Behind the Pages-PETS+

Host Keith Miller talks to Giselle Ugarte of Bridge Media about how to use LinkedIn to promote your pet business.

The 2020 presidential election has divided this country. Is it a good idea, then, to carry poop bags featuring the faces of candidate and President Donald Trump and candidate and former Vice-President Joe Biden? MetroPaws founders Jonathan and Megan Bolton think so!"The idea is to encourage people to vote, to get people involved, to get people to get engaged," Jonathan Bolton tells host Keith Miller in this episode of "Behind the Pages."Bolton and Miller offer stores advice on how to carry the Smear Campaign's Democrap and Repooplican Poolitical bags without offending voters for either candidate. Bolton also shares how these bags came about and whether their sales are a predictor of who will win.

Fans of "Dumb and Dumber" will especially appreciate this episode of Behind the Pages, in which host Keith Miller talks to Andy Wiltz of Woof's Play & Stay in Kansas and Missouri. Wiltz has recreated the Mutt Cutts van from the film and now uses it to promote his grooming, day care and boarding facilities.

Keith Miller talks to Pattie Zeller of Animal Connection in Charlottesville, VA about the decision to move and expand during the COVID-19 pandemic. She shares that competing with Amazon and Chewy has never been more important, and that she plans to offer products and services that will help her do exactly that. Zeller also offers advice to those opening a pet business for the first time right now, when one of the major trade shows of the year has been canceled.

Host Keith Miller talks to David Pearsall of Business Insurers of the Carolinas. He joined the family business in 1995, which at the time insured about 300 pet sitters nationwide. Pearsall helped grow that segment of the agency to more than 8,000 to 9,000 pet businesses insured each year. He stresses the importance of using an insurer that specializes in pet businesses, so that you have as much coverage as possible for the many challenges facing you this year and beyond. He also talks about whether there will be pandemic insurance in the future and answers questions from the PETS+ Facebook Community.

An episode that's chock full of actionable advice! Host Keith Miller talks SEO with Matt Aldrich of Pet Engine Marketing. Not only does Aldrich share simple changes you can make to boost your website's search standings, he also outlines how you should be using Google My Business posts to do the same. Aldrich also warns you off several website features that can actually work against you in search engines.

Host Keith Miller and Nancy Guinn of Dog Krazy stores in Virginia talk about the ways they are supporting small businesses of all types in their communities, including buying gift cards from local restaurants to reward customers who buy pet food for a local rescue. This episode of Behind the Pages also features call-ins from Angela Pantalone of Wag Central in Stratford, CT, and Pattie Zeller of Animal Connection in Charlottesville, VA.

What are interchange fees? Payment gateway fees? How do you get the best credit card processing deal for your business? In this new episode of Behind the Pages, host Keith Miller answers these questions and many more with help from guest Randa Kriss, staff writer for Fundera. The online resource offers advice and comparison tools that help small-business owners make smarter financial decisions.

Keith Miller talks with Beth Gordon, whose Whippet, Kuiper, is known to his 150,000 Instagram followers as @spacewhippet. The pair criss-cross the country visiting musuems and historical sites, teaching science, history and civics to folks who just want to look at dog pictures. Gordon shares the key ways to approach and interact with online influencers, as well as what got her and her pup into the field of Insta-celebrity.

On the next Behind the Pages podcast, host Keith Miller and his guest help you master some insanely easy — but hidden — aspects of listing your company on Google.Keith spends time with Paul Counts, who runs digital marketing firm MarketingCounts.com and hosts a podcast of the same name.Counts shares details on how simple fixes to your Google profile can help your business achieve a higher profile in searches — like merely ensuring that your address is identical everywhere you have it posted on the web. He relates the importance of having a Google “short name” and demonstrates how that name can help you garner customer reviews easily.

Host Keith Miller finds out the back story of Fi, a tech startup that developed “the Apple Watch” of GPS dog collars. Keith’s guest is Fi founder and CEO Jonathan Bensamoun, who developed the collar and app with his dog, Thor, in mind.This collar is amazingly cool, with GPS tracking capability, activity tracking, light for night walking, a waterproof case, interchangeable nylon straps in two colors and an Apple or Android app that controls and monitors the whole thing wherever anywhere a cell signal is present. And — get this — its battery goes up to 3 months without a charge. (For now, the collar is sold only through the company’s website, tryfi.com, and the company is exploring distribution through other means.)Keith and Jonathan discuss the collar but then go into the challenges of starting a company and bringing a product to market. Don’t miss this episode if you’re into tracking your dog’s fitness routine or whereabouts — or if you’ve got an idea for a product you dream of launching.

On this episode of Behind the Pages, host Keith Miller discusses ways to hone your own health and fitness to give you the energy and stress-free mood you need to run your business at a higher level. His guest is health coach and self-proclaimed “wellness junkie” Caitie Motta (coachcaitie.com).Spoiler alert: The key to success involves diet and exercise … and a lot of the same advice you give your customers about their pets — but forget to follow yourself.In their discussion, Miller and Motta tak about eating to improve mood, the importance of finding the right exercise regimen for you, sticking with it, and not beating yourself up too much when you inevitably back-slide.Don’t have time to listen to the latest episode of Behind the Pages immediately when it launches on Friday? Here’s one tip you can get started with immediately: Reduce stress by setting some boundaries in your life. Put your phone on “do not disturb” and check it only at set times. Do the same for email. Belong to groups with negativity? Quit them. Let staff members know what matters to approach you with and when.

Host Keith Miller talks with cyber security expert Chris Moschovitis, author of the book Cybersecurity Program Development for Business. He was part of the team that developed Vet Office Suite software for veterinary practices, but Moschovitis' current — and career-long — focus is on keeping businesses’ computer systems and data secure. The two delve into ways to keep your business safe online with password managers, two-factor authentication, the perils of cloud-based software and backup practices.

The holidays are right around the corner and with them, wintry weather that makes us want to escape to somewhere warm. In Keith Miller’s latest "Behind the Pages" podcast, he talks with Johnny Jet, the man Forbes Magazine has called “the original travel influencer.”Johnny Jet began dispensing travel advice online back in 1995 and now travels 150,000 miles a year. He’s made it his life’s calling to help others get travel deals.

Keith Miller talks with Daniel Lentz, one of the founders of Aquapaw, a pet bathing product that achieved notoriety when it was featured on Shark Tank earlier this year.Aquapaw is a palm-sized dog scrubber and sprayer that attaches to the hand, allowing users to handle their dogs (or other animals) with both hands. The product was featured on Shark Tank in January 2019, and received received investment offers from three of the Sharks (Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Bethenny Frankel). After several rounds of offers and counter-offers, however, the Aquapaw team walked away without a deal.Keith and Daniel discuss the process of launching a new pet product, pet and consumer companies to emulate, plus behind the scenes details of appearing on Shark Tank.

How can a pet business owner locate, attract and keep millennial employees long-term? That’s the subject of the third episode of “Behind the Pages”, the PETS+ podcast hosted by Keith Miller,.For this episode, Keith reaches out to consultant Maggie Baker, who specializes in building employee engagement and developing company culture at businesses around the country, including the San Francisco SPCA. Maggie, 34, calls herself "the Happy Millennial” and can be found on Instagram @happymillennialamags.

Host Keith Miller welcomes social media expert Katherine Martin from Whirlaway Marketing for a wide-ranging discussion of doggie influencers, Facebook, Instagram and even Kendall Jenner.

Keith Miller talks with web design and copywriting guru Liz Theresa, digging into the nitty-gritty details of what pet business owners need to know about redesigning a website in 2019. Guess what? The process is a lot different than it was even a few years ago.From Theresa, you'll learn about the creative process, what you'll need to pay, how much fun it can (and should) be, as well as the danger of trying to do too much on your own in WordPress.Learn more about Liz Theresa at her website at http://liztheresa.com