Would you love to get more engagement on your social media posts from your potential clients rather than people in your industry?
If so, youโll love this chat with dog trainer coach Erin Moore about how create content for pet parents rather than pet professionals.
Itโs 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 wonโt ever need to buy your services.
When itโs actually pet owners who you want to attract.
Erin and I chat about how to navigate this, and why itโs 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?
โI help dog trainers build businesses that are sustainable and scalable so they have a solid financial foundation and a good work-life balance!โย
How did you get to where you are now?
โI 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.
โI left the industry and got a corporate job. But then I realised that wasnโt for me so I came back ready to make some changes.
โAs dog trainers, we want to help people but we donโt 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
โI hired a coach, and looked at how I could do online training, way before Covid, without losing the personal touch.
โThe 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?
โI was called a โreluctant 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
โSeeing how many people in the dog training world were struggling, I knew I could make a real difference, and I realised that if Iโm helping trainers, Iโm helping everybody, even the dogs too!โ
What would you say dog trainers find most challenging when it comes to marketing their business?
โItโs 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!โย
We started chatting after a post you shared about dog trainers bickering on social mediaโฆ
โI used to be one of those trainers who was constantly arguing online, telling people what was right and wrong.
โI 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.
โI realised by doing this I was telling the apps that the other personโs post is really relevant and it boosts their algorithms, so it puts their post in front of more people.
โEvery time you do this youโre doing someone elseโs marketing for them and youโre helping them reach more of their people.โ
I feel blowing out someone elseโs candles doesnโt make yours burn any brighter.ย
โAbsolutely, what you can do to get them to stop doing the thing you donโt like is to develop a bigger, better business.
โTalk about your own stuff and your own techniques so that people get the information that is right for them.โ
Whatโs the impact of being in spats with other dog trainers, talking about what theyโre doing wrong?
โIf youโre focusing on all the things that are wrong, youโre not getting your message out there, instead youโre 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?
โTo be more authentic and to be yourself, donโt hide behind your professionalism and instead make human connections with people.
โGive people permission to show up and be authentic back to you, create a safe place for them to share that theyโve had a tough day with their dog, or whatever.
โAlso focus on what life could look like instead for your clients, instead of what problems they are facing.ย
โFocus on the transformation they are getting, what life is going to be like with their dog after they start working with you.โย
Do you have any other advice?
โI always tell clients to leave free Facebook groups with other trainers, because itโs where the slagging off happens and your ideal clients arenโt hanging out there.
โSecondly, set your own privacy settings to flag up any fighting or arguing, make sure youโre approving everything that goes on there to protect yourself.
โWhen we plan for the worst-case scenario you can be prepared for what youโre going to do about it.โย
What would you say to people who want to take the first step in getting out there?
โIf youโre scared but youโre able to put a post out there with just a bit of authenticity and vulnerability to it, talk about something thatโs real to you.
โAnd if you canโt 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 thatโs getting in the way of us succeeding.โย
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