Archive for the ‘Article Writing’ category

Do you realise how Good you are?

November 17th, 2010

It’s what Simon Cowell on X-Factor said last weekend about Rebecca.   “That girl doesn’t realise how good she is”.

We often don’t see it in ourselves.  So I’m guessing you don’t realise how good you are either.

Praise, regardless of whether you hear it a lot or not, we often reject.   Girls – we do it all the time, don't we.  When a friend says “wow, you look gorgeous” – what do the gremlins in our head do? Reject it and we say “what, this old thing?” 

Laugh maybe, but it is important.  Because you may be doing this, in lots of different ways, about your holistic practice.  Rejecting ideas, opportunities and even good advice.

Last year I decided to take a glass fusing 1 day course, and as I picked up the first few bits of glass, I started getting all worried about whether I was "creative enough".  For a few minutes while looking for bits of glass I was saying awful things to myself, that how would I be able to make something beautiful. But I realised that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with that attitude.  So, I told the gremlins to stop, and rephrased my efforts by saying to myself “I can do this”. 

I hear holistic practitioners all the time saying things like:

·        I’m no good at speaking,

·        I’m terrible at writing – I can’t write an article,

·        clients have to be convinced my therapy is beneficial;

·        people don’t understand what I do. 

I want you to question those beliefs, because they affect everything you do.  Start to reframe it with a Yes, I can Do it. 

It’s like with a client you’ve had a great result or a poor result – the results affect how you treat your next client.  It all matters.

The greatest success secret of all is to have someone believe in you … and that someone can even be yourself … so start by telling yourself “I can do this”.  

It may feel a bit odd at first, but the more you do it the more comfortable it’ll become. 

This is so important because this belief can crop up in so many areas.  You may feel good about certain areas of being in practice, yet not think you’re very good at networking, writing adverts, or feel you lack the skills necessary to give talks about your therapy and business.

It expresses itself as perfectionism (not publishing an article because it’s not quite right yet), procrastination (putting off doing what you know will benefit your practice), or even giving up (it just wasn’t for me).  I really hope that’s not you.  I believe you have this dream to help others because you’ve been given a special skill – and your holistic skills are so needed today.

Guess what.

You probably don’t realise how good you are.

Don’t groan, don’t reject that. Be Grateful (November is Gratitude month).   Gratitude has a very high energy vibration, so by being grateful for what you have will help you to attract more

Go out there and grow your business.

Your time is now.

And at the end of that glass fusing day?  Oh yes, I was able to create something I was proud of! It may not be for sale in BTs, Harrods, or Macys, but it was a lot better because of my attitude, and shouting down my gremlins.

It all matters. It is possible.

Need help? Let me know how I can help you.

“If you can Dream it, you Can do it.” -Walt Disney

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A-Z of Marketing and Motivation for Holistic Healers

August 21st, 2010

Let’s start this week with “A”

Alive

When do you feel alive, really alive? For me, I still remember the feeling when I first experienced Reflexology and then when I first experienced Kinesiology. Wow, I felt so … well … Alive!  And it keeps on happening, it’s almost surprising in a way.  So I imagine, when you receive a treatment in the therapy of your choice, you also feel it?  Another time I feel alive is when I come back after a busy day with clients – because of the positive impact I’m making to the world around me and the people in it.  I think for most holistic therapists, it’s why we felt drawn to train in the first place, to fill this need to help other people.

Ambition

I remember a teacher of mine saying, “no one becomes an holistic therapist to make their millions”. And maybe she’s right.  How many professions IS it possible to become a millionaire from, and is it what YOU want?  What is possible in your mind?  I was at a seminar earlier this year, when the speaker pointed out that it is possible to live like a millionaire on a LOT less.  If you had more money, what would you do with it? More holidays every year, bigger car, bigger house, pay off debts, go on another holiday, make charitable donations, give it away to family, buy an expensive watch, buy a boat?  He suggested making a list of all the things you’d like to buy, things you’d like to do, and find out – really find out, how much it would it all cost. You might be surprised how little you would need to live like a millionaire!  However, all this really depends on your Ambition.

So let’s look at this word, Ambition.  What does it say to you, how does it make you feel? Is it a word that strikes you as positive, or negative.  Because essentially, success boils down to -  How much do you want it? … “It” being whatever you dream about.  What stops you from pursuing your dreams – old patterns? Resistance? Fears?

Fears hold you back from taking Action, so change your mindset or attitude to one away from that fear. Make a decision to move forward.

Abundance

You see, there are enough potential clients in your local area (regardless of town size, population, or competition). Truly, there are!  “So why don’t more of them come to see me?”, I hear you cry.  Well, they’ve just never heard of you or don’t know you can help them. Make a list of all the ways that potential clients can currently can find you.  That’s what marketing is all about.  How do people KNOW that you are in practice?

Action

Nothing happens until something moves.   Think of when a car breaks down and you have to push it.  It takes so much more energy to get that car rolling than it does to keep it moving.  The biggest hurdle people face is taking action, anything to get started.  But when you start, you build momentum, and motivation.

You can change your life today by simply spending 10 minutes doing something that will bring you closer to your goals, do something today to start building the momentum.  I believe everyone can find 10 minutes in their day.

So write an Article, Answer some frequently Asked questions to get you started with your first Article.  Just DO something, because with that first Action step, you’ll start to build momentum, have an Abundance of clients, and more people will feel Alive, as a result of your Ambition to do good in this world.

Wow, A lot of As!!

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5 Simple Steps to Writing Your First Article FAST

August 9th, 2010

Like the idea of writing articles, but struggling to know what to say and how to get started?

Let me start by saying a blank page is NOT a good place to start.  I’m sure you’ve heard me say that writing articles is a great way to share your expertise and help your prospective clients find you.  Through the article they get to know you and trust you can help them.  However, if you’re stumbling at the first hurdle – WHAT to write about, let’s first of all address what’s underlying this very real block – the fear of getting started.

For many it brings you right back to school and when you had to write essays for teachers who would assess how “good” it was.  We become very self-conscious and worried, and we get stuck asking “What would I say”, “who would listen”, “would it be good enough”. We have to overcome the fear of failure, fear of success, the fear of standing out and being different!  And the only way to BLAST through these fears is to take Action.

So here are my 5 simple steps to writing articles, and making it easier to get over Writers Block.

Step 1. Get yourself into the right “state”.
You are the expert. Believe in what you know.  What I’m saying is YOU already know way more than you even realise.  You’ve trained often for years in holistic health and your therapy. You are an expert, so now it’s time to share it with others who really need to know about your service, solutions to their problems, and relief from their pain.
BREATHE

Step 2. Pick a topic around what you do (that you LOVE to talk about)
Maybe it’s around massage, reflexology OR maybe it’s around the a health problem you help with.  Then list 3, 4 or as many “tips”, or  “steps”, as you like, that you can write one line about. For example – 4 Workouts for Summer Confidence; 3 Ways to Avoid Back Pain; 5 Tips to Beautiful Skin etc etc. Then list Tip #1 – Tip #2 -   And write just ONE line.
BREATHE

Step 3. Start with the end in mind.
Many writers like to start with the ending. This means they can backtrack but know where the story is going and what’s going to happen. You can do this too for your articles, and gives great clarity to the process. Think about what do you want your ideal client to know by the time they read your article.

Step 4. Take each tip and expand it.
Write one paragraph for each tip that you’ve written in #2 above. It could be something that is useful for the reader, a health suggestion, or even something to avoid. It’s up to you and what you’re writing about.  This is not about what the teacher says. It’s about what you want to say to your reader – so use your natural voice.  Imagine you’re saying it to one person, your ideal client for example. Keep what you say simple.
BREATHE

Step 5. Write and publish.
They say Revenge is Sweet – and if you have a teacher in your past who didn’t “like” what you wrote, now is the time to prove them wrong. Keep Step #1 top of mind. You are the expert, what you know is valuable to others.  It does not need to be perfect, but it does need to get finished.

  • Spell check it
  • look at the overall layout,
  • read it out loud – does it flow?

Start writing your articles using Step 1-4 above and give yourself a deadline to help make this a shorter process than it could be become.  Then look at how you’re going to get your articles out there.  Writing them is the first hurdle, the next hurdle is to get them seen.

Publishing -

  • submit your article to online article directories such as EzineArticles.com,
  • put them on your website,
  • send them to your local newspaper,
  • send them to clients via your own newsletter,
  • leave them in your clinic reception for people to read.

There is no value in writing lots of articles, if you don’t let them be seen!

Good luck. Make a decision today to write your first article, set a deadline, choose a topic, and start writing.  Oh, and BREATHE!

Then let me know what your first article topic is going to be about – just submit a comment after this post.

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