Ho Ho Have a flyer

I had business in downtown Seattle yesterday, and I came away with a full dose of holiday spirit. Nevermind the rain, the 4 cops getting yelled at by the homeless guy, the car that ran the redlight and nearly ran me over. Nope. Nothing could deter my holidaygleeishness.

I had some time before my appointment, and wandered over to Pike Place Market for lunch. (Actually, I had lunch at the pasta bar in the "Sanitary Market" across the street, which is less touristy and you don't have to watch for flying fish.)

The entire downtown is in full holiday mode, and spending 10 mins in the market can really get you revved up for the holidays. It's just a darned happy place and the decorations and gifts and smells really make for a nice way to kill a half-hour.

After my meeting, I just missed my bus (see: car running red light above), so while sipping an eggnog latte and waiting for the next bus, I wandered through Westlake Park, which is the epicenter of all things Noel.

I noticed a banner above the stage erected at the center of the park. "Pet Day Dec 1. Have your photo taken with Santa". What a great opportunity for meeting new clients. People will have their pets (and their wallets), be in a festive mood, and will be a captive audience (ie they will be standing in line).

Here are some tips on how to "work" and event like this:

1) Create a short pitch. "Hi! What a cute pup/cat/bird you have there. I'm Jenny and I have a dog walking service. Here's my card. If you ever need a dog walker, give me a ring." Short and simple and give them a way to contact you.

2) Make sure your cards or flyers inlcude your name, phone, email and website. (Need any of these? Contact us at Chew Toy Media for a free consult.)

3) Sell products? Have samples to show or a backpack full of inventory to sell. Have ample change to enable you to make a quick easy sale. Round off prices. Check with the event organizer about prohibitions on vending on site.

4) Sell services? Pass out flyers detailing your skills. Sell gift certificates. (They are instant cash, and between 6-19% don't get used.) Do demonstrations, but keep them short and ask onlookers to take a card or flyer if you can't hand one to them yourself.

5) Have fun. Smile and create a buzz. People want to be associated with happy people. Wear something festive.

6) Ask people to sign up for your mailing list. Make follow-up calls.

7) Take notes afterward on ways to better work this event next year.

You'll be amazed at how quickly time will fly, and you'll walk away from the event with new energy and your own dose of holiday spirit.

Spot the Trend!

Our local paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has a feature article about the growth of do-it-yourself dog washes in our area. This time of year, business really picks up at these establishments, since our pets are now inside most of the time due to inclement weather. Also, a stinky dog can really put a damper on a family gathering during the holidays. So these businesses are doing really well.

"Like most self-service facilities, The Wash Dog offers several private rooms, each equipped with a standing-height stainless steel sink, a board that older or smaller dogs can use to enter and exit the sink and steps that younger dog washers can stand on. Aprons are available for those doing the washing." Rates start at $15 for 30 mins, and most shops offer all sorts of extras like nail clipping, and anal gland expression.

It's a good business model. Provide a service in a fast, efficient way. Set the price point where most people won't hesitate to make the purchase, then offer extras which will push up the total order amount.

However, one point jumped out at me and in the context of starting a NEW animal business. They are turning away business.

The article tells us "an informal count reveals 11 such facilities in the Puget Sound region, and "there are definitely new ones opening up," said Mike Ruffo, 33, co-owner of GroomingSPA Greenlake. "We send others our business if there's too much. There's enough to go around.""

So they get so busy they are turning customers away. And the demand is growing. So in the future, they'll be turning away even MORE customers.

How to fix this? Raise prices. Music to every accountant's ears, but most owners are really reluctant to implement a price increase, for fear of alienating their customers. But if they are turning away customers, aren't they alienating them then too? (Sorry. You have to load your dirty dog back in the car and drive to the ABC dog wash. We are too busy for you. But come back soon, ok?)

But there are ways to raise prices without alienating your customer. How? Add value.

I remember reading over the weekend that a 15-minute shower uses 60 gals of water. I thought that seemed high, so I found this water consumption calculator online. It's true. The average shower head has a rated flow of nearly 4 gallons per minute. So add in a customer using the toilet while at the shop (5 gals), and another 5 gals for washing the towels, and that 15-min dog wash session used a whopping 70 gals of water. At only 8 customers a day, a dog wash uses over 200,000 gallons of water annually.

Anyone who has driven around the Whole Foods parking lot looking for an available space knows that anything green or organic is HOT. So why not merge green and dog washes and create a green dog wash? Install a gray-water recycling system, use green shampoos and cleaning products, install low-flow showerheads, install compact flourescent light bulbs, and whatever else will save water and energy.

Then equally important: TELL EVERYONE! Every media outlet is clamoring for any type of story that has a "green twist". Send out a letter/email to every media outlet. Send emails to your customers. Post signs in your shop (and maybe even add some photos of the rainforest, polar bears, etc to your shop). Add "green" words to your ads.

Here are the messages you want to get across: 1) we are the area's first and only green dog wash, 2) we use XX% less water than our competitors, 3) a green dog is a healthy dog.

So now that you have differentiated your business from all the others AND created a perception of added value over those competitors, you can raise your prices accordingly. How much? Considering the significant barriers to your customers to make the modifications necessary just to meet your business model, I would suggest charging at least 15-20% more than the competition in your area. Call it the Green Premium.

(Photo credit: Meryl Schenker / P-I)

It's a business

This might seem obvious. In fact, many of you will furrow your brow at what you are about to read. But I think it bears saying, all the same.

It's a BUSINESS!!!

If you are either involved in an animal career or thinking about starting one, you need to remember that although working with animals is a great way to spend the day, at end of the day, at least some of your success is based on the number of clients you saw and the amount of money in your wallet.

It's not all about money, and it's not all about having loads of clients. But in order to keep your business going, you need to mind the business side of your practice.

Some tips:

• Surround yourself with good advisors. At a minimum, you'll need an attorney, an accountant, and a web designer.
• Create a structured schedule. Set aside specific times when you work on sales, marketing, finances, business development.
• Pick one day a week where you do nothing but the business development activities mentioned above.
• Ask for feedback. Your customers can tell you a lot about your business if you just ask.

If you aren't willing to do at least these few steps, then you are likely interested in an animal hobby, not an animal business.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We all have plenty for which we should be thankful. Give an animal friend a scratch on the top of the head and don't forget to thank your customers, too.

We'll be back on Monday.

Get started!

Making a sale isn't easy. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it.



Entrepreneur's Barry Farber offers 3 suggestions to getting your animal business started:



1) Activity increases confidence. Feeling unsure of your abilities? Consider volunteering in order to gain confidence (and contacts!). Being active in your field of interest will help you feel more confident about your ability.



2) Success breeds success. After making a sale, go out and try to make 5 more. New customers will see your enthusiasm and excitement and will be more likely to want to work with you.



3) Push your comfort zone. Have you been avoiding that "tough customer" who has a grumpy reputation? Shake things up and set up an appointment. What's the worst that can happen?

Googling your business

Search engine marketing can and should play a large role in your marketing/advertising budget.

All of the major search engines have ad programs which allow small businesses to create ads and buy ad space on search results pages. Since the majority of searches are done on Google, I'll focus on them, but most search engine ad programs are similar.



Here are some tips for effective use of Google's ad program:



1) The ad: The ads themselves are very small, so you want to make sure you use that space wisely. Use action words to get customers to click on your ad to learn more about you. Be specific enough so that people who are clicking on you are actually potential customers.



2) The "keywords": Keywords are words or phrases which a person enters into a search engine. You select keywords for your ad campaign, in hopes that your customer will enter the same keywords in order to find you. If you are a pet sitter in Omaha, you might select "pet", "petsitting" and "Omaha" as some of your keywords. Be careful in selecting your keywords. Choose the wrong keyword and you'll reach people who aren't potential customers (and pay for them to see your ads!)



3) PPC bids: Keywords are bid on using a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, meaning each time a user clicks on your ad, you pay Google for that click. Some keywords can be bid on for 5 cents per click. Others may cost much more. You should select a daily or monthly budget in order to limit the clicks and cost.



4) Tracking: Using conversion tracking and analytics programs provided with the Google program, you can tell how many visitors or customers have come to you from your ads and calculate a Return on Investment analysis for each of your ads.

Anyone can create a search engine ad campaign. Don't want to spend the time or want a more effective campaign strategy? Contact us at Chew Toy Media for a free consultation.

Trendspotting

In the years I have been involved in the animal business, I've noticed that trends have a certain, predictable flow to them. Historically, many innovations began in the horse industry, then migrated to the pet industry, starting first with dogs, then cats, exotics, etc.

Why the horse industry? Well, before pets became BIG business, there was a disparate amount of money spent in the horse world, including at the race track, in the competition ring and even earlier, in the military. Horses have been big business for centuries. Since businesses are always looking for an edge, innovation became a big part of the industry.

In the last decade, a pet's place in a family has evolved from secondary cast member (think Tiger from The Brady Bunch) to become ingrained as part of our family unit--true family members. So I think this "trend flow" is also shifting. While the equine industry will be a source of new innovations and careers in the animal world, I believe the new trend pattern is from human family members to their pets.

"Any trend you see in human foods, about 6 months later, it pops up on the pet food side of the ledger," says American Pet Product Manufacturers Association President Bob Vetere. "It's finally dawned on marketers that the same person who's buying food for the family is buying food for the pet."

Looking for a new career? What's hot in the human world? As the buzz begins to fade in the two-legged economy, a new opportunity may be ripe for the picking in serving our four-legged friends.

He said, She said

"It is the imagination that lights the slow fuse of the possible"-- Emily Dickinson

All signs say ???

I spent the afternoon at Microsoft doing some user-interface testing in exchange for free software. I love the whole process of new product development, and it's a great way to see how the 800-lb gorillas start a business. Plus free pop. What a deal.

I live about 4 miles from the testing facility which is on the outskirts of Redmond. The drive home consists of 2-lane roads and the traffic is backed up in the afternoon when school lets out.

As I was putting along at 5mph, I noticed all of the horse farms in the area known as Gunshy Ridge. There were five farms in a 2-mile stretch. All had various forms of signage-- some signs were a little weather worn, while others were looked brand-new.

But not a single one had a web address on their sign. Not one.

More surprisingly, when I returned home, I checked to see if any of these farms even had websites. Four of the five farms did, in fact, have websites. But no one driving by would know it. There are likely 5000 cars a day traveling by these farms. 5000 customers. Every day. Going right on past.

The takeaway?

Whether you are at ground-zero of the tech world, or somewhere else altogether, if you have a website, tell people about it! Spend $100 at your local sign shop and reach those customers!

Creative living

Pet-sitting (and house-sitting) is #10 on the list of the 75 ways to "live on less" in the current Mother Earth News. From Craig Idlebrook's "Live on Less and Love It!" in the Oct-Nov 07 article, caretaking of homes is a great option for those looking for a longer term solution. Caretaker.org is an excellent place for making contact with someone looking for a caretaker.

I've had to cancel a number of vacations in the past due to having trouble finding someone to watch my farm. Well-marketed farm-sitters are in short supply in this area.

We're back

After spending a week getting some of those projects up and running, we are back in the saddle and ready to mix metaphors like a blender gone crazy.

What's cooking.....

It's been a week now since our last post, but we here at Animalcareerist.com wanted to let you know that you are not forgotten. I wanted to take a few moments to explain a little about what we have been doing. (And trust us, we've been busy!)

We are getting to ready to spread our wings a little-- launch few new projects at Chew Toy Holdings, start production at Chew Toy Media and even get a little help here at Animalcareerist.com.

In speaking with business advisors over the past weeks, it's become clear that a few of the projects we've been considering have real merit and we are moving ahead with some of them.

Last week, I placed an ad on Craigslist with the headline "Help me Start a Business". The results were amazing. In less than 24 hours, I was contacted by over 20 people. Many had compelling stories, and I was fortunate to meet a handful of these talented people.

The results? A few new projects, and a refocusing of a few others.

Sophie Paladichuck is taking the lead with Chew Toy Media, which is our innovative animal-focused company which is geared toward assisting animal businesses in their sales, marketing and development efforts. Services include logo/image development, search engine ad campaigns, video production, web design. Why choose CTM for these types of work? Because we have decades of experience in the animal world. We know how to reach the customers.

We are also moving forward with an innovative insurance business, which will offer unique insurance products for both the animal owner AND animal business people. The time has come for a new business to step into this market and look at the animal world in a new light. I am in the process of bringing a CFO and Marketing Director to help launch this business.

Perhaps our most exciting new project is our development work in the area of social networks for animal lovers. Our first projects will focus on the horse show markets and the dog show markets, although we have other markets identified. The network platform is complete, and we are hoping to have the prototype available within 6 weeks. We are currently seeking investors for this project.

Lastly, we will be seeking to bring at least two contributors into the Animalcareerist family. More on that later.