Marketing Your Dog Biz

The number one rule of marketing is to do it. You can’t expect word of mouth if you don’t build it. But you needn’t take out a loan or pawn your grandmother’s jewelry to market your business. In fact, you may not need much cash at all. It’s not that money can’t be a great help to a marketing plan. But if you don’t possess great start-up capital a little creativity can stand in nicely.

Prepare
First, sit down with a pen and paper and construct two lists. The first will be a list of your strongest skills. What do you do well and enjoy? Are you a good public speaker? A talented small group or one-on-one teacher? How’s your writing? What about your planning skills?

For your second list, note all the potential networking resources in your area. Consider your environment. What other dog-related businesses are around? Vets, groomers, supply stores and boutiques, shelters and rescue groups? Oh—and don’t forget other trainers, walkers, and sitters, too! They can be a terrific networking resource. What about local activities? Are there dog parks or festivals, adult education or community classes? And what are people reading—any local dailies or weeklies or monthlies? In short, what’s going on in your neighborhood?

Get Creative
As you scan your two lists, you’re looking for good potential match ups between your skill sets on the one side and the resources or potential networking opportunities on the other. If you enjoy writing, perhaps the local neighborhood monthly would like to run a regular “Ask the Trainer” column? Terrific exposure, at no cost! And so much more effective than running an ad, where you’re attempting to sell yourself. A column, on the other hand, establishes your expertise and credibility. You become the sought-after local expert. Or, if you specialize in helping people with puppies and new dogs, wouldn’t it be great if the local shelter recommended you to all of their adopters?

Give, Don’t Ask
Writing a local column and getting shelter referrals are great marketing goals—but how do you make these things happen?

The trick is to give instead of asking. The typical dog training business marketing plan includes drawing up business cards to post around other dog-oriented establishments. Often we ask the owners if we can put our cards on their bulletin boards or in a holder on their counters. If brave enough we might even introduce ourselves, talk a little about what we do, and ask for their referrals.

But why should they refer people to you? They don’t know you or your abilities, they’re busy, and you’ve given them no reason to want to help you. So rather than asking for help, consider what you might have to offer.

If you’d like to write a regular column in the neighborhood paper, first try offering one article, already written, on a dog topic of broad interest. If you would like the shelter to refer their new adopters to you, put together a free adopter’s package of articles or tip handouts the shelter can give to its adopters. (Make sure your name and business information are on all the handouts, and include any of your other marketing material as well!) And maybe they would appreciate some training for their staff—a small series of talks or hands-on seminars. These offerings allow the shelter to get to know you, to come to see you as an expert, and to build loyalty to you. Sure, you can leave your cards on the front counter and hope people pick them up and call, but you’ll no doubt receive many more phone calls if the shelter staff is actively and enthusiastically sending adopters your way.

Be Active, Not Passive
One reason these kinds of approaches are much more powerful marketing tools than simply placing materials around town are that they are examples of active marketing—opportunities for clients to interact with your business rather than just seeing it advertised. Instead of picking up a business card, a shelter staff person hands your materials to potential clients while telling them, “You have to call this trainer. She is amazing and can help you fix this problem.” If you post a flier on a bulletin board, there is no potential for active interaction between your business and your hoped-for clients. If instead you disseminate a quarterly newsletter to the same places, the people who pick it up have a more interactive experience with your business. Rather than a flier that lists “problem behavior solving” as one of your services, an article in each newsletter can highlight an issue and tell the story of one or more dogs and clients whose lives were changed by training. In that narrative they get to “see” an example of the benefits of training and imagine themselves getting similar help, rather than just reading a bullet point.

Get Started Today
Most marketing takes time to be effective—plan to give your efforts a good six months to determine their usefulness—so make your lists right now and see how many great ideas you can create. Start marketing your business today to generate the clients who will help you spread the word tomorrow.

CASE STUDIES

Hilary had been trying for some time to network with her local shelter. The shelter had good standing in the community and was viewed as a source of training and veterinary knowledge, but they did not provide private training services. She knew they were short staffed and thought both she and they could benefit from a referral service. But although the front desk staff had her cards on the counter, it seemed they were rarely given out, and she hardly ever received referrals. Then she offered to help answer the shelter behavior hotline. Together with the behavior manager, she set up a triage system for incoming calls to take pressure off the shelter staff. They determined which calls the staff could easily handle and forwarded the more difficult calls to Hilary. Hilary was careful to limit the time of each call, providing some immediately applicable management advice, then scheduling a consult with anyone interested. The hotline is now Hilary’s number one source of clients.

Debbie couldn’t help notice as she walked her pack of client dogs every day how messy the dog park had gotten—trash, untended piles of feces—it was unsightly and, she felt, gave dogs, dog owners, and dog professionals a bad name. Seeing an opportunity to do something for her community and her dog walking business, she worked with the parks department to co-sponsor, organize, and promote a Dog Park Clean Up Day. The park got cleaned up, her business got lots of free press, including an article in the local paper and a short spot on the local evening news, and Debbie got several new clients.

Suzanne believed that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure, especially when it comes to puppies and newly adopted dogs. She wanted to focus her business on getting people and dogs off on the right paw, but how to get the word out? The local shelter did a brisk adoption business, and Suzanne decided to start there. She offered to teach a free adopter’s class at the shelter, at no cost to them. She gave the two-hour talk one evening each week, and the shelter scheduled that weeks’ adopters into the lecture. Suzanne’s talk covered the basics of setting up a home for a new dog, house training, and prevention of common behavior problems, and she always made sure to talk about her private training services as well. Her business grew steadily as she signed up occasional clients at the talks, and found that over time people who had attended her class called as they developed training problems, and often referred her to friends and family as well.

Veterinarians have long been a dog pro’s most coveted referral source. In the early days, bringing by a basket of cookies from time to time and asking to keep some cards or brochures on the counter could assure a steady stream of new client calls. But those days are long gone.

Today’s dog training business requires a much more substantial and creative marketing plan. For one thing, as our industry has grown, dog owners have been flooded with doggie brochures, fliers, and ads. As a result, it’s become hard to get attention with such traditional means.

Vets’ responsiveness has changed, too. Many are more discerning than they used to be, wanting to know about the skills, education, and professionalism of the dog pros they refer to. Others are unwilling to play favorites, allowing anyone to leave materials in an increasing mountain of business cards and competing messages. And some just don’t want to be bothered by yet another dog pro bearing business cards and asking to take up their counter space.

There’s another challenge, too—Most of the dog pros we know would rather walk through a patch of stinging nettles than walk into a vet clinic to sing their own praises and ask for a favor. We don’t blame you; the sting of a nettle seems softer than the sting of rejection.

How, then, do you create lasting, effective referral relationships with veterinary clinics? (And how do you even get your foot in the door?)

Be Useful
The thought of asking a stranger to promote you can deter all but the most gregarious, and granted, that’s an awkward starting point. The trick is the turn the equation on its head: Instead of asking for help, give it. For example, a professional newsletter full of training tips (if you’re a trainer) and dog-related articles will be welcomed into most clinic waiting rooms. It’s a rich resource and reading material for clients asked to wait. No doubt the vet and office manager will be much happier with this than yet another brochure.

Trainers, you can also offer a behavioral wellness folder (these can be used at shelters and other places of adoption as well). This is a branded folder full of useful information for getting off on the right paw with a new puppy or dog. There might be advice for successfully surviving the first couple of weeks and setting routines for the future, some simple training tips, and of course information about your services. (Don’t forget house training and socialization tips for puppies!) Providing a sharp-looking folder with real information to local vet offices gives them a value-added product to offer each new client, as well as existing clients struggling with training or behavior issues.

Both of these marketing projects have a powerful edge over the old standbys. Because the newsletter changes seasonally, owners have a reason to pick it up each time they visit the office. It’s not just the same old brochure they’ve already read. And the folders are a serious endorsement—not just a card on the counter, these have been handed to the owner as part of their starter package, or in response to a behavior complaint. And because both the newsletter and folder have so much good information, neither are likely to be tossed out or misplaced, as happens with most cards and brochures. When a frustrated dog guardian decides six months down the road that she needs assistance, she’ll go to go looking for that packet or newsletter, not online or anywhere else.

The rich content and aesthetic delivery of these projects showcase your expertise and professionalism to veterinarians. The more they trust and respect you, the more often you will be actively referred to. No business card can convey such insight. In other words, offering such rich materials shows veterinarians who you are and what you’re made of so you don’t have to sing your own praises.

Stay Useful
Once you’ve gotten a toe in the door, don’t let the vets and their staff forget about you. Stop by on a regular basis to drop off additional newsletters and/or folders, or whatever other creative ideas you’ve pursued. Try to time your visits with the least busy time of day for each office, to increase the chance of saying hello.

Trainers, you can build on your budding relationship by offering to give short training presentations during staff meetings on topics of interest and usefulness to vet techs and office personnel, like reading canine body language or understanding aggression. This allows everyone to become more closely acquainted with you and to experience your expertise in action. Building this personal connection and experience makes staff more likely to remember to hand out your folders and actively refer people your way.

Reinforce Referrals
As mom always said, be sure to say ‘thank you.’ Skinner taught us that the more you thank people, the more there will be to be thankful for. And from Pavlov we know that the more we give, the happier people will be to see us.

But how to thank effectively? The oldest trick in the book is to bring along some goodies when you stop in to refresh your materials. This may be an old trick, but classical conditioning never goes out of style. As staff come to realize you always have goodies on hand, their conditioned emotional response to you will grow. IE, they’ll always be super glad to see you—which makes this marketing task easier and easier.

In our digital age, a hand-written thank you goes a long way. In the beginning, send cards thanking the office for each referral. Keep branded, stamped postcards on hand so you can practice good timing. As the referrals grow in number, send a monthly card to say how much you appreciate their ongoing support. Occasionally (2-4 times per year) spice things up by sending a food basket or pizza luncheon or something fun and dog-related. Another idea is small denomination gift cards to a café within walking distance of the clinic—one for each staff member. Changing what you send from time to time will keep the gesture from seeming routine or insincere.

Deepen the Relationship
As you receive more referrals from a particular office and the respect and trust grows, expand your relationship. One simple way to do this is to offer an additional marketing project. If you began with folders, add a newsletter. If you started with a newsletter, what other complimentary project might you pursue? With each product you put yourself in front of potential clients more frequently and give them additional opportunities to see how your services might benefit them. (And any new marketing project can be used in other venues, too.)

If you are ready to move to a new level, you might suggest a joint project. For example, if they have the space perhaps a vet’s office would be open to hosting a talk or even a series of community lectures. You gain additional marketing exposure and they get new potential clients coming in to their space. This is a great project for trainers, but other dog pros with speaking skills can take advantage, too. Dog walkers or daycare operators might offer a clever multi-media presentation on what they’ve learned hanging out with dogs all day, for example.

Trainers, if you want to go bigger, we’ve helped a number of dogbiz clients build in-office consultation services with local vet practices, where the trainer or behaviorist holds specific office hours in the clinic. This allows vets to go a step beyond referrals by actually scheduling an appointment with the trainer to take place right in their office. An owner might come in complaining about some disturbing growling, for example. After ruling out medical causes, the vet can recommend training, suggesting the owner make an appointment on the way out to see the resident trainer. You can’t get a better endorsement than that and, of course, the client is more likely to make the appointment in that moment than if they leave the office with a brochure or business card to think it over.

Getting Started
The question I am most often asked in regard to setting up referral relationships with vets is “How do I get started, who do I talk to?” First, choose and produce your marketing literature so you have something in hand. Go the extra mile to make sure everything is polished and professional. Hire a designer and writer. These costs will pay off.

Next, find out who in the office to talk to. Though it may be the veterinarian him or herself, or a lead vet tech, in most cases, it’s the office (or sometimes practice) manager who makes decisions about what to display in the waiting room and who gets to talk to the doctor. Call or email the office to set up an appointment with the office manager so you know you’ll be talking to him or her when they have time to focus. You might grease the wheels by sending samples of your material ahead of your meeting. Remember—you aren’t asking for anything; you have something of value to offer. You needn’t even use the word “referral”—those will come naturally from whatever literature you leave behind.

Sometimes you can go right to the vet. For example, if you have reason to take one of your animals in, bring samples of your materials along. Offer to leave them for her and ask to set up an appointment to talk about them. Or just make (and pay) for a clinic appointment, explaining when the vet comes in that you wanted a few moments to introduce yourself and chat with her, without eating into her valuable time.

Isn’t There Something Easier I Could Do?
If even these softer approaches make you nervous, here are a few more ideas for getting a foot in the door:

Take the idea of being useful to a new level with your print newsletter. Bring a copy of your newsletter into the clinic. Tell the vet or manager that you produce a free educational newsletter for dog lovers and you’d like to feature the clinic in your next edition. Do they have 10 minutes for a quick interview, or would they like to set up a better time? The likelihood that you’re turned down on this is extremely low!

Put your piece about the clinic on the front page of your next edition, and bring copies in a nice stand, along with some edible goodies. “Hello! Good to see you again! I’ve featured you right on the front page when you get a moment to look. How about here—is this a good spot to set these so everyone sees them?” (Or you can also offer multiple stands, one for each waiting room, if they prefer.) When you come in next quarter with your new edition, bring goodies again. “Just swapping in the new edition for you all, and thought I’d bring along an afternoon power snack!” The point here is to stop asking for favors and permission. You’re doing something for them, so take on that mindset and just cheerfully assume they’ll now be displaying your newsletter.

Here’s another idea for dog trainers: Share your behavior reports with vets. Ask your clients’ permission first, then send a copy of your assessment and recommendations to each client’s veterinarian as a professional courtesy. If they are already referring to you, they have all the more reason to continue. If you don’t yet have a relationship with the vet in question, he or she will gain familiarity with your expertise and professionalism through these reports, making it easier for you to bring your marketing materials in to the office. Many of our dogbiz clients have gotten referrals from doing this before they even took that next step, and some have had clinics contact them for referral materials as a result, too.

One last idea for all dog pros: You probably have loyal clients willing to help. If you have a client who raves about you to friends and family, or frequently tells you how awesome you are, they would probably be delighted to tell their vet about you and take a copy of your materials along on their next appointment. Next time they make you blush, just ask.

Strong veterinary referral relationships are a key ingredient to a successful dog service business, so it follows that building them takes—and is worth—a bit of work. If you’re serious about growing your dog business, make a commitment to start working on your vet referral relationships today.

 

Want some help or guidance building a steady marketing plan for your dog training or dog walking business?

• Join us for Marketing Made Easy, an online dogbiz University course.
• Check out the easy to use Marketing Toolkit.

 

Working with hundreds of trainers across the country each year affords me the opportunity to notice trends, patterns, and peculiarities in the way we and our industry operate. One phenomenon I’ve been repeatedly struck by is the way we write about ourselves. A strong bio is part of an effective marketing message and, as a whole, the R+ trainer community tends to miss the mark on bio writing by several inches.

Credentials, Not Stories
Most dog trainers have an interesting story to tell about how they found their way into the profession. Many left previous careers after adopting a dog that, politely put, turned out to have a few issues. Or maybe it was the furry friend that got you through a rough divorce by distracting you with agility classes. Perhaps you’re one of the trainers who grew up on a farm or similar idyllic setting surrounded by animals, always knowing one day you’d work with them. In short, a room full of trainers is a room full of wonderful stories that hold great interest… to other trainers.

But the people perusing your website or reading your brochure are not trainers. They’re potential clients, and they’re deciding whether or not to call you. They haven’t come to your site to read your story. They’ve come because they have one of their own that needs a happy ending. They didn’t pick up your brochure to read about your Fido—they want to know if you can help them with theirs. Tempting as it may be to write about your own dogs, your bio should be about you and what makes you the right dog training professional for them.

Think about it this way—would you hire a therapist based solely on the fact that she came from a dysfunctional family? Or a lawyer because he’d been sued and knew what it felt like? Such experiences might add insight, but they’d be secondary considerations. What you really want to know is whether the person is qualified and, most importantly, can he or she get the job done for you.

Stories of life experience can play a role by making you seem approachable and warm, but they shouldn’t be the meat of your bio. Instead, tell potential clients how you’re qualified to help them. This has to be more than growing up with animals—lots of people share that distinction, possibly even the potential client reading your bio. This is a time to talk about certifications, schools and seminars and training, professional associations, a commitment to ongoing professional development and education. It’s not about what got you into dog training—it’s about what you’ve learned and accomplished since then.

(Don’t panic if you’re new to the profession, but don’t apologize for or emphasize it, either. Just follow the same guidelines of highlighting what you have done—and then keep adding to that over time.)

Benefits, Not Passion
There is a pervasive belief among people who work with dogs that passion for canines is their best qualification. But it can’t be. We all love dogs. Your love of dogs, really, is a given. Further, when your website shouts your adoration of four leggeds too often or too loudly you risk appearing as a hobbyist or enthusiast rather than a professional. You wouldn’t hire a tutor for your children because they “loved kids.” Their love of children doesn’t qualify them to tutor or say anything about the results they can get.

Instead of focusing your bio on the way you feel about animals, make it instead about the benefits you have to offer. Avoid the pitfall of talking only about benefits for the dog—it’s the human client you have to convince. What will you do for them? Help them solve a problem? Make living with their dog more enjoyable? Teach the kids and Lassie to coexist peacefully so Mom can enjoy a quiet moment now and then? Your bio should be about the needs of your clients.

A Marketing Message, Not a Novel
A short bio is a good bio. Anything over a paragraph is wasted. As an example of potential clients’ attention spans, consider that the average time spent on a website is 3.2 minutes. That’s 3.2 minutes for the whole site. So get right to the point—your marketing message, what sets you apart, your niche, what you can do for people. Your bio should instill confidence in you and your ability to help clients reach their goals. There really isn’t a lot of time for other material, and we don’t want the message to get lost.

Having said all this, if you feel your story is compelling go ahead and tell it—but separate it from your professional bio. Your ‘About Us’ page might have your bio at the top and then a section below titled ‘Rover’s Story,’ for example, for people who might want to know more about you personally or just enjoy a good dog story.

THIS, NOT THAT: A CASE STUDY
Here’s what I regard as a typical dog trainer bio:

“Lisa’s love of dogs stems from early childhood when she got her first Border Collie growing up on a ranch in Michigan. But it was Chase, a Border Collie/ Aussie mix she adopted in 1997, that introduced her to dog training. Chase had been abused and passed through two shelters before he convinced Lisa to take him home. He didn’t tolerate other dogs and was afraid of all men. Lisa spent several years reading books, going to seminars, and working with trainers to help Chase. He is now a fully functioning member of the family and enjoys the company of his brother Finn, an Australian Cattle Dog, and his sister Lola, a Black Lab/ Aussie mix, all of whom have titles in agility.

Finally, in 2004, Lisa took the plunge and attended the Such-And-So Dog Training School. She left her career in accounting to open Best Friend Dog Training and now enjoys fulfilling her passion for dogs by getting to work with them every day.

Lisa is a member of XYZ and QRS, and has attended seminars by many of the best trainers in the country including Trainer 1, Trainer, 2, Trainer 3, Trainers 4 & 5, and Trainer 6. She reads every dog book she can get her hands on and her favorite evening in is a good dog training video.”

It’s not terrible, and she comes off as a lovely person. But it’s not a professional bio. So let’s retool it:

“Lisa Smith is a graduate of the Such-And-So Dog Training School and a professional member of XYZ and QRS. Committed to providing the most effective, convenient solutions to her clients’ dog training needs, Lisa avidly pursues ongoing continuing education and professional development by attending several seminars per year and keeping current on all industry literature. Best Dog puts clients first and is well respected and referred to by local veterinarians and the Our Town SPCA. When not helping clients to enjoy easier lives with their canine companions, Lisa competes in agility with her own three dogs.”

Notice how the first bio is all about Judy and her interests, whereas the second is about clients and their needs, and Lisa’s qualifications to help them meet those needs. Her marketing message is in there, too. Lisa offers day training, and thus the emphasis on effective and convenient solutions. Her dogs are mentioned only briefly to add a personal touch, and also to ‘show off’ that she competes in agility—another indication she knows how to train dogs. And we use the mention of her own pooches to talk about the benefits of working with Lisa. This is a bio that communicates competence, professionalism, and solutions.

Start Writing
If your bio resembles Lisa’s first effort, it’s time for you to retool. If you’re not a star writer, don’t have time, or just feel squeamish about singing your own praises, bring in an outside perspective. Ask a friend with strong writing skills or a background in communications or marketing to help. Or hire a professional writer or business coach. Present yourself as the professional you are and, in so doing, help raise the public perception of professional dog training as well.