Health can be defined as “being sound in body, mind and spirit.” What we call ‘health care’ or the ‘health industry’ in Australia has a very different focus and should probably be called the ‘sickness industry.’ Think about it. Our modern health system only reacts once people get sick or injured. They aim to treat and/or cure the symptom or disease. Whereas the Wellness Industry promotes itself to healthy people before they become sick or injured. It aims to make the client even healthier…to live longer…to feel even better. To help the client avoid injury or illness.

Now we know that the ‘Health/Sickness Industry’ is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. But what about the Wellness Industry. Is it producing the sort of figures that make you sit and and pay attention? You bet it is! What began in obscurity in the 60′s and 70′s as a fledgling industry has grown into one of the boom industries of the next few decades. In fact 10 years ago the Wellness Industry in the USA alone was worth $200 billion. Today in Australia it is worth over $15 billion and over $500 billion in the USA.

Below are some facts and figures from BRW June 2005:
• The Australian wellness industry is worth $12-15 billion in sales a year.
• Economists estimate the wellness industry will expand fivefold over the next seven years.
• 80% of Australians are prepared to pay more for something that gives them a feeling of wellbeing.
• Australians spend more than $800 million a year on vitamins and health supplements and the industry is growing at 8-10% a year.

It was also predicted back in early 2000 that the Wellness Industry would be the next TRILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY. Were they right? Absolutely.

So what does this mean for you? Well it certainly represents an enormous economic opportunity. You can either be part of it…and be a great practitioner…..or you can miss out on the financial, life changing rewards….and still be a great practitioner. Just a broke one.

There are literally millions of people spending billions of dollars to improve their health pro-actively. They are eating and living healthier, wanting to live better lives and they are seeking out wellness practitioners who can help them. This is happening on a scale unseen before in human history.

Who are the majority of these people? Mostly Baby Boomers aged 40-60. They are wealthier, have more free time and have a real interest…no more than that…a passion to slow down the ageing process. They are also a POWERFUL economic force. They may only represent around 28% of the population but their spending represents 50% of the economy.

Who are you marketing to? If you haven’t spent some real time and money trying to understand this relatively untapped demographic you are crazy!!!

As Boomers age it is important for marketers to understand that these consumers do not subscribe to a single type of lifestyle. They move in and out of various lifestyles depending upon the occasion (habit, celebration, convenience). Most consumer participation in the health and wellness arena reflects a pragmatic, piecemeal approach, integrating products and services in some sectors of their lives and not others. Boomer-consumers tend to pick and choose what makes sense for them based on their individual filters, experiences and lifestyles.

Boomers are creating a way of living. While this ageing population has a broad array of products from which they choose items that best fit their individual needs, they are also looking for more from companies than just the product or service they are buying. They want the experience of the purchase to satisfy mental, emotional and spiritual needs as well. In this sense, ageing consumers are branding themselves by creating a way of living. They don’t stick to precise industry product categories, but customize personalized regimes from many categories that make them feel empowered.

In the next issue of my LPA Business Success Journal I will explore the Lifestyle Traits and Trends of Boomers that Influence Purchasing. I will also outline the implications and opportunities for you as a business owner

I must admit I went into the weekend feeling a bit skeptical about the whole thing but I can’t thank you enough for waking me up to the untold possibilities in how I can be more efficient in the running of my clinic.
But that is just the start. More importantly it has reinvigorated my passion for what I do in my work as a practitioner. The insights gained from the weekend have also re-defined how I want to work as a practitioner in the future. The depth of Chinese medicine is rarely used in modern clinics these days and I have this vision of how I can integrate the varied aspects and techniques into a workable format which can greatly benefit the people who come to me for assistance and guidance along their path to better health. It has also provided me with a greater understanding as to what I have to offer and that the experience I have gained over the years as a practitioner has been greatly under utilised.
So thank you once again Adam for providing the opportunity for all of this to take place. I am in the process of putting these new ideas into place and I am really excited about this journey of re-discovery.
Warren

The Quarterly Marketing Conference for our Mastermind Group last month on Gold Coast left these practitioners inspired, motivated, and put them on the right track to achieve what they are setting out to do. It was 3 days of “How To” that gave them the confidence to to walk into their practice on Monday morning knowing exactly what their first step is. The next Quarterly Marketing Conference is on 20th – 22nd of March in Melbourne. Saturday the 20th is open to all practitioners Australia Wide. Book now for your early bird tickets on our website.

See what our clients say

A lot of you have heard me say again and again – “collect testimonials from your clients”! Not only are they a fantastic marketing tool, but they are a great pick me up for times when you may be feeling run down or low. Theres nothing like reviewing your successes to remind yourself of your true worth to your clients.

But, I hear you say, how do I go about collecting them in the midst of my busy day? Wont I be bothering people by asking all the time?

The solution is relatively simple and is a great intro into systemising your day to day operations. Have your front desk/reception paperwork and procedures  incorporate a simple little questionairre that you ask people to fill in on their way out after their treatment. Try the following wording:

▪ Sharing your experience with us can encourage other people with similar conditions to seek treatment and feel well again. Please take a few moments to include your comments below:

▪ How did you feel before you came for treatment with us?…………………………………………………………..

▪ How do you feel now after your treatment/series of treatments?………………………………………..……..

▪ How has this affected your life?…………………………………………………………………………………….

▪ If you were to recommend us to a friend or loved one, what would you say to them?……………………….

▪ Are you happy for us to share your name and comments with others? YES/NO

▪ We would love a photograph of you with our therapist to go on our “Successful Clients Wall”

Then have your reception staff use a cheap digital camera to take a quick happy snap of you and your successful client together. When you have a few of them, print them out and arrange the  comments sheet and the photo in a cheap glass A4 frame from Crazy Clarks. Don’t forget to make copies of everything to use on your website too. If you like you can offer clients a small gift or token of your thanks for taking the time to do this too. A “pocket physio” or a $25 voucher off their next massage are suggested ideas.

Then go and hang your success stories and photos on your wall in a prominent position in your waiting area. People love to look at people and this will be the best form of internal advertising you could ever ask for. Imagine walking in every day to be reminded of this for yourself too!  Your clients will become excited about the possibility of getting their photo in the hall of fame too!

These photos and stories will also form the basis of your media releases and PR campaign, as well as your online marketing program.

So there you go – its cheap, easy to implement, and everyone gets to feel good about being involved with you as a practitioner.

Have a great day today!

Adam

This quick story might resonate for many of you.

I meet with a client recently who completely amazed me. Karen (not her real name) owns a big practice with a lot of staff, a great reputation and a very high turnover. When I first took her on as a client about at the beginning of last year, she told me she was working over 100 hours per week, completely stressed out, extremely worried about her health, sick of micromanaging everything, and her relationship was under a lot of stress to go with it all.

Bottom line, she felt she was “spinning plates” and it was clear to me that either something had to change for her, or else…

You see, Karen knew herself as a high achiever – she demanded huge things of herself and others, and she showed up clearly in her personality profile as a perfectionist and controller. This had resulted in her being extremely successful, but not in a way that was realisticaly sustainable or particularly joyful.

When I met with Karen 5 months after joining for a coaching session I got a number of shocks:

Number one: she had lost weight, was looking good, smiling and glowing. She was laughing and relaxed – something I had yet to see in her. She told me her relationship was back on track and she was enjoying being a couple again! Encouraged by this, I asked what else was new.

Shock number two: She had increased her turnover in February and March by over 40%! Don’t forget, this is on top of a very hefty turnover to start with… wow!

Shock number three: Karen and was back to working “normal hours” and has given herself every Friday off!

As you can imagine, I had to quiz her about what she had done differently. How does someone work 20% less and make 40% more? Turns out she gave me a list of strategies she had implemented from our coaching group, but the real essence of it was much less obvious and much more profound.
You see, Karen had created her successful business by playing to her strengths all her life. Being strong, determined, forceful and perfectionist had given her a very good result on one level, but it had also created a prison of constant vigilance and relentless effort from which it felt there was no escape. Her breakthrough came when she decided to let go of this and work to a new paradigm of beliefs about what it means to be strong, successful and happy. Letting go of control and simply trusting, not being attached to perfectionism or a particular outcome, letting things and people work towards a common goal naturally… these are some of the attitudes I can see she has begun to adopt, with incredible results.

Put simply, she realised that old patterns would give her predictable results, and by simply letting go of her old ways of doing things she allowed new results to manifest.

Sound complicated? Too airy for you? I understand that. However, in my experience the concept that your strengths in your personality can also be your greatest barrier to progress is without doubt the most powerful understanding a client can ever have. All the marketing genius or money in the world won’t make a blind bit of difference to your life unless you “allow” on this level.

So my thought for today to share is “in what ways are my strengths holding me back?” If you can answer this and you would like to share your thoughts or insights with me, Id love to hear from you via return email.

And my thanks to “Karen” for being inspirational and for teaching the coach something this week.

I had a very interesting conversation with a client this week who, when asked what the year ahead would look like for him, replied that he figured it would look pretty much the same as last year, but with some incremental improvements in turnover. His plan, he explained to me, was to keep doing pretty much the same thing as he had been doing all of this year, and he therefore would expect similarly positive results.

A pretty reasonable position to take right?

WRONG!

You see, what my client had failed to consider is that right now we are living in truly exponential times. The amount of information available to people every day is growing at a rate our grandparents couldn’t have dreamed about, and our children are growing up into a future that is impossible to even conceive of if the current rate of technological and social change continues. New trends, popular opinions, technologies, innovations and fashions that used to take a decade to catch on across the world can now become global in a matter of weeks, days or even hours.

The only constant we can count on would seem to be… change.

In short, what worked for us this year has absolutely no guarantee of working for us in the year ahead, and by taking a “reasonable” view of our business plans for the future we run a very real risk of being shunted out by unforeseen competition, left behind, made redundant or unnecessary, or simply overlooked.

So what’s the alternative to being reasonable about our plans and our future? It is simply to follow in the footsteps of every great innovator, leader, inventor or achiever and decide now that you will refuse to buy into “reasonable” popular opinions, refuse to accept “reasonable” limitations on your business growth or personal achievements, ignore “reasonable” excuses as to why you shouldn’t (or can’t do something), and choose instead to explore the world of what is possible.

In short, it is my contention that your job for 2010 is to become unreasonable!

Take another client of mine, Monica Brauer from Coffs Harbour. Monica is a recently qualified naturopath who has for some time been eager to commence seeing patients privately, but has lacked the funds, mentoring and knowledge to go out and start up on her own. She approached me in August asking to join our Mastermind Inner Circle coaching program, explaining that although she wasn’t making any money out of practising yet, she felt that being part of the group would be exactly what she needed to get started.

Now, if you know me you would know I’m not in the business of taking coaching fees from a client who either can’t afford them, but nor am I in the business of discounting either. So taking Monica on as a client was a tricky one for me and I allowed her into the group only on the strict condition that with my help she would create the program as “cost neutral” within two months of commencement. And yes, both Monica and myself knew at that time that in her financial situation this was a highly unreasonable request to make of her.

Three months later, and I’m very happy to report that not only has Monica created a private flow of patients and a steady income stream for herself that is not only covering her coaching fees but showing a growing return on investment, she has become a confident and valued member of the Mastermind Inner Circle, arguably the most dynamic and successful group of private health practitioners in the country.

As a coach, I get excited about where someone like Monica can go in her career in health, and particularly about the contribution she will make to the health of our society and the thousands of people she is destined to touch in the course of her newly founded career.

And it is a sobering thought for me that had I taken a reasonable line with her in our first conversation, and had she taken “reasonable” advice from friends and family and waited until she had the money to invest in coaching and mentoring, she might still yet be working full time in retail and her contribution and her passion for her true calling could have stayed on hold.

As we wind down for the year in 2009, it is my wish for you that your thoughts, plans and goals for 2010 are created from “unreasonableness” and your focus remains on what is possible for yourself, your life, your business and your contribution.

Yours in health and possibility,

Adam

PS. If you feel you could do with a “blast” of motivation, proven ideas and strategies or even a dose of unreasonableness and possibility, I will be running a series of Lifestyle Practitioner Academy introductory evenings in January 2010. This three hour interactive presentation will be your chance to meet me in person and perhaps “sound us out” to see whether or not you being part of a Mastermind Inner Circle coaching group may be just the edge you need to make 2010 your most successful year ever! Stay tuned for more info, or check our website at www.lifestylepractitioneracademy.com