How to Market Your Pet Business - Pet Communities, Press Releases, and Events

Filed Under Pet Business Coaching, Pet Business Interviews | Leave a Comment

Marketing IdeasI had a great call with Leslie from Pawsible Marketing last night. Leslie began her specialty pet marketing consulting business on the advice of a friend. She found that she loves working with pet business owners as it fits with her love of pets and is a fun business.

She now works with pet business owners nationwide to set them up with a business marketing plan in which she outlines a set of customized marketing tactics.

Here are a just a few of the tips she shared with me on the call:

1) The most common marketing mistakes made by pet business owners are a lack of planning and consistency.

2) All business owners should have a library of marketing documents available in both online and print form. The documents in your marketing library should include business cards, a brochure or website, email signature, press release template, and promotional giveaway items.

3) Your marketing budget should be flexible and change to fit with the life stage of your business and your business goals.

4) One of the best ways to network with pet owners is to find hidden pet communities such as online forums, and local pet newsletters, and to get actively involved in community pet events.

5) To get free publicity through the TV, radio, and news media you need to develop a creative “hook” that makes your business unique and newsworthy

6) When setting up your marketing plan you need to step back and examine your business objectively, determine the realistic potential your market, and determine which products and services pet owners are most likely to buy.

It’s not too late to share in the other valuable tips from Leslie. Just join up as a member of the Pet Business Success Circle and you will receive a downloadable mp3 file of the call, full written transcript, and my action checklist that will make sure that you implement the ideas in your own pet business.

In our August expert interview I will be sharing with members my tips on finding and hiring great staff. I will also be giving members a copy of my staff guidelines and sitter incentive plan. Don’t miss this call - sign up now!

How to Get More Customer Referrals for Your Pet Business

Filed Under Pet Business Tips | 1 Comment

A happy customer is a valuable marketing opportunity.  Unfortunately the folks businesses usually hear from are the unhappy customers.  The challenge is to motivate happy customers to spread the word about your pet business.  Here are five great ways to get more customer referrals.

1. Get Happy Customers

The first thing you need to get customer referrals is a happy customer.  That requires:

#            A quality product or service
#            A quality customer service experience
#            Satisfaction with the buying process

The next step is to motivate your happy customers to spread the word.  That often requires motivation.  You have to reward customers for their referrals.

2. Offer Incentives

One great way to motivate referrals, particularly in this new limited budget economy, is to offer customers a coupon or a percentage off their next purchase in exchange for a referral.  Money is a powerful motivator and if customers are truly satisfied with your service they’ll be more than happy to spread the word about your business.  The extra cash serves as a reminder and a way to show your appreciation for their contribution

3. Recruit Affiliates

Another idea commonly used by all sized businesses in every industry is to pay your customers for a percentage of their referral sale.  This is called affiliate marketing.  It’s another money motivated type program whereby a customer receives payment for referrals.  These programs are family easy to set up and manage with affiliate marketing software programs.  Additionally, you can base your payment system on a number of options ranging from payment for referred name only, click through or payment for sales.

4. Offer a Referral Bonus

Offering a bonus for on the spot referrals can work for some industries.  For example, if your pet business has a newsletter once someone has become a subscriber you can ask them for five names and email addresses.  If those referrals are provided they’ll receive a coupon, discount, product, or instantly downloadable book or video.  Of course make sure the book or video is something they’d be interested in and motivated to obtain.

5. Speak up

It’s okay to ask a happy customer for a referral.  Via email, snail mail or even on the phone “Would you know someone who could benefit from my products or services?” is a straightforward and easy approach to broadening your customer base.  The answer will either be “yes”, “no”, or “I’ll think about it and let you know”.

Referral marketing begins and ends by providing a positive and memorable customer experience.   Once you’ve set the groundwork creating and communicating a referral marketing strategy is much easier.  People will be happy to spread the word about your wonderful pet business!

Pet Business Marketing Teleseminar - Get Your Marketing Questions Answered For $7

Filed Under Pet Business Coaching, Pet Business Interviews, Pet Business Success Circle | Leave a Comment

Marketing a Pet BusinessNext Tuesday July 15th at 7pm CT I will be interviewing pet business marketing expert Leslie May - CEO of Pawsible Marketing.  No matter what type of small business you have or want to start, one of your most important tasks is marketing your business to attract new clients. 

There are so many options including advertising, networking, businesss cards, flyers, publicity that it can be difficult to decide where to focus your efforts so that you are most effective.  

Leslie has been a marketing consultant to small business since 2002 and launched Pawsible marketing in 2007 which focuses on helping pet businesses.  Here is a taste of what I will be discussing with Leslie :

The 5 most effective marketing methods you should use to promote your pet business

How to get the most bang for your advertising bucks

Why you need a marketing plan and how to create a plan and marketing budget

How to get local publicity via newspapers, radio, TV, and local pet events

Every one who joins us on the call will also have the opportunity to get answers to their burning marketing questions from Leslie.

This call is part of the Pet Business Success Circle Coaching and Mastermind Program that I have just re-launched.  

You can join us on the call for only $7 and also get access to the recording and written transcript of the call.  After the call you will also receive my action plan checklist that will show you how you can apply everything discussed on the call to your pet business.

This is a very small investment to get personal advice from a specialist pet business marketing consultant.  Getting the help you need to get more clients will cost you less than dinner at Chilli’s! 

If you need help with marketing your business please consider joining us on the call.  I’d love to hear you get your questions answered.

To sign up for the call and the other great benefits of becoming a success circle member click here.

If you have marketing questions that you would like to see answered on the call please leave them in the comment section below and I will add them to my interview questions.

How to Create a Pricing Strategy for Your Pet Business

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Pricing StrategyPricing your services is perhaps one of the most anxiety filled steps in building a successful pet business.  Too low and you’re not taken seriously, too high and no one can or will afford your services.  It’s a wiggly tightrope to walk.  Here are three steps to help you stay balanced and find the perfect pricing structure to meet both your needs and the needs of your customers. 

Step One.  What is your competition doing?  Your competition’s pricing strategy is an essential metric by which you will measure your own pricing strategy.  Take the time to examine the pricing of the pet service down the street as well as the pet service on the other side of the country.  Use this information as a starting point, not the determining factor, by which you’ll establish your prices. 

Be sure to examine your direct competition as well as the indirect competition.   For example, perhaps you offer grooming services so other grooming businesses will be your direct competition however a boarding facility or a veterinarian who also offer grooming services are your indirect competition.  Additionally, stores which offer ‘do it yourself’ grooming products may also be considered indirect competition. 

Step Two.  What is your USP?  USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.  What makes you unique and different from your competition?  What can you do better or add to the services to demand a higher price?  Make a list of everything your competition does.  What benefits do they offer?  What makes them unique?  What do they do very well?  What are their weaknesses?    Now make a list of what you presently do very well and what you can offer to make yourself stand out above your competition.  This uniqueness, this essential customer service is what you charge for.   

Step Three.  Market your uniqueness.  A large part of the success of a pricing strategy rests in the success of your marketing.  To demand higher prices, it is necessary to position yourself as the expert, as worthy of those high prices. Take a look at your current marketing strategy.  What can you do to position yourself as a leader in your industry?  How can you market your ‘expert status’ to raise the value of your services? 

Armed with the information you now have about your competition’s pricing as well as what makes your services better and unique, you can now create a pricing strategy which makes sense for you.  Make sure that with the pricing you choose that you are able to cover your costs and make a profit that you are comfortable with.  

Remember that no pricing strategy is set in stone.  If you find you’re a bit too high for some services add an incentive or package your services differently to justify the price.  Offer special promotions and use a lower pricing structure as a marketing opportunity. Likewise if you find you’re booked solid then consider raising your prices.  Your customers won’t likely mind and the extra income is always good. 

Pet Sitters International State of Industry Survey Results

Filed Under Pet News | 3 Comments

This year I participated in PSI’s State of the Pet Sitting Industry survey and today I received an email with the early results. The information about pet sitting clients can help you tailor your marketing efforts to attract more ideal customers.  Here is your sneak peek!

This year’s survey was conducted exclusively online. PSI conducted the survey from April 9, 2008, to April 27, 2008. A total of 1,814 members completed the survey, which is a 24 percent response rate.   RESULTS  

Business Profile  

98% of all businesses are independently owned.

84% of these businesses are owned by women.

On average, 12% of members have at least one full-time employee and 23 % have at least one part-time employee.  

Businesses that made $40,000 or more in 2007 on average have one full-time employee.  

On average, those who have been members for more than 7 years and made more than $40,000 in 2007 have 2 part-time employees.  

52% of members state they never use independent contractors—23% say they rarely do.  

84% of members carry both liability and bonding insurance (This percentage decreases slightly to 77% for those who have been members less than a year.) 

Nearly all PSI members service both Dogs and Cats (97%), while two-thirds service Fish (69%), Birds (68%), and Cage Pets (66%).  

44% of members primarily service suburban areas—58% of members located in the Northeast United States primarily service suburban areas, more than any other location.  

Median revenue for 2007 was $20,000, median number of clients was 50, and median number of pet-sitting assignments was 775.  

The median number of pet-sitting assignments quadruples to 3,506 for those who made more than $40,000 in 2007.  

The average length of time taken to service a client was 38 minutes.  

The average fee charged for a visit was $18.51.

  More than 90% of all members advertise through Word of Mouth (98%), Business Cards (96%), and PSI Pet Sitter Locator Web (94%).  

68% of all members advertise through their own Web sites. 

The top five services offered by members are: Basic pet care (95%), Dog walking (92%), Care of special needs pets (85%), Pet transportation (62%) and Overnight sitting (54%).  

PSI Member Profile  

The typical member is Female (92%), Age 41 to 60 (60%), Caucasian (94%), Married (59%) and Owns her home (82%).  Additionally, she has completed at least some college (88%), entered the pet-sitting industry due to her love of animals (55%), and has been in the business for 5 years or less (61%).  

Pet sitters most commonly own Dogs (79%) and Cats (61%).  Of these, members typically own 2 dogs and 3 cats.  Approximately one-third of all members belong to the following organizations: Animal Rescue (39%), ASPCA (37%), Local Humane Society (36%), Local Pet Sitters Network (35%), and Pet Sitters Associates LLC (31%).  

57% of all members belong to their local Chamber of Commerce, and 23%belong to Better Business Bureau.  

Pet Sitting Client Profile  

On average the typical pet-sitter client is a married couple between the ages of 36-50.  Members state there are more married couples without children (40.5%), than couples with children (28.9%) who utilize their services.  

Single females (24.6%) tend to use pet sitters at a higher rate than males (10%).  

Individuals ages 26-35 (24.4%) and 51-65 (23.8%) appear to utilize pet sitters at the same rate.  

Less than 25 years old was the smallest group, making up only 4.2% of all clients.  80.3% of all clients pay in the form of a check—only 17.3% pay with cashn and 7.2% use a debit/credit card.  

The top three reasons for the use of pet sitters are:  Vacations, Midday walksn & visits, and Work schedule.  

Technology  

34% of members were highly interested in participating in PSI Webinars.  The same number of members was moderately interested.

Pet sitters who have been in the business less than one year had much higher interest (51%).  

“Pet Care and Education,” “Running Your Pet-Sitting Business,” and “Marketing/Advertising” were the top three topics mentioned for possible PSI Webinars.  

More than 57% of members stated that petsit.com is the Web site visited most often for pet sitting and business-related issues.  

58% visit the site at least once a month or more.

46% stated they visit the Members Only section at least once a month. Of those who have been members less than one year, 67% visit at least once a month (22% once a week or more)   

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