Bella In Your Business: Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Podcast

Do you know how to identify if you are an order taker or a problem solver? In this week's podcast, I am going to show you how to break out of some of these bad habits and come out on top of your business as the problem solver you want to be.

Biggest Takeaways

Where do you stand as the business world continues to change? Are you moving with the changes and sitting back and blending in? Over the next few months, I am going to teach you how to stay with the times and continue to push your revenue to the levels you dream of.

It Is Time To Become A Problem Solving Consultant

I know most of you would say no if I asked you if you are ready to start consulting but I know most of you are ready to start increasing your profits. I am going to teach you how to start being a consultant instead of selling. The climate is changing and you need to know how to maintain and increase your revenue.

Problem Solver VS Order Taker

Have you slipped down the path to being an order taker? Identifying where you and even your employees stand in the business as an order taker or a problem solver can drastically help you. The first step is learning where you stand in the sales process. Do you reach out and have an emotional conversation with someone who needs your services or do you just ask them how you can help? Once you know where you stand it is on to training your employees.

Show Highlights

Are you ready to start selling? [7.17]

Identify if you are an order taker [18.32]

How to be a problem solver [27.50]

Want Some Free Sales Training?

I did a 3 part training series with a 20-year veteran sales master and provided you with some training experience that is out of this world! If you enjoyed this podcast about being a problem solver and want to continue your sales training, check out this three-part series with Aaron Miller.

1st Part: Episode #263: One Secret To Winning Almost Every Sale

2nd Part: Episode #264: The Trick To Be Confident In Closing Sales

3rd Part: Episode #265: How To Leverage Your Competition For More Sales

Links

Mastermind

Jump Consulting Website

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 273 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome back to another episode of Bella in Your Business. It’s the second week in January, and I'm back here today to talk about—are you an order taker? It's one thing that's preventing you from thousands of dollars in sales. It became really apparent to me as I was actually having a conversation this weekend. You see, I ended up in what I call the time machine on my Instagram, if you follow me there. I got together with a whole bunch of people that I have not seen for eight to ten years. We used to run a nonprofit charity here locally in Scottsdale, Arizona, back in the day. We were all business owners, and it was before marriage and kids and divorces and all that stuff. We were just, you know, twenty-something entrepreneurs and we would dock up together and we just had the same tenacity for life, you know.

It happened to be one of the gal’s 40th birthdays and she came in from Colorado, and a whole bunch of us saw each other. It was actually quite emotional for me. Her parents actually live in one of the communities where I had a lot of presence with my pet sitting company. We were actually in one of the gated communities of the gated communities. Yes, you heard that right. And the last time I had been in there, I was actually Bella the pet sitter. So this is a long time ago. But you know, we got to talking and we were kind of like hanging out on the patio and just listening to music and catching up. And one of the gals there said that she actually owned a house cleaning company and that she also was doing pet sitting as well. She knew that I was a business coach, and she kind of started asking for some advice, which I don't usually get into with friends, but I couldn't help myself this night. And if any of you know me, it kind of like lit me on fire and got me excited.

The whole time her husband was also sitting there and he was like, yeah, tell her, tell her, you know? And she's like, well, I charge $90 an hour to do house cleaning and I am just the best house cleaner ever. And you know, I will scrub those toilets with a toothbrush. And I was like, well, that's great. Like, do you have anyone working for you? She said, no, it's just me, but I only work like two or three days a week. And I was like, well, that's good, but that's also a ceiling. Like, what are your dreams, your goals, your aspirations? What's your vision, you know?

And so we kind of dug a little deeper and she was very proud of her service, which is great, right? But they don't have any desire to have kids and they want to be able to travel and buy all the toys, the RVs, the razors, all of that stuff, right? And so I was like, all right, well, how are we going to do this? Like, maybe you could retire your husband. She's like, well, my husband has his own business too. I was like, oh, what do you do? He started a business that is powder for your balls. Yeah. So that was a really interesting conversation as well, but he actually started it out of his garage.

And she said lovingly to me, she goes, it looked like there was a meth lab in there. She goes, there was just powder everywhere. She goes, but he's grown this business into a really, really good business to where they're on the verge of having Walmart be one of their distributors, which is amazing. And so we get into talking and I mean, I can't make this stuff up, right? So we just start talking and I start getting excited. He's like smiling and nodding and pointing at me. And he's like, yep, I've told her all of this.

And I was like, well, sometimes this is the syndrome that happens, guys, right? I know that any of you mamas or papas out there listening right now, you have kids or your wife or your husband that you've told something to—and it was sage advice—and they did not hear you. For whatever reason, they discredited you or it went in one ear and out the other, whatever it might have been. But along comes some random blonde-haired girl at some party on a deck, a patio, and she's telling you the same thing that you've been telling them, and all of a sudden it's like she's hearing it for the first time. I've been guilty of this, right?

So I thought it was really funny because as our conversation kept going, more and more people came out. Another gal came out—she has a bestselling book. Another gal has another really lucrative company, and we're all entrepreneurs. We've all started this from the ground up. Back in the day when we used to dock up and work, it was all of us kind of in the incubation stage of our first or our actual business. And so we get out there and we just start talking and talking. One of the girls, her mentor is Les Brown. I don’t know if you guys know him—look him up. He's the most amazing inspirational person ever. And she tells her story about imposter syndrome and we just start like synergistically connecting—“Oh my God, yeah, this and this and this”—and the energy and the flow is so amazing.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I'm telling you this for a few reasons. First, it's really a big matter of difference of the company that you keep—whether that's the company you keep online or what you put in your head. You know, I was asking this girl as she's trying to start this cleaning company, what are you doing to better yourself? I said, because eventually you're going to end up being a leader and you're going to have to start managing people underneath you because you cannot do all of this yourself. You need to put yourself out of a job. That's what you need to do. You need to get really good at mastering a job and then handing it off and then starting another one. And then going above, above, above. And that's all that this takes—it is the constant ability to put yourself out of a job. But you can't get really good at that unless you take an active role in developing your mind—truly developing your mind and creating different neural pathways.

And so a bunch of us kind of overloaded her on all kinds of books or mentors or people that we like to listen to. I got out my Audible and just started rattling off a whole bunch of books, some of which her husband knew all about. And I said to her, “So what do you do while you are driving around or while you're cleaning these houses? What is in your ears?” And she said some music band names—it was basically like music. And I was like, you're missing an amazing opportunity to be learning.

And she said, “It's so hard.” And I said, “Yeah, it is so hard.” And you guys, you know this—it’s so hard....

Do you feel like your business life makes you anxious or depressed? Then this Episode is perfect for you. There has been this post going around on Facebook and it gives a message that is rather discouraging and gives a weak mindset... I want you all to know the facts and so in this week's Podcast, I am going to break down this post and show you how you can change the way your business life makes you feel.

Biggest Takeaways

It is not about your business it is about you and your mindset. Your business cannot change the way you feel only you can and it is the same way around. Your business does not have control over making you feel anxious or depressed. I am going to tell you why and how you can change these negative feelings and create the business life you want.

Have You Asked the Right Questions?

Do you know why you are feeling anxious or depressed about your business life? Is it because you are understaffed and feel overworked? Is it your time management? Do you have the right mindset? Have you asked for help or reached out to a supportive community? All these questions can help you change your mindset and see where something might be going wrong. This is your business and you have the control to change anything you need to.

The Mindset You Need

What changes have you made to help you start feeling happy about your business? Have you made a business plan with goals? Do you have resources for guidance and SOPs? We can do this together and make the changes that you need to get you where you want with your business. You can be happy with your business life every step of the way and stay happy as your continue to reach your goals. You can have a victorious mindset that will get you there.

Show Highlights

This is TOO popular on Facebook [7:00]

Break it down [17.50]

Creating a business plan with goals [26.13]

Do You Want to Join a Community?

I have spent a lot of time creating the most supportive and informative community I possibly can to help you and other pet business owners seek help easily and find guidance. We are going to be talking about how to create goals and be able to reach them confidently and soon will be moving on to how to increase sales and maintain your business during such insane inflation. It is time to get into the mindset you need to be in. Are you ready to jump in and move forward?

Links

Mastermind

Jump Consulting Website

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 272 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin’ in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome everybody to a new episode of Bella in Your Business. Happy New Year! It is the first week of January 2022, whether you're listening to this now or in the future—hello! It is a new year. And as it becomes a new year, you know the past two weeks, typically at least in the United States, we all kind of kick it into lower gear where we focus on the busy holiday season and the holiday rush. If you’re a pet sitter or a dog walker, you kind of kick it into a little bit slower gear. A lot of people tend to stay home, they don't have services, and we just reset. We do a little reset. So I am actually recording this on Monday, January 3rd, 2022, as I have just come back to the office after about two weeks of being gone.

I've been seeing something on Facebook lately that I wanted to address. And quite honestly, I was first going to have this as a blog, but then I decided that it might just be better if I spoke it to you, so I'm gonna kind of talk it out a little bit. There is this thing that, you know, on Facebook sometimes where someone will write something and then it's like a copy and paste and at the end it's like, “I copied this from a friend but I liked it so I pasted it.” Feel free to my website. That's great, but that's not why they're calling. They might be saying that, but they're calling to make a connection with you. And if you’re not offering the opportunity to make a connection with you, then you better be doing it on your social media via videos—like I'm actually doing right now as I'm recording this podcast. I am simultaneously going on an Instagram Live and just doing the beginning of it here. If you're not following me, go ahead and follow me at @BellaVasta.

Anyway, people call not to get prices, but they want to feel the warm and fuzzies. They want a connection with you. They want to know that they can actually feel good about you. They want to feel some sort of emotion before they start exposing themselves and giving all of this information. Not to mention, most of the phone calls that I made this morning—and I made ten of them—two answered. The rest went straight to voicemail. At first I thought maybe it was just Arizona. Maybe it was only nine o'clock in Arizona. Maybe people just aren't answering their phone. No, because then I called people in Dallas. Nobody answered there either. Actually, rather, one answered in Dallas, one answered in Arizona. Both phone calls, by the way, were under two minutes. Both phone calls were men answering the phone, and they literally were like, “Where do you live? It's $26. You can go to the website and sign up if you want it.”

They didn't know my name, they didn't know my dog's name, they didn't know where I was going, they didn't know if I had used a pet sitter before, they didn’t know anything about me. They basically did not want my business. I was even more put off when I called them than before I did. It bugs me to no end because I hear so many people online saying, “I want more clients, I need to get more clients, how do I get more dog walking clients?” And they're trying all this stuff. They're sinking money into branding and into investments and Facebook advertising, pounding the pavement, talking to groomers—when really all they need to do is answer the phone. That's all you need to do. Most of the sale is already going to be done if you can answer the phone. People need that reassurance. You’ve got to give them a win somehow. They need to feel like they have made progress.

You have to put yourself in their shoes. Most of the time, they're busy. Everyone’s busy. I don’t know anyone who says, “I’m not busy.” And so when someone is there wanting to solve their problem actively—they are in active problem-solving mode right now. They have already looked you up on the internet. They've already read your Google reviews and your Facebook page. They’ve decided to pick up the phone and call you—have an old-fashioned phone call—because they want a connection. Marrona mia, I would say. Like, this is what I say in my personal life, but it’s so frustrating to me. Ten people—I called ten people and almost everything went to voicemail. Some of the voicemails weren’t even professional. They were just, “You have reached 928… please leave a message,” with the automated system. Like, the typical one before you actually put yours on it.

And then I want to say, how about calling back some missed phone numbers? I haven’t gotten any callbacks. I used to do, “Hi, this is Bella from Bella’s House and Pet Sitting. I just missed a phone call from this number and I wanted to make sure you weren’t a client out of town needing something.” And it opened up the conversation. They’d be like, “Wow, you call back when I’m out of town? Whoa, okay.” What does that do? It went from “darn it, she didn’t answer” to “my gosh, she called me back.” And she also made it sound like she was concerned about a potential client. So what does that tell me? That if I’m a client out of town or need to get a hold of her, she is concerned enough to actually call back. Winning!

Here’s the thing, though. If you’re not going to answer the phone, and that’s okay, I’m not here to tell you that you need to—but it’s contradictory. Because you’re putting it on your Google listing and on the front page of your website, but then you’re making it go straight to voicemail. That’s not giving your potential client a win. That’s giving them a loss. That’s making them feel like they’re losing, and you don’t want to do that. I want to help you guys get sales and I want to help put this in perspective for you, because I think sometimes we get so busy or we create these excuses in our head, and we think that we’re too busy to answer the phone, or “they can just go online,” or “they’re not a real client unless they give us all their info first and prove it to me that they want to work with me.” Guys, that’s the worst attitude you can have, and I want to respectfully check you if you’re one of those people.

The thing is, more than half of people are doing things from their smartphones with their fat thumbs. We can’t even text properly, let alone click around on forms with little boxes....

Think about a time when you had a problem and you wanted to reach out for advice and then you thought... "Who would I even ask? How do I even find somebody to ask?" The business world can feel so lonely it's hard to know where to go when you are stuck.

This is why I spend so much of my time fostering communities for you all. Today I am going to go over various lessons and success stories of some of my wonderful clients so you can start off 2022 on a great note.

Biggest Takeaways

Opening yourself up to new communities and people on the struggles of your business can be daunting and discouraging. But it is only after you take this step can you allow for a different perspective or ideas that can propel you into the dream business you imagined when you started your business.  Talking with like-minded business owners, business coaches & finding the right processes has been key to all of my client's amazing successes and can be the key to yours too. Listen in to the lessons and behind the scenes of 5 coaching calls.

Showing Faith in Feedback

It's very hard to allow someone into the details of your business, and even harder to then have them specifically looking for things that could be improved and pointing them out to you. While this makes anyone uncomfortable, it's important to be willing to have faith in what your support community is telling you, knowing they have your best interests at heart. A supportive community is only as useful as you are willing to let them be, step out of your comfort zone and expand the possibilities to so many lessons that can be learned.

Where is Your Vision for the Future?

The business world is evolving faster than ever, many businesses fall prey to this evolution for one simple reason, they lack a vision and plan for their business. You should be regularly asking yourself if you are doing enough for your staff. Are they happy with you as an Employer? What lessons can be learned? You should also know where you see your business going. In what way do you want to expand your business? The end of the year can be a great time to reflect on the past year and set some solid measurable goals for 2022.

Show Highlights

Results of showing faith in your support community [5:45]

What have you done and where are you going? [12:20]

Large lessons from my intensives [22:30]

Want Some Free Sales Training?

I did a 3 part training series with a 20-year veteran sales master and provided you with some training experience that is out of this world! If you enjoyed this podcast and want to continue your sales training, check out this three-part series with Aaron Miller.

1st Part: Episode #263: One Secret To Winning Almost Every Sale

2nd Part: Episode #264: The Trick To Be Confident In Closing Sales

3rd Part: Episode #265: How To Leverage Your Competition For More Sales

Links

Mastermind

6 Steps To Switch From IC's To Employees

JazzHR

Catch Up On Our Old Podcasts!

Jump Consulting Website

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 271 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. I have this client that just continuously knocks me off my feet. We started in 2018, and today I'm just going to go through this with Aaron Miller. Wasn't that great? I actually got a lot of feedback saying, “Wow, he's smart. Wow, I didn't think of it that way.” And a few of you guys actually did do the challenge, which totally excites me. I am so happy to have you back here and consider it a true honor to have me in your ears. I just got back last week. I was at the SEMA conference, which is actually an automotive conference, doing my thing on Tuesday to Wednesday. And then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I was in Omaha, Nebraska—go Big Red—meeting with a gal. We actually met for about nine hours. Usually, they're eight hours, but we were just vibing. Connie—shout out to Connie! She is a loyal listener and her son, Grayson. If Grayson’s listening, hello, Grayson!

One thing I love hearing from you guys a lot is that sometimes it's not just you listening—sometimes your kids are there. Any kids listening, what's up? Thanks for letting mom and dad have me in their ear for a little bit today. I wanted to get started today on something that's more about mindset. It's not about how to do this or social media or anything like that. It’s something that I recently was talking with someone about for a while, and it got me thinking. I see it happen a lot in business and personal lives—just like my friends going through relationship woes, problems with friends, or business owners trying to figure out what they should do and how they’re looking at it. Because you know, perspective is everything. Perception is reality. I just wanted to give you food for thought today.

My notes actually are not that long, so this might be kind of a short podcast for you, but I did want to talk about it nonetheless. And I would love to start a dialogue. I love it when you guys email me—[email protected]. Yes, that person out there listening right now who’s been thinking they want to email me but they're not sure, or think I won't know who they are—do it! I want to hear from you. It makes my day. I love it.

So here's the thing. I was trying to understand a problem in my life. I had a friend who was going through admittedly a lot of stuff, and I felt like I could see so clearly and articulate the problem. And because I was not emotionally invested in it, I could also see the bird’s-eye view of things and strategically what it would take to accomplish her goal in the conflict she was going through. Are you with me? But for the life of me, she was so stuck in her own reality and her own emotions and her own fight and ego that she was making these decisions and carrying on with this conflict in a way that I knew was going to end up in a dead end. And it pained me. Guys, I’m a coach. I am in a position to help people see five steps ahead, and it’s a talent of mine, right? So I was looking at it objectively, and she was looking at it subjectively—subjective to her own emotions, feelings, and thoughts.

Because she was stuck in so much of her subjective reality, she couldn’t actually see the objective reality. Does that make sense? You might start understanding where I’m going with this and why this is on the podcast today. When we go into battle—whether it’s something for our life, our relationships, or our business—it’s very important that we check our emotions and think logically and bigger than just ourselves. We should try to consider where our challenger, if you will, is coming from and understand them, as well as what other factors will decide who’s ultimately victorious.

She also, because she was stuck in her subjective reality, didn’t even understand what the argument was really about or who was deciding it because she couldn’t see past her own emotions. Objective reality, when you can think about it, is driven by your vision. It’s driven by seeing the broader picture. It’s the eagle soaring above the forest who understands that there are multiple trees as opposed to the person stuck way down in the forest who can only see a tree or two ahead. Objective reality is well-rounded, not tainted by emotions. There are no excuses with it—it’s rationally backed up by fact.

I get that this is hard to do in life and business because we’re so close to the problem or people involved. Some of us are literally living in survival mode or past traumas that we may or may not know exist within ourselves. So being able to think objectively versus subjectively is a big indicator of how you get through things. When we’re too subjective, too much in our head, too emotional, it’s important to have people in our life who can pull us out of that—to bring us to higher, more objective thinking. Emotions aside, clear head, logical, factual, based in data if it’s business.

In business, one reason I’ve not done a lot of one-on-one coaching until this year is because my success is your success, and it’s frustrating as all hell to coach someone who’s not in the right mindset. They ask for help but aren’t willing to get out of the trees—they’re blinded by emotions and subjective reality. They make subjective decisions, which is how they got where they are. Now, I don’t just take anyone for coaching. I’ve been doing intensives on Zoom—45-minute sessions in a six-pack that can be used within six months—and in-person intensives in clients’ hometowns, like I did on Friday.

Those in-person intensives are always with people I truly believe in. I can see easily and guide my people through it. Every intensive ends with tears because I don’t let people get away with emotional answers like,...

How often do you get offended? How do you feel when someone turns away when they hear your prices? Or how about when someone is always asking for a discount? Have you ever said or thought "read my website"? Business has been booming and we have learned to become pickier... however as they have many times before they will again. Things are changing. Business will slow down and we need to know exactly how to keep jumping.

Biggest Takeaways

Stop being offended by people turning away at your services, or prices, have confidence in your business. Educate them about your business and learn how you can work with new clients and prospects as the market changes.

Stop Being Offended, Be Educated

The market is changing and so it is time we learn what we need to do to keep jumping. Stop being offended, set it aside, and educate yourself and your clients. If they hesitate at your prices talk to them and connect with them about how your services are worth it. When someone reaches out it is because they have a problem that needs to be solved. This is an opportunity to help them and teach them why you are the right one to solve their problem.

How Do You Have Confidence?

How do you sell? Do you direct them to exactly what they need? How about talk about them and connect about the problem? Do you ask them how you can follow up with them? Or tell them you will follow up and when? Look at how you have confidence and show you are confident in your business and your services.

Show Highlights

This is an opportunity to educate not be offended [6:55]

Do you have confidence? [10:40]

What is your follow-up process? [16:53}

Want Some Free Sales Training?

I did a 3 part training series with a 20-year veteran sales master and provided you with some training experience that is out of this world! If you enjoyed this podcast and want to continue your sales training, check out this three-part series with Aaron Miller.

1st Part: Episode #263: One Secret To Winning Almost Every Sale

2nd Part: Episode #264: The Trick To Be Confident In Closing Sales

3rd Part: Episode #265: How To Leverage Your Competition For More Sales

Links

Mastermind

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 270 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome to another episode of Bella in Your Business. It is December—jingle bells, jingle bells! I am so excited. Anyways, you did not come here to hear me sing. Welcome to the show today. I've been on a kick on sales lately. Last week's episode was fire. I got so many messages from you guys and I just really appreciate it because every time I come to you in my office by myself with my microphone, I always say, let me know what you think.

And Cathy Perez, girl, you rock. She actually created an entire graphic, because we talked about her last time, and posted it on her Instagram to show everyone that she was featured. That was really cool, Cathy. I love it. And Becky also reached out—she loved being mentioned. So I hear you guys. I see you. But when greatness is happening, I am definitely going to shout you from the rooftops, because I just feel like a proud mama bear. And as a mother, I can absolutely say that.

So today, in the same light of being a mother bear here, I really want to talk about something that I've seen happen online in the almost 20 years that I've been doing this—and that is people being offended. I need you to stop getting so offended because I'm sick and tired of it, and it's not helping you, which is why I get really mama bear mode about this. You getting offended does nothing. It doesn't help you. It doesn’t help you at all. In fact, it gets you in a negative mindset. It gets you in a losing mindset. It gets you in a weak, low-energy, low-vibe space. It's just terrible. Don't get offended.

What am I talking about? What are you getting offended by? Well, I'm talking to the people that say or think things like the following: “Well, they should just read my website. It's on my website.” Or they say things like, “Well, they know my prices. It's written on my website.” Or, “They're either going to take it or leave it. I'm expensive, so if they don't want it, fine.” Or, “They said my prices are too expensive.” Or, “Other people are undercutting me and all of these app sitters—they’re just so cheap.” Or, “Oh my God, there’s a girl down the street who put up flyers on the mailbox and she’s 12 and she’s like so cheap and people just don’t understand that’s not a good pet sitter.” Or, “They’re always asking for a discount. No matter how cheap I am or what I do, they always ask for a discount.” Or, “I can’t believe people think that’s too expensive. They have no idea everything that I pay.”

Guys, we gotta stop getting offended. I see it happening, and whether you want to publicly admit it or not, I know that you’re getting offended. I read it online and I talk to you guys in my intensives, and I hear you get down on yourself and take it personally—and you can’t take it personally. I told you that I’m going to be dedicating the next few weeks to really talking about sales because I feel strongly about it. I see that your sales are actually going to probably start—I’m not going to say drop off—but they’re going to slow down.

They’re not going to be as gangbusters as they were. Just with the state of the world and the things that are happening, it’s not going to be as easy or as flowing as it used to be. And so there are going to be things that you need to start doing that you might not have been doing this past year. I don’t want you to miss out on opportunities—opportunities to educate people via your website, emails, or graphics on social media.

And the thing is, like I said, I’m dedicating the next few weeks—maybe months—to the sales topic. But sales isn’t salesy. Sales isn’t pushy. Sales isn’t sleazy. It’s none of those things. People want you to be confident about what you’re doing. They want you to solve their problems. And there’s a difference between that and being an order taker—saying, “You want three 30-minute walks a week? Okay, that’ll be $75 please.”

Who are you doing it for? What is the parent doing that you have to do it, that they can’t walk their own dog? What is their dog’s situation? What does that parent believe about their dog and why they need these walks? Why now have they called you? What is their budget? What other kinds of services does their dog have or get? These are all the kinds of things that we need to start learning. When we do, it makes the whole conversation completely change.

“The whole ‘they should read my website’”—well, they probably did, because statistics show that consumers actually investigate a company or product 60 to 70% of their buying decision before they even call you. So yeah, they probably did see your website, but they’re not assuming anything. They wanted to hear it from your mouth. They didn’t know if they could trust that. They wanted reassurance. They wanted confidence.

Do you have confidence when you’re talking to people? Do you believe that you are their absolute best and only solution to their problem? Are you even talking about solutions to their problems? When you say things like, “Well, they know my price”—well, yeah, they might know your price, like a menu that you get with a list of things, but they don’t know the value. They have no idea what your value is because they’ve had no chance to actually have an interaction with you or talk to you.

And 80% of the websites out there are only selling the actual industry. I could copy and paste many websites and put them on someone else’s, and no one would have any idea because they’re not personal. So I want you to really think about—are you getting offended and locking down? Are you getting offended so much that you don’t even like to answer the phone? Are you getting offended or afraid of rejection, so you just say, “I’ll tell them my price,” and whoever speaks first loses?

These people who are reaching out to you—whether it’s in DM, email, phone, or text—they’re looking to be understood. They want to know that you intrinsically understand them, their pets, and their problem. And that you are the person that’s going to be on their side to help them through it. They are looking to follow the confidence in you.

That’s where some things like Aaron Michael Miller said a couple of sessions ago—he talked about an assumptive close, how you just assume the sale. “Okay, so this is what we’re going to do. I know you’re going away on this trip and you’re gone Monday through Thursday. I know you leave Monday morning and you’re back Thursday afternoon. As I’m sure you’d agree, Fido needs to be fed twice a day,...

Do you know how to sell your pet sitting services? What if there are many things you actually need to work on that you didn't know about that you thought were helping? And then... What if I told you that when you sell your pet sitting services, the things you feel uncomfortable about are things you should actually be confident in?

In this week's Podcast, I'm going to help you work out the fine details for a smooth sales process and teach you why you should be confident in certain things, and stay away from others.

Biggest Takeaways

This week I am going to teach you how to sell your pet sitting services and how to properly market them. This is a vital part to ensure you bring on the clients you want for your expanding business, helping you ensure everything runs smoothly for this holiday season.

How To Identify The Different Between Sales & Marketing

Knowing the difference between sales and marketing is vital to getting clients fully signed up for your pet sitting services.  Many of us are great at getting clients in the door, sometimes sealing the deal can be the hardest part. Many of us think we sell our pet sitting services when there could be things we could have done better.

How To Sell Your Pet Sitting Services

When we sell our pet sitting services it always makes us feel amazing but, none of it matters without a smooth, efficient, & expandable business strategy. One vital portion of running a successful business is knowing what clients to say no to, and which ones to fight for.

Show Highlights

Marketing vs Sales [13:00]

Key Components to great sales [22:30]

How to know your sales are working [28:42]

Want Some Free Sales Training?

I did a 3 part training series with a 20 year veteran sales master and provided you with some training experience that is out of this world! If you enjoyed this podcast and want to continue your sales training, check out this three part series with Aaron Miller.

1st Part: Episode #263: One Secret To Winning Almost Every Sale

2nd Part: Episode #264: The Trick To Be Confident In Closing Sales

3rd Part: Episode #265: How To Leverage Your Competition For More Sales

Links

Mastermind

Better Marketing with Bella

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 269 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, and today I'm doing something really interesting. I'm actually recording this inside the Jump Mastermind because when I'm done recording this, I want to have a discussion with all the Mastermind members that are going to be listening. But I got something to say this week, and every week I just think about what has really fired me up. This week, it's about sales. It's still about sales. Sales has been something that's been on my mind pretty deep because I think that a lot of us are living in a false sense of reality right now. And I'm here to kind of shake you awake and make you realize that a lot of you say you can sell your services, but can you really? And we're going to talk about that today because I think it's really, really important.

Right now, we are coming out of the avalanche. This summer was incredible, right? It was, my gosh, everyone got out of quarantine for the most part. People started traveling a lot—people who weren’t even traveling before. The pets that were adopted were surrendered and then readopted, so there were even more new pet parents. We just had this influx of business, and the biggest problem that a lot of my jumpers have had is, “My gosh, we can’t hire enough.” It had nothing to do with “I need to get more clients.” It was, “I need to hire.” Can you relate to that?

Now, a couple of episodes ago, we had Aaron Michael Miller on, and he is a 20-year veteran of sales—really skilled at teaching people how to sell, not just individuals but teams of people for companies. He's taken people who were picking up trash at movie theaters and turned them into people selling thousands of dollars of vacations at Hilton Rentals or at a car dealership. It’s fascinating because it’s not just about you and me knowing how to sell—but for my jumpers scaling their business, that have office managers and employees—whether you realize it or not, they are your salespeople. You need to acknowledge that because if you do, it will get so much easier and more lucrative for your business.

If you understand exactly how to sell, you’ll start attracting and collecting the exact kind of clients you want. Then you won’t be coming to me saying, “My God, I have this client who books five walks every week but cancels four of them by Sunday night.” Why is that even a problem? That’s not even someone we want as a client. But what happened this year is that a lot of us were living in survival mode. We were scared, so we said, “You know what, I’ll accept everyone because I’m just so glad my business is back.”

But here’s the thing—many of my jumpers already hit their 2019 revenue back in August, September, and October. They killed it. But I wonder—are we killing it the right way? Are we one of those trees that needs pruning? Are we growing in all directions like an overgrown rose bush? You’ve got to cut it back to grow stronger.

Inside my free group Jumpstart Your Pet Business, I asked everyone, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how good do you think you are at sales?” Ninety-five percent said they were awesome. They said, “I feel confident telling people how we do things. But if they’re not on board, I’m like, bye, Felicia.” That’s not selling. Telling people what you do is just being a mouthpiece. It’s not solving problems. It’s not figuring out their pain points. It’s just saying, “Hi, I have this and this. Pick one.”

Someone else said, “I’m the same way. People needing these services need to do some research.” But I would encourage you to slow down on that thought. Yes, the world does research now. But my question to you is, what are you doing to educate them? What does your Facebook, Instagram, stories, and reels look like? What is your messaging saying?

There are two key distinctions here: sales and marketing. Marketing brings people into your house; sales is what you do once they’re inside. Marketing gets their attention and creates an emotional connection, but sales is what turns that connection into an exchange of money. What’s happened lately is that people are getting lazy. They think business is a popularity contest—“My business is booming; I just can’t hire enough staff.” No, your problem is your rates are too low, and you’re accepting everyone. When you do that, your business suffocates you. You’re growing unintentionally instead of strategically.

Think about your clients. Which ones are problem children—the ones who take up 80% of your time but only make up 20% of your revenue? Those are the ones to re-evaluate. Everyone says, “We’re the best service in our area.” But how are you showing that? Don’t just say “We’re premier.” That’s fluff. Show it. Maybe your clients say, “I love your team.” Maybe you’re double certified. Maybe you have a no-cancellation guarantee. That’s how you demonstrate value.

Stop saying “We’re the best” and start proving it through your website, marketing, and sales conversations. Go back and listen to the three-part series I did on selling with Aaron Michael Miller—it’s gold.

Now, let’s talk about growth and the economy. Some of you think, “I don’t need to focus on this because I’m growing.” Don’t fool yourself—it’s going to slow down. The wave is receding. Travel is slowing down. The economy is inflated, and a market correction is coming. When that happens, people get cautious.

When I sold Bella’s House and Pet Sitting in 2016, we charged $25 to $35 per visit, and overnights were $125. That was six years ago. If you’re not charging at least $25 now, you’re hurting yourself. If you don’t adjust for inflation and minimum wage increases, you’ll be running a nonprofit soon. And I’ve seen it—strong companies are expanding into multiple states because they built solid foundations. If you’re not profitable, something has to change.

Dog walking is where I see a major shift happening. Operationally, it’s smoother. You work 10–2, office 9–3, mornings and evenings off. You need fewer, better clients—not thousands. One of my clients raised rates from $30 to $42 and didn’t lose business. When her flow slowed down, she panicked—until she ran the numbers and realized she was more profitable than ever.

This isn’t about popularity. It’s not about landing every client. It’s about landing the right clients for the right price. Another client asked, “How do I replace $10,000 a year in overnight income?...

What can a 50% off pet business cyber deal do for you? In this week's Episode, I am going to tell you about the people that have been a part of the Mastermind and my Intensives and how it changed their business. It's the holidays so I am going to keep this short and sweet.

Biggest Takeaways

To show you how much I want to see you and your business grow I am going to offer you 2 discounts this year for cyber Monday.

What is an Intensive?

A one on one 45min zoom coaching session that will help you focus one by one on each goal you are looking to accomplish in your business expansion, with guidance and support. These sessions have helped many pet business owners who have even bought it a second time to keep going.

How Can the Mastermind Help?

The Mastermind is a wonderful place to join a community of other pet business owners that want to brainstorm and document their business's progress and growth. Some of the Mastermind members even share tutorials and help train other business owners on how to use certain software. There is so much opportunity to explore the pet business world.

Show Highlights

One on One Intensives [8:40]

What About the Mastermind? [15:25]

What's the cyber deal? [18:27]

Links

Mastermind

Better Marketing with Bella

Episode #267: How To Make Time For YOU As A Busy Pet Business Owner During The Holidays

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 268 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome everybody. Today, this podcast is dropping to you a day early on Wednesday because guess what? Tomorrow here in the United States is Thanksgiving. Chatting it up with a lot of you this week, whether you are returning clients to Better Marketing with Bella as our doors are open or brand-new people that have been on our wait list and just kind of explaining to you how the program goes for those of you who have not been in the program, something’s been coming up that I thought I would address on the podcast today. This is going to actually help quite a few of you, whether you're at this point or not. This is something that, number one, I know no one else in the industry is talking about. I also know that this is something that could valuably help your mindset and set you up for success if and when you decide to go down this path.

This is something that a lot of us always want to do. It has to deal with replicating ourselves, making mini-mes of ourselves and knowing that we could pass things off and things are taken care of. But this particular topic today is all about how to train a team member, an office manager, a social media manager, a marketing manager, whoever you want to think of for that role, on how to do Facebook and Instagram effectively. Because if you, my friend, want to be a good leader and you want to be successful in having someone “take over” your social media—which is what I hear a lot of people say—then you best bet your bottom dollar that you know what you're talking about. You need to know how to have an educated conversation about it, how to lead, guide, and train them on how to do it—unless you're paying someone a couple thousand dollars a month to do it, which I highly doubt you are. And you must also be able to evaluate their work and give them feedback.

So let's get started because it's not just as easy as handing it over to someone. The common mistakes I see a lot of people make is they just hand it over and someone posts a couple of pictures and they're like, “Hey, look mom, look what I made.” And that’s nice, kid, but it’s not professional. It’s not getting you anything. There’s no strategy behind it, let alone a system. And there sure as heck aren’t any metrics behind it. The metrics that I see a lot of people wrongfully get caught up in are the likes and shares. That means nothing. Did you know that an engagement is simply writing such a great description that someone presses “see more”? People could be pressing “see more” and not writing a comment or liking it, yet that pressing of “see more” still counts as engagement. Does your office manager, social media manager, or team member know that? Are they creating descriptions that are long enough?

Today we're going to talk about this because you don't know what you don't know. And lucky for you, I'm here to tell you what you don't know. I wrote down about six different things here. The first thing you need to do so that you can tell them to do is keeping up with the trends. And when I say trends, I mean the popular stuff that's going on—like “tell me you’re a pet sitter without telling me you’re a pet sitter,” right? But also not just trends, but what is working—and what’s working today isn’t necessarily the same thing that worked last month. For example, last month Facebook came out with being able to post podcasts on the newsfeed. Also, they started reels at only 15 seconds each, and they’re starting to put stories and reels in the feed. What does this mean? I’m not telling you that you have to do that—because I know 80% of you won’t—but you really should be doing it.

If you're going to waste your precious time posting graphics and something that goes along with it, and you're not going to buck up and start doing video like I’ve been talking about for five years, then those graphics need to be on point. The description—the copy—needs to be on point. And if you don’t know what the trends are and what works, you won’t be able to direct your team member, office manager, or social media manager to do it properly.

The second mistake people make is not creating the creative or at least knowing what buckets to create in. I wrote a blog post—“The Secret to Knowing What to Post on Social Media”—and I go into depth there with lots of different ideas. But when you hand this over, you have to give them some sort of guardrail or boundaries. Think of bowling bumpers that make sure you don’t go in the gutter. Your person needs to know what categories or types of things are good to post and what are not. They should have a clear distinction and focus.

Number three: KPIs—key performance indicators. You should already be doing this in your business just to keep a pulse on everything that’s going on. When it comes to social media, you’ve got to pick indicators that will show you if it’s working or not. Not having anything to measure your efforts against is ill-advised. You want ROI—a return on investment. You need to tell your person the results you’d like to see. In social media, that could look like followers, engagement, reach, click-throughs, or interactions. It depends on what you're trying to do. For example, if someone is trying to build awareness, followers might be the key metric. If they’re looking to convert fans into paying customers, it might be different. But you, my jumper, are the business owner. You’re the leader. Be that leader so that when you have your office manager help with social media and nothing happens from it, you’ll know why.

Number four: pick software for video and graphics and then create an SOP around it. Upload all your branding—color numbers, logo, everything. You want consistency in your brand so that when people see your content, they know it’s you. That familiarity builds recognition. To do that, you must test different software platforms that suit your business and budget, then train your people how to use them.

That brings me to my next point: a brand guide. There’s a difference between having a really large logo that takes up one-sixteenth of a picture versus one that takes up one-thirty-second. How big should it be? Where should it go? Also, in the copy—how do you talk to your customer? What do you call their pets? “Fur kids”? “Four-legged loved ones”? What’s your vernacular? What emojis or templates do you always use? Your brand guide defines all this.

You should also use templates for videos and graphics. Don’t assume someone is good at social media because they use it personally—that means nothing in business. And don’t forget hashtags. Avoid broad ones like #dog or #petsitter. They’re too general. Use local hashtags and have hashtag clusters.

Lastly, empower your team. They need to know the goal, whether they’re hitting it, and how to adjust. If you don’t do this, they’ll feel like failures, lose job satisfaction, and that unhappiness will show in your social media—which is your storefront.

Here’s my solution. Many of you have tried to hand off social media to your office manager, and it blew up in your face. So now you want to do Better Marketing with Bella—awesome! But keep that office manager helping. I don’t just mean posting all the assets—20 a month, including videos, blogs, cover photos,...

Picture this: You are so busy you have clients lining up to get your amazing services for the holidays. You are so busy that you start to think.. wait what about my employees? How do I schedule this? What about those plans I made with my family? All these questions and thoughts run through your mind leaving you feeling overwhelmed and confused about how to handle it. What if I told you it doesn't have to be this way. What if there was a way to handle all of this and still make time for you?

Biggest Takeaways

Altogether, this podcast is about setting good expectations, planning for changes in business and systems, and creating boundaries. You started this business for a reason and you have the power to run things how you need to.

Why Did You Start?

Think about why you started your pet business in the first place. This reason alone can provide you with motivation and inspiration to set systems in play that set you up for success and allow you to make time for yourself.

You Have Control

This is YOUR business and you have control over it. You do not have to work for your business it needs to work for you and you have the power to make that happen. When your business works for you making time for you becomes a normal and easy to maintain.

A Valuable Lesson For A Healthier Life

Show Highlights

Remember why you started [11:20]

You have the power [18:20]

Employee and client love [26:55]

Links

JazzHR

Gift Idea Blogs

Mastermind

Better Marketing with Bella

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 267 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let’s get ready and jump. Welcome everybody to another episode of Bella in Your Business. I’m your host, Bella Vasta, and today we’re going to talk about how to make time for you as a busy pet business owner during the holidays. We all know that when the holidays come around, it gets absolutely insane, especially if you’re in the pet industry. Clients are traveling, you’re working long hours, you’ve got staff to manage, and somehow you’re also supposed to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. But how do you actually do that? How do you not lose yourself in all the chaos?

I’m going to give you some real talk today and some practical ways you can create space for yourself without letting your business fall apart or disappointing your clients. The first thing we need to recognize is that your time is your most valuable asset. If you don’t protect it, no one else will. When you’re constantly saying yes to every single client request, every pet visit, or every last-minute booking, you’re actually saying no to yourself, your family, and your mental health.

So, step one: boundaries. I know, I know—you’ve heard it before. But I’m not just talking about saying no. I’m talking about designing your business and schedule in a way that automatically enforces boundaries for you. For example, make sure your booking software has cut-off times for new reservations. Set your communication expectations clearly—something like “We respond to all messages within 24 hours, Monday through Friday.” When people know what to expect, they respect your time more.

Step two: delegate like your sanity depends on it—because it does. You can’t do it all, especially during the holidays. If you have staff, empower them. Let them handle the day-to-day so you can focus on high-level tasks or simply rest. If you don’t have staff yet, consider hiring temporary help or outsourcing some of your personal tasks. Grocery delivery, dog walking for your own pets, or even a cleaning service can free up valuable hours and mental space.

Step three: schedule your personal time as if it were an appointment with your most important client—because it is. Put it on your calendar. Don’t say “I’ll rest when I can.” No, block it off. Whether it’s a morning walk without your phone, an evening bath, a coffee date with a friend, or watching a cheesy Christmas movie—schedule it and honor it.

The fourth thing I want to talk about is guilt. The guilt that comes when you finally take time for yourself. You might be thinking, “If I’m not working, my clients will think I’m lazy,” or “If I take a day off, something will fall apart.” Let me be blunt: that guilt is lying to you. You cannot pour from an empty cup. When you rest and recharge, you show up better for your clients, your team, and your family. The world won’t fall apart because you took a nap or spent the afternoon baking cookies.

Step five: be intentional about the work you’re doing. You might have heard me talk about the “100-Day Client Experience” or systems that make your business run like a machine. When you have strong systems in place, you can step away without everything crashing. Review your SOPs before the holidays. Make sure your team knows what to do if you’re unavailable. This will allow you to actually relax and not constantly check your phone.

And here’s something that I really want you to think about—why did you start your business in the first place? Probably for freedom, flexibility, and more control over your time. But if your business owns you during the holidays, are you really living that out? Your business should serve you, not the other way around.

Now, I know it’s hard to slow down. Trust me, I’ve been there. But you have to decide—do you want to be reactive or intentional? Do you want to end the year burnt out or balanced? The choice is yours, and it starts with one small change at a time.

So here’s your challenge this week: choose one area where you can create more space for yourself. Maybe it’s setting up a clear out-of-office message. Maybe it’s saying no to one more client. Maybe it’s planning a day next week just for you. Do something that honors your time and your well-being.

You deserve joy this season too—not just your clients and their pets. And if you’re listening to this thinking, “Bella, I need help building those systems or setting those boundaries,” that’s exactly what I help my coaching clients with. You don’t have to do this alone.

This has been another episode of Bella in Your Business. Thank you so much for spending this time with me. Remember, when life gets you down, always keep jumping. And happy holidays to you and your loved ones.

So what did you think? Did you love this episode? I sure hope you did because I put a lot of love into this for you. And the best way you can show me that is by going to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you listen to your podcast and go ahead and leave a review. I just might read it on the next episode. I also want to remind you that when life gets you down, remember to always keep jumping. Thanks for listening.

Do you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to setting your prices? What if I were to tell you this is only because of your thinking? Having the proper view of your thinking process can make difficult decisions like price increases a breeze. In this podcast, I'm going to tell you the secret to identifying your way of thinking and how you can have power over it. If you are a subjective thinker you will learn how to become an objective thinker.

Biggest Takeaways

One of the biggest things I see affecting growing business owners is their thinking and the reality they live in day to day. Objective thinking and subjective thinking can be all the difference between your business's success, and potential failure.

Identifying Your Thinking

Subjective thinking is very common when doing something as stressful as running your own business. Knowing the differences between subjective thinking and objective thinking can help you identify when you are thinking subjectively.

Your Objective Reality

To have an objective reality you must be able to identify how you are thinking and open your mind to the possibilities. This will begin to lay the building blocks for creating the objective reality you seek.

Show Highlights

Objective reality vs Subjective Reality [7.00]

Identifying subjective thinking [12.20]

Creating objective reality [19.01]

Let's Connect

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 266 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome back to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta and today we're going to talk about the biggest mistakes that you're making on social media. I see some people right now that they think that they're doing social media, but they're not really doing it at all. They're making some of the biggest mistakes, the rookie mistakes, some people would call them. And I want to make sure that none of you, my loyal, amazing jumper listeners, are ever going to make these mistakes or have this mindset about social media. If this is the first time we are meeting, I have been honored to grace a lot of different stages helping people build their businesses, whether they are working for big corporations or they have their own businesses just like you. And I have been building my business online and teaching Facebook since Facebook came out. I take pride in that and while I might not have the largest amount of followers, it's not a popularity contest. It is about finding your exact niche and your exact kind of people and speaking directly to them. It's about following your analytics and seeing what resonates with your audience and what does not and doubling down and getting away from the other stuff.

So in true Bella fashion, I'm gonna give you as much value as I can in this podcast. That is my promise to you. You are busy and do not have time to hear everything going sideways or long stories. So we're going to keep this short, quick, and dirty. The very first thing that I want to tell you about that I see as a mistake on social media is you're not being real enough. It is so important to be yourself online. And by that, I don't mean tell me every time you go to the bathroom or what you had for breakfast. I don't care. But what I mean is that you have to show up as part of yourself.

I want you to remember that social media is a way that people can stalk you online. Yep, that's what they do. If you are of the mindset to say, “Well, I never get clients off of social media.” Well, yeah, most likely you're not going to unless you're a baller and you show up and you are constantly building and engaging your community. A lot of people aren't using social media for that. And that's okay, because that takes a lot of dedication. It's a long game. It takes strategy and intent. But a lot of my jumpers are just using social media to kind of almost be like another marketing tool, another website or page where people can learn about them. It is an awareness. It is not a sales tool. Does that make sense?

When people are trying to become aware of you, that means they're thinking about giving their house key to you and on your website, you say, “Hey, go look at my Instagram or my Facebook.” When I go there, I better see you. I better not see things from other people. I want to know who you are, what you look like, what you sound like, and who you help serve. It is really important to show up, do stories, and give me that video. One of the biggest mistakes I see is that people just aren't being real enough. They're doing what they have to do to get by, and then they're complaining, “I'm not getting any clients.”

The other thing is that people share other people's content. Stop it—unless you're sharing Better Marketing with Bella content, because come on! There’s actually a really fun story about this. We had a webinar last week—you guys might've been on it—and if you want to still check it out, you can go to jumpconsulting.net/signup. It’s only $7 and teaches you how to get more clients and staff in 2021. On that, Kelly came on towards the end and she was talking to me about how people actually steal her Better Marketing with Bella content, which is graphics with her logo and her branding and her colors on them, and share them on their own pet business Facebook pages. So they're basically advertising for her! Don’t be that person. You can be the person that people want to steal content from, but please don’t share other people’s content because all you’re doing is amplifying their voice and their visuals.

Another mistake I see is people only post pictures of their clients—and by that, I mean pets. When they do this, it just looks like a photo album. Literally a photo album of pets' faces—if they’re good. Most of the time, it’s from far back, bad lighting, weird angles. But regardless, if you’re just showing a bunch of pet photos, I don’t care unless it’s my animal or looks like mine. What I do care about is if you elaborate on an amazing story.

Jody Cooperman from Marionette Dog Nanny did this recently and I loved it. I shouted her out on the Better Marketing with Bella group call. She had a beautiful template announcing new clients, and she told us what the mom was doing and why they needed her services. That was amazing because it appeals to people who might think, “Yes, that’s me.”

Another mistake I see is people post on Instagram and check the little box to share to Facebook. Stop that. It’s like going to China, speaking Russian, and expecting to be understood. Instagram uses hashtags; Facebook doesn’t. It looks lazy and unprofessional.

People also never update their Facebook cover. You used to be able to have video covers, but now it’s static. When you keep it fresh and seasonal, it shows you’re active and invested in your business. Include keywords and your location too.

Another common mistake: people don’t tag others enough—collaborators, rescues, or local partners. Tagging is an easy way to expand your reach and show community involvement.

Social media isn’t about posting and walking away. Respond to comments. Use all the tools available—reels, stories, guides, live videos, carousels.

That’s exactly why I created Better Marketing with Bella. We give you the content, graphics, blogs, and videos you can use across platforms. It takes the creative burden off you so you can focus on running your business.

Right now, doors are open for Better Marketing with Bella. Deliveries start December 15th for the January–June semester. We had some amazing bonuses that ended Sunday—holiday graphics, free mastermind month, a Facebook ads tutorial, Bella School, two months of AgoraPulse, and VA posting services. If you missed it, email me at [email protected] and mention this podcast—I’ll hook you up with those bonuses.

I promise, you won’t find another coach who fights for your business like I do. I cheer for your wins and cry with you when you struggle. I’ll make sure you don’t make these mistakes, and I’ll show you real strategies that work.

Visit jumpconsulting.net/marketing to check out the brand-new page. I’m proud of it—it’s full of real client stories and results. If you ever need anything, just reach out.

I’ll close this episode now—it’s another short one. But like I told you, I won’t talk just to talk. I told you the mistakes—now don’t make them. Always remember, when life gets you down, keep jumping.

So what did you think? Did you love this episode? I sure hope you did because I put a lot of love into this for you. The best way you can show me that is by going to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you listen to your podcast and leave a review. I just might read it on the next episode....

Life learning and mastering the art of sales and the psychology behind it. With all his educational experience and field experience he has learned some tricks over the years to make the process smooth and easy. This technique has enabled him to be able to see how to stand out to a potential client.  Today, he is going to tell you how you can do this too.

Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss

The Right Mindset

The most important thing you can do to increase your chances of success is getting in the right mindset. The Pet Industry is a huge market that is relatively generalized so using your passion for your business is going to stand out when you are talking to a potential client.

How Your Competition Benefits You

Most people think competition is bad, that is can lead to negativity. However, that is not necessarily true. Your competition can teach you so much about your business and style and can even show you where you can improve if you look close enough. Competition can be a major benefit and it is important to know who they are and what they do.

What Can Be Learned

Communicate and ask questions. Find out what problems you can solve and help guide your potential prospects. It is important to be human and use your passion for your business to help these potential clients understand how you are different than your competitors and why you are the best option.

Show Highlights

How to get out of your current mindset [6:55]

What to look for in your competition and how you can leverage it [23.00]

The biggest takeaways from the last 3 Episodes [29.44]

Links:

Blog: Why Rover Is Beating The Professional Pet Sitter

Let's Connect:

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

This is episode 265 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome back to another episode of Bella in Your Business. I just want to say a sincere thank you. Last week we hit a record—there was almost a thousand downloads last week. And I don't know if it's because I did S-H-asterisk-T in the title or what, or if y'all were just really on fire, but I just love it. Keep sharing the podcast, keep giving people tips and tricks. It is really the only podcast in the industry that's going to break down tactically how to do things. I really want to leave you with value. So that's the biggest honor that I can get—seeing that you guys are loving it so much that everyone's downloading it. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Today I want to talk about the biggest mistakes you're making in your social media. And at the end, I'm actually going to bring on a very special guest that I think a lot of you are going to like if my Instagram analytics are any indication. But we were chatting today and I'll tell you more about that in a little bit, but I want to just get into this. I want to do this quick and dirty again. I want to see if any of you guys are making these mistakes and I want to tell you why they're mistakes and get you to think about changing them.

The biggest mistakes you're making on social media is not being real enough. One of the first ones is not being real enough. You're being very corporate or just very talk-at, or very generic. Anyone can say the messages like “We love them like our own” or “We love them like family” and just post bland content. There's no personality behind it. The reason why people are hiring you instead of Rover or Wag, or hiring you instead of your competition, is because they get to know you online. Don't kid yourself—everyone is cyberstalking you. They are looking up your website, your social media. They might even be looking up your own personal name to see what's on your socials if they can see that.

You’ve got to be real. People have to get to know you. They're literally giving you a key or the code to their house and letting you inside their home—which you can't get any more personal than that other than wearing someone's underwear, okay? I mean, literally, some of you are sleeping in their bed. You cannot get any more personal than that. So we’ve got to be real. The other thing is that you've really got to stop sharing other people's content. Maybe once or twice a month is okay if you see something that’s funny, but please don't be one of those companies that are just resharing other people's TikToks or videos that say nothing about your company. All it says is that you are so desperate to get more likes and follows because it’s a vanity metric. People don’t say, “My God, I saw a funny video on your Instagram story and had to call you and hire you because you have the same humor I do.” Come on.

Stop being lazy and stop sharing all this other stuff. There’s no space for that when you have limited opportunities to say things about your own company. All it says is that you’re unoriginal. When you do that, all you’re doing is being a megaphone for them and not for you. You’re stating their own message, whether it be funny or anything—it doesn’t matter what it is—you’re being a megaphone for someone else instead of your own business. So cut it out.

Another mistake you might be making is only posting pictures of cats’ and dogs’ faces. Sure, you get that really close-up cute face, right? You might even take it a step further and edit the photo—but please don’t just be posting pictures of cute faces without telling a story behind it. You’ve got to get into storytelling. When I go to your socials, please don’t just have a bunch of pictures of cute dogs and cat faces, because unless they’re my pets, I really don’t care. And that’s what your viewer is thinking. “Great, you had another dog join you. Great, you had another cat join you.” Who cares? What does that tell them? Unless they understand that their pet parent is exactly like they are—zoomaholics who need you to slip in and out of their house without the dog barking and tire them out—it’s not connecting.

Sometimes you post pictures that are not great quality; maybe you should zoom in on them a little bit more. This week in my class, How to Gain More Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Clients and Staff in 2021, I showed you an exact example of one of my clients who had posted a picture of two cats with their noses touching. I quickly edited the photo, zoomed in on it, and changed the description—and it was night and day with engagement. If you want to see that example, you can grab that workshop. It’s on sale for only $7, and you get a workbook and a lot of extra stuff. Just go to jumpconsulting.net/signup.

Another mistake you need to stop doing is posting whatever you post on Instagram to Facebook. Stop it! It’s like speaking Chinese in Russia and expecting people to understand you. People want to feel different things on different socials. Sure, you can post the same picture, but the way you talk about it is going to be different on Facebook than on Instagram. Don’t forget that.

Another mistake you make is not changing up your cover profile. If your cover profile has been up there forever, it’s time to change it. If it’s not talking about the season or what we’re going through right now—change it. That cover profile is literally the first thing they see; it’s the hero image. When you show that you are professional enough and have the bandwidth to change that regularly, it shows you’re serious about your business.

Also, another problem is on Instagram—not posting a location. That’s part of search, and if you don’t post a location when you post your pictures, you’re missing out. Post where you are—it could be a local dog park or hotspot. It doesn’t have to be your house.

Those are my quick tips to make sure you’re not making those mistakes on social media. I talk about this stuff and a lot more in Better Marketing with Bella. When you sign up, you don’t just get graphics, videos, cover videos, emails, outlines, and talking points for blogs and reels—you also get one one-on-one session with me valued at $495, plus four group calls during the six months. These are hands-on workshops where I literally hook up my phone and show you exactly how to do things.

The results have been amazing—members are getting thousands more views of their content than they would without the program. It’s the season for Better Marketing with Bella. Go to jumpconsulting.net/marketing. Truth be told, my team’s probably going to hate me for saying this—I don’t want you to sign up on that website. I want you to email me at [email protected] and ask for a coupon code. If you’re one of my loyal podcast listeners, I want to hook you up with a better deal than $497 a month for six months.

You’ve been faithful, listening and learning and doing, and you should be rewarded for that. I’m the CEO—I can make that happen....

Aaron Miller is going to continue to share his in-depth knowledge of how to be confident with closing sales. He has been working in sales, marketing, and psychology for 20 years. Being top of his class in school he moved to the top of the workforce in sales and marketing. After spending his life studying sales Aaron Miller has learned when it comes to something you are passionate about it is more consulting than sales.

This technique has enabled him to lose the anxiety with sales and gain the confidence he needed. Today, he is going to tell you how you can be confident too and encourage you to look at the sales process from a new perspective. It looks and sounds scary but when it comes to something you are passionate about you are here to help people and show them you can solve their pet problems.

Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss:

Consult and Discover

The term "Sales" can create stress all on its own. We have to realize it is not sales that we provide as a service we are only consulting to provide a pet sitting or dog walking service. Talk to your prospect, listen to them and what they need, and provide them with services that can solve their problem. Discover what they need and how you can help, this will lead to closing sales more effectively.

Know Where You Are in the Closing Process

The sales process and closing process are different however they intertwine like a dance. sometimes you take 2 steps forward and one step back. It is all about listening and feeling where the prospect is at. The process can be step by step, but many times it is a dance you need to learn how to follow with your prospect if you wish to close the sale.

Be Confident in Offering Your Passion

Typically we started our business because we are passionate about pets and you need to use this to be confident. You can be an expert in sales, just look at all the time you were sold something, why did you buy it?

Show Highlights

What do people do wrong with closing sales? [7.00]

How to up your game when closing with email or in writing [11.00]

What is a micro close? [18.05]

How to encourage you to be confident in sales [26.50]

Let's Connect:

Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

Click on ‘Write a Review’'

Are You New Here?

Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare, or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below.

Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here.

Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here.

Transcript:

Here comes episode number 264 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. Ready, because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.

So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta and today I'm doing something really interesting. I'm actually recording this inside the Jump Mastermind because when I'm done recording this, I want to have a discussion with all the Mastermind members that are going to be listening. But I got something to say this week, and every week I just think about what has really fired me up. This week, it's about sales. It's still about sales. Sales has been something that's been on my mind pretty deep because I think that a lot of us are living in a false sense of reality right now. And I'm here to kind of shake you awake and make you realize that a lot of you say you can sell your services, but can you really? We're going to talk about that today because I think it's really, really important.

Right now, we are coming out of the avalanche. This summer was incredible, right? My gosh, everyone got out of quarantine for the most part. People started traveling a lot—people who weren’t even traveling before. The pets that were adopted were surrendered and then readopted, so that was even more new pet parents. We just had this influx of business, and the biggest problem that a lot of my jumpers have had is, “My gosh, we can’t hire enough.” It had nothing to do with “I need to get more clients.” It was, “I need to hire.” Can you relate to that? I want to know, can you relate to that?

Now, a couple of episodes ago, we had Aaron Michael Miller on. He is a 20-year veteran of sales and really skilled at teaching people how to sell—not just individuals but teams of people for a company. He’s taken people who were picking up the trash at movie theaters to selling thousands of dollars of vacations at Hilton Rentals or at car dealerships. It’s fascinating because it’s not just about you and me knowing how to sell, but my jumpers who are scaling their business—that have office managers, employees, and teams—whether you realize it or not, they are your salespeople. We need to acknowledge that because if you do, it’s going to get so much easier and more lucrative for your business.

If you understand exactly how to sell, you'll start attracting and collecting the exact kind of clients you want. Then I won’t hear you saying, “My God, there’s this client. Every Friday she books five walks for the upcoming week, and then by Sunday night, she cancels four of them.” Why is this even a problem? That’s not a person we even want as a client. But what happened this year is that many of us were living in survival mode. We were scared, so we said, “You know what, I’m just going to accept everyone right now because I’m just so glad my business is back.” But you know what happened? A lot of my jumpers already achieved their 2019 revenues back in August, September, and October. They’ve already killed it. But the thing is, are we killing it the right way? Are we one of those trees that actually needs to be pruned back? Are we growing out in all directions like an overgrown rose bush? You’ve got to cut it back.

Inside my free group, Jumpstart Your Pet Business—if you’re not in there and not in the Mastermind, go join it—I asked everyone, “On a scale of one to ten, how good do you think you are at sales?” And you know what they said? Ninety-five percent said they were awesome. They said, “I feel confident telling people how we do things. If they’re not on board, I’m like, bye, Felicia.” That’s not selling. Telling people what you do is just being a mouthpiece. It’s not solving problems. It’s not figuring out their pain points and having a conversation that meets their needs. It’s just saying, “Hey, my name is Bella, I have the Mastermind and Better Marketing with Bella, and I have downloadable products—pick one.” No! We’re not a vocal menu board.

And saying, “I don’t need to sell them” is also the wrong mindset. Someone said, “People needing these types of luxury services should do their research.” Sure, but my question to you is—what are you doing to educate them? What does your Facebook or Instagram look like? What are your stories and reels showing?

Let’s agree on two things right now—the difference between sales and marketing. Marketing is what brings people into your house; sales is what you do when they’re in your house. Marketing gets their attention and creates emotion around your brand. Sales turns that emotion into an exchange of money. What’s happened this year is that people are getting lazy. They think business is a popularity contest. They say, “My business is booming. I just can’t hire enough staff.” No, your problem is that your rates are too low and you’re accepting everyone. When you do that, your business suffocates you. You’re growing unintentionally, not strategically.

Think about your clients—the problem children that take 80% of your time but only make up 20% of your clientele. Everyone says, “We’re the best service in the area.” That’s nice, but how are you showing that? Are you saying “We’re the premier dog walker”? That’s fluff. Are you showing screenshots of client testimonials? Are you demonstrating value by saying your staff is double-certified, or that you have a no-cancellation guarantee? Stop saying “We’re the best” and start proving it.

Some of you might be thinking, “I don’t need to focus on this because I’m growing.” Don’t fool yourself—it’s going to slow down. The wave is receding. Travel is slowing down, inflation is high, and a correction is coming. When that happens, people will spend less.

When I sold Bella’s House and Pet Sitting in 2016, we charged $25–$35 per visit and $125 for overnights. If you’re not charging at least $25 now, you’re hurting yourself. As inflation rises and wages go up, you can’t make pricing decisions based on feelings. This isn’t a volume business; it’s a quality business. Healthy companies are expanding across states because they built strong foundations. If you’re not profitable, something has to change.

I see a shift happening—many businesses are moving toward dog walking because the operations are cleaner. You can run from 10–2, your office is open 9–3, and you get evenings, mornings, and weekends off. You don’t need thousands of clients; you just need the right ones. One of my clients raised rates from $30 to $42 and didn’t lose flow. She was scared at first, but after running the numbers, she found she was more profitable than ever.

...