June 6, 2025 • 37 mins
This week on The Whisker Report, Mary and Alex welcome Bryn Souza, Director of Customer Experience at DOGTV and a multifaceted creative force in the pet industry. From marketing and blogging to content strategy and freelance writing, Bryn shares how she carved her path into pet media and landed at the forefront of innovative programming. The conversation dives into what’s working (and what’s not) in PR and marketing for pet brands, how DOGTV approaches partnerships, and how shelters and rescues can better amplify their message. Whether you're in animal welfare or the pet business world, tune in for actionable insights, fresh ideas, and a behind-the-scenes look at a media brand making waves—tail wags included!
EPISODE NOTES: Paws, Play, and PR: Behind the Scenes with Bryn Souza
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/whisker-report-pet-pr-publicity-pet-life-radio-original--6669416/support.
EPISODE NOTES: Paws, Play, and PR: Behind the Scenes with Bryn Souza
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/whisker-report-pet-pr-publicity-pet-life-radio-original--6669416/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Love babe.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Welcome to the Whisker Report.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
We're a new podcast dedicated to helping anyone in the
pet industry. Whether you're an animal welfare or a for
profit pet company, we want to help you get some
pr and buzz for your nonprofit or business. Hello everyone,
I'm Mary Hann, one of the hosts of the show,
along with my lovely co host Alexandricard, a cat rescuer
(00:37):
and public relations professional who hails from France but now
lives in the wonderful town of Vancouver. Boner Alex, how
does it go with you?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Hey, everybody, it's going well. We finally got some snow here.
I was really waiting for.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
It because you know, I just love snow, and it
snowed like last week and the snow is still here
because it's so cold, so it's not melting, which I
had never experienced before.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
So yeah, I'm still loving it though, so that's good.
And then joining us is our fabulous producer Mark Winter
Fidlife Radio, who is the man who gets us to
you each and every week.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
Hey, Mark, Ay, Happy Valentine's Day, Valentine, No snow here
in Florida.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
That's surprising.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Are you taking Michelle out for a lovely dinner?
Speaker 6 (01:30):
Mark, Actually, we're gonna go to Happy Hour, which is
more fun.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Yes, to drink some margaritas.
Speaker 7 (01:36):
We're gonna do that.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
Drink some margaritas, Yes for sure. And yes, we had
a lot of fun things this week because thanks to
you guys, we went to see the amazing Acro Cats
this week. Oh no, how was it? The cats were
really really cute and yeah, and they did some fun stuff.
Oh and so we had fun at that. And then
(01:58):
since it's Valentine's Day, we also had Dylan Lauren, Ralph
Lauren's daughter on Dylan's Candy Bar, who has a rabbit
rescue and all kinds of stuff and she talking all
about candy.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Oh my gosh, which podcast is that on?
Speaker 6 (02:14):
That's Jill's podcast, Rapaport to the Rescue. I know I
always promote her every week, but she's got good guests.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, well, Jill's the connected person you now, howbachoes? But
that's so amazing. I've been to Dylan's Candy Bar in
New York. Yeah, it's so yummy and you can just
kind of eat your way through it. But you're kind
of like eating a lot of samples and that's not good.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
No, I know.
Speaker 6 (02:39):
Well she sent us once a whole big giant basket
of candy, which was great, except I don't need a
lot of candy.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
All the candy you got a sugar high. Well, we're
so honored to be part of Mark's Pet Life Radio
Network and you can do pr for yourself and Alex
Mark and I are going to help you you every week.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
And today we've got a great artist with us on
the show. Brinsusa is the director of Customer Experience at
doc TV. She has a ton of experience in the
pet industry, where she does everything from marketing to blogging,
to content marketing to freelance writing for pet publications. Welcome Brain,
(03:22):
We're so happy you're on the show.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Oh hello, Happy Valentine's Day everyone, Thank you. I'm happy
to be here.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
We would like to start with asking you. Can you
tell us how you got into the pet industry in
doc TV?
Speaker 6 (03:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yes, so, I for a long long time worked in
higher education and I while I was working in higher education,
adopted or brought my first dog into my world. Her
name was Bean. She was a little brown buston terrier,
and I don't know, it turned a switch on in
my brain box as soon as she came into my life.
(03:57):
For I don't know, maybe thirty seconds, I was at
per person who said there won't be any pets on
the couch, they won't be in the bed, And then quickly,
within minutes, she just became my little velkir dog. And
she was with me everywhere. She followed me into the
bathroom when I took a shower, She hid behind my
legs when she went out to go potty because she
(04:18):
was afraid of the grass. She was always a part
of my existence, and I fell in love with her,
so as one does. I'm sure both of you, well,
all three of you can attest to you kind of
start to obsessively take photos of your cats or dogs,
And for me at that point, it was taking videos
(04:40):
and photos of them and posting them on Instagram, when
it was still just here's a cute picture, and there
was no fear of algorithm. It was just this is
a cute animal. You will also like this cute animal.
Let's appreciate this cute animal together. And for some reason
I started to learn about pet photography contests and I
(05:03):
kept on entering them. So a lot of brands and
you still see this, but it's a little bit different
now it feels different. But a lot of brands will
post on their social share an image of your dog
or your cat, and you might win a prize. So
I kept on winning prizes. I kept on taking photos
of bean and winning contests. And I at that point
(05:25):
kind of realized two things. One there was power with
that potential power, and two apparently I was a better
photographer than I thought. So I leaned in on that,
and I wound up winning a lot of prizes for
pet contests, and I think after doing some of the math,
(05:46):
it's wound up total being about thirty five thousand dollars
worth of stuff that I've won. Whoa anything that I've won,
So that's it's not necessarily money. Usually it's not. It's
product supplies. Sometimes it's grants. I will donate to our
(06:06):
local shelter. So everything that I have one I've Whenever possible,
I've donated. So that's been a great way for me
to feel like I'm helping in the pet space and
also share cute photos of my creatures. Photo allowed me
to win a trip to something called blog Pause, which Mary, Yeah,
I had a chance to go to a few times,
(06:26):
and Alex, I met you a couple months ago for
the first time. So blog Pause is a community for
pet people who are also in many cases the blogging space,
but now it's also related to micro influencers, social media influencers,
people who are sharing their love of pets, not just
in the conventional writing way, but in other ways as well.
(06:48):
So it's changed along the years, but that concept of
pets and communication and those people that are in between
is really what blog pause is all about. So I
won a trip to a blog Pause, and this one
was in Nashville, So I brought my parents with me.
We rented a very large car and drove around Nashville
(07:09):
and they didn't get lost, but I'm surprised by that.
And I know that they tried on hats and ate
the hot chicken and did lots of wild stuff while
I was away. And I realized in that time. While
I was going to the conference, I was like, Oh,
you can actually make this into a business. You can
actually be a pet blogger. So I did not have
(07:32):
a blog when I joined that world. I just went
because I won the trip. So then I started the blog,
I would say about four or five months after. So
my blog is a dog walks into a bar. It's
dogs and drinking. That's my life bits And honestly, part
of the reason why I started it was I could
then rite off going to breweries as a business expense,
(07:54):
so that of a twist in, but it it works.
And so at that time I also had a dog
named Yoda. He was a Boston Terrier who was basically
a big potato with legs, so he was very round
and he just sort of puddled around a little bit,
and he was a very chill dog, so he was
(08:15):
comfortable going to places like breweries and wineries, being she
was more let's make out on the first date kind
of a dog, and so that wasn't necessarily the right
choice for going to breweries with people who had never
met her before. So Yoda was a better choice for that.
And I talked about dog friendly breweries, dog friendly fundraising events.
So you'll notice a lot of those places that have
(08:38):
happy hours or yappy hours. You'll see yappy hours as
a terminology. They do a lot of fundraising for local rescues.
So that was another thing that I tried to highlight
in the blog, and of course there was humor because
it's a dog walks into a bar, and I prefer puns.
I appreciate them a lot. So I started to write
for the blog, and then other brands started to reach
(09:00):
out to me to either take images for them or
write for their blogs or writing for magazines. So I
began to understand the scope of all of the different
spaces where I could be either sharing images or writing,
and then sort of understood the potential of the field, right.
(09:21):
So I fell into it in a lot of ways,
which I think is a good thing because I understood
the value after having developed a lot of connections and
relationships with people in the space, and that helped me
in a lot of ways. So I finally got out
of higher education it was slowly sucking my soul dry,
and started to work at a pet id company and
(09:44):
was finally able to have that really be my home
working in the pet space. And now I'm currently in
the pet space as a member of the dog TV team.
So it's been a kind of a twisty attorney road,
but that's really kind of the fun of it is.
It wasn't waking up one morning and just being like
I'm going to be in the pet space. It was
a gradual move on over and that also meant that
(10:07):
I got to know some really amazing people along the way.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Not the question, you rocked it at blog pause. You
won all of the major blogging awards. I just want
to give you a shout up because you were one
of the top bloggers in the nation at the time
and still are and tell us you know, a lot
of people don't understand the work that goes into that.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
That was like a full time job, wasn't it. It
was a lot of work. Yeah, So I thank you.
First off, I appreciate that, and it was a lot
of fun, but it is a lot of work and
when you are starting out in that field. So for me,
as an example, I just I wanted to take photos
of my dog, and then I started to realize all
of those other pieces. Right, So obviously writing, writing well,
(10:54):
understanding what SEO is, understanding why SEL matters, advocating for
yourself and understanding the metrics on social media platforms, Understanding
how to collaborate with other brands and have them work
with you or want to work with you. It all
is important. None of them are really any more or
(11:16):
less important, and there's only so much time in the
day to be able to do all of those different pieces.
And for many of the people, I think I would
say probably eighty percent of the folks that were a
part of the blog plas world, they had other full
time jobs, so very few of them what they are
or were doing in the pet blogging world was their
(11:38):
sole source of income. It was an addendum too, and
they might have made money, but it was more in
a lot of cases, just for that experience. So it
does take time. It also takes the willingness to learn
and a space where that information is available. So that's
one of the reasons why networks like the Cap Writers Association,
(12:01):
and I'm sure you're familiar with it, the Dog Writers Association,
which I'm currently a member, Associations like blog paus and
other places where you have a network of people that
have familiarity with things that you might have heard of
but don't necessarily have that framework can be really really valuable.
Because I'm a strong photographer and I'm a strong writer,
(12:22):
but I don't necessarily I don't really spend a lot
of time on social media as much as other people,
so sort of learning where your strengths are, leaning in
on that and also being able to identify other members
of the community that you can at least use as
a sounding board can be really valuable as well, but
also to collaborate. One of the things that I think
is really important is nobody in the pet space needs
(12:45):
to be competition. We're all here because we love pets
and we love to make their lives happy, healthy, fun,
and they get enricher lives as a result. You doing
your blog and being successful and me having my blog
and being successful. Neither one of those are mutual exclusives.
There's no competition. There doesn't have to be competition, and
if we're lifting each other up and collaborating, then there's
(13:09):
a lot more of an ability for us to help
with Hey, I know this, or I know someone, Let
me connect you with that person, and to work collaboratively
can be It's one of the most magical things about
the pet world that you don't necessarily find in other places.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Brent can ask you a question about blogging because how
has that changed, Like how is blogging in twenty twenty five?
Because I know Mary, you've been big on blogging, You've
been big on following blogs.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I know I'm not.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I will follow social media accounts, but I will never
follow a blog or go on a blog myself unless
like something takes me there. So maybe there's a difference
in generation. But yeah, I was just wondering, how is
it Internet twenty five?
Speaker 8 (13:52):
Right?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
It has changed, and I think the intended audience has changed.
I think the way people are finding the content has changed.
It all still in a lot of cases goes back
to SEO. But what SEO means isn't necessarily using certain
words to just be found, and I think that is
(14:15):
what people believe SEO to be. So for anyone who's
listening to this and they're hearing that terminology and they
haven't really known what it is yet, it's search engine
optimization dent to done. And so many people associate that
with Google, which is understandable since it's a large search engine.
But no matter where, if your dog is limping and
(14:36):
you're typing into a search engine, why is my dog limping?
And therefore you find resources. Some of those resources that
are answering those questions could be a blog, and so
that blog is a repository of information it can be,
and so that goes into are you using your blog
or creating your blog to help answer questions and therefore
(14:58):
be found and therefore possibly ma money or are you
using your blog to share relevant stories and information about
your life with your pet, and which of those two
is better or more valuable? And I can't answer that question.
I am always that person who believes the storytelling is
(15:18):
paramount to the product that is being mentioned. And I
think strongly that there's importance in integrity. I do not
ever write about things that I might have not tried.
So and you've seen it. I'm sure you've seen it,
especially on social where people are talking about a face
moisturizer and a blah blah blah, and every other post
(15:41):
is something a product, and you start to think, well,
have they actually tried those things? Do they really care
about those things? Or are they simply getting money behind
the scenes. And so my logic is, and this is
me personally, I will never talk about a product if
I've never tried it and I don't feel strongly about it.
(16:03):
And it's okay to talk about a product when there
are negative aspects about it too, because there's integrity with
being transparent. So I'm different than other pet bloggers who
might simply be using that space to potentially get traffic
and therefore make money. And I don't necessarily care if
(16:23):
I don't make money on my blog. I'd much rather
care about the relationships and the people I'm helping. So,
for example, there is a I have been when she
was four, developed a mass cell tumor, which is young
for a dog to get a mass cell tumor, and
they do have the propensity to come back, and so
(16:44):
her surgery was very intense, her tiny little body, her
scar was basically her entire side, and she had a
pretty badass scar for the rest of her life. And
I shared my experience on how skin I was as
a pet parent, how I didn't necessarily know what questions
to ask, what her experience was from a recovery standpoint,
(17:09):
what my experience was after her surgery on my I
guess anxiety about like continuing to look for signs and
keeping track of stuff. And I wrote that blog post
being has been she's not on this plane anymore. She's
she's been gone for at least three years, and her
surgery was probably at this point a decade ago. I
(17:29):
still get traffic on that post and I still get
people who interact with it sharing thanks for the narrative
of understanding experience, not necessarily like you need to buy
this thing, so that matters. The other thing that I'm
I don't know what the right term is highly aware
of is AI? I know, yeah, and the are people
(17:53):
creating blogs to play the game? Are they actually even
creating the blogs or are they just writing into whichever
or engine that they can for AI top search queries
and having it sort of PLoP out whatever that content is.
I as a writer, I feel my like hackles go
up when that happens because my voice is unique to
(18:15):
me and I am a humor based storyteller. I cannot
recreate that story, nor should I, or that feel in
the world of AI. And how many people are using
that as their tool, Yeah, terrifying. It's a horrible situation.
I mean, it's the lack of creativity.
Speaker 8 (18:35):
You know.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
I was on there looking at things and you know,
and I know a lot of journalists.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Are like AI is stealing.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Like a lot of the major news organizations are like
fighting back and doing lawsuits and different things like that.
We need to take a quick break, but when we
come back, we're going to talk with Brinn about gog TV.
Speaker 8 (19:00):
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(19:21):
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Speaker 7 (19:42):
Let's talk pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
And we're back with Brin Susan with doc TV. So
let's talk ab about doc TV. Yes, bring, what is
the approach of doc TV when it comes to marketing
and public relations? Yeah? How are you getting the word
out about your programming?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Sure? So we do have as a let me explain
what dog tv is for ye that might have never
heard of this, Who we are and what we create,
because it's pretty amazing. So dog tv is a TV
platform and entertainment platform for four pets. So dogs and
cats see colors differently. They also see images differently, so
(20:34):
we have created content for how they see color and
how they process images, along with how they process sounds.
So the way dogs hear this the frequencies that they hear,
and same with cats is certainly different, so we do
have content that matches the way a dog or cat
can then can process those different sites and sounds. So
(20:57):
our most common programming or most pop I guess it's
a better way phrasing, it is relaxation. So if you've
ever had one of those stressful days where you're just like,
I just need something to help zen, you know, provide
some zen relaxation programming. It works on humans too. I
put it on for bug and also wind up falling asleep.
So it is calming programming, calming scenes. There might be
(21:20):
ducks swimming in a pond, there could be dogs going
on a walk. Nothing really is going to be causing
any anxiety, and it's calming music. And a lot of
pet parents will leave the home to work or go
shopping and they will turn on relaxation programming for their
pets before they leave, So it's a way to help
keep their pet comfortable and happy and calm and engaged
(21:43):
while they are not currently with them at that time.
So we get a lot of videos of pet parents
where they're showing their their dog watching the TV while
they're using like those ring cameras or other cameras at home,
so they're not even there, but the dog is engaged
or they're taking nice snooze while the programming is happening
(22:05):
for them. So we do use social media a lot
to share that story where we're showing pet parents what
they're seeing and the dog engaging with the content or
simply relaxing, and we're resharing that content to really hammer
home that it is a resource for pet parents if
they are not able to be with their pet at
(22:26):
that window in time. We do also have exposure content
and stimulation content. So stimulation is a little bit more
feat it has some squeaky toys mixed in to the music,
it's faster movement, it's a way to keep a dog
a little bit more engaged. And we also have that
exposure so while content is playing, there may be a
(22:49):
doorbell that rings or a child that laughs, which when
you're not expecting it, and you're taking a nap. It
is unnerving when you're like, where did that child come from?
But it's understandable. It's introducing pets to sounds that they
may not have heard normally. Vacuum cleaners buyer works in
a way that's not big booms and big scaries, so
(23:09):
that way they get used to that before those big
booms actually happen. On like the fourth of July. We
also have content for humans, so we have programming from
veterinarians talking about relatable subjects that pet parents might be
curious about. This month is Dental Health Month, so talking
about dental awareness and how to keep your pet's mouth
(23:30):
less stinky because you're maintaining their dental health. And we
also have information and content from trainers behaviorists, so that
way we are encouraging pet parents to also be a
part of the entertainment. The way we get our word
out is a kind of a combination. We do I
mentioned before a lot of social media. There's retargeting that
comes with that as well. For content ads, we do
(23:52):
look at where people are residing, so cities where a
lot of pets are located, we will gus geographically on
those regions and then we do have blogs that I
have relatable content for pet parents to be searching for.
So we also have folks that will find us through
those that the Magical Land of Seo then learn about
(24:16):
the content that we have and be introduced to us.
We have contests on social media and where individuals can
share photos of their pets. That's the favorite part of
my day is either I get to be the one
who looks at submissions of adorable pets every hours, and
I mean it's my favorite. My goodness is seeing the
(24:39):
names of pets are just We were at Westminster a
couple of days ago and I met a dog named
Martha Stewart. I asked if her best friend was a
Snoop DOGG and they didn't say no, So I'm just
going to assume that there's a Snoop dog that spriends
with Martha Stewart. But like kimchi and and there are
(25:04):
lots of really amazing pet slash food based names that
I'm very fond of. But I've seen a lot of
kim cheese lately and I can get behind it. So
we do also utilize conventional public relations type ventures as well,
particularly as we are either releasing new content. So for
(25:25):
as an example, we did release a cat agory for
National Cat Day, so we just want a channel for
cats as well, and on that day, we made sure
to share a press release and have that information be
available for in most cases pet related publications, but we
(25:45):
did share it out as much as we could so
other folks could be aware of it. And I believe
today maybe I think it's today we will have a
feature on Inside Audition talking about what dog TV is
and how we create our content. So we try to
raise awareness in whatever way we are able to do.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Have a question, you're an influencer, so how is it
working with pet influencers now? And does dog TV have
you know, an influencer marketing program?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
We do, and we don't. So the short answer is
the influencer world has changed pretty rapidly in relation to
what the expectations of the brands are and what the
expectations of the influencers should. Maybe and certainly, there are
influencers that at this scope have millions of followers, and
(26:40):
there are others that are more considered what we would
call like micro influencers, where it might be a couple thousand,
ten thousand, but their engagement is very high, so you
see a pretty wide range of influencers and what they
consider themselves to be. Some of those influencers have a
budget requirement that is very hi and while I can
(27:02):
appreciate that in many regards that One of my favorite
pet bloggers that I'm friends with, her name is Carol Bryant.
Her blog is Fidos of Reality, and she would always
share whenever a brand would say, well, you're going to
get exposure for this thing, which is a nice way
of saying we're not going to pay you, her response is,
(27:22):
people die from exposure if you get exposed to extreme cold.
That doesn't pay the electric bill. So I understand the
need and desire for influencers to get paid for the
talent that they're sharing and the work that they do.
And we have a limited budget because there's so many
other things that happen in the world, So our focus
(27:44):
is more on smaller micro influencers that have a really
engaged follow base, not necessarily a huge swath of followers,
where they're incredibly talented and they are beyond our price point.
So we do reach out to micro inflincers, especially when
we have campaigns and then we also work with other
(28:07):
brands that have similar follow I guess parameters, so that
way we can work with their bases as well and
share the messages as along the way too. So it
has changed for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Oh absolutely, Well, we're going to take another quick break
and we'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
I want to know who the latest trendsetters are in Hollywood.
Tell about Irish setters. Find out who's been spotted with
spots cow we with reach out and shopping for Gucci
with their Pucci. Get this cooop on all the latest
celebrity pet pattern right here, pet Life Radio, Let's talk pets,
Let's talk pass, Let's pets Life Radio, Headline Radio.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
Pet Live Radio dot Com.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And we're back with Brin SUSA.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Brin.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
So dog tv is really like a streaming service?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Is that correct? And who? Like?
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Who are your customers or viewers? I?
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah, so it's very interesting. So we can be found
in a lot of different places, So Roku devices, Samsung
smart TVs, Amazon firesticks, I Apple devices, Apple TVs. So
there are lots of ways that people are viewing us
through streaming. And then of course if you are on
your phone, you can what's that thing? Use Chrome cast
(29:38):
to group have it show up on your TV as well,
which means if people are traveling and they're going to
a pet friendly hotel, they can still use dog TV
wherever they are if the hotel that they're at has
any sort of a smart device, which is really really cool.
Our audience is very varied from a demographic standpoint. We
(29:59):
have a lot of younger people that are first time
pet owners and this is their way of making sure
that their pet is as occupied while they are away.
We also have pet parents who are seasoned pet parents,
I'll use that terminology. This is not their first time
at the rodeo as far as being a pet parent,
and they've had years and years of being in that world.
(30:22):
So we have pet parents who are retired and are
in many cases still home with their pet and they're
taking a nap with their pet while they're watching dog TV.
Our demographic is, sorry for the doorbell, is really pretty
much about sixty percent female forty percent male, so it's
a little bit skewed female. But the range of ages
(30:45):
is anywhere from twenty to sixty five, so it's a
pretty wide range, which is pretty exciting. That's so awesome.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
So what is your number one PR or marketing tip
to a pet product company or an animal rescue or shelter.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
So my biggest piece of advice is know who you're
talking to. As an example, my name is Brinn. It
is not Brian, which this is more for my personal blog,
Dog Waks into Bar, But there were so many people
who would reach out to me and they didn't even
know who I was, or they would reference dogs that
have been dead for years, and that's unfortunate. And of
(31:23):
course we have had people who reach out to us
or brands that reach out to us that don't even
really understand what it is that we're providing. So know
your audience, just like anything else. Take the moment to
understand what it is that we provide as far as
either a service or good, and whether or not who
you're reaching and who we reach overlap in that then diagram,
(31:46):
because if they don't, it doesn't necessarily mean that we
can't connect, but it may be a little bit more
difficult for us to understand why our audiences should be
caring about whatever that message is that we're trying to convey.
This is also true for brands when they are trying
to write press releases and share releases with media contact.
(32:08):
Don't share your release to the person who is predominantly
the person who covers fashion if the thing that you're
talking about is in the pet nutrition industry, because while
they might work under the umbrella of that publication, they're
not the right person for you to be in touch with.
And frankly, it just makes it look as if you
(32:30):
haven't taken the time to know who it is that
you're reaching out to. So I would recommend slow down.
And I know that that sounds silly with where we
are in this world where everything's so fast, but take
a moment to just breathe. Take fifteen minutes and read
three of the most recent posts that whatever that brand
(32:51):
is that you're possibly looking to work with, has put
out there. Get to know their team. Usually a blog
will have or a website will have. Get to know us,
get to know our team. Mary, you mentioned LinkedIn as
a way to sort of familiarize yourself with me a
little bit. Bs you chatted. There's nothing wrong with hopping
(33:11):
onto the worlds of LinkedIn and other social media platforms
and just get to know who those people are. So
that way, when you are reaching out It's not as
much of a cold call because you know, Okay, this
is Mary, she has I don't actually know your cat's names,
which is a huge infringement on my part. But no,
(33:32):
this is Mochi and mister Snuggles, and I'm so happy
that you know, Mochi just recovered successfully from their surgery.
Get to know people, because it's the people part that matters.
It's not necessarily the brand or the product that you're
trying to sell. It's the people behind the screen or
(33:52):
the piece of paper, because those are the ones that
we all know. That people in the pet industry move around.
It's true for any industry. I may wake up tomorrow
and know that John Smith, who worked for ex brand,
a phenomenal person that I've really gotten to know, has
now moved over to a different brand. It doesn't take
(34:13):
away from the fact that he's a phenomenal person. He's
simply representing a different brand now. It's that connection with
the person that matters more than the brand itself.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
In my opinon, Yes, and you just hit the nail
on the head for some great pr tips too. You
know it is earlier you talked about storytelling. It's all
about the story. If you want your journalist to pick
up the story, it's got to be about the story.
Alex and I are working on a pitch right now
for the Pet of the Year contest for Pet Partners,
(34:44):
And you know, the contest in and of itself may
not be very exciting to the media, but when we
put in that these are some of the same dogs
who are helping the wildfires in Los Angeles, that creates
a different situation. And like, we're working with some journalists
in Cincinnati who are very tied to the fact, like
(35:07):
this is so cool. You know that you're raising money
and we've got therapy dogs here in Cincinnati, and because
that's such a big news story, right right, right, So
storytelling and your advice is just phenomenal, And you know,
we encourage everyone, Like Brian, you are just a wealth
of information.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
And so tell us Brinn, how people can get a
hold of you. Sure, So, in the world of dog
TV and really in general, I'm typically the only Brin
in a fifty am I already is. So that's a
good and a bad thing, depending on how much I
want to hide. So I can't hide typically, So if
you type into search, just Brin and pets. You'll find
me my social media or my LinkedIn is. My first
(35:50):
and last name is Brince Susa. Again, I'm pretty sure
I'm the only one, so you should be able to
find me there for contacting me in relation to dog tv,
my email is brin at dog tv and I am
very active on social in general, so if you want
to connect this type and brand, you'll find me b
r y N and my instagrams are A dog walks
(36:11):
into a bar with dots in between each letter, so
a dot dog dot. There's someone who took regular a
dog walks into a bar, and it seems like a
twelve year old who doesn't know how the Internet works,
and so I've asked him since then can I have
a dog walks into a bar? And he never responded,
So there are little dots in between. And my regular
(36:33):
just Bean and Yoda, and now my dog's name is Bug.
Their social media is Bean Party, Dot, Yoda, pash Dot,
Bug Disco, so a whole bunch of parties with our
different respective dogs. I do have a photography business too,
so BRINSUSA dot com will take you to some of
my photos, and if nothing else, they should at least
(36:54):
bring you some zen because they're pretty calming scenes that
folks can hopefully just chill out too as well.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
All Right, well, thanks so much, Brin. That's a wrap
for this show. We're so excited to be doing this
for all of you out there who are making life
better for animals. And you have a question you want
us to answer, reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook,
on Twitter, Whisker Media and we'll try to answer it
in a future podcast episode.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
And as we always say, for cloud
Speaker 4 (37:24):
And per smart see everyone, Let's Talk Pets every week
on demand only on Petlife Radios dot com
Love babe.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Welcome to the Whisker Report.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
We're a new podcast dedicated to helping anyone in the
pet industry. Whether you're an animal welfare or a for
profit pet company, we want to help you get some
pr and buzz for your nonprofit or business. Hello everyone,
I'm Mary Hann, one of the hosts of the show,
along with my lovely co host Alexandricard, a cat rescuer
(00:37):
and public relations professional who hails from France but now
lives in the wonderful town of Vancouver. Boner Alex, how
does it go with you?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Hey, everybody, it's going well. We finally got some snow here.
I was really waiting for.
Speaker 5 (00:53):
It because you know, I just love snow, and it
snowed like last week and the snow is still here
because it's so cold, so it's not melting, which I
had never experienced before.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
So yeah, I'm still loving it though, so that's good.
And then joining us is our fabulous producer Mark Winter
Fidlife Radio, who is the man who gets us to
you each and every week.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
Hey, Mark, Ay, Happy Valentine's Day, Valentine, No snow here
in Florida.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
That's surprising.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Are you taking Michelle out for a lovely dinner?
Speaker 6 (01:30):
Mark, Actually, we're gonna go to Happy Hour, which is
more fun.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Yes, to drink some margaritas.
Speaker 7 (01:36):
We're gonna do that.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
Drink some margaritas, Yes for sure. And yes, we had
a lot of fun things this week because thanks to
you guys, we went to see the amazing Acro Cats
this week. Oh no, how was it? The cats were
really really cute and yeah, and they did some fun stuff.
Oh and so we had fun at that. And then
(01:58):
since it's Valentine's Day, we also had Dylan Lauren, Ralph
Lauren's daughter on Dylan's Candy Bar, who has a rabbit
rescue and all kinds of stuff and she talking all
about candy.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Oh my gosh, which podcast is that on?
Speaker 6 (02:14):
That's Jill's podcast, Rapaport to the Rescue. I know I
always promote her every week, but she's got good guests.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, well, Jill's the connected person you now, howbachoes? But
that's so amazing. I've been to Dylan's Candy Bar in
New York. Yeah, it's so yummy and you can just
kind of eat your way through it. But you're kind
of like eating a lot of samples and that's not good.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
No, I know.
Speaker 6 (02:39):
Well she sent us once a whole big giant basket
of candy, which was great, except I don't need a
lot of candy.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
All the candy you got a sugar high. Well, we're
so honored to be part of Mark's Pet Life Radio
Network and you can do pr for yourself and Alex
Mark and I are going to help you you every week.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
And today we've got a great artist with us on
the show. Brinsusa is the director of Customer Experience at
doc TV. She has a ton of experience in the
pet industry, where she does everything from marketing to blogging,
to content marketing to freelance writing for pet publications. Welcome Brain,
(03:22):
We're so happy you're on the show.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Oh hello, Happy Valentine's Day everyone, Thank you. I'm happy
to be here.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
We would like to start with asking you. Can you
tell us how you got into the pet industry in
doc TV?
Speaker 6 (03:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yes, so, I for a long long time worked in
higher education and I while I was working in higher education,
adopted or brought my first dog into my world. Her
name was Bean. She was a little brown buston terrier,
and I don't know, it turned a switch on in
my brain box as soon as she came into my life.
(03:57):
For I don't know, maybe thirty seconds, I was at
per person who said there won't be any pets on
the couch, they won't be in the bed, And then quickly,
within minutes, she just became my little velkir dog. And
she was with me everywhere. She followed me into the
bathroom when I took a shower, She hid behind my
legs when she went out to go potty because she
(04:18):
was afraid of the grass. She was always a part
of my existence, and I fell in love with her,
so as one does. I'm sure both of you, well,
all three of you can attest to you kind of
start to obsessively take photos of your cats or dogs,
And for me at that point, it was taking videos
(04:40):
and photos of them and posting them on Instagram, when
it was still just here's a cute picture, and there
was no fear of algorithm. It was just this is
a cute animal. You will also like this cute animal.
Let's appreciate this cute animal together. And for some reason
I started to learn about pet photography contests and I
(05:03):
kept on entering them. So a lot of brands and
you still see this, but it's a little bit different
now it feels different. But a lot of brands will
post on their social share an image of your dog
or your cat, and you might win a prize. So
I kept on winning prizes. I kept on taking photos
of bean and winning contests. And I at that point
(05:25):
kind of realized two things. One there was power with
that potential power, and two apparently I was a better
photographer than I thought. So I leaned in on that,
and I wound up winning a lot of prizes for
pet contests, and I think after doing some of the math,
(05:46):
it's wound up total being about thirty five thousand dollars
worth of stuff that I've won. Whoa anything that I've won,
So that's it's not necessarily money. Usually it's not. It's
product supplies. Sometimes it's grants. I will donate to our
(06:06):
local shelter. So everything that I have one I've Whenever possible,
I've donated. So that's been a great way for me
to feel like I'm helping in the pet space and
also share cute photos of my creatures. Photo allowed me
to win a trip to something called blog Pause, which Mary, Yeah,
I had a chance to go to a few times,
(06:26):
and Alex, I met you a couple months ago for
the first time. So blog Pause is a community for
pet people who are also in many cases the blogging space,
but now it's also related to micro influencers, social media influencers,
people who are sharing their love of pets, not just
in the conventional writing way, but in other ways as well.
(06:48):
So it's changed along the years, but that concept of
pets and communication and those people that are in between
is really what blog pause is all about. So I
won a trip to a blog Pause, and this one
was in Nashville, So I brought my parents with me.
We rented a very large car and drove around Nashville
(07:09):
and they didn't get lost, but I'm surprised by that.
And I know that they tried on hats and ate
the hot chicken and did lots of wild stuff while
I was away. And I realized in that time. While
I was going to the conference, I was like, Oh,
you can actually make this into a business. You can
actually be a pet blogger. So I did not have
(07:32):
a blog when I joined that world. I just went
because I won the trip. So then I started the blog,
I would say about four or five months after. So
my blog is a dog walks into a bar. It's
dogs and drinking. That's my life bits And honestly, part
of the reason why I started it was I could
then rite off going to breweries as a business expense,
(07:54):
so that of a twist in, but it it works.
And so at that time I also had a dog
named Yoda. He was a Boston Terrier who was basically
a big potato with legs, so he was very round
and he just sort of puddled around a little bit,
and he was a very chill dog, so he was
(08:15):
comfortable going to places like breweries and wineries, being she
was more let's make out on the first date kind
of a dog, and so that wasn't necessarily the right
choice for going to breweries with people who had never
met her before. So Yoda was a better choice for that.
And I talked about dog friendly breweries, dog friendly fundraising events.
So you'll notice a lot of those places that have
(08:38):
happy hours or yappy hours. You'll see yappy hours as
a terminology. They do a lot of fundraising for local rescues.
So that was another thing that I tried to highlight
in the blog, and of course there was humor because
it's a dog walks into a bar, and I prefer puns.
I appreciate them a lot. So I started to write
for the blog, and then other brands started to reach
(09:00):
out to me to either take images for them or
write for their blogs or writing for magazines. So I
began to understand the scope of all of the different
spaces where I could be either sharing images or writing,
and then sort of understood the potential of the field, right.
(09:21):
So I fell into it in a lot of ways,
which I think is a good thing because I understood
the value after having developed a lot of connections and
relationships with people in the space, and that helped me
in a lot of ways. So I finally got out
of higher education it was slowly sucking my soul dry,
and started to work at a pet id company and
(09:44):
was finally able to have that really be my home
working in the pet space. And now I'm currently in
the pet space as a member of the dog TV team.
So it's been a kind of a twisty attorney road,
but that's really kind of the fun of it is.
It wasn't waking up one morning and just being like
I'm going to be in the pet space. It was
a gradual move on over and that also meant that
(10:07):
I got to know some really amazing people along the way.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Not the question, you rocked it at blog pause. You
won all of the major blogging awards. I just want
to give you a shout up because you were one
of the top bloggers in the nation at the time
and still are and tell us you know, a lot
of people don't understand the work that goes into that.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
That was like a full time job, wasn't it. It
was a lot of work. Yeah, So I thank you.
First off, I appreciate that, and it was a lot
of fun, but it is a lot of work and
when you are starting out in that field. So for me,
as an example, I just I wanted to take photos
of my dog, and then I started to realize all
of those other pieces. Right, So obviously writing, writing well,
(10:54):
understanding what SEO is, understanding why SEL matters, advocating for
yourself and understanding the metrics on social media platforms, Understanding
how to collaborate with other brands and have them work
with you or want to work with you. It all
is important. None of them are really any more or
(11:16):
less important, and there's only so much time in the
day to be able to do all of those different pieces.
And for many of the people, I think I would
say probably eighty percent of the folks that were a
part of the blog plas world, they had other full
time jobs, so very few of them what they are
or were doing in the pet blogging world was their
(11:38):
sole source of income. It was an addendum too, and
they might have made money, but it was more in
a lot of cases, just for that experience. So it
does take time. It also takes the willingness to learn
and a space where that information is available. So that's
one of the reasons why networks like the Cap Writers Association,
(12:01):
and I'm sure you're familiar with it, the Dog Writers Association,
which I'm currently a member, Associations like blog paus and
other places where you have a network of people that
have familiarity with things that you might have heard of
but don't necessarily have that framework can be really really valuable.
Because I'm a strong photographer and I'm a strong writer,
(12:22):
but I don't necessarily I don't really spend a lot
of time on social media as much as other people,
so sort of learning where your strengths are, leaning in
on that and also being able to identify other members
of the community that you can at least use as
a sounding board can be really valuable as well, but
also to collaborate. One of the things that I think
is really important is nobody in the pet space needs
(12:45):
to be competition. We're all here because we love pets
and we love to make their lives happy, healthy, fun,
and they get enricher lives as a result. You doing
your blog and being successful and me having my blog
and being successful. Neither one of those are mutual exclusives.
There's no competition. There doesn't have to be competition, and
if we're lifting each other up and collaborating, then there's
(13:09):
a lot more of an ability for us to help
with Hey, I know this, or I know someone, Let
me connect you with that person, and to work collaboratively
can be It's one of the most magical things about
the pet world that you don't necessarily find in other places.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Brent can ask you a question about blogging because how
has that changed, Like how is blogging in twenty twenty five?
Because I know Mary, you've been big on blogging, You've
been big on following blogs.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I know I'm not.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I will follow social media accounts, but I will never
follow a blog or go on a blog myself unless
like something takes me there. So maybe there's a difference
in generation. But yeah, I was just wondering, how is
it Internet twenty five?
Speaker 8 (13:52):
Right?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
It has changed, and I think the intended audience has changed.
I think the way people are finding the content has changed.
It all still in a lot of cases goes back
to SEO. But what SEO means isn't necessarily using certain
words to just be found, and I think that is
(14:15):
what people believe SEO to be. So for anyone who's
listening to this and they're hearing that terminology and they
haven't really known what it is yet, it's search engine
optimization dent to done. And so many people associate that
with Google, which is understandable since it's a large search engine.
But no matter where, if your dog is limping and
(14:36):
you're typing into a search engine, why is my dog limping?
And therefore you find resources. Some of those resources that
are answering those questions could be a blog, and so
that blog is a repository of information it can be,
and so that goes into are you using your blog
or creating your blog to help answer questions and therefore
(14:58):
be found and therefore possibly ma money or are you
using your blog to share relevant stories and information about
your life with your pet, and which of those two
is better or more valuable? And I can't answer that question.
I am always that person who believes the storytelling is
(15:18):
paramount to the product that is being mentioned. And I
think strongly that there's importance in integrity. I do not
ever write about things that I might have not tried.
So and you've seen it. I'm sure you've seen it,
especially on social where people are talking about a face
moisturizer and a blah blah blah, and every other post
(15:41):
is something a product, and you start to think, well,
have they actually tried those things? Do they really care
about those things? Or are they simply getting money behind
the scenes. And so my logic is, and this is
me personally, I will never talk about a product if
I've never tried it and I don't feel strongly about it.
(16:03):
And it's okay to talk about a product when there
are negative aspects about it too, because there's integrity with
being transparent. So I'm different than other pet bloggers who
might simply be using that space to potentially get traffic
and therefore make money. And I don't necessarily care if
(16:23):
I don't make money on my blog. I'd much rather
care about the relationships and the people I'm helping. So,
for example, there is a I have been when she
was four, developed a mass cell tumor, which is young
for a dog to get a mass cell tumor, and
they do have the propensity to come back, and so
(16:44):
her surgery was very intense, her tiny little body, her
scar was basically her entire side, and she had a
pretty badass scar for the rest of her life. And
I shared my experience on how skin I was as
a pet parent, how I didn't necessarily know what questions
to ask, what her experience was from a recovery standpoint,
(17:09):
what my experience was after her surgery on my I
guess anxiety about like continuing to look for signs and
keeping track of stuff. And I wrote that blog post
being has been she's not on this plane anymore. She's
she's been gone for at least three years, and her
surgery was probably at this point a decade ago. I
(17:29):
still get traffic on that post and I still get
people who interact with it sharing thanks for the narrative
of understanding experience, not necessarily like you need to buy
this thing, so that matters. The other thing that I'm
I don't know what the right term is highly aware
of is AI? I know, yeah, and the are people
(17:53):
creating blogs to play the game? Are they actually even
creating the blogs or are they just writing into whichever
or engine that they can for AI top search queries
and having it sort of PLoP out whatever that content is.
I as a writer, I feel my like hackles go
up when that happens because my voice is unique to
(18:15):
me and I am a humor based storyteller. I cannot
recreate that story, nor should I, or that feel in
the world of AI. And how many people are using
that as their tool, Yeah, terrifying. It's a horrible situation.
I mean, it's the lack of creativity.
Speaker 8 (18:35):
You know.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
I was on there looking at things and you know,
and I know a lot of journalists.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Are like AI is stealing.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Like a lot of the major news organizations are like
fighting back and doing lawsuits and different things like that.
We need to take a quick break, but when we
come back, we're going to talk with Brinn about gog TV.
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Take a bite out of your competition, advertise your business
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(19:21):
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Speaker 7 (19:42):
Let's talk pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
And we're back with Brin Susan with doc TV. So
let's talk ab about doc TV. Yes, bring, what is
the approach of doc TV when it comes to marketing
and public relations? Yeah? How are you getting the word
out about your programming?
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Sure? So we do have as a let me explain
what dog tv is for ye that might have never
heard of this, Who we are and what we create,
because it's pretty amazing. So dog tv is a TV
platform and entertainment platform for four pets. So dogs and
cats see colors differently. They also see images differently, so
(20:34):
we have created content for how they see color and
how they process images, along with how they process sounds.
So the way dogs hear this the frequencies that they hear,
and same with cats is certainly different, so we do
have content that matches the way a dog or cat
can then can process those different sites and sounds. So
(20:57):
our most common programming or most pop I guess it's
a better way phrasing, it is relaxation. So if you've
ever had one of those stressful days where you're just like,
I just need something to help zen, you know, provide
some zen relaxation programming. It works on humans too. I
put it on for bug and also wind up falling asleep.
So it is calming programming, calming scenes. There might be
(21:20):
ducks swimming in a pond, there could be dogs going
on a walk. Nothing really is going to be causing
any anxiety, and it's calming music. And a lot of
pet parents will leave the home to work or go
shopping and they will turn on relaxation programming for their
pets before they leave, So it's a way to help
keep their pet comfortable and happy and calm and engaged
(21:43):
while they are not currently with them at that time.
So we get a lot of videos of pet parents
where they're showing their their dog watching the TV while
they're using like those ring cameras or other cameras at home,
so they're not even there, but the dog is engaged
or they're taking nice snooze while the programming is happening
(22:05):
for them. So we do use social media a lot
to share that story where we're showing pet parents what
they're seeing and the dog engaging with the content or
simply relaxing, and we're resharing that content to really hammer
home that it is a resource for pet parents if
they are not able to be with their pet at
(22:26):
that window in time. We do also have exposure content
and stimulation content. So stimulation is a little bit more
feat it has some squeaky toys mixed in to the music,
it's faster movement, it's a way to keep a dog
a little bit more engaged. And we also have that
exposure so while content is playing, there may be a
(22:49):
doorbell that rings or a child that laughs, which when
you're not expecting it, and you're taking a nap. It
is unnerving when you're like, where did that child come from?
But it's understandable. It's introducing pets to sounds that they
may not have heard normally. Vacuum cleaners buyer works in
a way that's not big booms and big scaries, so
(23:09):
that way they get used to that before those big
booms actually happen. On like the fourth of July. We
also have content for humans, so we have programming from
veterinarians talking about relatable subjects that pet parents might be
curious about. This month is Dental Health Month, so talking
about dental awareness and how to keep your pet's mouth
(23:30):
less stinky because you're maintaining their dental health. And we
also have information and content from trainers behaviorists, so that
way we are encouraging pet parents to also be a
part of the entertainment. The way we get our word
out is a kind of a combination. We do I
mentioned before a lot of social media. There's retargeting that
comes with that as well. For content ads, we do
(23:52):
look at where people are residing, so cities where a
lot of pets are located, we will gus geographically on
those regions and then we do have blogs that I
have relatable content for pet parents to be searching for.
So we also have folks that will find us through
those that the Magical Land of Seo then learn about
(24:16):
the content that we have and be introduced to us.
We have contests on social media and where individuals can
share photos of their pets. That's the favorite part of
my day is either I get to be the one
who looks at submissions of adorable pets every hours, and
I mean it's my favorite. My goodness is seeing the
(24:39):
names of pets are just We were at Westminster a
couple of days ago and I met a dog named
Martha Stewart. I asked if her best friend was a
Snoop DOGG and they didn't say no, So I'm just
going to assume that there's a Snoop dog that spriends
with Martha Stewart. But like kimchi and and there are
(25:04):
lots of really amazing pet slash food based names that
I'm very fond of. But I've seen a lot of
kim cheese lately and I can get behind it. So
we do also utilize conventional public relations type ventures as well,
particularly as we are either releasing new content. So for
(25:25):
as an example, we did release a cat agory for
National Cat Day, so we just want a channel for
cats as well, and on that day, we made sure
to share a press release and have that information be
available for in most cases pet related publications, but we
(25:45):
did share it out as much as we could so
other folks could be aware of it. And I believe
today maybe I think it's today we will have a
feature on Inside Audition talking about what dog TV is
and how we create our content. So we try to
raise awareness in whatever way we are able to do.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Have a question, you're an influencer, so how is it
working with pet influencers now? And does dog TV have
you know, an influencer marketing program?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
We do, and we don't. So the short answer is
the influencer world has changed pretty rapidly in relation to
what the expectations of the brands are and what the
expectations of the influencers should. Maybe and certainly, there are
influencers that at this scope have millions of followers, and
(26:40):
there are others that are more considered what we would
call like micro influencers, where it might be a couple thousand,
ten thousand, but their engagement is very high, so you
see a pretty wide range of influencers and what they
consider themselves to be. Some of those influencers have a
budget requirement that is very hi and while I can
(27:02):
appreciate that in many regards that One of my favorite
pet bloggers that I'm friends with, her name is Carol Bryant.
Her blog is Fidos of Reality, and she would always
share whenever a brand would say, well, you're going to
get exposure for this thing, which is a nice way
of saying we're not going to pay you, her response is,
(27:22):
people die from exposure if you get exposed to extreme cold.
That doesn't pay the electric bill. So I understand the
need and desire for influencers to get paid for the
talent that they're sharing and the work that they do.
And we have a limited budget because there's so many
other things that happen in the world, So our focus
(27:44):
is more on smaller micro influencers that have a really
engaged follow base, not necessarily a huge swath of followers,
where they're incredibly talented and they are beyond our price point.
So we do reach out to micro inflincers, especially when
we have campaigns and then we also work with other
(28:07):
brands that have similar follow I guess parameters, so that
way we can work with their bases as well and
share the messages as along the way too. So it
has changed for sure.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Oh absolutely, Well, we're going to take another quick break
and we'll be right back.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
I want to know who the latest trendsetters are in Hollywood.
Tell about Irish setters. Find out who's been spotted with
spots cow we with reach out and shopping for Gucci
with their Pucci. Get this cooop on all the latest
celebrity pet pattern right here, pet Life Radio, Let's talk pets,
Let's talk pass, Let's pets Life Radio, Headline Radio.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
Pet Live Radio dot Com.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
And we're back with Brin SUSA.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Brin.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
So dog tv is really like a streaming service?
Speaker 3 (29:09):
Is that correct? And who? Like?
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Who are your customers or viewers? I?
Speaker 3 (29:15):
Yeah, so it's very interesting. So we can be found
in a lot of different places, So Roku devices, Samsung
smart TVs, Amazon firesticks, I Apple devices, Apple TVs. So
there are lots of ways that people are viewing us
through streaming. And then of course if you are on
your phone, you can what's that thing? Use Chrome cast
(29:38):
to group have it show up on your TV as well,
which means if people are traveling and they're going to
a pet friendly hotel, they can still use dog TV
wherever they are if the hotel that they're at has
any sort of a smart device, which is really really cool.
Our audience is very varied from a demographic standpoint. We
(29:59):
have a lot of younger people that are first time
pet owners and this is their way of making sure
that their pet is as occupied while they are away.
We also have pet parents who are seasoned pet parents,
I'll use that terminology. This is not their first time
at the rodeo as far as being a pet parent,
and they've had years and years of being in that world.
(30:22):
So we have pet parents who are retired and are
in many cases still home with their pet and they're
taking a nap with their pet while they're watching dog TV.
Our demographic is, sorry for the doorbell, is really pretty
much about sixty percent female forty percent male, so it's
a little bit skewed female. But the range of ages
(30:45):
is anywhere from twenty to sixty five, so it's a
pretty wide range, which is pretty exciting. That's so awesome.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
So what is your number one PR or marketing tip
to a pet product company or an animal rescue or shelter.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
So my biggest piece of advice is know who you're
talking to. As an example, my name is Brinn. It
is not Brian, which this is more for my personal blog,
Dog Waks into Bar, But there were so many people
who would reach out to me and they didn't even
know who I was, or they would reference dogs that
have been dead for years, and that's unfortunate. And of
(31:23):
course we have had people who reach out to us
or brands that reach out to us that don't even
really understand what it is that we're providing. So know
your audience, just like anything else. Take the moment to
understand what it is that we provide as far as
either a service or good, and whether or not who
you're reaching and who we reach overlap in that then diagram,
(31:46):
because if they don't, it doesn't necessarily mean that we
can't connect, but it may be a little bit more
difficult for us to understand why our audiences should be
caring about whatever that message is that we're trying to convey.
This is also true for brands when they are trying
to write press releases and share releases with media contact.
(32:08):
Don't share your release to the person who is predominantly
the person who covers fashion if the thing that you're
talking about is in the pet nutrition industry, because while
they might work under the umbrella of that publication, they're
not the right person for you to be in touch with.
And frankly, it just makes it look as if you
(32:30):
haven't taken the time to know who it is that
you're reaching out to. So I would recommend slow down.
And I know that that sounds silly with where we
are in this world where everything's so fast, but take
a moment to just breathe. Take fifteen minutes and read
three of the most recent posts that whatever that brand
(32:51):
is that you're possibly looking to work with, has put
out there. Get to know their team. Usually a blog
will have or a website will have. Get to know us,
get to know our team. Mary, you mentioned LinkedIn as
a way to sort of familiarize yourself with me a
little bit. Bs you chatted. There's nothing wrong with hopping
(33:11):
onto the worlds of LinkedIn and other social media platforms
and just get to know who those people are. So
that way, when you are reaching out It's not as
much of a cold call because you know, Okay, this
is Mary, she has I don't actually know your cat's names,
which is a huge infringement on my part. But no,
(33:32):
this is Mochi and mister Snuggles, and I'm so happy
that you know, Mochi just recovered successfully from their surgery.
Get to know people, because it's the people part that matters.
It's not necessarily the brand or the product that you're
trying to sell. It's the people behind the screen or
(33:52):
the piece of paper, because those are the ones that
we all know. That people in the pet industry move around.
It's true for any industry. I may wake up tomorrow
and know that John Smith, who worked for ex brand,
a phenomenal person that I've really gotten to know, has
now moved over to a different brand. It doesn't take
(34:13):
away from the fact that he's a phenomenal person. He's
simply representing a different brand now. It's that connection with
the person that matters more than the brand itself.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
In my opinon, Yes, and you just hit the nail
on the head for some great pr tips too. You
know it is earlier you talked about storytelling. It's all
about the story. If you want your journalist to pick
up the story, it's got to be about the story.
Alex and I are working on a pitch right now
for the Pet of the Year contest for Pet Partners,
(34:44):
And you know, the contest in and of itself may
not be very exciting to the media, but when we
put in that these are some of the same dogs
who are helping the wildfires in Los Angeles, that creates
a different situation. And like, we're working with some journalists
in Cincinnati who are very tied to the fact, like
(35:07):
this is so cool. You know that you're raising money
and we've got therapy dogs here in Cincinnati, and because
that's such a big news story, right right, right, So
storytelling and your advice is just phenomenal, And you know,
we encourage everyone, Like Brian, you are just a wealth
of information.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
And so tell us Brinn, how people can get a
hold of you. Sure, So, in the world of dog
TV and really in general, I'm typically the only Brin
in a fifty am I already is. So that's a
good and a bad thing, depending on how much I
want to hide. So I can't hide typically, So if
you type into search, just Brin and pets. You'll find
me my social media or my LinkedIn is. My first
(35:50):
and last name is Brince Susa. Again, I'm pretty sure
I'm the only one, so you should be able to
find me there for contacting me in relation to dog tv,
my email is brin at dog tv and I am
very active on social in general, so if you want
to connect this type and brand, you'll find me b
r y N and my instagrams are A dog walks
(36:11):
into a bar with dots in between each letter, so
a dot dog dot. There's someone who took regular a
dog walks into a bar, and it seems like a
twelve year old who doesn't know how the Internet works,
and so I've asked him since then can I have
a dog walks into a bar? And he never responded,
So there are little dots in between. And my regular
(36:33):
just Bean and Yoda, and now my dog's name is Bug.
Their social media is Bean Party, Dot, Yoda, pash Dot,
Bug Disco, so a whole bunch of parties with our
different respective dogs. I do have a photography business too,
so BRINSUSA dot com will take you to some of
my photos, and if nothing else, they should at least
(36:54):
bring you some zen because they're pretty calming scenes that
folks can hopefully just chill out too as well.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
All Right, well, thanks so much, Brin. That's a wrap
for this show. We're so excited to be doing this
for all of you out there who are making life
better for animals. And you have a question you want
us to answer, reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook,
on Twitter, Whisker Media and we'll try to answer it
in a future podcast episode.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
And as we always say, for cloud
Speaker 4 (37:24):
And per smart see everyone, Let's Talk Pets every week
on demand only on Petlife Radios dot com
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