I hope you had a wonderful festive period and are all hyped and ready for a phenomenal 2010!

One of the biggest challenges that I heard time and time again from business owners during 2009 was the difficulty of finding the time to work ON your business rather than in it…

When you feel like you’re running to catch up, it’s easier said than done to stop and plan what you’re going to do differently to get yourself out of the hole. I get it. I really do. And even if your business is doing well, finding that energy to raise the bar can be just as difficult.

The bottom line is that unless someone does something about it, things will stay the same. New Years resolutions will remain just that, resolutions. Lots of good intentions but very little results.

So with that in mind I came up with Business Breakthrough 2010.

It’s an event that’s been designed specifically for you.

• An event where you can create what you want to have happen in YOUR business in 2010.
• An event where you can get the inspiration and ideas to breakthrough everything that’s been before.
• And an event where you can get the support to get there.

And on that note… I’m incredibly excited to announce tickets are now available!

Get yours now: www.businessbreakthrough.org/priority

And not only that, as a valued client on my newsletter list, you can pick your priority ticket up at 50% off for only £45. Yes. You heard right Only £45.

See you there!

To a phenomenal 2010,
Rebecca

P.S. This is going to be THE conference of the year and I fully expect it to sell out. Make sure to secure your ticket today: www.businessbreakthrough.org/priority

Freshwinds Institute of Integrated Medicine (FIIM) has just launched an innovative programme of online training and education courses in complementary therapies and integrated medicine. The Institute offers flexible CPD modules and short courses in integrated medicine for medical and complementary therapy professionals and will also be offering a Postgraduate Education in Integrated Medicine next year, all of which will be available to learners through an online learning system.

Dr Rhonda Lee, Director of FIIM, said, “We are very keen to build bridges between medical professionals and complementary therapy practitioners, so that they work in conjunction with one another providing the best outcome for the patient”. Education in Integrated Medicine is one area in which there is much room for improvement and FIIM has decided to “build a 21^st century solution”.

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) “Moodle” allows these courses to be offered globally and enables the students to complete the modules at any time to suit themselves and to fit in with their desired learning pace and lifestyles. The VLE supports learning through a varied spectrum of teaching mediums, ranging from simple text to videos and interactive content and is supported by a tutor. Students can submit assignments, take assessments and obtain results and feedback from the tutor online. In addition there are forums and virtual classrooms where students can discuss ideas and course material with each other.

The international availability and flexible nature of the courses makes them an extremely useful tool for maintaining CPD and for increasing the understanding among professionals of each other’s modalities of work so that they may develop closer working relationships for the benefit of patients.

Free taster modules are now available on line at http://learn.freshwinds.org.uk/. For more information please contact Dr Rhonda Lee by email on fiim@freshwinds.org.uk, by post to Freshwinds, Prospect Hall, 12 College Walk, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6LE or by phone on 0121 415 6670.

If you’ve been following the new series “Kirsty’s Homemade Home” on Channel 4, you’ll have seen her trying all kinds of new crafts. The other week she gave quilting a go and it really intrigued me so suddenly I’ve found myself making a very cute white and duck-egg blue quilt for our bedroom. I’m not convinced I should give up my day job (!) but its a fun way to fill an evening

Hope you’re having a fabulous week. If you’ve discovered any new ideas for building your business (or decorating your home!) do make a comment below so everyone else can benefit too…

Best wishes,

Rebecca

You can give anything away, from a free consultation to a free appointment, but the one I suggest is a ‘free report/e-book’ that the potential can just download…

Firstly unlike lots of other things you could use as a carrot to attract them, a report or e-book doesn’t cost you anything at all.  Plus if they are able to enter their name & email onto your site, and then immediately download the report/book, you don’t have to do anything - its all automated.

What type of report or e-book you offer depends on what type of services and treatments you offer.  Something like the following would work really well:
-    If you deal with relieving stress ‘7 top tips for reducing stress’
-    If you do beauty treatments ‘Learn how to look 10 years younger’

You get the idea.

So how does it work?

• You write a free report (or just create one by collating information you’ve already got on the benefits of your services!)
• Advertise the fact you are giving this away for free
• Potential clients go to your site & sign up
• They get the report/book online immediately and automatically
• They get added to your database
• You then you keep in touch via your newsletter and build a relationship with them!

If you don’t have a website or don’t know how to create a box for people to enter their name and email into, there is another way of doing this.  You could just have your email address on your marketing and tell them to email you with ‘free report’ in the subject line.  Then you can email them back the report & add them to your database.

Doing it this way isn’t ideal because you’ll end up spending hours email people, but at least it gives you a way to get started, and build your client list!  Then when you’ve got a larger client list and more income, you could just pay someone to automate the process for you

Benefits of a free e-report or e-book;

• Free.  Doesn’t cost you anything except your time to write the report
• Can be completely automated.  You just send out the marketing advertising it and people will flock to your site to sign up.
• Cause its free, you’ll get lots more sign ups
• You’ll get people from all over the country (or even globe) sign up.  You never know when they might be in the area and want an appointment.  Or what friends they might end up forwarding the emails you send them to.  Or whether they might even mail/internet order your products from you cause you’ve taken the time to build that relationship with them and their local practitioner, therapist, stylist hasn’t.
• Plus since everyone who signs up is being added to your database, your email newsletters will slowly work on converting the prospect to a client so you’ll get a future drip feed of new clients from it.

You may have already thought of this but there is one drawback I must mention… Unlike some other promotion ideas, you aren’t physically seeing the person so you don’t have that critical face-to-face time to convert them to a client.

However this is tempered by the fact that it doesn’t cost you anything in time and your email newsletters will slowly work on converting the prospect to a client so you’ll get a future drip feed of new clients from it!

So what are you waiting for?  Give it a shot and see if it helps you build your client list.  And if you’ve got any ideas that work for you, make a comment below to share them with others!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Don’t have a website?  Flummoxed by internet-guru-gobbledegook?

Never fear.  Just take whatever the online marketing idea is and instead of using it on your website, adapt it to use on paper in your salon, clinic, spa or practice.

For example, one of THE most popular ideas for getting new clients from your website is the one we discussed in our most recent VIP class… a free report.  The idea is you create a written report about something interesting your clients would be interested in knowing about then give it away on your website and in exchange get lots of new clients.

The way it works is you require visitors to your site to input their email & name to get access to your free report.  Then once they’ve entered their details they get an email, which tells them the link to download the free report.  Their name & email immediately and automatically goes on your database list for next email newsletter.  You carry on sending out your email newsletters as you usually would with lots more names on your database list.  And ultimately by doing this, you build a relationship with all these new people, then eventually they book in and become a loyal, long term clients!

So how do you use this free report idea offline?  How do you use it over the counter in your business?

Well, sticking with the free report example, you can print it out and physically give it away to clients or new enquiries when they come in.

You can either just print it out on your home computer, or you could pop down the local photocopy store.  You can then just staple the top right corner and hey presto, you’ve got yourself a free report to give away.

By the way, to make it really have the wow impact, you can spiral bind them.  Getting this done in bulk at the photocopy store can cost a bit but buying a spiral binding machine yourself is fairly inexpensive and actually doing the binding is really quick & easy once you get the hang of it!

Then once you’ve got yourself a whole bunch of your reports printed out and bound/stapled together, all that remains is to tell people about it.  You could give one away with every appointment booked?  Or perhaps as a gift with purchase with every product bought?  Or even non-strings-attached simply in return for them filling in a customer survey?

The sky is the limit.  It’s totally up to you how you promote it and how you give it away.  The point is that you can use one of the most popular ways of getting new clients online even if you don’t have a website!

Converting online marketing methods to work for you in your salon, spa, clinic or practice works especially well if a section of your market is people who don’t really use computers.  The vast majority of people have access to a computer now days but there are some specific markets that are unlikely to… like those in rest homes, housewives who haven’t gone back to work, those in very small villages without internet access etc.  If this is a section of your clientele, you’ll know!  Just talk to them and find out.

But do be careful not to assume… my Grandma is well into her 80s, lives in a rest home and doesn’t just send the odd email and potter about, she has actually computerised the entire rest home library and is now properly into texting and all sorts of other stuff you might otherwise think only the young generations do.

So have a nosey at what the successful websites are doing.  Could you adapt their ideas to work on your website?  And could you even adapt the ideas to work in store?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Running regular promotions or highlighting a new treatment, product or service each month is an excellent start for keeping a fresh flow of clients all year long, by establishing special promotions and discounts according to current events.

Plus on top of that, you’ve got all the other events throughout the year.  In fact, there is at least one major holiday most months of the year.  Very soon its Mother’s Day.  Then there’s Fathers Day.  What about Grandparents Day, Pancake Day and National Secretary Day…

Making every day special is definitely a creative marketing approach, no doubt about it. Let’s face it: you might have the power to attract new customers each and every day. The question is: are you ready?

For example,

• During either local or national election periods, nail salons or manicurists can make related nail designs, with stars and stripes or the union jack.
• Students’ spring break could be another great opportunity to promote anything new or fresh (spring = fresh start).
• Another idea would be have a special happy hour, maybe from 6 pm to 7 pm, when people could have a relaxing (insert whatever treatment you like here!) after long working hours.

Setting clear marketing goals and objectives with concrete time periods is the best way to start off a business on a positive note. This could be a determining factor is predicting sales, forecasting the cash flow and for keeping effective track of the business progress.

Your marketing strategies should focus on keeping the activity running during the busy season and the slow season in equal proportions. It is not enough to use random specials and promotions without conducting any research or setting clear marketing goals. This usually leads to high investments in advertising and marketing materials and poor return of investment. Imagine if you knew in November what promotions you’ll be doing in February – it puts you a mile ahead of your competitors that don’t have a clue. You’ll not only be ready for the holidays, but also for the slow period, with a special promotion on winter services and products.

Yes the year has already started, but its never too late.  Create yourself a full annual calendar of attractive monthly promotions, focusing on the client and community as well. You can target a major theme or a new group of prospect customers every month, and promote it once or more times a month. Remember to keep everyone involved and keep close to your clientele. This way, every day will be special for your business and clients alike!

So what about you?  What are you doing to take advantage of current affairs and holiday dates to grow your business?  Make a comment and share your ideas below…!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

So what are your tips?  Post a comment below and share with everyone else what your favourite strategies are for staying in touch with your clients…!

We picked our reception venue several months ago now, and I’d forgotten all about our experience doing this until someone asked me about it the other day..

We found and visited two reception venues, which we loved the look of, so I called both of them up to find out all the details and get their availability. On calling the first the lady was abrupt and clearly in the middle of something - No the date we wanted was not available, and No she didn’t have the diary in front of her to check other availabilities.

On calling the second venue I could hear really busy office noises and lots of paper shuffling as I got handed through to the right person. Despite how busy it all sounded there, the lady was adorable. She firstly congratulated me on our engagement, and then listened while I asked all my questions. Even though she probably gets the same questions all day, every day, she answered every one as if it was unique and a very good question. Needless to say we booked with the second venue… They’ve been an absolutely pleasure to work with and I’m so looking forward to the big day.

Why am I telling you this? It reminded me of the importance of ‘Being in the Now’.

No matter how busy you are, no matter what else you’re in the middle of, customers are your bread and butter. They are THE most important things you will “deal with” all day.

We’ve all been there - up to our eyeballs in paperwork and then the phone rings with a question about hot wax vs warm… or in the middle of doing something really important when someone pops in and wants to ask about the best shampoo for dry hair…

The difference between great customer service and not so great service, is taking that moment to stop, collect yourself and refocus back on the customer. The paperwork will still be there. The customer may not.

P.S. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out my “Ridiculously Huge, First Every Annual Sale”. There’s extremely limited stock but what’s there is an absolute bargain!
www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/newyearsale.html

Discount sales are a great way to save a bit of cash if you are the one buying.  But they are fatal if you are the one selling.  When money is tight and people have little extra money in their pockets the absolute worst thing a small business can do is discount their product or services.

You are already working against big business, and larger companies but now you’re telling the consumer that your product or service is no longer worth what it used to be.  Not only is this a bad message but it trains your clients to expect you to discount price all the time.

So if you’re not going to discount, what do you do? You need to make enough money to continue on providing the fantastic services your clients are used to.  So how do you make services and products to look like amazing value while not discounting?

The solution is to market smarter by creating packages of treatments or services and added value retail offers!

The key here is to show your consumer an added value which makes the full price very appealing.  In fact if you do this well, you can end up having a product or service that is much more appealing and sells better than if you’d done a massive discount on it.

Lets take marketing beauty therapy treatments for example.  If you had a beauty therapy package combining a facial treatment with a back massage and bikini line waxing, and that package sold for $150… in tough economic times like now, you can keep the same price of $150 but add in a lash tint, brow shape and file & polish.

The full package ends up being worth more like $200 but the client is still only paying $150 for it.

Now please take special note of the beauty treatments I suggested in this example.  All of them are extremely low cost to do (so you aren’t eating into your profits) and all of them can be done while the mask is on the client during the facial (so you aren’t extending the time it takes to do the treatment).

End result?  Better value for the client but at no extra cost or time to you = higher sales and more profit!

Now this works for ANY type of therapy, treatment or service.  Whether you do laser treatments, hair dressing, aromatherapy, reiki, reflexology, osteopathy, massage or life coaching, you can make this work.  You just need to look at your products and services and identify the ones that you can use to for added value offers like this.

Still not sure how this added value option can apply to you?  Here’s another example, if you are a nutritionist or natural health therapist, you could do a two for the price of one offer.  So your clients can buy three of this herbal supplement for $10 or alternatively they can just buy one for $5.

Basically that business is telling you if you buy more it will cost you less.   Now what the consumer doesn’t necessarily know is that the third herbal supplement was actually given to the natural health therapist free by the suppliers as a gift with purchase.

End result?  The consumer gets a 2 for the price of one deal.  The therapist gets more sales because it’s a better offer but again at no cost to them.

It might appear that your clients want discounts, products for less, services for less, treatments that are free and therapies that are under priced.  But really what they want is services and products that are right for them at excellent value.

Think creatively with ingenuitive ideas and simply alter the mindset of the consumer with the exact same product you have offered before at no less cost but as an added value.  Earn more by packaging your products as added value rather than discounting!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits.  To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.

© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2008

Want to use this article on your site or in your newsletter?  This article may be reprinted provided no part thereof is edited in any way and this resource box is included.

Living in Uncertain times – By Jon Critoph

I am sure you cannot have failed to notice how recently everything we once felt was like bed rock has been shaking and there seems much fear and uncertainty in the world as it comes to terms with financial crisis, credit crunches, negative equity and repossessions in the house market. For most it has left them unsettled, frightened and even fearful for their future. It reminds me of a line in the film Finding Forester with Sean Connery where there was a wonderful line that went something like “People are most afraid of things they do not understand.” So the answer to this is staring you straight in the face, that if something frightens or scares you go and investigate it and then the fear will subside. So when most are running away from what scares them reverse the trend and head straight for it.

Applying this to the current situation we do not know how to survive the current turmoil and if our own talents are enough to get us through. So what can we do to get to know ourselves better and understand our own strategy for success even in the face of adversity? Some 7 years ago I came across a system called Human Design which had been introduced to the UK around that time, it is a system to help us understand ourselves so much better and realise we have everything we need to make the journey through our lives. I had my first reading done making sure I gave nothing away about myself to the person giving me the reading and was totally amazed at how accurate it was about my past, my traits and even the way I approached relationships. I was hooked and over the coming couple of years returned for a number of different readings that only served to help me further on my journey. I left my US Corporate job of nearly 11 years and started up on my own part time using the rediscovered skills I had forgotten I had and became successful at what I was doing. In fact it seemed the more I followed my strategy the easier it felt and the more success came my way. Then about 3 years ago a further set of insights arrived called The Venus Sequence and this looked straight in the eye of relationships starting with the one we had with ourselves and then move on to those we had with work colleagues, a business we started and also our personal relationships.

As has been said you are the captain of your own ship so it seems imperative that you get to know yourself and the strategies that work for you rather then looking at others and feeling inferior or trying to copy them if it is not your strategy and will not really work for you. For when you are alone you need to be able the question “Do you like the company you keep” with a resounding YES!

Human Design and the Venus Sequence have their roots in many things including the I-Ching, the ancient Chinese divination tool, science, ancient teachings, high level mathematics and some of the roots of astrology (but it is not astrology). You provide the date; time and place of birth and the computer will generate a personal bodygraph chart which is then interpreted by the practitioner. Not to worry of you do not know the time of birth as generally we can work back to that through producing a number of charts across the day and looking at experiences you have had and your response to the various interpretations.

What do I do if I want to get a reading done?
You supply the practitioner with your name, date, time and place of birth and your chart will be produced and e-mailed to you.

Are there different types of reading?
Yes there are for the mildly curious there is a brief half hour overview, for those wanting to know more there is either an hour long more detailed over view and also there is a full 2-2½ hour reading including the Venus Sequence relationship information. For those wishing to know more there are also relationship readings between a couple and there are also readings which can take into account a team of people and how to motivate them and get the best from everyone without changing what you are trying to achieve. Jon also offers talks and workshops around the world on the subject and will be happy to provide costs for all the services mentioned.

Will I get bad news?
No is the simple answer, of course this all depends on the definition you hold for bad news. I would view it as if you are finally being given the instruction manual for your life and this gives you knowledge to understand how to use yourself to the full. This is not to dissimilar to buying a sophisticated camera and for the most we use the automatic function but professional photographers know the best photos are taken using the skill of the photographer working the camera manually.

Are there bad relationships?
In my opinion the answer is no there are jut relationships and the nuances they bring. Sure if someone is in an abusive relationship they perhaps may want to distance themselves to avoid harm. We can’t and should not try to change anyone but when we understand how we work, how they work and then the interaction between the two we can learn to work towards the best for the relationship.

Why fear the worst?
It is interesting how most seem to go through life fearing the worst and then when it finally happens (whatever it is) it was not as bad as they expected so in fact in a bizarre sort of way it can be seen as good. Negative thoughts and beliefs can end up as self fulfilling prophecies so channel your energy and thoughts onto the positive and get more of that instead.

What other people have said?
All of the following quotes were taken from totally unsolicited e-mails or letters that were sent in normally within a few days of the person having a reading. They are all genuine though people’s identities are protected. So don’t just take my word for it.

“I really appreciated you doing the reading - I think about it all the time!! in fact what I am doing at the moment is just totally focussing on sorting out my self confidence and self esteem, to really bring wonderful things into my life!! It definitely made a big difference for me!! Thank you!! “
Ali

“Thanks Jon, for a totally insightful and life-changing session. I must admit, at first, I was a bit overwhelmed after we put the phone down, but thanks to the diagrams you sent me and notes we (I) took, I’m amazed at the shift in my self-awareness, clarity and happiness has taken place - especially since I ’slept on it’… This is seriously intriguing stuff. It may have been the missing link that connects a lot of the other self-development work I’ve been doing.”
Annett

“I wanted to thank you for your time last week. It was really useful, and yes, the opportunities and awareness are definitely there now. I really enjoyed it and found it fun to try to understand. And I left feeling very inspired and excited about possibilities.”
Julie

How does this hep me in these uncertain times?
Well if you understand what your on personal strategy for life is then you will be able to be the best person you can be. This is turn will reflect in your work and your business and people will naturally detect this and want to work with you sensing quite naturally that you will be able to hep them. Your business will run smother and this will be less stressful and tiring for you so you instantly become more attractive for your potential clients to come to. You play to your strengths and that can only help bring in more business. And of course once you understand yourself better then there is nothing to fear and this is the biggest draining emotion we can carry. Put simply once you know the rules you can play by them and everything works fine for you.

What does it cost?
Price s will vary upon the type of reading you ant but start from as little as £20. If there is a talk or workshop you would like to have me run for you then please get in touch and we can discuss it.

What do I do now?
Get in touch to discuss things more with Jon or to book an appointment. You can contact him on 01584 876718 or jon@critophj.freeserve.co.uk

Remember your future is in your hands, now think, who controls my hands?

About the author
Jon left school at 16 and trained in electronics at the local college going on to take up a role as a repair technician in a UK Corporate company. After a few years he moved into sales roles finally reaching the leve of sales Director before leaving to join a US corporate in the technical field in a senior management role. The money was increasing every year but the happiness was not. Having scoured the internet for a box of happiness Jon finally had to admit there was none available and recalled that happiness was an inside job. In 2001 having spent most of his holiday time over the previous years in training in massage and other holistic therapies he handed in his notice and went part time self employed the rest of the time dedicated to working within the holistic industry for professional associations. Currently Jon works part time for the Federation of Holistic Therapists (The UK’s largest therapy association for beauty, holistic, sports and spa therapists) and the rest of the time runs a private practice and his own business aimed at helping others reach their full potential. In this field he practices massage, Reiki, IHM, EFT and ear candling and business and personal counselling. He lectures around the UK in this subjects at Local Support Groups, shows, exhibitions and conferences and still finds time for family life and getting outdoors and walking.