Worrying in Diary
- Sept. 17, 2014, 3:49 a.m.
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- Public
This week at work has been a lot quieter than last week. I’ve only had Roxy to walk each day and no other appointments which is quite worrying.
I do, however, have two promising new enquiries. One of which I’m house sitting for this weekend. They have two dogs and two cats so they’re going to keep me busy. I’ve had a look at the house on Google maps and it looks lovely and big and it’s in the countryside, so that should be lovely, especially if we get nice weather. She says she might be able to throw a lot more work my way so I’d better do a good job!
Looking on the bright side, if I hadn’t been kicked off the medical trial, I wouldn’t have been able to do this house sit and I might have missed out on a good, long term customer.
The second is a lady who has two dogs that need walking. I don’t know how often yet but she seems very keen and has filled in all the forms. It sounds like it might be a challenge, though. One of the dogs is apparently lovely around people but hates other dogs. That’s fine, I’m used to that with Roxy. But the other one is a rescue with an unknown past and has anxiety issues. She says they get on ok most of the time, but, when they’re out, one of them can be quite aggressive and the other one quite nervous. Sometimes the aggressive one can attack the nervous one if he gets jealous. So it’s going to be an interesting one! But I’m hoping it will be regular :o)
Jay has been helping me with my marketing, which is great, but he seems to think I should be overrun with customers already. He’s getting frustrated that I’m not busier and had a bit of a go at me last night, shouting “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
Last night I was filling in application forms for game shows (Catchphrase, The Chase, Tipping Point and Deal Or No Deal) and he says sarcastically “Is this your plan for making money now, game shows?”
Yes it would be nice to win some money on a game show, but he knows that I’ve sporadically applied for them for years now. I even appeared on one of them once (The Weakest Link, 2002) and had autitions for three others over the years. It isn’t a sudden thing and it isn’t my long term plan to be a professional game show contestant. Just a bit of fun. sigh
Every single day I’ve been doing something; either door to door leafleting, leaving leaflets in vets, Post Offices and supermarkets, I have an advert in the local paper today (which I need to go and buy), promoting and updating my Facebook page etc. He seems to think I’m sitting around at home doing nothing when I should be out there acting like Alan Sugar. I’m new to this! The business is new! The customers aren’t going to be flooding through the door in the first couple of weeks! But his attitude is making me worry, making me think that I should be busier than this. I know from speaking to some of you self employed people on here that it does take time, and I wish he would understand this. But every day he asks “What are you doing tomorrow?” and gets annoyed if I can’t explain every single minute of every single day :o(
I understand he’s worried because we have bills to pay, but this is the exact reason I saved up enough money to tide me over for a few months. I wish he wouldn’t worry and nag me, it isn’t helping.
I do have a job interview this afternoon, for the spooky actor job in the safari park. Sure it’s only minimum wage and it’s only a total of 60 hours work, but it’s something and it’s only in the evenings so won’t impact on my dog walking.
He knows me. At least he should do. In the past, he used to get annoyed with me because I “Always have to be doing something!” Surely that’s not a bad thing. Now he’s getting annoyed with me because he doesn’t think I’m doing enough! I always try to make sure I’ve got my fingers in several pies, I don’t know what he’s worrying about.
edit Thanks to the people who have been giving me tips and advice, but I’m already working really hard on the marketing in all sorts of places. As I said, I’m not worried and I have a few new customers and my fingers are in lots of pies at the moment. It’s Jay who seems to be worried, and for no reason. He has already written me an excellent marketing plan and it has all sorts of ideas which I’ve already been working on; his job title is Marketing Coordinator so he’s well qualified.
Last updated September 17, 2014
Camdengirl ⋅ September 17, 2014
This bit is always tricky but don't give up! Are there dog groomers or vets or people who have contact with lots of pet owners who could recommend you? They might be cheaper to target that going door to door and you can buy their details off www.marketingfile.com or similar?
Also a lot of the dog walkers I know do a pick up/drop off route and walk the dogs all at the same time rather than individually - suits the owners as their dog is out for far longer each day and it suits you as you can do more than one pet at the same time. They charge for a 2 hour walk but might have 5 dogs on it which they pick up and drop off in one go.
Bomb Shell Camdengirl ⋅ September 17, 2014
I have a couple of friends who work in a vet and they've already taken some leaflets and recommend me to all of their customers. Door to door doesn't cost me anything at the moment, I printed a massive bunch of leaflets before I left my office job; shhh, don't tell anyone ;o)
I would be quite happy to walk more than one dog at a time if the opportunity came up, but it hasn't arisen yet. It's part of my price list; I charge slightly less if the owner is happy for their dogs to be walked in a group.
I'm not worried and I'm doing as much marketing as I can, I just wish Jay wouldn't worry and nag me, because it's starting to rub off on me!
Thanks for the tips :o)
Camdengirl Bomb Shell ⋅ September 17, 2014
Defo try more than one vet and you might find hey have Facebook pages or newsletters which they might let you post on?
Bomb Shell Camdengirl ⋅ September 17, 2014
Thanks, but I already left leaflets in all the local vets, supermarkets and Post Offices. Not all of the vets allow advertising with them, but I've been in contact with the ones who do.
Jay has already written me an excellent marketing plan and it has all sorts of idea like this which I've already been working on; his job title is Marketing Coordinator so he's well qualified :o)
~Twinkle~ ⋅ September 17, 2014
Xxx
wintergrey ⋅ September 17, 2014
I don't know if that is something that would work, but you could post pictures of yourself walking the dogs in nice places on facebook, so that people looking you up can see that the dogs (and you) are having a good time or post pictures of the dogs chasing a ball or stick and hopefully people would want their dogs to join in...
Bomb Shell wintergrey ⋅ September 17, 2014
Thanks, I don't have any photos of me doing this at the moment, but I'm working on a promotional video with a friend and she's going to help me with the photos as well.
mutedexposure ⋅ September 18, 2014
Even a snowman starts as a tiny snowflake. If you want to do it right you want to slowly build up. A badly packed snowball will only fall apart. You are doing great.
Bomb Shell mutedexposure ⋅ September 18, 2014
That's great, I love that analogy! Thanks :o)
Vee ⋅ September 20, 2014
It might be worth getting in touch with hospitals. A woman from work says her friend does pet sits and dog walking for people who are staying in the hospital and they pass on her details to patients who are interested. Don't know if you've tried that.
Bomb Shell Vee ⋅ September 21, 2014
Well that's an idea I hadn't thought of, good plan thanks :o)
Lucretia ⋅ September 21, 2014
Ah yes, I remember this part of flying solo. Mr. P was kinda the same and I found myself justifying every last second of my day to him. I think part of the problem is that he has no control and he's flailing around for excuses as to why the business isn't working at full capacity when he needs a lesson in patience. Show him this comment:
It. Takes. Time!
Maybe you should make him help more, like every night for a fortnight you work on the business solidly, that way he can't accuse you of not working hard enough ;) Xx
Bomb Shell Lucretia ⋅ September 21, 2014
Oh good, I'm glad it's not just us having his problem! I guess from his point of view he's travelling to his office every day and working for eight hours, and he's imagining me just dossing about at home.
I've been working my way through a book "SEO for dummies" and that seems to have satisfied him somewhat, mainly because I understand SEO and HTML more than he does so I think he's a bit impressed ;o)
Happily I seem to have had a big influx of jobs come in over the weekend, so I'm going to be really busy at least for the next week :o)