FAQ

How did you find your voice?

We started as a blog with pretty much no design knowledge but the willingness to learn whatever was needed to communicate our mission and develop our own voice. Our purpose became to consistently post the type of content that we were ourselves searching online, which was different from what other blogs were offering at the time. Instead of writing “about” dogs, we leveraged our love and appreciation for them as the angle through which we would approach topics that interested us and express our opinions. We were glad to discover that those posts were the most well received among our audience and we are happy that their success has lasted through time.

Can bloggers go beyond blogging?

Every blogger has something to say and ideas to share, usually with the intention to help shape a better world. Blogging has not only been an efficient tool for delivering our message, but also a transformative journey for each one of us. Our blog became a space for experimentation, active learning, and collaborative work. Cosmodoggyland became like a “lab” where we could create our own opportunities instead of waiting for them to come to us. We figured others may be looking for something similar, so we decided to create tools that others could leverage to create their own opportunities.

How did you come up with the idea of an Academy?

We wanted to offer every animal lover a platform to create, learn, develop their creative spirit, and collaborate with people who share their values. There are more and more people interested in working in the pet industry, and most of our readers have the traits that make them a perfect fit for those jobs. To help them find their own transformational journey, we added a Business section to our Magazine. However, business ideas and tips are not enough without the tools to make it possible. So, we introduced the Academy and a trilingual platform that offers an affordable online presence, to help them show what they can do and deliver their value to the world.

An academy in a dog blog?  I don’t understand! 

Learning has been key all along our blogging journey. It allowed us to combine different tools into an all-in-one digital platform and solutions beyond the initial blog. There is no single school program that offers such wide range of education, so we had to rely on self-directed learning to find the right tool to achieve each of our projects’ goals and then learning how to use it. This involved a constant search for resources. We feel we would have spent less time and money trying to achieve our goals if we had been able to count with our Academy. So, we built a learning platform with courses, programs, and guides for meaningful and efficient learning.

What does efficient learning mean?

We believe that nature’s intelligent design is efficient. Following the same pattern, we think that learning is a tool for achieving a measurable objective in the fastest and most cost-effective way. Our Academy‘s approach allows people to learn only what is relevant to their project and use digital tools to make it happen. There are lots of free and low cost resources in the digital world, and we encourage people to learn how to leverage them to complete their projects. Any endeavor, no matter how big or ambitious, can always start with a little knowledge and a small budget. However, nowadays, pretty much every project needs to have a digital aspect to it. We encourage our students to have an online presence and our platform is made just for that!

Why some of your posts aren’t a literal translation?

Our blog post are not a word-for-word translation. We create and write them in different languages and adapt the content to different cultures. That is why our content is a resource for language leaners to practice and test their reading comprehension. By reading the content in the language they are learning and then reading it in their mother tongue, they can pinpoint the areas that they need to work on (vocabulary, conjugation, etc.). We included some reading comprehension and intuitive games to encourage self-betterment and curiosity as well as downloadable resources to help homeschoolers.

How can I add another language to my site?

There are many ways to this. It will really just depend on your ability to write in a second language, and obviously your budget. When we first started blogging, we had two blogs, one per language, and each one was in a different blogging platform. Since we reproduce every article in English, French, and Spanish, we do not translate articles. We rather write in each language and adapt the content to different audiences. Living in bilingual cities is certainly an advantage when creating content in different languages. However, this was not easy from a technical aspect. We had to learn a lot of web design and development to finally create a webpage that could support our three languages while being compatible with the other functionalities of our platform. 

Do you recommend a plugin for translations? 

No! We lost time, money, and views trying to find the right plugin, until we decided to go with a more basic and intuitive way. Most solutions for multilingual websites use automatic translation, so in many cases the content loses its quality and gives a bad impression. If you are a brand, we do not recommend adding another language to your website unless you can ensure that the content is adapted to convey the same meaning and maintain a good flow, so that your message is not “lost in translation”.  

Are you planning to add new languages?

We’d honestly love to do it, but at the moment, we can only speak three languages and we are afraid of being unable to distinguish a good content adaptation from a bad one. 

Can a service/brand be featured on LinkingPaws?

We are always happy to tell our readers about new products and services that can improve their lives as well as the lives of their pets and families. LinkingPaws is the space in our platform where organizations, professionals, and brands can get noticed, by listing their mission or brand. Readers can also help recommend animal-related organizations to be listed on our guide to help improve their online presence by spreading the word on social media and sharing the link to our form.

Can you help with my project or idea? 

As long as your idea or project is aligned with our values, we are happy to help you find your path to your goals and “learn by doing”. You can build your own plan or get help to develop an effective one. When you choose a program in our Academy, you can access a broad library of learning resources and digital tools both within our platform and on our partners’. Whether you are looking to learn how to take better care of your pet, start a career in the pet industry, self-publish your creative work, and/or start an online business, there are numerous different ways to do it. We can help you find the best resources, put together a cost-effective plan, and have an online presence from the beginning. 

Would you write about my project or product? 

If you email us at partner@cosmodoggyland.comwith a link, we’ll be happy to consider it.

Do you have another blog? 

Yes, we manage other blogs, produce content, newsletters, and online courses. We also collaborate in web design and development projects.

I want to start a blog. Any advice? 

Be true to yourself. Write often. Offer compelling content and high-quality photographs. Your blog will feel authentic and stand out from other blogs when you try to write your articles with your audience in mind. Make sure your site is clean and easy to read. Give your opinion. I actually wrote an article about blogging as a career, which you can find here.

Do you accept guest posts?

We’d love to do it, however, we unfortunately do not have time to review and edit more content. Nevertheless, if you have a great story that you feel should be shared with our audience, please write to us at partner@cosmodoggyland.com to let us know what it’s about and why you think Cosmodoggyland is a good fit. If you are a writer interested in publishing online, please send us an email to partner@cosmodoggyland.com. We will be happy to help!

Can I use your content as a reference?

Of course! If you reference our work, please make sure to let us know the article and publication where you are referencing us, and we will be happy to mention it on our site. 

I am a language teacher. Can I use your content for my class?

Of course you can! Many teachers are using our content in their classroom, such as Google Classroom, as an immersive language resource, especially since dogs and pets are often a topic of interest for learners of any age, which can help make learning much more enjoyable. You can add our links to your virtual classroom and subscribe to receive printable activities, resources, lesson plans, and worksheets.

Could you use my content as a reference?

Please note that we only reference scientific publications and research studies provided that they are aligned with our core principles of respecting nature and providing only non-cruelty or non-invasive solutions. We love science, but we reserve the right to only reference studies that we feel “make sense” to us.