It's Take Your Dog to Work Day!

Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day, so I've put Johann to work :) I am grateful and thankful that I have work that allows me to be with my fur kids all day, everyday.

Created in 1999, Take Your Dog To Work Day celebrates the great companions dogs make and to encourage their adoption from humane societies, animal shelters and breed rescue clubs. This annual event encourages employers to experience the value of pets in their workplace for this one special day to promote pet adoptions.

We hope some of you get to experience this once a year event, like we do every day of the week!

Oh, and Johann? Make sure you get that "TPS Report" in by the end of the day :)

Happy day, everyone!

How is your pet business faring during this tough economy?

With all the reports of businesses suffering greatly during this current recession, and in contrast all the reports of pet businesses doing very well, I want to know how your pet business is doing during these tight economic times.

So let us know, take the poll!

Pawsible Marketing announces new pet business marketing coaching service!

We have a big and exciting announcement!!!

After many discussions with my current clients, we determined a specific need that many of my clients have to help them through these tough economic times.

So, I am launching a new service that I designed - Pawsible Marketing's new Pet Business Marketing Coaching Service Package. These service packages are designed to help my current clients and prospective small to medium sized pet businesses with inexpensive and cost-effective marketing coaching services that will:

• Help you build your business
• Increase sales
• Enhance customer service
• Build your brand during these tough economic times

What is a Marketing Coaching Service Package?

It's an inexpensive way for you to get the marketing advice you need on an on-going and monthly basis. It's like having your own virtual marketing department, just a phone call away.

Beginning next week, I will be offering these Marketing Coaching Service Packages to all my current and prospective clients.

Here's how it works:

After signing up, I will provide you with marketing consulting - consistently and every month - to help you:

• Plan and implement inexpensive marketing tactics specific and customized to your business.
• Keep you focused on the most effective marketing tactics to help you increase sales and achieve your goals within budget.
  
• Help you market on an on-going basis to build leads and enhance your customer service.
• Provide you with consistent marketing advice to keep your business thriving and build your brand during these tough times.
  

And you can choose the amount of consulting you need by selecting 1, 3, 5 or more hours of consulting each month.

What's included in the consulting?

• Marketing consulting that's fully customized to your business.
• Helping you define your business marketing plan and strategy to fit your goals.
• Determining the best and least expensive marketing tactics specific to your business and how to best implement them, including:

• Media and public relations
• Email newsletters
• Social media - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and more.
• Blogging
• Promotions and contests
• Advertising
• Search Engine Optimization
• Website strategies
• Relationship building marketing strategies
• Brand development planning
• Corporate marketing direction
• Communications programs & collateral development
• Case studies and testimonials
• Lead generation
• Affiliate marketing
  
• New product launches
• Trade shows and events
• And more!

• And, helping you measure the effectiveness of your marketing tactics, plans, promotions and more.
  

How do you get started?

• Email me to let me know of your interest.
• Then, I will email you a contract to sign up for a 6 or 12 month package, with the amount of hours per month you select - 1, 3 or 5 or more hours per month.
• I will email you a list of questions that will enable me to best help you with your marketing plan, strategy and recommended tactics.
• We set a day and time every month that I will call you for your consultation. Then, I will bill you on a monthly basis for the amount of hours you select each month.
  

Why is this important to your business?

I have found in my 20+ years in marketing that, in a tight economy one of the first things businesses do is cut back on their marketing. I don't want to see pet businesses have to cut back. Why? Because marketing has never been more important than during an economic downturn. I want to see pet businesses continue to succeed during these tough times.

You still need to get new customers, you still need to make sales, you still need to build your brand and you need to do it inexpensively and effectively.

I can help you continue to build your brand, enhance your customer service, get leads, and increase sales. And, I can help you determine the best, least expensive, and most cost effective ways to help your business thrive in this economic downturn.

One of my current clients has been testing my Marketing Coaching Service Package for the past three months. Here's what they have to say:

“Building wonderful relationships with my customers was just what I needed to do but I didn’t know how to do until after speaking with Leslie May, president of Pawsible Marketing,” indicated Salina Gannon, owner of SuppliesJust4Pets.com. “Since working with Pawsible Marketing over the past few months my business has nearly tripled and I have made meaningful long lasting relationships with my customers. There is no question about who to work with when it comes to marketing your pet business - it definitely should be Pawsible Marketing!”

So what are you waiting for? Email me today to get started.

Why relationships are important.

Marketing is very different than it was ten, five, two and even one year ago. Very different.

Over the course of my 20 year marketing career, I've seen a lot of changes in the way companies market. Keeping up with trends in marketing isn't easy. And growing with the times isn't easy either. But grow you must, to survive.

Most recently I've been talking a lot with my clients and prospects about relationship marketing, and the importance of this type of marketing to their business.

In this day of the massive bombardment of advertising, hitting you over the head everywhere you turn, people are tuning out. Who wouldn't? I know I do.

Marketing isn't about just advertising how great your products and services are and expecting them to flock to your store. It's not about going to an event, getting leads and expecting results. It's not about blasting out a discount offer and sitting back and waiting for people to click and buy. Those tactics are long gone.

So, what's marketing about now?

The new paradigm of marketing is about long lasting relationships. It's about the personal touch. It's about bringing value. It's about trust. It's about quality. It's about being helpful. And it's about respect.

Twitter is a perfect study for me in watching how pet businesses market their products and services. I see everything from companies who just push out discounts and product announcements to their followers, to company's attentive employees who genuinely care about the wants, needs, and desires of their followers, customers and prospective customers; and of course I see everything in between.

Relationship marketing is built on long-term, mutually beneficial arrangements with buyers and sellers focusing on value with the goal of providing a more satisfying experience.

This is far more than just a simple purchase/exchange, it creates a more meaningful, personal, stronger and richer buyer/seller relationships, that can be retained for years.

The nice part about this type of marketing is that it can be one of the least expensive forms of marketing. Great for down economic times like these.

More and more I see pet business consumers seeking out advice from respected parties on the best pet products for their needs and their budget. They ask friends, family, co-workers, and other respected parties.

This trend magnified during the horrible pet food recall, the subsequent discovery of lead in dog toys, and most recently the EPA's warning of the potential dangers of over-the-counter flea and tick medications.

No longer are the majority of pet product and service consumers willing to purchase just anything, they want advice to keep their pets safe, and they want advice to help enrich the lives of their pets. They are seeking value, and they are willing to pay more for higher quality.

What if you could become the individual from whom they seek out information? What if you had dog or cat lovers contacting you to ask which dog toy is right for their dog, or which cat food can help with their cat allergies?

That's your ultimate goal. To have those individuals seek out information from you. Because that means you are doing all the right things - bringing value, becoming a trusted resource and gaining respect for your knowledge, products and /or services. And it means they will buy from you.

Great free stock photo sites

Are you looking for some great photos for your website and blog?

Here is a list of my favorite free stock photo sites. Many have great shots of all kinds of pets - dogs, cats, birds, lizards, hamsters and more. Be sure and check each sites terms of use before utilizing. And enjoy!

StockXCNHG
morgueFile
StockVault
Free Range Stock
Pixel Perfect Digital
Photo Rack

Don't be left behind. Learn how Twitter can help your pet business!

Everyday I get questions from clients and prospective clients about Twitter, the pioneer of microblogging.

What is it? Why is everyone doing it? I don't know anything about it. Help!!!!

Well, help is here.

For nearly a year now, my dog Johann, has been interacting on Twitter. Yes, my dog tweets!

What marketing I have done for 'Johann The Dog' has been an experiment of sorts over the past few years: an experiment in branding and marketing. And it's really paid off for my pet business clients. They have been able to reap the benefits of all my experimentation, testing of social networking sites, blogging and other marketing tactics that I have tried out over the years.

One of my favorite experiments with Johann The Dog is Twitter. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you have undoubtedly heard of Twitter. It seems to be everywhere. I turn on the news, there's Twitter. I read the news sites on the Internet, there's Twitter. Businesses are twittering, celebrities are twittering, regular individuals are twittering, and even dogs (and yes, cats, and birds, and even moose) are twittering.

So naturally, I get a lot of questions from my clients and prospects about Twitter.

They ask:

• What's the big deal with Twitter?
• How do I Twitter?
• I'm on Twitter, but how can I utilize to it's fullest for my business?
• And most importantly, should I Twitter?
  

My answer, after experimenting through Johann The Dog over the past 10 months? If you are a pet business, you need to be on Twitter. And it needs to be a big part of your marketing plan. Not only can it help build your business, it's an amazing way to connect with, share info, help, and enjoy your customers and your prospects.

The New York Times calls Twitter "one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet." Time Magazine says, "Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app." Newsweek noted that "suddenly, it seems as though all the world's a-twitter," and Gartner, in a July 2008 report, added microblogging to its list of technologies that will transform business over the next two to five years."

But knowing how to utilize Twitter to help build your business can make a big difference in the success of this powerful social networking tool. Over the past 10 months, I've learned a lot about the ins and outs of Twitter, how to utilize it to it's fullest advantage, and how to generate more business - plain and simple.

With all this 'to do' about Twitter and because of the mountains of requests from my clients and prospects to help them with and understand Twitter, I've decided that for the month of April, I will offer Twitter tutorial consultations to pet businesses that contact me. These consultations will be 30-minutes in length via telephone, completely private and exclusively customized for your business.

Because of time constraints, I will have to limit this to the first 25 individuals, so be sure and get your reservation in early.

In addition to the consultation you will also receive my "Get Started with Twitter for Pet Businesses" handout which will provide you with step by step instructions on everything from setting up a Twitter account and customizing your profile (important for branding you know), to what and what not to do on Twitter, to a guide to Twitter lingo, to how to find and get followers, and more.

The total cost of the consultation and the handout is $30.00, payable via PayPal.

This 30-minute phone tutorial will provide you with the ins and outs of Twitter-dom, including:

• How you can utilize Twitter to engage and connect with your customers and potential customers, gain valuable knowledge and trends, and build strong relationships.
• How Twitter can drive traffic to your website and create more visibility for your company.
• What are the 'ethics' in twittering, and what is the best way to Twitter to help (not hurt) and build your business.
• How Twitter can help you provide a high level of customer service; interact and receive valuable, instant feedback from customers.

All you need to do is email me with your name, business name, website address, physical address and phone number; and let me know suggested days and times you will be available for your private consultation during the month of April. Please list at least two days and two times each day you will be available. I will email you back to set a specific time, and a link for payment via PayPal.

Don't be left behind. Learn how Twitter can help your pet business!

Pawsible Marketing in Pet Style News!

Earth Day is just around, coming up on April 22nd.

So when Pet Style News decided a few months ago they wanted to prepare an article for their April/May 2009 issue on how boutiques could raise awareness about the environment and celebrate Earth Day, they gave me a call to provide not only information as a marketing consultant, but also provide information as author of my blog, Raise A Green Dog.

The article arrived in our mail box today. I think it turned out great!

The article, "Celebrating Earth Day: Pet boutiques can raise awareness about the environment," and written by Wendy Bedwell-Wilson, focuses on nine ways pet boutiques can utilize Earth Day as an opportunity to educate their customers about the range of earth-friendly merchandise now available for pets, and how they can be more green.

Here is a link to the article. (Click on the image to enlarge).