Wishbones for Pets - Pet Sitter Annual Community Event

Filed Under Pet Events, Pet Sitting Business Tips | November 21, 2008

Quick Tip Thursday Thanksgiving is a time for counting our blesings and enjoying time with family. It is also the time of year when we give to the less fortunate so they may enjoy a good meal.

At this time of year pet sitters also come together for pets in need and collect pet supplies and funds for local pet shelters and pet agencies. The campaign is called Wishbones for Pets and is an annual event that runs each year during the six weeks prior to Thanksgiving. The event was established in 2004 by Janet Depathy of Under My Wings Pet Sitting in Plymouth, MA.

Pet sitters work with local businesses to organize and place donation drop-off stations at their locations and select a local pet shelter or agency to which all items collected will be donated. It is a great marketing opportunity for the pet sitter who can get publicity from the event, and brings additional traffic into the local businesses. It’s a win-win for the shelter, pet sitter, and businesses that host the drop off stations.

Consider donating items for the pets at your local donation station by contacting a Wishbones for Pets pet sitter near you. You can find a list of participating pet sitters at:

http://www.wishbonesforpets.com/petsitter-reps.html

Let your clients know about the event by placing a link on your website, placing a link in your newsletter, or leaving a note for them at your Thanksgiving visits.

Put the event on your calendar for 2009 and get involved by organizing your own local community event. You can find more information and the registration forms at their website. They also have a forum where you can network with other participating pet sitters to get some tips and advice to ensure your event is a big success.

What If You Arrive At A Pet Sitting Visit and Someone’s Home

Filed Under Pet Sitting Business Tips | November 20, 2008

What If Wednesday Have you ever arrived at a pet sitting visit only to find that when you arrive the lights are on and you can see movement inside the home? Or that when you entered the home that you found that someone else was there with you? This happened to one of my pet sitters last month. It may seem like a simple situation - your customers probably just forgot to call and cancel the visits when their plans changed - but it can be a serious safety risk if not handled correctly.

What could happen if it’s not the customer who is inside the home? It could be an intruder who is taking advantage of the empty house. You don’t want to ring the door bell to alert the customer of their mistake and end up face to face with the intruder. It could also be dangerous to walk up to the home in case the intruders see you and panic.

The best steps to take in this situation are:

1) Leave the house immediately, drive away from the house and park in a secure well-lit location

2) Call your clients on their cell phone number (that you should have collected at initial interview). Check that they are indeed home and if they are not alert them to the fact that some other person was seen inside their home.

3) If you can’t reach the client - call the person listed as their emergency contact and check with them to see if they can confirm your clients plans.

4) If you cannot reach the client or their emergency contact - call the police and report the incident. Let them send someone over to the house to check on the situation.

Never assume that the person you see inside the home is your client. It is important for the safety of yourself and the clients pets that you confirm with the client on the phone that they are indeed home and that the pets do not need your care.

Unfortunately my pet sitter did not follow the steps above and did not call the client to confirm their location. She had entered the house and found no note from the client and realized that someone else was in the home. She left assuming that the clients were still home and returned the next morning to make the second scheduled visit. She did not speak with the client to confirm their location and the needs of their pets were met. This caused not only an unsafe situation but also that the client was asked to pay for a second visit, when making the second visit should have been avoided by making a phone call. Luckily the clients were home and the pets were safe and sound.

If you have any other suggestions based on your experience or experiences of colleages or friends please leave a comment after this post and share with everyone.

Shout Out If You Own A Pet Related Blog

Filed Under Pet Business Tips | November 18, 2008

Talk Back Tuesday Today I want to hear from all my readers who write a pet related blog - or just know of some great blogs that they read regularly. I am always looking for other pet blogs to read myself, so let me know where you are so I can visit.

This is your opportunity to shamelessly promote your blog (as long as it’s pet related). Leave a comment and tell us what we can expect to read about at your blog in a couple of sentences - and don’t forget to leave us a link!

PS. For all you bloggers - check out a free resource that was released today by Lynette Chandler that is designed to help you energize your blog and attract more traffic and buzz - Get Your Free Blog Energizer Membership Here Now

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5 Ways to Connect with Customers Via Community Groups

Filed Under Pet Business Marketing, Pet Sitting Business Tips | November 18, 2008

Marketing Monday Unfortunately, there is not as much interaction between neighbors as there once was in our area. We don’t see our neigbors very often, don’t have block parties or holiday parties. I don’t think I’d recognize everyone that lives on our block. We really need to make more of an effort! Luckily it’s not the same everywhere.

In communities people gather to share advice, organize neighborhood garage sales, and organize crime watch groups. Many areas also have home owners organizations (HOA’s) that meet regularly and often provide members with monthly newsletters.

Today, some even have community online forums and noticeboards where they share advice about the best pet services. I had my first experience with this last week. I had 2 new clients book pet sitting services for Thankgiving after one of them asked a question of their online HOA forum and my service was recommended by a former Claws Paws & Jaws client. This type of forum is a great referral source for you!

To find local HOA’s type in “City Homeowners Associations” into the Google search box. Insert your services areas for the City. It will bring you back a list of websites for the HOA’s in your city.

The websites will tell you about the HOA, if they have a newsletter, and you can investigate and see what events are coming up for them, and if they accept advertising by local businesses on their site. They should also give you contact information for the HOA President or at least the website manager.

There are many ways to connect:

1) Ask if you can make a short presentation at the next HOA meeting

2) Ask to place an ad in their monthly magazine

3) Ask if you can provide an article for their newsletter on a pet care or health topic

4) Ask to place an ad on their site

5) Ask if they need sponsor for upcoming community events

Forming a relationshipship with key members of the HOA can lead to further opportunities for your business and if you keep in touch regularly you will be the first service that they think of when one of their residents asks them if they know a good pet sitter.

If you have any other good ideas for making neighborhood connections please leave a comment on this post and let us know!

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What Can a Virtual Assistant Do For Your Pet Sitting Business?

Filed Under Pet Business Coaching, Pet Business Success Circle | November 16, 2008

This month on November 20th for my Pet Business Success Cirlce coaching club I am interviewing Laura Allen. Laura is a virtual assistant who graduated from the AssistU program. I have just started working with Laura to create more business systems and grow my online business. She is dedicating 10 hours of her time every month to work on my team.

This is my second week working with Laura and I’m already seeing a big turn around in my pet sitting business as we get some things taken care of that I have been letting fall through the cracks lately.

On the call I will asking Laura to answer the following questions:

From your experience in pet care what are the typical challenges faced
by the owner of a small pet care business?

What types of tasks can you perform for the owner of a pet sitting
business that makes their business run smoother and gives them more
time to focus on important tasks?

What are some of the ways that you help to market their pet sitting business?

How many hours do you normally work for your clients each month?

What type of results or improvements have you seen in the businesses
of the other clients that you work with?

What qualities should a pet sitter look for when they are searching
for a new virtual assistant?

Her answers, and our discussion, will give you a good idea if working with a VA is right for your business, and if so, you’ll know which tasks a VA can help you with, and how to find a great VA.

Of course if you join us for the call live you will have the chance to ask Laura your own questions at the end of the call. If you can’t make it in person you can still get a recording of the call, a full written transcript, and my action checklist after the call at the members download area.

If you have tasks you know you need to be doing but just don’t have enough time (that was me!) then a virtual assistant could be just the right addition to your pet business. Find out on this call and get your questions answered for just a $7 sign up fee to join the Pet Business Success Circle.

WIth your sign up you will also get access to the recordings, transcripts, and action checklists to our 5 calls. It’s a very small price to charge I know, but I want you to be successful in your business - and so do the pets!

Join up now to catch this call this week!