Whether you are a Personal Trainer, Massage Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Accupuncturist, Herbalist, or other professional service provider, you have one thing in common with all others, You Need New Clients. As existing clients get better, move away, or go through financial ups and downs, you will need to attract a steady stream of new clients at all times. This Business Success series is designed to help you do exactly that, while working creatively and having fun doing it.

Though this series is organized around creatively marketing a particular type of professional service, holistic health services, the same approach can be taken with other service type businesses, such as bookkeepers, personal assistants, and dog walkers. Just creatively adapt the information to your area of expertise.

Here are the 5 Best Ways to Market Professional Services:

1. Build a professional website and include case studies.

2. Position yourself as a "Thought Leader" by offering seminars and publishing articles.

3. Hold webinars that show your expertise.

4. Send a regular eNewsletter that shows your expertise.

5. Give incentives to existing clients to generate referrals.

1. Website With Case Studies

Having a website has become even more essential than having brochures for one's business. Every professional should have one, period. They allow you to deliver as much information about you and your expertise as you want to anyone you can give the url to. They can access the information at their convenience and you can update it as new information comes in. Receive a new client testimonial saying how great you are? Don't dish out another $500 having new brochures made that include the information. Just spend 10 minutes uploading the new information to your website!

It is also the best way to collect information about prospective clients who may not be ready to commit to receiving services from you, but who may be ready to commit to receiving your eNewsletter (see section below on newsletters). You can even sell some products and services directly from your website and allow people to pay you with credit cards so that they can break up the cost of more expensive services over time.

Case studies and client testimonials are of ultra importance to almost every type of business, but especially for anyone selling services. The fact is that if you're selling "solutions," nothing says more about what you have to offer than case studies.

Most service providers find that every new client engagement is unique and not "off the shelf." In most cases, they sell combinations of many of the services that they offer. Usually the only way to explain these complex groupings of services is through case studies.

Important Notes: You need the customer's permission to use their name or logo, so start working on getting permission very early in the engagement. It usually takes much longer than you think, especially with busy people. Also, the most effective studies tend to be the ones that show the details - what went right, what went wrong and what the final results were. The more unbiased it sounds, the more believable it will be.

2. Seminars and Articles

Seminars are a staple marketing strategy for almost any type of service business. The reason is because seminars show off how good you are at coaching, teaching and training. After all, a seminar is teaching. Clients want to know that you can help them and educate them for improved health. There is a great deal of respect for teachers in all cultures, and you want to benefit from that by placing yourself solidly in that category in people's minds (in addition to also being seen as a healer). You should make sure your seminar content is relevant and perceived as valuable by your prospects. Seminars that are pure sales pitches tend to have the opposite effect of what you desire.

Similarly, there are many websites across the Internet that accept articles for publication. They don't pay money, but they do allow you to put up a by-line that includes information about you and your business. A number of sites not only post the articles directly but also offer your articles to people who are searching for content for their newsletters. This can get your message out to a lot of people, if you're a good writer. Being a published author in many people's minds automatically makes you an expert in your field.

3. Webinars

Seminars are really training, and so are webinars. The difference between the two is that webinars are much more convenient for busy people and can get you in front of a significantly larger audience. Also, today's customer is comfortable with webinar technology and sees that he/she can get the same information in a webinar as in a seminar. So why would they want to get in a car and go to a seminar?

Networking and promoting other products/services are why seminars are still important, so I'm not by any means dismissing them ... but webinars have potential to broaden your base to people living outside the one hour driving radius. You want people to be talking about you as an expert in your field far and wide.

Believe it or not, if you can build enough of a buzz about your services, you can actually get people to fly to you from other parts of the country or even the world to receive services! One of my associates has a client who flies him around on his private plane so that he can receive acupuncture treatments on the flight and several other associates have had people fly them to other states to get a massage from them or even to the Bahamas for a personal growth counseling session.

I myself have many clients contact me before arriving in my area for a vacation saying they wanted to secure an appointment in advance so that they could finally meet me after hearing so much about me on the Internet!

Don't underestimate how high your value can reach if you build your "fame" as an expert in your field. Successful marketing is a long range plan that also brings in some immediate profits. Reach potential clients wherever they are. No act that builds a positive reputation for you is ever wasted effort.

4. Newsletters

eNewsletters work for any type of company. For a services company, the articles show how smart you are. It will give you a chance to show off your expertise.

In addition to continuously putting you in front of current clients so that they are more likely to remain in an ongoing relationships, eNewsletters are also great for prospecting for new clients. On the front page of your web page, you should have a place for a prospect to quickly and easily sign up for your newsletter.

Important Note: Be conservative about how often you plan to publish. Quarterly or bi-monthly is a realistic goal when you start out. After you've established the eNewsletter, you can move to monthly, especially when you see how well it works. Also, keep in mind that newsletters are inexpensive, but labor intensive.

5. Referrals

Get creative and find ways to encourage referrals so that you're getting twice as many as you would get naturally. In addition to "bring a friend" promotions, you can run quarterly raffles in your office for clients to win desirable prizes in exchange for bringing in referrals. Anyone is automatically entered as soon as a new client signs up mentioning their name.

If you tell a client who is well-known and respected in the community that if they get others to start using your services you'll give them both a significant discount on the cost of services, who knows how many people they might actually bring in, looking to guarantee that at least one follows through on their advice. Give them all discounted service.

Additional "Best Marketing Practices" Include:

• Of course have a business card. Carry them with you everywhere, and look for good opportunities to hand them out.
• Look for events you can attend to make your presence known. This is especially important for people who sell products and services which involve a certain level of trust, or which will sell better when someone can see an example in person.
• Get into the Yellow Pages - All you need for this is a business phone number! Paying for an extra ad will help for some businesses, not for others.
• Look for local calendar, magazine, or other publication sponsorships to promote your business.
• Sponsor local charitable events or sports teams, etc.
• Place business cards or brochures in places where they can be distributed for you.
• Network with other local business owners.
• Join a trade association or Chamber of Commerce ONLY if you feel that you can get better business exposure and benefit from participation. This is not a help to many businesses.
• Label your car with advertising - You can print your own magnetic car label if you want, or print your own bumper sticker.
• Hand out bumper stickers, refrigerator magnets, give printed Tee-shirts as gifts, etc.
• Think creatively. The point is to make sure that your community knows what you do, so they'll think of you when they need what you have.

Following the above guidelines will get you started with a solid customer base for your business. Be sure to read the other guides in this series to learn more about maximizing your income and establishing yourself as a star in your field. All the hubpages in the series are intended to be used together to present a complete approach to a successful new career. Good luck!

Other Business Success How To hubpages in the series include:

• Establishing Yourself as an Expert
• Referral Marketing
• Launch a Business Coaching other Holistic Health Professionals for Success - Be a Success Coach
• Using the Internet to Generate Passive Income
• And more