UpClose & Personal - Arlene Alpert

7. Develop Perseverance
Are you in business for the long haul? Then it is up to you to find ways - big and small to stay motivated because it can take quite a number of years to become an overnight success. Be willing to pay the price. Be a self-starter. Go the extra mile. Do everything you can think of and more. Hang in there and NEVER GIVE UP!

8. Have Pride In Yourself
When you need someone else to motivate you or you keep procrastinating and let yourself get depressed, you have just lost your self-respect. You need to be motivated enough to keep caring about yourself. Be a role model to everyone. It is one of the best marketing techniques you will come across. It will make you and your clients feel good. People like to be with people that have high self-esteem and have made an investment in themselves.

9. Get Knowledge
Do you want to get ahead and stay on top? Then you must invest in your Education on a continuous basis. Go to seminars, workshops and
training in marketing and personal growth. The more you know about yourself the more you can help others.

10. Listen To Your Self
Listen to your inner messages, what some people call intuition or a
gut feeling. When you tune into yourself you can meet your needs and
keep your energy, your attitude and your self-esteem up. When you
tune in you will make better marketing decisions and tailor your
advertising to your personality and your pocketbook.

11. Help People
Helping people is one of the greatest satisfactions we get in life. And every Massage Therapist I have ever met says that is number one on their list. However, you just need to make sure you have helped yourself too. It is a fact of life that unless we are interested in our own well-being, we have little energy to be of use to others. It may seem like you are taking care of your clients, but, believe me, they will know when you are dragging your feet and thinking of anything but them. As the age-old saying goes, "Physician, heal thyself."

12. Network
One of the best (and most inexpensive) marketing tools is to be
around as many people as you can. Have you heard the term, "Sphere of Influence?" It means you know a lot of people who know a lot of people, who know...well you get the idea. Make sure you have professional cards that you carry around with you. I know one massage therapist who talks to people at the checkout line. Before you know it she has given three people her card.

To sum up, being in business for yourself—and you are in business for yourself whether you are an owner, a renter or you work in a doctor's office—is a full-time job. Even therapists who work on salary, need to market themselves to have new clients, especially if you are good at what you do and you heal your clients. The times they are a changing, and so must you. Make this the year that you make marketing motivating!

Please call or write the editor with specific questions and I will address them in another article.

Visit Arlene Alpert's website: www.arlenealpert.com.

E-mail Arlene Alpert