So you’re thinking about offering online consultation services to clients. Congrats! A recent report from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) revealed that 47% of American consumers shop online for wellness reasons. While that number may seem low, it’s actually pretty high when you consider that these consumers are seeking health-related information online. This makes them a perfect prospect for your wellness practice.
You’re probably wondering: How can I bill for online consultation services? How can I convince potential clients to buy into this new way of working? While it’s not impossible to find a traditional job in today’s digital world, it’s definitely not straightforward. That’s why you need to get creative. We’re going to walk you through six techniques for making the most of online consultation and turning it into a business opportunity.
1. Customize Your Website For Different Industries
If you’re reading this, I assume that you’ve already created a beautiful and functional website for your wellness practice. If not, now’s the time to do so. If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘jack of all trades, master of none’, you know that creating a beautiful website isn’t enough to ensure that you make money from online consultation. You need to focus on establishing trust with potential clients while simultaneously impressing them with your knowledge.
Now that you have a beautiful website, it’s time to get to work optimizing it for different industries. You don’t want to limit yourself to just one niche. Why? Because chances are, you’ll learn something new about your clients that will help you further personalize their care. So, don’t be afraid to try a few different tactics to see what works best for you.
2. Build An Email List
You might be familiar with the term ‘email list’. The idea behind having an email list is to collect email addresses of potential customers who are interested in your services. It’s the simplest and most effective way to gain exposure and make money online. You can do this through a variety of tactics, but the most effective one is to create valuable content that your audience wants to receive in their inbox.
The catch is that you have to build the list manually. You can’t just go out and buy it. To do that, you need to give your subscribers value. That means creating engaging content that they want to receive. It might be something as simple as an email offering them a special discount or a short-term money-back guarantee. It could also be a weekly newsletter packed with helpful tips or cheat sheets. Whatever it is, it needs to provide value.
As a wellness practitioner, you’ll learn a lot about your clients. With each new patient, you’ll gain valuable knowledge that will help you provide personalized care. And you can use that knowledge to your advantage. While you could simply sell a one-size-fits-all treatment plan to each and every one of your clients, that wouldn’t be wise. After all, not every patient will benefit from the same treatment. To get the best results for your clients, you need to use what you’ve learned to craft individualized care plans. That’s where having an email list comes in handy. You can use your list to send out customized emails to each individual on your mailing list.
3. Use Social Media To Build A Following
Speaking of helping your clients, you can also take it upon yourself to help them. One of the simplest ways to do that is through social media. Just remember: People share what they want. So, if you want to help your clients, create content that they’ll want to share.
Whether you decide to create a blog, write a book, or produce a documentary, make sure that the content you create provides value and doesn’t just consist of fluff.
4. Use Search Engine Optimization To Get Traffic
Google is the most popular search engine with over 80% of American adults using it regularly. That means you have a large audience of potential customers who are searching for information about wellness on the web. To capitalize on that opportunity, you need to learn how to do SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a combination of keywords, meta tags, site structuring, and backlinks that results in your website or blog being displayed when potential customers search for keywords or topics related to your niche.
To find out what keywords your customers are using, you can either investigate through tools like Google Keyword Planner or look at analytics. Either way, you’ll learn a lot about your audience and can incorporate that into your marketing campaigns.
5. Create Video Content To Make Sales
Nowadays, consumers are much more likely to purchase a product or service from a business they’ve never heard of before. But what if you can’t afford a costly marketing campaign? One of the simplest ways to gain exposure is through videos. In fact, video content is growing 21% year from 2016 to 2020. So, if you want to make sales online, create videos that will make your target audience curious enough to click the link or button that will take them to your website.
Videos don’t have to be overly-produced. Simply recording yourself giving a talk will suffice. You can even record yourself playing a video game, reading an eBook, or sharing some funny stories. If you want to create a more polished piece, you can always hire a video editor to help you.
Make Money With These Tricky Techniques
Now that you have the basics down, let’s talk about how you can turn your new-found knowledge into a profitable business. You’ll have to work hard, but with careful planning and the right mindset, you’ll be able to succeed.
As a wellness practitioner, you’re used to working with your hands. You might even feel a little bit uncomfortable calling the computer your main source of work. But, remember: The more you learn, the more you’ll be able to contribute. To begin, you can use online consultation to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Then, you can use the techniques we discussed to make money online.