Lisa Vitello has been in the pet grooming business for over twenty years. She is a Certified Master Groomer and Companion Animal Hygienist. In addition to grooming, her passion is teaching others and helping them to excel in the pursuit of their own career and personal growth. After going through the many ups and downs of being a business owner, and learning real solutions for the challenges we all face, she realized she could have the life she always desired. On her blog, The Grooming Guru, she shares tips and tricks for other business owners. She enjoys helping others discover how to be successful in their lives and grooming business. When Lisa isn't at her shop, she enjoys spending time at home with her family and large variety of animals. She lives on a small ranch with a vineyard, 2 horses, an ancient pony, a miniature dachshund, and a standard poodle. Maintaining all of this can feel overwhelming, but Lisa has stayed true to finding her balance in all of this. And, she continues to extend what she's learning to others. 
Your own clients can be a great asset when it comes to getting the word out about your shop. So what is the best way to reach them? Developing an email list is crucial if you’re going to stay in touch with your core clients.
How to Start Your Email List:
- Create a system to collect your client’s emails. Adding a line for emails to your existing client cards is easy for new customers, and you can ask existing customers for theirs when you are making their appointments or checking them in, as part of up-dating their information. Explain to them that this is for in-shop use only, and you don’t share or sell their information to anyone. You might also have a book at your check-out counter for them to enter their email address in.
- Once you have their addresses, you will need to enter them into your computer program (most programs like Kennel Connection and 123Pet have a place for them).
- Next, get set up with an email communication company like MailChimp or Constant Contact. These companies are a free or inexpensive way to send newsletters, special event notifications, coupons, etc. They have different templates for every occasion and are very user-friendly, and they manage your account, handling the tech and legal stuff that none of us have the time for.
- Train a staff member to be in charge of your newsletters. I’m a technological idiot, so I have one of my more savvy employees help me with the stuff I can’t do. I write up the content, and she handles everything else.
- Create a schedule of how often to send out your communications. I try to send one monthly and also let our clients know about upcoming specials, events, or holiday parties we are hosting.
- Stick to your broadcasts, and this will become a great asset to your company. Using in-house email advertising has been part of my plan to greatly reduce advertising costs.
For more information, check out my blog post from last February where I go into more depth about saving money on your advertising costs: http://www.thegroomingguru.com/five-tips-to-almost-eliminate-your-advertising-costs/
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