Blog

Kaylyn Parker photo

Social Media Simplified for the Busy Pet Professional (Video Replay)

Ugh, who else is struggling with their Facebook business page or social media stuff!?

I hear that question all the time and am thrilled to help put that to an end in the form of 57-minutes of goodness!

Each and every Tuesday, I come to you live for a new training session on a valuable topic.  These sessions, called Tuesdays with Cary, are typically reserved for members of the PSOproud.com Movement.

Side Note: Wondering what #PSOproud is all about? It’s the professional pet care industry’s movement with one singular goal in mind: To improve the reputation of our beloved industry.  Discover more on PSOproud.com

I have personally followed our guest today for the better part of a year and credit all my own learnings about social media to her.

Meet Kaylyn Parker.  Social media strategist and manager.  And one heck of a knowledgeable individual!

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Sarah Burns in wedding dress with her dog

Here’s Why It’s A Blessing to Be A Professional Pet Sitter Today

Sarah Burns opens up and shares one powerful story about how it’s an absolute blessing to be a professional pet sitter today.  You’ll never look at your relationships with the pets in your care the same way.

Here is the story in Sarah’s words:

Anyone who knows me well knows that there is a large part of my heart dedicated to my Chocolate Lab, Casey. While we all bond with the dogs we share our lives with, sometimes we get the great honor to experience a relationship with an animal that goes much deeper.

I truly believe, and always will believe, that Casey was my guardian angel. For 15 years she was my faithful companion. Always only having loyalty to me.

She would swim out to me if I was in the lake and circle me until I grabbed her collar so she could pull me back to safety. She never allowed anyone to give me a hug and would try and get in between us. She would sit with me as I cried in some of the darkest days of my life and she always seemed to understand things more than the average dog.

She passed away in February of 2016 and I don’t know that my heart will every completely heal from such a loss.

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baby with dog photo

What is the Real Worth of a Professional Pet Sitter?

Sarah Burns shares another story with us “from the trenches.”  She’s been a professional pet sitter since 2010, and recently brought on her husband (gasp!) to join her in this pursuit.

Let’s hear from Sarah how that’s been going…

My husband Dan started working for me, er, I mean, with me 8 weeks ago.

Watching him experience every aspect of this job first-hand has been the most enjoyable part. Over the past 8 years Dan was only hearing my stories from the trenches, including everything from the long days to the difficult clients.

He is now fully starting to realize what pet sitting really is (and what pet sitting really isn’t) and what being a professional pet business owner truly encompasses.

One major benefit from working alongside my husband has been the ability to see my work through fresh eyes again.

As I know you can relate, having been doing this for so long, I find most things very routine and there is not much that surprises me anymore. But hearing Dan recount his experiences allow me to look at things a little bit differently.

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vacuum with dirt on floor

An Intimate Look Into A Professional Pet Sitter’s Holiday Schedule (How Did Yours Compare?)

Sarah Burns is a professional pet sitting business owner serving the Northville, MI area since 2010.  She shares with us some highlights and lessons learned from her recent holiday season.

Her biggest take-away? If you do not make consistent and deliberate time for yourself, you’ll never have what it takes to sustain a schedule of properly serving your clients.

Take it away, Sarah…

It has been a very busy holiday season (as usual). I am excited as I write this because today we will be finishing up the very last sits from the holiday and life can return to “normal!”

It’s been a long couple of weeks filled with plenty of sits and plenty of stressful moments.

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Complaints from Pet Sitting Clients: Finding the Good

As human beings, our gut reaction to a client complaint is usually defense. We initially feel a bruised ego and quickly look to justify it by placing the “real cause of the problem” on the side of the client.

It takes maturity and professionalism to listen and understand with an open mind what caused this complaint in the first place.

Was it a lack of (or mis-) communication? Was there a gap in expectation?

Regardless of the reason, a client complaint can often turn into a massive win for you both.

It’s all about perspective.

Our friend and colleague, Sarah Burns (Menly’s Pet Care in Michigan) shares a wonderful lesson learned in this regard:

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Success and Leadership Lessons from a Chef That Every Pet Professional Should Follow

The Recipe book cover

On this page you’ll find two video interviews that I held recently.  One with an Olympic gold medla winning Chef, and one with the co-author of an absolute favorite book of mine, The Go-Giver.

Chef Charles Carroll and John David Mann are the authors of a brand new book that I had the great fortune to read before its official launch.  The Recipe comes out on October 17 and is available right now on Amazon.

About the Book (with the videos to follow)

“Always be hungry, Owen,” the Chef said softly. “Don’t ever let life just wash over you. Savor it—every smell, every taste, every sound. If you want to be a great chef, it’s not enough just to love the food. You can’t cook great food if you don’t love life. That’s Rule One, Owen: Taste everything.”

Owen Devon used to have a pretty good life. At least until a few months ago, when disaster struck his family. Now his grades are plummeting and he can’t seem to stop getting into fights. To make matters worse, he’s just been tagged for vandalism—and to repay the damage, he’s being put to work for the crusty old owner of the local diner.

But there’s a lot about the old man that Owen doesn’t know—and in this diner’s cramped little kitchen, he’s going to learn a lot more than how to cook an excellent meal. . . .

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padlock and chain image

Get A Boost In Google Search Results Without Lifting A Finger

So how exactly can you get a boost in your Google rankings without lifting a finger?

Simply by making your website ‘secure’.  Yep, we are talking about SSL Certificates.

Not sure what that is?  Not to worry, we have you covered.  In this article you’ll completely understand WHAT an SSL certificate is, HOW it works, and WHY you absolutely need one going forward.

When it comes to SEO, you already know a variety of things influence your rankings in Google search results, right?

These things include your website content, meta tags, and user experience.

But did you know Google has announced the value of and need for a “secure” website through an SSL Certificate?

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How to Create The Perfect Blog Post in 8 Steps [Checklist]

write pretty blog postsIt’s amazing to see so many pet sitters beginning to understand the value of writing plenty of content on their websites.

If you do not like writing, it may become a necessary evil that you’ll have to come to terms with, as more and more of your potential clients will hop online to search for your service.

A pet owner will pull up Google, type in an appropriate search term, and what websites are going to be shown near the top of that first page?

The websites that Google has discovered to be relevant and informative to the search users query. This no longer happens by simply placing a set of keywords somewhere on the page or in the meta tags.

While you still need to consider those SEO actions, you will be left behind if you do not begin to understand the value of content creation (also known as blogging or writing articles).

Don’t believe me? Then take it from Google themselves:

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Jamie Migdal of FetchFind photo

The Pursuit of Happy Pets: How Jamie Migdal of FetchFind Keeps Sane in a Stressful Environment

A conversation between Josh Cary and Jamie Migdal

You know those people who you chat with and you feel that conversation just flows? And you both literally speak the same language?

Well, that’s how I feel about our guest today. I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of knowing Jamie Migdal for quite some time and got to cross paths in person finally in 2016 when we were both speaking at the NAPPS conference.

I’ve compared many notes with Jamie and we excitedly share a similar work ethic and vision for our businesses and the industry at large.

Jamie has bought, sold and acquired more pet businesses than I can count and has successfully fundraised through rounds of funding attracting investors. Something you don’t too often hear about in our industry.

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7 Examples of Pet Sitter Websites That Perfectly Connect With Visitors

connect with your website visitorsIs your pet sitting website your biggest and best marketing tool?

Is it paying off or is it sucking the life out of your business?

Just like with any other marketing tool, you need to see a good return on your investment in order for it to be working.

Put a price tag on the time alone you’ve devoted to your site and decide if it’s working with you or against you.

A pet sitting website that works is one that ranks well in the search engines and, perhaps more importantly, converts your visitors into happy clients.

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