Tag: hypnotherapy marketing plan

How Much are You Really Earning in Your Therapy Practice?

Posted on by Martina McKeough

therapy marketingEver taken the time and really thought about what you are really earning from your therapy work? Yes I know you will be charging your customers a price per hour but have you really taken a look at all the hidden costs that are there when you are running a business? Nothing in life is free and neither is Hypnotherapy Marketing. No matter how hard you try there are will always be costs associated with your business that need to be taken into account when you decide what you are going to charge your customers.

When you are advertising for clients you really need to think about how much money they are making for you and your business. Most therapists do not do this and instead charge a fixed price per hour which means a weight loss client is worth the same as a fear or phobia client. The reality is that a client with a simple fear or phobia can often be helped in one or two sessions whilst a weight loss client may need support over 5, 8 or even ten sessions. Now try and tell me that each of those clients is worth the same to you. Of course they are not. Someone who is going to fill your diary for eight to ten sessions is worth far more than a person who comes to see you once or twice. Therefore specifically advertising for the clients who make you more money is just common business sense.

But what about your other costs for your hypnotherapy marketing as well as your fixed costs have you ever stopped to calculate exactly what each client will earn you in real terms? When you really get down to the accounting nitty gritty you are going to be in for a very big shock especially if you have decided to charge very little per hour. This is because you will have a considerable amount of costs to cover in many cases that you have not factored in to you price per hour.

Hypnotherapy Business Accounting

So lets look at some of the charges that you will need to consider if you are seeing a client. Firstly unless you are working from home you will need a room to practice in and these of course can be expensive. You may be paying a monthly fee for a room or alternatively you may be charged by the hour. Either way room charges are going to cost approximately 10 to 20% of your client fees. Next think about how you are going to get to this room. In many cases it will not be within walking distance which means that you need to drive there or arrive on public transport which of course costs you money. If you are driving and the location does not have free parking expect to pay for that as well. Oh and don’t forget about tax. In the UK it is a general rule of thumb to set aside 30% of your earnings against tax and that is before you move into the higher income tax bracket!

Now lets think about all the other costs that go into running your business. Of course you need to advertise to get clients in the door (that is unless you have an all referrals practice). This means flyers, business cards, online advertising, newspaper ads, posters, and so on. Then think about the cost of calling these clients. I can spend a considerable time on the phone to each of my clients which means hefty telephone bills. I pay for insurance and professional membership fees. Stationary costs will also bump up my bills. Now think about the cost of building and running your website, that is unlikely to be free either. When you think of it there are many little costs that all add up. I suggest that you resolve to add up your previous years business costs and then work out how much that cost you per week. Then divide that number by the number of clients you see per week and you will have a good idea of how much these costs are per client.

To help you work out your real cost per client I have created a simple client profitability calculator so you can begin to understand how much you are really earning per hour. Simply click on the link and it will take you to a quick and dirty calculator where you can work out exactly what you are going to really earn from each of your clients. Be prepared for a shock when you see the real numbers.

I know that when I teach my marketing clients this exercise they immediately decide to up their fees and when you see the numbers you will understand why. I remember training one therapist who was only going to charge £40 per hour for his services in a very affluent area of London. He need to rent a room in the area and drive to the location and get parking. When you run the numbers through the calculator he would have been lucky to earn £10 to £15 pounds for seeing each client!

Factor in The Cost of Time

I have not added time into my calculator but that is important to add into the equation as well. When you travel to a location it takes time to get there and to come back. My Central London practice takes me nearly an hour to get to and another hour to get back. Remember you are not getting paid for those dead hours so the cost of time needs to be added to your price. As I am in Harley Street I can get away with a high price per hour but in other areas you are not going to be so lucky. If you have to travel long distances to see your clients really work out whether it is really worth the effort.

So if you are reading this and are serious about building a great business and taking your hypnotherapy marketing to the next level sit down and calculate all your costs. You will thank me in the end. What you charge per hour and the profitability per client is an essential piece of information that you need for your business. Once you have that number you can stop burying your head in the sand and really start to work smarter to earn the income you deserve. Need extra help with your marketing and hypnotherapy business plan? Then why not look at some of my marketing and mentoring packages designed to help you grow a booming business.

 

 

Are You Making This Pricing Mistake?

Posted on by Martina McKeough

Hypnotherapy Marketing PlanHow do you sell to your customers? Here is what I generally see when I visit other therapists websites. There will be a price per hour charge that is offered to most customers for general problems and then sometimes a more expensive price for stop smoking sessions or perhaps weight loss. That is it! No thought has gone into the packaging of these prices and how you can use price to make additional profits. Remember in order to really boost your profits you need a decent Hypnotherapy Marketing Plan.

So lets start with the basics. Offering a bog standard one off price for most of your sessions makes no sense whatsoever. You need to start thinking about what a customer is worth to you in monetary terms and how you can make additional profits by manipulating your price points. A single price per hour does not do very much towards making this happen.

For example you know that a weight loss client who needs to lose five stone will need to see you for multiple sessions in order to see real results. Offering them one session at a time is sending out totally the wrong signal to that person. It gives some people the impression that just like Harry Potter you are going to magic away their problem in one hour and you know that is not going to happen. When you advertise like this the client is going to be disappointed when they don’t see miracles happening after that first session and they will not bother to return. This is a wasted opportunity on both sides and therefore you need to create a better strategy to prevent this from happening.

Hypnotherapy Marketing Plan

Now if you were not aware most businesses create a three tier pricing structure for their products in order to maximise their revenue. You will have seen it everywhere but probably not noticed it or thought about apply it to your hypnotherapy marketing. Ever gone on to a website and been offered a bronze, silver or gold package for software? Or perhaps you were booking a flight and you were given the option of economy, business or first class? When you start looking out for this three tier pricing model it will become obvious how retailers and service providers are squeezing extra profits from their clients.

So how does this model apply to your hypnotherapy marketing plan. Well lets look again at the issue of weight loss and how your pricing could be adapted to this model. You can now tier your services so that you can move your customers into different pricing brackets.

Package One – Offering a three session suggestion hypnosis package. No frills, no in-depth analysis of why the client is overeating but three sessions of suggestion to motivate them and get them on track.

Package Two – A six session plan offering more interactive sessions involving regression and parts therapy to really find out why your client has the problem. Once the reason for the problem is found you then work on resolving that issue with more complex hypnosis procedures. You could even throw in the extras such as NLP, CBT or any other therapy that you would find useful.

Package Three – A ten session plan offering the deluxe, all singing all dancing weight loss support. Daily check in’s on email plus a full audio program and eBook. Nutritional support and exercise plan (bought in from other practitioners) and so on.

How Three Tier Pricing Will Transform Your Hypnotherapy Profit

Now you have no need to see a person for a one session wonder again. They are barely worth it to you financially. Instead you are arranging to see your clients for a minimum number of sessions to reach their goal. How you create these tiers and differentiate them is entirely up to you. What I have placed above is purely an example of what can be done so feel free to come up with your own versions. That weight loss client who rings you will now have a much better understanding of what may be necessary to really achieve their goal. By understanding they need to commit to a program of sessions means they will no longer be disappointed with a one off session. It also means at the very least you are getting to see those clients for a minimum of three sessions.

But things get better! It is a well known psychological fact that most people do not like paying the lowest price for goods and services. In their mind it means that they are getting poor value or a product that will only do part of what they need. A prime example of this is wine in restaurants. Most people will opt for a mid price bottle rather than go for the cheapest especially if they are trying to impress a date! That means that a good percentage of your clients will opt for the second package of weight loss support rather than the cheapest. This means that you can expect to earn five times more than you did with your one session wonder.

By having a three tier pricing structure you are also preventing people from trying to haggle down your prices or asking for discounts. As there is already a lower price option there is nowhere for them to negotiate down to and so those time sappers no longer even bother to ask the question. There is also the upside. Even though most of your clients will choose tier one or two there will be a small percentage who go for the full on 10 session mega package. Why? Because they like to buy premium products (the best TV, mobile phone etc) and so when it comes to weight loss they continue to want the most expensive product. That now means that you have potentially got some clients staying with you for weeks and months filling out your appointment diary in a much simpler way.

You Can Have a Successful Hypnotherapy Practice

If you really take the time out to analyse your business you can see that using this one tactic can alter your entire hypnotherapy marketing plan and your bottom line. Even better this three tier pricing policy can be applied to almost all of the treatments that you have on offer. By being smart about how you offer your products you can increase your profits substantially. So take the time out and really think about how you can apply this methodology to your business and watch your profits begin to rise substantially. Alternatively if you would like a little extra help you can purchase my eBook from the online store today or contact me for more details on my hypnotherapy marketing mentoring sessions.

 

What are you doing this Bank Holiday?

Posted on by Martina McKeough

Hypnotherapy marketing planSorry for the UK centric post today but this weekend we get a bank holiday. A wonderful three day weekend instead of the usual two days. Now I know for the rest of the population who are not self employed this is generally a chance to kick back, relax and enjoy time with friends and family. But what about those of us who are self employed? How does the bank holiday impact you, your income and your hypnotherapy marketing?

Well in terms of income a bank holiday isn’t always a positive especially for a self employed therapist who isn’t earning a great income. Suddenly they find themselves losing a day where they would normally earn an income. This will be especially noticeable at times such as Easter or Christmas when they may be faced with up to two weeks of little or no business. When your earnings can be haphazard at the best of times this can be enough to make you run back to your day job. The skill with good hypnotherapy marketing is to:

  • Have enough income the rest of the year to cover these lean periods.
  • Earning a passive income so it means that you are always earning money.
  • Advertising yourself so that you actually work on the holiday and earn more income.
  • Always having a full practice so that a bank holiday is a mere blip on your radar.

So what does a bank holiday mean to you?

Saving Income

While it is tempting to consider money in through the door as instantly yours it is important that you begin to save some of that income not only for tax but to cover you for weeks where you might not be earning quite so much. Christmas which I mentioned earlier is generally a time of year when certainly the UK shuts up shop for almost two weeks. If you are not earning income during that period suddenly the festivities are not going to be quite so much fun especially when you are having to pay out for presents and expensive food and drink.

Learning to manage your income is a crucial step in building your hypnotherapy practice. Understanding that business ebbs and flows is important for any business. When you plan for these fluctuations in income then you don’t get any nasty surprises.

Earning a Passive Income

Learning how to create an income even when you are not seeing clients is the real key to success. Creating products which can be bought by anyone in the world at any time of the day and night means that you can create extra income whilst you are sleeping. In reality creating this form of income should be started almost as soon as you begin your new profession. Creating products takes time which means that the sooner you start the more you have earning you pennies here there and everywhere. Making this a part of your hypnotherapy marketing plan is crucial if you want to really start earning a great income. This means that it really does not matter if your clients ebb and flow. You will always be earning additional money to cover any short falls. Do it well and this could become even bigger than the income you get from clients.

Working the Holidays

Now here is an idea. Why not actually market yourself as a therapist you actually works those bank holidays and unsocial hours. Many people now lead extremely busy lives which means that getting to see a therapist can be very difficult when they don’t finish work until 7 or 8pm in the evening. I personally choose not to work at this time although I do get asked. Provide a service at these unusual times and then charge significantly more. Don’t make the mistake that I see many people making which is charging exactly the same as they would for a day time appointment. Evenings, weekends, bank holidays are all unsocial hours which means premium prices. People pay for convenience so use that to your advantage.

Always Being in Demand

When you learn to really create great hypnotherapy marketing strategies you should find that the bank holidays hold no fear for you whatsoever. At the beginning of my career I would take clients at all times of the day and on any day where they would see me. Now I am so busy that I use the bank holidays to either rest or work on my business. When you really learn to market yourself well you may even find that you turn some clients away because you simply don’t have time to see everyone. Or alternatively you pick and choose the cases that you want to work with.

What am I doing this Bank Holiday?

So if I am so busy I am going to tell you stories of how this weekend I am lying by a pool somewhere sipping on cocktails and counting my money? Well actually no. I am actually going to spend a good proportion of my weekend working on other aspects of my business. I love marketing and creating products so that helps but I also know that sitting on my laurels is not going to make things happen. Money does not mysteriously float into your bank account. The law of attraction principle can make people lazy. Thinking about having money does not make it happen. Taking an action towards earning money does.

So on that point have a great Bank Holiday. Find time to enjoy yourself but also think about what you are going to do to drive your business forward. Hypnotherapy marketing does not stop at weekends and entrepreneurs are always working on their business. Remember that principle and you will get the income you deserve.