Marketing Your Dog Biz

Oh, the time vortex that is social media! The black hole! The hamster wheel! The endless worry and fretting over what to post, the constant search for ideas, the daily back-of-the-mind nagging to find time to sit down and post something brilliant… It’s easy to spend a lot of time on social media getting very little done. But when you run a small business, efficiency is key to sustainability. Here are our top tips for creating great content with less impact on your busy schedule. (We’ve included some content ideas for you, too.) Create your content framework Giving yourself a content …

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“I’ve been thinking about working with you since I saw you speak at the PPG Summit,” she told me.   “Oh, wonderful!” I replied. “How did you enjoy Portland?”   “Unfortunately I didn’t get to the Portland summit—I saw you back in 2016. I turned in a card for a free webinar at your booth and I’ve been reading your Monthly Minute ever since.” This conversation isn’t unusual. At its core marketing is about relationships, and good ones take time to build and nurture. While marketing your dog business doesn’t require the same lead time as ours might, it’s still best played as a long game. …

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Email marketing gets overshadowed by social media a lot these days, which is a great shame because email is a terrific marketing workhorse—free or low-cost, targeted, and much less time-intensive than social media. Why Use an E-Newsletter Here are four reasons you should put out an email newsletter: Sell your services. Being front-of-mind increases the likelihood of sales. Yes, existing clients know what you offer and can use your services whenever they need to. But so many things vie for time, attention, and resources these days it’s easy to be forgotten. Getting back on people’s …

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We hope this Monthly Minute finds you safe and well. We also hope it finds you busy marketing. It’s common during times of crisis, particularly those that involve economic hardship, to pull back and tighten up. There are areas in which this makes sense. Marketing is not one of them. This is a time to redouble or even triple-down on your marketing efforts with an eye both on surviving the crisis and setting up to emerge from it as quickly and strongly as possible. Read on about why you must market now, more than ever, and how to do it… When I have time… It’s a common refrain in our …

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You know who’s really good at marketing? 8-10 year old girls who want a puppy. Case in point, my daughter, Mia. She launched her campaign to get a dog a little over two years ago and I’ve been amazed watching her employ many of the same marketing strategies I’ve been teaching to dog pros for years. If you’re looking for tips to get more clients, Mia’s got you covered. Tip #1: Know your potential clients Mia understood who her potential clients are. She knew that Dad is the go-to when you want ice cream or comics, but that he wasn’t likely to be very helpful when what you want is a puppy. …

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You hate it. Marketing. It’s uncomfortable. Expensive. So far removed from what you really want to be doing—helping dogs. Even when you manage to do a bit, it just doesn’t seem to work. Without strong reinforcement for your efforts, it’s hard to keep going. It can all be pretty discouraging, especially when you know you could be helping more dogs if you could just get more clients. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s time to try thinking outside the marketing box, to learn an approach to marketing that you can not only stomach, but feel good about—and maybe, possibly, even …

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The start of a new year is the perfect time to commit to marketing your dog business. In part 1 of this series, we explored projects for a balanced, and doable, marketing plan. Now it’s time to get your marketing projects scheduled. The number one rule in marketing is to do it, and without a schedule, it’s too easy to skimp on marketing time or, worse yet, skip it altogether. The trick is to create a marketing calendar for the year, then schedule your marketing tasks into actual slots in your schedule. Breaking projects down and scheduling their steps keeps you moving forward, and soon …

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With a new year on the horizon, you’re probably starting to think ahead, set some goals, make plans. Now’s the perfect time to confront that thought that’s been lingering in the back of your mind. You know the one… I really should be doing more to market my business. The good news is how many marketing opportunities abound these days. But more options can feel overwhelming, making it hard to know where to start. Marketing can seem mysterious and unwieldy to begin with; it’s no wonder many dog pros feel like they aren’t doing enough – it’s much easier to just go work with dogs! But to do …

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As we said in Part 1 of Building a Great Dog Pro Website, your site is your most important marketing (and sales!) tool. In Part 1, we looked at the role of engaging website copywriting. In Part 2 we turn our attention to creating great design to showcase your great copy. Make it easy to read Given our emphasis on the importance of copy last month, it only makes sense to open an article about effective website design with an exhortation to make sure your copy is laid out for easy reading. While this may seem like a bulletin from the DOD (Department of Duh), a designers’ bias for design can …

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Running a business without proper marketing is like running an engine without oil. But running a car with the wrong kind of oil will get you into trouble, too, just as there’s no point spending time and money on marketing that doesn’t work. If you’re not satisfied with the results of your current marketing efforts, it’s time to take a look under the hood. Read on for the most common reasons marketing fails for dog pros. Not sticking with projects long enough Most marketing efforts have a delay time. People need time to make decisions, to be exposed to a new service or idea multiple times …

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Dog businesses do better when they band together. Our most successful dog pro clients tend to view their competition as colleagues and allies rather than enemies. Their greater success is due partly to finding ways to support each others’ businesses. This approach also means less time wasted worrying about what others are doing, leaving more energy for one’s own business. There are many ways to band with other dog pros, from loose relationships to formal ones. Here are just a few ideas. Marketing partnerships Marketing partnerships allow two or more businesses serving the same general …

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If you’re like many dog trainers, dog walkers, dog daycares, and the like, you’re in near-constant search for clients. It may seem an obvious statement on the surface, but one way to get more clients is to provide what potential clients need. This goes beyond “dog training” or “dog walking” or “dog daycare.” It goes beyond taking good care of their dogs (though of course you should!). Providing clients what they need is about understanding what drives someone, whether a dog lover, a car owner, a home owner, etc., to hire a service provider. Usually people turn to professional service …

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Veterinarians have long been a dog pro’s most coveted referral source. In the early days, bringing by a basket of cookies from time to time and asking to keep some cards or brochures on the counter could assure a steady stream of new client calls. But those days are long gone. Today’s dog training business requires a much more substantial and creative marketing plan. For one thing, as our industry has grown, dog owners have been flooded with doggie brochures, fliers, and ads. As a result, it’s become hard to get attention with such traditional means. Vets’ responsiveness has changed, …

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If you’re a typical class trainer you’d rather think about what you’re going to do with students once you have them in your classroom than what you’re going to do to get them there. For most of us, teaching is much more fun than marketing — and it comes much more easily. But given the difficulty of teaching without students, it’s best to make sure you get the most from your marketing time and dime. Here are some tips for getting your classes filled: Class Titles and Descriptions Everybody and their aunt teaches “Puppy” and “Basic.” You may be tempted to jazz up your class titles, and …

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