Marketing is a very simple concept, but people really like to make it complex and difficult. First, we should understand what we are selling. It could be feed. It could be animals. It could be our labor. It could be our skill at various parts of what we sell. Most of the time when we are selling animals it is just a way to market our feed. Sometimes we are raising animals that have a special purpose or use, and then it’s the animals, not the feed that is most important. Maybe we are taking animals and doing something that increases their value. Now we are really selling our skill. If you are selling your skill, and the animal is kept past the time it takes for you to do what you do, then that puts you in competition with other people and dilutes the value of your skill. An example would be a horse trainer who sells his skill. After the horse is trained, the longer he keeps it, the more it takes away from his profit from his skill.

Good marketing is knowing how to sell and when to sell. Holding something to try to get a higher price is not marketing, that is bargaining. Even when this works, the extra time will often eat up any extra money.

Things that can cause a problem are:

• What we want instead of what we need.
• What we will or will not do.
• Our unwillingness to make a decision.
• Doing something because of what happened in the past.
• Doing something because of what might happen in the future. Boy, we love this one.
• Doing or not doing something because of what your neighbors will think. If the neighbors are always right, just copy them. If they are not always right, then you will have to go against what they do sometimes in order for you to be right. Do what is best for you. Your dog will still like you even if the neighbors don’t.

Remember, Smile and Mean it!