Pet Sit Coach

Coach Kristin will be leading NAPPS teleconference: Monday, May 17

Hello pet sitters,

I will be leading the next NAPPS teleconference on Monday, May 17 at 5:00pm PST / 8:00pm EST.

My topic will be “How to Recover from Pet Sitter’s Burnout”. This is a topic I have successfully dealt with in my own pet sitting business. I’ve also coached hundreds of pet sitters from across the country on this very prevalent issue.

It’s a topic that I’m very passionate about and I’m really excited to ‘see’ NAPPS members on the call.

Please note: this teleconference is only open to NAPPS members.

If you are a NAPPS member and need information on how to access the May 17th teleconference please contact NAPPS directly at: (856) 439-0324. They will be happy to give you the conference call number.

I look forward to “seeing” you on the teleconference,
Kristin Morrison
Founder, Six-Figure Pet Sitting Academy.com

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Hello from Coach Kristin (still on my travels!)

Hello dear pet sitters,

When I was planning my trip I had anticipated writing many Six-Figure blog posts and keeping all of you in the loop about my traveling adventures.

Once I started my travels I quickly realized that the purpose of this trip, for me, was to not be tapped into work at all except for the brief emails with my managers who are running the pet sitting portion of my business.

I’m definitely looking forward to diving into work when I return to America: taking over the reins of my pet sitting company from my managers who have done such a good job managing in my absence, scheduling one-on-one coaching sessions, facilitating my group teleclasses and working on and completing my book for pet sitters.

But for now…I’m in Bali and really enjoying taking cooking classes, learning Indonesian from a local man, and meeting many other local Balinese and fellow travelers.

Just wanted to check in and let you know that I’m looking forward to working with you again when I return. I’ll post the exact date I’ll be back in action on this blog in a couple of weeks.

Happy pet sitting,
Kristin

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Unplugged and Unleashed!

Hello pet sitters!

I’m sitting at an Internet cafe in India and just wanted to check in.
I’ve been away for three weeks now: first in Bali and then a week ago I arrived in India.

This has been an incredible (and in some ways life-changing) trip so far and I still have 7 weeks that I’ll be traveling.

I met some incredible local people in Bali who really took me under their wings and invited me to temple ceremonies and to share meals together. Meeting these wonderful local people helped me really immerse myself in Balinese local culture in a way that I never anticipated.

The inner and outer beauty of the Balinese people was lovely to experience. The natural beauty and lushness of Bali was also a real gift.

I’ll be heading back there in 4 weeks to experience 3 more weeks there before I head home in April. I’m thrilled to go back to Bali as, in some ways, it feels like ‘home’.

India…is another story.

I arrived in Pune, India a week ago and there was a bombing at a restaurant that I was considering going to the same night it was bombed.

Instead of going to the restaurant I chose to meditate in the ashram I was staying at.

Had I been in the restaurant I would have been either injured or killed as everyone who was there experienced some type of injury.

The last count, according to the media reports, was that 11 people were killed and 60 people were injured. Everyone who survived the blast lost all or partial hearing in the bomb blast plus many other injuries.

I’ve never come this close to major injury or death and having this experience has helped me get in touch with, on a deeper level than ever, what is really important in this life.

I’ll be leaving Pune tomorrow and going to a beach town south of Pune (13 hours train ride from Pune).

Relaxing near the water after all the activity of Indian police and Indian army, not to mentioned the frayed nerves of the tourists and locals, will be a good thing!

On a lighter note, I have noticed how challenging it is for me NOT to go online on a daily basis. Even though I have not done any Six-Figure blogging or any work-related Internet activities, I have done A LOT of personal emails and personal Facebook checking while I’ve been away.

I’ve been exploring what it is like to not log on for one day and let me tell you: it is challenging.

So my next edge is to try not log on for a couple of days at a time.

It’s harder than it sounds! I encourage you to try it.

I notice even though not logging on for a day is challenging I feel so much more involved in life when I’m not logging on for 24 hours at a time.

Even today, I’ve somehow managed to be online for nearly 2 hours! 2 hours that could best be spent exploring this city that I won’t be in for much longer.

And on a final note:

Though I deeply love my work (working with all of you is SUCH a gift as is running my pet sitting business) I’m experiencing how deeply restorative it is to my soul it is to not work for a long period of time.

I wish you all a wonderful rest of February. I may or may not check in again in March.

If not, I’ll be back in action in April when I return from my travels!

Take good care,
Kristin

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5 Business Tips for Successful Holiday Pet Sitting and Dog Walking

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Below are 5 of the most important tips for holiday pet sitting and dog walking business success:

1) Charge and enforce a holiday fee. Many pet sitters are resistant to charging a holiday fee because they are afraid or embarrassed to ask for more money over the holidays. Get over your fear and DO IT. You (and your staff) are giving of your time to work during this special time of year and deserve to be compensated for it.

2) Have your holiday fee be over the holiday period, not just on the actual holiday days. My holiday period this year is Dec. 20-January 3. Clients are charged an additional $5 for visits and $10 per night during this entire period.

Charging a holiday fee for the entire holiday period can help your profit increase by $500-$1,500+ during the holiday season!

I recommend that half of that holiday fee goes to the sitter working that particular holiday job. The other half goes to the company. Obviously if you are the one doing the job(s) you would receive all of it.

Why should your company get a portion of that holiday fee if your staff are doing the holiday jobs? The bulk of December reservations are often (obviously) only around the holidays so often times pet sitting business owners will find they are super stressed this time of year but are not making any more money than they might make in say, April. Having you, the business owner, receive a portion of that holiday fee will help your business thrive financially during the holiday season.

3) Figure out exactly how many visits you want to take NOW so you can have a sane holiday. Holidays only come once a year, folks. It’s up to you to decide now how you want to spend the days that are special to you.

If you want to spend Christmas day pet sitting from morning till evening with a brief holiday dinner in between jobs that is no problem. If that is what you want.

But if you don’t want that, decide now and limit the number of visits that you are willing to take. Make a time plan of the special holiday days that matter to you (Christmas Eve/Christmas/New Years) and block off the time for you that is sacred. Be clear and firm that nothing can touch that time you have blocked off for yourself and your family, no matter how insistent a client might be that YOU are the only one who can care for her pets.

Sound easy? It’s not. That’s why deciding now and sticking to a holiday time plan will help you stand behind your no (or help you get a staff member to take an insistent client).

4) Have all of your holiday cards and gifts purchased and sent off by December 18. If you get all of the holiday preparation done by December 18 you will be able to focus on the business of pet sitting and be able to enjoy your own holiday period. Start today by outlining all that you need to do to be fully prepared for the holiday for both your business and personal life. Next write down the action steps that you need to do between now and December 18. Put the action steps in your calendar on the specific days that you intend to accomplish them.

Example:
December 7: Purchase holiday cards, purchase staff gift cards
December 8: Write holiday cards
December 10: Mail holiday cards

5) Buy yourself a holiday gift to honor all the hard work you’ve done in your business this year. Why is this a success tip? Because it is a way of honoring all the hard work you’ve done this year. When we honor ourselves, more money flows to us. Always.

This is an action step I give to my coaching clients this time of year and sometimes it is the hardest action step they can take! Allow yourself to give something to you. Pet sitting is a business of serving and taking care of others; explore a way to bring that focus to yourself in the form of a gift for you.

Here are some gifts that pet sitters have bought for themselves to honor the work they’ve done in their businesses: a six-pack of massage certificates to use at various times in 2010, a novel that a pet sitter has been wanting to read all year but hasn’t made the time to read (part of her gift to herself was putting time in her time plan to read the book too!), a 2-day spa retreat with a girlfriend in January, a new car (!), a dinner out at a favorite restaurant.

Happy Holidays everyone!

For many more holiday success tips you can purchase the Riches and Relaxation for Holiday Pet Sitting Recording.

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