holistic practitioners | marketingforhippies.com

yoga for caregivers

By: Tad | Published: March 30, 2011 · 2 Comments

Last fall, I did my first ever workshop in Winnipeg, Manitoba. You can read about it here: day one, day two, day three.

And I sort of fell in love with the town – particularly the hippie neighbourhood of Wolsley.

One of the people who made my visit possible at all was a wonderful woman, mother and yoga teacher named Beth Martens (pictured right). As we got to know each other and discuss this whole idea of niching for her business a niche came up for her that felt so true: caregivers.

What you’re about to read is a gorgeous example of the power of empathy and becoming a hub.

So recently we had a little chat about how that was going for her.

How long have you been teaching yoga now and what got you started with it?

My yoga practice is going on 20 years, beginning in Mysore, India when I took my first of eight trips there to study yoga, meditation and kirtan. I’ve been teaching yoga and leading kirtan full time since 2003, upon recovering from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

I began with this practice because of a life-long attraction to practical spirituality. I was totally disillusioned with religion and social control, but discovered quickly that the spiritual arts can be very personal and guided by a system at the same time.

I ended up in India almost by default, choosing a last half credit to graduate my undergrad degree in anthropology, taking a one-time-ever course in meditation for credit, and then feeling attracted to leave the academic behind and get my own feet in the ocean of life.

When I discovered that yoga is even bigger, more all-encompassing than anthropology, I traded “up” for the direct experience of all the stuff I’d read and heard described. I wanted to see for myself what the science experiment in consciousness itself could hold for me.

You’ve recently been exploring focusing on the niche of ‘caregivers’. Can you tell us what prompted that – what was the need you saw in your community that gave you this idea – and how does that connect to your own life?

Carving out a niche was on your advice, and I really and finally got the point, that trying to be everyone’s singing yoga teacher was costing me too much energy, scattering my limited marketing efforts and making me feel overwhelmed enough to not promote at all. Choosing a niche that genuinely matters to me makes me feel alive and energized in the communication and though still overwhelming, I don’t get stuck with that daunting, “where do I begin?”

You’ve also been a good model for supporting and uplifting one another in our small earth and consciousness-friendly projects, and seeing how high we can fly when forces are combined, competition removed from the foreground, and co-operation fully engaged. It’s way more fun and has the fantastic side effect of making me feel connected with my community.

I also feel it was career transforming to hear you speak to the need for marketing plans to reflect community needs, to actually bring people together and to treat that growth like the real measure of wealth. I was tripping on and off that idea vicariously, where now it’s an integral part of the game plan as well as instructions to students. Thanks Tad!!

As I mentioned I had a three year struggle with my health, cancer of the lymph, that caused me to ask life’s big questions, and forced me to come up with answers, as my life was at stake. In those years I was in need of and very close with several caregivers, and saw first hand what they were going through in efforts to help me save my own skin, not a little thing.

After recovering I also walked with several family members through their own scary illnesses, and now am the single mom of a young son. When creating this niche I didn’t even see myself in the role of caregiver, but started getting lucid as I was reading and writing about the symptoms that this group share, no matter how they came to the role.

And they do indeed share stuff, mainly including a sense of energy depletion, reduced immunity and social isolation. Caregiver is a role many will default into suddenly, rather than choose, so that creates a whole level of crisis-style lifestyle management that can go on at that crisis pace for years.

As our health care system becomes more and more weighed down demographically, as our society becomes less and less adept at caring for ourselves and each other, caregivers are left to pick up the pieces, survive on behalf of their loved ones and carry extraordinary and heroic-level burdens.

The deeper I looked into caregivers’ mostly silent journey, and realizing they have very little support systemically, the more I began to emotionally engage. I recently, for example, re-friended someone I hadn’t heard from for 15 years because her husband had a severe stroke and I was ill at the time. She is lucky enough that a decade of care to him has resulted in some recovery and she is regaining some lifestyle freedom, but for ten years, her personal life did not exist.

It makes these people desperate for some sense of connection with others that get what they are going through, and hungry for chances to take care of themselves for a change. I find caregivers’ stories riveting and almost unbelievable testimonies to the enormous power of the human spirit. And that makes me want to be of service to this group.

yoga for caregivers What is it that you’re offering these caregivers?

In the short term I’ve created workshops called Yoga Cream Pie as an answer to what ails caregivers, both physically, spiritually and socially. This currently three-hour workshop is a refuge for caregivers, w here they will get a chance to enjoy a yoga practice that is not only good for them, but feels amazing and makes up for the inevitable pleasure deficits that follow being isolated, literally stranded on the desert island of their obligations.

The session includes supported and restorative yoga, as well as massage while they are in these already delish poses, with the live music called kirtan, India’s ecstatic chant tradition. I also give them some time at the end to meet at least one person in the group with whom they can identify, share something about themselves and realize that they are in fact, not alone in their caregiving experiences.

People come to these sessions looking haggard, drawn, depleted. They likely rushed there, begged and borrowed to get the time and have a huge hope that they are not wasting their precious time off.

After the session, which always seems so short, participants leave refreshed, with more energy than when they arrived, they have got their bodies gently opened, lovingly worked-upon with healing hands of an RMT and filled with the magic mantras that are the food for my own healing journey. Their faces are the most telling of the benefit, looking younger, more relaxed and so much happier.

And this is just the beginning of what I have envisioned.

What’s the response been?

I’m a little slow in the start up of this project, but the response has been awesome with the hubs that I’ve contacted, related to caregivers. I’ve received nothing but good feedback from the multitude of organizations that come into vicarious contact with caregivers, because there on the front line, they know that the caregivers need to be not just recognized, but supported. And they have nothing or little to offer, being almost entirely client and patient focused. A focus on caregivers hopefully will reveal that care is a community responsibility, and that caregiver shouldn’t mean one individual, but rather a whole team of help and love.”

The participants who have tried Yoga Cream Pie all reflect my own personal experience of finding this restorative yoga therapeutic montage to be a very efficient way to spend time, a self-spa that also includes a sense of being personally entertained, with genuine care for the soul built right into the mix.

Here’s some feedback I got at the YCP we ran on the weekend:

Subject: That was great
I feel nourished and restored and relaxed. That was a wonderful session and you have a lovely voice…thank you for a very enriching time! And the massage was a lovely, added bonus! Thank you.

What kind of marketing has worked best so far?

I was lucky enough to get some help with a little publicity, and therefore my credibility. Here’s a sample from the Winnipeg Free Press who published this article in their Prime Times tabloid.

I also did an

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on CKUW campus radio, a small listening audience, but which provided a great opportunity to tell the story behind YCP in length.

I also did several internet-based, Blog Talk, radio interviews that have the same magic effect of being able to distribute a feature far and wide to interested peeps.

In addition I built four brand new websites, so that Caregivers’ Refuge could have its very own URL and presence, another reflecting my ‘straight’ yoga classes and workshops, one for the live and recorded kirtan music I do as well as my own name-domain that serves as central hub for all the stuff I do.

That way when people arrive at my site, there is no confusion for them as to what they will discover there.

I rely heavily on social media and the tendency to SHARE, which has helped me connect with this rather large group, but who have often not identified themselves as a caregiver. Being able to share a caregivers’ experience in sound bite, digestible bits, has helped a lot as an education forum as well as advertising.

And then from there, Yoga Cream Pie has been growing been word-of-mouth, through the building of relationships and trust with caregivers that are in my community. Interestingly, anyone who offers me help these days with my work and caregivers mission, are themselves a caregiver, someone who can relate to what I’m doing and to the potential that it holds. Just today, I signed on with one of the internet deal offer website companies, WagJag, to make a special offer on the Yoga Cream Pie. I recently had a big success with a not-niche, mainstream yoga offer on Groupon and sold 180 yoga packages in two days, notwithstanding the very deep discount. I am super curious to see if the caregivers are going to respond to an offer custom made for them.

One thing about caregivers, because of their isolation, is that they are internet busy and savvy.

yoga for caregivers What are the top three lessons you’ve learned along the way?

Top three lessons:

Building community is more important than earning a living. Go slow and don’t stress unless it’s really worth it, i.e., in line with your life’s purpose and getting people together around it.
It’s all small steps and not to be overwhelmed by a large vision, or think that any step is too small to matter.
Pioneering requires time and supreme patience. Build around something that genuinely makes you feel well, more energized and more generous of spirit.

Anything else?

Not a lesson so much as a discovery: Caregivers make amazing friends.

If you feel like you’re a caregiver and could use some support – Beth wrote an ebook on the Seven Secrets of Avoiding Caregivers’ Burnout, it is available for free download when you sign up for the Caregivers’ Refuge newsletter at www.caregiversrefuge.ca.

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: becoming a hub, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, holistic practitioners, Niche Marketing - Tags: becoming a hub, empathy, holistic practitioners, Yoga

the journey

By: Tad | Published: January 22, 2011 · 11 Comments

I’ve just woken up in Kelowna at the International Hostel (that’s me in my room to the right). It’s pretty great. And the other hostelers here have my gratitude for ending their Beer Pong competition at 11pm.

I’m here because I’m leading my Marketing 101 for Holistic Practitioners workshop and last night was the first part of it.

I asked one of the participants to hold my iphone so we could record something I’ve been wanting to record and share with you all for a couple of years.

It’s all about something I call ‘The Journey’ that you’re taking your clients on.

This piece is something I’ve learned from so many people: Jay Abraham, Bill Baren, Mark Silver and Robert Middleton. It’s become such a core part of my philosophy and perspective on marketing.

Here’s a photo of what I was drawing since it’s kind of hard to see in the video.

What do you think?

| Categories: holistic practitioners, marketing philosophy, Tad's Rants, Tad's Travels - Tags: building trust, empathy, holistic practitioners, relevance

your marketing calendar

By: Tad | Published: December 20, 2010 · 4 Comments

This is the coolest thing.

My colleague from Toronto Gisela McKay who runs www.naturalhealthcare.ca sent me the coolest thing today and invited me to share it with you.

It’s the coolest tool for creating your 2011 marketing calendar. It’s mostly designed for holistic practitioners – but I think you’ll find it useful (or at least inspiring and clarifying) no matter what you do.

Check it out . . .

The Marketing Calendar Cheat Sheet PDF: http://naturalhealthcare.ca/downloads/cheatsheet

Why is this useful?

So . . . I’m a lazy hippy.

Really.

My marketing planning has, thus far, consisted of, “Hmm. Yeah. I’ll do some workshops in the fall. That’s eight months away – plenty of time to plan.” And then the month before scrambling to make it all happen.

Fear of commitment? Maybe. (Get off my back . . .)

But maybe you can relate. Feeling like your marketing is a bit haphazard and last minute. No cohesive, over all, big picture plan.

So . . . the practice of having a scheduled marketing calendar makes so. much. sense.

I might just do it this year . . .

The benefits, as I see them:

imagine beginning your year knowing exactly what you’d focus on in each month in your marketing.

knowing that each promotion would be tied to what people were already thinking and talking about.

knowing that your content would be relevant to people.

that your emails were way more likely to be opened and forwarded to people.

that your blog posts would be more likely to be shared on social media.

TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY – The Marketing Calendar Cheat Sheet PDF:

http://naturalhealthcare.ca/downloads/cheatsheet

| Categories: becoming a hub, holistic practitioners, marketing strategy - Tags: becoming a hub, relevance

Selling Preventative Maintenance? Good Luck

By: Tad | Published: November 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Another no holds barred article from Richard Harshaw of MYM Marketing.

If you have lofty dreams of helping people to handle their problems before they become big – you might want to read this. If you’re an holistic practitioner wanting to get people to come in to improve their already great health . . . you might want to read this first.

Last summer on our annual “pack six kids into the van and test our sanity as we drive 3,500 miles” trip, we decided to ditch the interstate and take some scenic back roads through Colorado. We had a pleasant drive through the mountains along some rivers and other nature-looking stuff, then headed west on Highway 82 up toward Independence pass on our way to Aspen. We were surprised to see deep snow on the ground at the pass—my native Texan kids rarely see any snow at any time back home—let alone in July. So we stopped for a quick snowball fight.

Funny thing about living in flat-as-a-pancake Texas, you never really have to drive in the mountains much. So as we descended from the pass toward Aspen, I had no idea I was making a serious driving error—I was using my brakes to slow down our 29,000 pound 15-passenger monstrosity of a van instead of downshifting. Who knew?

About 20 minutes into the descent, the van started to shimmy every time I applied the brakes. Being a clueless nut, I figured it must have been a flat tire. I pulled over, hopped out, and circled the van to inspect each Goodyear individually. About halfway around, I noticed a bad smell coming from the van—sort of a burning, overheating, smoldering smell. It finally dawned on me that my tires were fine but my brakes were three seconds short of bursting into flames.

I got back in the car and explained to my wife what the situation was. Naturally, she was alarmed, and in addition to downshifting to slow the vehicle from that point forward, we agreed that we’d stop in Aspen and have a mechanic inspect the brakes and tell us how bad the brake damage was. I put $5 on the mechanic not being able to suppress his laughter as I explained how being an idiot redneck from Texas caused all of this.

20 minutes later we finally reached the valley and the quaint little village of Aspen. The city planners must be trying to avoid conducting any kind of commerce in the city—at least that’s what I deduced after the main road shot straight through town without passing so much as a Dairy Queen. Apparently they thought it would make their quaint town quainter if a highway wasn’t busting through the shopping district. Long story short—Aspen came and went without any sign of any place to get the bad brakes checked out.

But you know what? Turns out, it didn’t matter. Because by the time we arrived in Aspen, the cool mountain air had evidently cooled off my brakes. The bad smell was gone, the shimmy was gone, and the brakes seemed to be working fine again.

Good enough for me.

Did I stop in the next available town to find a mechanic? Of course not! I made a decision to use the “cross my fingers and assume that since nothing seems to be a major problem right now that there probably isn’t a major problem at all” method. This worked for another two or three thousand miles until we finished the trip.

Trust me, there is a marketing point to be made here—and it has to do with peoples’ unwillingness to spend money, time, or brain power to fix things that don’t seem to be broken. All of you out there trying to sell preventative maintenance for air conditioning units or automobiles or roofs should receive a gold medal if you succeed. I’m not saying you CAN’T succeed; I’m just saying it’s hard to convince people to fix stuff that’s not broken yet.

It’s practically anti-human behavior.

Here’s what early advertising pioneer Claude Hopkins had to say about this subject when faced with the onerous task of marketing toothpaste:

The natural idea in respect to a tooth paste is to make it a preventive. But my long experience had taught me that preventive measures were not popular. People will do anything to cure a trouble, but little to prevent it. Countless advertising ideas have been wrecked by not understanding that phase of human nature. Prevention offers slight appeal to humanity in general.

Then I was urged to present the results of neglect, the negative side of the subject. But I had learned that repulsive ideas seldom won readers or converts. People do not want to read of the penalties. They want to be told of rewards. “Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.” People want to be told the ways to happiness and cheer.

This point is important. Every advertising campaign depends on its psychology. Success or failure is determined by the right or wrong appeal. Scores have tried to scare people into using a certain tooth paste. Not one has succeeded, so far as I know, save where they appealed to troubles already created. Folks give little thought to warding off disasters. Their main ambition is to attain more success, more happiness, more beauty, more cheer.

I recognized that fundamental. I never referred to disasters. I never pictured the afflicted. Every illustration I ever used showed attractive people and beautiful teeth.

See, I told you it’s anti-human behavior. If a guy won’t even stop for 15 minutes to get his brakes checked even when they have clearly had a problem—a very recent problem—what makes you think somebody’s going to pay $99 to have you come check out their air conditioning unit? Or replace their belts and hoses? Or anything else?

Now you’ve been warned. Look out for a 15-passenger van coming your way careening out of control!

For more brilliant articles like this go to: MYM Marketing.

| Categories: holistic practitioners, marketing philosophy - Tags: empathy, irresistible offers

Pay What You Can Nutritional Consulting

By: Tad | Published: October 28, 2010 · 5 Comments

A new Toronto friend of mine, Rebecca Tracey (pictured to the right), is starting her business as an holistic nutritionist. And she sent me a text the other night asking my opinion about doing pay what you can sessions. And since this is an idea a lot of people seem to be having – I thought I’d share it with you all. Here’s the transcript of our conversation . . .

Conversation #1: Via iPhone texting

Rebecca: Hi! I want to do nutrition consults on pay what you can basis for the next few weeks while my ankle is busted (I can’t work at the restaurant)… ideas on how to go about this?

Me: Yes. I’ve got a few ideas. Number 1 – give them mandatory homework to complete before the call. If they dont do it in full – you reschedule the consult.

Rebecca: It won’t be a call…. Will be in person… I need them to fill out a 5 day food journal though before we meet…

Me: Cool. Make that mandatory. Have them send it to you 24 hours before you meet.

Rebecca: Hmmm interesting! Doesn’t that make them feel like you are being… For lack of a better word… Bossy? Hard? Like a parent?

Me: Self respect. Boundaries. That’s how it will strike people. Very attractive. Also. How much would this cost if they were to pay full price?

Rebecca: About 90-125 for an hour… If I was charging what most nutritionists charge.

Me: Great. So make sure you tell them the price. Like, “this is how much this would normally cost”

Rebecca: Right.

Me: “I want to offer you a session that you’d normally pay $90 for. But you can have it for whatever you want to pay. However: there are three charming catches.

Catch #1: you must keep a five day food journal and send me the results 24 hours before our meeting.

Catch #2: you must be willing to give me honest written feedback (good or bad) within 48 hours of the consult. I want to learn!

Catch #3: you must meet me at X location. I have no car and can’t travel far.”

Does that all make sense?

Rebecca: That all sounds like what I would likely tell them anyway…. Except for the feedback thing.. I ask for it but not demand it. So. Doesnt all this make them think they are doing you a favor an therefore not pay you very much money? And how do you suggest having people pay at the end of the consult? Give it to me directly? Put in Closed envelope?

Me: I suggest inviting them to mail you a cheque 3 days after. Give them a stamped envelope with your address already on it. . They’ll pay.

Rebecca: Thank you!!! That all makes sense and I feel totally comfortable doing it that way.

Conversation #2: on facebook chat

Rebecca: hello! thank you so much for the PWYC tips! love it!

Me: :-) glad it helped.

Rebecca: it did! so you think 3 days after works for nutrition? one service i am offering is a more in depth protocol, which woudl require a follow up appt 2 weeks after the initial…

Me: have you considered making it sliding scale vs. pwyc? giving them a range?

Rebecca: hmmm havent decided which is better.

Me: you could even do ‘sliding scale of $1 – 90′ or, $40 – 90 – the key is to pick a price or range that feels really great for you. and for sure i’d make it a limited offer like, ‘i’m sitting here witha bum ankle and i’ve got time and space for 10 people. so i wanted to make it totally easy to say yes to – a no brainer’ that kind of thing.’

Rebecca: yep for sure. hmmm re: sliding scale… not sure… still seems like i am telling them the price…and i dont want to exclude anyone who cant pay the minimum… but then again, i dont want to be doing this for $5 a piece either! :)

Me: i’ve had people pay me 10 days after a pwyc consult. my logic was – i want you to see if you get results and then pay me based on that and you might say ‘it’s a $40 – 90 but i also accept barter’ or ‘it’s $90. period. but if you can’t afford to pay cash – we can come up with a creative barter’ or ‘it’s $90 but i’ll let you pay that out in three installments so it’s totally painless – and you bring post dated cheques’

Rebecca: yeah im not interesting in bartering right now.. i have done some of that in the past and it gets complicated

Me: i would NOT do it for $5. don’t let it happen

Rebecca: what if someone pays me $5!?

Me: it’s why i’m wondering ifsliding scale with a minimum would work better.

Rebecca: also, with nutrition, i would love to be able to let people implement changes, see results, and then pay me based on what they think its worth… but compliance is such an issue that i wouldn’t want to bank on it

Me: totally. it’s why the homework upfront is so key. it gets them to start investing. and weeds out the tirekickers. if someone won’t do 5 days of homework they won’t implement your suggestions.

Rebecca: so smart! i wonder what else i could get them to do…. i need the food journal anyway, but i bet there is something else i can do that would improve compliance later on too… ohhh! what about something like ..

Me: totally. that’s exactly the thinking to have: how can you get them to vest themselves more deeply in it. you might ask them to get a ‘food buddy’ – like find someone they’ll be doing this process with

Rebecca: ha i was just about to say that

Me: nice! and before they meet you for the session they need to have set up a follow up meeting with their buddy.

Rebecca: that would be a huge help. like telling 3 close friends/family members what they are doing and having them get on board and keep them accountable

Me: totally. i’d give them a prewritten email they can send to friends and family. they can edit it obviously, but something like, ‘hey friends! i’m excited – meeting with a nutritionist soon and excited to implement what she suggests to make my diet a bit healthier and i want to ask for your support in the following three ways . . .”

Rebecca: yes, that is wonderful! oh you are so smart

Me: it’s why i get paid . . . whatever . . . people want to pay me . . .?

Rebecca: haha

If you’re in Toronto and want to book a session with her just go to her website – www.rebeccatracey.ca where you’ll find her contact info. And to see how she wrote up her PWYC offer (with my commentary) go HERE.

| Categories: holistic practitioners, PWYC - Tags: communicating value

Selling for Hippies

By: Tad | Published: October 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Hey Hippies,

I’m on tour in Toronto at the Green Beanery on Bloor taking a moment to send you a quick email.

If you’re a service provider (e.g. holistic practitioner, life coach, green realtor, green financial planner etc.) there are four free videos that I encourage you to check out. They’re done by my pal Bill Baren (pictured to the right).

They’re about ‘selling for hippies’.

To check them out go to the link below:

http://bit.ly/sellingforhippies

Selling usually feels really gross. No matter which side you’re on.

And so most hippies don’t do it. They ‘hope’ they’ll get business. They don’t want to be pushy. In short: they collapse. It’s not really being respectful – it’s being afraid.

But there’s another way.

And it’s not something I’m an expert in. I focus more on the marketing side. How to help people find you – but not what to say to them once they arrive.

But it’s important because when you’re talking with potential clients, how many times have you heard them say…

“This all sounds really great but I can’t afford it right now. Let me think about it…”

Which is fine. Until everyone says it. And no one buys. And you don’t want to push. But you’ve got this rent thing you need to pay.

Whaddaygonnado?

Watch these videos – that’s what.

My pal Bill Baren has created a free video training series that will open your eyes to new strategies and tactics for having potential clients enthusiastically say YES! to your services.

All of this in a way that feels authentic and takes away the feeling of being pushy.

Bill knows what he’s talking about: 80% of the potential clients Bill talks to say YES to hiring him as a coach. (And by the way, this is for high-value coaching programs.)

It’s called:

“How To Enroll New High-Paying Clients Without Doing Any ‘Selling’”

Watch this free video training here:

http://bit.ly/sellingforhippies

warmest,
tad

p.s. My personal plug for Bill: this man is solid. I’ve sent a number of my clients to his programs and they all come back raving about him and thanking me for connecting them. I’ve hung out with him personally and I love his vibe. He’s warm, down to earth and smart as hell. I always leave my conversations with Bill smarter about marketing.

Take an hour and watch these. They are worth your time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

| Categories: holistic practitioners, Sales - Tags: authenticity, building trust, communicating value, conversations, empathy, holistic practitioners, pressure free, real, safety, trusted advisor

Getting Clients to Say Yes

By: Tad | Published: October 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Here’s a super cool resource to check out.

There’s a conundrum that most conscious entrepreneurs end up facing sooner or later.

Especially service providers, holistic practitioners, life coaches and consultants.

You need people to say ‘yes’ to work with you so you can pay the bills and eat and enjoy your life. But you don’t want to push people. You’d love it more than anything if people just showed up and paid you with great enthusiasm – and yet – there’s often a moment where a conversation needs to happen about whether or not it’s a fit.

And that can be a really sensitive conversation.

Most conscious entrepreneurs don’t push – they collapse.

The second someone has a concern – they stop. They collapse. They freak out.

They don’t want to be seen as pushy, slimy or salesy.

But – what if this actually hurt the client? What if they really need what you’re offering?

How do you stay in the conversation without pushing?

There are few people smarter about that than Bill Baren (pictured top right).

And he’s got some free videos that are chalk full of amazing content.

Go watch them here.

And here are some words from Bill:

When I first started out in my coaching business, I spent a lot of time at meetings with other coaches.

Here’s the thing: the camaraderie and the people were wonderful, but we were mostly fumbling around in the dark when it came to building our businesses.

What I really was lacking was a role model of success. A real life example of someone in my industry who was successful in the art and science of successfully attracting clients.

It took me *years* to figure out (on my own) how to have a successful one-on-one consultation that results in a new client. The good news is, I did eventually figure this out.

What I never had was an EXAMPLE of what a successful consultation sounds like.

Are you like me? Do you find it much easier to follow a successful model than to figure out things from scratch? (Nowadays, I really don’t like wasting time reinventing the wheel – life’s too short!).

Then let me give you the exact thing I was missing when I started out.

In this in-depth video, I share the exact step-by-step method that I used earlier this year to get hired by a new high-end client – for a fee of $1,300 per month.

Go here to access the video training

In all the years I’ve been teaching business owners how to attract clients, I’ve never seen anything like this.

You’ll get to hear the exact words I used in a conversation that led to a new client saying YES.

Whether you’re a coach, consultant, holistic practitioner, speaker or other business owner with services to offer, the basic formula I use in this consultation will be incredibly useful for you.

In the last 4 years, 80% of the prospective clients I’ve talked to said YES to hiring me as a coach. That’s what led me to dramatically expand my business AND consistently have a waiting list to get in to work with me.

Now I’m going to share many of my best strategies with you.

When you watch this “behind the scenes” video, you’ll get:

- My step-by-step notes on how I landed a new $1,300 per month client. (If you would like to know how to land a new high-end client, then you need to watch this video!)

- How to light a fire under your prospect – so that they ask YOU to tell them what your services are

- Why you want to offer more than one option – and how I do it

- What to say in a conversation when it is time to offer your services

- How to establish a connection and build a relationship with a potential client

- The exact words I say when it’s time to ask the client to hire you – so that they are enthusiastic about saying YES!

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: holistic practitioners, Sales - Tags: building trust, communicating value, conversations, empathy, holistic practitioners, pressure free, trusted advisor

New Moon Soiree

By: Tad | Published: October 12, 2010 · 1 Comment

A client of mine from Toronto, Dee Dussault (pictured to the left), has figured out a great way to become a hub in the holistic scene. Throw a party.

Once a month, on the Friday nearest the new moon, she hosts her New Moon Parties. She describes it this way . . .

Every month on the Friday nearest the new moon, a group of healing-arts practitioners gather at Follow Your Bliss, and offer 20-minute samples of our services. We’ve had Reiki, Pranic Healing, Reflexology, Chair Massage, Reconnective Healing, Palmistry, Tarot readings, Yoga Nidra, Shiatsu, Hypnotism, and Thai Yoga Massage (to name a few!)

These parties allow new clients a chance to see how this eco-conscious, community healing home is developing, and enjoy socializing and networking with a conscious community over some wine, cheese, and great conversation!

a moment at the New Moon Soiree

With Child Care provided (upon request), it is a great chance to mingle, network, and share resources, while sampling amazing and affordable healing arts in between!

~

We had experimented with a variety of pricing structures, and found that the current pricing scheme ($20 admission, which includes the first treatment, $35 for two friends… $10 for additional treatments) to be the best.

We used to have it at $30 admission, which includes your first three treatments, which is actually a better deal than the above one, but $30 seemed to be too high a price point for many of our guests. $20 seems to be the ideal. One bill. And then just $10 for additional. Most people receive three treatments, and end up paying $40 for them, so it works better for us than three for $30! – But more people come than if we’d given the three-for-thirty. Funny eh?

I think the impact of doing these New Moon Parties is that I get “street cred” from the other practitioners, yoga teachers, and movers/shakers in the healing-arts-consciousness-spirituality-yoga-scene.

Because I openly teach and talk about Ganja Yoga, people who don’t know me might think I’m nothing more than a stoner hippie. But I like to show them that I’m that, AND so much more!!!

So, being able to successfully connect practitioners with new clients shows that I’m as interested in community as I am in smoking a doobie. LOL. And building my online hubs (facebook, meetup.com, my website, my google group – the latter of which I post people’s events for them) has been amazing too! People say they “have heard of me” (or Follow Your Bliss) which is awesome.

Thanks again for everything Tad!

Consider the benefits of this: the practitioners get introduced to new clients. People get to sample various practitioners to see if there’s anyone they like. Dee becomes a hub – so people will know who she is and what she does and are more likely to refer her business because of it.

Once a month she does a small version of the parties and then quarterly she does a larger version. This is smart. Promoting events works best when they’re special in some way. As soon as they become routine – they often lose their draw. By making the big and exciting ones only quartely, they’re more likely to get buzz every time – and people are more likely to make the effort to come because, if they don’t, they know it’s going to be three whole months before they get another chance.

And, having been to two of these, I can attest to the fact that they are incredibly fun, full of great connections and good people. And food!

| Categories: becoming a hub, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, holistic practitioners, Parties - Tags: becoming a hub, holistic practitioners, irresistible offers, pink spoons, pressure free

Four of the Most Client Repelling Traits A Practitioner Can Have

By: Tad | Published: October 6, 2010 · 7 Comments

Years ago – I did a survey of my clients and invited them to share their Holistic Practitioner Horror Stories. I got quite a few – and there were four patterns that showed up.

Trait #1 – Arrogance

Symptoms: The practitioner acts as if they have found “the answer to all things”. They treat clients as if they know everything and the client knows nothing. They talk ‘at’ instead of ‘with’ their clients. There’s often a cynical attitude and they are quick to criticize others.

Wanting to be the authority and have clients accept them as such. Not explaining what they are doing or why. Nor feeling the need to. Expecting the clients to just follow their recommendations blindly no matter the cost (financial or emotional) or what is involved.

The energy behind it is often as if they are ‘showing the client’ how skilled they are with their intuition or healing skills. A ‘one size fits all’ approach. They act as though the client has done something wrong if their approach is not working for them.

They make the client feel wrong if they don’t do ‘enough’ on their end.

Impact: It feels like they are pushing and imposing their world view on the client. Client feels shut down and unsafe.

Opposite: The client feels totally 100% accepted as they are, where they are. The practitioner always takes the needed time to explain why they are suggesting a certain course of action, and why they are recommending the brands they are.

The practitioner is open about their experiences treating problems like the clients both good and bad. They are honest about their abilities to help – they don’t say ‘this works for all’ as the client knows that is not possible and different things work for different people. Even when there is disagreement, the client can FEEL the practitioner’s integrity.

They speak to the client like one human being to another. Their authority comes from the clients’ experience of the practitioners own history, experience and earned wisdom. The client feels really, really listened to.

The client can feel the result of years of the practitioner’s inner work and to be genuinely comfortable in their own skin. If the practitioner shares stories of themselves it’s for understanding and sharing, not for their own ‘venting’ time.

The Trait #2 – Lack of Sensitivity to Needs and Feelings

Symptoms: Not checking in. Touching without consent. Doing something with the client without giving context or explaining first (e.g. ‘you have a terrible knot in your back. I can’t leave it there!’ and continuing without pause).

Not noticing the power dynamic of patient and client. Assuming that the client wants to hear their opinions, perceptions and suggestions. The physical environment being set up without any consideration for the client.

The practitioner telling the client some very disturbing things as though they weren’t a big deal. Treating clients as though they are so lucky to have received this unexpected pain or bad news from them in the quest for healing. No empathy to the impact of their actions. Talking badly of other kinds of people to the clients – not considering that the client might fit into that group.

A general sense of carelessness in their actions. This lack of sensitivity can lead to clients being made to feel ashamed that they even have health problems in the first place.

Impact: Clients feel surprised, shocked and shut down. This attitude comes across as rude and careless. Client feels totally unimportant to this woman that their needs and comfort levels are not being respected (or even considered). This often results in a clients feeling humiliated as they do things for the practitioner vs. themselves.

Clients often look to practitioners as authority figures and there needs to be responsibility on behalf of the practitioner to recognize this. Forcing a client to have to advocate for him or herself in the middle of some treatment debacle from a supposed professional is the worst kind of victimization since they have come to you for help and have conceded their vulnerability and your expertise.

Opposite: Before beginning, the practitioner asking if the client if they want them to describe what they are doing as they work or if they just want him to work in silence. When something strikes a nerve in the patient – they pause and acknowledge the intensity of the experience.

The Trait #3 – Self Involved

Symptoms: The therapist spends a good chunk of the session going on about their own issues. They do not invite comments with regard to the client’s level of understanding. It feels like the practitioner takes a lack of progress or disagreement personally.

Impact: It doesn’t feel like the practitioner’s attention is on the client at all. The client’s need for respect is not met. The session becomes more about the practitioner than the paying client.

Opposite: The practitioner is an enlightened witness. They’re a kind and non-judgmental presence. The clients feels acknowledged for their part in the healing journey. That the client is an active part of the healing and just seeing the practitioner for some support. They are not the experts ‘doing onto the client.”

The Trait – #4 “Desperate for Business”

Symptoms: Pressuring clients into booking more sessions (even if they just can’t afford it). Giving away free sessions and then, when they don’t become clients, being hurt and slightly angry that they gave their session away for free.

Impact: she seemed to come across as a bit desperate for clients

Opposite: the client truly feels that their best interests are being held in mind. The practitioner refers out generously when someone else can handle the problem better.

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| Categories: holistic practitioners - Tags: building trust, empathy, pressure free, safety

‘Shame on You’ Marketing

By: Tad | Published: October 6, 2010 · 4 Comments

I want to talk about shame and marketing.

I’ve got a cough.

I’ve had it for about four years.

It comes and goes – but mostly it comes.

The truth is that I’m sick of it.

I’ve seen a naturopath, an herbalist and am working out whatever emotional causes there might be.

And when you go through sickness you start to notice things.

And one of the things you notice is how other people relate to it – what feels good and what doesn’t.

Here’s a deeper and more honest cut into this: I secretly feel ashamed of my cough. I hate it.

But I genuinely don’t know, for sure, what it’s about.

Maybe it’s because I’m not getting enough fat in my diet (had my gallbladder out a couple of years ago and it wasn’t working for ten years before that). Maybe it’s about not expressing grief. Maybe it’s a fungal or viral infection. Maybe it’s acid reflux. Maybe it’s all of the above.

I don’t know.

And I’ve been living with it for four years.

And so, it’s puzzling when people will come up to me and – with almost no diagnosis at all – tell me exactly what the ‘real’ cause of it is. With so much certainty.

Let me tell you what the emotional impact of this is: it’s shame.

I feel like I’ve not done enough. Like I’m stupid. Like I’m lazy. Irresponsible. And maybe those things are true.

I felt the same thing when I was dealing with my gallstones. No one had answers – but everyone had advice. A dear friend of mine had rheumatoid arthritis. It was crippling for her. And one day a friend who’d been giving her energy work said to her, ‘You know, I think your fear is getting in the way of your healing.’

She felt devastated. And ashamed. And angry.

Of course she was scared. Her hands were shrunken and swollen. Everything hurt. No matter what she tried – nothing changed. And she tried everything – raw vegan, raw animal products, chemicals, antibiotics. And nothing worked. After a while – you start to feel hopeless.

No shit she was scared.

But – as a practitioner – what do you do with the fear? Do you shame it? Or can you empathize with it? Can you let go of your agenda for their own healing long enough to love them right where they are?

And, what if loving people where they are is the most healing thing you can offer?

What if, when you encounter their resistance – you explored it with curiousity and not judgement. Just a sense of, ‘Wow. You’ve spent so much money but you don’t seem to be applying anything or taking your medicines – I’m so curious why that is! Let’s explore this.’ Perhaps you might help them uncover a block that ends up being the healing they really need.

When I’m struggling me tell you what I’m wanting: empathy. context. guidance. Those three things.

I’m wanting someone to be curious with me and explore what might be at the heart of it.

What I’m not wanting is: shaming, blaming, pre-mature advice.

What I’m not wanting is someone to say ‘shame on you‘. Not only does it feel terrible – it’s terrible marketing. And yet – it seems like this is how some people choose to market – by shaming people into action.

And this brings up a core ethical charge laid against so much marketing – the way it plays into (and helps to create) our insecurities. A lot of people are angry about marketing because of just this kind of thing.

This was all brought to my mind by a recent incident at a workshop.

I’d spoken with a man who was an holistic practitioner.

When we first met at one of my workshops he said, “It sounds like you’ve got XYZ from your dog.”

But i don’t have a dog. He’d misheard me.

Lesson #1: Be careful against diagnosing your clients too soon and losing credibility.

But this wasn’t so bad.

It actually impressed me that he had such an exact sense of it. I even felt excited – maybe he was right! Maybe my cough could be gone soon. I told him I’d like to book a session with him on the following day. But, as it was, I couldn’t make it. I saw him at another workshop the next day and expressed my regrets that I couldn’t make it.

He looked at me and said, “if i were in the business of making speeches – i would make time to take care of my voice.”

My silent, gut response: “bah. screw you. who are you to assume that you can fix me? who are you to assume you should know what my priorities are or should be – or that you has any idea what i’ve been up to – or that i haven’t been doing OTHER things to take care of my voice? You have no idea of the number of supplements I’m carrying in my luggage as I travel (so many) and the money I’ve spent on it – or how hard it is to remember to take the pills and how gross they taste. How there are so many that sometime I almost vomit.”

Lesson #2: acknowledging people’s struggles and what they’ve already done.

If instead he’d said, “I know how it can be. I’m sure you’re so busy on the road – but i’d love to see you. hmm. Is there any time we can fit it in? No pressure.”

Or, if when we first spoke, instead of jumping in with a diagnosis immediately he’d said, “You were saying you’ve had this cough for a long time. How is that for you?“

And then listened. Really listened. With empathy.

And when I was done, he might have said, “I can imagine so. I know when I’ve been sick I felt the same way. Here you are traveling and with a job that involves speaking and then you get this! . . . And now you’re carrying around half a bag full of medicine with you and it’s so hard to get it all organized and really stay on top of it. It’s like a whole other job. I’m sorry to hear your troubles. I know how overwhelming it could be. And I have some thoughts if you’re open to it – but no pressure.”

And, when I’d indicated that it was a good time and I would love to hear his thoughts he might have said, “Well . . . it seems to me that it may be XYZ. I’m not sure – but as I listened to it that kept coming up for me. And what I’d love to do is have you come in so we could explore it further. Would you be open to that?“

I would have said yes – and felt honoured in the process.

I would have had my dignity still.

Can our marketing build up people’s dignity instead of tearing it down?

Pressure makes us recoil.

And, here’s the thing, I know he’s right. But I also know life is full of so many priorities. So much beauty. And it’s hard to fit it all in. Sometimes I forget to take my medicine. Or I choose not too because it’s late and I just want to go to bed. The thought of spending all my time in ‘treatment’ is overwhelming

When people are in pain, they don’t always address it head on – they sometimes do other things too.

When I thought of him sitting there throughout the workshop thinking, “if only Tad had worked with me, he wouldn’t be coughing.” made me feel angry and defensive.

And then I’m startled at my own bristliness. My own defensiveness. And I’m reminded at how much shame people carry around their sickness.

Lesson #3: When people are sick – they are often also ashamed of their sickness. And they are scared.

If you can meet their fear and shame with love, empathy and curiousity – what might happen then?

And I wonder: how do we engage with people without shaming, pushing or judging? How can our words encourage and uplift while also empathizing and loving?

| Categories: Ethics in Advertising, holistic practitioners, marketing philosophy, Tad's Rants - Tags: building trust, conversations, empathy, safety