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When Your Pet Sitting Side Job Becomes Full Time
Posted October 22, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters With | No Comments

This is a guest post written by Ashley Spade.

I used to make a fair amount of money pet sitting for friends, but as a law student I don’t have time to commit more than a few weekends a year to my friends’ animals.

However, I’ve learned over the years that pet sitting can be a lucrative and enjoyable venture.

The following pet sitting advice will serve you well whether you have a one-person business or an operation large enough to use payroll software for your employees.

Service Agreements (Know your Limits)

One of the most important things you need to determine as a pet sitter is what services you’ll provide. For instance, I love cats and dogs and have even taken care of fish, but I don’t want to take care of snakes or lizards.

If you’re a solo practitioner, you can obviously make your own rules about what jobs you do and do not take. Starting a business can be quite the undertaking, but it can be worthwhile as long as you’re not faced with working for a pet sitting service that refuses no pet.
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Building Business By Simplification
Posted October 3, 2011 By in Pet Sitters With | 1 Comment

In the last 8 years of being a small to mid-sized business consultant, the number one problem I have helped businesses with is time management. Being diagnosed with

Build your business on a reliable process, then take your business to new heights.

adult ADD, I have certainly had my struggles with time management, but I have created some excellent methods to ensure time used is spent wisely.

Time easily slips away. Over the last few years, under the guidance of the school of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, I have created programs that completely automate a business. I have tested this with my own product businesses and have seen where it can happen in my own pet services business — (only I love walking dogs too much to be fully automated.)

As your pet sitting business grows — everything grows: client list, problems with dogs and clients, business transactions, key management systems, and paperwork. I don’t think anyone got into the pet business because they loved the paperwork. Without a well-designed system that allows you to think clearly and stay ahead of market changes, your business of pet sitting is destined to fail. Thus, life needs to be more automated or delegated so that you can do what you do best. So how can you be flexible AND automated AND still get time to yourself?

I could write for months about this, so let’s start simple: Read More …
10 LIES Business Owners Believe
Posted September 22, 2011 By in Pet Sitters With | No Comments
Over the last few years, I have probably heard thousands of lies that business owners tell themselves. As a business owner, we tend to believe what works… and just because something works a handful of times for us; we tend to believe that is how we should operate. Here are some of the most common lies I have heard business owners tell themselves… What sneaky lies have you told yourself and believed?

If you build it, they will come.

If you build it, they will come... maybe.
- FALSE – You need to tell others — CONSTANTLY. It’s irresponsible and lazy to think that if you only tell a few people, they’ll do your work for you. You need to light MANY fires and keep telling NEW people about your idea. ABS – Always Be Selling. Please keep in mind that Field of Dreams is a movie that had a huge marketing budget. They Read More …
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 …
Who Wants a Six Figure Income? I Prefer Seven. Here’s How.
Posted August 16, 2011 By in Pet Sitters With | 2 Comments

By teaching and consulting with service businesses (and pet companies) throughout the US, there is a clear distinction between business levels. In the pet industry, I have roughly observed that start-ups (0 – 2 years; or $0 – $59,000) have different mindsets than teenage companies ( 2 – 5 years or $60,000 – $150,000); and more mature businesses (5/6 – 10 years or $150k – $400k) have their own paths; and senior businesses tend to have a MUCH different angle than any of their younger counterparts (11 years + or $401k.)

Do what others do not. And do well at it.

As a company masters different skills Read More …
A Test In Expanding Your Pet Business
Posted August 9, 2011 By in Pet Sitters With | No Comments
Testing Your Vision

You want to do something new in your business, but you’re lacking confidence in your vision. Perhaps you are debating adding poop scoop services or you are thinking of hiring contractors instead of employees. Whatever the case may be, there are a few questions to ask yourself that will help validate your new vision.
1. Would this new step motivate you to join your company and continue to motivate you once you are there?
  If we never did anything we never did before, then...
2. Does it provide a beacon for guiding the kinds of adaptation and change required for continual growth?
3. Will it challenge you?
4. Can it serve as the basis to formulate a strategy that can be acted on?
5. Will it serve as a framework to keep strategic decision making in context?
6. How will it improve your business? 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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Legal Ins and Outs of Pet Sitting
Posted July 27, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters With | 4 Comments

This is a guest post by Ashley Spade.

As soon as law school started, I knew right away that I had to find a way to pick up some extra cash.

Law school is far from cheap, so I decided to make use of my dog sitting experience to set up my own little pet sitting service.

I took advantage of email marketing software to help get the word out, and before too long I was getting customers left and right.

Maybe it’s just the law student in me, but as I started this little service of mine these worst case scenarios started popping into my head. What if one of the dogs runs away? What will happen if one of them gets sick and dies? Will I be liable?

But I told myself not to worry because I knew that if I took the right legal measures then I would be protected. For those of you who are thinking about starting your own pet sitting service…
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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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Member Spotlight: 5 Questions with Sandra Lindstedt
Posted July 25, 2011 By Joshua in Pet Sitters With | 2 Comments

According to APSE member Sandra Lindstedt of The Pet Nanny of Trinity and Piper’s Pet Sitting Service, Panache Vue magazine is delivered to homes within her service area valued at $400,000+ and is geared towards professional women. (Talk about knowing your target market!)

This is especially exciting since after having advertised in the upscale publication twice before, Sandra was recently given the opportunity to write an article for Panache Vue to further her pet sitting business publicity campaign.

While placing ads in a magazine could have its own set of positive returns, you can’t argue the fact that a 350-word article written by you (and one that did not cost you a penny to have published) would have an even greater return.

The reason a printed article will have significantly more impact than a display ad is because of ‘borrowed credibility.’

It’s known that practically anyone can pay to have their ad printed in a magazine or newspaper, but when you are given the chance to write an article, the implication is that the magazine or newspaper itself is saying, ‘We think this person is an expert on this topic!’

That’s borrowed credibility. Without explicitly saying so, the assumption is that the publication is vouching for you and giving you credit for your expertise.
Read More …
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