SEO and Marketing | APSE Association of Pet Sitting Excellence

Inspiration From A Kid’s Carwash
Posted August 23, 2011 By in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | No Comments

We live in a relatively middle-class younger neighborhood. Everyone has kids under 13 and the houses are all quiet by 9pm because there is school, sport practice, and

Can you help the kids expand their business?

work early the next morning. In the blistering heat of summer, the neighborhood kids decided they wanted to start a lemonade stand to make some money and quench some thirst. (GREAT IDEA!) They attracted by my attention because when I walked outside, I could hear them screaming ‘LEMONADE! COLD LEMONADE!’ I recognized the voices, so I happily found $0.50 and bought for a cup. In 4 hours, they sold $1.50 of (now warm) lemonade.

A week later, when all the kids were Read More …
How Pet Sitters Must Now Focus On Their Google Places Listing [video]
Posted July 28, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | No Comments
» Resources Mentioned In This Video
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How To See Where You Currently Rank In Google For Each Keyword [video]
Posted July 26, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 1 Comment

What is one big goal you always look to achieve with regard to your pet sitting website?

I bet it’s to rank high in Google for a specific keyword or phrase, right?

The game begins when you decide on what term your most ideal client would type into the search engines to find the service you provide.

Most typically this will be a variation on pet sitting, dog walking, or pet sitter, along with your town, city or area served.

But Without Guessing How Can You Tell Exactly Where You Currently Rank in Google?

Sure, you can spend all day thinking up various search terms, plugging them into Google one by one and see if your website is there.

Or you can use a free tool like the one highlighted in my video below.
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17 Pet Sitter Safety Tips – for New and Experienced Pet Sitters
Posted July 22, 2011 By in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 6 Comments

Recently, I had a new sitter of mine comment that she was visiting a client’s home and she noticed a guy parked in an unmarked car on the street outside the house who lingered and made her uncomfortable.

She said I should tell all my new pet sitters to lock the doors after they arrive for the visit.

Makes complete sense.

I guess locking the doors behind me is so automatic that I don’t think to tell my new sitters.

So I started thinking… How many other safety tips do we ourselves do that other pet sitters need to know.

Some pet sitter safety tips that you routinely do yourself may not be so obvious to others.
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This Is How Your Potential Clients See Your Pet Sitting Website [video]
Posted July 1, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 4 Comments

This video is all about making sure your pet sitting website appears as you intend it to appear across a variety of browsers.

After all, your website visitors (potential clients) may not be using the same browser, operating system or display settings as you use.

In the video, you’ll learn how to use a free online tool to make sure your site is looking its best.

Oh, one last thing… Every Friday, we send out a free pet sitter tips newsletter, and this video was made as a special part of the most recent tip.

If you enjoy this and want more of this delivered to your inbox every single Friday, just tell us were to send it by using the sign up box over to the right!

Now on with the show!
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10 Ways To Increase Sales Without Selling
Posted June 30, 2011 By in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 3 Comments

or… 10 Ways To Up-sell Clients

When you use a business you are more apt to buy again from the business.

Your client’s buy walking or sitting services from you routinely and they trust your opinion when it comes to their pets.

Instead of spending more money to advertise to new people, don’t forget about offering more to your current clients.

It’ll be easier than you thought and you don’t have to even consider putting distracting Google ads all over your site. (You know who you are.)

Here are some tips to earn more income while working smarter, not harder.
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Facebook LIKE Button Gets A Sibling – Introducing The SEND Button
Posted April 26, 2011 By in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | No Comments

Facebook has just announced a nifty new social plugin tool that makes it easier for people to share your website content with their friends and connections.

It’s called the Send button and you’ll soon see it located right next to the Like button at the top of webpages or blog posts.

It’s similar to the Like button that we’ve all become used to seeing on blog posts and web pages. The Like button has allowed you to share web content with your friends by posting the link to the web content page on your Facebook wall as a public broadcast.

So what’s different about the Send button?

The new Send button allows private sharing of web content. It will allow you (and your readers) to share web content directly with your friends and online connections via email. Or you can also share web content with any of your Facebook groups.

This means that instead of relying on your friends to check their Facebook wall feed or your Facebook page – you can now send the web content directly to their inbox (either Facebook inbox or email inbox) where it is more likely to be seen!
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Is Juggling a Full Time Job and Growing a Successful Pet Sitting Business Really Possible?
Posted April 2, 2011 By in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 6 Comments

Recently I’ve had a couple of pet sitters ask me how I was able to work a full time job and grow my pet sitting business at the same time.

I’m not going to kid you, some days it was tough going.

But if you are passionate about your business, have the right attitude, and get the right systems in place, growing a successful pet sitting business and being in the ranks of the full time employed is certainly far from impossible!

For the first 7 years of owning my business Protecting Max I worked as an oilfield engineer and reported to the office 5 days a week for the daily grind.

My job sometimes involved international travel, meetings where it was impossible to answer the phone, and I also commuted 30 minutes to work beyond my pet sitting service area (so I couldn’t pop out for midday visits during lunch hour!). If you find full time work that is flexible, does not require you to travel, and is within your service area it will make life much easier for you. But none of these challenges prevented me from growing my pet sitting business to an operation with six contract pet sitters and over 150 clients.

Many of you may be in pet sitting start up and still need your job to pay the bills while your business grows.

That was my story.

I’ve also spoken to one sitter that has owned and run her sitting business full time for several years and is now planning to return to the workforce. Whichever situation you are in my advice to you is the same. Here are some tips from my juggling experience.
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How To Safely Add Links To Your Pet Sitting Website
Posted March 30, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 2 Comments

What was the last link you added to your pet sitting website?

Some pet sitters will exchange links with non-competing pet sitters to help visitors find appropriate resources.

Others may partner with a veterinarian office, animal hospital or groomer and place a link to their website.

The decision to place a link from your website to another website should be considered carefully.

Without a complete and full understanding of how Google and the other search engines determine the relevancy of your links, you could be doing more harm than good.

You also don’t want to lose sight of the main purpose of your website: to educate your visitor with enough information that she can’t wait to get the ball rolling with you.

Every link on your website to an outside website is another opportunity for your visitor to leave. But that is not even the worst possible scenario that could happen.

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How Not To Become The Next Yahoo!
Posted March 24, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters, SEO and Marketing With | 2 Comments

Who knew there was so much to be learned from Yahoo’s struggling past?

I just came across an article that lists 3 reasons why Yahoo is loosing the search game, and couldn’t help but see a similar lesson for pet sitters.

Whether you have plenty of clients, some clients, or no clients, you must constantly find ways to remain visible and ‘in the game.’

There are so many competing messages, services and options thrown at your potential clients that it helps to find ways to get your target market to take notice (possible, but not an easy task).

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