Marketing Online for Alternative therapists is part of the iPEGS series of blogs on marketing your Alternative Therapy Practice. A covert plan to force our clients to use more paperless new client forms, informed consent forms etc. Here is a list of places you can cheaply promote your practice.
Having built an excellent website, we need to get it an audience. However until you can get that site in front of your potential patients it is just a vanity project.
“The man who has a thing to sell, and goes and whispers it down a well, is not so likely to collar the dollars as he who climbs a tree and hollers!”
1920s marketing slogan.
INVEST IN GROWING YOUR PRACTICE
Running your own business is a demanding thing. For every hour you get paid for, you can spend two in setting up your practice and building your client base at the start.
That means you are only earning 10 pounds per hour worked if you charge your client 30 pounds an hour.
Fortunately, the return on one hour spent promoting your website can result in bookings for 5 hours according to experienced therapists.
Therefore that hour will pay you 150 pounds in the long run.
After your site has been running for a while, remember to revisit it and refresh it as you would your wardrobe.
WAYS OF DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE
WRITE A BLOG…
Publishing a regular blog will help you raise your profile and ranking on the search engines. This is what I am doing now for our website www.ipegs.co.uk.
You are proud of what you do, talk about it, be it Reiki, Acupuncture, Hypnosis Therapy or another alternative therapy.
By producing original and helpful content about your speciality you will generate interest from potential and actual clients.
Talk about your teachers and how they inspired you. The courses you have taken to get where you are.
Share your vision, your journey. You became a therapist because you want to help others and believe you can do that. This commitment will interest and engage by your audience.
By connecting your blog to your website you can help drive traffic to it and improve your search engine rankings.
‘FOR UNTO EVERYONE THAT HATH SHALL BE GIVEN’.
Mathew 25;29
The more traffic you get the higher you rise in the search engines. The higher you are ranked, the more visitors you receive, it is a virtuous circle.
BE SOCIAL
Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Linkedin….
Social media can still be done for free and is one of the easiest ways to market yourself.
You have a great story to tell. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are all forums to tell that story.
You have an informed opinion so get involved in forum discussions.
Create a business account on these popular sites. Maximise your online presence by posting regularly with varied content.
Create a company page and your customers can easily keep in contact with you.
Video arouses people’s interest faster than any other content, with attention spans shortening you have 1.2 seconds to make an impression and keep their attention.
Make a video and post it, if you are a masseuse, get your partner to star in your ‘how to relieve stress’ massage video.
If Acupuncture is your speciality, do a visual demonstration of the art. Remember in social media ‘show not tell’ is more effective.
Facebook knows this and will share your video far more widely than text.
You don’t have to be Michael Bay or Steven Spielberg; you just have to show you care about what you do.
If you can make people laugh as well as inform them, you have 75% of your audience in the palm of your hands.
Is instant and more about sound bites or customer service. Easily accessible to your customers. Having 140 characters means you need to be short, and sweet.
Is all about show don’t tell. Pictures of the team, happy clients, short videos of your services and products in action. Keep it current and create a buzz about your crew.
Instagram is owned by Facebook so any advertising you do may also be shown in people’s Instagram feed everyone loves a twofer.
SNAPCHAT
Is relatively the new kid on the block use it in the same way as Instagram, remember you can post your material on more than one site. So, Snapchat is another string to your social media revenue machine.
Is about you connecting with businesses and professionals within your field. This is a longer-term investment in your brand. Gaining credibility with your peers will pay dividends as they link with you and share your posts within the community.
This blog is one of a series written by iPegs paperless forms in order to help Holistic Practitioners grow their practices.
By using the iPEGS Paperless System you present a professional approach for your Consultation Forms, Consent Forms, Medical Histories and Treatment Plans. Save time and money and keep your client’s data safe.
As the data processor we store and encrypt your data in a secure, state of the art, UK data centre. We are Cyber Essentials Certified giving you peace of mind that our defences will protect against the most common cyber-attacks. We have achieved the IASME governance standard in relation to GDPR where we have demonstrated wider governance for management of the controls protecting personal data.
If you would like to know more simply email us: info@ipegs.co.uk
