I decided to take the big step and try my hand at self-employed working.
I have thought A LOT about what I'd like to do, and apart from being into the book trade (which isn't flourishing at the moment) or antiques (of which I know next to nothing), I realised that for me the most fulfilling job would be to take care of pet and aviary birds.

I did a lot of research and made lists and lists of jobs other people offer; I have noticed that the majority of these people offer services for dogs and cats, while a very small number of ads is directed to bird owners.

I would like to offer a good range of services, from bird sitting, boarding, taking care of birds while owner works (involving cleaning cages, feeding, buying and delivering food), pet transport, trips to the vet etc.

You are all very clever ladies and gentlemen, so I am sure you can add ideas to the ones I already got, and one thing I need ASAP (for the adverts and the company registration) is a name!

I thought of things like "the bird carer", or "the Birds Angel", they are all cheesy and probably don't even give the right idea about what my job is about.
I will also need to find a logo but for the moment I'd love if you all could give me some ideas about a decent name for this activity.

If you have other jobs I can add to the list of jobs I can offer, please go on and tell me;
Also, super-important, how and where do I advertise my company???
I thought about putting an ad in the local newsletter, putting ads on Bird Trader and Gumtree (Gumtree is a bit like Craigs List), maybe stickers or leaflets, and small ads in the local shops...
I can't hink of anything else

Jan, you are a brit and I would like to know your ideas; but I'd like to hear from you American friends too, on how these activities are advertised down there and if there is some other service I can add to my list.


Thank you very much for reading, please please please HELP asap because tomorrow is payday and the day I will put my adverts live.

The best thing I can think of at the moment is the Birdcare Lady. Maybe I'll think of something better later on.

Your advertising plan sounds good. You could also give your information to local vets, and if there's a local pet bird club you could talk to them. The newsletter for my local bird club prints ads for birdsitting etc.

Parrots Magazine is an excellent UK publication - so good that my local bird club subscribes to it for their library. It's expensive to advertise in the magazine itself (see http://www.jcstudio.co.uk/Parrots/adguide.html ) but they have a forum and there might be some scope to advertise online for free. Here's the main website: http://www.parrotmag.com/

Bird Care Lady sounds good to me...
Advertise .... Vets surgery, supermarkets boards,
Local post office, bird magazines, all local small shops, any pets shops in the area, papers, yellow pages... flyers, anywhere there is an advertising board. Doctors surgery, dentist, cinema's but to name a few, how about the fast food places also...
Exchange And Mart paper...
Word and mouth is as good as anything. Anywhere that people congregate
Logo...... Pick your name... pictures of all types of birds, advertise on it: all you can do for birds.
Can you do the logo and writing yourself and print it off, if not a good printers, or Staples will do a good job for you... and not too expensive...
I think its so exciting wished I lived near you I'd join you in the venture...
My best wishes and very good luck...
(I worked for my self for 8 years, hairdressing it was the best thing I ever did...)
Barbara another good place to advertise is a gym also how about going into your local school and giving a talk on birds, children always are good for word and mouth advertising...
Up date me soon....

You know Barb, if you draw your own logo, it makes you pop more (even though you don't have much competition).

Give me a few hours and I'll come back with some ideas. The best bird name I've seen for a bird product/service was 'Mother Pluckin' Bird Toys'. That really caught my eye.

Giving talks at schools is a great idea. Some kids will already have birds, and others will go home and tell their parents they want one!

Thank you all, so many amazing ideas!
Last night I put up an advert, it was free and i wanted to see how it looked.
I am afraid it's a bit overlong, I tried to cram in it as much as I could.
Can you have a look and tell me if it's decent and point out the flaws?
http://www.gumtree.com/p/pets/the-bird-assistant-services-to-make-your-life-easier-and-your-pet-bird-happier/1066230398

I called myself The Bird Assistant which, let's be honest, SUCKS.

I LOVE BirdCare Lady, I think I can change the title but anyway I have many other ads to post so please have a look, put yourself in Bird Owner mode, and judge and criticise to death!

Stephanie if you can come up with a good logo, I'll be your slave for life

It reads well Barbara.. not too long... very concise and too the point.
Get your -self out and about chatting to people about your service..
Have you thought of having a tee shirt printed advertising yourself, and wearing it out and about.
You must be really excited about the venture.

I got this.

I was thinking of painting the sides of my van.
Just where the blue paint is right now, that space really seems made yo be painted with a company name or logo...



In your opinion is it a job that has to be done by a professional or I can do it myself? Does any of you ever painted on a car?
Should I print some laminate sticker and apply on it os I can just paint?
I'm afraid it will look a big mess if I paint free hand

EDIT: Maybe I can make a paper collage, glue it on and cover it with transparent paint...

You could get a magnet sign made, which you can put on the side of your car when you want to and take it off when you want to. That's what we did to advertise the last bird mart. The only downside to it is that it's very easy to steal if anyone wants to engage in a little vandalism, although we didn't have any problems. The bird club had them made at FedEx Office and it looks like they cost $45 each although that was for a bulk order of 12. The signs were fairly big, I'd guess 12x18 inches.