Dr. Shawn Messonnier, a veterinarian and award-winning author from Plano, Texas, writes:
“I would love ideas from other Hounds on how to promote my new line of certified organic pet shampoos.
“They’re currently available online only at http://www.drshawnspetorganics.com but should be available at retail outlets sometime next year.
“I’d like to reach as many pet owners online to get a good jump start. So far, I’ve promoted them on my radio show, in my newsletter, by marketing to our current clients, and writing articles and being interviewed for pet magazines.
“Hounds, can you help?
Another idea along these lines might be to offer a daily drawing of a free shampoo each day for 5 days (or 7 or whatever) for the first one to comment on your blog each day – assuming you have one. This is an idea I just got from a virtual blog book tour I participated in.
Dogster.com and Catster.com have huge followings – try sending samples to their bloggers and see if they’ll write an entry on your product.
What about offering some sort of humorous “Is your pet certifiable” online sticker for any pet blogger who talks about your product. Oh–or maybe create a piece of Flair for Facebook for your product?
Good luck.
I would say to join some of those forums, and if you blog you should be doing (or having done) some social media marketing. Finding family friendly forums, local tv stations…maybe a piece on how to properly shampoo etc your dog in the fall and winter so they don’t get sick after getting all cleaned up! Some of these may be a little tougher or take longer, but some of the special interest pieces get picked up by the local news or their morning shows.
Creata a Google Alert for any dog-related subject. The daily digest will show you what is in the news on this subject. At the bottom of the alert are blog posts on the topic. You can write to the blogs, commenting on their post and gently (no hard selling) let them know about your products.
I did with a children’s book about a therapy dog (“Dr. Duncan Dog on Duty” by Lisa Dunn-Dern) and the results were wonderful. We got several requests for books to review, resulting in numerous glowing blog posts, and the author just did a terrific radio interview today as a result of one of them. One respondent lives in Singapore; I sent her the book via digital file. Not only did she review it, but she also put me in touch with a friend of hers in California who also reviewed the book on her site.
This is huge! Our readers (organic and natural health geeks) would love your product. Send samples to the editors or just email the magazine. It’s a perfect example of niche for a niche.
Dr. Messonnier’s website is well constructed with good navigation, cute photos, and paw print buttons, but he needs to choose a consistent point of view (POV) for his writing. He used “I”, “we/our”, and “he.” It’s best for a business site to use the third person (he) for the standard POV. It’s more professional and much easier to pat yourself on the back for awards and other acheivements, but you can quote yourself for a more personal touch. I have several articles covering websites for professionals on my website: http://www.sky-bolt.com.
Recent studies have shown that all else being equal, buyers will choose a product from a company that is viewed as socially responsible. The credit of associating your name with a nonprofit and being a good corporate citizen to the communities in which you do business is valuable to your bottm line. We invite you to join our organization or become a sponsor. Feeding Pets of the Homeless is a nonprofit organization that provides pet food and grants for veterinarians care to the homeless and poor in local communitites across the U.S.
Hounds, your ideas are wonderful! You guys really came through for Dr. Shawn.
Let’s keep the great ideas flowing.
Many of the holistic magazines are owned by the same company. Most have “review” areas, why not check out writers digest and send out some “bulky” packages with your samples?
What about posting an article on http://www.selfgrowth.com/ and look around there for other possible marketing opportunities.
Go meet with the managers of your local health food stores, pet stores, veterinarians, naturalpathic doctors and any type of holistic store local to you. Bring coupons their clients can use to order the items from you directly or online. Follow up with testimonial requests.
My hairdresser has a golden retriever and he’s a big dog fan. He recently started carrying a line of dog grooming products in his salon, right up front at the check-in counter, and they’re doing very well. With everyone getting into “green” and organic thing — both for people and pets — it seems like this would be a natural for a pet-friendly salon owner.
Also, you might contact some local rescue groups to see if they would promote your products on their website or newsletter. In fact, if you contact me, I’ll put something in our next newsletter for Great Dane Rescue (www.magdrl.org).
Is your shampoo safe for humans? Can you create a matching human/pet shampoo for pet owners?
Don’t forget to target pet bakeries. Owners who care enough to buy gourmet treats would be a natural target market for you.
Our son is highly allergic to fragrances and cleaning products, as am I, so we only use organic and fragrance-free pet products on our golden retriever. We get them at the American Environmental Health Foundation store here in Dallas, but they may also have them on their web site (http://www.aehf.com/).
Dr. Shawn might approach them about carrying his products. I’ll be glad to try a sample and perhaps provide them a testimonial from someone who is very sensitive to fragrance. Dr. Shawn can contact me via our site’s contact form at http://www.StopAfib.org/contact.cfm
Mellanie True Hills
Most dog owners are getting itching in their dogs and turning to organic products, perhaps a free sample to your clients is a good start for a vet. Also discussion non -organic shampoos in comparison to organic – it all makes sense to most pet owners.
I leave this all up to the groomers – they use a good quality shampoo on my pooch!
Many of the chemicals are the same for pet shampoo’s as they are for the human version. The Cause if itchy scalp in humans or itchy fur in our pets has much to do with the inflammation caused by the toxic chemicals found in most mainstream varieties. I have actually written a free report on the subject you can get your free copy at=> http://itchyscalpitchyhead.thebestdealontheinternet.info
This report actually lists the chemicals and tells you what they are doing to you in really easy alphabetical order.