profile

Jay Papasan

6,000 Wiener Dogs Can't Be Wrong (2 Min Read) | Vol. 189

Published about 12 hours ago • 1 min read

February 6, 2026 | Read Online​

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
​- Peter Drucker

6,000 Wiener Dogs Can't Be Wrong

“I feel like I’m on a rocket ship and I’m having trouble steering it.” This was my friend Alex Hopes’ reply when I asked him how his business was doing.
​
Alex is the founder of ZilkerBark. I met him in Zilker Park where he would roam and take photos of random puppies. He captured my dog, Taco, drinking from a water fountain on a scorching afternoon and a friendship was born. We’d occasionally meet for coffee and he’d share his journey growing his photography business.
​
In 2019, he moved to Santa Fe. We lost touch until last summer when he told me his business had become a rocket ship. How? It was that super simple, completely brilliant thing almost every business owner fails to do. He worked his database.
​
ZilkerBark photographed thousands of canines over the years. Each time, his team would collect the owner’s and dog’s names, contact info, and – this is the really smart part – the dog’s breed. When Alex wanted to explore doing events, it was easy for him to see where to start. The most common breeds in his database were Goldens, Pugs, and Weiner Dogs.
​
For his first Weiner Dog fest, they had 200 attendees. All thanks to his database. They added more contacts at the event and got lots of press. Year two, they had 800 Weiner Dogs. The following year, they had more than double the Dachshunds! For 2025, they had over 6,000 RSVP! Did someone call Guinness?
​
“I've never had more success putting in less work on the promotional side,” Alex shared. Instead of creating demand, he was finding demand he already had in his database. That’s when he said, “I feel like I’m on a rocket ship and I’m having trouble steering it.”
​
The takeaway is simple. If you aren’t already capturing details about your clients, you are torching haybales of cash. When you know your clients, you can communicate and make offers at scale. You might be sleeping on a launchpad.
​
This week I caught up with Alex again on The ONE Thing podcast. Give it a listen!

One question to ponder in your thinking time: What do I already know about my clients that I'm not using?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent & author of The Rookie Real Estate Agent

Not subscribed? Become a Twenty Percenter here.
Like our content? Share with a friend:
​https://www.thetwentypercenter.com/?p=807​
Share on Social:

Jay Papasan

Best-Selling Author, Founder, Creative CEO

Every Friday, I share concise, actionable insights for growing your business, optimizing your time, and expanding your mindset. Co-author of multiple million-copy bestsellers.

Read more from Jay Papasan

January 30, 2026 | Read Online “The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one. Always the next step.” – Brandon Sanderson. There’s a Lot Between All and Nothing When I was a grad student at NYU, I was struggling to see where my thesis was going. I had a good start, but no destination. I stopped writing and commenced ruminating. My professor, novelist E.L. Doctorow, gave me some invaluable life advice. “Driving at night, you can go the whole way and...

7 days ago • 1 min read

January 23, 2026 | Read Online “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry One Room. One Book. Radical Simplicity In April, I'm taking my first trip to Japan. While planning, I stumbled upon a business that blew my mind. Morioka Shoten is a one-room bookstore in Tokyo's Ginza district. They only sell one book. Not one kind of book. One book. Morioka sells a single title each week. That's it. The store...

14 days ago • 2 min read

January 16, 2026 | Read Online “‘Should,’ is a shame-based statement that creates stress and anxiety in your body and mind.” – Suzanna Newsonen Switch Off Your Should-O-Meter Earlier this month, I went for a walk with my friend Juanpablo. He’s in a career transition and shared how easy it is to slip into “should” self-talk. I should have started my next thing by now. It’s a trap. “Shoulds” are almost always about the expectations of others. They reflect impossible standards that would require...

21 days ago • 1 min read