Here are five tips to help you increase your pet business now:

1. Start an email newsletter. If you haven’t already, make sure you collect the email addresses for all your existing customers and start an email newsletter that provides value to the customer. Use the newsletter to strengthen loyalty with your existing customers by sending out articles on dog and pet health, wellness and training. Become a resource for your customers! Try this free trial of iContact, the email newsletter tool we use and recommend: http://www.icontact.com/a.pl/160854 

2. Write a press release and send it to your local newspapers. Newspapers LOVE animal stories. Come up with a survey question about pets, ask your clients and publicise the results. Or offer tips on pet care while people are on vacation. Include a photo. Free publicity will increase your visability in the community and position you as an expert in your field. Here’s a free tutorial on how to write a press release: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release 

3. Start selling pet food. There are many companies that will drop ship pet food for you. Some require a small upfront investment but you don’t have to carry or ship the food yourself. You already have a built in customer base. Again, position yourself as a resource for your clients. And what better way to cement the relationship than to become the supplier of their pet’s food? Here are some opportunities we suggest. Check out Healthy Pet Net as a great example of a low cost investment ($20) and a high-quality product: http://www.pet-business-opportunity.com/networkmarketing.html 

4. Start a blog or website. Creating a basic webpage that is keyword optimized for your business and area ("pet sitter, Denver, Colorado”) is a great way to generate leads. By keyword optimizing your website, also known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you’ll be sure to attract relevant search engine traffic to your website. People using search engines like Google and Yahoo are looking for services like yours every day. Are they finding you? Or your competition?

5. Join a networking group like BNI. BNI is a business networking group whose sole purpose is to pass business referrals among it’s members. It’s not about selling to each other but rather training each other to be the eyes and ears for each other throughout each day. It’s not necessarily who you know but who knows who you know. Get more info about BNI (Business Networking International) here, which has thousands of chapters all over the world. Another great option is your local chamber of commerce.

These are just some of the low-cost, no-cost ways you can reach out to new prospects and strengthen relationships with existing customers. The more things you can do to increase awareness of your business while providing VALUE to your existing customers, the better off you’ll be to weather tough times now and grow in the future.

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Gene Sower is the publisher of www.pet-business-opprtunity.com , a website devoted to helping "petropreneurs" start or grow their pet-related business.