Representatives for all of the major massage organizations are getting together, again, this week. I’m of the opinion that this is generally a good thing. When all of us are working towards a common goal, the chances of success are a lot higher.

But, not all is sunshine and rainbows. Go read Laura Allen’s blog post to get the full details.

My biggest concern is that one of the organizations, the ABMP, has created a proposal for minimum education standards for massage schools. As a massage educator and a member of the profession, I would usually get behind this sort of thing. However, the ABMP has made the proposal for inclusion in the closed door meetings with the following wording:

There is no step in this proposal to obtain input from the broader massage profession or from other health-care or bodywork organizations during this project. The reason is simple—the work group is simply performing a work task in writing learning outcomes and objectives for job tasks defined by surveys already conducted by FSMTB and NCBTMB. It doesn’t matter what stakeholders, or other groups think should be taught or shouldn’t be taught. 

Did you catch the money quote? “ It doesn’t matter what stakeholders, or other groups think …”

Um, yes, it does matter. The stakeholders, your dues paying members, massage professionals, educators, and school administrators all have a stake in the outcome. That’s why we are called ‘stakeholders’ and you ignore us at your peril.

Any organization who ignores the stakeholders risks becoming irrelevant.

So, go read Laura’s blog post. Leave her a comment or come back and comment here. What do you think?

Last week’s #massagechat was all about internet advertising. There was some advice and a lot of people sharing their experiences. Let’s see how the conversation went.

I started the conversation out with a question about using local business listing services.

kelliawise Has anyone tried one of the local business aggregator sites like RelyLocal?

aliciadmassage @kelliawise never heard of it

TiffanyBlackden I think we paid for ONE other advertisement on a directory, that has since become defunct…massageangels.com Anyone seen it?

TiffanyBlackden @kelliawise They *used* to be on the front page of Google for local search…back before Google Panda updates.

TiffanyBlackden @kelliawise It was a $39 lifetime membership. It gave us another spot on the front page of Google for 3 yrs or so.

kelliawise A friend of mine owns the local RelyLocal franchise. They list local business, do some FB promo & help improve inbound links.

kelliawise @TiffanyBlackden Front page on Google was probably worth $39/year.

TiffanyBlackden @kelliawise What’s the benefit, Kelli? I haven’t heard about the way they work…

kelliawise @TiffanyBlackden They are supposed to help your Google ranking. It has helped a couple biz I know, but not all.

aliciadmassage @kelliawise our newspaper here has a service like that I think. I have tried to get our owner to do it but no luck.

TiffanyBlackden @kelliawise I’m curious how they do it…since we work so much on ranking local sites…I’ll go check ‘em out.

TiffanyBlackden @aliciadmassage Are they already showing up locally, on Google, Alicia?

kelliawise @TiffanyBlackden Part of google ranking is inbound links from high reputation websites. If you don’t rank well, it can help.

kelliawise Better, of course, is having great SEO built in to your website.

aliciadmassage @TiffanyBlackden that’s a good question. Not sure

bethanybob @kelliawise It doesn’t look like there is much happening on RelyLocal for Portland, Maine — not many businesses listed there.

aliciadmassage @kelliawise SEO?

TiffanyBlackden SEO is SO important to local biz. RT @kelliawise: Better, of course, is having great SEO built in to your website.

kelliawise @bethanybob They need a better sales person!

kelliawise SEO = Search Engine Optimization. RT @aliciadmassage: @kelliawise SEO?

TiffanyBlackden @kelliawise Right…but only one site referring doesn’t make THAT much of an impact, they seem to be new, too

allissahaines @garyblackden I have a resource page of other local MT’s. But I don’t charge them for it.

tmh_massage I’ve done 2 $50 ads through facebook. Got 5 or 6 new likes but no new clients…yet.

garyblackden Do any of you advertise with other local therapists (non-competing skill sets) websites or have them on yours for $?

kelliawise Or PT, DC, Naturopath? Wonder if it’s legal. RT @garyblackden: Do any of you advertise with other local therapists?

bethanybob @garyblackden Not at the moment; a local group was going to start an on-line directory of alt. health resources.

garyblackden @allissahaines did they tend to reciprocate by sending leads when u were taking new clients or link back to you in some way?

RavenTravillian Apart from kickbacks, I can’t imagine what the issue might be. RT @kelliawise: Or PT, DC, Naturopath? Wonder if its legal.

shareserenity Anyone else get a call from united work force? I checked there website. Prices up to 20,000

allissahaines @garyblackden YUP. Lots of reciprocation and a few free massages & lunches here & there. (that’s legal here)

aliciadmassage “@MassageProCe: I know some of the most amazing people in the world~ Most of them are massage therapists ”

Someone asked about advertising in the phone book or on their online directory

@BarryHatfieldMT: ad in the phone book for those who dont use net. Anybody get ppl in from that?

allissahaines @BarryHatfieldMT I don’t even know people who use the phone book anymore.

kelliawise Not a single one. RT @BarryHatfieldMT: ad in the phone book for those who dont use net. Anybody get ppl in from that?

bethanybob @BarryHatfieldMT What’s a phone book?

tmh_massage I worked for a phone book company for a while. It is not worth advertising with them.

TiffanyBlackden @BarryHatfieldMT It’s been 9 yrs since our last ‘yellow pages’ ad… 85% of people looking for new business are looking online.

And we talked about Facebook ads and Google Adwords

tmh_massage @kelliawise I got $75 free for Google Adwords. I didn’t even get a single click

kelliawise Could it be that the failure/success with FB and Google ads is because of the market segments/search terms you chose?

garyblackden @tmh_massage We noticed that the longer U use the adwords, even with a lower budget, the more action there was.

ABMPmassage @tmh_massage What search terms were you targeting with your ads?

kelliawise @garyblackden How long did it take to start seeing real results?

aliciadmassage @TiffanyBlackden where are the other 15% looking? Just curious.

shareserenity Any search terms out there that are really “catching fish”?

bethanybob @kelliawise I think my FB ad campaign failed due to my inexperience. I’m not solid on my SEO, or even what terms to use.

TiffanyBlackden @aliciadmassage yellow pages, local papers, asking for referrals…billboards?

One of my favorite quotes of the night:

aliciadmassage @bethanybob it’s not a failure. You still learned something.

ABMPmassage @bethanybob The nice thing w/ FB is it’s pay-per-click, so if you run several ads and do some a/b testing you can find success.

TiffanyBlackden That’s what marketing is, sometimes-learning!RT @aliciadmassage: @bethanybob its not a failure. You still learned something.

bethanybob @ABMPmassage @kelliawise @aliciadmassage Thanks, guys. I got frustrated with it at the time, so I’ll try again soon

tmh_massage What are some of the good keywords that people have had success with?

ABMPmassage @bethanybob And you aren’t losing $ while you refine your campaign, because you only pay when someone clicks (results!).

garyblackden @shareserenity your city and massage(or massage therapy ect) has always proven strong.

bethanybob @TiffanyBlackden Marketing: trying 10 different methods and hoping at least one of them works, right?

And sending texts for last minute openings, off topic but we all need to know (Barry is a great source of topics for me – Thanks dude for asking such great questions!)

BarryHatfieldMT A bit off topic but – does anyone send txt’s for clients who opt in for late notice openings (or other reasons)?

aliciadmassage @BarryHatfieldMT yes i text and email. Some clients I confirm with text

allissahaines @BarryHatfieldMT Nah. I stick with the emails. texts get too messy. But I think @stephlasch does.

tmh_massage @BarryHatfieldMT Check out Google Voice. You can make calls and send texts and keep it separate from your personal cell phone.

And keywords! This is going to be the topic for this week.

kelliawise I was going to suggest that for next week’s topic. RT @tmh_massage: What are some of the good keywords?

bethanybob @ABMPmassage Very true! I think that’s why I was willing to try it at the time. I have a modest, flexible budget.

tmh_massage @kelliawise I’ll be here for that one!

TiffanyBlackden @bethanybob …then *keep doing* the ones that work.

aliciadmassage @BarryHatfieldMT nope. I only use it for a small client base right now.

bethanybob @TiffanyBlackden Exactly!

Next week’s topic: Finding the right keywords & search terms

I promised everyone that I would have some homework that would really help in this discussion. Here it is:

I want you to go to Google’s free Adwords Keyword tool. This is the link but it may not work for you. If not, just google Google adwords keyword tool.

Do a search on the following phrase “massage therapy [your city] [your state]“. For example, I would type in “massage therapy lacey wa”.

You’re going to see a screen of search terms. Next to each of those search terms (or phrases), you will see how many advertisers are bidding for a particular keyword, so you’ll know how competitive the term is, you’ll see the global 12 month average of the number of people searching for that term, and you’ll see a 12 month average if you specified a location or language.

Have a copy of this handy for next week’s discussion and we’ll talk about what terms you should be optimizing your site for and some strategies to do that.

Meanwhile, you can post below the number of global searches for you initial search term. Mine = 46. That’s not a lot of people looking for that exact term. Should I be optimizing my site for that, or something else? Think about it.

#massagechat – Advertising on the Internet

This week’s #massagechat topic will be “advertising on the Internet”. We start at 10pm ET/ 7pm PT. A link to the instructions are up there to the right of the logo. All you need is a twitter account, and that’s free. Come join us!

Your appointments are too long

It’s great to see someone actually write about this, and Dan has really nailed it. I have done the 15 minute acute care appointments in the past. Clients love them – they can squeeze in a quick 15 minute appointment during their lunch hour and still have time to get a bite to eat.

FSMTB CE solution is worse than the problem.

Laura Allen, bless her heart, is keeping us updated on legislative and organizational proposals that impact our profession. If you teach CEs, or take CEs, this blog post is a must read. I also recommend reading the comments as they are exceptional.

In breaking news: Seth Godin continues to be brilliant. His blog posts are so short and to the point, you have no excuse not to read them.

Paul Ingraham, of Save Yourself, gives us a peak into how much work goes into each of his articles. He does this by showing how thorough he is with footnotes. It’s a fun read and Save Yourself is a wonderful resource for you to educate yourself and your clients.

Peter Shallard, the shrink for entrepreneurs (hint: you are one if you have a private practice or clinic) has a humdinger on accountability for the solo entrepreneur.

You have plenty of good reading for the weekend. Don’t forget to join us for #massagechat on Sunday and talk live about internet advertising for massage therapists.

A story

Here’s something I’ve kept under my hat for the last 3 years: my father had cancer. While he fought the good fight, it’s been obvious for the last year that he was losing the battle.

In October, I managed a trip home to visit him. He’d just had another bad couple of weeks in the hospital following days and days of endless vomiting, weight loss, and severe dehydration. That’s when they found the mets in his brain. I saw him while he looked pretty peppy, all things considered. We had a great visit over the course of a week.

It was to be the last time I saw him alive.

When he lived to Thanksgiving I was surprised. When he lived to Christmas, I was shocked. But by the end of January, I was trying to decide when I would fly home to help out with sitting with him and taking some of the burden off my family back home.

My dad - I miss him.

On January 31st, I got a text message at 5:30 am saying I should get home NOW. Within a couple of hours, I had a plane ticket and was on my way home. I made sure there was money in the bank for plane tickets, bills, and spending money. I was calling clients from airports to cancel for the next week. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be gone.

This meant I would have no income for at least a week. I had to pay for a last minute plane ticket – even bereavement fares are very expensive. I had other expenses – like flowers, clothes for a funeral, and on and on.

Be Prepared

Would you be able to survive an emergency that would not only cost you a couple of thousand dollars plus a loss of income for a week? I’ve talked before about having an emergency fund. This is the kind of emergency that fund will cover. My thanks to Wes K for the great advice given to me so many years ago. That one sentence (always keep 6 months of take home pay in the bank) has saved me on more than one occasion.

This was also the topic in one of our past #massagechats (the one before my quick trip home). The rule of thumb is to keep enough money in the bank to pay all of your bills, personal and business, for the amount of time it would take you to recover from major surgery. At least 6 weeks and up to 6 months.

We also talked about having your client list handy in case you have to contact them to cancel appointments.

Speaking from experience, emergencies happen. Be prepared.

Since I’ve run out of ideas for archiving the weekly massagechat, I’m going to start writing up a summary.

Last night’s topic was Safety & Security. For people who do outcalls, work evenings or weekends, being safe is important.

Having a dog in the office (a Husky mix was mentioned and I doubt the effectiveness of something the size of a Chihuahua).

@LuMuellerKaul: I feel better leaving the receptionist alone in the evening when she has her dog in the office.

But for someone without a dog, an alarm system was mentioned.

@40Place: We have an alarm system with panic buttons in every massage room and reception.

@Indust_Massage: @40Place panic buttons are a great idea.  remember to place them on the opposite side of the room from the door.

@40Place: @Indust_Massage Yes, They are also wireless so if the therapist gets a weird feeling they can carry it with them.

The best advice seemed to be prevention.

@bethanybob: @kelliawise I stay safe by never closing alone. Whether its the boss, co-worker, or both, they see each client that comes in.

@aliciadmassage At the spa, we have two people with any male client, “old” or new.

@Indust_Massage: How many work in offices by themselves?  Or do most have other therapists around?

@LuMuellerKaul: I feel safe by having clear boundaries , working in a medical environment, and by having self-defense experience.

@LuMuellerKaul: We leave it up to the therapist whether theyre ok with closing by themselves. Usually not with new clients.

@bethanybob: I used to do out-calls. I definitely feel more comfortable having a space and knowing one of the hairstylists is in the salon.

For those doing outcalls, always make sure someone knows where you are going and who the client is.

@aliciadmassage: I dont go to any motel rooms and I text my husband the clients name, address and ph # wherever I go

RT @bethanybob: @aliciadmassage I used to do that, too. I texted when I got there, and I texted when I left.

@LuMuellerKaul: @kelliawise Not really. I dont think much about the rather improbable cases. I do think some people are overly concerned.

@aliciadmassage: @bethanybob I only do outcalls for people who cant or wont come to the spa. Its good money

@LuMuellerKaul: With outcalls, Ive also left info with my wife. But Ive never felt threatened in a massage setting.

@aliciadmassage: @kelliawise I only work on people my clients have referred.

I asked if anyone had turned down a location based on lighting, location, and other safety concerns. I had an offer for a less expensive office space, but there was little outside lighting and the neighborhood was a little too industrial.

@aliciadmassage: @kelliawise sounds like you made the right decision! Im sure your clients agree and appreciate it

@LuMuellerKaul: @kelliawise hmm. Id turn that down because clients wouldnt like it. Good location makes good business.

In the realm of prevention, we discussed other means of avoiding trouble.

@Indust_Massage: Confidence is the number one deteriant to bad behavior.  If you act as if you are in control, less chance of situation.

@LuMuellerKaul: Exactly my point. @Indust_Massage I had to threaten v iolence only once, and that was not massage-related.

@aliciadmassage: Professional boundaries that dont waver help too

@Indust_Massage: @LuMuellerKaul I always error on the side of caution.  Too many years seeing the victims AFTER.

@LuMuellerKaul: Its weird how many dont hesitate being in a car with someone they barely know, but when its about massage theyre worried.

@Indust_Massage After 13 years, we have never had a situation that was a “safety & security” concern. But we look prepared.

@allissahaines Hi everyone! I share an office and do the ‘pretend someone else is there’ a lot!

@Indust_Massage I don’t fear for my safety, but I worry about my staff. I have staff that works onsite with companies that have shift work.

Of course, new practitioners want more ideas of how to stay safe when they are just starting out and don’t have the confidence of the more experienced.

@bethanybob I worry about my safety because I’m fresh out of school, lacking confidence, and I’m unassertive. Any suggestions?

@Indust_Massage @bethanybob do you have a safety plan? What is your work enviroment? sole office, etc?

@allissahaines @bethanybob Practice. Have your phone screening down. Trust your gut.

@LuMuellerKaul @bethanybob take a good self-defense class. They should include roleplay relevant to your work.

@Indust_Massage There are ways to identify possible threats. Ask local Police/Court for SOAP orders that have been entered by court.

@kelliawise @bethanybob Try not to be alone with new clients when you first start.

@Indust_Massage SOAP=Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution. These are people who frequent prostitutes and have been caught by police.

@LuMuellerKaul @bethanybob start working at a busy, well-organized placed where you’re never alone until you gained confidence.

@kelliawise @Indust_Massage We just had 2 ‘foot massage’ places raided by the police. 2 arrests for prostitution@Indust_Massage @kelliawise This is a growing problem in most cities. We have a bunch starting in our area too.

@hainesmassage @Indust_Massage Just had a few shut down here, too. Ick.

@bethanybob @Indust_Massage No safety plan; I work in a hair salon with one to three hairstylists three evenings, one morning a week.

@Indust_Massage @bethanybob do you have another person with you during your work schedule? How about traveling to your car?

@Indust_Massage most situations I have heard about w/ an MT happened in the parking lot, not inside their office. Lighting and awareness!

What do you do if someone else books your clients?

@bethanybob @allissahaines Any suggestions for gently urging my co-workers to screen clients better? They often book for me.

@kelliawise @bethanybob Give them a checklist of questions to ask. Give them a script.

@allissahaines @bethanybob Write them a list!

@Virtuoushands Hello, I’m in a small office building suite with others and only see new clients during the week day when there’s a flow of ppl

@kelliawise Do any of you advertise on Craigslist? Seems you might get problem clients.

@bethanybob I never, ever, ever advertise on Craigslist. Ever.

Summary

It seems that everyone agrees that the best way to stay safe is to avoid situations that could get you into trouble. This starts with screening your clients, never being alone in an office with a new client, always letting someone know where you’ll be when you do outcalls, taking a self defense class, projecting confidence, and avoiding areas where you could find yourself in danger.

While we all suggested that @bethanybob write a phone screen checklist for the receptionists in his salon, we didn’t get a chance to cover what questions he should put on that list. Can you offer up some of the things you would add to that list? Leave them in the comments below.

- OR – The blog gets a makeover

If you’ve been coming to the site to read the posts, you’ll notice that something has changed.

Not a lot, mind you, but I did give the site a bit of a refresh. You’ll notice the stuff at the top has changed:

I’ve updated the logo, moved the massive 3 item menu to the right of the logo, and added 2 ad boxes. One is a permanent link to the instructions on joining us on #massagechat and the other will take you to my web design business website.

If you click on a post title, the post page will have a floating social sharing menu on the left. Just click Like or + or Tweet and the plugin will take care of the rest.

You’ll also see that I’ve updated my social profile links and added my Google+ profile. This, too, is done with a plugin. No more uploading icons and writing html in widgets. (I realize that sounded a lot like Romulan to most of you, sorry for the geek speak).

Archives

The list was getting really long, which shows I’ve been at this a while, so I’ve changed it to a drop down menu to save some space.

Categories

This is a word cloud because it was fun. And it saves space.

Blogroll

They are all still there. If you’re not on this list, use the contact form on the Contact page and shoot me your URL.

I kept most of the formatting really similar. I may have missed a thing or two here and there, so there might be a bit of tidying up to do.

Why the refresh?

The blog was getting close to 2 years old. I wanted to be able to ad the advert blocks on the top. But mostly, my theme of choice, Headway, just came out with a huge new update and I wanted to show the users there that they can do a refresh with an old version running live and the new version running behind a magic curtain.

Easy Peasy

This was so simple with Headway. I used a plugin to allow me to redesign the site on a new theme while you only saw maybe 1 or 2 tiny changes on the live site. The entire site redesign, including a couple of new photoshop files, was done over a weekend. The change over took less than 2 minutes.

I hope you like the updates. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Well, that went well.

I had the opportunity to chat with Ryan Hoyme, The MassageNerd, last night about making the most of your website. Many of you dropped in to watch and ask questions, and I want to thank you all for that.

I had a great time. Ryan is funny, smart, and personable and I could hang out with him all night, but he has videos to edit and I have blog posts to write.

As I mentioned, embedding video on WordPress is extremely simple and here’s the proof:

As you can see, I’ve arrived in Portland and picked up my registration packet.

I’ve finally gotten to meet Allissa Haines from Writing a Blue Streak AND we’ve already recorded 30 minutes of video for a blog series we’re working on. I won’t give away the secret but it’s going to be fun and informative. No snacks were consumed, but Allissa was drinking coffee.

The convention hasn’t started in earnest, yet. People from all over the US are starting to arrive. I’m getting to meet a lot of new people and I’m looking forward to making some new friends. I have my video camera with me to get some video interviews with some of the attendees. If there’s a question you want asked, add it to the Facebook page.

I’ll be blogging throughout the convention so that those of you who couldn’t make the trip can still get a feel for what it’s like.

This is my first national convention, so everything is new to me. I can say, without a doubt, everyone is friendly and gracious, even some of the more famous people in the profession.

We have such an awesome group of people in our little slice of the universe!

Bloggers meetup Thursday starting at 5 PM, Double Tree Hotel lounge

If you’d like to meet me, Allissa, and others, please stop by. If you’re interested in starting a blog, stop by and we’ll share what we know. I’d love to meet you!

When should a massage school reject an applicant?

When is the confidentiality of a student’s background more important than his risk to the clinic clients of a school?

What is the school’s liability?

These are all big questions that deserve some very serious consideration by the administrators of this country’s massage schools. Recently, a very public case has become an embarrassing example for the entire massage school industry.  This is a subject that must be addressed or we risk ruining the reputation of an entire industry and undoing decades of work to legitimize massage.

The example:

A student in WA State had completed massage school and was applying for licensure. This student had previously been convicted of a Class C felony (1) for Child Molestation in the third degree (2) in 2003. This conviction was approximately 8 years prior to the application for licensure.

The Department of Health Denied the licensure based on the applicant’s prior convictions.

Disclaimer – Please read this

The applicant’s court records are not available to me at this time so I do not know the details behind the crimes or the conviction. I am not trying to make this individual an example nor am I trying to make him a villain. That was for the legal system to do and they have done so.

My biggest concern is with the school that accepted him as a student and let him work on the public.

If the school was unaware of the student’s prior convictions:

How is it possible that you would run a public clinic with students and not run a background check? A simple background check would have indicated that the applicant had a sexual assault conviction on his record.

If the school was aware of the student’s prior convictions:

How is it possible that you would accept this student into your program? It is completely unambiguous that the state will not license someone for any of the following reasons:

RCW 18.130.055 Section 1 a “ … Has been convicted or is subject to current prosecution or pending charges of a crime involving moral turpitude or a crime identified in RCW 43.43.830.”

RCW 43.43.830 section 5 “ … first, second, or third degree child molestation; …”

The school should be knowledgeable about laws regarding massage therapy in their respective jurisdictions and should be teaching those laws to their students. Therefore, ignorance of this law that would result in the student never being licensable brings to mind 2 very serious issues:

1 – The school is allowing a convicted felon to perform massage on the general public via their student clinic

2 – The school is taking the student’s tuition money knowing that the student will never be granted a license.

How are either of these legally, morally, or ethically acceptable?

I would like to think that this was an isolated, one time only case, but sadly, it isn’t. I teach ethics and, as a result, I get private emails from therapists and students alike asking about this sort of thing. Even when students approach the school administrators with concerns regarding a fellow student’s background, they are largely ignored and the issue is left to the state licensing department to deny the application.

Is it not the school’s responsibility to protect the public?

Is it not the school’s responsibility to inform the potential student that a prior conviction will make it impossible to get a license to practice and urge that student to spend their money pursuing another career?

What do you think? Am I being unreasonable? Expecting too much of massage schools? Too little? Let me know in the comments below.

Notes:

RCW means “Revised Code of Washington”. WAC means “Washington Administrative Code”. All RCW and WAC for the state of Washington are available online at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/ and http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx, respectively.

1 – A Class C felony is the least serious in the state of WA.

2 – Child molestation in the third degree: the victim is between the ages of 14 and 16 and the perpetrator is at least 48 months older than the victim. It is a class C felony. RCW9A.44.089

Recently, I’ve been spending a good deal of time designing websites for businesses, so when I came across this article in my reader today, it really struck a chord. Go read it, I’ll wait.

Referrals- Why They’re Killing Your Biz and What You Can Do About It (Word.)

And, you’re back.

What I’ve found is that too many of us are letting our marketing materials get stale and out of date because we’re doing so well based on referrals.

The referral engine you’ve built may be an illusion

Ask most massage therapists what their biggest source of new clients is and they will answer “Referrals”. So they neglect all of their other marketing materials and resources since none of these is as good as word of mouth.

But maybe, it’s that your current website sucks so badly that it will never generate any new clients.

Maybe your business card that uses the same template as everyone else doesn’t set you apart.

Maybe your brochures haven’t been updated or use cheesy clipart.

None of these things is a favorable reflection of you or the quality of your service

So no wonder they don’t generate any new clients. They look like crap, they don’t have any “What’s In It For Me” take aways for potential clients, and they may even be turning people off and away.

And that’s why all of your new business is coming from referrals.

Maybe if we updated some of our materials, made them more client-centric, and put some serious polish on them, we’ll get more clients from our marketing materials.

For the next few posts, I’m going to walk us through updating our reflections so that they match the quality of what we have to offer.

Take a look at your website, business cards, and brochures and ask yourself “What isn’t working well?”. Leave a comment below of what materials you need to have updated. We’ll do this together because the world needs our services and we have to get the word out.

* photo: nvbr11