No One Knows What They're Doing

My alma mater, Potomac Massage Training Institute, has a Job Fair twice a year for alumnae. They invite local companies to have a table and meet the MTs. My biz partner, Kitty Southworth, and I have had a table there the last few job fairs to promote our continuing ed offerings.

Each time we offer a drawing and often a give-away. We offer things that can be used early on in beginning a practice. It's been different every time but one thing has been common: lackluster response.

I'm going again this week but I've been thinking a lot about when and how to connect with people.

The first thing I've learned is that people have to be in the right frame of mind for what you are offering. If they're busy thinking about buying a car, comparing make and model, or looking at different financing, for example, they aren't going to respond to material about massage. Sure, they're stressed. Sure, a massage would be great. But they aren't in a massage-buying frame of mind.

I'm wondering if the participants are in the wrong frame of mind at the job fair. They are all focused on where they want to work, who they can get an interview with, is their resume in order, etc. They aren't thinking about continuing education (even though we offer classes on business, including independent contracting!). They are laser focused on getting a job.

It's difficult to understand just when someone will be in the right frame of mind to hear and respond to your message. It just is. It's a lot of guesswork. I could get down about that but then I remember that Ford and Dell and Target and every other company all have the same challenge; while they've got the money to get much more sophisticated advice, they're still guessing at some level.

It's why I think one of the first things you've got to do when building a private practice is figure out who you want your client to be. Who's not just a fit but a great fit for you.

Once you know who you're trying to attract, you can begin to try to see their world as they experience it. It improves the odds of creating marketing that will work (as opposed to a scatter-shot approach where you try to appeal to everyone).

We've all only got so much time, energy, and money. Let's not waste it. And here's hoping I make a good connection with at least a few people Friday night.

You Mean That Worked?

In one hour today I got 4 appointments from 4 new clients in the demographic I'm specifically targeting. With a random gesture.

I'm in Washington DC. We got about a foot of snow overnight. City is shut down. Everyone is at home and/or shoveling their sidewalks.

All the clients I had scheduled for today had to cancel because of the storm. Schedule: gutted.

My husband suggested I put a note out on the local listserves last night. What can it hurt? Here's what I said:

If you can walk, you can get a professional massage tomorrow (Thursday, snow day!). I practice out of my home, all my Thursday clients have to cancel tomorrow, so I've got a table and time. And in honor of Snow Day, it's Pay What You Can all day. 

Give me a call if you're interested. 17th & D NE.

How's that for some fancy writing?

Now, I've tried this sort of thing before and gotten zero response. Today? I was full within an hour and I'm now having to turn people away (really, I told them I'd honor the same deal if they booked by the end of the month). What was different this time?

Did I write the message better?

Was the Pay What You Can more attractive than it usually is?

Did I time it just perfectly this morning?

Did I hit just the right time of the year? We've had about 6 city-is-closed days and I think everyone is getting tired of being at home; what was fun in December can get tedious by February.

I have no idea.

So, what can we learn from this?

Keep trying.

Try things again if you want. The fact that it didn't work out the first time doesn't necessarily mean it won't work out the second time. This posting cost me 15 minutes of time. That's it.

What works for someone else might not work for you. What works for you might not work for someone else.

And most important: marketing is a mystery way more than it's a science (despite the fact that you can get a college degree in it). Trial and error is necessary.

There are so many ways you can market yourself. Want a fun list? Get Laura Allen's book "One Year To A Successful Massage Practice". Or ask around. Everyone's got ideas.

Be willing to experiment. Be willing to try. Be willing to do things that don't work. Along the way you'll discover the things that do.

How to get through

SueFitzmauriceFB/SueFitzSO

Alternative Pricing Options: the Gift Economy

As many of you may know, I offer Pay What You Can in my practice. I've done this since 2009. Most of my clients pay my listed price but I always have some that need the consideration.

Because of this, I'm always keeping my eyes open for other ways people get creative with pricing, especially pricing designed to give a break to those who can't afford the full price.

Adrien Hoppel went full-on with this worldview: all of his projects (he's a web developer) are done on a "pay me what you think it's worth" basis. He calls it The Gift Economy. The Huffington Post recently published an article about him. A very worthy read if you are at all interested in alternative ways to set your pricing.