7 Business & Blogging Clues a Puppy Can Teach You
For a year or so I didn’t spend as much time with my business of blogging because I had to take care of a puppy.
The funny thing is in German (remember, I live in Germany) you say “small business” for pee and “big business” for poo.
The puppy reminded me of business matters and I actually used the term business much more often than usual. Actually the puppy business needed some attention every hour at the beginning.
I was astounded by the similarities between my puppy and the actual business matters. Thus I collected them.
Here are the 7 business & blogging clues a puppy can teach you
You got the get up early or even stay up at night when the business is young
In fact our puppy was so small, scared and sick when we got her that she was like a human baby, demanding constant attention.
When you start a blog or another business it needs constant attention
too. When I became self-employed years ago I underestimated that. I did again with the puppy. I got it right with my SEO 2.0 blog back in 2007 though.
Everybody loves a cute young business when it’s actually a young and cute one
Remember when Google was this cute little garage company run by two students? Didn’t we love it back then?
Now this probably most powerful transnational corporation as of now is so scary we’re afraid of it. Hopefully it doesn’t bite.
When fed correctly a business grows incredibly fast
Starting a business blog? Consider blogging daily. I did the first 3 months. It grows like a puppy, incredibly fast. A business may double in size every few weeks.
When a business grows older, people get used to it and stop noticing it
When this blog was young everybody seemed to love it for no apparent reason, now it’s far more difficult to get attention.
An established business is expected to innovate and become better than previously to get noticed.
You have to come up with something truly remarkable to get people to link to you
or share your content on social media. They notice a new post but they won’t support it automatically.
Likewise a bigger dog will get noticed from afar but unless s/he does something unusual nobody will care.
The questions clients ask are in 99% of cases the same
In the early days everybody kept on asking the same questions: What dog race is it? How old is s/he? Do you sell it?
It’s the same with business: Clients ask the same questions over and over:
- How much does it cost?
- How long does it take?
- Do you do PPC and SEO?
You better come up with answers you can reuse. Also an FAQ is a must have in many cases. This way you are prepared and you don’t waste time formulating answers each time from scratch.
When a client contacts you and you do not attend you lose him or her
My puppy didn’t wait for me. Either I listened to her when she was ready for business or she did the business without me.
That’s exactly how most potential clients act. Either you are quick to serve them or they move on. Also
business ideas can’t wait. You have a great idea for a blog? Set it up as quick as you can.
Otherwise someone else will. Also soon enough the topic might not be of interest anymore.
Do you think I could succeed with SEO 2.0 now the way I did in 2007? The “2.0” hype is over. People would yawn these days.
Even when everybody does it wrong in your business line you can do it right
Many people in the SEO industry don’t care for ethics or clean best practices. The “what works is fine” kind of ethics often prevails.
Sometimes I hate myself for being too righteous. Why the hell can’t I cheat like others do?
Sometimes these people even outrank me. It’s the same with dogs in Berlin. People let their dogs shit all over the place.
When you walk a lot and don’t look where you’re stepping you will certainly step onto such a “land mine” as we call it here.
Rarely do people pick their dog dirt up. It’s not even easy to get dog dirt bags. Also they are quite expensive due to the low demand.
I think we pay almost as much for the bags as for the actual dog food. I don’t care though. I use them. Even if I am the only one to do so. It makes me feel superior. My success proves me right.
By now I’m of the “100 most influential online marketers world wide”! I don’t even work for Google or something. I’m just a regular guy with a blog.
So you see a dog can teach you a lot about business, blogging, business blogging or life at large.
I don’t want to live without a dog anymore. Life offers lessons everywhere on your path. You just have to notice them.
Did you learn something about business from your daily life adventures? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Last updated: March 5th, 2017.
OK, done. Now I have to go out for a walk with my dog.
Indeed.
The key to growing beyond puppy-hood and continuing to expand is to have some service or product that stands out so well that it cannot be ignored.
A genius plumber never stops growing.
These are all very true attributes. A puppy does not raise itself and a business will not grow without constant help and attention.
Lots of good analogies here that can be used to help your business out. So what happens when your business reaches the age where people stop to notice? Would that be a good time to reinvent your image?
Amazing :) ..and when you need some rest, just watch the cat. She knows the most comfortable place in your house :)
I doubt my kitten can teach me as much.
“Hi..I love dogs and you have posted very interesting stuff.Hopefully this dog in pic doesn’t bite.i really enjoyed your post.your post teaches new lessons which immensely help us to love our puppies & business.Thanks