A 'Match.com' for livestock

By Matthew Schwartz

Bill Newham

VP-livestock group publisher

Farm Journal Media

Farm Journal Media's Beef Today in January rolled out a new website to connect buyers and sellers of cattle. Cattle-Exchange.com allows sellers to place free listings of livestock for sale. Bill Newham, VP-livestock group publisher of Farm Journal Media, talked about the program.

Media Business: What led you to launch Cattle-Exchange.com?

Bill Newham: There's a need in the marketplace for it. There are a number of sites out there but none that we felt was as detailed as they needed to be. To me, it's Match.com for cows; it's not a buy-sell platform, it's a matchmaking service.

MB: What's the sales and marketing strategy?

Newham: Primarily, site advertising and sponsorships. There's three-quarters of a million people in the U.S. who own cattle, and we have a number of (advertisers that) want to reach them. To a lesser degree, there will be premium fees for listings that are more prominent on the site.

MB: What's the biggest challenge in introducing this type of platform?

Newham:

We're approaching 100 data points on listings, (so) the challenge was getting the programming, formatting and the structure of it as such, that it was (as) user-friendly as

possible for people who want to list cattle. Because, in a broad sense, we're dealing with an audience that may not be on the technology cutting edge as in other industries

Originally posted on: 4/6/12