Who Is Winning The Post-Holiday Pet Sitting Blues Fight?

Do you notice how some months are busier than others, while others seem to come to a grinding halt?

In our pet care industry, most pet sitters experience this sort of ebb and flow, but the trick is what to do when there is little to do?

After the Winter holidays, business can really slow down for a lot of us pet sitting business owners.

Everyone got their traveling done in November and December and now the kids are back in school, vacation days are gone from work and the post-holiday blues are starting to sink in.

How can you combat the blues in your business during this slower time?

Here are a few suggestions on how you can stay actively busy and accomplish amazing things at the same time.

Suggestion #1: Blog. Write. Develop Content.

Call it blogging, call it content marketing, call it writing. What ever you call it, your down time is the perfect time to add new, relevant, original dialogue to your website.

Why is this such an important step? I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but Google rewards websites that provide users with great content by placing them high in the search results.

Think about the reason… Google’s number one responsibility is to it’s search user. Google needs to deliver the best results high on the page for the user’s search term.

Google will only place valuable websites on page 1 and adding content is the quickest way to achieve high rankings.

One of the biggest excuses I hear from pet sitters regarding why they don’t blog is: “I don’t have time”. Valid, but now you do! With minimal sits and scheduling to be done, this frees up some time for you to sit down in front of the computer and get writing.

Not only can you write blogs to use right now – you can also get ahead of the game and write some back up posts so when the spring and summer rush picks up, you will still have content to post to your site.

RESOURCE: Pet Sitters Learning with Joshua Cary, Bella Vasta and Marcus Sheridan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6NrResZ6jE

Suggestion #2: Get working on that website.

If I were a betting person, I’d say your website is one of (if not, THE) top ways new potential pet owners find out about your service. And for the record, your website is never truly “done.” It should be evolving and added to on a regular basis.

Review your current content and make sure everything is relevant and reflects your business today.

Make a video for your home page, take some photos at your visits to up date your gallery or finally hire the graphic designer you’ve been putting off doing.

Also, go through your About page. Is it current? Does it showcase your new staff? Your new service? Your new philosophy?

Make sure you stay focus on the benefits your ideal client will receive by hiring you.

Just like with blogging, our biggest excuse is that we don’t have the time to get these things done but while we are going through a natural lull in business, this is your chance to utilize your free time and get your website in tip-top shape!

RESOURCE: Need an updated website that will do most of the “heavy lifting” (SEO, etc) for you? Check out the PetSittingOlogy SEO WordPress System.

Suggestion #3: Enjoy the down time.

OK, so maybe this doesn’t have to be “all work, all the time!”

Perhaps it’s time to take a break from being “all pet sitter all the time” and go out and enjoy some of your hobbies!

Read that book you haven’t had time for, redecorate a room in your house or join a yoga class.

Yoga not your thing? No problem. Do something you really enjoy that isn’t work related while you have the break.

We all love being pet sitters and a lot of times we can forget how much time we actually spend working both in and on our business.

We’ve got to remind ourselves that there is a world outside of pet sitting and we’ve got to get out there and enjoy it so we don’t become burnt out.

RESOURCE: Wanna kill 4 and a half minutes? Here’s one of my favorite Youtube videos.

Over To You.

Have other ideas on how to fight the post-holiday blues? What do you do when there is not much to do?

Share your thoughts and ideas below. We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks To Sarah Johnson…

Friend and fellow pet sitter, Sarah Johnson of Menly’s Pet Care, contributed to the bulk of this post. Thanks, Sarah!