Giving away things for free has always been a great way to drum up business. Whether giving people a ‘free sample’ or a ‘free gift with each purchase’, getting something that we didn’t have to pay for is a great advertising strategy, because people love free stuff, it’s a fact of life. However, as a hypnotherapist, what can you give away? You’re a therapist, so you don’t necessarily have a tangible ‘product’ that you can give a free sample of. You can’t exactly copy supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants who send their staff out with ‘free food samples’, can you? Well, in fact yes, you probably could, in a few different ways…
Though you may not think you have something to give away, there are many different ‘free giveaways’ that you, as a hypnotherapist, can use to generate interest and engagement with your hypnotherapy business and services. Let’s take a look at some examples that pretty much any hypnotherapist could start using immediately.
Free hypnotherapy blog posts
When you think about blogs, you might not necessarily consider it fits into the ‘free gift’ category, but you’re giving away your expertise for anyone that wants to read it, and it’s a valuable commodity that people can benefit from, without paying a penny! You’re reading this blog now, right? So, is it conceivable that your clients might do the same and read your blog posts? (yes)
When blogging, you want to consider what your prospective clients might be searching for online. It’s generally going to be related to their problem/issue and hypnotherapy. So, if you can offer them some useful free information that will help them, then you’re off to a great start! Some ideas for blog topics that will attract clients might be:
“10 top tips for losing weight before the summer”
“How to stop smoking cravings in their tracks”
“A quick technique to reduce anxiety”
“Sleep better with hypnotherapy”
Make your offering something that resonates with your potential clients, and it’s then about putting your ‘free gift’ in front of people. So, hosting it on your business website, asking friends to share it, posting in relevant groups and forums, etc. This is a great, easy way to start getting clients interested in what you can do for them, and the only thing it’ll cost you is a bit of time and effort.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of writing a hypnotherapy blog, check out our blog post on that very topic right here.
Free hypnotherapy e-mail tips and e-books
Similar to blog posts are free e-mail tips and e-books. You can use the offer of ‘free tips’ or a ‘free e-book’ as a way to get people onto a mailing list. This means you then have a whole bunch of people’s e-mails who you can then contact directly with information about your services and special seasonal offers, as well as giving them a bunch of useful free tips and valuable content as promised!
It’s important to remember that people are only ‘opting in’ because they want the free stuff, and they want to get good value from their investment (i.e. giving you their e-mail address). So, once you have someone on your list, ensure that you deliver, and don’t just give them one or two useful e-mail tips and then a barrage of e-mails promoting your services, because people will quickly unsubscribe if they feel like they’re no longer getting anything that’s of value to them. You know this, because if you have an e-mail account, you’ve likely unsubscribed from a bunch of mailing lists in the past when they became irrelevant, boring or overly salesy!
If you’re not getting your prospective clients onto a mailing list in order to build an ongoing relationship with them, then you’re potentially missing out on lots of business! There’s no excuse not to get started either, because you can start your own mailing list for free! There are a few mailing list providers out there who offer their services completely free of charge (up to a certain point). For example, the company I use (Mailchimp) offers a lifetime free contract for mailing lists with under 2,000 subscribers! Can’t say fairer than that!
…also, guess what, when you start using your mailing list even more and end up subscribing for a paid Mailchimp account, you’ll realise that their free offer worked to turn you into a customer, and all because people LOVE free stuff!
↑ hey look, more free stuff! lol ↑
Free hypnotherapy MP3s
Perhaps you’re putting yourself out there at local events, in your local town/city, and you’d like something tangible to give to people in order to demonstrate what you do, and to ‘hook them’ and later convert them into clients. A hypnosis MP3 is a fantastic way to do this. Create a generic ‘relaxation’ or ‘hypnosis experience’ MP3 (something non-therapy related), so that people get an opportunity to experience what hypnosis with you will be like. Anyone looking for a hypnotherapist will likely find this ‘taster’ to be very helpful, and could sway them to book you over another hypnotherapist in your area who doesn’t offer a free ‘taster’.
There are a number of different ways to give away a free MP3. You can use your mailing list to deliver the MP3 directly to their inbox, you can give them a USB flash drive with the MP3 pre-loaded on it, or you might even simply give them a business card with a QR code/link to a page on your website where you’ve hosted the MP3. However you do it, ensure that the delivery method includes information about how to find you and book your services (having your website printed on your USB stick, or the back of the business card, for example).
As a free hypnosis experience is such a good marketing tool, one of the first things I did whilst creating the Rory Z Hypnosis Academy website was to include a free hypnosis experience page. The hypnosis experience video is also on the RZHA YouTube channel (linking back to the website), and posted on our social channels too! If you’d like to see it, click the button below:
Free group hypnotherapy taster sessions
Similar to MP3s, but more personal, you may offer a free taster session where a group of random people can sign up to come and meet you in person, ask questions about the hypnotherapy process, learn more about how hypnotherapy can help them relating to their issue, and perhaps even experience a ‘group hypnosis session’ as well. Again, keep the group session non-therapy related, or fairly simple and generic, as you don’t want to do your actual therapy session for free, just give a taster of what it will be like. Many hypnotherapists use this method to get new clients, and it can be a great way to gain interest from people who might be too shy to contact you on their own, as they may bring a friend/family member along too.
Free hypnotherapy consultations
A final great ‘free giveaway’ that can net you more clients is a free consultation. Now, whether in person, over the phone, or online, this free consultation gives people a chance to talk to you personally, and figure out if you’re the right hypnotherapist for them. It also gives you the chance to check that they’re the right type of client for you! Have a page on your website that lets people know how to book their free consultation, and set up your admin processes so that you make time in your diary for your consultations.
Some therapists will put a ‘time limit’ on the consultation, others don’t. Some will call the client, others will wait for the client to call them. It’s entirely up to you how you do it, just ensure that when you’re engaging in a free consultation, that you get your potential client’s contact information. You need to be able to follow up with them at a later date if they don’t immediately sign up for a hypnotherapy session. As well as that, let them know about your services, availability, pricing and most importantly how you can help them.
By implementing some or all of the above strategies, you’ll be well on your way to getting more clients in your hypnotherapy practice. If you’d like more information about growing a thriving hypnotherapy business, we cover the topic in masses of detail on our online hypnotherapy course. If you’d like to check it out, you can join now 100% free for 14-days. There’s no contract and no obligation to move onto paid membership, unless you want to. Hey, I’ve been saying that free gifts are a great way to get business, of course we use them too!
