304: 5 Advertising Methods That Won’t Break the Bank
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Summary
How are you advertising your business? While you may be tempted to pay for advertising, you don’t have to! Advertising and marketing your business doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, or any! We break down our five favorite ways to advertise your business, without breaking the bank. In the end, it’s about being shareworthy and building relationships. Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I make my business more attractive to potential clients?”
Main topics:
What is advertising?
5 methods
Lean into relationships
A bonus one!
Ask a Biz Coach
Main takeaway: Have shareable content you produce that points to both the type and quality of business you are.
Links
Our Merch Store!: www.petsitterconfessional.store
Episode 236 with Rachel Spencer https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/236
Episode 267 about GMB https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/267
Duct Tape Marketing https://ducttapemarketing.com/about/duct-tape-marketing-podcast/
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, people, pet, pet sitter, clients, post, advertising, service, dog, pet sitters, talk, share, groups, methods, community, mouth, dog walker, relationships, facebook groups, connections
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Natasha
Meghan 00:10
Hello, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is Pet Sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hi, there, this is episode 304. Hello. Today we're gonna be talking about advertising. And we want to thank our sponsors, pet sitters Associates, and our two newest Patreon members, Tanis and Becky.
Collin 00:34
Thank you both so much. And if you are listening and would like to support the show financially every month, please go to pet sitter professional.com/support.
Meghan 00:43
On this episode, we wanted to break down our five favorite ways for you to consider advertising your business, we wanted to first start off by disambiguating advertising and marketing because they are often used interchangeably. And we do that a lot of times too, probably on the same episode. But there actually is a difference. So marketing is the process of identifying customer needs. And then determining how best to meet those needs. While advertising is actually promoting your company, promoting your products, your services, whatever through paid channels, there are obviously three types of advertising, but the majority of time they are paid.
Collin 01:23
And those paid channels are basically paid media, this is where you're putting money down to have your message put out there by different companies with different methods that you can actually share your own content about your business. And this is this is called owned media. So think of this as blogging, the social media content that you put out there. And then you can also get the word out about your business through what's known as earned media. This is where other people share and talk about you. So think of reviews, newspaper articles, radio stations, if you're interested in how to do that and get a crash course and what it means to get good publicity for your business. We really highly recommend Rachel Spencer's podcast publicity for pet businesses. And we even did an interview with Rachel on episode 236. So check that out as well. Essentially, advertising is going to break down across two categories. There's broadcast and targeting, the better you know, your desired client, the more targeted you can get. Think of broadcast marketing and advertising like a billboard or the radio ads or the the things that you see while passing by on the street.
Meghan 02:33
But even those are targeted, because you think about what they assume they assume that if you are driving down the road and see the billboard that you are driving and riding in a vehicle, or you have your radio station tuned to that in your car or on your phone.
Collin 02:48
Yeah, if you've ever been contacted by a radio station to market your business, they will say things along the lines of this is our demographic for our listener age. And this is where they live. And this is other things that they like. Basically, that means you need to decide are those people, the kind of people that will use my services. And that's where you're going, okay, that's marketing, I'm understanding my demographic, I'm putting together my avatar. Now I need to put together the methods that I need to reach them and communicate to them. And that's where the advertising comes in.
Meghan 03:19
Well, and so that's a good point. So even before really, you listen to the rest of this episode, you really need to know exactly who you want to target for your pet business. If you are strictly dog walking, then you may need to go after the busy professionals that go to work or do remote work now these days and don't have time to take their dog on a midday walk. So really think about and hone in on who you want to be who you want to talk to who you want to serve in your business.
Collin 03:46
Yeah, that will serve you well, whatever we break down and go through the rest of the things here. When we talk about methods of advertising these span up from active to passive, active is when a client is actively searching for a service or specifically for you, and you come up across their radar.
Meghan 04:04
So that could mean in Google, they type in pet sitter near me or dog walker, Houston.
Collin 04:09
Yep, and your paid ads surfaces or other things come up about your business and that meets their need. Passive is when they come across your information in the course of their daily life. So think they're scrolling on Facebook, and they see a post that you've made that is recommended for them or they're driving down the road again, and they see your billboard and they see a sign about you. It's just passively entering them. It's not targeted and they are not actively going out and seeking you. So for all of these things that we're gonna talk about, you have to be first findable, you have to have information out there in ways that clients and potential clients can access you. And then secondly, you have to have shareable content that you produce that points to both the type and importantly here, the quality of business that you are and that you run. Putting both of those things together and out there will kind of sweep across As the passive and active broadcast ad targeted ways of advertising and getting your message and talking to the clients that you want to talk to, okay, so
Meghan 05:08
this is 2022. So we're gonna now talk about our five favorite ways to advertise a pet business carrier
Collin 05:14
pigeon. No, okay, fine.
Meghan 05:19
Anyway, the first one is, and this is not going to be surprised to anybody, but word of mouth. So this industry is roughly 30 years old. And it has been growing and expanding, and definitely morphine over that time. But one thing has remained the same, the immense importance of word of mouth. This is a very relational and personal business, when you have a client that's used you and they recommend you to a friend, that is very impactful to that friend, because they understand and they trust that their friend is going to give them the best resources. Yeah, the preponderance
Collin 05:53
of pet care is still done by friends, families, neighbors, and acquaintances, people that they already know, like, and trust to some extent. So that's their foundation, their foundation is maybe they've got 1015 years of past experience with this person. And that is what helps them to allow the person into their home to care for their pet, we have to fast track and overcome that by to have the our clients share about our business and recommend us to others person to person, that's where that connection is made, the new client can go okay, you know, you like you trust this dog walker, this pet sitter, that speaks volumes of to me about the content of that person and the quality of their business, I may go and go that and use them. And to make the most out of the word of mouth, doing something like offering referral codes, referral discounts, so that if I recommend a pet sitting business to Megan, Megan, you would get a discount if they use you. And I would get a discount if they used you. And this kind of helps people know, okay, and they become invested at that point of going, okay, they're an ambassador for you. At that point, they are invested in your business and want to see you succeed, they yes, they get a kickback. But that gives them ownership in that process, and allows them to be, like I said, an ambassador and share more about you to people in their circle.
Meghan 07:18
The one thing about word of mouth, though, is that it usually takes a lot of time, a lot of time to cultivate good solid clients that you want to refer that you want them to refer you out to their friends. And just in general, people are not going to randomly every day talk about, hey, I use Joe's dog walking randomly to a neighbor. So this takes a lot of time and patience. And it can be hard if you're a new business, and you really want to hit the ground running or if you're trying to go full time, it can be really hard to depend on that word of mouth.
Collin 07:55
Well, which brings to the to mind here that that we have to remind ourselves that we are not ever just doing one of these methods, we are doing all of them to some extent and in different proportions, given our desired outcomes. And what we have available to us. It is one way and as you touched on, you're not might not give these referral discount codes to all of your clients, but only the ones that are really good to you and you want more of people like them.
Meghan 08:22
Our second favorite method is posting in local Facebook groups. And before we talk about this, I do want to reiterate just as we did a minute ago of knowing your avatar, knowing your target client, and if your target client is not on Facebook, then ignore what we're about to say. But I mean, they may your target client may have friends who are on Facebook, I mean, there's 7 billion people that are on Facebook or something. So there's a lot of people on there, not everybody uses it all the time. Not everybody has an account. But there are a lot of people on there, compared to 20 years ago, this is a very modern thing to do. But it's about what you are sharing. So if you are getting on Facebook, and you're saying Hi, I'm Don and I'll walk your dogs pm if interested. You can do so much better than that. Some content ideas are highlight one of your services or tell a story about a challenge that you had in your pet business and how you overcame it. You could also tell people about who you are and why you got into pet care or answer a frequently asked question. Make sure to show your face out there. Tell the story, make it appealing, use some emojis if that's your thing, and show your face show what you do on a daily basis. And with these Facebook groups, you need to be selective about what groups you are putting this into. So mom groups are great. Pet Friendly groups. Pet Specific groups are great. There's one there's one group that is just a basic Welcome to the City group and it's got community groups huge. It's like 60,000 people for a town that's only three times the size of that so yeah If there's a group that allows business posts, because I know some of them don't, but some of them have specific days that you can post or you can pay to post in those bigger groups. It's all about capitalizing on the shareability, and likeability that you can really get from the posts that you make.
Collin 10:18
Yeah, that group that we're in, if the Welcome to our city group with over 60,000 people in there, they have tears of if you are a business, you can post what is it once a week for free, or every day if you pay on like 30 bucks a month. And for us, it was a no brainer of that's a really good ad spend to allow us to get in front of people now then the challenge is, how do we keep our posts fresh and exciting and shareable? Because there are business that businesses into that just a pure business hours, this is our special today? Hi, we want to be different than that. So sharing informative posts have has done really well for us, especially as cheat seasons change. And we send out reminders to these groups of like, hey, it's hot out there or drink water or when the winter comes being careful of frost or whatever that is, so that people can see that and it clicks the radar. They go, Oh, wow, I liked that. And we get pretty good shares on that when we share good content that's shareable. That's informative and helpful to people, not just buy my stuff.
Meghan 11:20
Yeah, it has to be value driven, that's valuable to the pet parent, what do they want to know? What do they need to know? How can you help them but also not putting you out there too much, you know, kind of making them the hero of the story of how, yes, you can help them. And sometimes this can feel like speaking into the void of, well, nobody's liking my post, or, you know, nobody's really engaging with it. Well, you have to check first, is it valuable? Is it shareable? Or is it just, Hey, my name is Bob, I walk dogs kind of post. And then there are the posts that you see of people needing requesting services I need someplace to board my dog, or I need a pet sitter or for my two Labradors. And if you're in a very big community group, there's going to be probably 6070 100 different people that either are promoting their business on there, or people are recommending others. And if you pop your head in, there you go, Hey, I'm a dog walker, and kind of share your spiel of what you do and posted a picture in there of you walking a dog, that's great. But you also have to think you're sowing the seeds here, because it's very unlikely that the one person that the author of The Post who has 100 different responses is really going to choose you. And that's just the way it is, it's very hard to stand out with so many other options.
Collin 12:44
It is frustrating of when you respond to people who are asking for help, and they don't get in touch with you, it can feel like a waste of time. That's why as you said, making focusing on the other posts, there's other content, there's other information. And that is what's going to set you apart. If you are the one out there sharing pet tips, if you are the ones sending out reminders. If you're the one that is actually helping people be a better pet parent, you will find that people who have never used your services before will start recommending you because they'll say, Oh, I saw this person post about this, you should check them out. They look awesome. You get that kind of traction in these groups when people become familiar with you. So it can be discouraging, but remember, you're talking to 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of people in some cases. And so there is going to be some silence, but that's okay. Because we are going to start slowly chipping away using all of these methods combined.
Meghan 13:39
We recently expanded it into a new territory for us. And I think the biggest way that we have found for advertising our business has been Google My Business. Yeah. And if you do not have one, you absolutely need to get one for your business. If you don't know what that is or how to set one up. Go listen to episode 267 with Amy Tolman, she is petsitter. Seo, she is amazing at all things Google My Business. And
Collin 14:04
it's now actually referred to as Google business profile. So it's got undergone a couple of different name changes. But it's all the same stuff that we're talking about here.
Meghan 14:12
And so you really need to optimize your profile, which means adding photos that are good quality, they're not blurry, they show what you do. That is really the key here. You need to add photos frequently and make sure they are visually appealing. Yeah, Google
Collin 14:27
is actually using AI to determine what is going on in the photos that you post there and using that to help surface relevant businesses to people who are searching for help. So just like blogs did and websites did 10 to 15 years ago. Now photos are helping tie these searches together. So the more photos of you walking a dog you can post the better and post photos of what your business does really good photos of what your business does not just photos of dogs and cats and your clients. They want to see interactions they want to see The actions they want to see people doing things that way their AI can determine what is happening here what service is being rendered, because I was recently listening to a podcast called the duct tape Marketing podcast. And there's a link of that in the show notes and on the website as well. But it had a guy on there talking all about photos, Google and AI. And he was saying how they were recently able to determine the difference between a vet office and a doctor's office based on just a photo. And Google surfaced those searches differently based on the context of what was happening there. So there is some minutiae, and there's some detail in these photos. So if you don't think they're important, they are.
Meghan 15:37
So if you offer nail trims, you trimming a dog's nails with
Collin 15:41
nail clippers and all that stuff readily apparent. Yeah, if you offer pet taxi,
Meghan 15:44
a picture of the dog in the car with you and your face.
Collin 15:48
Yep, yep, good leashes present good harnesses shown all of that good stuff in the photos is one of the best things you can do and your Google My Business listing your Google business profile, and keeping it up to date. And posting frequently. Our fourth
Meghan 16:01
favorite way to advertise your business is relationships with other pet care businesses, like trainers, and veterinarians and pet stores. So yes, network network network, it really helps in so many ways, when you get a request out of your service area, if you partner with other pet sitters or dog walkers, you know exactly who to contact and vice versa. And it's all about fostering these relationships in this community by sharing knowledge and sharing resources. So it's not just dropping off food and leaving, it's B.
Collin 16:35
I see that those all the time of how do I make you know, how do I build a relationship with that office down the street, and they'll say, oh, brick by doughnuts. But the part about building relationship is it's not just a one time thing. It's a repeat thing. And that's the hard part about it is okay, you showed up the one time and you had doughnuts, okay? Are you gonna show up a second time and actually be helpful, are you gonna show up a third time and bring resources are gonna show up a fourth time and help people in my store or be actually available to us when we need you. That's the part about building relationships that we can't let fall down. And I know that's something that we struggle with partly being so far removed from our service area, and encouraging people to go out and help and do that. But just coming in dropping off flyers one time really isn't going to be enough to help these actually be there. It's the time and time and time again thing as well.
Meghan 17:24
Well, in somehow, even though you graduated high school with a class of 100, and something
Collin 17:29
and it was almost it was too long ago, we're not saying we're not sick, we're not saying nobody's saying.
Meghan 17:35
But somehow you graduated with people that work at three different vet offices in our service
Collin 17:41
area, and two of them on them. Yeah. So. So think
Meghan 17:45
about your connections that you have in the community already, no matter how long you've been there, you know, we even have connections with the vet offices here in our very small town. And we've only been here a couple years. So think about, you know, if you go to church, the people that are connected within your church, or if you attend, if you volunteer anywhere, if you volunteer at the Humane Society, or the animal shelter, or if you go to a coffee shop that is pet friendly, and you always frequent there, think about the connections and the community that you already have around you. And I'm not saying to take advantage of them or
Collin 18:20
exploit them in any way, you know, you know, and even if you have people have connections with people who run other businesses not related to pet in any way, think of how you can partner together to bring value to the other person. When we talk about building relationships with people it's building and bringing value, what value are you bringing to that person? What value can they bring to you building and fostering that partnership? So one great idea is if you have connections to have that office, offer them, hey, I write blogs, would you be open to me interviewing you, or guests writing on a blog or putting together a shared social media post? Or maybe you partner with your friend who has a random business for having a pet friendly event that they host and they sponsor and that you help with the planning and implementing and advertising for that as well. So it's about what can we do together to do something awesome. It's not again, just dropping off flyers or business cards and piecing out it's let's do something together. How can I What can I how can I help you? And approaching people with that mindset, you'll really see that there's a lot of connections. And then while you're out and about in your community, be a walking billboard for your business, buy branded clothing and wear it everywhere. I know one of the best things that we did was just buy white t shirts with black lettering that says Pet Sitter on the front of them. That has sparked more conversations than I would have ever dreamed or imagined of when we were in stores. When we're out on a walk when we're at the park just everywhere went out to dinner. People stop and ask Oh, you're a pet sitter,
Meghan 19:58
and they think it's a joke. Yeah, well And I will say most of the times worth our kids.
Collin 20:02
So they think we're Yeah. We can say no, we run Funky Bunch pet care, a dog walking and pet sitting service. You know, here's a business card. If you have pets or know somebody who does, we'd love to care for them. conversation started, their eyes pop open, and they go, Oh, wow, okay,
Meghan 20:19
well, and I even had somebody come up to me the other week in the grocery store. And she said, You're a pet sitter? I said, Yes, I am. And she said, do you care for rabbits? And I? Yes, yes, we do. And she's like, you know, I haven't been able to take a vacation in 26 years, because I have these four rabbits that I care for. And I was like, wow, that, that we definitely care for rabbits. Please take your vacation.
Collin 20:46
And shortly after that, we were ever on a car lot. And the car salesman came up. And he looked at us and he said, Oh, you guys are the pet sitters. I see your posts all around town. I guess this is the sign where I need to talk to you because my wife and I are traveling soon. And we need a pet sitter. But when they start associating, oh, these people wear those shirts. And when they see you out, they see you about they start seeing you everywhere they go, okay, I get it and you start becoming part of the community, you become a staple there where people recognize you and know you for that service.
Meghan 21:17
So basically, I have a wardrobe of six t shirts, or T shirts that I wear. And I rotate through and I am not above wearing it every single day.
Collin 21:29
No, so consider that. What can you have on you that starts making your look of I'm a pet sitter? Maybe it is literally says pet sitter? Or what do you how do you want to be known and seen when you are on on company time whenever you are making those posts so that you can wear that out and about. And if you struggle with what to put together, we have actually just put together and launched a merchandise store here at Pet Sitter confessional.com/store. You can buy the shirt that we wear with Pet Sitter on the front, or a dog walker, or dog walker and hats or headset or a dog walker hats there's, you know, podcast specific stuff there as well. But that's all open right now and available. petsitter confessional.com/store.
Meghan 22:15
We also wanted to share a bonus one bonus way that we love advertising and it is be share worthy. It doesn't matter which method that you've we've talked about that you use or how much you pay for it. If you're not producing something worthwhile, it will be a waste of money. And we talked a lot about about this with the Facebook groups and it'd be valuable and shareable and something that people actually want to see. So know your purpose of advertising, you need to educate your clients and your potential clients on the nature of the search of your services, what do you do show that to them, then convince them that they should buy from you that your services are superior to everybody else,
Collin 22:56
another option for your purpose of advertising could be to improve customer perception of your brand of your culture or of the service. I know that's a big thing that we do a lot of as pet sitters, and we need to improve the perception of what it means to hire a pet sitter or what it means to be a pet sitter. And we can do that through our posts and through the things that we produce, whether that's blogs or social media, are however content that you're getting out there. Another purpose may be to generate the need or want for a product or service. So this is again, part of that educating of oh, they didn't even know they needed this, they didn't even know it was an option or a possibility for them. And they're only going to know that by the content that you're producing.
Meghan 23:36
And this happens a lot of times when they've only ever used friends or family, they don't know that you can actually have someone come to your house and love on your pets.
Collin 23:44
Or maybe you offer the dog hikes and the dog adventures and people go I've never heard that was a thing. But I think my dog would love it. Let's talk about that
Meghan 23:52
finding new clients can be pretty expensive. So retaining them is really, really important. And this
Collin 23:58
can be done by celebrating client birthdays, or grieving the loss of a pet and building more of the community fostering those relationships while they are with you and using your services. So posting about the fun times that you have with them, bringing in the making them part of a story in central to what you're sharing about that day so they can see how part how they are part of something
Meghan 24:20
or hosting events specifically for your clients. Exactly. I talked a little bit about this earlier. But it's important to recognize if you're a new business versus an established business when working through these methods. When you are first starting out getting found may not be an issue but being trusted is probably going to be an issue because not a lot of people know about you so they don't know if they can trust you. So really lean into that word of mouth and always ask for reviews. We usually wait until the second time that they've used us and our to ask, but you need to keep asking, you know, the way that people you know find you on Google My Business is more reviews the way you know the social proof is real With Facebook and reviews, so when you are more established as a business really then lean into those relationships, obviously, word of mouth is still going to be important. But it can be a lot easier to have those community resources and partner with other businesses when you are an established face in your community. And so also recognize that some of these methods are going to take a little bit more time than others. So the word of mouth is probably going to be the slowest one, but it's also really effective. And then of these, the faster one is probably going to be the local Facebook groups
Collin 25:31
where you have a direct connection to people, and you are directly sharing content to people in your service area who are actively looking for the services and the solutions that you're bringing to them. Something that takes no time at all is 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, they've provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. If you work in the pet care industry 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 my 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, pet sitter confessional and use the discount code confessional at checkout to get $10 off today. Check out the benefits of insurance once again at pets it llc.com
Meghan 26:24
On today's Ask him his coach question that Tasha Albanian is going to answer. How do I make my business more attracted to clients?
Natasha 26:32
Usually, I think it's like they take me serious, you know, and they know that I'm a real business and they taking me serious. And it's because we've already anticipated what they need. So I have a problem, Natasha, I have a new dog. I don't know what to do. I'm gonna be traveling, I would like to still live the normal lifestyle I had before a dog. But I would like to get both. Can you help me with that? So when you talk to your avatar, you have to talk like them. I really want a dog. But I'm busy. I still like to travel, how can I have both? Well, you can with me, I'm going to show you how my company is going to allow you to still have a award winning career to still be able to travel and to have the best run of your life right beside you. While you're doing all of this. Let me show you how it can be done. So that's the way you basically handle the client, you have this issue. I'm your partner in this word team together. I'm here to serve you and make sure you get what you want out of the relationship within these terms. Did you read the terms? Do they sound good to you? Oh, perfect, we're gonna be a great fit. Let's do it.
Collin 27:47
It's recognizing who you're a good fit for. And then walking them through those processes, right, making sure that you are meeting their needs and letting them know, Hey, I'm meeting your needs. Because it takes a little bit of that kind of communication.
Natasha 28:00
And you basically have to like talk to them in that way of I can help you and let me show you how. Let me show you how this works. You go here, you talk to us here, then we're going to show up here. We're going to give you this as proof that we were there. And we're all going to do it all over again. Does that sound good to you? And they're like, I like it. If you have any other questions, do let me know, when they have questions, then you can alter your process again, to make sure you're enhancing it like as clients are going to be the best person the best to give you the feedback. So if it's great feedback for like, oh, Natasha, like I would love to use you more. But I usually have to. I remember about booking you at night and every time at night, it seems like you get booked up so easily. And I'm like, Yeah, that's true. I'm in high demand. So that means you should get on a recurring schedule. So then you never have to worry about this. Again, you're always on you can move it around however you like. But I'm always going to have a staff member to take care of you. Oh, well I don't ever know when I'm going to travel and then sometimes I decide last minute. Well, you should join our loyalty program. That gives you VIP booking on our schedule you prepaid for your service to be part of that program. You always have your money on on file with us to collect it when you need to. So you want to put those things in your business where the clients like, Oh, I've looked last man Oh, no. Well, you should be paying me for five days in advance. It's going to be good for six months, and then you can get that VIP access. Right? And they're like, oh, okay, actually I don't have any issues anymore. Awesome. Right? So you take those issues to be non issues and they always take you serious or like oh, they're on top of it. Okay, all right. I'm handle these are my people they're handling it I love it. That's really how it works.
Meghan 29:55
If you would like to join the Tasha is monthly membership group, you can do so at automated CEO dot com and use the code PSC 20 for 15% off. Thank you to pet sitters associates and our Patreon members. And if you would like to check out the store that we just created, It's Pet Sitter confessional.com/store.
Collin 30:11
If you are a Patreon member or you become a patreon member, you will get a special discount code to get 15% off any purchase from the store. Thank you so much for listening. Bye
