Suri Network News - March 2012

Suri Network News | A publication of The Suri Network Suri Network Board of Trustees: Linda Kondris, President (pinesedgeranch@gmail.com) Dick Walker, Vice President (Alpacas@supersuris.com) Kathleen Cullen, Treasurer (kathleen@foothillsAlpacas.com) Tim Sheets, Secretary (sheets@ourheritagefarm.com) Mike Murphy, Board Member (suris.murphy@gmail.com)

P.O. Box 1984 Estes Park, CO 80517-1984 Phone: (970) 586-5876 Fax: (970) 586-6685 Email: office@Surinetwork.com Web Site: www.SuriNetwork.org

Suri Alpaca – Rarest of Breeds, Ultimate Natural Fiber

by Linda Kondris

IT’S AN “ALL NEW” SUMMER SYMPOSIUM

Marketing the Ultimate Alpaca Interested in increasing sales and promoting your quality Suris, marketing high quality fleece and ensuring the health and wellbeing of your herd? Then you won’t want to miss this year’s all new Suri Symposium back at the Rocky Mountain Lodge in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado. Save the dates:

©Marsha Hobert

pre-conference, Thursday, August 16th followed by the main conference Friday and Saturday August 17-18. Visit Suri Network’s web site often, www.surinetwork.org, as the site will be updated often as the details unfold. Go to the home page now, click on Summer Symposium and view the photo album of the beautiful scenes in the Rocky

Mountains. Plan to bring the whole family and extend your visit to enjoy some hiking, fishing and sightseeing.

This year it’s a SURI SELLEBRATION all about successful marketing and increasing the recognition of Suris as the Ultimate Alpaca. We begin with new pre-conference hands-on sessions. Bring your camera and learn new tips on how to take those killer photos that will sell your Suris. Take a tour of social media and find new ways to successfully attract customers using the internet with Facebook, Twitter and more.

Bring some fleece to sort and evaluate under the guidance of experts while discussing marketing strategies for fleece and end products. Sessions on Friday and Saturday will offer a wealth of information to increase your skill and understanding to help you take your Suri business to the top.

Plan now to prepare those special fleeces for the prestigious AOBA certified, All Suri Fleece Show. Spin off entries will be due soon and we will once again have fiber arts and skein competitions. You won’t want to miss the fun of the live auction Friday night and the opportunity to bid on some outstanding items. There will be a variety of sponsorships available this year with opportunities for you to showcase your farm as the leaders in today’s Suri industry gather to share experiences, network and enjoy camaraderie with breeders from across the country.

This year’s SURI SELLEBRATION is a ‘don’t miss’ event for all serious Suri breeders.

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by Tim Sheets

SURI NETWORK marketing IS REACHING OUT TO OVER A MILLION TARGETED CLIENTS FOR YOU IN 2012

The Suri Network Strategic Plan places a lot of emphasis on providing tools and opportunities to help members market Suri alpacas and Suri alpaca products more effectively. In 2011, the Suri Network partnered with Open Herd to provide a means for members to add more content to the Suri Network website in the form of farm profiles, blogs, articles, alpaca sales listings and alpaca products listings. All this content can be easily managed via the Open Herd website.

In 2012, a key part of our marketing plan is to use various media formats to drive interested public to the Suri Network website where they can discover Suri alpaca farms near them and read what they have to offer in terms of Suri alpacas and Suri alpaca products for sale.

This initiative began in October with implementation of Facebook ads. A key feature of Facebook ads is the ability to

target very specific demographic groups that likely will have an interest in our Suris and products. We have tweaked the ads along the way, but below are the four ads we currently have running on Facebook. Perhaps you have seen one or more of these.

When Facebook users click on the ads, they are taken either to the Suri Network Facebook page where they are asked to “Like” us or to the Suri Network homepage or member store. Below are the results of the ads to date. “Clicks” are the

using other media to increase traffic to the SN website. We will be placing a color Marketplace ad in three issues of Hobby Farms magazine which has a reach of 380,000. Hobby Farms targets a diverse audience of part-time to full-time farmers that share a passion for country living and working with the land.

We will also be placing a 1/3 page print ad in the Fall issue of Living the Country Life magazine. This magazine is published by the Meredith Corporation which also publishes Better Homes and Gardens and has a total audience FACEBOOK ADVERTISING of 760,000. The fall issue will Date Clicks Reach “Likes” focus on fiber farming, raising fiber animals, spinning and 10/20 – 11/16 712 180,152 9 weaving so this will be a perfect 11/17 – 12/14 743 187,217 5 place to promote our Suris! We 12/15 – 1/11 836 248,925 10 will also be running a three 1/12 – 2/7 684 297,306 113 month campaign on the Living the Country Life website. This will be number of times the ads have been clicked in the form of banner and block ads and to go to the Suri Network. “Reach” is has the potential for 120,000 impressions. the number of people the ads have been As you can see, SN marketing is exposed to. making a concerted effort to target Since the ads have been running, we a specific demographic that has the have seen a noticeable increase in traffic greatest potential to be interested in on the Suri Network website. Prior to Suri alpacas and products. Our focus running Facebook ads, SN had an average is to drive people to the SN website for of 1,337 unique visitors per month. more information. It is to your benefit In December, SN has had an average to have your farm profile, alpaca sales of 1,912 unique visitors per month. This is and product listings present and upan increase of 43%. After experimenting to-date via Open Herd. If you need with ad modifications in January, we are help creating content, Open Herd has running at a rate of 2,498 unique visitors. instructions and online tutorials at This is an additional increase of 30%. http://www.openherd.com/Support.aspx Facebook ads are just the beginning. to help with this.

In the remainder of 2012, we will be

EVERYTHING SURI, FARM & store website Are you listed on www.SuriNetwork.org? If not, there are 3 possible reasons: 1. You have not renewed your membership with Suri Network, or 2. You have not opened an account with OpenHerd.com (even a Free account), or 3. You have not notified Suri Network that you have opened an account with OpenHerd.com.

Find a Farm, Find Suris and Suri Store functions, including PayPal, are now managed by you through OpenHerd.com to allow you to have pictures, Suris for sale, products and much more. We will soon be expanding our marketing efforts to the public with online links to www.SuriNetwork.org. This is your opportunity to present your farm, Suris and products to the public. Review your listings, pictures, logo and information periodically to keep your image up-to-date.

Suri Network News March, 2012 —Page 2

by Mike Murphy

HELP SURI NETWORK GROW AND EARN A FREE MEMBERSHIP! “New” membership referral program

Refer up to 10 new members and receive a FREE membership renewal! You will receive a $10.00 discount on your next membership renewal for each new member you refer up to ten.

Here’s how it works. As a Suri Network member, you understand that your support and participation in your Suri breed association has great benefits and by sharing these benefits and the importance of joining SN with others, you will receive a $10 discount for each new member you refer. New members are those who have never joined SN or have not been on the membership rolls for the past 6 months. To qualify for the discount, the new member must submit a membership form with payment to the SN office during the membership drive period, March 1 to December 31, 2012. We have created a line on the membership form for referrals and you will find the new form on the SN web site and in this newsletter. There is a space on the form for the new member to list the name and farm of the referring SN member. It will be helpful if you have a supply of these forms to hand to prospective new members where you have already filled in your name and farm.

The Membership Referral Drive begins during the prime spring show season and we anticipate holding Suri Network rallies at many of these shows to highlight the benefits of membership in the Suri Network. Help us reach our goal of 500 member farms by December 31, 2012, and enjoy a free membership renewal for your efforts. Please contact the SN office if you have questions.

by Mike Murphy

youth program

The purpose of the Suri Network Youth Program is to involve youth and help them learn about the animals, their care and related responsibilities; and hopefully train a new breeder in the process. It is a win-win for everyone! If you have not thought about becoming involved in this, please give this serious thought. Go to SuriNetwork.org and click on Youth Programs/4H. You will find applications for you to volunteer animals and/or your farm, as well as a Resource book and a Project record book. We are currently designing a tri-fold brochure to help in promoting this effort. Plan now to be part of this future growth aspect of our industry!

SHIP – Suri Herd Improvement Program

The SHIP program is ready to resume scheduling Classifications and with spring just around the corner, it is time to start planning your herd for classification. To date we have over 700 Suris entered into the program and our goal for 2012 is to have 2000. To achieve this goal we need your participation.

To learn more and to schedule a classification at your farm go to: www.SuriNetwork.org and in the right hand column, click EPDs, Classification & Breed Standards. There you will find “SHIP Procedure &Requirements to Participate in the Herd Classification Program.” If you have any questions contact the office at 970-586-5876.

This program is progressing as planned. SN is currently talking with several vendors, including ARI, to negotiate the best arrangement for calculating EPDs. The goal is to do our first calculations within the next 6 months. As soon as we have sufficient numbers of Suris to make the results statistically relevant SN will run the numbers. For those members who have already had your herds classified it is very important for you to have any and all fiber test results that you have had done on your herd sent to the SN office. These results must be sent directly to the office by the testing lab. Contact the office for details on how to do this.

PurelySuri Magazine CIRCULATION IS gOING TO MULTIPLY! We are going online! Yes, we will still have the printed issue. But, now the entire magazine will be viewable on the internet including your AD! Further, if your ad has a website in it, any visitor can click on it and go straight to your website.

PurelySuri will be available for the entire world.

Enclosed with this issue of Suri Network News is the 2012 advertising and registration form. Act now and reserve your space and expand your marketing through our new online promotion. Starting with this 2012 issue, when a visitor to the website clicks on the cover, they will be able to view the entire magazine with your ads.

Back issues will be included over time, where we are able to make the conversion.

Suri Network News March, 2012 —Page 3

by Kathy Gilliland

PRODUCT development committee update

Suri alpaca fiber is reaching out for long overdue recognition around the world! In North America, first came the love of the alpacas and now comes the recognition of the extensive uses, value, and luxury of Suri alpaca fiber! Our challenge today, and the focus of the Suri Network Product Development

Committee (SNPDC), is to help our members produce and gain maximum value from their Suri fiber. To that end, the SNPDC is continuing its focus on education, research, production, processing and uses of Suri alpaca fiber.

In the past year the committee has: 1. Continued to host SN demo booths at top fiber festivals.

2. Offered Suri specific seminars.

3. Promoted the uniquely designed patterns for Suri.

4. Provided tools (Code of Harvest, Mill Survey Results) for better fiber harvesting results and information for fiber processing.

5. Initiated research projects on Suri fiber and products.

6. Completed a member survey and fiber mill survey-results are posted on the SN website.

This year we will be focused on: • Partnering with mills for seminars – people can learn about the characteristics of Suri fiber and better understand fiber processing and challenges.

• Developing new SN patterns designed for Suri fiber – we hope to develop some that are “progressive patterns,” where the same pattern can be used for an “easy” version, and with additional embellishments, transition to “intermediate” or “advanced” designs for those wanting more complexity.

• Working closer with a few mills (cottage & commercial) to understand the relationship of Suri fiber to equipment and processing challenges and processed quality and end product compatibility.

• Continuing research of Suri fiber – production (alpaca maintenance, breeding for optimum production/quality, etc.), processing (fiber preparation, US combing & product development), product ideas & uses (compatible designs, best fabric weaves, etc.).

• Encouraging infrastructure for fiber to market to get what we produce into production.

• Identifying ways to turn Suri fiber into revenue – searching out ideas.

• Sharing information with members – we want to find more ways to effectively share information on pertinent information & articles (fiber research, processing, products, revenue generation, etc.).

• Introducing a new program to identify what type of products our members are making with Suri…look for an e-blast in the near future that explains the program!

• Hosting a session at this year’s Suri Symposium on Suri fiber and a “real time” critique of your fiber and products around the relationship and implications of starting fiber quality, processing and end product usage...

Keep an eye out for more info about the Symposium!

In closing, a few thoughts to leave you with! The SNPDC wants to hear your thoughts and ideas of what we can do to help you, our membership. Keep an eye out for our periodic SNPDC Newsletter for updated info and articles. Please check out our tab on the SN website for committee contact and other fiber related information. We welcome your questions and input.

Also, shearing time is fast approaching and we want to remind you to refresh (or read for the first time) the SN Code of Harvest, also located on the website, to help you and your shearer work together in getting the most out of your fiber yield.

And last, but not least, look for ways to get your fiber from the barn and into the market. This year there are more opportunities

Suri Network News March, 2012 —Page 4

and venues for collecting and selling fiber than ever before. There are private businesses and mills buying Suri fiber and Alpaca United is working on a nation wide “Alpaca Fiber to Market Days” (5 events across the US) later this year for matching sellers with buyers. Please look for information on fiber sales options from your affiliates and other organizations on these opportunities to help you get a return on your Suri fiber and build volume for the Suri end product market!

And finally, as always, if you would like to participate on our committee, let the SN office or one of our committee members know…we are always looking for those with the passion and energy to help move the Suri fiber industry forward!