Behind the scenes at the last Poodle to Pitbull Pet Business Bootcamp!
Where do pet business owners go to find out more about business and marketing? Find out here…
On October 14th and 15th 2018, the last poodle to pitbull ‘dog trainers’ bootcamp took place in Sunderland…
We learned, we laughed, we cried (actually, that’s a lie we didn’t cry,) but we did have the best time ever.
The 13 pitbull pet business owners who attended spent all weekend furiously scribbling notes into their bootcamp manuals.
It truly was fucking epic, but don’t take my word for it. Here’s what some of the attendees had to say abut it.
‘The first weekend seminar I have ever done, and I have done a few, where I did not feel like nodding off after lunch on second day! And I hadn’t gotten to bed till 2.15am on day one. All fired up by Dom and his speakers into sponge mode! The whole 48 hours!’ – Karen Boyce, Beastly Thoughts Dog Training.
‘Worth every penny from start to finish. To be in the same room with other like minded people sharing and developing ideas was amazing. The speakers were fab, easy to listen to and happy to answer any questions. Highly recommend these bootcamps because you can’t learn this stuff anywhere else!’ Suzanne Gould, Edinburgh Holistic Dogs.
So, that was the last PTP Bootcamp.
Really Dom?
Why, why, WHY?
Why would I stop doing an event which has such a profound effect on people lives?
Well, the truth is I’m ready to mix it up a bit (or A LOT). And this years IMPACT events will offer something different to the previous bootcamps. There is a multi-ticket option, so those who want to experience a full awesome weekend of business and marketing, can do so, and those who are newer to the scene who just want to dip their toe in the water can come along for one day and see what they’ve been missing. Check it out here.
Trust me, if all you’ve done so far is buy a copy of Walk Yourself Wealthy then you are missing out AND you have hardly scratched the surface of what is possible for you to achieve with your business.
Not only that, if you are a dog trainer then you really need to get a grip of your marketing because the marketing advice you are currently being fed by your dog training association is actually holding you back, and preventing you from earning more money.
See, I started off the weekends proceedings with a presentation titled, ‘Why the dog trainers business model is dead’.
And trust me, it is. Dead.
As a fucking dodo.
The current dog training business model doesn’t make for a very sustainable business.
I bet you are all too familiar with the financial “feast and famine” that dog trainers experience?
Why does it happen?
How can you go from having a packed diary of appointments, and your classes full to bursting, to few weeks later be standing in a half empty training hall and no consults on the horizon?
The answer is simple.
The majority of dog trainers are selling one-time fixes which require one-time payment.
Here’s an example;
If you are a dog trainer then a client comes to you with a doggy problem which you help them fix and then if you’ve done a good job they go away happy.
This then means you have to then find a new client who needs help.
And so on, and so on.
But finding new clients all the time is incredibly tiring and eventually leads to many dog trainers feeling burnt out, skint and incredibly pissed off.
Unless you have a strong referral system in place then you will always struggle to keep your dairy full.
This is a very different kind of business to what dog walkers and groomers have. See, unless you lose a dog (if you are a walker) or set him on fire (if you are a groomer) then technically, you should have that client for life.
And as a business owner you should be looking for life-long clients.
Or certainly, you should be looking at extending the ‘LIFE-TIME CUSTOMER VALUE’ of your clients.
So if you are a dog trainer, then how do you turn a one-time fix into a customer for life? Well, the answers to that question can be found at my IMPACT event or the Poodle to Pitbull Dog Trainers Bootcamp recordings which are the next best thing to being at the bootcamp. They provide a full ‘business blueprint’ for dog trainers to follow.
How high can you fly?
I want you to start dreaming a bit bigger, and aiming a bit higher with your pet business aspirations.
You can (and should) be aiming for the very top spot.
Whatever you want to do is firmly within your grasp. Whether it’s running your own events and seminars, hosting a podcast, writing a book, expanding your business and taking on staff so you can dominate the dog scene in your town.
It’s all up for grabs IF you want it.
Let me tell you from painful experience, that running a business where you call the shots and set the direction, is incredibly liberating and satisfying. But, you’ll only get there if you master the business basics which I lay out for you in the bootcamp recordings.
That picture is me pretending to be a dinosaur with my guest speakers Vicky Fraser and Alex Wardle. Vicky went away from the bootcamp with a whole new business idea and funnel mapped out, and she was there as a guest speaker.
This shit works. It works for anyone who is prepared to do the work required.
One other interesting takeaway from the bootcamp is that although I was on my feet speaking for the best part of two days I hardly mentioned Facebook at all.
#truth.
See despite what the social media morons (sorry mentors) will tell you, you can actually grow a very profitable and sustainable pet business without wasting half your life taking part in ‘like ladders’ or ‘engagement posts’.
You don’t need to be sharing, tweeting or hashtagging on Facebook, at all.
In fact, unless its paid advertising that has a proper list building strategy behind it, then arsing around on Facebook falls into the bottom 5% of things you should be doing.
Do yourself a favour.
Stop throwing money down the drain by boosting posts or pushing your page up the google rankings. Then take that money and invest it in something like my bootcamp recordings OR even just take your family out for a nice meal.
You’ll feel way better, and you be one step further on from the rest of the ‘average’ pet businesses out there, and you will be one step closer to having the kind of business your amazing skills deserve.
To find out more you should grab a ticket to my next event, or check out the recordings from the Poodle to Pitbull Pet Business Bootcamp. Click here to start your business transformation today!
In 2011 Dom Hodgson revolutionised the pet service industry with his first business Pack Leader Dog Adventures, the UK’s first, award winning ‘dog adventure’ company. Now a respected dog trainer, author, speaker and mentor to pet business owners, Doms calling is to help dog walkers, trainers and groomers to excel with their marketing, so they can help change the lives of more dog owners with their amazing skills.
You can get a kindle or paperback copy of Dom’s pet business bible ‘Walk Yourself Wealthy’ from Amazon by clicking here.
UK pet business owners can get the audio version and start a free trail with Audible here
USA pet business owners can can get the audio version and start a free Audible trail by clicking here.
