If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Get more clientsIf you want to get more clients, let me share with you a proven model that works time and again for building your practice.. or for any small business for that matter.  Essentially, there are 4 key marketing strategies that the vast majority of practitioners utilize to attract new clients.  Each of these strategies requires that you develop a specific skill set in order to master them and see them pay off for your practice.  As I cover each strategy, I’ll also detail the skill set you need to learn to harness the true potential of this marketing approach.

Marketing Strategy #1 ~  Your Practice Website

I consider it mandatory to have the internet be the cornerstone of your marketing efforts.  I say this for 2 reasons:

1.  Many clients/patients are searching for your services on Google, Yahoo, and Bing every month.   If you know how to strategically place your information in front of these people, you can often generate several new clients per week from the internet.

2.  Even if you’re relying on other marketing strategies, prospective clients will very often look you up online and check out your website before they pick up the phone and call you.

Now, I’m sure at this point you have a website for your practice.  (If you don’t, click here and we can help you out).  BUT, the reason your website may not be working as well as you want is because you need to develop internet marketing as a skill set in order for your website to generate and convert enough traffic.  Websites fail because there aren’t enough people coming to them, or because the site is not set up to actually convert web visitors into paying clients.

The skill set to immerse yourself in to maximize the impact of your website is traffic generation and conversion.  This entails using strategies like search engine optimization, back linking, content generation, social media, online video, and pay per click advertising.  Website conversion entails setting up a lead generation system from your site where you can capture names and emails of your web visitors so you can stay in touch with them over time.

From what I have observed over many years as an online marketing consultant is that over 90% of holistic practice websites aren’t working properly because the practice owner is deficient in this skill set.  If that’s the case, it’s not your fault.. the problem is that nobody ever taught this stuff to you.  But it IS time to learn, or else your practice will inevitably struggle to keep up with competitors who are at the cutting edge of online technology.

Marketing Strategy #2 ~ Referrals

Most practices eventually sustain themselves because of word of mouth referrals.  What I have noticed is that most practitioners feel pretty frustrated with the amount of referrals they get from their current clients.  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the following sentiment:

‘I know I do good work, and my clients often rave about me.. they tell me they are sending a bunch of people my way and handing out my cards, but very few of these people ever call my office.’

There are 2 problems with the way that most practices go about getting referrals:

1.  They don’t ask for them ~ They just assume their clients will spread the word and get folks in their door because they do good work.. or they feel very awkward and uncomfortable initiating this conversation with clients.

2.  They do ask, but their system for doing so needs to be tightened up ~ If you hand out business cards and tell your clients to give them to people they know, that is better than doing nothing, but it’s still not the best way to do it.

Now, I’m not going to go into a ton of depth on the referral system I use, but let me just say this:  You do need a systematic way to ask for referrals.. and it has to be 100% authentic and natural for both you and your clients.  (Hint hint:  The best way I have found to do this is through email by the way. )

The main skill set to develop to generate more referrals is confidence in yourself and your services.  Not feeling comfortable asking for referrals is usually a byproduct of holding onto limiting beliefs about what you offer people.  If you have a deep passion for what you do and you know that you can help people, you’ll feel just fine about asking for referrals.  In fact, you would think of it as strange to NOT ask for referrals, because you recognize that this is how a service-based business grows.

Secondary to building confidence is the ability to follow up consistently with your clients to make sure they are doing everything possible to spread the word about you and your practice.

Marketing Strategy #3 ~ Networking

I consider networking to be a rite of passage for every small business owner.  Especially with the incredible popularity of the internet, I’ve noticed that a lot of practice owners would prefer to just hang out behind their computer and hope that Google or maybe Facebook will send them all the patients they need.  Here’s the thing:  Being successful online is usually a byproduct of developing your networking skills offline.

Networking helps you to master some of the fundamentals of marketing your practice, like practicing your 30 second elevator speech, articulating your marketing message, and being able to convey the benefits of your work within a few sentences when people ask you, ‘ So what do you do?’

When I look back at my own experience, networking is exactly how I was able to overcome a long-standing fear of public speaking and self-promotion.  By virtue of getting up in front of a group over and over and over, I noticed that my resistance to doing so died away, and I actually learned how to enjoy having the spotlight on myself.

I would say that the #1 skill to master to be an effective networker is mindful listening.  Honestly, this is why I grew to embrace networking– it’s such a psychological process.  You can use your skills to diagnose people in networking groups, and frame the conversation around how you can help them based on what you are noticing that they may need in the moment.  I always found this fascinating.  If you really take the time to listen to people with all of your senses engaged, they will tell you everything you need to know in order to help them.  Some of this comes through in body language, some in actual speech.

You can probably see how developing this skill in networking environments will carry over to every aspect of your practice– your website, brochures, and how you build rapport with current clients.

Marketing Strategy #4 ~ Public Speaking

Ah, and now we get to the strategy that makes people cringe more than any other — public speaking.  Did you know that people are generally more afraid of public speaking than they are of death?

I really believe that the things we have the most resistance to are the things that are locking up most of our power.  If we are willing to explore our resistance, we’ll often find that we are overtaken by an enormous energetic surge of our actual potential.  That was the case for me with public speaking.  I was the kid that never said a word growing up in school.  I hated being noticed and I was deeply introverted.  Whenever I would have to speak in front of a group, my voice would tremble with fear and my whole body would shake.

Believe it or not, public speaking was one of the main strategies I used to build my practice.  One of the speaking gigs I did landed me 13 new patients (it was an audience of 100, so a 13% conversion ain’t too bad).

If you’ve resisted public speaking, there’s a good chance that you have more to say than most people.. and you’ll be excellent at it once you overcome your fear.

There are 2 main skill sets to develop here:

1.  Overcoming self-consciousness ~ A lot of hyper-aware people are also very self-conscious.  There IS a way to be a very aware and sensitive person and have that work FOR you when it comes to speaking.  I think the key is really focusing on how much your work can help people and how passionate you are about it, rather than how anxious you feel about getting up in front of a group.

2.  Merging sales with education ~  We also call this the art of ‘selling without selling.’  A lot of people can speak well, but they find it does nothing to build their business.  You have to have a grasp of basic sales skills in order to convert audience members into clients.  This involves making specific offers at tactful times, conveying empathy, and sharing stories effectively.

Now that you know what to do in order to get more clients and build your practice, it’s time to really learn and develop these skills!  This is the most direct gateway you have to a full practice, solid income, and a greater purpose and sense of self-worth.

Here’s what I recommend:  Check out the Double Your Business in 90 Day Challenge. This exciting new program just opened.  I created it with James Roche, a truly gifted marketing coach who has helped some of the most successful service-based entrepreneurs around the world with their marketing.

James and I spend 12 weeks with you helping you master each and every one of these skills I describe above.   If you’re looking for the shortest path to a full practice, click here now to check out what we’ve created for you.

to practice mastery,

Kevin Doherty