Shownotes
Business Inspiration
The growth and evolution of Alden’s Kennels [2:49]Candle Flickering Moments
The event that caused Janet to make the pivot to working at Alden’s Kennels [8:41]Business Building Insights
Analyzing Alden’s Kennels versus their competition to create change [9:17] Hiring for website development and her strategy for future site development [10:37] Janet’s experience and advice for getting started on YouTube [11:22] and [15:07] Outsourcing services for additional business growth [15:40] Alden’s Kennels multi state mixer – a winning event! [23:42] How to start an event that brings in hundreds [28:34]Success Trait
Janet’s success trail is her fear of failure. Listen to her explanation. [32:43]Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Networking at Chamber of Commerce and BNI events is her most important activity to bring in business and get exposure to the kennel. Being shy, Janet shares how she pushed herself into the networking scene. [34:16]Valuable Book
Building the Ultimate Network
Contact Links
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Transcripts
Hi there I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast. Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I have joining us,
Speaker:Janet Dom res Janet works at Alton's kennels.
Speaker:The business is a full service kennel offering boarding training,
Speaker:rescue services,
Speaker:and other creative programs such as a children's vet camp.
Speaker:Janet's husband Alden ran the business for 15 years,
Speaker:literally through word of mouth and phone book listings.
Speaker:Meanwhile, in 2010,
Speaker:after a 28 year career in the postal service and six
Speaker:rotator cuff surgeries,
Speaker:Janet needed to make a change.
Speaker:She joined her husband at Alden's kennels and approach the business
Speaker:with a mission to bring it up to date from a
Speaker:marketing standpoint,
Speaker:without knowing a thing about computers,
Speaker:much less website construction or social media.
Speaker:Janet started the process of learning and creating and Google became
Speaker:her best friend.
Speaker:Today. They have over 2000 videos on YouTube and over 2,600
Speaker:Facebook fans,
Speaker:Janet can equate the growth of their business to the visibility
Speaker:gained through online search.
Speaker:Now there's a whole lot more to this story,
Speaker:but I'm going to let you hear it directly from Janet,
Speaker:and that's what we're going to get into now,
Speaker:Janet, thank you so much and welcome to the show.
Speaker:Oh, well thank you for having a map.
Speaker:So excited.
Speaker:I know Janet and I met at a local chamber of
Speaker:commerce event and she and I just started talking and the
Speaker:more she talked,
Speaker:the more I was like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:all of you guys need to hear her story.
Speaker:So I convinced her to come on.
Speaker:So yay.
Speaker:Anyway, Janet,
Speaker:the way I like to start off is by having our
Speaker:listeners get a little bit of a different glimpse into who
Speaker:you are by having you describe a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to help us envision your perfect candle,
Speaker:what color would it be?
Speaker:And what would be the quote on the candle?
Speaker:It would be a cream candle because a cream color reminds
Speaker:me something angelic.
Speaker:Like you have some kind of guardian angel that always find
Speaker:some way to get you through the tough times to lead
Speaker:you, guide you or do something like that.
Speaker:So cream would be my color for the candle to help
Speaker:you get through the toughest.
Speaker:Wonderful. And there's that kind of the quote,
Speaker:an angel getting youth,
Speaker:or do you have another quote for your candle?
Speaker:I'm not real good at the quilt part,
Speaker:but never hurts to have a guardian angel.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:And I agree.
Speaker:I agree with you.
Speaker:Totally. So Janet,
Speaker:let's start at the beginning.
Speaker:How did this idea of Alden's kennels get established in the
Speaker:first place?
Speaker:I was from the city,
Speaker:my husband was a country boy.
Speaker:And when we had our first two children that I was
Speaker:a stay at home wife,
Speaker:he was a diesel mechanic at patent industries is the trade
Speaker:he took,
Speaker:but he gave me every animal I ever wanted.
Speaker:So we kind of lived out in the country.
Speaker:So I was raised in Pomeranians pet Pomeranians and having fun.
Speaker:And I met a couple show people and seeing the difference
Speaker:between a show Palm and a pet Palm.
Speaker:So I just started with a couple litters and just learning
Speaker:how to market them.
Speaker:And Elle had a terrible accident at work.
Speaker:So they called me and said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:can you make it out there?
Speaker:And I says,
Speaker:no, I only have the one car and he's got it.
Speaker:So they picked me up,
Speaker:they brought me to the hospital and he had a very
Speaker:serious head injury.
Speaker:Oh dear.
Speaker:From a split room that exploded.
Speaker:So he almost died.
Speaker:So he had about 17 operations.
Speaker:He could never return to his trade.
Speaker:We were married 10 years.
Speaker:We had two kids.
Speaker:I wasn't working.
Speaker:So I had to go and get the job at the
Speaker:post office.
Speaker:And he,
Speaker:instead of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:making him pump gas,
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:stay home and take care of the dog.
Speaker:And I'll help you with the paperwork and how to sell
Speaker:them and that kind of stuff.
Speaker:And market it.
Speaker:She took care of all the animals and the kids for
Speaker:school. And I went to work at the post office.
Speaker:So we would have insurance.
Speaker:I didn't make anywhere near the kind of money he did.
Speaker:So he had to make money off of these dogs now.
Speaker:Right? So then I told him,
Speaker:I'll go meet those show people.
Speaker:So he got into the breeding program of breeding show dogs
Speaker:besides pet dogs and that evolved.
Speaker:And then we finally had enough money to go from renting
Speaker:a place with horses and dogs to moving to this place.
Speaker:But he had to literally build the buildings for the dogs
Speaker:to go in.
Speaker:So he was building dog kennels,
Speaker:training facilities,
Speaker:raising the dogs,
Speaker:breeding the dogs bottle,
Speaker:feeding the puppies.
Speaker:It's a lot of work,
Speaker:all of this,
Speaker:watching the kids.
Speaker:So I could go to work at a post office and
Speaker:I went to work there.
Speaker:And then I went to Midwest dog grooming school at night
Speaker:for nine months to be a dog groomer,
Speaker:to help his business a little bit.
Speaker:So then on weekends we would broom 20 dogs on a
Speaker:Saturday and Sunday to subsidize the palms a little bit.
Speaker:Then people wanted us to board dogs.
Speaker:So then we expanded and made a wing for boarding dogs.
Speaker:So Al was building this building and this business because he
Speaker:had lost his and he made a success.
Speaker:He started showing the dogs and winning.
Speaker:So we had exotic color Pomeranians that were sold internationally all
Speaker:over the world.
Speaker:And then you got the history of dogs.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it started coming around with rescue dogs.
Speaker:Breeders were bad people.
Speaker:Now we're overpopulating the world.
Speaker:So if you aren't out showing and selling very expensive dogs,
Speaker:these poor pets,
Speaker:weren't going to have a home because people were convinced they
Speaker:had to do rescue these dogs and adapt them.
Speaker:So we did,
Speaker:we took the dogs and made packages of 10 breeding stock
Speaker:and sold them to some of the best breeders in the
Speaker:country and in the world.
Speaker:And we left,
Speaker:we left with one dog,
Speaker:Bambi and Bambi was our demo dog to show that a
Speaker:Pomeranian could do obedience.
Speaker:He could do should town work like a German shepherd.
Speaker:He could do a bark and hold.
Speaker:He could do tracking.
Speaker:And he shows the dogs how to go in and out
Speaker:of a dog door for the counterpart.
Speaker:He sells the obedience classes.
Speaker:He has a CD,
Speaker:a companion dog title.
Speaker:So I mean,
Speaker:this dog is the only pet we have now.
Speaker:And now we cater to all our customers,
Speaker:dogs, but this all evolved over an accident and not knowing
Speaker:where to go and to raise two kids.
Speaker:So they still had a decent life and could have their
Speaker:pets and I get them insurance.
Speaker:So I couldn't write this history.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you couldn't have started off and thinking,
Speaker:this is what what's going to happen.
Speaker:And it ended up being,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:thank God he was okay.
Speaker:Right. And then merging into what you're doing today.
Speaker:It's crazy how,
Speaker:and you hear this over and over again,
Speaker:how businesses evolve from circumstances Except the opportunities There.
Speaker:You've got to grab it.
Speaker:You've got to recognize it and grab it.
Speaker:And then like you were saying,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it just kind of evolved from your husband,
Speaker:working with the palms at home so that you could work.
Speaker:And then one thing led to another led to another and
Speaker:look at how great it is today.
Speaker:Yes. It was constantly changing.
Speaker:So, I mean,
Speaker:everybody's got to kind of look at it that way.
Speaker:It's never going to stay the same,
Speaker:whether it's a trucking business,
Speaker:you could see trucking businesses going under and some flourishing we've
Speaker:got to look at why are those few flourishing?
Speaker:Is it their marketing plan?
Speaker:Had they added something to it?
Speaker:Have they looked and reached out to see what the customer
Speaker:wanted? So what we were good at raising palms and getting
Speaker:show dogs,
Speaker:the average person wasn't our target market anymore.
Speaker:So we needed to conform.
Speaker:Now we work with rescue dogs,
Speaker:training them and with the veterans,
Speaker:my husband's a Vietnam veteran.
Speaker:Also, if a veteran comes in with a rescue dog,
Speaker:we give them free lessons.
Speaker:So that that dog can be a good companion from cause
Speaker:most of them have post-traumatic stress.
Speaker:Right? So we've learned to use all of the resources and
Speaker:evolve with where the need is because it's constantly changing the
Speaker:economy's changing the people,
Speaker:what they want.
Speaker:Dogs are changing from show dogs to rescue dogs.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:if we would have been stuck in the rest of the
Speaker:show part,
Speaker:maybe we would have went under there.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So tell us a little,
Speaker:A little bit more.
Speaker:Okay. So your husband owned Aldean kennels,
Speaker:and you were off working in the postal service,
Speaker:a job that you said you loved.
Speaker:Right? Talk us through A little bit.
Speaker:What happened and how you started integrating in with the kennels?
Speaker:Well, they were downsizing at the post office.
Speaker:And so I was on light duty because I had the
Speaker:surgeries from delivering the mail for 20 years.
Speaker:And after six surgeries,
Speaker:I could not return back to the delivery.
Speaker:I can do light duty.
Speaker:There was no work light duty for,
Speaker:for me.
Speaker:So I missed out on my 30 year retirement.
Speaker:So at 28 years,
Speaker:Oh, you were so close.
Speaker:Right? I was so close.
Speaker:It's quite a cut.
Speaker:So I says,
Speaker:well, I better help him with his business because what we
Speaker:had planned down with my career just didn't pan out the
Speaker:way we had planned.
Speaker:So I looked at it and I looked at what the
Speaker:other businesses were doing.
Speaker:And these young dog trainers and stuff,
Speaker:they were all on the computer.
Speaker:They all had what pages.
Speaker:They had beautiful video showing what they did in the kennel
Speaker:when they were training,
Speaker:when they were boarding a dog,
Speaker:when they were interviewing a customer on,
Speaker:on the go home lesson.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:Oh, there really is something because they're getting customers in and
Speaker:you couldn't do that with a phone book anymore.
Speaker:People just weren't calling on the phone book.
Speaker:So I've got competition too.
Speaker:There's about seven kennels and a five mile radius and my
Speaker:neighborhood. And so you had to be found.
Speaker:So I got on the computer and learned Google.
Speaker:Now you gotta remember I'm old.
Speaker:I didn't know how to put a picture to an email.
Speaker:So I don't know anything about a computer,
Speaker:right. So I got my way through the computer and started
Speaker:Googling to find out what do the customers want?
Speaker:Where do they want to bring their dogs?
Speaker:What do they want to see their dogs do?
Speaker:I'm so out of touch with this computer thing.
Speaker:So I just Googled dog boarding,
Speaker:dog training and all the neighborhoods around me all the way
Speaker:until I got to Chicago,
Speaker:because it got more interesting.
Speaker:The further I went out to see these fabulous things that
Speaker:we're doing,
Speaker:but it was social.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:because they showed the video,
Speaker:the picture,
Speaker:the website,
Speaker:all this stuff you couldn't do in a phone book.
Speaker:So that's how I kind of got started.
Speaker:I Googled a company that's made websites.
Speaker:I had to make the back pages,
Speaker:but I told them,
Speaker:you got to teach me how to do it.
Speaker:I can't be calling you up every time I want to
Speaker:change, you know,
Speaker:a service or put a picture on.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:that will cost me a fortune to hire somebody to update
Speaker:this. So I did find a company that could do that.
Speaker:So I think it took me about a month.
Speaker:They talked to me for one hour during the week and
Speaker:I would practice all week long and write notes.
Speaker:If I couldn't remember the next step I was supposed to
Speaker:do or something like that.
Speaker:So it was at least four hours on the phone.
Speaker:The four week I was able to do any content.
Speaker:I wanted pictures,
Speaker:tagged the pictures,
Speaker:open up a YouTube channel,
Speaker:do it with a $99 camera.
Speaker:At that time they didn't,
Speaker:I didn't have a phone that could take a video.
Speaker:This was back in 2010.
Speaker:And there I was,
Speaker:I had my YouTube channel.
Speaker:Then I had to learn how to put my picture on
Speaker:a YouTube channel.
Speaker:So they knew who it was if they want to subscribe
Speaker:to it,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:and then put these videos on the website and then learn
Speaker:how to tag them.
Speaker:So I was learning all these things as I went along
Speaker:a little bit at a time to see what's the easiest
Speaker:way they could find me.
Speaker:So the reason I have 2000 videos is that's what I
Speaker:do for my customers.
Speaker:If they're getting a nature,
Speaker:walk, I video the one-time video and get their picture to
Speaker:go with it and put that on our Facebook page and
Speaker:tie the Facebook page with our website.
Speaker:If they get playtime or lesson,
Speaker:they get a video.
Speaker:So then to make it like a phone book,
Speaker:I would direct these videos to different towns,
Speaker:like a nature walk and Highland park,
Speaker:for instance,
Speaker:and tag it that way and Highland park,
Speaker:they would find Alden's kennels.
Speaker:Wow. All right.
Speaker:I'm going to stop you here because there is so much
Speaker:here, but now seriously,
Speaker:Janet, before you started,
Speaker:when you were working with the post office and then you
Speaker:took the break and then you started working with all of
Speaker:this. Did you have any marketing background classes,
Speaker:courses, knowledge at all?
Speaker:No. I didn't even know a business person.
Speaker:It's so interesting because you did two things that people talk
Speaker:about all the time and you just did them naturally.
Speaker:One of the things and give business owners,
Speaker:we've talked about this before is being resourceful.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:finding the answers.
Speaker:And especially now online,
Speaker:there's so much out there,
Speaker:but so Janet,
Speaker:didn't just say,
Speaker:I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker:I'm not doing it.
Speaker:She took on the challenge.
Speaker:And then she went and figured out a couple of things,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:under this resourcefulness category one,
Speaker:which is so important.
Speaker:And people forget to do this all the time.
Speaker:You were saying Janet,
Speaker:that you went to see what the customers wanted,
Speaker:right? So you were looking at the customer and providing the
Speaker:solution that you didn't think you knew what the customers wanted.
Speaker:You proved to yourself that these were the things that the
Speaker:customers wanted,
Speaker:which I think jump-started you right away in terms of the
Speaker:right path to go for,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:for getting visibility and resonating with people.
Speaker:And the other thing is,
Speaker:in terms of finding someone to help you with that website,
Speaker:we don't always have to do it alone.
Speaker:And this is one critical place where so many people,
Speaker:when they're starting up and they're an entrepreneur now,
Speaker:granted the business was already running,
Speaker:but you were taking it in a brand new direction.
Speaker:We don't have to do things ourself.
Speaker:And we so often,
Speaker:I think it was the podcast,
Speaker:either one,
Speaker:or I think it was two episodes ago now,
Speaker:I'm not sure exactly how we're going to schedule these out
Speaker:where Vivica Von Rosen from LinkedIn was talking about how we
Speaker:often are so late when we finally bring in some extra
Speaker:help, we try and do everything ourself.
Speaker:You didn't do that.
Speaker:Janet just naturally it's,
Speaker:it's pretty incredible.
Speaker:Naturally you went out and said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I'm going to have someone help me build this website so
Speaker:we can get up and running,
Speaker:but then I want to know how to do it for
Speaker:the future.
Speaker:So super kudos to you because those are two things that
Speaker:many people don't come upon until later in the game.
Speaker:So that got you started towards success really quickly.
Speaker:Talk to us a little bit more about the evolution of
Speaker:the videos.
Speaker:So you were just describing how every chance you get,
Speaker:you take photos with customers in whatever they're doing,
Speaker:but it didn't start that way.
Speaker:Right? You were mentioning you were working with a camera camera
Speaker:instead of a phone camera way in the beginning,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. It was pretty primitive.
Speaker:So you had to learn how to do it.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:YouTube changes all the time,
Speaker:just like Facebook and everything else.
Speaker:So you had to learn it and then relearn it and
Speaker:add to it.
Speaker:And then,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it was almost three years before I upgraded the video equipment,
Speaker:but I mean,
Speaker:we did all right,
Speaker:because I was being found,
Speaker:they always said,
Speaker:what do you ever ties in Chicago?
Speaker:And I says,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:because they have the money to come.
Speaker:I'm cheaper than downtown Chicago.
Speaker:And I can give them everything the best Kendall can.
Speaker:And if I can't,
Speaker:I can outsource and find the kennels here that would have
Speaker:dock diving.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:or a massage therapist or something like that,
Speaker:acupuncture. They want to go outside of it.
Speaker:We could do field trips.
Speaker:So that was another thing was if you don't have it,
Speaker:you can outsource it so that you have everything that customer
Speaker:wants and the people appreciated it and you go to the
Speaker:best places.
Speaker:And then you video there,
Speaker:here's your dog going to the field trip.
Speaker:It's going to camp out to play day with its friends.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:So I mean,
Speaker:now how cool is that?
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:Yeah. And just for our listeners,
Speaker:how far outside of Chicago are you?
Speaker:Oh, I'm two hour drive.
Speaker:Usually Two hour drive from Chicago.
Speaker:Yeah. But you know,
Speaker:for those of you who aren't in the area or our
Speaker:international viewers or listeners,
Speaker:Chicago is a huge market.
Speaker:So two hours mean it's not like there's Chicago and then
Speaker:it's farmland.
Speaker:And then there's,
Speaker:Alton's kennels.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:there's a lot of homes and all of that in between,
Speaker:but it is a way,
Speaker:yeah. Too soon as they're passing that our kennels and they
Speaker:come to me because they saw the video they saw the
Speaker:place looks like.
Speaker:Right. So do you have any suggestions for any of our
Speaker:listeners who are hesitant about doing video?
Speaker:They're making it easier all the time.
Speaker:So just dive right into it and all aspects.
Speaker:Some companies even offer some little classes for,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:79, 95,
Speaker:two or three hours.
Speaker:If you want to go live on Facebook or something,
Speaker:that's a video you're doing.
Speaker:You can do it on your phone.
Speaker:The phones are fabulous now for any just about anybody.
Speaker:I'll open up a YouTube channel for you.
Speaker:If you can't do it yourself,
Speaker:but it's,
Speaker:it's like any other online account.
Speaker:Just like if you're buying at Amazon more or less,
Speaker:you can create your account almost the same simple way.
Speaker:So if your shopper online,
Speaker:all this stuff will be so easy for you.
Speaker:And don't be afraid of it.
Speaker:People want to see where they're going or they want to
Speaker:see the product or see you make the product,
Speaker:whatever, you know,
Speaker:whatever platform you want to do.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:YouTube really helps.
Speaker:So is it,
Speaker:is it it's kind of your,
Speaker:are you always doing the videos or do you have other
Speaker:employees doing videos that working Well,
Speaker:I usually have other people do the aspects of working with
Speaker:the dog.
Speaker:I'm usually doing all the videos.
Speaker:My husband can do the videos.
Speaker:Now I've trained him that he can,
Speaker:some of the employees kind of are learning to hold the
Speaker:camera a little slower,
Speaker:so they don't move it too fast and stuff.
Speaker:And it's always video your prime method.
Speaker:Like you're not doing blog articles or anything like that.
Speaker:It's mostly video and you're bringing that over to Facebook so
Speaker:people can see that.
Speaker:And that's it.
Speaker:Right. And I have some pictures on Pinterest.
Speaker:I do a little bit of Instagram.
Speaker:I have a lot of tweets going out the videos,
Speaker:go on a tweets.
Speaker:I connect them with a lot of it too.
Speaker:I have my YouTube.
Speaker:So it can go out to LinkedIn and silver other formats
Speaker:too. When I want to show something like a training class
Speaker:and we're opening a new one starting up,
Speaker:you want to see one,
Speaker:one was like before.
Speaker:So I would post something like that once in a while
Speaker:in LinkedIn.
Speaker:So I use the video and all the other social media
Speaker:platforms, because I'm not a good writer.
Speaker:If I could write,
Speaker:I'd be right in blogs because I've got a lot of
Speaker:experience. I know the topics,
Speaker:but I read a show.
Speaker:You then write it.
Speaker:Well, and video is so much better than the written Word
Speaker:right now.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everyone, Facebook,
Speaker:everything is favoring video now live streaming and video.
Speaker:So you're right on target with what the hot item is
Speaker:these days.
Speaker:Oh, well that's good news.
Speaker:So talk to us about a time when there was a
Speaker:struggle within the business,
Speaker:either the business overall,
Speaker:or as you were getting up to speed with social media
Speaker:and computers and all that.
Speaker:Well, right before I left the post office,
Speaker:the business was a,
Speaker:well, they said the recession was like 2008.
Speaker:Well, yeah,
Speaker:it, we had less customers.
Speaker:So we ran a tighter budget to compensate.
Speaker:We just blamed it all the economy's bad.
Speaker:So we're not going people.
Speaker:Aren't traveling.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:the housing industry,
Speaker:all our blue collar,
Speaker:people are not vacationing.
Speaker:We blamed it on all that.
Speaker:And it was not that it was the phone book.
Speaker:Nobody was using a phone book and that's all we were
Speaker:using or a couple newspaper ads.
Speaker:So when the internet broke in and I,
Speaker:I decided I had to do it because the younger people
Speaker:were doing it.
Speaker:And they were being found when you Googled them.
Speaker:And we weren't anywhere to be found.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:this is,
Speaker:I've got to do this.
Speaker:Or you might as well close your doors when they stop
Speaker:coming. It's not because we didn't do the service and we
Speaker:didn't do a good job.
Speaker:They didn't know we were here.
Speaker:Right. So we had to,
Speaker:that was the biggest thing was,
Speaker:people need to know you're there.
Speaker:They need to know your current with what they want as
Speaker:things change because the dog industry believe it or not.
Speaker:Pet industry changes very fast.
Speaker:It didn't years ago,
Speaker:but now it does.
Speaker:They want to have the California dog,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what does that mean?
Speaker:What does the California dog mean?
Speaker:You go out to dinner with your dog at the restaurant
Speaker:now and on a patio year at the beach with them,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's swim dates,
Speaker:there's play dates for your pets.
Speaker:There's massages.
Speaker:There's spa day,
Speaker:peppermint, BAS blueberry,
Speaker:facials. I mean,
Speaker:there's all this stuff that you could do for your pet
Speaker:that that Think about,
Speaker:can I live there too?
Speaker:Blueberry facial.
Speaker:It's just what they want for their pet,
Speaker:with what you have for yourself.
Speaker:People want that for their pets now,
Speaker:believe it or not.
Speaker:And we're going to make sure we find out where we
Speaker:can get it done for them.
Speaker:If we can't do it ourselves,
Speaker:outsource it.
Speaker:Well, give biz listeners,
Speaker:this is another good point that I just want to continue
Speaker:to reinforce is over time.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:hopefully we all start businesses that are going to last for
Speaker:years, right?
Speaker:But over time,
Speaker:businesses change,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I just recently in my hometown,
Speaker:we're seeing a first shop that's been here forever,
Speaker:shuttering their doors.
Speaker:Why that's not really something that people are as interested in
Speaker:in this day and age,
Speaker:I need more,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the, you know,
Speaker:all the natural and the green and all of that,
Speaker:doesn't really equate to people.
Speaker:Having firs,
Speaker:Janet's talking about how everything's changing with her industry.
Speaker:And she had to evolve to stay relevant,
Speaker:same thing for us,
Speaker:for all of our industries.
Speaker:I don't care what you're doing.
Speaker:You need to really be watching and make those pivots with
Speaker:your industry.
Speaker:So that you're always right on top of the trends,
Speaker:staying timely with whatever your product is,
Speaker:whatever the colors are,
Speaker:whatever the styles are,
Speaker:if that relates to your product tastes,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you're a Baker,
Speaker:all that type of thing,
Speaker:you have to be very conscious and make changes as you
Speaker:go your business even of six months ago,
Speaker:or year ago might not be as relevant as what's currently
Speaker:happening today.
Speaker:So you need to stay on top of what's going on.
Speaker:Would you say anything else about that,
Speaker:Janet? You know what?
Speaker:You got the truth,
Speaker:join a chamber,
Speaker:meet the other business.
Speaker:People you'll see the ones that are making it and the
Speaker:ones that are struggling and they're good at what they do,
Speaker:but they haven't kept up with the social media and the
Speaker:internet. That's the only thing that they left out and they're
Speaker:their businesses going to the wayside.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:chambers can share their,
Speaker:their information with you,
Speaker:to the business people,
Speaker:if they're prosperous,
Speaker:you're going to prosper to see you got to help each
Speaker:other. So I just loved meeting the people,
Speaker:the business people they never got to meet years ago,
Speaker:working at the post office.
Speaker:I was so secluded from that.
Speaker:So I'm learning now to w what they're successful in,
Speaker:what they're not,
Speaker:and what businesses within the chamber can help you grow yours.
Speaker:Yeah. All right.
Speaker:So, Janet,
Speaker:this is a perfect segue into us talking about what you
Speaker:do with that super exciting networking event that you have going
Speaker:on. So I want you to take it from the top
Speaker:and tell Neil,
Speaker:fill all of our listeners in on what you're doing.
Speaker:My biggest advertising and social event that helps in is a
Speaker:multi-state mixer.
Speaker:I went to other people's mixers for two years before I
Speaker:plan my first one.
Speaker:And I saw everything.
Speaker:I liked everything I wanted to add.
Speaker:Somethings that weren't so good.
Speaker:And when we created it,
Speaker:it was to tell you the truth.
Speaker:It was a good success.
Speaker:There was at least 150 people there.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:let's start.
Speaker:What, so what made you decide in the very beginning that
Speaker:you were even going to do this?
Speaker:You were going to all these other events who would think
Speaker:as a kennel,
Speaker:that you would want to do a mixer.
Speaker:Where did that thinking come from?
Speaker:Well, I was hesitant because you,
Speaker:you serve food and everything else.
Speaker:We have a training hall.
Speaker:So I had to make sure that if there's food,
Speaker:that they had to think that they weren't in a kennel
Speaker:eating food.
Speaker:And I had to say,
Speaker:what's going to draw on there.
Speaker:So you had to have raffles,
Speaker:and then you had to have people that wanted to meet.
Speaker:So by may belying to all these chambers and going to
Speaker:all events,
Speaker:I met all these hundreds of people that are in the
Speaker:most unique businesses you ever could imagine.
Speaker:So by the promise of them meeting people outside of their
Speaker:own little chamber,
Speaker:they were kind of excited about that.
Speaker:So I did use Facebook,
Speaker:Facebook events,
Speaker:email, constant contact.
Speaker:I'd sent out,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:flyers through there and invite them and tell them they were
Speaker:going to meet somebody.
Speaker:Hopefully at the end of this event,
Speaker:only two hours,
Speaker:we would serve them,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:some drinks and food.
Speaker:And we had a chef serving them.
Speaker:It wasn't just hors d'oeuvres on the side.
Speaker:And it just grew from there.
Speaker:So every year has gotten bigger.
Speaker:I think this last one was 300 people and it's free
Speaker:for them.
Speaker:They don't have to pay a thing.
Speaker:And now some of the vendors,
Speaker:they want to be sponsors because they're in front of an
Speaker:audience of business people instead of paying for,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:an expo and a booth and a lot of giveaways.
Speaker:Now they're giving away something to show their service with.
Speaker:Somebody probably could use them as a business.
Speaker:So you do that as a raffle or a silent auction,
Speaker:or what are you thinking with that?
Speaker:They serve the food or the rental equipment at the chairs
Speaker:table. So you don't have to pay to put on there.
Speaker:They're helping out with,
Speaker:it's still,
Speaker:I have a budget,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they have to meet there,
Speaker:but as it grows and you want it,
Speaker:and this is a red carpet affair.
Speaker:We have Rick carpets,
Speaker:or we have the logos on the floor from maiden vinyl.
Speaker:This is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:limos, bring the executives.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:this is a real,
Speaker:we want to serve our people the way they deserve to
Speaker:be as a business person.
Speaker:And then the plus for me,
Speaker:they see my location.
Speaker:And if they want to tour the kennel later,
Speaker:they can,
Speaker:I don't even have a chance to talk about my business.
Speaker:We're so busy.
Speaker:We had 30 raffles to raffle off somewhere golf,
Speaker:outings, Cubs,
Speaker:tickets, all different things.
Speaker:So people can be a part of it.
Speaker:So people would remember them that they were there.
Speaker:So it's getting to be one of the most popular events
Speaker:out here in McHenry County,
Speaker:Tres ed multi-state.
Speaker:And it brings in 300 plus people.
Speaker:And once a once a year,
Speaker:Once a year is all we can.
Speaker:Right? If you had all your Fort,
Speaker:yeah. Are you able to equate it to increase business?
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:By far,
Speaker:if those people themselves don't have a dog or have a
Speaker:need for our kennel or training,
Speaker:they always have a friend.
Speaker:They know.
Speaker:So they've made so many referrals saying I've been there,
Speaker:I've seen the place,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that the kennels gorgeous,
Speaker:the people have experienced and it's worth the drive if it's
Speaker:not in your backyard.
Speaker:So I get it from the referrals that they know where
Speaker:I'm at.
Speaker:My town is only 832 people.
Speaker:So for me to be successful,
Speaker:I've had to reach outside of my little town.
Speaker:So that's why there's no limit.
Speaker:Right? We've talked before,
Speaker:give business listeners about the power of communities.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if you're a shop,
Speaker:you can bring in a group of people surrounded,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:with a common interest of the product of your shop,
Speaker:but maybe you do book clubs or knitting events,
Speaker:or, you know,
Speaker:whatever relates to your business.
Speaker:This is so interesting because she's bringing people in.
Speaker:Many of them probably don't even have animals right yet,
Speaker:but they're coming in,
Speaker:they're coming in for a networking event because of the show
Speaker:that she puts on.
Speaker:You're listening to her,
Speaker:the red carpet and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:limos and all of that.
Speaker:So it's clearly a talked about event and it's continued to
Speaker:grow over the course of time.
Speaker:How many years have you put this on now,
Speaker:four years now we have only four years,
Speaker:only four years.
Speaker:Would you give any advice to someone who is considering starting
Speaker:an event?
Speaker:Like think back to that very first one and what would
Speaker:be some advice if someone wanted to start something,
Speaker:not even on a hundred,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:some people don't have the space,
Speaker:right? You're lucky to have space,
Speaker:to be able to accommodate that.
Speaker:But even if you're going to do 20 or 30 people,
Speaker:what type of advice would you give somebody who's thinking about
Speaker:doing that?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:first support your business.
Speaker:People. If they're having mixers,
Speaker:support them by going to it and that they can count
Speaker:on you,
Speaker:then they're going to return,
Speaker:come to yours to support you.
Speaker:You have to give,
Speaker:you have to give before you get.
Speaker:So not only did I learn by going to them,
Speaker:it was supporting them that somebody showed up for their mixer
Speaker:and supported their business and wanting to see it and share
Speaker:the experience and invite a friend to it and give them
Speaker:more exposure.
Speaker:And then you see how you can use that business network
Speaker:to invite people to yours.
Speaker:So they do come and to find out what is going
Speaker:to be to make them interested in coming,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:is it going to be the location?
Speaker:Is it going to be,
Speaker:your business is going to be you you're selling you.
Speaker:You are the business.
Speaker:And then you can never forget that this is what brings
Speaker:the people out.
Speaker:You have to support them.
Speaker:They'll support you.
Speaker:Did you do any,
Speaker:do you collect email addresses there?
Speaker:Or how does the process work?
Speaker:Like how do you know how many people are coming?
Speaker:And I count the business cards because when you do come
Speaker:in, that's all we ask you to do is to put
Speaker:a business card.
Speaker:And the bowl for the,
Speaker:the raffles are all free,
Speaker:but we pull a business card and any businesses invited,
Speaker:you don't have to be a chamber member at this event,
Speaker:but you have to be a business.
Speaker:So if you have a business card,
Speaker:that's your ticket in,
Speaker:put it in the bowl.
Speaker:If your name gets picked,
Speaker:you win that raffle.
Speaker:And I can count those business cards at the end of
Speaker:the night,
Speaker:I have those.
Speaker:So that's more or less what I do.
Speaker:And I invite them for the following year.
Speaker:And then do you do so you put them on some
Speaker:type of an email list so that you have them for
Speaker:the night.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:And that's all I use them for is for the,
Speaker:a mixer invite.
Speaker:So you,
Speaker:okay. So,
Speaker:so, and they know that by entering into the raffle,
Speaker:they're not going to get on this email list where they're
Speaker:going to start getting all these emails,
Speaker:because a lot of these folks don't have dolls.
Speaker:Right? Exactly.
Speaker:That's why I don't want to end date them with that
Speaker:because they remember this mixer so much,
Speaker:they don't need to have emails to border dog or anything.
Speaker:If they want you,
Speaker:they're going to come.
Speaker:If they,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if they want to give me the business.
Speaker:So it's,
Speaker:sometimes you don't have to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:collect all of that.
Speaker:If you can give them something,
Speaker:they can remember,
Speaker:you buy you like your customers when they're happy,
Speaker:your customers are always going to return.
Speaker:So this is what you want to do.
Speaker:You want to give first and you're going to receive,
Speaker:I think that's part of our success was the mixer.
Speaker:And having other people meet people so they could make money
Speaker:and make that contact.
Speaker:If the people around you are successful,
Speaker:money's going to flow throughout all of them.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:You're absolutely right.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So Janet three tips,
Speaker:if you think this is,
Speaker:might be interesting for you and your business is one first
Speaker:give before you get,
Speaker:go out and support other people's events,
Speaker:be visible in your community.
Speaker:Number two is use your networking connections because you have been
Speaker:out and about to different chambers and other events.
Speaker:And those are people then that you can invite in,
Speaker:but you need to invite them in with a purpose,
Speaker:something that's going to be valuable to them.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:time now is our most valuable commodity,
Speaker:right? So spending time anywhere needs to serve a valuable purpose
Speaker:in their mind.
Speaker:So Jen's talking about that and then finally collect the contact
Speaker:information. And in her case,
Speaker:it's business cards that she's using so that they know about
Speaker:the event for the next year.
Speaker:And it continues to build and build.
Speaker:I would suggest depending on what your event is like is
Speaker:you may also put them on some type of an email
Speaker:campaign. It just depends on how you're structuring everything.
Speaker:But we often talk about how do you collect addresses with
Speaker:their consent to be put on some type of a communication
Speaker:schedule. So,
Speaker:great, great information,
Speaker:Janet. I really appreciate your sharing.
Speaker:All of that with us.
Speaker:I'd like to roll now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you in a little bit of
Speaker:a different way in terms of what you're doing throughout your
Speaker:day to be successful.
Speaker:If there was one trait that you would say,
Speaker:this is the one that's helped me be so resourceful,
Speaker:learn the computer,
Speaker:know about networking,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all things that have been so great that we've been discussing.
Speaker:What would that trait be?
Speaker:Fear of failure.
Speaker:I will do anything to prove that I won't fail.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:whether it's my marriage or job,
Speaker:or that's why I was devastated when they let me go
Speaker:at the post office,
Speaker:but I wasn't going to fail.
Speaker:And the business too,
Speaker:it was faltering a little bit.
Speaker:My husband has the same attitude.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:he probably would have worked himself to death trying to figure
Speaker:out how to bring customers in,
Speaker:but he didn't leave the property to know marketing changed.
Speaker:I was wanting to see that marketing changed,
Speaker:right. Would say he worked hard and,
Speaker:and as hard as he has been the whole time,
Speaker:but it didn't make a difference.
Speaker:It's the times changed.
Speaker:The marketing plans changed.
Speaker:And that's the only thing that kept us from failing.
Speaker:So Really important to know.
Speaker:Yeah, that's great.
Speaker:I love that fear of failure.
Speaker:So I would not have expected you to say that.
Speaker:So it's really interesting.
Speaker:What tool do you use regularly to help keep productive or
Speaker:to create some type of balance?
Speaker:Oh, just the,
Speaker:the chambers going out and socializing with people and seeing what's
Speaker:happening in the neighborhood keeps my sanity.
Speaker:If I'm at home or at the business,
Speaker:I'm on the computer continually too.
Speaker:My eyes are burnt out,
Speaker:trying to figure out all the new stuff that's coming out
Speaker:and Googling to see what changes in the business or out
Speaker:there helping him.
Speaker:So he looks good in the video.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And gives them what they want.
Speaker:Right. Wonderful.
Speaker:And you're a people person.
Speaker:So that probably energizes you,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:being around,
Speaker:rubbing shoulders with other people,
Speaker:seeing what else is out there,
Speaker:I'm shy,
Speaker:but I still want to be with people.
Speaker:So You do not come across as shy in any way,
Speaker:shape or form.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I've only met you once or twice now,
Speaker:but you don't seem to be shy at all.
Speaker:Well, I didn't even know how to introduce myself when I
Speaker:went in and mixer was I'm Janet,
Speaker:I own account,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:well, I don't have a dog and they'd walk away.
Speaker:Do you know how many times that happened to me going
Speaker:to me?
Speaker:And I kept pushing myself,
Speaker:pushing myself,
Speaker:but I found somebody that helped me do a tagline.
Speaker:So sometimes you have to go outside for that help when
Speaker:you're not as creative as you think you are.
Speaker:Right. And it sure helped me.
Speaker:It gave me more confidence and it polished it up a
Speaker:little bit And kudos to you for continually going out there,
Speaker:even though you are uncomfortable with it,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just knowing that that was what you needed to do.
Speaker:And now I bet when you go to these chambers or
Speaker:other networking events,
Speaker:they know you.
Speaker:So it's now it's probably really easy.
Speaker:It's easier.
Speaker:It's still a struggle for me.
Speaker:My mother had the talent of going in a crowd and,
Speaker:and being successful with strangers.
Speaker:I still have to struggle with it,
Speaker:but it's much easier with the tools that I've learned to
Speaker:use to get me through it.
Speaker:Good. So you just do it cause you know,
Speaker:it's worth it.
Speaker:Well, You're doing too.
Speaker:I do enjoy it.
Speaker:Cause The introductions are one thing.
Speaker:And then the conversations on the side are totally separate thing.
Speaker:Right? So they both are there.
Speaker:Is there a book that you've read lately that you think
Speaker:our customers would find value in?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:Elena McKenna was a good friend of mine.
Speaker:She's part of BNI.
Speaker:And I don't even remember the name of the book.
Speaker:It was,
Speaker:I read it in spurts,
Speaker:but she was good at networking.
Speaker:One of the best people I've ever seen network to.
Speaker:Sometimes if you read some of the books on network and
Speaker:helps you,
Speaker:if you're struggling with that introduction and struggling on the followup,
Speaker:do you have a business to do a follow-up fifth grade,
Speaker:you have to follow up.
Speaker:So it teaches you a lot and it gives you a
Speaker:lot more competent and it grows your business.
Speaker:So a good resource for really learning how to network the
Speaker:right way.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:I will Google what this book is and we'll put it
Speaker:in here for sure.
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:Wonderful. And give biz listeners just as you're listening to the
Speaker:podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get a book,
Speaker:just like Elena.
Speaker:McKenna's for free.
Speaker:If you haven't done so already,
Speaker:all you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:That's gift biz,
Speaker:book.com. All right,
Speaker:Janet. I'd like now to offer you to dare to dream,
Speaker:I want to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:It is a sky blue Pomeranian.
Speaker:Oh, I have a Palm keep going.
Speaker:Really? I do.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:in 1991,
Speaker:I went out to California and I saw blue Pomeranians and
Speaker:they weren't the gray color.
Speaker:They like seriously blue,
Speaker:blue, seriously blue.
Speaker:What shade of blue?
Speaker:She had a Navy blue.
Speaker:She had a sky blue.
Speaker:No. Yes.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:that's why they have Fox is so important because if you
Speaker:haven't seen it,
Speaker:you think I'm crazy.
Speaker:If I didn't have another breeder friend with me to back
Speaker:it up,
Speaker:that she saw it too.
Speaker:It was fabulous.
Speaker:And when you do the history of those exotic colors in
Speaker:England, the amount of numbers of dogs you had to breed
Speaker:to get that color was just astronomical.
Speaker:You need six generations of blue on both sides to get
Speaker:maybe one out of a hundred puppies born to be sky
Speaker:blue or Royal blue or blue and that gray.
Speaker:Wow. I Bet they are super expensive too.
Speaker:Yes. And they're hard to find.
Speaker:Yeah. They're hard to find Very,
Speaker:I'm going to have to Google that now,
Speaker:too. You probably peaked all of our listeners curiosity.
Speaker:Like really Skyblue Pomeranian.
Speaker:Everybody you'll have to check it out.
Speaker:Oh boy.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So if people were interested in knowing more about the kennel,
Speaker:where's the best place online that you would direct them?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:just dog group,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just Google it like your website or the,
Speaker:or just Google dog boarding.
Speaker:Okay. Whatever,
Speaker:telling you why to do it.
Speaker:And I should come up on a first or second page
Speaker:all done to kennels and you can see the website or
Speaker:you can go to the videos either or,
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:Super and give as listeners.
Speaker:As you know,
Speaker:with every episode,
Speaker:there is an accompanying show notes page and there we will
Speaker:have the website,
Speaker:the YouTube links,
Speaker:social media links,
Speaker:everything. So you'll be able to check it out.
Speaker:And maybe if I can find a fun picture of a
Speaker:sky blue Pomeranian,
Speaker:maybe I should just put it up there for everybody to
Speaker:see. Yes.
Speaker:Do that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So Janet,
Speaker:I really,
Speaker:really appreciate all the information that you've given us today.
Speaker:A little bit of a different look.
Speaker:I think it is super cool.
Speaker:How you were able to go from seriously yellow pages marketing
Speaker:in 2010 to where you are today in such a short
Speaker:time, kudos to you,
Speaker:really an applause that is fabulous.
Speaker:And I really appreciate your sharing.
Speaker:Not only that,
Speaker:but all of the networking information.
Speaker:Think it might have sparked some ideas for people here.
Speaker:So you've paid it forward to help other people with their
Speaker:businesses today.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:So I appreciate it.
Speaker:And continued success to you,
Speaker:Janet with Alden's kennels.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Sue. It has been exciting and I hope somebody can appreciate
Speaker:the struggle and there is success at the end of it.
Speaker:If you can just don't give up,
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:And you've helped towards that end for sure.
Speaker:May your candle always burn bright.
