Jeffery: I’m here with Jeannie Oliver, certified health coach of Jeannie Oliver Wellness. Welcome.
Jeannie: Hi Jeffery. Thank you.
Jeffery: Jeannie, I wonder if you could explain a little bit about your practice.
Jeannie: Yeah, absolutely. I am a certified health coach, and I’m also a NASM certified personal trainer. I work with clients to help them improve their overall health, and I specialize in fat loss, hormone balancing, and sport’s nutrition.
Jeffery: What are some of the techniques that you use to get new clients?
Jeannie: You know, mostly so far, it’s been word of mouth and referrals from people that I know. But I also use social networking, and workshops, and online programs.
Jeffery: Great. Now, how do you market your business?
Jeannie: The workshops are definitely a big deal for me. Those are helpful. This is a pretty personal process for someone to go through. So with the workshop, they get to know me a little bit, build up some trust, and it gives me credibility, and they learn something they get to take away. So those are a big deal. I have some partnerships with local gyms and natural practice doctors that send me referrals. Then, social media is definitely a part of it. And then I have a monthly newsletter. The main ways I do it. So, networking.
Jeffery: Great. What would you say would be the most effective way that you mentioned?
Jeannie: I would definitely say my workshops, and then the word of mouth, the referrals that I have from people. For example, I’m in the middle of an online 2 week detox with about 15 clients, and one of them is just so thrilled and ecstatic with her results after the first week, that she sent me 5 different people that have already inquired. That’s a really big deal. When someone knows someone that’s seeing real results, and they can see the difference in them, they’re a lot more likely to make an appointment with me and then become a client. So that’s definitely the best way.
Jeffery: That’s great. How do you effectively manage your time? You’re doing all of these things, so what are some of the ways that you help to focus on the things which are important to growing your business?
Jeannie: This is definitely my biggest challenge, although I’m improving with it. The biggest change for me lately, Jeffery, was that I rented an office space. Formerly I’d been working from home and it was just impossible for me to focus. There’d always be something going on and I’d have to, you know, “Oh, I could do laundry, or I should be cooking, or I should be cleaning,” or doing something like that. It was always distracting.
Now I’m in a space where there are a lot of other small businesses and entrepreneurs, so there’s just sort of a general energy that that creates. It’s really neat. It’s really motivating and my productivity has skyrocketed. It’s at least quadrupled, if not more. That’s been a big deal for me because when I go and sit down at my desk, I’m actually working and there’s nothing else that I’m focusing on. That’s the time to get the job done. That’s probably number one.
Then trying to stick to a weekly routine or a schedule is really helpful for me, because it just puts you in sort of a mental mode for the day. I don’t see clients on Monday. Monday is sort of my admin day, catch up on office stuff day, and it’s a little more relaxed and less structured.
Then Tuesday through Friday I have clients that come in my office and I have certain chunks of time set aside for either my newsletter, or this is time that I’m managing my private Facebook group for my detox, or this is when I’m going to be working on future programs that I’ll be offering, or workshops. So that’s really helpful, because then you don’t get scattered and end up juggling six different tasks at once.
The other few things for me that I find really helpful are, getting my workout first thing in the morning, because it completely changes my whole energy and focus for the day. So much more energetic the rest of the day, and I just can concentrate more easily.
And then prepping my food. So Sunday night’s are kind of a food prep night, and I’ll get a bunch of stuff ready to go so I have meals to bring to work with me. It’s actually a little time consuming on a Sunday evening, but it saves me a ton of time for the rest of my week, and it’s just nice to have healthy options kind of ready to rock when I’m on the go so I don’t make bad choices or get stuck out hungry and spend time trying to find something that is good for me.
That’s definitely a big challenge for me, but those are my top ways I manage my time right now.
Jeffery: It sounds like you are able to then segment your time, and your move to your own office and quadrupling of your productivity is very great for, again, the type of focus that it requires in the growth stage of your business.
Jeannie: Yeah, it’s the one thing that I would recommend people doing this sort of business, because when you’re working from home, and you’re in your pajamas, it just is a different mentality that you’re in. Even working at a coffee shop, you know, there’s, again, a lot of distractions. You can’t just set up shop there, you’ve got to schlep all your stuff with you back and forth. I couldn’t technically afford to get my own office, but now that I’m there, I realize that I can’t afford not to have it.
I’m utilizing one of those co-working spaces, which a lot of them are around the country now. Mine happens to have private little offices where I can lock my door. I have a file cabinet where I can keep things there, so I’m not lugging stuff back and forth everywhere. It’s been a game changer for me, and I recommend it.
Jeffery: Well, it’s great. If we don’t include the changing to an office, what would be the one thing you could change about your practice, if you could?
Jeannie: Oh boy. Dealing with all the technology stuff. Just having to use different websites for different purposes, learning new software, things like that, all the social networking sites. I am not, I wouldn’t say that I’m not tech savvy, I’m relatively competent, but I have horrible luck with technology. It just doesn’t seem to work the way it’s supposed to work for me.
I’m always struggling with it, and if I were able to, I would have a full time person that would just manage that side of my business 100% for me, because I hate it and it ends up sucking time away from things that would be much more fruitful and productive for me.
Jeffery: Great. Well, those have been some fantastic tips for people, and I really thank you for coming on the call today.
Jeannie: Thank you Jeffery, it was fun.
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