what has been the best cost effective marketing you have done to increase getting bussiness?

I also advertise on my local county's Facebook buy/sell/trade sites. Business cards are great to drop off at local veterinary clinics and groomers. Postcards are great, especially if you are a walker! Select your target (a great neighborhood with lots of houses with dogs) and put your post cards in the newspaper boxes, or stick on the front door. I make my own tear-off ads and post them on local grocery stores, pet supply stores, and restaurant boards. I've gotten business from all of my ads. The tear-off ads have netted the most business so far.

I got the business cards as well, and then attached them to homemade door hanger signs. They are basically a longer postcard-type paper, with my business card on the front, and on the back I have a handwritten message that introduces myself and talks about my services. I have made quite a few of these and carry them whenever I am out and about walking my dogs, and if I notice that a yard has a dog, I will hang one on the door of the house. Of course, I will also hand out my business card to people. This has been my biggest business pull, and I love getting out there and meeting people! Walking around the Farmer's Market with four weekend sitting dogs (two bulldogs, a husky and a hound) really drew a lot of dog people over, and got a lot of conversation going, which got a few clients in the door. What is fun is being able to really keep it all around town, so I am getting to know all these people and all these dogs!

I also have the business cards from Rover and then I purchased the car magnets as well. I post to Craigslist about once a week, but I don't receive many clients through there. When I first started out, I posted a link for my profile to my personal Facebook page w/ a brief message to my facebook friends about my services, and I had friends that shared my post and I was able to get a few new clients through their friends. With all of these people out playing Pokemon Go, I have found that a lot of them are bringing their dogs with them to play at local parks, so I have been out walking and passing out cards there. I also hang my cards on community bulletin boards such as at parks, in neighborhoods, and at places like Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks that have boards. There are more places that are becoming dog friendly such as car dealerships and Half Price Books, so make sure you ALWAYS carry your business cards with you and strike up a conversation with dog owners that you see. Finally, you can take a look at other sites where you can have a business listing, such as Thumbtack, or pet sitting-specific sites such as Pet Sit USA where you pay for an annual membership (this one in particular is $45) and they have resources available to you and your listing will appear in their business listings. Other sites like this include PUPS, NAPPS, and PSI. Once you get started, word of mouth is also a fantastic way to get new clients. Good luck!

I agree with the recommendations of getting business cards. I also posted on Craigslist. But honestly, most of my clients have found me just by searching the Rover site, which they found out about through Rover's advertising (online searches, radio ads, etc). But getting your name out in front of the public, by way of business cards, is a good thing. I put them up at pet stores and feed stores.

By far facebook! I posted on our community page and on our towns residents page. I have gotten three new clients to sign up for Rover in the last few weeks and book me just doing that! Social network is the way to go in my opinion. I also made an Instagram page and I found people that way as well!