Conscious Marketing for Psychics and Healers At Sacred Paths Bookstore

by Susie Ughe

Susie Ughe, Co-Owner of Sacred Paths Bookstore in San Mateo, has over 10 years of experience in marketing in the high technology industry and is currently finishing her masters at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.

In my mind, marketing has received a bad wrap. It has often been equated to tricking others, manipulating facts, or trying to sell a product using sheer force. I have to admit that in my previous career I may have, unconsciously, indulged in some of these activities.

Over the last five years, as I have slowly shifted from unconscious marketing to conscious marketing, I have come to respect the need for a marketing plan that doesn't try to trick, manipulate, or force; but that effectively communicates what is being sold so that others are exposed to and can hear what is being said.

One way to effectively communicate is to use basic marketing techniques in a more conscious way. The most basic lesson in any marketing plan is to pay attention to the "Five Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, and Positioning."

This first P is arguably the most important P. The position of your product or service is very important to understand. To work on positioning, follow the exercise below. The results will give you a strong foundation for all of your marketing programs going forward.

Exercise: Set aside a couple of hours, bring a notebook and a pen and go to your sacred place – whether it be in your bedroom, at a local coffee shop, on a bench in the park, whatever gives you energy - and take some time to answer each following questions. Give yourself the freedom to write and re-write until you feel that your answers represent you from the inside out.

1. What service do you offer (for example, chakra healing)
2. What benefit does your service deliver (for example, it heals)
3. Who is the market that you are serving? In other words – what do the people in your area care most about? (for example, non-invasive healing techniques)
4. Why might your clients prefer your service to the alternatives? (for example, chakra healing is less costly, non-invasive, safer, and can deliver better results than the western medical alternative)

Pretend that you are at a party or retreat and someone asks you what you do. Do you have a concise and direct answer that comes from your center? Can you say in 30 seconds or less what it is that you do and how it helps? For example, if you are a healer you might say, "I work with chakras to help heal physical and emotional pain." This is simple. It is concise, yet broad enough so that it can encompass all that you do.

Be sure to include the benefits that you defined in the positioning exercise. To say I do chakra work assumes that people know why that is a good thing. When " to help heal...." is added, it becomes clear why the client may care about my product.

Exercise: Spend time brainstorming on what it is that you do. Write down different ideas. Even think about it while you are taking a shower! Then take some time to sit still and meditate on it. Ask with intention what feels true to you. After a short meditation, take out a new piece of paper or start a new file on your computer and write down what you do and how it benefits your clients.

Deciding on a price is often a challenge, especially when it is for your own services (it can feel very personal). There are two ways to price your services. One is to figure out what you want and need to sustain yourself. The other is to figure out what people will pay. Ideally, you will look at both numbers and then settle on an amount that feels right to you.

Ideas: Offer a special price for "first timers" so that a new client can get comfortable with you and your work. Offer a two for one deal, where you receive money upfront and your client receives a free session. Reserve one session a week for those in a lower income bracket and offer a discount to them.

Exercise: Once you settle on a price that you are comfortable with, say it out loud a couple of times: "Hi, my name is Jane, I work with chakras to help heal physical and emotional pain, and I charge $75 an hour." If it feels comfortable, go with it! If not, change it $5 in either direction and try again.

Location. Location. Location. We hear it all of the time. For a reader and/or healer location is important for many reasons. Questions to ask yourself include: Am I located in an area where it is easy for my clients to find me? Is my location safe for me, as well as my client? How long will I be able to use this location (the longer the better)? Is it affordable? How many clients do I need to see to cover my costs and still make money?

Activity: Bring a shaman or feng shui consultant, or anyone that you feel comfortable with, to the space and ask them how the energy feels to them. Does it feel positive? If you believe in the spirit world, are the spirits that inhabit the space welcoming? Use your spiritual beliefs, and the help of an expert in your practice, to make a decision on location.

Now that you are comfortable with what you do, what you want to charge, and where you are going to work, the next step is to let the people know! Think of promotion as a way of telling people about the amazing service that you offer. This includes a balance of attracting clients with the power of positive thinking as well as using earthly means to promote yourself.

Ideas: Print cheap business cards online. Put your ad up in Craig's List and on other free internet sites. Have a friend create a simple web page for you using Yahoo Business tools (it's easy and inexpensive). Choose one place to advertise your services (like OPEN EXCHANGE) and focus your energy on that. Make black and white flyers and place them in holistic-friendly locations (include your photo, if possible, it really helps!). Give a free presentation at your local metaphysical bookstore...be creative!!!

If you understand the 5 P's and put them to use you will be better serving your clients by being able to very clearly communicate what you have and why it can help them. Think of the 5 Ps as the practice of compassionate marketing, it's not about you, it's about your clients.