at camexpo there is a plethora of educational seminars and workshops that can maintain your continuing professional development each year.
Our next Q&A is with Mark Shields, founder of The Life Practice Group, and author of the best-selling Business book for therapists: The CAM Coach. Mark helps CAM practitioners and therapists to achieve success in their respective businesses by sharing models, tips and business advice.
Who or what has been the biggest influence on your career?
My wife Karen who encouraged me to start the Life Practice all those years ago and enter into the CAM world. She could see that I had the potential to be successful in this market as a Life & Business Coach and Hypnotherapist, and has helped grow the business year on year. Her creativity in marketing and new products keeps us motivated and excited each year. By encouraging me to change my career ten years ago, she opened my eyes up to the wonderful world of Complementary & Alternative Medicine, and how it can change individual lives for the better whether they are a client for a health solution or a practitioner looking for help with their business.
What do you love most about your work?
Meeting other therapists and mentoring them by sharing what I know and seeing them succeed. I meet so many people who have come into the world of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and seen how it has changed their lives for the better. With practitioners, it offers them freedom to earn a living on their terms and grow their passion into a successful business. With clients, I have met some amazingly brave people who have suffered for many years with debilitating conditions and issues, and helped them to seek a solution. Nothing can replace the feeling of when a client says “thank you from the bottom of my heart”.
What’s the biggest business challenges for small businesses/sole practitioners?
Attracting and retaining quality clients consistently can be a challenge. There are so many different ways to build your profile these days, but it is making sure that you choose the right one, and manage your time effectively. Staying motivated and keeping focused on the right income driving activity is so important.
What are your three top tips for practitioners setting up their business for the first time?(OR) What are your three top tips for business success?
- Do your research and model success
- Find the right target market
- Hire a mentor to support you in those early days
What are the key points you’ll be covering in your session at this year’s camexpo?
My Business Clinic seminar will reveal the top tips and secrets that will help make your business a success. Attracting more clients, how to business plan, optimising your website so it is seen, building your target audience, and unlocking your potential. You will leave this seminar with a tool box full of ideas that you can use straight away to get your business to where you want it to be. This seminar will be based on the top secrets used by the UK’s most successful therapists.
In addition to your session, why would you recommend practitioners/therapists visit camexpo 2016?
When I set up the Life Practice in 2007 with my partner, we had visited camexpo the previous year and found an extraordinary amount of industry professionals offering free advice. We made some amazing CAM industry contacts that helped us in our early years and who have become good friends. From a therapists’ point of view, there is a plethora of educational seminars and workshops that can maintain your continuing professional development each year, along with a chance to speak to suppliers of products that you may wish to use within your clinic business.
See Mark Shields at camexpo – Achieve business success with The CAM Coach (Sep 24, Business Clinic)
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