Welcome to Wear Wag Repeat Episode 56: Creating A Dog Empire – How to Start a Dog Mom Blog Business, Grow Big & Pivot. Do you dream of taking your little dog mom blog and turning it into a multimedia brand?

In this episode, you’ll learn what’s worked (and what hasn’t) for me as I launched an online shop and started a podcast to diversify my dog mom blog business in the last two years.

Creating A Dog Mom Blog Business – How to Start, Grow & Diversify

Why I Created My Blog:

My starting point was my dog mom blog six years ago. It was very much a lifestyle blog. It wasn’t niched down to dog content as it is now.

Of course, the site is called Wear Wag Repeat. When I started it was about fashion and dogs. The catchphrase was “I wear it, they wag it, and then we repeat!” And over the years I’ve transitioned to it to be about way more dog content than fashion!

But I’d still like to consider myself a stylish dog mom. I hope that you do too!

On my blog, I write regular blog posts, publish sponsored content, and use affiliate links to generate income. I haven’t played around with ads yet, but once I build up my traffic I will.

This blog serves as my headquarters that ties together all the other business directions I pursue. Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different ways to generate revenue. But it always comes back to my blog. 

The Lessons from Launching a Paid Membership for Dog Moms

In January 2017, I launched Make It Wag, a subscription service for $3.99/month to provide exclusive content about DIY craft projects for dog moms. I wanted to create something affordable that provided exclusive content, bonuses and DIY tutorials to dog moms.

But when I launched it was total crickets! I kept working at it for about 3 months until I decided to pivot in a different direction.

What I learned surprised me. Offering something cheap meant it had a very low perceived value. People were actually more excited about signing up for my $250 courses or $1,000 coaching packages than the $3.99 membership.

Adding Online Courses to My Dog Mom Blog Business

In the fall of 2017, I began teaching creative women entrepreneurs how to grow their Instagram accounts with an online course. I launched this program with pretty good success and began to build that community. I did webinars and multi-day challenges to grow interest in the paid course I created.

Each course launch generated revenue, and I had happy students.

However, trying to juggle two different businesses (dog moms vs. creative entrepreneurs) felt disjointed. This taught me to listen to data, especially when it comes to who actually bought from me and what they liked about the program. 

The Benefits of Hosting a Podcast for Women Petpreneurs

Also in the fall of 2017, I started a pet industry podcast. My vision was to interview women in the pet industry and talk about business advice while obsessing over our dogs.

This podcast technically makes $0… actually, it costs me money! However, with the content I share on the show, I’m helping women pursue their dreams.

Plus, growing a podcast listener audience is valuable to building my reputation and expertise. Although the show doesn’t directly make money, I use it to build my brand and promote my paid offers like online courses, my membership and other events I participate in. 

I also really enjoy talking to women petpreneurs around the world!

Launching a Dog Mom Product Shop

I launched my online shop in August 2018, featuring handmade goodies for stylish dog moms. Everything in the shop is Dog Mom Made, and that’s really important to me. This shop has amazing potential for long-term growth as a revenue stream.

Starting the shop was a huge learning curve— just about as involved as creating my online courses. I started small with just a few products I loved and added print-on-demand shirts using Printful.

It’s easy to be intimidated about starting a new direction in your dog blog business because you feel like it needs to be perfect.  But don’t let the fear of imperfection stop you!

Everything we do doesn’t have to be perfect! It just needs to be something you’re proud of and excited about—the rest will come in time.

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A membership to grow your pet business online
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