The Dog Business Side Hustle System (Part One)
If you have a dog and you're looking for a side hustle to add an extra stream of income to your dog related business, or simply to supplement what you already earn, this article is about to show you how to do it spending just one hour per day.
You don't need your own products (although if you have them, even better) and you can get started with no upfront costs.
Interested?
Great, let's get into it.
Before I do, I'm splitting this guide into two parts as there's too much to cover in one go. Part two will be released next week to give you time to digest everything, research the idea, and get organised.
Here's What You Need (It's Not Just a Dog)
What I'm about to share has been working for me on auto-pilot for the past three years. The exciting thing is, I'm mostly hands off now and very rarely touch this side hustle, which in itself is crazy, because imagine if I went all in on it. I truly believe I could turn it into a real living wage and more.
You need to own a pedigree dog, such as a Labrador, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier, Poodle, Rottweiler, or a popular crossbreed like a Cavapoo, Cockapoo, Maltipoo, Goldendoodle, Shorkie, or Chug.
Besides the dog, you need to commit a bit of time to set things up and be prepared to put in around an hour per day. No time? You probably do have it. Get up an hour earlier, turn off your phone, skip the soaps, or stop doom scrolling X. One hour a day is all this takes.
Here's The Dog Side Hustle System
You're going to build an email list of subscribers who own the same breed as you.
You'll give them a free digital product to encourage sign-ups, then email them regularly with information, facts, and special offers specific to that breed.
Think of it as a newsletter for [dog breed] owners.
You'll do this using an autoresponder service, where you'll create three simple pages:
- A landing page to capture subscribers
- A confirmation page to thank them and offer a product
- A download page to deliver the free gift you promised
On top of that, you write a welcome series of five emails that go out daily (first five days), then continue emailing at least three times per week to keep your list warm and engaged.
It's a simple process that works well. I can't give guarantees, and as per internet law I have to be upfront that results may vary, so do your own due diligence. It's your call.
My Cavapoo Landing Page (Ugly, Plain, But It Works)
Here's how simple my own site looks using this exact process. My landing page was built on WordPress, but for this guide we're using Aweber's landing page builder. Feel free to use whatever platform you prefer.
The landing page offers a free gift and a newsletter. Nothing special at all. I do have blog content on the site for SEO and AI visibility, but honestly it's not needed for this system.
The reader, a Cavapoo owner, is interested in the free gift and intrigued by the newsletter. That's enough.
Just look at the landing page. It's not even properly formatted for desktop and it still brings in subscribers, because people who have a Cavapoo want to learn more about their breed. They want tips, advice, and to know what to expect. And who better to give them that than someone who has the same dog and has already been through most of the questions they're likely to have?
That's you.
Set the same thing up for your breed. Swap Cavapoo for Cockapoo, German Shepherd, whatever fits. Dog owners, especially new ones, want to learn and want help, so step up and be that person.
The Free Gift
Give them a simple cheat sheet, a one-page guide covering the basics of the first few weeks with a new puppy: what to feed them, insurance, what to expect, and so on. Nothing complicated.
The bonus I mention on my sign-up page is a section of a paid product I created called the Cavapoo Compendium, a list of rules for Cavapoo owners. You can package something similar up and sell it. It's around 73 rules, and while they're framed as breed-specific, most of them apply to any dog.
Go to Cavapoo Crew, sign up, and see how it all works. Look at the emails, the sales pages, and the way I present the paid offer. Then do the same for your breed.
The free guides are simple PDFs you can store and host on Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3, all free and easy to set up. There are step-by-step YouTube videos for every part of this.
Aweber* also has a free plan if you want to start with zero cost, and they even run special offers to set it all up for you.
To summarise what you need to get started:
- A landing page, confirmation page, and download page (build these in Aweber or WordPress)
- A free cheat sheet
- Five auto-pilot emails selling your own product or an affiliate product
I'll cover driving traffic, how to spend just an hour per day, and how to scale this up in part two of this guide.
Any questions? Hit reply.