You’ve taken all your classes, amassed a lot of certificates to prove you know what you are talking about and now you are ready to launch. But how?
The first step to becoming a professional is to understand that you are now an expert, or at least people might perceive you as one. A certificate doesn’t mean you know everything. It is a baseline understanding of the skills needed to perform a certain modality. The rest is up to you and what you choose to do with the information you learned. I know many students who have collected many certificates from my programs with a belief that it will be impressive on their web site or important to a potential client. Like the quote says, “Jack of all trades. Master of none.” In order to truly master a skill, you need to work with the information and find out what is working for you as a practitioner.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. ” – Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was so right when he said this quote. No one will do business with you unless they have established a relationship with you. That relationship can be strictly from a place of trusting you. You have to earn their trust, especially in the holistic business. There are too many stories out there about this industry being a bunch of quacks and ripping off people. Take the time to create the relationship with people and maintain the trust throughout your relationship with them.
Let’s get back to the expert topic. To many people you will be the expert in that, you know more than they do on a particular topic. That’s why they will come to you. Keep that in mind throughout your career. The Universe will bring you the people who need to hear “your message”. My message might be to far over their head, but your message is just right.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears.
The most important step in becoming a practitioner is to remember that everyone is a potential customer or knows a potential customer for you. You are constantly looking to build your client list. I can’t stress this enough. Maintaining and growing your distribution list is critical to the success of your business. Everywhere you go, you meet people. Talk about your business in a way that will connect to a heartstring and entice them into needing your service and then ask for the sale. I’m not talking about rude solicitation. Everyone has a problem they need solved and for many, your services may be the solution to their problem. Find the right language to talk about your business and continuously ask permission of the people you meet to stay in touch with them.
Lastly, start small and gradually grow. One of the biggest mistakes I see in this field is that everyone wants to own the Taj Mahal of holistic practices. Many of these people have a client list of 50 people or less. This does not make for a thriving business practice. Travel to established locations, attend expos and work from your home or the home of your clients. Keep your overhead low and your clients engaged. If you don’t have engaged clients who are interested in what you are doing, you will only have short-term success. Have fun growing and learning with your clients. If they are happy, they will help your grow your business by referring people to you.
Good luck! You are on your way.
If you need additional assistance in starting or growing your business, Priscilla offers a Business Skills for the Holistic Practitioner class twice a year as well as offering private sessions in person and by phone or SKYPE. The next class will be offered in April 2015. For information, please call 860.430.9801.