194: Preparing for When You Get Sick
Brought to you by Pet Sitters Associates
Summary
A stomach bug ran through our house last week. Thankfully we are on the mend now, but it was a reminder that we need to have a plan for our business, ourselves, and our clients! While we never plan to get sick, we can plan what to do when it happens. We outline the four major components of planning for sickness. Whether you're solo or have a team, having a plan helps you to continuing to provide care to your clients. Then, Natasha O'Banion answers, "How do I keep myself from being overwhelmed by social media?"
Topics on this episode:
We got sick
Have a back up
Communicate
Prevention
Ask a Pet Biz Coach
Main takeaway: Build in time for rest throughout your week and remember to take the time to rest when you get sick.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, clients, sitter, post, pet sitters, sick, pet, work, social media, illness, walks, confessional, exercises, associates, care, emails, week, stress, prevent, backup
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Natasha
Meghan 00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hello, welcome to Episode 194.
Collin 00:32
Hello. It's
Meghan 00:33
been a couple weeks since I've been on the mic. So welcome back. Thank you. You did a great job last week. Thank you. Yeah, you talked about reputation and integrity. And there are a couple points that I want to touch on. So we might have to do a part two of that episode. But anyway, today we are talking about dealing with Elvis. So we want to thank our sponsors, pet sitters associates, and our newest patron member, Laura, she is we need to get a bow or something. That's true. Yeah. I think she is our first person from Canada to be a patron member. So thank
Collin 01:08
you. Yeah, absolutely. And if you want to learn more about what that means, head on over to petsitter confessional comm forward slash support.
Meghan 01:16
And you had a very brief topic, before we get started.
Collin 01:19
Yeah, we have talked about how changes to Apple's operating system will impact advertising on social media, specifically, through Facebook, and Instagram and ad tracking and targeting. Well, recently, they announced some new changes to iOS 15, that will limit tracking through emails. So if you rely on emails for your business, and you want to see who opens them, and what kind of interaction that they have on the client side, just know that data will no longer be available coming this fall for everybody who uses an iPhone and updates to iOS 15. Basically, they are cutting out the tracking technologies from emails much like they did from those tracking technologies across the web and social media. It's not a huge deal for many of us. But email marketing, and campaigns are still one of the most effective ways to get your clients attention. So it's something to have on your radar and to start thinking about, most likely, we will have an episode addressing this and more of these kind of topics in the future.
Meghan 02:20
Well, I have a question. So as far as emails, people will give you their email address, and that's how you know to put them on your email subscriber list your newsletter list, right? So this just means that if they open it, you can't see who which email address opened it.
Collin 02:38
Exactly. Yep. If they and this is particularly if they use the Mail app on the iPhone. So this is pretty specific, but it's an extremely popular feature. The Mail app on the iPhone is the most widely use Mail app across iOS. And so if you give if your client gives you their email, and then you put them on your mailing list, you send them your weekly newsletter, and then you go to see who opened it, their data will be completely missing, because it will stop those tracking pixels that are put in those emails.
Meghan 03:09
And this is only for iPhone, not for Android. Exactly. So if they have an Android phone, you'll still be able to see their email address. Yeah,
Collin 03:14
it is. It is
Meghan 03:16
we also want to take a moment to give a shout out to all of the pet sitters and business businesses around the globe going into additional lockdowns or restrictions with rises in the variants of COVID-19. It's again, not how any of us saw this year progressing, really, but hopefully many of the lessons that we learned in 2020 can continue to apply and propel you forward here in the US. At least in the Midwest, we're not really seeing a lot of lockdowns or restrictions, right.
Collin 03:44
Yeah, but there are many places, especially in Australia and who are. And so that's just, we wanted to let you know that we are cheering you on, as is the rest of the industry around the globe.
Meghan 03:55
Okay, so on to our topic about illness. So it's probably not something that you're dealing with right now. But unfortunately, it's a topic that our family has dealt with. This past week, a stomach bug went around our family, and it was not fun at all. We are all on the mend now. But it got us thinking about what we need to do. If one of us is really down for the count. For the sake of this episode, we're going to be focusing on things like the flu, minor injuries or severe allergies, those kinds of illnesses. We won't be talking about chronic illnesses, or even diseases and how those can affect you and your business. Because at that point, you really are discussing the whole organizational and structural changes to your business. And like I said, hopefully you are not dealing with this right now. But we know that this is something we have not discussed yet on the podcast. So we thought now would be the perfect time. We're actually making a major shift in our business and more on that in the coming weeks and Carl and I are going to be relying on each other a lot more than ever before. And obviously we are a two member team here. So if one of us is sick, the other one can take over. So how did we handle it this week?
Collin 05:05
Well, because there are two of us, we split the tasks between us. I took over doing the pet care, the pickups, the drop offs and the walks. And when Megan was back on her feet feeling a little bit better, I was able to send her some of the information in the photos so that she could be doing the updates and a lot of the backend work for the business as well. Basically, our backup plan is each other. But that's because we already are involved in every aspect of the business together. But what if you're solo? Well, we've said it a lot, but have backups that are in your area, or require the owner to have a backup on hand, just in case
Meghan 05:40
obviously, we recommend having those anyway. But it's especially important to think through if you're physically unable to do the work, particularly if you're a midday dog walker, and you break your ankle and can't walk. Last year, I saw a dog walker on social media fall down some stairs and break both of her legs. Oh, right.
Collin 05:58
Yeah, that was bad.
Meghan 06:00
Yeah, and so she was so low, so she had to completely cancel all of her walks, her droppings her everything for I think it was six weeks or eight weeks or something until she could totally heal because she couldn't drive or walk or do anything. You need to have a plan in place in case something like that happens if you're so low.
Collin 06:17
The other key here is to understand how you are booked. Do you have breathing room in your schedule? Do you already have pre planned days off just like a real nine to five job they give you time off, or you should be taking time off because of that. Now unfortunately, unless you have a team, you won't be able to get paid for your time off like you would with a regular job
Meghan 06:38
time off doesn't just help prevent you from getting sick by relieving stress and mental downtime. It also makes it so that when something does come up, it's not such a scramble to get it all done. Either the planning is key here. And that goes for other aspects of the business as well. We think that everything is super important and always has to get done. And I'm really preaching to the choir here because that's me. But when you're double over the toilet or curled up in bed, you quickly realize what aspects must happen for the business to function,
Collin 07:08
right? Whether that's responding to calls, checking social media, paying the bills, each one of those will rank differently for how you're running your business, and only you know, which should get done before the other. But if you already have some idea of the most important tasks to get done, versus the ones that can be put off for a while when something does happen, it won't be quite as stressful on you. Something that isn't stressful at all is our sponsor pet sitters associates. As pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members, pet sitters associates is here to help. For over 20 years, pet sitters associates has provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. If you work in the pet care industry you do or want to make your passion for pets into a profession. You can take your career to the next level with flexible coverage options, client connections and complete freedom in running your business. Learn why pet sitters associates is the perfect fit for you and get a free quote today at pet sit llc.com. You can get a discount when joining by clicking membership petsitter confessional and use the code confessional at checkout to get $10 off today, check out the benefits of membership and insurance once again at pets@llc.com.
Meghan 08:16
Okay, so at what point do you decide to call in sick while many solo sitters decide that even with a fever, they have to complete the job. And this is a judgment call for yourself this, you know, if you decide not to call in sick, this could be out of an obligation to see a pet cared for, or they don't really think their illness is that bad. Or they really need the money in the business and they have to just keep going. Ultimately, though, it's important to listen to your body, you don't want to have 130 degree fever. And to keep going from dropping visit to dogwalk to drop in visit that's not good. And you're going to exhaust yourself and make yourself more sick. So you need to focus on you and not pushing yourself before you're ready. Right.
Collin 08:59
We've all done that. When the moment we start feeling just a little bit better, we immediately go back to going a million miles an hour and trying to get everything done especially getting caught up on things that we had to put off to the side while we were sick
Meghan 09:13
well, and it's hard if we're solo sitters or just like a couple you and I it's hard because there are things that back up and we are the ones that provide the service. So if we don't provide the service, we aren't making money. And we aren't caring for the pets that we want to be caring for and we're leaving our clients in the lurch.
Collin 09:30
The problem is, is that when we don't give ourselves adequate time to recover and heal, we end up in the cycle where we feel a little bit better. We go back to work and exhaust ourselves and we get sick again and then we feel a little bit better and then we exhaust ourselves we get sick again. So we keep winding up flat on our backs in bed trying to recover but you're right there is a balance where some days we do just have to tough it out to get the work done. All while knowing that we have to be listening to our body and looking for signs that we are overdoing it and then bad off and giving ourselves a little bit more time to recover.
Meghan 10:02
But it's important to not wait forever to seek help or to take medications, either. Health insurance is a whole other discussion, which we are also working on, but look into how in where you can get coverage. It's location dependent to so in Canada, the UK, Australia, and also our listeners in Spain and India will have to tell us about what the healthcare systems are like there too. But basically, there are ways to be covered that don't cost a fortune, or at all, and at least provide some peace of mind and protection in the very serious cases. Another major component of planning is communication. How do you notify your clients?
Collin 10:39
Well, immediately. And I think more importantly, here is with a plan, good communication is all about identifying the problem, and then how you're going to overcome it. So don't just say, I'm sick, say something like I'm sick today and will not be able to care for Fido. However, I have already arranged for my backup sitter to be there and given them the necessary information for care. I hope to be back in the swing of things in a couple days. But I will keep you posted. That's obviously the case if you were the one providing the backup sitter, but it is the point of that is to continue to inform the owner of whether they need to do anything or not, while also notifying them of the changes that are taking place.
Meghan 11:19
Yeah, we've talked about before of having a solution for the problem, don't just come to a client and say, your dog got into a fight, or I am calling in sick today, I'm not going to be there for the drop in visit those things cause panic in clients. So have a solution to the problem so that they know that they are still being taken care of even if you are not the one to be able to accommodate them. And for those businesses that have staff, what if your staff gets sick? Well, depending on how many staff you have, you may be the one filling in that spot. If you have more staff, you can try and spread the walks or sits around so that everyone just has a little bit added extra to their plates. But it's a good reminder that just as we are not supposed to always operate at 100%, we should not expect our staff to operate at 100% full schedule either. It provides them space and time in their day, where you can use them for other things, and also helps center them instead of burning them out.
Collin 12:20
And more to the point of what we're talking about here. It allows for flexibility when things come up, and you need to move schedule around, which is a good reminder that we should be doing everything we can to preventing sickness and illness in the first place. Obviously, it's not always preventable. Like whatever bug was being passed around our family this weekend, we still have no idea where it came from. But again, we're all fine.
Meghan 12:44
But making sure that you're not eating fast food every day, eating good fruits and vegetables, staying on top of your exercise. Obviously, if you're a dog walker, you get plenty of that. But doing something other than walking is good to for your mental health and your physical health.
Collin 13:01
Well, and a big part of that too is having a lower stress and throughout your day really helps boost your immune system when we are chronically stressed and anxious about things that depresses our immune system and our immune response. So we are more susceptible to illnesses and bugs when they come around.
Meghan 13:18
Which is why if you have not taken a moment during this crazy busy summer or a day off, you need to because everybody's busy. We are busy. People are traveling left and right all over the place. And you need to take a moment for yourself.
Collin 13:34
Yeah, we've talked about the importance of taking a moment because it prevents burnout. It keeps your passion there. It keeps you engaged, it keeps you mentally aware. But it also helps keep your immune system boosted and keeps you healthy so that you can combat things as they come and go. So Megan mentioned eating well, having a good vitamin regimented routine in place. And then getting exercise in diversifying the types of exercises that you're getting in, it's not just going in and pounding the pavement and putting in the walks, it's doing swims, it's doing extra cardio, it's doing weightlifting, other exercises, as well or yoga again, bringing in this ways to lower your stress, while also doing some exercises as well. And then finally, and that is Don't forget to rest and get plenty of sleep. That's our time for our body to heal to recover and recoup from all the previous day's stresses and injuries. And you know, you know when you're sick, it's the best thing you can do is hydrate and sleep most of the time. So keeping up on however much sleep you need. It's different for everybody. I know I try and shoot for between seven and eight. But it's different for everybody. It's not a magic number.
Meghan 14:37
So obviously we didn't plan for this illness to happen. I'm sure you didn't plan to get sick the last time you were sick. Nobody enjoys it, but it's crucial to plan for it. You need to have a backup. Whether it's a fellow sitter in your neighborhood or a sitter on your team. You have to have somebody in case you are not there to take care of the client. Secondly, take time off You need the rest. Your clients will appreciate you more when you are at your peak performance and able to take care of the pets, it's also crucial to communicate. This is what's going to solidify your relationship with your clients. The more you communicate, the faster you communicate the problem and the solution to them, they are going to appreciate that, and then try to prevent it as much as possible. Like I just said, You can't prevent every illness all the time. But there are things that you can do to lessen the potential for you to get sick.
Collin 15:37
So how have you handled battling sickness or illness in your business? It happens all the time, little enlarged, things come up. And we know many sitters who came down with COVID. Throughout last year, we'd love to hear feedback about how you structured your business, what kind of backups you had in place, and what you've done to change how your business operates. Moving forward, you can send us feedback at feedback at pester confessional comm or anywhere on social media.
Meghan 16:01
Speaking of social media, Natasha vahanian, pet business coach answers the question how to not be overwhelmed by social media.
Collin 16:09
We know that social media is really important for our businesses both to grow, both interact and start building community around us. But how do we keep from getting overwhelmed by social media and feeling like we have to interact all the time, totally.
Natasha 16:26
Whole, if you follow me, I post when I want to post so I really like social media and boundaries. That's my that's really who I am. I'm like when it comes to social media, I have serious boundaries, you got to do it your way, there's no right or wrong way you do not have to post every single day, you don't have to post every week, if you don't want to, you show up when you have something to say, or you have something to share, if you don't have anything to say or anything to share. Or if you just don't simply feel like showing up, don't show up. This is real life, real emotions, you're not comparing yourself to the next person, or how much they post or how many vanity followers they have. And you think they have these followers because they post every day, that's actually not real. And I promise you guys, you can take a strategy session with me and find ways that you can actually grow your business without ever showing up on social media and the way that you think, because if you have some of these things working in the background, it's not social media that's growing your business. It's just a platform that you can share. And let your fans and followers come in to kind of see a day in the life or some things you guys are working on. But there's no right or wrong way. I mean, I'm a post every month, I might post every three days I might post back after back, I do not put and even you can schedule if you want to think about scheduling is you can't post and ghost. If anybody knows any etiquette on social media, the day that you post something, you have to engage, you got to respond to the comments and talk to people. And so if you're not feeling it, and you got an automation happening, it's posted for you, but you didn't really want to post or engaged that day, just turn it off. You get to do you because you're the CEO, and there's no rhyme or reason. I think I have what do I have 1500 followers on my personal 3500 followers on my business? What does that even mean? How much cash is that? Come on? Come on, bring it home, how much cash is that? How much profit is that? You guys got to stop watching these vanity metrics doesn't mean anything. And this is the thing. Anything that you're doing, there's a purpose. So if I am going door to door to door, there's a purpose. If I'm posting on social media, there's a purpose. If I'm spending money on Google for ads, there's a purpose. So these the gurus are teaching you how to grow your business organically, right? If you are just starting your business and you want to grow your reach, these are some some things you can do to trick the algorithm to start making money organically. Now, that's the spaghetti thing that we all talk about like okay, I posted two times, where's my where's the client stinging? Okay, I posted a pretty photo of my dogs. Where's the client? I did this real. They said if I do reels, I'm going to get clients rolling it and then you don't see the return. And you're you're let down. Right? Okay. It's just a platform. So make sure you are diversifying how you increase your business, how you grow, how you scale. So you don't have to rely on any of those businesses. If you guys want to know my back end. I've run a business I pay to play. So my Google ads are running 24 seven. I can spend $500 on the Google ad. That's one client. But from that one Google Ad I now picked up six clients. Do you think they care if I posted two times a day? They found me on Google, okay. So just know what your strategy is. And what's working for you. But if you're posting every day and you're getting traction, and clients are picking you up, and it's organic, and it's free, and it's working, and you love it, and that's your natural soul, go to you who read for you. You've got to go in your lane, your lane, you got to be in your zone of genius, and you got to do what works for you. And for me. I rather keep Google going as much Damn. I don't want to post I want to be with my kids. I want to be doing real life stuff. Okay, that's just me.
Meghan 20:37
If you would like Natasha to be your personal pet business coach, you can go to her website, start scale sale, calm and use the code p sc 20. For 15% off her coaching, we want to thank pet sitters associates and our awesome Patreon members for supporting the show and making all of these possible.
Collin 20:53
And don't forget your questions for our Ask Us Anything, Episode 200, anything you'd like to know about our business, the podcast, how we got started in anything in between, we'd love to answer those questions on air. So send this to those anywhere on social media or on email as well. We want to thank you so much for listening this week and for sharing and continuing to show up and being part of this community. Coming up on Wednesday. We have an interview with a riot Tranmere who does a farm sitting in Texas. That's a really interesting conversation about a topic that we don't hear a lot about. So really looking forward to sharing that with you and we'll be back then. Bye
