The Case for the Blended Career

For many years my massage business was my primary source of income.  Although I re-created and expanded it several times and managed to build in multiple streams of income from different sources within the business (a topic I'll explore int he future), it was still just one business, one career and one identity.  That got old after 15 or 16 years...probably sooner than that.  I got bored and tired of pushing my own cart uphill.  Perhaps it was the economic downturn which also encouraged me to take on another perspective.  Today I happily do several things which provide me income.  Currently my primary source of income is from massage, but instead of working for myself I've found a spa which supports my needs quite nicely.  I work much saner hours than I used to work on my own, and the clientele and services are varied enough to keep me from getting bored.  I also do distant healing which I love immensely, but can't imagine doing 8 hours a day.  And I am also beginning to do life coaching again.  I was doing life coaching when I once abandoned my massage career (sold my massage practice and walked away thinking I would never return to the profession).   Little did I realize at the time that doing massage for steady income was the anchor I needed to get my coaching practice off the ground.  Eventually, at least one of those things will bring multiple streams of income, but the most important thing is that I'm growing in many different directions.

Some people need to immerse themselves in just one thing.  In my previous life with just one source of income, I was learning how to go deep into my work...sometimes compulsively so.  Perhaps as time goes on I will find the need to go back to that method (sans the compulsion).  But we live in the 21st century where multiple things are going on all at once and life is whizzing by at record speed.  I happen to be one of those people who wants to experience more than just one thing.  I thrive on variety.  I thrive on possibility.  And perhaps the next thing I need to master is how to balance it all.

Why I Stopped Coaching and Why I'm Starting Again

I love this time between Christmas and New Years.  It's a great opportunity to reflect on the old year and lay out plans for the time ahead.  This year it seems particularly productive.  I've established a new theme for my life and I'm ready to move forward with confidence. After a long year of laying a stable foundation and building on it, I finally feel ready to build my coaching practice again. 

I don't know why this decision took me by surprise, perhaps because just 12 months ago I had abandoned a lot of my previous ideas about the way I wanted to build my business.  In fact I had almost entirely abandoned my business, choosing be an intrapreneur instead of an entrepreneur.  Now I see that this was a necessary step which appeared like I was going backwards, but I was really only looping around to revisit pieces of my old life and integrate them into my new one. 

In 2007 I set in motion a process which required me to entirely dismantle my old life.  I had a highly successful healing arts practice in a different geographical location.  I was in a marriage which had lasted more than a decade and a half.  And I was just beginning to get the inkling that I wanted to transition my career into coaching.  This inkling was born out of the desire to have a more simplistic lifestyle where I could work from home or anywhere I desired.  I wanted to develop more helping skills and use them in ways that my massage and energy healing practice would not allow. I also wanted to have a better partnership and had finally decided that I was willing, if needed, to give up my current husband in order to get that.  Little did I know at the time that I was asking for a change of epic proportions which left very few pieces of my old identity standing.

So here I stand, virtually on the eve of 2012, with my feet under me, free of old internal and external restraints, living in a new location, thriving in a better partnership, still doing my healing work, and living more deeply and richly than I had dared to imagine.  It was a long trip which seemed to happen in just a split second.  So I stand here at the door of where I started, ready to begin coaching again.  Only this time a lifetime has been lived in just 5 short years.  Mountains have been climbed and moved and totally leveled.  Boats have been rocked and capsized and salvaged.  Pieces of my dormant inner spirit have reemerged begging for expression.  It's no wonder that I needed to set aside my coaching business for a while.  I needed to get my bearings.  I needed to land in a supportive place so that I can truly offer the best I have to give.

In 2012 I'll will build my coaching practice again, practically from scratch.  It's going to be exciting, and I'm hoping that you will join me on this journey.  There will be free sessions, special offers and I'll also be resurrecting some of my old coaching/healing materials which were very valuable to my past clients.  Stay tuned for more.  The best is yet to come!

Tips for Holiday Gift Certificate Marketing

The holidays are the kick off to the season of gift giving which lasts well into June.  The major focal points are Christmas/Hannukah, Valentines Day, Graduations, Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Even Administrative Assistants day (in April) is a significant opportunity for some businesses to sell gift certificates.  Now is the time to put some ideas and plans in place which give you visibility, and help you create a cushion from gift certificate sales. 

1. Think of gift certificates as a marketing tool.  Massage therapists, especially, often lament the one-time nature of gift certificate services.  Think of the one time that you have with a client who comes to you with a gift certificate as an opportunity to educate a potential long term client about the benefits of your services.  It is an extension of your "word of mouth" marketing strategy.  That particular client may only come in once...or once a year, but most likely they will tell others about your good service and the benefit they received.  They also know where to get a gift certificate when they need it.  As a massage therapist, I had a whole sub-clientele of gift givers and receivers, who either gave gift certificates regularly or who came in on gift certificates that were given to them.
2. Carry gift certificates with you wherever you go.  Everyone knows it's not "cool" to push gift certificates at Christmas parties, but never show up to any event, business or social, empty handed.  Keep gift certificates in your handbag or your glove compartment.  During the holidays, people are looking for easy ways to purchase great gifts.  Don't make them wait to call you in the office.  If they ask, be ready to offer.
3. Create a "Stocking Stuffer" Service. If your services are priced in the high end range, consider offering a special mini version of something more involved.  One year when I was doing Soul Realignment, I offered a Mini Soul Profile, which was an abbreviated version of the full Soul Profile Report.  Once clients redeemed the Mini Soul Profile, they received a discount on the full report, if they choose to get it in the future.
4. Leverage the Internet.  Create an email marketing campaign for your existing clients.  Start with an informative newsletter, using one of the popular email marketing services like Mail Chimp (it's free), and follow up with timely offers leading into the holidays.  Many of the offers I've seen this year are playing on the "12 days of Christmas" theme.  If you have a website, make a holiday gift page and add a service , like Paypal, where customers can purchase gift certificates online.
5. Sell packages and give incentives for bulk purchases.  In my previous massage practice, I would offer one time seasonal packages so that my clients could purchase multiple massages at a discount.  They were also encouraged to convert a portion of those massages into gift certificates for friends and family.  My faithful clients loved the opportunity to stock up and share my services with others.  Make sure that you put a limit on the number of sessions clients can purchase, and that the amount of discount will not put you into the hole a few months down the line.
6. Give something away.  It is the season for giving, and a time to express your appreciation for your clients' business.  Offer them something useful to show that appreciation.  It doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive, just in keeping with the spirit of giving.  It could be an add-on service, like extra time or hot stones with their massage.  You could give this gift as an incentive for purchasing a package, or just to your best clients.  This season I made a special meditation for my monthly newsletter subscribers to help them focus their energy and harness it for the coming year.  All my newsletter subscribers get a free monthly meditation, but this one had a special focus.   

Article Writing - The Key to Website Visibility

If you have a website for your business, and most people do these days, one of the best ways to get visibility and establish your credibility is to write articles for online article directories.  I started out by writing and submitting articles to Ezine Articles .  It's a great place to learn how to write articles and gain credibility and exposure as an expert.  It's support systems are outstanding. The only issue I have had with submitting to just one article site is that it is just one article site.  Although Ezine Articles does a great job promoting your articles the exposure is limited. 

In order to increase exposure your articles have to go out to many sites.  Recently I was introduced to an article directory where not only can you post your articles for free, but for a small fee they will distribute them to over 1000 sites.  The exposure is exponential.  Check it out here: Send Your Articles to Hundreds of Sites With Just One Click of a Button!

Seven Syndromes that Steal You Blind - From Rebecca A. Messenger

I could really relate to a couple of the syndromes Rebecca Messenger speaks about in this post.  Rebecca is a spiritual healer who has developed a technique called Heart Point Technique (HPT).  I have worked with it many times with great success.  In this post she tells you about a money crisis she recently had and how HPT helped her move through it.  She is also offering a series of teleclasses on these Seven Syndromes which steal us blind.  If you see yourself in them and you know it's holding you back from creating the successful healing business you want take her classes.  It will change you forever.

http://rebeccamarina.com/2011/11/7-syndromes/

Attract More Healing Clients - Give Them What They Need

The Fifth Principle of "The Seven Principles for Healing Business Success" is to provide tangible and intangible solutions.  "It’s not what you do, but the solutions you provide that matter to clients".  Fabienne Fredrickson takes this principle a step further and shows you how to get more clients and more people into your programs by basing your programs on what your clients want and need. Check out what Fabienne has to say about this in her video. 

Want more clients in the next 30 days?  Fabienne Fredrickson shows you how in her free Quick Start Guide

How to Take Great Care of Yourself and Your Business

How well you take care of yourself is how well you're able to take care of your clients and business.  Great self-care is a way to avoid burnout so that you can remain in business longer.  Here is an article I wrote a while back which will help you build a foundation to sustain your stamina in your personal life and business.

Six Self-Care Tips for Healers

Self-care is a form of self-love which is essential for all healers to practice. Healers tend to be over-givers and when you don't give to yourself first the result is burnout, imbalance and loss of vitality. Here are six tips for make the most of your self-care practice. Follow these tips to maintain balance and stay energized so that you can continue to give your very best.

1. Devise a self-care plan - Even if you don't write it down and schedule it out, you must have a plan for how you are going to take care of yourself. It will help to identify and make note of the key things you which help you stay balanced, such as healthy meals, types of exercise, and rituals. Some things will be done according to a schedule and others will be more like tools which you will use when you feel yourself getting stressed or out of balance. An example of a tool would be a nap in the afternoon.

2. Include the body, mind and spirit - Your self-care plan must be holistic and comprehensive. Make sure you identify activities and tools which take care of all aspects of you. For instance, you may want to take an exercise class or get massage for your body, read stimulating books or articles for your mind, and engage in prayer or meditation for your spirit. Whatever you decide to do to take care of each aspect of yourself, make sure it fits with your interests and lifestyle.

3. Get the type of healing services you give - How can you really know the power of your work if you don't also receive it? If you are a massage therapist, get regular massage. If you are an intuitive, get intuitive readings. If you are an energy worker, get energy work. You will not only replenish yourself, but you will also learn a lot about your craft.

4. Get different types of healing services - As a healing practitioner, you may need various types of healing services to keep you moving along your healing path. Take into account your mind, body and spirit when deciding which modalities to receive. Not only will you receive the healing which is vital to your self-care, but you will be enriched and enlightened by other approaches to healing.

5. Schedule self-care activities in advance - When I had my massage therapy business, I encouraged clients to book their appointments in advance. In my opinion it was just part of a good self-care routine. Scheduling your activities in advance (even time off) helps you create a routine where you regularly give to yourself. This may be easy when you're taking an exercise class which meets every Monday and Wednesday. You show up because the routine has already been set for you. It may be more difficult, to be self-responsible and take the initiative to book appointments for things which are just for you. Often this is where the self-care plan breaks down. Often healers aren't good at giving to themselves, so regularly scheduling a self-care activity may seem like you are taking time away from business or giving to others. Of course, the contrary is true. The less you give to yourself, the less you have to give others.

6. Do something for yourself daily - When you make a point to do something from your self-care plan everyday. Ideally, self-care should be a way of life, which includes the way you eat, sleep, and deal with yourself and others. But if you aren't in the habit of putting yourself first, start by identifying one thing that you can do for yourself everyday. Do that one thing until it becomes routine and then add another thing, and then another. Before you know it you will be well on your way to increased vitality, balance and self-love through self-care.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandy_Freschi