The perfect holiday marketing strategy for profits and exceptional pet care!

This is the time of year that pets are given as gifts, and pet parents spoil their little furry friends with gifts, toys, treats and luxuries.

As a pet care business owner, it is easy to see the opportunity for gift items…if you dig a little deaper you can tap into a way to not only support pet owners but acquire new clients in the process.

In addition to the usualy Holiday discounts and pet accessory sales what you do to market your business during the holiday season differentiates your business-establishing you as the pet care leader in your community?

I’ve listed a few of my favorite Unity Dog holiday marketing strategies below (for more great ideas visit our services page):

• Design an elder visit package

The elder visit package is a customized service that involves you or a staff member along with a well balanced, mild mannored dog visiting the ederly in their homes, at nursing homes or retirement communities.

The program can be tailored to be sold to individual families or retirement communities.  What family wouldn’t love to be able to send their mother, father or grandparent a gift of a visit and an adorable dog?

The visit lifts spirits and improves the state of mind of the recipient - truly an invaluable gift.

• Create a new puppy potty training program

What a blessing it would be if the new puppy mommy and daddy were planning to bring home for the holidays already had a head start on potty training.  Think of the stress reduction for the new puppy owner.  Your program could incorporate in home or in your store potty training sessions.

If you accept puppies in your store who have not completed their puppy shots - you must provide a safe place to work with the puppy away from other dogs in your care.

The program does not have to guarantee potty training by the Holidays.  A jump start on potty training along with continued support after the family brings the new puppy into their home is a valuable gift.

• Obedience before Christmas program

In a similar vein as the puppy potty training program, you can offer a basic obedience program for the new dog or puppy that can be performed with or without the initial participation of the new pet owners.

In this way, you not only help the puppy get a head start on obedience, regardless if the new pet owners are willing to make time to attend an obedience class, but you also almost assuradly guarantee that the parents will attend a future obedience class.

If the pet care owner knows the puppy already understands basic obedience, they may be more inclined to attend an obedience class to learn the commands for themselves.   Either way, you have given the new puppy a much stronger chance of staying in the new families home.

All three of these unity dog marketing strategies are designed for optimal benefit.  Revenue generation, acquisition of new clients, client retention and client skills development.

All required elements of a successful pet care business and successful pet care ownership.

Warm Holiday Waggles,
Fran
fran@dogbusinessdaily.com

You have studied similar dog care businesses, seen what the competitors are doing, developed competitive pricing strategies even joined forums and associations to develop your skills and best practices….

Sounds like a responsible and thorough strategy…So, why do I think it is a sure fire plan for business mediocrity?

“The greatest managers in the world seem to have little in common. They differ in sex, age, and race. They employ vastly different styles and focus on different goals. Yet despite their differences, great managers share one common trait: They do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom.”

First, Break All The Rules, Buckingham & Coffman

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization conducted a comprehensive, massive study of leaders and managers across a wide variety of industries and found the only common trait in the most successful managers in the world - they didn’t play by rules.

It is interesting that as business owners our first and often times only education comes from studying other business owners in our industry. We think everything we need to know about running a doggy day care or dog sitting business can be learned by studying the business down the road.

While on the surface this strategy seems logical and almost necessary - it is by this very practice of observing the standards and accepted practices of other businesses that prevents us from creative innovation.

Once a concept of how a process should be performed is firmly established in ones mind - unless intentionally and ruthlessly examined - the process will rarely change, improve and certainly never innovate.

How do you know if your another me-too business or you are innovative and destined for greatness? If you don’t know…take a close look at your systems, processes, philosophies…ask your staff…ask your vendors, if you are brave enough…ask your customers and prospects.

How different is your pet care business from the one around the corner? Innovation doesn’t mean that you use pink bows after grooming and the competitor uses purple!

Ask yourself how many of these apply to your business:

• Do you service all of your customers and prospective customers as if they were your only client/prospect?

• Are your employees your most valued asset?

• Is it policy to always share the wealth?

• Do you focus on solutions and never on blame?

• Do you anticipate and act on industry trends and market needs?

• Is your work environment one of trust and honesty?

• Is every interaction with your clients viewed as a moment to prove yourself and your business?

• Do you have a goal for your business? One that all of your staff is familiar with and buys into? How else do you know where you are going?

These are not terribly innovative ideas - but they are a jumping off point.  Let’s say, a minimum standard when thinking about a great organization.  When you reach a place where you can view every circumstance, event and process and ask yourself if there isn’t a better way…you are on your way to greatness.

Don’t settle for the status quo. Don’t continue to do the same things just because they are the things you have always done. That is the most ridiculous reason of all.

I take that back, maybe it is not the most, maybe the most ridiculous is doing the same thing everyone else is doing. And certainly do not entrust your business to someone who has just been “winging” their own business.

It doesn’t matter if you are satisfied making $10k/ month or not. The bottom line is not the question. It is about living your life and running your business with certain standards of quality. It is about not being willing to compromise for the status quo.

It is about creating something entirely new that serves others.  Ideas with these goals are always going to benefit the one who serves as much if not more than those being served.

Maintaining the status quo isn’t even an easier way to go. You are spending the same amount of time every day in your business - why not inspire your staff, entertain your own mind, serve your clients in unexpected ways. The same 8 or 10 or 12 hours are now a lot more fun…a heck of lot more valuable to the community and guaranteed to be a lot more profitable.

That is what we are all about here at Dog Business Daily….

Why don’t you start right now by catching one of your employees doing something right!

How to Get Your Articles “Out There”

Before you send out any articles to anyone, you must read their guidelines fully! Failure to follow the set guidelines for posting/submitting your article usually ends with straight out rejection.

Most people will want the following.

1) Article 500 to 700 words in length -Put the exact amount of words there are in the email to the ezine publisher/article announcement list.

2) No spelling errors

This is as simple as doing a spell check

3) Complete contact details of yourself and a short synopsis of your article.

What this means is that when you send an email to say an ezine editor, you include a brief introduction about yourself, your contact information if needed and a short run down of your article. Anyone else but the ezine publisher or article announcement owner doesn’t see this.

4) Word wrap

You will want to wrap your article to 65 characters for each line. What this means is that every line of your article has 65 characters or less in it. This is important for margins in email.

There is a free tool that will do this for you, that I love. It will also help you with your article writing as well. You can get it from <http://www.ezineassistant.com>

5) Article in the body of your email

Never send your article as an attachment in an email. Most people don’t open attachments for the fear of viruses, so send all articles only in the body of the email. This is a big stumbling block for newbie writers.

But the best advice I can give you is to follow any guidelines set to the “T”. If you are unsure, ask someone.

So what should my email look like to any publisher? Here are a few examples.

“Please consider this article for your website or ezine. Permission to reproduce if byline stays intact. Courtesy copy appreciated; not required.

TITLE: Business, Patti and Lucy are Opening a Doggy Day Care!

AUTHOR: Doggy Diggs, The Dog Coach

WORD COUNT: 627

WRAP: 65

URL: http://www.doggydiggs.com

Mailto: doggy diggs, 123 Bow Wow Rd.

"Article Title: Make your business Doggy-Friendly

Author Name: Doggy Diggs

Contact Email Address: lucy@yahoo.com

Word Count: 1216

Category: Pet Care

Copyright Date: 2008

Special Requirements For Reprint: You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the complete resource box is included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Please send it to:

Send Your Articles Out To Thousands

Here are the best resources anywhere on the Internet to post your articles. If it’s not here, don’t bother with it!

Here are a list of ezine directories. You will find hundreds even thousands of ezines that are looking publish articles on all topics.

<http://www.published.com>

<http://www.ezine-dir.com>

<http://www.writerswrite.com/epublishing/mldirectory.htm>

<http://www.zinos.com>

<http://www.topezineads.com>

<http://www.directoryofezines.com> - The best, but it’s not free

<http://www.ezinesplus.com>

<http://paml.net>

<http://www.ezinesearch.com>

<http://www.marketing-seek.com>

<http://www.ezinelinks.com>

<http://ezine-universe.com>

<http://www.ezineseek.com>

<http://www.freezineweb.com>

<http://www.newsletter-directory.com>

<http://www.ezinedirectory.com>

<http://www.list-city.com>

Now not everyone of the mailing lists you find will accept articles, and not every ezine directory will tell you who does and who doesn’t accept articles, so it will be a bit of a process in finding out which ones do and don’t.

Make sure you write down all the details of who you submit your articles to and make a directory, so you know where to send them next time.

Here is a list of article announcement sites:

<http://www.websource.net/articlesub.htm> - The best of the best

<http://www.marketing-seek.com>

<http://www.ideamarketers.com>

<http://www.authorconnection.com>

<http://www.ezinearticles.com>

<http://www.makingprofit.com>

<http://www.clickz.com>

<http://www.bpub.com>

A final tip - use original content only for article marketing. It is absolute death to your article marketing if you are found re-using content - your own or any one elses. New, never before published articles are the rule.

No doubt the number one concern we hear this time of year is that business tapers off dramatically. Clients are traveling less, needing less sitting and boarding services.

Hopefully you benefited from the Holiday spending on man’s best friend…from treats, to sweaters and toys….now how do you keep profitable in the slow months of the New Year?

With Holiday bills and a sense that Fido has had enough for a while – what is a Doggy Day Care or Pet Sitting Business to do?

Below we recap the top 5 Ways to keep the money flowing in the first few months of the New Year and beyond. You can keep this list handy for next year and profit even more by pre-planning and marketing.

*Please adapt these ideas to benefit Your Pet Care Business - use these ideas as a spring board to get the creative juices flowing.

Implementing these strategies will have a lasting impact on your year end profits. Not only will revenue increase at a normally slow time of year but your efforts now will ripple in profits throughout the entire year and beyond.

1. Creative Marketing adds profits now and in the months to come.
2. What do all new pet owners need?
3. People are not the only ones with resolutions!
4. Its Cold Outside – hmmm, how can I profit from the Weather?
5. Surveys are Magical Money Makers.

Creative Marketing means implementing strategies that work for you like a full time referral machine. The creative part comes when you start considering how your marketing efforts can be combined with other businesses or modalities to help others as well as your own business.

• Thinking this way about marketing is not new but it is very rare in small to mid size businesses. The ones who grasp the concept and utilize it are almost always more successful than their competitors and are always significantly more profitable than without the strategies.

• One example of creative marketing partnerships would be to partner with a local Housekeeping company. You both exchange gift certificates for each others’ services to clients for example purchase $100 in your store or their new clients or for existing clients who get a “New Year Cleaning” service. You give away a free grooming or pet sitting; they give away a upgrade like window washing with a regular housekeeping service

The Holidays are full of new pet owners who may be getting a bit overwhelmed with their sweet puppies’ behavior. Getting creative to help out new pet owners ensures you a place in their hearts and probably a long term client.

• While the puppies may not be ready for obedience classes – of course we have to protect them until they have had all their puppy shots – and we may not need pet sitting since most puppies will be crate trained…there are plenty of ways we can help make the first months with a new puppy happier for the new Pet Owner.

• There are alternatives to pet sitting and day care you can offer depending on how much you are willing to do for a new client and how far from your “standard” offering you are willing to stray.

• First, you need to find a way to reach the new pet owners… of course the local shelter and veterinarian offices are the best places for this. You can put up flyers and again – get creative – be the business owner that is concerned about others. What’s in it for the vet to put up your flyer or give away your coupons?

• Making an offer to help the vet is the best way to ensure your promotion is accepted.

• Ask the vet to hand out your coupons in exchange for sponsoring a dog wash at the vets if they don’t offer bathing & grooming; or give the vet a discount coupon he can give to all of his clients for a free pet sit or boarding or anything that doesn’t directly compete with the vet’s services.

• What you are offering the new pet owner is really up to you…it could be something as simple as a free evaluation of the pet and early training tips in their home. It could simply be a congratulations on the new addition to your family packet you hand deliver – with some free goodies. You could offer one free yard clean up (promoting the fact that your business does pooper scooper services…if you don’t, hey, why not?)

Pet owners often make resolutions that involve their dogs…how can you help them keep their resolutions?

• Many resolutions will revolve around exercising with their dog. Most people don’t need much to deter them before an exercise resolution gets put on the shelf for yet another year.

• If a pet owner is not able to have a relaxing walk with their dog it is likely this resolution won’t see week #2 in the New Year.

• Help your clients learn to walk their dogs and you’ve helped both keep their exercise resolution.

• You can sponsor a dog walking event in a local park where you and your staff offer free dog walking tips and training techniques. Of course you can also sell your latest and greatest leashes to make the walk a breeze.

• Again, be creative – give your dogs a certificate of completion and a “doggy bag” with treats and …what’s this – a coupon for one free grooming with any pet sitting or boarding service. WOW Thanks Doggie Day Care Owner – YOU ARE THE BEST!

It is cold outside in most parts of the country and that brings opportunities for new services and products to offer.

• Provide your clients with cold weather tips for keeping their beloved dogs safe, healthy and happy and then kindly offer the products and services that you are recommending at a discount.

• It is rainy, cold and muddy here in the south…My 4 indoor dogs (Patti, Winnie, Bailey and Lucy) are about to wear me out cleaning up paws and floors…boy, I wish I had some doggie booties or a great mat that absorbed water and dirt….do you know where I can get anything like that?

• Think outside the litter box….if you know your clients’ homes at all from pet sitting – think about how you can help your clients on an individual basis…

  • maybe one could use a pen to let their new little puppy or small dog out to potty in-that way the owner can keep a small area free of salt, snow and if applicable even mud if they put down some straw

  • while another might consider putting stepping stones down for their big dogs to go from the door to the area that they go potty

  • how about a canopy for those fussy pups that just won’t go out in the icky weather

  • Salt alternatives are a great suggestion for pet owners in snowy areas. You can carry the products or just as a service to your clients offer them information and provide sources (you can research online or call your local hardware store).

Wow, referring your customers to the local hardware store…hmm, I wonder if there is an opportunity to develop some creative marketing with this business?

Don’t be afraid to make suggestions for products or services that are outside of your expertise and/or offering. You don’t have to do everything but you do know how to take care of pets – and that is what you are offering – your expertise!

Don’t limit your thinking to only suggesting items and services you can provide – you will be showing your clients how much you care about their pets and that good will goes farther than any $10 sale you could make on booties. Partnering with another business owner also provides long term referrals. Don’t be short sighted. (if you need more convincing about the importance of this marketing strategy read my post: What is the #1 Purpose of Your Marketing? Get it Wrong and you Will Never Benefit from the Work once - Get Paid Forever Strategy all Truly Successful Entrepreneurs Utilize!).

The absolute best way to know what direction to take your business or what marketing campaign you should invest your time and money in is to ask your existing clients.

• If you aren’t communicating with your customers on a regular basis via direct mail and e-mail – you are making a huge mistake that could ultimately cost you your business.

• Your clients will tell you exactly what they want you to sell them and even how much they would be willing to pay. You don’t have to blindly go from one marketing campaign to the next guessing what is going to work and what isn’t.

• Survey your clients – you can offer them a discount for completing the survey or simply ask them to do you a favor…many will gladly help you out since you take such good care of their babies.

• Once you’ve received the results of the survey – you can then refine the survey even more and send it again (to a different set of clients of course).

• Now you have your next marketing campaign already created for you with a service or product you already know there is a demand for. Nothing better than selling something people are hungry to buy!

You can get more detail on how to implement All these tips and more in my upcoming book: How To Recession Proof Your Pet Care Business. Get on the pre-notification list now at our home page: www.dogbusinessdaily.com.

Waggles,

Fran