Managing Overwhelm When Building Your Private Practice
I just listened to a 5 minute podcast by Micheal Port over on Bizslap on managing overwhelm. He makes some good points about how all entrepreneurs get stuck in overwhelm at some point and discusses how to shift out of it when you do.
Micheal states that people are more likely to become overwhelmed when they are getting up to "big stuff." He points out that overwhelm happens for a number of reasons including:
- not knowing what to do
- thinking that what you are doing is too hard
- not sure about your choice of direction
- having too much to do
- not having enough time
- struggling to balance your business/private practice and personal life
Michael further states that when you are feeling overwhelmed it is helpful to be around others who are also into "big stuff" so that they can support you, but also challenge you to hang in there when necessary.
Good advice for building your private practice. I have been in overwhelm numerous times since I began my business, and I can’t think of a client I’ve had who was dedicated to building their private practice who also hasn’t experienced overwhelm.
I think Michael’s point about finding people to help you who are also working at being successful is essential if you want success because most people won’t know how to support or challenge you when you need it most.
Marketing Your Practice Through “Thought Leadership”
A while ago I posted an entry on marketing your practice by writing articles and submitting them to article directories. I have been increasingly submitting articles to directories that I have written and it is amazing how quickly they are picked up and posted on other websites.
As explained in my previous post, marketing your practice through article distribution increases backlinks to your site which is critical for your website’s search engine rankings.
Christopher Knight from ezinearticles.com has a very interesting article on "Thought Leadership" that explains very well the value of writing articles and submitting them to directories.
If you are a writer, and even if you’re not, I suggest you think about this very effective way to increase your exposure for your private practice.
Successful Copywriting for your Private Practice Website: Some Statistics
I have been reading Maria Veloso’s new book, “Web Copy That Sells.” She cites some interesting statistics on web copywriting that you would be wise to pay attention to if you want to attract more clients for your private practice:
- 79% of people scan as opposed to read on the web. This, once again, emphasizes the importance of writing copy that is scannable. e.g. has lots of headlines and sub-headlines, uses plenty of white space, and has short simple sentences and paragraphs.
- People on average are exposed to somewhere between 1599-5000 ads every day. Implication: You must make your copy stand out if you want people to pay attention to what you have to offer.
- 6 times more people read the average editorial-style article as opposed to the average ad. What this means is if you want better results, write your copy so that it reads like an informative article, instead of an advertisement.
- People are 5 times more likely to read headlines as opposed to body copy. Hint: Develop interesting headlines that speak to your target audience.
- Average conversion rates (% of those who visit your site who buy from you on the first visit) can be as low as .05%. This number goes up to 5% for skilled copywriters.
- Average rate for converting prospects into customers increases to 15-25 % with an opt in offer (e.g. newsletter). If this doesn’t convince you to have an opt-in offer on your site, I don’t know what will.
- Acquiring a new customer or client costs 5-10 times more than retaining an old one. I repeat: start your newsletter now if you don’t already have one.
For a summary on Maria’s thoughts on creating headlines go to: "Writing Scannable Web Copy."
For more information about webcopywriting for your private practice website, read, "5 Tips for Writing Attention-Grabbing Web Copy."
And attend my free Q & A Call, "5 Tips for Writing Effective Copy."
On this call we will discuss the importance of well-written copy and explore some basic copywriting methods that have been proven, over and over again, to increase results.
Date: Friday, July 15, 2005
Time: 9-10am Pacific (12-1pm Eastern)
Cost: Free
For more information on this free call go to my website on marketing a practice.
