Therapist Thoughts

Do you know what is the most effective way to advertise and market your business?

WORD OF MOUTH

It is the oldest and quite frankly the best way to grow your practice.

I am sure you have heard of the comparisons with a popular movie. What makes you want to see a new flick? Is it the ads on TV? Maybe you see it on a poster in the theatre. For many it actually takes more than that. A recommendation, a promotion. One friend tells another friend who in turn tells their friends about this great movie. And now you find yourself REALLY wanting to see it.

They say that in many cases it takes 7 instances of contact to convert a viewer to a buyer.

If that equation holds true for your therapy practice that means that potential clients need to interact, get to know or be introduced to you and your ideas at least 7 times before they would be willing to take that first step of setting up a consultation.

Sounds daunting, doesn’t it?

Well as we have discussed already on this blog, there are a number of ways to get your name out there, including a web page, blog, social media, etc. Another way I would challenge you to explore this month is creating a newsletter.

A newsletter is a simple way to communicate with your viewers that is more personal, but still highly professional.

Here are 3 quick tips to creating a monthly newsletter (yes only once a month is needed) that captures your audience.

1. Keep it short. 3 articles, max 300 words each (only takes about an 1.5 hour to produce)
2. Teach – don’t Sell
3. Be real

So you may be asking, what can I talk about?

Well I recommend taking some time to develop a template. For example, do you specialize in a certain area? Have one article teach about that subject. Another article touch on you and your personal experiences in the past month. For the 3rd article share what you see happening in your field or the world around you. Maybe share a story about connecting with other therapists, colleagues, or someone you admire.

Your newsletter should not be more than can fit on a letter sized sheet of paper when it is printed out (trust me this will happen). Be sure to include your contact information on each issue, as you will find your subscribers will share it with their friends.

I highly recommend this book “Your Million Dollar Network” by July Ono. She is a master at connecting with her network through her newsletter and walks you through step by step how to do it.

There are lots of email services that make it super easy to send out your newsletter every month and you can add a signup form to your website or blog in a few easy steps. You can also add contacts you receive from other methods like conferences and sharing business cards. I recommend and use AWeber for all my newsletter and email needs. They have a risk free trial and lots of helpful tutorials.

A newsletter is a great way to help others get to know you and to share your knowledge. I challenge you to start a monthly newsletter in 2010!

Warmly,
Tammy Morales

As I mentioned last month, using twitter is a great way to reach a larger audience and give a glimpse of your personal side to potential clients. It is also a great way to network with others in your field.

This month, I want to focus on some of the details.

First of all you want to create an appealing ‘home’ page. You can choose to use one of the designs that comes with your account or I recommend that you check out many of the free services out there. Here is one with tons of background options www.twitterbackgrounds.com. Choose something that fits your personallity.

I just finished speaking at the EYAF Expo in Istanbul, Turkey – from my Office. The Conference focused on Rehabilitation, Integration, Prevention and Care for the disabled.

Read more --> See my blog post on NormQuantz.com

One of the keys to a successful therapy practice is being congruent.

Does what you believe match with how you live, treat others (including your clients) and how you handle your life online? If they met you in person would they see you as they see you online? These are things that potential clients will pick up on. As clients become more aware of the options available to them for therapy, it is vital that you not only come across as someone who can help, but also someone who is real.

You may be saying to yourself, I know I need to do some marketing, but I don't really know what it is.

So let's take the mystery out of it and put it simply.

As you know from my previous posts, I encourage you to share your expertise. It may be in the form of a traditional blog or a podcast. However, another way to get your message out there is through a video blog. Vlogs, as they are referred to on the internet, are increasingly popular, especially with the explosion of YouTube.

The great thing about your content is that you are adding to the health and well being of our society, versus some of the useless, meaningless information that can be found. You can be proud that what you do is making a difference and having impact.

Did you know that over 30% of us learn through auditory methods?

As I am sure you are aware, there are 3 general learning styles: Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic.

Although each of us will have components of all 3 within us, we usually have one dominant or preferred learning style.

Although making money at your practice is important, I suspect it is not your driving force. For most therapists the focus is on helping others and having impact. However, for some therapists and health professionals that focus has been to the detriment of the business success of running a private practice.

So how do you find the balance between helping others while having impact and making a living?

You may ask - what exactly does she mean by that?

Well what I mean is that sometimes we get so focused on getting our ducks all in a row that we forget to move forward.