I have had several clients whose computers crashed and they lost all their data due to not backing up.

I recently had a client whose computer was stolen and she lost everything she had on her computer!

So what is the solution?

BACK-UP!

Back-up frequently and systematically. Here is what I recommend:

1. Get an external hard-drive. They cost about $50-100 and will hold
a lot of data. 100-200 GB and even more. Unless you are backing up a
lot of video files 100-200 GB should be enough.

2. Talk to your computer consultant about what software you need to
back-up your data automatically on a daily basis (back-up all data
including your email).

3. While an external hard drive with an automatic back-up is
important, it certainly won’t help you if there is a fire or your
computer is stolen. For this reason, I recommend you also use an online
data-backup company. You will then have an additional back-system in
case of fire of theft, but also in case something goes wrong with your
external hard drive back-up system. I use Mozy
Mozy allows you to automatically back-up your data as often as you
wish. You can use the free version for small amounts of data, or you
can pay about $50/year for unlimited amounts of data back-up. Mozy is also available for the Mac!

Why use both an external hard drive and an online backup system?

Because if your data is important to you, you won’t want to trust any one system alone!

If you are not already backing up–I hope you start doing it now!

A bicycle wheel has a central hub from which the spokes are attached.
All the spokes lead out of, and back into, the hub. The wheel would be
unstable without the spokes, and if you tried to ride the bicycle, you would
likely fall off.

And so it is with your website…

Imagine your website as the hub of your counseling or healing arts practice, the foundation
from which everything else is built upon. Your marketing methods are similar
to the spokes in the bicycle wheel–they come out of and feed back into your website.

If your hub (website) or spokes (marketing strategies) are non-existent, weak or disconnected from one another, you likely will have difficulty attracting clients and eventually your business may collapse.

In order for your healing or counseling website to bring you as many clients as possible, your website and marketing strategies must operate as smoothly as a bicycle wheel. They must be solidly built, fit together tightly and be maintained regularly.

If you want to find out more about how to make sure your website fits tightly with your marketing check out the Client-Attracting Websites Home Study program

You will discover how to how to turn your website into a client-magnetizing hub, attracting all the business you can handle. Click here to find out more.

Mistake #3 The content of your site is focused on you, as the counselor or healer.

If a visitor lands at your site and they immediately see information
about you, your credentials and your therapy or healing techniques, you
are off to a bad start. Most clients are pretty self-focused when they
land at a website. They are not that interested in your credentials and
techniques, as disappointing as that might seem.

I like to compare it to when you take your car to get repaired. Most of
us don’t care about the credentials of who did the repairs nor the
methods used to repair it. If you focus most of your site on the client
and save the information about yourself for your "About You" page, you
will get a better response.

One of my newsletter subscribers took issue with the point I made above. He wrote to tell me that he felt credentials were very important and that he personally focused on credentials first and foremost when hiring a professional. Below is my response to him.

I didn’t say credentials are not important from a professional point of view.

It’s just not the first thing *most* people are concerned with.  If you give them your credentials and not much else to go on, your site is not going to be very compelling to most of them.

Of course there are always exceptions…

And for some people, once they are convinced that you can help them, some of them will look at credentials.  But many will never look or ask about this. And that is why you can put most of them on your "About" page.

When was the last time a client asked you when they called, "What are your credentials?"  It simply doesn’t happen very often.

Most people assume that practicing professionals are credentialed, whether they are or not. Not a good thing, but that is the way it is.

To add to the above, I think that we as therapists and healing professionals take our training very seriously–and we should. We have invested a lot of time and money into it and have seen the great results our clients have experienced because of it.

However, the bottom line is, it is less important to your potential clients, especially when your credentials sound the same as everyone else’s. Clarify the problems you help solve and the benefits you provide first, and then discuss your credentials in the context of how they may be of benefit to the client.

Here is a summary of the 5 key points:

1. Your Website looks like it was designed by an amateur.

2. Your website does not focus on any particular type of client, or client problem.

3. The content of your site is focused on you, as the counselor or healer.

4.  You lack a strategy for getting potential therapy or healing clients to return to your site.

5. Your site is poorly optimized for search engines.

If you would like to read the full article click here:

If you want help in attracting more therapy or healing clients through your website, you might want to check out the upcoming Client Attracting Websites tele-seminar series that starts on October 23, 2007. Don’t miss the early bird deadline on October 9, 200–check it out now.

It’s only $4.95 for a 30-day trial.

Here is a

Summary of the benefits:

Benefit #1: Monthly  60-minute  Building Strategies Teleseminar

Benefit #2: Bi-Monthly 60-minute
Q&A Teleseminar

Benefit #3: Bi-Monthly 60-minute Copywriting Critique Teleseminar

Benefit #4: Members-Only Online Discussion Forums available 24/7

Benefit #5: Monthly 90-minute Coaching Mastermind Teleseminar

You get all the above for only $4.95 for a 30-day trial. Sign up now: Build Your Private Practice Exclusive Member’s Program

Below are the top 10 factors (in no particular order) that determine how quickly you might be able to build your practice:

1. The demand for and competition in your target market.
2. How much time you spend marketing.
3. How effective you implement strategies.
4. How much marketing  knowledge and training you have.
5. How realistic you are about what it takes to succeed.
6. Your attitude. If you stay positive when things don’t work out like you expected you will do much better.
7. How persistent and patient you are towards your success.
8. How much support you have –people and resources to help you.
9.  How much drive you have to succeed.
10: How much time is taken up by making mistakes due to lack of knowledge and support.

If you really want me to tell you how long it takes I will: 1-5 years. Most people who are serious about being success can build a full practice in 1-3 years.

Sometimes I have to spend a great deal of time explaining why the details are so important. There is a great example that illustrates this point that is frequently cited by marketers; that is the story of legendary copywriter, Claude Hopkins.

In the 1920’s Hopkins wrote copy for a beer company that dramatically increased the company’s sales all by describing the details of how the company made beer and describing them as benefits. The amazing thing was that all beer companies made their beer the same way, but because Hopkins specified the benefits of this process in the copy he wrote, sales skyrocketed.

Made To Stick has a post on this story that you might want to read.

The vast majority of counseling and healing websites are not
designed from the perspective of getting clients or sales. While they
may look pretty and professional (although some look quite
unprofessional) they are often completely ineffective, or at least not
nearly as effective as they could be.

The worst part is that most website designers don’t know anything
about designing sites from a marketing perspective and consequently
often design sites that work against you. This is truly unfortunate
considering the time, energy and money that goes into developing a
website.

This workshop addresses the core elements of a website designed to
attract clients. Topics covered include: layout and design issues,
developing a core marketing message, writing compelling website copy
(text), how to develop an opt-in (permission based) email list, basics
of search engine optimization, and methods of marketing your website
both on and off the Internet.

Whether you are developing a website for the first time or are looking to get better results from
your existing one, this workshop will show you how to make your website attract clients like a
magnet!

Date: Sunday, April 15, 2007, 10:00-4:30 PM

Location:   Holiday Inn, Denver City Center, Colorado

Early Bird Deadline Expires, Sunday, April 1, 2007

To Register go to Colorado Association of Psychotherapists.

If your site is anything like many counsellors and others in the healing arts, it likely doesn’t…

The vast majority of professionals have never learned how to write an enticing marketing message that is focused on the client–their needs and problems and the solutions they are looking for.

Too many websites focus far too much on the therapist or alternative health practitioner-and not nearly enough on the client.

And what is wrong with this, you might ask?

The problem with this is it doesn’t show your clients that you understood them and provide hope that you might be able to help them. It doesn’t compel them to pick up the phone and call you.

And if you don’t have a clear, focused and attention-grabbing message, any marketing steps you take are virtually wasted.

Why?

Because research shows you only have a few seconds to get the attention of your prospective clients onc they land at your page. And if you don’t get it within the first few seconds? That is right, there are plenty of websites only a click away..

So if your website is mostly about you and not enough about your potentials clients and their problems, pain and challenges, take a look how you can change it so that it speaks to them.

Learn how to write a message that will draw potential clients in, make them feel comfortable and show them that you can help solve their problems.

Developing a Compelling Marketing Message  is the topic of the next Marketing Dialogue to be held in Vancouver this Thursday, February 15, 2007 from 7-9:30pm

In this dialogue, you will learn what it takes to create a compelling marketing message that will
help you attract more of the exact type of clients you want to work with who will pay you what you deserve to be paid.

If you live in Vancouver and want to register, click here.

This Q & A format teleclass will focus on the following 7 Steps for attracting referrals:

1. Determine Your Best Referral Sources

2. Get Clear Before You Contact Potential Referral Sources

3. Make Contact With Your Potential Referral Source

4. Follow-Up and Keep in Touch With Potential Referral  Sources 

5. Contact Prospective Clients Immediately Once Referred  to You

6. Advise Referral Sources That Prospective Clients Have
Contacted You

7. Thank Referral Sources for Every Client They Refer to  You

I will be answering any and all questions on the call that relate to how you can track an endless stream of clients into your counseling or alternative health practice.

Come and join is…it’s free!

Date: February 12, 2007

Time: 5:00-6:00pm Pacific TIme (8:00-9:00 Eastern).

To Register:

1. Send a blank email to: 7stepsreferrals@aweber.com

2. You will then be sent an email asking you to confirm your subscription.
You  MUST click on the link in this email to confirm.

3. You will then be sent a second email with details for
making the call.