Josh Cary

This author has written 284 articles

Why Did You Really Become A Professional Pet Sitter? (And the PSO Conference Scholarship is Open)

Adorable petsThis post is insanely important for two specific reasons.

1 – It’s the first official announcement that our 2014 Scholarship Program is open for applicants (that’s you).

This simply means we will be awarding one qualified pet care professional a fully paid trip to attend our upcoming pet sitting live event in Las Vegas this October 19 – 22, 2014, including fully paid round trip air fare, 3-night hotel stay at the Tropicana, and a registration ticket to the 3 day event.

2 – The deeper purpose of this blog post is to get you thinking deeper about everything you do day in and day out as a professional pet sitter.

And why is that so important? Keep reading and you’ll quickly learn what I mean.

RESOURCE: Apply now for the 2014 PetSittingOlogy Live Event Scholarship »

Let’s start with that self evaluation, if you will.

I titled this post “Why did you really become a professional pet sitter” with emphasis on the word “really.” If we were talking, and I asked you simply “Why did you become a professional pet sitter” you could easily list a handful of reasons, covering everything from “I was tired of my old career” and “I wanted to work for myself” to “I absolutely love animals and this is the perfect way to spend time with them.”

And each of those replies would be more than relevant, sufficient and accurate.

However, see what happens when we insert the word ‘really’ into the middle of the question:

“Why did you REALLY become a professional pet sitter?”

It forces you into a state of true and personal reflection.

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How The Pet Tech PetSaver Class Will Up Your Game

become a better pet sitter

I’m not one for bold statements just for the sake of it. Yet you’ve heard us talk about how the PetSittingOlogy Live Event in Vegas is *the* pet professional conference to attend.

And that it will bring your business to the next level. And that you will meet people that will inspire, educate, and motivate you. And that you will make lasting friendships that will last through out the year.

And we literally guarantee all of those things to happen for you. How can we guarantee that?

Because we are in the exact same boat. We strive to bring the conference to the next level, to meet and talk to inspiring experts that are already at the next level so we can bring that to you at the conference.

We want to be the best pet sitting and pet business related conference in the country. We’re well on our way to accomplishing that:

We are honored to be able to announce that Thom Somes, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF PET TECH WILL BE AT THE CONFERENCE.

I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

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Are You Fully Trained in Pet First Aid and CPR? Would You Like To Be?

first-aid

Are you trained in pet first aid and CPR?

Have you ever come upon a client’s pet that needed immediate attention?

Or what if you could sleep well at night simply knowing that you have the skills at the ready to handle any emergency situation.

As a professional pet care professional, you have no doubt come across the concept and idea of first aid training.

Perhaps you have also come across the name Pet Tech and Thom Somes aka The Pet Safety Guy.

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3 Topics To Absolutely Help You Manage and Grow Your Business Better [Audio]

inside the mindDo you ever feel like your head is about to explode with all the thoughts, ideas, and conversations going on at once?

Yea, me too!

I happen to use the tool Evernote to document anything and everything I want to remember. This includes blog post topics, ideas, projects, notes, website resources, people I want to reach out to, to-do lists, etc.

What I found happening recently is that I have so many things just sitting in Evernote piling up (and essentially getting lost in the mix).

I figured I would fire up the mic and begin getting some of these topics out for you. Enjoy these 24 minutes during your day.

Full transcript follows, but the topics I discuss are:

-The 3 most useful tools you can use to gather email addresses from your website visitors.
-How beneficial is it to purchase additional domain names for your business?
-What makes Gmail so powerful as an integral part of your day-to-day sanity and success?

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Would You Honor The Same Rate As The Prior Pet Sitter?

tshirt rack

Price shoppers. We all deal with them on a more regular basis than we’d prefer.

They come in all shapes and sizes, and they all approach the subject differently.

Sometimes their price shopping tendencies show up early in the chat (which is great for us so we waste as little time as possible), while other times you’ll spend 30 minutes on the phone detailing every aspect of what you do and how you do it still only to met with resistance to your very reasonable rate.

My pet sitting business received the below service request recently and I think it’s a good one to discuss.

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

empty office

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.

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How to Attract New Clients and Fans Directly to Your Pet Sitting Business

broken bridge

Do you know the true definition of the word “fan”?

And more amazingly, did you know that a ‘fan’ is an abbreviation of the word ‘fanatic’?

So, when you are a fan of something, it suggests you are a fanatic of that thing.

As you know, the definition of a fan is: an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer. (Thanks, Dictionary.com!)

Thinking about your own pet sitting business and client base, you probably have some true fans of your business, right?

You know those clients that sing your praises, love everything you do and how you do it, and can not live without you.

How wonderful would it be to have even more fanatics of your service?

It’s possible to follow a proven path to increase the chances of gaining many more fans of your business.

And it’s these fans that will keep you in business, keep you sane, and actually help grow your business with you.

This Video Clip Helps Get The Ball Rolling.

At the 2013 PetSittingOlogy Conference, we were lucky enough to have keynote speaker, Maribeth Kuzmeski kick off the event with her presentation, “And The Clients Went Wild! Strategies from the Playbooks of Successful Companies for Winning New Business.”

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I Need Your Input, Please – Do You Want Pet Tech At The Conference?

pet tech badgeOne of the greatest pleasures I receive when putting together the details for the upcoming 2014 PetSittingOlogy Conference is the input from other pet sitters.

I love receiving suggestions for topics and speakers, being connected to potential sponsors, and hearing details that would make the event that much better for you.

One such approach is today’s topic: a potential Pet Tech training and certification course built right in (and at no additional charge… keep reading!).

Are you familiar with Pet Tech?

At its core, Pet Tech bills itself as the first international training center dedicated to CPR, First Aid and Care for dogs and cats.

As pet sitters complete their own training, many go on to become trained instructors to teach other pet sitters in their local market to become trained, themselves. Instructors will learn the necessary skills and teaching methods to properly train pet owners in first aid and care, too.

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Want More Clients? Google Can Help in 2014.

An OstrichChances are you know the name Marcus Sheridan (The Sales Lion).

I have spoken about him plenty, have done a Google Hangout with him (and Bella Vasta), and he was our keynote speaker at both PetSittingOlogy Conferences in 2012 and 2013.

(And rumor has it, he will be along for the ride at our 3rd conference in October 2014.)

Much of what Marcus teaches is insightful, informative and spot on.

Here is one point he likes to make in his presentation.

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Is GPS Tracking a Smart Idea for Pet Sitters to Use?

GPS trackingAs you know, pet owners have many options when choosing a pet sitter in their area to serve them.

Our job then becomes to create a professional first impression through our website and hope that they make contact.

From there, you will have to continue to dialogue and differentiate yourself to become the clear and only choice.

Some pet sitters like to offer GPS tracking to their mix to give the pet parents an extra sense of security and control.

However, at times the concept is not all its cracked up to be.

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