Episode 416: 20 Ways to Get More Applicants for Your Dog Walking Jobs

  Are your dog walking applicants just not coming through like you hoped? Do you feel like you’ve done everything—posted ads, marketed your business, but still can’t get the right people to apply? If that’s you, then this episode is a must-listen! I get it—hiring can feel like a never-ending struggle. Maybe you're overwhelmed, trying to juggle everything while desperately searching for the right team to support your pet care business. You're not alone in this! In this week's episode, I'm sharing 20 practical tips and strategies that you can implement right now to turn things around. You’re not a sitting duck, and I’m not going to let you be one. I’m going to walk you through proven ways to increase your chances of attracting the right dog walking applicants. Whether you need to tweak your job ads, rethink where you’re posting them, or even tell a better story to draw people in, there’s something in here for you. I’m all about action and growth. And guess what? You didn’t start your business to be buried under the weight of unfilled positions or constantly stressing about staff shortages. Today, I’m giving you the tools to overcome these challenges and build a team that can take your business to the next level. So, grab a pen, take notes, and get ready to discover actionable strategies to revamp your hiring process. Let's stop letting those dog walking applicants slip through the cracks! Timestamps: [2:00] Addressing the stress and business overload that can come with understaffing [2:38] Strategies for creating attention-grabbing, story-driven hiring ads [7:37] Emphasizing the emotional connection and being specific about the job role [11:00] Importance of SEO, regular posting, and testing different ad versions [16:26] Targeting the right audience, leveraging social media, and other tips The episode covers a total of 20 different strategies and tips for improving hiring ads and the hiring process. Notable Quotes: "If you are the same place you have been this month from last month or last year, then I really want to encourage you to move." "I don't want you to be a sitting duck. You've worked too hard to be in that position." "When you are hiring, when you have a job post out there, it is no different than marketing for a client. You are now marketing for an employee, and you need to apply all of the same things that you do when you market for clients to marketing for employees." "If you're using the same hiring ad that you use six months ago, it's time to change it. If you're not getting applicants, it's time to change it." "People are seeing it. They're just choosing not to choose you. So do we know why? Not always? So let's go back to the other points I just told you, and let's test and tweak." Resources: Jump Consulting Website Jump Mastermind Jazz HR Erika - Barketing 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: Have you ever felt like hiring just does not work? Have you felt like, why aren't I getting more applications? I posted an ad and everyone should stop what they're doing and apply. Just kidding. Sort of. Maybe. Well, today I'm going to give you, I think I'm going to give you about 20 different reasons or ways that you can do right now if your hiring ads are not performing. Because guess what, last I checked, you are not a sitting duck. At least if you're a jumper, you're not. There's always gotta be things that we could be doing to tweak it, to learn. Maybe they don't work and maybe it's quote unquote failure. But what we learn is that it doesn't work and that it's not that it doesn't work, it just doesn't work this way. You guys have heard me say this so many times, and I am so happy that you are here back joining me for another episode of Bella in your business. Yes, of course, you know this by now. I'm Bella, and I am here to motivate you into action, inspire you into change. Because if you are the same place you have been this month from last month or last year, then I really want to encourage you to move. A lot of times we get stuck in a rut and my job is here to inspire you into action. And so today, you know, I hear all the time hiring doesn't work. We are now the middle end actually of November and, you know, a lot of people are stressing out. Oh, my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to be able to spend the holidays with my family. I'm going to basically put the turkey on the table, leave it there for my kids and be like, bye, I got to go take care of these pets because I'm understaffed. Or Christmas or whatever it might be like, or Hanukkah or whatever you're celebrating. And you did not, I want to just remind you and connect with you. And you did not start this business to have a business that is running you over, that is taking your life, that is, is holding you down underneath a big, big rock to the point that you can't breathe, you're up at night, you're scrolling Internet because you just, you can't shut your brain off and you're just worried and, and, or maybe you're right. You're staffed right now, but if one person calls out sick or God forbid, you know, just quits on you, you're screwed. And you Know that? And you feel like a duck in water, right? You're paddling really fast underneath the water and you're all calm, cool and collective on the top. But you hope no one finds out your secret. Well, today I'm here to give you a whole bunch of ideas of things that you can do, things that I truly know work. I can't tell you exactly which one will work at this exact moment for you, but I sure can give you a whole bunch of coins to go play that slot and see which one's going to take. Because I don't want you to be a sitting duck. You've worked too hard to be in that position. So without further ado, let's get going. I encourage you open your mind today. If you hear something that you might have done, do not discredit the rest of it, because I promise you there's going to be some things in here you're either going to hear for the first time, even though you've heard it before, but it's going to click, or you're going to hear things that are just completely outlandish. And your brain, your ego is going to be like, bella doesn't know what she's talking about. Let me remind you, I do this because I love to do this. I don't do this because I have to do this. And I say that with love. I do this because I want to see you succeed. Okay? All right, so the first one, an attention grabbing headline. Now, yes, if you go through Jazz hr, they have to be pretty boring. But that does not mean that when you post it other places. Oh yes, you should be posting at other places that you can't have an attention to grabbing headline. The other really interesting thing that I've heard actually that I've experienced is I've heard things like indeed does not allow you to do certain things other than say, dog walker. But I could put dog walker in Windsor part time Dog walker in Windsor. I've been told that would be kicked out, but sometimes it's not. So one of the tips that we're going to hear about today is to be posting frequently. Once you, you know, if you have one post and it's not, and it's not getting any traction, then you might want to try changing the name. But once you have a couple that are actually under traction now, you have the ability to throw one out there and maybe you don't get bites or maybe it doesn't get syndicated because it goes against the guidelines. But you know what, Sometimes things do squeak by the guidelines. So the guidelines are definitely there. So use them, but don't use them. I'm saying both things. Don't be black and white with it. Okay? And this is where trial and error comes in so much. The other thing I want you to do is highlight the benefits and the perks. Emphasize what's in it for them. Mention the perks, like flexible hours according to our clients, not according to the staff. Paid training, mileage reimbursement, the joy of working with pets, the fact that you get to get certified if you're one of our double certified pet care team training companies. Side note, if you're just joining us, I am the co founder of Pet Care Team Training. Go to petcare team training.com and you can see how you can get your staff double certified in pet care and pet first aid cpr. Both certifications, each under two hours. There's nothing else like that on the market. You also get a whole bunch of extra free stuff too. So go, go check it out if you haven't yet. A lot of people use it as part of their onboarding, so as part of their onboarding so that when they get to training, they already have all this knowledge. They've seen it, they've been tested on it and, and, and they've learned about it. All right, the other thing that I really want you to do is consider when you take that hiring ad and you put it in other places like next door or Facebook groups or whatever, tell a story. Don't just post. Hey, we're hiring. No Any dog lovers? Here's our ad. That's not going to work. It's not going to work. What I want you to do is I want you to consider changing it into something like this. If you've been listening to Bella in your business, you know that I've been working with Ann. And one of the things we did for her that has really helped is we changed her hiring ad into a story. So on Facebook and next door, this is what it says. I know she won't mind if I tell you Pepe changed my life. That's the first sentence, guys. That's it. And then there's a space. It's a new paragraph. People are going to be like, what? They're going to press that see more button which tells the logarithm people are interested and that's an interaction. That's engagement. All right? And then it goes on. She wasn't just my new friend Lynn. She was my heart. Her big brown eyes,