Hi Rosemary, I have tried many method to bring in business, the most successful to date have been through the local newspaper, and to make sure the ads stand out. I took a creditcard sized one in a page full of them, asked that the text be very small and lots of empty space in the advert as well, as research showed other advertisers tried to cram as much information as possible. Then I requested that it be placed upside down(!) with the tagline "look at things differently with Hypnotherapy". However in my line of work, it often doesn't has an immediate impact for the simple fact that people may have my number for months beofre they are compelled to act upon it. I also contacted the local radio station and am have a one hour slot on BBC Radio Tees 2-3 times a year to talk Hypnotherapy and NLp and general stuff. The most successful to date was to sell myself on ebay for charity. I offered a weeks life coaching to the highest donation to Children in Need. I also contacted local newspapers and told them about it. They ran a couple of articles on this too. Leaflets and advert do work but you have to research the market that they get to and if there is any cross over with your desires target market. The strongest method I have found is mainly word of mouth referrals, satisfied clients are essentially the best form of advertising for you. To this end, offering free taster sessions to key people ( i did this with a bunch of hairdressers, they do nothing but talk!) worked well. One last example I'll throw you is that I ran a self hypnosis class one day with all proceeds going to charity. I made no money from it, had a great experience and got lots of free press and publicity for it. Traditional mailout and advertising have their place. Have a listing in Yellow pages, it works out very cheap in the long run and you do get business from it. But most of all have a decent website, its your permanent advert that is there 24/7. Most therapists have not got he requisite experience in sales and marketing to convert their skills into a profitable business. To this end I think this thread is a brilliant way to start the process of helping others to kick start their business. Any more suggestions welcome. Come on people, lets pool our knowledge and bring about better wellbeing! Peace Asif Quote | 
and am wondering if all the recent negative publicity in holistic therapy has something to do with it. Are the big pharma companies winning out?? I read recently that 20% of NHS trusts (in UK) are dropping homeopathy as a result of 'leading' scientists' campaign to get alternative therapy off the list of available treatments from the NHS.
