In this post, I’ll be looking at how you can get people to sign up for your newsletter. Once again, it’s important to know what your aim is. Are you looking for new clients, referrals, or repeat business? Is your newsletter a way to say thank you to your current clients? Your goals for your newsletter, will help you decide how to distribute it.

Reaching current clients

Start off by asking your current clients if they’d like to receive a newsletter from you. Make it a habit to ask new clients when you take down their personal details at the first appointment - or add it as a question on your client history form. Launching a newsletter can also be a great way to rekindle a relationship with old clients. If you’ve been neglecting those follow up calls, a newsletter can provide the excuse you need to give them a call or send them a letter.

Helping your website visitors to become clients

If you have a website and are sending an email newsletter, make sure you include a sign up form on your website. On a first visit, people will often gladly hand over their email address in return for receiving a useful newsletter, but they might baulk at booking an appointment straight away. Once they’re on your list they’ll start to trust you, and then they’re much more likely to become a client.

Be very careful not to spam people

A word of warning, don’t just add everyone you contact to your newsletter subscriber list. In many countries it’s now illegal to add people to an email list without asking them first, not to mention impolite!

You need to make it easy for people to get off your list as well - just a simple line in each newsletter explaining how to unsubscribe is enough. In addition, it is best practice to add your contact details in each email, so they know the email is from a genuine source.

Reaching other prospects

A paper newsletter can be distributed around town in shops and related businesses. I’ve seen this idea used well by a massage therapist in Katoomba in Australia’s Blue Mountains. Visitors to the town who’re interested in health are very likely to see this lady’s newsletter and pick up a copy. They start to trust her because they’ve heard of her through the newsletter, and if they want to book a massage whilst in town, guess who they’ll go to?

Asking people to pass it on

If you’re looking for new clients, then it’s always worth explicitly asking people to pass on your newsletter. A personal recommendation like this counts for a lot. Make sure to tell the final recipients how they can get their own copy in future. Something like “Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends and family. Drop me an email to me@myclinic.com if you’d like to receive your own copy,” works well and provides a way for people to add themselves to your list. There’s more about what to write in your newsletter in my last post.

Summary

We’ve discussed how to find subscribers for your newsletter. If you’re looking for referrals and repeat business then you need to reach current clients first and foremost. If you’re trying to attract new clients, then you should also look at using your website or asking local businesses to distribute your newsletter; and don’t forget to ask people to pass on your newsletter.

By now you should have an idea of whether a paper-based newsletter or an email newsletter is more suitable for you. Next time we’ll look at how to set up an email newsletter.

Happy marketing!

Catherine Doyle

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Founder, Soothed - web design & online marketing for natural therapists
Editor, natural bloom - sharing the inside story on holistic health

If you have not yet received my free report: The 7 Biggest Business Mistakes Health Practitioners Make, just enter your name and email and I'll send it to you. Name: E-Mail: I respect your privacy and will never sell, share or pass on your details.

“Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning” Bill Gates, Microsoft

Being a health practitioner can be a lonely road at times, particularly if you are a sole operator. Quite frankly, a lot of practitioners like it that way! But if you want the abundant practice of your dreams, remaining an island just won’t cut it. Today I want to share with you a powerful way of attracting the clients you like to work with most through joint ventures.

So, what’s so great about joint ventures?

• They leverage your business to more potential clients through valuable partnerships – building your client base at minimal cost
• They build your credibility through the trust already held by your partners – exposing you to warm rather than cold prospects
• You are seen as someone who is willing to work with others for a greater benefit to all concerned
• They allow you to be surrounded by likeminded and passionate people - you will be inspired and inspire others
• They can create free publicity

If carefully targeted joint ventures will help position you as an expert in your chosen field

What kind of joint venture should you consider?

Joint ventures are only limited by your imagination. Here are some suggestions:

• Place flyers at local businesses in exchange for their ad or coupon in your newsletter
• Offer a free treatment to the local physio or personal trainer who can speak on your behalf to their clients and refer them to you. A value adding voucher works well in conjunction with these. Offer to refer your clients to them also.
• Offer treatments as prizes to local charities and fundraisers in exchange for promotion in their flyers and newsletters as a sponsor.
• Sponsor a member of the month prize at the local gym.
• Team up with the local health food store – you promote their products while they promote your service.
• Set up a stand at the local sports club or fitness centre. It offers their members an additional service and you get exposure to new clients.
• Participate in open days and community events – you’ve got to be in it to win it!
• Create a health expo by teaming up with other practitioners. Charge a fair price for half hour treatments and offer free talks on different health issues. Ask a local venue to donate the space. Promote it through local newspaper articles and what’s on columns, on community noticeboards and free online community directories. A little planning goes a long way.
• Create a local network that appeals to your target market. For example, if women 40 plus are your market, team up with a local café or restaurant and host a monthly luncheon event. It could be purely social or you could have an interesting speaker each month.

These are just a few ideas. Harness your strengths and combine them with the strengths of others. Team your organisational skills with someone else’s public speaking skills and another’s venue or customer base. Remember, joint ventures don’t have to be complicated, even simple ones pay off over time. The opportunities are endless! Great opportunities don’t come along once in a lifetime, they come along everyday – are you ready to harness them and see your practice prosper?

Top Tips to Joint Venture Success:

Know exactly who you want to attract to your business. Clearly define your audience. This becomes apparent when you know exactly what your strengths are and who you can help the most. You must identify this first before proceeding, if you want them to work well for you.

• List local businesses who have the same target market as you. They may or may not be health related, it could be the local fitness club, café or playgroup.
• Approach potential partners from a ‘what’s in it for them’ – it’s not all about you (although your aim is for you to benefit, it must benefit your partners also).
• Remember you don’t have to go it alone. Bigger joint ventures are best when it’s a team effort. Don’t be afraid to delegate – just the fact that you initiated the idea will be worthwhile if everyone benefits.

Joint ventures are a fantastic way to leverage your business. In my own business of helping health practitioners market themselves I have teamed up with several other businesses that I know can help my clients such as web designers and graphic artists, other online health marketing gurus, natural therapies academies, practice software developers and business networking groups. It is a powerful way to get the message across to the people you can help the most and it’s a win/win situation for everyone.

“If everyone is moving forward together – the success takes care of itself” Henry Ford.

To your health practice success….

Krishna Everson
www.healthpracticesuccess.com

One of the things that you can do to increase your rankings in the search engines is to get other sites to link to you. Getting the link is not really getting people to click on the link although that can help too. It is more about just getting a link so that the search engines will think that your site is popular. Search engines especially Google has a way of looking for and tracking the number of sites that link to you.

Getting backlinks can help you especially when you have some serious competition in your area or have someone who has had a website forever and is always in the top spot in the search engines. To find out where they rank you can go to your competitors site and get their url. You can then put that url into various search engines and just put the word link: (with the colon) before the url. The search engine will tell you how many sites are linking to your competitors site. If you want to get a higher listing just work on getting a higher number of links!

Some ways to get backlinks to your site:

• Post on blogs such as this one!
• Post on bulletin boards or discussion forums
• Create a free blog on blogger.com or www.wordpress.com and write posts that include links to your site
• Use social networking services such as myspace.com or linkedin.com
• Submit your site to free directories.
• Ask other neighborhood businesses to exchange links with your site.

The more links the better. It is also better to only link to sites that have good alexa rankings which is a system of ranking sites according to their traffic and popularity. You can find out a sites ranking by going to alexa.com and entering that sites url in the search engine there.

So along with creating high quality content, getting back links can improve your traffic to your website and increase the number of people finding your site. The reason why this is so important is that people really hardly ever look beyond a few pages of search results. You are also getting highly targeted traffic when people find your site using the keywords ‘massage, your city’. They are already looking for a massage therapist for whatever reason. They are much easier to convert into clients compared to doing a random mailing to your neighborhood. Many people may not be looking for a massage! Finding those who are by having them come to your website is half the battle!

Julio Onofrio
Founder of www.thebodyworker.com

In my last post I took you through planning your newsletter - deciding how much time and money you want to invest, and what you’re hoping to get out of the whole thing. This time we consider what to write.

Promoting your special offers and practice news

It’s a good idea to include a section in your newsletter promoting your services. You might want to simply list your specialities and prices; or if you have a current special offer, you can include that. Give special offers an expiry date to encourage people to pick up the phone and book right now. Open days and other special events also fit here.

Some therapists include only this section in their newsletter, but I’d highly recommend including something educational as well. This gives people a good reason to read your newsletter, and to keep on receiving it.

Educating your clients

As I’ve mentioned before, you can use your newsletter to educate people about what you do, thereby increasing referrals and repeat business. To do this, you’ll need to include a piece in each newsletter on one aspect of your work. It works best if you write from the perspective of solving your clients’ problems, rather than blowing your own trumpet. For example, you could include an exercise to prevent back pain, share tips for healthy knees, or explain how to avoid headaches. Stress relief tips always go down well, and are easy to write. Tailor the content to suit the areas you work in.

Write it yourself, or reuse other content?

If you’re good at writing and have the time, then it makes perfect sense to create your own unique content. If not, then there are other options:

• Are there other therapists you could team up with? You might be able to take it in turns to write something, and share the costs of sending a joint newsletter.
• I’m thinking about setting up an e-group for therapists to share newsletter content. To join you’d need to contribute an article of your own every so often, and you’d get access to all the other articles contributed by other therapists. If you’re interested, send me an email, and if there’s enough interest I’ll set something up.
• You can republish content created by others; much as Angela does in her superb monthly roundup of health articles. Your clients will still appreciate the useful information you’re sending them even if you’re not writing it all yourself. Make sure you seek permission to republish articles so as not to violate copyright, and always quote the original source of the article.
• You can also buy pre-written articles which you can publish as is, or modify them before use. These are called private-label-rights (PLR) articles. You can search for PLR articles related to your field on Google. Client Education Newsletters for Massage are available through BodyworkBiz.

How much should you write?

How much to write depends on your format. Reading from a screen is hard on the eyes, so email newsletters should be kept brief (whilst still containing useful content). With paper, you can write a bit more, but considering how busy people are these days, I’d still try and keep things fairly short. Busy readers will also appreciate being able to quickly skim-read your newsletter to pick out the most relevant pieces to them. There’s an article on skim-reading on my web site (while it’s aimed at writing for your web site, the tips apply equally well to writing newsletters).

Summary

We’ve discussed the different types of content you can include in your newsletter, as well as options for creating it.

Next time, we’ll look at how to get people to sign up.

Happy Marketing!

Catherine Doyle

………………………………………………………………………………….
Founder, Soothed - web design & online marketing for natural therapists
Editor, natural bloom - sharing the inside story on holistic health

One of the easiest ways to build your massage practice is by having a website that works - that is one that gets you to the top of the search engine results and gets people to click on your listing and then make the phone call for an appointment with you. If you are located in a big city that has a lot of massage therapists who have websites competing for those top listings there are many things that you can do to get your website on the first page of Google (and other search engine results).

1. Choosing Your Domain name - Your domain name is an important part of getting your site found. You don’t have to have make your business name into a domain name. The best domain name will easily inform a reader what you do and where you do it. It will also tell people what solution you provide for people. That is basically what people want to know - what solution do you provide? Will you be able to help them with whatever issue they are having. They aren’t really looking for you - sorry to say. The best domain name will let people know what you do. People will usually search for the words ‘massage, your city’ or ‘massage therapist, your city’ (or maybe an area or section of town etc.) Naming your site www.massageyourcity.com (or .au or whatever the most popular ending is in your country) will increase your chances of getting found.
2. The file names of your pages is also important in getting your site found as well as how you format your pages. The file name is the second part of url address as in www.massageyourcity.au/deeptissue-massage.html - it is the deeptissue-massage.html. I have seen some websites that just have things like page numbers or abbreviations of the descriptive words as file names. Then when writing your page create a headline with your keyword - deep tissue massage as well as use that keyword in the first sentence of your page. Also using that same keyword or phrase and creating a link somewhere in the page helps to get your website found. The metatags of the page will also include that keyword in the description, keyword and Page title section. If you don’t know what meta tags are you will have to find out how to create them in whatever program you are using. They are words put into the pages that are meant for only search engines to read.
3. Start with creating about 8-10 pages including some of these topics like:
   • what to expect during a massage
   • services and fees
   • policies such as cancellations, late fees, insurance billing or privacy policies
   • different types of massage you do. (Actually each type of massage you do could be written about in separate pages.)
   • How massage works
   • Your mission and purpose statement
   • An about me page. Most massage therapist just seem to want to list a basic resume of classes. While that is OK, what would be even better is to talk more about your philosophy on healing, massage and wellness. One of the things that most massage therapists don’t seem to mention is why you are doing massage - what brought you to the massage profession? What are your reasons for taking the training that you have?
4. The Benefits of Massage page. Most websites and massage brochures include a benefits of massage page. This is becoming one of my pet peeves…. The thing is that no one really cares if massage increases their circulation or helps loosen their muscles. The standard list of the benefits of massage that is taught in massage school really means little to someone seeking a massage. Again what people want to know is what will massage do to solve their problem whatever it is - pain, an injury, stiffness, stress. Take each so called ‘benefit of massage and keep asking the question “So What?” Keep asking until it almost becomes silly or meaningless. When you get down to the real answer of so what - you will then have a real benefit of massage that people can relate to.
5. After your first basic 8-10 pages of information start writing pages that answer the questions that people seem to ask every day. My favorites are:
   • Is that a knot?
   • Is that a bone?
   • What is causing my pain?
   • What can I do to reduce the tension in these muscles?
   • Does massage work well with chiropractic or physical therapy?
6. Keep writing pages of content until your schedule is as full as you want it and continue writing pages every month or so just to keep the site fresh and new clients coming. Building content and providing information is what will help build trust with your readers. Since I started doing that with my website, most people who become clients will read the site and say things like “I want you to be doing my massage”. They want to go to someone who is an expert and also knows how to handle whatever it is that is bothering them or can help them with whatever disease or condition they have.

The basic way to get your site found by the search engines is to use search engine optimization methods when creating your pages and also getting back links to your website which I will talk about in my next article. Backlinks are just links to your site from various sources. It isn’t so much about getting someone to click on the link. It is really more about making your website look more popular in search engines eyes.

Julio Onofrio
Founder of www.thebodyworker.com

By Amy Roberts, LMT.

Many therapists that set up a stall at trade shows, such as the Mind, Body & Spirit Festival, soon understand that it’s not a simple and straight forward process. Apart from the raging competition that is also there, as a Massage Therapist, you will want to stand out from the rest of the therapists that are there. Here are five tips to “being seen” by your prospective clients. After all, the sole purpose of doing a trade show is so that potential clients can see you and then do business with you.

So, how can you break through the crowd and have your trade show exhibit stand out in a way that draws the interest of your potential clients?

A Professional Image

It’s a good idea to have your colours worked out before you go. In fact choosing two or three colours to have as your professional colours will enhance a strong sense of professionalism with your prospective clients. Get your colours and designs all matching. Chose some relaxing colours such as blue or green.

Have a Professional, Functional Website

Along with your professional image, have a professional website. (And use the same colours as you’ve used on the day of your trade show.) You can have someone create one for you which might cost a lot, or you can buy a website with an already made up template. Round the Bend Wizards and My Arts Desire have some templates you may be interested in using.

Add Music

Having an interactive element to your stall will gather some professional momentum. You can have gentle music playing in the background to attract people to you, or have music with headphones you can give to them to block out the background noise and focus on relaxation.

A Water Feature

For added affect you may also have a water feature in the corner. A gentle fountain in a massage clinic is always lovely to listen to. Like music, the sound of gentle falling water, will induce feelings of relaxation- all aspects of your massage you want people to experience even before you’ve touched them.

Lighting

It’s a good idea to create mood with your lighting. You can have some soft globes in standing lamps in your stall then creates a feeling of relaxation. Some globes with a more yellowish tinge to them is a much better alternative than hard white fluorescent shades that some globes give off.

Smile and the world smiles with you

When people first see you they make a conscious or subconscious judgment about how effective your massage treatments will be just by what you wear, your stall layout, your colours and the way you approach people. Don’t sit down reading a book waiting for people to come to you. If you do that you could be missing so much potential business.

If you are doing chair massage then have a friend in the chair and gently massage them so it gives the impression of being busy. And if you are not massaging your friend then be smiling and energetic to attract your potential clients.

Get Ready for new clients

Have your appointment book with you on the day so that if people want to book in after the show they already have their appointment with you. Don’t wait for them to call you, offer to book them in for an hour massage in your clinic with you that week.

Create a special “show offer”

As an incentive for people to come and have massage with you after the show, create special offer for them when they book their first appointment with you. I’m not talking about ten percent off, that won’t rock anyone’s boat. Perhaps you can make up a blend of massage and essential oil and bottle it, then give it to them on their first appointment. You can also put this in a little basket with some dried lavender and some soap as a small gift. You can display it on your table to show them what they get when they have their first appointment with you. You might also be able to create a small booklet with stretching ideas for a variety of problems. You can have a “lower back”, “neck and shoulder” booklets and display them on your table too.

You could give the booklets away on the day to take with them. Print them in all your professional colours, with your website and contact details clearly displayed on the booklets. If people do suffer with these things I can almost bet money that they will in deed read them. It’s another way of problem solving for your client.

Test and measure

It’s a good idea to test out certain things in your efforts. For example try one of these suggestions at a time. See which works best. Then combine them all and see how that goes too. Keep a diary of these changes so you become versed in marketing your massage business. Soon you’ll be able to attract a whole new block of clients just from the day.

I recommend using trade shows but only if you are well prepared. A good image is just as powerful as a poorly prepared image. A poorly prepared image can do as much damage to your reputation as a good image can boost it. So make sure you are prepared and don’t hold back. Try new things but above all present yourself well and give people excellent massages.

Best wishes,
Amy Roberts
www.massagetherapysuccess.com

This has nothing to do with massage or even natural health, but I want to share it anyway. I have just started to promote solar hot water.

Why?

We all know about global warming, peak oil and the reduction of habitat through excessive human use. I want to make a difference. Solar Hot Water, because it is a highly efficient, low cost, green technology that not only saves 3,000kg of CO2 each year, it also pays its way within a few years and then provides free hot water.

At the moment, I can only help you if you live on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, but we will expand into the rest of Australia over time.

What can you do?

If you are on the Sunshine Coast (between North Brisbane and Gympie actually), go to SolarPay.com.au and find the ideal system for your property, line up all the government rebates that are currently available and reduce your carbon footprint.

If you do not live on the Sunshine Coast, let your friends know about it. Or start going through the quoting process and leave your contact details. It will help to get into other areas more quickly.

I got such a great email, I just have to share it with you:

“Sorry for the delay in replying, I have had a flood of patients….really!! 8 new patients in the last 3 weeks and now I am so behind on the Passionate Training because I haven’t had time to commit to it!!

I will though for sure, I think it’s fabulous!!

For me the flood gates opened when I reminded myself, through your prompting via the course, why I actually set out to be an alternative health practitioner in the first place. I realized it was as a consequence of a trip to Sierra Leone, when I returned I knew I needed to make a difference in the world, no matter how small… and so I trained to become a Homeopath. A course that quite literally transformed my life.

The passion returned, and I became less worried about the money and more enthusiastic about the difference I could make and hey presto, 8 new patients!! May I add, after months of having no new clients whatsoever. Your course is a little miracle worker!!

So, please do I still get access to the stuff on your site or does it run out after a certain time? Only I’m behind, but for all the right reasons!!”

Thank you so much for that email Paulla. It makes my heart sing and I hope that you continue to attract many more people who benefit from your help.

In answer to the questions: There is no time limit whatsoever for doing the Passionate Training. It is a self paced course, so you set the time. I suggest doing it in 5 weeks to gain momentum and get into the habit of doing something each day. But you make the decision of how to actually do it.

Have you ever felt like you have one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake? You know what I mean – you are passionate about what you do, but when it comes to promoting yourself you freeze!

We probably all have from time to time, but I’ve found it a really common phenomenon amongst the health practitioners that I work with. They can dutifully attend all my ‘how to’ workshops and courses, read marketing articles and sign-up for the wonderful online resources available, but then find themselves getting in their own way with a scarcity mindset or a fear of failure or fear of success.

Is what you thinking holding you back? Could you manage without negative self talk and give yourself a pep talk instead? Here are some common thought patterns and the perfect replacement for them:

The funny thing is, these new thoughts aren’t just positive thinking – they are real and achievable.

The key is simple. Recognize that your difference is the difference.

Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, carefully select your target market based on two things:

• who you like working with and
• who already benefits from what you do.

When someone asks you what you do, let them know who you work with and what benefit they receive from seeing you. Don’t just say: I’m a massage therapist. Instead you might say: I work with golf enthusiasts who want to improve their swing. Or whatever audience you have chosen and what the benefits are they receive.

This is not big noting yourself or boasting. It is simply stating who you are passionate about working with and what is in it for them. You will grow to love promoting yourself when you do it in this manner - because it is not about you, it is about your clients.

So stop thinking thoughts that stop you in your tracks, start to think from your clients point of view – and harness opportunities that present themselves daily to let others know about you and your services. Remember it’s not what you know, but who knows what you know that counts!

Krishna Everson works with massage therapists and health practitioners to help them attract new clients and retain the ones they’ve got through an inspiring series of workshops and courses on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. For details of upcoming training visit her website at www.marketyourmassage.com

Krishna has contributed great comments in the past. To my delight, she has agreed now to blog as well.

And if you are on the Sunshine Coast, you can benefit from her massage mastermind group. It kicks off this week and will help massage practitioners to stay on the path to running a successful practice.

Her business background in marketing and advertising give s a great basis for it, but the real experience she is going to share from is coaching her husband. He has built himself a florishing massage practice with Krishna’s support.

So welcome Krishna and all the best with the new service you are offering.