572: Do People Really Know Your Story?
Brought to you by: Pet Sitters Associates. Use ‘Confessional’ at checkout
Do potential clients really know your story, or are you just another pet business in their eyes? In this episode, we explore the power of storytelling in personal branding and marketing. We discuss why pet sitters should go beyond listing their services and instead focus on crafting a compelling narrative that resonates with their ideal clients. From sharing your mission to leveraging client success stories, they break down how to create an emotional connection that builds trust and credibility. Whether through social media, email marketing, podcasting, or community events, learn how to share your story in ways that make a lasting impact.
Main topics:
The power of storytelling in pet care marketing
Building trust through personal branding
Using social proof and client success stories
Best platforms for sharing your story (social media, email, podcasting, etc.)
Overcoming imposter syndrome and public speaking fears
Main takeaway: ““Your story isn’t just about what you do—it’s about why you do it and how it connects with others.”
Do people really know your story? Clients don’t just hire a pet sitter—they connect with someone they trust to care for their furry family. Your story is what sets you apart, creating an emotional bond that builds trust and loyalty. Whether through social media, email, or community events, sharing why you do what you do helps pet parents see the heart behind your business. A strong story makes you memorable, attracts the right clients, and reinforces your expertise.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet sitter confessional, personal branding, consumer expectations, social proof, emotional connection, community involvement, client stories, local SEO, email marketing, podcasting, video content, networking groups, elevator pitch, client feedback, storytelling.
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin
Meghan 00:01
Hi, I'm Megan. I'm Collin. We are the host of pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. We appreciate you joining us today. Thank you also to pet sitters associates for sponsoring today's episode and our executive producers for episode 572 they are Adriana, Barbie, Beck Erica, Jan Janie, Jenny, Julie, Katherine, Keith Liz, Lori, Lucy, Sarah Savannah, Scott, Theresa and Yvonne. We are so thankful that you like the podcast and want to keep it going. Listener, if that sounds like you too, you can go to pet sitter, confessional.com/support, to see all of the ways that you can help out. So
Collin 00:38
I was giving a presentation a little while ago to a group of business people and trying to talk about what we do, how we do it, why we do it, where we fit into the community, and how we are trying to serve people. And I was rattling off all of the things that about our business that we believe make us unique and special. Then at the end, I opened it up for questions, and a gentleman at the back of the room raised his hand and come to find out later, he was actually a marketer in there, and he's kind of well known for these kind of things during these presentations, but he asked me, he said, Hey, Collin, you just rattled off a bunch of stuff about your business, about your certifications, about your qualifications, but If as a consumer, what does that get me? And in that moment, I realized that I had done a really bad job of telling a story about our business and linking all of these elements together so that the person on the other end could actually see what benefit they got from this.
Meghan 01:38
A lot of times, when we share our story with people. We say what we do? Oh, I'm a dog walker and pet sitter, or I'm a pet professional, or I'm a pet care provider, but it really is important to go deeper than that. For the client, trust and your business growth, there's really this shift towards personal branding and authenticity when you go to tell your story of you and your pet care business, why you started, where you're at now, what lessons you've learned? Because no matter how long you've been in this industry, consumer expectations have evolved. There's more social proof needed than ever, more video content, more engagement. These are all important aspects when you go to tell your story, well, it's often
Collin 02:14
grounded in trust, right? When you talk about this, social proof, when you talk about this, this need to be connected with people. It's about building trust. They want to know who you are, whether you are solo or you have a team. They want to know why you're here. They want to know not just how you're doing stuff, but why you're doing it. How did you get here? Where are things going? What are your wants? What are your dreams? What are your goals for all of this. That's where we talk about this, this story arc, this connective tissue between everything that we do, and often we get in, and at least my brain, I get caught up in just bullet points of its pet for state and CPR. It's professionalism, it's it's a lot of communication, it's all these years of training and all these years of experience, and it's insured and it's bonded. Those are fine. Those are really important. Those are really good to have. But a lot of times, people have a hard time connecting with those, especially on an emotional level. I think more and more consumers are looking to connect with businesses emotionally. They want to see something, they want to see themselves in there, in the service that you're providing so that they can build that trust with you over
Meghan 03:23
time. Yeah, they want to see that community involvement. If your business gives a portion back to the animal shelter or does something really nice for the animals in need in your community, that can be a great way to say we care about this community. We're not here to make a quick buck. We're not a charity by any means, but at the same time, we care about the animals
Collin 03:43
well and more clients, more modern pet owners and pet parents, especially millennial and Gen Z, they are looking to be connected, to be part of your journey. They want to they're tired of kind of these nameless, these faceless corporatization, these global ink, kind of businesses that they don't really know where they're from or why they're there. They just exist in their big behemoths. They want to have a connection with the businesses that they are doing business with. If they're going to give you money, they want to know why you're here and what's going on with you,
Meghan 04:13
which is why it's important to know yourself and your audience. Think about not just why you got into this industry, but what your purpose here is, we want to serve pets. We want to serve clients. What is your mission statement, though? Try to bring that out when you tell your story. Why should people care about you and your business? How do you help more than just, oh, I provide dog walking. Okay? What's the bigger meaning? The deeper message behind this
Collin 04:37
well, and part of this aspect is also in knowing who you're talking to when we're telling a story, when we when we have an audience, we want to know who is out there, who is in this audience that I'm going to be communicating with. So your story is not going to resonate with everybody, and that's okay. Your how you do things, why you do things, where you're going, your mission, that's not for everybody, and that's totally fine. We. Businesses should actually embrace that, because it means that the more we talk about our story, the more stories that we tell, the deeper it's going to connect with the right people. And so as we have our tale, yes, our marketing, all that stuff, as it's crafted and focused on our ideal client who we want to be serving, it just resonates so much more powerfully
Meghan 05:20
every year, it brings new ways to share your story. So in 2025 some important places to put your message are on social media. Obviously, this is a no brainer. Short Form videos are becoming more popular than ever. We don't necessarily recommend Tiktok and YouTube shorts for local small businesses that have a very tight service radius, because a lot of those get reached globally, but reels on Facebook and Instagram are great places or carousel posts engagement driven content. Think about where your clients or potential clients hang out. Go where they are. If they are mostly young professionals, they're probably going to be on Instagram more than Facebook. If they are retirees, they're going to be on Facebook more. But
Collin 06:02
this isn't just for potential clients, or maybe it is right. Think of email marketing. Email marketing is not dead. It's still really, really important, because it's a direct connection to the people who you want to be talking to. You're not just dependent on the algorithms and hoping people are on that day. You can send this directly to their inbox. These are perfect places and ways to send personalized updates. Case studies talk about a particular client that you are working with and how you've seen them evolve over time. Client Success stories of people who really were struggling with it first, and you helped them live their life the way they wanted to. So that you can reach people and say, Look, this could be you. This is what's happening when we're talking about stories. It's not just your own personal story looping in client stories, community stories, whatever way you're connected. We're all part of a great big story. We're actually reading through Lord of the Rings right now and talking with our kids about the story of Sam and of Frodo, and they're having this kind of meta discussion about where are they in the story in relation to everything? It was a great reminder that we're part of something, and we can bring our clients into that as well, and make them feel connected to a bigger community.
Meghan 07:11
It can be hard sometimes feeling vulnerable, though, as the business owner and as the business I want to be known as professional and I don't let my guard down. Everything is fine, not that we're lying or hiding things from our clients, but it can be hard to be emotionally available and vulnerable in times where when we say things like, oh, this day did not go right. I did not win the dog over today, or the cat was not nice to me, and they usually are, it is hard to open up like that, maybe in
Collin 07:39
that exact moment isn't when you fire off the email marketing newsletter and the intro that you just wrote when you're really emotionally charged, but the next day or the day after that, or you can talk about, hey, this is something that I encounter, and here's a lesson that I took from that, and how I want to give that to you as the client. So whether you're doing that through email marketing, social media, blogging and SEO for your website, again, these are great places to get connected with people who are typing in certain things in the search bar, writing content that provides value while boosting your visibility for your website. Have a website, have a place to put your thoughts, put it in your email newsletter. Oh, you can turn that into a blog and write a full blog, or maybe you wrote the blog, put that in your email newsletter and send it out to your existing clients. You can reuse this stuff. It's not always just I have to make a new one for social media and a new one for email and a new one for blogging and a new one for whatever. You have these same things. You can put them in different forms so people can connect with them better. Speaking
Meghan 08:37
of connecting, there's not a bigger way really to connect with your client, then through your voice or through your face. So podcasting and video content is great leverage the spoken word storytelling to connect deeply. Maybe you're wanting to start a YouTube channel and get permission from some of your clients to use their dogs in the videos,
Collin 08:56
or just it's the pet care minute in your hometown, where you talk about all the latest and greatest things going on, pet and the latest stores opening, or the latest events happening, and people can just get connected with that. What greater local SEO than a YouTube channel is dedicated to your hometown? Local podcasts are going to be bigger than ever as people start looking to more local connections. So are you going to be there talking about the pet care community for where you live, maybe even you have a private podcast for your own clients. There are ways to get this set up and sure you don't have to have a bespoke one. Just reread the email newsletter that you were going to send out. Have your clients hear that in your voice, how more powerful that would be and impactful to them. You
Meghan 09:38
can also tell your story through local community events and networking groups. We were offered the chance to go to our local Home and Garden Show and to talk about our business and some training tips for our pet parents, and we use that opportunity to showcase our expertise. There are also so many other media outlets that would be willing to feature you if you just ask. You already have the no so just go off, shoot an email, send. A DM and ask if they're willing to spotlight you.
Collin 10:02
If you have a local newspaper, they're always looking for content to be written, and you can just start sending them letters as local pet sitter. Maybe there already is a local podcast for businesses and community try and get on that. Maybe there's a webcast, a Facebook group Ruby by asteros, talked about how she got on her local news broadcasting, talking about all things pets and pet care at their news segment called the water bowl, the opportunities are really endless when you think about how you can get connected to the right people. Something that
Meghan 10:30
should be part of your story is pet sitters associates. As a pet sitter, you know how much trust goes into caring for someone's furry family member, but who's got your back for over 25 years, pet sitters Associates has been helping pet care pros like you with affordable, flexible insurance coverage, whether you're walking dogs, pet sitting or just starting out, they make it easy to protect your business. Get a free quote today at pets@llc.com and as a listener, you get $10 off your membership when you use code confessional at checkout. That's pets@llc.com because your peace of mind is part of great pet care. We've talked a lot about why you should tell your story and where to tell it, but what actually is your story for maximum impact, you really need four parts the problem, insight, solution, admission, so the problem is, what need or issue led you to start your business? A lot of times, US pet sitters needed a pet sitter of our own, and we couldn't find a good one. So we created the best in the cream of the crop.
Collin 11:23
Or it could be that you were laid off from your previous job, or that you were looking for something to do as you found, try to find your new passion. Or, Yeah, you were, you had your own pet, and you look to hire somebody, and you didn't find anybody that you would have hired. So you decided, well, then you just have to go out and do it.
Meghan 11:39
The second point of your story is to have the insight so what sparked your journey or pivot out of your previous world into your existing world. This will usually get people hooked, because it's it's more emotional of I was fired from my job, or I was seeking a level of care that was not there, and I have created it. Yeah,
Collin 11:58
it's the you can usually be one particular point. It can be one aha moment. It can be a culmination over years of, well, I've always been a pet person, and then I found this calling because I was on Craigslist, or I was looking on social media, and somebody asked if they needed a dog walker. And I said, Oh, well, I can do that. Find one or two moments where you can really link the problem that you saw to what got you moving forward into your business. That kind of thing, again, really does help people see why you're doing this well,
Meghan 12:29
and that leads right into the solution, which is the third part of your story. What makes your approach different? Why are you different or better? Why are you the best pet care provider in the entire city, no one provides the care like you and your business do. So what is your special sauce? Again,
Collin 12:45
linking this back to previous lines of work, previous experience, your deep, you know, connection with pets that you've had your entire life. Maybe you're coming out of the corporate world and you were allowed to see better SOPs and policies and procedures that other people didn't and how you connect people with their, you know, with their solutions. This is where you, as you said, Megan, you really get to apply your secret and special sauce.
Meghan 13:09
You get to wrap your story all up with your mission. What drives your business today. This is how you are wanting to impact people, and the difference you are wanting to make in people's lives in your community.
Collin 13:19
So for us, in 2012 Megan and I were in graduate school, and we were not making a whole lot of money, basically $0 and we needed to make more money. And so we looked to see what was flexible around our schedule for our research and our travel in graduate school. And Megan came up with the idea of doing dog walking and pet sitting and something we just really never stopped doing. And then in 2019 we decided to make it into a full fledged business, because we wanted to get serious about it, and we wanted to be able to provide the kind of care that we would want to provide to our dog at the time, Coby, and make something that he would be proud of and that we would want to serve Him with. And so we decided to develop a team and grow our business into two different service areas to serve the community, because they we saw a lack of pet care and a lack of quality pet care that we knew we could fill. And so we brought our background of science, of research, of data and numbers into the pet care industry for how we could provide and take in data and make sure that we never missed any details for our clients, so that they would have total peace of mind. And our business has really developed into something that our mission right now is to help pet parents live their best life through every stage of life with their pet. This is a story
Meghan 14:36
that we have tried to tell in many different settings, from Chamber of Commerce meetings, to rotary clubs, all sorts of networking groups and community groups. But if you go to a chamber of commerce meeting, really focus on the local economic impact and job creation if you have employees, this is a great thing to play up. If you go to a rotary club, or the kiwanas or the moose or the elk, emphasize the community service and. How pet care contributes to well being, if you sponsor a roadside and you help clean it up or provide meals to animal shelters, talk about that. We've also spoken a lot of times at 1 Million Cups. Talk about your business challenges, the lessons that you've learned, your entrepreneurial insights at 1 Million Cups, they really want to help you and elevate your business to make it better. And again, there's all sorts of networking groups, BNI, ing, ABC, lots of acronyms. But there's, there's formats for longer talks, and then obviously shorter talks when you're at maybe a biz blitz kind of thing, where it's kind of like speed dating, but for businesses. So there's, this is when you need your elevator pitch. It's 60 to 90 seconds. It really condenses your story. And again, it's all about the problem, the insight, the solution and the mission that you have, when possible, try to use visual aids. You can't really do this at a biz Blitz, but more long form content at a networking group that you have 1520 minutes. Use visual aids like a presentation and testimonials when you can, because people want to know that other people trust your business. It's kind of that social proof thing again. Well,
Collin 16:02
those visual aids could be a business card. They could be a pamphlet or handout that you have on you don't, don't, don't negate the importance of having something to hand people and make sure that your story is part of that, that it includes your mission or your vision or where you started, or your goal and what you're wanting to have it so that people have something to connect with. And it's not just another little tiny piece of paper that they're going to lose. They can really see you in that. And if they have that same problem, they're gonna see themselves making that really powerful.
Meghan 16:29
But we know this isn't easy. There are introverts out there, and I am one of them. So when you are an introvert, it is important to practice these strategies. You do need to practice your elevator pitch, your presentations over and over again. Get comfortable. They always say, imagine people in their underwear. I don't really recommend that, but you can. But the point is is to be extremely familiar with what you were going to say. You can do it in your sleep. You can do it when you're standing on one foot with your tongue out and you just know it like the back of your hand. Get comfortable with it, because the more comfortable you are, the more confident you are going to be, the more people are going to trust that what you say is true.
Collin 17:10
And you can start by practicing with people who already know like trust and hopefully love you just a little bit as well. Tell your story to an existing client or a family member or a closed friend, and you also can decide how you want your story to be told, start with either written or spoken content, and so that you can get comfortable with this. And really, what's great about this is, the more consistent you are in working on this, the easier it's going to come and you're going you're not even going to have to think about it the next time somebody asks you about what kind of business you run. So focus on where your strength already lies. Is it already in the written format? Is it in spoken? Is it in video? Where is that for you? And really practice that in between your your your dog walks while you're driving, practice your story, tell it to a dog right as you're walking. Is just walking around. We they we know that they love, and get connected with the voices of their caregivers. It helps them relax. So practice your story with them, and there be very non judgmental, I don't know, cinnamon, our new dog, she kind of gives me the side eye quite a bit when I'm talking. So she might be judging me just a little, very judgmental, just a little bit. But really, you know, focus on where you can practice consistently, and it's all about how you are comfortable. As Megan, as you said, the more comfortable you are, the more confident you come across, the more connections that you're going to make with your story. This
Meghan 18:30
is especially important for video, which a lot of us are not comfortable with. We don't really like being on camera, but it is important for people to get to know the face behind the business, the business owner, or even your employees as well. Take small steps with video too. Maybe try it without being on camera, like a voiceover or an animation, or again, your employees as representatives, talking about the day in the life, or some of the things that they do, or the challenges but the lessons that they've learned. There are ways to do this without being on camera, but people are going to want to know your story, too. If you are an introvert, also find your groove with small groups versus large groups. Collin can talk to a room of 1000 people and he wouldn't bat an eye, but I am not that way. I prefer small groups. Find what works for you, maybe start small and build your confidence up to a room of 1000 people.
Collin 19:19
I will also say that rooms of 1000 people, it's sometimes sometimes easy just to forget everybody's there, because it's kind of not real. On a small, intimate setting with only four or 510 other people, you really get to see, oh, this person that gets to see all of their eyes directly in their face, that can be overwhelming. So to just know that, again, you don't have to seek out every opportunity find what's going to work best for you and where your strengths lie.
Meghan 19:46
A lot of us deal with imposter syndrome. We don't feel like we're good enough. We're why are we up here talking about this? We're not the utmost expert in the entire world. But when you are having trouble with this, think about all of the knowledge that. You do have frame it in the right mind. Give yourself some perspective here. Of you do have experiences that nobody else does. You do. You have dealt with things, you have learned lessons, overcome obstacles that nobody else has dealt with. This is a weird industry. Most people don't understand it, so use that to your advantage of so you are powerful. Recognize the value of your unique experiences, focus on serving your audience rather than self promotion. Maybe it's really scary to have a sales pitch up there, so lean into the education of the pet parent instead of that hard pitch. I know that's
Collin 20:32
something that Megan really encourages me every time I go and give a talk. Is what value what are people going to walk away from this? And there is this aspect of yes, I want to educate people on our business, what we do, why we're different, and why I think they should use us. But above and beyond that, I want to make sure that they can walk away being a better pet parent. So what can I give them? What can what skills, what knowledge, what tools, local resources can they walk out of that with because that's actually going to be way more impactful to them. And if I can help them with that knowledge, before I've even walked their dog or we've scooped the litter in their cat's litter box, that's a much more beneficial way for them to start trusting us and start seeing us as something that it can benefit them in many other aspects,
Meghan 21:18
you can also use client feedback to build confidence in your message. If you've recently sent out a client survey and they said you are great at this and this and always being on time and being super flexible when I need to change my schedule and always accommodating, you can use some of that language in your messaging, not only as Jan said this about me, but you can say it's back to potential clients, to a room full of people potentially some of the pain points that they are dealing with.
Collin 21:45
Yeah, it's that wonderful, but don't take my word for it. Moment where you can say I've told you everything about my business and how wonderful I think I am, but here's 14 people who also just happen to agree with me. Another form of storytelling that we can use as a business owner is through client referrals. So encourage your clients to go out and tell other people about their experiences with your business and how you help them. Yes, it is a way of marketing, but it's also just using their story. It's their power of going I have this problem of not being able to come home for work on my lunch break, and I was worried about my pet. Pet Sitter extraordinaire, 123, business came in and was able to help me have more peace of mind. That kind of story really connects with people, and it comes from not your mouth, but somebody who actually lived and experienced that. And obviously
Meghan 22:35
this is done through Google reviews and Facebook reviews and Yelp reviews. And while it's powerful to re share that on your own platforms, it may be even more impactful for a client to do that on their own feed.
Collin 22:46
Storytelling is all about letting other people know who you are, why you're doing, what you're doing, and how you can help. It starts by you outlining those simple steps, those four things that we talked about too, as well, knowing the problem that you found, the insight that you brought, the solution that you're offering, and your mission to keep moving forward as you practice this in the car, on a walk to a friend in the mirror,
Meghan 23:15
to yourself, yeah, that's one
Collin 23:16
of the best places to do that in the morning while you're getting ready, Just recite your mission over and over and over again. What's your origin story? That's what people want to get connected with. Then look in areas around your community where you can share that. Is it just one on one, on the street with somebody who's walking a dog and you want to tell them about you? Is it a networking event, a chamber event? Is there a local podcast? Is there a newspaper that you can get connected with. Start telling your story in different formats, in written, in verbal, in audio, and, you know, in video, in person, in small, in large groups. To see where you're going to thrive. As you build confidence through each of these steps, you'll see that you're able to connect more and more with each person that you're talking to
Meghan 24:01
well, and ultimately, hopefully it'll become easier too, because you'll be more confident with what you're saying. You'll have said it a million times. It'll be like the back of your hand, and it'll be engaging for people to connect with. And we would love to know your story. If you would like to share it, we'd be happy to have you on the show. You can email us at Pet Sitter confessional@gmail.com or look us up on Facebook and Instagram at Pet Sitter confessional, thank you for listening today. Thank you also to pet sitters associates and our Patreon people for supporting us. We will talk with you next time bye.
