Bella In Your Business: Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Podcast

When we talk about marketing, there is truly an endless arena of ideas and tactics that we can use for pet business owners to get our name and our brand out there. It can be digital or old-fashioned pounding of the pavement. It can be print or even just a simple graphic on social media. But, which one is going to get me the best bang for my buck? Which one is going to help me grow my business? 

On this episode, Bella sits down with Erika Godwin to take a look at all things bootstrap marketing and advertising for pet sitting businesses. After delving into the world of what makes up a good advertising campaign, Bella shares some of her own personal successful advertising methods that she used in her pet sitting company. Erika Godwin is the Co-Founder and the Chief Marketing Officer of ProPet Software, a boarding kennel, dog daycare and pet grooming management software. She is also an expert on website creation, maintenance, and SEO.

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss

There are a number of major problems that pet businesses run into when it comes to advertising. A lot of the time, pet business owners have HUGE time constraints. They're in the field 10-14 hours a day and are just too tired to work on the business itself. Money also poses an issue, as it can be confusing how much or how little to spend - or there's just nothing in the budget at all for advertising. Sometimes pet business owners are afraid. They don't want to do it wrong, lose money, or run the risk of not finishing what they started.

For any successful advertising campaign, there are a few key items that need to be looked at. These usually consist of: correct advertisement placement, use of brand colors, use of white space, a specific message, and a specific call to action (CTA). More information about defining your message for your pet sitting or dog walking business can be found here.

Pet sitters & dog walkers need to know what they are selling (hint: it is NOT pet sitting or dog walking!). When we look at the big picture, pet sitters are actually selling peace of mind (that you will show up), trust (that you won't steal from them), and security (that you will keep their information secure). Understanding this mindset and tailoring your advertising to play off of it is key.

There are a couple of different ways that we can sell emotions through our advertising. Usually, this is done through colors and images. Different images can elicit different emotions depending on whether you're using stock photos, professional photos, or even just the casual selfie. All of these can be effective in their own ways, but all of them must be relevant and timely.

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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

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Transcript:

This is episode 106 of Bella in Your Business. The next series of episodes are from a previously recorded live event training series that Erica Goodwin and I did together. The following is a past recording, but the information is just as juicy. I hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella's got your chute. Let's jump. Boom! Here we are. I think we are on Facebook. Erica, say hi. Hey guys, how’s it going?

This is an absolutely free training that Erica and I are doing, and we want to welcome you. This is called the Jump into Barketing Training, and we're your hosts, Erica Goodwin from the Barketing Blog and Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. Erica, for those of you who don't know her, you need to go like and follow her. She’s the co-founder of ProPet Software, kennel management software in the pet industry. And I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting, a pet business speaker, author, and coach who's been helping pet businesses since 2007.

Erica and I created this training together. We actually have twelve trainings coming to you, and this is the second one. The first one was about keywords on your website. Kristen said that in just two days after following that training, she was already in the local pack for dog walkers and pet sitters. If you don’t know what I mean by “local pack,” go watch that show—it’s something so easy you can do, and people are already emailing and messaging us with great success stories.

Today, we’re talking about bootstrap marketing ideas for your pet business to gain over $10,000 in additional revenue. We also want to let you know that the show is sponsored by Barketing Solutions websites and Better Marketing with Bella.

Erica: Barketing Solutions are websites specifically designed for the pet industry. We use a template system to offer affordable, professional websites that are fast and rank high in search engines and local packs. You choose your template, send us your branding and photos, and we customize it for you. We handle all your updates, maintenance, and security so you don’t have to worry about it.

Bella: Her program is amazing because with my Better Marketing with Bella program—which is also sponsoring this series—I provide Facebook video covers, square videos, blog posts, emails, branded graphics, coaching calls, Zoom calls, and editorial photos every month for six months. The reason I can say Erica’s program is amazing is because somehow both of our programs work together. Many of my clients in Better Marketing with Bella have Erica post their content on their websites in a way that becomes Google’s best friend. Together, it’s the perfect partnership.

We’re going to get into today’s show. The topic is bootstrap marketing ideas to gain an extra $10,000 per year. So, what are the problems most pet businesses face when it comes to advertising? The biggest one is time. You’re in the field, walking dogs, running your business, and by the end of the day, you’re mentally exhausted. Many pet business owners are working 10–14 hours a day, and the last thing you have energy for is advertising. You’re tired.

I remember those days—barely having time to eat, living on drive-thru meals. You want to grow, but you’re drained. Another problem is money. Many of us are bootstrapping—scraping together $100 here or there, hoping a $30 ad brings some return. There’s also fear: fear of wasting money, fear of doing it wrong, fear of looking unprofessional. Maybe you’re staring at Canva or PicMonkey, overwhelmed by design rules and ad guidelines.

Erica: Right, and even if you design something nice, there are still so many rules. Like, if there’s too much text, Facebook won’t show it as much. Print ads versus Facebook ads are two different languages entirely.

Bella: Exactly. So what do we need to make advertising work? There are a few essentials: placement, branding colors, message, and a specific call-to-action. Placement matters—both online and offline. Your branding colors matter too. They create recognition and emotional connection. Imagine Apple suddenly using green and blue instead of gray and white—it would feel wrong. Consistency builds trust.

Your message should be clear. Don’t clutter your ad with too much information. You’ve seen those where everything is crammed—website, phone, social handles—it’s visual chaos. Simplify.

Now, what are we actually selling? Here’s a trick question: when you advertise, what are you selling? It’s not dog walking or litter scooping. You’re selling peace of mind, trust, and security. Those are emotional values. People want to know they can rely on you to show up and that their pets and homes are safe.

Erica: Exactly. And if your online presence doesn’t reflect that reliability—like if your Facebook or Twitter is outdated—it creates doubt. Millennials especially check your online consistency. If you invite them to your website or social media and it’s inactive, it’s like inviting someone into your house and forgetting to offer water.

Bella: Exactly! When selling peace of mind and trust, your visuals and tone matter. Use your brand colors consistently. And remember, not every photo needs to be a stock image. Sometimes a selfie or candid shot is more authentic.

Erica: On Instagram, for example, knowing your audience is key. Millennials engage differently than retired couples. Show behind-the-scenes moments—how you care for pets, how your team works, your passion. Selfies make you relatable.

Bella: Totally. Even if you don’t walk dogs personally anymore, show your workspace or your own pets. Let people see the human side of your business.

Now, here’s a success story. We created “Bark Cards,” which are postcards left on doors where dogs bark. On the front is a funny, eye-catching image—a barking dog with “Bark! Bark! Bark!” all over it. On the back, there’s space to handwrite something like, “I think it was a small dog barking? ?” That one handwritten note transforms you from a solicitor into a caring neighbor.

It continues: “While we were walking your neighbor’s dog, he was asking, ‘Please take me for a walk too!’ Give us a call and we’ll replace the barking with tail wagging.” These cards cost under $100 to print and design. One client handed out 100, got 7–8 calls, and signed 4 new clients—earning an extra $10,000 a year from that one campaign.

Erica: That’s incredible. And so simple.

Bella: Exactly. You can even incentivize employees with small bonuses for every new client from a Bark Card. There are other creative local marketing ideas too—like sidewalk chalking near dog parks with temporary messages about your services. One sitter did that and got calls.

Erica: I also love using Snapchat filters for dog parks. You can buy a custom geofilter for about $20 for the day. Everyone who takes a Snap at the park will see your filter—great exposure!

Bella: That’s genius!...

Sometimes it can be hard to choose the right terms for Google. There have been a lot of changes in search behavior and search guidelines in the last few years, and they’re constantly evolving. So, you’ve got to understand how to research and use keywords in the current environment which will help you rank for the right search terms on your pet business website. And this is exactly what we are tackling today!

On this episode, Bella sits down with Erika Godwin. Erika Godwin is the Co-Founder and the Chief Marketing Officer of ProPet Software, a boarding kennel, dog daycare and pet grooming management software. She is also an expert on website creation, maintenance, and SEO.

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss:

What you need to know about how local searches work [3:00]

What’s the point of ranking #1 for a search term if it’s not what your potential customers are searching for? Google and most other search engines use three facto help generate their search results.

Relevance: How close your business matches to the search terms

Distance: If location is added to a search term, Google will calculate based on their location

Prominence: How well known is the business? This is based on information Google collects from across the web from data such as Links, Articles, Directories, Google Review Count + Score.

What is a site crawler and how does it pertain to search terms? [6:00]

Site Crawling and Sitemaps (A web crawler (also known as a web spider or web robot) is a program or automated script which browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner. This process is called Web crawling or spidering. Many legitimate sites, in particular, search engines, use spidering as a means of providing up-to-date data).

How does this help you? How often do you need to update your sitemap?  - The most important thing is to let Google know when you have a new website. Use the internal link and fresh content, such as blogs, to help get more crawling on your site, but you don’t have to update every day. Link old blogs to new blogs, it helps Google crawl your site for search terms. Then Google will more easily find your site when people in your area search for that.

Make sure Google knows your location and services you offer:

Google Business and Google+: Based on the searchers' location, Google will serve them results based on relevancy. So if you search ‘pet sitter near me’ and you live in Dallas - it won’t show you pet sitters in Seattle.

Local Pack + Localized Organic [20:00]: All different things that will show up on your search engine. You want to find the biggest proximity signals, the links below will help you learn the difference between the two and how to utilize them. Don’t look spammy or overuse keywords. Make sure the keyword is used naturally no matter what. You want a natural flow.

 

 

What are the different types of keywords and how do I use them? [10:00]

1) Head Keywords - basic / big search vol but competitive and may not be worth it

2) Body Keywords - go after more, more descriptive, not searched as often and less comp

3) Long Tail Keywords - a lot of people search for them. A long question like keywords ranks higher. “Should I...” questions are blowing up the internet now.

Should I Pay For More Than One Keyword? [14:45]

 One keyword is a better focus, but make it a general topic. Google often bridges the gap for the other keywords, your website is probably just wanting to optimize the one keyword that is the most important.

So, how do know what our customers are searching for? It will fluctuate every day, there are too many factors to know exactly, but there are tools to use that help us.

Use a tool for search volume research SE Ranking tools (links below) for keywords you think your client base may be interested in.

Find top 5 competitors and plug them into a software for ranking to find out more about how they are doing with their keywords. Stalk your competitors!

Don’t blindly blog! With this knowledge, you’ll be able to write blogs that get down to the level of your clients and what they are looking for.

Utilize your keywords with your images too! Google image searches are on the rise. Make sure you name your photo offline (in your documents), then describe the image, use ALT text, location, services featured, etc. Anything your website will let you add to the image to describe it, use it to help populate that image in a search.

 

Links & Resources

Local Search Ranking Factors: https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

Keyword Suggestion tools: https://seranking.com/keyword-suggestion-tool.html - https://keywordtool.io/

Competitor Research:  https://online.seranking.com/research.html  https://www.spyfu.com/

Moz Local SEO - https://moz.com/learn/seo/local

Local Link Building - https://moz.com/learn/seo/local-outreach-and-link-building-video

Wordpress Plugin - https://yoast.com/

Premium Local SEO Plugin - https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/local-seo/ $69 per year

Find Erika at: http://goo.gl/ahGBGZ

Transcript:

Bella: Hey, hey, hey, this is episode 105 of Bella In Your Business. The next series of episodes are from a previously recorded live event training series that Erica Goodwin and I did together. The following is a past recording, but the information is just as juicy. I hope you enjoy it. Welcome to Bella In Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella's got your chute. Let's jump.

You guys, we are doing this first training together and I am so excited to bring this to you. Like I said earlier, we are actually broadcasting live on Instagram on the Barketing Blog channel. What we're doing is Erica and I are coming together for the very first time on this kind of live thing and we are so excited because what we're going be doing is giving you training for the next twelve weeks. And it's going to be really amazing. We are going to be bringing to you the topic today, which is ranking with Google, basically, because what Erica found out as she's doing all of these websites is that we're doing the wrong search terms. Before we get into it, Erica, why don't you explain to everyone who you are and where you're located?

Erica: My name is Erica. For those of you that don't know, I am in the capital of Canada up here in Ottawa, where it's nice and chilly on this first day of spring. My background in the pet industry comes from the software side. I'm a co-founder of ProPet Software, which is a kennel management software. From there, I met Bella and got into websites and business and kind of tackle it from both sides now with Barketing Solutions. So that's who I am and my background.

Bella: That's awesome. Yes, Erica is very talented, you guys. If you're not following her on Instagram, go to Barketing Blog. If you are, that's awesome. Just get her on your feed because I learn from her every single day. She's amazing. As well as if you're looking for websites, that's awesome. What I do is I've been in the industry for eleven years now. Good gracious. I started in 2007, and what I do is I help pet sitting and dog walking businesses mainly expand their businesses. So they've already started and they're looking to bring on employees and get bigger. And that's what I spend my days doing. I don't work a day in my life because it's so much fun, and I get to do cool things like this with you all.

So today's topic is basically how to figure out the keywords on your website, because a lot of us are doing this incorrectly, myself included. We thought that we would kick off this training series with this particular one because it's so super important. A lot of us are spinning our wheels, and unless we truly understand the magnitude that this could help or hurt us, then we're really just wasting our time. And none of us want to waste our time, right? So, Erica, I want you to take it away here. I want to understand first, like how does the search local work? Because all of us pet businesses are all local searches. So all this stuff we learn about these national searches don't apply. So talk to us about local searches.

Erica: The way that Google works is they have three different factors that they look for in local search. The first one is relevance. That is how relevant your website is to the search terms that the person's looking for. The other one is distance—what kind of proximity you are from the person that's searching. So if they just search “pet sitter,” then Google will use their IP address and determine where they're located, and then find results based on that. So it's important to make sure that your location is everywhere and that you have your Google My Business set up. You should have a Google Map on your website. You can go into Google Maps and they have a feature where you can embed a map of your location. If any of my website clients are here, if you do that, send me the snippet and we'll get that on your website. That also helps with local search. And then prominence—how prominent is your business? Some that are more prominent offline, Google tries to find them to get that in front of you.

Bella: The links that you're getting, articles to blogs—so if you get a newspaper article in your local city, anything valuable that links to your website, that all bumps you up in the search engines. It's all about local. And another thing is reviews, your review counts, and the review score that you have. The more reviews you have with the better rating, that all helps. So there are so many factors. It's ridiculous. And there’s the local pack—that’s the top three listings under the map when you search local. Those have different ranking factors than the organic search below it.

So you’re telling me that the map—the people that show up on the map—thos

Our guest today is the founder, owner, and operator of a very busy dog walking company in Hoboken, New Jersey, Heather Gaida. She started walking dogs in 2006 when she was working on her master's degree in education. Upon graduating, she loved walking dogs SO much that she decided to continue dog walking instead of going into teaching. She prides herself on holding her business to very high standards and is passionate about providing the best pet care around. She is always looking for ways to improve her business's systems, technology, training, and development for the team.

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss

If you feel overwhelmed in your business and like you're just spinning your wheels, consider a complete overhaul of your business. It might sound terrifying, but you can truly come out of it with some INCREDIBLE results. This may include raising your prices, developing an employee handbook and training manual, and really narrowing down the services you provide. If we focus on too many things, then NOTHING gets 100% of your attention. Don't try to be everything to everyone!

Do you live in a metropolitan area and feel like you're constantly hiring and hiring and hiring? Our guest found a unique solution to this problem by hiring a human resource manager. An HR manager keeps an eye on where you need more staff or even have too much. They also make sure there is a steady stream of interviews coming in. While it might not work for everybody, it may work for you! This is just one of the unique ways he has been scaling a dog walking business.

Show Highlights

Who is our guest and what is her business? [1:45]

At what point did you realize that you needed a complete overhaul of your business? How did you start scaling a dog walking business? [4:00]

When you first started your business, what were all of the services you were trying to provide & what did you end up narrowing them down to? [6:20]

How did your life and your business change once you started saying NO to everyone else? [7:00]

When did you realize that there were certain functions of your business that you needed to delegate? [9:15]

What are some of the biggest mistakes you made in your business and what did you do to rectify them? [12:00]

Describe some of your best delegation tips for somebody that's terrified of that word or has tried it before and failed? [16:45]

What are some of your long-term goals and where do you see yourself in a few years? [21:00]

Links

Join the Jump Mastermind

Share The Show

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’

Transcript:

This is episode 104 of Bella In Your Business. The next series is going to be a bunch of interviews with amazing pet sitters that I know will motivate and inspire you in your business. From time to time, I interview incredible pet sitters who have faced some really amazing challenges that have inspired me and I know will inspire you. If you know of anyone who has an amazing story to share and is a pet sitting or dog walking business owner, I'd love to hear from you. Just email me at [email protected]. Until then, enjoy this next episode.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella discusses anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, your host with Jump Consulting, and today I have a longtime client—and I think now a friend—Heather from Trusty Tails in Hoboken, New Jersey, and soon to be other places as well. Heather, welcome to the show.

Heather: Thank you.

Bella: I am so excited to have you on today because every time we work together, you inspire and motivate me. You have come such an incredibly long way, just building and building and building. Even that short time you were in the mastermind, you inspired everyone in there. They wanted to know all about your story and how you’re able to do what you do. So today, that’s what I really want to unpack with you if you’d be so kind to allow me to. But before we get deep into it, let our listeners know more about who you are—how you started your business, how big it is, maybe give them a comparison and overview.

Heather: My name is Heather Gaida. I started my business back in 2006 while I was in grad school to become a teacher. My business just kept getting bigger and bigger. Before I knew it, I had a business partner and then I had employees. We would split the walks. About three years into it, I decided that I wanted to have kids, so I had to ramp up to make the same amount of money while being home with my children. That was the whole reason I started this business—to have flexibility to be the kind of mom who could be there for her children.

My business now fluctuates between 25 and 40 staff depending on the season. We're in the busy season now, so we’re ramping up. I cover all of Hudson County, I’ve crossed over into Manhattan, and my human resources manager moved to Savannah a couple years ago. We recently decided to take on clients there. I’m down in Savannah now with three employees and some clients. We take care of chickens and all kinds of animals we don’t usually see in an urban environment. It’s kind of exciting.

Bella: There’s so much you said there that I want to unpack. I know a lot of our listeners can relate to being a “mompreneur,” right? Trying to figure out how to take the kids along on pet sits, make dinner, run errands, pick the kids up from school, and still run a business. Can I have it all? I love that your “why” started with those kiddos—they’re adorable boys.

Heather: Seven and nine.

Bella: That’s so sweet. You have a habit of just walking through doors, girlfriend. You walk through, decide if it’s for you, and if not, you can always turn around and walk back out. So at what point did you realize you needed an overhaul?

Heather: I think it was when things got so overwhelming that I wasn’t making any money and couldn’t figure out why. I was doing so many things wrong—my pricing was terrible, I was taking on everyone and doing everything for everyone. I didn’t have defined services; I’d say yes to everything—pet taxi, errands, baths—rather than focusing on core services. Once I narrowed things down, my business became manageable.

Bella: So your mindset shifted from “how can I serve everyone?” to “how can I serve my family and make this business work for me.”

Heather: Exactly. It was hard at first, but once I focused on a few key things, everything changed. I became an expert at those and learned to delegate.

Bella: What kinds of things were you doing before you streamlined?

Heather: Baths, working with animals my team wasn’t qualified for, saying yes to clients we shouldn’t have taken. Now I focus on the pets we’re trained to handle and refer others out when needed.

Bella: How did your life change when you started saying no to people?

Heather: I had more time—time to focus on running my business efficiently. I also learned to delegate. You encouraged me to hire a human resources manager because I was constantly hiring in a transient area. That was the best thing I ever did. My HR manager loves writing processes and tracking hiring needs. We now have a steady stream of interviews and a structured hiring process.

Bella: Many people say, “I can’t afford an HR manager.” What would you say to them?

Heather: Start small. Hire part-time or remote. My HR manager started at a few hours a week. You just have to decide what tasks to offload. Hiring someone for what you’re not good at frees you to focus on revenue-generating work.

Bella: Exactly. You solved one of the biggest pain points in pet sitting—hiring. You found someone who loves it. That’s rare!

Heather: It’s true. Most people don’t enjoy it. But now, my HR manager handles interviews, hiring, and terminations.

Bella: And that freed you to focus on marketing, client service, and growth—which is why your business has scaled so fast.

Heather: Yes.

Bella: Let’s talk about mistakes. Tell me about a big blunder you learned from.

Heather: Last year was tough. My husband and I moved out of town, and I hired a full-time manager to run things. It worked for six months until she started mismanaging everything. Thirteen people quit in one month due to frustration. I fired her and took back control. Then I created an org chart with my HR manager, promoted team leads as neighborhood managers, gave them stipends, their own Google Voice numbers, and limited system access. I also hired a key manager for handling keys daily. Now, turnover is almost nonexistent. Everyone feels in control and supported.

Bella: That’s brilliant. Most people would’ve frozen in fear after that kind of loss. You rebuilt and decentralized your management structure. That’s leadership.

Heather: I actually got the idea from another pet sitting company. I talked to people with bigger companies and adapted their ideas to fit mine.

Bella: And that’s the difference—you weren’t afraid to try. You fail, learn, and pivot.

Heather: Exactly. What’s the worst that can happen? You try again.

Bella: What are your delegation tips for people scared to let go?

Heather: Don’t give it all away at once and don’t give it all to one person. Everyone wants to grow. Giving sitters small leadership roles makes them feel valued. It gives them ownership and upward mobility.

Bella: And you created that structure while freeing yourself. You now travel—RV trips, overseas trips.

Heather: Yes, I’m actually leaving for Morocco tomorrow for two weeks.

Bella: That’s amazing. You’re the example of what many people dream of—building a business that runs without them.

...

Sarah El Sherbini is a lifelong pet lover with an entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in design, she didn’t become a designer. She went full force into the pet care industry, launched PetsGo Pet Care in 2015, and never looked back. PetsGo provides complete and total peace of mind every day to the busy pet parents of Toronto. Learn more about Sarah and her pet sitting company at her website: www.mypetsgo.ca

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss

Our businesses can cause us a lot of stress, trouble, and burnout. That's why it's so important to find your "why" and hold on to it whenever you feel like giving up. Nothing is more important than your physical and mental health. Talking to your family, friends, or even a therapist can help get you through these rough patches in your business.

Sometimes the first therapist we go to may not be a good fit. That doesn't mean therapy doesn't work! Usually, we have to go through multiple therapists until we find the one that is able to best help us be the best versions of ourselves. If you've ever tried therapy and think it doesn't work and are struggling, try to be open-minded and try it again with a different person or modality. You spend so much time with yourself, so why not learn how to talk to yourself? Sometimes we just need help framing things in the right way, instead of allowing the world to frame things for us.

The 5 Second Rule is a term coined by Mel Robbins. It means that if you feel that you need to do something, but feel yourself hesitating, you count down from 5 and then you do it! It seems so simple, but it's not always easy.

 

Show Highlights

How did you know that you weren't okay and why? [3:30]

How did you accept that "it's okay not to be okay," and how did you move on from that? [8:30]

Has Mel Robbins' book, The 5 Second Rule, had an impact on the way you run your business and see your life? [12:00]

What happened to your business when you took your foot off of the accelerator and put it on cruise control instead? [14:00]

 

 

Links:

Sarah's Website: http://www.mypetsgo.ca/

The Jump Mastermind: https://jumpconsulting.net/jump-mastermind

Remember to use coupon bella25 for $25 off your monthly membership!

The 5 Second Rule: https://www.amazon.com/Second-Rule-Transform-Confidence-Everyday/dp/1682612384

Share The Show

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’

Transcript:

This is episode 103 of Bella In Your Business. The next series is going to be a bunch of interviews with amazing pet sitters that I know will motivate and inspire you and your business. From time to time, I interview incredible pet sitters who have faced some really amazing challenges that have inspired me and I know will inspire you. If you know of anyone who has an amazing story to share, who is a pet sitting or dog walking business owner, I'd love to hear from you. Just email me at [email protected]. Until then, enjoy this next episode.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump.

Bella: Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta with Jump Consulting, and today I have another pet sitter spotlight. I'm really excited to introduce you to an incredible person I really admire, Sarah El-Sherbini up in Toronto. Sarah, how are you?

Sarah: I'm good. How are you guys doing?

Bella: We're awesome here. I want you to explain to our audience a little bit about who you are, where you're from, and a little bit about your business.

Sarah: My name is Sarah El-Sherbini and I'm from Egypt. I started my business after graduating from design and realizing I didn’t want to be a designer. I wanted to work with pets, and that was three years ago. I've been trucking along ever since.

Bella: And you're not actually in Egypt anymore; you're up in Toronto, right?

Sarah: Yeah, we’re serving pet owners in the city of Toronto in Canada.

Bella: Awesome. For all of you geographically stumped people here in the U.S., that’s on the East Coast. I didn’t know that until about a year ago when I started getting lots of friends in Toronto. Now I know exactly where you are.

Sarah: Yeah.

Bella: So you’re traveling far to get to the retreat! Because Sarah’s actually coming with us to the Jump into Paradise retreat. It’s the first retreat of its kind. We rented a mansion here in Arizona, and we’ve got twelve people coming for a weekend getaway. I’m so excited—it’s completely sold out.

Listen, you guys, I wanted Sarah to come on here to share her story because of this Pet Sitter Spotlight. I wanted to highlight people that go through things that a lot of others do. As a coach, I feel like I hold everyone’s secrets. Sarah, when you were so bold and vulnerable in the mastermind a couple months ago, I had so much admiration for you because you were transparent and brave. I wanted to have you on because I know there are others out there feeling the way you did.

Let’s take it back to that day in the mastermind. You boldly got on camera in our safe space where we all support each other and said you weren’t okay. Can you take me back to where you were then?

Sarah: That was almost exactly two months ago. I was in a pretty bad place mentally. I was considering closing my business. I’d been struggling by myself for about three weeks, not knowing what to do. I thought I was going to close the business tomorrow, so I might as well tell everybody. I had been in therapy before, and when I talked with my therapist, she said something that lit a light bulb for me—she said I was talking about my business like it was an abusive partner. She said I was a little obsessed with it, that it caused me a lot of stress and burnout, and asked why I kept doing it. She was steering me toward closing the business, saying it’d be better for my health.

I got on camera and was really upset because I didn’t want to close my business. It’s my baby that I’d created over the last two and a half years. It was finally growing, I had an employee, things were starting to roll along, and we were actually making money. I felt like I was going to lose everything. So I got on camera and said, “I’m not okay.” I wasn’t planning to film myself—it just happened. I think I was trying to explain why I’d been absent from the group because before that, I was full speed ahead, doing all the challenges and engaging with everyone. I’d burnt myself out and crashed.

Then I guess what happened afterward surprised me—the magnitude of the response. Comments started pouring in seconds after I posted, from you, from so many people, from my accountability partner. I got private messages, emails, even a phone call from New York City. It was so touching—the reaction to me simply sharing my struggle and being open.

Bella: The theme I remember was that we were all telling you it’s okay not to be okay. Everyone reached out because we’ve all felt that way, except none of us were brave enough to show it like you did. You were crying on camera, which was so strong and real.

You got all this amazing support and even had your therapist telling you one thing. What was beautiful was that people in your area, Pam and Charlene, said, “Go take time off. We’ll cover your walks.” They told you they’d brainstormed about it and even considered taking over your software if needed.

Sarah: Yeah. Thankfully I didn’t need that help, but knowing they had my back meant everything. It was more help than I could’ve asked for.

Bella: That kind of support is unheard of. So you had this realization that you weren’t okay. How did you accept that and start moving forward?

Sarah: Posting that video made it real. After I posted it, I felt a lot of relief because my struggle was public and now my recovery would be too. It was a turning point. I told my husband Jake, “It’s real now, and now I have to rebuild.” I called my doctor, got an appointment, and talked honestly. She helped me feel like it was okay, that I wasn’t alone. Posting that video pushed me to make real changes. We started a new treatment plan, and I stopped seeing my therapist at the time because it wasn’t the right fit.

Bella: That’s such a good point. I’ve had therapy myself, and sometimes the first therapist just isn’t the right fit. If you’ve tried therapy and think it doesn’t work, maybe it wasn’t the right person, time, or method.

Sarah: Exactly. Seeing my doctor ended up being more helpful. She put me on anti-anxiety medication, and I’m not ashamed to say that. Like Mel Robbins says, it’s like giving insulin to someone with diabetes—it’s treatment. At first, I saw her twice a week, then once a week, and now only as needed. I can’t believe all this has happened in two months. Two months ago felt like the sky was falling.

Bella: That’s amazing. You mentioned Mel Robbins. Did her book The 5 Second Rule play a role in your recovery?

Sarah: Yeah. I hadn’t actually read it before, but I listened to her audiobook through May. It was so inspiring, especially her sections about anxiety. It was there at the right place and time for me. I used it to get to my appointments, to keep my business running even when I wasn’t in growth mode.

Bella: I love that. Sometimes as business owners we feel we always need to be growing, but sometimes the goal is just to maintain. What happened when you took your foot off the gas and went on cruise control?

Sarah: After posting the video, you and I had a coaching call where you helped me see it was okay to slow down. For the first quarter, I’d been pushing for growth, hiring, expanding....

Laura Wright is the owner and founder of PAWright Pet Services. She started this business in 2012 with her husband, Erik, after she was laid off from an insurance company. Neither of them wanted to start over in the corporate world. Since they both had extensive experience with animals, they decided to begin a pet-related company. After Erik passed away, Laura struggled with finding the inspiration and motivation to keep going. Today, Laura describes how she was able to persevere and explode her business after such a tumultuous time.

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss

How did you make your first leap from going solo to hiring empl0yees? [3:00]

What was your first experience like hiring a bookkeeper and a CPA? [7:00]

How did you deal with the death of your spouse in terms of deciding to continue on the business? [11:15]

The transition from doing the job of one to doing the job of two [14:15]

What kind of advice would you give to business owners that experience trauma? [16:30]

 

Show Highlights

If you're just considering the idea of starting a business, seek out what resources are in your local town. Google "small business" and call up the Chamber of Commerce! There are tons of free and low-cost resources that can provide you with priceless knowledge

While someone will never experience the exact same experiences as you, there will always be people that go through very similar events. Lean on those people and let them empathize with you. There will always be someone that can understand what you're feeling and help you cope. Don't isolate yourself or beat yourself up about things that you can't change.

 

Links

Laura's Website: pawrightpetservices.com

The Jump Mastermind: https://jumpconsulting.net/jump-mastermind

Remember to use coupon bella25 for $25 off your monthly membership!

Share The Show

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

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Transcript:

This is episode 102 of Bella In Your Business. The next series is going to be a bunch of interviews with amazing pet sitters that I know will also motivate and inspire you and your business. From time to time, I interview incredible pet sitters who have been through or faced some really amazing challenges that have inspired me, and therefore I know will inspire you. If you know of anyone who has an amazing story to share, who is a pet sitting or dog walking business owner, I'd love to hear from you. Just go ahead and email me at [email protected]. Until then, enjoy this next episode.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta with Jump Consulting, and today I have a longtime client of mine, Laura Wright with Paw Right Pet Services. Laura, I just adore you. I cannot wait for you to come to Jump Into Paradise here in Arizona in the summer where I can actually just hug you because I just adore you. Right before we started recording, she had some music on in the background, and I was like, “Hey, Laura, can you turn that off?” And she said, “Alexa, be quiet.” And Alexa turns off. I think that’s the best thing ever because I don’t have one. It’s amazing.

Laura, welcome to the show.

Laura: Thank you for having me.

Bella: I love that sweet-as-pie accent. Why don’t you tell everyone where you’re from, when you started your company, and give us a little bit of understanding of who you are and what your background is.

Laura: My husband and I started our company six years ago. Before getting into the real job world, I worked with wildlife rehab and primarily with birds of prey. After I was laid off from a job at an insurance company, I didn’t want to go back to that. So I came home and said, “Hey, I’m starting a pet sitting business.” And he said, “A who?” And here we are.

Bella: Incredible. How many years has it been?

Laura: Six.

Bella: When you started it, did you ever think you’d be where you are today? Tell us where you’re at now.

Laura: My husband died in September, so that threw a wrench—a challenge—for me. I went through a phase of just not caring. I didn’t care for your cat; I didn’t care for anything. Luckily, I have a good group of sitters who work with me. They were able to pick up the slack and snap me around. I also have a good group of friends who were able to do the same.

Bella: That was a really tumultuous time. I want to talk about you, the person, but how did you go from “I think I want to start this business” to building it and having people work for you?

Laura: We went to a small business incubator here in town. We went to their first class called “So You Think You Want to Start a Business,” and they gave an overview of everything you needed to do. We met a lady there named Katherine who assisted startups. She helped us get our website and Facebook running, provided blog ideas, and offered general guidance. We got one client, then another, and before we knew it, Eric and I were both running crazy in separate directions.

We found a girl in the neighborhood paper who said, “Do you need your dog walked?” Eric called her, and she ended up helping us. She had her own company, but when she was on vacation, I took care of her clients, and when we were on vacation, she took care of ours. It worked great. Then every few weeks we’d say, “Man, we need to find another pet sitter.” We had some bad ones along the way, but right now I’ve got three who are moving to employees. Since I recently bought out a pet sitter in another part of town, I’m looking for three more in that area.

Bella: That’s fantastic. I love how organic that growth is and the lesson in community effort. You sought help and guidance and built from there. For those listening, if you’re just starting out, look up small business resources in your area. How did you find that incubator?

Laura: I’d always known it was there, so I just went on their website and saw their classes. Most of them are free, or if they cost anything, it’s like $50. My QuickBooks class was one of the paid ones, but once I paid, I could go back for refreshers to stay updated.

Bella: That’s dynamite. QuickBooks is such a pain point for many business owners. You’ve learned lessons about bookkeeping the hard way, haven’t you?

Laura: We went through five bookkeepers and CPAs. We used QuickBooks Online, and a lot of CPAs don’t. My QuickBooks was never accurate.

Bella: I think many don’t like QuickBooks Online because they want more control.

Laura: Right. They would say it was up to date, but it wasn’t. It drove me crazy. I finally found one that did QuickBooks Online. They had a person in their office who did taxes. I was thrilled. Then she left, and a CPA in Minnesota took over. He messed up everything. The IRS said my business had been closed, even though I had just renewed my LLC. They said I didn’t file a partnership correctly when Eric died.

Bella: You had a lot of things not being handled properly and were getting notices saying false things. That can be crushing.

Laura: Exactly. One day I was listening to a sports radio talk show, and a guy was talking about his CPA firm. I called him. He owns the firm, and I talk to him every other day. His team is working with the IRS and handling payroll. I called him once crying, saying I was scared. He said, “We will take care of it. You go sit dogs; we’ll do the taxes.” It was an aha moment.

Bella: It’s so important to have a team you can trust. Despite being burned before, you kept going. Even with Eric’s death, IRS issues, and all that chaos, you never gave up.

Laura: They were even putting a lien on my house. It was insanity. And nobody ever wants to call the IRS because you wait two and a half hours for them to tell you they can’t help you.

Bella: I want to bring this to something personal because I know our listeners have all faced struggles—substance abuse, divorce, death, mental health challenges. What I admire most about you is your perseverance. Take me back to when Eric died and how you managed your life and business.

Laura: When Eric died, there were ambulances and police in the house. He died at home of a known cause. I had 10 or 15 policemen all asking me the same question in different ways. I finally said, “Why don’t you just ask me if I killed him? No.” That was hard. When everyone left, my neighbor across the street and another who does some sitting for me came over. One said, “Give me your schedule and keys.” I was in shock. Another called my sitters to let them know what had happened and that they needed to take over my jobs. Eric died of a drug overdose. There’s a stigma to that, and it’s hard. You feel like you’re admitting something wrong, even when you haven’t done anything. His mother and I knew it was going on, but you can only make someone go to rehab so many times.

Bella: That must have been so hard on you as a wife, mom, and business owner.

Laura: I’m still pulling myself together. It hit me when I realized I didn’t have money in my checking account because I hadn’t deposited checks. Eric used to do that. I had to learn to do a two-person job by myself. I have friends whose husbands passed away—one by suicide, one in a motorcycle accident. Talking to them helped. It didn’t make things easier, but it made me feel less alone.

Bella: I think that’s key—knowing you’re not alone. What advice would you give someone listening who’s been through something similar?

Laura: Don’t beat yourself up. Do things as you can. Not everything has to be done today. I make trips to Goodwill, tackling one corner of the house at a time. If it’s too much, stop....

When Pam joined the Mastermind, she was working IN her business non-stop. Her to-do list had a to-do list. But with the guidance and support of Bella and the Mastermind team, Pam was able to break down her goals into smaller tasks and take action every single day. This prevented her from feeling overwhelmed and allowed her to focus on what was truly important.

Fast forward six months, and Pam is now completely out of the field and has FIFTEEN dog-walking employees! This is just one of the many success stories of pet sitting business owners who have taken their business to the next level with the help of Bella and the Jump Mastermind.

One of the key strategies that helped Pam was writing down her goals and ambitions and keeping herself accountable. Instead of being reactionary, she was able to be productive and achieve her goals. Another important aspect was conducting interviews, which may seem daunting at first, but with practice and experience, it becomes easier and helps with confidence.

So, if you're ready to take your business to the next level and achieve the success you deserve, join Bella and the Jump Mastermind today!

Pam Curry is the owner and operator of Toronto Dog Walking. She and her dog, Holly, moved to Toronto in 2012 with the sole focus in mind of working with animals. In 2015, she founded Toronto Dog Walking and Pam has continued to grow the business at a rapid pace ever since. Currently, she has 15 dog walking employees and is continually adding more. Pam is also one of the most active members in the Jump Mastermind, along with her accountability partner Kristen Corral. In fact, they have been the reigning champions of our monthly accountability challenge for 5 months in a row - wow! Learn more about Pam at torontodogwalking.com

Biggest Takeaways

Who is Pam Curry & what is Toronto Dog Walking? [2:00]

Pam's Mastermind Success Story [4:00]

How did you get rid of your "to-do list" and turn it into long-term goals? [7:30]

How do you keep goal-crushing when you have bad days? [9:00]

What piece of advice do you have for business owners that feel overwhelmed? [10:50]

How did you go from hating video to now having your own talk show? [14:50]

What does the future look like for you and Toronto Dog Walking? [22:00]

Where can you follow Pam on social media? [24:00]

Links:

The Jump Mastermind: https://jumpconsulting.net/jump-mastermind

Remember to use coupon pamc25 for $25 off your monthly membership!

The COPE Method For Social Media: /episode-68-the-cope-method-perri-collins/

The Bark Show: https://torontodogwalking.com/the-bark-show/

Pam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelwithmydog_/

Share The Show:

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’

Transcript:

This is episode 101 of Bella In Your Business. The next series is going to be a bunch of interviews with amazing pet sitters that I know will also motivate and inspire you and your business. From time to time, I interview incredible pet sitters who have been through or faced some really amazing challenges that have inspired me, therefore I know will inspire you. If you know of anyone who has an amazing story to share, who is a pet sitting or dog walking business owner, I'd love to hear from you. Just go ahead and email me at [email protected]. Until then, enjoy this next episode.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready, Bella’s got your chute. Let's jump!

Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, your host with Jump Consulting, and today I actually have the most amazing dog walker located in Toronto with me today, Pam Curry.

Pam: Thank you, Bella. I'm absolutely shocked that I'm here.

Bella: Why are you shocked? Hopefully by the next 20, 25 minutes, you're going to understand your greatness because I love to pull in the most amazing, inspiring pet sitters and you're definitely one of them on my list. You are the owner of Toronto Dog Walking and I've just been witnessing this miraculous explosion. I don’t mean just your bottom line or your profits—I mean you personally as a business owner. I have been so excited over here that I wanted to shout it from the rooftop. Before we get ahead of ourselves, I want you to tell us about your business. Where is it? How long have you been in business? How many people work for you? Give our listeners an idea of who you are.

Pam: I will start off first by apologizing. I'm Irish and I talk really fast. Myself and my Irish dog, O’Holly, moved to Toronto back in 2012. We moved here to work with pets because in Ireland it's not as big as it is here. In Toronto, people's dogs are their children. They don’t even think about having human children—the dogs are their kids. So I was like, “Oh my God, yes, this is where we need to go.” Myself, my friend, and Holly hopped on the plane in 2012. A couple of weeks later, I was already out there walking dogs, and I was like, this is the life. I could not go back. I was living the dream. Life did not get any better. Fast forward to 2015, I was like, okay, it’s time to do this for myself. Toronto Dog Walking was founded in the middle of 2015. We just had our three-year anniversary last month and didn’t even realize. We’re growing and growing. We went through stages where we couldn’t even handle the bookings—it was getting crazy. We’re coming up to 15 team members now, and finally, life is getting good. There’s freedom, business is going well.

Bella: Fifteen team members and that’s six years from the minute you stepped foot in Toronto. That’s amazing because there are a lot of people who have had businesses for 10 years and are still stuck doing it themselves, dreaming to be where you’re at. I want to talk about goal crushing because I’m sure over the past six years you’ve had a lot of goals you’ve needed to crush. I’ve been witness to it in the mastermind. Pam is our reigning queen—she and her accountability partner Kristin in Vegas have won our accountability partner challenges five months in a row. They’re goal crushers. Talk to us about how you set and achieve goals.

Pam: It was really rough at the start because the to-do list had a to-do list. It was a beast. I needed to do everything. I’m kind of an all-rounder. When I went to college, I studied e-commerce and e-business, so I knew the tech and business sides. I needed to get everything done. It was firefighting to start. I was literally putting out fires—whatever needed to be done, I was doing it.

Bella: So you were reacting to things as they happened, letting the business run you.

Pam: Exactly. There was no planning or direction. I wanted to be big and successful, but stuff just kept coming up. Starting on my own, then getting new people brought new challenges. I was just going, not knowing where it was leading. Fast forward, and in January this year, I joined the mastermind. We started off with our goals—where we wanted to go. You asked us to write them down, and I thought, “Okay, I’ll put down a big wish.” My wish was to not be working in my business because I was out there walking full-time and working nights. I was in a cycle of up, down, up, down. So I wrote, “By the end of 2018, I want to be out of the business.” Through our accountability and small tasks, I learned to break down goals into small pieces. By Easter, I was out of the business.

Bella: That gives me goosebumps. So you spent five years doing everything, putting out fires, and feeling drowned. It took you putting your big wish on paper and having people hold you accountable for it to happen.

Pam: Exactly. It’s like magic. I can’t even explain it. By June, my goals were happening without me even realizing it because of the structure. My accountability partner Kristin is amazing. When I see her achieve, it motivates me. You’re not thinking about the big picture—you’re just completing the small steps that get you there.

Bella: You said your to-do list had a to-do list. What changed to make it manageable?

Pam: I learned to break things down. For example, if the task was to create a messenger bot, that used to feel huge, so I wouldn’t start. Now, I break it down: write out what I want the bot to do, outline conversations, sequences, sign up for a system, learn the system, test it. Those small steps feel doable. Crossing them off feels amazing. Three small tasks a day is better than staring at an overwhelming list.

Bella: How do you stay motivated through bad days?

Pam: It’s all down to the mastermind. Kristin and I set small, manageable goals. If something doesn’t get done one day, it’s fine—it’ll get done the next. We don’t overload ourselves. When bad days happen, we accept them and get up to kill it the next day.

Bella: Being a business owner is lonely, especially in pet sitting where everything’s virtual. Having a community like that makes a difference. Pam, your story is so inspiring—from walking dogs alone to having 15 people in just months. What advice would you give someone feeling overwhelmed right now?

Pam: It’s normal to feel like that. Sometimes you have to go through it to get to where you want to go. Just take it one day at a time. Break everything into small steps. You’ll be shocked when you realize how far you’ve come.

Bella: That’s so good. We often feel like we’re not going anywhere, but when we look back, we realize we’ve achieved a lot. It builds confidence.

Pam: It really does. I have so much more confidence now than a year ago. I used to hate interviews—absolutely hated them. But practicing video and growing in the mastermind changed that. Even people close to me notice....

As we celebrate the 100th episode of Bella In Your Business Bella sits down with you personally to solve the 2 major problems every dog walking company faces.

But first, did you know that as of the recording, the podcast has reached almost 40,000 downloads?!?! None of this would have been possible without all of you! In fact, it is the longest-running and most popular podcast in the pet care industry.

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss

Whether you're managing a pet sitting or a dog walking company, one thing is for certain. You can't do it alone! Seeking the right kind of help that you're able to delegate tasks to will help you EXPLODE your business. Even with this podcast, there are multiple people working behinds the scenes to produce the audio, write the show notes, create graphics, promote it online, and so much more!

Marketing works 2-4 months before you actually hear from that new client. The key is consistency and staying on target. You can do this with social media by creating videos or asking engaging questions. Be different & be disruptive. Ask yourself, "How am I consistently trying to get new clients?" Whatever it is, it has to be visual, attractive, and showing-and-telling.

Hiring is disruptive. But you need to make sure that you are always OVERSTAFFED. Otherwise, your business will not grow because you will have to step in the next time someone quits, gets sick, etc. Be an advocate for your business.

We're not always in growth mode and that is okay. At the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself. It's okay to take a personal breather and be on cruise control.

Show Highlights

The two things you will ALWAYS be doing in your pet sitting business [3:00]

Staying consistent with your marketing to gain new clients [6:00]

Solving the challenge of hiring [15:00]

How to hold yourself accountable [20:00]

What do you want to see from Bella In Your Business? [23:00]

Links

The Google Of The Pet Sitting Industry: https://jumpconsulting.net/

The Answer To Your Hiring Woes: http://info.jazzhr.com/jump-consulting.html

The Jump Mastermind: https://jumpconsulting.net/jump-mastermind

Remember to use coupon bella25 for $25 off your monthly membership!

Employee Handbook and Manual: /pet-sitting-employee-manual-handbook/

Employee Quick Start (Get employees in 30 days or less) /employee-quick-start/

Share The Show:

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’

Transcript:

Today is a very special episode for you. This is my 100th episode and I want to bring it back to you for episode 50 where I talked about consistency. Never did I ever think that I would ever reach 100 episodes of a podcast, but it really does come down to consistency and that little dream I used to have when I was a child and I used to play radio DJ. Well, let's get into it. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella's got your chute. Let's jump.

Welcome to the 100th episode of Bella in Your Business. This is a monumental centennial celebration that I have going on right now, and I'm just so ridiculously excited to share this episode with you. First of all, I want to tell you that if you were to listen to the very first recording I ever did, it was in my walk-in closet, sitting on the floor, talking to my laptop. I didn't have any speakers. I didn't have any microphones. I didn't have anything. I did it in my bedroom on the closet floor because my whole house was tile and I thought it would be the best acoustics. I had no intro or outro, wasn’t really sure what I was doing, wasn’t sure where it was going. All I knew is that I wanted an outlet, and that outlet was Bella in Your Business. Something else that you might not know is that I grew up my entire life being told M-Y-O-B. What that meant was “Mind Your Own Business,” which was pretty funny considering the name of this podcast is Bella in Your Business.

In episode 50, I talked about consistency and how it took a lot of consistent work to get to the place that I'm at. I'm so proud of this podcast. At the recording, we've got about 39,000 downloads since we started counting, so it's probably a lot more than that. We started counting about the 20th episode or so, and this first started when my daughter, who is now four years old, was in the NICU. I didn't actually get consistent with a show coming out every single week until about a year and two months ago. Since then, we've just been really rocking and rolling. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Lauren, my amazing assistant, who I would be lost without, and also Chris, my podcast producer. My general rule of thumb is I record these, send them off to a file folder, let them both know it's there, Chris makes me sound amazing, sound engineers it, and puts the intro and outro on it. Then Lauren listens through and helps create the amazing show notes and graphics you see when I say, “Do the show notes.”

I definitely would not be able to do this by myself. There’s actually a lot of things that a lot of us wouldn’t be able to do ourselves. And that’s what I want to talk about in this podcast. I want to talk about the two major problems that you’re always going to be solving in your pet sitting company or dog walking company or grooming company or non-pet-related company. You ready for them? It’s getting clients and finding more staff to work for you.

I attended a conference about a year ago, and it was really neat. The speaker went around our small workshop room—about 25 of us—and built off every single person to prove a point that we are all really in the same business. We might provide a different service or do it a different way, but at the end of the day, all of our challenges are still the same: finding clients and finding workers. So I want to take a minute and just talk about that today. I want to talk about the evolution of my own experience with it, the solutions, and also the great resources that have really catapulted a lot of businesses I work with.

In terms of getting new clients, that looks so different for so many people. Jump Consulting’s website is set up to be the Google for pet sitters. You can go to jumpconsulting.net and type in whatever you’re looking for. I’ve written blogs about how to get business, how to have a good booth at an event, top ways to get new dog walking or pet sitting clients, and different ways to use Facebook, video, and Instagram. The number one thing about getting new clients is that you’ve got to stay consistent and remember that marketing works and starts about two to four months before you actually hear from that client.

It’s hardly ever that someone says, “Gee, I need a dog walker,” sees a Facebook ad, and immediately hires that dog walker. Unfortunately, a lot of business owners have this tunnel vision and think that’s how it works. Relationships have to be nurtured, and most people won’t buy unless there’s a relationship or trust. So being consistent in your marketing is really important. One way you can do that is being consistent on your Facebook page with your own content—not just posting blogs. Posting blogs to drive traffic back to your website is now a thing of the past; Facebook wants people to stay on Facebook and have good engagement. So go back to asking good questions or doing videos.

One example you may have heard me say before is of a dog going to the bathroom. Whether you’re a dog walker or a pet sitter, one of your duties is to make sure the pet relieves itself. So why not go live and give out a prize for whoever guesses the right minute or second mark when the dog finally does? Things like that bring you out of the noise—they disrupt a Facebook feed when everyone else is saying, “I’m a dog walker,” “We’re the best,” or “We care for them like they’re our own.” You have to be different.

There are so many amazing pet sitters out there getting on video. Crystal Hammond from Critter Sitter is doing an amazing job with video. She even hired a videographer to help at events, which helped her forge a relationship with her local SPCA. Maureen Dunn-McCarthy with Loving Kisses Pet Sitting has been killing it with video and Facebook groups, which has catapulted her business. Heather with Trusty Tales in New Jersey recently opened a brick-and-mortar location with grooming. Holly Cook in Toronto started her own Facebook Live show with a dog trainer. And Pam in my mastermind—who was terrified of video in January—is now doing it weekly. I’m so proud of her because she’s seeing it as a way to connect with people.

If you’ve been listening to this podcast, shoot me an email at [email protected] and let me know if this is your first episode or if you’ve listened to many. I’ve had people I’ve never met or spoken to who have listened to many episodes and feel like they know, like, and trust me. That’s the power of consistent visibility. Am I saying you need to start a podcast? No. But you need to ask yourself: how am I consistently getting new clients in a way that is automated or reliable?

It could be a Facebook show like Holly’s, the video strategy Crystal uses, or the live videos Maureen does. Whatever it is, it has to be visual. There’s a statistic that by 2019, 80% of consumed content will be video. Look at your own feed—you’ll see how much of it is video. Facebook knows you’re more likely to engage with it. And make sure your first five minutes have captions.

When you go to a website and check their Facebook page, seeing real, relatable video content increases trust. Seeing the sitter live with pets, interacting with others,...

Christina's love & passion for animals brought her to become a professional and certified pet-care expert. Her professional training started back in 2005 and she continues to re-educate herself as time passes just in case new issues or findings in safety arise. By holding high professional and personal ethical standards for your pets care, Christina founded Beach Pupps, a dog walking company, to guarantee your dog receive the safest, most untypical walk around the block service available. Find more about Christina on her website, http://beachpupps.com/

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss:

Whether you structure your company as the usual pay-per-service or as a monthly membership, you need to make your clients feel like you are ALL in. Make them know that your business is your livelihood and that you are there to serve them 100%! Give them extra perks :)

When you become strong in your brand and your business, and you become unique! Nobody can really copy you and if they do it's glaringly obvious.

Delegation and hiring will allow you to EXPLODE your business. You'll be able to get out of the field, so you can spend more time in the office growing the business and networking with other professionals in the community.

There is always someone going through what you are going through or something similar. Find people that you can lean on and get support/advice when you need it. Reach out when you need it.

Show Highlights:

One year ago, where were you at personally and professionally before joining the Jump Mastermind? [2:00]

What does being a professional business owner mean? [4:00]

What drew you to the Jump Mastermind and made you go all in? [4:30]

How do you structure your company with a membership instead of the typical paying-per-service model? [6:00]

What is the difference between pet sitting and dog walking? [7:45]

What have you been able to accomplish since January after being in the Jump Mastermind? [17:20]

Reflecting on where you were personally and professionally six months ago, where do you see yourself next? [19:00]

What advice do you have for those that feel like they are "hitting a wall" with their business? [22:00]

Links:

JOIN the Jump Mastermind: /jump-mastermind/clkn/https/www.jumpconsulting.net/checkout/?add-to-cart=9225&

LEARN about the Jump Mastermind: /jump-mastermind/

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Click this link – Bella In Your Business

Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork

Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section

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Transcript:

This is episode 99 of Bella in Your Business. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump. Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, your host with Jump Consulting. Today, I have a pet sitter here with me, actually a dog walker, who has just totally blown me away and that I have begged her and pleaded for her to come on our show. You are going to learn a lot about Christina today. Her love and passion for animals brought her to become a professional and certified pet care expert. Her professional training started back in 2005, and she continues to re-educate herself as time goes by. She holds herself to a high standard of professional and personal ethics, and Christina actually founded Beach Pups to guarantee your dog receives the safest and most untypical walk-around-the-block service available. Without further ado, Christina, welcome to the show.

Christina: Hi everybody. I’m so happy to be here. This is a really exciting day.

Bella: Yeah, for sure. Christina, I know that you and I kind of officially met at the beginning of this year, although you were following me before that unbeknownst to me. But you joined our tribe of awesome people back in January when we started the Jump Mastermind. I want you to take our audience back—where were you personally and professionally at the end of last year, 2017?

Christina: I was really lost, honestly. I didn’t have any guidance about where I was supposed to be. You mentioned I was a professional pet care expert, but I wasn’t necessarily a professional business owner. You can be a great pet care expert all you want, but being a business owner is a completely different aspect. The business was growing, I was a new mom, and I didn’t have much direction. I accidentally found you, and it changed everything.

Bella: You said you’re a new mom. Tell us about your child.

Christina: She’s actually 17 months today and she’s rambunctious, energetic, and loves dogs and cats just like her mommy. She’s very special and I’m so happy to have her.

Bella: Hats off to all the mompreneurs out there watching or listening right now. It’s a topic we don’t talk about enough, and I want to blow the lid off that as we approach our 100th episode. Pet sitting while raising a child—and your husband travels a lot—means you handle so much.

Christina: Yeah, I live states away from my family and close friends, and he’s gone a lot. It’s me, her, and the neighborhood—the business, the pets—oh my gosh.

Bella: You’re like superwoman. You said you were a professional pet care expert, but you were feeling lost as a business owner. Can you explain that?

Christina: There were things I needed to do in business that I didn’t even know about, like the difference between ICs and employees. I sat with a lawyer who helped me draw up contracts for ICs, but they didn’t say I had to treat them differently. I didn’t know that until later. I didn’t know how to follow up with clients or even answer my phone properly. There’s a million things I’ve learned just from you—even one YouTube video changed the game.

Bella: So all that was going on, and then poof—the Jump Mastermind pops up. What made you decide, “This is for me”?

Christina: I like exclusive things and feeling part of something special. My business is membership-run, and the Mastermind felt like an exclusive membership. You get Bella more exclusively, which I wanted, and it’s full of people who are dedicated to growing and winning. When you surround yourself with people like that, I don’t see how it’s possible to fail. Even if you fail, it’s a good kind that pushes you forward. Once I learned about the Mastermind and how special it was, I said, “I have to get in.” I didn’t care if I needed another job to afford it—I was doing it.

Bella: And I’m so glad you did. At first, you were quiet as a mouse—I’d check in like, “Are you okay?” Then one day, bam, you opened up and shared your heart. It gave me chills. You mentioned you run a membership-based company, which many people think about but never actually do. Can you explain that?

Christina: The membership is exclusive to clients who are gone most of the day, Monday through Friday, for midday walks. We’ve made it a luxury-style experience in both customer service and service quality. It’s very professional—we take it seriously. When I walk in, clients know my business is my future. I give 100% because if I don’t, I have nothing to fall back on. They know that. The luxury feel makes them feel special—they can call me within limits (something I learned in Mastermind). We use smart technology with the membership—our pricing sheet lists everything they get, like free nail trims, ear cleanings, or discounts at doggy spas. We throw in perks like that, so it’s more than just a walk. We don’t do pet sitting for non-members anymore, but members get discounted pet sitting. It’s just more than a walk for us.

Bella: For any newbies listening, dog walking is typically weekday midday visits, and pet sitting is when owners are away—different schedules, different operations. Going back to January, how did you feel entering the Mastermind?

Christina: Overwhelmed. There was so much I needed to progress on. At first, it felt negative, like, “Look at everything you haven’t done.” But then I reframed it—thank goodness I’m here. If I hadn’t joined, I don’t know if I’d still be in business.

Bella: I remember that—you were at a breaking point. Then later, you poured your heart out in a video. That moment was powerful. What was happening then?

Christina: I completely redid everything in Beach Pups except the name. I got rid of clients and staff, switched from ICs to employees, rebranded, and built a new website and logo. Delegation was key—I can’t be 100% of everything. Florida doesn’t even have a state Department of Labor; it goes straight to the federal one. My old lawyer never told me that. I learned it from you. You don’t know what you don’t know until you get around people doing what you’re doing seriously.

I decided we’d go all-in on the membership model but leave a small non-member option. I increased prices to weed out certain clientele. I was terrified, but now I’m confident. I tested the new pricing with new clients first—they said yes, yes, yes. When my first client bought my highest package, $539 for single walks, I realized people are willing to pay for quality. I’ve since added new puppy clients at the new rates, and it’s working. I’m setting a higher standard—smart tech, lost dog prevention, trained employees. I’m raising the bar for dog walkers in my area.

Bella: That’s incredible. You’ve differentiated yourself so clearly that no one can confuse you with anyone else. That’s powerful branding. What have you accomplished since January?

Christina: I have a strong brand now that stands out. I can confidently explain what my business is. I’ve gained confidence in pricing and services. I still have a long to-do list, but progress is happening. My computer is sitting on my Freedom Journal that I haven’t started yet because I’m still tying up business details. My next step is goal-setting.

...

Bri Seeley is a born catalyst and natural truth-teller with a history in counseling, psychology, and entrepreneurship. Despite her two degrees in fashion design, she was unknowingly taken down the path of healing and transforming lives through a series of “accidents,” “coincidences” and divine guidance. She combines personal experience, psychological concepts and Universal Laws with over a decade of coaching and counseling expertise to support people in turning their lives of ‘should’ into the lives they’ve always dreamed of. Her specialty is truly helping people accelerate their destiny and become their future selves today. You may have seen her on NBC’s The TODAY Show, Forbes, Thrive Global, Inc. Online, Medium, New Day Northwest, PBS, and Huffington Post.

Biggest Takeaways You Don't Want To Miss

Being conscious about how you feel in each moment in your day-to-day activities will help you really understand WHY you are doing a certain action. Bri talks about how when she is watching Netflix, she evaluates whether or not she is watching it to escape from reality, numb out, or just relax. When she feels herself using something as a method to escape, she describes how you can realize and self-correct. After all, if you are escaping, you are not living in the moment and finding your joy!

Our CELL PHONES are such a distraction and one of the number one ways people escape from their day-to-day lives. Try putting your phone across the room when you're working on something, or even putting it in Airplane mode. That will allow you to fully engage yourself in an activity.

If we can learn how to fall in love with the tasks that we don't want to do in our business, we can re-invigorate ourselves to fall in loves with our businesses as a whole. The transformation of finding a place of joy, peacefulness, or even acceptance of activities we aren't particularly fond of can help us attract the other things that we want in our lives.

People have an understanding that our thoughts rule us, and that we don't have the ability to change them. Guess what, we do! But it is a difficult process and one that gets harder with age - but it can be done.

There are so many different activities you can do to practice mindfulness. You need to figure out what works for you - which will take time and trial and error! Ask yourself - "What do I need today?" This might look like yoga, journaling, exercise, affirmations, coloring, etc. Give yourself the time and the space that you need.

If you wake up every day with intention and you commit to being your best self each day, then you are setting yourself up with the energy you need to take you through the remainder of the day. You will connect with yourself and feel so much more grounded, intentional, and successful! Control your life - don't let it control you.

Show Highlights

How do we use the mindset of acknowledging that someone is actually a human being to our advantage in our business, and not as a detriment? [3:40]

Can we use the mindset of finding joy in our day-to-day activities as it applies to our businesses? [10:15]

How can acknowledging our thoughts and feelings help us tackle the day-to-day stresses in our business? [12:10]

What are some of the techniques you use to practice mindfulness every single day? [15:30]

Many successful people have a dedicated morning routine or ritual. How can we improve our livelihood and our mindset with a morning routine or ritual? [18:20]

Links

Not 'selfish': Women open up about choosing to be child-free:  http://www.today.com/parents/child-free-choice-women-open-about-choosing-not-be-mom-1D80097318

What It Really Feels Like To Be A Child-Free Woman: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bri-seeley/childfree-woman_b_5672613.html

Downloadable Offer

Free Guided Meditation: meditation.briseeley.com

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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

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Transcript:

This is episode 98 of Bella in Your Business. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, and today I’m joined with Bri Seeley. I want to explain to you guys that we sought out someone like Bri Seeley because we have this incredible Jump Mastermind and a lot of people are really fighting their inner self or their inner being, and they're really questioning, “Can I do this? Can I build the business the way I want? Am I good enough?”—all of these psychological demons that we battle with, myself included. None of us are immune to it, and I don't feel like we talk about this enough in general in business, let alone on this podcast.

So I've invited Bri Seeley on. She’s a born catalyst and natural truth-teller with a history in counseling, psychology, and entrepreneurship. She combines personal experience, psychological concepts, and universal laws with over a decade of coaching and counseling expertise to support people in turning the lives of “should” into the lives of becoming their future selves of today. She’s also been featured on The Today Show, Thrive Global, Online Medium, The New Day Northwest, PBS, and Huffington Post.

Bella: Welcome to the show, Bri.

Bri: Thank you. And I also want to say, myself included too, right? Everything that I'm about to share with you is still stuff that I struggle with on a daily basis as well. Like you mentioned, I don't think any of us are immune to this whole being-human thing.

Bella: No kidding. And you know, I think it's really important to actually acknowledge that we are all human and there are humans running our businesses. In the world of pet sitting and dog walking, we naturally lead from the heart—we’re natural caregivers. That means a lot of us take care of others first and not ourselves. We have a lot of Facebook groups online, which is how a lot of people congregate these days. It’s good, but it’s also bad because you don’t have that human interaction. So what I've done is I’ve actually created this Mastermind group. We’ve got about 50 people in there.

One day, we just had this breakthrough. One person got on video, very brave and vulnerable, crying because she felt safe. She said, “Guys, I'm not okay.” And we told her, “It's okay not to be okay, but it’s not okay not to talk about it with someone that you feel comfortable with.” We see this a lot in our industry with pet sitters and veterinarians—it’s called compassion fatigue. But we don't talk enough about how we feel.

I’ve dealt with PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I had a baby born at 12 ounces and went through EMDR therapy. I believe it’s important to talk. So acknowledging that someone is actually a human being in their business—how can we use this to our positive and not to our detriment? Because we feel like we're just business machines all the time, right?

Bri: I like to combine both aspects of it because I look at when I had a day job and felt like I was operating my life with a light switch. I’d be turned on as an employee, then off, then turned on as a business owner, then off, and so on. It created so much disconnection within myself. I was constantly switching roles—fashion designer, counselor, entrepreneur—and it was stressful. Eventually, I realized I couldn’t keep disconnecting parts of myself.

So I started diving into what holistic living looks like. In any moment, I'm a daughter, a sister, a coach, but I also have my own things—like exploring joy. How do I bring joy into all of those other aspects of my life, including being a business owner? Because at the end of the day, if we're not allowing ourselves to experience joy as entrepreneurs, why are we doing it?

Bella: I love that light-switch analogy. I’ve never heard it that way. It’s profound. Sometimes I feel like I have to “turn Bella on,” then “turn Bella off,” and Danielle—the real me—is tired. You’re speaking to me. When we pick up the phone, we turn into this professional version of ourselves, but as soon as we hang up, it’s like we deflate.

Bri: Exactly. Continuing to operate in that kind of push-pull is exhausting, and it’s going to burn you out. So I ask myself, how can I maintain my wholeness and all parts of me in everything I do? Even when I’m on the couch watching Criminal Minds, how can I be in my greatness and wholeness? Whether I’m being interviewed, at yoga, or watching Netflix, I ask: What is my energy in this moment? Am I trying to numb out, or am I giving myself permission to be whole?

Bella: That’s profound. How have you been able to be yourself watching Criminal Minds?

Bri: It’s a process. I have a coach, too. It’s about consciousness—realizing that watching Netflix doesn’t mean I’m abandoning my greatness. It’s about being aware of my energy and thoughts. I used to use TV as escapism, but now I ask, “What’s my energy like right now?” Because if I’m escaping, I’m also missing beautiful moments—like being with my cats.

Bella: That’s such a good point—the phone boundaries, too. So how can we apply that same mindset to business?

Bri: There are a lot of things in business we don’t want to do, but it’s about the energy we bring. Law of attraction says like attracts like. The emotions you exist in attract your external reality. When I hated my day job, I lived in that hate. Even if it’s six hours a day, that vibration affects everything. So I started learning to fall in love with the things I didn’t enjoy.

I had a client who hated her job but decided to fall in love with where she was. Being in that energy of love transformed her business when she left her job—it expanded. It’s about asking,...

Brandy Lawson is the founder of FieryFX, a boutique digital agency, and a Chief Online Officer for-hire. Her mission is to help entrepreneurs maximize their impact and success by making the right digital decisions for their business. Brandy's zone of genius is connecting business goals with marketing & technology strategies. Her superpower is analogies. Sure, it's not as impressive as teleportation, but it does help clients grasp new concepts faster than a speeding bullet.  Brandy is a mother, a wife, a native of Montana, a current Phoenician, and a co-host of the Northwest Phoenix WordPress meetup. She is also a lover of ridiculous shoes, a captain of her boat on Lake Pleasant, and doesn't miss an episode of Jeopardy.         

Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want To Miss:

Brandy started with a pretty unique position in a large company. She was a product director for GoDaddy, she sat between the consumers and the developers. She had to understand the market on multiple levels in order to produce for both interested parties.

What is a heat map? It is basically the analytics tool that looks at where people are actually looking on your page. It’s more than just seeing the link that they click on. You can see how far down do they scroll and how long they spend on your sit. Also, it will let you know what are your hot spots on your site.

Jump Consulting has changed so much for the better after seeing the analytics. Looking at the metrics of what is working and what is not. Are you building trust? Measure that! Are you trying to sell items or packages? Then you need to create indicators of trust and what it is people are looking for when they look at your business page.

How do you start a conversation with someone that can help you with your analytics? Think of it as a building a house. Each part has a different purpose, just like a home you need an architect, a plumber, an electrician. A website is very much the same. You need the analytical data to back up what you are trying to achieve in your business.

It is important to start collecting your data as soon as possible. You don’t even have to understand it at first. But if you are gathering the data, then when you are ready for the next step you will have a base. Once you hire someone or have time to learn, you will already have a place to start.

                   

Show Highlights:

Living at the intersection of Marketing and Technology [1:00]

The importance of Google Analytics. Our businesses are online, websites drive business and you need to understand how to make the data work for you. [5:00]

Why you need a heat map with on your site. Check out Hot Jar.  [7:00]

How does one measure trust? How do you know if people visiting your site trust you as a business?  [10:45]

Building your analytics house for your website. [14:30]

What is an order taker? And why you need someone who will ask you, “why?” They will add value by understanding your larger technique. [18:00]

How to start with improving your website and incorporating Google Analytics on your website. [20:00]

 

Downloadable Offer:

Check out this great offer! Grab Your FREE Custom Visibility & Conversion Report at https://fieryfx.com/jump

Links:

Check out Brandy Lawson and connect with her online at FieryFX.com

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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’

                                                                                      

Transcript:

This is episode 97 of Bella in Your Business.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump.

Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, your host with Jump Consulting. Today, I have my web developer here with me, Brandy Lawson, and I cannot wait for you guys to get to know her. She is the founder of Fiery FX, a boutique digital agency and a chief online officer for hire. Her mission is to help entrepreneurs maximize their impact and success by making the right digital decisions for their business.

Her zone of genius is connecting business goals with marketing and technology strategies. Her superpower is analogies. Sure, it’s not as impressive as teleportation, but it does help clients grasp new concepts, which is why she and I get along so well. I totally speak in analogies all the time. She’s a fellow Phoenician like I am, a wife and mom, a native Montanan, a lover of ridiculous shoes, captain of her own boat on Lake Pleasant—which she still needs to invite me to go on—and she doesn’t miss an episode of Jeopardy!

Bella: Brandy, welcome to the show.

Brandy: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to chit-chat with you and help your audience understand some more about their websites.

Bella: You’ve taught me an enormous amount of knowledge about my own website. I didn’t even know anyone like you existed. You’re not just a developer or a strategist—you’re so uniquely positioned and gifted that I don’t think there’s a name for what you do, which is why you made one up. So, who are you?

Brandy: I made up Chief Online Officer because I’m unique. I live at that intersection of marketing and technology. Can I code HTML and CSS and write PHP? Yes. Should I? No. I put together marketing strategies, ran a multimillion-dollar business arm for one of the world’s largest domain registrars, directed developers, done user experience testing, and even UL product testing. I understand technology, how users want to use it, and how to bring those together.

The other problem with defining my business is that, yes, we do websites, but they don’t do anything on their own without a marketing strategy. If you don’t know how people will get there or how to turn eyeballs into clicks into dollars, it’s incomplete. I see the whole picture, and I’m a lazy human being—so I’m all about efficiency, effectiveness, and automation.

Bella: We had dinner after a networking meeting recently, and you told me about your time at GoDaddy. Can you describe your unique role there and how that translates to helping people like me?

Brandy: I was hired as a Product Director for GoDaddy’s website builder. My job was to sit between the people who we wanted to sell the product to and the people who developed it. Technology is fantastic, but it’s useless unless it solves people’s problems. The people who write the code aren’t the ones who understand the problem. My job was to understand the market, the users, and their problems—and then translate that into how technology could solve them and build the business.

Bella: When I came to you, I had no data. Now, in our meetings, we talk analytics—Google Analytics, heat maps, and so much more. Let’s talk about analytics.

Brandy: When you get to scale, data becomes critical. When we start out, we don’t see it as that important. But if you have any kind of web presence, you need Google Analytics so you know how many people are visiting your site and what they’re looking at. Even if it’s just 50 people a month, you’ll know what they’re doing—whether they’re leaving or taking action.

Bella: The first thing you did on my site was add a heat map. Tell us about that.

Brandy: A heat map shows where people click, how far they scroll, and where their eyes go. It’s different on desktop versus mobile. It shows where the hot spots are—where users are interacting. I had a client with a landing page converting at 83%. We noticed people were clicking on an image that wasn’t a link. We made it clickable, and the conversion rate jumped to 93%.

The tool I use is Hotjar. It’s free for up to three pages and shows user behavior. Just install it on your most popular page—it’s copy-paste simple.

Bella: You can even see where people are scrolling and how long they stay. Sometimes you’ll realize you spent 10 hours on a blog people only read for 15 seconds. My top post used to be “Is it safe for my dog to eat tuna fish?”—weird, right? But analytics told me that.

Brandy: Exactly.

Bella: Tell us about the work you’ve done on my site and the results.

Brandy: We meet monthly to review your analytics with a custom report. We look at metrics tied to your goals. First, you need to decide what your website’s job is—build trust, generate leads, or sell. That determines what to measure.

Bella: How do you measure trust?

Brandy: If users visit your About page and spend time there, that’s one sign. If they give you their email address, that’s another—it means they trust you enough to connect. Engagement on your Contact page, lead magnets, or booking forms also show trust. Return visitors are another strong sign.

Bella: That’s a great point. It’s not just about SEO buzzwords. It’s a dynamic strategy.

Brandy: Exactly. You want to measure how everything—ads, landing pages, pixels, bots—connects. If you’re using automation, you can even track how much revenue comes from a specific chatbot or campaign.

Bella: So how do we find people like you?

Brandy: It’s tricky because there’s no single title for people who do what I do. Think of your website like a house—you need an architect (strategist), plumber (developer), and designer (decorator). Your website is one part of a larger online ecosystem. When you talk to potential hires, if they don’t mention data or analytics, they’re not the right fit.

Bella: So it’s like hiring a contractor who has data to back up their design decisions.

Brandy: Exactly. You want partners who ask “why” and seek to understand your goals. Many people are order takers—they’ll just do what you ask, but that might break something else. The best partners ask questions to make sure their work supports your bigge