Episode 310: My Funniest Pet Stories And How To Make It Into Social Media Posts

In this industry, we all have them. This hysterical, how the heck did this happen to me, funny pet stories. But these stories can be used for much more than a funny, casual conversation. You can be leveraging these funny pet stories. Yes. Leverage these stories for your social media posts and content. Take those funny pet stories and show your clients and potential clients your hustle. These stories can show your audience that you can handle the tough things, guarantee your business, and follow their exact direction. Even if it's the funniest thing you have ever done. It is a fun way to show your audience the times you had in your business that made an impact on your or your business. This week I am bringing you 3 of my own funny pet stories and how they can be used to leverage social media content. So, get ready to laugh a little and learn how to batch a whole lot. Biggest Takeaways: 3:50 Attack Kitty 9:45 Dog that was pushed in the stroller and fed McDonalds 14:15 Pet Sitter locked out Recommendations: Do you know how you can leverage your funny pet stories for your social media content? Well, in Better Marketing With Bella, we teach you how to be a marketer and ask you to meet us halfway. Of course, the custom content in those 6 months is created for you. However, we teach you how to bring the personality of your everyday social media. Doors are opening for 2023, if you are ready to take your content to the next level as well as learn all the marketing skills you need to excel in your business. Links: Better Marketing With Bella Bella Vasta Instagram Mastermind Group Transcript This is episode 310 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. Today, we're going to have a little bit of fun. That's definitely off topic of the normal business building, but just to kind of make sure you guys understand, I totally understand what happens during the normal business day and all the funny things that come up. Today, I'm going to actually share with you my funniest pet sitting stories and how to make them into a social media post. Because any time that we have anything going on in our company, it's always kind of newsworthy. It's kind of like putting on that journalistic hat. And it's not just reporting on the news, but it's understanding how to leverage it and make the storyline about something that our ideal client would want to know. Something about trust, peace of mind, security, how we handle situations and backing up. There are all types of things that happen. And I want to encourage you, as you listen to my three stories today, to be thinking about your own stories and how you could leverage your own stories for your social media good. Now, we're going to be opening the doors for Better Marketing with Bella soon. And a big part of that program is teaching you guys how to think like a marketer. We, of course, provide all the graphics, but we always say that the program works the best when you meet us halfway. What do I mean by that? It means that we provide the awesome custom graphics, the ones that have your color, your font, your logo on it, that are doing National Daughter Day or National Hug Your Dog Day or whatever it might be. But then you bring the personality of the actual up-to-date, day-by-day kind of stories and operations that happen because obviously we can't do that for you. That's what it means by meeting us halfway. So these stories and these things that might happen—stories that I'm not actually mentioning today—things like when I’ve pulled into a garage and there's a puddle of water in the garage, and we're in Arizona—it doesn't rain. Where's that water coming from? It's the upstairs bathroom, toilet that overflowed and the water is gushing and there are lights hanging off the ceiling—that kind of thing. And it's like, my God, what do you do in that situation? Here I go again, going off script. I mean, in that situation, that is the most perfect social media story ever to tell people, to show them how you manage it and what you do and how you get the client on board—and not just about how you do it, but also how you are actually providing peace of mind for your client, how you're communicating with them and assuring them that you are taking on the situation and figuring it out. Now in my company, we had a one-price, full-service guarantee. So when that kind of stuff happened and I had to keep going back and forth to meet with contractors or insurance adjusters or whatever it might be, I never charged for that time because we charged such a premium price for premium service. And I didn't care if things like that happened, or the sprinklers were springing a leak in the front lawn and going up like a geyser, or the dog got sick and needed to go to the vet. We never charged extra for that because that was part of how I ran my company. It was the guarantee that I had, and it was a way that I backed up charging so much. Okay, I already just gave you a bonus at the beginning. No big surprise there. This is the Bella In Your Business podcast, and you guys are always getting extra stuff. So I'm going to first start off with this first one—an attack kitty. That's what I'm calling it. Have you guys ever experienced a cat that growls and springs on you and it's like this little eight-pound cat, but it feels like a 200-pound tiger? My God. This experience gave me nightmares, and I'm not kidding. I was pet sitting for this one gal, Nicole, and her whole family was away. And they were a cat family. They had two or three cats. And I think they had a dog—I don't remember because this cat was really what just clawed my brain, no pun intended. So I remember one day, I’m coming down the foyer and there's a hallway that leads to the kitchen, and this cat basically trapped me in this hallway. The front of her was crouched down, her butt was in the air, her tail was up in a big bush, like poofed out, and her teeth were showing, and she's growling at me. And I'm like, “What in the world is going on?” I'm like, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.” I had no idea. I had no idea that cats could be like this. It was because I walked in the house and the cat was not familiar with me—she went nuts. Every time I tried to take a step forward, she was like, “Back off, Bella, or I'm going to hurt you.” And she would swat at me and hiss. It was terrifying. I was afraid of this eight-pound cat because I was like, “My God, what is she going to do to me?” I had this whole superwoman complex when I first started. This was in the beginning stages of my business. I'm sure you've never experienced this superwoman complex where you think you can just overcome everything—“It's all right, the dog's not going to bite me,” or “the cat's not going to scratch me.” So I slowly backed out and I called Nicole. Nicole was horrified. She said, “That damn cat.” She was annoyed with the cat. She said, “Do you have an umbrella? Go back with an umbrella.” She was helping me problem-solve it because I really was a rookie at the time. I also had a mentor and I called her and said, “What in the world is going on?” And she said, “That’s an attack kitty.” I said, “An attack what?” I had no idea that cats could actually do this. So I came back and I did that—I opened up a can of tuna. Long story short, after doing many things, I put on yoga pants, jeans over it, came in with an umbrella, also had a broom with me. It was just nuts. My main goal was to get this cat corralled into their bedroom. Before I did that, I got a litter pan and water in there and put it right next to the door. I did eventually get the cat in there, but it was terrifying. I’m so glad I went through it because then I actually knew that that could happen. I knew that if my staff was ever in a situation like that, I had the knowledge to get through it. It’s funny now, but I actually had to sleep in that house. I was doing overnights and day visits. When I was doing overnights, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like the cat was on the top of my bed frame, hunched over me, ready to claw my face out. Fun little side fact: I always sleep with the door open—unless I’m in a hotel. I always leave my door open. So their bedroom door was closed, my bedroom door was closed, and I did not sleep well. You guys—tell me, have you ever had a situation with a cat like that before? They ended up making other accommodations for this cat in the future. Luckily, I was still able to take care of the rest of their fur kids. If that ever happened today, I’d take a picture of that cat in full puffy tail, hunched over, ready to kill me—for a couple of reasons. One, everyone would stop scrolling on social media like, “What in the world is that?” Two, it’s a great teaching moment—because everyone thinks our job is all cute puppies and kittens, and it’s not. And three, you can explain the communication and problem-solving of what happened. There are so many ways to do this—you could do an Instagram story, an Instagram live, or a reel showing how you slipped food under the door with the cat swatting. It’s unique, interesting content that shows you handle tough situations—and you can position it however you want. All right, moving on. The next story I have for you is the dog that was always pushed in a stroller and got McDonald's every morning.