15 April 2009

Why Professionals in the Healing Arts Should Blog

When you blog, you are creating and/or enhancing your professional reputation. You are giving information of value to potential patients or clients that may be the start of your therapeutic alliance or coaching partnership.

Giving free self-help advice, action step tips, healthful recipes, etc promotes not only goodwill, but lets future clients / patients get to know what to expect from you. It positions you as warm, friendly, generous, helpful, empathetic, and knowledgeable without having to say any of those things directly. It gives potential clients a favorable experience of you before you’ve even met.

More importantly, a blog contributes to your reputation as a specialist in your type of work. Even though most of us were trained to be generalists in our professions, to gain a steady flow of clients you need to market as a specialist. Presenting yourself as a specialist does not limit who you actually accept as a client or patient. It simply maximizes your client attractiveness magnetism.

In terms of time and energy management, blogging is one of the most effective tools and uses of time for the introverted solopreneur. An entry can be multi-purposed and used in your newsletter to referral sources, as a tip sheet give-away from your website, as part of an autoresponder series, as a networking or workshop handout, etc. Write it once, use it 4 or 5 times, or more.

And, as a special bonus for the introverted solopreneur, blogging is a way to network without having to attend a chamber of commerce breakfast at 7 am and remember your elevator speech! Blogging is a very low-cost / high reward marketing activity.