Discover how Tony completely changed his business over an 18 month period (during the pandemic) by using paper and ink marketing. 

Click below to watch this short inspiring interview with Tony and Dom.

 

Dom: Right. I'm joined by Tony 'Magic Hands' Sherry. Tony, introduce yourself. Tell everybody who you are, what you do, and when you started your business.

 

Tony: Afternoon, Dom. My name's Tony. I live in Tunbridge Wells in Kent. I run a business of animal therapy so I'm like a musculoskeletal therapist. I started the business about five years ago and I now cover the whole of the UK and Ireland.

 

Dom: You are not only a practitioner, but you teach other people how to be practitioners as well.

 

Tony: Yeah. So I teach people how to treat dogs or horses.

 

Dom: Obviously, the pandemic put the kibosh on a lot of activities for you as it did for everybody else. But you are firmly... Well, you're busier than ever at the moment.

Tony: Yeah. The pandemic just shut me down completely because I just had that one income stream, and since the pandemic has finished or is not as busy as it used to be, I am so much busier. There's so much more interest, and a lot of that is down to the work that I've done during that lockdown period because I can get out there, and I could start posting things out to people, and doing some advertising campaigns that I had never even contemplated before.

 

Dom: We'll get into that in a second. Very quickly, what was the journey into the coaching? Were you looking for a business coach? How did it transpire?

Tony: No, I wasn't looking for a business coach. But I was on Amazon and I found a book called How To Be Your Dog's Superhero. I thought, "That looks all right." So I read it. Your sense of humour is very much like mine.

Tony: So yeah. I couldn't put the book down and then I just... Okay, there's a website. So let's have a look and see what this is about...

So you are doing what you are saying to people as well. You're not saying, "Do this." And you do the opposite.

 

So it was a breath of fresh air for me to find find somebody out there that could align with my business and really help me.

 

Dom: Interesting... I mean, it's not unusual to me because I have pet scanners and other all kinds of doggy daycare owners and stuff. People who don't necessarily... Not businesses that I have direct experience in but marketing is marketing and what I teach is applicable to all kinds of service-based pet industries. Isn't it?

 

Tony: Yeah. Most pet business owners struggle because there are so many marketing avenues out there, so they become overwhelmed with it all. I thought that Facebook was to be-all and end-all.

 

Dom: So you came in, I think you did the INSPIRE online event first, and then you joined PBIC Gold. You were in Gold for a while. You did the paper and ink profits program too as well. And from thaat you produced some fantastic paper and ink marketing materials. Really, really detailed pieces. Two different kinds of newsletters, onboarding materials, comeback letters. All these different things. How did that help the business?

Tony: Well, you helped me then focus on that side of the business. So I really had to sit down and think about everything that I was providing in the two different arms because one arm of the business is treating people and the other arm is treating animals. So it took a while to get everything together. But as soon as I started posting it out, more enquiries came in. People that I hadn't been in contact with for a long time, they phoned. They said, "Oh, I've recommended you to here. I've recommended you to there." So it made a huge difference to what was a very sad and lonely time.

Dom: Yeah, definitely, and hat tip to you as well for throwing your personality into all of the paper and ink as well, and really going for it when you didn't really have that many reason to believe that it would work. What caused you to want to get more help and, basically, to apply for Diamond?

Tony: Because I want to take my business further, and I want to understand more about the potential for the business, and because you advised so many different people. For me, it just seemed like a natural progression. I've learned so much from everything else beforehand that just to take that next step up was, for me, a logical thing to do.

Dom: Interesting. I mean, I agree. Obviously, I would, but it's a significant increase in the fees and stuff like that. How have you found the process since you upgraded to Diamond, too?

 

Tony: It's a very supportive group of people.

Dom: We've had some really interesting calls, haven't we? The coaching calls that we do. So every 90 days, the guys in the coaching programme, they get a call with me and they fill in the 90-day goals and challenges form first, and we talk. Before that, they do a piece of paper exercise and it's really about getting all the ideas down and looking at what's worked, what can we repeat, and then where do we want to go next.

 

With yourself, there's been a lot of different opportunities, hasn't there? That we are now starting to expand into. They're going to take your business in different directions.

 

Tony: Yes. The piece of paper exercise. It takes time to do it if you're going to do it properly, but it's really good because you can just see everything laid out in front of you in black and white. So it's helped me focus and see where there is progression and where there isn't progression. So with your help, yeah, we're sort of taking the business into slightly different directions that are all applicable to the business and will help me create other income streams.

Dom: This is very much what we're about in Diamond and Platinum. It's about fixing your existing pet business, making it as profitable as possible, adding upsells, new services, higher-price services, et cetera. Then it's like, "Right, what else can we do then?"

 

And there's often there is at least one business within the existing business that can often become bigger than the business that you actually came in originally wanting my help to fix, and I definitely think this is going to be the case for you with this.

 

We'll come back on next year and we'll do more of an update when it's all kind of up and running stuff. But it's exciting. Isn't it? I'm excited, and I think you are too.

 

Tony: It is. Yeah. My business is completely different at the backend where I start to do stuff. I've now employed an admin person to help me do stuff. It's helped me look at the visuals for the business as well, how I represent myself when I'm out there, how I can relate to other people and how they can relate to me. So it's making huge difference.

 

Dom: Brilliant.  So you'd recommend the coaching programme, Tony?

 

Tony: Oh, of course. I'd recommend it to anybody, and you've got to be prepared to do the work. If you do the work...You're not just handing money over to you and then you doing everything. You come up with some really good ideas, and then I like to go away and think about it, and then I like to think it's my idea in the end, but...

 

Dom: I can live with that. All I want is for you to improve your pet business. So whoever gets the credit for it at the end the day.

 

Tony: At the end of the day, the business has changed...

Dom: You mentioned the pandemic before and this is kind of a continuing theme with me. I'm not trying to sound like Dr. Doom, but you kind of need to prepare for the next pandemic. Don't you?

 

Look at what happened to Lynn Lloyd. She broke her ankle last week out of action, but business still able to continue. So everybody should be doing this. Especially if you have a bigger, more established pet business, you should be looking to protect your income, create other income streams. You probably have assets in the business that you're not exploiting enough at the moment. Yeah, and someone like me can help you to find those things.

I really believe. I think in a year's time, I think when we look at where the different pots of money come from, there's going to be a whole new section there. Isn't there? 

Tony: Definitely. There are incomes streams and there are different ways of looking at my business that I wouldn't have thought of because I'm probably too blinkered in the view of the business. So you can look at it from a much wider perspective and say, "Well, what about this and what about that?"

Dom: That's exactly it. We all too close to our pet businesses, really, to see where the opportunities are. They're right there. The next thing for you was right there and easy for me to spot. It was like, "Hey, we are already in this space. You already are this recognised expert. Let's step into it properly and create a whole kind of tribe around it with products". Now, super exciting, Tony. I can't wait to get on. Where can people go to find out more about you, buddy?

Tony: So I have a website which is www.echtherapies.co.uk

 

Dom: You'll find all about Tony's story there. See some of his marketing materials, and book a session if you can afford his high prices, and you can get in there because he's so goddamn busy.

 

No, seriously. If you are like Tony, and you are watching this, and you interested in getting fresh eyes on your pet business, maybe you're feeling a bit stuck, maybe if you're working long hours, you're not earning enough money. You know that there's potential, but you're too busy working on the treadmill to identify exactly what we need to do next. That's where I can come in, and that's how the Diamond Coaching Programme can help you so click on one of the links below and apply, and if we're a good fit for each other, then brilliant. You'll be on board with Tony and everybody else, and I'll help you create a kickass pet businesses. Tony, thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate it, buddy.

 

Tony: Thanks, Dom. Thank you so much.

Inside the world famous Diamond Pet Business Development Coaching Program Dom will help you maximize your results.  The Diamond Coaching Experience includes: