6 Signs Your Wellness Business Needs a Check-up

6 Signs Your Wellness Business Needs a Check-up

by | May 8, 2024 | Brand, Business, Digital Presence, Health & Wellness, Marketing, Websites

Wellness Business 6 Signs

Running a wellness business requires wearing multiple hats. The stuff that got you inspired to start the business, like creating the most effective treatments for clients, can get overshadowed with tasks like handling billing, patient follow-up and promoting the business. It’s important to balance business needs with genuine care for clients. Here are 6 signs that suggest it’s time for a Wellness Business Check-up:

1. You’re Overwhelmed

You find yourself overwhelmed by the demands of marketing your business while also managing other aspects of your operation. DIY was great to get your business off the ground, but you’re a health expert, not a marketer. How would it feel if you had more time to focus on your clients and their personalized wellness programs because you have marketing support from someone you trust—someone who understands and aligns with your values?

2. You Struggle to Convey Your Unique Offerings

You may present a unique combination of modalities or offer original, customized products, but you struggle to effectively communicate about them to your audience. Since what you do is not the mainstream standard, you could use some materials that articulate these benefits in a compelling and understandable way. If you don’t feel your marketing materials reflect your particular capabilities and/or you’re embarrassed to present them, this is a sign your wellness business needs a check-up.

3. Crickets are Chirping

If your current marketing efforts aren’t reaching or resonating with the people that you are meant to serve, it’s probably time to look at what’s working and what’s not with your outreach and advertising to determine where the gaps are.

4. You’re Unsure About Compliance

The health and wellness industry is often subject to strict advertising regulations, especially regarding product or treatment claims. For example, “Ayurvedic practitioners cannot call themselves ‘doctors’ in the United States, even if they have a valid Ayurvedic degree from India where it is natural to do so. Ayurvedic practitioners cannot make a diagnosis according to allopathic medicine unless they are also medical doctors.” source  If you’re unsure how to market your wellness business effectively while staying compliant, it’s important to have the correct information.

5. People Always Ask: “What are your fees?”

If you’re finding that the main question prospective clients ask is about cost, it’s going to be a race to the bottom. This is a sure sign that your business is struggling to differentiate itself from competitors. Whether or not you take insurance may be a factor, but if people see a unique benefit to working with you that they can’t get with anyone else, the questions—and decisions—will change.

6. You’ve Got “Digital Paralysis”

In today’s digital age, a strong online presence is crucial, even for a brick and mortar wellness business that requires in-person consultations. If it feels like trying to update your website, social media promotion, or online advertising is technical torture, it’s time to get help with your digital marketing strategies.

How many items did you check off the list? Are you thinking it might be time for you to get some help? 

And if you want to explore…

Discover our Wellness Market Mastery Suite

» Attract quality, long-term clients

» Charge the prices that will sustain your business

» Reduce the sales cycle, making it an easy “yes” for new clients

Right-click to download this handy infographic and feel free to pass it on!

Wellness Business infographic

Book a Free Call for a no-strings-attached Check-up for your wellness business!

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Writing for your Website: 7 Best Practices

Writing for your Website: 7 Best Practices

by | Sep 20, 2022 | Digital Presence, Marketing, Websites

Writing for your Website: 7 Best Practices

writing for your website

WRITING FOR YOUR WEBSITE TAKES TIME, but with the proper considerations, you can get it done fairly quickly and effectively.

One of the most common obstacles I come across with clients is getting the final “copy,” or text, from them that will comprise a large part of the content on their site. Almost every time the schedule goes off-the-rails, it’s delayed because the client has underestimated the time it takes to come up with their content. 

No one knows & understands your business like you do, so even if you hire a professional copywriter, you’re still going to need to actively participate in the process. Also keep in mind that even the best writers are not necessarily versed in writing for the web, so if you do hire someone, make sure they have experience in this area.

THE 7 BEST PRACTICES

  1. The Goal
  2. The Audience
  3. Keep it Short
  4. Make an Outline
  5. Break it Up
  6. Your “Voice”
  7. Calls to Action

Below are 7 best practices for writing for your website:

1. THE GOAL

Establish the ultimate goal of the website. Is it more sales? More clients? Higher paying clients? More visibility online? Always have the goal in mind as you write.

2. THE AUDIENCE

So much of the time, when you start writing for your website you want to talk about all of the great credentials and experience the company has. The truth is, visitors really want to know if you understand them — learning about you is secondary. Know your audience & their pain points. Pain points are areas of top concern for your customers. What problem are they trying to solve?

3. KEEP IT SHORT

Rarely does anyone jump in and read a page full of text word by word. This study shows that scannable text calls attention to key information, lightening your readers’ cognitive load. Draw your reader in with short snippets of information they can skim through. A website should never take the place of a live conversation or the experience they’ll have as a paying customer. Don’t try to explain every detail of everything on your site. Let them contact you or sign up for more.

4. MAKE AN OUTLINE

Create “sections” using a hierarchy of 3 tiers: Headlines, Sub-heads and Body copy, each explaining your point in more detail.

  • A Headline is a clear title. It should give the visitor confirmation that they’ve come to the page they intended. Don’t try to be clever or you’ll lose your readers to confusion.
  • Sub-heads should always define the headline more clearly.
  • Body copy goes into more detail—but it should still be concise.

5. BREAK IT UP

Photos or illustrations that support your content can be used to make the page more visually appealing, but a “visual” break can also be a few words from the article or a quote. Both would be designed as larger text that is set apart from your body copy. It should say something that will illuminate a strong point in your copy.
Another way to break up text and make it more skimmable is to use bulleted or numbered lists.

6. YOUR “VOICE”

It’s not just what you say, but how you say it. What’s your  brand’s personality? Is it casual? sophisticated? playful? Whatever emotions you want your audience to experience by interacting with your company should be characterized in the way you are writing for your website. For example, I can say “Contact Us” but I also might say “Give us a holler!” See the difference?

7. CALLS TO ACTION

A Call-to-Action is the one thing you want your visitors to do as a result of coming to that page. It could be the same for multiple pages — “Contact Us” or “Sign Up for Our Mailing List” or even “Book a Free Session.” Always have a main Call to Action for every page and be specific.

I hope this is a helpful guide to get started writing for your website — and if you follow these steps before venturing into the design phase, you’re much more likely to stay on schedule and launch on time.

Need help writing for your website? We offer Brand-Smart Web Design packages that include copywriting. We also help established businesses with refining their existing copy. Feel free to reach out and let’s explore the possibilities.

Creating Content for Your Website

Creating Content for Your Website

by | Oct 17, 2019 | Websites

Creating Content for Your Website

So you’ve got the domain name, the host, and even a theme set up for your site…but what do you want to say? Your design is meaningless without content to drive it.

I’ve been building websites for over two decades, and delivering content is where I frequently see clients get stalled.

Hiring a professional copywriter is a great way to build content on your site that will result in real customer acquisition. Even so, you may not be at a point where you have the budget for it, and even if you do, the most talented copywriter is not a mind reader, so you will have to provide them with some basic information. No matter what, content creation will have to involve some homework on your part.

White Page Syndrome

The important thing is to get started. Get the words down on paper (or screen), and then you can work on editing it down. Many people know how to talk about their business, but when it comes to writing it down, that bright white, blank page staring back at them seems paralyzing!

One method to get started that I have found helpful is to say it out loud. Record it on your phone. It’s OK to speak in fragments, as if you were having a conversation.

Keep it Simple

The little blurbs of text that are prevalent on most websites seem so simple! As one of my long-time mentors, Barbara Nessim used to tell me: “Simple is not Easy!” Don’t confuse the two!

Omit needless words, and get down to the essence of your message. Each blurb should be no more than 3 or 4 sentences. If you find you really need more, then break it up with “subheads” – mini-headlines that lead you into the following paragraph’s subject.

Here’s a breakdown of the main pages most websites have as a base, and what kind of content you’ll need to write for them:

 

HOME PAGE

Write a brief statement about who you serve, what you do, and what you want your visitors to do there.

What you want visitors to do there is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! This is called the “Call To Action”, or “CTA”, and creating your Home page without it would be like having a store without a cash register!

Your CTA can be as general as “Contact Us for a quote/free consultation” leading to a contact form, or as specific as a “Subscribe to our online yoga classes” button that leads to payment processing and enrollment.

ABOUT PAGE

Elaborate on your ideal client. If you have more than one category, break it up into a paragraph for each client type.

Tell a little about your story: how you began and how you got to this point. Include qualifications and education, but keep it short. No more than 3 paragraphs here. It may sound harsh, but people want to hear about themselves, not you. They want know that you are professional and capable, but beyond that, they really want to know that you understand what they need.

Make sure the end of the story addresses the “Pain Points” of your clients (a “Pain Point” is the difficulty or challenge that is foremost in a client’s mind.)

CONTACT PAGE

If you’re going to have a newsletter, (which I strongly recommend), set up a Mailchimp (or other email marketing platform) account and make sure you have a mailing list opt-in check box on your contact form.

Provide an incentive to join, like a free download of your best tips & tricks, or a Guide that has to do with your product or service.

Write the response your visitor receives once they have hit “Send”. This can be as simple as “Thanks for contacting us. We will get back to you within 24 hrs” or “Success! Your free Guide is on it’s way to your Inbox!” You get the idea.

Now that you’re equipped to make a mark on that blank page, keep the momentum going. Start thinking about imagery & where it will come from. If you will include a photo of yourself, make sure it is professional and flattering.

If you still need some guidance, contact me for a free 20 minute consultation. I’ll brainstorm with you on your specific content, and of course, I am available to write your copy and design your site if it’s what you need.

I hope you find value in this article. I welcome feedback – let me know what your challenges have been in building your website, and if you have something to share that you’ve done, I would love to hear from you!

Remember, in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Persistence and Determination are Omnipotent.

Keep moving!

Lindy Bostrom, founder of Bostrom Graphics is a strategic brand designer.