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Well you are about to discover one of the most easy, simple and low cost ways known to get flooded with business and clients fast!

You simply create “Free Portrait Certificates” that you print off on your computer.

Think about it. Who wouldn’t like a free professional portrait of their lovable precious pet? And what pet owner could possibly resist purchasing some of the adorable extra poses you will be taking and showing them?

This is one of the most effective and low cost ways you could ever use to start and market your own full time or part time home based pet photography business.

Once you design and print off your free portrait certificates, whom do you give them to? Why pet owners of course. How do you find hundreds of pet owners without advertising for them? Well there are several very good ways to do it. One of my favorites is setting up a “Joint Venture” with your local pet store or pet groomer.

Your potential customers are already someone else’s customers who are spending their dollars on pet care products and services. You joint venture with those types of businesses and help your local pet store or groomer to please their customers better and “Reward” all those faithful and appreciated customers with a Free 30 minute professional photography session and a “Free 8X10 Professional Portrait” of their pet.

The pet shop or animal groomer wins by looking good to their customers by giving them one of your free portrait certificates. The customer wins by receiving a free portrait of their pet taken by you and you will win more often than not, when the pet owner orders extra pictures of the poses you shot and he or she refers all of their fellow pet loving friends to you for a Free Professional Pet Photography Session and Free Portrait of their own pet dog, cat, bird or exotic pet!

This is an offer to good for most pet lovers to pass up and that is why it can attract all the business you can handle provided you know what you are doing and set things up right so everyone wins! But as good as this offer is it doesn’t even come close to my secret magic marketing system for photographers!

© 2006 Steve Shulenski

This content is provided by Steve Shulenski and may be used only in its entirety with all links included. Steve invites readers interesting in learning more Money Making Photography Tips to visit his websites for more free ideas on starting a Pet Photography Business or an Antique Photography Business.

The first thing that you should do is think about what types of animals you want to have in your pet store, and what types of supplies. The best thing to do is to make a list of all of the things you would like and then make an estimate about the costs of these things. Remember that when you open your store you want to have all of the animals and the products ready. So be sure you add them all into your costs.

Next, you want to look at other parts of the independent pet stores costs. This should include the space that you want to rent. Remember that you will need to be able to have the space to rent so that your store can make money – without space, your business will not work. So be sure that you count this as well. Also, you want to count in any utilities or things that you need to buy on a monthly basis for your place. Be sure that this is something that you count as well.

When it comes down to it, you pretty much need to make a budget to figure your opening up costs. However this can be good because then you will have a good idea about how much money you need to spend to get your pet store up and running. You will also know how much money you can expect to spend over the first year or so that you are in business. Your independent pet store start up costs is all going to be part of this.

Sandra Reynolds is a therapist in Chicago. Check out these great Online Pet Store articles and guides.

http://www.idealpetshop.com

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Pets are profitable simply because there are so many people who have them.

Did you know…

* 69 million households in the United States have pets?
* 47% of pet owners own more than one pet?
* Over 60% of pet owners have dogs?
* $41 Billion is spent each year on the care of pets?

It’s no wonder that owning a pet franchise business is so popular. No matter what type of pet business you’d like to start, there’s a franchise that will help you meet your goals. Some of the main categories for pet franchise businesses include pet waste removal, boarding and daycare, medical care, pet training and pet grooming.

You may have never thought about pet waste removal being a profitable business model. But considering the fact that keeping waste off the ground is environmentally friendly, and a definite concern for pet owners, it’s no surprise that it’s a popular franchise. Since 2000, Doody Calls has been an industry leader in pet waste removal, providing services to apartment complexes, parks, home owners associations and individual home owners. Doody Calls looks for people who are willing to hit the ground running with their business and be able to do something many others ignore. There’s never an end to pet waste, and with this unique franchise opportunity you can profit from it.

On the cleaner side of pet franchise opportunities are pet grooming companies. Dog Wash America is just one such company. Instead of creating an image of exclusivity for high-end pets, it caters to multi-dog families and has a unique “no appointment needed for a bath” policy. Other popular dog grooming opportunities include Aussie Pet Mobile, Dogtopia and Laund-ur-mutt. Grooming is always needed and these types of franchises allow you to provide a service that pet owners will really appreciate.

Everyone wants well behaved pets, so it’s not surprising that pet training franchises are growing in popularity. Bark Busters has been around since 1989 and is the largest, most trusted home training company. Instead of trying to get a dog to behave in an unfamiliar environment, as a Bark Busters trainer you’ll help pet owners tackle problem behavior in the comfort of the pet’s home. This approach yields quicker results and more satisfied clients. If you have a high tolerance for problem pets and an honest desire to help pet owners, this franchise or another lie it may be a perfect fit.

These three profiled companies just scratch the surface of the pet franchise opportunities. For pet lovers like you, there’s a lot of different ways you can combine your interests with your business. Whether it’s a grooming business, retail business or pet daycare business you’re interested in, there is a perfect pet business for you.

Find your perfect pet franchise or pet business at FranchiseGenius.com, where you’ll find 1,800+ franchise opportunities to evaluate and compare.

This publication is copyright 2008 by Franchise Genius LLC. This copyright notice and any embedded links within this publication must remain as part of this document.

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Heres a Great Idea

One excellent and profitable pet business opportunity that is currently out there, is Internet affiliate marketing for a well established Internet pet business. There are lots of them available on the Internet, so you should have no trouble finding one. The way that it works, is that you launch a website that promotes their product and you get a percentage of everything that people buy that was promoted on your website.

Organic and Natural Pet Products

Still another pet business opportunity is directly marketing natural pet products that are currently making their way onto the market. Hemp leashes and dog collars are all the rage now and you can be the first one on your block to market them. Another hot item is natural, organic and vegetarian pet snacks that are actually healthy for dogs and cats to eat.

Find Your Pet Business Opportunity and Get Started

Another great pet business opportunity that you may be interested in is running a dog kennel in your back yard. If you only have a couple of dog enclosures you may not even need to get a permit. Just build some enclosures and put up a nice website on the net promoting your pet business and you are on your way. Another great thing about having your own dog kennel is that your pet gets to have lots of friends come and visit.

Written by Francine Andreas. Find the latest information on Pet Business Opportunity

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There are some things that you want to look for before you choose which one of the organic pet food business opportunities that you want to join. You don’t want to join the first organic pet food business that you come to. You want to make sure that it is the right one for you. So you will need to look at all of the different opportunities that you can. That way you will know when you start a business that you have started the right one for you.

Here are some things that you want to find out about all of the organic pet food business opportunities that you look at.

One: What are their products like? Are they something that you would want to sell? Would you feed the products to your own beloved animal?

Two: What kind of money can you make with the organic pet food business? Is this enough money for you or do you want to make more?

Three: What type of customer service do they have? Do they have help for the people who are starting their own home business, such as a forum or support group, or are you left totally on your own?

Four: Which one of the natural pet food business opportunities has tools and resources to help you make your business a success?

Five: Is this a business that you will gladly tell your friends and family about? When you are ashamed to tell them about a business then you will want to stay away from it. You want something that you can be proud of and get excited about no matter who you talk to.

These are just a few of the things that you need to ask yourself before you join any of the natural pet food business opportunities. There are other questions that you will need to know about but these are the most important ones. The organic pet food business that you start with will make you feel good about all of the above questions. They will be able to show you that they are there to help you all the way.

Find out why one of the very best natural pet food business opportunities available is the one that offers the best natural pet food you can give your pet. Your pet will benefit from your decision to go into the organic pet food business, and so will your hip pocket!

Do not worry, here are some 7 steps which you can follow to open a dog daycare center.

7 Steps to Opening a dog Daycare Center

1. Make a solid decision – Starting a business, requires determination and commitment on your part. Do research on other related businesses and see if they offer “franchising.”

2. Locate a place for your day care center- You must have a place to operate your dog day care center. This is a great business to run from your home, if you have a large backyard.

3. Choose a name – This is where buying a franchise also helps. The name should be cute and appealing. But it should also be well known to help get started quickly. When people are looking for somewhere to board their pets they will first look to their vets and then shop brand name pet centers.

4. You must have some initial startup investment capital – It does not cost a lot of money to start your own dog daycare center. In relation to other startup businesses this is relatively a small investment for a franchise opportunity, around $10,000.00.

5. Get the obligatory permits – You will be required to secure permits and licenses before you open your dog daycare center. These include: business license, health department permit and fire department permits.

6. Purchase some daycare equipment – Your dog daycare requires some equipment like balls, old socks, toys, etc. If you are purchasing a franchised business, like DogSmith, you may want to visit one of their franchisees to see what special equipment they use for training.

7. Advertising & Marketing – Here is one of the big ones as far as cash outlay unless you have figured out by now that this cost can be deferred by purchasing a franchise. Then that extra 10 to 20 thousand dollars can stay in your pocket for treats for you and the dogs.

Also make sure that your dog daycare center has provisions to provide other services too, such as dog walking, grooming, pet sitting, and boarding. You must also have a veterinarian ready so that when there is an emergency you can always consult him. You will also have to decide whether you are going to start a kennel or a kennel-less dog daycare center. If you are not going to use kennels to lock the dogs then you must allow them to roam in your facility. You must also assure the clients that you will be taking good care of their pets.

Edward Dean is an accomplished website developer and author. To learn more about 7-steps-to-opening-a visit Dog Daycare Franchises for current articles and discussions.

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Dogtopia

While Dogtopia is labeled as a Dog Spa, they also offer an upscale day care for your furry friend. Rather than a series of kennel runs, Dogtopia provides a supervised open environment where the dogs can play and the owners can even check in on their dogs via the live webcam. As a franchisee you’ll spend plenty of time playing with the dogs and providing a safe and stimulating environment for them through the day care, training classes, spa services and retail sales.

Kennelwood

Recognized as on of the finest pet resorts in the world, Kennelwood pet resort provides a safe and healthy “vacation” for your dog in a truly amazing environment that makes ordinary kennels and dog boarding services seem like animal cruelty. From their award winning grooming services and professional training to the doggie day camp and personalized play times, dogs love Kennelwood so much that they often pull their owners into Kennelwood on return visits.

Doo Care

Although it may not seem glamorous, the dog waste market is rapidly expanding in metropolitan markets and is a relatively untapped area of the service sector. Doo Care provides waste removal for busy families, the elderly or any of the nearly 50 million dog owners in America. With such a high demand and very few businesses stepping in, it’s easy to see how a Doo Care franchise could really clean up.

Pet Depot

With the slogan, “Where animals come first” Pet Depot is a retail pet store chain that provides customized, personal service to their customers and with nearly 60% of all households owning at least one pet, the retail pet market has never been bigger. Unlike many retail establishments which may see the average customer returning 5-6 times per year, pet owners will buy pet food along with other supplies every 2-6 weeks, and most pet owners will buy their food and supplies at the same location every time, giving you a high level of repeat business and steady income.

Wild Bird Centers

We’ve looked at quite a few franchises that cater to dogs, but if you’re a bird lover you may want to consider a pet franchise with Wild Bird Centers. With the highest average sales and lowest cost of goods in the specialty birding industry, Wild Bird Centers is by far the winning choice in this niche market. If your knowledge of birds is lacking, but you’re still interested in this unique franchise, Wild Bird Centers will provide you with comprehensive training about the ins and outs of their franchise businesses and they’ll also teach you everything you need to or ever wanted to know about birds.

Bark Busters

Bark Busters is a home-based franchise that gives you the training to be a skilled, on-site dog trainer in very little time. With Bark Busters’ proven method (which has trained over 300,000 dogs worldwide) you can tap into the $36 billion dollar pet industry with confidence knowing that Bark Busters is the #1 pet franchise (as ranked by Entrepreneur.) With many unique qualities such as a “Life of the Dog Guarantee” and the ability to change a dog’s unwanted behavior in a two to two and a half hour session, Bark Busters is a great franchise for the working mom, and a must for any pet lover.

Camp Bow Wow

For a high-class, upscale approach to doggie day care, consider a franchise with Camp Bow Wow. Camp Bow Wow’s “four-paw” service has earned them national recognition in newspapers, magazines, television shows and all over the internet, and if you think humans like Camp Bow Wow, you should see the reaction your dog will have when he’s pampered by the Camp Bow Wow staff. Camp Bow Wow is the first and largest franchise in the doggie daycare and boarding industry and offers a fun, safe environment for dogs to play while also promoting good health and socialization with every aspect of the camp tailored around what is best for the dogs. This business model attracts the more upscale, high-income clientele and makes this franchise a great moneymaker for any dog enthusiast.

If you love pets and love the idea of running your own business, you can’t go wrong with a pet franchise. Not only will you receive all of the training and materials needed to start your business from scratch, you’ll also be able to rest easy knowing that each of these pet franchises has built their business from the ground up and found the right formula to run a successful business without making any sacrifices to the well being and care of our furry friends. Even if you’ve never owned a business before, these pet franchises make it easy for anyone to start and run a successful business by providing extensive training as it relates to their business and many will offer general business and management training to prepare you to run your new business successfully and make a lot of pets and owners your satisfied customers.

Find more pet franchises at Franchise Gator.

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As a pet grooming professional, you need to be online and actively advertising to prospective clients in your area. In this article we’ll cover the best online places to advertise your products and services, how you can build a free web space, the power or online communities and how you can use forum and review sites to really push your pet grooming business. Keep reading to learn more.

How Online Directories Can Promote Your Grooming Business:

Online Directories and pet classifieds’ sites are great because they allow you to focus directly on your potential customers, instead of wasting advertising dollars in a generic newspaper. There are websites that let you post online classifieds about your business and get you connected directly to pet-owners.

By advertising on a site that provides heaps of pet-related concerns and information about other pet-related services like pet boarding, training, veterinarians, you’re tapping directly into your target market. Most of these sites also allow you to build a small profile page, thus creating a web space that you can promote to clients, showcase your latest grooming work and use to connect with potential customers.

How Social Networking Sites Can Grow a Grooming Business:

Joining social networking websites like MySpace, Facebook, Multiply or Bebo will work wonders to promote your services. These networks increase their membership by the thousands everyday and many offer localized networks that allow you to connect with people in your geographic area.

Social networking sites are a great way of building referral business. Keep your online profile focused on your business and always try to make “friends” with your customers online. Once their family and friends see your profile, notice that you’re a dog groomer and then make the connection, you could have a surge of business. Remember to keep your profile lively with photos from your grooming portfolio.

How Participating in Forum Discussions will build Your Business:

Engaging in live discussions and forums gives you a chance to reach out and introduce yourself and your business to potential customers. By posting on forums, you will position yourself as an expert and make direct personal contact with new clients.

Focus your efforts on localized forums or pet-specific forums, where you’re more likely to make contact with potential clients.

CS Swarens is the president of Find a Pet Online. 800 998-7065

For additional information on dogs, cats, birds, horses, and exotic pets visit the internet’s pet resource including pet classifieds at http://www.findapetonline.com

Research over 430 pet breed profiles http://www.findapetonline.com/breeds.html

Hot Business! Pets are a $36 Billion Market

Since I’ve been in the pet business for the past 17 years, I quickly picked up the magazine and purchased it. The article, which appeared in the November 2005 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, stated that “Pet spending has more than doubled in the past 11 years – from 17 billion in 1994 to a projected $35.9 billion by the end of this year.” This is very exciting if you’re in the pet business. It’s even more exciting is if you’re a pet groomer. The article also added that the #1 fastest growing pet service business is GROOMING!

The article went on to explain that a whopping 63% of all US households, or 69 million homes, have a pet. There’s no doubt about it, it is a great time to be in the pet industry. If you’re a pet groomer, it is especially good. Lets face it, the pet industry is hot and getting hotter by the day. If you’re a groomer or are thinking about grooming, now is the time to get in…but there is one downside to all of this.

When an industry becomes hot it will always draw the attention of the big guys. They are going to see numbers like the ones listed above and they are going to look at the trends. If the numbers are big and the trend is going up, they are going to want in.

You see it already. Petsmart, PETCO, and Best Friends are all opening up more locations and bigger stores. The stadium in San Diego is now named PETCO stadium. When they decide to advertise their services, they are going to go all out – Full page newspaper ads, TV, radio, direct mail, sponsorships, you name it. They also have an ad budget that would probably rival the income of some small countries.

On top of having the big guys gunning for your business, grooming schools across the country are churning out thousands of new groomers every week. All of this is going to lead to some pretty stiff competition for anyone looking to get into the business or who already is.

So, what does someone do if they are suddenly faced with a huge mega-pet store opening across the street, or they want to open their own pet grooming business but the competition is pretty tough? The first rule of thumb is simple but often over looked. No business will succeed without customers. Business owners must have a plan for bringing in and keeping customers. Business owners must focus on their marketing. You see, most business owners focus on their craft. Pet groomers focus on scissors, clippers, puppy cuts, bathing systems, and so on. All this is very important, but just as important is how to bring in and keep customers.

There is a way that you can thrive and prosper even if a big pet super store opens up in your town, or if three other groomers open up just miles from your shop. All you need to understand are two words: Direct Marketing!

How many times have you run an ad in a newspaper and had no idea if it was successful or not? Most businesses run an ad that has their name, hours, location and logo with no way to track it, no idea how many customers it brought in, etc. When I run an ad for my pet grooming business I know exactly how many calls I received from the ad and how many of those calls I converted into customers. Let me share with you one of my favorite techniques.

I run my ads a little differently from everyone else. I don’t use my business name as the headline because no one cares about my business name. I start my ads with a big, bold headline that states: “FREE Report Reveals How To Reduce Your Dog’s Shedding By 90%, Call 24 hour recorded message and leave your name and address your report will be sent out immediately.” Anyone reading the paper with a dog that sheds is going to be interested. They call for the free report and we send it to them.

Now I have a very valuable lead. This person has shown me that they have an interest in my pet grooming services. I can now send this lead my report with some excellent advice on how to help their dog with its shedding problem. I also include a section in the report on our very popular Reduced Shedding Program, where we can take care of the problem.

So you can see how I can track every ad to the dollar. I can see how many leads each ad brings in and how many are converted to customers. It only takes a few minutes each day, and it pays off much better than your standard name, logo, and location newspaper ad.

This type of advertising can be done with newspaper, direct mail, phone book ads, websites, and just about any other type of media. With the amount of people and businesses that want a piece of the grooming profits you need to make the most out of every advertising dollar. Start to apply direct marketing and advertising and you’ll be able to stay ahead of the competition and have a profitable pet grooming business.

Eric Letendre is the author of The Wealthy Groomer and the owner of American Canine Inc. You can get the first three chapters of The Wealthy Groomer at http://www.thewealthygroomer.com

There are some steps that entrepreneurs can take that can help them get a good start on their pet daycare business. One of these includes embarking on a learning process about the pet daycare business. This is important because knowing every detail of the business can help business owners to take further steps that can ensure success. It is then important for business owners to come up with a business plan, which can help them strategize and plan the operations of the business. The business plan should include the ways by which the performance of the business could be monitored and evaluated.

It would also be a good idea for business owners to evaluate the competition as well, as this can help them come up with ways that they can distinguish themselves from other similar companies. In addition, business owners also need to provide excellent customer service, which they can do by talking with their customers and responding to their needs and concerns.

Starting up a pet day care business has become a lucrative business options for entrepreneurs because there is a huge demand for pet daycare services from pet owners. By doing enough research, an entrepreneur can maximize the opportunities that running a pet day care service can provide.

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