Website - Tucker,GA

You might try doing what you need to do to get listed on SitterCity - they have a pet sitters section.
Landscaper - probably not - when I go to see a landscaper, the last thing I'm thinking about is pet sitting.

E.

NO one takes care of my dog that I don't know personally. So I would NOT use a "website" to look for someone to take care of my dog....I would use word of mouth.

And trust me. This isn't something that happens fast. You are caring for part of my family. I will vet you like I would a babysitter. Do my FRIENDS use you?? Does ANYONE I know use you??? If not? You aren't taking care of my dog.

You have clients, yes? Talk to your clients and ask for referrals. Offer discounts on their next service for a positive referral.

My dog wouldn't go to your home unless I've been to your home, seen what you have to offer. I'd PREFER my dog to stay in his home. That's me. I could be one of the few...heck - I don't even like kennels. The thought of putting my dog in a kennel so I could take off for vacation?? Anxiety.... HUGE anxiety!!

ADD: Others have said this, and I'll agree - would YOU let a stranger from a website take care of your dog? It's about relationships and trust. A website doesn't have that. You NEED a website with your business's info, testimonials, hours, etc., to brag and point people to - it's professional. But your customers are people with relationships with their pets - and you're going to get business from people who have relationships with them. Find THOSE people - build business relationships. It takes time, but the customer relationship is much stronger.

ORIGINAL: Something to think about - in your business, REFERRALS are key. A happy customer will tell other dog owners. Do you have any good friends that have used you?

Or if they haven't used you because they weren't aware of the business, offer them a free trial (one overnighter), and ask them for feedback.

You need a way to track referrals - that way, you can see where the business is coming from, and you can reward the customers that bring you more customers - like if 3 referrals become customers, they get a free overnight.

Also try meetup.com and see if there are business networking groups in your area. They are often free, they meet at breakfast or lunch. You bring business cards, and market your business and build relationships. Perhaps you offer a 10% discount to those group members. Make them happy, they tell their friends.

Are there any dog parks near you? Go there. You can make business cards that are 10% off coupons (staples, office depot, etc. have in-house printing). You can give them out to people at the dog park.

Visit with the local vet's, and tell them about your business. If they don't board for people on vacation, they may be looking for someone they can count on to refer to. Also give them the coupon-business cards. You may be able to leave some with them.

Go to PetSmart or whatever local place. Visit Groomers in your area. Build relationships with related businesses.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Crowded websites with unrelated ads look like people's Facebook news feeds or the Mamapedia ads - no one reads them. Besides, what makes a landscaper a good reference for a dog sitter? And the reverse -- what makes a dog sitter a good reference for a landscaper? You don't know anything about each other's businesses.

You need to network in 2 ways - work with other people in pet businesses (groomers, pet stores, vets, obedience trainers) and share info. You're better off putting your business cards on the counter of a pet store and offering a discount than you are putting ads on the websites of plumbers and landscapers. The 2nd way is to join a BNI or meet up group - they will only allow one person in the pet industry, and then you refer to each other.

It doesn't matter if you have a nice website if no one knows to go to it! So you need referrals. Anyone can have a nice website - it doesn't make you a desirable pet care person. However, the reverse is true - an unprofessional website with typos and grammatical errors, poor writing, cutesy or over-used slogans, amateurish graphics, etc. all make a company look completely unprofessional. For example, while I am sure you wrote the above post quickly and didn't take time to proofread, you have quite a few errors, including missing punctuation. It's okay for us on Mamapedia because we aren't judging you, but you cannot do that on business cards, websites and flyers and still expect to make a good impression. That goes for any business, but especially if you want people to give you their precious pets overnight.

You can get business cards at any quick printer, or you can use Vista Print. But Vista Print and any on lien service will print EXACTLY what you give them - mistakes and all. A local quick printer MAY help you proofread and may lay things out for you. You're better off if you can get an English teacher or a professional writer to help you. If you can, invest in a professional advertising professional. You need a good theme line, a good and clear font, and good writing. You'd be amazed at how many people just choose a font they like personally, but it looks terrible from a distance on a flyer or reduced to a small size on a business card!

Referrals are critical - so get testimonials from people whose dogs you have cared for and get them to write something. Alternatively, write something up and get them to agree to it - that way your various testimonials won't be too repetitive. But even this is a job for an advertising professional - and that's not a graphic artist. My husband has been doing this for years, and I can tell you that the bad stuff just really sticks out and doesn't draw any business. Think of the great commercials you've seen, and then the terrible ones (often local car dealers or banks) where the client clearly does their own creative work. They look amateurish and they don't bring in the business.

I think that word of mouth from satisfied customers will be your best source of referrals. Your might also consider a well developed Facebook page that has a link to your website. In that way, people can "like" your page and it will show up on there Facebook feed (for their friends to see) If they write sincere compliments as to your service, others will be able to see that too. You might check into something like ValPak, the company that delivers an envelope of local merchant coupons to each address in a zip code and includes them on their website. That would get your services into the hands of all of the people in your targeted market. I would also look into including a business card sized ad in local neighborhood newsletters or websites. I would also hand deliver advertising flyers and business cards to vet offices and groomers (especially those that don't offer boarding)Good luck. I don't think an ad and a link on a landscape website would drive me to look at a pet sitter website. Good luck on your business.

I would target pet related industries. Groomers, vets, etc. Word of mouth will be your best advertisement.

I personally think in your type of business, word of mouth is your best advertising.

As a petsitter, you MUST be trustworthy and to have a customer refer you to others is a perfect way of advertising.

We've used our pet/house sitter over 20 yrs. The company has been in the same family, after the mom owner retired, her daughter and SIL took over. They rarely advertised because word of mouth kept them busy.

They have a key to my home, they are bonded, I trust them completely to make sure my pets and home are ok. That is what a potential customer needs to know.

Do you have any referrals you can put on your website?

Our sitters just started a website which has a referral link. They also have a FB page where clients can "friend", visit and write notes of appreciation, comments, etc.

It is funny because I was at my dentist last year and he was talking about losing his pet sitter because he could not locate her anymore. I told him about my pet sitter who's husband passed away and she passed the company to her daughter and I had been working with the 2 of them over 20 yrs. When we started talking in detail... he was talking about my pet sitter's mom and I let him know the business was still going strong. My pet sitter has since spent 2 weeks at his hour pet sitting while he was out of town. Small world!!

Does your HOA have a website or FB page? Our HOA has both and anyone doing business can advertise for free on those pages. The local PTA's sell advertising for cheap cheap in their directories and it is seen by many.

The main thing is to get your name out there and associated with your pet sitting business.

Keep in mind, IF you only keep dogs in your home, you are restricting your clients. I would never have my dogs kept in another place. The entire point of me paying for pet/house sitting is to keep my pets consistent with their daily schedule in OUR home and the overnight sitting plus daily visits add to the security of our home while we are away.

My sitter has told me numerous times that she loves coming to our home to sit with our pets because it is like a mini vacation for her. She is working by being with our pets but she also gets caught up on her relaxation, reading and chilling out which recharges her and makes her a better mom!! I know her favorite coffees, treats, and I always have special things out for her to use and eat while she is here. She has brought her children with her to sleep over as well.

As a potential customer, I would not be inclined to take my pets to someone else's home. The risk would be too high for me to consider that due to the pet being in an unfamiliar home, children, etc. I believe they would be safer at a boarding facility instead for safety reasons. We've never boarded our dogs... we've always used our sitter who comes into our home.

If I were you, I would strongly consider going to the pets vs having pets come to you. I feel you would have a better chance of success.

As for links on your site... I would stick with pet related links. Maybe an endorsement from a vet would also help.

Best wishes to you, I hope you have success!

word of mouth is the best advertising.

People who own dogs might get landscaping done.

People who buy other services might have dogs they need care for.

I'd put it everywhere I could that was free and track where people saw the ads. That way you'll know where they heard of you. Can't hurt as far as I'm concerned.

I would not. First of all, it will make your website look unprofessional. What you need to do is hustle. Apply to jobs are care.com and link to your professional website. Build relationships with vets and grooming places. Give referral discounts to your first handful of customers. Go to dog parks and hand out your business card.

Look for a local site which features lists of providers. Rover.com is a nationwide network. Get some happy customers to write up something which sings your praises and post those testimonials.

I think it looks a bit like the local nickel ads when you see a mish-mosh of ads on a website-- I generally tend not to look at the ads. So yes, target the people who are already your potential market directly.

I think you would be far more successful and have the capacity to make more money if you started a pet sitting business where you visit the home of your client to care for their pet there.

Unless you're talking about starting a kennel how many dogs could you really take care of in your home? These dogs would be out of familiar territory and around your family, would that be a safe situation in every case? What about the dogs comfort around other pets and kids?

When we travel without our pets we have a house/pet sitter come by to care for them. She walks, feeds, plays with the animals and can also bring in the mail and water plants. If you developed your business that way you could visit 3-4 homes per day instead of having 3-4 nervous, unfamiliar dogs in your home at a time.

I agree with others that your website is a tool to refer potential clients to AFTER you have made contact with them. You will not get much site traffic or business simply form people stumbling onto your site no matter who you trade links with.

Yes or no.
You've gotta read Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson.
Kind of the Marketing Bible.

It can't hurt to see if you can get a solid link campaign going. The best way to do this is collect links to relevant enthusiast sites in your area of interest as well as blogs. Then build a directory on your site as a resource for visitors. Once you've done this let the site owners know you've included them and if they wouldn't mind linking back to you. If they do great! If they don't no problem as you still have created a valuable area on your site for pet owners to browse.

Ultimately the best way to build your business is to build a list that you own. What is a "list"? It's a list of emails that you can send offers, newsletters and others related content too. This is by far the most valuable aspect of an online operation. Everything you do should've focused around how do you get a visitor to your site to sign up for your list.

The beauty of online marketing is that it's more effeicent and effective then going door to door or trying to promot things in person. An effective campaign to capture and build an email list will propel your business forward.

You might want to start under dogvacay.com.