Pet Business Marketing

Don’t Let Those Intro Offers Go To Waste! 4 Follow-up Emails You Should Be Sending

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 17:39:00 +0000

Introductory offers are a great way to get new customers to try out your services and voluntarily offer their information as a means for you to contact them. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, it is 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one so once you get someone in your door, you want to make sure you are nurturing that relationship to turn them into a regular customer. Intro offers draw in the customer but often that is not enough. Below are 4 emails you should be sending to keep them coming back!

1. The “How was your experience?” Email: After your customer’s first service or first day (a discounted overnight stay or a grooming package), ask them how it went.

This is where you will try to learn about your customer and gain constructive feedback from the beginning. If it was their first visit to your facility you want to make sure they enjoyed the experience and address any concerns or questions they may have. If a customer has purchased a package, you want to make sure that each visit just gets better! Send out an email or block out time in your schedule to give customers a call to gain feedback on their experience.

Be prepared with questions such as: Did your dog seem to enjoy his first day? Was he tired out by the time he got home? Did the grooming come out as you pictured it? What could we have improved on?

If you don’t have the bandwidth to call each customer, at least create a quick 5 question survey that asks similar questions and uses a rating scale as opposed to “Yes” or “No” answers. A popular positioning is to ask “How would you rate your experience on on a scale of 1-10?” followed up by “What could we have done to make that a 10?” with a textbox for them to offer specific feedback.

You can use free survey websites such as SurveyMonkey or Survmetrics. All reviews, even negative ones, will help you grow.

2. The “Would you like a treat with that?” Email: Make sure they receive an upsell during their pet’s stay.

Upsell new and popular add-ons. It will be easier convince customers of the value of add-ons if you can boast that other customers love it too! Pictures and descriptions are a must! A visual will boost each add-on’s value because they will be able to picture their pet enjoying a bedding upgrade or getting some extra cuddle time. Here’s a fun fact: 30-50% of revenue is generated from add-ons. There is a miniscule price gap between the standard appointment and the extra $2 for a treat or $5 for a walk, so most customers will think “Why not?” especially if makes their pet’s stay a happier one. Having PawLoyalty kennel software will make it easier to manage what days a dog should receive what service during their stay.

3. The “When will we be seeing you again?” Email: On your customer’s last day of discounted services, make it easier for them to schedule a new one.

It’s important to ask every customer if they want to renew their package. PawLoyalty kennel software makes this easier for you! When customers have a specified amount of days (i.e. 2 days) remaining out of their 10 day package, you can set up configure your account to automatically send out an email reminder of their low remaining balance. This will prompt them to renew the same package or upgrade to the next package level.

Booking a customer for their next appointment lessens the risk of the customer forgetting to request an appointment. Immediately after or right before the end of a customer’s experience is the prime time to follow-up with them with a link to your online booking widget.

4. The “Did you think we forgot about you?” Email: If you haven’t heard from your customer in a few weeks, say hello.

This is especially critical for customers who have not restocked their package credits even after their email alert. With PawLoyalty kennel software, you can pull a report that shows you what customers have not had recent appointments within a specified date range. Nudge them in the right direction with a follow up email that let’s them know you miss them! Don’t assume your customer is lost; assume your customer just needs a little reminder to come back and enjoy your services.

In addition to sending out automatically triggered emails, PawLoyalty kennel software will keep your client’s contact information on file and has an email marketing feature built right in! Once you are ready with your arsenal of follow-up emails, you’ll easily be able to nurture the leads from your introductory offers and hopefully turn many of them into repeat, loyal customers. Make sure to maximize your marketing efforts by having a well-thought our email marketing plan in place for every individual who walks through your door!

Throw Us A Bone

What strategies have you found to be successful when following up with customers who bought introduction offers?

6 Ways To Turn Foot Traffic Into Engaged Customers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 15:57:00 +0000

It’s time to introduce a new term to your business strategy: guerilla marketing. You may already be implementing tactics of guerilla marketing without realizing it! The definition of guerilla marketing (thanks to Google) refers to “innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques aimed at obtaining maximum exposure for a product”.

Implementing a guerilla marketing action plan can be one of the most successful ways a small business can market themselves to the local community. One area that you should definitely focus on is your foot traffic. Customers who walk their dogs down the street of your business are all prospective clients--you just need to find a way to grab their attention and tug on that leash until they walk through your door!

We’ve listed some of our favorite ways that pet businesses can market to prospects right off the street. Don’t forget to keep track of your walk-ins and signage as referral sources in PawLoyalty Kennel Software. When you pull this report at the end of the month, you’ll see how much of an impact your new marketing strategy has made!

1. Chalk boards

Have you seen those chalk boards outside of sandwich shops that highlight the daily special or a list of menu items? Use the same method. Highlight your popular services, your menu items, and if you have an artist on staff, this is the perfect opportunity to draw attention with bold lettering and hand-drawn caricatures.

2. “Before and After” pictures of your dogs grooming styles (braids, tattoos, dyes)

Does your groomer have a list of specialties under his or her belt? Braiding, tattoos, fur dyes, and feather extensions--the list goes on! Post professional-looking pictures of your well-groomed clients on your window displays. You can also store these photos inside of PawLoyalty Kennel Software for later reference. Your clients will be flattered you’ve asked to highlight their dog’s new groom and your prospective clients will be able to visualize that same style on their dog too! It’s a win-win!

3. Have an interactive advertising display that customers will want to take pictures with!

One idea is you could set up a mirror featuring dog ears and a tail for customers to pose in front of. It’s a bonus if you have a catchy slogan or your company name on the display to emphasize that this visual can be found at your business.

Photo Credit: www.aef.com

4. Place dog bowls outside of your business

This one is easy! Buy a dog bowl or two and place it outside your door. When a dog stops to take a drink, their owner’s eyes will linger at your storefront and perhaps they will stop to take a look inside.

5. Shopping bags with unique designs

Do you have retail products or send your customers home with shopping bags? Make the investment in bags that have eye-catching designs, like dog ears as handles.

Photo credit: www.designyoutrust.com

6. Post a funny quote or philosophical question about dogs that customers will stop to laugh at, ponder, or take a picture of.

“Keep calm and wag on.”
“Wag more. Bark less.”

Another idea could be a “Caption This!” picture. Again if you have any staff members who are great with art, have them draw or paint a whimsical picture of a thinking dog with a blank thought bubble over it’s head and ask your customers to think of a funny caption for it. For example, “What if I never find out who’s a good boy?”

Customers gravitate towards interactive designs and creative ideas! Pinterest is a great source of inspiration if you are having trouble thinking of ideas. There, you can find pictures of what other businesses have done, which you can re-use yourself.

The ideas listed above focus on foot traffic on but there is a dogpile of creative ideas that you can come up with to boost your marketing campaigns. Just think! No really, just sit down with a pen and paper for 10 minutes and keep that pet moving the entire time. Once you have a list of ideas, you can filter through it and select the best ones, or just the ones you want to try first. Save the rest for the next quarter. Happy guerilla marketing!

Throw Us a Bone!

What is the most memorable way you have seen a business try and take advantage of foot traffic?

How to Improve Your Pet Resorts’ Search Engine Ranking

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 18:32:00 +0000

We all know that when people are looking for new information, one of the first places they go is to the internet. In fact in 2014, there was an average of 6 billion google searches made per day. There are tons of pet resorts on the web, so how do you increase your ranking in search engine results and place yourself above the fold?

1. Back-links

A back-link is a link to your website that is strategically placed on other sites. These links will not only increase your search engine results, but will generate the right kind of traffic from potential customers. The best places to put back-links are industry specific:

location based directories (Google Places, Yelp, Insider Pages)
basic directory listings (Manta, Yahoo Business, Bing Business)
forums
guest blog posts
social media

2. Onsite Optimization

You can optimize your web page internally through:

H1 & Page Titles

An h1 tag in HTML code, otherwise known as the Header tag, is usually the title of the webpage. For example, if you have a page on your website knows as the Services page, “Service” is most likely your header tag. You can optimize these webpage titles to include keywords that you are targetting by simply putting “Dog Daycare Services” instead of just “Services”.

Meta Tags

Meta tags can be used in different forms. For now, we’ll focus on meta description tags. When search engines generate results for a keyword, websites will show up with a webpage title and usually a description of the content right beneath it. This description is known as the meta description tag. You can type out your own description to include your focused keywords, making your more like to show up in the top search results.

On-page Content (Blog)

You can scatter your keywords several times throughout the information placed on your website or through the content on your blog. Be aware: You do not want to have the same keywords posted too many times on the same page. This could put your website on Google’s blacklist--a list you do not want your website to be on. Have a goal of placing your keywords two to three times on one page.

3. Social Media

Having a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other social media sites for your business can give you the opportunity to build your online presence. You can optimize your social media accounts by:

having complete profiles (video, images, products, content using keywords)
being active (1 to 3 posts per day)
networking within industry groups
responding to industry related questions

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Services

Compare 3 quotes for SEO companies that specialize in on-going services. If you have no time or human resources to keep up with SEO, but you have the budget for it, then hire a company to research and spend time optimizing your website for you.

5. Kennel Software

Just like with your social media, you can work on completing your PawLoyalty kennel software profile. Add your Facebook and Twitter accounts, business description, and 2-4 photos.

Throw Us a Bone!

What else have you done to optimize your website for SEO?

Free Images for Your Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 16:13:00 +0000

A blog is a big project. There are several details that you have to think about including the design, tone of voice for articles, and the editorial calendar. One of the last things you want to worry about is “Where am I going to find pictures for my blog?”

This can be a frustrating process. You search “free photos” and you end up on a stock website that gives you a pricing plan to download them. But look no further! PawLoyalty has done the work for you. Here is a list of websites that are FREE. “Free” meaning royalty-free, payment-free, and hassle free. Most importantly we have made sure that you can use these sites for commercial purposes.

The most you’ll spend is time searching through the good photos, the bad, and the ones that are just completely unrelated. But if you are willing to spend time over money, then here are some sites for you! Some of them require registration, and then you’ll be on your way to a great-looking blog! Blogs and websites, after all, are one of the first impressions a client will generate about your business.

Free Image Websites

Dreamstime.com/free-photos
Freeimages.com
Freemediagoo.com
Freephotosbank.com
Freerangestock.com
Morguefile.com

Some sites provide free stock photos that require that you to give the photographer credit somewhere on your website or blog. The website Creative Commons advocates this licensing agreement:

“Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.”

If want to download photos with this agreement to give the photographer credit, you can look at these sites:

Creativecommons.org
Pixelperfectdigital.com

Ask Questions

If you still want to make absolute sure you can legally use the photos, here are some good questions to ask the website’s Customer Service:

Can I manipulate the photo in anyway? (For example, if you would like to put text over the image.)

Can I use these alongside my brand on my pet business website, blog, newsletter, etc.?

More Tips for Downloading Images

Tip #1: Always, always check the image license agreement!

Tip #2: Before downloading, ask your graphic designer what resolution your pictures have to be in order to look good and not pixelated.

Tip #3: If you’re concerned about having photos that don’t look cohesive with each other, you can manipulate them with a little Photoshop magic. Fine-tune them all a similar brightness or use filters! Images will enhance the personality of the blog overall, so don’t put so much thought into having images that all look similar as long as they are all high resolution and are relevant to your articles.

Tip #4: For finding photos, try typing in descriptive words (adjectives, feelings, etc) when searching for images. For example, instead of just “dog”, type in “smart dog” if your article is business related.

Tip #5: Before downloading, make a list of all the publications (blog, newsletter, email blasts, website, etc.) and topics that you need photos for. You don’t want to download the same types of photos. Build a collection that is versatile so that you’ll have stock photos for every occasion.

Throw Us a Bone

What other free image websites can you add to this list?

8 Savvy Ways to Better Your Business with Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 19:42:00 +0000

If you don’t have a Facebook page for your business, you are missing out on using one of the best marketing tools available. Social media is an ongoing trend that business owners should adopt a plan for because it’s FREE and it’s easy to use. (That’s why all of your customers are using it!)

Signing up with Facebook is like having a blank canvas in front of you. You can customize your Facebook page with several marketing practices to attract new customers. If you haven’t already planned out the stages of your Facebook marketing strategy then now is the time to start.

There are countless ways to get creative with your Facebook business plan, but here are a few easy ones to get you started:

1. Book Online Tab

Once you have your PawLoyalty reservation request widget installed on your website, you can install it on your Facebook page too! By installing your booking system on Facebook, you’re creating a call to action. But telling customers to “Book Now” they will be more inclined to make an appointment on the spot, especially since it’s made easily accessible.

2. Host contests and giveaways

Many businesses host picture contests, caption contests, and random giveaways. Current customers will love the opportunity to participate for the right prize. Give away a free stay or a huge discount for a grooming, but remember to be strategic! Have customers share a photo that will get placed on their newsfeed, or have them refer a customer to you to enter the contest. These types of contests are great for putting yourself on the social media map and drawing the attention of new prospects to your business.

3. Market your events and promotions

Market events and promotions big and small on Facebook. If you are volunteering at an animal shelter or hosting a big event at your own facility, you can make the event on Facebook and invite all of your followers to attend. Make sure that the invite has an open guest list so that customers can invite their friends to bring their dogs too.

4. Update your status

Update your status with new deals so that everyone who sees it on their feed knows and can pass along the message with the Share button. Even if customers don’t Share your update, their Likes will make your post more like to show up on their newsfeeds.

5. Join pet industry groups

The pet boarding and daycare industry has support groups for people who are in the same boat as you. One of the best ways to find information about running your pet business is to ask the experts who have already “been there, done that”. They’ll gladly share advice, trade out of the ordinary doggie experiences, and ask questions that may have never crossed your mind. It’s a well of industry-specific know-how that is all yours for the taking.

6. Scope out your competition

What seem to be your competitions’ most popular posts? What do their five star reviews say they do best? Take notes! You can analyze their business pages to enhance yours. It’s all fair game on Facebook because the information is public, so learn to utilize these resources.

7. Interact with your customers

Social media is a tool for customer service, which means that customers will expect a response from you if they message you privately or comment on your Facebook Wall, the same way they would expect a response if they emailed you. Show your customers that there is a real human running your Facebook page and of course, add in a few Thank You status updates every now and then. Customers always appreciate gratitude.

8. Integrate your page with PawLoyalty kennel management software

If you find that you don’t have much time for implementing even the simplest of Facebook strategies, PawLoyalty kennel software does some of the marketing work for you. PawLoyalty prompts your customers to share with their Facebook friends when they have just joined your facility. Signing up with PawLoyalty kennel software means social media marketing made easier for you.

Don’t forget to add Facebook to your customized referral list on PawLoyalty to track your success. PawLoyalty creates a Referral Report that tells you how many customers you are getting from each referral source and which referral source is generating the most income so that you understand what your best marketing strategies are and where your future efforts should be going!

Throw Us a Bone!

What’s the best Facebook strategy you’ve used?

Why Your Pet Business Should Care About Google +

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:09:00 +0000

According to Real Wire, Google + content sharing “is set to surpass sharing by Facebook users by February 2016 according to a new US study from search and social analytics specialist, Searchmetrics.” Facebook used to be the the small business’ staple for marketing and customer engagement, but this statistic means that your business should have a Google + page too! Sign up now to be ahead of the game. Here is how to be the business that saw it coming and took steps to create a solid Google+ community.

1. Google + puts you on Google Maps.

Having a Google + means your business will be registered with Google Maps, making your location pop up first in pet service related searches. As Google continues to develop map based search results and reviews, this will make it easier for your customers to find your business. Signing up with PawLoyalty pet resort software will give you a comprehensive profile of your business that will boost you to the top of the search engine rankings in your local area.

2. Having a Google + page will boost your search engine optimization.

Why? Because Google owns these pages, making it even easier for them to track social activity on your page and they factor this into your ranking-- much like how on Facebook the posts that are the most popular get seen by more people and get ranked higher on Facebook Newsfeeds. The more +1’s and shared content your Google + page has, the higher you will rank with the search engine. (Extra Kibble: You can also add GIF’s to your postings (which Facebook does not allow). Share creative and hilarious dog GIF’s with your customers to make your posts extra sharable.)

3. Google + integrates with other platforms (Gmail + YouTube).

If your company is already set up with gmail, then you’ve got an advantage here. Connecting to Google + as many ways as possible is an obvious way to increase your search engine ranking.

Once you create a Google + Page, here are the next steps you should take:

Connect your Google + page to your website so customers will have an easier time finding it.
Ask customers to add you on Google + through an email with a link to your page. The more +1’s you have the better your chances are on popping up on the search results.
Use hashtags when you post. Google+ will automatically include relevant ones, but you should be including your own targeted keywords.
PawLoyalty kennel software currently prompts social media sharing with Facebook and Twitter, but you should encourage your customers to review through Google + as well. Mention your page to them when they book appointments.
Use a platform like HootSuite to schedule multiple Google + posts in advance so they can be sent out on specific dates and times automatically.
Follow PawLoyalty on Google +! We’ll follow you back!

Need a few more reasons to join? Here are some Google + Statistics:

Google is the #1 search engine in the world. This means that they have a tremendous amount of influence over whether you business gets seen by customers when they search for pet services.
Google search engine will give you brownie points for having a Google + page!
It is the 2nd used social network world-wide (yes, it surpassed Twitter).
800,000 users join Google + every month. This is a lot of networking potential.

Throw us a bone!

What do you think is most valuable about Google +? Are there any other kibbles and bits that you think we should add?

5 Cleaning Products to Keep Your Facility Safe, Healthy, and Smelling Great

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 16:13:00 +0000

Having a clean facility is top priority to attract new customers and make current customers feel comfortable! But it’s a challenge to find the right cleaning products that will do a thorough job and be safe to have around your clients. All of the products on this list are dog-friendly and come recommended by pet care professionals. Here are our top picks for easy-to-use cleaning products for your pet facility:

1. Tile Disinfectant Pick: EnvirOx H2Orange2 Concentrate 117

It’s hard to find a disinfectant that does its job and does not leave the room with a chemically scent. It’s a “unique patented hydrogen peroxide technology oxidizes and breaks down organic soils, making them easy to remove without leaving behind residue.” The H2Orange2 cleaner is great for pet kennels because instead of bleach that can be harmful to dogs, this is a “green” disinfectant. It’s made to be environmentally friendly and it smells good too! Kennel owners who use it rave about how customers comment on the clean scent of the facility.

How to Use it: Here’s a video specifically on how to clean tile.

2. Carpet Stain Removal Pick: Woolite Oxy Spot and Stain

When you gotta go, then you gotta go! We can’t control when canine guests have an accident indoors, but we can certainly control the outcome. The Woolite Oxy Deep Spot and Stain Remover is a notable product that several kennel owners love. It digs deep when it comes to uprooting a stubborn carpet stain.

How to Use it: Spray and let it set on the stain. Blot gently with a rag and then rub thoroughly to remove.

3. Outdoor Odor Neutralization Pick: NaturVet Yard Odor Eliminator

Outdoor kennel flooring is a tough area to clean, but this product is specifically for eliminating odors that linger in grass and dirt. While you will still have to pick up the poop, NaturVet can make the area smell fresh and well-maintained. You can spray it on plants and outdoor surfaces like benches and kennels. For more on outdoor flooring, read our article 7 Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing the Right Outdoor Flooring.

How to Use it: Attach the garden hose to the bottle and spray.

4. Glass Cleaner Pick: Clorox Greenworks Glass Cleaner

This cleaner works well for glass surfaces like windows or a sliding door. These areas may not be in direct contact with dog waste, but you still need a product that is dog-safe. It’s all in the name—“Green”works. You can be sure that this cleaner won’t harm any of the pooches and will keep the see-through surfaces looking their best! This way, you won’t have trouble keeping an eye on the pups playing outdoors while you handle customers at the front desk.

How to Use it: Spray and wipe like usual.

5. All-Purpose Wipes Pick: Earthbath All Natural Grooming wipes

Even if you don’t provide grooming services, there will certainly be circumstances where you’ll have to clean a dog’s foot - especially if you have natural outdoor flooring like grass or dirt. Whether it be tracking in mud or splashing around in puddles, some dogs need to be cleaned right away so the dirt doesn’t track through and leave your facility looking like a mess. Bonus: these wipes have aloe vera and vitamin E, which leave each pooch with an extra moisturizing treatment!

How to Use it: Touch up the client in between grooming sessions or wipe off tracked-in dirt.

Use your kennel software to track if particular clients have sensitivities or if pet parents have preferences about how their pet is cared for or cleaned. PawLoyalty has an area for Special instructions at the time of check-in and within the Pet Health record where you can store this information.

Throw Us a Bone!

What is the one pet or facility cleaning product you couldn’t live without? Please, no self-promotion, only non-biased reviews.

Using Social Media for Exceptional Customer Service

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:52:00 +0000

Customers judge your company by the responsiveness of the first employee they come in contact with. This probably makes you think of your front desk staff answering your phones, greeting customers and responding to email. In this day and age, it is also now critical to think of your social media presence as well. Your Facebook, Google +, Twitter, and whatever other social media accounts you maintain are the newest channels that customers will use to not only get in contact with you, but to receive customer support.

This means that you have to be just as attentive to your social media websites as you are to your phone and email. In fact, social media can be one of your customers’ first lines of contact because it can be accessed 24/7 as opposed to phones that will not be picked up after business hours.

One of the most proven use cases for social media for small businesses is it’s value for customer engagement. This means servicing current customers and dialoguing with potential customers. Maintenance of your social media accounts can brand a company for having bad customer service if a customer messages you and you take a month to respond back. Word to the wise: only have as many social media accounts as you can actively maintain. Better to do one well than to do five poorly.

Here are business practices to ensure great customer service through your social media pages:

1. Have your social media apps on your phone.

Make sure you “allow push notifications,” which means that your apps will alert you to new messages and updates. This will remind you to check your social media sites regularly and to ensure a better response time. And please do respond quickly. Most customers will be alerted on their own phones when you’ve seen their direct message through Facebook and assume you have bad customer service if you do not promptly respond.

2. Have a dog boarding software that syncs with your social media.

PawLoyalty Software will prompt your customers to share their pet profile activity with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers. When your customers share with pet owner friends that they have just booked an appointment or received a service at your facility, their friends could see this information in their feed and easily click through to your Facebook and Twitter pages. Assign your employees the task of monitoring your social media accounts. You do not want to miss out on an opportunity to win new customers through this word-of-mouth 2.0 sharing.

3. Enable a "Book Online" tab on your Facebook page.

By creating a “Book Online” option from your Facebook page you are making it that much easier and more convenient for your customers to book an appointment with you! This tab will allow your customers to use the PawLoyalty online booking widget through your Facebook page. This in tandem with having a “Book Now” button on your website provides two simple ways for your to allow you customers to make reservations through your dog daycare software. They may not need to go through an extra step of messaging you if they see actionable steps right in front of them.

4. Update your social media with your business' news.

If you are holding an event, are closed for vacation, or are setting new prices for your peak season, then it’s important to let your customers know through social media. Your Facebook and Twitter are where a lot of your customers will check for accurate and up to date information about your facility. Your customer service routine should incorporate communication with your customers via social media because they check their own pages regularly and some prefer to receive updates that way.

5. Choose only one or two social media sites.

We recommend Facebook as your starting point. It is better to be active on the social networks that you can maintain regularly (to check at least once every day) than to join several social networks that you only check and update occasionally. Your customers won’t benefit from trying to reach you on a platform that is inactive.

Don’t shy away from social media! It’s a great marketing and community resource. Having a Facebook page comes with more responsibility, but with the new age of technology underfoot, customers have come to expect each business to have one. Take steps to add social media to the flow of you or your employee’s daily routine. Your customers’ gratitude for great customer support will result in more referrals and repeat business!

Throw Us a Bone!

Have any other tips for using social media as a customer service tool? Let us know!

PawLoyalty founder Garret Tadlock explains “Why the Cloud is the Pet Industry’s Future”

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 14:29:00 +0000

Software has come a long way since the 90s and yet the pet industry is notoriously slow to jump on to the technology wave that has swept over most other industries. Most pet care businesses use antiquated software or outdated pencil and paper systems. But pet boarding and grooming is now a $4B industry and old ways of doing business won’t cut it anymore. The more successful a pet service business is, the greater the need for a software solution to streamline and simplify running a business.

PawLoyalty is a cloud-based, feature rich, intuitive business management software thoughtfully designed for pet boarders, groomers, and trainers. Having been “born in the cloud”, the far reaching benefits of this software far outperform other systems for running a business.

CEO and founder, Garret Tadlock, explains why the future belongs to those who rise up to the cloud:

The other day I had a customer tell me that switching from their installed software to PawLoyalty was like upgrading a flip phone to an iPhone… Well, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Cloud-based software gives customers benefits like mobility (anytime, anywhere access), compatibility to use their software on multiple devices (PC, MAC, tablet, smartphone), and more sophisticated tools to measure, track and analyze business success. It also allows their customers to book conveniently using on-line booking, improves their employees’ experience with software that has an intuitive and thoughtfully designed user-interface, and the software integrates social media sharing which means more built-in word-of-mouth referrals.

Technology is changing every day, every month, every time you hit refresh. Cloud-software is poised to help the neighborhood entrepreneur leverage the latest tools to propel their business forward and build a brand they can be proud of.

Have your business at your fingertips, no matter where you are.

As a business owner, cloud-based software provides an essential piece that installed software is missing: mobility. All client information can be accessed in real time through a smartphone or tablet. Cloud based software offers businesses the ability to monitor customer data and oversee what employees are doing at the facility even when at a networking event, at home, or out of town.

When Wag Pet Resort owner, Wendy Forwell, took over the full-service resort from her father in June 2013, she realized in two short weeks that the problem was in the company’s paper-based system. Wendy, having a background in software, specifically sought a cloud-based system. Amongst its competitors, she opted for PawLoyalty because of “the versatility of being able to use it, not only when I’m at the kennel, but when I’m at my cottage or I’m in the car when my husband’s driving and I’ve got my iPhone or my iPad. I can go ahead and do bookings and just work on some customer files while I’m not at the office—that was the key.”

Cloud-based software makes life easier for pet parents.

By installing the PawLoyalty booking widget on their website, businesses can increase revenue by taking reservations 24 hours a day. Business owners can allow the software to either screen each reservation before accepting the customer’s appointment or automatically confirm requests.

With PawLoyalty software, customer data becomes a group effort. Pet parents are kept more engaged and informed when invited to contribute to their pet’s complete Pet Health Record. Customers can even use digital signatures to sign vet release forms and liability waivers eliminating tedious extra steps of printing, scanning, attaching, and re-uploading, which means time saved by all.

Sleep better at night knowing your data is secure.

Anyone who has ever had a computer unexpectedly crash can tell you the horrors of having data stored within a single machine. Cloud-based software means that information as valuable as client records are kept safe. PawLoyalty has incorporated high end, encrypted security into the software and backs up your data multiple times per day to data centers. This means if there is an unfortunate computer crash, instead of losing business information, simply log onto a different electronic device like a tablet and smartphone and business will continue to run smoothly in the time it takes to replace the desktop.

Always have the latest and greatest.

Unlike installed software which releases a new version every couple of years, cloud-based software provides on-going automatic updates. Cloud-based software allows evolutionary upgrades. PawLoyalty has new features and upgrades releases monthly. Long gone are the days when customers would wait years for new versions, now updates happen consistently, automatically and seamlessly.

Affordability and accountability

Installed software usually has a high upfront cost, which can be off-putting especially to small businesses. However, cloud-based software offers pay-as-you-go pricing plans. By paying a smaller amount over time, software businesses like PawLoyalty are held accountable to earn their customers month after month by providing valuable software and helpful customer support.

About Us

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in California’s wine country, PawLoyalty’s mission is to make empower pet business professionals empowered to enjoy their businesses more by putting the tools in their hands to help them excel.

PawLoyalty software makes it simple for pet boarders, groomers, and trainers to connect with their customers and to alleviate the administrative headaches of running a small business. As a complete business management solution (that can be accessed anytime, anywhere) PawLoyalty Software:

Streamlines operations to increase the health and safety of four-legged guests
Improves the pet parent experience through on-line booking and access to Pet Health Records
Keeps customers engaged and informed using an integrated social sharing and email system for appointment reminders and marketing blasts

PawLoyalty is best-of-breed software. Pet resorts (boarders, groomers, and trainers) are quickly migrating to this feature-rich, secure, and modern software solution. PawLoyalty offers a quick and fun on-boarding and training experience and exceptional on-going, free customer support.

Throw Us a Bone!

Why do you think the cloud is the pet industry's future?

4 Essential Components of an Effective LinkedIn Profile

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 17:00:00 +0000

LinkedIn is an easy way to make an excellent first impression. When other pet care professionals want to know if they should be partnering with you, LinkedIn will be one of their first stops. There are no excuses for an outdated, shabby-looking profile. Social media referrals through PawLoyalty pet resort software is one form of marketing, but now it's time to take your LinkedIn marketing strategy to the next level. It only takes a few minutes to spruce up networking resources that convey a first impression about you and your company.

Here’s what you want your LinkedIn profile to say about you:
“I am clearly pet industry savvy.”
“I make the right business connections."
“I maintain good relationships with my connections.”
“I care about making a great first impression.”

These steps will help your profile convey these messages:

1. Focus on keyword optimization

Optimize your bio with specific keywords that will land you at the top of the search list. Why? Let’s say a reporter is searching LinkedIn for a Pet Boarding Expert in Nashville or a Dog Trainer in Houston. Much like Google, you want to be on the first page of the LinkedIn search engine by adding keywords that apply to your type of pet service.

For example, if you are a dog trainer, you will want to have words like “dog training” and “dog trainer” all over your profile. This way, when a potential client or business partner searches for these words, your name is more likely to pop up within the first two pages.

Use specific keywords in these areas:

Headline
Summary
Work Experience
Skills
Interest

Now there are bound to be other pet professionals thinking the same thing. What you can do is be even more specific with your keywords. Incorporate your city into your keyword, for example, “Sonoma dog trainer”.

Ask a friend--or even better, someone who is not a connection--to search for your keywords and see where you end up. This will show you whom else you’re competing with and give you ideas on how else you can optimize your profile.

2. Ask for recommendations

Be proactive in getting recommendations. While an enthusiastic recommendation by one of your staff members is always appreciated, recommendations from accredited professionals are even better on your LinkedIn profile. Write one for their profile and you’ll have a better chance of receiving one.

The recommendations show up in their own section alongside a picture of the LinkedIn member who wrote it. It does happen occasionally that someone will post up a recommendation on their own; but you can significantly increase the number of recommendations you have by simply asking people to write them for you. When you ask them to write a referral for you, ask them to include your keywords or give them ideas of things you would like them to highlight about their relationship with you. You don’t need to write the referral for them and you don’t want to go overboard but offering some food for thought goes a long way to help motivate the person you asked to get it done.

Good people to target are:
Pet care professionals you’ve partnered with on big projects
Business partners you would refer to your own clients
Veterinarians of the local community
Valued customers

3. Participate in Relevant Pet Industry Groups

The groups you follow and contribute to are important in demonstrating that you have pet industry knowledge. You can also create a strong support community within groups where you can ask other pet service business owners about how they have handle specific things about operations, marketing, or client services. Become a member of pet tradeshow and event groups where you will be able to make connections and get insider information from others attending. Having similar connections and commonalities with other group members may also place you in their “People You May Know” section.

Here are a few pet industry groups to get you started:
Dog Lovers
Pet Industry International
Pet Industry Professionals
Superzoo

If you already follow several pet-related groups, find a new group filled with entrepreneurial minds like yours so that you can receive general tips of the best business practices. You can join up to 50 groups so put yourself out there and see where you find your time is best spent.

4. Make Connections!

LinkedIn like other social networks is more valuable and farther reaching the more contacts you have. Add all of your current customers. When reaching out to your customers, include a brief words of thanks for their business and then ask for the connection. Your customers are the best source of referrals and for recommendations.

Take Action

Grab a piece of paper and start making lists of answers to these 3 questions:

1. Who do I want a recommendation from?
2. What groups do I want to follow?
3. What specific keywords do I want to target?

Once you have these lists, it will be easier to make your LinkedIn profile more complete. A more complete profile will get you noticed as a pet professional, and soon partnership opportunities will be coming to you!

Throw Us a Bone!

What else do you think LinkedIn Pet Professionals should have on their profiles? Do you think LinkedIn should be integrated into your kennel software?

JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com

12 Marketing and Advertising Ideas for Pet Professionals on a Shoestring Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:59:00 +0000

A business’ ability to be successful at marketing does not have to rely on numerous paid advertisements or a consultation by a search engine optimization team. Small business entrepreneurs know how to make the most out of a tight budget. Instead of breaking the bank, pay for a quality marketing strategy with your time and effort!

There are literally hundreds of ideas on different marketing strategies that you can work on during your free time that are at little or no cost. As a small business, you should commit time each week to working on your marketing program. Marketing efforts are all about consistency.

There are many Do-It-Yourself (DIY) marketing projects that you can try out. In order to evaluate which campaigns are worth your time, make sure to be tracking in your doggie daycare software how your new customers heard about you.

Pick a handful of the ideas below and try them for a few months. If they are working, do them more. If they are not, try some of the other ones. May the force be with you!

1. Volunteer at animal shelters and pet adoptions.

These are major spots to generate new customers because you will meet new pet owners! Several of these pet adopters will be first-timers who have no idea where to go for the best pet services. Assert yourself as a pet expert and approach all of these potential customers with business cards and a friendly smile.

2. Take flyers and business cards to all your local veterinary clinics.

Six-Figure Pet Sitting Academy author Kristin Morrison recommends vet marketing kits. To make one of these kits, include several business cards for vets to pass along to their clients, flyers, an event calendar, and service discounts to make it easy for the vets to share your information with the many pet owners who pass through their doors.

3. Word of mouth is best. Social media just takes it to the next level.

Modern dog training software solutions allow you to easily integrate with your social media, like Facebook. Your software can be set up so that when a customer books an appointment or makes changes to their pet profile, they will be asked to write a referral about your facility using their Facebook account. They can share their experience, add pictures, and best of all, their positive recommendation will show up on their Facebook newsfeed for their friends (and potential customers) to see.

4. Offer free white papers, ebooks, blog articles, and pet care tips.

Creating these takes more time and editing, but they are reusable and can apply to many people in the pet industry. Using these resources on your website will also up the traffic, which will boost your overall search engine rank. See, you don’t need an SEO team! You just need creativity to generate ideas and an understanding of what your customer wants to know about the pet industry. When writing web content, make sure to include your keywords (the words that you think people are typing into Google when they are looking for services you provide).

5. Do demos at community events or at pet retail shops and other pet businesses.

Seek out local events that draw pet owners (who might be interested in your services) and offer to do demos or have an information table. People like to meet you and see what you do—not just be told. Identify which locations in your community would be best for you to host a demonstration in and practice these demonstrations in front of friends and staff members so that you cover every point and are prepared for questions.

6. Place visible signs on major intersections near your business location and for bulletin boards around your community!

If you have a dog park near your location, even better! It is important to make sure your signs are eye-catching, your business information is legible. If they are going to be larger signs that need to be read quickly as people drive by or stop at a street sign keep them short and make sure your customers can quickly identify what your business does and how to get in contact with you. If you are making them for bulletin boards, make sure to put your contact information both on the flier and have small tear offs at the bottom so they can take a copy with them.

7. Speak at tradeshows and have booths at pet fairs.

You will be able to network with professionals and pet owners. These are great locations to advertise your brand on your booth, show demos, and flaunt your pet expertise and credibility. Look up where these tradeshows are being held months in advance so that you can make sure your facility is covered in your absence and you can mentally prepare to present.

8. Run social-media contests and offer referral programs.

You can run short-term contests on your social media sites that only run for a few hours and require a “Like” or “Comment” on a post. Tip: If you run a fan-favorite picture contest, to make it easier on yourself, create a hashtag (#) on the Instagram app and people can easily post to that site and advertise your contest to their Instagram friends.

Referral programs give customers a great incentive to tell their friends about your business! Perhaps a free organic bath for every referral? Or even a free night stay for every three referrals. Feel free to try out several promotions to see which one works best.

9. Sign up for contests!

Companies and publications host contests year round. This is a great way to advertise your brand as you join in on the fun. If the requirements entail taking pictures, then ask your pet photographer business partner to snap a few shots of your pet or company mascot in front of your shop. Get creative and make sure your picture entries are shot somewhere in your facility, like the doggie playground or the pet grooming salon.

Websites like BlogPaws also has the “Nose-to-Nose” Social Media and Pet Blogging Awards. If you have an active and well-maintained pet blog, then try to boost your blog community engagement and ask your followers to vote for you. Also, a lot of cities run annual “Best of” contests. You usually have to nominate yourself so find out what the steps are and make sure your name gets on the list.

10. Car magnets and bumper stickers are effective ways to place your brand literally in front of potential clients.

Eye-catching designs on the back of your car will definitely garner attention. Just remember to add your phone number and location so that they know where to find you!

11. Wear your name proudly!

Have a few sweatshirts or T-shirts made for you and your staff. You can iron-on your own brand logo to plain white polo shirts. We’ve tried this and they come out great! Just make sure you have a high resolution picture before you print it on the iron-on transfer paper.

If you have a little more leeway on your budget, splurge for high quality merchandise to represent your brand. Buying in bulk will save you more in the long run and you can save the extra shirts for giveaways. Wear your shirts around town and ALWAYS to local pet events. If you can have a group of people wear the same t-shirt, it will likely catch the eye of local potential customers.

12. Finally, spend time nurturing your relationship with your loyal customers.

Your loyal customers are the people who will generate the best word of mouth with the most flattering stories. Offer them family and friend discounts as well so they can share the wealth and spread the word.

Take Action

Marketing is an area of running a business that is loved by some business overs and loathed by others. Regardless of which you are, we know you are busy so we want to urge you to take time to commit to doing at least one of these ideas. Write it down! Put it on a sticky note and place it somewhere where you will see it often. Assign marketing projects to your employees and to yourself—deadlines included! Set goals for your marketing strategy and new customers will be sniffing at your door in no time!

Throw Us a Bone!

What shoestring budget marketing campaigns have you had success with?

6 Tips to Networking More Effectively At Tradeshows

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 16:20:00 +0000

Tradeshows can be an intimidating place. There are droves of people (most of whom you do not know), a host of talks and demonstrations going on, and an intense feeling urging you to make good use of this time. Don’t shy away, get excited!

At a networking event, you will share ideas about marketing and operations with other professionals who are doing it successfully. You receive lots of ideas on running your business more efficiently, industry trends, and also get introduced to new products that are being brought to the market. There are always ways to improve your operations and trade shows are the best places to learn (for example, you might have learned about the value of PawLoyalty Kennel Software at a tradeshow!). You’ll be surprised at how much more you can bring to your business after attending one event.

Here are some simple tips on how to prepare so that other professionals will be taking notes from you:

1. Present yourself well.

Eat beforehand so you can concentrate on networking. Make sure your shirt is stain-free, and you’ve taken care of all your hygienic needs. Feeling like you look good can make a big difference in your confidence and focus. Plus, professionals will want to network with other professionals. If you do not look and carry yourself like a professional, you may not be taken seriously. We recommend that you wear a shirt or polo with your brand logo on it. Other pet care professionals can use your business brand as an icebreaker when they want to network with you.

Networking Needs:
Working Pen
Business cards (take a lot with you, the most common issue we hear is of people running out of these)
Your Phone
Small notebook

2. Have a plan.

Try to prepare as much as you can beforehand. Review the conference mailings and event schedule to create a game plan of what speakers you want to hear, which booths you want to visit, etc. You don’t want to waste valuable time at the event doing this. Know what types of pet industry experts you want to network with. While you can’t plan down to the tee whom you will meet, you can at least know where you plan to meet them.

Look at the list of speakers at the event. While it is helpful to hear from speakers on your specific pet service, try to go to speakers that will have an audience of other types of pet business. For example, if you are in kennel services, you may want to go to a dog grooming speaker to see what stylists and grooming experts you can network with.

3. Take notes on who you network with.

Collecting business cards is usually not enough. Because you will want to follow up with potential business partners after the event, write down conversation details to email them that will trigger their memories of your conversation.

It is valuable to jot down details about them or their business. Personally I jot these notes down on their actual business card for follow up after the event. Do not rely solely on your memory or theirs because you both will be networking with many pet care professionals throughout the event.

4. Have your elevator pitch ready to go.

Be able to explain your business within a couple of sentences and include some things that you are trying to get out of the conference.

“Hi, I’m Sally with Tail Waggin’ Training. I am here to learn about new products to carry in my retail store and best practices around merchandising. “

Throwing out what you are hoping to get increases the likelihood that the conversations you have will contain information that answers those questions or goals.

5. Good networkers make connections.

Pet care professionals want to hear what you can do for them. Every business has something to offer whether it is years of experience, demos, or your own contacts. If you find that you are networking with someone who doesn’t quite fit your business persona, but you have a partner whom you think could benefit them, offer up your connections. What comes around goes around and they may have contacts that may benefit you in return. You will also begin to get a reputation as someone who knows and connects people. This will make you be seen as a hub and someone worth talking to.

6. PawLoyaltyKennel Software’s CEO has his own tip for networking at tradeshows:

Pay attention to what questions people are asking in seminars. "At the expos I have attended, the best time spent was the break-out sessions. In addition to dynamic and intelligent speakers, the sessions provided an opportunity to talk to other professionals about their best practices, how they have handled challenges, etc. I usually decide who to network with based on the questions participants ask during these sessions. The more intelligent the questions they ask, the more business savvy I assume they are and I use that to gauge where to spend my time." -- Garret Tadlock, CEO and Founder of PawLoyalty

Throw Us a Bone!

What has been your experience networking at Trade Shows? Any tips you could give to a newbie who hasn’t been before?

6 Press Release Topics Pet Parents Care About

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:58:00 +0000

Producing press releases is a strategic move that can result in getting your business more exposure in your community and can lead to greater name recognition, new customers, and ultimately more revenue! Think of press releases as short articles you write about your business so that reporters, bloggers, and other editorial writers can learn about you and potentially feature you in their publication. If you have a place on your website to load your press releases, they can also increase credibility with new customers who visit your site.

In a press release, you share news about your business. It is important to ask yourself why a pet business professional would be interested in this story and why pet owners would be interested. Your press release should be able to answer both of these questions so that you can appeal to both potential customers and business partners. If possible, it is always a good idea to provide evidential support and to try to quantify your evidence with statistics.

Having a hard time coming up with what to write about? Here are 6 press release topics that pet owners will be interested in:

1. Business to Community Relations

It is likely that you are already heavily involved in the non-profit pet community in your area. Getting your business involved with the pet community will garner a lot of attention from the local dog owners. If you plan to host an event to bring the community together, use a press release to advertise to potential customers and invite local newspapers to come out to cover it. If the event recently happened, then pitch a story about the success of it and if you plan to do more events in the future.

Questions to Ask Yourself:
How has your business been involved with the local community?
Are you going to be holding events at your business, park, etc.?
Will you be working with other pet businesses to make the event happen?
Does your business sponsor animal charities? How much have you raised?
Is this something that will be done once or will it be reoccurring due to the success it generated?

2. Passion for Pets

Have you noticed that several pet videos and news pieces that go viral feature heart-warming stories or pet owners who are just playing around with their dogs? People are interested in stories that spark emotion and are relatable. Pet owners want to know who they are leaving their pets with and why you as a pet care professional are trustworthy. If you have a personal story that will be compelling to your pet loving audience, then tell it to them! Passion for your job and animals equals a reliable pet care provider in a customer’s eyes.

Questions to Ask Yourself:
Is the reason you started your pet business a direct result of your love for animals?
Have you worked with rescue and foster dogs? When and for how long? What were the results?
How many dogs have you helped outside your business? What kinds of dogs? (i.e. aging, sick, homeless)

3. Excellent Health Ratings

Unique safety protocols like an electronic food & medicine charting system or the Pet Health Record in your kennel management software would be a great feature to tell your customers about! They like to know that they are paying for their pets to stay at an A-list facility and will be interested in how your business goes above and beyond to keep your facility clean and dog-safe. If your health rating is higher than average and you have customers that can attest to this, a press release is a great opportunity to show off your outstanding work!

Questions to Ask Yourself:
Are there certifications you’ve earned?
Do you train your employees in first aid?
What is your health rating compared to the average facility health rating?
Do dogs tend to leave your facility in better health than when they arrived?

4. New Partnership

Clients love to hear about their favorite businesses pairing up. Make a list of services you DO NOT provide. This will give you an idea on whom you should be networking with. Do your research! Figure out who the most reputable pet service providers are in your area and make friends with them. For more tips on developing new partnerships, read our article: 6 Ways for Pet Businesses to Increase Their Referral Network.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

Have you recently partnered with another local business?
Which of your pet professional contacts are you likely to recommend to your clients?
Whom have you not partnered with? (i.e. pet photographers, funeral services, groomers, trainers, dog authors)

5. Award Recognition

Awards are given out for almost anything these days. Look up different awards that are achievable. For example, here in the Bay Area, there is an Annual “Best of the Bay” business award hosted by a local paper; there are categories for best pet groomer and best dog walker. See if there are any publications or organizations where your business could be considered. Sometimes you need to sign up to compete or be nominated for awards. Don’t sell yourself short. If you have loyal customers who would happily nominate you, then let them know that you would like to be in the running! If you make it as a nominee, rally customers to vote for you. Even if you don’t win, it is newsworthy that you were nominated. And if you do win, it is worth big kudos!

Questions to Ask Yourself:
Have you received recognition over the internet for your services or website?
Have you received an award or certification as a local business?
Can you boast top performance records in areas like health ratings, customer satisfaction, or employee satisfaction?

6. Upgrading Your Facility

Press releases thrive on what’s new and upcoming! Share your excitement about upgrading your facility with your clients. This could be about a new location that is opening up or boost your reputation on your already successful location.

Questions to Ask Yourself:
Do you have a new facility opening? Where and why did you choose this location?
Do you have a new product line coming out?
Are you upgrading the equipment in your facility? Will this mean that clients will be getting new services?

Get started NOW!

If you need help getting your press release thoughts together, check out our article How to Get from Idea to Press Release: A Step-by-Step Process. It breaks down the writing process into simple steps.

Throw Us a Bone!

What press release topics can you add to this list?

5 Leading Social Media Networks Pet Professionals Care About

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 May 2014 20:46:00 +0000

Your kennel management software is only the first step in embracing technology for pet business. The next big step is using social media as a marketing technique! Why?

Social media is FREE!
Your customers use it (very often).
PawLoyalty kennel software has a feature that allows your clients to share reviews on your company on their social media.
Fleishman-Hillard, a company that specializes in brand marketing, stated in a 2012 report that “89 percent of consumers turn to Google, Bing or another search engine to find information on products, services or businesses prior to making purchases.”

Basically, your web presence is important if you want to stand out among your competitors! If you would post your business in directories, then why not customer-rich social media websites? You can integrate your social media platforms with your kennel software so that when new clients sign up and add to their pet profiles, these will act as software triggers to prompt them to share the activity with their own social media followers.

Here are some of the leading social media websites and apps that pet professionals are using. They are all worth trying out for your pet business because many of your clients will be using them as well. Use them to engage with other pet professionals, attract potential customers, and ensure your current customers that your company is a trusted source of canine expertise!

Focus on building a community on one social media platform first. Don’t get caught up in joining every platform and end up having little activity on each. Here’s where you should start—Facebook.

Facebook

Facebook is the leading social media site in the world. But you knew that! What some people don’t know is the difference between a personal profile and a business page. Facebook profiles are generally set up to post information about yourself through pictures, status updates, and background information.

Personal pages can be put on private, which would require your permission or acceptance of friend requests before other users can access your information.

Business pages are what you want to focus on! They are open to the public for any Facebook user (your clients) to “Like," which enables them to follow your postings and updates. With business pages, you get analytics results called “Page Insights.” This section shows you how many people you’ve reached, how many new people have liked your page, and how many of your followers are engaged on your site. When you have a Facebook page, you make it easier for your customers to refer your pet business to their friends! You can also use it to interact with other pet professionals in the Facebook Groups section.

You can easily integrate Facebook with your PawLoyalty kennel management software so that pet parents will receive messages to share a review or comment about your business on Facebook when they perform certain actions within the software.

How to Use it:
1 post a day
Best times to post: Weekdays 6-8 AM, 2-5 PM (Check Page Insights)

Statistics:
1.15 billion active users
405 minutes on average per visitor

Google+

Google+ is used similarly to Facebook in that people join to maintain relationships (business and personal). This site can promote your business through search engine optimization. After all, Google is the world’s leading search engine.

Google+ is said to be on the rise. According to Forbes magazine, it is a social network that will be doing bigger things in 2014 and has been described as a “one size fits all” network that is gaining on Facebook’s amount of users. Start adding clients to your account now so that by the time Google+ catches up with Facebook, you’ll already be ahead of the game.

How To Use It:
1 post a day
Best times to post: 9-11 AM

Statistics:
343 million active users
3 minutes on average per visitor

Twitter

Twitter is known for real-time status updates, which is a primary space to direct traffic to your pet blog, business website, or any sites that your business is featured on. You get 140 characters per status update or “tweet” as the local users call it. Use a tweet to post a Tip of the Day or Fun Fact that will have your followers “re-tweeting” you!

What some people forget is that you can also add image links to enhance followers’ experience. On a screen full of words, it’s refreshing to see an image link, especially when it leads to a photo of an adorable pup advertising your brand!

You can easily integrate Twitter with your kennel management software just like Facebook so that your customers can tweet their reviews about your business.

How to Use It:
1-2 posts a day
Best times to post: Weekends, 1-3PM

Statistics:
215 million active users
21 minutes on average per visitor

Pinterest is a virtual corkboard where you can post or “pin” photos of your pet business, advertise announcements, and share quirky pet photos that you’ve found online. This is a casual space to “follow” other pet business professionals and get creative ideas for your business.

Users search for images by keyword, so how you caption a picture is very important. By searching “pet infographic”, for example, brings you to pet information heaven. You’ll want to be well-informed of today’s pet industry so that customers will see you as a reliable source for pet information. You can also pile all of this doggie data onto your organized business’ Pinterest boards and advise customers to follow you for statistics and tips that you believe will be helpful to them as well. This site also drives traffic to your website, which will improve your search engine listing—make sure to put your keywords into your Pinterest board names, captions, and bio!

How to Use It:
5-30 pins per day (depending on how many boards you have)
Best times to post: Saturday morning, 2-4 PM, 8-11 PM

Statistics:
70 million active users
89 minutes on average per visitor

Instagram

Instagram is picture posting smartphone app for pet businessmen on the go! There are going to be times when you won’t have your computer, but you’ll probably have your phone handy to capture moments throughout your day. Don’t have fancy photos? Not a problem. Instagram is another casual platform that has a variety of quality-enhancing filters that can help you post attractive shots.

This smart phone app is ideal for promoting events as they are going on. If your employees are helping out at the local animal shelter or you are at a tradeshow that is featuring new products you know your customers will love, then snap a picture, add a witty pet-related caption, and let clients know that your pet business isn’t just work, it’s fun too! Be aware that there are no link backs on the posts, but you can put your website link on your profile.

How To Use It:
1 post a day

Statistics:
150 million active users
257 minutes on average per visitor

All of these apps can help you develop a strong web presence and can give potential clients a more well-rounded view of your company’s personality. Use these sites to build the customer’s trust in you as their dog’s caretaker.

Now stop reading. You’re already online, so start a Facebook account! If you already have one, customize your Facebook URL or pick a platform that you are not on and join today!

Throw Us a Bone!

Which of these social media sites is your company on? Which ones do you like the best?

How to Claim Your Facebook URL

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 May 2014 17:18:00 +0000

Once you’ve signed up for your PawLoyalty kennel software, one of the first things we ask is if your company has a Facebook page. If you say yes, then we put the link into your account profile. But wait, do you know what your Facebook link is?

A default Facebook page link looks something like this: http://www.facebook.com/pages8534758942750ref=jk

This isn’t the easiest URL to remember or to tell to customers. Fortunately, Facebook gives you the option to customize that URL into something that looks clean and is easy to remember like this:

http://www.facebook.com/pawloyalty

Why should you claim your Facebook URL:

You can integrate your social media accounts with your software system so that eventually customers will be able to post referrals to your Facebook business page.
A customized Facebook URL personalizes your business page with a company name that is easier to navigate to than a series of random numbers and characters.
When you are networking, it is more professional to put a specifically customized link onto business cards and easier to tell people in person.
It is simply more aesthetically pleasing, which can be a factor in customers choosing to click on your link or not.

According to Facebook rules, here are some things to consider when deciding on your URL name:

Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (“.”).

Choose a username you will be happy with for the long term. Usernames are not transferable.

Your username must adhere to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

Your First Task:

The only catch is that your page must have 25 likes in order to create your own unique URL. Don’t let that slow you down! Make it a goal to choose a URL name today. If you don’t have 25 likes yet, start inviting loyal customers, family and friends, and your employees to like the company page.

Here's How You Do It:

Go to www.facebook.com/username
Select “Select a Username” for your page.
This brings up a drop down menu, select the page you want to create the username for.
If your page has the needed 25 fans it will bring up a box .
Enter your desired username and click on “check availablilty.”
If it’s available, you will be shown some final terms – if you are happy with your choice click “confirm” or select “cancel” to try another one.

Your Next Tasks:

Add your new URL to your PawLoyalty account.
Go to Administration and click on Profile.
Input your URL where it says Facebook Page.
Invite more people to like your page so you can start dogpiling those referrals on your page.

Throw Us a Bone!

Do you know any other advantages to claiming your Facebook URL?

Twin Design / Shutterstock.com

How to Get From Idea to Press Release: A Step-By-Step Process

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 02:04:00 +0000

You’ve got the topic for a great press release, so now what? (If you do not have a topic yet, take a look 6 Press Release Topics that Pet Owners Care About.) Here is a simple step-by-step process divided into sections to help you knock out that press release!

Pre-Writing

Brainstorm ideas for your press release. What main points do you want to highlight?

Freewrite for 10 minutes. Set a timer. (This step is critical!) Allow yourself to freely jot down sentences about your business and your press release. Keep your hand moving the whole time. You won’t have to use everything that you write down, but you’ll have a lot to work with. No erasing, no sentence reworking. That will come later.

Address the problem for pet owners. What problems do you customers have? Consider if what you are writing about solves a problem for pet owners. If so, articulate what the problem is.

Sell yourself as the solution. How will your business fix these problems? Prepare to outline them clearly for your audience.

Gather supporting evidence. Get quotes and statistics from reputable sources, quotes from the business owner, and testimonials from your clients that are all relevant to the objective of your press release.

Writing

Create an outline with all of this information. Organize your press release into short paragraphs. Make your main points clear within the first two sentences of each paragraph. For more in depth on how to structure your press release check out our (Press Release Template)

For your first press release, shoot for 300-550 words.

End your press release with a final paragraph about your business. This is a very important paragraph! It should answer the questions: Who are you and what do you do? What are you goals as a company? Your mission statement is a great place to start generating ideas.

Formatting

Press-releases typically have a standard heading that looks like this:

Date
Headline
Sub-headline

Then begins your first paragraph:

City, State—First Paragraph…

Your contact info goes at the bottom of your press release:

Company
Business Owner
Email

Mailing Address
Phone/Fax Number

Marketing

Make a contact list on a spreadsheet. Identify local bloggers and other media sources that you can distribute your press release to. Not their first names, last namesIdeally, these contacts should be people whom you have networked with in person or online and whom are familiar with you or your business. Save this list!! As you create press releases over time, you will want to refer back to this as your “rolodex” of people to contact with news.

Reach out to your contacts and especially your local newspaper. Journalists are always looking for stories that they think the community will benefit in knowing. Your community is guaranteed to have several pet owners looking for new ways to pamper their pets. Are you announcing a new pet retail product or the fact that you now accept on-line reservations you accept using your kennel software? Are you sharing a way that your pet business is giving pack to the community or about an event you are hosting? Brainstorm a list of publications where you could potentially be featured and reach out to their editorial department (most publications list who to contact within the publication somewhere).

PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK! If you make your way through this process, stop and take a moment to be proud of yourself. Your marketing efforts will pay off and you deserve acknowledgment for making time to grow your business!

Throw Us a Bone!

What publications most often public your press releases or feature your business?

8 Tail-Wagging Benefits to Using LinkedIn

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 02:00:00 +0000

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a place where pet care professionals could go to engage with their peers and other industry experts, brainstorm ideas, ask questions and share best practices on things like operations, customer service, marketing, and staffing? Well, there is and that place is one of the world’s leading social networks – LinkedIn.

If you haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, it’s time. Linked in hosts over 70,000 pet care professionals who have already formed hundreds of pet industry specific groups. Still need to be convinced? Below are 8 reasons for you to dedicate time each week to LinkedIn.

1. LinkedIn is a professional space that can enhance your credibility as an industry authority.

We all can recognize the benefits of getting press coverage – it is common these days for pet magazine editors and reports to go to a company’s business page or an business owners personal profile to assess the credibility of that business and/or person. Having an updated and professional LinkedIn profile opens the door for opportunities to have your business featured.

Additionally, by having a LinkedIn presence you will have access to reach out to pet magazine editors and other industry writers. There are also many opportunities to publicize your subject matter expertise though your online resume and by engaging in group discussions and showcasing your writing to pet industry bloggers for a chance to be featured as a guest writer on their websites.

2. LinkedIn promotes your business and drives traffic back to your website.

On LinkedIn, you will have two pages: your personal page and your business page. Both can be optimized by adding backlinks that will boost your SEO. When you are connected to bloggers, you also have the opportunity to add backlinks on your guest posts. Targeted keywords that are placed strategically throughout your profile will also increase your chance of being placed at the top of LinkedIn’s search engine. The more credible and connected you are on social networks, the more credible search engine sites like Google and Yahoo will think you are.

3. LinkedIn expands your network of Pet Care Professionals.

LinkedIn gives you access to networking with the best in the industry. After you have identified professionals that you want to contact or partner with, LinkedIn “connects” the two of you, which then gives you access to their profile and updates. This makes it easier to keep in contact, to see what information and articles your peers are sharing, and easily look up each other’s updated business information.

LinkedIn basically replaces that old stack of business cards and ensures sure you have the most up-to-date contact information about your network. If you use LinkedIn Premium, you are able to add notes about how and when you met your contacts through a profile organizer and be able to see the profiles of 3rd party connections.

4. LinkedIn helps you to keep an eye on your competition.

LinkedIn makes it easy to monitor your competition’s pages. Join groups that competing businesses have joined and you will receive updates on their posts, but remember, they will be able to see what you post as well. Observe how they operate by keeping an eye on how they interact with their clients and what new promotions and services they are marketing. See what works and what doesn’t by evaluating the feedback they receive from other pet industry professionals.

5. LinkedIn helps you build stronger bonds with your clients.

It will probably be interesting for you to see what your clients do for their day job and also provides you with an opportunity for relationship building with them. You will get notifications of when they change jobs, celebrate a work anniversary or get a promotion! Imagine the customer loyalty you build when a client comes in to pick up their dog and you are able to congratulate them on a recent promotion. Or take it a step further and make them congratulations goodie bag or banner and you will have a customer for life!

You will also want to see what other pet businesses your clients are interested in. Take the hints and network with these businesses. If your networking is successful, use LinkedIn status updates to make announcements to your networks of clients and colleagues that you have new business partners. Your customers will like to see that you are playing well with brands that they love.

6. LinkedIn can keep you up to date with pet industry news.

This is one of the strongest benefits of LinkedIn. Other pet care professionals contribute articles, product reviews and tips in user groups. You can search and scan the archives for helpful business and marketing tips. Actively contributing by posting original content and answering questions with personal experience provides good karma and can persuade potential business partners to look at your LinkedIn profile and reach out to you.

One topic that you already have expertise in is cloud-based kennel software. You can also get feedback on dilemmas and questions you have. Just make sure to say thank you when people give you advice.

7. LinkedIn can round out your pet industry perspective.

Joining these groups can help you gain new perspective on how things are done outside of your local community. Solicit the best business practices from other professionals and learn new ways to differentiate yourself from your local competition and attract new canine clients!

HOT TIP: When you travel, we know you will probably want to stop by and visit facilities to check out how other people are operating and get fresh ideas. Use LinkedIn to connect with other facility owners and set up your plans in advance. Along the way, you might make connections with other pet business owners and start long-term professional relationships.

8. LinkedIn allows connections to engage with your profile.

Your connections are encouraged to endorse your skill sets and write recommendations about you that will be featured on your profile. Colleagues and clients post the recommendations as a viewable testimonials on your page (unlike Facebook where testimonials travel to the bottom of the page and are pushed aside by new status updates).

LinkedIn Statistics

Best times to post: 7-8:30am, 5-6pm
238 million users
Average visitor spends 17 minutes on LinkedIn each times they visit

Here are a few LinkedIn groups to get you started:
Pet Industry Professionals

Pet Business Networking Group
Pet-Acular PR and Marketing to Reach Pet Lovers and Businesses
Pet Business Forum
Pet Industry International

LinkedIn is a tool for developing your business’ brand, relationships, and reputation. With it, you as a pet care professional will be able to build your industry credibility, manage your network, expand the reach of your brand, and stay current with pet industry news. We recommend you include this platform in your social media marketing and business growth strategy!

Want tips on other leading social networks? Read our post: 5 Leading Social Media Networks Pet Professionals Care About.

Throw Us a Bone!

How has LinkedIn helped your pet business? How do you use LinkedIn? Please share your thoughts!

Gil C / Shutterstock.com

Managing Your Pet Business' Social Reputation on Yelp

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 19:46:00 +0000

What Yelp Should Be

Yelp is a social network that pet parents use to review the businesses they’ve been to and specific services they’ve used. Businesses create their own profile pages to build up their reputation and hopefully garner positive reviews and a five-star rating. Yelp caters to small independent businesses and gives them a voice against the marketing budgets of larger chains. It makes it much easier for your business to be found in local searches.

What Yelp Appears to Be

Some business owners have made claims that Yelp’s employees have called them offering to remove their bad reviews if the business buys ad space. Others have even reported that their positive reviews would be hidden once they declined to pay.

Our Experience with Yelp

From my experience as a customer, Yelp owners have reached out to me on a few occasions after I had given them good reviews on their business. After thanking me for the four or five-star rating, they would ask me to “Like” them on Facebook (They also provided their Facebook links for easy access). These businesses easily integrated their social media marketing strategy with Yelp and it worked! Without hesitation, I clicked on the link and added myself as another follower to their business page. Why?

They made it easy for me to find their Facebook.
I was already a fan of their service, so why not be a fan on Facebook?
Their responses affirmed that my reviews were actually being read and made me feel as if the businesses really cared about the opinions of their customers, so I was happy to extend the favor by liking their pages.

Believe it or not, “Yelping” or reviewing is fun for customers because people are always looking for their voice to be heard on topics that they are knowledgeable about. Yelp allows customers to create lists of favorite places and to bookmark business they haven’t been to yet. This way, satisfied customer refers your business to their friend, this now potential customer can bookmark your business and refer back to it on Yelp.

Here Are the Statistics

Yelp has 100 million monthly unique visitors
99% of Yelp users are not on the site to casually browse; they intend to spend money at local businesses
Every star you get in Yelp’s five-star maximum rating leads to a 5-9% jump in revenues.

Your goal in using this social network: Bring in as many positive reviews as you can to boost your business’ credibility.

How do you generate several positive reviews?

After you’ve successfully set up a Yelp business page, look to the faithful customers you already have. Potential customers are eager to know how people like themselves view your business. This is why you should ask your current customers to rate and review your business through Yelp. Building up a collection of positive reviews also will help buffer you in case you receive a less than favorable review.

How do you ask your customers to give you a review?

Kristin Morrison, author of Six-Figure Pet Sitting Academy, advises that you should send out a short e-mail to clients you have in mind. In this email you should:

Thank your clients for being loyal customers.
Request for them to review your business via Yelp.
Let them know that it only takes two minutes to become a Yelp member.
Encourage clients to review five or more businesses on Yelp to maintain an active status so that their reviews will be shown. (Yelp does not show reviews by inactive members.)
Remind them that they can review your business more than once, which will increase your star rating.
Tell them that customers can also “check-in” to your business, which puts your business profile on their Yelp feed.

How do you deal with negative reviews?

Don’t try to respond the same day. Take another day or two to get over the initial shock of receiving a negative review and ask yourself why the customer may have written a negative review in the first place. Think back and try to remember when this customer came in. Were they in a bad mood to begin with? Did you have certain employees on the floor at that time? Recalling the incident this unhappy customer is referring to will help you form your response that addresses the customer’s concerns in a professional manner.

You are able to send private or public messages to your Yelp reviewers. We recommend that you message them privately so that they do not put any other complaints on public display.

Perhaps you will be able to remedy the unfortunate situation by offering a special discount or a free service so that they might try your business out again and hopefully have a better experience the next time around. If you are able to make your way back to this customer's good side, politely ask them if they would mind taking down the review.

Remember that one bad review does not counteract the good that you have brought to the pet community. However, multiple bad reviews should not be overlooked. Use these reviews as opportunities to improve your business and the customer’s experience. Always try and keep the number of unfavorable reviews balanced by more good reviews. If you receive a negative review, it is worthwhile to ask several of your loyal customers to review you on Yelp if they haven’t already.

Benefits

Free advertising for your business through a Yelp profile complete with your standard information, description, and business photos (added by you and your customers).

Once you have five or more reviews, you can add the Yelp badge to your site, which will not only encourage more people to review your business, and will add credibility to your business’ reputation.

Publicly shared referrals in the form of reviews, this will lead to more potential customers.

A backlink to your website through a popular social network filled with pet owners looking for pet services.

Pictures of happy pets that are a direct result of your business’ services.

Yelp is your online reputation laid out in reviews. It’s better to have a reputation than to not be recognized at all. This free business profile will increase your visibility in the local community and soon all you’ll need to worry about is if you have enough staff members to handle the new customers. Luckily you’ll have your handy kennel software to check them all in!

Throw Us a Bone!

Would you give Yelp a positive or negative review? What techniques have you used to garner positive reviews or deal with negative ones?

Gil C / Shutterstock.com

5 Ways to Differentiate Your Pet Business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:04:00 +0000

With over 150,000 pet care professionals in the United States, your ability to differentiate your business is critical to long-term sustainable growth. By focusing on the customer experience you can gain the loyalty of prospective pet parents and continue to thrive with your current pack.

Below are 5 ways to differentiate your pet business so you have a leg up on your local competitors:

1. Unique Services & Accommodations

By taking your current services and thinking of innovative ways to make them standout, you are able to provide a service that has no substitute in your local market (plus it will increase your revenue). Working with hundreds of pet resorts, trainers & groomers provides us insight into the latest service trends in the market. Below are a few that have recently begun to catch some momentum:

Creating a variety of room sizes (Cabin, Condo, Suites) with themes
Pawdicure with color (using a special paint pen)
Adventure Outings
Bosco & Roxy Treats

Customers will love these because…Customers who love to spoil their pets are looking for the next best thing that they can tell their fellow pet parents about. Your facility will catch their attention when you specialize in services that some pet owners have never even heard of!

2. Superior Employee Training

Differentiate your business through exemplary employee training. By training employees in a consistent matter you are able increase your operational efficiency, but even more important is pet parents will know what to expect. Start with the basics (answering the phone, check-in & check-out process, on-boarding of new pet parents) and once your staff is all on the same page, then you can move to more advanced training. We recommend DogTec for a wide variety of courses including pet first aid, reading body language, and many others.

Customers will love this because… The workshops and certifications will allow you to advertise a first-rate staff & the customer experience will be consistently exceptional allowing clients to take comfort in routines.

3. Healthy Pet Guarantee

For pet parents, knowing that their pet is going to have a good time and come home healthy are their number 1 priorities. By offering something as simple as a “Healthy Pet Guarantee” you can reassure pet parents that you are focused on providing a safe play environment. What does it mean to your business? It means if something happens to a pet while in your care, that you will cover the costs and it’s an opportunity to increase revenue by charging $2-$5/per pet per day.

Customers will love this because… everyone loves a guarantee. Even if you have not changed anything in your daily routine, this type of insurance is worth the extra dollars to a pet parent.

4. Creatively Organizing Dogs into Playgroups

How do you organize your dogs into playgroups? Big and small? Aggressive and mild-tempered? Dog Days San Diego places dogs into group based on size and temperament. They implement a temperament test process in which they have each new canine client meet their specially trained and socially aware husky to test for aggression. This way they will have an idea of how the new client will socialize with other dogs and be aware of any behavioral tendencies. Consider making the playgroups smaller so that there are only up to 8 dogs per group. Some kennels even have a 4:1 pet to employee ratio. All of this is done to make sure that dogs are playing in safe environments.

Customers will love this because…They will be assured that you have their pets’ best interest in mind. The majority of customers are concerned that their pets will be unsafe or uncomfortable. Going the extra mile to provide them with reassurance will make your facility more memorable to current customers and attractive to potential customers.

5. Outstanding Pet Parent Engagement

Boost your pet parent engagement with personal touches that make them feel included. Consider sending text updates, photo updates, and report cards to pet parents. With your kennel software, these reports can updated easily and are fully accessible to pet parents while they are away at work or on vacation. Some of PawLoyalty’s clients have even started offering “FaceTime” as an extra service that pet parents can use to calm their separation anxiety.

Customers will love this because… Physical proof of a pet’s well-being will put customers at ease and will save you the hassle of tying up the phone lines with frequent calls from concerned pet parents. This way you can set up times for these updates that work around your facility’s schedule.

So how are you going to be different? Take the next step: add a new service or give an old service a facelift in your kennel software and then track the response of your customers. You will be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Throw Us a Bone!

How have you differentiated your pet business?

6 Ways For Pet Businesses to Increase Their Referral Network

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 20:03:00 +0000

If you are like 95% of pet care professionals, your #1 source of new customers is referrals. For garnering professional referrals, time spent networking with local businesses will pay dividends. Below are 5 creative ways to increase your referral network.

1. Network with Your Non-Competition

Being familiar with the dog-related businesses in your area also boosts your credibility amongst customers. If you only specialize in doggie daycare, you are bound to have customers ask if you offer other services like grooming or training. Having people to refer your clients to will help your business. Customers see you as a one-stop resource for dog services and will be grateful they don’t have to spend more time looking.

Don’t stop at knowing of them, but get to know them. Other businesses are a hot spot for potential customers. Look up other pet businesses and go tour their facility. You want to know that your customers will be taken care of when you refer them to other businesses.

Make a good first impression with other pet business owners by stopping by with cookies (or dog treats). Have a chat with them, ask about their business, and discuss yours as well. Start with commonalities such as the type of customers you appeal to, the marketing techniques you use, the dog daycare software you use, or the other industry affiliates you both have. Get a feel for how compatible you two would be as partners. You want to make sure this business is worth investing time in a relationship!

Leave them with your business card and invite them to stop by your business. Don’t forget to politely ask them to refer your business to customers. You’ll be able to share your canine clients without the worry of competition which makes this a win-win for all, especially the dogs!

Here are a few dog businesses to help you brainstorm who to network with:
Boarding Facilities
Daycare Facilities

Groomers
Pet Photographers
Pet Boutiques
Pet Sitters & Walkers
Trainers
Pet Toy Manufacturers
Pet Food Distributors

2. Network with Pet Retail Distributor

Take a look at local businesses that offer complimentary services to yours, but don’t limit it to pet businesses; working with a heavy foot traffic retail distributor could prove to be a beneficial referral partner. They can advise you on items that are most popular and update you when the latest products have come out so that you are always well-stocked with items that will sell. For more tips on pet retail, take a look at our article on 10 Tips for Choosing the Right Pet Products for Your Retail Section.

Because they also talk to other pet business owners on a daily basis, distributors are great resources for meeting new business partners. Ask if they have other clients in your area and if you can use their name as a reference when you contact their recommendations.

3. Got a Bulletin Board?

Allow other businesses to promote their services on your wall through posters and business cards. Be on the lookout for opportunities to have your name in someone else’ shop as well. While pet owners are waiting to pick up their dogs, they are very likely to eye the bulletin board. If you have special offers going on, be sure to advertise them and make your poster stand out!

4. Network with Your Local Vet

Establishing a partnership with a local vet provides your business credibility. Whether you own a large pet resort facility or a smaller dog walking business, you should network with the local vets in your area. Pet owners see them as the most trustworthy source for any of their pet needs. Invite them to stop by a tour of your facility or offer to host their dog for a complimentary night so they can try your business out for themselves. Be sure to let them know of any special offers you are currently having. Come prepared with postcards or small papers to leave behind that tell about the special offers. See if you can leave them on the checkout counter at the vet’s office or in the waiting room.

Veronica Boutelle (Author of Minding Your Dog Business) suggests vet folders. These are folders packed with resources that represent your business beyond the mere business card or brochure. Trainers can include tips, diagrams, and action plans for training your dog in your folder. Mention that your kennel software keeps you organized. Think of things you can put in your own vet folder that exemplify how you successfully run your dog business and will be resourceful to vets and their customers. If you’re a kennel, include a fact sheet with your business address and certifications.

5. Network at Pet Events

Go to trade shows, training classes, and fundraisers for rescues. There are plenty of free events that happen simply for the good of the dogs. Check the local SPCA website for an event calendar full of pet affairs around town! Get involved and network with people that have just as much passion for pets as you do. These will also give you ideas as to how you can establish your own events at your business and whom to ask for support.

Some pet events to try out in your community:
Dog first aid and CPR training
Volunteering at local animal shelters
Visiting the dog park
Trade shows
Dog Training Info Sessions
Meet-ups

Keep your eyes out. Most cities host events throughout the year.

6. Network within a Trade Organization

Joining a trade organization, whether it’s virtual like on LinkedIn or a local association in which you attend regular meetings, attests to your professionalism and your commitment to maintaining a knowledge basis in the pet industry. Local groups provide you with multiple opportunities to market your business directly to an audience that is rich with pet owners. Just as well, being an active part of an online community allows you to expand your networking range to include pet care professionals who are outside of your immediate area.

Being in a trade organization will put you in line to receive special offers from other companies who are looking to market themselves also. This can be a continual resource for group discounts, event access, and educational opportunities. From all of these perks, you can gain a well-rounded perspective and use that information to beef up your own business.

Popular Pet Industry Associations:

American Pet Products Associations (APPA)
National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS)
American Pet Association (APA)
World Pet Association (WPA)
American Kennel Club (AKC)

Take Action

Consider which of these you could get done in the next week and commit to doing it. Write your goal on a post-it and put it somewhere you will see it every day. Make sure to write the date of your deadline on it.

Remember: Goals are dreams with deadlines!

Throw Us a Bone!

What has been the most successful way you have worked with your referral network?

6 Ways to Incorporate Video into Your Website

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:16:00 +0000

When considering if they should use your service, pet owners will try and determine how you will care for their loved ones while they are away. One way you can help them evaluate this is by providing videos on your website. Customers love to see real people interact with real dogs. Prospective clients will be able to put a face to your company and get a sense of how you or your employees will engage with their pets. Why simply tell your customers how well you’ll accommodate their pets when you can show them?

Here are a few video content ideas that you can use for your pet business:

1. Provide your customer with a video tour of your facility.

A video tour which incorporates clips of the kennels is valuable because pet owners want to make sure their pet will have comfortable accommodations. This video could also have an introduction from the staff and close ups of canine clients. By seeing how your facility works, customers will already feel engaged and be more likely to come see your business for themselves. Click here to see a sample of Ruff House Pet Resort’s video.

2. Show what a dog’s day looks like at your kennel.

Now that you’ve introduced your pet business, make a detailed video about what a standard doggie day at your facility looks like. This gives clients an idea of what they can expect their dog to be doing hour by hour. When pet parents have to say their goodbyes, they will take comfort in knowing that their dog is not bored, hungry, or lonely. Customers can replace any separation anxiety with the image of a happy dog prancing about his day at your facility.

3. Feature a customer success story through video.

This is another form of word-of-mouth marketing. Think of this video as the equivalent to handing out a referral card to each viewer it reaches. Customers care about testimonials because they want to hear from a trusted source (real pet owners) that have the same concerns as they do. Having an enthusiastic client tell their success story on video gives credibility to your business and entices the potential customer more than words on a screen would.

4. Post a simple training tip.

This type of video showcases you and your employees in action. Who doesn’t love a good Do-It-Yourself video? Sit and shake may seem like simple commands, but you can enhance the lesson with your training experiences and specific techniques that have worked for you. Pet owners will appreciate the extra advice that they can use at home and it is a sure way to gain recognition from potential clients who are searching for these kinds of tips online. It will always help the customer build rapport with your staff. Videos make customers feel like they are getting to know you.

5. Use video to highlight a retail product or service.

Sometimes pet businesses will provide a service or product that goes above and beyond what standard businesses do. That is something you’ll want your customers to see because it sets you apart from the competition. An example might be something like Riverwalk Resort in Southern California trains their employees to do pet first aid. You can also show off that your company uses a specific kennel software that enables you to service them better. Customers who view your website are 85% more likely to purchase a product after watching a product video. When you have a product or service that you think your customer will be interested in knowing about, show them!

6. Feature the owner on their approach to doggie daycare.

Clients will want to know what the owner specifically has to say about their business. This is your chance to showcase your pet industry knowledge, indicate why you have a personal interest in the business, and maybe share a few anecdotes about your own pets. Customers respond well to familiarity. By hearing your story, they might choose your company because they feel as if they’ve gotten to know you as a reliable caretaker.

What other immediate benefits will your pet business receive by putting up videos?
On the business side, these videos also act as advertisements for your pet business and moves traffic towards your site. And if you use YouTube, you can set up links back to your webpage or to any of your other relevant videos. Visitors on average stay 2 minutes longer on websites embedded with videos than on competing websites that don’t.

Overall, you are concurrently making information more accessible to existing customers and you are marketing to potential customers. So go get your video camera and get started!

Throw Us a Bone!

Do you use video on your website? Have any ideas or examples to share. Please comment below!