Mary Nellum is the owner of Smiling Sox Pet Care in Conway, AR. I have had the pleasure of getting to know Mary over the past few months. Mary is passionate about pets and has a lot of knowledge and insight on pet care.
Two things characterize Mary and the business she runs. First, Mary is passionate as I said above. She is a natural around dogs and cats. Sox and spice are her two lovable pooches and the inspiration for her name and business. Mary knows how to train pets and teach pet owners to train their pets.
The second thing that characterizes Mary is trustworthiness. One of the most important aspects of her business is her willingness to care for your pets in your home. Mary will come to sit with, feed and give social interaction with your pet at the place where your pet is most comfortable, your home. To be a pet sitter in your home, Mary has to have a high degree of trustworthiness, and she has earned that from her clients.
Further, Mary is a champion for small, local businesses. She is very interested, and passionate, about doing business with those who make their home in her community. I often learn about other businesses from her as she is always promoting her friends who run small businesses. One of her sources of referral is from a locally owned pet store in Conway.
Mary is very good of taking advantage of online resources. Yes, I have offered advice and tips to Mary to help her business, but, much of what she has done has been on her own. She has taken advantage of as many places as she can to advertise her services such as Thumbtack and Care.com.
Mary explained to me that approximately 75% of her clients have found her via the web. The rest is from referral. She makes it easy to be found, and then her clients like her so much that they refer her to their friends. That sounds like a recipe for success to me.
Also, Mary has taken advantage of social media. She has set up a Facebook page and a twitter account and began reaching out to and connecting people using those tools as well.
If you are from Conway and are interested in contacting Mary about some pet sitting, you can visit her website at www.smilingsoxpc.com. And, tell her that you heard about her from me!
For being a champion, Mary gets a copy of A Champion by Frank Agin and Jim Ballard.