When Cicero, Ind., farrier Cody Bogard started shoeing a little over 10 years ago, his mentors told him not to worry about getting clients. He would have plenty of work in a couple of years if he did two things: show up on time and return phone calls.

“The only problem with that plan,” Bogard says, “is the phone has to ring first.”

In Bogard’s first year out of horseshoeing school, he was one of six new farriers in Hamilton County — an area north of Indianapolis with a horse population of about 4,000. As a result, business was a little slower than he expected. Bogard felt fortunate to know established farriers who would let him ride along or share a client here and there. But he also knew waiting for the phone to ring was not a business strategy — and he would need to do some marketing to grow his client base.

Bogard shares how he…