Published in April 2019, Lori Gottlieb’s Maybe You Should Talk To Someone very briefly touches upon a new but fast-catching concept of Brand Strategists, especially for Therapists. The concept revolves around how, as a part of setting their business, therapists (and other key workers in allied health services) need to consult branding consultants to position their offering.
If you are a small business owner in the allied health service, I know I have caught your attention. While the thought of promoting such a sacred practice might be off-putting and you might even question if it’s ethical, let me tell you three important things.
• It is ethical
• It is an absolute necessity
• It is not rocket science
As a small business owner, you wear multiple hats. You go from running the show to acting as the HR, from managing accounts and insurance to filing taxes and just about everything in between. The cherry on top – when it comes to health care and allied services, you also have to constantly and continuously educate yourself on the latest literature. All this can seem very overwhelming and the easiest ball to drop here would be the marketing one.
Although the age of the internet, technology, and social media has increased our reach, it has also, unfortunately, decreased our attention span. So today, just having a website (which is the digital address of your business) isn’t enough. It is the need of the hour to learn basic concepts of growth and scale to give your business a genuine shot at growing.
Here’s the good part – you don’t need to invest a lot of your time in this. Like our favorite productivity guru and author, James Clear says about Continuous Improvement – small changes and improvements every day, with the expectation that those small improvements will add up to something significant.
So, here are 10 things you could incorporate into your business for exponential growth.
1. Networking:
One key yet often ignored element when it comes to growth is networking. Media and popular culture have led us to believe that networking can only happen at Great Gatsby level parties and I am here to tell you, that’s not the case. Attend conferences, and online webinars, explore LinkedIn and take the initiative to get to know others in your field. This is how you can get cross-references.
2. Content & Copy:
The first impression is the last. When prospective clients and partners check you out, it is imperative for your website to clearly define what your service offering is. It should include three main messages
- What do you offer?
- How will it make the client’s life better?
- What do they need to do to get it?
It is important to note that your copy should be as succinct and as compelling as possible.
Pro Tip: Social Proof! It would be comforting for your prospective clients to see your credentials and accolades clearly displayed on the website. It would also be a good idea to get words of recommendation from former colleagues, mentors, and professors!
3. User Design:
When a prospective client comes to your website, they should be able to follow a path that will lead them to the following conclusion – I want to get help, and here’s how I can get it. From navigating your website to submitting a request, the entire process should be very seamless. This effort might seem daunting, but it’s a one-time effort and some experts can plan this journey for you.
4. Customer Journey:
Another one-time activity that reaps huge benefits is that of customer journey mapping. It is something as simple as the total number of interactions you have with your prospective client (lead) before they become your customers. Following the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) model, you can easily categorize prospective customers into these categories and design actions that will drive decisions. For example: in the awareness stage you could use social media as a tool to offer immense value and also portray yourself as a leader in your space.
5. Call to Action:
Are you accessible? Does your prospective client know that? The simplest way to do this is to have multiple CTAs across your website and social media pages. Enable private messaging on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Have a click-here-to-request-a-call-back button on your website in multiple spaces. This will subconsciously push the leads to submit their information and thereby becoming a part of your reach.
6. Social Media Marketing:
Like it not, use it or not, social media platforms are here to stay and those who can crack their code are winning at growth. My advice would be to pick one platform and gain mastery of that instead of getting on all platforms and spreading yourself too thin. Social Media can be used in the first two stages of your user journey where you educate your clients on not only your services but their impact and long-term benefits.
7. Location:
Another important feature is location. How will your clients know where to physically find you? At the footer of your website, do add a Contact Us link or a map that will clearly show your clients your address and some neighboring places. If you are on the east coast, you wouldn’t want someone from the west coast to book your services only to realize the distance last moment! Adding your location to your website will also influence your SEO.
Pro Tip: Add locations that you service as well, for example, you could add all locations in a 20-mile radius and claim leadership in that area. Google will pick up on that and start listing you in those locations.
8. Thought Leadership:
The best use of your spare time is either reading or writing! Building this consistent habit will help you in multiple ways. It will help your prospective clients understand your thought process, it will help you gain collaborations from like-minded folks. It will establish your authority over the subject. The best habits are those, that are done consistently and hence I recommend you start slow with 1-2 blogs per month and increase over time. If you are not convinced yet, read about how James Clear, Ryan Holiday, and Mark Mason have found success.
9. Podcast:
Too busy to pen down your thoughts and structure your ideas? Voice your opinion! You can do this by starting a podcast of your own or going on to podcasts that your audience listens to and sharing your unstructured free flow thoughts. If you are slightly nervous in the beginning, you can start with a Q&A where you share your expert opinion!
10. Dispensing Content:
One of the major benefits of social media is the reach and autonomy it gives us. It’s good to remember that content is king and will retain that position for years to come. While we have shared a number of ways above for you to put forward your ideas and thoughts, another creative way to compile all of them and dispense them would be creating an eBook! Once every month or even once every quarter, you could take pieces of your best-performing content and give it an extra push by sharing it with your audience in one complied eBook.
If you are looking to grow your practice, ensure that you follow at least 5 of the above things. There are a couple of them in there that are one-time tasks. You could also book a free discovery call with me to see how I could help you break into some of these things.