Teleclasses Add Value on SO Many Levels

What are Teleclasses?  Quite simply - learning on the phone!

These days the technology is simple to use and generally free of charge, so starting out is very easy.  It's like anything - the more you do them, the better you get at them.  So I just encourage people to start somewhere and then figure out the finer details once they are confident in delivering their messages over the phone.

Teleclasses have been around for ages but they are still not widely used by therapists and I really want to change that, simply because teleclasses are such an easy way to get your message to many more people.

The benefits of teleclasses are wide and varied but here are Top Ten I love the best:

1.  Amazingly cheap (no room hire or travel costs)

2.  Convenience (you don’t need to leave home)

3.  100% efficient use of your time (no need to factor in traffic or public transport)

4.  Location friendly (you can do them from home or the office or the beach!)

5.  You can work with a greater audience because it is not location specific - you just need a phone or broadband.

6.  Classes are recorded so your participants can listen again until they fully grasp the concepts

7.  You can sell the recordings on your website or create CD’s and create passive revenue streams

8.  You only need a landline telephone

9.  No fuss  - you can do the class in your pyjamas if you like

10. Its fun and easy!

Anyone can do it - well almost anyone!

If you want to know more about teleclasses you can go here 

I run regular classes so you may wish to jump on board and learn how and then start to find the benefits of running your own teleclasses for your community.  Click here for details of the next class

Reversing Your Discount Theory

Most people approach discounts as a way to fill distressed space.  But the masters of discounting take a completely reversed approach to the way they price their products and services.

I remember working in a hotel and they got a new marketing manager who promptly went down to the front desk and stopped the receptionists selling unbooked rooms on the night at a cheap price.  Her logic was - people who haven't booked in advance - they don't have a room booked - they are in pain because all they want is a room - now is the time they will pull out their credit card and pay top dollar because they don't want to phone up or walk to the next hotel to see what is on offer.

Now yes, some people will shop around, but generally if someone is in pain and they want their pain fixed there and then - they will pay whatever it takes to get a result.

I learned a lot about marketing in my other life as a hotel financial controller, because this type of logic showed up directly in the profit line of the hotel's books. 

The airlines and hotels are the masters of  discounting - watch what they do and try to mimic them with the way they sell.  They all discount well in advance - not last minute.

Discounting at the time of consumption is K-Mart territory.

Charging full price at the time of consumption is the domain of hotels and airlines.

As therapists we want to be like the latter not the former.

Its not widely known outside the industry but Hotels and Airlines start to discount a room or seat around 18 months out at events like ATO (Australian Tourism Exchange).  All the tourism brokers from around the world come in and bid on blocks of rooms.  They get the rooms at rock bottom prices but only have access to those rates for a negotiated period of time.  Anything not sold by then, well the hotels take those rooms back and up goes the price.

That's why the tourism industry can do those knock down deals that encourage you to book and buy early.

Then once the hotel knows how many rooms they have left from that discounting exercise, they will put the price up and start either trying to advertise the rooms themselves or they will try to sell them off to other buyers.

All the while the prices go up.

Then closer to the consumption date (the day the room gets used) they offer what's left out on discount sites like Wotif.

Then have you noticed how hard it is to get a deal close to the day of consumption.

If you walk up to an airline counter and want to fly NOW - the price of that ticket will be astronomical, because they know you need to fly that day and that you have few choices at that time .... so they hang out to sell that ticket at a high price.  It also messes with their admin if they have to change the loading of the plane, so guess who pays for the cost of that admin - yep you guessed right - the late booker.

This is the model therapists could consider adopting.  Fill early at discount and fill last minute at a high price.

This is why packages work so well - people buy their session up front and you can then manage any space left over spaces weeks out.

But those packages need to be discounted off what hotels call your "rack rate".  "Rack" is rarely charged to anyone, except if they are trying to book on the day of consumption.  "Rack" is rarely charged but it is always there.

Your price funnel needs to reflect that "rack rate system".

So your top end price will be really high - no one really expects to pay it, but there is always a chance someone will be desperate enough to pay it.  Then your package rates are what you DO expect people to pay.  Then you have another rate, which is the discounted rate, which only gets given out if you haven't sold the top two rates.  That would be what's called "back filling" - dates and times you always struggle to fill.

Wotif is a great example of last minute discounts - I LOVE Wotif but I also know if I want a specific hotel and room type on a specific date - then I better book up front with the hotel and pay the price.

Build on Expertise NOT on Price


The aim of any therapist should be to be building as fast as they can toward being seen as the "go to person" for their particular area.

If people perceive you are head and shoulders above your competition and you are seen by them to be "the best", they will pay more and expect to wait to see you.

It's a delicate balance in the early days between filling those empty diary spaces by opimising your cash flow AND building a high end practice.  But when you start discounting too much, people start to see you like K-Mart - cheap, hi availability and open all hours.  Won't take you long to figure out that will wear you out personally.  
The ideal is hi end, hi demand, hi attendence in the limited spaces your treatment room is open.  That way you are in optimum health and giving 120% to your clients and are not worn out trying to make a dollar seeing heaps of people each week.

In order to push prices higher further down the track, you can't be out discounting every week - and if you do, you need a reason to discount - one airline has Friday Fare Frenzy and its is totally random.  You will notice they RARELY discount their hi end business class seats in these types of offers, they are "back filling" cattle class and keeping the hi end part of their business in tact.

I'd recomend you create a "cattle class" type of treatment for the discounted spots - I say that with love of course, I'm not encouraging you to treat your people like airlines treat their customers - but do have a clear definition between a full fare treatment and a discounted treatment.  That way when your diary is full, you simply pull the discounted treatment off the menu and all those full fare high paying, high tipping, fabulous "A" type clients don't even notice anything has changed.

"C" type clients will always just find someone else - "A" type clients stay loyal and will often book the same spot each week or month and are happy to pay for the privilege of having the same regular time slot.

I want you to have a highly abundant practice full of clients who know and love you and are willing and able to pay your fees, treat you with respect and keep coming back.

Some Different Ways to Discount

There are many different ways to discount your services without cheapening your brand.

If you want to fill some empty spaces in your diary fast, a lot of therapists are posting what I would call "cheap and dirty" offer on discount websites.

In fact it seems to be all the rage right now.  This site is a broker for the discounters www.allthedeals.com.au and will give you a list of all the different sites that allow you to advertise.

Indeed it is just another great way to pull new people into your practice.  It's most certainly a spray and pray tactic in that you spray out the message to a vast number of people, praying that it hits your ideal client.  Spray and pray tactics give you little control.

Its also a PUSH tactic meaning you have to push into a crowd to get a result.  My system much prefers PULL tactics where you build relationships that pull people toward you.

A pull tactic is much easier because eventually it surrounds you with people who know and love you and they want to love you more.

Push tactics often solve short term problems and fill gaps in your diary, but they may not sustain the business well, because you haven't qualified the people yourself.

A pull tactic means just by being you, you have drawn people to you via your opinions and by your ability to show your expertise in a particular area.  This takes longer and so a pull strategy is a long term way to get clients, but it a sure fire way to ensure you end up with a practice full of clients who love everything about you.

The difference is subtle but a pull tactic requires a bit of time to build the relationship, but once people who have experienced you a few times are ready to work with you, they require very little conversion because they have already decided that they know and love you.

These people may have been sitting as prospects on your newsletter list or have been following your blog, or they met you at a speaking engagement and became a facebook friend.  In these instances you have given them a taste of what you are all about before they phone you and they feel as if they know you.  If you build any sort of relationship with a prospect, the chances of them booking something with you, goes up the more they relate with you.

So internet advertising (that isn't targeted) is a lot like a virtual letter box drop - you are marketing to total strangers who have no idea who you are.  The pluses are that it doesn't cost a lot to get to a heap of people, but your advert may not bring huge results because the people looking at your offers, won't know you and may not be the type of people who want and need your services.  But if you only want to sell a couple of spots each week in this discounted category, then its another way for you to get the message out.

However, you need to consider if you are cheapening your brand.  

You also need to remember your current clients, paying top dollar may find these sites and wonder why you are overcharging them.  So as always discern if a service like this is right for you.

Using the discounters will potentially bring a lot of tire kickers, people who consume the cheap massage and then never return - that is a big risk in these types of offer.  But if you have your rebooking patter down, and encourage them to book again before they leave after the first treatment - then you have a potential loyal customer in your midst.  It's the strength of your re-booking patter that will determine the long term value in advertising on discount websites.

I believe you have to be careful about discounts - you can end up sounding like K-Mart if you are constantly discounting, and people just end up wanting to pay less and less for your services.

I'd consider other ways you can discount, without just slashing prices.

Maybe consider a discount club, where your current people may pay say $20 a year or month to join - up to you to decide the fee.  But the joining fee would get them access to your "last minute club" for a year.  The difference being that the available spaces in the club spots may be a bit random and they don't get to have regular times with you.  That way you are only offering discounts to certain "last minute" types who like to book last minute.  This type of strategy allows you to fill what is known as "distressed space" - someone has cancelled an appointment or you just have a gap in the diary.  The other plus is that you get back some of the discount back via the membership fee.

You could also consider a "come on short notice" deal for specific types of people - small business owners like me who have control of their own schedule or hospitality workers who have the whole day to themselves or are finishing work at weird times.  These types of people could come in your downtimes.  All you have to do is email or text them with your downtime specials and they can jump in and grab them. 

Its about getting creative with your discounts and making sure you don't end up with a bargain basement style practice.

No Need For Remote Areas To Miss Out On Natural Health

There are so many different ways we can connect with clients these days.

Many people shun technology and I often hear “I’m just not technical”, or “computers just don’t work for me”.  These limiting beliefs are often programmed in at a deep level but they really just come from a negative past experience.  Someone just told you, “you were useless at technology” or that you would “just never get it” and that limiting belief has served to stop any exploration of technology.

I have found with a patient teacher and the right knowledge, most people can master their fear of technology and once over the hump, often take it on in a big way.  Many make up for the lost time and really enjoy the experience, simply because it opens many doors.

I was interested to read this article on Springwise, showing how western medicine are using technology to serve remote areas.  

http://www.springwise.com/health_wellbeing/onemedical/

Allowing people who would normally have to travel thousands of miles to get seen and heard, to have a consult and access to information online, will make seeking professional advice a whole lot easier.

Most certainly it isn’t ideal, and yes, having someone drop in on them personally would be wonderful, but I’d like to bet that a large percentage of “non physical” issues can be helped through this medium.

So why not consider if there are parts of your business that could be done with a webcam.  Do your clients always have to travel to your office?  Could you save them and you some time in their day?

I’m not suggesting for one moment that personal interaction and human touch should be dispersed with.  But with time being the #1 thing people want more of these days, embracing technology not only allows people access to services they could not normally reach, it also saves time, energy and money when used well.

Amazing Things to Learn From a “Do It Yourself Jigsaw from Hell (Audio)

You can now listen to my newsletter article here or download the file to your favourite mp3 player - I trust you take me somewhere interesting :-)



MP3 File

I’ve found the best and easiest way to get clients is to interact personally with them by using small workshops and talks to grow your business BUT that is not always possible. You could be limited by distance, time, confidence or the funds to start your first live workshop. Your message might still be too murky to speak in public, but what I’ve found is that everyone knows something about something.

So the second best way is to run a workshop or course that interacts with people on the phone.

They are called teleclasses and are basically “learning on the phone”.

Read the full newsletter here

Do You Have A CHOOSE Day?

The Beatles made a lot of money from a song called Eight Days a Week but to make a lot of money in your small business doesn’t mean you have to work Eight Days a Week.

Work life balance and starting a small business are not often seen on the same page. Somewhere in the “silent code book for small business – author unknown” there is a rule that says you have to work your butt off to be successful and everyone somehow finds that rule and adheres to it.

Most certainly you do need to put in a lot of time and effort in the early days ……. BUT if you work yourself into a burnout frenzy, you are NOT going to be able to work effectively IN your business, let alone ON your business.

One of my fabulous coaches and mentors the lovely Belinda Merry taught me that you MUST have regular time off to rest and recuperate. That message is even more important for health and wellbeing practitioners.


If you aren’t 100% filled up, you can’t give 100% to others.

In the early days of setting up your practice you need to be out and about seeing and speaking with a lot of people and it can be exhausting. If your practice is already full or filling, it can be exhausting just giving as much as you do to your clients so balancing that with adequate rest and down time is vital to your success.

BUT there IS a lot of work in getting any small business working well and sometimes you do have to burn a bit of midnight oil to get all the things done that you’ve got to do. Plus most of us have a home office and the temptation to overwork is generally just a few steps down the hall.

So I’ve come up with strategy that works for me.

I have ONE NON-NEGOTIABLE DAY OFF EVERY WEEK.

That means no matter what is going on I MUST NOT go into my office, nor turn my computer on, nor answer the office phone, nor do filing or paperwork – nothing! One day a week has to be completely for me. That rule never gets broken because I know Belinda has a global tracking satellite at her international headquarters that registers if you work on your day off and she will come after me!

I found if I had two non negotiable days off and there was a back log starting to build in my office, all that would happen is that I’d end up stressing about it.

So I created the concept of CHOOSE DAY

I create a CHOOSE DAY in my diary one day every week. So I cross the day off and write in CHOOSE DAY. It can be any day of the week, it doesn’t have to be a set day each week but it does have to be in your diary every week – months in advance.
So when CHOOSE DAY rolls around I can look at that day and think – is there anything so pressing it can’t wait until tomorrow?
Sometimes there are pressing things that MUST be done so I choose to work part of the day. Sometimes I use CHOOSE DAY as my creative writing day, which I love and it fills me up. Other times I know there is nothing pressing so I have CHOOSE DAY off to dig my garden without guilt, or go shopping or just rest and read a book. What is important is that I get to CHOOSE.

The golden rule is that you NEVER book anything else on a CHOOSE DAY so that when it rolls around you have a true choice in how you spend that day. I find by having a CHOOSE DAY I end up with eight days in a week because I tend to jam everything into the other days of the week so CHOOSE DAY remains free. I find it stops me procrastinating on the other days and I just get on with whatever needs doing so my CHOOSE Day remains a “me” day.

Utopia is finished................. sadly

Well what a week in paradise!

Utopia was AWESOME last year but this year it was even AWESOMER (is that a word?) Everytime I think back to the very special moments shared over the weekend it brings me back into the fabulous heart space that was created over the weekend.

It was fabulous to meet up with last years presenters and to meet the new ones who were experiencing this special event for the first time. Words cannot adequately describe how wonderful it is to be with people of like mind for an extended period of time.

I have stayed on in Noosa for a little longer than anticipated because several of the presenters were involved with a fabulous event called Earth Magic and I decided I was so close and it would be rude not to attend - so I did and had an equally fabulous time experiencing the lovely Raeleen Burn speaking her truth and Jeremy Donovan wowing the crowd with his amazing knowledge and mind blowing didge playing oh and who knew he could play native american flute so adeptly. Raeleen and Jeremy released their CD at the event and celebrated all the joyous miracles that have occured for them this year as they step futher into their divine energy and soul purpose.

So as I soak up the blue skies and sunshine so foreign to this Victorian - you will be pleased to know I'm getting back to work and have interviewed my awesome hosts Sandy and Curly Harris of Relationship Mechanics about our experience of Utopia International Retreat

Mz Margz #1 Vid-Cast

I'm some what excited today because I have completed by very first Vid-cast.

I have a new Logitech WebPro 9000 and today have managed to record, upload and blog by first video.

The technology for this is SO cheap and affordable and to be honest the hardest part of it all was clearing the clutter from behind my desk, which now resides in the "admin" office further down the hall. Gosh I'm starting to feel like a corporatation now - a coaching office AND an admin office - gotta love that!!

Anyway why not have a look at my very first attempt at video - I hope you like it cos I daresay it's the say of a whole new way of communication for me!

How to Start Using Writing as a Way to Get Your Business Known

Starting out as a writer is a daunting thought.

Where do you start?

How do you find ideas?

When do you publish?



Robert Rabbin of RealTime Speaking came in to the MOSH Pit as our special Guest GURU back in August 2008 to start to answer some of these questions. Robert is a favourite of MOSH Pit members and little wonder with a list of credentials like these:

Robert Rabbin has published 5 books and more than 200 articles, achieving more than 1,000 placements in magazines, journals, and newsletters throughout the English-speaking world. Some of his works have been translated into Portugese, Italian, Rumanian, Japanese, and Russian.

He was commissioned to write original essays for three anthologies, including the forthcoming Spirituality in the Workplace: A Multi-Dimensional Approach.

Robert has been a featured columnist for The New Leaders, a subscriber-based executive newsletter describing emerging trends and innovative practices in leadership and management, and for PlanetLightworker, HealthWorld Online, and Insight magazine.

He was also interviewed for The Awakening West, a collection of conversations with contemporary Western wisdom teachers.

His books have been endorsed by internationally renowned leaders in the fields of business, education, health, and personal growth, including Byron Katie, Ram Dass, Anita Roddick, Lynette Palmen, Drew Ginn, Bernie Siegel, M.D., Larry Dossey, M.D., Jerry Jampolsky, M.D., and Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D.

Robert is the author of RealTime Speaking and I was priviledged to have my story included in the book, along with several other RealTime Speakers.

You can find out more about Robert Rabbin here

Interviewed by Margaret Gill of Abundant Private Practices - helping health and wellbeing practitioners grow abundant & harmonious natural therapy businesses.
http://www.abundant-private-practices.com/ you can listen to the audio of the hour long call here:

Robert Rabbin Writing Interview

MP3 File

The Benefits of Using Teleclasses in Your Business

Teleclasses are a great way to add new revenue streams to your business, but very few holistic practitioners are actually running them. Certainly it is an uphill battle to make people understand how easy teleclasses are to participate in and run but that little bit of extra effort is well worth the reward.

Even if you just ran one per month with 10 participants paying $50 each – that extra $500 per month equates to an extra $6,000 per annum. Teleclasses could pay for that overseas trip you thought you couldn't afford.

The benefits of teleclasses are many but here are Top Ten I love the best:

1. Amazingly cheap (no room hire or travel costs)

2. Convenience (you don’t need to leave home)

3. 100% efficient use of your time (no need to factor in traffic or public transport)

4. Location friendly (you can do them from home or the office or the beach!)

5. Full interaction of participants

6. Classes are recorded so your participants can listen again until they fully
grasp the concepts

7. You can sell the recordings on your website or create CD’s and create passive revenue streams

8. You only need a landline telephone

9. No fuss - you can do the class in your pyjamas if you like

10. Its fun and easy!

Check out my website to learn what teleclasses I have on offer.

The Defiant Decision

I’m going to share a BIG dark secret with you. Please don’t tell any of those wafty positive souls who never let any dark thoughts or words pass through their being.

We have a lot of fear to bust and challenges to overcome when setting up a small practice, often working from home with little knowledge of what it takes to run a small business.

I love my positive statements but to be totally frank and honest the thing that makes me do the really hard stuff in my small business (like pick up the phone when I really don’t want to) is my Defiant Decision.

Do you remember the wonderful little cartoon of the defiant mouse that did the rounds a few years back? There was a cute little mouse standing on a barren cliff face with no where to go. Flying towards him was an enormous eagle with a massive wingspan and talons & beak ready to swoop in and rip him apart. The little mouse was standing there knowing he was seconds away from being eaten but he was defiantly giving the eagle the finger. The caption was “the last act of great defiance”. This is a funny but memorable message that has been etched into my brain as I defied the odds and got my practice happening.

My defiant decision statement is the thing I’ll do ANYTHING to avoid and it is:

“If you DON'T do this, you have to go back to corporate”

There it is my ultimate driving force. When everything else fails and I’m faced with doing something I really don’t want to do and all the positive affirmations aren’t working I simply say “well Margaret if you don’t do this and make a bit of money you’ll have to go back to corporate to pay the bills”.

You would be amazed how defiant I can become to that statement and how quickly I go into action when faced with the thought of going back to corporate.

The reason is that as humans we relate better to pain than pleasure (as weird as that sounds). So when I weigh up the pro’s and con’s of what it means to not be working for a boss again and not working on soul destroying projects with people who have sold their souls to the machine against the freedom of my own business, then it becomes an easy option. The reason is because I know what working for the machine feels like is because I can evoke that feeling in every cell.

My ultimate positive driver is to bring peace to the planet via helping natural therapists see more people. It’s a wonderful thought but as yet I haven’t fully experienced it so I can’t always use it fully to motivate myself.

So what is your defiant decision??

Using YouTube to Get Known

Today I am #1 on YouTube in the category of #42 - Most Viewed (Today) - Howto & Style - Australia – it’s the biggest load of rubbish I’ve ever produced but 31 people have watched it SO FAR!

This is the power of the free tools that are available

When you use tools like Blogger and YouTube alongside your own tools (I used my newsletter) they can become very powerful. I put a small note in my newsletter which gave people the option to click through and watch the video after I wrote a story on having harmonious workspaces. I'm not suggesting you all go out and madly film your office and just bung it up there - it's not about the topic it is all about the underlying story and message that gives people a reason to click. But it does show the power of the internet.

You might notice there has also been blog posts on the same topic.

Tools like Blogger, YouTube, Ning, MySpace, FaceBook are called Social Networks.

Here is a massive hint for anyone who is interested in using these free but very powerful social networks. One common message placed in many different places = gets clicks.

Social Networks work because every now and then someone who doesn't know you clicks and suddenly they DO know you. People that already know you get to know a little more about you. Eventually trust builds up and eventually they will become clients and they will refer someone who will become a client.

People image you need a lot of time to participate in all these activities. I'll be totally honest with you here - they take a bit of time to set up and get in motion but like any of your marketing activities once that train is rolling it is VERY easy to maintain.

If you aren't using or at least learning how to participate in these social networks - then you are missing out big time.

You can view my masterpiece here (I used my mobile phone to record it so the quality is pretty naff but 31 people have watched it:

My Most Favourite Piece of Office Equipment.

My labeller is my most favourite piece of office equipment and here it is on the right with the Happy Man doing a demo of how easy it is to use.

I love it because it has flowers on it - it is funky groovy colours and IT WORKS!!!

With all the technology I deal with on a daily basis it is SO good to have something cheerful that doesn't require a lot of brain work and it helps me be more effective in my work.

Everyone should have a labeller!

My labeller has revolutionised my office. All my files are properly labelled now and I can find things. I use it to label client files and the little doovers that sit on the suspension files. Every time I open the client file draw I send a whoosh of love out to those files because they make me feel good and I’m sure those clients pick up that energy.

As silly as my labelling fetish is, it will help to build my business because the better I feel about things - the more attractive I am to others. Read the post below to find out how Feng Shui can help you get your office energy effectice.

Would love you to share your most favourite office or treatment room tool - just add a comment.

Ten tips to maximising the Feng Shui of your office

This month the article in my newsletter "powerful practice-building tips" is about Getting Your Office Environment into shape.

Rachel Ross of Fifth Element Feng Shui has kindly put together a list of things to be aware of in your office environment to create a harmonious workspace. The list is a guide only because each individual space should be checked by a trained Feng Shui consultant to find the exact best results. Thanks Rachel and if you would like to check out her website - just click on this link

Ten tips to maximising the Feng Shui of your office.

1. Unseen Prosperity Energy: It is always preferable to have your office in a room or area of your building that has prosperous energy. Any one building can have up to two areas that are prosperous and contrary to popular belief, they are often located in different areas for each building. Prosperous energy zones can be located using Flying Star Feng Shui (the most powerful form of Feng Shui) and require a qualified consultant to accurately determine where these areas are. Placement of energy or ‘unseen’ influences in a building always carry the most weight and are individual for each building, so should be taken into account first for best results.

2. Furniture Arrangement: Simple furniture arrangement principles can be very useful as they help the life force energy flow better in a space. A rule of thumb is to make sure that your desk is positioned so there is a solid wall behind you when you are sitting at your desk. I see so many offices positioned facing walls. Whilst this may be a good use of space, it’s not a very supportive or inspiring arrangement. In Feng Shui, your backing or the ‘mountain’ behind you is most important as it relates to stability, harmony and support in your environment and your life. It also reflects the same arrangement principles that the Chinese consider extremely auspicious in the natural landscape. In short, a strong backing places you in a position of power.

3. See with Clarity: Ideally, the desk should be placed so that you can see the door from where you are sitting. Symbolically this can relate to openly accepting opportunities into your life and business as well as seeing things with greater with clarity. Avoid positioning the desk directly opposite the entrance. Energy can be too strong in this position and consequently it is not considered a productive of comfortable arrangement.

4. Area of accumulated energy: If your room allows, try placing your desk in the corner diagonally opposite the entrance to your office. When energy enters a room, life force energy will automatically travel and accumulate in the corner located at the furtherest point. If there is also a solid wall in this position, the energy will settle and strengthen in this location. Without backing or if the area has windows, this site will be weaker. Also, take note of how the door to your office is hinged. Does energy enter freely and easily into the space, or is the door hinged so that the first thing you see is a wall?

5. Favourable Directions: If possible, take advantage of your favourable directions. Derived from your year of birth, each individual will have a ‘Kua’ or ‘Ming Gua’ number. This number then correlates to 4 directions that can be favourable for an individual. Ideally, your favourable direction should be placed behind you when you are sitting at your desk. You can find out your favourable directions by visiting www.afsc.org.au/cal8mansionkua.

7. Symmetry. Energy will flow evenly if your office is arranged in a way that is symmetrical. Symmetry encourages order in an environment, so make sure object placement is even and balanced in a room, that pictures and wall hangings line up and that chairs and your desk are aligned in an orderly manner. It is always better Feng Shui if your environment has symmetry so avoid placing the desk according to your favourable direction if it means furniture placement is angular and inconsistent with the shape of the room.

8. Clear clutter. A cluttered office is a cluttered mind. Organise and arrange your space so that everything has a place to go and is easily accessible. Place objects, artwork and imagery around you that lifts your energy and aligns with the vision you have for your business and your greater life goals. Create a space that is clear from stagnation, mess and disorder so that is clear to accept the energy of new and exciting developments.

9. Ventilation: Make sure the room is well ventilated so that chemicals from printers, fax machines, etc can be absorbed or released. Make sure the office has access to fresh air and consider placing a few plants in your office to absorb any nasties.

10. Electromagnetic radiation: take care with placement of electrical equipment around your desk. Try to store the hard drive to your computer as far away from your seat as practical. Ensure the computer screen is as a safe distance and avoid placing major equipment like printers, faxes, etc close to where you are seated. Ensure that the electrical meter for your building is not located on the other side of the wall to where you are sitting as this can be very harmful to your health. (For more information on ventilation and electromagnetic radiation, consult a Building Biologist or visit www.aces.edu.au).

Source: Rachel Ross of Fifth Element Feng Shui

Working From Home with Kids

Question

I'm mother of two small kids and can't go out for work, so wished if, I could get cases at home with the help of centers running here. I wish you could say something on this.

Answer

I haven’t heard of centres outsourcing treatments in the way you describe because they have a vested interest in keeping their clients under their own roof so they can maintain their standard operating service. I suspect only an incredibility busy centre that was overflowing would look to moving their clients to a secondary location. Of course if you offered something unique and different to what they were offering perhaps they might do that but your standard would have to be very high.

What I would recommend that you do, to get clients at home, is to re-read through the 90 Day Challenge in the area of strategic alliances – it might give you some ideas how you could work with others LIKE YOU. If you could build up a selection of women with kids who were doing natural therapies at home, that complemented yours – then you could refer clients between you if it were appropriate for the client. I know a lot of women work from home – the trick will be finding them as they often get clients via word of mouth. You could also put flyers up where your children attend classes or school because women with kids go to those places and they would be interested in having treatments with a female therapist with similar circumstances to them. You might also like to consider do some talks or demonstrations at mothers groups or small community centres to help generate clients. Giving people the opportunity to meet you is the best and easiest way to get clients. People like to work with people and the more those people have in common with them – the more they like working with them.

Having a Practice at Home

Question

What are your thoughts on woking from home in your practice?

Answer

This question is asked a lot and there is no real clear answer because it depends on each individual therapist. Some therapists prefer the safety of a clinic and like that it provides a steady stream of client leads and often other therapists within the clinic refer their clients. There is nothing to stop therapists working from home creating a similar network of therapists who work from home so you can mutually refer others; it just takes a little more effort to maintain the links.

Some also see the clinic option as more professional. Again how you view this is up to you but often in clinics your reputation is only as good as the weakest link in the clinic set up. That could be its procedures; it could be other therapists, position of the clinic etc. You have less control in a clinic unless you own it.

I think working from home takes a little more effort and focus. It is all too easy to be dragged off purpose when you are working from home. The neighbours pop in, the washing needs to done and over the course of a day many things can get in the way. If you are easily distracted it may be best to be in a clinic. However, as a Gemini I’m VERY easily distracted and am the classic flitter between projects but I have been able to train myself to be consistently in my office for long period of time working on the things I’m meant to be doing (well most days anyway!)

The benefits of working from home are many including flexibility to see people at times outside set hours. You can do your odd jobs if there is a gap in your diary or you can easily pop into your home office and work on projects in downtime. You have the ability to create an environment that you love and have control over.

The main advantage I see is from a profitability point of view. You need to see less people working at home to make the same profit you would have made paying rent at a clinic. You probably have to do more work initially to secure those clients though.

I believe as times goes on working from home will be a more popular option particularly with women with school age children. It means less travel and less stress in the day. I believe if you have a quiet place at home that is able to be shut off from the main house and you are the sort of person who can get out and do what it takes to fill a practice (which means a lot of worn down shoe leather and shaking a lot of strangers hands) then you will be successful at home. A clinic is not a guarantee of a steady client base and initially you will still need to do the hard yards to get your practice full.

To determine whether working at home is for you is really just a matter of heading up a page with plus and minus columns and going to work on all the wins and challenges both options would bring up for you.