they rank websites is based on the relevancy of the content that the search engine is indexing. The foundation to this is of course keywords selection.

2. Create a Content Development Plan
In addition to optimizing the content on your website, it is essential that you develop a plan to continuously enhance content on an ongoing basis. All new content should be written specifically with the audience in mind and should also be optimized for the search engines using the keywords defined in step 1. One of the easiest ways to keep adding content is to write a blog, like this one.

3. Invest in a Paid Search Campaign (PPC),
Paid search will allow us to quickly leverage search engine traffic by bidding for keywords that are already in use by your target audience. Paid search advertising is particularly beneficial while we wait for natural search results to ramp up. We can also target those keywords competitors have selected. However, think of PPC as renting a house and SEO as buying the house. Once you stop spending on PPC the traffic stops......

4. Develop Email Mailshots
You need to build or buy from AOBA a list of people who will be interested to hear about alpacas. Then you need to find something interesting to say to them. I have found that competitions work quite well as a way to contact potential buyers and get them to click through to my website. This isn’t the latest fashion but it is a solid performer and remains an essential part of the mix.

5.Begin Article Marketing to Boost Links
People linking from their web site to yours is the most important thing you can do to boost your search engine rankings. Writing and posting articles on alpacas is the easiest way to build those inbound links.

Okay once the basics are working well then we can move to the elements that can ramp up performance. Social Media and Blogging.
6. Create and Develop a Blog,
I have already mentioned Blogging when I talked about building content. If you didn't get onto it then here is your opportunity. Not only is Blogging a great way to build content, you can also put links in your Blog to content on your web site, Google likes this. Over time writing an interesting , informative and amusing blog will help you get close to your fellow alpaca breeders without sending them an e-mail or newsletter every four weeks.

7. Develop a Social Media Strategy
Studies show that by the end of 2007 more than 60% of blue chip organizations had some form of social media marketing strategy. Social Media has become an essential component of online marketing and search engines are adjusting their rankings to include search personalization. This is something you need to learn about........ if you want to maintain good rankings.

Well that's my overall view of Internet marketing in a nutshell. I hope it makes sense. You can buy several books on each one of these topics if you like or you can find yourself a good Internet marketing guru and get them to do the technical stuff while you write the words and take the pictures.

Happy farming.