Dog walker marketing: a first-90-days plan

Days 1 to 14: be findable

Before any content, make sure someone who hears your name can find you and tell you are real.

• Set up a Google Business Profile with your genuine service area.
• Create an Instagram Business account and link it to a Facebook Page. You will need both to schedule anything later.
• Write a bio that names your town in plain text and says what you do in six words.
• Decide what you will not do. Turning down work you are bad at is marketing.

Days 15 to 45: prove you know the job

Post three times a week. Almost none of it should sell anything. The goal is that anyone who lands on your profile can tell within four posts that you take this seriously.

Mix teaching posts with local ones. Somebody deciding between you and another walker will pick the one who sounds like they have thought about it.

Days 46 to 75: ask, once

Now you can sell, because there is something behind it. One clear post a week at most, each about a specific opening rather than general availability.

At the same time, ask every current client for a review and a referral. Directly, by name, once. This produces more work than any post will.

Days 76 to 90: build the routine

By now you know which posts got saved and which got ignored. Do more of the first kind.

Set up whatever system means this keeps happening when you are busy — batching a month at a time, scheduling it, and getting on with the walks.