When you are building your massage (energy work/yoga/skin care) client base, you have to market. You just do.
Marketing takes time, money, planning and effort.
To gather more clients while using your time and effort wisely, you need to do the one best thing to get more clients:
Specialize.
It’s a bit like saying, “Plastics,” I know. But …
When you specialize you save time; you are talking to the clients you want on your table.
When you specialize you save money; you advertise and market in places where your ideal clients already are.
When you specialize you save effort; you know who you’re talking to, you know what they need and you know where to find them.
When you specialize people see you as an expert; the clients you want to serve will be better able to find you.
When you specialize you stand out.
Here are five steps to get you going
1. Decide what kind of clients you want.
You need to be specific. “Everyone” is not a helpful answer. You really don’t want “everyone.”
Deciding you want to work with “moms” is fine. Deciding to work with “active moms whose active children attend the Tae Kwon Do school across the street from your studio” is much better.
“Elders” is fine. “65+ year old men who have put their body through the wringer who want the facts and have been in low-grade pain for so long that they are willing to seriously consider acupuncture” is better.
And, yes, you can have two, three, four, etc different specialties.
2. Discover where your ideal clients can be found.
Once you know who you want, you have to go find them.
You could run a specific ad for your specific clients in the local paper or on the radio. Or you could save money and buy or trade ad space in a club’s newsletter or in a yoga teacher’s email or in a health cooperative’s flyer.
Find the places where your ideal clients go: fly fishing club meetings, dog parks, sports bars (the nice ones, of course), jogging trails, farmers’ markets, etc.
3. Consider the problems your ideal clients deal with.
Again, you need to be specific. Yes, your ideal client’s shoulders hurt but their problem is that they can’t reach the top shelf, or work at their desks for more than an hour, or put on their coats, or go into downward dog.
They are stressed but what they can’t do is sleep through the night, or stop drinking so much coffee, or they can’t make decisions.
4. Keep your message clear and brief.
Next time you’re driving down the road, look at a business’ sign or a billboard. See how long that took? That’s how long you have to capture your clients’ attention.
It’s important to tell them what they want to hear first thing. And keep it brief.
If they need or should have more information, they will call you or go to your website.
5. Follow through.
I am continuously astounded by the number of therapists who spend time and money creating a marketing plan and then never actually do it.
Your clients (and potential clients) want to hear from you. They rely on you to keep them reminded and informed. You don’t need to be slicky-salesman about it. Ever. Just be who you are and all will be well.
Honest.
All my best,
Eileen
