Starting an Animal Walking website on WordPress - WordPress Membership Plugin Member Sites
The first step in creating a Dog Walking Website on WordPress
If your idea of a ideal day is to spend enjoying the outdoors with your 4-legged friends most likely, you're not interested in taking hours and hours of setting up a dog walking website.
But a well-structured website is crucial if you wish to be able to manage a successful independent dog-walking business.
Do we have any great news to share with all of you!
The world's most popular software for managing content, WordPress, when paired with a user-friendly and cost-effective application such as Member, can assist you in achieving your dog-walking business dreams.
In this blog, we'll guide you on changing a simple WordPress website into a fully fledged, professional platform for your pet-walking company.
Also, tie your shoelaces and let em go to this thrilling adventure!
What Do You Are Looking For
If you're new to building websites, you're probably getting caught up in the research of what's the best way to approach it.
We've got the low down on exactly what you require to construct a high-quality website that your customers can control their bookings and payments.
All you require are the following four essential tools:
WordPress
This robust and intuitive platform is the foundation of your web presence.
Member
The user-friendly and comprehensive plugin is fully compatible with WordPress. It offers all of the essential features to create a members-only area on your site as well as manage membership levels and subscriptions effectively.
Zapier
If you're looking to automate the process and streamlining it, Zapier is a game-changer.
The powerful and sophisticated tool connects with a multitude of applications, making for smooth and efficient workflows.
If you're trying to sync data between different platforms or automate tasks that are repetitive, Zapier is your go-to solution.
We'll then show one specific way to use Zapier for your dog-walking business.
Calendly
Calendly excels as an ideal partner for any dog-walking business and scheduling your appointments with a high degree of precision and convenience.
The tool is easy to use and flexible. It removes the burden of planning, so you can be more focused on your furry clients.
By tracking availability in real time It ensures that you don't make a double booking or fail to show up for an appointment.
Automatic reminders help keep you and your human clients on the same page The easy rescheduling feature handles any unexpected modifications easily.
Delivers a hassle-free scheduling experience to your clients as well as set the scene to ensure their satisfaction as well as your business's success.
In the next blog post, we'll guide you through how to set up each one.
Start The Website You Want To Use For Your Dog Walking Website With WordPress
Let's dive into the steps to begin your pet-walking business with WordPress in four simple steps.
Step 1: Set Up WordPress
WordPress is a powerful and effective content management system (CMS) which powers more than 40% of all websites worldwide.
A CMS is essentially a system that allows you to upload and manage things like users, written copy or images as well as the rest of your content that you have that you have on your site.
Through a CMS you are able to create and maintain your website without needing to learn how to codes. That's right zero coding skills necessary!
This is why WordPress is the go-to CMS for dog-walkers who are planning to start their own online business
User-friendliness It's easy to use. If you're more comfortable with dogs than you are digital tech is acceptable. WordPress makes it easier to create websites through the process and makes it simple for beginners to build an online site with a graphic editor.
Professionally designed templates: With an already-designed theme, you'll be able to build a stunning website in no time. A lot of themes are free, too.
Cost-effectiveness: Starting a new business often implies having a budget to work within. WordPress is free!
Purchase an Domain Name & Hosting Service
Start by setting up Webhosting (a web host is a service that connects your site to the internet).
A lot of hosting companies offer packages that include a domain name and handling the set-up procedure for you. You can find a top-quality, affordable host that's beginner-friendly. Our star choice is DreamHost.
DreamHost is suggested by the WordPress team, is reliable and offers plans as cheap to $2.95 monthly.
It includes a no-cost domain for the first year, enhanced security features, such as a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. They will even install WordPress for you.
Designing the Theme
If you're not particularly tech-savvy, we suggest selecting the WordPress theme. It's surprising to see the number of specific industry themes that are available.
One example is the free WordPress theme Pet Business created by Theme Palace .
Step 2: Install the Member
After your WordPress site and theme are installed, you're now ready to install the Member feature on your new dog walking website.
Member is a WordPress plugin that lets you to set up a Members area on your website. These are only a few examples options you can offer on your website with Member:
- Pet owners can schedule and pay for ongoing or one-time dog walking
- Create recurring billing for your regular clients
- You can offer membership tiers based upon the type of services your clients want
- Offer online classes and consults such as dog and puppy lessons.
- Provide 1:1 dog training consulting
- Offer premium content that is related to pet ownership or adoption
- And more!
Set Up of Member
This video will show the exact steps to set up and activate Members within WordPress:
After you've completed that process then you'll have to establish your membership levels.
Here's how:
Schedule Walkies With Calendly & Zapier
You're doing great by launching your own dog-walking website, and you've got Member functioning. That's pawsome!
Do you get tired of endless back and forth to schedule appointments? Do you wish there was a way you could spend less time juggling calendars and more time playing with your kids? This is the perfect solution for you!
Calendly allows your customers to book their dogs' next outing on your site. Clients can select a time, pay for the services, and then it's the time for walks!
In order to integrate Calendly and Member You'll have to use Zapier which is a program that lets different apps communicate with each other and streamline processes between them.
This is how you do it:
- Create a Zapier Account: Sign up to Zapier. The free plan should suffice to get you started, however you may want to consider upgrading to a higher-end plan if you want additional features or greater use.
- Make a Calendly account: If you don't have one yet make a Calendly account!
- Join Calendly to Zapier in your Zapier Account, you can click Make an Zap to create a new Zap. Select App & Event search for the app you want to trigger and then choose Calendly as your trigger app.
Select the trigger event it could be Invitee created or Invitee Cancelled based on your needs.
Click Continue after which you will be prompted to sign in to Calendly to link your Calendly account with Zapier. - Configure the Calendly Trigger: Follow the prompts to configure your Calendly trigger. In the example above, if you would like a brand new Member user to be created whenever people book an appointment then you'll select an Invitee created trigger.
- Choose Member as your Action App in the Do this... section of making your Zap, search for and choose Member as the action app. Connect your member account to Zapier by following the prompts.
- Create the Member Action: Depending on your specific requirements, you might want to create a new user in Member or update the existing user. Follow the steps to set up the procedure.
- Test Your Zap: Once everything is installed, it's an excellent idea to test your Zap to make sure it's working correctly. Click the Test & Continue button. If everything is working properly then you'll get the Test Successful message.
- Turn On Your Zap: Don't forget to turn off your Zap! It won't work unless it's turned on.
Step 4: Start Marketing Your New Dog Walking Website!
Concentrate on spreading the word in areas that dog owners hang out. You could leave posters at the veterinary practices or handing out flyers pet parks.
Given how you run your business and the nature of your business, it is important to target your marketing efforts locally. Utilize hashtags that reflect your location on social media. You can also include your company on Google Maps via Google My Business.
Conclusion
If, in the end, you're a lover of animals and want to start your next career path or part-time job that involves dog walking, it's the perfect way to make money by your passion.
By utilizing WordPress with Member and WordPress, you have the ability to display your products and services, as well as provide a seamless experience for clients to subscribe to your services.
To recap, here are four ways to start a dog walking website using WordPress:
- Set up WordPress.
- Install Member and create your membership site.
- Integrate Member to Calendly via Zapier
- Make sure you promote your dog's walking site.
You're now armed with all the info you need to get your pet walking business off the ground and going online.
All that's left is to show your love for dogs and passion for the outdoors shine through your new website.
Remember, one of the most important aspects to running a successful company is excellent customer service. Be extra generous with your clients (and their pet companions) then you'll be on the road to establishing a profitable pet walking business in a short time.
So, what are you waiting for? Put on your walking shoes, round up some pups, and start your pet walking site today!
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"We've tested a few other tools for membership that included in packages we'd purchased. But there's nothing that can beat Membership. There's certainly plenty of amazing products that folks have built over time. However, when it comes to customization, if you are using WordPress, you can't touch this. Of course, I'm biased, however we've earned thousands of dollars through this program."
Tristan Truscott Satori Method I have moved [ Member] onto my top list of options for people. The new Member packs a punch! The price of Member is a great bargain.
Chris Lema LiquidWeb Member integrates with the tools I'm using today. It's so easy to work with new tools that are coming out. It's incredible how they accomplish it actually. If I were to be buying an membership-related plugin today... to me I would go with the Member.
Adam Preiser WPCrafter