what do y'all do to attract new business?

I think time and situations change for everybody
if you had little or no work god knows what you would have to do

I have never offered discounts but that's not to say I woudent

John when i left England in 2000 i was on £80.00 a set +vat , i am now on £70.00 , there were 39 farriers in the same area there are now 147 , horse numbers are down 30% overheads are up 50% + , it must be bloody hard to set up nowadays
I should point out to non brits we have very strict protocol as regards advertising , we are not allowed to enter a yard looking for work , we have to be careful where we post cards . lots of IMO stupid regulations ,

I bring in new Business by talking to People , it guess in a way its a sales pitch. Ill be at a horse event ,toss a couple cards in my pocket . People will come up and start chatting with you its easy to move the conversation to what you do for a living among horse people , I hand out a couple cards and say if you know anyone looking for a farrier give them my card . I got the Idea from this Great Farrier I know ...

try doing that over here , you will soon be in trouble ,

David, if you notice the quality of previous work on the first appointment, and it's good, you'll know exactly what to expect.

Hence the unfortunate occurrences during the 1770s and 80s.

I got a couple riding schools I give a little rebate on trimmings because it is a good way to support them a bit. Shoeing they pay full rate. I did the horse show thing when I began. Now it's word of mouth. I got plenty to do (Lucky I guess). I'm guessing there will come a time when horses will be down because I know many who aren't having foals because of costs and such.

Yah, your just lucky Mikel. Years and years of hard work, practice, bleeding, soreness, study, testing and success, then you woke up one morning a lucky guy.

I suppose different places different types of work come in to play

And how's that working?

It has been working okay. It gives my clients incentive to pass my name along.

I do the same as draft shoer and also I just sponsored the local equine dentist's barrel horse and she is spreading my name to all her clients

As one old preacher said: "Let all your haters be your elevators." Tommy Steel, N.C.

I live on a rather busy highway. Do any of you think I should hang up a sign and invite people to bring their horses to me? I have enough room to turn around at least a four to six horse trailer. Any larger could be a problem.

Probably not a bad idea, if thats what you want to do. The people in my area expect a HUGE discount for bringing them to you. Thats the main reason I don't do it. That, and the fact that I don't want people bringing possibly sick horses to my farm.

I don't really want my clients to know where I live.

I have a friend who went with this as he wanted to cut his business back and not have to drive. I've heard others say that people will just show up at all times and you better have more insurance.

I have noticed that when people are hauling to my house. They don't seem to mind if they're more than 2 hours late. And they still expect you to get everything done. Even if you had plans for dinner that night.I have also experienced people it stopped by unannouncedwith the Lost shoe on their way home from a show. they expect you to drop everything you're doing to fix their emergency. I had to fire someone over this.it turns out I don't like surprises at 7 a.m. On a Sunday morning

part of it is knowing your clientele I guess. When people call in the middle of summer. Needing something fixed.I always offer to meet them at my house at the end of the day. Then you find out how important it really is to them.I have only ever had one person think it was worth hooking up to the horse trailer to come to my house in the evening. it turns out a lost shoe can wait a day or two most times.the FedEx man would not be excited if I show up at his house at midnight looking for a package that he would deliver the next day.

I take Fridays and invite people to come with their horses. Just think - no driving time, more productive, less setup and packing time. I just wish I could get all my customers to drive to me. I insist that people call me when they are on the way. I insist on the same timely standards I have when I drive to them. You got to set the standard and let them know who's business it is. I make it known if you just show up, no one might be there.