There has been an election declared in Australia this week and already we are hearing politicians do what they do best = answering questions with questions.
So in answering the question – should a website be a crucial part of your business?
I’m going to ask you an even deeper question before I start to go down the website burrow. Not because I’m avoiding the question but because you need to ask yourself a more important question before you even consider a website.
A client was reflecting on a question I asked them at the start of their coaching program recently. They said it really slapped them around the ears because it was something they hadn’t even considered.
It’s the same question you need to ask yourself before you decide if you need a website or not.
The question is ........
“how big do you want your business to be?”
This is a really basic question every therapist needs to ask themselves before they consider building a business or a website but it rarely gets asked let alone answered. If you don’t know the answer to the question or if you haven’t even considered whether you want small, medium, large, grande or the super size me option – you are going to be constantly setting things up that won’t work for your business further down the track.
Two truths to be aware of:
- You won’t know exactly how big you can go until you start getting a few runs on the board in your practice - I recommend set up to be big at the start just in case things take off... then - at least you are ready.
- Each year the landscape will change from where you thought you were going 12 months earlier as your business knowledge and confidence grows.
I was chatting to a friend this week who has just set up a beautiful property to host retreats here in Daylesford. He is already starting to note some differences in the way organisers get people booked onto retreats. He has noticed I am having far more luck getting people on my retreats than people with a small database or no a database at all.
I just laughed and said “size matters” ....... referring to my database.
With both of us coming from the lurky murky world of musicians we had fun creating several colourful analogies around the size matters discussion. But the conclusion drawn was that my dream to have retreats this year is being met by a database that was created eight years ago.
This is where the decision on the size of business starts to cascade downwards because even though I do sign people to my database at live events, the biggest number of "stranger" sign ups come from my website.
The strangers start to become friends and magic happens
The decision eight years ago to firstly have a website and secondly have a database that actively collected the data of visitors on the first day that website went live ..... is now rewarding me generously.
At the time I made that decision I never dreamt I would be this far down the track but I had a big dream that I knew would need big support and set my website up accordingly.
Before you start the "oh but its alright for her, she's a rock star" routine - just know that my database started with ten people (mostly friends and family) and was decimated at one stage when I had to resign the database to my new shoppingcart system. I have grown my database from scratch twice.
Getting the formula right from the start will mean your website can begin to work for you in the future, often without you knowing its working.
For instance I have been working with a client who is putting together a brilliant free program to attract people to her website. She has 52 different topics she is going to address in a give-away program and needs 52 resources to put links to on her website.
As I went through my little black book of clients and contacts – I could only give her people with a strong website presence and a strong, clear WHO & WHAT that clearly fitted under each of her 52 different topics, simply because her information is only going to people on the web.
She fits the “super size me” category which is aiming at an international audience and as it turned out I could only give her people with a similar vision. The bottom line was that the ones who made the list have a strong web presence and have paid to learn from me so they know how to be set up to attract easy referrals.
There were some really good people who got left off the list because they made didn't make it easy to be referred, simply because they had no website or their message was murky which made it impossible to fit in one of the 52 categories. They are talented gifted people but they have limited themselves by being afraid to learn about how the web can help them now and into the future.
Some of you will be surviving without a website
All I can say is well done if you are. BUT the challenge is going to come when you want your business to not only survive but thrive.
So if you are the type of therapist who will be happy in a word of mouth practice maybe working a couple of hours a day, don’t want people to easily forward your information to others, don’t want people outside your circle of influence to find you, don’t want ideal clients to come to you from other suburbs or states or even different countries and only want to earn a meagre living that will see you standing by a massage table until you retire or your body gives up on you – then you might get away without having a website.
However, if in the future you want to teach workshops, do retreats, run teleclasses, be steadily keeping in touch with people who have seen you in the past and have the potential to return again in the future ..... I’d say start learning about the Internet yesterday.
If you want to have any ability to walk away from your treatment room and be creating product and passive income (money you earn without having to be there) – then you definitely need a website now.
In fact these days I believe everyone needs some web presence even if it is just a one page document with your name and phone number on it – so people can at least find you when they do a basic search.
People do survive without a web site, but the web allows you to quickly get to a bigger audience AND it allows you to get that audience on your database. Then if you are committed to keeping in regular contact with those people, eventually a percentage of those people will buy something from you.
However, its not a case of build it and they will come. I’ve heard it said that it takes around eleven “touches” for people to trust you on the Internet and eventually to get to a point where subscribers will buy something from you.
That means at least eleven newsletters, or offers or free product or information before they trust you enough to either work with you or buy from you.
The reality is - if you aren’t in the race you will quickly get forgotten.
Another scary fact is if people don’t hear from you at least every two months, then most will forget you – no matter how good your service was for them.
So getting a website is only the first step in a long corridor of doors that need to be opened and strategies that need to be put in place. My Practice Building Success System steps you through many of these processes – you can find out more here.
Its not just about the website
The key point you need to understand is that websites no longer stand alone these days.
Many experts are now stating that a blog is more powerful than a website, not for the number of followers you get but for the way the information can be searched and used in many different formats.
I heard a rumour from a reliable source who stated that the calculation that goes into how search engines rank your website will include how many blog posts you push through to social media sites like Facebook and then how many relevant comments you get from your friends.
So your web presence now must be part of a marketing system that includes a blog, social networking, regular newsletters and keep in touch strategies that keep you in the memory of your people.
To be honest all this stuff is doing my head in trying to keep up with it all, but its just something we all have to come to terms with.
The blessing is that the technology is getting much simpler and cheaper to use. So there really is no excuse. If you aren’t on the net and you aren’t gaining knowledge in this area, you stand to be left behind in the future.
I’m so convinced of the power of a website that I’ve set up a small e-course to help you understand more about websites. it will cover the truths you need to understand, the interconnectivity you must have and the important things you need to be aware of BEFORE you start spending your valuable time and money creating a website. There will be no charge for this information and you can unsubscribe at any time.
If you would like to join the website e-course, simply send a blank email to this address: info1749-536514@autocontactor.com
You might like to read a blog post I did last month that tells you how to get a web presence for lo or no cost here:
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