[FredAnderson]

I have a new litter of 10 F1Bs. They will be ready for their new owners August 18. What is the best way to market them?

Thanks.
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Camp Anderson Labradoodles, Cornelius, OR
www.labradoodle-dogs.net/fredanderson

[movistar]

well first welcome to the forum. second - shouldnt you have thought a little about that before breeding? mark here has a directory you can join and it is a great marketing tool. also tell us a little about yourself and what testing does your breeding stock have etc etc.

Mic

[FredAnderson]

My mother always told me to plan ahead. I guess I follow the theory, "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow."

What is the link to Mark's site? I have a mini web site now at www.labradoodle-dogs.net/fredanderson and have received a few inquires. Is that the one to which you refer?

I am thinking about buying a spot from Google. I will place an ad in the LA Times in about a week. But I am looking for any idea that may also work.

We have done eyes and hips on Roxy and Adair.
_________________
Camp Anderson Labradoodles, Cornelius, OR
www.labradoodle-dogs.net/fredanderson

[movistar]

yes the labradoodle-dog site is what I was referring too

I remember a similar thread that discussed several decent websites to advertise puppies or to build your pending puppy list for future litters. There is a search feature above, I will try to use it but am not that great at it. You may have better luck but let me see what I can find.

As your reputation grows you will find you will have people emailing you consistently. I did not need additional advertising other than word of mouth and this labradoodle site for my last litter.

[movistar]

here, I found the thread I was thinking of

http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2689&highlight=advertising

[Maureen]

good link Mickey and that brings up another good suggestion: rather than asking everyone to help you how about starting with a SEARCH of the forum's thousands of posts and threads??
That way, or if you say you've done that it doesn't look like you are wanting other people to do the work of telling you how to market your puppies.

We all started out by ourselves and learned WITH each other, not expecting others to tell us how to do it.
_________________
~Maureen
LabradoodleRanch@aol.com
www.LabradoodleRanch.com

[gene]

Usually I find things using dumb luck....which I'm pretty good at!
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gene , jonah , miko and rumor

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p46/jonahfus
"A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down." - Robert Benchley

[movistar]

I almost quoted you maureen when I was telling him to search!!!

If I link it though and the thread helps him I get a 10% finders fee right??!!

[gene]

Watch for the check to arrive in the mail. I'm still waiting on mine for past picture posting help....hey, I'm an optimist, or is that a dreamer??
_________________
gene , jonah , miko and rumor

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p46/jonahfus
"A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down." - Robert Benchley

[FredAnderson]

Thanks for the suggestions. I signed up for this site several months ago but had difficulty signing on. Numerous emails to the webmaster went unanswered. Even after I made the mini site I still could not log on to the forum. I finally submitted a new user ID and was able to sign on. I was unaware that there was a search function. Since I live in the country, I am too far for DSL and cable. I have a micro wave connection which is just a bit faster that dial up. So it takes me forever to navigate between web sites. Eventually, I get frustrated and just give up waiting for the site to load as sometimes it takes several minutes and can take as long as a half hour. Then the site you waited for tells you that you need to go to yet anouther one, and so forth and so on.

I am not trying to have others "do my work for me" but I really don't want to reinvent the wheel if there are good ways to market and some that really are a waste of money and time. Certainly I agree that one can learn more from mistakes. I just want to gets these dogs into homes at the proper time which I understand is 8 to 10 week and not have a bunch of dogs that are 4 to 6 months old bonding with me instead of their new owners.

As far as referal fees, I have no objection to paying a referal fee if someone actually refers a buyer. That is just good marking. Many people need to have a dog available at the time they finally get motivated to make the additilon to their family. Putting a qualified buyer with a seller of available puppies should be a win-win situation. I waited over a year before I purchased my first labradoodle. I then researched breeding and the health issues and did not breed before I checked those out and Roxy was over 2 years old in order to have healthy pups and a healthy Roxy. So far so good on that score. Roxy has 10 healthy pups and she is walking about 1/2 mile 2 times a day which is about 1/4 of the distance she and Hershey traveled before pregnancy and delivery.

Along with responisble breeding goes responsible marketing, I just would like to learn what pitfall other may have incurred and what seems to bring the best qualified buyers.

I appreciate the constructive suggestions and will search this site. I did check the link Moviestar posted but that did not answer my most pressing questions.

My questions really are:

Does newspaper advertising work?

What about posting at pet stores? or my vets office? Or the supermarket? Or the feed store?

What about a Google ad?

There are numerous other "pets for sale" web site, are they any good or to be avoided. Some are expensive and some are not, where is the best place to put advertising dollars?

Thanks for the suggestions so far and I welcome any more that anyone cares to post or to email me privately.

It is now about 4:00 AM and Roxy is sleeping next to me as I write this post, I went to check on her at 3:00 AM and she wanted adult company. Can't say I blame her. She is such a sweet dog.

Happy 4th to all, American isn't perfect but it is still better than any other place I have visited.
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Camp Anderson Labradoodles, Cornelius, OR
www.labradoodle-dogs.net/fredanderson

[River Rat]

Fred, I'm on a slow dial-up as well, so I understand where you're coming from. Right now my rural phone lines won't let me get on at any speed faster than 24000, which is a real problem with today's graphic-heavy sites.

Re marketing, while I don't sell puppies currently I do sell my art, and I did sell a litter of Irish setter beauties many years ago. Ads in vets' offices and pet stores are always worthwhile and tap into a population that's already animal-centered. I also used newspaper ads, in the large city paper that had a wider circulation than our local one. Never did a Google ad so I don't know how they work. However, if you have a website that's very helpful; anyone looking for labradoodles in Oregon would be able to zero in on you. I'd make sure it was professional looking, though, since that instills confidence that it's a well-run operation. Personally I'm instantly turned off by misspelled words or sloppy grammar.

Once you get interest in your pups, of course, the most important thing is being able to feel comfortable that the prospective buyer will offer a good life for your little one. That was the hardest part of selling, for me, because in some cases it's obvious and in others you're not quite sure.

Happy Fourth to you, but I'm not sure that France doesn't trump the US, especially with regards to their health coverage!

Leslie (new doodle owner)

[FredAnderson]

Thanks for the tips on marketing in pet store etc.

I am working on www.andersonlabradoodles.com It should be up in a few days.

I will post later this week in my vet's office and at Petco and Petsmart.

About week 6 I think I'll try the LA Times and the Oregonian.
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Camp Anderson Labradoodles, Cornelius, OR
www.labradoodle-dogs.net/fredanderson