My 'Reading' List

Well I hope that you've recovered from the festivities. Yesterday was absolute mayhem here, it's the day we visit everyone who we didn't have time to go see on Christmas day. Onwards!

I promised that today I would list all of the amazing resources that I was endowed with over Christmas. These are the things that I will be reviewing as I devour them over the next few weeks and months.

So here is the list:

Awaken the Giant Within - Anthony Robbins
Strangely I have thus far gone without ever accessing Tony's materials and now feel it's time to tap in to his phenomenon. This is a 2 disc audio set and is at the top of my list and will be first to receive a full review here on completion.

Lessons in Mastery: - Anthony Robbins
A second audio CD set - yes as well as the tons of books I have I like to change the sensory interaction I have with learning materials and recently I have been absolutely loving audio learning. This is a mammoth 5 CD audio set so will of course take a little time and much commitment to fully appreciate.

Off the Wall Marketing Ideas: - Nancy Michaels & Debbi J. Karpowicz
This looks very interesting in it's paper-back and funky layout. I'm very much looking forward to seeing just how good the ideas within really are.

Motivating Your Audience - Hanoch McCarty
Always having been interested in the greatest ways to communicate I am very excited to see what tips McCarty shares from his years in the speaking business that can bed applied to daily communication and being for effective when persuading people.

The Missing Secret - Dr Joe Vitale
Joe Vitale was once a magician, before that he lived on the streets. Since then the story goes that he discovered something within himself that turned his life around. Not only a spiritual man but also looked upon by many as a marketing genius. I'll stick my nose in to this audio CD set and tell you what I think about it all.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert Cialdini
A classic text of human psychology. Another one that slipped through the net. Persuasion is useful in many facets of life, from conversing with friends to selling to clients and even communicating more effectively with those clients who are already sold on us.

Guerrilla Marketing - Jay Conrad Levinson
This book focuses on how to maximum return for very little investment. Ideal for the small business which is what makes it so appealing. Many of the marketing books out there at the moment focus on ideas and concepts that we small business owners could never do. This book is focused on marketing and sales for us little guys. It should be packed with ideas. I'd hope.

So that indeed is the list of things I will be reading over the next few weeks and months. If you like what you see then you might want to grab a copy. For ease I've linked the titles with amazon so you can read other reviews and even grab your own copy if you so wish.

Have a great day. The big announcement is coming soon!

- Kennedy

p.s. Where do you learn best? I would absolutely love to know where it is you find you absorb most useful information whether it be the place you read your book, listen to your cds or watch your instructional DVDs - where is that? Post your replies below in the comments of the blog. No need to register.

Resolutions are SUPER Important in 2009

I hope you had a GREAT Christmas day yesterday! I'll tell you all about mine tomorrow. But FIRST something I saw and immediately made me think I just HAD to share it here with you.

I hate to mention it but yes 2009 is going to be even tougher on all of us than this past year. So we have to work harder at achieving everything that we want. For that reason I am encouraging you to set more steady, life changing New Years Resolutions for 2009. And more importantly I want you to work hard at keeping to them.

If we start 2009 with the mind-set of achieving everything we state, everything we desire then that is a great head-start in this unstable world economy.

I have set myself some goals, I am going to read more. I am going to achieve more. I am going to not only survive 2009 but I am going to use it as my platform for super success. I believe that I will do that simply because I've stated it and truly believe it.

Of course that is not enough. I have to DO something about it too. Thinking alone never made anyone successful. It's the doing that counts. Making sure that you go out there and DO the things you said you would. Prove to yourself that you can keep your word and you WILL reap the incredible rewards.

Maybe you think it could be too hard, too tough with all that's going on in your life. Well, as you know I am going to be reviewing some resources throughout the year that Tess got me for Christmas (I'll be posting a full list of them tomorrow) - here is the very first resource:

Gary Ryan Blaire is known as The Goals Guy. He is focused on allowing people to realise their goals and commit to success. He has a new programme called Got Resolutions which focuses on making sure that you keep to your resolutions for 2009 - and we know it's damn important right now more than ever. I don't want to give too much away but it's called Got Resolutions and it's ready now. What I can tell you is...

The program reveals the secrets to a step-by-step system for turning your Resolutions into reality. It actually explains how to attract and create the life you want in complete detail. NOTHING is left out.

You see, Gary is a master at strategic planning. He has taken some of the most sophisticated success strategies and distilled them down into an easy-to-use-system that really works.

Don't just take my word for it, here's what Best-Selling Author Brian Tracy has to say;

"Got Resolutions? is a serious program for serious people, who want to make serious and immediate change in their lives. There is no better way to start the year, and Gary Ryan Blair will show you how to finally turn your Resolutions into reality!"

I encourage you to take a look at the "Got Resolutions?" program and prepare to be excited and amazed!

I'd love your comments and reviews on this programme. If it is something that interests you please click here for more information.

Tomorrow I'll unveil the list of things that I will be reviewing over the coming weeks and months.

Kennedy

p.s. You can check out a video that explains the whole thing in more detail here.
p.p.s What am I doing right now? www.twitter.com.mindofkennedy to follow every moment.

Kennedy Clause

Ho ho ho, a Merry Christmas to you! I have something very special aboard my sleigh for you.

For Christmas Tess is buying me a towering amount of books, audio-books and other things related to therapy, marketing, self-help and motivation. This is great news for a whole bunch of reasons:

1. I will learn so much from them I am sure.
2. I will be passing information from these resources on to you throughout the year right here on this blog.
3. I will review each resource as and when I wade my way through it in full right here. That means you will be able to experience the whole thing with me right here, and if you find the review is encouraging or relevant to you then of course you can go ahead and get it. More importantly if you'd considered the thing before and after reading my thoughts and feelings on it you decide it's not for you then you can keep that £££ in your pocket!

Now - they won't be in my mits until Christmas Day so I have no idea what is in store for us just yet. However the day following boxing day I will post a full list of them here so that you can look forward to the reviews and even pick out the ones you want to watch out for in particular.

2009 is going to have even more in store for us and will include a REGULAR newsletter as well as a whole truck-load of other exciting features which will be exclusive to you right here. As soon as they are confirmed I will let you know every minute detail of what I have been planning now for 3 months.

Kennedy

Ensure you Insure - Major Announcement

The year is slowly coming to an end, yes I know you're just gearing up for Christmas but soon after we will all be kissing (or drinking) goodbye to 2008. As 2009 sets in, the risks associated with the economy are going to escalate and I have some findings, some news that could save you a lot of time, hassle and money.

If you deal with companies - and as I am sure you know, corporate clients are responsible for 98% of my income then we need to make certain that we reduce the risks of suffering in the times ahead.

When working for a company I often get paid on a 30 day invoice (and sometimes a 60 day invoice) which means after the work is done, my time is spent as are my expenses I am still waiting to be paid. More often than not we're able to insist on payment upon arrival at the event to deliver but with some of the larger (multinationals) this is not possible.

This generally does not cause much of a problem (apart from cashflow of course but we've learned to live with that) unless between the times of the delivery of services and the fulfillment of payment, the company were to go bankrupt. It could cause all kinds of problems and we would be out of pocket.

This is made even worse when for people like myself who relies on a few large clients as their business model losing one of them could cause problems particularly at this time. So what can we do to make sure that we do not fall victim to this?

Well I was having lunch with an insurance broker friend of mine and we got to talking about this very thing. I was delighted to hear that an insurance policy for protecting against clients with outstanding debts owed to us going bankrupt.

So if you are dealling with people who could be affected by this then make a call to your insurance broker and have then look in to this kind of protection where the insurance will pay out of your client were to go broke.

Looking out for you as always,
Kennedy

A Video Presentation

Hi, I found this video online and it really puts things in to perspective:



Enjoy!!

The Power of Words

YES! The Economy is getting tighter, you know as much as me that things are going to get tough and there is only one thing that we can do to survive it and that is to get better at marketing. The one area of marketing we all need to excel in is copy writing. "I can't write copy," "I don't have the skills to write," is that what you think? Great! Because my secret relies on the fact that you are a terrible writer. What could it be?

GO ON! Imagine I could share with you the 27 most powerful words in the English language that will literally have people rushing to hand you their money. It can be even simpler than that because believe it or not there is one simple question that once asked will generate more sales for you than ever before. I'm about to reveal all of this stuff plus a way you can discover the hidden benefits that already exist in your business.

IN FACT! I'll do better than that, I will get one of the greatest copywriters in the world to teach you himself. I've found what I think is the most amazing live seminar featuring Ted Nicholas where he goes through everything I just mentioned in phenomenal detail that even a novice could put to good use.

THE PROBLEM! The seminar was expensive. It was over £5,000 to attend but I have the whole hour and a half presentation on DVD, would you like one? Well the great news is that you can watch this at your leisure, you don't have the travel or accommodation expenses which could easily total your cost to in excess of £6,000 - and you can have all of this for just £24.99.

Have I gone mad? Perhaps, so please do take advantage of this before I see sense and raise the price to what it really should be. If you send me £24.99 right now I will get one of these incredible DVDs sent right out to you by first class mail. Then you can start creating the substantial income you deserve.

Kindest regards,
Kennedy
Unforgettable Events

p.s For less than the price of a meal for two you can literally transform the way you do business overnight and in the luxury of your own home.
p.p.s. If you're one of the first 25 to order this exclusive seminar now for only £24.99 I will also include a phenomenal presentation by Steven Pierce which will really put your success in to overdrive!

Why You Should Become a Junky

Hello hello - I've been a way for a little while as things are getting a little rushed here with Christmas in view just over the hill.

Once again I have been doing some snooping around in order to save you money and time in your marketing activities. I decided to test some direct mail and see how it would fair in modern world. A lot of the books and resources on direct mail are getting old now so I thought that I'd see how things fitted today.

I wrote a sales letter detailing one of my presentations and bought a list from a broker, had the whole thing sent out by second class mail and waited. The process cost me around £1,000. Was it worth it? Well I am pretty sure that direct mail works in selling to the public but there has always been a huge dangling question-mark over the effectiveness in British business to business selling.

I sell only to businesses and the list I selected was one of some very large companies - I thought I'd test at the top end of the market first. On the list are people like Bank of Ireland and the Royal Albert Hall - so extremely large organisations. I expected the worst.

Just before I tell you what happened I'll tell you that the 'masters' and 'gurus' out there tell us to expect 1% return on direct mail to a cold list like this. This would mean I should expect 2.3 people to respond to request more information about my offering. Then of that I should expect some kind of drop off so at best I'd be looking at closing one sale.

Within the next 5 days I received 7 emails asking for more information. The sales letter was hotter than molten rock in their hands as they contacted me to find out what I could offer them to transform their events! I am delighted with myself to say the least.

Now the second stage of the campaign boosted those 7 responses in to a truly phenomenal 32!

So ladies and gentlemen, direct mail works today and it even works in high level business to business. In the new year I will set myself the challenge of selling direct to consumers, people in their homes to verify that its even easier.

All you need is the ability to write good copy.

Kennedy

p.s. if you have any questions please let me know.

What Obama's Win REALLY proves!

Did you ever turn your mind to wonder why it is that Barack Obama won the presidential election? What was it that he had that the other runners did not? Was it his policies alone that won him a place as one of the most powerful men in the world? Absolutely not. We can learn from Obama in a big way and take note of his success.

The reason he was able to make those magnetic speeches, the reason he was able to attract all of those people to work in his favour was a belief that he held within himself that he was a success. No matter what happened, President or no President he was a success in his own mind, he had already made that decision.

YOu know how it is when you want something so badly that you think about it night and day. Then the thing doesn't happen and you feel terrible, well why is it that this is taking place? It's about the mind-set its about letting go and being happy, content and completely fulfilled within yourself that no matter what the outcome - you are successful anyway.

An example right now would be that I am almost done writing a book just for you, my friends the fellow therapist. Every day I sit here dedicating 3 hours to shutting off the telephone, locking my door and focusing on what I hope you will agree is to be a phenomenal resource on how to make great riches from blogging. I don;t rely on it, I know that even if you don't think it's the best book you have read on the subject, even if you feel you're unable to take the ideas and make masses of additional income and traffic to your website each and every day - even if none of that happens I know I will still be a success, I will still have achieved all of the things that I want to achieve. I am not reliant on your understanding.

Many people get too close to their projects and goals and forget to let go and allow them to happen, allow the elements to take hold and calve their way in to the lives of those who request them. It's like an author hoping his next book will be a huge success that people do want to talk about and tell everyone they know about their latest project. Of course they want that but it will not come by obsessing and focusing on that one element alone. We have to learn to let go.

Think of these like ordering from Amazon. YOu havea dream for that book, but you have to wait 3 days for it to come to you. If you obsess by wanting it to come to you sooner by, for example moving closer to Amazon HQ, well the book will get lost due to your change in address. This is the same for everything you want in you life right now.

Much more soon.

Kennedy

Seminar Application Questionnaire

Important information about this application:

You are applying for a 2 day intensive seminar of Marketing Emersion and Business Transformation (details are here). The total cost for both days is now at the reduced rate of £397 (or three installments of £135) only apply if you are serious about your commitment to not only surviving the economic storm and are feasibly able to attend BOTH days Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th January at a venue in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Seminar Application Form Complete ALL Fields
Your First Name:
Your Email:
How long have you been a therapist?:
What is your present income from therapy?:
How many clients do you see each week?:
Which marketing people have you studied?:
How long do you spend on marketing each month?:
How do you currently get most of your new clients?:
How much is your average client worth to you in pounds?:
Once submitted I will review each application and contact those who are successful.

Seminar Weekend Cancelled!!!

Read this important message - especially if you're already booked on the weekend seminar in January.
If you are already paid up you can expect to receive a full refund by the end of today. I have decided to UN-register every single person from the forthcoming Marketing Emersion and Business Transformation seminar that is scheduled for January 2009. WHY?

I woke up this morning (at 6am) in a cold sweat to the sound of hail stones pounding off the bedroom window. It came to me that perhaps some people don't actually realise what these courses are - in particular I sincerely worry about whether anyone is actually prepared for what I plan to deliver in the Business Transformation seminar on Sunday 18th January.

I now realise that I was being extremely stupid to think that just anyone should be permitted on the course and I mean this with a straight face seriousness that you might not be used to. So I am refunding everyone's money and wiping a clean slate.

Tomorrow at 12 midday I am going to re-launch the seminar. Yes, but with a difference. Wanting to come on this course is not enough, you actually have to be qualified to be there and take up one of the 25 seats.

Tomorrow - that's Saturday November 1st I will send out an email that contains a questionnaire - to be considered for the 2 day seminar the questions need to be answered and returned to me. In the coming week I will review them and decide who are the most qualified people to participate in this truly life changing event.

Kennedy - It's Just Not For Me

Really? Okay fine, leave the places for those who do want to discover these truly tested approaches to running a therapy business that literally no-one else has thought about. Systems that will have you spending less time looking for clients, can create results of easily making a regular - AUTOPILOT income of up to £4,000 per MONTH!

It sounds too good to be true - maybe you're wondering how it's so easy yet no one has ever done it. Simply because most therapists follow each other and what they do and have always done the same things. It takes someone to look at the business from a new perspective to see that we've all been doing it wrong for years.

PLUS I have trialed it. One person (who will remain unnamed until the event itself) who you probably know quite well, is already piloting this and making a phenomenal success of it.

Newcastle Is Too Far to Travel!

All I can say is bullshit. If you're not willing to make the effort to drive for a few hundred miles inside of your own country in order to make your business a success then quite frankly you dont deserve a place on this course - to be honest you don't have the commitment or mental capacity to succeed in this or any other business.

If you want to mirror successful people (which we all should be doing) look at me for example, I have mentors who, combined cost me over £2,000 EVERY MONTH. I have to FLY all over the damn world to spend any time with them (this time costs me around £5,000 for around 3 hours of their time by the way!) - this is a cheap deal. The travel is just another way of showing yourself, your mind that you are driven, you are focused on success and you will do whatever it takes to do that.

Once your mind realises the sheer amount of effort you are willing to put in to achieving your dreams lifestyle, your life goals then it will be irreversibly set on helping you do just that.

The two day course WILL change the way you think. It will change the way you feel. The way you act and the person who you are. You are literally going to leave on Sunday with blueprints of how to reinvent your business that is absolutely for the year 2009, that is success focused and no longer relies on running adverts every week in the hope that new clients will call.

So - to attend this you must complete all of the information in the questionnaire on Saturday. You must email it back to me and I will truly analyse each one to make sure that everyone who attends this seminar is qualified to do so. I dont want one idiot spoiling it for the rest, holding us back or tripping us up.

IMPORTANT!!!!!
Applications close at midnight on Monday November 3rd
Late comers will NOT be admitted. If I don't get your application there is NO WAY you can attend this event.

It will STILL be taking place on the same weekend as previously advertised. Saturday and Sunday January 17th and 18th. Organised specifically so that you don't miss a single weekday! (how VERY thoughtful of me!)

Kennedy
http://therapybusiness.blogspot.com/

p.s. ALL attendees will benefit from:
DAY 1 (17 January) - Marketing Submersion, I will teach you every bean of information on how to sell your services and attdcat more clients
DAY 2 (18th January) - Business Transformation, I walk you step by step through the trial we are continuing to carry out of a brand-new business model. How to promote it, how to dominate your market with it and reap the rewards of a regular income where one has never existed before.
BOOK - A free copy of a brand new book that will be launching soon which will sell for £47.00
GOLD MEMBERSHIP - 2 months of gold membership that includes a members forum, a monthly newsletter, monthly audio CD and private 1-2-1 coaching with me.
3 ATTENDEES - will receive invitations to join my Mastermind group with access directly to me for personal and professional development. I'll select the top 3 performers from the seminar myself.

Application will commence on Saturday at midday and closes for GOOD on Monday at midnight.

Credit Munch

Worried about how it's going to effect you? A pan of action is in your midst for surviving so relax!

The truth is that less people will be spending money on our services. Its a fact so let's stop burying our heads in the sand and deal with this. If we don't we'll fail and even more otherwise phenomenal people will face terrible futures of bankruptcy.

I have put a lot of thought in to how it is we can survive, and I have the solution. In a time when there is less money around and people are wanting to spend less and less, we have less clients etc etc it is easy to say that the solution is to lower our prices. The truth is that if you lower your prices you will face even tougher times and find survival almost impossible.

In fact what we must do is increase our prices. Let me explain. You see, the people who do not have the money to spend on our services or who have prioritised other things over seeing their therapist will not come to us no matter how low our prices are. If they've decided to save that money for Christmas then they don't care if you're just charging £50 for a 15 hour session - they still refuse to pay it.

However those who do have the money, who have decided that the therapy we provide is something they want to keep - these people will still use us even if our prices are little higher. If they have the money they will spend it one what it is we have to sell, if they don then it does not matter how low our prices are they still won't buy.

You are better to make an extra few pounds from each client who can afford services than to make less off them. So trust me, it is time to add a few extra pounds to your fee and you need to do it immediately.

How good are your detections skills?

Just how good are your detections skills when you see a client? It’s easy to miss the obvious but I find there is always a key to the problem it’s just a matter of finding what or where it is.

>A client came to see me a few years ago who had been to several doctors and many therapists but still felt really ill. There appeared to be no clue as to why. She had tried all different diets, supplements, homeopathic remedies, pills, antibiotics etc but never felt any better. Specialist after specialist made no difference. Symptoms ranged from absolutely no taste in her mouth no matter what she was eating, sore throat, aching all over, weak, dizzy, diarrhoea, nausea to name but a few.

I decide to use Kinesiology as there is no guesswork with it. In case you are not familiar with Kinesiology it’s muscle testing so you can establish if there is a weakness in any particular area of the body and what that weakness will respond to. Maybe a flower remedy, vitamin or mineral or what I particularly like using Kinesiology for is food sensitivity testing.

I think it’s rather spooky. Once you have tested all the muscles to see that they are strong or if they are not to go through the process of seeing what they need to become strong you then place different foods that they eat onto their body or next to their jaw (please do let them put it into their mouths!) and test all the different groups of muscles again. If they are sensitive to something one or more sets of muscles will go weak and there’s nothing that the client can do about it. You remove the food and the muscle is strong and the client can see and feel for themselves what effect that food is having on their body. When you put the food next to their jaw or on their body the muscles go weak.

So I went through the full session with the client, making the necessary adjustments etc and made an appointment for food sensitivity testing the following session. I did the session and to my surprise nothing came up. We went over and over what she ate on a regular basis etc. There must be something else I said. “What do you eat regularly that’s not on this list”? The only thing she had not mentioned was the fruit she ate everyday so obviously I needed to test this as well.

I started testing the fruit she ate and as I picked up the kiwi fruit she said “No don’t put that against my skin because it will blister”. I asked her how many she ate a day and why if they made her skin blister and she replied that she ate 2 a day because they are good for you. Good for some people but you’re not one of them!

It turns out that she put a pair of gloves on in order to handle the Kiwi fruit, sliced the top off and scooped the flesh out with a spoon and tipped it down the back of her throat twice a day!!! Needless to say the advice was don’t eat the Kiwi fruit anymore! Problem solved. So look for the obvious and use your detection skills!

Sue and Nigel Barker

w. www.ultimatetransformation.co.uk
t. 01884 861677
e. info@ultimatetransformation.co.uk

Beware – Presenting Problems Are Not Always The Real Problems!

Here is an incredibly interesting article from Sue and Nigel at Ultimate Transformation:

"We recently completed a series of sessions with a client who originally came to see us because he was impotent, and this was giving him serious unhappiness in his efforts to start a relationship, never mind find a fulfilling and lasting relationship. He had been to his GP who had checked him out, and he was "fully functional" on waking in the morning so a physical cause seemed unlikely. We agreed to take him on as a client because we felt that our skills and training were suited to his difficulty.

Initially things did not go well. In the beginning he had been clear that his problems with his ex-wife were at the root of his difficulties and the initial consultation seemed to bear that out. However, once we started the interventions two things became clear: firstly that the presenting issue was not what was really causing the difficulty, and secondly that the client was holding back on us and not really taking ownership of what he wanted to achieve. It was almost as if he expected to have a "silver bullet", that we would wave a magic wand and all would be well. Additionally, it was difficult to maintain rapport with him.

At this point we got tough. After discussing the situation between the two of us we came to the conclusion that we would have to explain very clearly the commitment needed from the client as well as us, and this we duly did. After an initial negative reaction, the client responded very positively and opened up not only his thinking but his whole approach to our sessions.

This was the breakthrough he needed. Over the course of the next two sessions we identified that although the difficulties with his ex-wife undoubtedly compounded and aggravated the issues, at the root was a belief that all people, particularly women, were evil creatures whose purpose in life was to cause him unhappiness and to take what they could from him. This belief was very strong as it stemmed from his earliest memories, both from his bad experiences with his mother and from watching and seeing his mother's behaviour with his father, siblings and others. Along with this belief were unconscious decisions that did not serve him and left him with difficulties making connections with people and unable to get emotional or emotionally involved.

We were then able to map new, empowering beliefs for him using submodality techniques as well as use transderivational techniques to address the unhelpful decisions and emotions that were getting in his way. Having addressed beliefs, decisions and emotions we moved on to look at his value systems in the context of relationships and personal interactions, resolving the issues in the value hierarchy and the values conflicts and leaving him with an empowering value system that will serve him well. In the final session we used a hypnotic induction to seal in the work we had done, reinforcing the new beliefs, decisions and values that will help him and not hinder him. The man who came in with his head down looking at the floor went out with his head held high and a huge grin on his face!
Sue & Nigel Barker

w. www.ultimatetransformation.co.uk
t: 01884 861677
e. info@ultimatetransformation.co.uk

MoD and Your Customers

You've probably read today's news about the Ministry of Defense losing the details of 100,000 people in the armed forces. How safe does that make you feel? It certainly doesn't evoke a trust as one of the highest security services in the world can't keep things from going astray.

When attracting more clients to our therapy practices we need to think about why it is people would say no, what possible reasons could people make in their minds to pass by our phenomenal services? Once we have identified these things then it is the job of our marketing to deal with and eliminate every possible point of objection.

For example, they might not have trust in what we do. Perhaps they think it's all a bit new-age and that they'll be expected to rub rooster feet on to their cheeks while singing "kum bi ah my lord". We need to place ourselves in a position of trust. How can we do that?

• We can make sure that we give our credentials, showing that we are experienced and have had great success with what it is we do.
• We can actually deal with the issue my mentioning it out loud - instead of fooling ourselves in to thinking that these people will not be skeptical of our work, acknowledge the fact and give them encouragement and peace of mind through answering questions.
• Giving a way to ensure satisfaction, some kind of promise that has an impact on them that indirectly states that you are extremely confident in what you do.
• Create safety, security and talk about confidentiality. Some thing I have said to clients I work with that I have found very powerful is:

"It is my policy that if I see you in the street I will not speak first. The reason is that some of my clients dont want their friends and others knowing their private business. So if I wave to you while crossing the street that could put you in an uncomfortable situation where you'd have to explain. However if you're fine with acknowledging me then of course I'll do that right back but it will be your call."

This is EXTREMELY powerful!

What Clients Want to Hear

Hello, its very early in the morning, before I head off to Budapest I thought I would share this with you as I feel it has huge benefits.

So many therapists are telling people the features of their service, on their websites, business cards and when they talk to people about what they do they tell them about NLP, hypnotherapy, massage and aromatherapy and in all honesty, if you just change this one thing you will hugely increase the number of new clients you attract.

Instead of features, you should be highlighting benefits, appealing to their emotions by telling them what the benefits of your therapy is, not what you do to get there. So when you're just about to say 'I'm a hypnotherapist' stop for a moment and think 'what is the result, what is the benefit of that to this person?' and then you will quickly find yourself punching all of their mental buttons to making them want to hire you.

As the question, 'so what does that do for me?' over and over again until you have an answer.

I'll be back soon - I'll still be sending your emails while I'm away :)

Depp Understands

You may have heard the news that Johnny Depp will become the highest paid actor for his appearance in the 4th installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies from Disney. Yes he's being paid an upfront fee of $56million for being the star of this next movie.

Wouldn't it be nice? Yah okay he's a one off and a superb actor but we can take a leaf out of his book. By having his fee set so incredibly high we are shown how highly Depp is thought of by his employers (Disney) and that they feel he is absolutely deservant of that fee. Now to fans and onlookers he is perceived as one of the greatest actors in the world - if not of all time.

This is what perception does and pricing has a huge impact on perception. There are a lot of extremely talented therapists who are greatly under charging for their services - £60-150 to stop someone smoking is insanely low. You're saving them money on all of those cigarettes, you're saving them money in illness and you are saving their lives! If you're charging just a piddly £60 then you are telling your clients that you take what you've got for granted and you're probably not very good because you're willing to work for buttons!

So many people are afraid of prices and charging what they are worth, they're afraid that because others are charging stupidly low amounts of money that they can;t charge highly - its actually nothing to do with your fee its everything to do with you ability to sell.

Think about your fees, and think about Johnny!

Tough Times for The Therapist

The economy is screwed up, the media are to blame and the world's governments are trying to fix it. In the meantime we are all to plod on trying to make our way through the murky undergrowth of business. And it's hard.

I have been a business mentor now for a year, and many of those clients are fellow therapists. Each time I speak to them I become saddened with how this abundance of negativity is effecting the way that they attract business. Fewer and fewer new clients are making the call to book appointments and long term clients are dropping off like flies.

When your mortgage, your life and livelihood rely on your skills of helping others yet no one is seeking you to help them it becomes worrying. It's times like these we need to stop worrying, we need to pick ourselves up and realise that we can come back - fighting fit and still reign supreme.

Instead of looking at how bad a state we are in we need to adopt the Success mindset, we need to look at the way in which we find ourselves and spot opportunities in that which will allow us to succeed in ways we never experienced before.

Look at the market you used to work before all of this and say goodbye to it, its you that needs to make the shift and you need to make it now. Look for changes, look out for how you can use the situation and combine your skills to help people.

Stress levels are high, how can we help with that? Money is tight, how can we help people save? Time to change.

Slicing The Cost & Keeping the Price

Yesterday I posted on how we can take advantage of the fact that in the times ahead which are said to be bleak where credit is concerned, people will be hammering their credit cards. Today we talk more about cash and making things affordable but without cutting down our prices.

I am totally against sales, I am adverse to money offs and 2-4-1 offers. They make you look cheap and like a discount store and I am neither. So yes people are looking at things with more scrutiny these days, wondering if there are ways to cut expenses and there are ways us therapists can make things a lot easier for clients when it comes to paying for our services.

Basically we're talking about installments. Whether you see your clients weekly, monthly or as a simple one-off you can make it look very easy to pay you fee - no matter how much you're charging.

Let me show you how. Say you charge £550 to stop someone smoking (btw if this sounds unreasonable to you then you NEED to change your mind set), instead of someone having to fork out the whole 550 all at once, you take 50% on booking wither over the phone by credit card (see yesterday's article on why we should all be accepting credit cards now) and then the remaining amount on their arrival at the appointment. WHY? This does three extremely important things:

1. It looks cheaper and make sit more affordable/easier for them to pay.
2. You can say "goodbye" to all those cancellations, once someone commits financially to something then you can be sure they'll turn up.
3. It actually increases your effectiveness and multiplies your results. Since a financial commitment has already been made they are starting to solve the problems for themselves even before they arrive at your door.

There you have it. More soon.

Credit and Customers

It seems the media are taking this whole 'credit crunch' and got excited, and as ever when the media decide to highlight something the public take it as gospel.

Our customers are starting to panic over how much things are costing and are locking up their bank accounts - and things can only get worse. We're entrepreneurs and that means we're enterprising people. We need to take the situation we're faced with and act fast to allow our customers to remain using our services.

HOW? Well dropping prices is not the answer, as you know I am extremely adverse to price dropping and competing on price, it's a loser's game. So we simply make it easier for our customers to pay.

How many therapists do you know who accept credit cards? In times when credit is a pain, people whack up their cards and if we are able to accept them then all the better. The easier we make it for people to part with their money, the more likely they are to do it. Credit cards are a mere way of delaying payment, tomorrow I'll write an article on another way of using this to make sure customers find it easy to pay us for our services.

A Little Early for Romance?

Is it early in the day to be thinking about Valentines? Absolutely not. To be ahead of the game start thinking about it now - what is it you can offer couples at this time of the year to improve their relationships?

It's the time of year when most strain is on relationships, we've just gotten over Christmas and now we are about to be forced in to romanticism - so the therapist to the rescue. Think about how you can use your specific therapies to unlock the romantic potential that is bottled up inside every one of your clients right now. How you can improve their love lives, release stress and make this coming Valentines one that they will love to remember.

A great idea would be to send out some information to men in your local area telling them just how much their ladies would love a therapy session, reflexology, head massage or whatever it is you do - and how it makes the perfect Valentine's gift.

Time is of the essence.

A New Blog for Therapists

This is my brand new commitment to you, the therapist. This will be a place to share success and strategies for achieving that success in the therapy business.

Throw out all of those generalised marketing books, audio courses and expensive binders - I'm going to take you step by step in to a world of marketing and business success that works for therapists and their clients all over the world.