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The Easiest Way To Gain Many More Pet Sitting Clients

by Joshua

get more pet sitting clientsAre you looking for more pet sitting clients than you can possibly handle?

Of course you are, it’s a trick question!

We can all use a spike in our bank accounts right about now and one way to increase our available balance is to increase our client base.

The holiday season is no longer just around the corner; it is squarely upon us. And it’s no secret that the last few months of the year are the most profitable for working pet sitters.

But no matter what time of year, in order to gain many new clients, you must first begin to focus on gaining just one.

That’s right. The easiest way to gain many is to focus on gaining one.

Once you are able to celebrate the success of gaining one new client, you can then repeat the exact same process on a bigger scale and find many new pet sitting clients.

Focusing on just one to start will keep you from becoming overwhelmed and will place the goal in a very achievable light.

Read on to see how you can promote the heck out of your business by winning your own personalized pet sitter t-shirt!

The 3-step Process To Grow Your Pet Sitting Business One Client At A Time

1: Make your plan.

One of the best ways to move forward is to plan backwards.

Keep thinking backwards until you arrive at tasks you could do today. This will help you to attain the goal’s starting point.

You already know what your goal is (one new client) so now it’s time to sit down and come up with your game plan.

How will you go about reaching this goal? Brainstorm a list of possible ideas.

  • Directly ask current clients for recommendations
  • Post an ad online, like on Craigs List
  • Partner with a local business to help get the word out
  • Offer a coupon, discount or other incentive on your website for new clients

Whatever the plan, get it down in writing and set it in motion. Write down every little thing – no matter how small – that you must do in order to reach your goal.

2: Set your time frame.

Begin by defining a realistic timeframe for your goal.

Find the sweet spot based on your past history. Make it challenging but keep it achievable. If you don’t give yourself enough time, you’ll be setting yourself up to fail.

How long will it take to gain one new pet-sitting client? 1 week? 2 weeks? 4 weeks?

Once you decide, mark that date on a calendar and keep it visible at all times. Jot down tasks along the way so you stay on track and keep a clear picture of your goal in mind at all times.

What you focus on becomes reality.

3: Monitor results and adjust as needed

What’s one of the biggest reasons people do not successfully reach their goals?

They simply are not watching the results of their efforts and adjusting things along the way.

A plan is pointless if you are not actively tracking the day-to-day results. If you partner with a pet store, for example, are people taking your marketing materials? Are those people getting in contact with you? Are they becoming new clients?

Where might the system need to be adjusted?

If you’re not getting calls, rethink the marketing material. If you’re not closing the deal on the phone, consider a new approach.

Monitor every aspect of your plan and consistently evaluate where things may be falling short. Then adjust, and repeat.

Keep Your Eye On The Prize

Remember, the goal is for just one new client. You can do it!

As soon as you gain one new client in this systematic way, you will be well on your way to gaining plenty more (just repeat the process over and over).

This Month is “Official Gain More Clients Month”

If you’d like to officially take part in this movement and take on this challenge of gaining just one new client, here’s what to do.

Leave a comment below letting me know you are on board to gain one new pet sitting client.

Take some time for yourself to make your plan, set your timeframe and monitor the results.

By leaving a comment below and saying “Yes!” you become accountable. Accountability is a huge motivating factor for us all to reach any goal.

My Gift To You

pet-sitting-shirtsTo help you continue to promote your pet sitting business, I will say “I knew you could do it!” by providing one lucky pet sitter a free customized pet sitting t-shirt, courtesy of the new Pet Sitter Shirt Store.

Choose from any of the 10 designs and I’ll even print a personal message on the back, if you wish. (IE. Your website, twitter name, business name, tag line, etc…)

Hop on board now by leaving a comment showing your commitment to gain that one new pet sitting client and let’s celebrate together.

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  • The 10 Easy Fixes To Landing Higher In Google: My complete checklist for pet sitters.
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Further Reading:

pet sitter ic toolbox
See why it's been called 'amazing' 'excellent' 'well worth it' 'comprehensive' 'very useful' and 'highly recommended!'

About Joshua

Joshua Cary is an all around good guy. He is a filmmaker, web builder and business owner. Along with his beautiful wife, Alitia (pronounced uh-leash-uh), he is a pet sitting business trainer, coach and instructor at PetSittingOlogy. Joshua is also the co-founder of the Association of Pet Sitting Excellence (you should really check that out).

  • http://www.kuzzuk.net/ Dipankar Kuzzuk Subba

    great list Joshua.

    I’m gonna share this with my wife who runs a pet sitting and boarding service in Singapore

  • http://www.kuzzuk.net Dipankar Kuzzuk Subba

    great list Joshua.

    I’m gonna share this with my wife who runs a pet sitting and boarding service in Singapore

  • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

    Thank you sir!

    I’d love to learn how the Singapore pet sitting industry compares to the pet sitting industry in the US. (Similarities, differences, challenges…)

  • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

    Thank you sir!

    I’d love to learn how the Singapore pet sitting industry compares to the pet sitting industry in the US. (Similarities, differences, challenges…)

  • http://www.NoWorries4Pets.com/ Kathi

    Ok, Joshua, I’m on it. One new client, coming right up :).

  • http://www.NoWorries4Pets.com Kathi

    Ok, Joshua, I’m on it. One new client, coming right up :).

  • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

    Woo-hoo, let’s do it! Someone’s gotta win a T-shirt. Stop back soon with a progress update.

    Side Note: Have you re-designed your website? It’s looking good. And I love the pic of your pitbull and baby. Shows the nay-sayers that not all pits eat babies ;]

    • Kathi

      Thanks, it’s not bad, but it could be better! I’m been in the process of re-designing it. I’m widening my wrapper, so I have more room and I’m going to change up the navigation links. I’m tweaking the css a bit too, struggling with text size mainly-who doesn’t :(. I seriously need to include a contact form, but I had problems doing that before, so I need to figure out why my form didn’t work. I’m going to change the “about” section, following your advice about telling your story. I always have a hard time going on about myself. I figure “who cares?”, but I see your point, so I’m going to re-do that. I’m working on making some vids to include and putting more testimonials up. Hopefully some video testimonials. I’ve been wanting to do a blog for more than a year, but haven’t found the time. First off, I’m going through your article about Google SEO and going to check off everything there. I’m also considering ways to make my rate section work better, seems people are having trouble with that.

      I have a new hosting account with Go Daddy. You may have heard on the PUPS board that my site got hacked. GRRR!! So as I finish with the SEO changes I’ll upload the new pages to my new host, then proceed with the rest of the re-design. Big project, but them’s the way the apples tumble.

      Thanks about my pittie pic, that’s my Dezdemona (Dezi) and my grandson, Magnus. She’s fabulous with kids, small dogs and puppies. She’s a Mamma at heart :D. I like to include pics of her because not only do I think she’s adorable, but since we do day care and boarding it sort af lets people know beforehand that we have a pitbull. If they don’t like that, they won’t call and it saves us both time and awkwardness.

      • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

        Kathi,

        Well, you certainly have a lot on your plate. But they are all the right things to have there!

        Website redesign and SEO is an undertaking that requires time, patience and knowledge.

        I assure you it’ll all happen for you.

  • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

    Woo-hoo, let’s do it! Someone’s gotta win a T-shirt. Stop back soon with a progress update.

    Side Note: Have you re-designed your website? It’s looking good. And I love the pic of your pitbull and baby. Shows the nay-sayers that not all pits eat babies ;]

    • http://www.NoWorries4Pets Kathi

      Thanks, it’s not bad, but it could be better! I’m been in the process of re-designing it. I’m widening my wrapper, so I have more room and I’m going to change up the navigation links. I’m tweaking the css a bit too, struggling with text size mainly-who doesn’t :(. I seriously need to include a contact form, but I had problems doing that before, so I need to figure out why my form didn’t work. I’m going to change the “about” section, following your advice about telling your story. I always have a hard time going on about myself. I figure “who cares?”, but I see your point, so I’m going to re-do that. I’m working on making some vids to include and putting more testimonials up. Hopefully some video testimonials. I’ve been wanting to do a blog for more than a year, but haven’t found the time. First off, I’m going through your article about Google SEO and going to check off everything there. I’m also considering ways to make my rate section work better, seems people are having trouble with that.

      I have a new hosting account with Go Daddy. You may have heard on the PUPS board that my site got hacked. GRRR!! So as I finish with the SEO changes I’ll upload the new pages to my new host, then proceed with the rest of the re-design. Big project, but them’s the way the apples tumble.

      Thanks about my pittie pic, that’s my Dezdemona (Dezi) and my grandson, Magnus. She’s fabulous with kids, small dogs and puppies. She’s a Mamma at heart :D. I like to include pics of her because not only do I think she’s adorable, but since we do day care and boarding it sort af lets people know beforehand that we have a pitbull. If they don’t like that, they won’t call and it saves us both time and awkwardness.

      • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

        Kathi,

        Well, you certainly have a lot on your plate. But they are all the right things to have there!

        Website redesign and SEO is an undertaking that requires time, patience and knowledge.

        I assure you it’ll all happen for you.

  • http://www.NoWorries4Pets.com/ Katherine

    Hi Joshua,

    Did it-two new clients this week.Yippee! One is a 2x wk dog walk, the other for boarding, booked two trips to start with. I’m on a roll :).

    • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

      Wow, that’s fantastic! How did it happen? What did you do? Tell us please?!

      Congrats.

      • Kathi

        Hi,

        Yeah, I’m happy to make my goal. Now I want at least one more before the end of the month, so I better get busy!

        They both contacted me from me from my website. I haven’t done any marketing other than my site. I know I need to, but haven’t made the time. What I really need to do right now is strategize and plan. I have too many things swirling in my brain and I’m stuck because of a lack of mental clarity. I keep skipping around, doing this, then that…very ADD behavior :).

        One thing I’m working on improving is contacting the client and setting up a M&G STAT. I think that was mentioned somewhere else on this blog. I do think that makes a big difference. Pet owners are a bit capricious, they tend to get all in a tizzy to line up care for their pets, so they make a flurry of calls. You need to get your “foot in the door” right away. I also have stopped asking them to fill out paperwork before we get together. They seemed to get overwhelmed and move on to find something easier. I takes more time at the M&G, but I think it’s a better approach. If I actually WANT to discourage someone for some reason, maybe a last minute request or some kind of red flag, then I do give them all the paper work up front and tell them I’ll set an appointment with them when I get it
        back. Usually works, which is why I no longer do that with folks I do want to meet with. Live and learn :)

  • http://www.NoWorries4Pets.com Katherine

    Hi Joshua,

    Did it-two new clients this week.Yippee! One is a 2x wk dog walk, the other for boarding, booked two trips to start with. I’m on a roll :).

    • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

      Wow, that’s fantastic! How did it happen? What did you do? Tell us please?!

      Congrats.

      • http://www.NoWorries4Pets Kathi

        Hi,

        Yeah, I’m happy to make my goal. Now I want at least one more before the end of the month, so I better get busy!

        They both contacted me from me from my website. I haven’t done any marketing other than my site. I know I need to, but haven’t made the time. What I really need to do right now is strategize and plan. I have too many things swirling in my brain and I’m stuck because of a lack of mental clarity. I keep skipping around, doing this, then that…very ADD behavior :).

        One thing I’m working on improving is contacting the client and setting up a M&G STAT. I think that was mentioned somewhere else on this blog. I do think that makes a big difference. Pet owners are a bit capricious, they tend to get all in a tizzy to line up care for their pets, so they make a flurry of calls. You need to get your “foot in the door” right away. I also have stopped asking them to fill out paperwork before we get together. They seemed to get overwhelmed and move on to find something easier. I takes more time at the M&G, but I think it’s a better approach. If I actually WANT to discourage someone for some reason, maybe a last minute request or some kind of red flag, then I do give them all the paper work up front and tell them I’ll set an appointment with them when I get it
        back. Usually works, which is why I no longer do that with folks I do want to meet with. Live and learn :)

  • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

    Planning is (as you know) an absolute necessity when it comes to any part of running your business.

    Without it, you’ll simply float around hoping to accomplish various things, instead of strategically working towards your specific goals.

    I combat this with a simple daily to-do list. A notebook kept near my computer at all times keeps me moving forward and on track.

    And yes, keep track of statistics any way you can. Jot down the number of phone calls or email inquiries and the result of each one, so you can gauge how successful you are at closing. And you’ll have solid numbers of incoming leads each month. (Google Docs works well for this use!)

    One thing I started implementing to avoid the “shopping for the best deal” is to require a small deposit ($25) if the person wants to go ahead with the M&G.; I require this deposit before I even put them in touch with a pet sitter on my team.

    Before this, we’d all be running around to accommodate the potential client, and they’d ditch, even after M&Gs.; This is working out well for all of us involved.

    You could also try implementing a “last minute” fee for those booking within 24 or 48 hours. I’ve seen plenty of sites that do that.

  • http://petsittingology.com/ Joshua

    Planning is (as you know) an absolute necessity when it comes to any part of running your business.

    Without it, you’ll simply float around hoping to accomplish various things, instead of strategically working towards your specific goals.

    I combat this with a simple daily to-do list. A notebook kept near my computer at all times keeps me moving forward and on track.

    And yes, keep track of statistics any way you can. Jot down the number of phone calls or email inquiries and the result of each one, so you can gauge how successful you are at closing. And you’ll have solid numbers of incoming leads each month. (Google Docs works well for this use!)

    One thing I started implementing to avoid the “shopping for the best deal” is to require a small deposit ($25) if the person wants to go ahead with the M&G. I require this deposit before I even put them in touch with a pet sitter on my team.

    Before this, we’d all be running around to accommodate the potential client, and they’d ditch, even after M&Gs. This is working out well for all of us involved.

    You could also try implementing a “last minute” fee for those booking within 24 or 48 hours. I’ve seen plenty of sites that do that.

  • Kelley Kidd

    Awesome site! I just found it and it has totally inspired me to rev up the engine and get moving on gaining new clients! thanks for the wonderful advice and suggestions!!!

  • http://petsittingology.com Joshua

    My pleasure, Kelley.

    Happy to hear you found it inspiring. You can also keep me updated on your progress on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/petsittingexcellence

    See you soon…

  • Kelley Kidd

    Awesome site! I just found it and it has totally inspired me to rev up the engine and get moving on gaining new clients! thanks for the wonderful advice and suggestions!!!

  • http://petsittingology.com Joshua

    My pleasure, Kelley.

    Happy to hear you found it inspiring. You can also keep me updated on your progress on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/petsittingexcellence

    See you soon…

  • http://www.electronicpetdoor.org electronic pet door

    Interesting article and nice blog you have too!

  • Creature Comforts

    This has been a great site and I am moving in the right direction from what you are saying. I have a few clients already and am moving one day at a time to gain more clients. Word of mouth is big in this business and I have asked clients to refer as much as possible. I also have a Facebook page and a website. My most difficult step has been to decide on who to help me and whether they will be an independent contractor. From what I have read, they would be more of an employee as I have specific ways of doing things I want them to follow. But, alas, I am not ready to be an employer. But I have a reputation to keep with my business. Kind of a Catch 22, if you will.

    • Joshua Cary

      Happy to see you hear, and thrilled you are gaining value from it.  Yes, moving systematically in the right direction one step at a time will do the trick.

      Re: ICs / Employees… As you may know, I have plenty of articles and videos right on this blog that may help clear things up.  Search for “IC” and/or “video” on the site above and you’ll find plenty on the subject.

      Stay motivated!

  • http://www.facebook.com/nothingisimpawsible Lea J Smith

    With anything in life, it really is best to focus on one at a time (unless you are an excellent multi-tasker)! One day at a time to tackle a difficult habit or task, one email or phone call to let a pet parent know that their shy dog is coming out of her shell, one customer at a time to give them full attention and make them feel as if they are the only one, because at that moment in time they are.

    Thank you for the encouragement to keep on keeping on.

  • Melinda

    I am just getting started, you have been a huge help, thanks! Just got my business cards today and already hit the pet store employees (who all know me well) and posted them on a few community boards around town. My website is up and I have taken advantage of every free internet listing I have found so far. I am totally commited to getting my First client!

    • Joshua Cary

      Congrats on those important initial steps, Melinda!  It’s an exciting time for you, I bet.  Please share your website link with us, and certainly come back and celebrate when you land your first client!  I look forward to hearing all about the process, the journey and the WIN!

  • http://www.catdom.co.uk Hayley

    I’m most definitely on board to get just one more client… my first that is! I’m just starting up a cat sitting service in Bath, UK called Catdom. I am finding the process very engaging so far and looking forward to the challenges ahead. Your nuggets of wisdom scattered around this blog will be a great inspiration and focusing tool for me – so thank you for sharing. I will  endeavour to keep sharing the juice!

    I think some of the things you have touched on in this post are particularly relevant to Pet Sitters since on the whole, I suspect we are a caring, creative bunch. Keeping one’s eye on the prize is critical, and I am sure many of us need reminding of that from time to time.

    Having said that, generalising is not something I tend to condone – and possibly, it’s resonance reflects more on my own tendencies rather than pet-sitters overall. ;)

    • Joshua Cary

      Hello and Welcome Hayley!  Glad you are finding the process engaging.

      The biggest thing I tend to promote around here is simply honing your business skills to gain the most amount of clients possible.  It’s not easy, but is very possible.

      Also, your website will play a crucial role of your entire marketing strategy.  If/When you have your website going, please check back and share it with us.

      Looking forward to your journey.