Laying The PERSONAL Foundation For a Full Practice

By Jasmine Samrad

Many people believe good marketing is the key to a successful practice.  I can't deny the truth of that.  After all, my specialty is helping wellness professionals market and promote themselves and get more clients. 

Any client of mine will be coached on creating a compelling marketing message, putting together a long-range and sustainable marketing plan, generating interest with free talks and strategic alliances, and many other core marketing strategies for generating visibility and more referrals.  But that's NOT the first thing I coach when working with a new client.

Clients are always surprised when we first start working together, because we never jump straight into marketing tactics and action items.  They expect to be told to go out and pound the pavement right away.  Instead, I have them take a few weeks to really lay a solid foundation for success, before starting any active marketing.

One element of a solid foundation is whether you are well-prepared for success.  This is both an internal and an external preparation.  Here's what I mean...

Ask yourself honestly:  If 20 new clients walked in the door right now (or 30 or 55, whatever a "full practice" means to you) - would you be ready for them?  Do you have dedicated "client hours" you can schedule them in, or would you just put them in willy-nilly? 

Do you have streamlined intake, billing, and office procedures or do you scramble to create a new client file?  Is your office space cleanly defined and dedicated to your professional practice, or is it mixed together with your personal filing, bills and correspondence?

If your professional "space" is ill-defined and cluttered, that is psychologically and energetically pushing away business.  It also leaves you feeling less professional, sometimes even "fraudulent", like you don't really deserve to be paid (paid well) for what you do.  Guess what effect that has on your marketing?

Similarly, if your personal life is not reasonably free of clutter and energy drainers, you may be pushing away business.   Do you need to radically simplify your life before you truly have the time and energy to serve all these clients you dream of? 

Consider this:  Maybe one reason you don't have too many clients is that there's simply no room for them yet!

In my client work, I always start us off with some "Clearing The Decks" exercises.  I tell clients to hold off on marketing for more clients until they are truly ready to take them in.  That way all this growth they are hoping for can actually happen without overwhelming them. 

One of the first things we have clients do is the following exercise:

• Start acting and thinking "AS IF" you had a full practice already.
• Using a highlighter, mark out the hours in your calendar that you "would" be devoting to clients.  Do this for the next 6 months.
• Make a commitment to devote this time to building your business.  Do not schedule any personal appointments during this time.
• Take 20% of this time and use it to set up your office space, filing, client intake forms, etc... everything a smooth-running professional practice would need.
• Devote about 80% of this time to learning and DOING the marketing it takes to get them in the door.
• Set up a system of reminders and rewards for sticking to this plan.  A little "slip" is ok!  Try to meet this calendar 4 out of 5 days a week.  Take weekends and evenings off (unless they are hours you would spend with clients.)  Recruit a buddy or coach to keep you accountable and cheer you on.

Above all, can you TRULY picture yourself as a busy, successful and in-demand professional?  Do you talk about your practice from that place, rather than grumbling about not being busy enough at parties or to friends?  

These attitudes and actions create the all-important "success mindset" that we call Professional Posture.  It sets apart those who quickly build a thriving practice from those who struggle for years and have unsatisfying clients.  Your marketing will be much more effective if you first take the time to lay this solid personal foundation for success.