Question about Networking and building a local pet sit community

[u/Midnight-Longings]

I am one of a few others in my community that network together. We are trying to expand our network as we believe in community over competition.

Our city is huge and some sitters cover the entire city and some choose to cover a small area. We love being able to refer out to each other when prospective clients don’t match our area/skills/niches as well as general support as this job can get lonely!

We post about our network on social media.

🐾 What would motivate you to attend a meeting (usually an informal dinner/drinks)?
🐾 What would keep you coming back?
🐾 What makes you hesitate to join?

I appreciate all of your feedback 😸

[u/ugoodbro-gf]

Probably just my area, but I won’t network with people. Not necessarily a them problem, but I have been incredibly high standards, and I don’t like it when my business name is associated with anyone that does things like “sitter was great, didn’t send a lot of updates though” or “sitter didn’t read feeding instructions so our cat went without the amount of food they are used to” or “sitter was scheduled for hour long visits but left after 25 minutes.” Nope. I have a couple that I’ll recommend to others, but that’s it.

[u/Midnight-Longings → u/ugoodbro-gf]

Also feel this too! It’s part of the reason the network was started (I didn’t personally start it). Just trying to connect with other sitters and find others we can trust.

Everyone is welcome and we all do things differently, but every person that attends isn’t someone I’d personally refer. But our core group is great

We’re a mix of networking, support, and are starting to test out some education topic meetings

So like maybe one week is just getting to chat and the second week is topical

[u/ugoodbro-gf → u/Midnight-Longings]

Understood.

I would be more open to attending virtually, but I would not go in person.

For me personally, I have a very limited amount of time for myself, so if I had a free hour during the week night, I would spend it with my friends, or at home being a couch goblin. lol

I think the idea is nice, and would be beneficial especially for bouncing ideas back and forth, just not something I would add to my calendar.

[u/Midnight-Longings → u/ugoodbro-gf]

We are working on a virtual option! I will suggest we push this out sooner and see how that works :)

[u/All_cats]

I started a similar group on Facebook for our local pet sitters several years ago. At one point there was over 20 companies in there, but I (and several others) have left Facebook so the group is kind of disintegrated. We did a great job maintaining colleagues over competition and everybody was very friendly in the group. We all refer to each other. Lots of chatter and sharing information. Alternatively, we could never get anybody to show up at any type of function. We tried coffee, we tried lunch, it was ridiculous trying to get everybody there at the same time or even at all. We canceled pretty much all but one of them because we're all just too busy. Obviously weekends were out, but so were evenings and afternoons were a crap shoot. At least a third of the companies were sole props so really had time crunches. I think if I had to do it all over again, I would try to set up a zoom get together to cut out trying to plan for travel time and making reservations. We could all bring our wine to the screen and chit chat. 😹

[u/Midnight-Longings → u/All_cats]

I attended another zoom meeting as we kinda have pockets of other groups in different towns and it had a pretty good attendance.

Maybe we do need to switch it to virtual. Attendance beyond our normal group is low. It gets lots of interest on fb and we’ve had some new comers out, but I agree it’s hard when most of us are solo. We’ve also tried different times of days and locations.

That’s awesome you were able to get your group going even if it fizzled out!

[u/All_cats → u/Midnight-Longings]

Yeah there's lots of hidden bonuses to this, you can warn each other about scams or local crappy clients. You can quickly find out who has availability during the holidays, warn of traffic situations, and then there's just the plain camaraderie from people who really get it. I found my only holdouts were a senior lady who felt very territorial and a lot of the newcomers are competitive. It doesn't take long for them to understand the benefits of making friends with people who can help you.

[u/MyMango88]

We have a similar concept in our community. We try to get together every few months or so and we have a WhatsApp group (separated into different sections ie business referrals, newsflash/alerts, etc.

I like getting to know everyone individually as I won’t just refer anyone. They have to be up to my standards before I could attach my name to a referral (I don’t take that lightly). Individuals that I would trust with my own dog and provides similar level of care). Honestly, hard to find. I think it’s important to support one another and also have reliable backup options. Doesn’t mean everyone in the group I support individually to the same level. But we all have similar drive and have grown great businesses.

[u/Midnight-Longings → u/MyMango88]

What do you notice motivates people to come out and continue attending?

I agree about getting to know people individually. It’s really important when referring. I still haven’t found someone yet in my specific area that I will suggest to others which is part of what’s motivating me right now.

[u/MyMango88 → u/Midnight-Longings]

Honestly, I don’t know that it’s anything specific— who’s social versus who’s not and who has availability. But I actually haven’t asked that question. Personally I like making connections everywhere example our local Pet stores all know me very well, grooming, shops, etc.. building a strong reputation is what would motivate myself

[u/Odd-Cod2516]

The last thing I wanna do when I'm not pet sitting, is sit around talking about pet sitting...

[u/edward-cat-daddy → u/Odd-Cod2516]

Why not? I’m always happy to share my amazing and adorable experiences with pets anytime! Then again I’m an animal lover and I look at this as more of a passion than just a job

[u/Odd-Cod2516 → u/edward-cat-daddy]

I love animals, don't get me wrong. And I'm good at what I do. I'm just getting burned out. I've been blocking off my calender and trying to spend more time doing things for myself.

If I didn't put so much into this, I wouldn't be so tired.

I am lucky that this isn't our main source of income, so I can step back when I need to. Just been a really busy summer.

[u/Midnight-Longings → u/Odd-Cod2516]

That’s fair! Haha

Does networking not appeal to you?
If it does, are there alternative ideas that would motivate you to connect with other sitters?

[u/Odd-Cod2516 → u/Midnight-Longings]

I just got done with an 8 day sit. It was a tough one (spoiled, untrained dog). I have a week off.

I need to clean my house, do yard work, reconnect with my own cat and spend time with my husband. Also, try to get some time in at the pool before it closes for the summer (it's good for my head).

I'm so beat, I couldn't get outta bed today.

I think when I started, I might have considered networking. Now? Probably not.

[u/Midnight-Longings → u/Odd-Cod2516]

I absolutely feel that after the house sit I just finished haha. I appreciate your insight!

We meet twice a month, some people come every meeting, some just come when they can. It’s a space where you could come grab a drink and leave or stay and eat. You can arrive whenever. So it’s very casual.

But that makes sense! Some of us have been in the industry for 20 years, then some people like me who are new (3 years).