Louis B. Mayer was a Hollywood film producer best known as one-third
of the movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Before taking over
Hollywood, Mayer formed his first partnership with a friend that
helped them control the largest theater chain in New England.

In 1916, Mayer partnered with another film executive to create Metro
Pictures Corporation, a talent-booking agency in New York.

However, the most successful partnership for Mayer did not happen for
another two years. In 1918, Mayer moved out West to Hollywood and
formed his own film production company. Six years later, a gentleman
by the name of Marcus Loew – of the Loews movie theater chain – had
the brilliant idea to merge Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Mayer
Pictures into one powerhouse entity.

MGM was born, and Louis B. Mayer was successfully in charge of the
studio for the next 27 years. Under his supervision, MGM grew into the
most profitable motion picture studio in the world signing exclusive
deals with legendary movie stars such as Judy Garland, Clark Gable and
Katherine Hepburn.

More than likely, you will reach various times in your career when you
do not have the appropriate expertise or resources to accomplish
something. This is the time collaboration and/or networking is
valuable. These relationships can help you answer questions, provide
guidance, and provide the ongoing support and encouragement you will
need.

How you win from a community of like-minded individuals

A real world example:

Networking and building business relationships with other pet sitters
allow you to grow your business. You may receive a call from a
potential client outside of your coverage area. However, this person
may be smack dab in the middle of Cindy’s area.

It would be a bad idea to thank the client for her call and hang up
leading her back to the drawing board. Instead, tell her all about
your colleague Cindy who is at the top of her game and would be better
suited to take care of her pet since she is more conveniently located.

You then graciously pass off the potential client to Cindy, expecting
nothing in return. “Expect nothing in return? Why in the world would I
do that?” Because that is the one golden rule of networking and good
business practice: Give out more than you expect back.

The phrase ‘What goes around, comes around’ has never been more
appropriate than in business. You can be certain that with this kind
of mindset Cindy will be tremendously thankful for the referral and
will speak well of you and your business.

I assure you Cindy will now be looking for opportunities to send you
reciprocal business and will inadvertently become a walking billboard
for your business, too. Plus, the original client may have friends in
your area and you may receive some referrals from her because of the
pleasant exchange you first had.

Who knows… you may even develop a partnership with another business
owner (like Louis B. Mayer did) that will take your pet sitting
business to new heights.

Now, Your Turn…

How can you find strategic partnerships that will help your pet
sitting business grow? Have you partnered with others in the past?

Please feel free to share with you clients and friends. When you share please give credit to Compliance and Safety – http://complianceandsafety.com.

Featured By: The ComplianceAndSafety Blog

Debbi Fields was born in 1956 as the fifth and youngest daughter into
her large family.  As a young child, she developed an interest in
baking cookies that kept her occupied.  She quickly noticed the
recognition she received from family and friends and adored the
satisfaction she received.

When Mrs. Fields was just 13, she got her first job – a foul line
baseball catcher for the Oakland Athletics – which paid $5 per week.
She used every penny of her income to enhance the ingredients in her
cookies by purchasing real butter, vanilla and chocolate chips.

Barely 19 years old, Debbi Fields found herself married to a man who
brought home plenty of money to support the two.  After some time of
playing the housewife role, her childhood dream of opening up her own
cookie store crept back in.

Her peers said she was crazy for considering going into business with
no prior business skills.  They also thought she was nuts for
attempting to start a business just selling cookies!

Debbi Fields continued to dream and eventually turned that dream into
the most successful chain of cookie and baked goods stores.

She has said in a recent interview, “Everybody said I couldn’t do it,
I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have money, I didn’t have formal
education, I just had a recipe, and a dream.”

Debbi Fields stuck to her dream and today her cookies make everyone smile!

To succeed, you need to have dreams and aspirations. Be honest with
yourself as to what you want out of life and what you want to give of
your life. Allow your mind to dream and think big.

Verbalize your dreams.

If you’ve ever had a dream of starting your own pet business or
growing your current pet sitting business, chances are someone in your
life has shot down the idea.  That’s only if you’ve actually shared
your passion or dream with another person.

Many of us keep our true dreams inside for fear of how our friends and
family would react.

Sadly, people have their own agendas that do not always coincide with
ours.  They’ll feel it necessary to shoot down our dreams, desires and
aspirations because they are fearful to pursue theirs.

If they see us living our dream, waking up happy and enthusiastic each
day, doing what we truly want to be doing, they feel threatened.  To
them, it highlights their inadequacies or lack of motivation.  This is
where jealousy and negativity seem to thrive.

Mrs. Fields had the dream and desire to start her own cookie business
from a very young age.  What would have happened if she listened to
the nay Sayers who told her to be real and focus on something
legitimate?

Mrs. Fields kept her dream alive and lived each day with her sights
squarely focused on her dream of one day opening up her own cookie
shop.  Today Mrs. Fields has over 650 locations in the US alone, and
over 65 international locations in 11 different countries.

That’s a lot of cookie and plenty of dough!

Embrace your dream and say it loud!

The more you say your dreams and goals out loud, the more real they
become.  They are not just thoughts in your head.  They become
tangible plans.  Things you can work towards.  You also inherit a bit
of accountability by verbalizing your goals to others, which will go a
long way.

So, what’s next for you?  What do you secretly lay in bed at night
dreaming about?

What one thing are you dead set on achieving during this one lifetime we have?

The best care for the pet? A fair price?

Sure. But the most important thing a pet owner is looking for is peace of mind.

Peace of mind knowing they have made the right decision by hiring you
(rather than anybody else).

How can you be certain you are properly providing them this trust and
security in the first place?

By asking lots of questions.

Asking questions proves that you are competent, professional and
experienced. It also suggests genuine interest in the person
themselves.

How else are you expected to learn about the individual needs, fears
and desires of each client if you do not ask questions.

You Must Ask The Right Questions.

And I’m not talking about asking the normal questions such as when do
you need service, what’s the feeding schedule, etc.

I’m talking about questions that get to the heart of their true
concerns, and their true fears.

Remember this fact: Every new client you speak with falls into one of
these three categories:

-She has either depended on friends or family in the past for her pet
care needs.
-She has chosen never to leave her beloved pet behind.
-Or she had an experience with a pet sitter in the past and decided
not to go back.

Unless the pet owner just got a new pet, it’s a guarantee she falls
into one of the categories above. And it becomes your job to
determine the What, the Why and the How of the current situation.

This is where it becomes necessary to ask the right questions. Do not
be afraid to ask and do not think it’s none of your business.

It is your business to fully understand the big picture and, more
importantly, to assure the new client that it won’t happen under your
watch.

Doctors do it all the time. When you visit with a new doctor, he will
ask plenty of questions about your past to help determine how to
properly move forward. Without seeing the complete picture of your
history, the doctor can not make a proper judgment going forward.

While we are not doctors, I will argue that a similar level of trust
needs to be established. It’s a doctor’s responsibility to best care
for our bodies, and it’s the pet sitter’s responsibility to care for
the pet owner’s property, belongings, valuables, house, and of course,
furry loved ones.

So, what can you learn by asking specific questions?

If a past pet sitter didn’t promptly return phone calls, you’ll know
to make it a point to return calls to her in a timely manner.

If a friend made a mess of the litter box and ruined the carpet,
you’ll know to take extra special care when cleaning up after the cat.

Remember, it’s these little things that sent the new client running in
your direction.

If you never learn that a prompt phone call is a big pet peeve of this
client, you might not think anything of returning the call in the
evening. Yet, it could cost you like it cost others in the past.

And never forget that she, too, is looking for a qualified person to
serve her in the best possible manner.

All any client ever wants is reassurance that the person they are
trusting with their furry child has the skill, talent, knowledge and
expertise to handle most any situation that arises in a timely fashion
so that she can stay relaxed.

Nobody wants to be at work agonizing if the dog is OK.

Nobody wants to go on vacation having their heart race every time the
phone rings thinking it’s the pet sitter with bad news.

Pet owners want nothing more than reassurance and to place all the
confidence in the world into you.

If they come to you as a new potential client, and they do not
automatically reveal what their past situation was with care for their
pet in the past, it is absolutely acceptable to inquire.

It’s the only way you will be able to do the best job possible.

Plus, I guarantee you, if asked, pet parents are more than happy to
share bad experiences with you.

Not, of course, to bad mouth, but to educate. She will be so thrilled
that you care, and are listening.

That way, you will be able to empathize with her past situation and,
you guessed it, prove to her that you will certainly not let that
happen again.

Here is the one greatest question you can ask new clients to help get
the ball rolling in the right direction.

Don’t be afraid, shy or timid about asking during the initial
conversation (or at the meet-n-greet), “Can I ask what you did in the
past for pet care?”

Your Homework Assignment:

The very next time you are on the phone with a new potential client,
ask her the magic question listed above, and note her answer.

Come back here and let us know the results.

– Josh Cary–

For example, I was having a friendly debate with another pet sitter friend of mine recently and Steve was not convinced that a website is actually all that necessary for drumming up new business. He currently hits the pavement a few times a month revisiting vet offices and pet supply stores with a batch of fliers and business cards.

While I’ve written plenty on the pros and cons of focusing exclusively on a marketing campaign that consists only of fliers, I had to really get to the bottom of Steve’s approach.

Make no mistake here. Steve has a website, he just has given up on trying to use it for his main marketing tool. (I quickly learned that Steve gave up merely out of frustration trying to learn the ins and
outs of how to make his website work. Sound familiar?)

“What kind of response do you get with fliers and business cards,” I asked?

“Eh, you know, not much of anything, really,” Steve admitted.

I then asked him why he continues with a marketing campaign that is consistently not paying off.

“It’s what I’ve been told from other pet sitters as the only thing they do…”

“What kind of traffic are you getting from your website, Steve?”

“How should I know?!”

Steve, apparently, wasn’t using his website to its fullest potential, and sadly, didn’t even realize it! It surprised me that he was not even monitoring how many visitors were sent to his site each day, which pages were the most popular, how long each visitor spent on his site or what keywords they used to find his site.

He went on to say that he read somewhere to stuff his meta tags with various pet sitting-related keywords and that should do the trick.

Here’s what I pointed out to him… Steve is a pet sitter in New Jersey. He offers dog boarding, dog walking and the occasional cat sitting visit. If Steve is told to use a generic set of random keywords for his websites meta tag, he is doing himself an injustice and missing out on a ton of potential traffic.

Here’s why.

Unless you do the proper research based on your specific services and areas that you serve, you’ll have no idea which keywords are the best ones to target. For example, Steve had no idea whether people were searching more for ‘pet sitters in New Jersey,’ ‘New Jersey dog walker,’ or ‘pet sitting NJ.’ He also wasn’t aware that there are literally dozens of other key phrases that people are using to search for his service that he didn’t even consider.

I pointed out to him that unless you do the research and target only the most searched for keywords, you’ll be wasting your time and missing out on a bunch of potential targeted traffic to your website. And, really, that targeted traffic is the only kind of traffic you want since those visitors are more likely to turn into happy, lifelong clients.

Steve allowed me to show him an example using my own website. I run a pet sitting business in New York City. I sat down with him and quickly jotted down a few dozen keywords that I believe someone searching for my pet sitting business would use. Everything from the obvious ‘pet sitting ny’ to the less common ‘dog boarding [zip code]‘ and ‘cat boarding [neighborhood].’

I put the results in a spreadsheet for Steve to see for himself what was happening. He quickly saw that without properly utilizing his website with the most popular keywords and phrases, he was missing out
on the following numbers each month.

10 Sample Search Terms – Average Monthly Search Volume on Google

This is a real sampling of certain keywords and the actual number of searches being performed each month for that keyword:

pet sitting ny – 1600
pet sitting nyc – 170
pet sitting new york – 480
pet sitters ny – 590
dog boarding ny – 2400
dog boarding new york – 1300
dog boarding new york city – 210
dog boarding nyc – 720
dog walking new york – 720
dog walking nyc – 1000

TOTAL MONTHLY SEARCHES 9,190
306 SEARCHES PER DAY!

Steve was blown away. These were just a random sampling of 10 sample searches. He saw that we were quickly able to extract a variety of other popular phrases based on these ten alone.

“What would you do with an additional 306 potential visitors every single day browsing your pet sitting website?” I asked him?

He was still staring blankly at those numbers.

I hope the importance of a good website that works is clear. I use and recommend the WordPress platform for all my websites. It creates clean code that Google will appreciate, and it puts an end to your website building frustration with its ease of use.

And I hope the importance of proper keyword research is even more clear now. You would not want to optimize your website for, let’s say, ‘atlanta cat sitter’ when the phrase ‘cat sitting in atlanta’
gets searched for more often.

This is why you need a website and this is why you need to know which search terms are bringing you the most traffic. You shouldn’t blindly target specific keywords without doing the research first to make sure
you are maximizing your search potential.

The final piece of the puzzle is this; No matter what keywords or phrases you choose to target, you should only target one per page.

That’s right. Target just one keyword or phrase per page. In other words, create separate pages with separate content for each of your services (keywords) that you wish to target.

Target your most popular phrase or service on your home page, then begin to create new page content for all other pet sitting keywords.

Tools to Use:

Google Keywords: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics/

Please leave your thoughts and questions below.

Human beings are goal-seeking creatures. We are impatient and try, and fall, and try again until we learn to walk. We babble and coo and struggle until we learn to talk.Skinned knees mean nothing in the quest to ride a bicycle. Recently, the world has watched Olympic athletes over-come incredible obstacles in the quest for a medal. When a client tells me they have had a goal, but in the past 6 months they have made little or no progress towards achieving it, I encourage them to ask themselves the following 10 questions:

1. Do I really, really want this goal? It may sound nice, it may be something I should have or might enjoy, but do I really, deep in my soul, want it? Or, not?

2. Is the goal actually just a means to some other goal? Is my stated goal really a way to look good, or to please someone, or a handy excuse to work on something that sounds wonderful while I avoid something I don’t want to do? Great-sounding goals can be a marvelous distraction!

3. Is this goal consistent with my morals and values? Often there is a subtle, unnoticed conflict between our stated goals and our values. For instance, the concept of “fair profit” may be causing confusion, or we may be caught between our goals of building a business and our values of spending more time at home.

4. Is this goal consistent with my beliefs about myself and my abilities? The years of training and total commitment to winning an Olympic medal are only possible if the athlete profoundly believes they have the potential to succeed. Doubts about what is “possible”, or beliefs that life is unfair will undermine performance every time.

5. Why do I want this goal? Having many solid, vitally important reasons for our goals will drive us more powerfully than anything else. “I want to be a doctor to save a child’s life” is a very different reason to stay up and study all night than “because being a doctor might be fun.” Why do you want this goal, and how badly do you want it?

6. Who else wants me to attain my goal? Knowing that family, friends, business partners or the entire world is cheering for us, counting on us and supporting us is critically important. Who else knows about and wants you to achieve your success?

7. How, specifically, will I benefit from achieving my goal? Being clear and specific about the benefits that will come from completing our goals is a powerful motivator. “Reducing my blood pressure will help me live to see my grandchildren” is very different than “If I do this, my doctor will stop criticizing me.”

8. What one critical step can I take today that will move me toward my goal? Some goals are so large or so far off that they are really just dreams or fantasies. A useful goal is one you can work on today. Make an appointment, open a savings account, eat a salad for lunch, tell your spouse you love them – whatever your goal, find a specific task you can do today, and then just repeat it a few thousand times!

9. Are there smaller projects that will both lead to my larger goal, and give me pleasure in the meantime?
If the goal is to run a marathon, train for a local fun-run first! If the goal is to be a millionaire, getting the first $10,000 in the bank is a worthwhile and useful start.

10. Depending on your answers to the first 9 questions, the 10th question is: “Is there another goal, or another version of this goal, that is really much more important and much more doable?” If the first 9 questions haven’t motivated you to action and created tangible, specific results, then ask number 10. Humans naturally seek and accomplish large goals, but we do best when the goal is tailored to our values, priorities and personal situation.

One of the things my pet sitting business prides itself on is
availability. Being accessible to clients and potential clients.
I’ve learned early on that the pet sitting industry is highly
competitive, especially in New York.

I say especially in New York because unlike a rural or suburban area
where the client homes are spread out in driving distance from each
other, New York is so dense that you are competing with at least a
dozen other companies and sitters who can all be at the client’s home
for the initial meet and greet within 10 minutes.

I know the importance of making sure each client gets a live person on
the phone when they call in because they are literally going down a
list of the first ten Google results of pet sitters in New York.

If they call and have to leave a message, they are moving on and very
well may have a conversation with pet sitter #2 and decide to go with
them and their search is over. If I call them even five minutes
later, chances are they will not be open to hearing what I have to
offer.

Side note: There are plenty of responses you can give to a potential
client you call back that says, “Oh, I’ve already spoken with another
sitter. I’m all set now. Thanks anyway for getting back to me…” but
that’s for an entirely different blog post.

I was manning the phones recently and received a call from a potential
client who was calling around for more info. I was in a meeting and
had some errands to finish up so I was forced to send this call
straight to voicemail.

By the time I got back to my desk ready to return the call, no more
than 3 hours or so had past. I call the woman back and one of the
first things she says to me is, “I’m surprised it took you this long
to get back to me. I called you earlier this morning.”

On one hand, I was flattered. Flattered by the idea that from just
visiting our pet sitting website, this woman had already given us the
benefit of the doubt that we are a professional business, running it
in a professional and efficient way.

On the other hand my thought was, “My goodness, this woman is a tough
cookie.” She wants what she wants when she wants it. Apparently, 3
hours was a bit long for her to be waiting for a return call. And her
travel dates were NOT just around the corner.

Here’s the thing… she’s the potential client. She has every right to
make the rules.

Now, I do not mean that she has every right to make the rules on how
we run our business (quite the contrary) but she does have every right
to set the rules through her expectations.

She decided that she wants and expects the pet sitting company she
hires to call back immediately and/or be available immediately.

We as the business owners have to play by her rules (expectations) if
we want her as a client. This is not to say that we have to expose
ourselves and be a whipping post for every potential client that comes
our way.

There are plenty of times a client is expecting too much or becomes
too difficult to deal with that we feel it best to pass and send her
on her way. But the woman who expected a call back before 3 hours
passed is not in that category. We can deal with that.

So where were we? Oh yea, the phone conversation… she just expressed
her surprise that ‘it took that long’ to get back to her.

What do you say in response to her?

“Sorry, I was in a meeting all morning?” “I was running errands?” “I
was busy?”

You could, but it won’t get you very far. Why? Because she’s not
looking for an excuse.

She’s looking for a response. She’s testing you to see how you handle
such a question. If she’s going to establish a long term relationship
with you and trust you with the care of her beloved pet, she needs to
get inside your head a bit.

A drab, even honest, short response won’t do the trick. You need to
be clever and creative and turn the tables back her way – while still
being honest.

Here is the gist of what I say:

“As you know, I put the words ‘Call Anytime’ on our website because we
are available to potential new clients and current clients anytime day
or night.

“However, being consistently reliable and accessible 24/7 can backfire
on us at times. My clients are spoiled with total undivided attention
whenever they need it, that the minute some time goes by and they
haven’t heard from us, they start to worry.

“I understand having the reputation of always answering the phone and
providing unparalleled service to our team can sometimes get me in
trouble on those rare occasions someone catches me in a meeting.

“My motto is this: I like to give each of my clients my undivided
attention and, when you first called, I was in the middle of a first
meeting with a new client and I didn’t want to be rude to pick up the
phone at her place. We were going through the instructions, step by
step, of how to best care for her dog while she’s gone.

“You, too, can be sure that when you become a new client of ours,
you’ll be receiving the same undivided attention so we can do the best
job possible while caring for your pet during your absence. And I’d
never interrupt a call or meeting of ours by taking another call.”

Obviously that reply is long-winded but I hope you see the point.

I didn’t give her an excuse or simply state the reason why I couldn’t
answer the phone, I turned it around and showed her how it would work
in her favor.

There are ways to turn a potential client’s negative comment into your
favor. Remember, the goal of any phone call is to establish trust,
display expertise and build rapport.

So, how would you respond to a potential client saying 3 hours is a
little long to be hearing from you?

So does it have use for your pet sitting business?  It might. As usual, a new method of marketing can be useful depending on the time you have to put into it. Keeping that in mind, sitters do spend their days with a dream that so many others have: ‘Playing with dogs all day.’ Perhaps you can let them escape to a fun-filled life while at work… through you.

Unlike Facebook or Linkedin, your posts are seen by anyone looking for something under a specific pinboard. For example, if you created a ‘board’ called ‘cute dogs’ and began posting pictures of cute dogs, anyone could repost those pictures.

The focus comes in with creating useful pinboard names with pictures / articles people want to reshare. For example, you could put the name of your business… or ‘Cute Dogs in (enter town here).’ Be creative. With so many people now on Pinterest, it is worth it to see if it would work for you.

Here are some statistics of pinterest. Review them and see if it fits the current demographics of your clients.

• About 50% of Pinterest users have children.
• 28.1% of users make over $100,000 per year.
• 68% of users are female
• Average session time for users: Twitter = 3.5 minutes, Facebook = 12.1 minutes, Youtube = 16.4 minutes, Pinterest = 15.8 minutes.
• 1.36 million users per day
• Between July and December 2011, retailer traffic grew 289%
• Pinterest receives more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Google+, and Youtube combined. (More people get to a post on Pinterest than from a referral to the others combined.) People are sharing!
• 27.4% of users are between 24 – 35.

(Source Modea -  http://www.modea.com/)

In sum, the typical Pinterest user seems to be young, upper-middle class, and female.  It just so happens that this demographic is pretty similar to those who also have a passion for dogs.

Do you use Pinterest?

Click on the link, right click and ‘save as.’ Save it to your computer, then place it as your background. (Or, depending on your browser, just click on the photo to expand it. Then right click and choose ‘set as background image.’

Thank you anonymous artist!

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