Kathy keeps our newsletter database up to date and makes sure they are delivered on time!

Our interns are heading back home for the summer!  Look for an update on them shortly!

Cover photo: You now have one large image to showcase your page. The cover photo maximum dimensions are 850 pixels by 315 pixels.  Cover photos cannot include call to actions such as asking folks to like or share your page or have any contact information at all, including your web address, phone number or mailing address.

 Profile photo: The profile picture size has been changed to 180 pixels by 180 pixels. It appears next to every post in the news feed as a 30 pixel by 30 pixel picture. The profile picture is best used for your logo or other eye-catching picture without a lot of words.

Company information: is highlighted below the cover photo and profile photo.

Tabs & Applications: You’ll find them directly below your cover photo.  You now have 12 applications you can showcase and only the four applications that you move to the top row will appear prominently. You cannot change the position of the photos, so technically you only have three applications that you have control over in that top row. For now the remaining three are your newsletter sign up box, number of friends and coming soon your twitter sign up box.  Others remain and are accessible by clicking the drop down box.

Larger, Highlighted and Pinned Posts: To help you tell your stories, the pictures and videos are now larger and more eye-catching on the Timeline.  They are also in chronological order.  You can highlight a story (by clicking the star icon in the upper right of a post) so that it spans all the way across the Timeline.  You can also pin the story to the top of your Timeline for up to a week. To do this, click the pencil icon in the upper right of the post and select Pin to Top.

Bob Wucher with John Krause, manager of Trinity Gardens

Trinity Gardens opened this weekend and we stopped by to visit our friend and garden manager, John Krause.  Many of you know John from the radio and his show, Natural Living First which John co-hosts Sunday afternoons on WBAP.    True to his word, Trinity Gardens is beautiful and carries a great selection of perennials including native trees, a full line of organic lawn and garden products, bedding plants, veggie plants, and landscape design.  If you’re looking for an organic garden center, this is the place.

The grounds are beautiful, laced around several koi ponds with established landscaping, Trinity Gardens is a delightful place to visit.  There is a large chicken coop which will be home to several lucky chickens.  The “Angel Shed” will soon feature unique gift items from local artisans.  Monthly garden seminars from garden expert John Krause are also planned.

An interesting addition to this place is the area beyond the garden center.  Within this serene setting you’ll find a western town front, large outdoor brick fireplace and patio, and trails leading you down into the cool, tree sheltered venue.  The future vision for this area is a place to host parties and events, and we agree!  Add a little music, string some lights and you have the perfect setting for an evening reception or a unique party, set among beautiful landscaping.

Tomato and pepper plants

John is giving away a tomato and pepper plant as part of the grand opening.  Stop by and check them out, they are great looking plants.  We picked out an early-girl tomato and a bell pepper plant.  They have many choose from, around 8-10 inches tall and ready to go into the ground.  Can’t wait to taste them later this summer.  Hardy ageratum and sun drops rounded out our purchase, the ageratum is an addition to the butterfly garden.

Trinity Gardens is located just 1 mile north of Stacy Road in Fairview, Texas. You can find them at 690 S. Hwy 5, Fairview, Texas.   Trinity Gardens is a division of Trinity Tree Farms and Strange Landscape.

In February we made a second trip and visited with 6 new clients, all a result from the January trip.  We’ve started rolling out these new websites in March and still have a few more to  come in April.  Be sure to visit their websites!

View from the Texas Star

I love fall in Texas.  The cooler weather, fall colors, Friday Night Lights football, and the sounds of the marching band from the local high school mean summer has finally faded for another year.  Fall also means the Texas State Fair or as we affectionately call it, the three F’s.  Fried foods, Football and Farm animals.  My husband works the fair each year to see how the FFA and 4H kiddos do in the show ring.  I don’t make it to the fair very often.  We have no farm animals, we do our best to resist the allure of corny dogs and fried Twinkies,  and we have no allegiance to the teams playing in the Red River Shoot out…yet.

With the State Fair winding down and a day off of school for the boys, we decided a visit was in order.  Morning is the best time to arrive, the crowds are thin and the weather cool.  Not quite cool enough for jeans and a sweater, but cool enough to walk around for a few hours.  Big Tex was in fine form, greeting everyone with his ‘Howdy” wave.  The car show was in full swing, and the smells of fried food filling the air.  We pursued the food vendors, watched a dog show, walked through the hundreds of vendors selling an array of items from sewing machines to hot tubs, and navigated our way through the Midway.  The view from the Texas Star was magnificent, although the ride was way too short.  The Texas sky was a brilliant blue as you can see from the photo.  And much to my youngest son’s relief, we survived the ride and several others he ventured on.

Spirit of the Horse

A trip the fair isn’t complete without a visit to the livestock barn.  While most of the animals had departed the horses were still there, and we had the pleasure of meeting with Robert Liner.  Robert and his team of cowboys & cowgirls preform the “Spirit of the Horse” demonstrations at the State Fair of Texas.  Liner, known as a local “Horse Whisperer” draws a huge crowd daily during the fair where he showcases general horse and horsemanship information for every level of interest.  And don’t forget those country manners!  A tip of the hat from this “Marlboro Man” and I was hooked.  Liner and his team of young riders were pleasant and friendly as they prepared for their next show.  A Purina “Ambassador”, Robert participates in several Horse Owner Workshops throughout North Texas and offers horsemanship clinics around the state.

The 2011 Collin County Honey Princesses, 2011 Wiliamson County Honey Queen, 2011 American Honey Princess and the 2011 East Texas Honey Princess at the Texas State Fair!

We also met the American Honey Princess and her court posing for pictures in front of Big Tex.   These beautiful young women travel the country and the state of Texas as spokespeople on the benefits of honey and the beekeeping industry.  Available by request, they speak at schools, clubs, fairs, and more promoting the preservation of honey bees.  Each of these young ladies are experienced beekeepers themselves.  While at the fair the royal Honey court preformed cooking demonstrations at the Texas Beekeepers Association Honey booth, showcasing how honey can be used in many recipes.  We briefly spoke with a few of the women who were on a break from cooking for a quick photo opportunity.

Consider your local Beekeeping Association as a resource when hosting events at the feed store!  This topic would make an excellent workshop for your customers, particularly in the spring and fall. You can find these groups on the internet or give me a call, I have contacts for them.

What a fun, educational day for the entire family.  We left the fair feeling full (see, the three F’s!), some from the fried food (ask Bob about the fried Twinkies) and others from the sites and folks we met along the way.

Whenever you update your personal profile, you can determine who you want to see your post: public, friends or custom. Custom can then include friends of friends, only certain friends, or a friends list. You may want to check out this post to help you create friends lists and also review other privacy controls: 4 Simple Steps to Control Your Facebook Privacy.

If you want to keep your profile private, you don’t have to worry about the Subscribe button at all. But if you’re interested in sharing some posts publicly, you can opt in by going to www.facebook.com/about/subscribe and clicking Allow Subscribers. You can also read more about how the Subscribe button works at that link.

Once you click Allow Subscribers, you have some settings to configure. You can always go back and adjust these settings by clicking your profile in the upper-right corner of Facebook and then selecting Subscribers on the left sidebar. Then select the Edit Settings button in the upper-right corner of the page.

Decide if you want to allow comments by anyone on your public updates. Realize that you cannot block profanity or spam on your personal updates (even though you can on a Facebook page). You can always delete comments and block people after the fact, but if you keep this setting open, watch your posts.

When you allow subscribers, make sure you are watching how you post your updates. The default is public; so if you don’t want your post to be public, use the dropdown menu to change who can see the post. You can also retroactively change who can see your posts by using the dropdown menu to the right of each post. This is handy if you “over-shared” something private.

You may just choose to subscribe to people who have too many friends and aren’t accepting friend requests. If you navigate to their profile, you will see the Subscribe button, which indicates that you can choose to request a friendship or subscribe (or both).

But realize that if you do subscribe to them, your name is listed as a subscriber for public information. This is different than the “Likers” of a Facebook page, which are not visible to the public.

Source: Social Media Examiner

Now, where is my horse?

Red Mango Marketing hit the road last week visiting clients in Central Texas.  We didn’t see Willie Nelson, but hummed along to his tunes as we headed south.  Vickie and Karen spent 4 days meeting with existing clients, including Morales Feed & Supply and New Braunfels Feed & Supply, and calling on prospects.  Vickie navigated our way through the back roads of Texas were we saw plenty of interesting sites, like this beautiful pink, rhinestone saddle at Silvers Pet & Feed, a VW Bug in a tree outside La Vernia, TX, a historic dance hall in Gruene, TX,  and the fabulous river walk in San Antonio. Sure wish we had a picture of the VW Bug, maybe next time.

Special thanks to David Harrison and Margo Kahla for taking time of our their business schedules to introduce us to some of their clients.  We’re looking forward to working with some new clients in the near future, including La Vernia Feed & Supply.

We saw the devastation from the ongoing Texas drought first hand.  Ponds are dried up and cattle are scarce having been sold off by most ranches and farms.  Fires are everywhere and the smell of smoke was strong during our trip.  In Bastrop, Cadwell and the surrounding counties more than 1400 homes have burned.  Bastop Feed & Supply is collecting funds to help feed rescued livestock and animals with hay, feed and related care items.  To help you can donate online at Bastrop Feed & Supply. The American Red Cross is also accepting donations to assist with the thousands of displaced families.   Please pray for rain.

Vickie, Meghan and Tina

Tina and Meghan kept Red Mango Marketing humming along during our trip.  And thanks to our webmaster, Richard Kinney, who was “johnny on the spot” during our sales calls.  We closed a deal and selected a new website “skin” in record time thanks to Richard and technology.  Our intern Meghan said goodbye to us this week and is headed back to college.  We will miss her dearly, and so will our clients!  Meghan rocked during her time with us and entered a record breaking 600 new customer contacts in 2 weeks!  Ark Country Store and Walden Farm & Ranch definitely benefited from Meghan’s assistance.  So long, Meghan!

This suburban wife/mom/business owner agrees!  One meeting at Lusk Lodge II and I was sold!  Imagine a business meeting held outside on the porch above a pond. A gentle breeze blowing, the soothing sound of water, my boys fishing and exploring the ponds and wildlife.  The house, ponds, and views all designed by Mr. Lusk himself.  Did I mention that we caught some fish?  Right there on the dock, next to the floating island in the pond.  How many folks can boast business meetings in such a wonderful ambiance?  We love our customers!

If you are looking to build the pond or vacation property of your dreams, call Bob Lusk.  Take a visit to his Website, look around, and them pick up the phone and give Bob a call.  One call and you’ll be “hooked!”

It wasn’t all work and no play! Bonnie met many of our clients and toured the North Texas metroplex on one of the hottest summers in Texas history.  She wrote content for newsletters, learned how to update websites, and honed her social media skills.  We are sad to see her go, but look forward to watching this amazing young woman succeed in college and beyond.

Lucky for us, there are a few young college students that don’t head back to school in August.  Meghan Haggblade stepped in as Bonnie headed back to school.  Meghan is an Environmental Management and Protection major at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. When not busy studying, Meghan spends time with her friends, hangs at the beach, hikes the mountains around campus, and window shops around downtown San Luis Obispo.   Meghan is also an accomplished French horn player.

Welcome Meghan!  We know you’ll be busy and the time will fly by!

I learned so much this summer. Karen told me I would learn about agriculture and the feed store business in addition to marketing.  Frankly, I didn’t think there was much to learn, but boy was I wrong!  What an education learning about which feeds that are suitable for different animals to the effect of the drought on hay and food prices.  Who knew this city girl would be able to name 8 different horse feeds by the end of this experience.  Besides meeting and learning about the customers Red Mango Marketing represents,  I picked up many new marketing and media related skills that will assist  in future jobs.

So long to the weekly staff meetings and the team at Red Mango Marketing!  I will miss working with the wonderful folks and bouncing ideas off each of you.  Special thanks to Karen for the opportunity you have given me.  I have learned more than you will ever know and have enjoyed every minute of this internship. You have showed me what it takes to operate a business and the dedication you have to this company is inspiring. When I am out on my own I will never give less than 110 percent because that’s the work ethic you have and have instilled into me these past three months.

So with a brain full of new knowledge and a very heavy heart I write this goodbye post. This experience and Red Mango Marketing have a very special place in my heart, and I will never forget this summer.  It’s time to head back to school and apply some of the skills I have learned.

Bonnie Conklin