making a living? just how likely?

[John Tolles]

how feasible is it to earn +3k per month in the first six months of opening an office? I'm thinking about enrolling in some hypnotherapy program but I'm not sure if it's a wise career move.

[Susan French]

Not likely at all. I wouldn't count on it unless you have a good bit of startup money for advertising and everything else you'll need. If you have a 9 to 5, hang on to it and figure on it taking a good 5 years to establish yourself.

Where were you thinking about taking your training?

Susan

[Doreen Cohanim C.Ht]

Hello John,

I guess it depends where you are going to practice, I was very successfully in the beginning and now it went all down the hill, I believe is a lot to do with the economy scarcity, people are afraid to spend money, but they are not afraid to pay money for drugs, medication, alcohol, movie and food.
My advice will be, keep your job and start part time, If it works for you, then become full time...
Just my two cents, other wise you will be trowing your hard earned money into advertisement that may not bring much fruit but disappointment, all I am saying is, take it easy and learn your market.

Respectyfully, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht

[John Tolles]

"not likely at all"
I was afraid of that. Thought I'd ask anyway in case someone was able to. Tho to be honest I'm more afraid that I might be unable to solve the client's problems.

"figure on it taking a good 5 years to establish yourself."
gosh.

"Where were you thinking about taking your training?"
Hypnotherapy Academy of America.

[Doreen Cohanim C.Ht]

Dear John,

Don't be afraid, trust your intuitions and with practice you will be great...
As to being afraid that you might be unable to solve the client's problems, again, fear will stop you from achieving, and trust, passion, daring will get you where you want, never allow fear control your desire, If you fall down, you will start again, but you would know better, make sense?

PS: No one ever was born to be expert in helping others, yes we all have this abilities, but most of us took classes and many different trainings to become masters in what we love to do.

Respectfully, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
www.EnterYourMind.com

[the grumpy hypnotist]

Gross or net? Even 3k+ net is easy within 6 months. Depends on how skilled you get at marketing and business end of it. But that is an awful standard of living to settle for unless a person is moving up from a job at Dairy Queen.

However, although it is easy, it is not likely, based on observation of typical experience of trained hypnotists. In fact I would be surprised if the majority of certified hypnotists ever actually work with paying clients on a regular basis. I think the factors include poor training, lack of confidence, fear, lack of seriousness, reliance on "magical thinking", and general laziness and excuse-making once a person realizes that building up a hypnosis practice will involve actual work. On one hand, it is good advice to hang on to day job while building it up on the side, but I think that most often results in people who just dabble in it for years and years.

I prefer the Napoleon Hill "burn your ships" approach --- succeed or die (or at least lose your house, car and other material possessions, oh well). I'm relative newbie to profession and it only took 6 months or so to develop full-time practice. Key is to avoid doing low ROI-activities which other hypnotists seem to focus on (ie. giving free talks, participating in the hypnosis community, recording CDs, relying on "word of mouth", jumping on marketing bandwagons, etc. --- that stuff is fine if you want to wait 10 years or so to build your practice).

PS. This is not a career. Thinking of it as a "career" or "job" is a serious mistake, methinks.

[Richard Nongard - HypnosisGurus.com]

3K a month is a bit low. Charging only $229 for smoking cessation (2 sessions - this is the LOW end of pricing for such a protocol) means you only need 20 clients a month to make $4500 a month... Charge $279 and have 20 clients a month, just for smoking cessation and earn $5500 a month....

How do you get that many clients? People seach for hypnotists online by geography. Pick a domain name that leads people to you like www.ScottsdaleHypnosis.com or something. Learn about SEO and get good search engine results. (For example, just type in the word "hypnosis" into google and the first video is ME. Not bad search engine placement. (I do not own scottsdalehypnosis.com It is just an example, I do not know who owns it).

Run a business like a business. DO NOT practice out of your house unless you want to chop out 80% of the potential clients who were willing to scedule an appointment. Buy some classified ads in the weekly paper. Spend every minute you are not seeing clients meeting people and doing marketing ie./ Chamber of commerce or Rotary. Meet other professionals.

Set the bar high. As I tell people all the time, in a county the size of your county can you find ten people a week willing to pay you $250 to help them quit smoking? That is 10K a month.

Oh, and learn how to promote a market a hypnosis practice from those whith successful practices, not at home hypnotists who never see clients.

I know skilled hypnotists who can;t pay the bills at the end of the month, and some real lousy hypnotists making tons of money. Hypnosis is the product, but it's just a business like any other so get basic business skills and use them and you will be successful.

[Melissa J. Roth]

Richar Nongard gave you good advice. You must be an entrepreneur first. That means you work at it as many hours a day and as many days/week as it requires. If you hold on to your day job you'll probably never become full time in hypnosis. I'd also advise for you to pick a niche and market to that niche. I have never advertised. My web site is crummy. I charge more than anyone else in my area. But, my niche is medical hypnotherapy and I schmooze with dozens of MD's every week. I talk to nurses and chiropractors and dentists and other therapists whose clients might be in pain or have a chronic illness. Although I'm not advertising in the papers or on TV, I'm always out there meeting with healthcare professionals.

Can any school teach you how to do those things and also how to be a good hypnotherapist? I haven't come across one. Their main job is to teach you to be a good hypnotist, not a good business person. I'm sure some of Tim Simmerman's grads have made $3+/K month starting out but how much business experience did they have before they went to hypnosis school? Just like with any entrepreneural venture, have 6 months worth of living expenses and operating capital in the bank before you begin and you'll make it.

[the grumpy hypnotist]

@Richard, re: "I know skilled hypnotists who can;t pay the bills at the end of the month, and some real lousy hypnotists making tons of money." I agree that's true, but I also think that is sometimes used by practitioners as an excuse for not succeeding. In other words, where people tell themselves, "Oh, I just know I'd be a wonderful hypnotist if only I'd get the chance... that other fellow who is busy is just good at marketing. Me, on the other hand, I deeply care about hypnosis and just want to help people..."

@Melissa, you mention that you've never advertised, and instead developed relationships with professionals in other fields (great strategy btw). I am curious, how long did it take you to go full-time using that strategy? I am wondering because I always figured that someone who just got trained, a total novice, would have difficult time building that kind of relationship when they are still in very early stages of practicing?

[Neil]

++++but they are not afraid to pay money for drugs, medication, alcohol, movie and food.++++
This is because they are guaranteed to get what they pay for.

++++Not likely at all++++
This is because they need to fix themselves first. e.g. Confidence, determination, personality.......

++++My advice will be, keep your job and start part time, If it works for you, then become full time...++++
Hypnosis is an art. Some people, like Doreen, just have it. Bitch! Lol ( This really is just a joke. Pleased don't burn my house down).

++++a good 5 years to establish yourself++++
Fair enough! But, Nongard and Grumpy have very valid points.

++++You must be an entrepreneur first++++
It doesn't matter how skilled you are, there's always gonna be the problem of proving it. You can't prove it unless you hit your potential client's convincer strategy! Decide on the type of client you can get on with and want to help. Then you just go out there and meet them; deliberately and on purpose.

What does 'btw' mean?

[Fable Goodman]

the grumpy hypnotist said:

@Richard, re: people tell themselves, "Oh, I just know I'd be a wonderful hypnotist if only I'd get the chance... that other fellow who is busy is just good at marketing. Me, on the other hand, I deeply care about hypnosis and just want to help people..."

That's me! I am convinced I am a wonderfull hypnotist, but need to start a charity fund, to get my garage roof fixed, before the rains come.

However, I would rather have a wet floor in my garage, than make the effort to market myself these days.

I have just set up the practice tight rope in the back yard, and playing out in the sun seems like a much more attractive option.

Love and hugs,


Fable

[Henxy]

I love the child in you, Fable.
It reminds me to stay young and happy.
Thanks! xx

Fable Goodman said:

the grumpy hypnotist said:

@Richard, re: people tell themselves, "Oh, I just know I'd be a wonderful hypnotist if only I'd get the chance... that other fellow who is busy is just good at marketing. Me, on the other hand, I deeply care about hypnosis and just want to help people..."

That's me! I am convinced I am a wonderfull hypnotist, but need to start a charity fund, to get my garage roof fixed, before the rains come.

However, I would rather have a wet floor in my garage, than make the effort to market myself these days.

I have just set up the practice tight rope in the back yard, and playing out in the sun seems like a much more attractive option.

Love and hugs,


Fable

[Melissa J. Roth]

It took me about 6 months. By 3 yrs I was totally booked for three weeks out and partially booked 6 weeks out. In those days I was seeing 25-30 clients a week. I still need that kind of income (daughter in college with champaigne tastes) but I'm too lazy to see that many clients again. Now I see no more than 20.
the grumpy hypnotist said:

@Richard, re: "I know skilled hypnotists who can;t pay the bills at the end of the month, and some real lousy hypnotists making tons of money." I agree that's true, but I also think that is sometimes used by practitioners as an excuse for not succeeding. In other words, where people tell themselves, "Oh, I just know I'd be a wonderful hypnotist if only I'd get the chance... that other fellow who is busy is just good at marketing. Me, on the other hand, I deeply care about hypnosis and just want to help people..."
@Melissa, you mention that you've never advertised, and instead developed relationships with professionals in other fields (great strategy btw). I am curious, how long did it take you to go full-time using that strategy? I am wondering because I always figured that someone who just got trained, a total novice, would have difficult time building that kind of relationship when they are still in very early stages of practicing?