From hapless dog walker to industry leader….
At the time of writing this blog it is two years to the day I delivered my first Grow Your Pet Business FAST seminar at my good friend Jane Ardens gaff in Bury. Alex ‘the video guy’ Wardle even recorded the whole thing, you can see the two minute highlights reel of the event below
Since then, a LOT has happened for Dom.
I written three more books, created a bunch of business training programs as well as the Professional Dog Walkers Academy. The Pet Business Inner Circle was formed later that year, this has become industry leading education provider for dog trainers, walkers and groomers who are serious about learning about business and marketing.
My Diamond and Platinum private coaching groups followed shortly afterwards. I must have done dozens if not hundreds of coaching calls with frustrated pet business owners who I’ve helped to move forward with thier business plans, and I’ve ran three pet business bootcamp intensive weekends, as well as the recent IMPACT event.
It’s been a pretty wild couple of years, and whilst I had big plans when I started, I can’t honestly say that I knew it was going to turn out like this.
I started teaching marketing to pet business owners because I was sick of seeing talented pet pros complain about the lack of cash they were generating. I knew there was a better way to market and promote a pet business which I had developed in my own business since it;s inception in 2011.
See, because of the marketing knowledge I had gained in the sales job I had before I started my business, I managed to avoid a lot of the mistakes that pet business owners make. Essentially, I started my own business and successfully positioned it as as the ‘premium’ dog adventure service in my town from day one. I charged 50% more than any other ‘dog walker’, and I got clients virtually straight away. For sure, I got less clients than my competitors, but then I needed less because they were paying me more money, they used me more often, AND they referred me to their dog owning friends too.
This ‘premium’ mindset is something I teach my own coaching clients, and the philosophy I follow is business is a game of margin NOT volume. Premium pricing was one of the main lessons I taught the attendees present in the room back in 2017.
So, I did a lot of things right with my own business, but not everything has gone to plan. I’ve made a ton of mistakes along the way, (you can see a timeline of my success and failures here) but I genuinely feel like I’ve found my calling as a business mentor, and I put my success down to the renegade marketing methods I’ve used to grow my business.
I’m talking about things like email marketing, direct mail, event marketing and lead generation. These advanced marketing techniques are a world away from what most ‘social media gooroos teach which is heavily dependent upon spending time ‘engaging’ people on Facebook.
HINT: Spending most of your time marketing your business for free on Facebook isn’t a proper marketing strategy.
I’ve got a ton of new stuff coming up, an Elite coaching program to launch, as well as another couple of books and another ‘tour’ to do before the summer.
What gets me particularly excited (happy wee) is what my PBIC pitbulls are getting up to in their own businesses as they continue to build on my good work in revolutionizing the pet industry.
They’ve got their own books, speaking tours and online programs on the bubble, and that’s just for starters.
That’s not the case for everyone, of course.
Six months from now, most pet business owners will still be doing the same old shitty marketing, that attracts the same old shitty clients, who pay them they same old shitty fees , and they’ll continue to complain about their ‘bad luck’ to their social media moron mentors…
#truestory
See, who you plug into for help with marketing, will have a profound effect on your business fortunes one way or another.
And don’t think I’m telling you my life story to show off. I ain’t doing that. I’m telling you to show you that I actually do stuff in my business.
Every day.
Some of it works, and some of it doesn’t, but each day I move a bit further forwards. You can see over the last two years these tiny beetle steps all add up and I’ve come a long way since that first event. See the highlights from this years IMPACT successs summit to see exactly how far I’ve come.
These incremental improvements have only been possible because I (and my private clients) do the opposite of what most pet business owners do with their marketing.
The sad but brutally truthful fact is, you WON’T achieve those big dreams you have for your pet business by following the ‘crowd’, and doing the same thing as the ‘average’ pet business owners.
It’s impossible.
You’ll only get there by going ‘against the grain’ and following the road less traveled.
If you have some ‘BIG IDEAS’ for your business then I suggest you find a community like the PBIC, (Pet Business Inner Circle) where you can be among the most ambitious pet business owners who are desperate to make an IMPACT in their community, and at the same time, are prepared to take the difficult decisions required to move their business forward.
If you want more help from Dom to grow your pet business then there are a few options open to you;
You can sign up for the 33 ideas and get one free business building tip delivered to you inbox each morning by clicking here
You can grab a free copy of the pet business bible Walk Yourself Wealthy, direct from Dom by clicking here now.
Get the audio version of Walk Yourself Wealthy and start a free trail with Audible UK by clicking here
American readers can get the audio version of Walk Yourself Wealthy and start a free trail with Audible UK by clicking here
Get the Kindle or paperback versions of Walk Yourself Wealthy from Amazon by clicking here now
To get more direct help from Dom inside the Pet Business Inner Circle, or how you can apply to work with Dom personally click here now.