A very basic website is more than enough for your first year or two in business and keeps costs low. Sites like Wix and Weebly make building a site very easy for beginners and although they can be quite expensive if you require all the extras, the basic starter sites are free or a very modest charge. Once you have found your voice and your passion, tested it in the market and refined your message, then if your market would appreciate it, you can hand over a fully formed concept to a professional website designer.
At the beginning of your journey, you will not have developed your voice or really found your niche. EFTMRA recommends courses to help you define your business which may help speed things along. In the meantime, trial and error and the results of CPD may mean you adjust your website very frequently. It is far easier to build a brand in stages than to dismantle one.
Frame of mind
Being energetically ready and open to receive clients and be of genuine service to them will do you more good than a website on its own. Optional game: Whether you write a gratitude letter to your ideal client or create and colour a heart-to-heart business card, or practice stepping into a ball of light, take whatever you’ve done into the matrix and reimprint it to get those neurons firing.
Options besides websites
Some practitioners grow their business through talks or networking without getting round to building a website that is any more complicated than an online business card. It’s harder to be on LinkedIn without potential clients expecting a website, but on Facebook its quite possible to work out of a Facebook business page. It’s not entirely reliable as they can be shut down without warning, but still doable.
EFTMRA Code of Practice
However you promote or confirm your services, Section F of the EFTMRA Code states:
All Practitioners shall undertake to:
F1. Ensure that all advertising, no matter in what form or medium it is placed, represents a truthful, honest and accurate picture of themselves, their skill-base, qualifications and facilities and that any claims for the successful outcome of treatments (in whatever format) shall be based upon verifiable, fully documented evidence.
F2. Ensure that all advertising shall be accurate, and truthful and that any claims made in advertising can be substantiated on request.
F3. Display only valid qualifications and certificates issued in respect of relevant training courses and events or certificates of registration, validation or accreditation as issued or awarded by relevant professional bodies.
F4. Make no claim that they hold specific qualifications unless such a claim can be fully substantiated.
What kind of visitors?
On top of honesty and accuracy, ideally, your website also needs to speak to three different types of people,
- The curious visitor
- The shopper
- The ready-to-buy
Curious visitors will come to know more, because they have had a recommendation, heard good things about you, perhaps met you and liked you. It would be really great if they looked around, felt welcomed but not ‘sold to’ and left inclined to come back, feeling like they kind of know, like and trust you. Even if they are not potential customers they might suggest you to someone else.
For these visitors, it is most important to be:
- Real. Talk about yourself in the first person (never say ‘we’ to feel more important when there is blatantly only one of you). Show your face in one or more photographs, have an ‘about me’ section or paragraph. Have a benefits statement such as “I use “…” to work with “type of people” who want to “goal”.
- Trustworthy. Show your memberships. Have a privacy notice and real contact details and a disclaimer. If you have any testimonials or positive feedback, then social proof is also reassuring.
- Knowledgeable and generous. This is an added extra and not essential, but giving away a download or printable with your face and name on it, even as simple as ‘Ten Handy Hints For XYZ’, can start to build the service relationship. I would say don’t ask for an email address in exchange unless you know what you’re going to do with it.
Shoppers come because they know you, or they’ve visited before, or because they found you through an internet search for their problem or goal. These people will be looking for services, prices, logistics and outcomes.
The Code of Ethics states in Section A that all practitioners shall undertake to:
A5. Present all services and products in an unambiguous manner (to include any limitations and realistic outcomes of treatment) and ensure that the client retains complete control over the decision to purchase such services or products. N.B. Guarantees of either a cure or a successful resolution of the problem/s presented shall not be offered.
People buy simple solutions to complex problems. Life needs to be made easier or better (even momentarily, eg chocolate) to justify the exchange and the effort. A contract is a step outside of the comfort zone, it needs to to save them effort. The Code and the ASA Advertising Standards Association are both clear – we cannot even suggest that our work benefits a medical condition, however, if you are pre-screening to make sure the client is a fit for the work, then you can promise that they will learn personal development/self-management and wellness tools that will last them a lifetime. Quite what that means in your hands will be very unique. ‘Blocks to success’ and ‘redundant beliefs’ are not on the CAP no-go lists.
Ready to buy. These people need clear, easy and friendly ways to take the next step, whether that’s to schedule a call or appointment or send you a message or just plain call your number right away. Try and make it a one-click process because every click is an apparent obstacle and a reason to wonder if this is going to be so easy after all.
Author: Cheryl White, EFT Test Manager