Marketing for Granola Eating Airy Fairy Woo Woo Hippie Types

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A friend of mine is a color therapist.

What on earth is that? You’d be entitled to ask.

And, to be honest, I don’t really know.

It’s some kind of holistic therapy involving waving specifically colored silks over the patient’s body or directing colored light onto the body with the aid of a light box and some colored lenses.

So, yeah, its a bit out there.

An aside: For those of you willing to write this off as a total waste of time, remember that a very important part of the therapy process is the care and attention that the therapist pays the client. So yeah – the light stuff is obviously a load of hooey, but that doesn’t mean that the therapy as a whole has no merit.

Now, the main problem that a color therapist has with marketing her services is the same one that a Law of Attraction Coach or a more esoteric alternative Life Coach would have.

I call it…

The “What The $&@£ Is That?!” factor

If you own a business that makes people ask What The $&@£ is That? then you’re going to want to work a little harder to overcome the immediate objections a potential customer might have.

Remember Dave, the guy who doesn’t buy life coaching?

Dave’s main concerns are:

He doesn’t want to look stupid
He doesn’t want to other people to think he’s stupid
He doesn’t want to waste money.

These concerns shout even louder in the mind of the person considering color therapy or anything involving past lives, aliens, wind chimes or touchy feely magical stuff (The “Law” of Attraction.)

So what’s the antidote to all this doubt?

Bucket Loads of Social Proof

That’s right. Social Proof.

LOTS of it.

You want to overwhelm your potential customer with evidence that:

lots of other people do it
lots of other people have had great results with it
other people are proud to talk about it
other people were skeptical but took a chance and were happy with it
their friends won’t think they’re weird if they do it
it is acknowledged and accepted as okay by the mainstream.

So…

You want loads of testimonials from real, live people from different walks of life.

You want testimonials from people who were really skeptical but ended up getting a lot out of your service.

Ideally you’ll have been mentioned in the mainstream media and not just Granola Times. You want to make this obvious to your potential customer.

You want to a collect bucket load of evidence that your service is legitimate, accepted and valued by other people.

Got that?

Good. Now we’re at square one and we can start talking about the benefits…

See you soon!

JJ Jalopy.

Have you got a crazy woo woo business? Cool. Tell me all about it in the comments. You crazy hippie freak.

If you enjoyed my writing, please share it with your friends. Thanks!

14 comments so far

Comment by Suzie
12 August 2009

LOL, I love your turn of phrase there JJ!

Unfortunately I have no crazy hippie freaky business, but there are some that say I’m a bit woowoo myself
And that’s just fine by me…

Good advice.
Suzie´s last blog ..Trust
Comment by Juliet Austin
12 August 2009

Great post! Providing social proof is key for any business.

Another thing that “woo-woo” businesses need to focus on in their marketing is the results–the concrete benefits they provide– instead of trying to “sell” their modality or technique. Most people don’t care what technique you use as long as their problems are solved. If you can convince them that you can help you will get better results.
Juliet Austin´s last blog ..The Client-Attracting Websites Coaching Program
Comment by JJ Jalopy
12 August 2009

@Suzie – Thanks. I try! I’m a massive hippie myself really. Not sure about Granola though. In fact, I’m not even sure I know what it is!

@Juliet- Hey there! Thanks for coming by! And thanks for making such a great point! The more evidence you can collect of real concrete results the better. And this is especially true in any modality that could be seen as a bit airy fairy…
Comment by Suzie
13 August 2009

Trivial information…granola is a cereal, like muesli. I have raised a true blue, tree hugging, marley-listening, airy-fairy child. She is very cool therefore I must be also…LOL
Suzie´s last blog ..Trust
Comment by Anthony Lemme
13 August 2009

Nice title. Like Suzie, I have raised a Marley listening (now he’s into punk) hipster child so I must be cool to!

Your points about making it cool by showing proof is right on. People want to know they aren’t weird or want to know they are weird because they are just like all the different people…if that makes sense. It is past my bedtime and my brain is already half-asleep!

Anthony
http://www.anthonylemme.com
Anthony Lemme´s last blog ..A Simple Yet Effective Exercise To Awaken and Activate Your Mental Powers
Comment by Coach Kalpna
13 August 2009

Loved this! Was a bit worried about what was going to come out of it. Brilliantly sound advice. in fact, I think social proof is necessary in all fields – not just for “woo woo” types! Particularly because there are lots of “Daves” out there… you’ve got to cater for those “Daves”….!

Can’t wait for the next installment!
Coach Kalpna´s last blog ..Begin Winning
Comment by John Ho
14 August 2009

JJ,

>
a very important part of the therapy process is the care and attention that the therapist pays the client.
>

So true! Taking away those sobataging agents (internal AND external ones), we can basically pretty much self-healing.

John Ho
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion
Numerology Expert Birthday Numeroscope
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion
John Ho´s last blog ..“Numerology Expert Says for Love of Reputation & Practicality Those Born on 14th August"
Comment by Avery
15 August 2009

I teach people how to macrame their way to beach-ready abs.
Comment by Darryl Pace
17 August 2009

Great post as usual, JJ. Very sound advice for airy fairly businesses of all types!

Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Fitness Product Review
Darryl Pace´s last blog ..Time to Workout
Comment by Lisa McLellan
19 August 2009

Hey JJ,

I’m trying to get back into the blogging thing so I’ll be back to comment soon. But, I was just clicking thru everyone’s sites and I noticed the title of this post. It is so dang funny that I had to tell you how much I loved it! You are hysterical!
Comment by JJ Jalopy
20 August 2009

@Everyone – Hey Guys! Thanks for your comments. Sorry I haven’t replied sooner – I’ve been up a mountain. Having some wonderfully woo woo hippie time!

You’re all fab crazy hippies. Thanks for the love.
Comment by Over 50 Singles Boomer Dating
3 September 2009

Acccccccccctually color has a vibration. you might not understand the effect on the other person, but it DOES and IS affecting them.

Like color in our living room.
Vs color in our bed room.

and the colors we wear, like for a business meeting, or a romantic date with your sweetheart, the fair lady Mrs. Jalopy!

Yes, I am a strong business woman, AND I have my Woo Woo side, too! ?

Happy Dating and Relationships,

April Braswell