This week on The Whisker Report, hosts Mary Tan, Alexandre Ricard, and Mark Winter dive into the world of pet PR, industry trends, and success stories. Mary introduces her new rescue pup, Max, while Alex shares the story of finding him on the streets of Mexico. Mark reveals exciting news about the return of three beloved Pet Life Radio shows: Alive Again, Working Like Dogs, and Canine Master. Plus, the team welcomes special guest Nancy Hassel, founder and president of American Pet Professionals, an award-winning networking and educational organization for pet entrepreneurs, rescues, and businesses. Nancy shares her incredible journey in the pet industry, from teaching responsible dog ownership to being named Pet Age Magazine’s 2018 Woman of Influence. Get ready for insights, laughs, and tips to help your pet business or nonprofit shine!
EPISODE NOTES: Publicity for Pets: Tips, Trends & Tales: The Whisker Report Welcomes Nancy Hassel
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/whisker-report-pet-pr-publicity-pet-life-radio-original--6669416/support.
EPISODE NOTES: Publicity for Pets: Tips, Trends & Tales: The Whisker Report Welcomes Nancy Hassel
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 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Whisker Report. We're a new podcast dedicated
to helping anyone in the pet industry. Yes, this is
my new dog Max. Whether you're an animal welfare or
a for profit pet company, get some pr and buzz
for your nonprofit or business. And definitely my new dog
(00:38):
is trying to get some publicity for himself, so it's
working out. Hello everyone, I'm Mary Tan, one of the
hosts of the show, along with my co host alexand Ricard,
a cat rescuer and public relations professional who hails from
France but now lives in the lovely town of Vancouver. Boner.
Alexand you found this dog.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
A little too?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah. I did find Max on the streets in Mexico
a couple of weeks ago, and I did convince Mary
to adopt him. How is life Virginia?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Dog?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Mary, He's a sweetheart. He is actually barking at my
three kitty cats. So there's lots going on in my household.
What about you, Mark, What's going on in the Pet
Life Radio world?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Well, we had actually three shows that were on a
long hiatus for like years, and they're back. We've got
a Live Again, which is our Pet Reincarnation show with
Brent Atwater and that's back. And Working Like Dogs with
Marcy Davis and that's all about working in service dogs
(01:50):
and that's back. And then we have Canine Master with
Chris an thank which is dog training and that's back too.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Wow. Well, we are so honored that we get to
be part of your network and we do do as
many shows as possible because you know, podcasts are all
about putting out weekly content and that's kind of what
we want to do. So each week, Alex Mark and
I are going to help each and every one of
(02:21):
you learn the basics of PR and other publicity tools.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
And today we're super lucky to have Nancy Hassel, the
founder and president of American Pet Professionals, an award winning
networking and educational organization dedicated to helping pet entrepreneurs, businesses,
and animal rescues to grow, work together, and unite the
pet industry. But Nancy's also speaker at various pet industry conferences,
(02:50):
a writer for pet trades and consumer magazines, blogger, photographer,
and was a TV producer and production coordinator for more
than ten years Nancy created a Responsible Dog honorship program
and taught over two five hundred pet parents in a
five year period, and she was also awarded the twenty
(03:11):
eighteen Woman of Influence by pet Age Magazine. Welcome to
the show, Nancy.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Thank you so much. I know that's a silly long intro,
but thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, you've done a lot in your life.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
You started doing a lot. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Can you tell us how you ended up in the
pet industry.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Yeah, I mean I kind of always had one foot
in the pet industry, even as I worked as a
TV producer in my twenties. I was, you know, working
for a couple of different TV companies, and I started
really having interest in working in the pet industry because
I had a Doberman and then I adopted another dog,
and I was learning all about training and all the things,
and I just decided that, you know what, maybe I
(03:54):
want to open a retail store. And I didn't know
anything about that, and so I subscribed to pet Age Magazine,
Holdog Journy, like a lot of different like publications to
read and learn about the pet industry. That was quite
a while ago, and I just really had a lot
of interest in it. I didn't know what I was
going to do. I dabbled in a few different areas,
which a lot of pet professionals tend to do, and
(04:14):
that's just kind of It was like a natural flow
and progression into the pet industry after a couple of
other careers working in TV, working in PR, but again
always had one foot in the industry doing something.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So tell us how you started American Pet Professionals And
for people that don't know what that is, can you
talk about it and how do people join?
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Yeah? Absolutely, I'm Marry. You've been a member for a
few years now, so thank you for being a met. Yeah,
so how did I start American Pet Professionals. I'll try
to give you the short version. Sometimes I could be
long when which is good for podcasts, right, But I
was at the time, I was teaching responsible dog onship
classes that Alex had mentioned before, and I was teaching that.
(04:55):
There were free classes, no dogs, We had trainers and
veterinarians in the class. I was doing that. I was
doing some PR for some pet clients, and I was
at a networking event, speaking at an entrepreneurial event. It
wasn't pet industry related, and it was like how to
get your business into the news. And there was only
one other person in the pet industry there, and she
happened to be a veterinarian and she happened to sit
(05:16):
next to me. I didn't know her, she didn't know me,
and she said to me, do you know anybody that
or any organization that caters to pet professionals? You know,
I'm just coming back to Long Island. I was working
here wherever she was working, I was, well, there's a
veterinary industry. But while I was sitting in the meeting,
and after I did my shpiel, I always talk about
how I was, you know, working in the pet industry,
(05:38):
and I always was looked at. Again, this is two
thousand and eight, Like I had ten heads. So everybody
in the entrepreneurial space that wasn't pet had no clue
what I was talking about. And then if I talked
about numbers, you know how big the pet industry was,
and everybody, inevitably, the lawyer, the accountant, the banker would
turn their head. How many billions a year? You know?
But while I was sitting that meeting, I was thinking,
(06:00):
you know, she's the third person that has asked me
about pet professional organizations for Long Island in a two
week period, and I looked around that room, I'm like,
I could host one of these networking events. I had
no idea, you know, about doing it, and so I
decided that's what I was going to do. We were
called Long Island Pet Professionals at the time, and I
host an event in February of two thousand and nine
(06:22):
in the middle of Long Island, in the middle of
the recession. We had people from all over Long Island
show up and from three different states and all five
boroughs of New York City. So I was like, oh
my god, this is so needed.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
You know.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
My goal was really to bring together people from all
areas of the industry that maybe we're new to the
industry or that they felt like they were competition with
the other person. And you're not competition, right, I would say,
you're your own competition. Like, let's work together, let's educate
each other, and let's learn. And I had that very
first meeting. I sent out press releases about it because
(06:54):
I had my PR education from when I worked at
a PR firm, and I was kind of shocked by
the turnout and people stayed after the event was over,
we all kind of hung out for a while. Some
of those members are still members today, which is mind
boggling because it's sixteen years later. And we just kept
growing from there, and people said to me, when is
the next event, and I was like, next month. I
(07:16):
had no idea when the next event was, where it
was going to be. We didn't have a website. It
took me the three month the third event, people started
saying how do I join? And I was like, I'll
let you know. I just went from there. Yeah, it
was crazy, and then I got a website, and then
by twenty thirteen, the end of twenty thirteen, it took
us about a year. We rebranded to American PEP Professionals
(07:38):
because right away, within that first year and a half,
we have people emailing saying I want to join and
I live in Tennessee, and I was like, uh, because
we really weren't doing as much online stuff then, you know,
and we had a group and stuff like that. But yeah,
that's kind of it. And it's just evolved over the
years and been a lot of work and a lot
of fun, and we've met some amazing people and you know,
(07:58):
the pet industry, everybody, you know, we all have that
bond of loving pets and wanting to do better for
the pets. So it's such a great thing to meet
and learn so many people in the industry.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Mary, how did you meet Nancy?
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, So Nancy and I met through Dana and Humphrey,
who I used to be in. She was with Whitegate
PR and I actually took over quite a few of
Dana's clients, and Dana was wonderful. And Dana and I
just met at Global Pet.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Expo, probably in the press room.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
No, we met through Sturdy Products.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Oh okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Rich had introduced me to her and he's like, Dana
is somebody you should know. And then you know, we
just started this friendship. And Dana is a super fun person. Yes,
and then she was friends with you and she used
to talk about you, and so it was just like,
you know, this kind of networking thing. But I sort
of find like in the pet PR world, everybody's kind
(08:59):
of friends with each other. It's a very nice like,
especially the solopreneurs right, the smaller agencies, we all like
hang out with each other and know each other and
recommend each other, and that sort of thing.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
It's such a great thing for the PR world because
I remember working in TV and the PR part of
it was very competitive and we were never like that.
We always all work together and I still recommend people
to Mary, like to this day, people are like we
should fire for I'm like, just go, you know, go
call Mary. So it's quay interesting. Yeah, Dana introduced us
for something that I was working on and she said,
(09:35):
just here's Mary's info, and that's how we went.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, yes, And then I was on one of your
panels for for Global COVID Yes, yes, yeah, we had.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
A Global in twenty twenty one, was virtual and I
was hosting I think a few different panels, a few
different speaking sessions, but one panel, and so I think
that's when I said to Data, who do you know
that does this? And she was like, oh, MA would
be awesome for that, And so she was on a
very important panel that we hosted. And it was a
lot of fun to get to know Mary. That was
(10:06):
super fun and we have such similar backgrounds in TV.
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yes, yes exactly. So you tell us like you're still
kind of a PR person in a way because you
were always talking about PR and marketing to your members. Yes,
you hold weekly webinars on how to how to do something.
So what's your number one piece of advice to especially
(10:31):
a new pet startup or even a rescue.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Well for a business or a rescue. You know, I
look back to when I started doing PR for the
pet industry back in like two thousand and eight. You know,
I had like one or two small clients, and the
media wasn't really embracing the pet world businesses back then
that in the way that they do it now obviously,
So it was a lot more challenging to get a
(10:55):
business into the news versus an animal rescue because the
animal rescue always has the good part of it, so
it's a little bit easier then. Now it's a lot
easier to get a business in the news, right, not
saying you don't have to have those contacts and that
proof of work and all that, but I think for
anybody that is, you know, going into or having a
new business or a rescue, getting media coverage is so
(11:17):
important to this day, even with all of the avenues
of social media. It gives you, you know, people read
about you, then you can put as seen on and
the more media coverage you start to get, it just
kind of snowballs.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's just the way it is.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
I always tell people that, like, you're going to get
one good thing and then the next thing, they're going
to be reaching out to you because they read about
it in another publication or they saw you on a podcast,
or you know, anything like that. I think it's so important,
and it also just makes your reputation right, Like you've
gotten a lot of media coverage. The media is writing
about you. It gives you that I don't want to
(11:51):
say clout, but like it just really gives you that like, oh,
this is somebody that I should look into. Right. How
many times are you're flipping through a magazine or newspaper
and you see pet like for us PAD professionals and
stands out, We're like, oh, what business is that?
Speaker 4 (12:03):
TAD?
Speaker 5 (12:03):
Parents are also doing that too, they're stopping to read
the PET. So I think it's really important to continue
to try to get media coverage. Work with a PR professional.
If you don't know how to do it, it's just going
to help you stand out faster than just trying to
get all the social media coverage because you don't know
if you'll ever go viral.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, Alex, did you have a question? You look like
you were jumping at the bit.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, that's definitely true. You never know when you're going
to go viral, so or if you will, if you will, Yeah,
and it's getting harder and harder. I mean, we've seen
it with everybody getting on social media right now. It's
social media is definitely a very hard place to stand out.
And yeah, we've seen it with many people. And yeah,
(12:44):
I actually wonder about what the future of social media
is going to be in a few years with everything
that's happening. And I wanted to talk to you about it, Nancy,
because you've been in the pet industry for so long
and with all the changes that are happening with AI
and you know, everything blowing up. What do you think
small businesses owners have to look out for the minute?
Speaker 5 (13:07):
I think for small pet business owners in terms of
social media, I still think it's important to be on
social Like it's exhausting, right because you need to do
a little bit of everything. You need to do some advertising,
you need to hire a PR person, you need to
do social media, or hire social media person to do
it for you. If you can't do it that's one
piece of advice I would say, as long as they
(13:28):
learn and know your voice and your brand, you know,
and they're reflecting you that way, which isn't really that hard.
If you don't have a budget, you can turn to
AI and ask AI to help you. I think AI
is a fantastic tool to use for research. I also
think it can be really overwhelming because if you ask
it one thing, it's like, oh, yes, could you want
ten more? Do you need thirty more?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Do you need?
Speaker 7 (13:50):
No?
Speaker 5 (13:50):
No, I just needed for you know, five suggestions for this,
Like I'm down, you know, And then it kind of
can be like, well, I don't want to do all
of that work that just gave it, because you might
stay out for you what you're looking for, but then
you actually have to do the work for it. So
it's a great tool, but I think, you know, I
don't know. I kind of look back to like two
thousand and eight, two thousand and nine when blogging was
(14:11):
really popular. Twenty ten, it's still important to have a
blog on your website, right because people are still reading
those things. But it kind of evolved over the years
as social media evolved, because maybe people just wanted that
quick you know, TikTok style video. I think that you
just have to pay attention to what's going on, adjust
to what you can do, don't overwhelm yourself. Batch your content.
(14:35):
If you can do that, you know, which again is
easier said than done. It's always a buzz where batch
your content, shoot everything in one day. But you know,
if you can shoot a couple of videos and have subfready,
I think it's a great way to promote your events
that you have coming up. If you're hosting an event,
whether you're a bit pep business or a rescue we're
all glued to our phones right twenty four to seven,
(14:56):
which is a good and a bad thing. It's a
good thing for business, I think for the person, I
don't know. I just I feel like it's gonna ebb
and flow. I think there'll be that peak of AI
and then they'll just kind of platateau itself out. That's
what I think. I think it's a great tool, but
I don't think it's going to take over the world
in terms of you can use AI as a tool
(15:17):
for social media, but I don't think you can have
it work for you in the way that you needed
to work for you for everything in your business.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Well, I think that's what we've seen, right, Like, the
more people are using AI, the more actual people want
also the human touch, right like genuine connection and authenticity,
And that's comes to my next question. Because of AI,
I think networking is going to be more and more
important in the coming years, so like American prep professionals,
(15:44):
for example, is going to be more and more important
for people in the pet industry. But how important is
it actually for people to network? And that's a question
for you both, because Mary, you're always talking about networking.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I think networking is critical, and Alex brings us up
because I'm always telling her network, network, Network. There is nothing,
nothing digital that beats meeting somebody face to face or
even a phone call or even a zoom call and
seeing them right Like, especially like when I'm dealing with
(16:16):
the media, if the person knows me and has worked
with me in the past, and they trust me and
they know when I picked a story to them, that
they're that it's a great story, it's credible, You're gonna
get a callback. You're more likely to get a hit
on your media pitch. So that's kind of what I think.
And even Nancy, You and I meeting was great. Yeah,
(16:37):
I mean we know people. I know people that you
don't know. You know people that I don't know. And
you know, I've been telling Alex, like, get out there.
She's bilingual, she has speaks multiple languages. She needs to
be calling up the media, you know, in France, in Italy,
in Spain and start networking with those journalists. So I'm
(16:57):
just using this to like tell tell Alex to do
it again.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
I agree, Mary. I think you know when we started
with our business and we were hosting networking events, and
you know, I'll tell you a funny story. So people
are nervous about meeting other people. There's a lot of
people that are intimidated to go to a networking event
or I don't want to go to that. I don't
you know, maybe they have social anxiety, or they just
are nervous about their business. Maybe they don't think we're
you know, they should be where they are. That's in
(17:23):
your own head, right, Other people aren't perceiving that. And
one year I hosted a networking event here on Long Island.
It was four American pet professionals because we had rebranded
at that time, and I was like, you know what,
I'm going to do an event that's a little bit different.
And I hadn't been to one of these events, but
I heard about it. It was kind of like, I
don't want to say speed dating, because it wasn't like that.
But what I did was is everybody came in. A
(17:45):
lot of people knew each other, some people didn't. And
I think we had about fifty people there. We had
five tables of ten. I'd handed everybody a number for
the tables, and they were like, what's the number four.
I'm like, don't worry about it now, I'll explain it
in a little while. And after they came in and
they sat down and could see people that like had
their crutch person with them, right that person that they
were like practically sitting next to like this because they
(18:06):
were so nervous. I said, okay, everybody. After they had
like I think it was after like some drinks, and
like you know, I said, okay, everybody, remember the number
on the t that I handed you, I said, and
I walked around and I popped up the numbers on
the tables and I said, if you got whatever number
of the table you got, go to that table. Now.
They were people that were angry. They were so mad.
(18:27):
A couple of people like, we're gonna leave, and I
was like, what what do you I came here with
that person, I said, but you already know that person,
and they were so mad at me, and I was
I was like trying so hard not to laugh because
I didn't want to be mean, you know, And so
they were like okay, and they did. They moved and everything.
And afterwards, like three of the people that you could
tell were mad and two of the people that they
(18:48):
were like, this was amazing. I met the person that
I needed to meet, and I said, and if you
didn't move, you wouldn't have met that person. So that
was a lot of fun. It was probably more fun
for me. But you know, I just feel like if
you know people and you're going to a networking event,
of course, like if I see Mary at the next
trade shows, of course, I'll be like, Mary, we're going
to chichat for a while. But then go around the
(19:08):
room and work and network the room, whether that's on
a zoom meeting or not. Like for our networking events
at American PEP Professionals, edmund sends out the most incredible
recap the next day of everything, we discussed who was
on the meeting. So there's no excuse not to reach
out to the ten people that were at that meeting
or the fifteen people go in and say, hey, it
(19:29):
was so great to meet you. I didn't get to
learn as much as I needed to because maybe that
person was a little shy in the networking, even if
it was on a zoom. So I wholeheartedly believe in
networking for your business. It's the easiest way to grow
and learn and meet people that you just never know.
That's what I would say. You just never know who
you're going to meet that can amplify your business. We've
had so many businesses since we started solo. Petpreneurs start
(19:53):
working with each other, people that you know needed a
PR person then said I didn't know there was a
PR person in the group, and work together, create businesses, rescues,
start working with other you know. It's just over the
years and so I always just say, you just never
know who you're gonna meet.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That's so amazing. Well, we got to take a quick
break and when we come back, I'm going to tell
you guys. I want to tell Nancy and Alex and
Mark about this conversation I had yesterday.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Oh okay, I want to know now, Mary.
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Speaker 7 (21:05):
Let's talk pets on Cetlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
And we're back with Nancy Hassel, the founder and president
of American Pet Professionals, And we're all waiting.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
For Mary's story, So please, Marry, tell us what was
the coversation you had yes Well, I was gossiping yesterday
with my good friend Jen Reader. You guys know with her,
I think she just writes for numerous publications, The Today Show, Forbes,
and she had called me about the cat allergies because
(21:46):
my cat, Franklin has cat allergies, and you know, we
kind of talked about the state of journalism and how
you know, the the budget cuts, and there's really an
argument out there about the state of the media right
now because there is some data out there that says
Americans don't trust the media like they used to and
that sort of thing. I kind of imagine it depends
(22:08):
where you are in the country. But she said she
read an article I believe it was in Semaphore, which
is a website, a news publication, and they talked about
how the renaissance of the media will probably happen again
because AI is really they tend to pull from news
(22:28):
articles more than anything else, more than any social media,
more than any website. They pulled directly from newssites, yeah,
which is going to give the news media for their push.
And they talked about how it's important for brands to
make sure they have media coverage and so I'm just
(22:48):
interested in knowing what you guys think about that.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
I think so definitely if you ask AI, hey, you
give me five tips on this, it's something pet industry,
and you don't ask for a source and then gives
you the fire and then you go back and say,
where did you source that from? It's always the media,
you're right, yep, or study, but yeah, Alex, what do
you think?
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Yeah, no, no, no, I think so I'm trying to
think of an example if I ever asked AI something
about the pet industry. And I also, Mary, you also
send me an article that I haven't finished readings, but
it's about training AI on PR, like training AI about
your clients or things like that. Right, did you you
(23:29):
send it to me? So I'm sure you read it.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yes, But it's so fascinating because you know, they say
that AI is going to save the media in terms
of relevancy. Now as former newspeople, you know, I'm always
going to believe in the media because it's the only
way to get you know, facts and different things instead
of because everybody can put their opinion on social media.
(23:51):
But actually, you know, delivering both sides of the story
is another thing. And I actually experimented on different things
on mental health, for example, and I was given a
New York Times article and that's what popped up. And
so it's with AI, it's like PR is very accessible
(24:11):
for everyone.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Can I piggyback that, Mary, I think it's true. I
think that with AI there's a distrust in AI also, Right,
The first thing I will say is people who'll drag
the media through the mud, or you hate the media
until you want media attention, until you want your business
in the news. Right, You'll see people complaining about the
media and then hoping to get pressed.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I'm like, you can't have bull, you know, but I
think you know that. A lot of times, like on LinkedIn,
I'll see somebody reply to me and I'm like, Oh,
they just hit the AI thing, so it's totally unauthentic
and I'm totally not interested, you know, to completely take
the conversation further. It happened to me yesterday somebody was
dming me and it was so obvious that it was AI.
(24:52):
You could pick out those buzzwords, and I was like, Eh,
you know, but I really think that's a great take
on it. I'd be interested to see how that. Hew.
Have you found that AI press releases work, Nancy.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
I don't know, because I have never done an AI
press release. I have no idea. I sent out a
press release about our new trademark. I think it was
in the fall or early beginning this year, who can remember.
It's a blur at this point for pet industry one
oh one, and I just wrote it and sent it
out and like I would normally do traditionally that press
coverage and like didn't really think much else about it.
(25:24):
After that, you have to train it. You have to say,
I want you to give it examples if you want
to use it for somebody, use it to write a
press release, or use it to write an email. Absolutely
have to give it because otherwise you just see that
inauthentic AI writing and it sounds like a person but
not really. The other thing we were talking about before.
AI can write a story for you, but only you
(25:45):
can tell the story, right, And that's what people are
going to gravitate to, whether it's a media coverage, right
and they hear you talking on TV or in a
newspaper article or see you talking on social media and
a video. You can only be the one that's doing that.
Nobody else can sound like you, be like you. You
have your own voice. So I think you know, I agree,
(26:07):
you can use AI as a tool. It's fantastic, but
you have to train it or you just have to
be yourself and not eat it at all one or
the other.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
So one place when there's no AI, I mean you
can't really use it is the pet conferences, right, like
super Zoo Global. You actually have to be yourself and
you can't really rely on GPT to actually talk to people.
How do you have any tips for small pet business owners?
Sorry's takt keeps moving. What are you doing for small
(26:33):
pet business owners to actually make a splash during those
pet conferences? Maybe they don't have a big budgets, so
what can they do to still make a splash at
those conferences.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
Like as a vendor, as an exhibitter or yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah absolutely. I mean I've been talking about this since
probably two thousand and eight. Eight used to go work
for a trade show company and we had the most
speaking of splash crazy displays at the Consumer Electronics Trade
Show CES in two thousand and two. We literally had
people diving into pools so as booth attractions. It was crazy.
(27:07):
But I always say, you don't bring it to that
scalable level for your business. A lot of times you'll
walk the trade your floor and you'll you'll see people
like on their phones not paying attention. You have to
get out in front of your booth, engage with people.
How are you doing if you don't have a budget,
or as I call it, like pet booth babes. If
you don't have rescue pets in your booth that are
(27:28):
naturally going to bring people over, or a flashy display
maybe it's your first time going. You know, you have
to really engage, and that's not a lot of people
aren't that comfortable doing that. A lot of people got
into the pet industry because they want to work with
pets and not necessarily people, right, and now they came
up with this great product and now they have to
actually sell to people and talk to people. So, you know,
(27:50):
if you have a budget, you know, hire people that
can help you with that. There are you know, experts
out there that can help you have a real big splash.
But I just think, you know, keep it simple, keep
it to your brand, make sure that you're personable. If
you have a team member somebody working with you, make
sure that they can sell your product to anybody walking
by just as much as you can if you need
(28:11):
to take that break. You never want to go over
to a trade show booth and it's somebody's spouse that
didn't invent the product and only knows a little bit
about it, or you hired a salesperson you know on
date that it's in and they are just there to
like fill the booth space. And that's the worst thing
to me when you walk up and you're like, oh,
this is really cool. I heard about this, and they're like, oh, well,
(28:33):
the person who created it, they walked away. I don't
know that much about it, and I'm like, ah, you know,
and then I'm like, okay, I'll come back. And most
of the time, unless it's a really great product, you
don't have time to go back. So you know, there's
a lot of variables. We've talked about how to be
your own booth babe, how to do all these amazing
things so much over the years. I think my memories
are sick of it, but they always ask and they
(28:54):
always show up when we do that webinar, So it's
always funny that I'm like, I know you guys have
heard this before, but you know, for the newbies, I
think it's really important. I think you know, it's a
big show. Right at each show that you're going to,
if you're going to Super Zoo or Global, some of
its placement where your booths is. If you have a
new product, try to get into the new product area
where it's very busy, put your new product in the
(29:16):
new product section, you know, those kind of basic things.
If you're a boutique and there's a boutique section, try
to get in the boutique section. Again, you just have
to be really engaging and kind of just you know,
that's what you're there for. You're there to sell your product,
you're there to network, you're there to meet people, and
you'll have a fantastic event. If you sit back and
you're just looking on your phone and you're not paying attention,
(29:37):
you're going to say, I didn't have a good show.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Okay, Well that's why that's so awesome. Well, we also
know that animal rescue is very near and dear to
your heart, as it is for all of us. So
when we come back, we're going to talk to you
more about what rescues can do to get some great
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Speaker 7 (30:52):
Let's talk past.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Let's done, PETOFE.
Speaker 9 (30:55):
Radio, Hetline Radio, Oktlfradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And we're back with the wonderful Nancy Hassel of American
Pet Professionals, who you may not know. This is an
animal welfare advocate. She has always adopted and she just
loves animals, and so much of APP is animal rescue
as well. I know you have some members who are
(31:28):
part of APP, So tell us what's your advice to
the small overwhelmed Animal rescue person that is like, I
am so busy saving animals, I don't have time to
do PR marketing.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Yeah, it's tough because a lot of the smaller ones
are really stretched thin, right they are doing every part
of the rescue. I would say to you if you
are overwhelmed, if you have a budget, if you can
hire somebody to do your PR. I did PR for
a few different animal rescue organizations over the years. We
got them some really great press. Some of them were
bringing in potcake dogs, you know, to their facility, or
(32:07):
helping other rescues out or having a really great event.
I think, you know, it's really important that if you
do have a slight budget, even if it's a small budget,
so if you can get you know, somebody to help
you with that, because a lot of people that are
in rescue, that's not why they they're not looking to
do PR. Some rescuers get it and they get a
lot of press, and they're happy with sending out a
release and letting the media know what's coming on, you know,
(32:29):
an up and what's happening. And then some jest are
like you said, they're overwhelmed. My best advice would really
be to try to find somebody that knows the pet industry,
knows about animal rescue and has really good connections and
a proof of you know, work in the industry. Kind
of like Mary to help you with your animal rescue
because I know you're into that as well, and you
(32:49):
really work with a lot of wonderful organizations.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
So yeah, quick question for you. So Alex does a
lot of work internationally and her rescue is an international
cat rescue, and so well, Alex, I'm just putting words
in your mouth. How would you suggest she works from
a global standpoint?
Speaker 5 (33:06):
I mean, I think that's a really great you know,
buzz for the media as somebody that is working globally,
you know, I mean, I feel like that is a
great way to get press right because you're working with
global animal rescues. What is the name of your rescue.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Alex Saving Lives with two a's.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
Saving Lives, Saving Lives based in Vancouver, you know, Global
Animal Rescue. Like that's just a headline right there, in
my opinion, and sending out a press release, I think
that would be really enticing to the media. Maybe if
you're looking for the local level, like you're globally rescuing animals,
like you just did for Mary from the streets of
(33:44):
where was it Mexico, Mexico to Mary's you know, that
could be a hometown story for Mary and then it
would help you get press as well. So yeah, I
think that. I feel like I've seen a lot of those,
you know, people that get global recognition for helping animals.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
The other thing we like to do at Whisker Media
is we like to combine rescue with our for profit clients. Yeah,
because I do think this is my own personal opinion,
I think it's significantly easier to get coverage for rescues
than it is for.
Speaker 5 (34:16):
One hundred percent Yeah, a product company. So have you
done any good partnerships like that? Can you tell us
some of the things that you did. Yeah, we've you know,
I've worked with a lot of pet businesses that were
hosting events or you know, hosting events for and giving
back proceeds to the event over the years, like many
different you know, whether it was dog training, a pet
(34:37):
retail store, hosting a bigger event and then there were
beneficiaries and that is a great way to get media
and you know, local media. We hosted a one of
my past clients and good friends I did pr for
her when she was hosting very first dock diving event
and it benefited the animal rescue that was literally in
this building next door. And she's coming up on her
(34:58):
ninth annual year, so there's always a rescue element. We
got tremendous press for her that year. I think there
were like five camera crews on the setup day. It
was crazy, and I think she was in like twenty
five like magazines and newspapers and then like a total
of like fifty outlets all over just on Long Island.
And she's a small town and that was an easy
because that was a different kind of event. It was fun.
(35:20):
We did a black tie gala for a dog training
and they were it was benefiting the local animal shelter.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I agree.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
I still think you can get press easier these days
for products and businesses, but versus when I started. But
it is always easier when there is that factor of
nonprofit helping your local community, animal rescue. All those stories
really they tug at the heartstrings and it makes for
great press.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
That's so awesome. So if somebody wanted to join app
or get a hold of you and ask questions, how
do they do that?
Speaker 5 (35:55):
Yeah, absolutely. They could just go right to our website,
which is American Pet profession with an as dot com
American Pet Professionals dot com. I'm also pretty active on LinkedIn,
so they could just look up my name. Nancy Hassel
pretty active on there, but they can reach out. I'm
very quick to get back to people via email, so
if somebody reaches out, you usually hear back from me
within twenty four hours or quicker.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Wow, well you are. I mean, you must be on
social media all the time because I'll post something and
you're responding. It's amazinging.
Speaker 5 (36:27):
I listen, I do love social media. It is a problem,
but I think it's just a great way to see
things like I'll see events that are happening that I
didn't hear about. And we have a pet events newsletter
that's been going out since two thousand and eight, and
then I will just send that to my admin. Hey
put this in for the next you know whatever. The
data is newsletter. So sometimes people don't submit the events me.
(36:47):
So yeah, that always helps seeing stuff like that on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And one more thing, your app is not just for
for profit companies. You've got a lot of rescue folks
that are members as well.
Speaker 5 (36:58):
Yes, we have a bunch of animal rescues. We have
a horse rescue, we have a pretty big animal rescue
organization from the Hamptons that is a semi private animal rescue,
and then we also have nonprofit organizations that are not
necessarily rescue, but they do things in the nonprofit world
as well. So yeah, anybody in the pet industry, that's
(37:19):
one of the things that is different about our organizations.
That's how we started and that's always been part of
our mission because I think everybody can learn from each other.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
All right, Well, that was that went fast. These podcasts
always go so fast, it's like they do Yeah, amazing,
But 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. Do you have
a question you want us to answer, reach out to
(37:46):
us on Instagram or Facebook under Whisker Media and we'll
try to answer it in a future podcast episode. So,
as we always say, bark loud and per smart by everyone.
Speaker 7 (38:01):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlife
Radio dot com.
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Whisker Report. We're a new podcast dedicated
to helping anyone in the pet industry. Yes, this is
my new dog Max. Whether you're an animal welfare or
a for profit pet company, get some pr and buzz
for your nonprofit or business. And definitely my new dog
(00:38):
is trying to get some publicity for himself, so it's
working out. Hello everyone, I'm Mary Tan, one of the
hosts of the show, along with my co host alexand Ricard,
a cat rescuer and public relations professional who hails from
France but now lives in the lovely town of Vancouver. Boner.
Alexand you found this dog.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
A little too?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah. I did find Max on the streets in Mexico
a couple of weeks ago, and I did convince Mary
to adopt him. How is life Virginia?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Dog?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Mary, He's a sweetheart. He is actually barking at my
three kitty cats. So there's lots going on in my household.
What about you, Mark, What's going on in the Pet
Life Radio world?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Well, we had actually three shows that were on a
long hiatus for like years, and they're back. We've got
a Live Again, which is our Pet Reincarnation show with
Brent Atwater and that's back. And Working Like Dogs with
Marcy Davis and that's all about working in service dogs
(01:50):
and that's back. And then we have Canine Master with
Chris an thank which is dog training and that's back too.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Wow. Well, we are so honored that we get to
be part of your network and we do do as
many shows as possible because you know, podcasts are all
about putting out weekly content and that's kind of what
we want to do. So each week, Alex Mark and
I are going to help each and every one of
(02:21):
you learn the basics of PR and other publicity tools.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
And today we're super lucky to have Nancy Hassel, the
founder and president of American Pet Professionals, an award winning
networking and educational organization dedicated to helping pet entrepreneurs, businesses,
and animal rescues to grow, work together, and unite the
pet industry. But Nancy's also speaker at various pet industry conferences,
(02:50):
a writer for pet trades and consumer magazines, blogger, photographer,
and was a TV producer and production coordinator for more
than ten years Nancy created a Responsible Dog honorship program
and taught over two five hundred pet parents in a
five year period, and she was also awarded the twenty
(03:11):
eighteen Woman of Influence by pet Age Magazine. Welcome to
the show, Nancy.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Thank you so much. I know that's a silly long intro,
but thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, you've done a lot in your life.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
You started doing a lot. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Can you tell us how you ended up in the
pet industry.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Yeah, I mean I kind of always had one foot
in the pet industry, even as I worked as a
TV producer in my twenties. I was, you know, working
for a couple of different TV companies, and I started
really having interest in working in the pet industry because
I had a Doberman and then I adopted another dog,
and I was learning all about training and all the things,
and I just decided that, you know what, maybe I
(03:54):
want to open a retail store. And I didn't know
anything about that, and so I subscribed to pet Age Magazine,
Holdog Journy, like a lot of different like publications to
read and learn about the pet industry. That was quite
a while ago, and I just really had a lot
of interest in it. I didn't know what I was
going to do. I dabbled in a few different areas,
which a lot of pet professionals tend to do, and
(04:14):
that's just kind of It was like a natural flow
and progression into the pet industry after a couple of
other careers working in TV, working in PR, but again
always had one foot in the industry doing something.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So tell us how you started American Pet Professionals And
for people that don't know what that is, can you
talk about it and how do people join?
Speaker 5 (04:33):
Yeah? Absolutely, I'm Marry. You've been a member for a
few years now, so thank you for being a met. Yeah,
so how did I start American Pet Professionals. I'll try
to give you the short version. Sometimes I could be
long when which is good for podcasts, right, But I
was at the time, I was teaching responsible dog onship
classes that Alex had mentioned before, and I was teaching that.
(04:55):
There were free classes, no dogs, We had trainers and
veterinarians in the class. I was doing that. I was
doing some PR for some pet clients, and I was
at a networking event, speaking at an entrepreneurial event. It
wasn't pet industry related, and it was like how to
get your business into the news. And there was only
one other person in the pet industry there, and she
happened to be a veterinarian and she happened to sit
(05:16):
next to me. I didn't know her, she didn't know me,
and she said to me, do you know anybody that
or any organization that caters to pet professionals? You know,
I'm just coming back to Long Island. I was working
here wherever she was working, I was, well, there's a
veterinary industry. But while I was sitting in the meeting,
and after I did my shpiel, I always talk about
how I was, you know, working in the pet industry,
(05:38):
and I always was looked at. Again, this is two
thousand and eight, Like I had ten heads. So everybody
in the entrepreneurial space that wasn't pet had no clue
what I was talking about. And then if I talked
about numbers, you know how big the pet industry was,
and everybody, inevitably, the lawyer, the accountant, the banker would
turn their head. How many billions a year? You know?
But while I was sitting that meeting, I was thinking,
(06:00):
you know, she's the third person that has asked me
about pet professional organizations for Long Island in a two
week period, and I looked around that room, I'm like,
I could host one of these networking events. I had
no idea, you know, about doing it, and so I
decided that's what I was going to do. We were
called Long Island Pet Professionals at the time, and I
host an event in February of two thousand and nine
(06:22):
in the middle of Long Island, in the middle of
the recession. We had people from all over Long Island
show up and from three different states and all five
boroughs of New York City. So I was like, oh
my god, this is so needed.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
You know.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
My goal was really to bring together people from all
areas of the industry that maybe we're new to the
industry or that they felt like they were competition with
the other person. And you're not competition, right, I would say,
you're your own competition. Like, let's work together, let's educate
each other, and let's learn. And I had that very
first meeting. I sent out press releases about it because
(06:54):
I had my PR education from when I worked at
a PR firm, and I was kind of shocked by
the turnout and people stayed after the event was over,
we all kind of hung out for a while. Some
of those members are still members today, which is mind
boggling because it's sixteen years later. And we just kept
growing from there, and people said to me, when is
the next event, and I was like, next month. I
(07:16):
had no idea when the next event was, where it
was going to be. We didn't have a website. It
took me the three month the third event, people started
saying how do I join? And I was like, I'll
let you know. I just went from there. Yeah, it
was crazy, and then I got a website, and then
by twenty thirteen, the end of twenty thirteen, it took
us about a year. We rebranded to American PEP Professionals
(07:38):
because right away, within that first year and a half,
we have people emailing saying I want to join and
I live in Tennessee, and I was like, uh, because
we really weren't doing as much online stuff then, you know,
and we had a group and stuff like that. But yeah,
that's kind of it. And it's just evolved over the
years and been a lot of work and a lot
of fun, and we've met some amazing people and you know,
(07:58):
the pet industry, everybody, you know, we all have that
bond of loving pets and wanting to do better for
the pets. So it's such a great thing to meet
and learn so many people in the industry.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Mary, how did you meet Nancy?
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Yeah, So Nancy and I met through Dana and Humphrey,
who I used to be in. She was with Whitegate
PR and I actually took over quite a few of
Dana's clients, and Dana was wonderful. And Dana and I
just met at Global Pet.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Expo, probably in the press room.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
No, we met through Sturdy Products.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
Oh okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Rich had introduced me to her and he's like, Dana
is somebody you should know. And then you know, we
just started this friendship. And Dana is a super fun person. Yes,
and then she was friends with you and she used
to talk about you, and so it was just like,
you know, this kind of networking thing. But I sort
of find like in the pet PR world, everybody's kind
(08:59):
of friends with each other. It's a very nice like,
especially the solopreneurs right, the smaller agencies, we all like
hang out with each other and know each other and
recommend each other, and that sort of thing.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
It's such a great thing for the PR world because
I remember working in TV and the PR part of
it was very competitive and we were never like that.
We always all work together and I still recommend people
to Mary, like to this day, people are like we
should fire for I'm like, just go, you know, go
call Mary. So it's quay interesting. Yeah, Dana introduced us
for something that I was working on and she said,
(09:35):
just here's Mary's info, and that's how we went.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Yeah, yes, And then I was on one of your
panels for for Global COVID Yes, yes, yeah, we had.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
A Global in twenty twenty one, was virtual and I
was hosting I think a few different panels, a few
different speaking sessions, but one panel, and so I think
that's when I said to Data, who do you know
that does this? And she was like, oh, MA would
be awesome for that, And so she was on a
very important panel that we hosted. And it was a
lot of fun to get to know Mary. That was
(10:06):
super fun and we have such similar backgrounds in TV.
It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yes, yes exactly. So you tell us like you're still
kind of a PR person in a way because you
were always talking about PR and marketing to your members. Yes,
you hold weekly webinars on how to how to do something.
So what's your number one piece of advice to especially
(10:31):
a new pet startup or even a rescue.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Well for a business or a rescue. You know, I
look back to when I started doing PR for the
pet industry back in like two thousand and eight. You know,
I had like one or two small clients, and the
media wasn't really embracing the pet world businesses back then
that in the way that they do it now obviously,
So it was a lot more challenging to get a
(10:55):
business into the news versus an animal rescue because the
animal rescue always has the good part of it, so
it's a little bit easier then. Now it's a lot
easier to get a business in the news, right, not
saying you don't have to have those contacts and that
proof of work and all that, but I think for
anybody that is, you know, going into or having a
new business or a rescue, getting media coverage is so
(11:17):
important to this day, even with all of the avenues
of social media. It gives you, you know, people read
about you, then you can put as seen on and
the more media coverage you start to get, it just
kind of snowballs.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's just the way it is.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
I always tell people that, like, you're going to get
one good thing and then the next thing, they're going
to be reaching out to you because they read about
it in another publication or they saw you on a podcast,
or you know, anything like that. I think it's so important,
and it also just makes your reputation right, Like you've
gotten a lot of media coverage. The media is writing
about you. It gives you that I don't want to
(11:51):
say clout, but like it just really gives you that like, oh,
this is somebody that I should look into. Right. How
many times are you're flipping through a magazine or newspaper
and you see pet like for us PAD professionals and
stands out, We're like, oh, what business is that?
Speaker 4 (12:03):
TAD?
Speaker 5 (12:03):
Parents are also doing that too, they're stopping to read
the PET. So I think it's really important to continue
to try to get media coverage. Work with a PR professional.
If you don't know how to do it, it's just going
to help you stand out faster than just trying to
get all the social media coverage because you don't know
if you'll ever go viral.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, Alex, did you have a question? You look like
you were jumping at the bit.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Yeah, that's definitely true. You never know when you're going
to go viral, so or if you will, if you will, Yeah,
and it's getting harder and harder. I mean, we've seen
it with everybody getting on social media right now. It's
social media is definitely a very hard place to stand out.
And yeah, we've seen it with many people. And yeah,
(12:44):
I actually wonder about what the future of social media
is going to be in a few years with everything
that's happening. And I wanted to talk to you about it, Nancy,
because you've been in the pet industry for so long
and with all the changes that are happening with AI
and you know, everything blowing up. What do you think
small businesses owners have to look out for the minute?
Speaker 5 (13:07):
I think for small pet business owners in terms of
social media, I still think it's important to be on
social Like it's exhausting, right because you need to do
a little bit of everything. You need to do some advertising,
you need to hire a PR person, you need to
do social media, or hire social media person to do
it for you. If you can't do it that's one
piece of advice I would say, as long as they
(13:28):
learn and know your voice and your brand, you know,
and they're reflecting you that way, which isn't really that hard.
If you don't have a budget, you can turn to
AI and ask AI to help you. I think AI
is a fantastic tool to use for research. I also
think it can be really overwhelming because if you ask
it one thing, it's like, oh, yes, could you want
ten more? Do you need thirty more?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Do you need?
Speaker 7 (13:50):
No?
Speaker 5 (13:50):
No, I just needed for you know, five suggestions for this,
Like I'm down, you know, And then it kind of
can be like, well, I don't want to do all
of that work that just gave it, because you might
stay out for you what you're looking for, but then
you actually have to do the work for it. So
it's a great tool, but I think, you know, I
don't know. I kind of look back to like two
thousand and eight, two thousand and nine when blogging was
(14:11):
really popular. Twenty ten, it's still important to have a
blog on your website, right because people are still reading
those things. But it kind of evolved over the years
as social media evolved, because maybe people just wanted that
quick you know, TikTok style video. I think that you
just have to pay attention to what's going on, adjust
to what you can do, don't overwhelm yourself. Batch your content.
(14:35):
If you can do that, you know, which again is
easier said than done. It's always a buzz where batch
your content, shoot everything in one day. But you know,
if you can shoot a couple of videos and have subfready,
I think it's a great way to promote your events
that you have coming up. If you're hosting an event,
whether you're a bit pep business or a rescue we're
all glued to our phones right twenty four to seven,
(14:56):
which is a good and a bad thing. It's a
good thing for business, I think for the person, I
don't know. I just I feel like it's gonna ebb
and flow. I think there'll be that peak of AI
and then they'll just kind of platateau itself out. That's
what I think. I think it's a great tool, but
I don't think it's going to take over the world
in terms of you can use AI as a tool
(15:17):
for social media, but I don't think you can have
it work for you in the way that you needed
to work for you for everything in your business.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Well, I think that's what we've seen, right, Like, the
more people are using AI, the more actual people want
also the human touch, right like genuine connection and authenticity,
And that's comes to my next question. Because of AI,
I think networking is going to be more and more
important in the coming years, so like American prep professionals,
(15:44):
for example, is going to be more and more important
for people in the pet industry. But how important is
it actually for people to network? And that's a question
for you both, because Mary, you're always talking about networking.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I think networking is critical, and Alex brings us up
because I'm always telling her network, network, Network. There is nothing,
nothing digital that beats meeting somebody face to face or
even a phone call or even a zoom call and
seeing them right Like, especially like when I'm dealing with
(16:16):
the media, if the person knows me and has worked
with me in the past, and they trust me and
they know when I picked a story to them, that
they're that it's a great story, it's credible, You're gonna
get a callback. You're more likely to get a hit
on your media pitch. So that's kind of what I think.
And even Nancy, You and I meeting was great. Yeah,
(16:37):
I mean we know people. I know people that you
don't know. You know people that I don't know. And
you know, I've been telling Alex, like, get out there.
She's bilingual, she has speaks multiple languages. She needs to
be calling up the media, you know, in France, in Italy,
in Spain and start networking with those journalists. So I'm
(16:57):
just using this to like tell tell Alex to do
it again.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
I agree, Mary. I think you know when we started
with our business and we were hosting networking events, and
you know, I'll tell you a funny story. So people
are nervous about meeting other people. There's a lot of
people that are intimidated to go to a networking event
or I don't want to go to that. I don't
you know, maybe they have social anxiety, or they just
are nervous about their business. Maybe they don't think we're
you know, they should be where they are. That's in
(17:23):
your own head, right, Other people aren't perceiving that. And
one year I hosted a networking event here on Long Island.
It was four American pet professionals because we had rebranded
at that time, and I was like, you know what,
I'm going to do an event that's a little bit different.
And I hadn't been to one of these events, but
I heard about it. It was kind of like, I
don't want to say speed dating, because it wasn't like that.
But what I did was is everybody came in. A
(17:45):
lot of people knew each other, some people didn't. And
I think we had about fifty people there. We had
five tables of ten. I'd handed everybody a number for
the tables, and they were like, what's the number four.
I'm like, don't worry about it now, I'll explain it
in a little while. And after they came in and
they sat down and could see people that like had
their crutch person with them, right that person that they
were like practically sitting next to like this because they
(18:06):
were so nervous. I said, okay, everybody. After they had
like I think it was after like some drinks, and
like you know, I said, okay, everybody, remember the number
on the t that I handed you, I said, and
I walked around and I popped up the numbers on
the tables and I said, if you got whatever number
of the table you got, go to that table. Now.
They were people that were angry. They were so mad.
(18:27):
A couple of people like, we're gonna leave, and I
was like, what what do you I came here with
that person, I said, but you already know that person,
and they were so mad at me, and I was
I was like trying so hard not to laugh because
I didn't want to be mean, you know, And so
they were like okay, and they did. They moved and everything.
And afterwards, like three of the people that you could
tell were mad and two of the people that they
(18:48):
were like, this was amazing. I met the person that
I needed to meet, and I said, and if you
didn't move, you wouldn't have met that person. So that
was a lot of fun. It was probably more fun
for me. But you know, I just feel like if
you know people and you're going to a networking event,
of course, like if I see Mary at the next
trade shows, of course, I'll be like, Mary, we're going
to chichat for a while. But then go around the
(19:08):
room and work and network the room, whether that's on
a zoom meeting or not. Like for our networking events
at American PEP Professionals, edmund sends out the most incredible
recap the next day of everything, we discussed who was
on the meeting. So there's no excuse not to reach
out to the ten people that were at that meeting
or the fifteen people go in and say, hey, it
(19:29):
was so great to meet you. I didn't get to
learn as much as I needed to because maybe that
person was a little shy in the networking, even if
it was on a zoom. So I wholeheartedly believe in
networking for your business. It's the easiest way to grow
and learn and meet people that you just never know.
That's what I would say. You just never know who
you're going to meet that can amplify your business. We've
had so many businesses since we started solo. Petpreneurs start
(19:53):
working with each other, people that you know needed a
PR person then said I didn't know there was a
PR person in the group, and work together, create businesses, rescues,
start working with other you know. It's just over the
years and so I always just say, you just never
know who you're gonna meet.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That's so amazing. Well, we got to take a quick
break and when we come back, I'm going to tell
you guys. I want to tell Nancy and Alex and
Mark about this conversation I had yesterday.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Oh okay, I want to know now, Mary.
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Speaker 7 (21:05):
Let's talk pets on Cetlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
And we're back with Nancy Hassel, the founder and president
of American Pet Professionals, And we're all waiting.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
For Mary's story, So please, Marry, tell us what was
the coversation you had yes Well, I was gossiping yesterday
with my good friend Jen Reader. You guys know with her,
I think she just writes for numerous publications, The Today Show, Forbes,
and she had called me about the cat allergies because
(21:46):
my cat, Franklin has cat allergies, and you know, we
kind of talked about the state of journalism and how
you know, the the budget cuts, and there's really an
argument out there about the state of the media right
now because there is some data out there that says
Americans don't trust the media like they used to and
that sort of thing. I kind of imagine it depends
(22:08):
where you are in the country. But she said she
read an article I believe it was in Semaphore, which
is a website, a news publication, and they talked about
how the renaissance of the media will probably happen again
because AI is really they tend to pull from news
(22:28):
articles more than anything else, more than any social media,
more than any website. They pulled directly from newssites, yeah,
which is going to give the news media for their push.
And they talked about how it's important for brands to
make sure they have media coverage and so I'm just
(22:48):
interested in knowing what you guys think about that.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
I think so definitely if you ask AI, hey, you
give me five tips on this, it's something pet industry,
and you don't ask for a source and then gives
you the fire and then you go back and say,
where did you source that from? It's always the media,
you're right, yep, or study, but yeah, Alex, what do
you think?
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Yeah, no, no, no, I think so I'm trying to
think of an example if I ever asked AI something
about the pet industry. And I also, Mary, you also
send me an article that I haven't finished readings, but
it's about training AI on PR, like training AI about
your clients or things like that. Right, did you you
(23:29):
send it to me? So I'm sure you read it.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yes, But it's so fascinating because you know, they say
that AI is going to save the media in terms
of relevancy. Now as former newspeople, you know, I'm always
going to believe in the media because it's the only
way to get you know, facts and different things instead
of because everybody can put their opinion on social media.
(23:51):
But actually, you know, delivering both sides of the story
is another thing. And I actually experimented on different things
on mental health, for example, and I was given a
New York Times article and that's what popped up. And
so it's with AI, it's like PR is very accessible
(24:11):
for everyone.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Can I piggyback that, Mary, I think it's true. I
think that with AI there's a distrust in AI also, Right,
The first thing I will say is people who'll drag
the media through the mud, or you hate the media
until you want media attention, until you want your business
in the news. Right, You'll see people complaining about the
media and then hoping to get pressed.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I'm like, you can't have bull, you know, but I
think you know that. A lot of times, like on LinkedIn,
I'll see somebody reply to me and I'm like, Oh,
they just hit the AI thing, so it's totally unauthentic
and I'm totally not interested, you know, to completely take
the conversation further. It happened to me yesterday somebody was
dming me and it was so obvious that it was AI.
(24:52):
You could pick out those buzzwords, and I was like, Eh,
you know, but I really think that's a great take
on it. I'd be interested to see how that. Hew.
Have you found that AI press releases work, Nancy.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
I don't know, because I have never done an AI
press release. I have no idea. I sent out a
press release about our new trademark. I think it was
in the fall or early beginning this year, who can remember.
It's a blur at this point for pet industry one
oh one, and I just wrote it and sent it
out and like I would normally do traditionally that press
coverage and like didn't really think much else about it.
(25:24):
After that, you have to train it. You have to say,
I want you to give it examples if you want
to use it for somebody, use it to write a
press release, or use it to write an email. Absolutely
have to give it because otherwise you just see that
inauthentic AI writing and it sounds like a person but
not really. The other thing we were talking about before.
AI can write a story for you, but only you
(25:45):
can tell the story, right, And that's what people are
going to gravitate to, whether it's a media coverage, right
and they hear you talking on TV or in a
newspaper article or see you talking on social media and
a video. You can only be the one that's doing that.
Nobody else can sound like you, be like you. You
have your own voice. So I think you know, I agree,
(26:07):
you can use AI as a tool. It's fantastic, but
you have to train it or you just have to
be yourself and not eat it at all one or
the other.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
So one place when there's no AI, I mean you
can't really use it is the pet conferences, right, like
super Zoo Global. You actually have to be yourself and
you can't really rely on GPT to actually talk to people.
How do you have any tips for small pet business owners?
Sorry's takt keeps moving. What are you doing for small
(26:33):
pet business owners to actually make a splash during those
pet conferences? Maybe they don't have a big budgets, so
what can they do to still make a splash at
those conferences.
Speaker 5 (26:42):
Like as a vendor, as an exhibitter or yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah absolutely. I mean I've been talking about this since
probably two thousand and eight. Eight used to go work
for a trade show company and we had the most
speaking of splash crazy displays at the Consumer Electronics Trade
Show CES in two thousand and two. We literally had
people diving into pools so as booth attractions. It was crazy.
(27:07):
But I always say, you don't bring it to that
scalable level for your business. A lot of times you'll
walk the trade your floor and you'll you'll see people
like on their phones not paying attention. You have to
get out in front of your booth, engage with people.
How are you doing if you don't have a budget,
or as I call it, like pet booth babes. If
you don't have rescue pets in your booth that are
(27:28):
naturally going to bring people over, or a flashy display
maybe it's your first time going. You know, you have
to really engage, and that's not a lot of people
aren't that comfortable doing that. A lot of people got
into the pet industry because they want to work with
pets and not necessarily people, right, and now they came
up with this great product and now they have to
actually sell to people and talk to people. So, you know,
(27:50):
if you have a budget, you know, hire people that
can help you with that. There are you know, experts
out there that can help you have a real big splash.
But I just think, you know, keep it simple, keep
it to your brand, make sure that you're personable. If
you have a team member somebody working with you, make
sure that they can sell your product to anybody walking
by just as much as you can if you need
(28:11):
to take that break. You never want to go over
to a trade show booth and it's somebody's spouse that
didn't invent the product and only knows a little bit
about it, or you hired a salesperson you know on
date that it's in and they are just there to
like fill the booth space. And that's the worst thing
to me when you walk up and you're like, oh,
this is really cool. I heard about this, and they're like, oh, well,
(28:33):
the person who created it, they walked away. I don't
know that much about it, and I'm like, ah, you know,
and then I'm like, okay, I'll come back. And most
of the time, unless it's a really great product, you
don't have time to go back. So you know, there's
a lot of variables. We've talked about how to be
your own booth babe, how to do all these amazing
things so much over the years. I think my memories
are sick of it, but they always ask and they
(28:54):
always show up when we do that webinar, So it's
always funny that I'm like, I know you guys have
heard this before, but you know, for the newbies, I
think it's really important. I think you know, it's a
big show. Right at each show that you're going to,
if you're going to Super Zoo or Global, some of
its placement where your booths is. If you have a
new product, try to get into the new product area
where it's very busy, put your new product in the
(29:16):
new product section, you know, those kind of basic things.
If you're a boutique and there's a boutique section, try
to get in the boutique section. Again, you just have
to be really engaging and kind of just you know,
that's what you're there for. You're there to sell your product,
you're there to network, you're there to meet people, and
you'll have a fantastic event. If you sit back and
you're just looking on your phone and you're not paying attention,
(29:37):
you're going to say, I didn't have a good show.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Okay, Well that's why that's so awesome. Well, we also
know that animal rescue is very near and dear to
your heart, as it is for all of us. So
when we come back, we're going to talk to you
more about what rescues can do to get some great
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Speaker 7 (30:52):
Let's talk past.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Let's done, PETOFE.
Speaker 9 (30:55):
Radio, Hetline Radio, Oktlfradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
And we're back with the wonderful Nancy Hassel of American
Pet Professionals, who you may not know. This is an
animal welfare advocate. She has always adopted and she just
loves animals, and so much of APP is animal rescue
as well. I know you have some members who are
(31:28):
part of APP, So tell us what's your advice to
the small overwhelmed Animal rescue person that is like, I
am so busy saving animals, I don't have time to
do PR marketing.
Speaker 5 (31:43):
Yeah, it's tough because a lot of the smaller ones
are really stretched thin, right they are doing every part
of the rescue. I would say to you if you
are overwhelmed, if you have a budget, if you can
hire somebody to do your PR. I did PR for
a few different animal rescue organizations over the years. We
got them some really great press. Some of them were
bringing in potcake dogs, you know, to their facility, or
(32:07):
helping other rescues out or having a really great event.
I think, you know, it's really important that if you
do have a slight budget, even if it's a small budget,
so if you can get you know, somebody to help
you with that, because a lot of people that are
in rescue, that's not why they they're not looking to
do PR. Some rescuers get it and they get a
lot of press, and they're happy with sending out a
release and letting the media know what's coming on, you know,
(32:29):
an up and what's happening. And then some jest are
like you said, they're overwhelmed. My best advice would really
be to try to find somebody that knows the pet industry,
knows about animal rescue and has really good connections and
a proof of you know, work in the industry. Kind
of like Mary to help you with your animal rescue
because I know you're into that as well, and you
(32:49):
really work with a lot of wonderful organizations.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
So yeah, quick question for you. So Alex does a
lot of work internationally and her rescue is an international
cat rescue, and so well, Alex, I'm just putting words
in your mouth. How would you suggest she works from
a global standpoint?
Speaker 5 (33:06):
I mean, I think that's a really great you know,
buzz for the media as somebody that is working globally,
you know, I mean, I feel like that is a
great way to get press right because you're working with
global animal rescues. What is the name of your rescue.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Alex Saving Lives with two a's.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
Saving Lives, Saving Lives based in Vancouver, you know, Global
Animal Rescue. Like that's just a headline right there, in
my opinion, and sending out a press release, I think
that would be really enticing to the media. Maybe if
you're looking for the local level, like you're globally rescuing animals,
like you just did for Mary from the streets of
(33:44):
where was it Mexico, Mexico to Mary's you know, that
could be a hometown story for Mary and then it
would help you get press as well. So yeah, I
think that. I feel like I've seen a lot of those,
you know, people that get global recognition for helping animals.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
The other thing we like to do at Whisker Media
is we like to combine rescue with our for profit clients. Yeah,
because I do think this is my own personal opinion,
I think it's significantly easier to get coverage for rescues
than it is for.
Speaker 5 (34:16):
One hundred percent Yeah, a product company. So have you
done any good partnerships like that? Can you tell us
some of the things that you did. Yeah, we've you know,
I've worked with a lot of pet businesses that were
hosting events or you know, hosting events for and giving
back proceeds to the event over the years, like many
different you know, whether it was dog training, a pet
(34:37):
retail store, hosting a bigger event and then there were
beneficiaries and that is a great way to get media
and you know, local media. We hosted a one of
my past clients and good friends I did pr for
her when she was hosting very first dock diving event
and it benefited the animal rescue that was literally in
this building next door. And she's coming up on her
(34:58):
ninth annual year, so there's always a rescue element. We
got tremendous press for her that year. I think there
were like five camera crews on the setup day. It
was crazy, and I think she was in like twenty
five like magazines and newspapers and then like a total
of like fifty outlets all over just on Long Island.
And she's a small town and that was an easy
because that was a different kind of event. It was fun.
(35:20):
We did a black tie gala for a dog training
and they were it was benefiting the local animal shelter.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
I agree.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
I still think you can get press easier these days
for products and businesses, but versus when I started. But
it is always easier when there is that factor of
nonprofit helping your local community, animal rescue. All those stories
really they tug at the heartstrings and it makes for
great press.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
That's so awesome. So if somebody wanted to join app
or get a hold of you and ask questions, how
do they do that?
Speaker 5 (35:55):
Yeah, absolutely. They could just go right to our website,
which is American Pet profession with an as dot com
American Pet Professionals dot com. I'm also pretty active on LinkedIn,
so they could just look up my name. Nancy Hassel
pretty active on there, but they can reach out. I'm
very quick to get back to people via email, so
if somebody reaches out, you usually hear back from me
within twenty four hours or quicker.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Wow, well you are. I mean, you must be on
social media all the time because I'll post something and
you're responding. It's amazinging.
Speaker 5 (36:27):
I listen, I do love social media. It is a problem,
but I think it's just a great way to see
things like I'll see events that are happening that I
didn't hear about. And we have a pet events newsletter
that's been going out since two thousand and eight, and
then I will just send that to my admin. Hey
put this in for the next you know whatever. The
data is newsletter. So sometimes people don't submit the events me.
(36:47):
So yeah, that always helps seeing stuff like that on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And one more thing, your app is not just for
for profit companies. You've got a lot of rescue folks
that are members as well.
Speaker 5 (36:58):
Yes, we have a bunch of animal rescues. We have
a horse rescue, we have a pretty big animal rescue
organization from the Hamptons that is a semi private animal rescue,
and then we also have nonprofit organizations that are not
necessarily rescue, but they do things in the nonprofit world
as well. So yeah, anybody in the pet industry, that's
(37:19):
one of the things that is different about our organizations.
That's how we started and that's always been part of
our mission because I think everybody can learn from each other.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
All right, Well, that was that went fast. These podcasts
always go so fast, it's like they do Yeah, amazing,
But 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. Do you have
a question you want us to answer, reach out to
(37:46):
us on Instagram or Facebook under Whisker Media and we'll
try to answer it in a future podcast episode. So,
as we always say, bark loud and per smart by everyone.
Speaker 7 (38:01):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlife
Radio dot com.
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Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.