Marketing

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:

Read more

Stop Doing These 3 Things on Your Pet Website

form a connection

Do you find it frustrating and confusing to keep up with all the things you should be doing to rank high on Google’s first page?

How often do you wonder what those other pet sitting websites are doing that you are not doing?

If you’re like most other business owners, you want to do all you can to land new clients.

But did you know that landing in Google is just one small part of the puzzle?

While it’s a very important piece since not much activity will take place without that, it’s equally as important to get your visitors to take action once they are on your site.

If you rank well in the search engines but nobody makes contact once they are on your site, it’s still a loss.

Here are some things you should stop doing on your pet sitting website that will increase the chances a visitor likes what she sees and gets in touch with you.

Read more

SEO Language For The Pet Industry – Word Choice Matters

word choice matters for SEO

Do you have a friend or relative who takes things literally?  They don’t understand the nuances of sarcasm and you have to always tell them that “I didn’t mean it that way”?

Or maybe you are a parent of a toddler (from personal experience I know they are extremely literal)!

That’s how you want to look at the Google Bots.  They are part of a computer system – of course they are literal!

Sure, if you ask Siri what she is wearing she’ll have a fun quip answer – but not because she understands the question, it’s because she was programmed that way.

When it comes to creating content, WORD CHOICE MATTERS.

As pet industry business owners, we know the “inside lingo”, we understand the subtleties, we get that a pet sitter can also cover dog walks and vice versa.  But do you think someone who is looking for someone to help them with their new puppy knows that?

Don’t count on it.

Read more

The Missing Piece To A Successful Pet Business (Become Part of Something Bigger Than Yourself)

PSO Vegas Group Conference Shot

Whether you believe in God, a Higher Power, or something else, our time here on Earth is miraculous. Many believe that each of us is “hardwired” for glory.

To appreciate that fully, it’s important to understand the full definition of GLORY in this regard, and how it can be directly applied to your life and the success of your pet care business.

The dictionary defines glory as “high renown or honor won by notable achievements.”

Aren’t you (consciously or subconsciously) working your hardest to achieve ‘high renown’?

Read more

How This One Book Can Change The Course Of Your Pet Business

Marcus Sheridan signing copies of Youtility
Marcus Sheridan signs copies of Youtility for attendees at the 2013 PetSittingOlogy Conference!

About this time last year, a book came across my radar that has literally changed the way I run my business.

It had such a powerful and profound impact on me that I purchased 40 copies of the book to give away to our 2013 conference attendees.

The book is called Youtility, and it continues to be the guiding way I choose to operate.

Why?

First, look at the book’s tagline: “Why smart marketing is about help not hype”

Did you catch that? Help. Not hype.

Sadly, much of what we do as business owners tends to fall into the hype category more often than not.

Want an example of HYPE?

Read more

How To Determine Your Most Popular Blog Post, Why It’s Important, and What to Do With This Insight

determine your most popular blog posts via Google Analytics

In life, when we do something that works, we tend to do more of that.

Your business actions should be no different. It’s vital to understand what actions you take in your business that work, and determine why they work.

Armed with that knowledge and insight, you will be ready to replicate it and do more of what works.

This article will focus on determining your most read blog articles so you can get more traffic to more of your posts.

Read more

How To Effectively And Efficiently Network Your Pet Sitting Business – And Have Fun Doing It!

Network for your pet business

A Note from Joshua Cary: Here is another solid article written by our friend, Laura Capra (of Keep Me Company Pet Sitting). It’s on the topic of networking, and it’s a continued conversation from our recent video training session with Derek Coburn.

Make sure to also watch that session on Youtube here.

With that, take some time to really understand and implement this new way of approaching your networking efforts. We look forward to keeping the dialogue going in the comments.

You know that psychology word game where a person says a particular word and you have to say whatever first comes to your mind after you hear it?  What word do you think of when you hear “networking”?

  • Fear
  • Intimidating
  • Pointless
  • Boring
  • Strangers
  • Group

That’s what a lot of people say.  Derek Coburn even wrote a book entitled “Networking Is Not Working” because in the old school sense, it’s not.

For most people it is a waste of time, it’s cold calling, you might as well put 50+ of your business cards in the trash because you are going to get the same amount of business if you were to pass 50 cards out at a networking event.

Read more

How To Keep Your Website Visitors Interested and Coming Back For More

Engage your audience

You know those certain people in your life that you can talk to forever?

Anytime you find yourself in dialogue with that person, you never run out of things to talk about, there are no awkward moments, and you feel connected, excited and rejuvenated.

That is the exact feeling you want each of your website visitors to experience.

But how do you make that happen when your job is to simply publish content on your site and hope for the best?

One way is to offer your users a variety of visual elements throughout your site pages for maximum connection.

Allow me to explain further.

Read more

How To Make Great Looking Videos for Your Pet Business In No Time Flat

make yourself look great on video for pet sitters

It’s absolutely incredible how powerful the phones we carry around with us truly are.

The humorous part is that I bet using your phone as an actual phone is one of the least things you do with it!

Your phone is your lifeline, right?

It gives you one-click access to your to-do list, music, notebook, contacts, pictures, and immediate access to your social networks, and more.

As a pet business owner, you can practically manage your entire business from your phone.

Today’s post is going to show you how easy and valuable it is to shoot video from your phone, and make it work for your business.

Read more

How Putting Up $38,000 For This Year’s Conference Scares the ‘Bejesus’ Out Of Me

scary ghost cookiesBack in 2012, I had the opportunity to head to Vegas for a much needed break.

While I’m never one to “turn off” completely, I knew that I’d love to be able to make some good ‘business’ use of my time away.

One idea lead to another, and within just 2 months, I put together what became the 1st Annual PetSittingLIVE conference.

It was over 2 full days, featured 8 speakers (including our good friend, Marcus Sheridan) and had 12 pet sitters over-joyed they showed up.

It was a success on every level. And like a drug, I was ready for more!

Since there were no formal sponsors at that event, the majority of the finances came out of my pocket.

Read more