Most business owners think they shouldn’t market if their pet sitting business is flush with clients. This is incorrect thinking! To always have clients you must always be marketing. You should not count on the fact that customers are yours forever once they sign up with your service. You must implement a variety of marketing strategies to create a consistent pipeline of new business.

Here are 30 ways a professional pet sitter can get more pet sitting business.

1. You need to build a client-attractive website.

I talk way too often to pet sitters that don’t have a website. Guess what? Everybody is online. Everybody’s on their phones. Everybody’s on their computers. Everybody is Googling how to find out how to do things or find services they want to use. You need a website so that people can find you. And then, on top of that, you want to make it client-attractive so that when people hit your website, they immediately have the know, like, and trust factor. You have all of the important aspects to your website so that people are going to convert into paying customers. I go in-depth in this in my Launch and Grow program. It is so, so, so, so important.

2. On that website, you need to add a lead magnet.

What’s a lead magnet? It is something of value that you are giving to your website visitors in exchange for their first name and email address. The idea here is that you want to follow up with these people, and you want to follow up with those who hit your website but don’t buy or don’t become customers. And that’s how you do it. So currently, my lead magnet on my website is an information packet coupled with a high-value coupon.

3. Create a sales funnel with a time-sensitive offer to create urgency.

When someone visits my website they say, oh, this looks pretty good. I will give them my first name and email address. We provide them with an information packet that they can download. Then they get the $25 off coupon. Then they are dropped into a sales funnel where they’re going to get consecutive emails from me.

I’m going to speak to different pain points and the benefits of using my service. And in the end, I’m going to say, “all right, now’s the time. If you want to cash in on that coupon, do it before the deadline ends.” Time-sensitive offers create an urgency that compels people to take action and buy and use their coupons.

4. Join a networking group.

One of the easiest ways to build your client list when starting your business is to join a networking group. You could try LeTip, and I loved BNI, Business Network International.

The deal is, if you are going to join one of these groups, you need to commit to it. You need to show up to every meeting, and you need to be referring other people in that group. Another tip I have for you, try to find an established group. A lot of BNI chapters are new, and you don’t want that. You want to a chapter that’s been around for a while. You want people in that group who know what they’re doing and are committed to the networking process—one of the easiest ways to get clients.

5. Actively participate in local Facebook groups.

This is a free method. Join all the local Facebook groups, and they don’t even have to be pet-related. It could be moms, and it could be recipes, and it could be restaurants. And they can be pet-related.

People are always asking about pet sitting services and dog walking services in those groups. If you spend 20 minutes a day to show up in these groups and keep an eye out, you can also add value by posting relevant articles about the importance or benefits of using pet sitting businesses. It’s just such an easy way to connect with members of your community and to get clients.

6. You want to blog and guest blog.

Blogging is going to position you as an expert in the industry. And here’s a little known fact: People like doing business with experts and not novices. So that’s the number one thing a blog is going to do for you. It’s going to position you as an expert in your industry.

The second thing it’s going to do is create relevant content for your pet sitting prospects.

The third thing it’s going to do is create search engine optimization opportunities for your client-attractive website. Because you’re going to be using keywords that your pet sitting business prospects are going to use – that’s what they’re typing into Google search to find you.

Then there’s guest blogging. You submit your articles to other blogs, which then back-links them to your website. This gives your client-attractive website credibility. It’s going to increase that search engine optimization, where people will be able to find you. So get into the habit. Like networking, you have to commit to the process, and you need to be doing it every week, or it’s not worth doing.

7. SEO your website.

A blog is a way to SEO your website, but there’s also many other ways to SEO your website. SEO stands for search engine optimization. We want Google to be able to find your website and index it so that people looking for your service will be able to find you. SEO will increase how high you’re going to show up in those search results. So you want to be using keywords, and you want to add meta descriptions to your images. This is an easy way to get clients because now they’re going to be able to find you. You can find out more here.

8. Showcase your testimonials.

So when you get positive feedback, or you get a review from a client, showcase it. Include it in emails. Make sure you have a page on your website that has all of your testimonials on there. Make sure that you’re putting it out on social media. Let people see the social proof and testimonials.

9. You can run contests.

Contests are fun and an inexpensive way to build buzz for your business. Everyone loves free stuff, and it’s a very easy way to build your email list. So get creative and have fun with this.

10. Build strategic alliances.

Strategic alliances are business owners that target the same target market as you, pet owners, but they don’t provide the same service. We’re not talking about pet sitters or dog walkers, but about vets, pet stores, pet groomers, pet photographers, and pet massage masseuses. That’s who you want to build these relationships with, where basically, you are promoting your services to each other’s client lists. It’s a win-win.

11. Create referral partnerships.

This is any business that is going to refer business to you. It doesn’t have to be pet-related. I partner with my friend who owns a carpet cleaning business. We’re always running promotions back and forth to each other’s lists. My neighbor Claire owns HomeCooked and always puts out my business cards. When I’m hiring, she always puts out my hiring postcards. I also let my clients know about her amazing business. So developing these referral partnerships and making sure that you include them in your marketing plan is an easy way to get clients.

12. Run online paid advertising.

Google AdWords is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my business, honestly. I am always running Google AdWords campaigns. The money that I spend for those advertising campaigns pays for itself, When you consider my customers’ lifetime value, it comes back to me a hundredfold.

So don’t be scared. I would look into delegating this to someone who knows what they’re doing and can set it up for you. You can find people on Upwork or Fiverr, and you can also run Facebook ad campaigns or Instagram campaigns or run YouTube ads. There are all different types of marketing strategies.

Don’t be afraid of paid online advertising because it works. I love seeing the ads. When I’m on social media, I’m like, oh, who’s advertising to me? I find it so fascinating. And guess what? I’m always buying stuff, especially when I’m on Instagram.

13. Create a referral program.

You want to turn the people that use your service into a non-paid sales force. So incentivize the clients that love you to refer you to the people they are friends with.

Then you have to educate these people about how your referral program works. You can’t just make it, put it out into the universe, and be like, okay, done. No, you need to communicate with your referral partners at least on a monthly or bimonthly basis.

This is the best way to do it: Hey, just a reminder, we love and appreciate referrals. And when you refer a client to me, they get $25 off, and so do you. And you’re just constantly reminding them of your referral program.

14. Run a direct mail campaign.

People forget about direct mail. People read and love snail mail. Emails a lot of times get deleted nowadays. In my Multiply Mastermind training program, one of my students’ strategies is called the Five House Marketing Rule. That’s another video, and you can click here to check that out.

15. Write a warm letter.

This would be a specific direct mail campaign. So a warm letter is a letter that you create and send out to everybody on your contact list. This is clients, past clients, friends, family, anyone that’s on there. Anyone that knows, likes, and trusts you is going to get a warm letter. The warm letter is simply updating them about your business.

Let them know that you love and appreciate referrals. If there’s anything that you can do in return for them, just let you know—such an easy, simple strategy to get clients.

16. Run promotions to prospects that never signed up for service.

So you have your client-attractive website. People come; they give you their first name and email address. They get dropped into that sales funnel, but they don’t end up converting into a paying client.

Don’t forget about these people. You can continue to market to them and run promotions. You can do 40% off if you book by the end of the week, so on and so forth. Get creative.

17. Donate your pet sitting services to charity.

I donate high-value gift certificates to so many animal-centered charities in my area and all types of shelters. So I usually do $250, and it’s such a great way to get new clients and get your name out in the community.

18. Use car magnets to advertise your business.

I have never done this, guys, but so many of my students do it and swear by it. And guess what? I always read car magnets. So I’m sure it is a great strategy. You can get them inexpensive nowadays. And you want to have your phone number nice and clear with a call to action.

19. Use your email signature.

This is valuable real estate that people forget about. Every email that you send out, you could have a call to action in your email signature. It could be a booking service. It could be to leave a review. It could be to leave a Yelp review. I mean, there are a million things that you can do with your email signature. Every time you’re sending that out, people will see it, and it’s a way to get clients and get them to take action.

20. Host live events.

Hosting a community event is a sure-fire way to build trust with your community members and showcase your services. It’s also a way to get free local press coverage. So a common one that many of my students do is have pet Halloween costume contest live events, where everyone in the community brings their pets. Such a great way to meet people in your community. And then you want to let the local press know about it to run stories about it.

21. Send out a press release to your local media.

Again, suppose you’re hosting a live event or hosting a contest, or something’s changing in your business, or something big happens in the pet sitting industry. In that case, local media is always looking for stories, and they want your press release. So don’t forget about that. That’s old-school marketing. But guess what, it works.

22. Hang flyers in local establishments.

Old school, but it works. I was in the bagel shop the other day, and there was a bulletin board. I just sat there, and I read through every single one. I was in the G Lodge, a restaurant around the corner from me, the other day. Again, bulletin board. Waiting for my table, I read every single thing on the bulletin board. It’s a great way to find sitters and to get clients.

23. Used social media.

People are on social media, guys, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. Send out relevant articles about pet care. You can post memes, and you can do videos, and you can do word puzzles. I mean, there are a million different things that you can do on social media to attract clients to your pet sitting business. Take advantage of these channels because they’re free.

24. List your business on business directories.

Getting your business listed on as many online directories as possible is an excellent strategy for boosting your company’s visibility, and this adds to that credibility factor of your website.

In my Launching Growth program, I give my students, I think it’s about 78 different websites that they can go to and get their business listed, which gives clout to your website, which increases your rankings. It’s an easy way for your clients to be able to find you.

25. Claim and optimize your Google My Business page.

Google My Business is a free marketing tool available to you, and you should have it optimized. People are online Google looking for pet sitting business services. If you have your Google My Business optimized and up to date, it’s such an easy way to get clients.

26. Contact pet friendly apartment complexes.

So you want to reach out to the managers of these apartment complexes. Why am I having a hard time saying that? Let them know about your business, and ask if you could be included in the welcome packages they give out to new renters or new buyers.

27. Partner with a shelter, and all offer a discount for newly adopted pets.

Somebody goes and adopts a new pet, and the shelter says, hey, if you ever need a pet sitter, Pet Nanny-Pet Sitters of The Main Line is the premier service in this area. And then you can give them a coupon as well, and they’ll take action.

28. Market to neighbors of your existing clients.

This goes back to that five-house marketing campaign that I told you about earlier. If you get a client in a neighborhood, you want this entire neighborhood to know about your pet sitting business. It’s an easy way to get clients because if they know that their neighbor trusts you with their pets, they are more likely to trust you. It’s also much more convenient, with a lot less drive time between clients. So you should always be focusing on the immediate neighbors of your clients.

29. Target new homeowners.

This information is public. You can easily get the information for new homeowners in your area, and you could do direct mail campaigns to them. There’s also a service called Welcome Wagon that you could look into.

30. Oh, the last one. So run a reengagement campaign to inactive clients.

If we have not heard from a client in over a year, we run what we call a reengagement campaign, where we send them an email with a high-value offer for them to book service within, say, 14 days.

Then you’re going to continue to stay in touch with them and incentivize them to book service. Don’t forget about the people that have already raised their hands and said, yes, I want to hire your pet sitting service. Get in touch with them, and give them an offer. Get them back and onto your active list.

So there we have it. Thirty ways a professional pet sitter can get more pet sitting business, or for short, 30 ways to get clients. I hope you guys found this helpful.