Hypnotherapist Andrew Newton has put together a special training dvd so you can learn how to do group hypnotherapy sessions. There are several benefits to running group hypnosis sessions. For the clients, it means they get cheaper treatment than a private session and for the hypnotherapist, they get more income and a greater exposure as they’ll earn more in the session than they would have from a private session – everybody wins!

The drawback of course is that group sessions can only be done on generic issues, such as weight loss and smoking cessation. It won’t work for everyone as some people will need a session tailored specifically for them.

The DVD is priced at £29.95, including postage and packing. If anyone tries the DVD, please add a comment and let us know how it was. All reviews welcome

For more details, please contact Debbie Williams of the Birmingham & Midlands NLP team, on 0121 241 0728.

For more details, please contact Rosemary Wiseman on 0208 958 8083.

For more details, please contact the organiser Tricia Woolfry on 01932 354 746

Have you thought about adding gift vouchers to your service? We wrote an article just the other day about treating your loved one to hypnosis on Valentine’s Day as an extra special, personal gift, but why not offer gift vouchers?

All you need is a printer and some pretty paper, but if designing a pretty voucher is beyond you, just head down to your local printers and ask them to print off a few for you. Leave a space for the recipient’s name and the amount, maybe a space for the sender’s name too. Include ‘Gift Vouchers Available’ in all your advertising and your dad’s brother Robert is your uncle, sorted!

One Christmas I was given a present of a jigsaw about 150 pieces, but you know I was so annoyed. Because they didn’t have the box, I just had all the pieces in a plastic bag and I didn’t know what the picture was going to be. I was so furious and I never realised then what a great learning experience that would be, a great learning experience.

Some people start with the frame. They put in all the edges first to get a sort of acceptable outline of what the picture might be, one piece at a time putting it all together, and it gets to a point where you really start to see things, you really start to notice and recognise, really start to get a picture of what that picture is all about, and then each time you start to recognise the picture forming the next piece is easier to put in place, and as you put each piece in plan so the picture forms faster and faster, and gets more exciting, and somehow that relationship between that picture and the person completing the jigsaw, you know you can take time completing the picture a piece at a time and you only need to put each piece in when it’s right for you, each piece in your own time and you know that can happen all by itself, automatically, the changes from within.

Metaphors are often used by hypnotherapists to gently give suggestions to the unconscious mind.

Therefore, getting corporate work can provide you with regular ‘bread and butter’ work, but many hypnotherapists aren’t sure where to begin.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketer who specialises in working with small businesses, especially therapists, and is offering a free conference call next Tuesday 12th February on this particular subject.  Visit the website to find out more

Give benefits, not features

The way to think about this is to make sure that you tell people how a feature will benefit them.  Your ad should answer the question ‘How will that help me?’  So, if you offer a free consultation, don’t just leave it at that.  Tell them that this means they have the opportunity to meet the hypnotherapist, ask any questions they want and make sure they feel comfortable before booking an appointment

Use the space you have

Put as much detail in the advert as is needed and don’t be afraid to say too much.  Long ads work better than those with just a few words in the middle of white space.  Only use images if they contribute to the sale.  There’s no point showing a pretty sunset, how does that help them decide they need your services?

Talk about them, not you

People aren’t interested in what you do unless they see how it helps them, use empathy, make sure they know you understand what they need.  When someone looks at an ad, they’re asking ‘How will this help me?’  So, don’t say ‘I offer weight loss sessions’.  Instead, say ‘Maybe you want to lose a few pounds, or maybe you want a complete change.  You can choose whether to focus on one specific food type or whether to focus on increasing your exercise levels.  We’ll help you to choose the right level for you’

Use stories

We’re not talking made up fairytales, but facts about hypnosis such as ‘90% effective’ don’t sell hypnotherapy.  Use case studies and recommendations to their full effect – they’re more captivating.  You know as a hypnotist that stories and metaphors work wonders, it’s the same in advertising.  ‘Hypnotherapy is 90% effective at weight loss’ vs ‘Our client, Mary Smith, lost 4 stone last year after just one weight loss session’.  Mary wins it every time

You are the expert

..and make sure everyone knows it.  Use testimonials, guarantees (always ensure the terms and conditions are clear and in the correct context for both parties, you and the customer), any media coverage you may have (and if you don’t have any, get some!) and write articles (like this one).

Testimonials are the most powerful marketing tool you can have, so always collect testimonials

They have incorporated a new list of email addresses so many hypnotherapists or those interested in hypnosis may have received their first issue yesterday.

The ezine contains a few tips and quotes and details on the forthcoming NCH Conference announced a few months ago.

The best item in yesterday’s email, in my opinion, was the special offer on their specialist smoking cessation course.  The course is distance learning, so really only suitable to already qualified hypnotherapists, but the price has been reduced from its usual £200 to just £133 and you can spread payment over six months.  However, you have to be really quick as the offer runs out today!  For more information, visit the UK Academy website now and contact them about the discount

Don’t get me wrong, we often get recommendations by word of mouth but not as many as I’ve experienced working in other sectors.  I’ve also noted that the word of mouth recommendations tend to be for quitting smoking or weight loss, and for a while I wondered if it was just because I wasn’t as good at other issues I deal with.

Having followed up on most of my client sessions though, the majority of them tell me the hypnosis has worked so are they lying?

Then someone made a suggestion that made a lot of sense.  Perhaps it’s because many of the issues, such as anxiety or panic attacks, personal problems and some phobias are more private issues so people don’t tend to talk about them as much whereas when you lose weight, people notice and they’ll ask what your secret is.  When you stop smoking, people notice and ask how you did it and so word gets around.  I wonder if anyone else has noticed the same thing?