a particular ad in a specific newsletter a specific autoresponder eCourse or Report you have on go a referral from another customer

By doing this little exercise you can determine again, what is pulling for you and what isn't. If you are advertising in a newsletter and you see that you are receiving clients from this tactic, then it stands to reason that you will keep using it. If you find that a tactic isn't pulling then you have one of two ways to go:

1. either adjust (especially in case of an ad) 2. drop it

In case of receiving clients by referrals then take time to ensure you "thank" those who have referred business your way. A thank you goes a long way and of course it's good busines ;o)

Take above exercise a step further...

Look at list again. Does that list represent where all your clients come from? If not, then add onto that list by adding another section "Where Other Clients Come From" (for example, you could receive customers by attending networking mixers, maybe some offline marketing...wherever you get a client you should be tracking).

Once you have a good list of sources then go yet another step further and write down a few things you are willing to do to get more clients from those sources.

This little process will show you what is "working." Once you know that a particular tactic is working for you, then it stands to reason you would want to brainstorm a little and figure out how to make it work even greater.

But...

You can't do that effectively if you don't know what is working. The only way to determine that is to ... TRACK!

There are several ways you can utilize a blog to market your practice. You can start by posting interesting information on your blog that is valuable to your clients and potential clients. There is nothing like quality, fresh content to keep your visitors coming back to your site. Building relationships with your target audience is key to having a successful private practice.

You can also market your practice through your blog by linking to other websites or blogs that provide information that your target market wants or needs. You can be filter for your clients and potential clients, posting up-to-date information on your area of specialization so they can keep up-to-date with their areas of interest.

Posting comments on other blogs related to your topic can increase back-links to your website which is important for your ranking in search engines.

If you have a newsletter, you can have a sign-up box on your blog and/or you can put up a sign-up form so visitors can subscribe to receive notification when your blog has been updated.

Just like a website, you can also sell your services and products through your blog.

Blogging as a method of marketing your practice can be an effective method for building your reputation, gaining credibility, attracting more clients, and gaining more exposure. It can be a great compliment to a traditional website-- or if you don’t yet have a website, a blog can be a first step towards getting one.

If you decide to blog as a marketing strategy for your private practice, you might want to peruse blogosphere (the community of blogs on web) so you can get a better feel for blogging and types of blogs that exist.

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© Juliet Austin, 2005

The author grants permission to reprint this article so long as copyright and by- line remain intact. Informing her of where article will be published would also be appreciated.

Juliet Austin is a Marketing Coach, Consultant and Copywriter who assists counselors, therapists, alternative health professionals, and socially responsible businesses in marketing their businesses.

http://www.julietaustin.com http://www.marketingaprivatepractice.com http://www.websitedesignandpromotion.com