As you know, we are educators here at Sohnen-Moe Associates (we provide Business Mastery and The Ethics of Touch textbooks for practitioner training programs). In a recent survey that we ran in our Teacher’s Aide Newsletter, we asked teachers to rank a bunch of marketing strategies in order of importance for new practitioners. We wanted to know how teachers are prioritizing marketing activities, because we think most new practitioners run with whatever their teachers suggest. So, now we want to share these with you, actual independent practitioners, to see what you think.

Here’s how the survey results ranked the 12 marketing strategies that I suggested:

1. Choosing specific target market(s)
2. Having a website
3. Creating marketing materials (business cards, brochures, etc.)
4. Being active on social media
5. Delivering effective introductions
6. Building professional alliances
7. Networking
8. Participating in public events
9. Attracting publicity
10. Blogging
11. Public speaking
12. Purchasing advertising

I also had a school owner send me her suggested ranking directly, which differed a bit from the survey results:

1. Website
2. Social media
3. Choosing a specific target market
4. Building a marketing schedule and brand messaging (she added this one)
5. Purchasing advertising – but specifically to the right market with the right message
6. Marketing materials
7. Building professional alliances
8. Blogging (and she would add understanding e-mail list building and sending e-mails)
9. Participating in public events
10. Networking
11. Public speaking
12. Delivering effective introductions
13. Publicity

Your Thoughts…

How do you think these results match your real world experience?

Is there anything missing that you have used successfully?

Would you rank these activities differently? If so, why? (Keep in mind, these would be the suggested activities for new practitioners just starting to build their businesses.)

How did you learn your marketing strategies:

• In your training program when you were a student?
• From self-study?
• The Business Mastery book, perhaps?
• Through trial and error?

Sign up for our SMA Community Newsletter, where there will be an official survey for practitioners this month on this very topic. (When you take the survey, you get entered into a drawing to win one of our presentation planning kits—a $25.00 value!)

Or simply share your thoughts, and especially your marketing recommendations for new practitioners who are just starting out, in the comments below.