Desperately Seeking Balance (and New Customers)

I’m sitting at my desk, considering how to better promote holistic professionals and practitioners. How do I take care of myself, help you take care of yourself, and help others take care of themselves ~ so we can make the world a better place?

In helping others, how do we blend what’s already out there so that we can maintain balance in our budgets (after all, we’re not the government) as well as in our mind-body-spirit?

“Desperately seeking balance” isn’t quite the right attitude for actually finding balance, is it? Still, how often do you feel like that's what you're doing? Between spending time with your clients and customers, and looking for new ones, how do you find time to relax and spend time with your family, too?

And there are so many things we’re told that we should be doing in order to be successful: blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, tweet, join this group, have a website, update it every day, make phone calls, send e-blasts, blah blah blah yada yada yada.

The fact is, the list goes on and on. The other fact is that none of it is necessary! Well, we all need some way of getting the word out about what we do but we don’t need to do everything. Some people advertise, others blog, still others focus on publicity or optimizing their websites.

All of these ideas, tools and techniques can be helpful… if they work for you. It’s kind of like health and wellness practices. Penicillin doesn’t work for everybody. Some people respond better to acupuncture, chiropractic, nutritional supplements, yoga… Or consider exercise habits. We know we should work out every day. How many of us do? Well, if we found the right exercise, or the best time of day, for our personal preferences, then our exercise ratio would probably improve.

Building your business is the same. Find the marketing tools and techniques that work for you. Focus on those. Social media networking can be fun and useful but not necessarily how you want to spend your entire day! That’s one reason the Holistic Chamber of Commerce (http://www.theholisticchamberofcommerce.com) even exists. So that holistic professionals and practitioners can focus on health, healing and their expertise while still maximizing their presence on free services like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. That’s one way we collaborate with each other.

You’ve probably heard this Calvin Coolidge quote: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

What’s the secret to being persistent in reaching the results and rewards of your efforts?

Ask yourself these questions when considering how best to tell others about your specialty: Is it something that I can learn and do on a consistent basis? If not, is there an affordable way to make it happen? Will it bring me either (a) savings in terms of time and/or money or (b) more clients/customers? Will it enhance my image as a professional/practitioner? Does it support my overall vision?

By answering these questions, you can focus your time, energy and money so that you actually find more balance in your life AND more customers/clients!