The Media is the Massage
By Coach Cary Bayer
The medium is the message. Marshall McCluhan
One of the first things that a journalist writing for a newspaper learns is to ask and get answers for the five key questions. These are who, what, when, where, and how. In a previous column, you learned what to say in an ad; in another one, you learned how to say what you want to say in an ad; and in this one, you'll learn where to say what you want to say in an ad.
The ad that I'm referring to is one of two types: either the retail-oriented ad (the half-price special for new clients, or its buy one, get one free cousin), or the image ad that positioned you uniquely in the marketplace. While there's an art to how to communicate in an ad, there's not a precise science to where to communicate--even though media specialists in advertising agencies ply their sophisticated computers and demographic and psychographic analyses trying to make it as scientific as possible. For an alternative healer promoting a discount-pricing ad to attract new clients, there's a bit of trial and error that will probably be necessary.
The following media outlets are ones that you'll likely wish to experiment with:
Depending on where you live, you may not have all of these options available to you. If, for example, you live in New York City, you'll have a multitude of these options, but there likely won't be a weekly community newspaper that you're asked to pay for. If, on the other hand, you live in Woodstock, New York, (like I do four and a half months per year) there's a weekly community newspaper that you pay for, but not a daily one. If you live in south Florida like I do seven and a half months each year, you'll have all of these options, but not the community paper that requires a cover price.
As a business coach for massage therapists and other alternative healers, I'm frequently asked which media I'd recommend. Below, I'll outline the options available and comment on each.
Daily Newspaper
In large metropolitan areas, advertising in the daily newspaper is going to be too expensive for most alternative healers to afford. However, there are quite a few small cities that offer daily papers that can be affordable. The Palm Beach Post in the West Palm Beach area, for example, can be an excellent media choice for a south Florida facilitator of human growth.
The advantage of using an inexpensive daily in a small city is that it reaches a large audience. The disadvantages are threefold: the potentially high cost for ad space; not everyone who sees your message is interested in massage, Reiki, and energy healing; and, because some of these modalities--like massage, for example--is a geographically-specific service, the LMT who advertises in her city newspaper is paying to reach some readers in further areas of distribution who might not want to drive that far to get a massage from the advertising LMT.
Weekly Community Free Newspaper
Most communities in most cities feature a free community newspaper that reports on local news and incorporates advertisements from local businesses. These papers usually are distributed in apartment buildings, on street corners in newspaper stands that you can open for free, in your driveway, and in dry cleaning outlets, and so on.
The benefits to advertising here are twofold: the cost for an ad is very affordable, everyone who reads the ad is located within a short drive to your massage table, couch and desk and, if you do outcall services, a short drive for you, as well. The negatives in promoting your services here are twofold: not everyone who reads the paper is particularly interested in getting alternative treatments, and not everyone who receives the paper reads it very closely. Some just toss it away.
Paid Weekly Community Newspaper
In Woodstock, New York, residents are eager for the arrival, on Thursday afternoon, of the Woodstock Times, a well-written and well-liked weekly paper that people are only too happy to plop down their dollar to buy. If you're an alternative facilitator in the Hudson Valley towns that this weekly is distributed in, and you're contemplating advertising your services, this option is a no-brainer. If you live in an area that lacks a daily paper but has a paid weekly one, chances are strong that this is the first place to consider when advertising.
The pros to promoting here are several-fold: the medium is well read, the costs are affordable, and most people are within driving distance of your table. The major con is that not everyone who sees your offer is looking to get such healing services.
Free Monthly or bi-monthly wellness newspaper/magazine
Not every community gives the people who live in its jurisdiction access to a free monthly or bimonthly wellness newspaper or magazine that reports on everything new age from acupuncture to Zen. But if you do--and most populated areas now do, as the Natural Awakenings regional franchise business model has spread far and wide--this is an outstanding medium for alternative healers.
The advantages include the following: unlike every other ad medium, virtually everyone who reads your ad understands the importance and benefits of such treatments, and readers look at the ads in these wellness monthlies far more closely than people leafing through their daily newspapers. The disadvantages are twofold: Because their distribution can reach in the hundreds of miles, you wind up paying to reach a large number of readers who are not willing to drive to your table or couch--and they're too far for you to drive your table to them. In addition, the cost for advertising here might be too pricey for some healers.
Weekly or monthly cultural newspaper (free)
This is a more speculative medium for most alternative facilitators, but it can be a good option for some. Most therapists don't even have this kind of publication as an option. In the New York City area, for example, the legendary Village Voice is a good medium, as some healers have discovered.
The benefits to advertising here: Readers, looking for good entertaining and culinary adventures for weekends and evenings, check out the ads quite carefully. The downside: The price can be steep, and many readers might be unwilling to drive to see you.
Experiment with these media choices and see what works best for you, keeping careful records of the responses to your advertising in terms of numbers of people trying you out, and what percentage keep on seeing you. In most cases, all it takes is one ongoing client and it will have been worth your while to advertise in any of these media outlets.
For more information visit www.CaryBayer.com.
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