Rikki Sullivan is The Canine Copywriter – a specialist dog copywriter and marketing strategist who helps pet professionals put themselves out there without wrecking their nervous system.
In this episode, we talk about confidence, visibility, and how to become a more confident writer because to grow your business, people need to be able to find you.
Rikki went from working in the corporate world to setting up as a dog walker, then did a dog first aid course that completely changed the direction of her life.
Rikki started by blogging to articulate how she worked and what she did for the dogs in her care and this led to an obsession with SEO and building a business helping others find their voice.
We talk about falling for magic formulas, the pressure to promise results you can’t categorically guarantee, and why marketing doesn’t have to be manipulative or pushy to work.
Rikki explains why she chooses to market gently to protect her nervous system, and how sensitive, empathetic pet professionals can build confidence without making themselves do things that don’t feel right.
She also shares client stories – including one who grew to 5,500 website visits a month through SEO blogging – and why there isn’t just one way to grow your business.
Plus, her Rambling Method, which is all about giving yourself space to think, write, and explore your ideas before trying to be concise.
And using AI as a thinking partner without losing your you-ness, and why in a world full of generated content, sharing your life and your experiences matters more than ever.
Listen in on the player link below, and you’ll find all the ways you can connect with Rikki if you scroll to the end of this post.
Key topics and timings in this episode:
0.20 – Episode overview.
1.24 – Sponsor message – 2026 pet business content planner.
2.34 – How Rikki went from corporate to dog walker to specialist dog copywriter.
3.49 – The dog first aid course that totally changed her life when Rikki learned about dog body language.
4.46 – Why Rikki started blogging, fell down a rabbit hole, and how it helped her own business.
6.56 – Why we need to step away from listening to the mistakes we’re being told we’re making and be ourselves.
9.07 – Why none of us are immune to falling for ‘easy ways,’ and magic formulas.
13.46 – Matching your values with your marketing activity.
14.59 – Why Rikki would rather market more gently for the sake of her nervous system.
17.26 – The challenge around being visible when you’re sensitive.
18.23 – My random viral video.
21.12 – Why trying to go viral won’t work because it’s often down to creating less perfect content and practicing your skills.
24.17 – Finding your own way to market and be out there and reach people.
25.07 – Client example – Becki from East Coast Dog Training and how she used SEO blogging to have 5,500 visits to her website each month.
27.02 – Client example – Rikki’s client, who runs live events and uses ads to grow her audience and business.
28.52 – Attraction-based marketing and ignoring the demands of the algorithms.
31.56 – Why we are so convinced we need to make life hard for ourselves.
34.12 – Finding people who will appreciate the way you help them to the outcome they’re looking for.
35.48 – Rikki’s thoughts on making promises you don’t categorically know you can keep.
38.35 – Trusting your gut.
39.23 – The easiest business to run is the one that solves a problem or desire from something you’ve experienced.
40.44 – Starting with storytelling and taking baby steps.
41.53 – Why pushing through the uncomfortable part will help you build your confidence.
44.21 – The Rambling Method and giving yourself space to say what you want to share, and be more you in your content.
49.09 – Using AI as a thinking and writing partner.
51.42 – Getting your ‘you-ness’ into AI and then using it to help you write and get comfortable with writing.
54.01 – The importance of being you in your content to build a connection and stand out from the pattern of AI.
56.27 – The dog trainer who posts about crochet and shows the human side.
58.12 – Using Rikki’s journal as a content tool and a bank of stories and thoughts.
59.39 – Writing to help you figure things out.
1.02.02 – Free writing and building your confidence and skills as a writer.
1.06.57 – Finding your titles, headlines, and intros at the end.
1.08.27 – Ways to connect with Rikki, find out about her 20-minute marketing method, and journal.
1.09.15 – Ways to work with Rikki.
1.10.42 – What’s next for Rikki and why she’s taking the pressure off.
Find out more about Rikki:
Visit her website: www.thecaninecopywriter.co.uk
Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecaninecopywriter
Connect on Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecaninecopywriter
Learn more on Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rikki-sullivan-88b76925
The 20 Minute Marketing Method: https://www.underdogsunleashed.co.uk/offers/aooT2sCB/checkout
The Journal: https://mybook.to/ramblejournal
Related posts
How to find your voice in your pet business with Rikki Sullivan
How to use the pet business content planner
A simple content plan to cover SEO, social media and email marketing
How to create a social media calendar for your pet business
How to start a pet business blog
How to create a repeatable content plan
Should you buy my pet business content planner?
Episode summary
Prefer reading to listening? Here’s a Q&A-style version of my conversation with Rikki Sullivan, taken directly from the podcast transcript.
Can you tell us about your background and how you became The Canine Copywriter?
“I worked in the corporate world originally and found it all very stressful.
“All I really wanted to do was work with dogs.
“So I walked out of my job and set up a dog walking business.
“I booked onto a dog first aid course because I thought that would be a responsible thing to do.
“And as part of that day was a seminar on dog body language that I didn’t think I needed.
“It changed absolutely everything.
“Once you learn about this and you start learning more about dogs, you suddenly see all the things you couldn’t see.”
How did blogging lead you into copywriting and marketing?
“I wanted to explain the whys behind the decisions I was making in my business.
“The kind of stuff you couldn’t say on the mainstay pages of your website.
“So I started blogging.
“I became obsessed with SEO because I was writing all these blogs but nobody was finding them.
“I went down a rabbit hole and started learning about marketing.
“And gradually transitioned into copywriting.”
Why do so many pet professionals struggle with marketing?
“I think we are indoctrinated with an awful lot of like, you’re making all these mistakes and you’re doing everything wrong and you’re not good enough unless you do it this way.
“We’re constantly told there’s a right and wrong way of doing things.
“And particularly in our industry, people are highly sensitive and very empathetic.
“When we’re told to use manipulative tactics, it doesn’t match who we are.”
Why do you choose to market gently?
“I prefer to market more gently, and that does mean that it’s going to be slower.
“It also means that it feels a lot better to me.
“My nervous system feels calmer.
“One of the reasons I started working for myself was because I’m really stress sensitive.
“I want a calm nervous system.”
Do you have to promise big results to market effectively?
“I won’t promise people sales.
“There are so many variables that contribute to that happening that are outside of your control.
“I’m not going to make a promise that I don’t categorically know that I can keep.
“If you make promises that you can’t keep, over time you’re going to destroy trust.
“I would always rather under promise and over deliver.”
Can you give an example of marketing that works without being pushy?
“One client went from around 250 visits a month to five and a half thousand visits a month through SEO blogs.
“That was done with one or two blogs a month over time.
“It’s quiet visibility.
“And those blogs are still bringing in traffic years later.”
What is the Rambling Method?
“It’s about allowing yourself space and permission to ramble without having to get to the point quickly.
“It’s especially difficult to be concise until you’ve figured out what the point is.
“Rambling can help you figure that stuff out.
“You figure out what it’s about afterwards, not before.”
How should people use AI?
“Rather than turning to AI and asking it to write stuff from scratch, use it as a sparring partner.
“Get it to ask you prompts and ramble your answers.
“Don’t lose the you that nobody else can deliver.
“That’s the thing that’s going to attract your people to you.”
Why is being yourself so important in your content?
“I’m starting to tune out because it all looks the same.
“AI’s got a very specific pattern and formulaic way of writing.
“Your post that might not be perfectly formulated feels more attractive to me because it’s human.
“The more human you are, the more attractive that becomes.”
What’s the message you’d like people to take away from this conversation?
“If you try and create perfect, it’s going to make you create less.
“You can only get better at something if you’re willing to practise it.
“If you try and force clarity, you miss the magic.”
Visit Rikki’s website: www.thecaninecopywriter.co.uk
