How many ways do you actively have clients coming into your business? Referrals? Your website? Is it google ads? Are they equal or does one lead more than the other? Today, we are diving deep in this episode, on why you should have multiple pet business revenue streams and what they are so you can keep a great business financial health.
In the fast-paced world of pet services, relying on a single revenue source is a recipe for STRESS and INSTABILITY.
Discover actionable strategies for diversifying your income sources—from leveraging social media and email marketing to forming strategic community partnerships. You’ll learn practical steps to break free from the cycle of financial anxiety.
Let’s face it—you can’t afford to depend on just one source of income. Knowing how to create multiple pet business revenue streams will set you free from the constant worry and give you more control over your financial future.
Learn how to master your profit margins, enhance your online presence, and make strategic decisions aligning with your goals.
Whether you’re struggling with stagnant growth or feeling vulnerable relying on just one revenue stream, this episode is PACKED with insights to help you succeed.
Tune in now!
Timestamps:
[02:31] Diversifying Revenue Streams
[03:21] Google Ads and what you need in order for it to be effective
[06:15] Effectiveness of email marketing and strategies for converting potential leads and increasing client engagement
[8:30] Significance of using social media effectively
[11:14] Using review sites like Yelp and Nextdoor and leveraging positive reviews for social media content
[11:57] Importance of building relationships with local pet stores, grooming shops, veterinarians, and other community partners for referrals
[16:10] Importance of blogging and using SEO to attract local clients.
[18:18] Retargeting and Facebook Ads
Notable Quotes:
“If you only are relying on one thing, or let alone nothing, to generate your leads, then you’re not really setting yourself up for success.”
“That’s what happens, is that people go from your website, which is just a static thing, published, God knows when, and then they click over to your social media so that they can know like and trust you.”
“And email is actually better performing, believe it or not, than social media. The reason is, is because most of the people that you have on your email list are people that you’ve already talked to.”
“If you’re diversified, you’re never going to have that problem. One might go down for a little bit, but it’s okay because you’re spread out evenly.”
Resources:
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Transcript:
Hello and welcome to another episode of Bella in your business. Ooh, was that. Hello. Annoying. It was definitely very different than I usually do it. But what is going on? Jumpers today, we’re gonna have kind of an interesting topic. I was having a recent conversation and it kind of inspired this episode. Someone had a difficulty with their Google, my business, GMBN, and they were a part of the organization.
That’s the way they do it. They spend a lot of money on Google Ads and that’s how they get their, their leads, their customers. And it got me thinking because I know that, you know, that is very. Hmm. It’s very different than most professional pet sitters do it. And it kind of got me thinking larger and bigger about the whole thing and how if you only are relying on one thing, or let alone nothing, to generate your leads, then you’re not really setting yourself up for success. So I wanted to have a conversation with you about that today. Basically why you need to have multiple, I’m going to call them revenue streams, multiple ways, and I’m going to talk to you about a bunch of them today to kind of get you to think about all the different areas that maybe are untapped or that you need to go back and nurture a little bit more.
But in any case, this episode, hopefully, is going to be here to inspire you to greatness. Remember, there’s no sense in being motivated unless you are driven to action. So as I go through the different list and talk about the different things, I want you to think about one that you can spend 15 minutes on in the next coming week. That’s my, that’s my, um, my ask of you in this episode. Okay? So let’s get into it. So most of us, um, we just, you know, we hope that the phone rings, right? Um, you’re out there taking care of the dogs, taking care of the cats, um, taking care of your employees, running payroll, um, doing accounts receivable and payable, uh, trying to keep up with your wife, website. Like, you know, all this stuff, right? And most of us are really just not focused on, okay, this is the source of my business. This is what we do.
And we’re going to talk about a lot of them today. And like I said, you know, just relying on one source of revenue is severely handicapping yourself because some are going to do better than others. And when, and if one goes down, then it’s not like a complete halt to your business. So just like when you have investments, right, you want to diversify your investments, you want to diversify your revenue coming in. You want to diversify your investments going out. Um, you want to have it strategic so that it’s. It’s less risk for you, right? Less risk of, oh, no, we don’t have any clients. If I asked you right now, what is the revenue stream that you are nurturing? I know a lot of you would be like, I’m living on a prayer, Bella.
I am hoping that that phone rings. I am hoping that email comes through. Maybe it’s a form on your website, maybe it’s someone calling, maybe it’s a text message, I don’t know. But I want you to think about this for real today. So the first one, and the one that kind of caught my attention about this was Google Ads. I’m going to be very bold and I’m going to say, I know a lot of you guys don’t do that. I know that when you get to about half a million dollars or so, then you do maybe start doing Google Ads because you’ve got maybe 40 people on staff plus, and you know, you have a really large staff and you really want, you have the money to pay to play, right? But I know the majority of you, and I think the majority of businesses, if I can, if I can be so bold, are probably about 350,000 and less annually. I would say that’s where the average company is, is that you’re not spending money on Google Ads because there’s so many other free ways to do it, namely your website, that you don’t need to spend that money.
And that’s like, you know, it’s an expense. I mean, it’s Google. And to do Google Ads, you have to have an expert. So not only do you have to pay for the ads, but then you also have to pay for an expert. And so I do not believe really, in the businesses that are, you know, under half a million really doing Google Ads. Although I have had success with some housekeeping clients and some larger pet sitting businesses in better marketing with Bella that have been doing Google Ads at like half a million. And then they turned on better marketing with Bella, and stuff skyrocketed. And we have so many testimonies, I won’t even go into it.
But it’s on our instagram. It was the only thing that they changed. And that kind of does make sense to me, because if you have Google Ads, what’s happening? Is it, the Google Ad is working hard to bring someone to your website. So your website better be on point, it better have a really good user experience. I better be able to sign up really quickly. I better be able to get all my questions answered. I better know, like, and trust you. And that’s the thing.
That’s what happens, is that people go from your website, which is just a static thing, published, God knows when, and then they click over to your social media so that they can know like and trust you. So they can hopefully see videos or see what you’re up to today. If you have a story going. I mean, think about the last time you did that when you were researching something in your area. That’s what people do. So it does make sense to me that it works as an ecosystem. Google Ads is kind of like the final chapter that you do. Once you’ve got a kick ass website and you got great social media and you’ve got a great sign up and you got great customer service, all that stuff that goes into landing that new client, the next thing that you can easily do is email.
And email is actually better performing, believe it or not, than social media. The reason is, is because most of the people that you have on your email list are people that you’ve already talked to. So if you have already, you know, made a list of people who maybe they contacted you but they didn’t buy for whatever reason, if you’re able to track that and follow up with them. One of my best emails, my best converting emails when I had my pet sitting company from 2002 to 2016 was hey, Joe. So we didn’t get a chance to service Rover or Fido, let’s say Fido. We didn’t get a chance to service Fido. Last month when you went on your trip to Hawaii, we were just wondering how was your, were you happy with your pet care choice or is there a chance for us to earn your business on your next trip? They are never, ever expecting that. And for you to follow up and have the know how to know, okay, they’re going to Hawaii.
This is the dog’s name, this is their name. And you know enough to email them a couple weeks after they get back to just to ask, hey, were you satisfied with whatever pet care choice you took? Sometimes they’re like, oh, no, you know what? We didn’t end up going or my mom took them. It was okay. Orlando, you just never know, okay. And that’s one way. And with email, again, it’s, you know, maybe you have existing clients that are only doing one or two walks a week and you really want to get it up to four or five. You could do it that way. Maybe you have clients that are once a day cat clients and you want to get them to three times a day or twice a day cat clients or maybe overnights.
You know, like, there’s a lot of, like, cross selling that could happen. There’s also a lot of email selling that can happen when you haven’t heard from someone for six or nine or twelve months. Right? They’re like, I want you back campaign that you can do. So. You can definitely do that. I know a lot of people that send out the emails for better marketing with Bella, they always say that they see an uptick in bookings. And I will not be bold and say, oh, it’s because our email was so beautiful. What it is is that you’re getting in front of them and you’re top of the mind awareness.
Oh, yeah, I got to book the pet sitter or the dog walker. All right, so you got Google Ads, which I don’t really recommend, email. You also got social media. Oh, my gosh, you guys, it just breaks my heart when I see people not using it or doing terrible things on it, because it is very difficult to mess up social media. And if I just hit a nerve with you, I’m not sorry, because I have endless amounts of resources, free resources for you. I’ve got a three hour class. I’ve got podcast galore. I’ve got blogs galore.
I’ve got things on YouTube. I have got every cotton picking thing that you could think of teaching you exactly how to build your social media so that there is that know, like and trust. I have had people that didn’t know how to post a story to the point that they are. They are raking in not just the clients, but the employees and the partners. And so your social media is free. You don’t have to pay for it. It is free. And what you strategize and put out there can make or break you.
And so your social media is incredible and under. And part of social media is also going to be Facebook groups. There is a distinct strategy with Facebook groups. I’ve talked about it maybe two or three times actually on the podcast if you want, because there’s just simply way too much for me to link. If you go to jumpconsulting.net, at the top right corner, there’s a little magnifying glass, and you can use my website like the Google for the pet sitting industry. I’ve got over 500 blogs, over 400 podcast episodes. I mean, there’s a lot of content, you guys. And then the very least, you could always join the Jumpstart group.
And you can ask me a question there. That’s the free group. Or if you’re in the mastermind, you basically get blueprints on how to do all this stuff, too. But I digress. And so Facebook groups, just engaging in those and driving business to yours. And again, it’s not just only when people are asking for dog Walker and pet sitter. In fact, if you’re only engaging in those groups when people are looking for dog walkers and pet sitters, you’re doing it wrong. Okay.
But Facebook groups can be a really great lead source for you. I’ve seen it happen. It matters, and there’s a strategy behind it. Okay, so, so far, we’ve got Google Ads. I’m gonna keep saying that. Email, social media, you’ve got review sites, right? So now you’ve got, like, yelp next door, all that kind of thing. And you can be getting, you know, lots of stuff off of that. And you can be taking the comments from that and then, like, double dipping in a way.
Like taking a screenshot of a review on Yelp, let’s say, and then put it on your Instagram or your Facebook. Okay. Um, the other thing is community referrals. So let’s get offline a little bit, and let’s talk about that pet store that always refers you. If you’ve taken my. One of. I have a lot of different marketing classes, but one of the things that I teach a lot about is, um, you know, every pet store, grooming shop, um, thing like that, they all have multiple pet sitters and dog walkers coming by and dropping business cards. What are you doing to build a relationship with the people that work there in the way that when someone says, hi, do you have a dog walker? They’re like, oh, my gosh, yes.
Look, come here. And they walk you over to the whole table of cards, and they grab your business card, and they put your business card in that person’s hand. That is when you know you made it, my friend. And I will tell you again and again and again, a relationship will last a lot longer than a business cardinal. It is a matter of getting into those veterinarians and being their preferred person that they do. It is a matter of following up with those relationships in terms of things like the groomer. Okay, well, you know, a couple weeks before July 4 happens if you’re a pet sitter and people travel, or maybe it’s back to school season. It’s a month before back to school season.
You talk to your partners and you say, hey, guys, you know what? Like, I just want to let you know that. And this goes into pricing strategy, which we talked about last episode, but you can say something like, hey, groom, ABC grooming. I know that back to school is coming and I know you’ll probably be talking to your clients a lot. I just want to let you know that you have the authority to say that you have, you know, negotiated a special rate for all of your clients with Bella’s house and pet sitting because of our relationship. And to just mention ABC grooming company, when they call for information from Bella’s house and pet sitting, um, the veterinarian, maybe the vet that has boarding, right? Well, they can only board twelve dogs at a time, right? There is a cap to that. And so what do you do? You get on the phone or you go in and you talk to the manager who hopefully you’ve already established a relationship with, because this is the only way it works. And the same thing. Hey, manager of veterinarian clinic.
Um, I want to let you know that I am willing to give a special 4 July rate to any client that you might send over to us. We’re not looking to take away any of your stuff, but we know that you can only board twelve dogs. So instead of telling people that you’re booked and you can’t help them, we’d like to offer you, us, as a resource that you can send them to. So you see, it doesn’t take long, quite that much time, but it does take some strategy and some planning. Okay, it doesn’t take a lot of time at all, but you need to get these ducks in a row and this stuff works. So this could be pet shops, it could be vets, apartments and condos. A lot of you guys are the preferred pet care of these condos and complexes through making great relationships. A lot of you have had your own, um, events at these places, which is wonderful.
I cannot say enough about that. Those are a gold mine because then you’ve got high density living and you’ve got multiple clients in the same area. That is so good for business. Okay. These are things that you should be nurturing every single month. Every month. So again, when it comes up to again, like maybe it’s um, hey, what events do you have going on? How can we support you? Hey, the holiday season is coming up. Can we post on your portal? A lot of these places have their own portal or their own Facebook group.
And if you become an approved vendor or whatever they call it, then you can now be posting what I’m about to talk about your blog and SEO on that stuff as well. So you come from a place of value, but you start establishing yourself as that expert. Guys, this stuff is exciting. If you have all of this stuff going on your phone, there’s no reason why your phone shouldn’t be ringing off the hook. All right, I’m getting excited here, but I just want to drive home my original point before I go on to SEO and blogging, which is probably the most impactful thing that you can do. But I just want to remind you, the reason why I’m doing this podcast is because I don’t want to hear any other pet sitter with their hands tied behind their back and their feet tied at their ankles thinking, well, Google Ads are down, or emails down or Facebook is down, my business is down. If you’re diversified, you’re never going to have that problem. One might go down for a little bit, but it’s okay because you’re spread out evenly.
So let’s go back to your website, which is your castle, all right? It is your castle that there’s something you should invest in. It is a great website with great user experience and something that also is working the search engine for you. I go and I say, pets that are near me. How many of you listeners right now tell me, goo like, message me back. How many of you actually have something set up that is around pet sitter near me. Dog walker near me. That’s like one of the most searched for things. When you write blogs, are you writing blog how to groom your dog in the fall? Please don’t do that.
It’s not helping you. What you could do is you could say the best places to walk your dog in the fall in Scottsdale. What you could do is the top five places to get Santa Paul’s pictures with your dog in Scottsdale. What you could do is the cost of pet sitters in Scottsdale or a review or dog walking versus pet sitting in Scottsdale. There’s so much. And if you’ve heard Marcus Sheridan on here many episodes ago, he has this thing called the big five. You can go google it. The big five.
Marcus Sheridan. I have so much respect for that man. And it is definitely how I grew all of my businesses. It was using his blog matrix. Um, we also teach it in the mastermind. It’s really not hard at all. It basically is answering people’s questions with the psychology behind it that when you go and you Google dog Walker in Scottsdale, yeah, all of these websites are going to come up, which is fine and dandy, which is also what all these Google Ads are doing. But what about an organic ad that also comes up that says the problems with pet sitters in Scottsdale, and it’s not some Yelp or next door or a Rover or like really massive thing, it is a small local blog, aka you.
You can’t tell me that’s not going to get attention. That kind of thing is going to get eyeballs on you. Now, if you have another thing hooked up to it, which would be Facebook ads, I would do Facebook ads and retargeting a hell of a lot faster than I ever would do Google Ads, quite honestly. But again, you have to have a person that understands how to do it. And at the end, I literally would not pay much money for Facebook or Google Ads at all because you have to have a lot of money. And when you do Facebook ads too, just like Google Ads, you have to build them up. You have to, like, build up these audiences. You have to get them nurtured.
Then you have to have a whole funnel and it’s like cold audience, warm audience, hot audience. How many times do they have to see you before they click on anything? Is it like eleven times? Is it? And then what’s the offer? And how do you, how do you reconnect with them? And are they actually even in the buying mood right now? That’s why retargeting people that have been on your website is really good. So, you guys, I hope this has made you think about, oh, shoot, yeah, I really, I know those things, but I haven’t done them. I would always start on the things that you have the most control over. And that is the gift of gab. And that is talking to people. That is pounding the pavement. It is talking to your partners in your local community.
It’s a great way to break the ice on their social media, quite honestly. And then you can also share a lot of stuff that way. Get that blog going, get the emails going, get that local buzz going in like next door groups or in Facebook groups. Do the free things first and do them very well. Don’t copy what everyone else is doing in that. It’s not, hey, does anyone know a dog walker in Scottsdale? And there’s like 35 people? As I’ve said before on this podcast, the only thing that you’re doing is giving someone a problem. If you put your name in that list and there are so many other more impactful things that you can do. So if you can’t tell, I got a little passionate this episode.
I hope you liked it. Let me know DM me right back. You guys know it’s so easy to get a hold of me. And I answer all of my DM’s. So if you dm me, it’s not like you’re dming Mabel or Lily or anyone else on my team. It goes straight to me. And I would love to hear what you’d like to hear about in the future. So keep the topics coming.
Keep the questions coming. You inspire me. I hope I have inspired you. To action. I want you to remember that you have a fighting chance. So start jumping. And when life gets you down, always keep jumping too. Bye now.