Summary: Andy explains why he has left all social media apart from YouTube and what he noticed afterwards. He says very little of his business came from social media, that the time spent there felt like work but was not, and that enquiries and booking attempts increased once he left. He argues that people do not look for coaches or therapists on Facebook and suggests practitioners consider deleting their accounts.
Author: Andrew T. Austin
Andrew T. Austin is a therapist, trainer and author. He qualified as a registered general nurse in 1992, with clinical experience that included accident and emergency (A&E) and neurosurgery, and went on to train in Ericksonian hypnotherapy, NLP (to trainer level) and Provocative Therapy with Frank Farrelly. He developed Integral Eye Movement Therapy Technique (IEMT), formalised as a training in 2008, and Metaphors of Movement. Both are included in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy (2015). He is the author of The Rainbow Machine: Tales from a Neurolinguist's Journal, prefaced and edited by Steve Andreas and published by Real People Press.
Hello Andy,
Great video.
So interesting that my Facebook account with thousands of friends got disabled by Facebook about 10 days ago, with no warning, it was gone. I was spending hours each day, doing client getting activities such posting valuable content (at least I thought it was valuable). Since not had access to that account, I have noticed that I am still getting the same number of client inquiries. However because I am not so busy doing “client getting social media postings”, I have had time to review where my clients have come from, here is the list in order:
1) past client referrals
2) a street sign (sandwich board at the shopping mall where my physical office is located)
3) google my business listing (when asked, people say they reached out because positive reviews left by past clients)
4) free listing on best 3 hypnotherapists in Victoria BC Canada
5) google search – local people finding my website, watching my embedded videos & reading the content.
6) local doctor referrals
7) handing out business cards to smokers I see smoking in my local town
8) seeing me in interviews with authority figures
9) Facebook groups – interacting and commenting in stop smoking support groups
Social media has helped me build a know, like and trust factor BUT 95% of my clients have never seen me on Facebook BUT many have watch my YouTube Videos. So, time to switch my social media posting time to making more videos for Youtube.
PS. LOVE your IEMT video training course. I have used your technique with EVERYONE of my clients for months now. It really works – FAST. What I found special from that training was the information on Me, I, you and self.
PPS I just noticed how many times I used the work I in my sentences – I wonder that means??????