Starting a hypnotherapy business can feel overwhelming at first. These 15 practical tips will help you build confidence, attract clients, and get your practice up and running.
Getting Started with Your Hypnotherapy Business
When you have invested a lot of time, energy and sheer hard work into a hypnotherapy training course it’s easy to have become so enthusiastic about the subject that you expect everyone else to have the same attitude you do. But setting up a hypnotherapy business is not simply a matter of hanging out your ‘shingle’ and waiting for the crowds. You have to be proactive in getting things going.
When I was learning to drive, my instructor (along with most others, I’d guess) used to say ‘I will teach you to pass your test and you’ll learn to drive after that’. In many ways, hypnotherapy training is much the same. It can give you the skills you need to pass the course. But actually turning those skills into a thriving business is another steep learning curve for many students.
I would think the majority of courses spend some time on business-building but most of your time (rightly enough) will be spent on honing your Hypno skills. So what’s the next step?
Best Tips for Starting a Hypnotherapy Business
Should you set a budget for your start up?
Yes. There isn’t a business in the world which is free to start up. Hypnotherapy isn’t a particularly expensive one. You don’t need stock or even premises if you are going to work from home. You will need to lay out on (at least) insurance, membership of a professional body, advertising, etc.
How can you make the most of your hypnotherapy business budget?
Use free or low-cost options if they’re available. For example, set up social media pages (free), send out some attractive posts (created via a free Canva account). Think about boosting some posts in your local area (not free, but often pretty controllable). Free options are always more limited than paid ones, obviously. But you can always upgrade later when you have some money coming in.
Others that might be worth looking at are: Jotform for creating online forms, Payhip for selling audios, courses, etc. (Payhip isn’t free, but you only pay when you make a sale). Zernio lets you schedule to a couple of social media accounts that don’t have a scheduling option of their own.
Join some local interest groups as your business page. Comment on or like other people’s posts, and post there. Be careful to check on the group’s advertising rules first.
Both Facebook and Google ads offer courses on how to use their advertising systems most effectively. These too are often free.
How can I get the word out about my new business?
Tell everyone you know about your business. Give them your business cards and ask them to hand them out or display them. If you enjoy public speaking, offer talks to local community groups, etc.
Consider offering free relaxation sessions to local business owners who might then allow you to advertise in staff rooms, or refer staff to you as part of their EAP.
Once you have a couple of clients, have a look at my blog on how to get word-of-mouth referrals.
Promoting others can help your business
Consider referral agreements with clients and local businesses. A free relaxation session for every five new clients referred, for example.
Offer articles to relevant magazines
The Hypnotherapy Journal, for example, or any magazine that deal with wellness or complementary therapies. A screenshot of your article on websites and social media is impressive for potential clients. They can see you know what you are talking about.
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Should you use online therapy directories?
Don’t join lots of directories at once, but one or two can be a good idea. You may not get a flood of clients from any one place, but a good ad will pay for itself and give you a profit. If you want to try the Hypnotherapy Directory you can get a couple of months on me. The code changes each year, but you can email me to request the current one. It will give you the first two months of your listing free.
Be flexible in the way you set up your hypnotherapy business
For example, you may really want to work from home. But if your home is in a remote area, or parking is difficult, you may have trouble attracting enough clients. Be prepared to try different things. One student of mine went from just one or two clients a week to being fully booked by moving her practice from suburbia to a town centre. Another therapist I came across had a room in Harley Street one day a week. She travelled to London from Yorkshire, and made more in one day there than in the rest of the week at home.
Should you use social proof in your hypnotherapy business?
Testimonials are widely used, though people can get fed up of being asked to rate every transaction they make online. Ask tactfully. Start by getting them from people you practised with during your training, and your case study volunteers. This will get the ball rolling. Be aware of confidentiality issues, and that some people may not want to make it public that they have seen a therapist.
Have long and short-term strategies for attracting clients.
Facebook ads are a short-term strategy, they last sometimes just a few days and the timeline rolls on. Likewise print media, which is, famously, ‘tomorrow’s chip paper’. A website, which will take time to get established on Google ratings etc. is more of a long-term strategy.
How much time to devote to your new business
Decide how many hours per week you want to work in your hypnotherapy practice and do it – if you haven’t got clients, fill those hours writing blogs and scheduling social media posts, making videos for youtube, giving talks, sorting out adverts, improving your website, etc.
Know your audience and market to them
If your ideal client is a female university student with exam nerves, the type of marketing you need is not the same as if you are focusing on forty-year-old men who want to quit smoking. Where they go, what they look at on and offline, and even the website design that attracts them will need to be taken into account.
How to find your Unique Selling Point
A USP is what makes you different from other hypnotherapists in your area, and (hopefully) attracts the clients you want. Your USP can be about you or your therapy. Do you offer an unusual combination of approaches or experience? Or does your previous job give you special expertise in working with one client group or another (e.g. an ex-teacher in working with children)?
Don’t make your USP ‘cheapest in the area’
You risk attracting the least motivated clients, and those who pick their therapist only by price. Not the groups you want to work with, especially when you are at your least experienced!
Network with other therapists
You can network via Social Media groups, supervision groups, online or in person. It will help you build up a referral list if you need to refer a client on, and people who might refer clients to you in return.
If possible, find a business mentor, or a hypnotherapy supervisor who is willing to include ‘business building’ in your supervision.
Finding What Works for your Hypnotherapy Business
You’ll notice a lot of these tips are about advertising which is fair enough, because getting your therapy business off the ground means getting therapy clients.
But I feel this can sometimes be a bit of a ‘trial and error’ area. For example, when I first qualified, I worked in a small town on the edge of a city. The locals preferred to go into the city for services, and getting them to use local ones instead was a hard slog. I spend a lot in local papers (no internet then!) but got no returns.
Later, I worked in a small town on the edge of a different city. People there loved to use local services, so locally-based ads were the way to go. I could only find this out by trying.
Equally, I tried direct mail. I sent out thousands of flyers and got one reply, which didn’t even pay for the printing. (Remember, when that stuff comes through your door, you call it ‘junk mail’.) On the other hand, I know someone who got a hypnotherapy business off the ground using just direct mail.
This means that those who promise to tell you how they took their business from nothing to six figures in ten minutes (or whatever) by using ‘these unfailing tips’ are currently growing their businesses by selling you ideas on how to grow yours.
I’m not saying don’t listen or read what they have to say, many have some really good ideas and are genuinely telling you what worked for them. Just don’t expect miracles; you need to discover what works for you and your practice.
The 15th tip: Pareto’s Law
With that in mind, finally, I’ll leave you with my own ‘expert tip’.
Pareto’s law suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. Monitor the results of everything you do, identify which 20% is working, and focus as much of your time and energy there as possible.
About Debbie Waller
Blog Author Debbie Waller is a hypnotherapist, supervisor, and trainer with more than twenty years of experience. As well as having a busy client practice, she runs Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training and writes books and articles for therapists who want to deepen their knowledge and develop effective practice.
Disclaimer
The information and ideas shared on this blog are based on the author’s professional experience, research, and training. They are intended for educational purposes and to support reflection and professional development. Therapists should always apply their own professional judgment and consider the needs of individual clients when using any techniques or suggestions discussed here.
While every effort is made to ensure the information is accurate and helpful, no responsibility can be accepted for any loss, damage, or difficulties arising from the use or misuse of material contained in these articles.
