Consider your clients and not other dog trainers on social media with Erin Moore

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Would you love to get more engagement on your social media posts from your potential clients rather than people in your industry?

If so, youโ€™ll love this chat with dog trainer coach Erin Moore about how create content for pet parents rather than pet professionals.

Itโ€™s for you if you feel like your social media is an echo chamber.

Where you get more interest on posts from other pet professionals – who wonโ€™t ever need to buy your services.

When itโ€™s actually pet owners who you want to attract.

Erin and I chat about how to navigate this, and why itโ€™s key for you to market to potential clients rather than squabble with other pet pros.ย 

Listen to the podcast on the player link below or carry on reading as a blog post.

Hi Erin, can you share a little about you?

โ€œI help dog trainers build businesses that are sustainable and scalable so they have a solid financial foundation and a good work-life balance!โ€ย 

How did you get to where you are now?

โ€œI was a dog walker then a trainer. I spent 13 years making every mistake a dog training business can make, doing it the hardest way possible, getting good results for my clients but not for myself.

โ€œI left the industry and got a corporate job. But then I realised that wasnโ€™t for me so I came back ready to make some changes.

โ€œAs dog trainers, we want to help people but we donโ€™t know about the business side, so now I help trainers stay in the industry, make a difference and create a good life for themselves.โ€

How did you change things when you returned?ย 

โ€œI hired a coach, and looked at how I could do online training, way before Covid, without losing the personal touch.

โ€œThe coach helped me understand this, figure out my ideal clients, what price to charge, how to build a programme and how to do sales and marketing. Before then I had no idea.โ€

How did you get into the coaching side for other trainers?

โ€œI was called a โ€˜reluctant coachโ€™ by my own mentor as she saw how good I am with people but at first I wanted to just work with the dogs.ย 

โ€œSeeing how many people in the dog training world were struggling, I knew I could make a real difference, and I realised that if Iโ€™m helping trainers, Iโ€™m helping everybody, even the dogs too!โ€

What would you say dog trainers find most challenging when it comes to marketing their business?

โ€œItโ€™s learning how to speak the language that their clients speak, and not the language that other dog trainers speak. Most dog trainers market really well to other dog trainers!โ€ย 

We started chatting after a post you shared about dog trainers bickering on social mediaโ€ฆ

โ€œI used to be one of those trainers who was constantly arguing online, telling people what was right and wrong.

โ€œI was so angry and felt so helpless about a lot of things that were happening to dogs but then I looked at the impact of getting embroiled in these discussions.

โ€œI realised by doing this I was telling the apps that the other personโ€™s post is really relevant and it boosts their algorithms, so it puts their post in front of more people.

โ€œEvery time you do this youโ€™re doing someone elseโ€™s marketing for them and youโ€™re helping them reach more of their people.โ€

I feel blowing out someone elseโ€™s candles doesnโ€™t make yours burn any brighter.ย 

โ€œAbsolutely, what you can do to get them to stop doing the thing you donโ€™t like is to develop a bigger, better business.

โ€œTalk about your own stuff and your own techniques so that people get the information that is right for them.โ€

Whatโ€™s the impact of being in spats with other dog trainers, talking about what theyโ€™re doing wrong?

โ€œIf youโ€™re focusing on all the things that are wrong, youโ€™re not getting your message out there, instead youโ€™re attracting people who are angry and bitter. Instead of clients who are genuinely looking for help with their dogs.โ€

What do you encourage dog trainers to share to attract clients?

โ€œTo be more authentic and to be yourself, donโ€™t hide behind your professionalism and instead make human connections with people.

โ€œGive people permission to show up and be authentic back to you, create a safe place for them to share that theyโ€™ve had a tough day with their dog, or whatever.

โ€œAlso focus on what life could look like instead for your clients, instead of what problems they are facing.ย 

โ€œFocus on the transformation they are getting, what life is going to be like with their dog after they start working with you.โ€ย 

Do you have any other advice?

โ€œI always tell clients to leave free Facebook groups with other trainers, because itโ€™s where the slagging off happens and your ideal clients arenโ€™t hanging out there.

โ€œSecondly, set your own privacy settings to flag up any fighting or arguing, make sure youโ€™re approving everything that goes on there to protect yourself.

โ€œWhen we plan for the worst-case scenario you can be prepared for what youโ€™re going to do about it.โ€ย 

What would you say to people who want to take the first step in getting out there?

โ€œIf youโ€™re scared but youโ€™re able to put a post out there with just a bit of authenticity and vulnerability to it, talk about something thatโ€™s real to you.

โ€œAnd if you canโ€™t do that my suggestion is to find a therapist, be really brave and get some help you need, a lot of the time we have unresolved trauma thatโ€™s getting in the way of us succeeding.โ€ย 

Find out more about Erin

Head to Erin’s website: www.dogbizcoach.com

Check out her podcast: https://www.dogbizcoach.com/podcast

Find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/erinmoorebel

If you’d like to work together, check out my Pets Get Visible membership here

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