Planning For Professionalism
BY LAURELLA DESBOROUGH
Copyright Laurella Desbrough (eclectusbreeder.com).
All rights reserved by the author.
Along with reviewing our bird
farm production records for 1997
and preparing our breeding pairs
for 1998, we need to make plans
for ourselves. Along with
maintaining our networks of
knowledgeable friends in
aviculture, attending
conferences, workshops and
seminars adds immeasurable value
to our professionalism. These
special events provide us with
the opportunity to attend
lectures by the top breeders in
the United States, as well as
expert aviculturists from
foreign lands. Every major
conference uses its profits to
benefit some aspect of
aviculture, from funding avian
research to conservation,
education and providing services
to the community of bird owners.
These annual educational events
held in different parts of the
country are extremely important
for the future of aviculture as
a whole. Our participation in
these conferences promotes our
professionalism. I will review
the major conferences scheduled
for 1998 over several columns.
International Aviculturists
Society (IAS), a nonprofit
volunteer organization, is
holding its 6th annual
convention March 4th to 8th in
Orlando, Florida. Through these
conferences, IAS has raised more
than $100,000 for avian research
and conservation. Speakers at
the upcoming event include
international lecturers Andrew
Greenwood, MA VetMB, FIBiol,
MRCVS, of the United kingdom;
Jan Hooimeijer, DVM, of the
Netherlands; Roger Sweeney of
the Canary Islands, Spain; and
Douglas Trent of Brazil and the
USA. Speakers from North America
include Sally Blanchard; Terry
Clyne; Keven Flammer, DVM; Jerry
Jennings; Teresa Lightfoot, DVM;
Mark Hagen; Greg Harrison, DVM;
Steve Martin; Chris Shanks;
Brian Speer, DVM; Trent Swigert;
Tom Tully, DVM; Dale Thompson;
Elizabeth Wilson; and Fern Van
Sant, DVM. Topics include aviary
design and management,
incubation, nursery management,
reproduction, husbandry,
medicine, behavior, avian
medicine and conservation
fieldwork.
Companion bird owners, beginning
bird breeders and experienced
breeders will find this
conference exciting and
informative. The Convention
hotel is the Orlando North
Hilton at 350 South North Lake
Blvd., Altemont Springs, FL,
32715-9004. Call (800) 445-8667
or (407) 830-1985 for
reservations, and be sure to
mention IAS. It is wise to book
rooms early. Airport shuttle
service is provided.
Registration commences at 6 P.M.
Wednesday, March 4, followed by
a meet the exhibitors and
speakers icebreaker in the
hospitality area. Seminars will
be Thursday through Saturday,
and question-and-answer sessions
will be held on Thursday and
Friday evening. Saturday's gala
"Vegas Night Evening" and
auction is the primary
fundraising event of the
convention. Auction donations
include an unrelated pair of
Cuban Amazons donated by Ramon
Nogel and Greg Moss. John Goss
has donated a young hand-raised
Moluccan cockatoo and is
sponsoring the hospitality room.
To donate auction items, please
contact Phyllis Martin, Dept.
BBOL, 1314 State Rd. 60 West,
Plant City, FL 33567; phone/fax
(813) 737-2504, e-mail Pkgm@aol.com.
For registration and additional
information, contact Jackie
Sites, Dept. BBOL, P.O. Box
233524, Anchorage, AK
99523-3524; (907) 563-2213
(evenings), fax: (907) 563-0393,
e-mail jsites@alaska.net. Full
advance registration is $285,
and includes the seminars,
proceedings, Vegas Night and
dinner. For IAS membership,
contact Sallie Klink, Dept. BBOL,
14415 Dabney Ct., Spring Hills,
FL 34610; (813) 856-3587, fax
(813) 856-7166.
In upcoming columns, I will be
providing information on the
following events: Bird Clubs of
Virginia Conference, March,
1998; Midwest Avian Research
Expo in Toledo, Ohio in July,
1998; the American Federation of
Aviculture Convention in August,
1998, in Baltimore, Maryland;
and the Canadian Parrot
Symposium to be held in Toronto,
Canada, in November.
Marketing Review
Have you been depending on the
"usual" customers to purchase
the young birds you raise? Do
you need to seek out new markets
for your birds? Does this mean
personal contact by phone or
making visits to area pet stores
that deal in birds? Perhaps
preparing a sales brochure or
information sheet to put into
the hands of potential clients
would accelerate sales. Have you
tried advertising in the
national bird magazines? Are you
working with your regular
veterinarian to assist in
promoting sales? What about the
pet trade journals? Do you
produce enough birds to ship to
markets farther away? Would you
do better by specializing more
or by expanding to include new
species in your offerings? What
kinds of birds do your local
markets want? Are you interested
in supplying them? Should you
make some calls to test the
needs of that marketplace?
Doing some simple market
research in your area may give
you some guidance as to new
directions to consider. If
everything is going great, why
not send out thank-you letters
to your network of clients? You
could let them know you
appreciate their continuing
support and give them a preview
of coming attractions for 1998.
This serves as a way of keeping
in touch.
Individual Clients
If most of your business is with
individual clients, you might
review how you keep in touch
with them. Do you send out a
monthly or quarterly
newsletter/price list? Do you
send out occasional
informational flyers relaying
useful tips about diet, behavior
and caging? This means you have
to routinely collect this kind
of information, and if it
involves diet or other critical
data, it should be checked with
the appropriate experts to make
sure it is correct. A lot of
information is out there that
isn't necessarily accurate, and
you do not want to pass it on to
your clients. Clients especially
appreciate information on the
care and handling of their
birds. They also appreciate
follow-up after sales. Have you
set up a system of service to
your clients? If not, consider
doing so, and find out more
about what the customers want
before you finalize the service
plan.
A Bird Farm Booklet as a
Sales Tool
Often buyers want to see the
parents of the young birds you
are offering for sale. Most of
us who raise exotic birds do not
want anyone disturbing the
breeding pairs and possibly
infecting them by walking past
or through the aviaries. A handy
solution is to prepare a booklet
of photographs and written
material that you can hand to
visiting clients. This booklet
also saves time since you can
hand it to potential clients for
their perusal when they arrive.
The booklet provides an
introduction and avoids the need
for spending your valuable time
answering simple routine sales
questions. A three-ring binder
will handle the material.
Assemble it carefully, and
prepare it neatly.
Start with an introduction page
and possibly an overview photo
of your aviaries (you do not
need to include the location or
any information which could be
of use to criminals). Include
information on your personal
goals relating to birds,
followed by a copy of a business
or resale license, information
about your veterinarian of
choice and, possibly, your
attorney. A series of
photographs of breeding pairs in
their flights, of young birds in
brooders at various ages,
examples of proper caging, food
bowls with proper diet, examples
of information sheets on the
birds you sell, the services you
provide, a sample contract and
copies of happy client letters
are all helpful to include.
Positive newspaper articles,
special recognition or awards
you have received related to the
birds, copies of articles you
have written for the local bird
club newsletter or a bird
magazine add extra impact. Have
a simple flyer, brochure or your
business card available when
they view the booklet.
Whether you sell a few baby
African greys from a couple of
pairs in the backyard aviary
each year, or sell 10, 20 or
hundreds of babies each year, a
well-prepared booklet that gives
an overview of what you provide
by way of birds, services and
sales contracts lets your
clients know you are a
professional and gives them a
feeling of greater confidence in
purchasing a companion bird from
you.
