Episode 391: 11 Low Cost Ways To Get Dog Walking Customers

Are your marketing strategies stuck in limbo, not quite bringing the returns you hoped for? What if the answer just needs a different approach – one that could propel your business to the top of the dog walking pack? Welcome to this week's episode of the Bella in Your Business podcast, where we're flipping the script on conventional marketing tactics and diving deep into the art of affordable and successful business promotion. Strap in as we unveil eleven resourceful and cost-effective marketing strategies designed to magnify your reach without evaporating your funds. Get inside scoop on the secrets behind leveraging your personal connections, crafting standout business cards with QR codes, and why sidewalk chalk might just be your unexpected hero in grassroots marketing. Are you ready to revamp your strategy and see tangible results? Listen now and and equip yourself with the knowledge to transform your business's visibility and attractiveness. This is your golden opportunity to rewrite your marketing playbook and catapult your business into the limelight. Topics & Key Points: Julia McCoy from the "queen of AI" will join us in Jump Mastermind in June. Marketing strategies for dog walking businesses: Leverage personal network Create eye-catching business cards and QR codes Offer introductory discounts Partner with local pet businesses Get endorsements from veterinarians Partner at local events Use sidewalk chalk marketing Create personalized bark cards Example of marketing at apartment complexes through a "kissing booth" event. Strategies are about building relationships Utilize social media marketing Attend local networking meetings Target high density living areas Building relationships is key to success Timestamps: [6:24] Marketing Strategies [16:19] Marketing at Apartment Complexes [16:24] Relationship Building Notable Quotes: "AI is here… Like every month is literally like a year with how fast it's moving." "So your friends, your family, your acquaintances are some of the best potential clients, or they know someone who could be. Don't be shy about letting your personal network know about your dog walking business." "Leveraging your personal network, offering introductory discounts, partnering with local pet businesses… these can be gold mines because a relationship will always last a lot longer than a business card." "Guerrilla marketing basically means cheap, effective marketing. And all of the things I'm about to tell you are things that you can do very easily right now." Resources: Mastermind JazzHR Blog: Get Dog Walking Customers Cheap: 11 Effective Strategies   Did you love this episode? Make sure you never miss an episode! Head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify to subscribe to Bella In Your Business. Transcript: Welcome to another episode of Bella in your business. My name is Bella vasta. And wow, that was really great series all about customer service and how we can really turn it around by changing the way that we react to it, how we respond to it, and then how we systematize it to actually turn it around into a positive experience. So I really hope that you enjoyed all of that. There's so much going on at jump headquarters so to speak. First of all, my world has been rocked and upside down now because Olivia is now out of school. So any of you other mamas or Papas out there who are working your business, and the kids are getting out of school or soon to be Oh boy, here we go. So all of my meetings are monday, tuesday allow the mama guilt to set in. We just got her Barbie Dreamhouse off off, offer that off of offer up. And she's really enjoying playing with that. And we are also working on learning Spanish this summer, I kind of told her that if she wanted to earn her screen time, she had to teach me Spanish. So that'll be pretty fun. That's kind of what we're doing. So I would love to hear how you guys are keeping it together. Those of you who may have kids at home and also trying to run your businesses. Summer is here. At least in Arizona, we get out a little bit earlier than the west coast because of the temperatures. And so yeah, we are having a lot of fun. Here. I am I mentioned this the past couple episodes, I'm starting to blog again, and I'm starting to do some really cool stuff. With the help of AI but not in the way that you would know I'm going to tell you all my secrets. And I've one of the queen of AI is come in to the mastermind in the month of June, I am really excited to have Julia McCoy. Come on in, she used to actually be very much against artificial intelligence. And she ran a very profitable writing company, she had tons of writers. And she was convinced that it is, you know, it's, it's gonna sound so cliche if I tell you, so I'm just going to tell you, you need to join the mastermind, because the stuff that's going to be popping off next month, you're not going to see anywhere in the industry. And I understand AI is scary. Some people think it's a fad, some people are very much against it. But you know, it's it's technology, and it's coming, it's here, it's not even coming, it's here. And like every month is literally like a year with how fast it's moving. Last year, we talked about AI in the mastermind, and I had the founder of a company come in. And that is already that was already outdated in three months. So to know it to leverage it is going to only enhance your business, it's kind of like refusing to learn Google or Facebook or Instagram, and tries to operate your business, like you're gonna have to start learning about it. So might as well start doing it. Because, again, it's the only place in the industry, you're gonna be able to learn about it. Just go to jump consulting dotnet forward slash mastermind. And yes, I am being cocky and conceited about that, because I just don't know why anybody else doesn't talk about it. So there you have it. Um, anyways, let's get on with today. Today, we're getting too quick and dirty, we are going to talk all about getting dog walking customers for cheap 12 effective strategies, I also have a free download for you. It's like a 10 page download. And it's all one of my gorilla systems. Gorilla basically means cheap, effective marketing. And all of the things I'm about to tell you are things that you can do very easily right now. And it's not going to break the bank. In fact, you might not even have to go to the bank. So I know that you have a passion for for building your business. But you probably also sit there and think about like, How do I turn that into a thriving dog walking business without breaking the bank. And before I give you all of these things, I also want you to keep in the back of your head that every time we're looking for more customers or clients, it also can be also to attract employees and partners. So think about how you can adapt it to that. Now when I say partners, I mean like referral partners. When I see employees, well that's kind of self explanatory, right? So you can hustle. I don't really believe that you have to pay a lot of money in Google ads in with petsitting, I also can cook for very firmly say that many people are blogging incorrectly. They're wasting their time, they're wasting their money, and they're doing it wrong. And they're not helping their website. They're actually like diluting their website. So I'm actually not even gonna be talking about blogging today. Although if you do do it right, it is an amazing strategy. But the very first one I want to talk about is leveraging your personal network. So your friends are your friends. Your family, your acquaintances are some of the best potential clients, or they know someone who could be. So don't be shy about letting your personal network know about your dog walking business. This means those of you who are like, I don't want to put it on my personal Facebook page or your personal Instagram page, why not? Like, it's okay to share it from time to time. And I mentioned your pet sitting and dog walking service at different gatherings that you might have. And your loved ones want to support you, you know, especially when they're like, Oh, how's that business going? Like, it's amazing. Like, Hey, would you mind sharing something like from time to time, you know, if they live in your service area, and the way that you phrase it can make all the difference? And so it's a difference between like, oh, yeah, I have a pet sitting and dog walking company, and we're looking for clients. Versus Do you know, anyone who gets asked to watch their friends or neighbors pets when they travel? I'd love it if you would think of us the next time. Right? Okay, so another way you could do it is create eye catching business cards and a QR code. Okay, because it is 2024. I think it's actually funny QR codes really tried to make it on the market. And like 2018 2019, and no one was having them, no one was doing them like the behavior modification did not happen until 2020, when we all had to access restaurant menus with a QR code. And now my parents understand QR codes like my almost 70 year old parents, they would probably cringe if they knew how much I talked about them on this podcast. Anyways, I'm so on your business cards. If you leave them at different places around town, I always was a fan of vertical cards, and then you get vertical holders for them. Because everybody has horizontal, so be different. And also on those cards. Part of being memorable is talk about what makes you unique. Don't just list out your services aimlessly like what makes you unique. I know a lot of our pet care team training people, they tout and they brag that they are double certified the only double certified pet sitting company in Scottsdale, or something like that, right. When I had my company,