Dog Walker Marketing: Pet Store Bulletin Board

Like every other business, marketing is very important for dog walkers to find business. Word of mouth advertising is probably the best way to get new clients, but sometimes this isn’t possible, especially when a dog walker is just starting out, recently relocated, or has just a few clients.

Because many dog walking professionals use the same local pet stores for their dog and pet supplies, pet store employees generally refrain from recommending a specific dog walker for fear of losing business from others. Additionally, many like to use their counter space by the register for their own promotional advertising or point of sale items, and they don’t allow dog walkers from putting cards or other marketing materials.

One of the best ways for dog owners to find a dog walker is through the bulletin board found in most pet stores, either in the front of the store or in the back. Pet stores offer these bulletin boards to give all dog walkers the same opportunity to market their business without favoritism. This is a great way for dog owners to promote their business, but there are a few things dog walkers need to remember when using the pet store bulletin board:

• Either use business cards, magnets, or pieces of paper with tear offs to advertise your business. The bigger the paper, the more likely it is that someone will post something over it or take it down. It’s not polite to try and monopolize the entire board, and many pet stores won’t allow this.
• Make sure whatever marketing collateral material you use has your name, business name, phone number, email address and website on it. This information should be easily readable, especially by people who may stand a few feet away.
• Bring thumbtacks or tape to secure your marketing material to the bulletin board since these are scarce and some stores won’t provide it.
• Don’t put your marketing material on top of someone else’s.  It’s generally considered rude, and you wouldn’t want someone else to do the same. Likewise, a person may remove yours if it’s on top of theirs.
• Don’t remove someone else’s thumb tack or advertisement. If someone blocked yours, it’s probably best to speak with the store manager. Nothing would be more embarrassing than to be caught red handed vandalizing someone else’s advertisement!
• If you want people to take your business card, create a little pouch to hold additional business cards so that people know to take one. You might want to fortify this with extra tape so it’s strong and doesn’t break when people pull out your business card from the pouch.
• If the bulletin board is behind glass, ask the store manager if you can put your advertising on it before removing the glass or moving it. There may be a fee or a reason for the glass, and you don’t want to upset the store manager by doing it yourself. Likewise, don’t put your marketing material on top of the glass, since that’s a surefire way to have it removed ASAP.

Visit all the pet stores in your area and post your marketing material on those that have bulletin boards for this. You’ll want to visit the store when you can to make sure your advertisements are still in place and/or to refill your business card holder. This is a great way for locals to find out about your business – and the best part is that it’s FREE!

Image: Flickr