Private Clients: The First Key to Business Success as a Coach or Therapist

This will be the shortest of the posts on the “four keys” to success as a therapist or coach because it is the one I speak about on the most regular of basis. So, in this article I am just going to run through a very simple checklist of everything you want to be doing to get private clients.

As I said in a previous entry (read it here), you need to do two things to be successful:
1) Define your niche.
2) Dominate your niche, so you are the first (and preferably only) person people think of when they are looking for someone in that niche.

1. Decide on a Niche

It doesn’t need to be totally original, but it needs to be something specific that sets you apart from the rest of the coaches and therapists out there. Think of a niche as a “need”, what need in people can you fulfil?

2. Define what you do in 90 seconds or less

If you cannot explain your niche enough to get the person so interested they ask for more information in 90 seconds or less (preferably less), you niche is not defined enough.

3. Shrink that 90-second sales pitch to one sentence, this is your strapline

It should be striking and memorable and explain a bit about what you do.
I like Joe Vitale’s “I can make you famous in 90 seconds or less – GUARANTEED!”

4. Get your marketing “literature” sorted

I put “literature” in inverted comments as I also include websites in this category.

Firstly, get yourself a website. It doesn’t need to be fancy (in fact I would recommend simplicity), but needs to explain what you do and how people can book you. Don’t worry with any fancy nonsense like video yet.

Then get yourself some well-designed business cards (not rubbish free ones!). Your business card is still your number 1 marketing tool.

Recently I have been advocating more “old school” methods such as A6 flyers.

5. Develop a presence and reputation

a) Online

Social networking is brilliant for this. Get yourself a blog, a twitter account, a facebook account, a linked in account, etc and start putting relevant, interesting and informative content on there (using social networking to overtly sell is a big “no, no” and won’t do you any favours, although people appreciate you are running a business, so asking for clients, etc, whilst giving  good quality content is OK).

Also, add yourself to as many free directory sites as possible, like DMOZ, Gumtree, Googlemaps, Selfgrowth.com and any other relevant directories for what you do, and work on your Search Engine Rank (suggestions on this will be in a future entry).

b) Offline

Deliver your leaflets (or get them delivered), they are no use in the box in your office!

Give out your business card to everyone you meet, go to (free) networking events (your local chamber of commerce will have details).

Get yourself in the media. Write a press release (it has to be interesting, newsworthy and relevant, don’t just send out a release telling everyone about who you are, that is just selling and will get binned) and send it to local TV, radio and newspapers. National media may be a good ego boost, but local media is what will get you clients.

It is deceptively simple (in principle) to become successful in this key area, but it does take a lot of hard work, perseverance and consistency. The secret to being successful in this key (and in all the other areas) is to develop an effective niche. Once you have that everything else will drop into place.

Matt

PS If you liked this post, please bookmark it on Digg, Stumbled Upon, Twitter, etc. I would really appreciate it

The 4 Keys to Business Success as a Coach or Therapist

The 4 Key areas you MUST be working on in your business are:

1) Private Clients

This is probably the first thing you thought of when setting up your business, if you are a one to one therapist or coach it is the most common way of making money for your business. Although it can be the largest income stream, it shouldn’t be the only income stream.

If you are a teacher (such as Yoga for example) you still need to consider doing one to one sessions for people who want them. Just teaching classes is only part of the mix of being a successful coach, therapist or teacher.

2) Products

Products are an essential stream of income for your business. They are low cost to produce and once you have made them you will be able to “make money in your sleep”. Not only are they an excellent way of making residual income, they are useful to use as promotional aids, free gifts and “bonuses”.

It is easier than you think to create and sell products, and can be done at home on most modern PC’s or (especially) Mac’s, I will talk you through the process in a later entry.

3) Seminars or Workshops

Maybe you are already a teacher or trainer (such as a Yoga or martial arts instructor, business or personal development trainer), if not you should still consider running short talks and workshops on the subject that you do.

The bare minimum you should be doing in this area is offering free introductory talks to groups or organisation you think would be a good potential client base.

Unhappy with your teaching or training ability? You can invest in “presentation skills training” to help you brush up and build your confidence. They are worth every penny.

Learn more about the presentation skills training here.

4) The Corporate Market

The corporate market is not just for executive coaches or business trainers. More and more companies are employing the services of alternative therapists and coaches to work with their staff.

I know of several therapists who make the majority of their income through corporate clients.

They may employ you directly through the company or offer your services at an “employee benefit scheme” where they pay a percentage of the cost for the staff member.

It is very easy to contact local businesses and offer your services, you can collect information and do a mail-shot yourself (using things like the Yellow Pages) or use the services of a professional mailing company (you can find one with a quick internet search).

The secret to succeeding in the corporate market is to show the benefits to the company (such as higher productivity, less sick days, etc) as well as benefits to the staff members. It is a good idea to be able to quote some studies showing the benefits of what you do to business (again, a very simple internet search will reveal a wealth of information.
In my next few posts I will break down what you must be doing in each of the areas to make sure your therapy or coaching business succeeds.

Matt

Back To The Old School

I was having a very interesting conversation the other day with an NLP trainer. He said he was going back to “old school” marketing methods like flyer drops, mail shots and calling people up, as the internet was too crowded and it is too hard to be heard above the din of everyone else (also, he had some mean things to say about “online marketing techniques”, but I won’t go into that…)

Does he have a point? Is the internet too crowded with everyone else trying to sell you something?

You see, the great thing about the internet if you are setting up your first business is that it is cheap. Very cheap, compared to the traditional costs and it is much easier to find customers (or it should be, more on that in a minute).

However, the fact that the internet has made setting up your own business cheap and easy is a blessing and a curse.

Because it is easy and cheap, you can set up your coaching or therapy practice at a fraction of the cost it would have been 10 or 15 years ago, but because it is so cheap and easy, much more people are doing it, therefore the competition has increased.

The recession hasn’t help, as people, in desperation to make some extra cash (and understandably so) have turned to the internet, lured in by the promise of creating an internets business you can run in your bedroom in as little as 1 hour a week (not possible by the way…).

It is getting more and more complicated to get heard, with ever more subtle and expensive methods cropping up (how successful these are I am not sure). Marketing on the internet and staying ahead of the curve is turning into a full time job. You could easily spend all your time marketing on the internet and leave no time to do the work you are marketing (if you are solely selling products, this isn’t necessarily an issue, but it is dull!).

In light of these changes, I have been thinking about how to incorporate more offline methods into my marketing strategy. I have recently been experimenting with A6 flyer drops around my local area to promote my coaching practice, it is too early yet to report on the success, I will let you know how I get on when I have something to report.

My advice, at the moment is, actually, what it has always been. You cannot rely on one avenue of marketing. The internet is important (you are no one nowadays without a website!), but it shouldn’t be your only means of reaching out to clients. You need to balance your online and offline marketing strategy and test, test, test and test some more to see what works for you.

To get 10 simple and free strategies to help promote your business have a look at the “Professional Practice Builder Handbook“.

So, what do you think? Are you abandoning the internet to return to more traditional marketing methods? Is the internet still working for you as marketing medium? What are you doing that works? Post any thoughts in the comment box below, I look forward to hearing them.

Matt

With the internet becoming more and more saturated with people trying to sell you something, is it worth going back to “old school” marketing methods?

SEO Part 1: Web Optimisation or Reputation?

One of the biggest questions I am asked by people starting out is “How do I optimise my website (ie, improve it’s rankings on search engines)”, or “Should I pay to optimise my site”.

Which is understandable, the self-help field is incredibly competitive and everyone is fighting to be found. And you need to be found to be successful.

But to be found do you need to be on the front page of Google (Google is still the number search engine, with over 85% of the searches being done through Google) for you to be found?

The first page of Google seems to have become the holy grail of small businesses. If you are on the first page of Google you are guaranteed business, right?

Wrong.

I have met people who are obsessed with getting on the front page of Google, who don’t even have a website yet! Often they haven’t even decided what they want to do, and they are already stressing about getting a good Google rank.

This strange belief has created a whole industry of people promising to get your website to the hallowed ground of the first page of Google (for the right price of course). Some are more reputable than others, but more on that in a little while…

The first question is…

…is investing in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) worth it?

Well, yes it is.

But not yet, you need to do some pre-work first.

Firstly, lets just talk very briefly about what the search engines do (I am sure you know this already, but it is worth reiterating). When someone searches for something, say “Life Coaching, UK”, the search engines use a (very complex) algorithm to decide which of the websites it has listed are most RELEVANT to this search. It them ranks them in the order it decides is most appropriate, with the most relevant at the top.

This relevance is decided on a series of (ever changing – and becoming constantly more refined) criteria, but to even be in with a chance you need have the right keywords to begin with. So if you are a life coaching living in the UK, you need to at least mention on your site the terms “life coach” and “UK” (obvious really!).

However, I am sure you can imagine there are lot of life coaches in the UK all trying to be found and fighting for the hallowed front page.

This is where the importance of niches and specialty comes in. You need to decide on your niche, your “unique selling point” and research it. It will be much easier to appear on the first page of Google for “smoking cessation, Leicester”, for example (not that I have checked that search term. I have no idea if smoking cessation in Leicester is a viable niche or not!).

Once you have found your niche, you need to find relevant and related keywords or terms.

I use a mixture of Google Keyword tool:
https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordToolExternal

and Good Keywords:
http://www.goodkeywords.com/

to find relevant terms (including common misspellings, which can be very useful).

If you don’t want to do this yourself, this is part of what your SEO company will do (if you decide to employ one).

But, I don’t want to jump too far ahead in this blog entry about how to do SEO, I wanted to discuss what else you need to do to be successful.

Say you have managed to get on the front page of Google for the keywords that you have chosen and therefore are well placed to take the most advantage and pick up the most business in your niche. Right?

Wrong.

Before you even need to consider going about getting yourself on the front page of Google (either by taking the time and effort to do it yourself or employ an SEO company), you need to consider some key points, otherwise your arrival at the hallowed first page will be wasted (and most probably short lived).

Landing on the front page of Google means you are more likely to found, it does not make it more likely that you will get work.

Think about that for a moment.

Then consider the 2 following points:

1) You need to spend a long time planning and designing your website.

Which should be obvious really, but needs reiterating (so many people I work with who moan about lack of clients have the most appallingly bad websites). If your website is unclear, untidy, messy, badly designed, badly written, and cheap looking, you will immediately lose any advantage you have from your placement on Google.

But  most importantly (the crux of this post in fact, it has just taken awhile to get here):

2) You need to build your reputation.

In fact, I would argue that a good reputation is easier, cheaper and more powerful (and more reliable) than a good Google rank, and if you are starting out, it is better to spend your time money and effort building your reputation than improving your Google rank.

I know some very, very, very (you get the idea) successful coaches, consultants and therapists who never turn up on Google for the keywords you would think they would (and a lot of them have rubbish websites too!).

Because, they have decided to take the time and effort to build a reputation, rather than build an online presence.

In the next few posts I intend to cover a mini-theme. Firstly I am going to go into a little more detail on how to do SEO or how to choose an SEO company (if you still want to go down that route) and how to build an excellent reputation (I would suggest, if you have time, to do both, obviously!).

Matt

How to Use Internet Social Networking When You Are Just Starting Out

Social Networking is the HOT topic at the moment when it comes to internet marketing. There is a lot of information about how to use Social networking to grow your business. I have been researching and testing out most of these networks for some time (mainly the “big 4″: twitter, facebook, linkedin and ecademy) including blogging (I have been blogging  – with various degrees of success – for about 6 years) and podcasts/video syndication.

I don’t intend to go into detail about blogging or podcasting etc, as they are subjects in their own right, but will touch on them when relevant.

So, the idea of this article to explore 2 things:

1. Is social networking relevant to the coaching or therapy field?
2. What is the best way to use it if you are just starting out?

The answer to question one is probably the easiest to answer. As is it simply YES. Web 2.0 is where the internet is heading and is all about creating connections and user generated content. So, being in the personal development field it is an ideal way to develop your presence online.

The questions is what should you do and how much of your time should you spend on it??

Well, the key thing to remember is most advice given about how to use Social Networking for business assumes that you are running an online business of some kind (selling CD’s, ebooks, etc) and is not relevant to people in the coaching or therapy field.

Remember: The MAJORITY of business or marketing advice, DOES NOT WORK for the coaching and therapy field.

If you try and follow this advice you will end up wasting a lot of time and money. And nowhere is this truer than trying to market yourself on the internet…

The other thing you have to consider about so called “success stories” about how social networking can become a phenomena is this and created a “grass roots” following that they have often been  blown out of proportion. And also, think about how many “success stories” you have heard and who they have been about.

They are usually in the entertainment field (Lily Allen, The Arctic Monkeys, etc) or it is something very new and original and never been done before. If you don’t fall into these fields then it will be harder. Also, remember that these so called “grass roots” successes often had massive marketing budgets and the “grass roots” story is just part of that marketing campaign!

You can make money from social networking, especially blogging. But this is not an overnight thing and can take years to build a big enough following to generate a decent income. The people who make money primarily from blogging and social media are the people who spend all their time doing it! And that is not what you want to do.

When you are just starting out, you need to the simple things that will generate business quickly and cheaply. In this case, social networking is really not the best place to do it. Work on the basics first (decent niche, good website, etc) and then start expanding your online presence (and, most importantly, your offline one!)

When you are just starting out (or re-inventing and re-launching yourself if you haven’t done too well the first time round) I find the best way to use Social networking is to manage my offline contacts (and maybe make some new ones!). Treat your social networking profile a bit like a contact list. Invite all your clients, friends and contacts to join you and use it to send simple updates (using the status box on facebook for example) and promotions (but don’t be too “in your face” with the latter!). You can then use it to expand your contact using the “6 degrees of separation rule” (click here for more info on that), by asking for contacts and introductions. LinkedIn seems particularly useful for this.

My thoughts on the big four:

LinkedIn

I have to admit to have been a bit slow on the LinkedIn front and have only recently started using it (a thank you to Jarrod who finally convinced me!), so I cannot really comment on that, I will keep you informed about it as I get on!

Facebook

The big site of the moment. It may go the way of myspace, but I doubt it now. I made a big mistake on facebook, which I will talk you through, so you don’t make the same mistake…

With some networking site such as linkedin or ecademy, they are obviously more business orientated. Facebook is a bit vaguer and can be used for business or social networking. If you are going to use facebook, decide which one you are going to use it for. You cannot do both. Either use it for business (doesn’t mean you can’t have you non-business friends on there, they are still your network after all!), which means you have to keep your profile clean and “on message”, or use it purely for social networking, and don’t accept business “friends”. I did a bit of both and messed it up totally! No I have to try and rescue my profile and sort it out to reinvent it as more “business orientated!”.

The good thing with facebook is you can set up groups and pages for your business as well as event invites and adverts. Mostly for free, or very little cost. I know someone who was essentially using JUST facebook to run their business and was doing very, very well at really no cost at all.

Ecademy

I have been a member of ecademy for over a year and have found it of zero benefit. I am sure there are people out there who are doing well with it, but not me. It reminds me of a lot of networking organisations, the only people who make money out of it, is the networking organisation…

Twitter

Still getting my head round it, but a recent report (you can read it here) has highlighted a few things that suggest it is not the “next big thing” that everyone is raving about.

After struggling with the best way to use twitter over the last 6 months or so, I have started to us it as a “live bookmark” system, where I can post links to article and resources I have come across and share them with my “followers” who will hopefully find them useful. This is a new strategy and I will let you know how I get on!

A word of warning about twitter: people seem extra specially impatient on there, if you don’t post for a few days you will lose dozens of followers (as I have). So if you cannot or do not want to post regularly, don’t use twitter.

Other Sites

There are dozens of networking sites out there: myspace (great, if you are musician), bebo (really for teenagers and kids), etc. I personally don’t bother with them, it spreads my time too thin.

Want to join me on any Social networking sites? Please click on the links below:

Facebook Personal Profile
Facebook Business Page: Matt Caulfield Training
Facebook Business Page: Slow
LinkedIn
Ecademy
Twitter

Article: Should You Do a Free Introductory Session?

Some people swear by free sessions to get clients (I have even seen a training course built around the free sessions to get more clients!), others refuse to the do them. So, what is the best approach?

Well, before I go on, remember the golden rule DON’T GIVE DISCOUNTS, ADD VALUE.

Once you have got the hang of it you can learn when to break it, but for now I suggest you stick to it.  So, you have to figure out how to offer free sessions whilst appearing to add value…

The focus of this article is to help you decide whether you want to give away a free session to encourage new clients and then convert those new clients into paying clients.

I have experimented with giving free sessions and have found that there was very little difference between bookings when I was giving away a first free session and when I was charging for it. The only thing I noticed was with free sessions I seemed to get a lot more time wasters and “magic wand” seekers who were disappointed to find out that I wasn’t going to do all the change work that they wanted in the first session and would have to actually book (and pay for) a full session or series of sessions.

Having spoken to a variety of different therapists and coaches, I have come up with a rule of thumb about whether to do a free introductory session or not, and that is this:

If what you do is a “brief therapy” (such smoking cessation, phobia cure, remedial body work, etc) that will only last a few sessions (3-5ish), then giving a free session is not the best way to get new clients (people expect quick results and you will get the “magic wand” seekers I mentioned above). However, if what you do is more medium to long term (5 or more sessions) then giving a free session to get new clients may work for you.

So how do you give free sessions away without attracting time wasters or seeming to be giving discounts? Well, that is a topic for a different post…!