Posts Tagged ‘writing articles’

Is your practice frequency based in faith or fear?

October 27th, 2010

As holistic practitioners we know about frequencies.

We talk about the universe “sending” us clients, and if it is quiet on the client side of things, then it’s because we need a break, a treatment even, or some other reason. And it is often the case that when we are busy we don’t have the time to look after ourselves properly, and so having a quiet week is a welcome break.

But if your clinic is on the quiet side more times than it is busy, then your business probably feels more like a hobby, and is certainly not bringing enough funds to make “a living”. Pretty scary eh!

We all have fears, it’s one of the fundamental emotions associated with the Law of the Five Elements – Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood – fear being related to the Water element. So it’s a natural feeling and a healthy feeling – at appropriate times.

But just as there is a balance to all emotions, experiencing too much fear can make us feel a resistance to many things we know would be valuable to do in our holistic business. That’s when fear becomes an obstacle. The solution to all that fear is to take the first small steps of Action and defeat that fear, through to success.

So are you building your business with a foundation of fear?

  • Your fear of failure
  • Your fear of success
  • Your fear of what others will say about your
  • Your fear of getting stuff “wrong”
  • Your fear about the current economic environment
  • Your fear of money
  • Your fear of lack of money
  • Your fear of not enough clients
  • Your fear of lack of skills

If you are experiencing any or all of the above fears, then it’s likely you feel a victim to them, you feel there is little you can do, because people who live in fear are easy to control, and you are being controlled, and even feel overwhelmed by these external factors.

So today I’d like to help you get further faster, and ask you to turn those fears around.

By focusing on the power of the words that you say to yourself, to become aware of when you’re seeking perfection before doing anything (really a sign of insecurity), and to really focus on ways you can make your holistic practice a financial success in the long term.

Today I want you to decide how you are going to grow your business, and create your future you desire.

And instead of fear, decide to build it with a foundation of faith. Faith that you have the skills to help people. Trust that everyone who walks through your clinic door you can help in some way. Be confident in that, and excude that confidence – it’s infectious!

When you decide, trust and take action, it will help you be released from that fear.

Somewhere in your past you have already experienced the power of faith. Maybe it was when you put your trust in another practitioner to help you heal from an illness. Maybe it was when you decided to trust a particular therapy school to provide you with your training. Maybe it was trusting that the funds would turn up so you could pay for your training in the first place!!

When you decide to live in faith, it helps make things happen. It changes the vibration of your frequency. It changes your mood, your energy, and more importantly it makes you more “magnetic”.

“Yes, but Siobhan …” I hear you say. You’ve trusted before and you’ve still failed.

That’s OK. Think of a toddler learning to walk. Do they give up just because it didn’t work the first time? Listen to that statement – it’s based in fear. Moving forward takes time, and you need to forgive yourself for those times when it seems like it hasn’t worked. Here’s a quote I like:

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
– Michael Jordan

You know that the power of the mind affects the health of the body, it also has the power to affect the health of your business.

So listen for when you say something that comes from fear. While it may feel like a risk to write some articles, to follow up with clients who you know you can help, to give a talk or take a booth at a health show; remember that somewhere, someone needs you to do what you do. Don’t stay a victim to fear, defeat that fear though success, and grow in faith.

That way you’ll have clients coming to you who love what you do, who will talk about you to others, and you’ll grow your business by word of mouth.

Remember, you don’t have to know how everything is going to work out, because with faith you don’t need all the answers. Fear stops you because you think you need to know everything. You feel resistance to the very things that will grow your practice.

And my final F in today’s post is to remember, that life (and business) is supposed to be Fun. If you can inject some fun into your business, you’ll be happier, your clients will be happier, and your business a constant source of fulfillment to you.

Let me know your opinions in the comment box below. I look forward to reading what you think :-)

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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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How to get more clients

October 18th, 2009

Why do we need to do ANY marketing at all? Sure if we are good at what we do, won’t clients find out about us from their friends and colleagues. You know, that is SUCH an engrained belief, that I want you to stop and think about that sentence.

If we are good at what we do, clients will find us.

You see intellectually we might already know that word of mouth may be unreliable, but I want you to really examine whether you still secretly want that to be the way it is. You see our beliefs affect us, and often stop us from doing the very things we need to do, to make our holistic business successful.

I would hate it if you gave up your practice because you didn’t know how to get more clients.

But relying on passive ways to attract clients is not the way to go. Yes, word of mouth momentum can happen, but it takes time. And time is often what struggling practitioners don’t have. Of course it is LOVELY to get referrals and it is true some people DO build their practice that way eventually. But the rules may be different with your type of therapy. So you can’t be passive when it comes to creating the business you want to have. You must seek it out. At least a little!

New clients need to know about you, they probably are more likely to like you a little, and they need to trust you, before they become clients, or long term clients. The type of client that returns to you year after year. Not just for one session. You can’t build a successful practice if clients only come to you for one session.

So what can you do TODAY to get one or two new clients in next week?
• Put a sign up in your local health shop?
• Put your flyers in the gym/fitness centre?
• Place an advert in your local paper?

All good but not strategies that develop that “know, like and trust” factor. What I recommend as more of a long term strategy is to write some articles. Articles are better than advertising as they have long term value. Articles

• Are more likely to be read (over adverts),
• Are more likely to be kept (if they contain advice, info etc)
• demonstrate your expertise and position you
• have multiple uses
a) magazines
b) website
c) newspapers
d) your newsletter

ACTION STEP
So articles are a good idea. But now you’re thinking, eeeek, what do I write about? What do I know? But you know what, we always underestimate what it is we do know, that what comes easy to us. But people are interested, in fact are desperate for the solutions you know about.

So over the next few ezines I’m going to give you a few ideas about article writing topics, to get you started. It is a powerful strategy to “publish” articles, ebooks (online), reports, health guides etc. But for it to work you need to take Action.

Without action nothing moves (or happens).

Article Topics #1

Clients want to know more about you.
I would recommend you start writing a couple paragraphs about you. Now, not the I went to x school, learned x therapy, etc etc. The real you. What drives you? Who you want to work with? Why you want to work with them?

The thing about articles is they don’t have to be LONG. 300-500 words is plenty to get you started. I mean this article, the one you’re reading is about 500 words.

Want to know my Rules about Writing Articles quickly and easily?

Article Writing Power Rule #1
Give yourself 20 minutes to write one article. No editing, just writing. As quickly as possible. Don’t edit yourself, just “mind dump” the information. (Editing can be done once you’ve written your masterpiece!).

Article Writing Power Rule #2
Set a timer to give you that 20 minute deadline, shut off all distractions (email, phone, etc) and write your article.

Article Writing Power Rule #3
Done one article? Now write 3-4 articles in one hour. Again no editing, just writing/typing.

Without action nothing moves (or happens).
www.ClientAttractingSecrets.com

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