529: Giving a Crap with Erica Krupin
What does it take to run a successful dog waste removal business that goes beyond just scooping poop? In this episode, Erica Krupin, owner of Kroopin's Poopin Scoopin, shares the behind-the-scenes realities of managing her growing business. She emphasizes the importance of providing an exceptional customer experience, from building trust through reliability to creating peace of mind with professional services. Erica dives into the challenges of hiring and retaining great employees, explaining how paying well and setting clear expectations helps her maintain a high standard of service. She also talks about the complexities of pricing for quality and managing company vehicles, highlighting how investing in these areas ensures long-term success. With her down-to-earth approach, Erica offers valuable insights into what it truly takes to lead a thriving, people-centered business.
496: Making Your Business Memorable
Is your business memorable? With a more crowded market than ever, we discuss strategies for making your business stand out and why it's crucial for success. We share the importance of defining the terms you use and the importance of offering unique services. Your clients are looking for feelings and emotions, so you should be connecting at that level with them, not in technical jargon. Learn how to differentiate your business and leave a positive, memorable impact on your clients.
411: Transitioning from International to Local Pet Care with Kelly Hayes-Raitt
When making big decisions, it's important to gather new information and seek out novel experiences in order to fully understand the situation before moving forward. In this episode, Kelly Hayes-Raitt, known as the HouseSit Diva, shares her experience of using international travel house and pet sitting to find a new place to live. By experimenting across different cultures and lifestyles, Kelly emphasizes the importance of embracing each step as an opportunity to grow and learn. She also discusses how she transitioned from being a free house and pet sitter to offering a paid service in her new hometown, and how this change has affected client expectations. Whether you're planning a business shift or a major life change, new experiences can teach you a lot!
400: The Life of a Pet Sitter
What does the life of a pet sitter mean to you? We’re celebrating 400 episodes by reflecting on 5 major lessons we’ve learned about the life of a pet sitter. Pulling from over 200 interviews, we share what it means to be a pet sitter, and the best advice we’ve learned. We’re so thankful for you listening and are so excited for another 400!
387: Good Will is Good PR with Remy Bibaud
What does having good PR mean to you? Many times we use customer relations and public relations interchangeably, but this is limiting our ability to have a wider impact in our community. Remy Bibaud, co-owner of Pet Perennials, joins the show to share how to foster public relations and use it to your advantage. Remy walks through the major points of cultivating high quality experiences with your business, and the role you play in guiding that. She also shares how she stays ahead of understanding her client’s needs.
290: Creating an Exceptional New Client Experience
Do new client’s enjoy the onboarding experience with you and your business? The benefit of focusing on the details is that existing clients also benefit from any improvements you make. As a business, we should make the experience of interacting with our company as magical as possible. Collin shares a recent experience of having routine lab work run, and how not to handle new clients. Plus, Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I hold myself more accountable?”
285: From Finances to Felines with Wendy Thomson
How do you manage your finances? Wendy Thomson, owner of My Three Cats, spent over 20 years as an accountant. She credits her background with her ability to get her business off the ground quickly during Covid. She joins the show today to share her experience of growing quickly, why we need to understand our finances, and why she decided to start a cat only business. She also shares what she looks for in a good hire for business.
256: Fear Free Pet Sitting with Mikkel Becker
Mikkel Becker, from Fear Free and Fear Free Happy Homes, discusses how following the Fear Free philosophy impacts our ability to build trust with the pets in our care. It not only makes our job easier, but also sets up the pet and owner for success. Mikkel shares how fear manifests itself in dogs and cats, and what we can do to help them in those moments.
232: Valuing Yourself with Carla Tittle
How do you value yourself? Carla Tittle, owner of Texas Ruff House, stepped way from a career in elementary education on a sabbatical and found herself running a pet care business. Carla shares how she uses the skills of a teacher to read between the lines of client expectations. She also discusses her process in finding her ideal client, how she markets to them, and what it was like hiring for the first time. Carla’s pet care community suffered a tragic loss that reached the national news; she talks about the mark it’s left and how they all have come together. All through her time in pet care, she continues to reflect back on what she values and whether it’s reflected in her work, and she encourages us to do the same.
130: Redefining Prosperity with Kristin Morrison
We're super excited to get to share this talk from Kristin Morrison entitled, "Redefining Prosperity in the Midst of a Pandemic" that she recently gave at a conference. Kristin discusses the struggle the pet care industry is going through, plus several great ways to overcome and thrive.
027- Fostering Relationships
Relationships! Kelly joins us again to talk all about building, maintaining, and starting relationships with travel sitting. Whether you're flying around the world, or driving across town, we all need healthy relationships in our lives.
019- Setting Goals for 2020
Join us this week as we talk about our 2019 goals, and our goals going into 2020. We share some goals of other sitters and some general tips on how to go about setting and, more importantly, achieving them. We also share some updates about the podcast.