I got a great question recently: Do you recommend Google AdWords as part of the marketing campaign for complementary therapists?

Note: (if you do not know) Google AdWords are the ads you see on the right hand side of any Google searches. Advertisers bid how much they are willing to pay per click (so they do not pay when the ad is shown, just when someone clicks on it). Google then ranks the ads by how much the advertiser bids and the quality of the page the ad points to.

So here are my thoughts:

AdWords are a science in itself. the advantage: you can target the people who will see your ads very specifically (through the keywords you bid for, and you can specify a geographic area). The disadvantage: competition is quite high for keywords and the prices you need to pay per click are rising every month.

So, unless you are certain that your website converts visitors to paying clients, it is a dangerous game to use Google AdWords.

If you want to do it, I would establish a conversion rate for your site first (i.e. how many people visit your site before someone books a session, if 200 people visit the site, before someone books, your conversion rate is 0.5%). You can use Google Analytics to work that out (if they can book online).

Once you know that and you know how much profit you make from each person (e.g. they come 5 times on average and pay $50 each time, so the revenue is $250. Your costs, including your own time, rent, washing, etc. are $150, so you could theoretically spend up to $100 to get people to your site.)

Now you need to multiply your conversion rate with what you want to spend on Google AdWords (e.g. $100 x 0.5% gives you $0.50). So the maximum you want to spend is $0.50 per click.

Then, you need to test that for each keyword and each different ad. It might be that more people who use click on a Google Ad convert or less than the traffic you had before. My experience is that it is usually less than from the organic traffic.

In my opinion, you are much better off to optimize your site for organic search engine traffic. You can download an ebook that shows you how to build successful websites that draw organic traffic. It is a tiny part of the education you get when you purchase the SiteBuildIt package.

Money well spent if you enjoy working on the computer. Otherwise, find yourself a good webdesigner who understands about Search Engine Optimization. And by having read this document, you will be able to ask the right questions to find out whether someone is knowledgeable.

You can contact Julie for support in using the SiteBuildIt package or contact Catherine for web design services.

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I received an email last week from Angela one of my students. She has only been in business for 4 months, but is really taking a great professional approach. She allowed me to share what she does with you. Here is her email:

“I’ve purchased your training manual this week and am really looking forward to getting into it. As a massage therapist you’ve given me a more balanced outlook on my business so I’m ready to make some changes.

I send out an email and paper newsletter on a monthly basis to my clients and I was hoping that if you had some time you could have a look at it and possibly offer a few suggestions. If it’s not part of your service though then that’s OK.”

View the Smooth Massage massage newsletter sample.

It is fantastic how Angela uses informative and educational materials (that she does not all have to write herself). That gives the value to readers that should not be lost with any of these thoughts.

Focus on Results

My suggestions? That really depends on what you want your newsletter to do and what it is currently doing. Do you want to attract more clients? Do you want your existing clients to come back more often? Or is it more a thank-you for the clients that are coming to you anyway.

As with any marketing tool, you need to look at what you want from it and what it is delivering currently. Then it can be improved. What feedback are you getting from your clients? Are they commenting on it, on specific articles? Or don’t you ever hear anything about it?

Hooking the Readers’ Eyes

It is really well designed, stylish and simple. It might be worth adding a few more paragraph breaks and subheadings. Most people do not read from start to finish, but skip until something catches their interest. The more things you have in there to catch someone’s interest, the better.

Maybe you could subtly work in articles about the benefits of massage.

Build a Relationship

Or add something about you personally. People buy from people they like, trust and understand. You could build that relationship by sharing more about yourself. The things that are important to you, what is happening in your life, what is happening for clients (like testimonial stories).

Call to Action

Another possibility would be to add some special promotions. This does not have to be discounting. Instead you could package your massage with different things, possibly from other related businesses.

Or you could recommend other businesses and ask them to do the same for your, possibly pass on your newsletter.

It is absolutely fantastic that you are producing your newsletter and I am sure it will pay back for the time and money you put into it.