All tagged walks

455: Effective Use of Google Ads with Maris Sonnabend

455: Effective Use of Google Ads with Maris Sonnabend

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How do you use Google ads effectively? Running an effective Google ad campaign takes more than just clicking a few buttons. It requires focus, trial and error, and a willingness to lean heavily into your brand. Maris Sonnabend, owner of House of Paws Pet Care, shares her experience of embracing a branding that isn’t for her but has enabled her to target a specific avatar. She walks through the importance of focusing on one guiding principle to keep everything you do focused and intentional. Maris also discusses her philosophy of testing to determine what will and will not work in her business.

406: Making the Most of Media Exposure

406: Making the Most of Media Exposure

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We were recently asked to be on a local TV program to talk about our business, so on this episode, we discuss how you can make the most of unexpected media exposure. We also share why you need to be intentional with your business interactions, connect others with your message, and understand that your business is highly visible in your community.

382: Finding Your Approach to Social Media

382: Finding Your Approach to Social Media

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How are you using social media in your business? From just having a presence to being the main powerhouse of new clients, there are an infinite number of ways to approach social media. We break down our own usage and why it’s so important to find your purpose before you create your next post. It’s all about the content, but you won’t know what to post until you figure out why you’re posting.

362: Marketing a New Service

362: Marketing a New Service

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How do you market a new service? Whether you’ve created a brand new service, or reconfigured an existing one, getting it in front of your clients is the biggest hurdle. Sometimes, the same marketing tactics don’t work for a new service, so as business owners, we have to be aware of what our options are. We walk through why marketing a new service involves a mindset shift and why you should start marketing before you launch your service.

360: When You Want to Remove a Service

360: When You Want to Remove a Service

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How do you know it’s time to remove a service you currently offer? Sometimes you find yourself no longer in love with a particular service. It may be massively popular, or just a massive headache, but it’s time for a change. We walk through how, over the course of a year, we planned and removed a major service from our business. We give some of the lessons we learned and some points to help make it as easy as possible.

358: Overcoming Your Fears

358: Overcoming Your Fears

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What fears do you have in your business? From financial insecurity to personal freedom, fear is a powerful driving force for many of us. Fear comes from both the unknown and the unplanned for, so taking time to assess what’s impacting you gives clarity for better decisions. We break down common fears of running a business and what we can do about them. We also give simple steps to start overcoming your fears and living a more focused life.

350: Appreciating Your Business

350: Appreciating Your Business

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Do you appreciate your business? Many of us struggle to see the value our business brings to us, as we focus on the hardships and frustrations. Appreciating your business has to be a conscious effort every day and is influenced by many things. We break down what it means to be appreciative of your business, why it’s so hard, and what it means to stay content.

305: Advocating for Pet Parents with Tannis Martin

305: Advocating for Pet Parents with Tannis Martin

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What does it mean to alleviate pet parent guilt? Tannis Martin, owner of Pawty Waggin, saw firsthand the power and impact pet care services had on pet owners, and knew she had found her calling. Tannis shares how she focuses on serving her human clients by helping to make her community more pet friendly and advocating for pet owners. Tannis grew her business extensively without a website and gives some insight into how she did that, but how ultimately she knew a website would benefit her company. She also breaks down her pet taxi service and how it became known not just to pet owners but to the local vet clinics and hospital as well.

302: Considerations for Being a Full-Time Pet Sitter

302: Considerations for Being a Full-Time Pet Sitter

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On this episode, we discuss all the things you need to think about BEFORE you decide to quit your day job, and why having your end goal in mind is crucial. We share our story on why this was the best option for us, and discuss the practical implications of focusing primarily on your pet business. Then, business coach Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I fire a client?”

276: Common Social Media Mistakes

276: Common Social Media Mistakes

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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?”

272: Growing and Scaling Your Pet Business

272: Growing and Scaling Your Pet Business

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We all think we want to grow and grow our businesses. Just growing without a plan means we’re spending a lot of money and having a lot more headaches than we should be having. If you feel like you’re wasting time on tasks in your business and looking for a better way, you’re ready to scale. When we scale our businesses and processes, it means we can grow with less headache. We break down several examples of scaling in pet care and walk through four steps to use on everything you’d like to scale.

258: Working at the Pace of Dog with Jen Walmsley

258: Working at the Pace of Dog with Jen Walmsley

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Jen Walmsley is a trainer and dog walker in Bedford and operates Fetch Club, with a mission to provide top quality mental and physical stimulation to her clients. She shares how the growth of her business helped her be more creative and why hiring was so important to her. We also discuss what it means to focus on training fundamentals and how she makes her group walks function.

247: Why We Hired

247: Why We Hired

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Have you thought about hiring? We have. A LOT. We recently hired for the first time and will be doing a series of episodes on what the process was like for us. Hiring isn’t always the answer to our struggles in business, so we break down some of our reasons for deciding it was time to hire. We also give you some questions to think through if you’re on the fence. Then, Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I get over my fear and make big changes?”

233: Eating Well as a Busy Pet Sitter

233: Eating Well as a Busy Pet Sitter

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How do you plan your meals throughout the week? What makes a good snack for a busy dog walker and pet sitter? It’s not easy and is unique for everyone. We sent out a survey to other pet sitters to get a better idea of what others have experienced. Our businesses run on our bodies. So, we should seriously consider what we’re putting into it. For preparing the night before, to staying hydrated, there are simple things to get on a better track. We share some of the biggest struggles to planning meals, how to overcome them, and hacks to being more consistent. Then, Natasha shares her best piece of business advice.

194: Preparing for When You Get Sick

194: Preparing for When You Get Sick

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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?"

152: The "Hustle"

152: The "Hustle"

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What does “hustling” mean to you? We break down several ways it applies to the pet care industry and the misconceptions around what is means to be full time vs part time in this profession. The past year saw many “full time” sitters and walkers go “part time” as demand dropped, but many picked up multiple new services and streams of incomes for their businesses. The industry, and our identities as pet care providers, has changed because of it. Natasha O’Banion answers the question, “How do I enter a new market?”

144: Marketing in 2021

144: Marketing in 2021

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Finding new clients has always been challenging, even more so this past year. While the challenges have changed, the fundamentals haven’t. We have to identify who our clients are, what problems they need solved, and then tell them about our services. How that looks for each business is different as we each focus on unique clients. Natasha O’Banion answers, “What was your biggest lesson from 2020?”

139: Leading the Way with Kylie Holliman-Rivera

139: Leading the Way with Kylie Holliman-Rivera

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Kylie Holliman-Rivera, owner of Fire Hydrant Pet Sitting, has been a leader in many arenas. This past year she led her team through Covid while also leading the conversation on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the pet care industry. Kylie shares what caused her to move to full-time, what it’s like working with her husband in the company, and the success of pack walks in 2020. We also have a great conversation about BLM, staying engaged in the conversation, and how to speak your beliefs as a company.

073- Heidi and Hope Pet Services

073- Heidi and Hope Pet Services

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Heidi Lewis, owner of Heidi and Hope Pet Services, joins us to share what moving to a new city and starting a dog walking company is like, what Covid has looked like in Naples, FL and some of her all time favorite resources.

067- Pet care and BLM Pt. 1

067- Pet care and BLM Pt. 1

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We share some of our thoughts on recent events and the Black Lives Matter movement. We have a special interview with Natasha O’Banion, owner of Walk with Renzo and Ruby, and Kylie Holliman-Rivera, owner of Fire Hydrant Pet Sitting. They sit down to discuss the BLM movement, what being an ally looks like, and what the pet care industry has to do with it. We end the episode with another “Question with a Pet Business Coach” segment with Natasha!

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