Begin Marketing Your Business
I don’t recommend marketing before you’re a Lead Trainer. Until you are qualified and comfortable with your skills and knowledge, you’re probably not ready to charge people for your services. However, the minute you decide you’re ready, you need to start marketing!
Standard marketing principles apply to the dog training industry just as they do to any other industry. However, there are some unique aspects to this business. Here are just a few:
Unless you do boarding or day care, most trainers do not find an ad in the yellow pages particularly productive
Veterinarians are your best referral source – marketing to vets requires face-to-face contact and follow-through.K9 training Houston
Word of mouth is crucial – take special care of your early clients and be sure they leave happy
Marketing a dog training business can be very similar to marketing a real estate business – keep your name in front of ex-clients because they may, once again, be in the market for a dog trainer in a few years.
Get Certified!
Once you are a professional, it’s time to start working towards certification. Certification will increase your credibility and help your business.
There is only one psychometrically sound accrediting organization in the dog training industry, and that is the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers I recommend that you go to their website and check what you need to do to sit for the CPDT (Certified Professional Dog Trainer) exam.
Also, be aware that certification through a school is not the same as certification through the CCPDT. All a school certification means is that you met their criteria – it could be as simple as filling out a form! The CCPDT certification truly has meaning and is the certification I recommend working toward.