Episode 232: The 5 Biggest Problems Pet Sitters and Dog Walkers Have With Social Media

Doing the same thing over and over again? Put anything in a process and avoid starting from scratch every single time. Keep a file of the templates, fonts, colors, and embellishments that you always use. Making these decisions once can actually help you multiple times in the future whether you're doing graphics, video or even templates for blogs Show Highlights Block out time to do all the things. [2:07] Be creative in different ways, either Lives, or videos, blog post writing, etc.  [3:43] Create processes for everything.  [5:05] If outsourcing, hire the right people for the right reasons.  [5:59] Hire those who are very knowledgeable in all the social media platforms you’re on. [9:27] Webinar Workshop [12:26] Special Offers There’ll be a workshop that Bella is hosting on Thursday, March 18 6pm Eastern. You’ll receive a big workbook Topics will include the 5 topics covered in this episode The bonuses of how to be engaging with your own stuff and with other people's stuff to get them to talk to you online. We will also give you all the pet holidays to have at your fingertips Another secret bonus that we’re excitedly working on All this for $9.  Free to all Mastermind members Links To sign up for the workshop, visit www.jumpconsulting.net/workshop To email Bella if there is anything you’d specifically like to hear about, email her at [email protected] Share The Show 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’ Transcript: This is episode 232 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 coach in anything that you need in your small business. Today we are going to continue the train talking about social media, and I actually have something really amazing for you that is going to be jam-packed with value and a whole bunch of freebies for like under $10. But you have to stay tuned to the end because I will tell you all that it is there. Before we even get there, I need to talk to you about why people don't work on social media. Last time we talked about all the different mistakes that people are making. This time we're going to talk about the things that just prevent you from even making those mistakes. Those mistakes would be a pleasure to make if you only had the time, the creativity, the processes, the people, and the knowledge. So we're going to dive into those five things today, and I am excited to take you with me. But first, I want to say thank you so much for listening and encourage you to like and subscribe to the podcast if you're not already subscribed to it. We just keep on growing. We are the longest-standing pet industry podcast that is out there. Isn't that amazing? We've been going strong and giving you a new episode every single Thursday, and I love taking your suggestions. So do not hesitate to email me at [email protected] so that I can know what you want to hear about. The podcast has also taken a little bit of a turn this year where a lot of them are solos. I used to do a lot of interviews. I just have so much stuff to say to you guys, and quite honestly, I love just talking just you and me. So walk those dogs, do that laundry, go make some food, go drive safe. And here we go. The first thing I want to talk to you about is time. We are all so busy, and we get interrupted. The time that it takes to do social media is very difficult. Sure, we're going to calendar block, but then we have a creative block. Or we say, you know what, I'm going to get up every morning and post something, but then that never happens. And then we start beating ourselves up. We think, gosh, I can never do this. This isn't what I'm doing. And Instagram connects with Facebook—let me do that. Well, if you listened to the last episode, you know how I feel about that. One of the biggest problems with social media is that people just don't have the time to do it. Because to do it right, you really do need the time to do it. While I want you to batch stuff—you can batch the majority of it—some of it actually is real time. There is a good percentage where you need to interact and talk back to people. We're all so busy, and we also get interrupted. You think, “My gosh, I'm going to do this on social media,” and then you go down a rabbit hole. Have you ever woken up thinking, “I need to post something on my Facebook page, but I'm not sure what,” and it’s all out of guilt? You end up going to someone else’s Facebook page, finding something they're doing, and sharing it because you think that you should. But what does it really do for your brand? Nothing. Does it help you get clients? No. The second thing is creativity. Some of us are more creative than others. Creativity could mean creating copy about what to say, how to hook people in that first sentence, or how to jazz up a photo you took in the field walking dogs or petting kitties. It could be creating a video. We did a whole series with InVideo back in November, and a lot of you signed up. But I still hear people say, “Each video takes me two hours.” For some, it's quick; for others, it's not—and that’s okay. But creativity is hard, especially right now as we’re coming out of the pandemic. It’s hard to be creative when we’re full of anxiety and depression, wondering where our money’s coming from, if our business will come back, or if we’ll have enough employees when it does. Creativity has been really dampened lately, which is totally understandable. The next thing I want to talk about is process. Many of us are banging our heads against the wall, doing the same thing over and over again. We're not putting anything into a process. We're basically starting from scratch every single time. Do you have a brand guide? Templates? Fonts and colors you always use? Embellishments you consistently include? Making these decisions once will help you multiple times in the future, whether for graphics, video, blogs, or lives. The next one is people. One of the biggest things I see is that people try to hire their own staff purely because they're under 30. They assume that means they're automatically good at social media. I cannot tell you there is nothing worse than that thinking. I literally had a client yesterday say, “I was paying someone to post to social media, and she sucked. I paid her for so much work that I couldn’t even use, and I learned my lesson.” That’s what happens. A lot of times we think, “Oh, we’ll just tell them to post,” but we don’t tell them what to post, how to post, or what our subjects, filters, lingo, or emojis are. There’s no rhyme or reason to any of it, and it makes your social media accounts a mess. So people are really important. You might want to do it internally, but then you try to hire a company that makes big promises—SEO, blogs, ads—but they don’t understand your business. Pet-sitting and dog-walking companies aren’t about random cat facts. They’re about getting clients and starting conversations. Have these companies ever walked your walk? Have they been in the pet industry? Probably not. They need to understand your pain points and how the economy and buying market have changed. To recap, the biggest hindrances for people on social media are time, creativity, processes, people, and knowledge. Do you know how fast social media changes? There are posts out there that say, “Like and share,” and that shoots you in the foot in the algorithm. Did you know that Facebook is getting rid of likes? Did you know the 20% text rule on ads is gone? Did you know colors and density in images affect scroll-stopping power? You need someone with knowledge about what’s actually working because otherwise, you’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks—and that’s time and money wasted. I want to help you solve these problems. I am launching a workshop on Thursday, March 17th at 6 p.m. Eastern. I’ll show you all of this—how to make decisions, create time, sprout energy, and gain knowledge. You’ll get a workbook, engagement prompts, and all the pet holidays from January through December so you never have to look them up. I’ll show you how to template, build your team, and create processes that work. We’re going to have fun because, in true Bella style, I make learning exciting. It’s not just about telling you stuff—it’s about entertaining you and taking you along for the journey. So to recap, the workshop will be Thursday, March 17th at 6 p.m. Eastern. I’ll walk you through everything step by step. It’s only $9, and if you’re a Mastermind member, it’s free because you guys are the bomb.com. It’s really time to get your social media popping. Go to jumpconsulting.net/workshop and Jumpy Bot will register you. I can’t wait. Something I really should have said earlier is this: bookings are coming back. People are getting five or eight bookings in a day. The wave is coming—and some of you will get washed out if you’re not ready. Just because business is picking up doesn’t mean you can stop marketing. You’ll need clients later, too. So, keep both things running: handle current clients and attract new ones. This class will show you how. The wave is coming, you won’t have time to post, and your marketing will fall away if you’re not prepared. There’s no going back to “normal.