Why buying Facebook likes is a really bad idea for your pet business

Over the past year, I've noticed more and more pet businesses purchasing 'likes' on Facebook.

While it may seem like a good idea to spend a little money on Fiverr, or hire a company promising 1000's of new Facebook likers for a few hundred dollars, lets take a look at what you are really getting and why buying Facebook likes is a really bad idea.

Many of the companies that offer the purchase of Facebook like, Twitter followers, YouTube views and more, may say that they are offering real followers, but in reality they are either offering;

• 'Fake' likers from fake Facebook and other social media accounts, or;
• Likers from Facebook and other social media like farms, almost always from foreign countries.

Often I can tell when a pet business Facebook page has purchased likes. How? I click the likes link on their Facebook page, and see the growth of their likes. If there is a huge, sudden spike in like growth, it's a sure sign that the page purchased likes. To confirm, I look at what country the majority of their Facebook likes are coming from, and sure enough, it's usually a country that isn't even part of their market, like Pakistan, Taiwan, India, Korea and more.

What happens to your Facebook page over time when you purchase fake and false Facebook likes? Several things, including:

• You will most certainly loose large amounts of followers in subsequent weeks as Facebook deletes these fake accounts, or
• You will loose many followers because they actually have no interest in your product or service.
• Also, there is a significant danger of receiving a large amount of spam on your Facebook page from these fake likers, and
• This unnatural demographic on your Facebook page will make it much more difficult in targeting your real prospective target market when you decide to utilize Facebook advertising.

And there are more reasons buying Facebook likes is a really bad idea:

• Those new 'likers' will have absolutely no interest in your pet business, or the products and services you offer.
• You've wasted several $100 in marketing to people that have no interest in your products, where you could have spent those valuable marketing funds targeting your prospective and current consumer base.
• Purchasing likes is many times very obvious to your fan base; and a sudden, dramatic increase in your likes could be publicly noted creating mistrust in your pet business.
• Buying fake likes on Facebook may create a perception that your business doesn't know what they are doing and is a bit unethical in nature, creating unwanted, negative views from your prospective and current customer base.

What types of Facebook likers, Twitter followers and YouTube viewers do you really want? You want followers that:

• Are real, engaging individuals
• Want and need your pet business product and/or service
• Will talk about and discuss your product/service, and recommend it to others

There are several good ways to increase your Facebook and other social media followers and likes, targeting those individuals that will want/need your pet business product and/or service.

Pawsible Marketing can help you learn how and understand the many ways that your pet business can increase your likes and followers on social media the right way. Feel free to contact us for a free 30 minute consultation about we can help you create a Facebook or other social media page that your prospective and current customers will love and engage with; ultimately helping you increase sales and build your pet business brand.

Which Internet browser is the most popular with your pet business market?

According to Statista, Firefox and Internet Explore are not the most popular web browsers. The largest share of web browser usage belongs to Google Chrome.

Google Chrome is the world's most popular Internet browser, claiming 43% of the global market, with 36% of Internet users in North America utilizing Chrome.

Is your pet business website optimized for Chrome?

DVR Alert: CNBC airs "The Profit," featuring pet business, LA Dogworks

Beginning this Tuesday, August 13th, CNBC will begin airing "The Profit," featuring a variety of businesses that are in dire need of help to survive.

In the series, Marcus Lemonis, the founder of multi-billion dollar company, Camping World, searches and finds struggling businesses that are desperate and ripe for help. Over the years, Lemonis has successfully turned around over 100 companies, and now he is bringing those his skills and over $2 million of his own money to CNBC to help these struggling businesses.

Each episode, features Lemonis making a cash offer to a fledgling business for a percentage of the profits, and brings his expertise to help them get back on track to making a profit..

These episodes may be very helpful to pet related business looking for ways to bring their business to the next level. Upcoming episodes include:

08/13/2013: The Profit #3 - Planet Popcorn
08/20/2013: The Profit #4 - Eco-Me
08/27/2013: The Profit #5 - LA Dogworks

"LA Dogworks was started up by an eccentric hothead who built a state-of-the-art dog care facility that's second to none. But that volatile leadership has created terrible morale which now threatens to dismantle the entire business. Serial entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis thinks LA Dogworks could be a flagship facility; the first of many. But to build the business, he'll have to see if he can tame its owner."

For more information visit "The Profit" website on CNBC.

How your pet business can work with bloggers and pet related websites, and still make Google happy.

We all know by now that Google is cracking down on paid links, excessive link trading, buying and selling links that pass page rank, large scale article marketing, and any links designed to manipulate page rank or the site's placement in Google rankings.

The following are examples of a few link schemes that Google has outlined, which can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results:

• The buying or selling of links that pass PageRank, including exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link.
• Excessive link exchanging or creating partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking.
• Article marketing and guest posting campaigns on a large scale that include keyword-rich anchor text links.

Google also frowns upon:

• Text advertisements that allow the passage of PageRank. 
• Advertorials in exchange for payment with links that pass PageRank. 
• Links with highly optimized anchor text in articles or press releases distributed on other sites.
• Participating in low-quality directories or bookmarking site links.
• Links to your site or on your site that are embedded in widgets and distributed across various sites, just for the purpose of link building. These may include blog hops if the blog hop system isn't no follow.
• Overuse of links in footers of website just for the purpose of PageRank improvement. 
• And leaving forum comments that include optimized links in posts or signatures. 

So what's a pet business to do to work with bloggers and other sites to promote their product and/or service, and still make Google happy with your site and the site you are working with? A few guidelines:

If you are submitting your product/service for blogger review, I would request the link be rel="nofollow".

"Nofollow," according to Google, provides a way for webmasters to tell search engines, "don't follow links on this page" or "don't follow this specific link." Readers can still click on the link to learn more info, but you'll (and the website individuals that you work with) will be following Google's Webmaster Guidelines, which will not hurt, but help your status with Google and your page rank.

Yes, it's true that Google will not 'give you credit' for having a wonderful link on a high page ranked site, but...

• You will still benefit from the positive relationship and how your business is positively perceived within articles on popular websites and blogs.
• Readers of blogger reviews will still understand how great your product and/or service is, and click to learn more.
• And you will still position your company as a leader in your pet product/service space.

If you are guest posting or participating in article marketing with other blogs and sites that include a link back to your site, Google won't have a problem with your site if the site you are posting with is of high-quality, and if your guest post is high-quality and original in nature, as well. This means don't write a guest post and submit it to 10-20 site (many of which may be low quality), as this falls into an area that Google may take action upon. 

Be honest in your marketing. Write and create high-quality articles and content that is valuable to your audience and market, that will naturally gain popularity within the pet-loving Internet community. That way, when others link to your site or content it will be editorial in nature, pass page rank, generally be more well respected, and provide your site with the increased exposure you want and need.

By following these simple guidelines, Google will be a lot more friendly to your site and with the company's or individual's websites of which you choose to collaborate - a win-win situation.

Read more about Google's Webmaster Guidelines and link schemes.

Create an amazing sell sheet for your pet product.

Just like advertisements are important for promoting your product to the consumer (and potential retailers), and press releases are important in pitching your product or service to the media, sell sheets are a key ingredient in pitching your product to retailers, distributors and wholesalers.

But what is a sell sheet?

A product sell sheet is a one (or front and back) page sheet used to attract attention of a new product to your audience, in this case retailers, distributors and wholesalers. This sheet is distributed through mail, presented at meetings or sent via email to interested parties with the goal of getting them excited about buying your product for resale.

Just like all 'sales,' it's the 'getting them excited' that is the key ingredient in a sell sheet. When you prepare your sell sheet utilizing a graphic designer or do it yourself with a graphics program like MS Publisher or Photoshop, make it simple, make it powerful, make it very attractive and make them say, 'Wow! I've got to have this."

What are the key elements to include in a sell sheet? The key elements that you should include in your sell sheet are:

• A 'Wow' headline.
• A professional image (photo) of your product.
• A professional image of a pet enjoying the product or service.
• 3-5 bullet points outlining what makes your product the hottest on the market. (include key differentiators).
• A small paragraph description of the product and what differentiates it from other products on the market.
• A grid that includes: SKU, item #, brief description, package and case size and dimensions, case quantity, pallet info (how many will fit on a pallet and the configuration), and UPC codes.
• Contact info.

In addition, you may want to utilize the back side (or page 2) of the sell sheet as an order form in PDF that retailers, distributors and wholesalers may input their order (have it calculated for them utilizing a form) and email back to you. You can use software like Adobe Acrobat XI Pro to create fillable forms. Or you may just want to utilize an excel spreadsheet that retailers can input information, then email or print out and return.

Order forms should include a grid that includes:

• Retailer contact info (name, company, address, city, state, zip, phone, etc.)
• Product name
• Product description
• Price
• SKU
• Quantity (fillable)
• Sub Total (calculated)
• Total (calculated
• Tax, shipping, etc. (calculated)
• Your company contact info and directions for returning the order form, along with confirmation information.

If you are looking for some examples of order forms, we've included a few below, that we found on the Internet, and linked to below:

    

Sample sell sheets provided by: Cat Dancer Products, Pestell and Precision Pet. Image provided by: torkildr

Estimates indicate the US pet market will reach $62 billion in 2013

This past week, Packaged Facts released their latest “U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2013-2014.”

As expected, the report indicates they anticipate the pet industry to continue to grow citing, "consumer spending in the U.S. pet market will reach $62 billion in 2013, up 4.7% over 2012, with veterinary services and pet food make up the bulk of the market, with over $21 billion each in sales projected for 2013."

Contrast that with the American Pet Products Association 2013 US pet industry expenditures estimate of $55.53 billion.

Additional notables in Packaged Facts report include:

• Non-medical pet services - a smaller category that includes grooming, boarding, training, and pet sitting/walking services - is growing at the fastest rate, at 6.0% annually. 
• Dogs account for two-thirds of sales in the overall pet products and services market, they are showered with 90% of the spending in this non-medical services category. 
• (Pet owners) are becoming less price sensitive than in years past, a trend borne out in the sales data. 
• Sales in mass channels such as grocery stores have been relatively flat, but pet owners have continued to migrate to pet specialty channels, which focus more on the high-end market. 
• Industry initiatives designed to spur growth in pet ownership, seem to have been paying dividends, as "pet ownership among younger adults has jumped to its highest level in years," according to David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts. “Half of the adults in their 20s have a dog in the household, up from only a third a decade ago.”

For more information about the Packaged Facts “U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2013-2014,” visit their website.

Photos provided courtesy of RollenB and Kevin Dooley.