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528: Stop Watching the Weather: Embracing Action Over Perfection in Business

Are you too busy watching the weather to make real progress in your business? In this episode, Collin explores how overthinking and waiting for perfect conditions can paralyze business owners, preventing us from taking action. He discusses the dangers of getting stuck in analysis, the fear of imperfection, and how to strike the right balance between planning and executing. Learn the importance of focusing on core goals and remaining adaptable to change. Join him as he shares insights on taking proactive steps to grow your business, no matter the circumstances.

525: Pet Sitting From Argentina to the Netherlands with Sophie Canil

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a pet sitting business in a foreign country? In this episode, Sophie Canil, owner of Pet Sitting by Sophie, shares her journey from Argentina to the Netherlands and how she turned her love for animals into a successful cat sitting business. She discusses the importance of setting boundaries and self-care, especially in such a solitary profession. Sophie also emphasizes the value of delegating tasks and finding a supportive community of fellow pet sitters. Tune in for practical advice on growing a pet care business abroad!

515: The Power of Membership Models in Pet Care with Traci Bisson

Traci Bisson, founder of Golden Dog Adventure Company and Start a Dog Walking Club, shares how she transitioned from a corporate marketing job to founding a professional pet sitting company and eventually Golden Dog Adventure Company, which has a very unique model. She delves into the concept of dog walking clubs, fostering a sense of community among pet owners, and the benefits of a membership model. Addressing the needs of reactive dogs and their owners, Traci highlights the importance of creating inclusive and supportive environments for all.

509: Creating Connections with Cats with Zara Willmott

Zara Wilmott, owner of Cat Sitter Toronto, shares her journey from cat sitter to business owner, highlighting the unique challenges and rewards of her niche. She discusses how the pandemic accelerated her transition and led to innovative operational changes that ensured both client and staff safety. With a deep passion for feline well-being, Zara emphasizes the importance of specialized care and open communication with clients.

506: Finding Direction

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the chaos of running a business and managing a personal life? We dive into the importance of having a personal mission statement to stay focused and oriented, highlighting how guideposts can make a difference in life and business. By identifying your core values, passions, and strengths, you can create a mission statement that directs your actions and decisions. We discuss how to simplify decision-making and ensure consistency in your business and personal endeavors.

500: Finding Inspiration and Motivation

What inspires and motivates you? To celebrate our 500th episode, we share some of our favorite quotes, reflect on their meaning and how they helped us. We share quotes on finding your priorities, setting boundaries, taking ownership of responsibility, as well as embracing a love of learning. Life of a dog walker and a pet sitter is full of ups and downs. While we look to our mission and our values to guide us and lead us through tough times, sometimes we need a little extra encouragement along the way. If you have a quote that encourages you to keep going, please share it with us!

474: Pitfalls to Productivity

Why is it so challenging to implement productivity tips into our lives? Amazon has over 10,000 books on the subject of ‘productivity’, so there certainly isn’t a universal solution for everyone. One of the major stumbling blocks to actually being more productive is a lack of understanding of how we work, and the nature of the work we need to get done. We break down common misconceptions to being more productive, along with several things to take into consideration when assessing a new productivity method, tool, or technique.

448: When Word-of-Mouth Isn’t Enough: 20 Ideas to Market Your Business

How is word of mouth marketing working for you? If you’re like many people right now, you’re finding that word of mouth is not quite enough to keep your business growing or maintaining the level you need. Today, we break down 20 marketing ideas to try if you’ve never had to market before. If it’s all a little intimidating, we also discuss 5 things to focus on to get started.

435: Beyond Design: Navigating Today's Digital Landscape with Pet Marketing Unleashed

What makes a personal website? Dive deep with Mikaela Vargas, Founder of Pet Marketing Unleashed, as she unravels today's web dynamics on this podcast episode. Discover how AI is reshaping content creation, why SEO is becoming more human-centric, and the art of efficient website tinkering. Ever wondered how to keep your site fresh without a complete overhaul? Mikaela's got you covered. She shares everything from optimizing client onboarding to evading common web pitfalls.

425: A Touch of ‘Know, Like, and Trust’ with Kelly Hester

How do you make an excellent client onboarding? A well executed client onboarding not only sets the tone and expectations for the client, but also set the relationship up to last for years. Kelly Hester, owner of Kelly’s Kritters Dog Walking and Pet Sitting, joins the show to walk through how she translated her decades of corporate work into running her business. From exceptional customer service to formally documenting everything, she provides several great best practices. Kelly also explains her process for onboarding clients so that both she and the client understand exactly what is going on.

413: Navigating CRMs with Dom Hodgson

What is a CRM and how can it help your business? As the marketer of your business, you’re in charge of finding ways of getting your business in front of more people and connecting them to the right services. A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) allows you to supercharge how you interact with your existing and potential client. Dom Hodgson, The Pet Biz Wiz, joins the show to break down how to make the most of a CRM and find the hidden money in your business. Dom explains what a quality CRM can actually do, how to communicate with your clients, and help you understand your clients better.

393: Working From Your Passion with Stephanie Brown

How do you know it's time to bite down and go 110% to make your dream a reality? We all find our own motivating forces in our lives. For Stephanie Brown, owner of Happy Trail's Pet Sitting & Dog Walking Services, she found her motivation in her family. She shares how her business has evolved and how it wasn't always easy to leave services behind. Stephanie focuses on client education and fostering relationships through a personal touch. She also gives great advice around implementing a power hour to stay organized in your business and how she's navigated bringing on a manager in her business.

389: Live Life Full and Happy with Morgan Weber

How do you delight your clients? To delight your clients, you must first find delight and joy in the services you’re offering. Morgan Weber, owner of Lucky Pups Adventure, joins the show to talk about how living a fulfilling life in the present is crucial rather than waiting for some future event to happen. She explains how taking the time to appreciate the little things in life and finding joy in even the most mundane tasks is essential. She discusses how to ensure customer satisfaction by finding delight in the services you offer. Then stresses the importance of treating every client with the utmost care and attention to detail, which can lead to word-of-mouth referrals and long-term client relationships. She also gives advice on how to grieve the loss of a client’s pet and how to work closely with a significant other in your business.

384: Making the Most of Physical Marketing

How are you using physical marketing? We dive into the importance of using more than a digital approach. We explore different marketing options and how to make the most out of each. It starts with knowing your target client, so you can craft relevant materials and speak to their needs. We also share our recent experiences, and some lessons we’ve learned. All of this is for naught unless you’re being strategic and tracking results to grow smarter.

334: The Power of a Lead Magnet

What is a lead magnet and why should we be using them? Lead magnets are a way of getting information from your client, or potential client, in exchange for something valuable to them. There are best practices to be mindful of when implementing one, and things to avoid doing. We walk through the different types of lead magnets, how to promote them, and how to assess if they’re working for you or not. We also break down 5 easy to implement ideas for a lead magnet you can start using today!

320: Considerations for Hosting an Event

We recently put on a pet loss memorial service in one of our service areas and learned a lot! This was the first event we have ever hosted so we were a little nervous. We share how we planned the event and what the main goal of it was. We also talked through how we plan to improve it next time, and give some things to think about if you were planning an event of your own.

276: Common Social Media Mistakes

Chances are, you’re probably using social media for your business. How is it working for you? Social media can be overwhelming and feel like it’s actually not getting you any business. While social media has many upsides, we discuss some of the pitfalls and how to avoid them. We also break down six common mistakes to avoid when using social media for your business. Then, Natasha O’Banion, Automated CEO, answers, “How do I make the most out of in-person marketing events?”

185: Roundtable: Future of the Pet Care Industry

What does the future of pet care look like? 2020 taught us a lot of lessons, changed our behavior, our client’s behavior, and opened up many new opportunities. We have a roundtable discussion with Daniel Reitman, owner of Dan's Dog Walking and Pet Sitting, Natasha O’Banion, owner of Start. Scale. Sail. and Renzo and Ruby, and Doug Keeling, owner of Bad to the Bone Pet Care. We cover how the industry will change in the next 10 to 20 years and how pet care providers will need to grow and adapt. From the changing expectations of clients, growing commoditization of technology, and even the increasing importance of social causes, we talk about how we can start gearing up for those changes.