A reader just told me he’s doing the 31-day-blogging challenge. He asked me whether blogging is any help for my business. Since I’m a lazy blogger, I’ll use my answer as today’s post:
It depends on what you want your business to be. I’m blogging in order to get an audience for future massage CEUs since I’m about to work with HomeCEUconnection.com on 3 classes, and I’ll be doing live workshops in the Orlando area as soon as I’m approved as a CE-provider by the Florida Board of Massage.
I also write posts that have my clients in mind… just explanations that I often use when I’m talking to clients (like the
hyperlordosis-post, or the post about
scheduling with me).
Of course the exercises are with clients in mind, but they also appeal to other massage therapists.
I like following up with clients after a treatment by emailing them a link to one of
my videos on YouTube, to help them remember a stretch I gave them as “homework”, and I’m planning more posts that refer to the videos.
So a lot of my blogging is not aiming directly at getting new clients, it’s more about building a reputation as an expert on structural alignment and the massage industry in Florida.
Eventually I’ll use the posts I’ve written to build other websites for these different topics, so blogging helps me create content for the future.
If I was blogging simply to attract new clients, I would write posts specifically for keywords that people might search for.
back pain treatments
stretches for a tight upper back
how to correct forward head posture
sciatica relief
etc
That’s pretty much what I explained in my
SEO post. It’s all about identifying what people might search for if they don’t know about what you offer… so as an example let’s say you’re working with
myofascial release.Of course your website has a page all about that, optimized for myofascia, fascia, MFR, myofascial mobilization, myofascial massage, and such (well, I hope it does… or whatever your specialty is).
That way you make sure people find you when they’ve heard MFR is awesome and helps people in pain.
But what about people who’ve never heard of MFR?
They would not find you. They probably don’t even know that
massage therapy can help… all their experience is with simple rubs in a spa.
You have to try and find what people would search for … “can’t turn my neck” and things like that.
Then you make a post “I can’t turn my neck–what to do” and write about the different possible reasons why range of motion might be restricted, and how massage therapy can help.
It’s a lot of work, of course, and you should not expect results for a year. But if you utilize social media well and you get others to promote your posts, you’ll see that some people schedule appointments because they read your blog posts.
It’s like all marketing–you have to find something you like, and stick to it. If you rather talk to people in person, join a few networking groups, build relationships with other businesses in your area and learn
effective networking.
But if you like writing… get more information on content marketing. Check out
copyblogger.com!
I hope this helps a little.. I’m looking forward to your 31 posts!!
To all other bloggers… please comment with a link to your blog, your twitter handle, your G+ profile, your facebook page and so on. The foundation of successful blogging is community!
I’ve told you about my “Consultation & Tryout” sessions. The tryout part is a very short treatment, about 20 minutes, to address a local problem.
