Here’s a PR Newswire story that shows pet owners indicate they would cut back on luxury items to maintain their level of care of their furry friends.

Check out the bottom of the story – you can call and get the full survey results…

I reviewed a site last week for one of my larger personal coaching clients – a successful online wholesaler with a tight Ferret niche.

Their ‘cleanly designed’ main content site has only 12 pages in total.

Two of those pages were the obligatory “About Us” (i.e. about them) information, and an additional page was a Contact form with very little text on it.

Leaving 9 “Product” pages (segmented into categories)… all rather sad little pages that listed their products — about 200 of them — most with only a single line description per item.

And you can probably guess how direct business their main content site is currently generating. Virtually zero! If it wasn’t for their eBay and Amazon business they would be struggling to keep their doors open.

Pet Fanatics are screaming for information.

I’ve spoken a lot about creating your own information product, defining profitable niches, and engaging fellow pet fanatics with your own blog.

It’s true, in my opinion information products are the fastest and most profitable avenues to start to turn your passion for pets into “lifestyle” income. However, I also consult with several very large physical product manufacturers and marketers (like my client mentioned above), treat bakers and service providers (dog sitters, doggy day care operations, pooper-scooper businesses, etc.).

But to be truly successful in today’s market place all of these businesses require one key ingredient, without which they’ll struggle to survive. Content.

Compelling content really is king on the Internet and ultimately when marketing your physical products or services, and the moment your web presence starts providing more fascinatingly descriptive content, results will almost automatically improve.

So my advice to this company?

Well I obviously had a lot to say, but here’s the annotated version:

1) Start again! The current site is a total waste of time. Redesign the navigation so the focus is all about… the visitor, not you, the company.

2) Separate each ’product’ into at least one full and very descriptive (but not boring) page.

Give specifics on how products have helped fellow ferret fanatics enjoy their furry friends more or solve a common problem (like odors with ferrets), and where possible give case studies and live example of actual results achieved.

And ideally have a lot more than one page for each product category — maybe even separate web sites. It really is true that “the more you tell them more you sell them.”

3) Add features that compel visiting prospective clients to inquire. “Contact Us?” Phooey! How about a form on every service page, where the title of the form ties into the product itself?

Also, maybe most critically, test your sales pages, until the conversion of “visitor into client” is optimised.

These ideas are just for starters – and if you have a site or business you would like help getting started or taking it to the next level go to the Contact Doug tab and leave me a detailed message about what you are looking for – I will get back with you as soon as possible. Also, I have been working to create a new weekly training program with that will show you how to develop your own $6 a day pet related income stream in as little as 90 days from start to finish – this training will include regular homework, limited direct email access and access to all my reports, and resource guides…Stay Tuned!

I set-up my first online pet related product in April of 2004. At first I poured hours and hours into the marketing campaign’s – trying my best to make it a $250 a day product. IT DIDN’T WORK. Over the next 6 months the product’s best day totaled $75 in sales.

Was it a failure?

At that time I thought it was…

It’s been almost 4 years since this products launch and I have a totally different view. This product has been “auto-pilot” requiring zero maintenance… and it consistently earns me around $500 per month – or $16 per day!

I have come to realize that these small diversified mini-income streams are the key to creating an OUTRAGEOUS LIFESTYLE where YOU are in charge of your own destiny.

I stopped looking for that $250 a day home-run product years ago and I suggest you to the same!

I’ll recommend you look for those small $6 a day products or affiliate sales. They can literally be set-up and earning income in less than 2 hours and may keep depositing checks (or paypal payments) into your bank account for years to come.

And here is the best part… if you just focus on building these mini-income’s… every now and again you just may hit that elusive home-run!

With this focus in mind, I will be modifying my petrepreneur “profit” guides – both the product offerings and the affiliate programs. I will be emphasizing working to personally help my partners to get their first small $6 income stream set-up.

If you want to take advantage of these upcoming changes please make sure you have copies of all the products that interest you, because the marketing (pricing, etc.) will be changing to ensure we are all successful in 2008.

If you have a really good blog article, tell me about it. If you picked up a copy of my Pet Blogging Profits report and are just starting out, tell me your web address and let me be the first to link to it.

I have absolutely no problem taking the time to promote a particular blog article or new pet focused blog. Having said that, I will not promote garbage or link farms. Don’t expect me to.

Just leave a comment on this post OR on an existing post that is related to your topic and I will give you some link luv.

###

Here is my new blog policy for linking BUT the sites MUST be pet related!

“If you add my blog as a favorite on Technorati, I will add your blog. If you add my blog to your blogroll, I will add your blog. It’s that simple. If you leave a link to your website below (either in the form or in your comments), it will appear as a link to your website on Technorati. I have disabled the ‘nofollow’ tag.”

Links/backlinks to your blog is the best and fastest way to rise in search engines and other services. Technorati is one such service and it’s a good measure of your popularity as well. I have absolutely no problem with your self-promotion on my blog.

Here is a quick United Press story I found today…

One point I think is very important that all petrepreneurs need to take into consideration when selecting the niche(s) you are going to target, as you start or grow your pet business don’t forget the breed specific angle – especially breeds that are widely loved like the ones on this annual list.

If you are passionate about one of the breeds on this list, your first product/ebook is a slam-dunk… just create a special report about something specific to that breed – like their dietary requirements, play requirements, grooming tips, etc. and you will have ready market to sell to.

Take action today…