Many pet parents lead busy working lives. As such, they often encounter plenty of challenges while trying to take care of their pets. Fortunately, they have the option of enlisting the help of trusty pet sitters near them. If you want to pursue a career based on a love for animals, then becoming a pet sitter may be a potentially fulfilling and lucrative job to explore.
That being said, learning how to properly take care of pets is just one part of the equation. You’ll also need to learn how to actually make a living as a pet sitter. And even if you were to eventually find regular clients, it’s important to continuously promote your business and actively search for new customers.
Doing so ensures that your business remains sustainable in case one of your best clients decides to move or get the services of another sitter.There are different ways to market your pet sitting business, ranging from the traditional to the more unique methods.
If you want to stand out from the competition, you need to be memorable and stay top-of-mind among your current and potential clients. To effectively do this, here are some creative ways to promote your pet sitting business:
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Leave Branded Pet Products in Place of Business Cards
Handing out business cards with your contact information or flyers of your services is one way to promote your business. However, these simple paper advertisements can be easily forgotten and misplaced.
If you want to make a bigger impact on your target customers, you can use branded pet products instead. Make sure to customize the items by printing your pet sitting business’s branding and contact information on them.
Also, choose products that your potential customers will likely use such as personalized martingale dog collars, leashes, and pet food bowls. When you give pet parents practical but stylish promotional products, they’ll be more likely to use them regularly, meaning they get a constant reminder of your business.
Go Where Your Potential Clients Are
To meet new clients, you need to go where they typically spend most of their time. Doing so allows you to meet people who are likely to become your new connections, with each connection potentially leading to more business opportunities.
So, think about where your pet parent audiences usually hang out. You can head to the dog park, pet store, veterinary clinic, or pet grooming facilities, for example. But what do you do once you’re there, especially if you aren’t used to socializing?
Don’t worry; it’s normal to feel nervous when approaching someone in public. There’s no need to open with a bombastic sales pitch or anything like that.
Instead, start a conversation and just talk in a way that feels most natural without mentioning your pet sitting services from the get-go.You can begin by complimenting the other person’s pets.
After some back-and-forth, if the opportunity arises, you can then talk about your pet sitting services. Once you’ve had the chance to discuss your business, that’s the perfect time to give them your business card, flyer, or branded promotional item.
This will let them know how to contact you in case they’re interested in your pet sitting services.
Partner with Pet Businesses and Organizations in Your Area
If you don’t feel at ease approaching and striking up a conversation with potential clients, you can still capture their attention by working with the pet establishments they frequent.
You can connect with the other pet business owners in your community and ask if you can leave marketing materials in their place of business. This is a fantastic way of letting more of the right people learn about your services.
You can also collaborate with local pet businesses or organizations and find ways to help each other. For example, you can contact a community pet shelter and ask if you can partner with them. One idea is to offer your pet sitting services at a discount for owners of newly adopted dogs.
Another idea is to donate your branded pet merchandise to the local shelter and let them give the pet products away to adopters. Alternatively, some shelters give each adopter a pet adoption kit that contains a couple of essential pet products. If not as an individual item, you can suggest that your customized pet products be included in adopter kits instead.
This kind of arrangement is a win-win for all parties. The shelter gets new products to encourage more people to adopt pets, and you get to expand your customer reach.
Set Up and Advertise Your Business’s Social Media Page
While meeting new clients in person is a great way to talk about your business, it’s also important to be digitally present. That said, while social media platforms can help you connect with friends and family, you can also use them to promote your business.
Start with setting up a business page for your pet sitting services and add your phone number and email address to the profile.
These easy first steps can help your potential customers get in touch with you in case they come across your page while searching for pet sitters online.
To maximize your business’s social media presence, consider using targeted advertisements. On some popular social media platforms, you can choose the exact kinds of people who will see your ads.
You can set the targeting settings based on an individual’s interests in pets, the location where you operate, and the occupation of the people who are likely to need a pet sitter. With this marketing tool, you stand a higher chance of getting right in front of your potential customers.
It bears repeating that even if you already have a steady pool of clients, you need to actively market your pet sitting business to ensure sustainability and growth.
While you can certainly use many different methods for promoting your business, you need to make sure your efforts are memorable and effectively capture your potential customers’ attention.
Try any of the suggestions mentioned above or combine them with your current strategies to meet your business goals.
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