Money, Marketing and Soul for Massagepreneurs
Websites
10 Reasons to Use WordPress for Your Website
Nov 4th
I’ve used a lot of website platforms since I created my first website back in 1999. Of them, I love WordPress the best! Just in time for my Website101 launch over at Website Training Academy on 11.11.11 here is a list of reasons why I love WordPress to build your massage website and it doesn’t matter if you’re a solopreneur, have a large practice or work for someone else.
1. WordPress is the SEO king! Just ask Matt Cutts, head Google engine who chooses WordPress for his own website. Check out his post where he talks about SEO and WordPress at http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-for-bloggers/
2. WordPress Plugins are being created all the time to add more functionality to your website. This means that your website will be able to do pretty much anything you want or need it to do. Plugins allow you to add photo galleries, sliders, shopping carts, maps. There’s a searchable, one-click install directory for plugins (think App Store for WordPress). And you guessed it most of them are free!
3. The Content Management System (CMS) dashboard of WordPress is very user-friendly. It is very hard to break WordPress.
4. At any time you can add a blog function to your WordPress website.
5. With the design elements stored in a different location to the content you can safely update your site design at any time without losing your content.
6. You can add social media integration in just a few minutes with the easy to use plugins and widgets.
7. WordPress is built on PHP coding which readable by almost every web browser and mobile apps, so your website can be read on the go by anyone using the internet.
8. Building a business website for your massage practice on WordPress allows you to update your own website without a webmaster or designer. Having control over your website is very important.
9. You can get your website looking the way you want it to by using either free or premium themes. There are literally thousands of each.
10. WordPress is easy to install and configure.
and one last one — a bonus if you will — WordPress is a free and open source which means you can get it for free and know that it’s going to be updated and upgraded constantly keeping up with the changes on the web and adding new functionality and security on a constant basis.
What more could you ask for!
Need a new website? Head on over to Website Training Academy and check out my step-by-step video based tutorials called Website101 on how to build your own website using WordPress.
Trade Your Website
Apr 22nd
Of course your website is incredibly clear and easy to use . . . to the person who created it! While you totally understand that “the magic center” is where someone goes to purchase your services, your potential clients may be left scratching their heads.
One of the most effective ways to get a wake-up call on the problems in your website is to watch someone actually use it. I can promise you’ll be surprised at where they go and the conclusions they jump to. Make sure to take off your defensive armor because I have to tell you, this can be an uncomfortable exercise!
What I want you to do is find a local friend or family member and ask them to use your website. The less familiar they are with your site and your massage business in general the better. Ask them to perform specific tasks and speak aloud their thought process as they do it. Instruct them to do whatever you would want a client to do on your site. Don’t give them any hints! The whole idea is to see if your website is easy enough to use to complete the task without guidance. Some examples:
- Find the services that I provide
- Find my phone number
- Sign up for my newsletter
- Have them pretend to make a Gift Certificate purchase
- Make an appointment (if you have an on-line scheduler)
You can also have them look through each page of your site and give their feedback on what they understand and what they find confusing. Again, remember to put your defenses down – this is valuable information!
Well how did it go? Did you ask a friend/family member to look at your site? Any surprises?
Web Design Colors and Their Meaning
Jan 4th
Color is all around us, from nature to our cars, furnishings and the multitudes of designs we see on the Web and in print. If you’ve used a designer to design your Web site, they give a lot of attention to two major factors: the design (choice of graphics) and the content. But what about the colors?
In my opinion, your color choice is one of the most important things to consider when designing your site. The colors of your Web site are important because they will define the mood and emotions of your visitors as well as reflect your identity and image branding.
Colors affect us psychologically. They can stimulate our appetite or suppress it. They can make us happy, excited, angry (i.e. have you ever heard the saying “he is red with anger”) or sad.
Let’s take a look at colors and what they mean to your visitors. Then we’ll discover the different color combinations and how they apply to your Web site.
Warm Colors
Red: Red is one of the most powerful and attention-getting colors. Red symbolizes passion and fire, love and lust. It has been proven to raise blood pressure and cause perspiration. Red reflects energy and can motivate an individual to take action. It can also symbolize war, violence, blood, and aggression.
Pink, however, is the softer side of red. Pink is romantic, calming and feminine.
Orange: Vibrant and warm, orange is associated with autumn, pumpkins and Halloween. It inherits many of the traits of red, but is less passionate. Orange has been known to stimulate the appetite. As a citrus color, it can also symbolize health.
Yellow: Yellow symbolizes sunshine and warmth. It can mean hope, light and energy. On the other hand, it can mean weakness or illness, or symbolize cowardice.
Cool Colors
Green: Green signifies health and growth (vegetation) and wealth (money). Green symbolizes spring, renewal, and fertility. It can also mean jealousy or inexperience.
Blue: Blue is one of the most calming colors and is associated with the sky and the sea. It is considered to be a “safe” color and signifies intelligence, reassurance, and trust. Blue has also been known to be an appetite suppressant and can signify depression and sadness.
Purple: The combination of red and blue, purple is one of the most intriguing colors and symbolizes creativity. Purple is spiritual and mysterious. Deep purple is associated with royalty and richness while
lavender is associated with romance and nostalgia.
Neutral Colors
Black: Black can represent power, elegance, and sophistication, but it can also represent death (Western culture), evil, anger and sadness.
White: White represents cleanliness, purity, and spirituality. It represents life and marriage in Western cultures, but it represents death in Eastern cultures.
Grey: Grey is the combination of black and white. It is a conservative color. Grey can symbolize security, maturity and reliability, but it can also signify gloominess and sadness.
Brown: We like to classify brown as a “special” color. Sometimes brown can be used as a neutral and sometimes as a warm color. Either way, brown represents credibility and stability, the hearth, home and the earth.
Choosing a Color Scheme
Once you understand colors and their connotations you are ready to begin choosing a color scheme for your site. If you are in the process of designing your site or want to change it, look around at the colors of other Web sites (massage related, or not) What do you like about them? What don’t you like? Then go create it.
Here’s what I want you to do – in the comments, tell us what is the color of your Web site? Why did you choose it?
If you don’t have a website, you can get one here.
“Ready to Get Rid of the Excuses and Get a Website? This this is for you…”
Dec 17th
Are you tired of not having a website or you have a website but it totally sucks and you are embarrassed to send people to it?
Do any of these describe you…
Technology freaks me out (or makes me nervous or feel stupid).
I don’t know how to make my website work for me.
I want to increase my income through marketing on the web, but don’t know how.
Help! I don’t even have a website! Where do I start?
If you want to attract more business, you need a website. It is as simple as that!
To get a website, you have two choices…
You can learn to do it yourself.
OR
You can pay someone else to do it for you.
This holiday season, I’m offering a special price of $299 for creating your website…but this is the LAST time I will offer this special. My prices are going up in 2011!
If 2011 is the year you FINALLY step up and start taking action toward creating a business presence on-line, the year you FINALLY stop saying, “I don’t have a website yet… ” then this package is just for you.
So here’s the deal…I am offering (up to 7 page) website complete with search engine optimization (SEO). And, if you order before December 24, I will also throw in a Facebook Page or a Twitter account (a $75 value). BUT…because I want to have a turnaround time of 1-3 weeks for my clients, I’m only offering 10 spots available! And when I offered this special before, the spots were snapped up faster than you can say lickity split! So, if you’ve made the decision to do what it takes to build an on-line presence this coming year, don’t wait on this, okay? I’d hate for you to miss out on this opportunity.
If you’re ready to claim your shiny new website, click the button below to buy now!
What is included:
7 page website setup (I will upload photos, video, copy that you send me on to your site), you decide what pages you want.
header design (similar to Alexandria Therapeutic Massage) on a template platform, (on a blogging platform there would be an additional charge depending on the design)
on page SEO with your keywords (if you need help with this I can give some suggestions)
URL redirect
website registration with Google and Yahoo.
What’s not included:
Domain registration – usually about $12 per year
Hosting – between $5-9/month depending on if you opt for the website template or a blogging template
Here’s the link again, so we can get started right away on your website
P.S. If this sounds good but you’re unsure for any reason, please email me and we’ll set up a time to talk and make sure this is the perfect fit for you and your goals.
Are you connected?
Aug 18th
It’s a mistake that I see all the time.
Colleagues, coaching clients and friends who are in other businesses tell me that they created a twitter profile, facebook group/profile/official page, etc but no one joined them there.
Let me tell you, “if you build it they will come” is not true for social media!
So you created a twitter account – does anyone know about it? How could they possibly find out? We already discussed the idea of linking to social media in your email signature. But what about your website?
For this tip, your mission should you decide to accept, is to add social media links to your website, a good place is probably your bio or “About” page. You can see an example of mine here. As you can see I kept it very simple, with links to the sites that I’m active on.
You can jazz it up by adding logos, but plain text links work just as well.
If you don’t update your website yourself, just send your webmaster links to your social media profiles and my site as an example. It should take less than an hour, and you’ll soon see more visitors to your social media profiles.
Don’t have a website? Isn’t it time to hop on board? For the month of August, you can enter to win a website designed by me (a $500 value) by purchasing my book “Creating a Prosperous Practice” from the CAPP website. If you already have a website you will receive a website review (a $99 value) should you be the lucky winner.
Don’t want to miss out? Go to Creating a Prosperous Practice now and order your copy today!
Feng Shui Your Website
Jan 14th
By following Feng Shui guidelines and techniques, you can design and build a business website that is not only visually attractive but attracts wealth and prosperity as well. The elements that are part of a business website are somehow equivalent to the objects distributed through a working space since the website is the electronic version of the actual business’ offices. Therefore, the website design and the elements that will be in it should follow Feng Shui guidelines in order to be properly balanced.
The colors used to design your website are very important and you should choose them carefully. If you want a website which feels lively and active, it should contain yang elements, while if you wish it to be quiet or passive, it should have yin prevalence. Yang colors are all the bright and cheerful ones, while yin colors are all the dark shades. Therefore, a website with predominance of a light and bright color would be more yang than a dark or off colored one where yin would have prevalence.
It is important that you keep the general appearance of your website clean and tidy. A messy or cluttered website would not only make the user feel overwhelmed but it would also be an obstacle for your business prosperity.
Your business website should be designed having its graphics and written content clear and organized. Besides this, the general appearance should be as natural and easy to follow as possible. Anybody who visits your business website should feel welcome and comfortable in it. This should be achieved by providing a clear and welcoming main page and allowing an easy navigation through the entire website.
The lines you use for your business website and its graphics are also important regarding Feng Shui harmony. Straight lines and shapes with cutting edges are not natural and when having too many of them it can be harmful to the prosperity of your business. Therefore, you should try to use as many curved and smooth lines as possible, since this would not only help you adding nature inspired elements to the website but also bring wealth to it.
Need a fresh set of eyes on your website? Find out what 3 things you can improve with a $99 website critique.
15 Reasons a Web site is a Must for Your Massage Practice
Jan 7th
Recently someone posed a question in one of the massage forums about whether or not a website was important for your massage practice. There was a lot of discussion about it, so I thought I would put my two cents in by writing this post.
Here are 15 reasons why your massage practice can’t do without a web site:
1. You compete in a global marketplace
With a web site your massage practice is not limited to the area in which you are located. Your practice becomes an international venture generating interest from customers worldwide. When I had my practice, I would regularly get Gift Certificate orders from other parts of the U.S. and one as far away as England for recipients in my area. If I didn’t have a website, those people would have never found me and I would have lost that business.
2. A Web site is a cost-effective marketing tool
Including your web site address in all of your advertising, business cards and other marketing materials allows people to take action right away. Visiting your website is so much easier than driving to your location or even telephoning you. When visiting your website, a potential customer can take their time and enjoy finding out about your services (or products) without the pressure of having a salesperson floating around in the background.
3. You Can Tell Your Story
People like doing business with people they know, like and trust. A web site gives you a chance to tell your complete story and why someone should come to you for a massage instead of Susie Q down the street.
4. Your website is open 24/7
A web site allows your business to be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are millions of people, from all over the world, online at any time of the day. Many of them are looking for your services (or products). If you run a conventional brick and mortar location without a web site, you can only attract the people who walk or drive past your practice, in any one day. Having a web site allows you to attract new customers that would otherwise never find you – and they can do so when your shop is closed! A well designed web site also gives them a reason to revisit the site in the future.
4. Web sites increase consumer confidence
A professional, well designed web site, with the right content, easy navigation and quickly accessible contact details, greatly increases customer confidence in your massage practice. A well designed web site shows people that you are forward thinking and customer focused, much in the way a well designed business card did in the past, which is an important factor in any buying decision that they have to make.
5. Websites increase customer referrals
What is easier to remember, mymassagepractice.com or 703-851-9572? A web site address is much easier to remember than a telephone number. Sending an email with your web site address to a friend is a lot easier than finding and faxing or mailing a brochure. So it stands to reason that having a web site increases the likelihood of referrals – and let’s face it, referrals are one of the most important sources of new business.
6. Professionalism
With your own web site you can ensure that you offer the customer a very professional view of your massage practice.
7. Convenience
A fully functioning web site enables your customers to contact you anytime of the day or night even when you are not at work. You can even have people schedule appointments with an on-line scheduling feature.
8. Your Competitor has a Web site
People use the Internet to find everything these days. A small competitor or start-up gains instant credibility with a well-constructed web site. If your competitor’s web site is the only site found, that’s who your potential customer will go to. Don’t let your competitor be the first to construct a web site. It can take months for a site to become visible in the Search Engines. Get off the blocks first!
9. Customers look for you on the Internet
Using Google to find a person’s or company’s phone number or address is very popular. Tt’s called “Googling.” Make sure you’re there when you or your company is “Googled.”
10. Customers investigate before making contact
The anonymity of the web has given the customer an advantage. They can investigate without personal contact and avoid repeated sales calls or giving away information through personal queries. They can visit your site and decide if you have service (or products) that they want. This also means that the customer who makes contact is “pre-qualified” – they already know you have what they want, making your job easier.
11. Web site sales
Your web site is one of the most impressive sales presentations that you will ever have. Allowing your customers to buy you and your massage services (or products) or services without you having to say a word. Spending thousands on advertising simply doesn’t compare to investing in a long term marketing solution – or a well designed web site!
12. Web sites promote future business
When a someone calls without making an appointment, they are basically a dead prospect. When someone views your well designed web site and doesn’t make a schedule straight away, they can easily revisit anytime to schedule in the future. On top of that, you can use your web site to collect the email addresses of visitors and send them periodical promotional emails, newsletters or updates on your product or service. So although they may not buy first time around, you have more than one opportunity to close the sale!
13. Web site ROI is much better than brochure ROI
When the cost of creating, printing, distributing and updating a brochure is taken into consideration, your more-easily-maintained web site is a better investment. A brochure can be important, but, if you have a brochure you should have a web site. If you don’t have a brochure, you should create a web site first.
14. A Web site makes your business card more effective
A business card is low-cost and gives your customer a way to remember you. But, the most common information kept is the email address and the web site address.
15. The Bottom Line
Every business needs a web site. This may be most important for a small business such as your massage practice that cannot afford missed opportunities and needs the most efficient way to conduct its affairs.
So there you go, what are you waiting for? Don’t waste time – get a well designed web site now!
What Should You Do?
Already have a web site?
If so, use my Web Site Checklist to help decide if anything more needs to be done or get my Web Site Critique.
Don’t have a web site?
If this article makes business sense to you, to find out more about getting a well designed web site.
End-of-Year Website Checkup
Dec 31st
It is time to say goodbye to 2009 and hello to the new year. In preparation for the new year, make sure your website is in good shape.
Here are some of the things you should check:
1. Contact information. Check addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
2. Products and services. Are all of the products and services listed still available? Are the descriptions and prices correct? Have you added new ones that are not listed?
3. Dated material. Do you have items on your site about “upcoming” events that happened months ago? If your site has a copyright date, is it current? Keep it up-to-date by having it automatically update. Learn how to do this by searching “automatically update copyright”, along with the type of site you have, i.e., HTML, WordPress, etc. on Google.
4. Content. When did you last add new content to your website? If it has been a long time (particularly if your blog is not tied to your website), plan to do some kind of update at least monthly (and more often is better). Add a new article, list upcoming events, post some photos…
5. Images. How old are the photos, graphics and images on your website? Have you had the same one since you started your practice 10 years ago? Freshen up your website by adding new images.
6. Forms. Test to see if your contact forms (and any others your may have) work correctly. If you use autoresponders, make sure the information is still correct.
7. Dead links. URLs can change, so make sure that all of your links are valid. You don’t want to send your website visitors (or search engine bots) off to dead ends. This free link checker can test your site.
8. Get a fresh perspective. Approach your site as a client might. Browse (and read) through several pages, sign up for your newsletter, place an order, and make sure all of those processes work as they should.
Keep It that Way!
Once you have your website updated and awesome, keep it that way!
1. Do regular checkups throughout the year – at least quarterly.
2. Add new content on a monthly basis.
Elements of a Good Website
Feb 26th
You need to answer the questions Who? What? Where? When? And How? Who you are? What services or products do your offer? Where are you located? When you are open – your hours of operation? How can a potential client contact you?
Your website should be easy to navigate. Some ways to avoid having that potential client get lost in your website and giving up altogether is to have a “Site Map” button which shows a map of the entire site and a “Find” function which allows searching for a particular word.
There is also a big discussion on the number of graphics it should have. According to Jim Green of OpenNet, Inc., “only companies that need a graphic-intensive website are graphics companies.” Flash animation looks cool, but it can be costly to design and can take a long time to download. You don’t want to put off an impatient potential client who is annoyed with waiting. Other companies should only have graphics for staff, products, and services.
Sites should be kept up to date. I can’t tell you how many website I saw while doing research that had not been updated in 2 or 3 years. I didn’t know what to think. Is the company still in business? Are the prices correct? Is the staff current? It kind of turned me off to that company because they were not professional enough to keep it up. So, if you are going to put “The Last Time This Site Was Updated” on your site make sure it is up-to-date.
Buy your own domain name!!! An article in one of the massage magazines featured websites that were sub-pages of someone else’s website. This is a poor idea because it looks as if the business did not consider itself important enough to invest in its own site. I admit that I am not that Internet savvy, but I am sure that there are other people like me and those are lost clients because they gave up trying to find your site. It costs so little to register your name and maintain it on a yearly basis that I strongly recommend you do it.
