And can I make a living from this? Am I good enough? These are questions that spiritual business coach Rose Jansen It is a common occurrence when coaching therapists. Marketing itself can also feel wrong. In five steps, she explains how to attract customers through connection.
Text and image Annelies Kietselaer
There are two things Rose believes in: the law of attraction and the power of human-to-human contact. “Marketing can feel very wrong for a therapist. What marketing is all about is attracting clients through connection and trust in the universe that, when you’re in the right energy, it will flow naturally. Marketing should not be about selling, but about truly and sincerely connecting with your clients.”.
Step 1: Get started with confidence
The moment you feel deep down that you’re not good enough, you start radiating that. That in turn affects the people you attract. It could very well be that you don’t attract any people at all, or only people who can’t afford it or only want to come once.
Lack of self-confidence often stems from a negative self-image and certain negative thought patterns and beliefs. It is very important that you work on these first. I can teach you marketing strategies, but if you don’t dare, you won’t do it. Sometimes behavioral activation also works. Just do it once, face your fears, and experience that it’s not as terrible as you think it is.
What I sometimes also encounter is therapists who say ‘I have to learn more before I can really get started’. So I am a Shiatsu therapist, but Shiatsu isn’t enough; I also need to do training in nutrition and systemic work, and this and that. Because if I have so many training courses, then people will only think that I am good enough to help them. I have had clients with shoeboxes full of diplomas, but because they didn’t implement them, they also forgot everything again. Continuously putting off ‘before I can really get started, I need to know a lot more’ can be a big pitfall.
Step 2 Dare to ask for money
There is often still a blockage around asking for money. It is important that you know why you are undertaking the action. Ultimately, there is a certain amount of money involved. You should not undertake a business out of fear of scarcity. If you are afraid that you might not earn enough or that people will find it too expensive, then there is the wrong energy behind the work you are doing.
In my practice, I work with people who need me incredibly much. I put a lot of energy into it, and that comes with money. And there are always people who don’t want to or can’t pay, but most people are willing to pay for something they need. As an entrepreneur, you have to be okay with asking for money for your work. Everything costs money: your training, marketing, and practice space. And there’s a corresponding price. Your ideal client is willing to pay.
Step 3 Know who your client is and specialize
Your ideal client is looking for what you have to offer. So you have to ask yourself, what are people looking for? What are they Googling? Is it for example rest, self-confidence or do they want to get rid of pain? Or do they want to become pregnant? They read about it on the internet or in the library and when they see a flyer with ‘it doesn’t work to become pregnant’, that speaks to them.
In addition, they need to understand the value of what you do. People need to trust that you are capable of solving their problem. The problem with many therapists is that they do not specialize. How can people trust that you know enough about their problem and that you can really help them?
You don’t just give someone €85 because you think they’re a nice person. You only do that if you believe that they can really help you. That’s why you need to specialize.
I know an acupuncturist who specializes in something very unique: lichen sclerosus. This is a skin disease of the vagina. 1 in 1,000 women suffer from it, which is quite a lot. She inserts needles into meridians related to the uterus and has amazing results.
In addition, I think it’s useful, especially at the beginning, to choose something you think you can achieve great results with. Then you’ll automatically get good word-of-mouth publicity. If you know that you can help someone with their hay fever in three sessions, then specialize in that. When everyone starts coughing again, they’ll say, “Oh, then you should go to her.”.
And it’s also great if your target audience is already in your network. If you’re a mother yourself, you have incredible access to mothers and children. If you specialize in something that mothers or children struggle with, it’s very easy to talk about it.
Step 4 Ensure visibility & value
Now that you know who your client is, the question is of course how do you reach them? Whether you have a website or not, you need to ensure visibility. Even if you don’t have a website, you can still be visible. And vice versa. You can have a website but if nobody knows it exists… Google Shiatsu therapist and you get thousands of search results. People only check the top three websites, and if they don’t find what they need, they change their search query. Having a website is not enough to be visible.
You can create visibility in many different ways. Offline, for example, by flying flyers, attending trade shows, giving talks, simply talking to people and telling them what you do. And online, you can blog, Facebook or Instagram. That can quickly lead to incredibly high visibility.
Besides visibility, it’s also very important that people think ‘wow’. They should actually become a fan of what you do. They should keep an eye on what you do. You create this by providing value even before they’ve bought anything. How do you provide value? You can write articles, give lectures, webinars, e-books, challenges.
Step 5 Build a relationship with your target audience
Now that you are visible and know who your target audience is, you can start building a relationship. People need to feel that they know you and that you are easy to reach, only then will they contact you and buy something. When I talk to clients and ask them if they want to know anything else about me, I often hear ‘no, I’ve already seen all your videos’. They have the feeling that they already know me. And that creates the feeling that we have something together.
For example, you could offer the possibility for people to ask questions via Whatsapp; this is more accessible than calling, but it’s also very personal. You could also consider hosting a live Q&A on Facebook or Instagram. Giving a workshop is also a good way to connect with your audience. You can give them a taste of what else you have to offer.