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How to Build a Successful Eco-Friendly Pet Care Business from Scratch

Suzanne Harris — 2026-01-28T15:38:09+00:00

How to Build a Successful Eco-Friendly Pet Care Business from Scratch

Animal therapists and holistic pet care practitioners often hit the same wall: clients want gentler support for stress and chronic issues, yet conventional options can feel limited and holistic work can be met with skepticism. At the same time, everyday pet care choices, products, packaging, and routines can quietly add to the load pets carry, and the waste communities manage. Green pet care entrepreneurship offers a way to turn holistic animal wellness into an eco-friendly pet care business that earns trust through consistency and care. The opportunity is a service model that supports calmer animals (e.g., dogs, cats, birds, etc.) and cleaner habits.

Quick Summary: Building an Eco-Friendly Pet Care Business

●      Choose sustainable pet products that support animal wellness and align with your eco-friendly mission.
●      Switch to green packaging to reduce waste while keeping supplies clean, safe, and professional.
●      Offer eco-friendly grooming services that prioritize gentle care and minimize environmental impact.
●      Use sustainable transportation options to lower your business’s carbon footprint during visits and deliveries.
●      Set up an energy-efficient workspace and partner with ethical pet brands for responsible sourcing.

Understanding the Money-and-Brand Base

Start with a simple foundation.
Eco-friendly pet care is not just about swapping products. It is a clear positioning, smart pricing that covers greener inputs, a starter budget, and basic business learning that guides every choice. A defined green mission helps you stay consistent across sourcing, services, and marketing.
This matters because animal wellness work depends on trust and follow-through. If your pricing ignores eco costs, you may cut corners or burn out. Many leaders agree that pricing will become more important, so getting it right protects your clients and your practice.

Launch Your Eco-Friendly Pet Care Plan Step by Step

Your foundation is set. Here’s how to turn it into daily operations.
This launch plan helps you build an eco-friendly pet care business that aligns with holistic animal wellness, from what you stock to how you travel and package. For animal therapists, these choices matter because low-toxin inputs, calmer routines, and consistent standards support the nervous system, skin, and respiratory comfort in sensitive clients.

Step 1: Source biodegradable basics and organic rewards
Start with a small, vetted inventory you can confidently recommend in sessions: biodegradable waste bags, plant-based wipes, low-toxin cleaning supplies, and organic treats with simple ingredients. Create a one-page “approved list” with why each item fits wellness goals, then buy only what you can use within 30 to 60 days to avoid waste and stale stock.

Step 2: Set natural grooming standards you can teach
Write a short grooming protocol that covers product rules, dilution, patch-testing, and scent sensitivity, plus how you handle fearful or touch-averse pets. Use it to train any helpers and to educate clients, so every appointment delivers the same low-irritant, regulation-friendly experience.

Step 3: Switch to compostable packaging for take-home items
Choose compostable or recyclable packaging for treats, shampoo decants, and sample kits, then standardize sizes so you reorder less and label faster. The operational goal is simple: fewer packaging types, fewer last-minute supply runs, and a cleaner brand story that clients can repeat.

Step 4: Reduce travel with low-emission walking routes
Group appointments by neighborhood, offer longer sessions less often, and build route blocks for dog walking or home visits to cut total miles. If you can, add a low-emission option such as walking, biking, or an EV-assisted route for nearby clients, and describe it as a wellness benefit as well as an eco choice.

Step 5: Build ethical brand partnerships that match your care model
Reach out to two to five local or online suppliers whose values align with your standards, then request ingredient lists, sourcing notes, and minimum order terms before you commit. A growing market like the eco-friendly pet products market can attract trend-chasing vendors, so prioritize transparency and consistent quality over flashy claims.

Keep it simple, stay consistent, and your systems will start supporting your clients as much as your hands-on skills.

Expanding Your Business Knowledge

Running an eco-friendly pet care business doesn’t just rely on your passion for animals and the planet — it also depends on your ability to manage finances, operations, and long-term strategy effectively. Building confidence in these areas can make your venture more resilient and easier to scale responsibly.
If you’re looking to strengthen your business fundamentals, check this out, a program designed to help entrepreneurs deepen their understanding of management, marketing, and sustainability in modern business environments. Learning how to apply data-driven decision-making, operational efficiency, and financial planning can help your eco-friendly business thrive while staying true to its mission of environmental care.

Launch-Ready Sustainability Checklist

To stay organized day to day:
This checklist keeps your eco-friendly decisions aligned with therapeutic outcomes, so your training and care feel predictable for sensitive animals. Use it to confirm your setup supports calmer sessions, cleaner air, and fewer triggers.
✔ Confirm your approved products list with ingredients, dilutions, and contraindications
✔ Audit all supplies for fragrance, harsh surfactants, dyes, and unnecessary plastics
✔ Set a 30-day reorder rhythm to prevent overbuying and expired stock
✔ Standardize labels for allergens, batch dates, and client home-use directions
✔ Prepare a low-stress handling script for touch-averse or fearful animals
✔ Set up an energy-efficient workspace with washable towels and refill stations
✔ Track travel routes weekly and group appointments to reduce total miles
Check these off, then show up with confidence and consistency.

Pilot One Eco-Friendly Service and Build Real-World Momentum

It’s easy to feel pulled between doing right by animals and running a business that stays practical, profitable, and consistent. The path here is a steady mindset: let holistic pet care and sustainable animal wellness guide decisions, then use simple systems and your launch-ready checklist to keep the details grounded. When that approach leads, eco-conscious pet entrepreneurs stop second-guessing and start building trust through clear outcomes and repeatable care. Sustainability works best when it’s built into your first offer, not added later. Choose one client offer to pilot this week, and keep it small enough to deliver with confidence. That’s how animal therapy and sustainability become a resilient practice that supports healthier pets, calmer humans, and lasting green business motivation.

Find more tips on how to be a sustainable pet care entrepreneur in this other Animal Care Business blog post

About The Author

This is a guest post by Cindy Aldridge cindy@ourdogfriends.org

How to Use Podcasts As A Marketing Strategy As An Animal Care Business

Suzanne Harris — 2025-12-27T12:20:14+00:00

How Animal Care Businesses Can Build Authority and Attract Clients Through Podcasts

Animal care business owners—whether you run a veterinary clinic, boarding facility, grooming service, rescue, or training practice—face a crowded market where trust matters as much as skill. Clients want reassurance that the person caring for their animals truly knows what they’re doing. One of the most effective, low-pressure ways to earn that trust is through podcasts, both as a guest and as a thoughtful listener who understands the medium.

In a few breaths: the core idea
Podcasts help animal care professionals become visible experts without sounding salesy. By sharing real experience, learning from others, and showing up consistently in audio spaces your audience already loves, you strengthen credibility, relationships, and long-term brand recognition.

Why podcasts work so well for animal-focused businesses
People choose animal care providers emotionally. A calm voice explaining nutrition myths, behavior challenges, or senior pet care builds confidence faster than a polished ad ever could. Podcasts also allow nuance. You can tell stories about tough cases, lessons learned, and small wins that demonstrate expertise without exaggeration.
Unlike social media posts that disappear in hours, podcast episodes live for years. A single appearance can keep sending curious pet owners your way long after it airs.

Learning before speaking: the underrated advantage of listening
Before ever pitching yourself as a guest, listening to a wide range of podcasts sharpens your instincts. You start to notice how hosts frame questions, what stories resonate, and which topics spark curiosity. Over time, this helps you understand industry trends, common messaging patterns, and what audiences actually care about—not what businesses assume they care about.
For example, listening to alumni-focused shows that share personal growth stories can be surprisingly instructive. An alumni podcast that highlights inspiring journeys and practical advice from people who transformed their lives through education offers lessons in motivation, clarity, and tone. Shows like the Phoenix podcast demonstrate how storytelling paired with practical insight keeps listeners engaged and thinking about their own next steps. Even if the topic isn’t animal care, the structure and pacing are worth studying.

How podcast guesting builds expert status (without bragging)
Being a guest positions you as a contributor, not a promoter. You’re invited because you know something useful. Over time, repeated appearances signal reliability and depth.
Benefits include:
●      Increased name recognition among pet owners
●      Stronger professional reputation within your niche
●      Opportunities for partnerships and referrals
●      Content you can repurpose on your website and socials
The key is restraint. Education first. Promotion last—or not at all.

A simple how-to for getting started as a podcast guest

Define your lane
Pick two or three topics you can speak about confidently (e.g., anxious dogs, exotic pet care, senior animal wellness).

Research aligned shows
Look for podcasts serving pet owners, animal professionals, or local communities you already serve.

Listen before pitching
Note episode length, tone, and recurring segments so your pitch feels informed.

Craft a helpful pitch
Focus on what listeners will learn, not your credentials.

Prepare real examples
Stories from your daily work make advice feel grounded and trustworthy.

What makes a great podcast appearance vs. a forgettable one

Strong Appearance	Weak Appearance
Clear, practical advice	Vague generalities
Real stories from experience	Overly rehearsed talking points
Calm, confident delivery	Defensive or sales-driven tone
Focus on listener problems	Focus on business promotion

FAQ: Common podcast questions from animal care owners
Do I need my own podcast to benefit? No. Guesting is often more efficient and reaches established audiences faster.
What if I’m not “media trained”? Authenticity matters more than polish. Clear explanations and honesty go a long way.
Is this only for large practices? Not at all. Solo trainers, groomers, and small rescues often shine because their stories are personal.
How long before results show up? Reputation-building is cumulative. Think months, not days—but the impact is durable.

One resource worth bookmarking
If you want to improve how you communicate complex topics simply and with empathy, the ASPCA Pet Care Guides are an excellent reference. They model clear, calm, and compassionate education for animal owners. Studying how trusted organizations explain difficult topics can improve how you speak on podcasts, too.

Final thoughts
Podcasts give animal care business owners a rare opportunity: to be heard, not just seen. By listening widely, speaking thoughtfully, and showing up with genuine intent to help, you position yourself as an expert people trust with what they love most. Over time, that trust becomes your strongest marketing asset.

The Animals Naturally Podcast hosted by Suzanne here at Taranet, is a useful resource to get some ideas too!

About The Author

This is a guest post by Cindy Aldridge

Guide to Opening Pet Daycare in the UK

Suzanne Harris — 2025-11-06T12:03:50+00:00

Image by Freepik
The Complete UK Guide to Opening a Pet Daycare — Legal Steps, Costs & Tips
Across the UK, the demand for quality pet care has skyrocketed — from busy professionals in Manchester to families in Bristol planning holidays. Launching a pet boarding or pet daycare business can be both fulfilling and financially rewarding.
This guide explores actionable strategies, setup essentials, and common pitfalls to avoid — all tailored for a UK audience.

Starting a pet daycare involves five critical steps:

Register your business and meet local licensing rules.
Secure the right location — safety, accessibility, and zoning matter.
Design pet-safe spaces with hygiene and comfort in mind.
Build trust early through insurance, reviews, and transparent policies.
Market locally using UK pet directories and social media groups.

Visit the rest of this Taranet website for advice and tips on animal care businesses and animal health, it's a fantastic UK-based hub for pet professionals.

Legal Setup and Licensing
Before opening, you must comply with The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018. Your local council will issue your licence, typically after an inspection.

Checklist:
●      Apply for an Animal Boarding Establishment Licence through your local authority.
●      Register your business with HMRC for tax purposes.
●      Get public liability and pet insurance from a trusted UK provider like Petplan Sanctuary.
●      If employing staff, register for PAYE and check workplace insurance requirements.
●      Ensure all facilities meet DEFRA standards for ventilation, cleanliness, and space.
Resource: For help interpreting licensing conditions, review Gov.UK’s guidance.

Facilities, Comfort, and Design

Area	Requirements	Tips
Kennels/Catteries	Separate areas, washable surfaces	Noise insulation prevents stress
Outdoor Spaces	Fenced, shaded, secure	Include enrichment toys and agility zones
Hygiene Stations	Accessible handwashing and sanitation	Use DEFRA-approved disinfectants
Reception/Check-in	Welcoming, clear signage	Offer quick contactless payment options
Emergency Care	Vet contacts and first-aid supplies	Keep a 24/7 emergency plan posted

Craft Your Brand and Build Trust
Your brand is how pet parents decide if they can trust you with their furry family.
Quick Wins:
●      Choose a caring, community-first name — think “Hound Haven Manchester” or “Purr & Play Daycare Leeds.”
●      Create a professional website using builders like Squarespace — include service details, prices, and FAQs.
●      Use social media: showcase happy pets on Instagram and join Facebook groups like UK Dog Daycare Owners & Professionals.
●      Collect reviews early through Trustpilot UK and Google Business Profile.
Bonus: Partner with local pet groomers or trainers — cross-referrals strengthen your reputation and visibility.

Operations, Pricing & Growth Strategy
A strong operational foundation ensures consistency — the key to customer retention.
How-To Framework:

Set your pricing model — charge by the hour, half-day, or overnight.
Implement booking software — try PRevel POS for UK-based service management.
Build routines: fixed feeding, play, rest, and hygiene times.
Hire for personality: Look for staff who love animals and understand behaviour cues.
Keep learning: Attend local CPD-accredited workshops via Animal Courses Direct.

Market with Local Heart
Visibility is everything. Local awareness drives bookings faster than paid ads alone.

Ideas to Try:
●      Offer “First Stay Free” for new customers.
●      Join directories like DogFriendly.co.uk.
●      Host community events — e.g., “Puppy Social Saturday” in partnership with nearby vets.
●      Build relationships with rescue centres and shelters; they often refer to trusted daycares.
●      Use flyers, but prioritise SEO — make sure your Google Maps listing includes “pet boarding near [your town].”

Upskill for Long-Term Success
Running a pet daycare isn’t just about cuddles — it’s about strategy, business, and resilience. Strengthening your business acumen can give you a real edge.
If you’re considering expanding or adding advanced management systems, you might explore earning an online degree in business. Whether you pursue marketing, management, or communications, formal education can help you master budgeting, leadership, and brand development — all while running your pet business full-time thanks to flexible online learning.

The Smart Kennel Companion
A growing number of UK facilities use Sure Petcare’s Animo tracker (surepetcare.com) to monitor pets’ activity, sleep, and wellbeing during boarding. This not only reassures owners but differentiates your business as pet-tech-friendly.

FAQ
Do I need qualifications to open a pet daycare? Not legally, but training in animal welfare, behaviour, and first aid is strongly recommended.
How long does it take to get licensed? Most councils issue licences within 6–8 weeks after inspection, though times vary.
Can I run a pet daycare from home? Yes — if you meet all safety, noise, and zoning requirements. Always confirm with your local council.
What insurance should I get? Public liability, employer’s liability (if hiring), and pet accident coverage are essential.
How much profit can I expect? Small UK facilities often earn £25,000–£50,000 annually after the first year, depending on capacity and services.

Glossary
●      DEFRA: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; regulates animal welfare in the UK.
●      AIO (AI Overviews): AI-generated summaries in Google results — a growing channel for business visibility.
●      CPD: Continuing Professional Development — certified learning to enhance professional competence.
●      Multi-Tenant Licensing: Permission model allowing multiple clients or animals under one operational licence.
●      Eco Boarding: Sustainable operations that use renewable or biodegradable materials.

Conclusion
Starting a pet boarding or daycare business in the UK blends passion with precision — caring for animals while running a structured, compliant enterprise. Focus on licensing, clear branding, hygiene, and local trust. With the right systems, community engagement, and business savvy, your pet daycare can become a beloved fixture in your town — wagging tails included.

About The Author
This is a guest post by Cindy Aldridge

Thrive As Digital Nomad With a Pet

Suzanne Harris — 2025-09-06T05:53:21+01:00

Tips and Strategies for How to Thrive as a Digital Nomad with a Pet

Blending a remote career with pet ownership can feel like trying to juggle three time zones and a tennis ball. But for many digital nomads, having a furry companion adds comfort, purpose, and even structure to an otherwise fluid lifestyle. The key to success is managing logistics with the same care you’d give your next client pitch—and that includes your dog’s vet paperwork. Here’s how to make the road feel like home—for both of you.

Make Remote Work… Work

A strong Wi-Fi signal may keep your job running, but it’s your time management that keeps your sanity intact. The trick is building a daily structure that honors your pet’s needs as much as your deadlines. Use walk times as bookends to focus blocks. Schedule Zooms when your pet is calm (often after exercise), and lean on asynchronous communication when time zones don’t line up. You can maintain your career momentum while still meeting your pet’s needs by staying on with deadlines intact. Build in buffer time for unexpected distractions—because they’ll happen.

Upskill While You Roam

The freedom of remote work shouldn’t mean hitting pause on professional growth. Whether you’re eyeing more technical roles or want to expand beyond freelance gigs, education can unlock new career paths. Enrolling in an online computer science degree program allows you to learn at your own pace, from wherever you’ve set up shop this month. It’s especially practical for nomads working in tech-adjacent fields who want to deepen their programming or systems knowledge. Sharpening your skills while you travel can be the difference between surviving the lifestyle and thriving in it.

Assess If Your Pet Can Handle the Ride

Before you pack up your home and hit the road, do an honest audit: Is your pet cut out for this? Some pets love novelty; others panic at the sight of a suitcase. Try local overnight stays first. How do they react to new environments, sounds, or routines? You’ll want to start by assessing pet travel adaptability. Think about temperament, breed, age, and health. Senior pets, for instance, may struggle with altitude or climate changes. And pets prone to anxiety might need behavioral support or medication to travel safely. This is one decision where optimism shouldn’t outweigh realism.

Pick Destinations That Welcome Both of You

Not all places are created equal when it comes to pet-friendliness. The ideal base has dog parks, vet access, pet-friendly housing, and transport options. If you’re in Europe, cities like Lisbon and Berlin are known for welcoming pets. In Southeast Asia, it’s more complicated and may involve quarantines or limited vet care. Use platforms and tools for mapping pet-friendly locations. You’ll save yourself heartache and wasted travel days by checking rules ahead of time. Look for long-stay accommodation that doesn’t charge pet fees, and search out communities with other pet-owning nomads.

Sort the Paperwork and Plan Ahead

Traveling internationally with a pet requires paperwork, vaccines, and often, patience. Each country has its own entry requirements, from health certificates to microchips and quarantine periods. These requirements can change without much notice, especially post-pandemic. Wherever you’re headed next, prioritize securing pet paperwork early. Don’t leave appointments or vet visits to the last minute, especially for flights. Airlines may also require health certificates dated within 10 days of travel. Be meticulous—because missing one document can delay or cancel your plans entirely.

Pack Like a Nomadic Pet Pro

When living out of a suitcase, every item matters—and that includes your pet’s gear. Collapsible bowls, lightweight bedding, and travel crates are musts. Include your pet’s usual food, toys that carry familiar scents, and health essentials like flea meds and calming treats. The rule is simple: include comfort items wisely. These small details reduce stress and signal continuity. Bonus tip? Label everything. If you’re staying in co-living spaces or taking shared transport, it’ll help if your gear is easy to identify.

Keep Routines (As Much As You Can)

The nomad life is anything but consistent—but your pet still craves some kind of rhythm. Morning walks, consistent feeding times, and designated quiet spaces can make a world of difference. These micro-routines build emotional safety and behavioral stability. Start by keeping feeding and play consistent. Even in unfamiliar settings, familiar timing can reduce anxiety for both of you. If your schedule will change dramatically—due to time zones or client load—gradually ease your pet into the new rhythm over a few days. Predictability is calming, especially for high-energy or anxious pets.

Being a digital nomad doesn’t mean choosing between your career and your companion—it just means planning more thoughtfully. From vet paperwork to dinner bowls, it’s about building systems that serve both of you. The adventure is richer when you have a sidekick who’s with you through every timezone and tailwind. And remember, every walk is a reset button. Every belly rub is a pause. In a lifestyle defined by movement, your pet might just be the thing that keeps you grounded.
You can discover the power of holistic care for your beloved animals and elevate your equine or canine business with expert guidance from Taranet.

Love Developing Your Pet Care Business By Changing Your Mindset

Suzanne Harris — 2024-02-12T12:03:18+00:00

3 Brilliant Ideas To Make Your Pet Care Business A Success

Your knowing where to start in developing your pet care business can be overwhelming. You may have lots of ideas. And want to do some of them quickly. This could be because money is an issue, and you want to increase your income. Or you may want to free up your time.

Setting goals is not new. You may have set lots of goals before? You will hopefully have achieved many already. Especially if running your own pet related business was a goal and you're doing it, then that is a success!

But how do you make your goal setting even better.

Do you ever feel that you've reached a plateau? Or that reaching new goals seems a bit difficult? Perhaps you think extra financial investment is needed? Or you don't have enough time to do what you need? Especially if you're a sole trader, or have a very small team, can you find the time or money to pay for help?

Mindset is everything. One great saying by the poet John Milton is:

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..

This is worth reflecting on. We all have days that aren't as good as others. But we can make ourselves feel really awful, when we don't actually need to. This can negatively affect us in many aspects of our lives, that can delay or even prevent us achieving what we want to do.

So on that note, i've compiled the below list of ways to help you get more targeted in your business development, by reconsidering your mindset. Why not give them a go? Some maybe new or what you've done before. If you have done before then I challenge you to give them a go again!

3 Tips On How Can You Transform Your Pet Care Business Development

Meditate for mental clarity. This will help get your mind really clear on what it is you want to do. So how do you do that? My top tip is to meditate. I'm not an expert on meditation, however know it does work! It takes practice - I prefer guided meditations. There are some great ones on youtube, including ones that are only 5 or 10 minutes long. Be consistent, so meditate every day. Anytime of day is better than not doing it at all. However, many experts suggest the beginning of the day, particularly when you first wake up is ideal. Meditation can help you to be clearer in your mind, and decide what is your most important goal for your business.
Focus on what is good in your pet care business. Gratitude is vital. Practice feeling grateful throughout the day in every way. Not just for your business and all the different parts of it, but on everything. You maybe wondering why that's going to make any difference? Being grateful for even the tiny things or things you often take for granted, can improve your wellbeing. This has been proven in many research studies, including this one from Greater Good Magazine. By feeling better in yourself, will help all aspects of your life including your business.
Take inspired action. This can be a tricky one. But by getting your mind a bit clearer, through meditating and practicing gratitude, it can help you get more inspiration. Now making a list of actions to take is a good idea of course. Writing lists can be helpful. And some brainstorming can help (see my post about brain dumping here). But some ideas are going to feel "more right" than others. Your gut instinct can be invaluable. If an idea for an action seems right, then do it. But don't force it. Feeling inspired can help you make better decisions. It can help you feel more true to yourself. Being comfortable about how you are developing your business is important. Remember to take action based on what you are happy with not what someone else thinks you should do.

To help my coaching clients i've devised the T.A.R.A. programme.

This is named after my dear horse Tara of 25 years.

So what is this?
T = Targeted. Helping you to take action targeted to helping your business.
A = Aspiring. Helping you to aspire to the life and business you want.
R = Realistic. Helping you to take action that is realistic in achieving your goals.
A = Achieve. Helping you to achieve success in your equestrian or canine business.

You can use this framework to keep you on course. To get the results you want in your equestrian or pet care business.

Action Point

Practice my 3 tips in this post consistently every day for at least a month - or for several months or more.
Review my previous blog posts for more tips to boost your equine or canine or veterinary business.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Click here for more information on consultancy. Or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

3 Top Tips To Make Wise Marketing Decisions For Your Pet Care Business

Suzanne Harris — 2023-03-31T12:30:17+01:00

3 tips on how should you spend your marketing budget as a pet care business?

Promoting your pet care business is important, but where do you start? There’s lots of advice out there both online and from people you may know. In this post, I too am providing some advice. But with the aim of giving you some basic points to consider when making your decisions!

So here are 3 tips on what you should consider. These apply to whatever pet care business you provide. Whether you are a complementary therapist working with pets or horses. Or a dog groomer, dog trainer or any other business owner helping pets and their owners.

Don't Make Up Your Budget As You Go Along For Your Pet Care Business

Before you decide how to spend your budget, have you made a clear decision on what your budget is? For instance you may find tempting offers from social media companies or magazines. All encouraging you to spend your money. Whilst they may seem a good idea they can mean you spend more than what you either can afford or more than needed.

Be clear on what your budget is for different marketing activities. For instance if you would like to pay to promote your posts on social media. But also like to advertise in local community magazines, then what is your budget for both? If you pay to advertise in different places it can be easy to lose track on what your spending.

Top Tip: Keep a simple spreadsheet detailing budget, and deducting different activities.

Decide where your customers are

Now your customers are everywhere, yes! Although it may not seem like that if they’re not coming to you of course. It can be easy to spend more than you really should if you try to pay to advertise everywhere though. So decide where your main focus is.

Do you want to know how to market your pet care business more effectively? Read my blog post here showing you how to do just that.

You’ll find some local businesses - e.g. veterinary practices are happy to have you business cards on their desk. Or put up a poster on their noticeboard for free. So always try the low cost options first! Notice i’ve said low-cost option. As of course, if you’re printing posters, business cards or leaflets, then there is a cost attached to that.

But if you do want to pay to advertise, then decide on what locations you want to utilise first. Is that social media, local radio, etc. Are your customers using social media and if so which networks? Which leads me onto tip number 3.

Love Social Media For Your Pet Care Business But Don't Let It Overwhelm You

Social media can be helpful. But you can spend lots of time - which does equal money (your time!), and also money in promoting posts. So choose the platforms which will work best for your business.

Decide on what social network you’re going to prioritise using. Using several can work, but is also easy to spend lots of time, when one network will work best. Whilst social networks are (majority of anyway) free, to get your posts in front of your customers you often need to promote your posts.

If you do pay to promote your posts, test, test and test again. So try different wording, different pictures, and different call to actions. Then you can see what post styles are worthwhile paying to promote. Testing though is a great idea even if you spend no money on promoting posts!

Like to get the best out of social media for your pet care business? See my blog post here

About The Author

Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

OR browse this blog here, it's been designed to help you have the best equestrian or pet care business you can!

Email me for more information on consultancy for your equestrian or pet care business with me.

How To Launch Your Pet Care Business With These 7 Steps

Suzanne Harris — 2022-09-06T12:44:20+01:00

7 Steps to Launching a Successful Pet Care Business

Have you always considered yourself an animal lover? Maybe you have a few pets of your own, and you imagined yourself working with animals someday. Perhaps you even have some professional experience with animals under your belt. If so, this could be the perfect opportunity to launch your very own pet care business!

Today, Taranet is here to help you decide which pet care business idea is right for you, and how to maximize your chances of success in this industry.

The Right Timing

Why is now such a great time to launch a pet care business? Younger generations care deeply about their pets, and they’re willing to go the extra mile - and spend a little more - to ensure that their pets get the care that they need. The National Association of Professional Pet Sitters states that spending on pet care services has risen in recent years, and with more families adopting pets during the COVID-19 pandemic, pet care entrepreneurs have found their services in high demand!

Choose Your Business Model

There are so many potential business ideas that fall under the “pet care” umbrella, so take some time to think about which model would be best for you. Consider where your skills and interests lie, what might be in demand in your area, and how much you can afford to spend on startup expenses. Maybe you’d like to start a dog walking business, launch an ecommerce shop for pet gear, or start a grooming business.

Pet sitting is also a great business idea. This will mean handling a wide range of pet care responsibilities for your clients, including feeding and playing with their pets, letting their pets outside and walking them, and even bringing their pets to the vet if they happen to get sick or injured on your watch.

Create a Business Plan

You’ve settled on an idea – but what comes next? You’ll want to spend some time drawing up a business plan that provides an informal road map for your company. Which details deserve to be included in your business plan? Lendio recommends writing down some key information, including your specific goals for the upcoming year, an overview of your offerings, industry and competitive analyses, a budget and financial forecasts, and plans for sales, marketing, operations, and management.

Set Up Your Website

No matter which type of business you’re planning to start, you’ll need to establish an online presence. This starts with building your website! The type of website you build will depend on your business model. For example, if you’re starting a pet grooming, dog walking, or pet sitting business, you’ll want to include a scheduling tool where new or returning clients can book consults or appointments directly through your website.

On the other hand, if you’re launching an ecommerce shop, you’ll need to choose a web hosting service that offers ecommerce functionality. If you’ve never worked in ecommerce before, you’ll want to brush up on smart digital design principles before you start developing your website. Decide on your visual branding scheme, implement a visual hierarchy with the most important information displayed near the top of each page, and use high-contrast colors for text and images to make them stand out.

Marketing Your Services

Perhaps you’ve been telling your family and friends about your new business, but you’ve only gotten a few clients through word of mouth. You need to expand your reach by marketing your services. Implementing a proactive marketing strategy will be crucial during your first year of business ownership because you’re still building up your client roster. Ideally, by your second year, you won’t need to spend as much time and money on marketing because you’ll be able to draw in loyal, repeat customers.

So how can you go about marketing your business? You can:

add a blog to your website
promote your services on social media platforms
make flyers to put up around your town
create business cards.

Designing marketing materials whether offline or online should be done with a clear idea on your branding. Be consistent. And ensure your messaging is clear.

Networking

As a small business owner, you’ll quickly find that marketing isn’t the only way to grow your customer base - you need to get out and network, too! Networking can seem awkward at first, but there are plenty of tried-and-true strategies you can follow to make it feel easier and more natural over time. Try going to happy hour networking meetups hosted by local professional organizations, conferences, and other industry-specific events - soon, small talk will become second nature!

Expand Your Company

As you gain more clients and grow your revenue, you might start thinking about expanding your business. For instance, if you’re a pet sitter or dog walker, you could get certified as a dog trainer so that you could start offering training services. If you’re a groomer, you could begin providing additional grooming services, or invest in a van so that you can take your services directly to your clients’ homes! And if you’re running an ecommerce shop, you can expand your product selection and hire dedicated customer service representatives to better serve your patrons. Just make sure that you have the revenue to invest in these projects before you take the leap!

The term “pet care” encompasses so many different products and services that no matter your skill set, you can launch a business in this niche. With more and more demand for services in this sector, you’re sure to find long-term customers with the right approach. By following these tips, you can build a sustainable pet care business!

Here at Taranet we aim to share with you how a holistic approach can be useful for animals and help your horse or dog care business to be successful. If you have any questions, please email info@taranet.co.uk.

Photo via Pexels

About The Author
"Penny Martin of fureverfriend.info"

How To Stay Focused On Your Equine or Pet Care Business

Suzanne Harris — 2022-05-02T12:59:58+01:00

Do you enjoy the job you do? Or are you not sure if you do any more?

Recently, i've had a couple of equine therapist coaching clients who've felt a bit unsure of their "why". A common theme between them, has been that they've felt a bit annoyed by others. In so far as other new businesses being setup in 'competition'. But they've also felt deflated by these other equine therapists not being 'properly' qualified.

There are differences in some of the qualifications people can get to work with horses as a complementary therapist. And some are less rigorous than others. So it's only natural if you've spent a long time training. To feel that others setting up without such thorough education, could be unfair.

Whether this is the case or not. Although it can be useful to know what competitors are doing. It's important not to get distracted by them. Especially, if it makes you doubt everything you're doing!

Staying motivated can be difficult. Especially if you're working as a solopreneur. Here are 3 tips to help you stay motivated, no matter what other 'competitors' are doing.

3 Tips To Stay Motivated On Your Equine or Pet Care Business

1. Remember your "why". And write it down! Again and again - every day. Start your day writing in your journal or notebook, why you're doing the job you're doing. If you work with horses as a physiotherapist, then presumably you love horses? And want to help them move better. Hang onto that thought. So keep reminding yourself.

2. Remember your qualifications/training. It doesn't matter how under or over qualified your competitors are. You have your training and your knowledge. Don't doubt what you know. Again, write this down in your notebook or journal. Every day.

3. Think about the horses (or other animals) you have helped. There will be many. Write down as a case study some of them. If you've not done this before, it can help you not only stay motivated about the difference you do make. But also can use in your marketing (making details anonymous if you've not got permission).

Try to stay focused on you. What others are doing in their businesses, is their business..

Get more tips on how to stay motivated in your pet or horse care business, by reading other posts here in this blog. So please take a look!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Click here for more information on how I can help. Or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

3 Tips To Help You Choose Your Holistic Animal Career

Suzanne Harris — 2022-04-26T12:04:39+01:00

Love Helping Animals With These Holistic Animal Career Tips

What course should you choose if you want to work as a holistic therapist with animals?

This is a question i'm often asked! There's many courses to choose from.

So here's 3 top tips to help you decide on your holistic animal care career

Decide the type of animal you want to work with. If you want to work with dogs, then there are many courses you can complete which are canine specific. For instance canine massage, canine bowen therapy, etc.

Then there are others which are horse specific. You'll also find courses which help you learn how to help different animals. Don't forget you can always specialise afterwards.

Do you know what sort of therapy you'd like to use? Some are only for qualified veterinary surgeons to use. Acupuncture being one of those. The pathways to access some courses enable veterinarians to complete. For instance Chiropractic. The length of training to complete varies dependIng on what your career aspirations are

You can also train and become qualified in several complementary therapies too. Some therapies can be very useful to know. For example, Reiki or Bach Flower Remedy are two therapies which help as part of a holistic approach. And can be part of your 'toolbox' of ways to help your animal clients. By being able to help with relaxation and emotional responses to situations. Can mean your animal clients get more out of their sessions.

Linked to the type of therapy or therapies you want to use. Is what professional association do you want to join. Now there are many. You can find some links at my training links page here. Some are more established than others. And some are very clear on their role. For instance the Register of Animal Musculoskeletal Practitioners (RAMP) aims to promote Public Confidence in the Animal Musculoskeletal Occupations it Registers. RAMP also offers vets reassurance on the professional standards of its members. This may in turn increase the confidence of vets to refer their animal patients to you.

But there are many other professional associations who offer high standards and reassurance. Do take a look though, as there is variance!

Working with animals is rewarding. Especially helping to improve their health and wellbeing. I hope the above has given you a few ideas to help you on your animal care career. Find more information at my training advice pages here.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at Suzanne's Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

5 Brilliant Tips To Be In Your Best Health

Suzanne Harris — 2022-03-23T18:50:01+00:00

5 Tips To Find Your Optimum Health

It would be best to choose a healthy and sustainable lifestyle to optimize your health. It takes more than what you consume to live a healthy lifestyle. Some factors like sleep, regular exercise, reducing stress, socialization, and avoiding dangerous substances for the body all play a role in staying healthy.

Good health allows you to have a happy life by allowing you to engage in all of life's activities as you wish. It's the key to living a fulfilling and productive life. Your body stays healthy, and your mind stays intuitive and fresh when you live to follow a good lifestyle. Additionally, it protects you from various severe diseases and imparts the ability to enjoy life to the fullest.

If you want to optimize your well-being and are confused about where to start, here are six tips that you can follow to ensure optimum health.

Image Source

How To Achieve Optimum Health For Yourself:

Use CBD To Improve Health

The cannabinoid CBD can offer various health benefits. It is not intoxicating or psychotropic like other compounds such as THC. CBD advocates claim that it can be used to manage pain, treat inflammation, migraines, autoimmune illnesses, epilepsy, mental health disorders, and anxiety, among other ailments.

If you aspire to reap all these benefits, you can good quality Cannabis Oil. The oil is the easiest way to ingest the cannabinoid and enjoy its therapeutic effects.

Follow A Good Diet

A balanced diet can have numerous advantages, including lowering your risk of chronic illnesses and enhancing your overall health. Mindful eating entails focusing on your meal, which is easier to do when not multitasking. Rather than making significant dietary adjustments, you should start with smaller and less challenging steps.

To make more delightful meals that focus on providing you energy and health, begin by balancing your meals by introducing more colors and texture to your plate. Incorporate vegetables, fruits, fat-free milk, whole grains, and other dairy items into your diet. It should also include foods high in protein, such as eggs, lean meat, seafood, nuts, legumes, soy, seeds, etc.

Your diet should also contain fewer saturated fats, salts, and added sugars. Several studies have found that sugar-sweetened beverages increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Another crucial point to note in your diet is that the plan must adhere to your daily calorie requirements.

And the most important tip, remember to drink plenty of water, especially before meals, as it is beneficial to your metabolism and can assist you in weight management.

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Incorporate Exercise in Your Routine

Exercise is beneficial to your health and can assist you in maintaining a healthy weight. Boosting your metabolism might help you achieve and maintain your desired body weight. The best aspect about working out is that you may begin at any time.

Start with some low-impact exercises and work your way up to discovering new methods to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. It would be best if you make time to enjoy your day more by finding enjoyment in physical activity.

Every week, you should obtain at least 150 minutes of low-impact aerobic exercises or 75 minutes of intense aerobic activity, according to Mayo Clinic. Weight loss, fewer illnesses, sound mental health, better sleep, and a muscular physique are just a few of the health benefits of starting to work out.

Get a Good Night's Sleep

Modern, fast-paced lifestyles leave little time for you to pause and rest, let alone obtain enough sleep. On the other hand, sleep is as essential as a healthy diet and regular exercise. A decent night's sleep can help you optimize your brain function, temperament, and overall health.

Sleep deprivation is among the most potent individual risk factors for weight gain and obesity, and various disorders and ailments such as stroke and dementia. However, you can improve your sleep in a variety of ways. Turning your bedroom into a comfortable space, improving your sleep schedule, adopting a pre-bedtime regimen, and encouraging pro-sleeping activities are all excellent places to start

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Eliminate Bad Habits

Bad habits such as missing meals, spending too much time in front of the screen, snacking on junk food, smoking, and getting too little physical activity can all hurt your overall health. You must consider breaking these unhealthy habits to optimize your health.

Consuming more processed meals can deceive your brain into overeating, leading to food addiction in the long run. Fast foods typically comprise empty calories due to their lack of fiber, vitamins, and protein and harmful components such as added sugar and refined carbs.

Make time for yourself to indulge in your favorite activities. Slow down and appreciate eating as a joyful, multi-faceted process rather than a stress-relieving activity.

Bonus Tip: Get Check-Ups Done Regularly

Going to the doctor for regular checks will help you live a longer life. Furthermore, even if you have a hectic schedule, consistent preventive care can help detect problems sooner and improve your chances of receiving good healthcare.

Make sure to ask any concerns you have during your checkups, and don't be hesitant to be clear and honest with the healthcare expert.

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Conclusion

Maintaining good health is vital for your well-being and making the most out of your life. The tips mentioned in the guide can be highly practical if you look forward to optimizing your health. Keep in mind to be consistent with these steps to see results.

About The Author
This is a guest post by Lisa
Senior Content Specialist
Email: lisa@fitness-news.co

15 Brilliant Proofreading Tips For Your Equestrian Business Marketing

Suzanne Harris — 2022-03-21T10:38:45+00:00

Your Shrewd Ideas To Have Sparkling Equestrian Business Marketing Copy

Proofreading your writing, whether it’s on your social media, website, products or brochures will give it a final polish that will add to its professionalism and help make a good impression. It also enables readers to focus on the message without being distracted. Lots of mistakes can also detract from your credibility.

So now that you know how it benefits you, you probably want some advice on how to do it, right?

Before we get going, I have a small caveat. Our brains are wonderful things. They save us time when reading by skipping over things and seeing what they think should be there. If the writing is your own, your brain will think it knows a lot of what’s there. Sadly, that means it’s very hard for us to proofread our own writing properly. Even proofreaders are advised not to!

That said, it’s way better than nothing. And social media posts and emails that aren’t part of a mailing list aren’t worth paying to have proofread anyway, although some people do. Be extremely careful with your social graphics, though, as mistakes there stand out more than those in a body of text and are harder to fix.

With that out of the way, let’s get going!

Make sure you have a good knowledge of punctuation and grammar

If you don’t know when something’s wrong, you won’t be able to correct it. Look up anything you’re unsure of.

Take a break

Writing is creative and proofreading (and editing) is analytical. If you try to mix them, both suffer. Besides that, our brains fill in what they expect to see. Be sure to take decent break between finishing your writing and proofreading it.

Proofread when your mind is alert

It’s hard to concentrate properly when you’re tired and you’re much more likely to overlook errors.

Don’t proofread when you’re rushed

You’re more likely to skim and miss things.

Remove distractions

You can’t do a good job if you keep getting distracted. You know best what distracts you, whether it’s social media or your pet. Wait for a distraction-free time and close social media and anything else that has the potential to take your attention away from the task at hand.

Look for one type of error at a time

When I started proofreading, this was where I went wrong. You may be confident you can multitask, but it just doesn’t work. Look for spelling, punctuation, grammar, formatting and so on in different passes.

Read one word at a time

This is a more difficult skill to develop than you’d think. We naturally take in a few words at once when reading and skip some and fill in the gaps with our brain. This is not the best way to spot things that are wrong. Mistakes like pubic instead of public happen and can be embarrassing, and anything can distract the reader from what you’re saying.

Place a ruler under each line

This helps to keep your brain from jumping ahead.

Read it backwards

This prevents your brain from filling in what it expects to see. It would be good to combine with your pass looking for misspelled words.

Read it out loud

It’s surprising how many more errors you find when you do this. It also helps to check everything flows well and you haven’t used the same word too much in one area.

Change your margin width

This is another thing that makes a big difference. Use a different margin width for every pass. Changing font size has the same effect.

Print it out

Although it’s not always reasonable, everyone agrees that it’s much easier to spot errors on paper.

Know your common mistakes

Everyone has mistakes that they’re prone to. Be aware of what these are for you and check for each one.

Use your word-processor’s spellchecker, but wisely

Spellcheckers can be quite good at finding typing mistakes. However, they’re not human and cannot judge based on context. If a suggestion seems odd or wrong, do some research. Not all words will be in the spellchecker’s dictionary. I’ve had to add horse breeds to Word’s dictionary many times, as well as some equestrian terms. I have to say, Word’s grammar and punctuation suggestions usually leave much to be desired.

Check for consistency

This may not be as obvious as spelling, grammar and punctuation, but it’s very important. Readers will notice inconsistency, and even if they don’t, they’ll likely notice that something is off or get an impression of unprofessionalism. Make sure your formatting is consistent, as well as whether or not you use an Oxford (aka serial) comma, whether or not you use full stops in abbreviations like eg and how you capitalize horse breeds (less straight-forward than with dogs). Don’t have Shetland pony in one place and Shetland Pony in another. And don’t use keep switching between alternative names for horse or dog breeds – for example, using both Alsatian and German Shepherd.

Conclusion
Now that you’re armed with these tips, you can go ahead and improve your writing. It’s something like get a horse ready for a class at a show where turnout is important.

About The Author
Emily Haag is a proofreader for equine and pet businesses, helping them to feel confident about their written words and saving them from spending time head-scratching.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-proofreader

5 Home Remedies To Help Alleviate Stress

Suzanne Harris — 2022-02-23T17:09:13+00:00

P

hoto by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Stress can sometimes be a helpful tool for raising energy levels and attention spans. It, however, is most often an opposing force in people’s lives that triggers a variety of negative consequences. There is a lot of stress in the modern world, and it can be very detrimental to your health. Without time to unwind or relax, the ill effects accumulate and worsen.
The Gallup Global Emotions report identifies Americans as the most stressed people worldwide. Therefore, to help you deal with it, the following sections of this post will provide you with five home remedies to help ease stress. So, let’s get right on it.

Using CBD Oil

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels
Stress, anxiety, and depression can render you unable to go about your daily routines. The demand for CBD, or cannabidiol, has risen throughout the last few years. CBD users contend that CBD has therapeutic effects and can treat many ills, such as stress.
Those with stress often turn to CBD to help them relax and stay calm. Others even find that it boosts their mental state, allowing them to think clearer and have less brain fog. Research reveals that using CBD products like oils and other CBD supplements may provide a much-needed boost to a person’s mental health. CBD can help relieve stress at home in two ways:

It promotes restful sleep before a hectic day at work. Sleep deprivation can worsen a stressful day, but getting an entire night’s rest can be challenging. For a better night’s sleep and to stay healthy, you can take CBD oil drops before bed.
It can also help you prepare for a last-minute meeting. It’s not uncommon to have discussions and presentations all at once! When a supervisor, partner, or client schedules meetings with little notice, CBD can be a valuable tool.

There are plenty of things you can do to kill an hour, such as hiding in the restroom or playing with your fingers, but you might also consider popping a CBD gummy from cbd edible products. The store offers a wide range of top-quality CBD oils, tinctures, gummies, and topicals. It provides natural stress management options, including CBD oils, CBD gummies, and CBD topicals.

Limiting Unhealthy Beverage Intake

Many depend on some drinkable stimulant that they think makes them more alert and able to handle life’s trials. Alcohol and caffeine can cause stress and anxiety worse. But, you will notice your stress levels will decrease if you reduce your consumption of such beverages.
You can do more good by giving up that one habit since soft drinks have many unhealthy side effects and increase your stress levels.

Breathing Right

Photo by Alexandr Podvalny from Pexels
We forget about breathing when constantly rushing to stay on schedule and meet deadlines. When you don’t take deep breaths, you decrease the amount of oxygen in your body. It contributes to stress-related physical damage.
You can counteract this by taking a few deep breaths every morning and night. Inhale and exhale with a feeling of your stomach and chest expanding and contracting. As you count from 1 to 5, breathe in slowly. Hold your breath for five counts, then exhale slowly. Practice pranayama techniques regularly and learn them from a qualified instructor.
Try this deep breathing technique a few times whenever you feel tense, and you’ll find the feeling of crisis will glide by almost effortlessly. It will become easier for you to handle unpleasant situations in the future without becoming stressed.

Perform a Yoga Flow

Yoga has long been practiced in India as mind-body medicine, even though it’s only become mainstream in the West in the last decade or so. While yoga is undoubtedly good for stretching your muscles and improving your physical fitness, it is even more valuable for your mind.
Practicing yoga lowers stress levels by regulating the nervous system, balancing hormones, and regulating nerve impulses, thus making you more able to handle stressful situations. Besides lowering blood pressure and heart rate, yoga may also benefit the brain.

Sip Some Tea

Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels
Taking a sip of tea while relaxing is itself a soothing experience. However, a cup of tea can profoundly affect how you feel from a physiological point of view. One study tracked the cortisol levels of men in two groups. A black tea placebo group consumed black tea four times per day for six weeks, while the other group drank black tea four times per day.
After this, they deliberately exposed both groups to stressful events to assess how they responded. In the placebo group, cortisol levels were lower than in the tea-drinking group at the six-week end. Additionally, the tea drinkers recovered more quickly from stress. There was also a report of similar findings in another article on green tea.
However, tea leaves are not the only thing that can be beneficial. The herbs lavender and chamomile commonly used in making tea are also known for their stress-relieving qualities. Here are some good herbal teas to ease stress:

Chamomile
Lavender
Ginseng
Turmeric
Peppermint
Catnip

Conclusion
Although you can’t avoid stress altogether, you can do many things to ease it. For instance, you can use CBD, limit unhealthy beverage intake, perform a yoga flow, breathe right, and sip some tea. In most cases, combining several of these proven strategies will give you the best defense against stress.

About The Author
This is a guest post by Lisa
Senior Content Specialist
Email: lisa@fitness-news.co

How Brain Dumping Could Help You

Suzanne Harris — 2022-01-17T16:31:22+00:00

As a business owner you're more than likely got many ideas racing through your mind. From admin to marketing to finance, customers and lots more.

What can you do to get order to your thoughts and plans?

A "brain dump" could be useful!

It may seem a strange term. But it's a well known technique. Both for students and well anyone - including business owners like you.

Get a pen and paper and write down:

what you are thinking about
what you will do,
what are your three main priorities
and what you are grateful for

As it's preferable to do this shortly before bed. Or first thing in the morning. It's ideal to do this using a pen/paper but you can use a computer/smartphone if you need to.

3 Benefits Of A "Brain Dump"

Improve your focus. Get clarity on what tasks you need to do. And in what priority
Be more likely to remember things. Writing things down can make it easier to remember them.
Reduce your stress levels. Having lots of thoughts in your mind can stress you out. Writing it down means you can refer to it - without retaining all details in your mind.

Is This The Same As Writing In A Journal?

No, as journalling is usually structured, with some method. Whereas 'brain dumping' is random. Write thoughts and ideas down. List them, no order required!

It may take some practice. As feeling free to write your thoughts down can be difficult. If it's not something you're used to doing!

Action Step:

Start practicing this technique regularly. Whether it's every day or every few days, it could transform your clarity and help you get clear on how to move your business forward. And reduce your stress, which is something we can all benefit from.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

OR browse this blog here, it's been designed to help you have the best equestrian or pet care business you can!

Email me for more information on consultancy for your equestrian or pet care business with me.

Why You Should Love These Marketing and Branding Tips For Your Pet Care Business

Suzanne Harris — 2021-10-01T12:28:09+01:00

Brilliant Tips To Get Your Business Noticed For All The Right Reasons

Step Into Your Customer's Mind

How do you discover new companies or services to use? You could get a recommendation from friends or family. Or you could see an advertisement. But if you want to discover more, what do you expect to see?

Do you want to find a website with lots of information? Is a Facebook page or other social media account enough. Or does it not matter as long as you can find the information that you need to know?

Why am I asking you this?

Taking a step back and understanding what you want to know. Can help you decide on what marketing channels you should use for your own business. Be ruthless! What is your current marketing telling your prospective customers? If someone didn't know you, what is your marketing and branding telling them?

Should You Love Facebook or Get A Website To Be Noticed?

Is a website needed, when you can use social media? Facebook gets mixed press from people. But millions of people do use it!
Although not everyone does use Facebook or social media. Including your potential customers!
There have been occasions too when Facebook isn't working. Or at the very least very slow. So if people have to rely on seeing your Facebook page and they can't view it, then you may lose a customer.

So what are my tips?

1. Keep up to date
Whether you use Facebook business page or a website, keep it updated.
If you don't post often to your Facebook page. Or don't update your website (check the footer or copyright - is a year in there?). Then it looks like you're either a) closed or b) don't prioritise your business image.

Are you unsure what to post on your Facebook page? See this blog post for ideas

2. Know Your Image

What is the image of your business? No matter the size of your business. Whether you're working with horses, pets, or other animals, how you behave portrays an image. In how you work with your customers.

But also in your marketing. Your website or Facebook page is part of your marketing. So get those well designed and giving people the information they need.

3. Branding

But more than just being well designed, consider your branding. Branding is something for businesses of all sizes. Even if you are a solopreneur, if you have a business, branding is vital.

Learn To Love The Benefits Of A Great Brand For Your Business

Be authentic. So don't create a colour scheme or logo for instance that doesn't mean anything to you. Make sure it's relevant to your business. But let it be inspired by what you want to achieve. You should feel comfortable and happy with it. Even if you outsource designing to a specialist branding expert, be clear on your brief, and only accept what you know is right.
Make sure it's about you. Following on from the above point. To make sure you and your service stands out for all the right reasons. Which are, that your branding reflects you and your business goals.
Don't confuse marketing with branding. Marketing is the method of showcasing your service and gaining customers or leads. Branding is the overarching approach. Without clear branding, then your marketing efforts maybe confused.
Consistency is vital. So don't change your branding every few months. Of course if something is really not working then you should change. But branding is an expensive process - both in your time and in marketing. So do test branding concepts with trusted friends or relatives or others you know and trust. Being consistent will enable people, your potential customers, to get to know you. By getting to know you then trust can develop.

In Conclusion

One of the principles of my T.A.R.A. coaching programme is being targeted. Part of this is being clear on what you want your marketing and branding to show your potential customers.

Branding, image, marketing these are for businesses of all sizes.

You should love your business. It is yours. If you're having trouble getting clear on your business and setting goals and planning. Then a business coach maybe what you need. This is one of the services that I offer.

Read more about the T.A.R.A. coaching programme here

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Click here for more information on consultancy. Or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at Suzanne's Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

7 Steps To Have A Successful Business Startup With A Pet

Suzanne Harris — 2021-06-15T12:11:05+01:00

7 Keys for a Successful Business Startup With a New Pet

According to the latest research and data of 2023-2024, 86.9 Million US households owns a pet, which accounts for 66%. Even if you are also one of the hundreds of thousands of U.S. business startups this year, you may have a pet or are considering getting one. Is it wise to get a new pet while also starting a new business? When you utilize these seven keys for success, such an endeavor is not as challenging as it may seem.

A Solid Business Plan Gets You Off on the Right Foot

There are a multitude of tasks you need to accomplish before your business is ready to roll. Coming up with a business plan and formation should be the first items you check off your list, next to finding a location and obtaining licenses, permits, and insurance. To avoid hiccups down the road when your hands are full with a pet, make your business plan first.

Work Delegation Is Your Key to Sanity

Even when you intend to handle all of your business yourself, you stand to benefit by delegating the more minor tasks to someone else. You can find affordable freelancers and independent contractors by using the right job boards and mobile apps. Whether for website creation or graphic design, hiring outside assistance benefits your business by freeing up your time for the more critical work and helping you avoid burnout.

It's Never Too Early To Start Pet Training

Plan to invest in pet training as early as possible to help control your pet's behavior and expectations. Puppies can start training as early as twelve weeks old and sometimes even sooner. If you are not a trainer yourself, hire a professional to do it for you. A well-trained pet lets you better focus on your business when needed.

Quality Health Care Keeps Your Pet Happy

Learn as much about your pet's healthcare needs as you can before bringing your furry pal home. Consider the pros and cons of holistic care and what natural options exist to supplement your pet's health in addition to current veterinary care advancements that may benefit your animal.

Your Business and Your Pet Need Designated Space

You need a personal space to work and your pet needs a space to relax. Keep your work in your workspace, and help your four-legged companion become accustomed to his or her own space for when life gets overwhelming.

Tech Is Your — and Your Pet's — Friend

You can't be everywhere at once, but modern home technology can help you monitor and even interact with your pet while you're stuck in the office. Cameras help you see what your pet is up to and talk to your pal remotely. You can even get alerts if your pet gets out of the house.

Don't Underestimate the Power of a Pet Sitter

Your pet may require a lot of monitoring, and that's fine. When you need to focus on the business, consider finding a sitter using an app or job board. You can schedule regular hours or just use a sitter in a pinch when your pet needs companionship but you really have to get work done.

Appreciate Your Business Success and Pet

While bringing home a new pet will take a lot of your time at first, you can still be triumphant with launching your business. Take advantage of the resources around you both for work and your pet, and you'll get the hang of success in no time.

For more information on using a holistic approach to care for your animal companions, connect with Taranet!

About The Author
This is a guest post by Cindy Aldridge

Love These Essential Tips For Your Complementary Animal Therapies Service

Suzanne Harris — 2021-05-05T22:06:57+01:00

5 Tips To Help Your Equestrian or Pet Business Thrive Despite Competition

What if another equine or canine therapy business opens up close to you? Do you worry if there's enough business for both of you? Would your natural reaction be to feel deflated?

If you do then that is natural to have a second thought! So don't be too hard on yourself. But also there's no need to panic.

Of course if your new "competitor" has a large advertising budget. Or larger than yours. Then it can be daunting. Taking practical steps is best. "Control the contrallables"! You can't (and shouldn't try to) control other people's behaviour. But you can take positive action yourself.

I love this quote:

"Action is the foundational key to all success" (Pablo Picasso)

But here are 5 tips to help you feel less overwhelmed.

Review what you're offering. I don't mean that you necessarily need to change what you're offering. But be very clear on what your services are. Be objective. Pretend you don't know your business - would you know what you do? Is your service offer the best it can be?

For instance if you have a canine hydrotherapy pool, what's your equipment like? Are you able to help all the dogs you want and need to? It maybe what you're offering is now all fine. But be prepared to refine what you're offering.

If it helps ask a friend who can be objective if they think what you're offering makes sense.

How are you marketing your service? How are your customers finding you? Hopefully you have an idea of where your customers are getting your details. But if you don't know, please ask them! This can help you decide if you can do more of one marketing method, or if you need to try something different.

Do local veterinary practices and pet care businesses know about you? When did you last make contact with them? If you contacted them several months ago, then why not remind them you're here! This can be friendly and conversational. You don't need to be sales-y. This is a good idea, as people do forget. Or at least may forget the range of services you offer. You could share a case study of a recent success story or talk about any long-term clients who you see regularly to help maintain their health.
Reflect on what you are doing well. You can't stop people deciding to change services away from you. But that doesn't mean you're not doing a great job! Take stock of what you are doing. Appreciate the customers you do have. Appreciate all the great work you have been doing. Do this all day every day. Keep up your positive self-talk!

This quote is a good reminder:

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie

Be consistent with your appreciation. Positive psychology is an increasingly popular way of living and operating businesses too. It helps you to gain clarity, confidence and not to be a victim of your circumstances. And help you to decide what you want to do more of.

Avoid distractions! Leading me from the previous point, is that it's easy to get overwhelmed by watching what a new competitor business is doing. They may offer discounts. They may have many more staff than you. They could have glossy brochures and websites.

But as one of my mentor's - Marie Forleo says

"The world needs that special gift that only you have"

You know that you deliver a great service to help animals to be as healthy and happy as possible. It's a good idea to review what you're doing, and see what you can do to refine your work. And refine your marketing if needed.

But keep focused on you. You don't know how they're doing and how long they'll be there even. I know several situations, where a new business has opened, "caused chaos" (or panic at least with others) and then gone in 12 months!

If you notice clients trickling away to the new business. They may return. Keep the door open so to speak. People are curious, so achieve a high standard and maintain that. Keep your integrity.

You can get more tips on this topic in my other blog post here "Are you scared of your business competitors?"

Specialist 1-2-1 coaching for equestrian and pet care businesses

I hope this has been useful. Which has been based upon the principles of my T.A.R.A. coaching programme:

Targeted
Aspire
Realistic
Achieve

Taking targeted, realistic action can help you to aspire to achieve your goals.

Email me for more information on consultancy for your equestrian or pet care business with me.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

OR browse this blog here, it's been designed to help you have the best equestrian or pet care business you can!

Love These Brilliant Tips To Create Affordable Promo Videos

Suzanne Harris — 2021-04-20T11:54:10+01:00

How To Create Promo Videos Without Spending A Fortune

Promo videos are a great way to spread the word about a forthcoming event or marketing initiative engagingly!

Promos are similar to teaser videos, in which you catch the audience's attention and entice them to find out more about your brand, its products, or services.

So if you're wondering how to create compelling promotional videos on a budget, keep reading, and we'll go over some of the most important things to keep in mind!

When Should You Use A Promo Video?

Promo videos are fantastic for drawing new customers by raising awareness about events.

If your audience is unfamiliar with your brand, promo videos can draw their attention to your current promotion while simultaneously informing them about your brand.

You can also re-engage established and returning customers by luring them in by giving them an incentive, such as a discount, which will encourage them to buy from you.

Why Create Promo Videos?

In a nutshell - because they work!

Promo videos are an effective way to communicate information that you want your audience to remember.

Consider all of the ads you see in the weeks leading up to the holidays, such as Christmas or Easter, with major retailers advertising deals on their products or services.

Similarly, you can use promo videos to successfully draw potential clients or encourage existing clients to engage with your business, which can be especially helpful when trying to get guests to sign up and attend events.

How To Make a Promo Video

Below, we'll go over how you can create your promo videos without spending on fortune on hiring a production company.

Step 1: Write a script

Start with the fundamental concept - what are you trying to sell or promote?
Concentrate on the keywords and key ideas you want to incorporate into the promotional video.
Keep your video script brief - promos can run up to a minute and a half, but anywhere from thirty seconds to one minute tops is optimal!

Step 2: Create a storyboard

Promo videos require visual aids such as graphics or title cards. So make sure to plan these out ahead of time.
It would help if you tried to plan out what you want to include in terms of visuals.
One great tip to help keep costs down is to create different copies of the same promotional film. To make several promo videos for the same campaign, consider coming up with a few brief variations of the same theme or concept.

Step 3: Action!

Now that you've planned your vision, it's time to bring it all together!
Shooting on location in your shop, event location, or workplace is the most cost-effective option.

Step 4: Editing Time

The promo video's most crucial aspect is to share valuable details, such as coupon codes, event dates, or deadlines for the end of the offer.
So that the viewer doesn't lose out, make sure to provide these details creatively with illustrations and graphics.
Don't forget to add valuable information about your brand, including your logo, business cards, website address, etc.

Step 5: Promote, promote, promote!

Since your social media networks are one of your company's most important marketing channels, this is a great place to start. Be sure to share your promo videos on them!
Spend some money to advertise your promo video on social media, and use retargeting to alert your fans and subscribers who have opened your promotional email about the deal!

Creating Effective And Affordable Promo Videos

There's no doubting the fact that you can easily spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to create promotional videos for your brand.

But by creating your videos yourself, writing your script, filming on location, and editing your content in-house, you can easily make promotional video content that's not only engaging but also cost-effective for your brand!

About The Author

This is a guest post by Bryan Davidson

How To Promote Your Pet Care Business On A Budget

Suzanne Harris — 2021-04-16T14:20:23+01:00

As you work in the animal care industry you can make a massive positive impact on animal's lives. But how can you let people know of all the good work you do? And without a big marketing budget?

How To Use Social Media To Market Your Business On A Budget

Social media is the obvious place to start. I know it can help you to engage with your potential customers. And also your existing customers. Customer retention is a great way to ensure you're not having to rely on getting new customers. This can be costly, not least in your time.

There are many social networks you can use. I'm not going to tell you which is the best network. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, they all could be useful.

And with those 4 as an example, they all allow you to post without paying. You don't need to pay. Of course you can advertise. But this may have a limited impact. It depends on your business objectives. You can do a lot to engage with people, let people know about what you do and promote your business. Without paying for advertising.

A recurring problem, I hear from my new coaching clients is, what do I post? I can understand this. Particularly if you're busy. With several hours a day spent with your animal customers. When do you have the time to plan your posts?

This is where it's useful to sit down and decide what you want to achieve. And brainstorm some ideas on what you can do to achieve this. A scheduler can be useful to help you. There are also ways to schedule your posts in advance. But it can be as simple as deciding that you'll spend 15 minutes at the beginning or end (or whenever) each day. To post on your chosen network. Read this post for more ideas.

Do you need to post or have an account on more than social network? No. Having one social network that you use is fine! Better to do one well rather than several badly!

Other ideas for promoting your business with a big marketing budget include:

Website - presumably you have a website? Then make the most of it! It's not the answer to everything. But too many times I find new clients without key information on their websites. Review it and pretend you've no idea who you are. Would you know what you do?

Contact other professionals. For example, if you're a veterinary physiotherapist. Then contact all local animal related businesses, so they know you're there. This could be veterinary practices or dog groomers, or stable yards, etc.

How To Get Your Free Social Media Scheduler or Website Audit Checklist

If you'd like to receive a free social media scheduler or website audit checklist. Then please email me at info @ taranet.co.uk.

Improve Your Skills To Run Your Equine or Canine Business

Click here for more information on consultancy. Or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

Regards, Suzanne
Director at Taranet

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

And also search through this blog, for lots more marketing tips for your veterinary or pet care business!

How To Become More Sustainable In Your Pet Care Business

Suzanne Harris — 2021-04-12T22:44:59+01:00

3 Ways You Can Become A Sustainable Pet Care Entrepreneur

How important is sustainability to your business? What does this even mean? And should you worry about it?

If you're a veterinarian or other pet care entrepreneur then this article can apply to you too!

First of all what can sustainability mean? It means two things - the impact on the environment and the impact on society.

Take a moment and think, what impact does your animal care business have?

Here are three ways that this can apply to your business.

Do you travel to customers? If so, how do you get there? What sort of vehicle is it? If changing your vehicle to a more energy efficient one isn't practical. Do you try and 'batch' your visits? So you're not making unnecessary trips. This is a difficult one. After all, you want to offer a flexible service and be able to meet your customer's needs. But it's worth taking a look at your diary and plan to say visit a particular area once or twice a week. Not only can you cut down on unnecessary travel, it should reduce your stress! Driving about can be relaxing but also can be tiring.

Equipment. This could be anything you use in connection with your business. There are several things you can consider here.

Number one - Where do you source it from? Now I know it can be very difficult to get products which are local, or even from the same country! But getting products which haven't travelled miles - thousands of miles to get to you. Will reduce the impact on the environment.
Number two - What products do you use, what materials are they? Are they reusable? If not, can you get an alternative which IS reusable? If you can re-use. Can you recycle it? Nowadays these are ever more important. And there are many product options. Not all are expensive, and even if something does seem more cost. If it saves on expenditure, and saves the environment it's not a bad thing is it?!

Can you make an impact in your community? There are dozens of ways you can do this. One idea is to work with like-minded organisations. Making a positive impact beyond your own business. This could be with veterinary practices, pet groomers, horse grooms dog or horse trainers. Giving is a good way to start your sustainability journey. Can you work together to provide information events (eg webinars, client evenings)? Making a difference in your community.

These are a few ideas. But there are many more! Sustainability is a wide term, but that reflects the enormous opportunity. Nowadays many are more keen to ensure their purchasing choices are positive. And don't have a negative impact.

So don't forget to tell your customers. And potential customers on what you're doing. This could be in your newsletters, social media, invoices, anything!

Action Point

Take a notepad (or notes on your smartphone/laptop). Write down a list of things where you're making sustainable choices now.
Then write down a list of 10 things you can do to become MORE sustainable.
And take action, get started. Remember small actions can have a large impact.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Marketing Moves To Digitize An Old Business

Suzanne Harris — 2021-03-25T12:40:21+00:00

Love These Essential Marketing Moves To Digitize An Old Business

With more people working and learning from home than ever before, the pandemic means it has never been more critical to digitize your traditional brick and mortar business.

You could benefit enormously from just investing in your website.

Still, there are many other tips and tricks for modernizing your business and getting it up to speed in today's modern digital world.

Here are some digitization tips for breathing new life into your old business.

Identify How Your Business Can Operate Digitally

You need to have a comprehensive view of how the company can work as a digital enterprise.

Suppose you're digitizing your business by designing a brand new website to address a particular niche or overhauling your internal technology.

In that case, it can significantly affect how your organization works in a number of areas, and you must be aware of this.

For instance, if you sell products, you'll need to learn how to display, promote, and sell those products to an online audience.

Invest In SEO And Digital Marketing

Your organization should spend adequately on search engine optimization and other aspects of digital marketing in 2021.

Organic search traffic, which can be gained through your SEO investment, can be an advantageous marketing channel, and you'd be shocked by how much of a difference a single digital marketing campaign can make in your organic growth.

Remember that all forms of digital marketing should act together as part of a more comprehensive approach.

So, in addition to SEO, you'll also want to include social media marketing, email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising as part of your overall strategy.

Give Your Employees Social Media Training

When you're working on digitizing your company, ensure that your employees are in the best position to profit from the improvements.

It's wise to give your workers the preparation they need to keep up with the company's changing face.

Social media is currently one of the leading marketing channels for reaching a broader, global audience.

Therefore, if you want to breathe new life into your business and succeed in today's digital world, mastering your brand's social media is going to be key!

Social Media Marketing Tips

Define your target audience: It's essential to build your social media campaign around your target audience. Determining your target audience helps you determine what social media sites you should be using and what content your audience responds best to.
Build a winning game plan: The trick to making your idea a success is to develop a social media marketing plan. Remember the social media sites where you'll be posting content while you plan your campaign, ensuring they cater to your target demographic and fit with your objectives.
Create consistent branding: Everything from your company's branded logo through to the tone of voice used, fonts, and colours should remain consistent throughout any of your marketing efforts. This ensures your brand will be as memorable as possible in the eyes of the consumer.
Use the art of storytelling: It's the stories, not the goods, that sell! We, as people, are drawn to stories. Therefore, storytelling is the relational bond that a company establishes with its customers. They elicit creative thoughts and promote engagement. Use storytelling in your social media posts to capture your target audience's attention, and you'll be sure to generate a great deal of engagement.

Digitizing Your Outdated Business Practices

For companies and organizations that have been around for some time, you already know how important it is to remain current and up-to-date with the trends surrounding your industry.

Those who don't are likely to fail, while those who keep up with trends and changes are sure to succeed.

By using these quick tips on modernizing your old business, you're sure to be able to reach a larger audience than ever before while also increasing engagement and generating more revenue for your business!

About The Author
This is a guest post by Cesar Clarke

How You Can Make a Difference To Animals Affected by Domestic Abuse

Suzanne Harris — 2021-03-08T12:16:03+00:00

Super Ideas To Make A Difference To Pets Affected By Domestic Abuse

Imagine… You have a choice. End an abusive relationship. But to do so means leaving your home and moving far away. And in doing so, you have no option but to leave your dog behind.

This is a decision faced by too many women and men experiencing domestic abuse. Often it's described as the hardest decision they've ever had to make.

Not much of a choice is it?

How Are Animals Affected By Domestic Abuse?

Sadly, many animals living with their paw-parents who're in an abusive relationships, will be directly affected.

At best they'll experience indirect impacts of emotionally drained and strained care.

But at worst they'll be starved, injured and traumatised. So leaving your much loved pet with the person who's been abusing both of you isn't something you'd do unless you were desperate.

Under-estimating the impact of domestic abuse - It's true to also say that many people under-estimate the fact of how children are affected by domestic abuse. And our pets are like children - living in the home. Witnessing and sensing the tension and violence.

But it can be easier to find alternative accommodation for a survivor of domestic abuse and their children, than it is for a survivor and their pet! This can't be right!

Is there an answer to helping animals and their owners affected by domestic abuse?

Yes there is! Around the UK and many countries, there are many animal charities who offer pet fostering schemes. These enable victims to leave their relationships and ensure their pet's safety.

For instance in the UK: Cats Protection has a scheme (Lifeline) which enables cats to be fostered in safe homes. And Dog's Trust has their "Freedom Project" to help dogs to be safe. A charity called Refuge 4 Pets also offers fostering for a variety of animals

There are many other schemes too in the UK and around the world.

What Can You Do To Help Pets Affected by Domestic Abuse?

Unfortunately all these pet fostering schemes need more help! They need:

More funding
More foster carers
More awareness of their existence.

This is where you can make a difference! You can help by:

Fundraising for these charities schemes
Help fellow animal lovers know how they can make a difference by becoming foster carers. Or you could become a foster carer yourself!
Promoting awareness of these schemes, so that your customers and contacts who maybe living with domestic abuse know that they can help their animals to be safe. You can do this be including information on your website, social media, publications, invoices, etc.

Now You Can Take Action To Help Pets Affected By Domestic Abuse

Were you aware of this issue before reading this blog? I hope it's helped you see that you can make a difference. Remember, domestic abuse is not a private matter, it shouldn't be kept behind closed doors. And no matter how small, you can make a difference.

If you are affected by domestic abuse, then please contact one of the national helplines available. As you maybe reading this from anywhere across the world, i'm not listing all national helplines here as are too many to mention. So just go to Google and tap in domestic abuse help (in your country) and find your helpline.

Are you a veterinarian and like to know more about the signs of domestic abuse? Then take my "Forgotten Victims" digital course - click here for info.

OR I can provide 1-2-1 coaching to help you develop your response to this issue in your veterinary or animal healthcare practice. Email me at info@ taranet.co.uk to discuss.

Like to develop your horse or pet care business?

Click here for more information on consultancy. Or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

About The Author

Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse. With over a decade's experience as a domestic abuse expert combined with a lifelong love of animals,

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

Love The Benefits Of Another Income For Your Petcare Business

Suzanne Harris — 2021-02-25T17:58:54+00:00

Love These Brilliant Tips For Your PetCare Business Growth

Are you interested in new income opportunities? Or are you wanting to concentrate only on your equine or pet care service?

It is possible to find a new way to create another income stream, that works alongside your current work. It doesn't need to be a negative distraction, and open up new possibilities.

So why should you have another income? 4 great reasons are:

You can offer your customers a wider range of services or products
You may get new customers
If one part of your business income drops, another income will help minimise the impact of this for you
It can help develop your skills and confidence, which can help your other work and away from work.

There will be many things to think about. First of all, what sort of income stream could you choose? Here's 3 ideas to consider:

Should you have a service or selling products that complement your existing business? Doing this will mean your customers may be immediately interested.
Or you could choose something related but different. For instance, if you work with dogs as a massage therapist. Could you train in another canine care skill, or other therapy?
Deciding to do something unrelated could be different for you. And give you a new challenge. But this may be too distracting. It depends on if you think it's practical.

But will it cost you a lot of money to set up another income stream?

It may seem counter-intuitive. Spending money to make money! For example, you may find it surprising the variance in costs of becoming a retailer. You can find you have to buy a certain wholesale amount from some companies.

So do your research. Even if you're interested in retailing dog treats for instance. There are many different companies - including organic and natural suppliers. So choose the deal that's going to work best for you. Get a few pricing/deal options and consider what will work.

Could Direct Selling Be What You're Looking For Alongside Your Pet Care Business?

Direct selling is another option. My best advice is to choose to do this with a company who's a member of the Direct Selling Association. This means they use best practice and have a code of professional conduct. There is a wide range of products and services marketed via Direct Selling. These can be either person-to-person, via party-plan or online. It offers a flexible opportunity.

But choose a company that you're interested in. And who offers lots of training and support. I should say that as i've been part of a direct selling company for over 15 years, I can recommend! This is Forever Living Products and I adore their aloe vera products, which I can use as can my animals. And I love sharing them and the opportunity with people. Their training and support is amazing too. Email me for info at info @ taranet.co.uk

Learn A New Skill

If you want to train in another skill or therapy. Then there will be a cost attached to it. Course fees can vary, but with a professional course. Then it can be money well spent. Find information on training in complementary therapies at my advice pages here.

So to recap. Are you thinking of how to make more money. Or expand your services to help your customers even more? There are several options. And they can work alongside your existing business, and open up exciting opportunities.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Petcare Business

How To Grow Your Community As A Pet Care Entrepreneur

Suzanne Harris — 2021-02-01T17:34:06+00:00

Shrewd Advice To Help Support Your Community

Feeling that you're making a difference is an amazing thing. It helps inspire me and creates momentum for doing more. Do you know what I mean?

As you're working in the pet and equestrian sector. Knowing you're helping animals is awesome! Loving and helping animals to be well cared for is rewarding.

But what else can you do? Can you do anything to help your local community as well?

Here's 3 tips on what you can do to make a difference!

Using premises - do you have a building for your business? If you do. Can you hire out any of your room even for an hour or two a week, to a local group or business? If you've a dog care business. Could someone else who offers a complimentary business to yours benefit? This could be a win-win, to help generate business for both of you.
Team up with another local business, to have special promotions. Of course these should benefit both of you. But having some kind of referral offer, can generate interest and leads. If one (or both) of you have products, you could have selection for sale in the other, and agree a retail profit.
What local charities are there? If there's a charity who's close to your heart. Then give a % of your sales to them. Even if it's a small amount, in can make a huge difference. And of course, tell your customers. They may want to support you and become a regular customer. If they know you're helping a charity.

Why Should You Do This?

All of these ideas will help you and help others. A great way to develop a positive mindset is to ask, how can you help someone else today? And do something to achieve this!

It will also help you can gain self confidence. As it will help your own self-worth.

What Else Should You Consider?

For some situations, a contract is a must. Even if it's a 'memorandum of understanding'. A short contractual document at the very least, can ensure both you and the other party agree on the terms of the arrangement.

It doesn't need to be complicated. You can find many simple agreement templates online that will do. So don't need to involve lawyers. But of course. In some situations too, a solicitor may be a good idea too. If you're a member of a professional association. You may have a legal helpline or even templates you can access. So check your membership!

Action Point
Review what you're currently doing to help your community. Remember small action can have a big impact. So even if you don't feel you can do much. It could make a huge difference. So please review the above ideas, and put one or all into action!

How To Gain Confidence As An Equine Or Pet Care Entrepreneur

Click here for more information on consultancy. Or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

About the Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

PS: You can find more equestrian and pet care themed business articles over at my Linkedin, see more here https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-harris-mcmi/detail/recent-activity/posts/

Are You Scared Of Your Business Competitors?

Suzanne Harris — 2021-01-22T16:51:08+00:00

Tips On How To React To New Competition

Your competition - does it worry you? Whatever business you're in, you will have some competitors. Big or small. Niche or more general. There will be some. Do you see your competitors as something to worry about?

Picture this. A equine hydrotherapy centre in a rural town. The owner set it up there as it was convenient to where she lived. But also there were no other similar businesses. The ideal solution to establishing a thriving horse care business. Veterinary surgeon's referred customers to her. And a variety of equestrian yards sent horses to her. All was going ok. Even despite the coronavirus pandemic, and the various restrictions that ensued.

But then a large equine vets in the area, one with a hospital decided to expand. And they expanded to include an equine swimming pool. Disaster? There would be convenience to the equine hospital patients at least. If they let their horses go to their vets new swimming pool. And of course the equine vets would be recommending their own clients use their own pool. So a large chunk of income would go to the equine hydrotherapist.

There are a few options this equine hydrotherapist could take.

Panic. Wonder what she can do, or was there anything she could do other than to accept her income would reduce.
Seek out alternative income streams. There are many opportunities. Such as network marketing, or becoming a retailer of different products.
See it as an opportunity. But can there be an opportunity in getting increased competition?

Let's look at these options one by one.

In times of adversity, we can "shrink" - or panic. This is natural to have moments like that. But it should pass. Worry doesn't help. And it can distract you from appreciating what you do have. And seeing how to get a clear path forward.
Second, looking at alternatives isn't a bad idea. Indeed, another income stream is often a good idea. But don't get distracted away from your core business. If it's what you love and you're good at it!
Third, increased competition often shows there's an increasing interest in your market. This is good news. So how can you make the most of it? Start by reviewing your marketing. Whether that's online or offline marketing it's always a good idea.

Do you agree that the third option looks good? So how can you make the most of your marketing?

Think how you can carve out your place in the market. Showcase what you do offer. So in this equine hydrotherapy example, the hydrotherapist should emphasise her unique qualities.

In this instance, she had 10 years experience of hydrotherapy. 25 years of keeping horses, and competing at Eventing. A proven track record of helping a variety of equines for many ailments. And she had other useful qualifications beyond equine hydrotherapy, including other equine therapies.

It can be human nature not to shout about our skills and experience. Are people that bothered? In a word, yes! But only if these skills and experience are applicable to them.

For instance if targeting horses competing in eventing as clients. You could point out that:

As an eventer, I understand how keeping your horses legs healthy is essential.
My 10 years experience of helping event horses with hydrotherapy. And special interest and knowledge of equine leg injuries.
I'm able to design rehabilitation programmes to help horses recover from leg injuries.
Use hydrotherapy to prevent equine leg injuries.
This all means I can help you to help your horse to be as healthy as possible".

Not complaining. Being present in the situation and visualising a positive future can help you avoid getting stressed.

Action Point

Get your notepad and write a list of all your qualifications.
Write down all the jobs you've had. For these jobs make a list of the skills you've gained in these.
Write down too your hobbies and interests.
Use a highlighter to mark out the keywords and key skills, qualifications and experience you have.
Look at your list with positivity. You are unique. All of what you've written down is your unique selling point.
Reflect your unique service offer in your marketing. So create some social media posts. Update your website. If you've fliers or posters or cards.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine Business

Be In Love With Your Equestrian Business

Suzanne Harris — 2021-01-08T17:32:28+00:00

Are you happy with how your equestrian business is going?

Do you think you need to do more, or change your approach?

Now i'm all for setting goals, reviewing them, and being flexible to new opportunities. But sometimes, it's better to focus on one thing and get good at it. Very good at it.

I was catching up on one of my business influencers, Jeff Walker recently. And Jeff was talking about being "addicted to your success".

Here's an analogy. You want to compete in equestrian sports. You've got your horse. You decide you want to do dressage and go up through the levels as far as you can. Grand prix or Inter, or medium. Whatever your goal is. But you find it difficult. I'm a believer that any dressage movement is within all horse's capabilities. If you've ever spent time watching horses in the field, you'll have seen them capable of all sort of movements. It's us as riders who need to untap their potential!

You could find the dressage difficult and give up. And decide to do showjumping. As any elite show jumper will tell you, flatwork is everything. Guess what? Dressage is flat work! So to excel at showjumping you need to still practice your flatwork. If dressage is what you want to do, then why give up? It's rewarding to learn a movement, perfect it and then try another one. Dressage is addictive, if you put in the practice and see the rewards.

Changing disciplines because you're finding one too difficult isn't the solution. Your equestrian dream will only be half fulfilled. The same applies to your business!

Don't short-change yourself or your horse. If you find it challenging to learn the movements, to understand what to do. Then change your approach. Get a coach. Change your coach. Listen to the coach. Practice between coaching sessions. Do what you need to do to achieve your equestrian success.

Why Being Good At One Thing Is A Good Thing For Your Equestrian Business

Going back to Jeff Walker, he was talking about how it's possible to be successful by getting good at one thing. He's had one signature online programme for many years. And he's got good at it. Because he's allowed himself to not get distracted by other options. Becoming good or great in one field is rewarding. Doing a job that you love means you'll never have to work again! You may've heard of this saying and it is actually true!

Do you love what you're doing? Are you addicted to your equestrian or pet care entrepreneur business? Are you doing all that you can to make it successful? By concentrating on one goal?

Remember within one goal, there will be lots of mini-goals, or micro-actions. So don't feel constrained. Be inspired to be the best you can be. And become addicted to your own success.

As another inspirational man said, "you will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want." This of course is from the great Zig Ziglar.

Even as an equestrian or pet care entrepreneur this is true. Your customers want their animals to be fit and healthy. You can help them to get this.

Action Point

Review what you're doing. Are you mastering one business goal? Or are you trying to achieve multiple goals at the same time?
Decide what goal you're going to focus on for the next 3 - 6 months. Concentrate on this, dedicate yourself to this and become really good at it!

You can get more tips in my goal setting toolkit. Email me for your copy.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Post At The Best Time On Social Media

Suzanne Harris — 2020-12-28T12:30:14+00:00

3 Top Tips For You To Post At The Best Time On Social Media

So you've some great posts. You're pleased with the information and photo's or video's you're posting. As an equestrian or pet care entrepreneur you know you can make a difference. Not only helping people to help their animals, but also to help you build your brand.

But you're not getting the engagement you're expecting. Is this because you're posting at the right time of day? Or are you posting when no-one's online?

In short, there is not a wrong time of day to post. Many of the social networks do not show posts in someone's feed, by date/time order. Often they're shown based on engagement.

So if your post has likes, comments or shares, it can get greater priority or visibility.

You don't need to spend lots of money though on promoting posts!

How can you get more engagement on your posts? Here's 3 top free tips:

If your post refers to a company or an individual (say one of your customers), then tag them. They may then engage with the post, and in turn this will help you.
Be regular! Sounds too simple? Well if people get used to seeing your posts they are more likely to engage with you. As they get more comfortable with your work. Also many of the social networks prefer accounts that are consistent. Meaning they then show them in feeds.
Comment and engage on other people's posts. Now you may say how is this going to help you? There's several reasons.

Number one, by you commenting, liking or sharing on another post, your profile will then be "logged" as doing so. Other's can then see you, and they then may go and look at your profile. Like what they see and then engage on your posts. Far fetched - no!! It happens all the time.
Number two reason, most social networks like accounts that engage with others. Putting the 'social' into 'social network'. If you are a regular contributor to a network, through commenting and engaging on others. It will benefit your own posts.

I make no apology for not saying you should post a specific time each day. Because despite there being much conflicting advice online. It really doesn't matter. Consistency is key to development and growth. As it is with all aspects of your life.

Action point

If you're not already doing the above 3 tips on a regular basis - by that I mean at least three times a week. Then start now! Remember social networking for your business is not likely to be an overnight win. You need to be consistent. But your equestrian or pet care business will benefit.

Good luck and please feel free to share this article or join me on social media at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

How to Get Confidence Using Social Media

Are You Making The Most Of Being On Social Media?

Suzanne Harris — 2020-12-11T12:59:15+00:00

3 Top Tips For You To Have Social Media Success

You have a social media profile for your pet care business, to promote your business. But are you making the most of it? There are many strategies you can use to maximise engagement and reach. And get new and help retain existing customers. It's essential though you have some basics in place.

Otherwise you're missing opportunities. Remember your potential customers are scrolling through lots of information. Make it easy for them. Don't assume they'll do lots of research on whether your business will help them. They probably won't. Here's 3 top tips to help you maximise your social presence.

Tip 1 - A Complete Profile

You're scrolling through social media. You find an interesting account. Or you see a post you'd like to follow up with the company or person who posted it.

But then you see you can't contact them! Because there's no contact details.

An obvious thing to include on your profile? Well unfortunately not. Many people don't.

So the first top tip is to always and I mean always include your profile some contact details.

Your website at a minimum should be listed. But also your email or telephone or WhatsApp.

If you've got your pet care business on social media, there's no reason for you not to have your contact details. Otherwise what is the point?

Tip 2 - Your Name

What's in a name? Well quite a lot, especially on social media. Or in business generally for that matter! Keep your profile name professional. If your social media account is for your pet care business, then your name should be professional. And it should be your business name.

If your preferred account name is taken already, then consider adding a number or an underscore if your allowed. (social network permitting).

But make sure the name is relevant to you and your business. You could use your own name, not your business name.

Be objective, if you were someone who knew nothing about your business. Would you recognise from the name what you were about?

Tip 3 - Description

In your social profile you an add a short biography of you and your business. The amount of text will vary according to the network. But make the most of whatever space you have.

Say what you do in as few words as possible. What I mean is don't waffle or go off point! Keep it all professional. Say where you work - the area.

That way people will know whether you're a business they'd like to know more about. And whether you're relevant to them.

Action Point
Whichever social network you use as an equestrian or pet care entrepreneur. Review your profile. And take note of the three ideas above. And if you're not doing any of them. Then start now!

How to Get Confidence Using Social Media

How to Make Your Pet Logo Relevant to Your Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-12-10T12:31:34+00:00

What's Your Identity For Your Pet Care Business?

Many logo and graphic designers stress upon the importance of brand identity designs being true and relevant to the business. Paul Rand famously called a logo, ‘an ambassador’, for the company. He was of the opinion that a symbol ‘doesn’t sell directly but identifies’.

If you think about it, this is how businesses manage to turn themselves into successful brands. When it comes to pet logos, this is what you have to keep in mind. The relevance of your logo and how it is able to get the target audience to identify your business.

The competition in the pet industry is tough, which is why, you need to communicate with the customer clearly and directly through your brand symbol. Tell them what you have to offer from the first look so that there is no confusion. In order to do so, your pet logo design has to be relevant to your business and represent it in the best way possible. There are a few useful tips and tricks to creating a pet logo that will help to make it relevant to your business.

Define Your Audience

One of the first steps that you can take towards creating an impressive and to the point logo is to narrow down your target audience. The more you are clear about the group of consumers you want your business to attract, the easier the design process for a relevant brand identity. Take this for example. The logo for a vet’s clinic will have a different audience than that of a dog and cat walking service. If your business belongs to the first category, then its brand symbol should portray that with simplistic wordmarks or elements such as medical instruments.
On the other hand, a dog walker or pet sitting logo can be more fun and animated to appeal to the target consumer.

Avoid the Clutter

You know how they say, too many cooks spoil the broth? Well, this is something similar. In a pet logo, it is always a better idea to keep things simple instead of adding several shapes, icons and letters. If there are a lot of elements to focus upon, your message might get lost and confuse the customer.

This is why, it’s recommended that you avoid clutter and figure out how to highlight your business in a simple manner. With a company or business that produces and sells dog food, you can just have a silhouette of a dog or puppy with a wordmark or lettermark. If you want, you can incorporate elements of nature such as leaves or trees to gain the trust of the customers in your product.

Create a Balance

This might sound strange at first but not all logos focus on keeping and maintaining a balance in their designs. Sometimes, you might be able to spot it clearly and at other times, you might just miss it. When it comes to making pet logos relevant to the business, a balanced logo design can be highly effective. If you take a look at the examples below, you will see how the animal imagery, shapes and words have been used to create a well-balanced brand identity design.

Focus on the Fonts

While the right colors are critical to the designing of pet logos, the choice of fonts can really make them hit the mark. If you want to make sure that your logo does not lose its relevance over time and remains true to your business, then focus on the fonts and typography. If you want to create a modern appeal, then a strong and clear Sans Serif is a good choice. Otherwise, you can get creative with Serif fonts or even try calligraphy depending on the message you want to send. It basically depends on your business and the product or service you have to offer.
For pet grooming and accessories, you can choose a decorative or handwritten font whereas for rescue or adoption services, you can opt for something bold and direct.

Stay Away from Themes and Trends
You do not want your pet logo to look as if it has been copied from somewhere or is too closely similar to another design. This is why, it’s a good idea to avoid following themes and trends in the industry. Instead, you should try and make your logo as unique as possible to your business.

Incorporate your brand’s story in some way if you possible, otherwise, you can use different color combinations to make it stand out. Keep the colors or shapes that might be trending with other businesses away and go with something unusual yet appealing.

To Sum Up

Pet logos can be created in a way that they become relevant to the business for years to come. If you stick with some of the tips given here, you can have a pet logo that highlights your business values and represents it well. In the end, you can have a brand identity design that can be used to market your business everywhere and gain an advantage over the competition.

This Is A Guest Post From Maria Anton

Author Bio

Maria Anton is a freelance content specialist who likes to help brands develop and grow. She writes about marketing, branding and advertising but open to other business topics as well. In her free time, she crochet knick knacks for her kids.

How To Be Clear On Rules of Your Equine Health Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-12-02T12:46:31+00:00

Do You Know The Rules Around Your Equine Health Care Business?

There are many training courses you can complete to learn your equine therapy. But some courses aren't even professional courses. What I mean is that they're not clear whether they're for horse owners to learn for their own horse. Or if with the qualification you can go and work with other horses.

How Recently Did You Complete Your Equine Health Course?

If you've completed a professional equine training course recently. Then this should've covered the current legal requirements. But if you completed your course a while ago. Rules and best practice may've changed. And where do you go to update your knowledge? As with so many news items. The devil is in the detail. It's easy to get swept along with headlines and opinions.

Recently the Royal Veterinary College announced a new ruling. That musculo-skeletal therapists can work with a healthy horse without veterinary surgeon permission. So this could mean a massage for maintaining good health. Ideal for horses pre or post work, or competition. But a veterinary surgeon must already have the horse registered. If there's any sign of illness or disease then the therapist must refer the horse back to the vet.

Unfortunately i'm aware of some horse owners thinking they now don't need veterinary consent. As a musculo-skeletal therapist you need to be very clear on the rules to not only protect the horse. But yourself. The Register for Animal Musculoskeletal Practitioners (RAMP) state:

"To reiterate, the only difference to current practice is in point d). An animal declared healthy by the owner, in cases where care is given to maintain good health and optimise competition performance, can be seen without specific Veterinary referral with the caveats stated. This covers the areas of Maintenance care and Competition care only. This clarification will ease the current legal grey area and hope it will improve communication between MSK Practitioners and the Veterinary Profession. Any suspected pathology must be reported back to the animals registered vet immediately." (source: https://www.rampregister.org)

This is specific.

There'll be many situations where you need veterinary consent.
And if you're not classified as a musculo-skeletal therapist. And deliver another equine health care you will almost certainly need consent anyway. (Although there are some exceptions).

This is where being a member of an organisation like RAMP or one of the other professional bodies helps. You should get clear advice on the correct position.

It can be easy to get overwhelmed. And ask others what they're doing. Often many businesses are different, even if on the surface they look the same. So don't compare. Decide for yourself what you need to do. If ever in doubt if a horse does have an illness or injury then liaising with the vet is wise.

So where do you get your information from? Try and make it sure it helps and doesn't confuse you!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

3 Tips To Help You Enjoy Social Media

Suzanne Harris — 2020-11-04T21:23:13+00:00

Do You Enjoy Using Social Media In Your Equestrian or Pet Care Business?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed. Or lost using social media?

It can be easy to get distracted by other users. In so much as feeling that they're doing better than you. You may not be getting the results you want. Or expect.

Here's 3 tips to help you enjoy using social media.

Unfollow!

If another user is always in your social media feed. And you feel that they're getting all the likes or shares, and you're not. And this is making you feel overwhelmed. And not helping you feel positive. Then stop following them. Or if you're not, but because others you're following are sharing/commenting, so shows in your feed. Or because the social network 'recommends' the posts to you. Then mute them. You can usually mute or block a user. Do this.

To help you thrive, positivity is key. And using social media should be enjoyable. And not an endurance test. Only see users/posts that help you feel happy.

Engage

I've said this many times before. But engage with fellow users. Either comment on a post. Share a post. Reply or like a post. Depending on the network, you don't always need to follow someone to share or comment. Keep comments positive or helpful.

You're more likely to have your posts seen. And people finding your account, if you engage. And you may make a new customer. Or a new contact who can recommend you to their friends or family.

Use a variety of posts

Use photo's, video's, gif's, links, text posts. Some post formats will work better than others. Some will work better at different times of the day or week. Some will work better for different content. But mix it up. It can be fun to try different posts. And see what works. Using the same post format all the time can make you feel bored. And can bore your followers (dare I say it!).

Action Point
Whichever social network you use as an equestrian or pet care entrepreneur. Review what you're doing now. And take note of the three ideas above. And if you're not doing any of them. Then start now!

How to Get Confidence Using Social Media

How Being Realistic Can Help Your Equestrian Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-29T12:45:44+00:00

Have you ever wanted to be a top show jumper?

Or the best that you could ever be in any sport or in your business? As I mentioned in my previous blog post about my T.A.R.A. coaching system, having aspirations is vital. It then enables you to have an aim.

But if you want to be the best in whatever you're doing. Say wanting to be a top show jumper. Or jumping bigger fences. You need to be realistic. And the 'R' in my coaching system, stands for "realistic"!

Now I'm all for aiming for the best. But as you know, if you're training a horse to jump bigger fences. It can be easy to over-face them. So they start refusing or napping, or rushing for instance. Because they're anxious or even scared.

It's not realistic to expect a horse to start jumping 1.60meters if they've not had good schooling on the flat. And started jumping successfully at a lower height. Your horse needs training regularly.

You also can't be jumping larger fences and courses if you've not had good training and practice. That's not realistic either.

So how does this apply to your equestrian (or canine) care business? In my example above, there's no reason why you can't jump larger fences. And be the best you can be a show jumper. But as in business. Get the basics right. Understand what you need to do to get better. To achieve your goals. What do you need to do?

If you want to showjump.

What training does your horse need?
Are you practicing flat work enough?
Are you practicing pole work or jumping regularly.
Do you need to have lessons to improve your position, so you're helping your horse?
Do you need to go out to shows and get used to the ring? Learn how to make the most of turns in different arenas?

There's many steps you need to take. But they're not always complicated! The basics are often overlooked for some new gadget. A quick fix solution. Sometimes the basics can take longer to master and achieve. But they're a good foundation.

But don't think it's all hard work or no success. If it's a struggle then it's not the right aim for you. Enjoy the journey. It may sound a cliche but it's true. If you're not happy along the way then what's the point? I love this quote:

"Happiness is a mindset for your journey, not the result of your destination"

(Shawn Achor)

Finally be realistic in that you need to take action. And it may take sometime. Focus on the actions. But do it all in line with your aspirations. Take reassurance in the fact that your aspirations can become real. By you being realistic that you need to focus. And don't over-complicate things, be realistic that the mastering the basics will stand you in better stead over the long run than a quick fix.

Action Point

Review what steps you're taking to achieve your goals.
Are you taking action that will really help you? Are you being objective and taking a realistic approach? Or do you need to adjust your daily tasks?

These tips are from my goal setting toolkit, which you can get as part of your 1-2-1 business coaching. Email info @ taranet.co.uk for more information!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Achieve Your Equestrian Business Aspirations

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-27T22:21:16+00:00

How Your Equestrian Business Can Thrive With Aspirations!

What does taking targeted action mean to you? Does it seem restrictive? As you'll have read in this blog post, you focusing on a target is the first pillar in my T.A.R.A. coaching system.

The second pillar is A for "aspiring". So do you think having a targeted step by step approach means you can't aspire to achieve your goals?

As an example. Most people who want to learn to ride a horse. Don't want to learn only so that they go around in a manege at walk. For many they want to do showjumping, dressage, eventing, hacking on the beach.

Taking a targeted approach here means they need to learn the basics. From knowing how to mount, adjust the tack, how to rise or sit to the trot, how to canter, steer, etc.

But the aspiration is to do something more. So taking a targeted approach to achieve goals, towards your aspiration here is vital.

So what is your aspiration?

What do you want to achieve in your equestrian or pet care business?

This could be earning a certain amount of money. You could want to have more flexible hours. Or you could want to expand your services or products, and help more animals and people. Knowing your purpose is essential.

Without an aspiration and a goal, then you can't be targeted. Without a goal you'll be taking action without a purpose.

So being aspirational and specific through targeted action sit side by side.

Action Point

Review your goals. Do they inspire you?
Make a dream board, brainstorm ideas on your goals, don't limit yourself. Your aspirations are yours to define.

These tips are from my goal setting toolkit, which you can get as part of your 1-2-1 business coaching. Email info @ taranet.co.uk for more information!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How Taking Targeted Action Can Help Your Equestrian Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-23T12:05:16+01:00

So you want to grow your equestrian or dog care business.

Where do you start? You've got lots of ideas or a goal you're aiming at. Whether you're full of inspiration or daunted. Taking targeted action is vital. You can't do it all at once.

I've created a coaching approach, to help you be Targeted, Aspiring, Realistic and Achieving. Or T.A.R.A. This way I can help you focus to get clear on what you want to do, and how to do it. So you can achieve your business goals.

The first pillar of my equestrian and canine entrepreneur coaching system is "Targeted".

So what do I mean?

First of all, do you know what you want? An example could be that you want to increase your number of paying customers. But what does that actually mean?

If you've a variety of services or products. Then do you want new or repeat customers for all your services and products? Or some of them?

Specify how many new customers you want. How often do you want your new customers to buy, do you want them to subscribe on a monthly basis? How much money do you want each new customer to spend? How much extra income do you want from these new customers?

Decide on this and and write it down for your goal. This will then be your Targeted Goal.

Once you’ve defined your goal, it’s important to work out how you’re going to get there. To make it all achievable and doable, break it down into small tasks.

Make a list of tasks that you can do to help you achieve your goal. These tasks must be actions that are going to help you reach your goal.

Each task or ‘micro-action’ should be something you can do in a short amount of time - no more than 15 to 30 minutes. Remember, consistency is your friend. And taking small actions every day will reap better rewards than spending an hour or two once a week. (Or every few weeks!)

This is then your Targeted Action.

Find more information on my T.A.R.A. coaching programme here.

Action Point

Review what you want from your business. Are you clear on your goal, and is it targeted to help you grow your business?
Do you have a list of actions to complete? Are these targeted to help ensure you achieving goal?

These tips are from my goal setting toolkit, which you can get as part of your 1-2-1 business coaching. Email info @ taranet.co.uk for more information!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Grow Your Veterinary Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-19T12:51:50+01:00

How The T.A.R.A. Coaching Programme Can Help You

I've created the T.A.R.A coaching program to help you achieve your equine and canine business goals.

So why T.A.R.A.? Well not only is the initials of my inspirational horse Tara. It sums up what steps I use to help you to get the business you want. Whether you're an equestrian, dog care or veterinary entrepreneur.

So what do I mean? Well:

Targeted - Being able to take targeted action is vital. Even though you may have lots of different goals and objectives. You can't do all at once. Take targeted action to achieve each goal one by one.
Aspiring. Taking targeted actions, doesn't mean you shouldn't be aspiring to achieve lots! Far from it. Knowing your overall business goal is important, and this should be aspiring for you. It should help inspire you. And motivate you.
Realistic. Keep your targeted actions and aspirations realistic. I don't want to discourage anyone. But so often I've found clients unable to get the basics in place. Being realistic about what actions you should take. Will be more satisfying and more productive in the long run.
Achieve. Having a clear business target. Having aspirational business goals. And taking realistic steps will help you achieve your business goals.

My approach is to keep things simple. To help you be clear on what you need to do. The T.A.R.A. coaching programme will enable you to do this.

Like to know more? Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Make The Best Out Of Your Social Media

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-16T12:36:03+01:00

So how do you make the best out of social media for your business?

There's no perfect way to increase engagement, and generate customers. To some extent it will be trial and error. You can gain a lot of insights on the basics in my other blog posts. But below here are two more top tips to help you.

Connections. Not the number of people you're connected with. But the Quality of your connections. There's no point having 1000's of followers if they're not your ideal customer.

So how can you help find out if they are? Cultivate your connections. What do I mean? Engage with each of them as an individual. Don't send generic direct messages. Personalise them. Do a bit of research on who you're contacting. On their profile they may have their name, business or website mentioned. Taking an interest can help you generate rapport. And also give you an opportunity to become memorable for all the right reasons!
Don't copy and paste. If you're contacting many people. It can be tempting to copy and paste your wording.But this is rarely personal. It can lose impact. Most people will spot a generic "ad". This is what it'll look like if you're copying and pasting.

This extends to your posts, as well as direct messages. Write your social media posts so that they're writing to an individual. Not like broadcasts to the world. Why might you say? Well you're not going to have the world as your customer. There are thousands of animals and people who your service will help. But it won't be for everyone. And that's fine.

Finally. Above all be yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not. As when your customers do meet you, then they won't find consistency. Being consistent and congruent in your business and life is important!

Your Action Point

Message or post to individual pf
Personalise your messages.
Comment on a few posts every day from people in your groups, newsfeed. Ensure your comments are helpful and useful. Not a sales pitch for your service!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Find Customers In Challenging Times

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-14T12:46:44+01:00

Finding customers for your equine therapy business is always a priority.

But in these challenging times we find ourselves in, it's upper most in many of my clients minds. So what ideas are there?

First of all, is cutting prices a good idea? No. It devalues your service. Unless your own overheads have reduced and your profit margin has increased. Then it's going to be unaffordable too.

A better idea is to offer a customer loyalty programme. This can be for new and existing customers. Do you find yourself buying coffee from a favourite brand, because of loyalty points? I know for sure it's great to get a free coffee from time to time, because of collecting points!

So what can you offer? Ideas include:

Attend 9 therapy sessions and get the 10th free.
Attend 10 sessions and get a free gift. Now this could be a head collar or rug. Or why not partner with a fellow equestrian business for them to give away an item. This is also promotion for their business. So can be win-win!
Attend 5 sessions and get the sixth half price.
Or have a free prize draw every month for customers who've had an appointment that month. The prize could be anything that you know your customers will love. And remember, try partnering with another equestrian business too.

Where should you be promoting your service?

As i've mentioned in previous posts, there's many places that you can advertise.
Are there any local equestrian or community newsletters or magazines?
Does your local riding club have a newsletter?
Use social media. Be consistent in your posting. If you can't manage more than one network. Then concentrate on using one really well!

When advertising though. Remember to sell what benefits your service offers. If you're an equine massage therapist. Don't tell people only that. Tell them why their horse will benefit.

Do any local vets know about your service? Remember that equine vets often travel a large area. So it's worth letting a number know you exist. They'll still be seeing horses every week (or day!), who you could help. So make sure they know you're there.

See my previous posts for more ideas. Have a browse through this blog, but these two are a good starting point:

Action Point

Review your marketing. Where are you promoting your service? What messaging are you using?
Can you change the places you advertise? Do you need to revise your messaging?
Try and take an objective look. If you didn't know what you did, would you know? (if you know what I mean!).

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Have A Great Website

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-11T22:04:52+01:00

Simple Design Tips For A Great Website

People find your website, and that's it isn't it? Your great content will let them know what you do and they'll buy your service or product? Not always!!! Can people actually see past the design? Is it obvious what you're saying and what your company does?

Your website should be a great "shop-window" for your equine or canine business. Creating a website can take a lot of time. But unfortunately this can be time spent on choosing elaborate fonts. Or a very bold or clashing colour scheme. So your potential customers, can't find out if what you're offering is what they need. Why? Because they can't read it well!

Here are a couple of top tips to help you audit your website. With a critical eye, see if your website is ok, or needs some amendment.

Tip 1 - Fonts
Are the fonts on your website clear? Are they decorative or elaborate? Can anyone, including people who may have any visual impairment read what you're saying? Or does it take a lot of effort to see past the font?

Tip 2 - Colour Scheme
Bold colours can look great and be eye-catching. But be careful to choose colours that don't detract from your website's purpose..... You want to present professional information about yourself. And get people to get in contact with you! So make sure your anyone can read your website. And aren't distracted by the colours.

Choose a background colour that contrasts well with the font, so that the writing can be clearly seen..... Black writing on white background may seem not to be very exciting to some. But it's usually clear to read. (That's not to say of course that's the only colour scheme to use!)

In conclusion.
Remember people will often look initially at your website for a short period of time. Sometimes seconds. If they decide that it's going to be too difficult to find what they need to know. They'll leave the site and find another one to look at.

Action Point

Review your website, and imagine you're someone who knows nothing about your business. Is it easy to read? Would you carry on looking at it? If you're not sure, ask someone you trust to give their honest opinion to have a look!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Make More Focused Decisions

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-04T22:11:19+01:00

How To Keep Focused In Your Equestrian or Pet Care Business

You can always find lots of ideas for anything. Whether it's choosing a new rug for your horse. Or the best food for your dog. And the same is true for management theories and business advice.

How Do You Make Decisions?

Do you feel like you're decisive? Know instinctively what to do? Or do you dither and spend a while deciding what to do? For whatever choice you're making, sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's hard. Whether in business or personal life and caring for our horses or dogs.

But having a framework to help you decide on what action to take is important. This could be anything. But you need a reference point to help you make a decision. Or to take action. Comparing with showjumping your horse. Or doing a dog agility course. Or even you running a marathon. How will you do this, if you've know idea where the course is? You may do the jumps or do the distance, but if it's wrong, then it'll not get you the result you want.

To help my coaching clients i've devised the T.A.R.A. programme.

Yes named after my dear horse Tara.

So what is this?
T = Targeted. Helping you to take action targeted to helping your business.
A = Aspiring. Helping you to aspire to the life and business you want.
R = Realistic. Helping you to take action that is realistic in achieving your goals.
A = Achieve. Helping you to achieve success in your equestrian or canine business.

You can use this framework to keep you on course. To get the results you want in your equestrian or pet care business.

Action Point

Consider how you make decisions in your equestrian or pet care business. Do you feel like you need some mentorship and guidance? Or are you ok as you are?
Review my previous blog posts for more tips to boost your equine or canine or veterinary business.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Promote Your Equine or Canine Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-10-02T22:12:44+01:00

Do you need more customers in your equine or canine care business?

Advertising your service. Whether on social media or in printed publications. Or posters/business cards on noticeboards can all help.

But before your do anything. Think about what you want to say. Sounds obvious right? But no! So often I see great horse and dog care professionals not selling themselves very well. And often miss the mark when it comes to getting new customers.

Here's 3 top tips to help you promote your business to success!

1. Target your ideal customer. What does your ideal customer need? If you're offering an equine physiotherapy service, then don't tell people only that. Tell them why their horse will benefit. For example. You could say: "Is your horse tense when ridden? Physiotherapy can help relieve tension. Give me a call to find out more and book an appointment."

Don't try and say what all the benefits of your service are in the one ad. It will overwhelm and confuse your potential customer. You can change your messaging over time and in different locations.

2. Check your website and social media. Is it clear who you work with. And where you work? And your contact details are prominent. Sounds simple. But I often find when I audit clients websites they have overlooked the basics.

Remember people don't hang around on a website searching for information. Not normally anyway. So make it easy.

3. Collaborate with equine or pet websites and other business owners. See if you can write a blog or article for their website or social media. And with your contact details on it, it will help a wider audience know about you.

Action Point

Use these ideas to generate interest and get leads for your business.
Review my previous blog posts for more tips to boost your equine or canine or veterinary business.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Keep Your Customers Connected With Great Newsletters

Suzanne Harris — 2020-09-30T12:58:30+01:00

Content Creation For Your Business Newsletters

You may know that I love newsletters. They're a great way for you to keep connected with your customers. (Read my blog post here for some ideas on why they're such a great idea!).

A question often raised by clients is though, what to talk about? How on earth to come up with ideas for newsletters?

In this post, find 5 great content ideas for your newsletters for your equine or canine business

Why is your work with horses and dogs useful? Let your subscribers, know different reasons why you can help their horses or dogs. Don't try and give all reasons at once though! A newsletter doesn't need to be long. Give a different reason over a series of editions. Focus on the why and the how. Include case studies if you can.
Case studies of your work with horses or dogs. This can be over a series of newsletters, looking at different breeds or types of horses or dogs. And different ailments. The possibilities are endless. Include photo's and video's if you can.
Product recommendations. You may even sell some products alongside your business. But there are probably products you do use. For instance if you're a canine hydrotherapist you may use special towels to help dry your dogs. Give your subscribers recommendations. And let them know how they can buy.
General health tips. Give your subscribers advice on healthcare tips for horses or dogs. This could be seasonal. Or a specific ailment. Or even grooming.
Any CPD you've completed. Provide reassurance that you do complete CPD. Don't be shy about telling people about a course you've attended. Your qualifications are hard earned. But be sure to share why they will make a difference to your business. And importantly how they'll help your equine or canine customers.

A general point is be consistent. Send a newsletter regularly. Whether that's every week, or every month. Be consistent.

Action Point

Use these content ideas to get your newsletters created and published.
Review my previous blog posts about mailing lists and also more content ideas.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Build Connections On Social Media

Suzanne Harris — 2020-09-25T12:53:08+01:00

What do you do on social media? Do you concentrate on posting AND connecting with others? Or do you prefer posting and 'hoping' for a response?

The "posting and hoping" approach is quite common! It enables you to get your posts done, sharing content and if someone sees it and likes it, so much the better.

But it's not targeted. And if you get some customers, it may well be more luck than anything else. Of course there are exceptions to this, like if you're a large international brand.

To get the best benefits out of social media, connecting with others is vital. There's two main ways you can connect.

By commenting on other people's posts.
By expanding your network, by following or linking with others.

So how do you connect on social media?

First of all, don't treat every new connection/ follow as a sales opportunity. I don't like going into a shop and having a shop assistant start trying to sell me something straightaway. Do you?

Also if you go into a shop and every (potential) customer has the same sales pitch said to them. It doesn't make you feel like an individual does it? You're one of the numbers only.

Instead it's better to have a customised approach. What do I mean? First off, if you know a connections name. Then in your private/direct message or post comment, use their name if you can. You're then talking to the person as an individual. This is especially important when you're inviting someone to connect with you. Such as on a network like Linkedin.

Do some research. Nothing complicated. But check their profile and/or website. If it's clear they work with dogs. Say something like you share in interest in dog health. Including it shows you're taking an interest.

Why bother personalising comments and connection invitations? It shows you're not a robot! And helps in the first stage of building trust.

Your comments and connections may not immediately lead to a sale. But in time they might. Remember most people don't like a sales pitch at any time, let alone from someone they don't know. And importantly someone they don't trust. It takes time to build this.

Your Action Point

Commit to connecting with new people on your social media every day. Even five a day is a great start!
Personalise your messages.
Comment on a few posts every day from people in your groups, newsfeed. Ensure your comments are helpful and useful. Not a sales pitch for your service!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

How To Get Your Customers To Love Your Website

Suzanne Harris — 2020-09-19T12:36:46+01:00

You've got your website, so all should be ok?

It may be "selling" your service, so customers know what you do. Where you do it. And how you can help their horse or dog. You maybe proud of it. And hopefully you are!

But can people find it easily?

Without stating the obvious. Your customers won't be able to love your website if they can't find it!

Before you go down the SEO (search engine optimisation) route. Start at the beginning and what is your domain name?

Your domain name is the website address. So here, my website domain name is taranet.co.uk. Is your website domain long? Is it your own? Or does it include a suffix like wix.com or wordpress?

Not that there's anything wrong in itself with having a suffix. But the longer the domain name, the more likely it is someone will forget it. Or not be able to clearly tell their friends or relatives about your service, and your contact details.

Remember, your website may not just be seen by your direct customers. But by people who can refer others to you.

Potential customers will love your website if it's easy to find and remember. A long domain name will put people off. Or they could mistype and end up somewhere else entirely.

Over many years, consumer research suggests simplicity is preferred. It may cost you more to have your own domain name. But not having a clear easy to remember name, may cost you more in lost sales!

There are a huge range of suffixes you can have to your business name as a domain. It's no longer just .com or co.uk or .org. There are dozens! So you're bound to find one that will work for you.

In auditing websites for my customers, the first thing I look at is the name. It's surprising how often it's overlooked! And is a fairly easy to thing to fix. And is an easy way for you to start getting your customers loving your website!

Your Action Point

Review your website domain name. Is it clearly describing your service?
Is it long? Does it have a suffix that is yours or is it hosted on another platform?
Can you change the website name, and can you find a suffix that means the website is yours?
Consider your website name on any of your marketing materials. Does it look easy to remember and is clear? If you do change your website domain name, update your marketing materials or advertising!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Why You Should Love YouTube For Your Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-09-01T12:55:36+01:00

Have You Considered Youtube For Your Equine or Canine Business?

As you know youtube is a popular online place for videos to be posted. And it's not just a video sharing website, but a social media platform. An enormously powerful one at that.

Worldwide there are over 2 billion active monthly logged in users. Yes really, 2 billion! And importantly some of those will be your potential customers. Whether you're in the UK, USA, Australia or another country it's almost certainly the case youtube is being used right now by people who could either be your customer. Or they know someone else who will be.

Youtube is powerful as a search engine too. People searching on Google will also get youtube results. And people will use youtube to search for information that will help them. So in many ways it's more useful than some other social networks, who don't have the same search ability.

Barriers For Using Youtube?

Do you feel reluctant to use youtube because you think you need professional video's? Or perhaps you don't think you've anything worthwhile posting?

Firstly you don't need anything more than the video on your smartphone. Yes you can get professionally made video's. There are many photographers and marketing companies who can help you do this. Or you could get a camcorder, tripod and sound equipment to do it yourself. You don't necessarily need expensive editing software either. If you've an Apple Mac, then you may have iMovie, which is brilliant.

But as I said, a smartphone is fine. Either film something yourself. Or get a friend, relative or colleague with a steady hand to film you working with your equine or canine customers.

What To Post On Youtube?

Whether you film or create a slide show or hire a professional. What should you post on youtube? What will be helpful for your equine or canine business? Here are 5 ideas:

Have a film showing you working with horses or dogs. This could be a 5 minute clip or a 30 minute clip. However long is up to you. Keep it relevant and if you can show something in a short time. Do it. Don't think you need to prolong it. But if you need longer that's fine!
Create a slideshow/presentation explaining some key facts about your service. This could be all your service. Or a particular aspect.
Use a film of you explaining about why you do what you do. And how you can help horses and/or dogs. See this as an introduction to you.
Provide tips and advice. This could be general horse or dog care tips. Or something specific.
Interview someone. This could be a customer (the horse or dog's owner?). Or a veterinary professional who refers to you. Ask 3 or 4 questions. Keep it light. But it'll help show people another aspect of what you do as a equine or canine professional.

Will People Be Interested In What I Have To Say?

Remember that what you know is different to what others know. It will often be more than what others know. You don't know, what people don't know!

The important thing is to be authentic. Be interested in what you're talking about. Hopefully this shouldn't be difficult! But don't try to be someone you're not.

These video's will be about helping your potential horse or dog customer. And showcase why you maybe able to help.

How Often Should I Post?

Try and be consistent. The more you do, the more practice you'll get. And the more you should enjoy it! And your potential customers have the option of subscribing to your youtube channel and so can keep in contact with your updates. So be consistent.

Action Points..

Get planning. Write down 5 ideas for youtube content.
Create a schedule. Will you do one video a month, or once a week? Decide on the frequency and plan how you'll do it and when.
Create an account and post. If you've not already, create a youtube account. Remember you can set video's to 'private' so you can practice and post, without the public seeing if you like! But don't spend too long worrying about perfection. If it stops you posting publicly!

Do you want coaching support to help your business flourish? Please email me to discuss!

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Stop Losing People At Your Twitter Profile

Suzanne Harris — 2020-08-19T12:26:05+01:00

Do you want to have a twitter profile that encourages readers to see what you do?

One of my top tips is to ensure you use the "pinned tweet" function well.

First off did you know you can pin a tweet to the top of your profile? It's a great idea to ensure that either important news, or a tweet that you think is interesting gets seen.

To pin, go to the tweet and click on the drop down option (top right). And click pin to profile.

If you want to change the pinned tweet. Go to the new tweet to pin, and click pin to profile, and follow the instructions. It'll let you change it. Simple.

But my top tip about this. Is that you need to change it often. If you've a tweet pinned to your profile, it's the first tweet people see. Now they may go scrolling on. But they may only see that pinned tweet.

If it's dated from a few months ago. Or even a few years ago. It to me it looks like you don't bother updating your social media or business very often. This can lose you valuable potential customers!

Now you may think the pinned tweet is worthwhile. If it's got content you're proud of. Re do it. If it's relevant, change it slightly. Not that it matters for you to change it. Please pin a new tweet, with the same or different content. Do this every few weeks. Don't leave it so long, that the first tweet people see is from a long time ago.

It doesn't create a good image. You may think that the pinned tweet has lots of retweets/likes, and so looks really popular. Although that is true. It's still old. Change it!

Action Points..

Get pinning a tweet to the top of your profile. Or if you have already. Change it!
Have a look through my previous blog posts for some tips on using social media.
Gain more confidence in using Twitter with my free 1 page Twitter Basics Guide, which you can find online at http://taranet.co.uk/resources/Twitter-1-Page-Guide.pdf <
For a free social media scheduling guide, please email me at info at taranet .co.uk
Do you want coaching support to help your business flourish? Please email me to discuss!

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Top Tip To Avoid Losing Customers At Your Website

Suzanne Harris — 2020-08-12T20:47:44+01:00

Do you have a website for your equestrian, canine or veterinary care business?

Do you know if the website works on all devices? Your customers, (and potential customers). Will be looking at your website on their phones, tablets, laptops. And desktop computers. So that's quite a mix. And it can mean without some planning, a website won't work.

It's important you do have a website which is what's known as "responsive". In short, this means that your website works, on whatever device it's viewed on.

Otherwise, some pages may not appear. Some links won't work. Or a page will 'spill off the screen'. Generally it won't look great, and could lose you a customer!

But you can fix this.

There's two options.

Have 2 websites. One which is computer viewable. And one which is for mobile devices. I do not recommend this. It means duplicating work. Who's got time for that?!
Have a website that's designed using software which has responsive functionality. I designed this website here at Taranet, with responsive software. During the design process I also could check what it looked like. By pressing a button to replicate the different screen sizes.

Personally if I'm looking at a website which doesn't work. I'll 9 times out of 10 leave, and find another company to look at.

Don’t let your business down with a simple website issue.

Action Points..

Check your website, to see if it works on different devices.. Or ask a friend or relative to help you by looking on their phones or laptops.
If your website doesn't look right. Get the design changed. This may mean choosing different software. Or get a different developer.
Have a look through my previous blog posts for more business tips
Do you want coaching support to help your business flourish? Please email me to discuss!

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Treat Your Business Like A Garden!

Suzanne Harris — 2020-07-11T16:02:18+01:00

Hello

When I was gardening recently it occurred to me the similarities it has with business.

I’d cut a hedge back a few weeks ago. And it had looked good! Without a close-up inspection in the weeks after, I thought it wasn’t too bad, and was mostly fairly short. But when I went back to it properly, a few weeks later. I found that it was a lot longer than I’d realised. And a lot more cutting back would be needed to get it back in shape. Not out of control, but on its way to being so.

So the parallel with business? You can set your goals for the short term or long term. But goal setting and doing a lot of work occasionally isn’t enough. Although any work you do that helps towards your goals, is better than nothing. It won’t get you there faster. I know speed isn’t everything.

By spending time occasionally, it can mean you have to do more, when you do decide to do more work specifically towards your goals. This may make you feel overwhelmed. And this can lead to disillusionment. Which can be de-motivating.

Have you ever felt like you don't know what task to do first? Or exhausted at seeing all that needs to be done?

I did find with my garden, a feeling of this is going to take me ages to get to how I want it! A bit of gardening a few times a week, is better than once in a while.

So the point of this blog post? Work often towards your goals!

By taking focused, targeted action regularly, it will help you not to get overwhelmed. (Or less so anyway). And help stop work getting out of control.

This way your motivation should be easier to maintain. You should feel more productive. And that you are achieving more in your business.

Your Action Points

Review your business goals. What do you want to achieve in the next 1 month, 3 month, 6 months, etc?
What do you need to do to achieve your goal?
What task can you do every day. No matter how small. That will help you towards that goal?
Be honest with yourself (but don't berate yourself either!). Review what you've done towards your goal, every week or every day . If you've not been able to do as much that day or week. Could you spend 10 minutes tomorrow or today towards your goal? Some tasks are short and it's the idea of carving out the time that can be daunting.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Know What To Publish On Your Social Media

Suzanne Harris — 2020-06-01T12:17:14+01:00

Know What To Post On Social Media With These 5 Tips

You're busy. With clients, administration and your non-business life.

So how do you find the time to decide what to post on social media?

As you may've picked up from my other blog posts. being consistent is key to social media. So how can you keep coming up with new ideas?

Here's some tips to get you started on posting on social media in your equestrian, canine or veterinary business.

Don't worry about what other people post. It can be easy to get into comparison mode. See another business like yours, posting lots of video's of them working. This could be with their horse or dog customers. Then another day they could post about their own life, or a motivational quote. Or something else completely random. Whilst this is fine for them. If it seems too time consuming for you. Then don't feel the need to do it! Which leads me to tip number 2.
What information do you want to share? If you're a veterinary physiotherapist. Do you want people to know the different techniques you use? Do you want them to know the range of animals you work with? Decide what you want to use your social media to update people with.
How do you want people to get your posts? So do you like using photo's or video's? A mix of both is fine. But if you find the idea of video too much, then don't do it. (or not yet anyway). Keep to photo's.
Whether you use photo's or video's or text based posts. (Depending on the social media network you use). Don't get too caught up on the detail. Ensure any post you make, is factual and not littered with spelling mistakes! But otherwise, don't worry if it's not a professional video or photo. And not a long text based post.
Be authentic. So in conclusion to the points above. Ensure what information you share. And the method of your posts. Is all authentic to you. Don't try to be someone you're not. If you prefer to have a light-hearted approach that's fine. Or if you prefer technical detail that's fine too. Keep it simple and true to what you want to do.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Take a look at the action points below too!

Regards, Suzanne

Action Points..

Get started posting. With consistency and practice, you'll find it not such a chore.
Have a look through my previous blog posts for some tips on using social media.
Gain more confidence in using Twitter with my free 1 page Twitter Basics Guide, which you can find online at http://taranet.co.uk/resources/Twitter-1-Page-Guide.pdf <
For your free social media scheduling guide, please email me at info at taranet .co.uk
Do you want coaching support to help your business flourish? Please email me to discuss!

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Why You Should Love Social Media

Suzanne Harris — 2020-05-19T21:11:33+01:00

Hi

In previous posts i've talked about many social media tips. To help you get the most out of social media for your horse or dog care business. But are you convinced that social media is necessary at all?

Why should you love social media for your horse or dog care business?

First of all. It's important to understand why a business account is different to your personal one. In fact you may think you've not got time to have two accounts.

But on many networks. Such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, a business account gives you more options. These include:

Get more analytical information. E.g. Understand who is viewing your posts.
You can advertise and promote your posts.
It helps keep personal and business posts separate. You can still be 'human' and not too formal even on a business account!

Questions that do arise are…..
Is will my customers look at social media?
Is it worth bothering with?
The short answer to these is yes!

According to Social Media Today, Twitter has 145 million active daily users worldwide. And Facebook has 2.41 billion active monthly users. With these numbers there are bound to be some who will be potential customers.
And remember, even if someone doesn't want to be your customer. They may know someone who will, and recommend you to their friend or relative. Don't underestimate the power of recommendation!

Of course there are other networks you may prefer using. Such as Instagram and LinkedIn. These are also popular with a large range of people.

So which to use? Well the decision on what network to use isn't so as important as deciding what strategy you're going to have. What do I mean? Well how are you going to post? What are you going to post? how are you planning to convert people viewing your posts into customers?

Most horse and dog owners are busy people. Prioritising the care of beloved animals is time consuming. At the best of times, let alone if there are any special care needs! So post regularly! This will give your equine and canine guardians a chance to see your posts.

Having a clear plan of what you're going to do. And try posting different types of information, photos and videos. Post at different times of day. Different days of the week.

Be consistent and be regular.

With social media use for any business. Engaging with your audience is vital.

Action Points..

Have a look through my previous blog posts for some tips on using social media.
Gain more confidence in using Twitter with my free 1 page Twitter Basics Guide, which you can find online at http://taranet.co.uk/resources/Twitter-1-Page-Guide.pdf <
For a free social media scheduling guide, please email me at info at taranet .co.uk
Do you want coaching support to help your business flourish? Please email me to discuss!

How You Can Make Video Part of Your Social Media Strategy

Suzanne Harris — 2020-05-08T15:54:03+01:00

Have you tried using video for your social media?

Or is it something you’re not sure about? Are you worried about not having:

The technical skills - will it work out ok?
Anything interesting to do a video about?

Or do not feel confident about being on the video yourself, or presenting information?

Whether you prefer using Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Video is an important part of your content strategy. So what makes a good video?

Your aim should be to have a video that encourages people to stay looking at it. And not scrolling past. So how can you “hook” your audience?

Start the video with:

An interesting setup
A close-up shot
Or quick movement or action.

Try including your logo at the beginning. So people associate your video with your service.

How can you plan your video?

Decide how you want to start it. What will be a good introduction? (taking into account the points above).
Decide what story you want to show. Despite the length of your video, it needs a beginning, middle and end. It needs to make sense (to some extent!). And not be completely random (unless you’re making a clever point!).
Decide if it’s going to make sense to people without the sound on. Remember people viewing your video may not be able to have sound on where they are. Don’t assume everyone has earphones either.
You can do the filming, or get someone to hold the smartphone/camcorder. This depends on the topic.
A steady hand is vital (or use a tripod). And have the sun behind you, not the subject!

What ideas could you use for your horse or dog care business video? Two great ideas are:

Provide dog or horse care tips. These could be general tips that you know people will find helpful. (Remember not to assume people will know everything. So do provide basic as well as more advanced information!).
Give people an insight into your service. This could be you working with horses or dogs. It could be giving them an idea of a first appointment. Or a therapy session.

Action Point..

If you've not already used video on your social media. Make a start this week!
Make a short video on your smartphone. You don't need camcorders and special recording equipment.
And if you're nervous, and use Instagram. Post it onto your Instagram Story. This will disappear after 24 hours. So a good way to ease yourself into it!
Try doing a video at least once a week. Don't worry if it's short. By making a video regularly your confidence will grow!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about my specialist equine and canine business coaching.

Regards, Suzanne
Director at Taranet

How To Live Your Vision

Suzanne Harris — 2020-04-30T21:25:30+01:00

What is your vision? What are your goals?

In these unusual times, you may be wondering if you should even be thinking of visions and goals. But one thing this pandemic has shown is that you never know what’s going to happen. Ever. Being able to be flexible and not too rigid in how you’re going to achieve your goals has always been good advice. Even more so now.

Having a vision is important, as otherwise we’ll be aimless. This is fine sometimes. If we’ve had setbacks in any aspect of our lives, then we can all feel without purpose. But long-term we’ll end up getting nothing done. Achieve success by having clarity on what you want, and then living a life which achieves that. So what do I mean?

Using language to live the life you want. If you want to have more money, don’t focus on having none. Don’t say to yourself or others, “i’ve not got enough money”. Instead focus on what you do have. Even when buying a magazine or newspaper. Say to yourself, "i’m grateful and appreciate having the money to buy this". Subtle? But over time, focusing on what you do have, not what you’ve not, means you’ll feel better and attract the life you want.

Behaving how you want to be. For instance if your vision is to have excellent health and fitness.Don’t eat junk food or do no exercise. Start eating nutritious high quality food and start moving. This

Consider what are your thoughts? Even though are lives are currently restricted, are you focusing on what you haven’t got, or what you have? Are your thoughts holding you back from feeling more positive. Or optimistic about your future? The pandemic has proven we can’t control everything in our lives. But actually this hasn’t taken away our ability to control how we react to situations. We have the ability to choose our thoughts.

I love this quote from Tom Ziglar

"The fastest way to success is to replace bad habits with good habits".

Being uncertain of the future is normal, never more so than now. But having clarity of your vision and what steps you can take. Today and tomorrow and the day after to live the life you want is very empowering.

What else can you do to help clarify your vision, and build your mindset to achieve your goals?

Meditation and positive affirmations can be very useful. You may not think these are for you. But they’re for everyone!
My recommendations are Gabby Bernstein, Abraham Hicks and Louse Hay. Find lots of their recordings online, including at youtube.

Goal setting is part is of my business coaching - email info @ taranet.co.uk for more information.

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How You Can Make A Change

Suzanne Harris — 2020-04-05T20:36:24+01:00

Hello

We’re living in an unusual time. A pandemic isn’t something many businesses or people will have prepared for. Even despite any extensive business continuity planning!

If your business has had to change or even stop as a result of the pandemic. Then you maybe questioning what you can do. But there will be things you can do!

A question the legendary businessman Zig Ziglar opened his speeches with was:

"How many of you would agree that there is something you can do in the next two weeks that would make your life or business worse?"

This usually got everyone's attention. He then followed with this statement:

"Then it stands to reason that there are things you can do to make your life or business better, and the choice is yours."

Do you agree that there are things you could do to…

Improve your knowledge?
Get a more successful career or business?
Be healthier?
Have stronger relationships?
Have more peace?
Have more hope for the future?
Have less stress?

But…

Do you agree that many times you simply don’t do those things?
Do you agree that you don’t do things you know you should do, even when you know what to do and how to do them?
Can you be more productive?
Can you take opportunities to learn and grow (there are so many online opportunities!)?
Would you like to reach your biggest dreams and goals in life and business?

Take action. Do one thing at a time. Try not to try and do too much at once. This will often lead to failure and will make you disillusioned.

Action Point..

Get your journal or notebook. Using the first set of bullet points above, decide what you're going to do. Write it down.
Decide how you can make a change today, tomorrow and next week to achieve it. Small steps, every day. Consistency is key!
Make a list of the actions - and then complete them!

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for info on coaching opportunities with me.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Tips to Stay Positive in Difficult Times

Suzanne Harris — 2020-03-18T22:49:09+00:00

Hi
What a difference a few weeks make. Or even a few days! The coronavirus outbreak continues to evolve. Even if you're in good health and feel well, you may also be feeling confused. Sad, upset or even angry.

It's important to acknowledge our feelings, whatever they are. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with too much news and other people's opinions. Looking at social media and listening to news commentary or radio interviews. A common theme seems to be that a lot of people have very strong views. Now I do too. But I don't want to enforce them on others. We're all entitled to our own opinion. Sometimes though others opinions can seem wrong, judgemental and annoying. Don't let it get to you!

Take a break from the news. Listen or read it once a day if you can, and find it easier to deal with. Breathe. Underrated it is, but breathing long slow deep breathes can ease the stress! Spend a few minutes appreciating what is around you. Even if it's the ground your standing on, or the chair you're sitting on. Think about what you believe at this moment.

You may have question marks about your business. Do you think your income will drop? Can you continue to offer your existing service? Can you do any work online? Here's some ideas for you as a canine or equine therapist:

Get clean, very clean. Clean down after every customer. Use one of the coronavirus effective cleaning solutions if you can too. Clean everything. Door handles, surfaces, etc.
Biosecurity. Make sure your customers know that you're open for business, but only if they are well! If they're displaying any of the symptoms, then ask them to stay away.
Skype/Facetime. What advice can you offer online? Can you provide a demonstration? Provide advice on how the owner can help their horse or dog. You can charge for this as an online consultation!
YouTube or Instagram TV. Can you start producing some videos providing tips or information. Those that will be useful for existing and new customers?
Complete some CPD. Whether that's online training about your therapy. (or another that could help long-term with your business). My online social media course for you. Reading up on latest research/developments.
Talking of reading. If you'd like some healthy inspiration check out your Aloe Matters e-mag, it's waiting for you online at http://440000346921.myforever.biz/aloelife/

There are lots of things restricted (or will be). But there are still lots of things that are possible. Remember this pandemic will pass. It may not seem it. But it will!

If you want the latest NHS advice, please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Action Points

1. Reflect on the above ideas. What can you do to re-purpose your business at this difficult time?
2. Get help to feel calmer by trying meditation. Gabby Bernstein has lots to help you with this. Visit her website here.

Until next time and if any questions then please email me, or contact me on social media (links below).

Finally, keep safe and well :)

Regards, Suzanne

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Transform Your Equine or Canine Business Performance

Suzanne Harris — 2020-02-20T12:21:42+00:00

Hello

Do you find it:

Challenging getting new customers?
Challenging selling your products?
Challenging networking professionally?

It’s normal to have doubts. To be concerned about pushing yourself. But these doubts and challenges can be used to your advantage. Yes really! Self-efficacy maybe something you’ve not heard of, but it’s defined as your ability to influence events in your life.

This is slightly different to self-confidence. This is more about you feeling confident as a result of previous events giving you confidence. Whereas self-efficacy is about future performance.

A great saying which you may’ve heard of is - you’re not a tree! You can transform yourself.

So if you find any aspect of your business challenging. Firstly work out why.

Is it fear of repeating a previous experience.
Or the fear of the unknown.

If you’ve no prior experience that’s created this fear, then visualise success, be the person who goes out and gets new customers (or whatever it is).

If your fear is based on a personal previous experience. Learn from that. What can you do differently? Or is it a case of more practice needed? Transform yourself into the person who learns from their experience and smashes it!

Read more about self-efficacy in this article from Psychology https://positivepsychology.com/bandura-self-efficacy/

Action Point..
Take note of the above. Read it again.

Be consistent. This is your personal development and business. Take small steps if you need to, but move forward and create the life and business you want!

If you'd like any further advice on applying these tips for you in your horse or dog care business. Then please email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about coaching.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How to Remain Focused on Your Canine or Equine Business

Suzanne Harris — 2020-02-16T12:57:16+00:00

Often a goal for business owners is to employ people and lots of them! Is this something you can relate to? Now there are obvious advantages.

Depending on your business type, employing people can mean you’ve got lots of work and can’t do it all yourself. So is sensible to have staff.

But it can get overwhelming. Not only is there the process of recruitment and employment contracts. Also training and development too to consider. You'll also have expenditure, on salaries, equipment, etc for your staff.

You can also be overwhelmed from having too much work, or not enough. Or other reasons too.

All this can mean you lose focus on your ultimate goal. How do you know if this is happening?

You may feel stressed.
Keep feeling ill.
Being overwhelmed, unable to make decisions.
Longing to get to the next day off.
In other words not enjoying the here and now.

One of my mentors recently mentioned a study to me. Conducted by Steven Cole of the UCLA School of Medicine, and Barbara Fredrickson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This revealed that people who found deeper meaning in their lives had strong immune systems. Compared to those who had a more self-centered approach to life.

http://peplab.web.unc.edu/files/2018/11/koketal2013.pdf

What does this mean? By following your goals and finding deeper meaning in your efforts. Will make you stronger, literally.

Operating your horse, dog or veterinary business may not always be plain sailing. And it’d be difficult for anyone to feel 100% motivated all the time. But it would be good to be pretty close to that wouldn’t it?!

My mentor also mentioned this thought provoking quote. From Holocaust survivor and celebrated psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. He wrote, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose”. Worth reviewing again?

If you do decide to use staff to help you develop your business. If you’ve a strong meaning and purpose in your actions, then it should help you:

Be clear to your team, what you want them to do.
And how they can contribute to the success of your business.

You don’t need to always use staff though to develop your business. What can you do as a sole trader? Can you achieve what you want, without recruiting a team?

Remember too, that being a sole trader doesn’t need to mean that you're isolated. You can have a business coach. Go to networking groups and lots more opportunities for you. All of these can help you remain motivated and focused on achieving your goals.

Action Point..

Get your journal or notebook. Spend some time today thinking about what you want to achieve with your horse or dog care business.
Write down your vision.
Then write down your immediate goals? Do you have more than one goal? Write them all down. Then prioritise - what do you need to work towards first to achieve your vision?
Revisit your vision daily. If you're feeling deflated, or overwhelmed. Then by revisiting this vision it will help you remember what you're working towards. (and what you want your staff to help you achieve).
Even if you aren't feeling overwhelmed, then reminding yourself of your vision daily will help program your mind to keep focused on the main prize. Your business or personal success! (whatever that means to you).
This should help you give you meaning and purpose!

If you'd like any further advice on applying these tips for you in your horse or dog care business. Then please email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about business coaching and consultancy.

Regards, Suzanne

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

What Your Mailing List Want To Know

Suzanne Harris — 2020-02-02T12:37:41+00:00

What sort of emails should you send to your mailing list subscribers?

A great thing to remember is that if people have subscribed to your mailing list then they do want to hear from you! Yes it does sound obvious, but many business owners forget this. Many of us get lots of emails, and can feel overwhelmed by it all. So we don’t want to bombard our subscribers. But there’s a balance, but be consistent. If people start expecting a weekly or monthly email then try sticking to it.

So what to send?
Number one. Unless you have segmented lists, then you need to write emails that meet the needs of everyone who’s signed up. But if you have segmented lists, then send emails bespoke to each.

Second. Don’t worry about sending a variety of information. Here’s 6 brilliant ideas:

Dates. Are there any relevant ‘days’ that you can link to your business? For instance, if your business helps cats, did you know International Cat Day is 8th August? Or celebrate the anniversary of when you started your business.
Special offers. Do tell people if you have any offers!
Top tips. Share your advice and tips.
News. What’s your latest news? Do you have any new services? Have you completed any training? Give people an insight into running your business.
Invitation. Are you holding any events that you can invite people to?
Seasonal news or tips. Depending on what’s happening in your business. Or what can affect your customers, then share your tips or news to help people. (For example. If your business helps horses and pets. Then they can get scared by fireworks at celebrations at certain times of the year, what do you suggest to help)?

Action For You

Review the emails you’ve sent recently. What have you been sharing? Now what can you share in future. Plan what you’re going to talk about and when. And get writing and scheduling.

How to Get Confident Using Social Media With Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about business coaching and consultancy.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Get Your Online Articles Shared

Suzanne Harris — 2020-01-27T15:08:58+00:00

Whatever the focus of your horse or dog care business website, or blog you want people to find it. One way to do this is for your website content to get shared on social media.

This can be helpful because if people are sharing your webpages or blog. It means people are engaging with it. The more engagement there is, it helps with search engine rankings. Also if people are engaging with your website they’re more likely to subscribe to any mailing list you have. Sharing can mean engaging. Engaging can then lead to developing trust in your service and generating business.

If people find your website or blog or share it, then Google will see that and decide if it’s a relevant link. What I mean by this is. If your webpage or blog is about dogs. And the person who shares the article/post is also interested in dogs. (From their own website, blog or social media). Then it means they are a relevant link. Whereas if someone shares your dog care post who’s say a financial advisor with no obvious dog care links. It doesn’t look so relevant.

Why does being a “relevant sharer" matter? Well Google then is more likely to rank your website or blog higher up search results.

It can also help if the person (or business) linking to you is considered an ‘authority’. If it’s someone with a popular website, blog or social media account, then Google will see it, and give more weight. Than say someone who’s website doesn’t have much reach or has limited social profile.

Now you may wonder how you find out who could be an ‘authority link’? There’s a couple of ways.

1. You may know or find relevant businesses organically. That is you know of them through your work. Or researching generally online or in publications.

Use an online tool like ‘Ahrefs’ https://ahrefs.com. You can put in the actual URL where you’ve got better but similar content. It’ll then show you who’s a link. Then you can export a list and then contact them. Inviting them to link to your webpage/blog.

2. Another way is to get your content on leading relevant websites. Such as those that look for content, (e.g. Huffington Post).

Get more insights into what webpages are popular and in your line of work, by visiting buzzsumo.com. This is another helpful website. Put in keywords or URLs (of competitor articles) and see how many social shares it has. It may not be 100% accurate, but should give a general trend. Then you can reach out to the people who’ve shared them, and contact them inviting them to share your article.

Buzzsumo can help you learn more about other popular websites or blogs like yours. Type in keywords relating to your business, and see what pages it lists. Easy! Take a look at them, and see what trends there are. It’ll help you get new ideas for your own online articles.

How Much Time Do You Need?

You may wonder how long you should be doing this research and contacting other websites/people? It can be easy to get carried away and while away the hours doing this. But try not to! Spend a few hours each week. If you have an assistant, then is this something they could help you with?

Action Point

Do some research online. See who could possibly share your articles. Use the suggested Ahrefs and Buzzsumo links listed above. And get contacting.

It can be scary emailing strangers, but don't worry. People make contact like this all the time. What's the worst, they'll either ignore you or say no. At best you can get your articles and posts shared to reach many possible customers!

Try and do this research and contacts every week. You may not get instant results. So don't be disheartened and keep at it!

How to Get Confident Using Social Media With Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about business coaching and consultancy.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Create Online Content For Your Customers

Suzanne Harris — 2020-01-20T16:24:24+00:00

How To Create Online Content For Your Horse or Dog Care Business

Creating content. What does this mean? And why does it matter to you, if you’re operating a horse or dog care business?

If you’ve a website or blog for your business, then attracting ‘traffic’ or visitors is vital. An easy way to do this, is for people to do an internet search. And by searching for words related to your horse or dog care business. Then if they find your website near the top of the results, it's a great way for them to find you without you paying for an ad. It’s rare though that you publish your website or blog and leave it. And still continue to get top ranking search results. Of course having great design and superb basic content. Plus using keywords can all help. You can pay for advertising too. Here’s some tips you can start using in your equine or canine business website or blog now. These are ways for you to increase the chance of your website appearing high on an internet search. Without paying for advertising.

How long are the articles on your website or blog? There’s a fine line between writing so much that people get bored. And having articles that are so short, that it’s not in-depth. Having articles that are short and around 500 words can be limiting. It tends to tell Google that it’s not going to be helpful and so not worth giving top ranking.
Do your website or blog articles include a beginning, middle and an end? The title is that, the title of the article. Next the middle is the subheadings. These are to provide section breaks, (think like a chapter in a book). Don’t use paragraphs that are too long, so it’s not too overwhelming for your reader. The end is your conclusion and summing up section. Call it that, so that people can be clear what your summary points are. And they can read back up the page. (Different people have varying reading behaviour).
What variety does your blog or website article have? So have you got any images or videos, or even audio clips included? These can help your article seem more easy to read. These videos or audio don't need to be too long. Have you got videos of your horse or dog customers? Get permission to use of course. But if relevant to the article, then be creative!
Do you encourage comments? Your blog posts should conclude wherever possible, with an invitation for people to comment. They’re then more likely to want to share your content. And become potential customers (or know someone who will). Remember if people do comment, then reply, even if to say “thankyou”. It will show you are human! But that you are interested in connecting with your potential (or actual) customers. This can help create loyalty to your business.

So what sort of articles should you be writing? Keep it relevant to your business. But you can be creative too. For instance. If you have a dog care business. You could discuss dog care tips. This can be an endless subject! Think of all the tips for helping care for dogs from puppies to older dogs. Try to avoid going too far from your core subject area though. As Google does look at relevancy. It tends to prioritise ranking websites or blogs that seem to know their subjects well.

Action Point

Take some time to review your website or blog. When did you last create a new article? If it wasn't within the last month, plan your next one now and publish it soon! Write down some ideas of what you can write about, and be inspired to give your customers (actual or potential) some tips to make their and their animals lives better!

Until next time

Regards, Suzanne

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Increase Your Twitter Presence

Suzanne Harris — 2020-01-06T21:48:11+00:00

There are reported to be over 300 million active twitter users, and over 500 million tweets sent every day [source: www.omnicoreagency.com], but still many people do find Twitter confusing. – It's quite different to other popular networks and it can take time to get used to it. As is the case with so many things of course!

In this blog post I’m going to share one of my top tips for getting better results on Twitter.

I think most people will agree that it’s easier to forge good business relationships (or any communication with other people) if there is a shared interest.

Engaging with people on Twitter who share similar interests as you is going to make your experience of the network better. To find people who are likely to be interested in your animal care business then try and regularly participate in relevant Twitter “chats”.

There’s “chats” (which are basically entered around a particular hashtag #) for lots of topics, including animal related ones. The participants are more likely to be people who use Twitter to make connections with other like-minded individuals and businesses. This means they are likely to be extremely valuable followers who will help share your posts and engage with your business, including even mentioning you in their posts.

To get the most out of Twitter chats it’s a good idea to actively participate by replying and following new people. You’ll find many # hashtag “chats” are centered around a particular hour in the week, if this is the case for the “chats” you want to use, then make a reminder in your diary so you don’t forget.

Examples of animal related Twitter chats are #EquineHour #HorseHour but there are many many others – so do some research, look at different animal related brands and see what they’re using.

Don’t be worried though about creating your own – yes you can! If you can’t find a chat that makes sense for your business, then establish your own. It will require though you to make a concerted and sustained effort to build awareness of it. So depending on your available resources this could be a worthwhile investment or be too time consuming. Promoted advertising maybe something to consider.

If you want to develop Twitter as a successful medium for you to promote your animal care business, then please go now and research what Twitter chats you will use this week!

Gain more confidence in using Twitter with my free 1 page Twitter Basics Guide, which you can find online at http://taranet.co.uk/resources/Twitter-1-Page-Guide.pdf <
About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Create Positive Energy

Suzanne Harris — 2019-11-20T16:36:42+00:00

Hello

Do you find some days draining? Not in a "wow that was a busy but productive day". But in a "I didn't do what I wanted get done, because of x, y, z"?

Here's some quick tips to help you feel more energised. This will help you get into a more positive mindset with your horse or dog care business.

Let go of daily disappointments. You can't change what's happened. Use any "disappointments" as a learning experience.
Practice gratitude. Be grateful for the day you've had - focus on what was good. At the end of the day find 3 things that went well. And be grateful for this. (Could be as simple as 'feeling well', or having customers, etc).
Choose to spend time with people who “boost” you. Are people draining you? On a scale, would you say that they're positive, neutral (no difference either way), or make you feel drained and exhausted and troubled?
Be intentional with your actions. What and who do you want to be in any particular scenario?
Be kind. Kindness, giving “gifts” can help you to thrive. Instead of taking - why not give instead? This could be as simple as pausing whilst driving to let someone out of a junction or cross the road, rather than making them wait for ages.
Remember to push yourself (not too hard!). But be the best that you can be, don’t choose mediocrity.

You may wonder, will the above help you feel more energised? Will you feel less disappointed? Yes they will make a difference. But consistency is key!

Action Point..
As with so much in life (and business), be consistent. Don't expect instant results. But every day, take action to be the best you can be. Do one (or all!) of the above.

Remember…If you'd like any further advice on applying these tips for you in your horse or dog care business. Then please email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about coaching and consultancy.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Develop Your Self Belief

Suzanne Harris — 2019-11-13T15:54:57+00:00

Hello,

Do you ever feel like you need to boost your self belief? Or are you feeling confident most of the time?

Many of us have 'wobbles', it's normal! But it can be easy not to do anything about our confidence. Especially when we're busy, and caught up in a routine of what can be work, eat, sleep - and repeat.

Here's a few of my top tips to help you develop your mindset.

Surround yourself with people who have an abundant mindset. What do I mean? People who focus on what’s going well and not what's wrong. Their positivity and abundant thinking can rub off on you. Yes!
Don’t worry about detail. It's easy to over-think. I know I can do this for sure! But overthinking about the details can lead to you becoming bogged down with negativity. (and worse not taking action). Remember to focus on your long term vision for your business (and/or life!).
Bolster self belief by carrying out mindset rituals. Do these first thing in the morning for best results.
Celebrate your successes. Love yourself more! Treat yourself - don’t feel guilty having a hot bath, drink. Do more affirmations, etc.

Action Point..
As with so much in life (and business). Consistency is key. Don't expect instant results. But every day, take action to celebrate being you. Do one (or all!) of the above.

If you'd like any further advice on applying these tips for you in your horse or dog care business. Then please email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more about coaching and consultancy.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Help Your Business With a Mailing List

Suzanne Harris — 2019-11-04T15:36:37+00:00

Hello,

How do you feel when you receive an email from an organisation 'out of the blue'? I don't mean spam emails. But emails from companies whose mailing list you've signed up to, but you only hear from them once or twice a year?

I received an email from a company recently who I signed up to their mailing list ages ago. But they'd not sent anything for what must've been a year. My first thought was it's spam. Then I remembered it wasn't because I'd wanted to hear from them albeit a long time ago! It made me think. That they're not committed to developing a positive relationship with their customers. As it did seem like 'spam'. This isn't what any reputable business wants!

As someone operating your own business. When was the last time you contacted your mailing list? Do you even have one?

Why Bother With A Mailing List?

Although social media is great for building relationships with potential and existing customers. The social media platforms aren't owned by us. We don't set the parameters for our posts visibility. For instance. You're likely to be aware if you have a Facebook business page. That without paying to promote your posts you're unlikely to have them seen by many people.

Cultivating your own mailing list so people sign up to receive your updates. Means you can send emails to them when you want. Of course there's no guarantee they'll open them. But you've a greater chance of your subscribers seeing your emails. Unlike with social media. Where it's possible your posts are 'competing' against a multitude of other posts.

There's many email marketing management systems you can use. And which enable you to collect email addresses, (under data protection legislation). And automate and create and send emails. These include Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Hubspot and Infusionsoft, amongst others. Some of these offer free plans as well as paid. So do "try before you buy".

As part of your marketing strategy it's a good idea to decide on how often you'll send emails to your subscribers. You can test out what fits best for you and your audience, but try and be consistent. Whether that's weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Action Point 1 - If you've not got a mailing list, start one now!
Action Point 2 - If you already have, when did you last send an email? Have you got a schedule?

How to Get Confidence Running Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Make The Most Of Your Online Content

Suzanne Harris — 2019-10-28T16:25:36+00:00

Hello

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say "online content"?

If you've a website for your animal care business, having good content is important so that:

a) you've information potential (or actual) customers want, and

b) people can find your content. So for instance your website will feature higher on search engine rankings.

Read on for some tips to help you get started with developing search-engine-friendly content!

Why Bother With Google?

Google is not the only search engine people can use to look on the internet. But it does account for over two-thirds of all internet searches worldwide. So with that in mind, it’s a good idea to ensure your website can perform well on Google. But this isn't as easy as it may sound!

The algorithms that Google other internet companies use often change. They're designed to be unfathomable. That is as they don’t want people to know how they rank websites and accounts. If everyone knew the exact method for getting top ranking success then it would create a host of issues. Not least because a lot of people would stop advertising on Google or the internet companies. Also, businesses wouldn't need so much support from website and online marketing companies!

A helpful free tool offered by Google is “Google Search Console”. You may wonder why you need that if you have Google Analytics? Let me explain the difference.

Google Analytics will show you your traffic. But it won’t show you all the keywords which are driving that traffic. It will usually say, “Not provided”. Because of data and privacy reasons they don’t showcase when people are logged in to Gmail or Google. And which keywords they are searching for. But Google Search Console will showcase that data.

Knowing what keywords are being used by people finding your website is vital. It'll help you develop more content that is relevant. You may find it surprising what keywords people do type into Google to search for - it may not always be what you expect. A bit of keyword research now can help you in the longer term through having content people want to read.

Action Point 1 - Go to the Google Search Console here and set up your account.

What sort of content should you use?

An article or blog post work well in creating higher rankings. Videos and audio tend not to rank so high on google. But it’s not the case of only posting articles and blogs. Instead publish information that people engage with. Google knows a lot of things. Including whether people are scrolling a page. If they're clicking, reading and viewing the images, etc.

Try and be “conversational” in your text. So use words like “you” and “I”, Google can tell the content of articles and whether it’s going to be user friendly. Of course there will be random examples which don’t seem to fit with this, but generally it does make a difference.

Action Point 2 is to review your website, blog and any other places on the internet that you have content. Ask yourself:

What sort of content is it?
Is it text based?
What is the ‘tone’ of the piece?
Does it read well for the reader?
If someone doesn’t know anything about you or your service, does it make sense?

I hope this has been helpful for you to develop your horse or dog care website.

How to Get Confident Using Social Media With Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Is There a Perfect Offer For Your Customer?

Suzanne Harris — 2019-10-21T15:46:52+01:00

Do you think you need to have a sale or a special offer for your business? To help both keep existing and get new customers? Is this something you've had success with or feel like you're missing out on with your business?

What Do You Want To Achieve?

A special offer or a sale can be helpful to boost most type of businesses. Including animal care / veterinary businesses.

But there is a possibility if you have too many sales or special offers, it damages your business. Why? It puts people off of actually using your service or business when it is full price. You de-value your service through too many special offers. Because many love a bargain! If it’s known by waiting a few weeks they can buy your service at a lower price, then many will do that.

Yes, even if their animal could do with your treatment or products now. Depending on what it is wrong with them, people can unfortunately put off treatment. This may happen if they aren’t sure whether their insurance company will pay. Or they know they won’t or they don’t have insurance at all.

Also, it’s important to consider how you construct your offer, this can be vital. Will it be for new customers or existing? It can make existing customers unhappy. If they know they’re having to pay full price and yet new people are getting your service or products cheaper.

You may've heard in the media about companies giving discounts to new customers? Whereas existing customers have to pay ever increasing prices. So it’s been often better for people to shop around and go to a new company. So don’t let that happen to you!

Why should people pay "full price" for your service? Instead consider always charging full price. BUT offer some kind of loyalty programme instead.

Action Point - Have a plan - what do you want to achieve with any offers?

How to Get Confident Using Social Media With Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Optimise Your Horse or Dog Care Website

Suzanne Harris — 2019-10-14T12:02:36+01:00

SEO - What Is It & How Can It Help Your Horse or Dog Care Biz?

Search Engine Optimisation. Otherwise known as SEO is something that applies to anyone who has a website. Including you as a horse or dog care professional. Even if you've a great website that says what you do. It needs to be "optimised". Otherwise it's unlikely that it'll rank high on search engine rankings.

Why is a high ranking important on search engines?
It'll mean that people are likely to find you if they type in a search related to your business. Otherwise, it'll mean people may not find you through 'organic' search results. So your potential customers can then only find you if you. a) use paid online advertising (e.g. Google Ads) or b) they type in your website address (if they know what it is)

Does SEO make a big difference?
Yes it is important. Most marketing experts agree! Paid advertising can be helpful for getting your business known online. BUT you don't want to be spending lots of money on advertising that is 'making up' for a lack of an optimised website. Instead advertising should 'enhance'.

It can take several months though to see results from optimising your website. As with many marketing efforts, it's not a quick process for most.

Stage 1 - Where to Start with SEO?

Research and competitor analysis is the first stage. With the aim of understanding more about the keywords that others are using. And defining what you want to use for your service.

There are various online tools that you can use to help you with this - like "Ubersuggest". Type in keywords related to your service area. (E.g. if you're an animal physiotherapist, this could be the type of animal(s) you work with. Or physiotherapy, veterinary, horse care (if you work with horses), etc).

The online tool will then suggest other keywords which are similar. How many times they're searched for and cost per click. Even if you're not paying for Google ads. By knowing that a keyword is a high cost per click, this is likely to mean that it's often used. So worth using.

Research and defining what keywords to use to market your business is vital. For instance if you're only delivering your service in a certain geographic area. You want to optimise your site to reflect that. If you optimise to increase traffic generally. Then you may end up with thousands of website hits every month. But not necessarily those which are going to convert into paying customers.

You can also use a website called SEMrush. This enables you to type in your URL and it will show you your closest competitors and common keywords. You can also type in different keywords and see what websites are also using them.

How Often To Do This?

Definitely when you're first developing your website. And also every month or two. It depends on how complex your website is (e.g. different subjects you're covering) and how much time you have! But if you make a good start at the beginning it shouldn't take too long to review.

Action Point
If you've a website, when was the last time you checked how well optimised it was? And if you have relevant keywords featured/in built?

Use the tools suggested here. Assess your website. And think about what keywords you can use that are relevant to your animal care service.

How to Get Confident Using Social Media With Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Benefit Your Horse or Dog Care Biz With Twitter Chats

Suzanne Harris — 2019-10-07T16:50:20+01:00

Use Hashtags on Social Media To Develop Your Horse or Dog Care Biz

Are you interested in using social media to develop your animal care business, but aren’t sure how? Then this post is for you!

A great way to engage with people on many social media networks who will find your horse or dog care business interesting. Is to take part in relevant conversations around hashtags. There’s chats (which focus on a particular hashtag #) for hundreds of topics. Including animal related ones. The participants of these chats, use X or other social networks to make lasting connections. Whether with other like-minded individuals and brands. So they are likely to be valuable followers who will help share your message and engage with your brand.

Get the most out of chats by actively taking part. By replying, and following new people. Plus keep the relationship going after the chat has ended. For instance this could mean using the # hashtag outside of the dedicated hour. (many chats focus centered around a particular hour in the week).

Examples of animal related chats include (1) #EquineHour (2) #HorseHour. But there are many others - so do some research, look at different animal related brands and see what they’re using. You can create your own - yes you can!

If you can’t find a chat that makes sense for your business, then establish your own. It will need though you to make a concerted and sustained effort to build awareness of it. So depending on your available resources this could be a worthwhile investment. Or be too time consuming - promoted advertising is something to consider too.

How to Get Confident Using Social Media With Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to learn more.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

What Are The Benefits Of The Different Social Media Networks

Suzanne Harris — 2019-09-30T16:33:01+01:00

Pro's and Con's of the Different Social Networks

As an animal care professional you want to connect with your existing customers. But also gain new customers. Social media is a great way to do both of these. BUT..... with there being so many social media networks. From Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and more, how do you choose?!

Unless you have lots of time. Or have someone to help you. It’s unlikely you’re going to have the time to manage multiple social media accounts. Top Tip: Don't use the same post info on different networks. As the networks vary it doesn't always translate well from one to another.

Choose the networks that you are going to find it easiest to use. And that you enjoy using! There's people who love animals on all the networks. So any of them will be a potential place for you to build your service and find new customers.

Twitter - Great if you can keep posts short and want to share links, videos or photo's. Plus great search ability so new people can discover you. Cons - you do have less space per post to share, although it IS possible to 'thread' tweets together.

Facebook - Great if you have photo's or video's to share. You can share other things too like links and articles. But video is currently a great way to get engagement on Facebook. Cons - the reach of your posts are usually limited beyond the people who already 'like' your page. Unless you pay for advertising.

Instagram - Great if you have photo's or video's to share. Cons - not good if you want to share links in a post.

LinkedIn - Great for building up a network. This can be of potential customers and peers with similar interests. Cons - not always used to best effect by people BUT it is increasing in its engagement.

What Next…

If you’re unfamiliar with any of them. Take some time reviewing the different networks and decide what you’d like to make a start with.
Concentrate on using one well, and then think about using others (if at all).
It’s important that you enjoy this part of your business, so don’t make it difficult for yourself!

How to Make Your Equine or Canine Business Thrive
Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Use Hashtags For Your Horse or Dog Care Biz

Suzanne Harris — 2019-09-23T16:07:19+01:00

What do you think about hashtags?

They can be annoying, they can be helpful - there's definitely good and bad to using hashtags. So how can you know what to use for the best for your social media posts?

Hashtags are useful on several social media platforms. This is because hashtags are a helpful way for people to search for information. In particular hashtags are great on Twitter and Instagram. But they're not so useful on all social media networks. For instance the way Facebook works means hashtags tend to be less helpful on this network.

But knowing what hashtags to use can be confusing. Have you browsed your social media newsfeed, and seen a range of hashtags used? Sometimes you’ll see lots of hashtags on a single post and other times not so many - so what’s right?

Well the simple answer is there is no right way! But……If you use 4 or more hashtags on Twitter it may well come across to the viewer as being ‘spammy’. On Instagram it’s much more acceptable to use many - up to 30 even. But in saying that it’s important to be relevant.

The idea of a hashtag is to make related content from many people easy to find. So if you're searching for say what posts there under ‘horses’. If you start finding content nothing to do with horses, then you’re going to find it irrelevant. And if you’re like me it’s not going to make me want to look at a post that’s nothing to do with what I was looking for. I’m more likely to think what a nuisance!

Here's three top tips for you, before you start adding hashtags to your posts.

Do a bit of research and see what your peers / competitors are using. Will any be relevant to your business? If they are, then consider using them!
Make a list of hashtags and keep them on your phone or computer so you can re-use them. It can work to your advantage to be consistent. Then people searching under a hashtag will see your posts often.
Remember some hashtags are more specific to one network. What is used often on Twitter may not work on Instagram, and vice versa.

How to Get Confidence in Using Social Media For Your Equine or Canine Business

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Market Your Horse or Dog Care Business Online (#2)

Suzanne Harris — 2019-09-04T14:43:01+01:00

Hello,

You've got your new website. You now want people to see your website and become your customers. How best should you go about this?

You may think that all your promotion should be online. But first of all, I urge you to look at your offline promotion.

So what can you do offline to help promote your equine or canine website?

Here are some ideas.

Leaflets - do you have leaflets advertising your business? It can seem unnecessary. But there are a lot of shops about. You may want to have a trade stand at shows/events. Having leaflets means people have something to take away. Be sure to include your website, telephone, email and any social media details on these.
Business cards - these are useful to pin on noticeboards. As there's not so much space on a card, add your website and phone number. Most equestrian or country stores have buy/sell noticeboards. Some want you to add your details onto a standard card. But you can pin a business card onto one, or sometimes put your business card onto the board. I challenge you to find at least one noticeboard each week for a month in a different store.

As a horse or dog care professional, your local veterinary practices are a great place to make links. So see if you can leave leaflets or business cards in these vets surgeries. Again I challenge you to make those calls, and go and see at least one vets each week for a month to make connections. OR if you are a veterinary surgeon. Some people you could make links with are saddleries or animal therapists.

Company vehicle. If you use a car/van specifically for your business. Have you got your name and website name on it? This can be a simple and effective way to get your business found.

Online ideas for you to promote your horse or dog care business website.

How well optimised is your website? Search engine optimisation as is often titled, is a large subject. But a well organised website with great content is a good start. Appropriate use of keywords is vital. For instance. Are you offering a dog care business? Then ensure your keywords relate to dogs and what you're doing. This is simplistic. But irrelevant keywords can actually do your website more harm than good.
Social media profiles - Do your social media business profiles include your website? If not, add the domain name in now!
Social media posts - Promote your website in your posts.
Online directories. There are many directories online. For many different subjects. This includes lots of dog related directories, or horse related ones. Some make you pay for listing. Others are free. But one could be useful for you.
Google adwords. There are of course many other search engines. But Google remains the leader. Paying to promote your website to the top of listings, can seem an easy way to get your site found. But it's also possible to spend a lot of money with out much result. So plan your campaign. Use carefully selected keywords and phrases.

What next?
The principles of promoting your website are the same for any business. Don't try to do too much at once. Review what you're currently doing. Concentrate on one or two of the above points, for the next month or 2. Test, test and test again is a good method to help you get it right. So review.

How to Make Your Equine or Canine Business Thrive

Visit https://animal-star-social-media.teachable.com or email me at info @ taranet.co.uk

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Get Organised By Keeping It Simple

Suzanne Harris — 2019-08-01T15:53:45+01:00

Hello

Do you find it easy to get into a routine of handling daily tasks? Whether that’s organising your personal life or business. Whatever system you’re currently using is working. As you’re here!

But it’s always useful to reflect on what you’re doing, and see if there’s any tips that you can use to improve your routine. And get more done. This may not be more work done. It could be getting more time to have a longer walk with your dog or a longer grooming session or ride with your horse. (Or spend more time with your partner/children!).

So here i’m going to talk about a common item many of us have. But we can also under-use its potential. This is your diary! Here’s some tips to help you use it to make you be (and feel) more productive.

Is your diary an electronic calendar like Google? I love a paper diary. You may do too.

By having your calendar online, you get reminders and alerts on your phone or computer/tablet. They can be annoying (alerts I mean!) but they're also useful.

So what can you put in your online calendar that’d help you? Block out time to get some particular pieces of work done. This could be to do:

▪ your invoicing
▪ book venues
▪ call clients
▪ organising and planning “regular” tasks for example.

Make your online calendar work harder for you. Attach notes, documents and website or email links to your calendar entries. That way you’ll save lots of time not looking things up.

Great business tips don’t have to be complicated. In fact if something does seem complex you’re less likely to do it, and maintain it.

So I hope this has been useful, despite its simplicity!

Now, earlier I mentioned about you “feeling more productive”. It’s a fact that routines and good organisation rely less on you using your willpower to get something done. Relying on willpower takes more effort. If a task is routine then it’s more likely to get completed. This can lead to a sense of accomplishment. Better than a list of work / ideas you’ve not yet started. So get scheduling work into your calendar!

What Next?

For a free social media content calendar template, please email me at info@taranet.co.uk.

How to Make Your Equine or Canine Business Thrive
Email me for coaching information at info @ taranet.co.uk

Regards, Suzanne
www.taranet.co.uk

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Never Run Out of Social Media Content Again

Suzanne Harris — 2019-07-15T22:44:45+01:00

Hi

If you follow any business - large or small, on social media you'll find what they are posting interesting. But you may have noticed that some post a very wide variety of content. This can be seasonal issues, tips, sales, competitions and lots more too.

Have you ever wondered how they do this? Whatever size your business is. To be successful on social media it's helpful to plan content with a “content calendar”.

A content calendar can help you plan for upcoming events, and ensure you have a good supply of content to post.

Is it only you who posts to your social media accounts? If you've an assistant, then deciding on a content calendar can be useful. It'll help ensure you and your team know what’s happening and when. Essential to avoid any misunderstandings. As you get ideas, you can add to the calendar.

By having a content calendar it can help you measure what’s worked or not. For instance, posting some content may work better at different times of day. Or even different times of the week. Do you use paid advertising on social media networks? If you are, then it’s very important you know what’s working or not to avoid wasting your money.

Review your content calendar and social media performance. Monthly or quarterly at least. You can then make any adjustments to your planning.

Scheduling your posts is possible on many networks. (e.g. Facebook and Twitter business accounts enable to you to do this for free). Plus there are tools such as Hootsuite to let you do this. Planning your posts in advance with your content calendar, will help you schedule your posts with confidence.

Finally, don’t forget to still keep checking your social media accounts often. So you can respond to comments or repost/re-tweet information!

What Next?

For a free content calendar template, please email me at info@taranet.co.uk.

How to Make Your Equine or Canine Business Thrive
Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for business coaching and consultancy information.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

How To Market Your Horse or Dog Care Business #1

Suzanne Harris — 2019-06-28T20:02:41+01:00

You can get lots of different ideas on how to promote your horse or dog care business. This can include offline advertising, such as magazines and newspaper ads. Or online using websites and social media. But before you do any promotional and marketing work, you should consider some basics. These marketing basics are:

What is the messaging you want to get across to your ideal customer?
Who is your ideal customer?
Where do you want to “fit” in the market place?

So let’s take these in turn and consider as an animal care professional what these might mean to you.

Messaging - Do you want potential customers to see you as an expert working with dogs? Or someone who travels helping animals around the world? Or is education your goal, and advising people on how best to care for their animals?

If you are an 'educator', make sure your marketing strategy shows how you will do this. For example, will you be holding workshops, lecturing on courses or at events? Spend some time thinking about what your messaging strategy is.

Ideal Customer - Research who your ideal customer is. So for example if you want to work with racehorses. Your ideal customer will be someone who trains racehorses. But then you can refine that further. So is your ideal customer a flat-racehorse or national hunt or a point to point trainer? Where is your ideal customer based? Understand what their interests might be and think of how and why they would want to be buying a service from you.

Fit in the marketplace - Are you the same or different from your competitors? You do need to understand who your competitors are and what they appear to be offering. But it’s not a race - remember you may not know how successful another business is anyway.

A good point to consider is that you want to attract your ideal customer. You may prefer to have clients who are regular and repeat customers. Clients who want you to help their horses or dogs for preventative treatments. Or you may prefer to travel to shows and competitions. Being able to help your animal athlete achieve their best performance.

In Conclusion - Be clear on what messages you want to get “out there”. If you know your ideal customer profile and where you want to be in the marketplace. You can then build on that and start developing your marketing strategy further. Whether you are a sole trader working by yourself or are a larger company. The principles of marketing remain the same.

What Should You Do Next?
Review your marketing plans. Do you need to make any changes? If your marketing is already going well, that's great. But could you make any refinements?

How to Make Your Equine or Canine Business Thrive

Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for business coaching and consultancy information.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Client Testimonials

Suzanne Harris — 2019-06-20T16:54:30+01:00

Hi,

Customer testimonials can create confidence in your horse or dog care business.

Using testimonials from your customers in your marketing can be helpful. Whether this is your website or leaflets, or other promotional materials.

But be clear with your customers who give you their testimonials what you're going to do with it. A testimonial could include a picture of your customer's horse or dog. Or be a couple of sentences about the benefits of your service.

A customer may not be happy to have their testimonial used on the internet. But they may be happy to have it used in a leaflet. Or vice versa.

An easy way for you and your customer to be clear is to have a simple agreement in place. When your customer provides a testimonial for your service. An agreement can help you be clear where you can use it.

Is it for:
i) Your own professional portfolio. (Could be useful for your continuous professional development or other training)
ii) Online (e.g. website or social media)
iii) Offline promotional materials (e.g. leaflets)

Agree how your customer wants to be 'labelled'. Is it for you to use their whole name and location? Or initials and area? Are they happy to be contacted by your new prospective customers?

Your customer should sign or confirm in writing. Agreeing that you can use the testimonial in whichever format they agree to.

Does this matter if the customer "volunteers" the testimonial?
Yes! Misunderstandings can occur. Avoid them by always having a clear agreement.

What next?

If you're already collecting testimonials, then are you already getting a signed agreement? If not, start today! Review existing testimonials with the customer to check they're happy.

If you're not already getting testimonials. Then if you see this of benefit to your marketing, then start doing it today. Many people are happy leaving reviews, so why not ask?!

How to Make Your Equine or Canine Business Thrive
Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk for business coaching and consultancy information.

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Do You Prioritise Continuous Professional Development?

Suzanne Harris — 2019-06-13T16:59:25+01:00

Hi

As a small business owner you may find it difficult to take the time out for training and development.

This can be for many reasons. But this is an important question..… Why should people spend their money and invest in your product or service, if you're not investing in you?

People's horses and dogs are precious to them. So they want reassurance that you'll give their animal the best possible service.

If you’re a member of a professional association there may be requirements set by them. Most need you to complete regular continuous professional development. This can be necessary to keep membership and ensure your skills are as up to date as they can be.

Have you got a coach or mentor? There’s many business coaches and mentors all around the world - and many who offer online support too. They can help fine tune your mindset and approach to developing your business. And help you to identify your goals.

Money could be an issue for you. But there are some excellent books available to help you. Is developing your mindset an area of growth for you? Then I recommend Niyc Pidgeon’s book “30 days to live your happiest life” - take a look online at Amazon here.

By investing in yourself. Whether that's through training courses, books or coaching. Then it can transform the quality of your work and relationships. Many of the world’s most successful people are learners. Always striving to learn and develop themselves.

Be Inspired

Here are some articles that I've found online, which maybe interesting reading for you:

Forget The 10,000-Hour Rule; Edison, Bezos, & Zuckerberg Follow The 10,000-Experiment Rule

The power of doing nothing at all

Regards, Suzanne

About The Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Learn How To Conquer Facebook

Suzanne Harris — 2019-06-03T20:10:33+01:00

Hi,

Increasing the number of followers and post likes is an important goal for many Facebook page owners.

There’s a variety of theories as to what is the best time of day or time of week to post.

And I personally don’t feel that there is any huge difference. Instead the key is to post regularly and post good quality content.

If your Facebook page's most recent posts are from several weeks - or months - or even longer ago, it can give the impression that as a company/brand, you’re not using Facebook. Depending on your type of business, a lack of posts may even lead people to think you’re closed!

Tip: If you don't have time to use Facebook regularly for your business, don't use it!

Pick a social network that you can commit to regularly (and frequently) updating and engaging with potential clients. This means effectively using a social network you enjoy using, you are more likely to then do it.

Facebook offers a variety of techniques for page owners to promote your business. Of course, these often mean having to pay. But although it's of course possible to spend a lot of money on an advertising/promotion campaign. You can spend only modest amounts (e.g. less than £10 per week) and still gain good exposure for your business.

Do make use of targeting to define your audience, and use different audiences in order to see what works best.

So how can you define your audience? As an animal care professional, you can choose from people's interests and those who follow different subjects/pages - select those that are animal related.

For example if you want to promote a horse care business, you could choose people who follow a horse charity (e.g. World Horse Welfare, Redwings Horse Sanctuary) or an equine sport (e.g. British Eventing, Badminton Horse Trials, etc).

Neat Ideas for Increasing Facebook Engagement

Here are 5 popular tips:

Use a paid ‘follower acquisition’ campaign, using targeting to reflect who your ideal audience is.
Pay to promote your post and send invites to whoever liked the post.
Post a variety of content - video is great and often well-received. The Facebook algorithm often promotes video’s higher in people’s newsfeeds.
Promote the fact you have a Facebook page on your marketing materials and invoices and receipts. This is often overlooked but is easy to achieve! Don’t forget to have your Facebook page name clearly stated, to make it easy.
Incentivise people to like your page or posts - use a giveaway or prize draw. (NB: Make sure you follow any current Facebook rules for competitions that may apply).

What Next?
Get your free social media guide for animal care businesses. Email me at info @ taranet.co.uk to get your copy.

About the Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

Animal Care Biz Marketing Tips

Suzanne Harris — 2019-05-22T20:36:16+01:00

Are you making the most of social media and marketing opportunities from being at shows?

On a recent visit to a UK county show, one of my favourite dog care brands was there. But did I know they were going to be there? No. Although I follow them on social media, I only knew they were there when I walked past their tradestand.

This highlighted to me that it was a common wasted opportunity. If you use social media for your business, then tell people when you have a stand at a show. Or if you’re going to be speaking at an event, talk about it on your social media account.

Now you may wonder why this is so important, or how to do it to best effect. Here’s some top tips:

Post about your presence at the show. Do this in the days leading up to the show and when you are at the show (or event).

Use photographs. If you have a tradestand, include pictures of your stand. It’s easy to take a picture with a smartphone or tablet, it doesn’t need a professional to take it.

Always include the hashtag for the event. Many events have an unique hashtag for you to use.

Tag the organisers social media account in your post, or any colleagues. It can help generate interest. They may retweet or share your posts if you do this.

Doing this will let your customers know you're there. They’ll love the opportunity to see you and also if you have any special offers for the show, they’ll love seeing you.

If you use the show hashtag people who aren’t your customers already will see your posts. They'll like seeing what your company or services offers. Again if you tag them, the show organiser or another exhibitor could share your post. Your posts reach will then go further.

I hope this has convinced you to make the most of the marketing opportunities being at a show can bring you. And how social media can help.

Regards, Suzanne

About the Author
Suzanne Harris is an equestrian and canine entrepreneurial coach and consultant to veterinarians who want to help prevent animals being affected by domestic abuse.

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