Do Something Nice to Muzzle Your Competition

This is my favorite type of story and it’s one of my personal favorite marketing tactics. Edge out your competitors by helping out, in some meaningful way, with an organization that can really help to grow your business. More to the point, it involves pets…which always gets my attention.

What story am I referring to?

Well, this week in the Wall Street Journal, Cheryl Staab’s dog walking business, DogCentric Inc. was featured as a great ‘fast fix’ marketing case where she has effectively muzzled her competitors and gained a strong foothold in the market by providing some greater good in exchange for warm leads.

Cheryl volunteers to walk the dogs at the Washington Animal Rescue League, a local non-profit animal shelter and rehab facility. In turn, when they turn a pet over to a new adoptive owner, they actively recommend Cheryl’s services as their sole dog walking partner organization.

“[I wanted] to reach $1 million in [total] overall revenue before I was 30,” she says. The revenue that DogCentric posted in 2009 helped her reach that milestone, just in time for her birthday.

The partnership has provided an unexpected outcome, too. “We see some of the [shelter] dogs again as [adopted] customers,” she says. “It’s a Cinderella story.”

We recommend this to nearly every business we’ve ever worked with. Get involved in your industry, help out, volunteer, do something good, do something cool and the in-kind rewards will come your way. They always do, as they have for Cheryl.  It’s not always an easy sell, but I’ve never seen this pay anything but positive dividends(oddly enough…to the best business owners, you never have to sell it).

For those of you who are interested in this concept and are looking for ideas, here’s a few to get started.

• First, we look for organizations in our area that we could benefit. We work with a few non-profits on a pro-bono basis and have seen numerous leads come from those relationships. Look for an organization that not only fits your industry, but also for one that you have passion for and can maintain a strong personal and professional connection.
• Second, look for how you can give and give, to solve a very real challenge for that organiation, before you ever expect to recieve anything in return. That’s exactly what Cheryl did and it’s exactly what we do.
• Finally, make sure that your entire team is involved. The best cultures and the best companies permeate the entire organization and the spirit of giving, sharing and being involved in the community is best done with the whole team on board.

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