Business
In this solo episode, I share some BIG announcements + 10 surefire ways to get new clients…and you’ll get 2 more here in the show notes. :) First for the announcements! We now have a FREE Facebook group now for Mind Your OT Business listeners to interact and discuss content from episodes! I would love to meet you there and welcome you to this community. JOIN HERE! The OT Entrepreneur Summit is coming May 11-20! Trish Williams and I have curated a highly-qualified list of speakers who have agreed to take you “behind the scenes” of their success as OT entrepreneurs! Interviews will be sent via email to attendees (so you can watch on your own schedule) and we will have a FB group open till the end of May for us to discuss topics. Interested? Join my email list here to be notified! Finally, I just opened registration for the 2020 dates for Therapy in the Great Outdoors- A Training Retreat for Pediatric Practitioners. Early bird rates till April 1! OK- Now for your list of 12 sure-fire ways to get more clients!!! We talked about 10 on the podcast and there are 2 more for you here in the show notes… Make a list of everyone you know and send a personal email letting them know about your services. Make sure to make it EASY for them to send referrals your way by including relevant content in the email to allow them to simply forward to a friend. Give a discount or other incentive to get people to sign up for new services by a specific deadline, and advertise this heavily in social media and in paper flyers/postcards locally. Do a brainstorm about where your ideal clients hang out locally and then leave postcards in all of those locations. Offer 15-minute inquiry calls or consultation calls to interested clients (then OVER-deliver and spend 30 minutes talking to them). During the call, simply aim to HELP in some way...not necessarily get them to pay you for services...but really it will be people who are a bit interested. This builds “know, like and trust” value with people in your community. Even if the person doesn’t become your client, they have had a good experience with you being helpful...which means they may mention it to others in your community. Offer free or low-cost one-time sessions for interested people, and then have a specific offer for them if they sign up by a certain date for an assessment or services. Share relevant and helpful content (NOT just info about your services) on social media. Aim to HELP people...NOT sell your services. Every now and then, have a special offer for people who take advantage of the offer by a specific deadline. Do research on Facebook and other social media about where your ideal clients hang out online, and offer meaningful and relevant comments in these forums. (Again, aim to be helpful, not sell your services. You are building your expertise in these communities, and by helping, you will get people to know, like & trust you as a provider.) Face-to-face networking and personal connections are the BEST way to find new clients….this also takes the most time. Put yourself out there! Offer free in-services for people in your target market, or attend networking events that are NOT just for therapists. Ask your current or past clients to refer their friends, or leave online reviews of your business. Send a very specific email asking them to send new referrals your way. Make sure to make THEM the HERO! Emphasize how they will be helping others by leaving a review, as it will help people find the services they need. Provide links directly in the email so they can easily click and write a quick review. Build an email list! Most of the people who visit your website are NOT going to purchase services right at that second! You MUST have a way to capture their email to stay in touch with them because they are potential future clients! Make a short list of valuable tips or advice for your clients’ problems and give it away for free to people who sign up for your email list. (Do some research on how to make a great “lead magnet” online. Also make sure to be GDPR compliant with your emails...I’ll let you research that piece online.) After you have an email list, start a drip email marketing campaign to help potential clients and stay top-of-mind in your clients’ and interested parties’ minds. This is NOT to just bombard your audience with a request to purchase your services; it IS a series of helpful emails you send to your list on a regular basis to give them FREE helpful tips or advice to serve and care for them and their needs. Mine are set up once-a-month and I simply add an email every 30 days. When someone joins the email list, they get the first email, then the 2nd 30 days later, and so on. I have about 6 in the “bank” now that auto-send to new subscribers… this automatically allows my business to provide value to people every month for 6 months after they subscribe. (I’m aiming to get at least 2 years of emails in the bank...adding one a month right now.) Learn copywriting. Honestly, this is my one best tip for therapy practice owners. Most therapy websites are SO BAD at communicating our value to clients. Learning basic copywriting will COMPLETELY change how you write your marketing materials. My favorite resources online are Neville Medhora’s Kopywriting Kourse and (Sign up for Neville’s emails. They are HILARIOUS and you’ll love reading them every month, all while learning how to write your own advertising / marketing / website content in an engaging way that your clients will resonate with and understand!) Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller is the BEST book resource I have found related to this topic. A must-read for all business owners. Have you tried any of these? What has worked for you in your business? Come to the Mind Your OT Business FB group to hang out and discuss! Until next time….Mind Your OT Business! :)