My original marketing plan was to network with other therapists, share marketing costs, use referral opportunities, and generally support each other. The Network I started would promote one or two main therapies for each individual practitioner, so that we are not all competing for the same clients. |
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Having already got a website, I had taken over the lease of a shop in the precinct. I had high hopes that this would become the main marketing tool of the group, with therapists paying a small monthly fee to have their leaflets outside the shop, and a display board inside. The intention was to have open mornings two days a week, including a Saturday morning to appeal to those working in the week. Prospective clients could come in for information on any of the therapies and meet whichever therapist was running that open morning session. During the winter months low cost light therapy was available, which would contribute towards the overheads. The rest of the time the room would be let out as a treatment room at low cost to practitioners in the Network. We wanted to make complementary therapy more accessible on the High Street. |
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Taking a Step Back and Reviewing |
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I had put leaflet racks outside the shop which were working well, and Network practitioners, including myself, were picking up work. Most practitioners already have busy practices, and joined for the networking opportunities. However, as time went on, I was uncomfortable charging for marketing, when I didn’t think it was working as I had originally intended. Bookings weren’t matching the leaflets being taken, and as such I couldn’t offer new practitioners a chance of becoming established. |
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Offering low rental treatment room sessions wasn’t working either. The down side with established practitioners is that most of them already have treatment room arrangements, and new therapists often can’t afford to rent the room for a whole session without an established client base. Apart from perhaps a monthly clinic in the town to cater for clients who could not drive, or because an established therapist lives a long way off, and my own part time work, the room got little use. Consequently it did not generate the anticipated rental income that was keeping the practitioners’ marketing fees low. |
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Also the open mornings hadn’t developed as expected. They were popular with therapists , but although clients came in, the majority just picked up the leaflets from the rack outside and rang the therapists later. Whilst it was lovely being able to meet new therapists, unfortunately most who were interested in joining us were doing therapies already covered, so I was turning them away. |
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Having taken over the shop at short notice, I had put up temporary signs which had somehow become permanent, something I had meant to get round to and hadn’t. I also found that the shop front image confused people. We looked like we were a shop, but we weren’t always open, or actually selling anything other than gift vouchers, and people couldn’t just walk in and ask for a treatment there and then on an open morning. With the curtains closed some people were reluctant to come in, even when a notice invited them. With the curtains open a few people weren’t sure that they would be closed if the room was used for a treatment. Whilst my idea was for an adaptable space, (therapy room/marketing area/shop), making the concept clear and therefore getting it to work in practice was proving difficult . |
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Other commitments mean I do not currently work full time as a complementary therapist. When I stepped back and looked at the shop as a prospective client would see it, what I saw was that when the shop was closed, it looked like a business that someone was going to get round to opening eventually. I also began to get concerned that on an open morning, any practitioner being seen through the window was sitting alone, making it look like nobody was interested in complementary therapy. My intention of giving potential clients opportunities to make personal contact with a practitioner was inadvertently creating the wrong impression. Holding an event as an open morning is one thing, holding an open morning hoping people would wander in was another. I got to the point where I realised that I had given it a fair shot for six months, but that I couldn’t expect my business to develop just by carrying on doing what I was doing. |
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I realised that my mistake was to wait and see if my idea worked before committing fully to developing the business image properly. Yet developing the business image properly in the first place is what is needed to give any business a fair chance of succeeding. However at this point I was faced with working out just how deep a financial black hole I was steadily digging for myself. I had gone into the project knowing that the risks are all mine: the start up costs were mine, it is my name on the lease, and all the ongoing overheads are my responsibility. Although we are a network, if it doesn’t work out for another therapist in the group, they can stop paying the monthly marketing subscription and walk away. I did not have that luxury. The plus side of the arrangement is that I took the most convenient clinic times for myself, then threw open the remainder to the group. Although there are opportunities for everyone to benefit from the concept of the group if the idea works, ultimately it is my business, my asset and my liability. |
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A New Image Was Needed |
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I decided to go back to the drawing board and start again. I was convinced the original concept was good – a network of therapists prepared to market and work together, share the costs and support each other. But firstly we had to look like a team and a variety of different leaflets outside a badly signed shop (that wasn’t really a shop) just wasn’t doing it. Our image was also attracting therapists rather than clients, which in turn meant we couldn’t support any more therapists joining us. |
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I took a deep breath and committed financially to branding us as a team. This time I made sure I did my homework. The graphic designer now working with my original website designer came to the shop and had a long chat about what I wanted to achieve, and who was the main target market. I wanted something that would appeal to women and men equally, so it couldn’t be too “girlie” or too "macho". She felt the previous design was a little more angular, less inviting to clients, both in the graphics and the colours, than it could be. She suggested that instead of it being blues, we should consider making the image softer, natural, earthier colours, perhaps greens and shades of purple, which would appeal to a wider market. The colour shading would be critical to keep it from being too “girlie” or too "macho". She also advised me that I needed an image that would appeal to clients, rather than an image originally intended to attract therapists to a network, which although very successful at the time, was no longer appropriate to my needs.
Having got a designer, it didn’t make sense not letting her have free reign with the actual design. It was important to put aside what I liked. I didn’t want someone to reproduce my ideas, I needed some new ones! She produced a concept that she believed would achieve what I wanted. As the concept has developed, I have once or twice wondered over a shading chosen, or why something was done in a particular way, but was advised it would come together. I think it has and although at the time of completing this article, all the design strands from the new website (http://www.therapynetworkonline.co.uk), the shop, the stationery, leaflets, advertising, etc are still coming together, it feels right.
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