A Look Back: The First 5 Years of PetSittingOlogy – 2009 through 2014

This May (in 2014) marks the 5 year anniversary of PetSittingOlogy’s first published blog post, which led to more professional goodies for the working pet sitter.

I have more zest, excitement and desire to nurture this brand than ever before. And I credit that to one specific attribute:

Passion.

The word passion is defined as an intense desire or enthusiasm for something.

I don’t need to tell you that nearly everything we do in life must have a bit of passion behind it, or else it becomes what we call a chore. And the more passion you have for what you do day in and day out in this industry, the more success and longevity you will find.

[Passion + Persistence = The Pet Professional’s Secret Sauce for Success!] (Do you have both?)

As with any reflection of a 5 year chunk of time, a lot has happened. A lot of good, and a lot not so good. It had it’s ups. It had it’s downs. But the internal desire to serve and remain available continues to shine.

My work has also been able to resonate because of a tremendously motivated, kind, and generous industry (that’s you!).

I’m what you might call a social guy. I like talking. I like meeting new people. I like asking questions. And I like learning new things. I’m curious.

But more than anything, I enjoy listening.

The Big Secret: Listen More Than You Talk.

This ‘secret’ is true in all business, in all relationships and in all aspects of life.

The more you listen, the more you will grow and achieve the success you are looking for.

Listen to your clients. Listen to your potential clients. Listen to those around you (whether online or not).

PSO started as a blog, offering advice and business insight to the professional pet sitter, with a strong focus on the business end of things.

Slowly, I developed and created the training program to teach others how to start a pet sitting business. Then, I began developing more solutions to the problems I was hearing pet professionals were having.

A Timeline of Important Events

I never for a second take for granted the support and reputation I have been fortunate enough to develop among our peers.

As we look back on the past 5 years of PetSittingOlogy, here are the big milestones that have shaped this brand into what it is today….

March 16, 2009 – The domain name petsittingology.com was registered online.

May 29, 2009 – The very first blog article was published on the website. It is titled “10 Ways To Tell If Your Pet Sitting Clients Like You” – Do you agree that the 10 ways are still relevant today? I’d love your input, too.

August 6, 2009 – With the help and guidance from my friends over at Copyblogger (under their Teaching Sells program) I created and launched the ‘How To Start A Pet Sitting Business‘ course and signed up the first pet sitter. (Jennifer Berger and Damiane de Wit-Guzman were the very first two pet sitters to come on board. Thanks, Ladies!)

September 8, 2009 – Created my first Youtube video to promote the ‘Start a Pet Sitting Business’ course. (It’s received over 3600+ views to date) Here’s the video, 2-minutes in length:

July 22, 2010 – The Independent Contractor (IC) Tool box was launched and the very first Toolbox was purchased.

November 30, 2011 – Our WordPress-powered SEO Websites for Pet Sitters was introduced. Julie Fredrick was among the very first set of sitters that helped us test and use our system. (Julie continues to report incredible success with her website with us.)

October 22, 2012 The very first PetSittingOlogy Conference and Live Event was held in Las Vegas at the Tropicana. I was crazy enough to put this first one together with less than 2 months prep time! Why? I saw an opportunity and ran with it. 12 pet sitters joined us in person and I still consider the event a huge win. Read why: https://petsittingology.com/making-quick-decisions/

January 8, 2013 – PetSittingOlogy Reviews page added. It has never once struck me to add a ‘reviews’ page on this site, like we have on our pet sitting websites. That was, until, an innocent search on Google changed my perception.

Are you familiar with Google Autocomplete? If you do not know it by name, you surely see it when you do your own searches.

Autocomplete is Google’s way of attempting to guess the search phrase you are going for as you are typing it.

One day, I was typing in the word ‘PetSittingOlogy’ into Google’s search bar, and look what autocomplete phrase presented itself:

We don’t really know the inside workings of their autocomplete algorithm but it is safe to say that, in part, it’s taken from past searches on a similar topic.

Little did I know people were looking for reviews of PetSittingOlogy. Since there was no organized page of reviews that people could read, I jumped on the opportunity and created one ‘in house’.

Many happy clients and fans have added their review to the site. And I appreciate that more than anything.

March 15, 2013 – Virtual Office Manager service begins. Very first client (still active to this day) – Tori Lattig and Megan Ventura of Endless Pawsibilities.

TODAY – I continue to listen to and speak with many pet care professionals on the phone and through email/social media. You could say that’s my lifeline. In order to grow even further, it’s imperative that I understand exactly what this industry needs, wants, and desires. I love having you as a partner along the way.

Want to Hear More?

If you want to take a peek further ‘under the hood’ and learn more about my history and what led me to this industry in the first place, press play on this case study interview from the kind people at Copyblogger as part of their Teaching Sells program.

Click Here to Download the MP3 Directly…

At the end of the day, PetSittingOlogy is not about me. It’s all about listening to you and helping to solve your problems with a viable, tangible, and affordable solution (whatever that may be).

That philosophy is what I attribute the ongoing success to.

Along the way, I’ve made many friendships and have gotten to know many if you on a personal level.

We have only scratched the surface here!

I’m excited and looking forward to the next 5 years (and beyond). And my door is always open. Feel free to write, call, or otherwise check in and say hello!

I appreciate you more than you can imagine. It’s not lost that my success is completely and only dependent on your success.

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of it.

I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below!