Five End-of-year Marketing Tips for Therapists
You will agree with me that the number one reason majority of us became therapists was to help those who needed our expertise. You will also agree with me that the number one reason that many of us decided to open our own therapy businesses was because we love setting our own working hours and love the freedom that comes with being the therapist. However, this freedom comes at a price since owning a therapy business can be quite stressful.
After a year’s worth of hard work, sweat, and even some tears, the end of the year is the perfect time to slow down and take stock of the successes and challenges of the year; what went well? What could have been done better?
To help you take inventory of the ups and downs of your therapy business, the NFTA team has put together five tips to help you take your business to the next level in the coming year!
1. Be a better time manager – There are only 24 hours in a day and no matter how much you try, you cannot get more than 24. It is therefore wise to make the most of these hours and to attempt to do as many of the important things as possible before the day is over. There are various tools that can help you to do more within your business day. These include various software such as bookkeeping and accounting software. Examples of effective yet affordable software include Clear Books and Liquid Accounts. Other resources that can help you manage your appointment schedules better include Google Calendar and NaturalTherapyForAll Enquiry and the Appointment System. If you need a more comprehensive online appointment system, you may try Click Book.
2. Take a part time course – Every therapist has particular strengths that set him or her apart from the rest. Find out what your strength is as a therapist and capitalize on it. Do not clutter your mind with your weaknesses. Instead, concentrate on what make you stand out as a therapist. At the same time, take measures to improve and add on to your skills as a therapist, for example, if you are a hypnotherapist, explore counselling psychology. (In order to be a counselling psychologist, you will need a degree that will give you the GBR, that is, the Graduate Basis for Registration, by the BPS – British Psychological Society.)
3. Seek to understand your clients more – Your clients are made up of individuals. Each person has specific and unique therapeutic needs. Each person has fears, goals, dreams and regrets. Finding out who your clients are as individuals will help you to better cater for them and also help you to know who to market to them. Keep in mind that satisfied clients are more likely to spread the word to their friends, family, colleagues and even acquaintances about how superior your therapy services are. You can find your target market by doing a breakdown of all the individuals that currently use your services. Do a breakdown of your clients to determine who they are. Once you have done this, you will discover that it is much easier to know the people you are marketing to. This in turn will make it much easier to find more clients like them. For example, if your target group is elderly people, you may want to introduce home visit services. Choose your clients carefully; don’t agree to work with just any person who requests your services. You are more likely to provide a higher quality of service to the people that you are most skilled to catering for and the people that you actually enjoy working with! This win-win situation will ensure that you enjoy doing your job and that your clients enjoy receiving your services. A happy, satisfied client is more likely to use your services again and again and also to tell others about you.
4. Offer different prices for different therapy services – It is recommended that you offer various prices for the different categories of your therapy services, that is, if you are not yet offering various prices. Additionally, it is recommended that you give your clients discounts if they pay beforehand for more than one session. You can also give your clients the option of sessions that vary in length. These pricing strategies serve to make your therapy services more accessible to a bigger client.
5. Keep your website current – Nowadays, it is not enough to just have a website for your therapy business. You also need to regularly update it as this will ensure that it is ranked high on search engines. Additionally, the people who visit your website are likely to visit more often if you update it regularly. Also, consider opening a blog which can be easily linked/added to your website. A blog give your clients a more intimate look into who you really are as a person in addition to your skills and competence as a professional therapist. For more information on how to start your blog, you can begin by visiting http://wordpress.org
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