Business Goals Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Hypnotherapy Marketing Expert

Build Your Hypnotherapy Practice with Continued Professional Development

Posted on February 24, 2015March 20, 2017 by Martina McKeough

As you are all aware hypnotherapists who are a member of a reputable professional body sign up for Continued Professional Development. That means in a year you all allocate extra time and resources to to learn more about your craft and to keep up to day with the latest developments in the industry. You might attend workshops, webinars or even spend considerable time reading about ways in which you can assist your clients. This is good news for your clients because it means that you working on new ways in which you can help them rapidly with their problem. But did you know that you can also build your hypnotherapy practice with marketing CPD’s?

In the UK certainly and I am guessing throughout the world marketing courses aimed at hypnotherapy professionals count towards your CPD hours during the year. Most professional bodies are happy to make this part of your allowance because without clients you don’t have a business. In fact without clients to work with how on earth are you ever going to improve your techniques and methods? Yet most hypnotherapists who are starting out spend a vast amount of their CPD allowance on learning the latest techniques for anxiety or regression but forget that they need clients to work with.

The simple fact is that if you are seeing hardly any clients per week you need to stop the other CPD’s and build your hypnotherapy practice with hypnosis marketing courses and books. Yes it is lovely to grow your techniques in other areas but without clients it really is all totally pointless. I know that many people see marketing as a challenge or boring but the reality is without mastering this skills you are dooming your business to failure from the start.

When I run my live marketing courses I am always amazed at the number of people attending who have dabbled in hypnosis for years without actually really building up a client base. They work at it part time and and see the odd client here and there but have never been able to get their business off the ground. In order to really build your hypnotherapy practice there needs to be a change in mindset. Running a business takes dedication and sustained effort and that means no more hobby style hypnosis. It is not good for you or your clients.

We all know that seeing regular clients week in and week out allows you to improve on your skills and helps you get better results with your clients in the long run. Seeing the odd client here and there means that you are not gaining these techniques and that means you are doing your clients any favours. If you really want to see them get great results then you need to see more people.

Men Vs Women in Hypnosis

As I have also touched upon in a previous post there is a significant gender pay gap in the profession between men and women. Women are much more likely to treat their business as a part time job because they are being supported financially by their partners. When there is a safety net it is easy to not work to your full ability. Men however think of themselves as the main bread winner so they know that if they choose hypnosis as a profession they need to make it work otherwise the mortgage does not get paid. It is amazing how fear spurs people into action to get something done.

I do not like making sweeping generalisations and of course some women in the industry have built up amazing careers but a significant number have not and that is who I am aiming my comments at. Staying in your comfort zone will not build a business. Every day we deal with hypnotherapy clients who do exactly this and help them to make positive changes in their life. Yet so many women when it comes down to their own business are unable to make the leap into turning it into a full time job with a great salary. Yes that is the best thing about working as a hypnotherapist. You can choose your hours of work to suit you and earn a great wage as well when you work out how to market yourself well.

Hypnotherapy Marketing and Business Coaching

I left my previous career in Trading and Business Development because I wanted to run my own company my way and build a business from scratch. I achieved this in a really short time period and whilst I was recovering from some serious health problems. My passion is now helping others to understand how great marketing knowledge can propel your business into a money making machine. Although I primarily work with therapists I have also worked with small businesses in my local area to help them stand out from the crowd. The great thing about understanding marketing is that it can be applied to any kind of business that you can think about.

My marketing and mentoring sessions take place over either a six monthly period or a yearly mentoring program depending on what is most suitable for your business. When we begin work together I take time to understand both your business and personal goals so that we can work on a way of helping you achieve them. Each session is then broken down into small steps which will help you build the business that you deserve. Bit by bit you we will be building your hypnotherapy practice into a great profit making machine and best of all it will count towards your yearly CPD requirement. For more details about how we can work together simply use the contact me form of give me a call for more information.

Are you a Hypnotherapy Marketing Dinosaur?

Posted on February 18, 2015March 20, 2017 by Martina McKeough

Whether you have been a therapist for years or are just starting out there is one thing you do not need to be and that is a hypnotherapy marketing dinosaur. In other words a person who is using old techniques and strategies to get clients in through the door that simply are not working anymore. What used to work ten years ago may not longer be applicable now. In fact with the pace that new technology and the internet is moving at now practices that used to work a year ago are already becoming obsolete. Time and time again I see therapists who are wasting money on marketing campaigns that will never work effectively and if this is you then you need to stop!

So where to start. Well there are plenty of old fashioned mediums that people are still using which are a waste of time. Many directories for example are well past their sell by dates. How many people now search for a hypnotherapist in one of the paper directories now? Most searches are now conducted online so if you don’t have a great profile on the internet then you are doomed from the start.

Or how about therapists who are still getting hundreds of flyers delivered door to door? There is only one place where these items go and that is straight into the bin. What about those of you who advertise in local newspapers. Are you really getting enough customers to pay for your ad that is stuck on page 20 where nobody looks? The reason many therapists are still using these mediums for their hypnotherapy marketing is because in many cases they really don’t know what else to try. They have not updated their marketing skills and because of that they keep on flogging a dead horse in the vain hope that they will still get the same benefits as many years ago.

Hypnotherapy Websites

Now lets think of your websites. How many of us create a website to advertise our businesses and then never do anything to keep it fresh and exciting? A static website which does nothing at all is useless in the eyes of many search engines. They want to see new content regularly otherwise you will never head up the search engine rankings. An old website may also do nothing for your customers especially if it looks basic in comparison with the latest offerings that are in the market. Generally you should be looking at updating your current site once every couple of years to really keep up with the latest trends. Get a website review to tell you where to start.

Skype Hypnotherapy

How many of you are now offering Skype or online sessions to your customers? If you are not then why not? Yes I have heard all the comments about many therapists preferring one to one sessions with their clients and I understand that but what do your customers want? I can tell you that your customers who are under forty are much more willing to use online forms of communication with many preferring it. Do you really want to alienate a big percentage of potential customers?

New Skills

Now lets look at how many of you have learned hypnotherapy marketing skills in the past year. I know that as part of your CPD’s you will always be updating your hypnosis knowledge but what learning new ways to get customers in through your door. How many of you really know how to use social media effectively? What about building a simple website? Creating an email campaign? Selling apps? Writing Ebooks? Blogging effectively? I could go on and on. You should never stop learning new skills especially ones that are going to make you more money. I help many small businesses learn new ways of marketing and I can tell you the pay back can be huge.

Hypnotherapy Marketing Business Plans

If you have never mapped out a plan on how to improve your business then it is never too late to start. Take time and out work out exactly what you need to achieve. How many customers do you need or how much money to you have to earn to achieve a great standard of living? How far apart is your current reality from those numbers? Now what are you going to put in place to make this happen? Where is your one month, six months, yearly plan? If you have never done this before then I can help. I mentor small businesses and make the vision a reality. Your hypnotherapy marketing does not need to be a chore when you have someone who supports you by your side. Don’t be a dinosaur or stick your head in the sand while the world moves on without you. Get the business you deserve by making improvements to the way that you market today.

Hypnosis Marketing – This One is For the Ladies!

Posted on February 13, 2015March 20, 2017 by Martina McKeough

I love a statistic and particularly when it comes to hypnosis marketing and the business we are in. This post is aimed at all the women out there because I want you to understand how your gender is potentially impacting how much you earn even though as a hypnotherapist you are probably self employed. Currently the gender split in the UK for our industry is that 30% of hypnotherapists are men and the remaining 70% are women. It is a female dominated industry yet when it comes to earnings there is a shocking figure you need to be aware of. Women in the industry earn 40% less than men! These statistics are not made up, they are based on figures from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Yep you heard me. Female hypnotherapists in the UK earn a whopping 40% less than their male counterparts. This isn’t because some faceless corporation is discriminating against you but because you have made it happen. Nobody has told you that you were worth less money, nobody has stopped you from building a great business yet almost every woman in the industry will earn significantly less than male hypnotherapists. If you are a female hypnotherapist then I hope this shocks you because I am hoping it will spur you all into action so that you do something about it.

So why does this situation exist? Well here are some of my theories:

1) Confidence – As a hypnotherapist we should be instilling this into each of our clients at almost every session yet many of the female therapists that I have met are lacking in this quality themselves. They are not sure if they are good enough, they doubt their ability to run a business. They see the odd client here and there but worry about increasing the scale of their business. Many are part timers or have incomes supplemented by their partners. How on earth are we supposed to help our clients to feel confidant when so many of us lack this basic feeling ourselves?

2) Risk Taking – Now I am not talking gambling huge amounts of money on business ventures that could ruin you. I am thinking about the fact that women tend to be more cautious and that means they are worried about investing to get a return. They are less likely to work in business premises, less likely to invest in training and materials and even less likely to spend much on their advertising. No wonder they earn significantly less.

As an example of this I will give you an illustration of where women make the wrong choices. As well as being a marketing and business development expert I am a hypnotherapy supervisor for the GHR. Over the years I have had a number of enquiries from women about using me for their supervision. Now I am not a cheap supervisor but then again the difference between my charges per hour vs another therapist used to be in the region of £20 to £30. Now many of the woman who asked about my services knew that I had the potential to bring them in significant amounts of business and revenue but most chose the cheaper service to save themselves cash in the short term. They were quite prepared to sacrifice their potential earnings so they could save a small amount of money in the short term fully knowing that the supervisor they were seeing would be unable to increase their business. Money they would have earned back with just one new customer in a year. Madness!

3) Business Knowledge and Skills – When was the last time you updated your business skills? I can almost guarantee that most of the female hypnotherapists in this industry have very little basic business and marketing skills to really drive clients their doors. Do you know how to create a simple website? What about your knowledge on SEO, Social Media? If the answer is no to the above then expect to earn less then your male counterparts because I can bet you that a reasonable number of them will be taking an interest in learning these skills.

4) Perceived Worth – Women tend to undervalue themselves. They look at what they think they should be charging and tend to underestimate significantly. Men do the opposite. That difference whether it is £10, £20 or £30 per hour soon adds up. If you have the good fortune to see 20 clients per week charging just £10 less than a male hypnotherapist means that you are earning £200 less per week, £800 less per month and £9600 less per year!

5) Undervaluing Skills and Experience – Many women look at their qualifications and the years of experience they have and underestimate what that knowledge is worth. I often see newly qualified hypnotherapists discount their services as if they were still trainees even though they have the qualifications to work at full price with clients. It is almost as if they are worried that they will be found out if they charge more.

6) Treating Their Business as a Part Time Hobby – Now I totally understand that sometimes a woman would like the choice of working flexibly when they are bringing up children. That is a lifestyle choice and that is not what this comment is aimed at. I am however less sympathetic to women who start a business with no real idea of where to go with it. Have you never heard of a business plan? Building a business takes lots of hours, hard work and dedication. You can’t just dip in and out of it spending time at the gym and having coffee with your mates and then doing an hour or two a day hoping that things will pick up. Women need to take their business seriously and that means understanding that in order to get your business off the ground you need to do some seriously hard work. That means sitting at your desk and working from 9 in the morning until late in the evening even when you haven’t got clients. You need to build strong foundations in order to grow a business and that is done by creating a strong business plan. If you don’t know how to create a great strategy for your business then find someone who will help.

My passion is working with all genders to help them with their hypnosis marketing and business goals. In my world there is no excuse for a self employed female to earn 40% less than the men in their industry. If you feel this is your situation then you need to get help now to turn the tables and earn exactly what you deserve. I offer business mentoring and coaching for therapists from all professions. and all genders. For the male therapists out there I can help many of you to earn more as well. Don’t let the statistics stick, buck the trend and earn a decent salary by getting professional help. The small investment in yourself and your business will be worth it.

Hypnotherapy Marketing – Work Smarter Not Harder

Posted on January 25, 2015March 20, 2017 by Martina McKeough

When I start working with therapists to help them grow their businesses I usually ask them what they would like to achieve from our sessions and the answer is nearly always the same. They want to have more clients. Now believe it or not getting more clients isn’t actually the difficult bit when you know how. My hypnotherapy marketing is generally very successful and when I first started my business I used to see seven or eight clients a day but frankly working that hard every day isn’t fun. It is also not the best way to build a booming business and I will tell you why.

Lets say that you decide that you would like to work a typical five day week with clients. So you ramp up your hypnotherapy marketing and end up filling each of those days with six clients. Typically that could mean starting work at 9 or 10 in the morning and finishing in the evening at 6 or 7pm (if you left a gap between each client and allocated time for lunch). Do that 5 days a week and you are seeing 30 clients a week. Now whist initially that sounds lovely the reality is very different.

1) You are exhausted – Seeing such a large amount of clients is draining especially when you are doing it week after week. Eventually each client will seem like a chore and you will find that your energy levels are unable to keep up with the constant late working hours.

2) Where does your business go next? – If you follow the more clients is better thought you have very little room to grow your business further. Yes you could take less breaks or see more clients at the weekend but ultimately you will hit a ceiling and that is where your business stagnates.

3) What about Business Development? – When you are spending every waking moment dealing with clients how can you find and develop new income streams to grow your business? The short answer is that you can’t because you are too busy working on those one to one sessions.

4) What about your social life? – Many of your clients will want to see you in the evening which means that you get very little time to socialise when you are working such long hours.

Filling your time with so many clients frankly does not make sense. If you really do want to be great at hypnotherapy marketing and business development you need to find another way. In fact less can be more. I now see less clients per week but earn more income. How? Because I am now focused on growing my business in other ways such as through training, passive income and group work. This is a win win situation for any business. Your clients will be happier because you are not exhausting yourself by seeing too many people in one day. Your profits will also increase because you can earn money when you are asleep or by seeing more people at the same time. Plus there is no longer a ceiling on your potential earning leaving your huge amounts of room to grow your business.

So next time someone promises to help your hypnotherapy marketing by suggesting that you see more clients per week think again. Remember the aim of the game is not to work harder but smarter! For help with your therapy marketing and business development contact me for details on my business coaching packages.

What are Your Hypnotherapy Marketing Goals for 2015?

Posted on December 19, 2014March 20, 2017 by Martina McKeough

As another year draws to an end it is the perfect time for anyone running a business to assess how well they did in the previous year and then work out what they can achieve going forward in the New Year. So the question is what did you achieve in 2014 and where are you going as 2015 rapidly approaches? If this isn’t a question that you have ever considered before let me guide you through some of the questions that you need to be asking yourself so that you can make next year your most successful yet in terms of Hypnotherapy Marketing.

Firstly look back on what you have done in 2015 and assess what has been successful for your business and what hasn’t. This process enables you to determine which areas you need to concentrate on over the coming year. Obviously every hypnotherapy business will have a different areas where they need to set goals and yours will be no exception. Start by trying to answer some really basic questions about your business. Below I have given some examples of questions which will allow you to check your performance.

How many clients did you see on average each week?
Do you need more clients?
How did your clients find you? Referrals, paid advertising, website?
How profitable was each client?
What was your most requested treatment?
What was your most profitable treatment/product?
How many visitors did you website (s) receive each day?
What were the referring URL’s?
How many conversions did you get per day?
What keywords did your clients use to find you?
How do you rank for your keywords?
How did you Social Media Perform?
Do you have a mailing list if so how many names are on it?
Did you utilise your mailing list to advertise your other services?

I know that I could write page after page of questions which would allow me to assess how my business or any other business is performing. The detail that you need to go in to will depend on the complexity of your business and the stage that you are at with building that business. I know that on the whole most hypnotherapists are not great at assessing what is working and what isn’t working for them. By taking time out to understand where you are allows you to then work on growing the areas that are not working so well. If you are a therapist who is unaware of where to start when answering these questions then getting professional Hypnotherapy Marketing help may make the difference between your business being a success or failure.

Getting answers to some of these questions will allow you to begin goal setting for the coming year. So if you know that you only see a handful of clients each week then create a goal for the coming year to state that you need that number to increase by 20, 30, 40%. Then write an action plan of how you are going to achieve that. Simply doing what you have been doing obviously isn’t enough. Therefore plan how what marketing tasks you will need to complete in order to increase that number. Again if you don’t know where to start contact a Hypnotherapy Marketing expert to assist you with your goals.

If you are already happy with the number of clients that you are seeing then your questions may focus on areas where you can sell other products and services. Perhaps you have always wanted to sell audio recordings then start your action plan of how you are going to do that. If you want to sell online courses then map out how you intend to do this. As most successful hypnotherapists will tell you additional passive income is a great way to take your business to the next level.

So make 2015 the year where you resolve to understand your business better and plan your future business strategy. Remember completing this work now will save you time, money and worry over the coming months. Hypnotherapy Marketing is easy when you know how, you just need to ask the right questions and find solutions to the answers that you don’t like!