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What Does a Fit Business and a Fit Body Have in Common?
September 28, 2008 | 
Author Fitness has been on my mind lately. It’s spring on the Sunshine Coast where I live and it is well and truly beach weather already. But is my body ready? No! This got me wondering about whether or not our businesses are ‘in shape’, so I thought I’d share my thoughts about business fitness.
A fit business is commited to healthy habits
What kind of habits are apparent with your business? Do you consistently spend time working on your business or only working in it? Consistently devoting regular time each week to marketing health, managing financial health and client followup will be sure your business stays in good shape.
A fit business is lean
What are you feeding your business? Are you spending time been busy or productive. I liken this to to the fit body analogy of eating foods that are high in calorie and low in nutrition, versus eating foods that are highly nutritious that your body will love. Are you feeding your business with nourishing activities that lead to positive results, or high energy, low nutritious activities. Don’t waste your energy on activities that fail to nourish.
A fit business builds it’s muscle
Are you exercising your business muscle? If you have exercised, you will know that some activities will be a little tough at first, but as your muscles become stronger, so too will your ability to function at your peak. The same applies your business. Try doing a SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Once you have done this, spend some time capitalising on your strengths and buidling your weaknesses. If you have recognised areas in your business that need work, plan time to work on them. This could mean enhancing your knowledge or building your skills in a particular area. The main thing is not to ignore it, or you will be left behind in the wake of others who are more proactive.
Allocate time for business fitness
Just as in getting your body in shape, there is no point using time left over to get fit! It will never happen. It is imperaive that you set time aside in your schedule each week to work on your business. Allocate time to followup your clients, manage your database, reach new potential clients and learn new skills.
If you lack skills in effectively marketing your business, I can help. I work with health practitioners to give them the skills for do-it-yourself marketing that you can learn to do confidently. Drop me a line with your marketing question at krishna@vitalityoptions.com.au or visit my website at http://www.healthpracticesuccess.com for free tips.
To your health practice success….
Krishna
Are You Getting In Your Own Way?
Why are some health practices flourishing right now, when others are floundering? Yes, there is a lot of talk of poor economy, interest rates and higher costs of living, but there are still clients out there who are ready to use your services, and a lot of them at that! So lets consider the differences between health practitioners who are thriving with ones who are just surviving:
The Floundering Therapist will:
-Wonder ‘how on earth they can compete against all the competition.’
-Hope that people will ring them when they need a treatment.
-Think they are being pushy if they phone a client
-Let a lack of know-how stop them learning how enhance their business skills such as writing a newsletter.
-Will waste time being busy instead of productive
-Knows what they need to do next but will find anything possible else to do instead
The Flourishing Therapist will:
-Identify exactly who their ideal client is and recognise that they are always looking for good services
-Consistently find ways to connect with these people in a way that engages them (talks in their terms about what they care about)
-Truly connect with their existing clients where possible outside scheduled appointments.
-Understand their personal and business strengths and weaknesses and learn what’s necessary that help them to build their business or engage the skills of someone who can do it for them
-Will spend time working on their business as well as in their business by planning time to do so, rather than only if there is time left over.
-Will ask themselves what is the best use of their time right now, and choose to do it (whether they like the task or not!).
Are you ready to embrace all that is possible? Are you ready to see your dreams come to fruition? You’ve got the vision, and you are ready for it. Now it is time to put into practice the associated actions to see your vision become reality. It’s time to get out of you way and move toward your destination.
“Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.” John Gardner
To your health practice success….
Krishna
Are You Getting In Your Own Way?
Why are some health practices flourishing right now, when others are floundering? Yes, there is a lot of talk of poor economy, interest rates and higher costs of living, but there are still clients out there who are ready to use your services, and a lot of them at that! So lets consider the differences between health practitioners who are thriving with ones who are just surviving:
The Floundering Therapist will:
-Wonder ‘how on earth they can compete against all the competition.’
-Hope that people will ring them when they need a treatment.
-Think they are being pushy if they phone a client
-Let a lack of know-how stop them learning how enhance their business skills such as writing a newsletter.
-Will waste time being busy instead of productive
-Knows what they need to do next but will find anything possible else to do instead
The Flourishing Therapist will:
-Identify exactly who their ideal client is and recognise that they are always looking for good services
-Consistently find ways to connect with these people in a way that engages them (talks in their terms about what they care about)
-Truly connect with their existing clients where possible outside scheduled appointments.
-Understand their personal and business strengths and weaknesses and learn what’s necessary that help them to build their business or engage the skills of someone who can do it for them
-Will spend time working on their business as well as in their business by planning time to do so, rather than only if there is time left over.
-Will ask themselves what is the best use of their time right now, and choose to do it (whether they like the task or not!).
Are you ready to embrace all that is possible? Are you ready to see your dreams come to fruition? You’ve got the vision, and you are ready for it. Now it is time to put into practice the associated actions to see your vision become reality. It’s time to get out of you way and move toward your destination.
“Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.” John Gardner
To your health practice success….
Krishna
Attracting Clients You Love Through Joint Ventures
“Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning” Bill Gates, Microsoft
Being a health practitioner can be a lonely road at times, particularly if you are a sole operator. Quite frankly, a lot of practitioners like it that way! But if you want the abundant practice of your dreams, remaining an island just won’t cut it. Today I want to share with you a powerful way of attracting the clients you like to work with most through joint ventures.
So, what’s so great about joint ventures?
ü They leverage your business to more potential clients through valuable partnerships – building your client base at minimal cost
ü They build your credibility through the trust already held by your partners – exposing you to warm rather than cold prospects
ü You are seen as someone who is willing to work with others for a greater benefit to all concerned
ü They allow you to be surrounded by likeminded and passionate people – you will be inspired and inspire others
ü They can create free publicity
ü If carefully targeted joint ventures will help position you as an expert in your chosen field
What kind of joint venture should you consider?
Joint ventures are only limited by your imagination. Here are some suggestions:
ü Place flyers at local businesses in exchange for their ad or coupon in your newsletter
ü Offer a free treatment to the local physio or personal trainer who can speak on your behalf to their clients and refer them to you. A value adding voucher works well in conjunction with these. Offer to refer your clients to them also.
ü Offer treatments as prizes to local charities and fundraisers in exchange for promotion in their flyers and newsletters as a sponsor.
ü Sponsor a member of the month prize at the local gym.
ü Team up with the local health food store – you promote their products while they promote your service.
ü Set up a stand at the local sports club or fitness centre. It offers their members an additional service and you get exposure to new clients.
ü Participate in open days and community events – you’ve got to be in it to win it!
ü Create a health expo by teaming up with other practitioners. Charge a fair price for half hour treatments and offer free talks on different health issues. Ask a local venue to donate the space. Promote it through local newspaper articles and what’s on columns, on community noticeboards and free online community directories. A little planning goes a long way.
ü Create a local network that appeals to your target market. For example, if women 40 plus are your market, team up with a local café or restaurant and host a monthly luncheon event. It could be purely social or you could have an interesting speaker each month.
These are just a few ideas. Harness your strengths and combine them with the strengths of others. Team your organisational skills with someone else’s public speaking skills and another’s venue or customer base. Remember, joint ventures don’t have to be complicated, even simple ones pay off over time. The opportunities are endless! Great opportunities don’t come along once in a lifetime, they come along everyday – are you ready to harness them and see your practice prosper?
Top tips to joint venture success:
ü Know exactly who you want to attract to your business. Clearly define your audience. This becomes apparent when you know exactly what your strengths are and who you can help the most. You must identify this first before proceeding, if you want them to work well for you.
ü List local businesses who have the same target market as you. They may or may not be health related, it could be the local fitness club, café or playgroup.
ü Approach potential partners from a ‘what’s in it for them’ – it’s not all about you (although your aim is for you to benefit, it must benefit your partners also).
ü Remember you don’t have to go it alone. Bigger joint ventures are best when it’s a team effort. Don’t be afraid to delegate – just the fact that you initiated the idea will be worthwhile if everyone benefits.
Joint ventures are a fantastic way to leverage your business. In my own business of helping health practitioners market themselves I have teamed up with several other businesses that I know can help my clients such as web designers and graphic artists, other online health marketing gurus, natural therapies academies, practice software developers and business networking groups. It is a powerful way to get the message across to the people you can help the most and it’s a win/win situation for everyone.
“If everyone is moving forward together – the success takes care of itself” Henry Ford.
I welcome your ideas and would love to hear them – feel free to email me if you’d like feedback at krishna@vitalityoptions.com.au I am also interested in potential contributions of your challenges and successes to my forthcoming book The No-Hype DIY Guide to Marketing for Health Practitioners’. All contibutors will receive a free copy.
To your health practice success….
Krishna
Related articles:
Boosting Your Profile With Editorial and Articles
The Power and Promise of Networking
Low Cost Ways to Build Massage Clientele
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: Free Publicity, Getting Started as a Massage Therapist, joint ventures, Massage Marketing, networking | 
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Learn The Art of Blogging
I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
- The best blogging techniques.
- How to get traffic to your blog.
- How to turn your blog into money.
I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.
