Creating a digital business card can be a game-changer for your networking and marketing efforts. With AWeber, you can easily design and share a professional-looking virtual business card. Here’s how:
Step 1: Choose a Digital Business Card App
Start by selecting a digital business card app. AWeber offers a free, user-friendly virtual business card template that you can customize directly in your AWeber account.
Step 2: Customize Your Digital Business Card
Once you’ve chosen a platform, fill in your card with essential details:
Upload a photo: Add a personal touch with your image.
Company logo: Insert your brand’s logo.
Job title and summary: Clearly state your role and a brief description.
Contact information: Include phone number, email, and other key details.
Social media links: Connect your audience with your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other relevant profiles.
Part of the beauty of digital business cards is that you can include as much (or as little) information as you’d like.
Here’s the most commonly included information:
Name and preferred pronouns
Job title and contact information
Social media accounts
Photo
Website URL
Elevator pitch
Company logo
QR code for easy access
Step 5: Share Your Digital Business Card
Now that you have a digital business card, it’s time to start sharing it. Here are some of the best ways to get your new virtual card into your potential clients’ hands.
QR code: In-person or on your Zoom virtual background.
Text or email: Send the link directly to new contacts.
Email signature: Embed the link or a screenshot of your card.
Direct link: Share it on social media or via messaging apps.
Benefits of Using Digital Business Cards
These new cards are quickly becoming “the norm” in the business world, and for good reason. There are many benefits to creating a virtual business card for yourself.
Convenient: Easily accessible on your device, no need for physical cards.
Cost-effective: Free or inexpensive to create and update.
Eco-friendly: Reduces paper waste.
Seamless follow-up: Integrate with your mailing list for automatic follow-ups.
Trendy: Stay up to date with modern networking practices.
Get Started Today!
Create your digital business card with AWeber’s virtual business card template and start sharing it effortlessly. Watch this video to see how easy it is to get started!
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital business card?
A digital business card (also known as a virtual business card) is a simple webpage with your contact information —including your name, email, website, socials, calendar link, contact form, and other information pertinent to you and your business.
Like a traditional business card, you use it to share your contact information. However, a digital business card can contain an unlimited amount of information. Plus, it can be interactive and up-to-date on your most recent info.
How Does a Digital Business Card Work?
A digital business card functions as an interactive and easily shareable version of a traditional business card. It can be accessed via a link, QR code, or app and includes comprehensive information like contact info, social media links, and more. Users can quickly and easily share and update their card, so they always present up-to-date information to contacts.
How to Create a Digital Business Card in Canva?
To create a digital business card in Canva, start by signing in to your Canva account and searching for “business card” templates. Choose a template that matches your style and customize it by adding your personal information, logo, and other details. You can also include a QR code. Once that’s done, download your card as a digital file, like a PDF or image.
How to Add a Digital Business Card to an Apple Wallet?
To add a digital business card to Apple Wallet, first create your digital card using a compatible platform or app. Export your card in a format supported by Apple Wallet, usually a PKPass file. Then, open the file on your iPhone, and choose “Add to Wallet.” Your digital business card will now be available in the Apple Wallet app for easy sharing and retrieval.
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Content curation is like being your audience’s personal algorithm. Just as an algorithm curates a feed for every user — putting content they’d like front and center — you separate the wheat from the chaff and collate info your followers would want in an organized way.
But where do you even find content to curate? And given the popularity of content curation, how do you stand out and offer bits and pieces that no competitor has an eye on? This article will share content curation sources that will help you become your audience’s favorite, go-to place for information.
The fault with content curation tools
If you surf online for how to become an A+ content curator, you’ll find loads of content curation tools — like Flipboard, Feedly, Curata, Scoop.it, Upcontent, etc. The problem with using these software (and even RSS feeds) as content sources is that everyone’s using them for content discovery. So you’re not truly giving your audience any new info.
Relying on content curation tools alone also makes you more of a content aggregator than a content curator: The former just collects pieces of relevant information and presents them as is, while the latter adds their own inputs and insights into the mix of existing information. It’s the difference between a retweet and a quote tweet.
To actually be successful in content curation, you need two things:
1. The ability to spot trends from a vast web of information: Seeing new information pop up every day and sharing it is one thing; connecting the dots is another. Noticing patterns and picking up on novel ideas enables you to create high-quality content — the kind no one can compete with.
2. An eye for seeing what everyone else missed: Plenty of people use content curation tools to share “highlights” of relevant content. How are you any different? Using authentic and unique sources + keeping your senses open for what everyone’s just glazing through will help you become a thought leader in your niche.
Reading these things in a silo might make it sound like content curation is magic and you need witchcraft abilities to become a great curator. But that’s 100 percent not the case. The next section will share details of ten content sources that’ll help you build a content curation strategy that’s low-effort and actionable.
10 content curation sources
1: Industry-specific email newsletters
Niche industry email newsletters are a goldmine of information. Whichever area you belong in, I’ll bet there’s a handful of popular newsletters and some unpopular ones. For example, if you live and breathe the social media world, Annie Mae’s Social Media Tea and Rachel Karten’s Link in Bio are well-loved newsletters. (And might I say, Buffer’s weekly newsletter is also A+ for social media deets? 😉)
But there are also more niche newsletters like Lia Haberman’s ICYMI for influencer marketing information and The Publish Press’s newsletter if you’re into the creator economy.
Industry-specific newsletters will provide you with a plethora of shareable content that your audience will find useful. Your followers don’t have the time to read and distill multiple newsletters — so do the task for them. Find newsletters that interview people in your niche, share relevant news, and help you stay on top of trends.
How do you find these email newsletters? Google: [your niche] inurl:newsletter. For example, if your niche is cosmetics, you’ll Google “cosmetics inurl:newsletter” and a list of cosmetics newsletters will pop up.
I’d also recommend subscribing to newsletters you come across on social media, find in other newsletters (how meta), or are recommended as “related newsletters” by newsletter software like Substack.
Keep a separate email just for these newsletters (because they can overflow your inbox). Comb through them in the beginning. You can unsubscribe to those you don’t find useful in a few weeks. Keep updating this list to always get a steady source of information within your industry — that helps you curate and create relevant content.
2: Niche news outlets
Like newsletters, there’s no shortage of niche news outlets or big news publications (like TechCrunch or Morning Brew) reporting on niche topics. For example, Business Insider has a separate creator economy webpage.
But you can also always find niche news outlets doing deep reporting in just one industry — like Modern Retail does for the retail industry. You can start to save the pieces you want to create content on in a software like Pocket and have a content repository for curating great content.
Where can you find these news outlets? Similar to newsletters, it’s a matter of finding a few to get the ball rolling. Google “[your niche] industry news” and you’ll come across multiple publications. For example, if you’re in the jewelry industry, Google “jewelry industry news” to find relevant news outlets.
You can nitpick the best sources from here. Many newsletters will often attribute their information to news publications, so keep your eyes peeled for those, too.
3: Social media trends reports
Many social media networks share trends they’re witnessing on their platform to help you create relevant content. For example, Pinterest releases a trends forecast report every year detailing what’s going to be a hit for the upcoming year. They share valuable and actionable info that can help you jot down some content ideas well in advance.
TikTok also releases a similar “What’s Next Trend Report” every year for its platform. This report doesn’t share “topics” for content creation or curation per se, rather discusses which strategies could work.
Instagram also lets you find trending Reels to help you catch up to what’s working on its network right now. Like TikTok, these trending templates are usually general trends you can spin and make your own.
Whichever platform you market on, keep an eye on their website for reports, case studies, and newsroom updates. It’ll share which strategies work on the platform and also give you an idea of what kind of content others are creating to help you curate your own.
4: Industry reports
Social media reports are wonderful, but the downside is they’re usually not niche-specific. This is where industry reports come in. Like news outlets and industry newsletters, many companies survey your potential customers and do the legwork for you. Your job is just to find these research papers.
A simple Google search of “skincare industry trends report” helped me find this amazing research by Clarkston Consulting.
You can also do this simple Google search to find niche industry reports. If you’re at the top of news outlets and newsletters, you might also come across these research papers organically. You can also do a search on Google Scholar or Statista.
And it’s not just tiny companies that create these reports. McKinsey released a “State of Fashion” report last year.
These industry reports help you understand your audience’s pain points and create useful content. If you think knowing the numbers will be helpful for your followers, you can also reshare the data you find here as an infographic.
⚠️ Remember: Evaluate the methodology, sample size, and sample diversity of any research papers you come across. Ensure the demographics of the sample are diverse, overlap with your target audience, and are large enough to make a conclusive finding.
5: User-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) is the content your consumers create while using your product or service. It’s anything you’re tagged on or mentioned in by your audience. UGC is an excellent way to curate content, share subtle happy customer testimonials, and create authentic social media posts.
Thredup is an excellent example. They regularly share clothes thrifted by their customers on their feed and encourage followers to check out the same pieces on their website.
To stay on top of brand mentions, notifications aren’t enough. You can use social media monitoring tools to track where you’re tagged and where you’re mentioned (but not tagged). Many social media management tools also come with built-in capabilities of spotting brand mentions, so try to find a tool that can do multiple jobs.
6: Your For You Page (FYP)
For You Page (FYP) is a TikTok term for the personalized feed the TikTok algorithm shows you when you log into your account. But this advice is applicable to all social media channels that curate handpicked social media posts on their homepage after learning your interests and behavior patterns.
If you spend some time online from any of your business social media accounts (on any social networks), you’ll find the feed curates to one particular niche or topic. For example, if you interact with many self-improvement videos, your homepage starts to recommend similar content to watch.
This homepage is a goldmine for curating content. You can stumble across relevant info that your audience will find useful and is probably not shown on their feed. Instead of just resharing something helpful, you can add your own thoughts on it — it’s called creating a Stitch video on TikTok, Remix on Instagram Reels, and Repost (formerly Quote Tweet) on X (formerly Twitter).
You can use the content you come across on your FYP to collaborate with other creators, react to trends or news, test viral hacks in your industry, or to simply continue the thought of another creator — embellished with your own examples and experience.
⚡
Pro-tip: Create a separate business and personal account on all social media platforms to keep your homepage on all networks separate. This will allow the algorithm to do its magic and your feed will be curated with information only relevant to your niche.
7: Social media hashtags or keywords
Think of social media hashtags and keywords as an extension of your FYP. You can use these tools to proactively search for trending topics in your industry and find videos you can Remix, Stitch, etc.
TikTok’s SEO (search engine optimization) is chef’s kiss and works very similarly to Google — just type in relevant keywords and popular posts including that keyword will appear like web pages. Pinterest and YouTube have a similarly strong search engine and Instagram’s SEO is also slowly catching up.
When you’re using hashtags or keywords to search for industry-related content, remember to see the “Related” or “Others searched for” topics, too. This will help you find more content to curate without the time-consuming process of hunting for keywords yourself.
You can also click on “Accounts” on TikTok and Instagram to find social media profiles using the keywords you mentioned. These are creators you can follow to keep up with your industry’s trending topics, news, etc.
8: Relevant communities
Communities are the place where people share tips, advice, problems, and interesting conversations. These can be subreddits, niche Slack channels, Twitter lists, Discord servers, Facebook groups, or even LinkedIn groups.
For example, at Buffer, we have a community of content creators, small business owners, and agency founders who are looking to grow on social media. If anyone’s looking to curate content for the social media feed, our community chats have helpful insights into what’s working for members, what they’re struggling with, etc.
You can also click on “Accounts” on TikTok and Instagram to find social media profiles using the keywords you mentioned. These are creators you can follow to keep up with your industry’s trending topics, news, etc.
8: Relevant communities
Communities are the place where people share tips, advice, problems, and interesting conversations. These can be subreddits, niche Slack channels, Twitter lists, Discord servers, Facebook groups, or even LinkedIn groups.
For example, at Buffer, we have a community of content creators, small business owners, and agency founders who are looking to grow on social media. If anyone’s looking to curate content for the social media feed, our community chats have helpful insights into what’s working for members, what they’re struggling with, etc.
Find relevant communities in your industry and join them! Participate in the discussions, and you might find plenty of resources to create curated posts.
Google “[your niche] communities” and take a similar approach as you did with newsletters: Join in on a few and see how you like the vibe. Stay where meaningful, relevant conversations happen frequently and leave the rest.
And don’t forget Reddit to find irresistible content ideas — to create and curate. Whatever niche you’re in, I can bet there’s an active subreddit about it pumping with discussions that you can use for your social media posts. Heck, I even found a subreddit called r/onionhate that’s just dedicated to…despising onions. 🫠
9: Niche blogs, opinion pieces, and podcasts
Every niche has a few thought leaders sharing insider info, hard-earned lessons gained from years of experience, and well-formed opinions. Newsletters and news outlets will help you catch a few of these.
But as you become more and more entrenched in your industry, you’ll start picking up on a few industry leaders’ names if you’re paying attention. Follow these people and curate their content for your audience (with due credit).
Take Wes Kao. She’s become a thought leader (broadly) in the career and management space. Her newsletters contain impeccable, original insights for someone who also creates content around this topic.
I’ve got a secret to tell you…
Your boss is tired of being your manager.
They want you to manage them.
Managing up: How to get what you want & give your boss what they need 🧵
Similarly, a podcast related to content marketing strategy, like Content, Briefly can help you discover lots of new people in the content marketing space. Listening to these podcasts can help you curate interesting, relevant, and thought-provoking content. Not just this: you can also find new people in your niche and follow them for more continuous insights. You see the domino effect?
Search Spotify or Apple podcasts with keywords of your niche to discover podcasts and learn about new people. From here, you can spot thought leaders and start to follow them. You can also magically start finding these blogs, opinion pieces, etc. in newsletters and your social media feed. It takes some time, but once the ball gets rolling, it becomes easier.
Start bookmarking the interesting pieces and people you come across using a tool like Pocket.
10: Influencers (who are relevant to your industry)
Related to the above pointer, there are specific people who are the influential leaders of your industry. They create trending topics by sparking discussions, pick up on patterns quickly, and have a lot of experience under their belt. Follow these people to build a repository of reliable sources for content curation.
Take Dr. Heleen Kibbelaar. She creates a crossover between scientific facts and the cosmetic industry.
If you’re a skincare creator, you can remix one of her Reels with a product review — seeing if the item matches all the boxes Kibbelaar mentions.
There are so many creative ways to build on a thought leader’s content. Find the key thought leaders in your industry — by Googling, social media search, or simply FYP — and follow them.
Balance curation with creation
If all you do is curate content, I have some bad news: You’re eventually going to become obsolete. Instagram’s algorithm has already started to prioritize original content — so someone who’s only resharing content will not be favored by the algorithm. Other social media platforms might follow suit.
While curating content, remember to:
a) Always put your unique spin on it. Sure, there’s this piece of information you found. But what do you think about it? How will it impact your audience? What should your followers do with this info? Don’t just do plain roundups with no “you” in them.
b) Create at least one original social media post from scratch for every piece of information you curate. Creating new content (along with curating existing one) will ensure your audience gets the best of both worlds from you.
c) Get your content curation from various sources. Relying on just one source risks your credibility, makes you more volatile, and enables lazy content creation. Put your marketing efforts to good use by having a sought after collection of various sources from multiple types of content (email newsletters, blogs, social networks, podcasts, etc.)
Earth day is an annual event celebrating the achievements of the environmental movement and raising awareness to the importance of ecological sustainability for long-term human stability. April 22nd, 1970, marks the first Earth Day in history, which mobilized 20 million Americans across the continent. Today, it’s estimated that 1 billion people participate, making Earth Day the largest secular movement in the world. In this two-part series, we first look at the history of Earth Day and how it’s celebrated across the globe. In Part 2, we’ll review more history and how Earth Day has transformed with changing trends – namely, political shifts, environmental activism, climate change awareness and social diversity and inclusivity. You’ll also be provided with Earth Day resources to help you participate on this special day.
THE HISTORY OF EARTH DAY AND HOW IT’S CELEBRATED ACROSS THE GLOBE
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring came as a watershed moment in how we view the planet and our impact on it. The book renounced the sinister degradation of our natural world by mass chemical pesticide and insecticide use. Carson describes chemical pest control as a poisonous agricultural ooze, stifling life and bird song from our springs.
Published in 1962, Silent Spring sold more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and kick-started the environmental movement. This movement demanded a shift in perspective, where nature was no longer seen as something to be controlled for man’s convenience, but rather as a connected part, essential for human development and stability.
Inspired by Carson’s work, American politician and environmentalist Senator Gaylord Nelson, targeted an already emerging public consciousness around air and water pollution. In 1969, Nelson delivered a series of lectures and discussions on college campuses to educate towards the goal of reducing humanity’s impact on our planet.
April 22nd was the date chosen for these college teach-ins. As a weekday falling between spring break and final exams, this date maximized student participation. To help him with his quest, Nelson recruited young activist Denis Hayes and conservation-minded Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey. Hayes soon recognized the potential to expand the reach of these teach-ins and inspire all Americans. As such, the team grew and promoted events across the continent. The day was renamed Earth Day, a marketing move that attracted a lot of media attention.
EARTH DAY HISTORY: WHERE IT ALL STARTED
The first Earth day celebrations occurred on April 22nd, 1970, in the United States. Since then, the celebrations have repeated every year, with 2020 marking the 50th anniversary. As each year passes, Earth Day has progressed and accrued supporters:
1970: The first Earth Day mobilized 20 million Americans (10% of the US population) to protect our planet.
1990: Earth Day goes global, rallying 200 million people in 141 countries.
2000: The power of digital technology is leveraged to create awareness and drive conversations concerning environmentalism. 5,000 environmental groups in 180 countries used digital platforms to engage with the general public on a global scale.
2010: 75,000 global partners across 192 countries engage with Earth Day. The Earth Day Network launched novel projects, for example, the A Billion Acts of Green project. This project engaged 30 million people to use social media and encourage green activities. The Canopy Project is also launched, an initiative to plant trees across the globe.
2020: 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Earth Day goes digitally remote for the first time in history, flooding channels with environmental action.
EARTH DAY IS A GLOBAL EVENT CELEBRATED ACROSS THE WORLD
The purpose of Earth Day is to educate, explaining why society needs to evolve to have symbiosis with our planet, and how society can preserve our resources to achieve this. Let’s take a look at the type of Earth Day celebrations that have occurred on the world stage since 1970.
United States, Washington DC: Rallies, lectures and marches are organized by scientists and civic organizations. Washington DC also hosts a free community festival bringing together nonprofits, small businesses and communities.
Denmark, Copenhagen: Earth Day celebrations occur at Christiansborg Castle Square. Celebrations include drum playing with players pointed at the four corners of the world. Participants then join the March for Science, which aims to hold elected officials accountable for green initiatives.
United Kingdom, London: Collective activities and musicians perform, raising funds for British charities and groups fighting climate change. The celebrations also feature environmental speakers, dance, yoga, shamans, vegan food and more.
British Columbia, Vancouver: Vancouver hosts Earth Day parades and festivals that provide various educational talks and activities.
Japan, Tokyo: Celebrations occur across two days. 100,000 visitors are expected to enjoy family activities and learn about sustainable business methods and ways to promote environmental protection.
Australia, Sydney: Sydney hosts nature walks with experts and focuses on giving actionable advice for how residents can create a more sustainable home.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE ON EARTH DAY 2023
The theme of Earth Day 2023 is ‘Invest in Our Planet’. This theme is designed to persuade businesses, governments and citizens around the world of the need to invest in our planet to improve our environment and give our descendants a better and safer future.
Between April 20-22, you can join the world’s leaders for Earth Day:
April 21st: Educational International will lead the Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit. This is a multilingual virtual summit to span across several time zones and feature prominent activists from every continent.
April 22nd: Earthday.org will host its second Earth Day Live digital event here, beginning at 12pm EST. This day will include workshops, panel discussions and special performance focusing on the concept of Restore Our Earth. World climate leaders, grassroots activists, nonprofit innovators, thought leaders, industry leaders, artists, musicians and influencers will come together to discuss today’s greatest environmental and social challenges and collaborate on solutions.
You can continue building the incredible history of Earth Day by playing a part in its call to action and future goals! Be proactive and educate yourself, colleagues, family and friends! Check out Green Business Bureau’s Earth Day resources, listed below:
Are you an animal lover? If so, you might be interested in learning how to make money as a pet sitter.
Working as a pet sitter can be a good way to make some extra money, and in many cases, it can be a low-maintenance side hustle.
Learn about what a pet sitter does, how to get work done, and more in this article as you decide whether working as a pet sitter is for you.
What Is A Pet Sitter?
A pet sitter is someone who cares for clients’ pets when they’re not available. Some people hire pet sitters for a day, a weekend, a week, or longer.
As a pet sitter, you might take care of pets for people who are at work and don’t want their pets alone for long hours. You may also care for a pet when its owner is away for work or on vacation.
Pet sitters typically work as independent contractors. This means you’ll be self-employed, so you’ll need to keep track of income, expenses, mileage, and other details that come with business ownership.
What Does A Pet Sitter Do?
Working as a pet sitter can be one of many great side hustles, especially if you’re an animal lover. Depending on the type of pet, a pet sitter is responsible for various tasks.
When you work as a pet sitter, you might find yourself doing tasks such as:
Walking dogs
Playing with cats
Cleaning litter boxes
Cleaning up doggie doo
Feeding animals
Cleaning reptile cages
Giving medications to animals
Generally, you should just spend time with your clients’ pets. You can choose whether to care for pets in your home or the pet’s home.
You can choose short-term or long-term pet care jobs. Pet sitting is a job that requires a lot of responsibility but can also be fun.
It’s important to know that when you work as a pet sitter, you will likely have access to the pet owner’s home.
They’ll give you a key or an access code so you can go in and out to care for their pet. This part of pet sitting is an extra responsibility.
Therefore, it’s important to leave the house as securely locked as it was when you found it. In addition, you’ll need to keep a safe eye on keys or other homeowner items.
How Does A Pet Sitter Get Work?
Pet sitters find work in several ways. First, some businesses are devoted to connecting pet sitters with clients.
Along with that, there are other ways you can get work as a pet sitter as well. We’ll talk about the businesses connecting pet sitters with clients first.
Rover
Rover was founded in 2011 and primarily serves cat and dog owners. However, you may also be hired to care for other types of animals on Rover.
Pet owners with guinea pigs, hamsters, bunnies, and more might seek your services on Rover.
When you create a profile on Rover, you set your schedule, prices, and services that you’ll offer.
Booking is done through Rover. You’ll also get paid through Rover, and it takes two days after you complete the service for your money to show in your Rover account.
From there, you can transfer earned funds to your bank account. Rover takes a 20%-25% fee off of what you earned. You keep 100% of any tips earned.
Pawshake provides services similar to Rover but is based in Canada and parts of Europe. With Pawshake, you can care for dogs, cats, many small animals, and horses.
This is a change from Rover, which doesn’t book horse sitters. As with Rover, you can design your profile on Pawshake to include the hours and days you’re available, your fees, and the types of pets you care for.
Pawshake charges you a 19% fee on your earnings. You will receive your payout within 8 days of completing your services.
Facebook
Facebook community pages can be great places to offer pet-sitting services. You can expect to earn more money if you advertise and work independently.
You won’t have to share the profits with a service such as Rover, so 100% of what you earn belongs to you.
However, it’s important to remember that if you’re going to work on your own and not partner with a service, you must understand the risks.
Services like Rover and Pawshake provide insurance, additional security and screening measures, and more.
So, if you work independently and advertise on Facebook, Craigslist, and similar sites, consider security measures, insurance, and other details.
Around Your Town
You can also advertise your pet-sitting business around your city or town. You can make flyers and distribute them locally.
Or you can post your pet-sitting information on bulletin boards at local stores and restaurants.
Keep in mind the insurance and security details listed above. In addition, remember that when you own your own business, you’ll have to keep track of income, expenses, mileage, and more for tax filing purposes.
How Much Money Does A Pet Sitter Make?
One of the great things about pet sitting is that you get to choose your fees. The fees you charge will depend on several factors:
The services you provide
The geographical area in which live and serve
Your reputation as a pet sitter
What other pet sitters are charging
And more. Indeed.com reports that the average salary for a pet sitter in the United States is $15.91 per hour.
When searching online, you’ll find that pet sitters sharing their experiences often charge $20 an hour.
Of course, the more you build up a reputation as a quality pet sitter, the more you’ll be able to charge.
Conversely, one of the best ways to attract and keep repeat customers is to keep your hourly rates reasonable and your service at a stellar level.
Pet Sitter Expenses
Yes, you can earn money as a pet sitter. However, some expenses come along with being a pet sitter.
Some expenses you’ll incur if you own a pet-sitting business include the fees you’ll pay if you create a profile on a site such as Rover.
If you work independently of a pet-sitting service, you’ll likely have to pay for liability insurance. You’ll also have transportation expenses, such as gasoline for your vehicle if you’re driving to meet clients.
In addition, if you’re driving more, you will have added vehicle maintenance costs. You’ll need more oil changes, new tires sooner, and vehicle checks and tune-ups more frequently.
Lastly, you may have business ownership expenses, such as using Quickbooks for recordkeeping. Keeping track of these business expenses is essential as you can deduct them from your tax return.
Deducting business expenses and declaring your pet-sitting income means you’ll likely pay less in annual taxes.
Pros and Cons Of Pet Sitting
Pros
Set your schedule
Choose the services you’ll provide
Be your boss
Work as much or as little as you want
Cons
Pet sitting can be messy
Business ownership requires extra work
Frequently Asked Questions
Is working as a pet sitter safe?
Being safe as a pet sitter involves the same rules as basic safety: Let someone know where you’re going, when you’ll be back, and how you can be reached. If you feel uncomfortable, it’s okay to turn down a job.
What services should I offer as a pet sitter?
You decide what services you offer as a pet sitter. Care for dogs, cats, or other animals according to your comfort level.
Should I work for a service like Rover or work independently?
Some experienced pet sitters suggest starting by working for a site like Rover and then going independent after you’ve built a solid client base.
It might be a good idea to work for a service at first to understand how the business works.
Who Should Work As A Pet Sitter?
Are you considering working as a pet sitter? If you like animals, pet sitting might be a great part-time job or addition to your side hustle stack.
However, along with loving animals, you’ll need to be responsible if you’re going to succeed as a pet sitter.
Being a successful pet sitter also involves keeping a tight schedule, ensuring the security of a pet’s home, and being aware of a pet’s physical condition.
Finally, to succeed as a pet sitter, you must be a self-starter and comfortable running your business.
You’ll need to be organized to keep track of clients, income, expenses, car maintenance and mileage, and other facts.
Final Thoughts
Working as a pet sitter involves work. However, it can also involve a lot of fun.
If you love animals, it’s like getting paid to hang out with furry friends! Just be responsible and reliable; soon enough, you’ll have a booming pet-sitting business.
What do you think we’re talking about when we say the words “email personalization”? Are you thinking about merge tags or dynamic content? Segmentation and automation? Profile or behavior-based automations? Or all of the above?
While the technology, functionality, and overall options you have available when it comes to personalizing an email has changed—we’re still using the same generalized term to mean everything that’s dynamic, interactive, segmented or field-based in an email. When we say “personalize it,” we’re talking about a growing list of tactics that span the spectrum in terms of data needed, resources required, and impact.
As personalization becomes the norm for all kinds of marketing channels, I think it’s time for us to get more specific about these tactics that involve vastly different levels of resource and data to pull off and also have vastly different levels of impact, depending on the scenario.
10 years ago personalizing an email was relatively straightforward. Today, it could mean anything from an automated cart abandonment play to a simple “Hi Cynthia” using merge tags.
Email is both at an all-time high in volume and in return on investment (ROI). The roller coaster of the past few years has grown our dependence on email in more ways than we could have ever imagined.
Overall email volume up 13% since 2020, expected to grow another 13% by 2026.
At the same time, consumer expectations have evolved to the point that our subscribers EXPECT us to only send them the most relevant information—and some level of personalization is one of the most proven ways to do that.
“McKinsey research shows that 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And the story doesn’t end there: 76 percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.” Source: McKinsey
Let’s take a look at the different types of email personalization and consider how to bucket them moving forward.
In the beginning: Text field personalization
When I first started my career, personalization in the world of email was a really specific thing related to merge tags—primarily editing copy in everyone’s favorite “Hi <first_name>” kind of way. For the sake of today’s exercise, let’s just call this “Text Field Personalization.”
It was cool: it made things more personal, and we quickly found you could really tailor a message with all kinds of fields. At the same time, you really open yourself up for errors based on the quality of your data. Nothing like sending a board member a message that says “Hi <first_name>” and having that email forwarded back to you by the CEO asking what happened. (Speaking from experience here!)
This made us nervous. No one thinks their data is clean today, but I dare say things weren’t better ten years ago.
We personalized where we could because it worked. It’s important to note that this personalization “strategy” was typically built in at the copywriting phase based on fields we knew we had available to us.
Today, it’s somewhat funny that we thought that was all we needed to to create personalized experiences in the inbox. Do you remember when suddenly every email service provider (ESP) allowed you to use merge tags in subject lines? What seemed like overnight, almost all of our subject lines started becoming very pointed. “Where do you want to go today?” and “Where do you want to go today, Cynthia?” have very different tones.
And soon we learned one of the most important lessons in email: don’t count out the impact of new and shiny things. I’d imagine that subject line trick worked on me a lot at first. But today, I can’t remember the last time I even noticed it.
The evolution of segmentation
As we began to understand key segments of our audience with similar personas, needs, and interests, we started just creating different versions of the email for those groups. This allowed us to design and write specifically to that audience but took out the complexities of data connections along the way.
But depending on how many different segments we wanted to cater for, the process of creating bespoke email designs and copy for every single one of those groups became incredibly time-consuming.
Images matter, too: The evolution of dynamic content
In the 2010s, we started seeing dynamic content opportunities beyond copy. Suddenly we could send segments different images to create more relevant experiences. We call this more generally “dynamic content.”
This was especially helpful because by then we were all hyper-aware that a good deal of our audience is skimming the email and those impressions really mattered.
Meanwhile: We were discovering motion-based design elements
At the same time, we started playing with motion-based elements. Think animated GIFs and CSS animations, the use of hover states for buttons, and AMP for Email.
Used in the right places, these tactics can create real interest and make the email far stickier and more engaging just from a visual interest standpoint.
And here’s where things got blurry.
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That brings us to today
Interactive email elements like hover/rollover effects, animated GIFs, gamification, and user-generated options like live polls are often simply called “interactive.” However, the personalized nature of the last few make them—in my mind—a whole different kind of interactivity. I suppose we could call this Personalized Interactivity or a lot of folks are calling it Real-Time or Open Time Personalization today.
It’s one of the most sophisticated, strategic tactics you can introduce to your email program. At the same time, it doesn’t require the database confidence, connections, or operational logistics to make it happen. It’s easier to set up, has less room for error, and is still one of the most effective ways to engage an audience.
Interactive Elements: Make Emails More Visually Compelling
Personalization Elements: Personalize the Content based on your data
Real Time/Open Time Personalization: Personalize in Real-Time based
Animated GIFs
Text-Based Personalization
Live Polls
CSS Animations
Dynamic/Personalized Images
Countdown Timers
AMP for Email
Content Automation
Sentiment Trackers
Social Media Feed Integrations
Scratch Offs
Add to Calendar Buttons
Rule-Based Images
If these elements are all in your tool set today, you should be able to pick and choose which elements are best suited for the right use cases to create true interest-based, personalized customer journeys. When you use this tool set effectively, you can create dynamic and effective customer journeys that both delight your audience and increase conversions. Win, win.
We’re thinking about how to organize this “tool set” in a way that can help you choose when and where to use the bells and whistles to have the best impact. Stay tuned for that and let us know what you think!
What’s missing from this list? (Send me an email at [email protected] if you have a suggestion.)
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After years of rising interest rates, falling rates might soon be on the way. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin reducing its target range for the federal funds rate sometime soon, possibly as early as September. Once the Fed begins to cut rates, it should have ripple effects throughout the economy — and on your wallet. For some Americans, falling rates will be a negative.
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