Another personal highlight for me was the VE day celebrations (muted as they were due to Covid-19).

Locally, we had some social distancing street parties, some people dressed up for the occasion, and my way of celebrating was... to buy a magazine.

Don't laugh.

I often buy a 'different' kind of magazine to get some fresh ideas for content (as an aside if you are regularly creating content you should try to diversify your input.

Investing and consuming different sources of material will give you more original ideas and boost your output).

Anyway, my May edition of BBC History certainly didn't disappoint.

One of the articles tackled the topic of why the allies won in Europe.

Exactly what was the defining 'action' that tipped the balance in our favour and caused Hitler's downfall?

The magazine invited eight much revered historical professors, authors and experts who each put forward their case for what they thought was the definitive reason why we won.

These ranged from the ships that made up the allied sea power , and led to the dominance of the oceans which made the evacuation of Dunkirk possible, to the T-34 tank (of which the Russians produced 58,682 from 1941-1945) or the codebreakers of Bletchley park who on a daily basis broke secret enemy codes which helped with tactical decisions.

For my money, none of the history experts scored a significant 'knockout' blow, so we can safely assume that 'individually' each activity contributed to the 'collective' allied victory.

When it comes to marketing a pet business, I often feel like I'm expected to provide one 'silver bullet' that will transform a business and bring 'instant' success.

You should know by now that such a thing doesn't exist. Creating a successful and sustainable pet business is about following a number of 'pillars', like premium pricing, expert positioning, effective follow up, and upsells leading to continuity.

A lot of these go hand in hand, like premium pricing and positioning.

However, if I had to pick one game-changer that I think will give your business an instant lift AND long lasting success it would be to adopt and embrace the power of paper and ink promotions in your business.

There are a million reasons, nay excuses, why you can't do paper and ink.

Too expensive, too time consuming, too wasteful. However, as you'll see they are falsehoods spoken by lazy, safe-space seeking, boring pet business owners.

So, let's look at five reasons why you might want to think about adding paper and ink into your marketing arsenal;

Physical material is more "real" to the brain. It has a meaning, and a place. It is better connected to memory because it engages with its spatial memory networks.

Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for memory and brand associations.

Physical materials produced more brain responses connected with internal feelings, suggesting greater "internalization" of the ads.

Something different and better.

The concept of always presenting yourself as being 'different and better' should run through the very fibre of your business like a 'kiss me quick' quote runs through a stick of rock. This applies to your service AND how you market it.

Basically, if you want to make an IMPACT, and show up differently to your competition (and instantly leapfrog them) then make an entrance with paper and ink.

Paper and ink is easy, and can be relatively cheap to do.

Serial multi-millionaire, entrepreneur, highly paid and sought after marketing and business strategist, Dan Kennedy, says if you can't afford advertising then you need to use diesel and shoe leather to get the word out about your business, meaning 'Get off your ass and stop making excuses'.

Can't afford to get a newsletter printed?

Then how about typing or even handwriting (and duplicating) a letter to prospective dog owners in your town. Then stick it in a handwritten envelope and post it through the letterbox of potential clients.

This year alone I've handwritten over 100 pieces of correspondence and thankyou notes to clients, and prospects.

'But my handwriting isn't very neat, and I don't have time' so say the whinge bag lazy business owners. I, of course have loads of time...NOT. But guess what, I do it anyway.

Smart, successful people know the value of a handwritten note. Silly, skin-deep people think a tweet or a blog is the same a newsletter or handwritten note.

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