Marketing for Introverts?

[Pompal 09.]

I know there's been topics on this in the past, but this is different, hear me out.

I know many may not agree with me on this, but I am going to put it out there.

In topics like these, people always talk about just forcing themselves to break out of their shell. I feel like it's something I've spent years doing, with no real success. See, I am wonderful with clients, the one on one, especially once I get to know them. However, I am just not the type, and don't think I ever will be the type to hand my business card to some random person on the street and tell them to come see me. I know other MT's do this, no problem, and I think that's amazing. For me though, I wouldn't like it done to me frankly, and I will always feel uncomfortable doing something as bold as that, and that comes across to people (and makes me look like a freak! : )

So I've been thinking over the past few days about this very passionately. I am willing to accept that I may not be good at "selling" myself. I am okay with putting that in someone else's hands who is natural and awesome at that, and give them, say a cut in whoever they bring in to me. I think in the long run, I would make more doing it that way (and cause myself less agony!) Has anyone did this outside referral concepts, like literally hire someone to be their "agent" or something?

I just know I have strengths in other areas, and feel like it's time I stop focusing on the weakness (and making the weakness something that is just average), and spending more time doing what I'm good at.

Am I crazy, or does anyone see eye to eye with me on this??

 

[M3x!TaL!aN0]

Marketing for Introverts?

I created a referral program with my clients that basically goes like this: I hand them a stack of my business cards where they can write their name on the back and give them to their friends (a lot of my clients are independent consultants for companies like Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay etc. and have a lot more contact with people and are much more extroverted than I am.)
For every new client I get in who brings in that card with their name on it, I will give them $5 off their next massage. So if I get 10 of those cards back for the person whose name is on it, they get a free massage. So the incentive lies with discounts to them, I don't pay them or give them a referral fee, they just get $5 off their next massage. It has worked great for me because word-of-mouth is often the best form of advertising. People can attest to how good you are- they've experienced it first hand.

Now I just want to double check on something.. you might not be confident in selling yourself, but are you confident in your skills? Are you passionate about massage? If you're so uncertain of yourself even after you are getting clients on your table, I'll tell you right now that it's not going to work, although from reading your post it doesn't sound like that's the case. Also, I don't know how you do with getting clients to schedule another appointment. Personally, that's one of my weak areas and where I feel I have to sell myself the most. That's something to think about if you have trouble with that as well.

Just another little side thought is that if you start a mailing list (e- or snail), you could start doing a newsletter. I have yet to do this but my brother started doing it for his business and has had great results. Another good way to reach potential clients is making a facebook page for your business.

 

[prbfc]

Marketing for Introverts?

Thank you Taoist, I love the idea for the referral program. That's a great concept, has it worked well for you so far?

As for my massage, yes, I am actually really confident in my work (which is why it's so odd to me that it doesn't come across when I talk to people.) And my numbers back my confidence. I have amazing retention, I have amazing regular clients. I do get a good number of referrals, that is pretty much what has made my business so far, even without any incentives for the clients referring. The problem isn't really getting them staying, it's getting them in. I want to build my business more, that's where I fail. I want more people coming in the door, and I want to do something about it, I just get stuck at that point there. The passion, the confidence in my work, the rebooking, everything else is there, which is why this is so frustrating!!

I have thought about the newsletter idea, I like it, I have thought about doing something like that, just need to work out all the odds and ends of it. I have a facebook page for my business and my larger group (which includes a few other people and their separate businesses) but I don't really know how to get people for that either...

Anyways, thanks for your input!

 

[finglas9]

Marketing for Introverts?

I know there's been topics on this in the past, but this is different, hear me out.

May I ask which topics you are referring to? That way, we know which direction to not point you in.

 

[lippylou]

Marketing for Introverts?

Thank you Taoist, I love the idea for the referral program. That's a great concept, has it worked well for you so far?

Yes, it has made a big difference in bringing in new clients, but the results probably aren't as dramatic as you're hoping for.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Marketing for Introverts?

You're not crazy. Lots of us are in the same boat. Heck, I'm with you too. I'm at the point now where I can hand someone my card after having talked with them for a few minutes, but I still retain a lot of my introversion, which manifests as pickiness as to who to strike up a conversation with and give my card to in the first place. And, I wasn't always that outgoing. And both my husband and I (we practice together) ABHOR salespeople and high-pressure tactics. So what's an introvert to do?

One thing that worked for us is having a solid website that shows up prominently on Google. For extroverted people, a website and a strong Google presence isn't as important, but for an introvert, it is CRUCIAL. At first, that may be peoples' only real way of finding you. Make sure your website is informative and well-organized. A picture of a treatment room doesn't hurt. Important areas include: "What to expect", "Meet Your Therapist", "FAQ", and a well-organized service menu, if you offer more than one technique. To rank well on Google, do what Google likes to see - well-defined relevant headers and page titles, named pictures ("massage_therapy_studio.jpg vs 3482705480dvisaso.jpg ), things like that. Google likes pages with LOTS of information in plain text, so you might want to be descriptive in your services. What's your style like? Integrative? Deep muscle layers? Hot stone therapy?

One thing I found to work well in our practice is to hold 1-hour health classes after hours; invite clients to attend (some practitioners require new clients to attend at least one), and invite them to bring friends and family. This could also take the form of a client appreciation day or an open house. That way, you have plenty of friendly faces, as well as some fresh potential referrals.

Another thing I've found helped us get our feet wet in terms of talking to people was meeting our building neighbors (our office is in a shared building, in which there's a variety - the second floor--which is where we are--is mostly professional offices, while downstairs is some semi-upscale retail--athletic stuff, mostly), so we went around to our office neighbors and introduced ourselves as the new neighbors and "oh by the way, here's our card if you find yourself needing someone like us". It took a little while, but we've made some valuable relationships--even friendships. Be patient with this one; never assume people lose interest, even if it's been 6 months and they haven't seen you yet. They may pop out of nowhere one day with a crick in their neck One building neighbor invited us to speak at a support group for those battling cancer, surviving cancer, or recovering from treatment. That was a trip!

Funny part was, meeting our neighbors gave us a little boost to go do other things. Some ideas include yoga studios (sign up for yoga classes), gyms (local, non-chain ones are best, although I've heard Curves can be fairly open), martial arts places if you like karate, or Unitarian churches or whatever. We did all kinds of things Opportunities come where you least expect them. I'm partially deaf (slowly losing my hearing) and recently I went to our state disability commission to obtain some services/equipment, such as hearing aids. The counselor I work with said that even in their state gov't agency, they occasionally have health promotion days and we started brainstorming about us possibly coming to speak to their group.

If you don't mind paying a little bit for advertising, you might want to try a natural healing/new age magazine, such as Holistic Networker or Natural Awakenings, or whatever your city/town has. Check the free circular stands at places like Whole Foods Market - upper scale demographic with disposable income with a preventive mindset - people who place health/wellness on high priority don't mind spending a little extra on preventive maintenance. You also know they're open-minded about natural healing. Believe it or not, these can be fairly inexpensive, and the cost of the ad can also include the design, to your specs. Many of these magazines are franchised, with the franchisee having lots of control and discretion (vs the high corporate level) - we lucked out and we barter a 1/3 page ad for a 1/4 page price That's the only paid advertising we do, and we get plenty of people from there.

I asked our mentor how he got started. He said "buy stuff". He's right. We've recently begun a transition from Microsoft PCs to Apple (yay!) and we ended up talking with one of the employees there and he came in! It was cool because by the time we even brought up what we did, we were already on sort of a semi-budding-friendship basis anyway. So it was very comfortable. Woo-hoo!

Referrals are indeed best. If you love what you do and you know your stuff, you will get referrals without asking. This may take a little time, but it will come. Always make sure you're present with each and every client, and spend a lot of off-time studying up on everything - anatomy, techniques, etc. It never ends ... nor would you want it to

 

[Richard Ooi]

Marketing for Introverts?

Thank you, Taoist, I don't need dramatic results. Any results will work.

Pueppi - I was basically looking for something less along the lines of "force yourself to be social, or pretend like you are extroverted" and more along the lines of finding a way to do business that works for people who have tried to force themselves to be "salesmen" and have not had success that way.

Jyoti, thank you, wonderful ideas there. I really need to work on the website, I built it using iWeb, which I know does things in funny little ways and doesn't seem to pick up too much on google. So that is definitely something I can research and work on.

Other stuff I am doing, and has been successful, yoga, the gym, stuff like that has gotten me some good clients (and gotten me in better shape too!)

Advertising is another great idea, I am in a small-ish town with no real health food store or anything like Whole Foods. I think that may be a part of the problem, I don't know how to find those people who are into alternative healing and preventative care, but that is something I can look into more, and maybe even spend more time at the health food shops that are a bit away from here and see if I can find local mags and stuff like that.

Thanks for the wonderful ideas, I appreciate it!

 

[dallenmarket]

Marketing for Introverts?

Let us know how things go or if you have a stroke of brilliance and come up with something new!

 

[Rubia]

Marketing for Introverts?

One thing I've found recently is Facebook ads and google ads. You can design an ad that will come up on the side of the page, with a picture and a little text and then target it to certain keywords or people with certain interests.

For instance, coming up soon I'm teaching a yoga workshop at a hot springs location nearby. I created a Facebook ad that would only show to people in my state who have listed "yoga" as one of their interests. I'm paying about .30 per click.

For the massage school that I run I haven't been able to get 1st page status on a google search, even though I've done all the SEO things I could find out about. But I can buy clicks for people who search "new mexico massage school" so that ONLY when people search those terms, my ad will show up.

I've found these ads to be good ways to get visibility to groups that I otherwise wouldn't know "where" they are or how to get to them. So for google you could make an ad that pops up when people search "massage therapy your town" and variations on that theme. You could target people on Facebook who live within 50 miles of your town and whose interests include health, wellness, exercise, etc etc. Some time could probably be spent figuring out what specific interests cross over.

That's really all I have to ad to what everyone already covered quite thoroughly!

 

[red_writer]

Marketing for Introverts?

Thank you Taoist, I will let you know if I have any genius idea...Just don't hold your breath! :

Great idea Shiva, I didn't know how expensive that would be and if it's worth it. I will look into it more. Especially if I can just put it in for people who google "massage therapy in my town" I didn't know how it worked, but that sounds like it would be very helpful in getting new clients in.

I've also spent hours doing SEO for my site, having little results it seems in moving it up the list in google searches. I know it would help a lot to be at the top of the list, so advertisements might be the way to go, at least for a while.

Thanks for your help everyone, I will try to keep posted on what I am doing and what works!

 

[SemandXX]

Marketing for Introverts?

Bumping this in case anyone else has some input. I recently lost my day job and even though I was only getting about 10 hours a week, it made a big difference in being able to pay the bills, so I need more clients now too!

 

[Jason King]

Marketing for Introverts?

At my clinic the most effective marketing we do is a monthly enewsletter. We provide special offers, self care tips, link to our social media, etc.

 

[Gipsy]

Marketing for Introverts?

For me, aside from client referrals (word of mouth & rewards program), I think advertising and events has been the way to go. I am most definitely introverted.

Magnetic signs on my car
Business logo on t-shirts, etc
Website
Facebook (connections, connections, connections)
Always having a business card on me or in my car (love my eye-catching business cards!)
Brochures
Referrals from other professionals
Professional associations & memberships

 

[debijs]

Marketing for Introverts?

I've heard that you can be higher up on the google list if you blog regularly. If your blog is connected to your website all the better!

Getting out there is hard for me too. I know what I have to do to bring in more clients, but I just have to make myself do it! I did pop in to the manager at my bank recently and handed her a brochure, letting her know I come out to businesses if they are doing anything to appreciate their employees during this season. she was happy to hand my information on. I felt good after doing that and realize that it isn't as hard as it first seems. I think the more you talk to people, it comes more easily. I have also been known to write out everything I would say when I first approach someone. Then as I talk about what I do and because I love what I do they can see the enthusiastic confident person.

 

[Des]

Marketing for Introverts?

This is probably more for the ladies, but go to/host those little parties.. Mary Kay, Pampered Chef.. there are thousands of them out there. I just had a Mary Kay party at my home with a few of my clients there (before any of you get on my case about boundary issues, know that they were all my friends before they became clients). Some of them brought a friend along so I was able to hand out a few cards without saying a word about what I do, how good I am, and why they need to come to me; my clients did it all for me.

Also, after everyone else left, the consultant asked me if I wanted to participate in a little Christmas gift program she has. She calls the husbands of her clients to help them out with gift ideas, and she puts together packages and wanted to include a massage in them, so I'm hoping that can drive some business my way.

For however much of a pain it was to play hostess for an evening (I hate entertaining), I think it was well worth it to get so many leads.

 

[coyoteofgaia]

Marketing for Introverts?

While researching current fee schedules in my area, I ran across something that may be useful for some of the people engaged in this thread. It may also be useful for those areas of the country which are having severe financial difficulties.


A massage co-op in our city does the following:

• On the first day of each month, anyone can book one or more massages at the rate of $45/hr (roughly half price of the going rate in the co-op) and may book as many sessions as they would like. But, they must pay for them on the 1st of the month. So, if the client books 4 sessions, they must pay $180 on the 1st, which in turn, secures the scheduled appointments.
  
  Once the client has scheduled and paid for the massage(s), they must honor those appointments. The business will not offer rescheduling for these appointments and cancelations will not be refunded.

As a side note, I believe it would be useful to add something like: "Any late notice cancellations (less than 48 hours notice), will be required to pay the remainder fee ($45) of the going rate for that pre-booked session." --> That would encourage clients to keep no-shows and late cancellations to a minimum, since late notice appointments can be hard to fill in some practices.

I hope this helps one of you.