Did You Know, Part III: Ad Design

Need an ad designed?  Want to place an ad, but don't know where to start?  MLE can help!

We've designed ads of all shapes, sizes and colors for a wide variety of clients.  We can either simply design the ad and send you a completed file, or we can handle the ad placement and billing as well.

We charge a flat rate of $90 per ad for design only.  However, if we're doing a series of ads where only minor adjustments need to be made for the subsequent ads, you will receive a discount on additional ads.  And if you'd like us to handle placing the ad, we charge a simple 18% placement fee based on the value of the ad.  We'll also follow up with the magazine to make sure that you receive a copy of the published ad.  Finally, we also offer discounts for Pony Clubs, Non-Profits and Professional Riders Organization members.

From web banners, to marketplace listings, to full page color ads ... we have you covered!

Click here to see a selection of our ads: http://mythiclanding.com/portfolio.htm#Display%20Ads

Contact Margaret at margaret@mythiclanding.com to get started today!

Meet Our Ad Designer:

Lynn Hoffman

Lynn Hoffman is delighted to have been a part of the Mythic Landing Enterprises team since 2008.  As Graphics and Web Designer, her responsibilities include designing websites, ads, flyers, posters and press packets, designing marketing emails, maintaining client lists and databases, proofreading newsletters and other documents, placing classifieds, and maintaining the MLE website.

Lynn’s diverse resume includes working at The Equiery and a variety of other corporations. Her years of office experience, combined with her design, editing, and writing skills, plus a lifelong love of horses makes this an ideal position for her.

When not working at the computer, Lynn enjoys spending time with her family, watching her daughters ride, pursuing her photography, or going for a run.

NEW DATE: Stephen Bradley returns on Wednesday, July 24th

Join us for another day of lessons with Stephen Bradley at the awesome A Bit Better Farm in Brookeville, Maryland.  Our July clinic date is now Wednesday, July 24th! 

Stephen enjoys teaching all levels of riders from beginners to the advanced competitor. His enthusiasm, talent for communication, and ability to inspire confidence in the horse and rider make him a hit with riders of all levels. When training with Stephen, you can be confident that you will receive expert instruction for your level of riding. You can learn more about Stephen at www.stephensbradley.com.

Jump lessons will be 75 minutes each, with 3 riders per group

Dressage lessons will be 45 minutes each, private (limited availability)

Costs: $115 for Jump lessons; $155 for Dressage lessons (cash, check and credit cards accepted)

Please contact Margaret Rizzo at margaret@mythiclanding.com or (301) 502-8929 to sign up for any (or all!) of the clinics.  Cash, checks and credit cards accepted.

A full list of activities for the year can be found on our web site (http://mythiclanding.com/activities.htm) or facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mythic-Landing-Enterprises-LLC/231445710243540).  Be sure to check back often for updates.  Or just tell Margaret to add you to our e-mail list.

What a Weekend!

I just wanted to take a minute to thank the lovely ladies of MLE for being so awesome during the wedding weekend!  From flawlessly keeping the office running while I was running last minute errands and then recovering, to helping make the day just as special as it could be.  Sue was the best maid of honor a girl could ask for.  And Tara and Lynn were fabulous wedding photographers!  Now back to normal for a few weeks before Scott and I head off on our honeymoon!

Be sure to check out Tara and Lynn's sites for all your photography needs!
Tara Shegogue: http://www.tarakphoto.com/
Lynn Hoffman: http://lynnsdesigns.com/

Did You Know, Part II: Search Engine Marketing

Do you have a web site?  If the answer is yes, are you utilizing your web site to it's full potential? As you can imagine, a growing portion of the population is turning to Google and other search engines for help when shopping for most anything these days.  Need a new farrier?  New feed store? New vet?  Simply type in your keyword and location into Google and pages of results will pop up.  But how do you get YOUR web site to pop up on the first page?  This is where MLE comes in!

We offer a complete Search Engine Marketing Service for clients looking to boost their online presence.  To be more specific, "SEM" is the process of doing certain tasks to try and gain more traffic from the "free" or "organic" listings on search engines to your web site.  SEM also utilizes paid tools like Google AdWords and Pay-Per-Click advertising when necessary.  MLE specifically targets the Google search engine.

SEM can be a long-term process to reach the top access on the search pages.  Once a top listing is attained, it also takes consistency to maintain that position as Google is constantly changing. Time to reach that position varies dependent on the keywords targeted and the size of the market. MLE recommends a minimum of a three-month contract for best results.  We charge $240/month for this service.

Two of our star clients have had great success with our SEM services.  Kevin Oyarzo of Maryland Horseshoeing has greatly increased his workload since we started his SEM last year.  And Sheri Thornley's Southwind Farm went from having a few empty stalls to being as full as she wants this summer.  The results speak for themselves, and we really believe in SEM for service-related businesses!

If you want to learn more, give me a call (301.502.8929) or shoot me an e-mail (margaret@mythiclanding.com). Remember that consultations are free!

Meet Our SEM Expert:

Tara Shegogue, Account Manager / SEO Consultant

Tara, a native of Delaware, graduated from James Madison University with an undergraduate in Marketing & Advertising and holds a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing from Wilmington University. With a fascination for the vast world of Google, Tara began focusing her efforts into learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization). A horse enthusiast since the beginning, she has been riding for over 15 years. She rode for JMU's equestrian team in college and did the jumper circuit while working as a horseback trail guide on Massanutten Mountain. Now she focuses most of her efforts on riding Thoroughbreds off the track and dabbling in eventing and dressage. While not working on marketing, Tara can be found behind the lens of her camera, as she is also a professional wedding and event photographer.

Go Tara!

Check out Tara's photo on Buck Davidson's new web site!  Go Tara!

Don't forget that Tara is quite the accomplished photographer!  You can check out her photography web site HERE.

Did You Know, Part 1: Bookkeeping

Did you know that MLE offers a full range of bookkeeping services?  Yup!  We can do everything from simply reconciling your accounts each month, to invoicing clients, to paying bills, and everything in between.  And we can track your expenses by season, client, show, etc.

I think hiring an experienced bookkeeper is one of the most important things you can do as a small business owner.  Our bookkeepers are all experienced horse owners, and even more importantly, they all run their own horse businesses.  In other words ... we get it!  We get that hay needs to be put with your feed expenses and straw needs to be put with your bedding expenses.  We get that hay and grain expenses will go up in the winter and back down in the summer.  

As a small business owner myself, I know the importance of tracking income and expenses.  I also know the value of creating a realistic budget as part of your overall business plan.  Don't have a budget mapped out?  We can help!  Don't have a business plan written out?  We can help with that too!

Our rates are quite reasonable at $60/hour.  I know that at first glance you may think that's a lot of money.  But keep in mind that what may take you an entire day to do, will probably only take our bookkeepers 1-2 hours to complete.  So that frees up an entire day for you!  And we can do all of this remotely; or we can come to you if you're nearby (bookkeepers are in Maryland and Washington).  We can either charge hourly each month, or after three months we can average the hours from the previous three months and charge a flat monthly rate.  

If you're not quite ready to hire a bookkeeper, but don't really understand QuickBooks, we can train you!  If you're nearby, you can come into the office or we can travel to you.  Or we can do online training via Skype.  Simply put, we're here to help!

If you want to learn more, give me a call (301.502.8929) or shoot me an e-mail (margaret@mythiclanding.com).  Remember that consultations are free!

Meet Our Bookkeepers ...

Pam Saul, On-staff Bookkeeper

Pam Saul is the founder of Farm & Equine Business Services, which was started in June 2011.  She has over 30 years’ experience, having started with her family’s Rolling Acres Farm.  Pam started her own business when she realized the need for knowledgeable and skilled bookkeeping services for the agricultural and equine industries.  Pam has been deeply involved in the agricultural industry for many years and serves on many boards and organizations.  This gives Pam a unique perspective on the pulse of current ag/equine business trends and services in the agricultural and equine industry.  Along with her expertise in small business accounting, this gives business owners an excellent resource to build a better business foundation for their specialized ag/equine business.

Ashley Colonel, On-staff Bookkeeper

Ashley Colonel has been working as a bookkeeper and an accountant for 20 years now, working for many different types of businesses, hotels, spas, equestrian facilities, trainers, and restaurants, as well as helping to run a family-owned scenic float-trip company. She started organizing and hosting equestrian camps when she was the Area IX Adult Rider Coordinator from 2003-2005. This later led to the formation of Four Star Management where Ashley combined her bookkeeping skills and her love for horsemanship. She currently manages several equestrian businesses, including Amy Tryon’s and Stephen Bradley’s.

Ashley began riding at the age of 5, taking Western pleasure lessons. When her family moved to Texas, they couldn’t locate a Western riding instructor, but found a Pony Club trainer, and her passion for eventing was born. She has competed through the Intermediate level with her OTTB TB, Numero Uno. They have been together for 12 years now. 

It's Lissell's World ...

... and we're definitely just living in it!

This mare never ceases to amaze me with her overall level of ridiculousness.  Here's the latest story ...

Lissell got to play around at Novice on Saturday and was spot on spectacular in the jumping phases.  I'm pretty sure she found the smaller jumps a bit boring, and possibly borderline offensive.  But we both had fun running and jumping again, so that's all that matters.  Unfortunately she yanked a shoe off on cross country and somehow banged her right front ankle, because it swelled up pretty bad at the trailer. After a little further investigation with the help of GRC's photos, I figured out that she yanked it off between going down the mound and after the whiskey barrels.  It still didn't make sense to me why her ankle was so big, so I looked at her cross country boots, and sure enough, there's a crack in the protective lining.  Mystery solved, yes.  But it doesn't help the fact that Lissell is sore and not completely sound.

So we decided to leave her in yesterday during the day with Kelley's fancy EquiFit standing wraps and a Rebound hoof pack on that right front hoof.  I go out in the afternoon to unwrap her, evaluate her soundness and decide if she can go out with her buds, or if I need to keep her confined to prevent further injury.

And this is where the ridiculousness starts ...

I grab the lunge line and head to our nice, fluffy outdoor arena to take her for a spin.  She walks for about half a circle before dropping her head, sniffing the fluffy footing, and going down for a roll in the sand.  No biggie though, she's done this once before.  Except ... this time she rolled out of her flimsy grooming halter.  Again, I'm not worried, she'll just stand up and wait for me, right??  Not this time!  Instead, she drops again and gets the other side nice and dirty.  Stands up, and as I walk towards her, trots off.  At this point I'm thinking, "Well crap, now I'm going to have to chase her around the entire farm."  Except, being the good(?) girl that she is, she stays in the ring and basically lunges herself.  But anytime I got near her, she would quietly spin away and trot off in the opposite direction.  Much to the amusement of Kim, Pat, Kelley and Scott (you know that you always need an audience for your most ridiculous/embarrassing moments).

 

You may ask yourself, "Oh, maybe Margaret practices natural horsemanship and her horse free lunges routinely."  No, no, my friends.  This is not a product of supreme training.  This is a product of Lissell thinking that she's entirely too funny.

I think this little game of cat and mouse lasted for about 5 minutes.  At no point did she set foot outside of the arena.  But she just had no interest in ending the game.  Not even Kim leading her handsome gelding Riley over to the fence could distract her from her mission, which was surely to simply amuse herself for a bit of time.  Thankfully, we were all laughing with her (some harder than others).  Eventually, Lissell went over to say hello to Pat, and Pat was able to grab her long enough for me to slip her halter back on.

The good news is that she looked pretty sound and got to go out with her girls.  Meanwhile, I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.  Thanks Lissell!