It always seems impossible until it’s done – Nelson Mandela
Of the many pet professionals I speak with every week, at least 70% are overwhelmed by marketing their businesses. I feel for each and every one of them, but it doesn’t surprise me.
You didn’t enter the pet world to be a marketing genius. You just want the customers coming in so you can do what you love and provide for your family. I get it.
There are countless strategies, tactics and platforms you could use. But that volume of choice can leave you frustrated and confused by it all.
So today I want to share a few simple tips to help you focus. To give you direction so you can beat the overwhelm and get your business moving again.
Set your intentions, plan, and break it down
One of the simplest overwhelm-busting activities you can do, is setting goals and planning out how you’re going to make them happen.
Because in any business, we need to know what we’re shooting for.
So go inwards.
Consider your big vision for your business and figure out what you really want to achieve in the next 12 months, 6 months and 3 months.
Then break it all down.
At the beginning of each month, write down 1-3 big goals you’d like to achieve.
This is exactly what we do inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club. Creating your vision is the first step inside the success path in the Club. Then each month we come together on Zoom for our Monthly Review and Planning Session to reflect on the previous month, and plan out our intentions for the month ahead. This focused approach is central to the success of my members.
Then when you’ve pinned down your goals, list out all the key marketing and sales activities you need to help you get there.
Get granular.
Break it down by the tasks you’ll do each week, then each day.
But always be realistic with the amount of time you have.
Don’t over-commit.
If you only have an hour a day to work on your marketing, factor that into your plan. Create a default diary and a daily to-do to keep you on track.
All members in the Club get access to a default diary and digital to do template, and they love how something so simple has increased their focus and productivity.
Strip it back
Don’t try to do everything at once. It can be tempting to try and be everywhere as quickly as possible, but that can quickly lead to frustration and burn out.
Choose just one strategy to implement first and go all in on that one.
This philosophy is the idea behind my Marketing Hive strategy. And it’s driven by 5 key pillars where you focus on one area within each category. All members get access to the complete training module inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club. The 5 pillars are:
- Your core content
- Your repurpose system
- Your traffic driver
- Your nurture container
- Your engagement strategy
Doing it this way makes marketing your business more manageable. And because you have focus and a plan, you don’t spread yourself thin. Plus you get much better results for less effort.
You implement your version of the Marketing Hive for 90 days, then refine and tweak until it’s working hard for you.
That could be a Facebook strategy, Instagram, email marketing, a Youtube channel, or maybe blogging. Be consistent with that one thing. And when it’s running like clockwork, introduce another.
But if you’ve done all you can and that tactic just isn’t working for you, be sure to cut it and try a different approach.
As with all marketing, success comes from testing and tweaking.
Systems and tools
One of the biggest mistakes that will keep you stuck in overwhelm, is trying to do everything manually. And one of the best things you can do for your business is to get friendly with automation.
Use technology and tools that will help you work smarter, not harder.
Think about where you’re spending too much time right now, and scope out the tools that can take some of that load off.
That might be:
- Introducing a payment and booking system like Acuity to release some of that admin pressure.
- Using a social media scheduler like Smarterqueue to automate your social media marketing.
- Using an email marketing platform like Mailerlite to automate your emails.
- Using a better content planner like Trello to help you plan and recycle your social media content.
Inside the Club I focus heavily on teaching better systems and tools so members can reduce their marketing workload. I’m all about finding easier, less time-consuming ways for you to grow your audience and customer base!
There are always ways to help take that pressure off. So first get clear on what you want to achieve and how you’ll make that happen. Strip it back so you double down on the best strategy for you. Then put systems and tools in place to do some of the heavy lifting for you.
If you’d like to beat the overwhelm, say goodbye to your marketing woes and attract consistent leads and sales, come and join us inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club. Together we’ll build your marketing roadmap and get your business moving forwards in the right direction.