I just updated my site here is the link:

http://www.freewebs.com/tillikumtrainer/



I think the name's kind of cute..lol

I just checked it out and it looks great! What a neat job. I'd really like to do that. I signed your guest book too! Did you look at the one I made for my puppies yesterday? I going to add my birds too.

It looks pretty good! There's a couple of small typos I noticed though.

I wanted to show you this site just as inspiration as to what you could do with your business. This is a company I used to use, Lisa the owner started much like you did as a one woman operation and now she actually has staff! She teaches courses in first aid and does training too.

Walks n Wags

hehe ok where are the typos i missed and yay on the first comment!!

OK now I see just one, you must be still working on this

"During that time i will get to know your pet, what he/she likes and what special treatment do you give them. (treats, favorite spot to scratch"

Congratulations on doing this! I'm proud of you and a little jealous too, this would be so fun

I agree with Catherine, make your little i's capital when used as "I" in a sentence.
I think you did a great job.......I would add some bright and cheery background. I would have something that just looks bright.....just my opinion

Great Job! Love Paulie's pictures!
We fid-sit on a smaller scale... it's sooo much fun! Good Luck!
... and I signed the guest book!

I fixed the typos. remember to stop by my guest book

It looks good - but proof read it again - you have a lot of "i" that are not capital.
I also suggest if you are not incorporated and bonded that you do that so if you ever run in to problems you would have a limited liability on any losses.

make sure you have the right insurance to do this, as sometimes people will bring you sick animals that other wise look healthy and they will die in your care. Then there is the human error thing too. I would never undertake this with out the proper insurance.



I had to have mega insurance when I was a pet Rescue to cover anyone that came into the house and was bitten or other accident.



It would also help if you could have the local shelter check your facility and give you pointers and tips, on cleaning, and care and keeping the animals. Will they each have a seperate kennel and a community play area? Will you have camera's in place hooked to the net so the owners can check in on them? Most pet sitters today have camera's, and are hooked to the net. Bird sitters need to take extra care to have one room per bird as you can't put birds together, due to health reasons.



Just giving you some things to think about. I wish you well in your endeaver and pray you can put together one of the nicer pet sitting places in the world. I know you have the heart for it!

I totally agree with what Cheryl says to do about the Insurance. There are some over zealous people out there who wont think twice (in todays day and time) to do a number on you! You can never be too careful.
Otherwise the site is great very well done I thought!

i understand that i need great insurace. I am researching some and looking for anyone who has one that they recommend. But so far PSI Has a Pet Sitters Liability Protection Policy, that i think im gonna jump into. it seems great and if i decide to expand my service it will adapt with every staff member i have.

Iam also going to purchase a $2- $5,000 dishonesty bond (which is suggested). I've read 'Pet Sitting For Protit' front to back and took notes all the way through, so i know what i need to do. I already have four refrences, 2 from family members, one from a close friend and one from a neighbor who i cared for her birds. But thanks for the info.

yay another comment

Your pricing list is pretty confusing. I would suggest a chart with like 'tiny, small, meduim, large, additional' (or whatever) along the top and then down 'dog, cat, bird' then do it that way for a daily, then at the bottom have a definition of large etc.- or something. (I like charts )

Let me see what i can do, but like i said it depends onthe size..

you also have to remember i cant say puppies are a certain price, because german sheperd and great dane puppies are huge!!

okay i update the pricing with some examples check it out.

I like that much better- more orgainzed.

Are different size cats really all that different for sitting? Tiniest cat and largest I've ever seen have only been maybe 20 lbs different (5-25 or so). You might get people disgruntled with that.

my sisters largest cat was $45 and it was a maine coon so yeah thats a big kitty!!

Wow, you've been really busy today!

It looks great!

A couple of suggestions:

I'd make it a policy to require 2 visits per day for dogs and birds and charge a little bit more. I can't imagine a dog that only got out once a day would be happy, nor it's owner when he/she came home to several messes on the floor. Birds as you know need fresh food and water a couple of times a day

well most dogs usually walk three times a day, and birds i usually visit them twice a day and spend time with them also so they can have outside play time. I compares a few places around and my pricing is reasonable compared to others (i say start alittle bit lower than the others an gradually increase, that how you get good customers!!, I called a pet sitting service down in florida and she gave me that idea to keep prics low for a certain amount of time and raise them. since its just me and my sister its fine. i already have two parrot owners who called me for sitting their birds.

I think so far the site has grown to be well. i just want to add some more photos and a few testimonials and make sure i am insured and bonded before the site goes up. im gonna keep it small scale unless it seems to be going some where, then talks of expanding wil be in talks.

I don't know about the rest of the stuff, but I think your NEW COLOR is great! Good Job Rose!!!

thanks a bunch. i figured you'd like it. i did my researh before i started up and i feel good bout it..lol

I think the site looks great! As far as references you may want to get one from a vet and maybe even get a vet that will give you a special rate on emergencies if something were to come up and you can't get to the pets regular vet.


you can also consider offering a discount to people when they send you a referral.

Good Luck!!

yeah i have a vet that lives within a 10 blocks from me, but he only does cats. the best vet that i knwi in 62nd street in the animal medical center. so thats gonna be tough take a dog to see a cat doctor..lol

as for the referals, thats not a bad idea, plus it helps if they spread the word.. thanks .

Only thing I'd add, like someone else already said, I don't think you'll get great feedback on charging different prices for cats. All cats are around the same size, and it's not generally any more trouble to look after a larger one.
I know I wouldn't pay more for my cat if it fell into the medium category.
Just something to think about.
And just adding to that point, you can always up the price for a special case, such as a massively overweight cat if you think it will really make a difference in the care that it needs.
Lena.

Your pricing for birds is a bit high... I know they require specialized care - but the bird boarders around here provide their own bag of pellets (whatever type your bird eats) 3 cooked meals a day, playtime and overnight boarding for $10/night...

Just my feedback... $60 a night for petsitting is a bit high...

pssssssssst Jamie, she is in Manhatten, everything is more expensive there But, I do agree. $60.00 for a Macaw and a Too is pretty pricey...but I don't know. I have no idea what the going rate is in your area (maybe call some avian vet offices and ask? or maybe you've already done that and because I haven't read the entire thread I don't know know better ).

I love the colours though. It is a soft look and it is easy to get around.....and no music!!! I LOVE that (sorry, websites with music drives me crazy...lol).

One thing that I am unclear of...do you board at your house? If so, I couldn't really find that on the website, so you may want to talk a bit about that (for the bird side of it, make sure you talk about quarantine measures).

Nice work, Rose!! I know how tough it is to build up a website, it is always a work in progress.

Great Website, Question though,,, under pricing.. I am assuming you mean per visit per day... overnights.. is that you there over the night.. or at your place.... love the name too...... wish you were here in Northern Virginia
Carol

Oh, I also agree with Carrie~Anne... I didn't have my sound on but the colour scheme and navigation was very good. As a general rule if I can't find the information I want on a webpage in 30 seconds or less I tend to look elsewhere... everything was very easy to find and very quick to load on your site.

Also love the logo!