Press Kit for Renae Bechthold
(click image for pdf)
Areas of Expertise:
- Marketing, Sales, and Business Skills for Healers
- Mind-Body-Spirit Approach to Business Ownership
- Strategies for Generating 6-Figure Revenue
- Managing a Multi-staff Clinic or Studio for Profitability and Leadership
- Aikido Principles for Business, Leadership, and Life
- Holistic Company Management Strategies
Interview Topics:
- Out-of-Pocket Is the New “Insurance”
Holistic health practitioners commonly bemoan not being allowed to work through health insurance policies. How, they wonder, can they compete with conventional medicine, when conventional medicine is a fraction of the cost because of health insurance? Conventional and alternative medicine are not actually in competition. The former treats illness, and the latter promotes health. Today’s health-conscious consumers spend tens of millions of dollars on alternative medicine, as an ongoing investment in their wellness. By strategically distinguishing their work from that of big medicine, holistic health practitioners can position themselves to receive steady and lucrative business from this targeted market.
- Sales Is Heart-Centered Service
Tarnished by incidents of corporate greed and financial scandal, “sales” is mistakenly equated with predatory behavior — manipulation, coercion, and deceit. In the holistic health world, “sales” is further misunderstood and maligned, as a result of scarcity thinking, poverty consciousness, and religious traditions equating “healing” with “selflessness.” True sales, however, is heart-centered, caring service that is provided in a balanced exchange between the giver and receiver. A sale is made when a service provider listens deeply and caringly to someone’s needs, identifies how to best meet those needs through the service provider’s own talents, and makes arrangements for a fair trade between the service provider and recipient through our common medium of exchange, currency. Sales is, in its essence, our sacred and most esteemed investment in each other.
- Ideal Leads Are Closer than You Think
Most body workers are surprised to learn that the top four marketing channels are good old fashioned client referrals, business referrals, past customers, and community networks. The body work industry is a relationship business, so these marketing channels trump impersonal ones like mass advertising and social media. Potential clients needs to trust a body worker’s intention, energy, and touch, ideally before scheduling a session, so referrals and personal connections offer the shortest distance between marketing and sales. Clients do not simply appear from these connections, however. Body workers need to implement strategies for proactively nurturing their relationships and networks, so as to become recognized as the go-to resources of their communities.
- Avoid the Seven Deadly Marketing Mistakes
Holistic health practitioners often self-sabotage without realizing it, through some common marketing mistakes: 1) They do not identify their target audience. By assuming their work has universal appeal, practitioners fail to present the appropriate message to the right audience. 2) They attempt to market their entire business with one message. By not separating the distinct aspects of a business, practitioners muddy the waters – thus failing to engage their target audiences. 3) They skip the marketing and go for the sale. Effective marketing captures the attention of a target audience and organically elicits the desire to purchase services. Going directly to the sale is the romantic equivalent of asking for sex from a total stranger. 4) They fail to set a goal for their marketing efforts. A goal informs objectives and action steps. Without a clear purpose, marketing efforts are haphazard and fall flat. 5) They lack a strategic plan. To effectively leverage accomplishments and make strides forward, one must have a clear vision for how each step leads to the next. 6) They practice yo-yo marketing. Inconsistent marketing produces inconsistent results and leads to unstable income. 7) They do not track results. Without awareness of what does and does not work, practitioners are clueless about where to invest their time and money.
- The Only Person in Your Way Is Yourself. Get Out of the Way.
Many massage therapists and body workers are in the field of healing because they themselves need healing. It is therefore not surprising that practitioners often have underlying beliefs about being unworthy, incompetent, and so on. When left unchecked, these underlying beliefs typically lead to self-sabotaging behaviors – so that even as someone is taking action to move forward, he or she falls backward. Mental hygiene is the first step in mastering the game of business and making strides towards success.
- Develop Lifetime Clients
Clients come back for more when they receive value through information, results, and community. Body workers therefore need to educate their clients on how to get and stay healthy; provide their clients with a strategic action plan for implementing and staying accountable to these objectives; and connect their clients to community resources and networks supporting the journey to optimal wellness. Just as excellent health requires a proactive approach, so does running a health-oriented business. By mastering not only one’s talent in manipulating the body but also one’s skill in making a difference, body workers lay the foundation for a successful practice with lifetime clients.
- Follow the Benjamins
About 86% of full-time workers are overweight or have at least one chronic illness, and those who fall into both categories miss hundreds of millions of days of work each year — resulting in over $153 billion in lost productivity annually. Today’s corporations understand that an investment in employee health is an investment in the bottom dollar. For this reason, a growing number of corporations are providing employee wellness programs. By tailoring their work to the corporate milieu, and by acquiring the business savvy necessary for identifying and breaking into their target market, body workers can tap into the lucrative and ongoing revenue stream of corporate America.