Episode 193: How To Utilize Video For Your Dog Walking Business

How To Utilize Video For Your Dog Walking Business If you've been following me for a while, you know that I've been squawking about the use of video for your dog walking business for YEARS. Video is the present and it is seriously skyrocketing - especially right now with everybody being home. If you haven't gotten in yet on the video game, believe me when I say you need to! In this episode, I am going to teach you exactly how. Biggest Takeaway You Don't Want To Miss Video connects you to your audience. You don’t have to do it every day, and you don’t have to do it for hours, but I would challenge you to try to do it at least once a week for one or two weeks. It will make a world of a difference. If your clients are browsing and see your videos, chances are they will feel a deeper connection with you. Not because you are perfect on camera, but because you are showing vulnerability by BEING on camera. It shows that you are human. That ALONE goes a long way - especially when the people who are searching on your social are trying to decide if they can trust you. Show Highlights [2:45] - What types of video apps are out there? [5:45] - What is the purpose of going live? [7:20] - Better Marketing With Bella Marketeer Shoutouts! [13:25] - What are the different ways to go live? [16:00] - How can I partner with you? Links http://jumpconsulting.net/waitlist Book A Call: calendly.com/bellvasta/say-hello Wave.Video: /wave-video Canva: https://canva.7eqqol.net/bella Giphy: https://giphy.com/ Quik: https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/softwareandapp/quik-%7C-desktop/Quik-Desktop.html Filmora: https://filmora.wondershare.com/ iMovie: https://www.apple.com/imovie/ Animoto: https://animoto.com/ Final Cut Pro: https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/ Let's Connect! Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review! Click this link – Bella In Your Business Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section Click on ‘Write a Review’' Are You New Here? Welcome, I am so glad you are here. If you are a dog walker, dog sitter, cat sitter, doggy daycare or kennel owner, then you found the right place. Jump Consulting is the one place on the internet to get all the resources you need for your pet care business. Can I give you some freebies to generate sales and increase revenues for your business? Grab your freebies below. Are you starting out? Been in business for less than two years? Get your startup resources here. Do you own an established pet care business and you want to take it to the next level.? Get Your builder resources here. Transcript: This is episode 193 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I'm Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you've seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you're about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin' in this next episode of Bella in Your Business. So what do you say? Let's get ready and jump. Welcome to another episode of Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, your host, and today I'm going to talk all about ultimate apps and ways to use video in your dog walking business. But first, I want to give a big shout-out to Asha Olivia with Hopi Dogi in Hoboken, New Jersey. She has listened to every single episode of Bella in Your Business, and I am just so elated and honored that she’s let us take up her headspace for that many episodes. I also want to celebrate the fact that we are almost at 92,000 downloads, so just a big thank you to all the listeners. If you do like this podcast, I would love it if you would share it with your friends. Go ahead and give us a shout-out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, wherever you are, to any of your other pet sitting friends—maybe in Facebook groups that you're in. But now let's get into the show. We are in the thick of things here with all the COVID-19 stuff going on, and I thought that this might be a very timely episode to kind of take a little bit of a break from talking about COVID but also use it as an example as well. Most of the time when my clients think about going in front of the video camera, it literally scares the heck out of them. But I've been squawking about the use of video for years, and all the predictions that I've made have only proven to be true—the fact that video says it better, that you can be more effective on video, and that people can get to know you and even fall in love with you. Video is the present. It is what’s going on right now, and it is skyrocketing with everyone being home. If you have not gotten in the video game, you need to. Today I'm going to show you all the different ways you can if you’re one of those people that are either too afraid to be a “talking head” (basically a video of your head talking). Social media feeds have definitely exploded with ways to show video—Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, Instagram TV (IGTV)—and a myriad of apps now available to help you edit together video clips and look like a pro. Today I want to blow the lid off any fear of using video and show you the many different methods you can apply to reap the benefits. Let’s talk about some of the apps. One app is Wave.video—an app I really love and actually use for the Better Marketing with Bella program. It allows us to add in fonts and logos for all 40-plus brands we help. It’s desktop-based and one of my favorites. They have a library that adapts video size for any platform, whether square, horizontal, or Instagram Story size. Another app is Canva, which is great for creating GIFs—animated graphics that move. I’ve used Canva for years, and its GIF feature lets you design a graphic and have it fly in from the sides. It’s perfect for Instagram and Facebook Stories. Speaking of GIFs, you can also use Giphy to make your own. Did you know you can comment with a GIF on Facebook? Imagine typing your business name in the search bar and seeing a video of you pop up—try typing “Bella Vasta” into Giphy, and you’ll see some examples my friends made. Another app is Quik (Q-U-I-K), great for splicing together short clips with filters that make you look like Steven Spielberg. Filmora is another tool for phone or desktop, offering hundreds of downloadable special effects packages you can purchase—everything from retro to tropical. If you’re an Apple user, iMovie is a classic—it’s what I’ve used for almost all the videos on my YouTube channel. For more advanced editing, there’s Final Cut Pro, which I bought for around $400 but admittedly still tend to stick with iMovie because it’s what I know. Another long-time favorite is Animoto—still popular after many years, which says a lot in the fast-changing world of software. Now, let’s talk about the importance of going live. One of our mastermind members, Sue, said she doesn’t like going live because she hates the sound of her voice. Guess what? Me too! Even though I host a podcast, it’s hard for me to listen to my own voice. But if you’d never seen me online or listened to this podcast, would you feel like you know me and my brand? Probably not. Video connects you to your audience. You don’t have to do it every day or for hours, but try going live once a week—it will make a world of difference. Remember, social media is rarely the first step in the buying journey. People typically find your website first, then click through to your social media to learn more about you. When they see your videos, they feel a deeper connection—not because you’re perfect on camera, but because showing up makes you human. That vulnerability builds trust. I want to highlight a few of our Better Marketing with Bella students who have been killing it on video. At the beginning of the semester, many of them weren’t doing video at all, and now they’re thriving—especially during COVID. With Better Marketing with Bella, we provide graphics, cover videos, square videos, captions, copy, GIFs, Instagram Stories, emails—so much content. We even added 20 extra COVID-specific graphics over five weeks to keep everything relevant. First, there’s Daisy from Pooped Out, who has been going live to share tips and tricks about dogs and enrichment toys. She introduces herself, explains what she’s doing, and just gets on camera—even if it’s not perfect. That’s what matters. Her video got about 300 views. Next is Joanna from Woofin’ It, whose raw, honest videos about COVID and life changes have drawn nearly a thousand views. She’s real, vulnerable, and fearless, and that makes people trust her. Then there’s Ben from Kenshaw Petsitter, who has a background in stand-up comedy. He created a series of funny “COVID news updates” wearing a suit and tie, using one of the selfie stands we sent all our clients. His humor and consistency—posting Monday through Friday—earned hundreds of views per video and built audience trust. Finally, April Cox from Rocky’s Retreat, who’s in both Better Marketing with Bella and our Mastermind, did a scavenger hunt video that got 5,000 views. She used it to share fun facts about her business while engaging her audience in a daily challenge. These examples show there’s no one way to do video. Some go live with pets, some host games, others share tips or jokes—the possibilities are endless. You can even share your screen on Facebook Live to show how easy it is to sign up for your services. Short, one-to-two-minute videos work best, and hardly anyone in the pet industry is doing this yet. If you go live vertically, repurpose it on IGTV—it plays the first minute on your feed and prompts viewers to watch the rest. Make sure that first minute is engaging. You can also use creative tools like Snapchat glasses—sunglasses that record short clips from your perspective,