This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
One, two, three, test, test. What's up? Welcome. Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
Thanks for tuning in today. New episode, episode number 2,269, if I'm not mistaken. We've got a question from a listener named Sarah. Sarah has a unique skill set. She is a Reiki practitioner.
Do you know what Reiki is? A lot of people don't, which is kind of a problem when it comes to marketing a service that people don't know what it is. It is an ancient healing technique that uses the hands and kind of like massage, but without touching. And this is a very layman's explanation for what Reiki is. Sarah could explain it much better, I'm sure.
So how do you get the word out there in today's digital age? She's looking for guidance on how to promote her business and how to reach her target audience in the most effective way, which may include or may require, let's say, some education. All right, what are the most effective ways to promote my Cytosle? That's today's question, detailed version, and my answer coming right up. [Music]
Hi there, my name is Sarah and I'm calling from Naperville, Illinois.
I'm really excited about my Cytosle as a Reiki practitioner. I know it has potential, but I'm not sure how to get the word out there. I've been exploring different online platforms, but I'm not sure which ones will be the most effective for promoting my business. Can you share some tips on how to promote online and reach my target audience in the most effective way? [Music]
Hey Sarah, great to hear from you.
So Sarah is looking to promote a Reiki business. And as mentioned in the introduction, Reiki is not a well-known practice, at least to many people, obviously some folks out there are like, "I've been doing Reiki for 75 years." Okay, but just a lot of people don't know what it is. So in that situation, a lot of what you have to do is education or introduction. I guess you could choose to only market it to people who are longtime fans, first-time callers, but probably gonna be much more successful with introducing it to a broader population. So a couple of ideas to perhaps get Sarah started or anybody else doing something similar.
Number one, partner with complimentary businesses. So look for other local businesses, other side hustlers, practitioners, yoga studios, spas, wellness centers, anything that is complimentary, but not quite the same. I think that's the key point. So it's not so much like go out and partner with a bunch of other Reiki practitioners. It is find those yoga studios, spas, something else that can allow you to collaborate or perhaps do something for their students in a way that is non-competitive and additive, let's say.
Next step is to offer a free session or offer free sessions. One free session for any particular client, especially when you're getting started, like this really allows people to experience it for themselves, see the benefits firsthand. People might be skeptical. They might just not understand. They might be much more willing to experience it if it's free rather than paying presumably a good amount for a session.
So I would start with those free sessions. I would try to do whatever I could to do workshops or anything else that could be in partnership with a complimentary business. And then from there, I just see, okay, is this going to work? Is it going to spread? Does word of mouth help?
With something like this, it's really important to be patient and consistent just because it is new to people. But with some effort and creativity, I hope that Sarah can successfully promote her business and bring in new customers. All right, good luck. Listeners, if you have a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Let me know your ideas, what's going well, what's not.
We'll continue to feature them each week with a new episode every single day. Take care of yourself out there. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
