The problem with being self-employed is the difficulty with getting your name known. I've done a couple of health/beauty/psychic fairs, which I think is helping. I love doing them though, so it's not the end of the world if they don't help. The thing is I know I'm good at what I do. I just don't know how to let the everyone else know.
I've tried advertising through the Kings Hill Directory and the Yellow Pages. KHD was quite good, but it was too expensive to keep up without getting enough people coming back to me from it. I needed one treatment a month simply to pay for the advert, and another to cover the overheads of the first treatment. Yellow Pages was a nightmare. It cost a fortune, and I was plagued with phone calls from other companies trying to sell me more advertising. Not a single person so much as looked at my website with an interest in what I do.
The problem with holistic therapy is that people don't look in the usual places for it. If you want to try reflexology, say, you don't turn to the Yellow Pages straight away. You ask your friends whether they can recommend someone. They give you a business card, and you find your therapist that way. Hands down, the best way to do it. This means that the way I need to get myself known in the area is... to be known in the area. Pants.
My new way of thinking is that I want to get people through the door. I don't mind not making money at first, as long as I'm not losing any.* After all, I'm not making any money now. I'm thinking about offering discounts to local businesses who want to send their employees along in their lunch hours, and having offers on particular therapies to get people to try something new. And I've got a couple of beauty/health/psychic fairs lined up, which are always good opportunities for mingling. Basically, it's time to get my tentacles out as far into the community as I can.
*Successful advertising doesn't count as losing money; that is investing. Unsuccessful advertising on the other hand...
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Monday, 25 July 2011
Something for nothing.
So by now we all know that I am a Brownie leader, and very enthusiastic about it.
My Brownies, together with the local Guides, are holding a pamper afternoon for Mums, girls and assorted hangers-on (well, it's not exactly an invitation-only event) to raise money for new heating in the Church who very kindly let us use their hall for a pittance each week. I've been trying to find local therapists who are willing to come along for an afternoon to help out. They don't pay anything to be there, but all they make on their mini-treatments will be going towards helping out the Church heating fund. They can sell vouchers, take bookings, and get some free advertising in exchange for 3 hours of their time for a good cause. Sounds like a good deal to me.
But sadly very few therapists are coming forward to help out. It seems that people are not willing to do something to help a local charity unless they get something in exchange. It doesn't matter that they have an audience to whom they can sell their vouchers and make future bookings - they just don't seem to want to perform their mini-treatments for the monetary benefit of anyone other than themselves.
This makes me very sad.
I got into holistic therapy because I wanted to help other people, and the money side of it followed on behind. I offer free consultations and am always happy to take part in charity fundraising ventures, especially if I get to advertise too! Based on the experiences I had as a therapist down in East Sussex, I assumed that this was the normal attitude of holistic therapists, but I am finding more and more that I seem to be alone in my altruistic motives in this part of the world.
I've started approaching people directly, rather than asking groups generally, and I am hoping that some of these people will step forward and renew my faith in therapists. Surely there has to be a desire to give and help underneath the desire to become a therapist? Or perhaps we don't see advertising through Pamper Fairs as tangible because we don't receive a printed copy or see it on our computer screen? I can see no better way of advertising than by associating yourself with a good cause and talking to people face-to-face. But maybe that's just me.
Maybe we're just taking some simple principles too far. Reiki actually requires some form of payment, either in terms of money or by offering something in fair exchange. It is known as the Reiki Exchange. When Usui, the father of Reiki, first discovered that he could heal other people with this amazing energy tool, he rushed straight out into the streets, and started healing beggars of whatever caused them to be homeless. The beggars were leaping up, and rushing back into the world, completely renewed. After a week, however, Usui found that they were returning to their old ways. Without offering something in fair exchange, they felt like they were not receiving anything of value and were unable to maintain the healthful, positive way that their bodies were now functioning. Usui realised that because Reiki is intangible, people find it hard to accept unless they feel like they are offering something in fair exchange. After all, nobody will ever give something for nothing, right?
My Brownies, together with the local Guides, are holding a pamper afternoon for Mums, girls and assorted hangers-on (well, it's not exactly an invitation-only event) to raise money for new heating in the Church who very kindly let us use their hall for a pittance each week. I've been trying to find local therapists who are willing to come along for an afternoon to help out. They don't pay anything to be there, but all they make on their mini-treatments will be going towards helping out the Church heating fund. They can sell vouchers, take bookings, and get some free advertising in exchange for 3 hours of their time for a good cause. Sounds like a good deal to me.
But sadly very few therapists are coming forward to help out. It seems that people are not willing to do something to help a local charity unless they get something in exchange. It doesn't matter that they have an audience to whom they can sell their vouchers and make future bookings - they just don't seem to want to perform their mini-treatments for the monetary benefit of anyone other than themselves.
This makes me very sad.
I got into holistic therapy because I wanted to help other people, and the money side of it followed on behind. I offer free consultations and am always happy to take part in charity fundraising ventures, especially if I get to advertise too! Based on the experiences I had as a therapist down in East Sussex, I assumed that this was the normal attitude of holistic therapists, but I am finding more and more that I seem to be alone in my altruistic motives in this part of the world.
I've started approaching people directly, rather than asking groups generally, and I am hoping that some of these people will step forward and renew my faith in therapists. Surely there has to be a desire to give and help underneath the desire to become a therapist? Or perhaps we don't see advertising through Pamper Fairs as tangible because we don't receive a printed copy or see it on our computer screen? I can see no better way of advertising than by associating yourself with a good cause and talking to people face-to-face. But maybe that's just me.
Maybe we're just taking some simple principles too far. Reiki actually requires some form of payment, either in terms of money or by offering something in fair exchange. It is known as the Reiki Exchange. When Usui, the father of Reiki, first discovered that he could heal other people with this amazing energy tool, he rushed straight out into the streets, and started healing beggars of whatever caused them to be homeless. The beggars were leaping up, and rushing back into the world, completely renewed. After a week, however, Usui found that they were returning to their old ways. Without offering something in fair exchange, they felt like they were not receiving anything of value and were unable to maintain the healthful, positive way that their bodies were now functioning. Usui realised that because Reiki is intangible, people find it hard to accept unless they feel like they are offering something in fair exchange. After all, nobody will ever give something for nothing, right?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)