Launching The Therapy Exchange - Networking Events for Brisbane's Holistic Therapists

It's all go at Revive Holistic Marketing! We've just launched The Therapy Exchange - a series of networking events for holistic therapists in Brisbane.























The Therapy Exchange aims to help therapists network with like-minded people, and to keep abreast of industry developments and the issues that impact their business.

Held on the first Wednesday (or Thursday) of the month, each event will focus on a particular theme related to the holistic therapies industry. As well as networking with fellow practitioners, we'll:

- Learn from an expert presenter and each other
- Participate in a group discussion related to the theme
- Discover new holistic therapies products

Above all, we'll have a great time and meet some fabulous people over drinks and nibblies!

All events are run at Revive's premises at Teneriffe from 7.00pm - 9.00pm and cost $20 per person. Check our networking calendar for dates and to book your place at our next event.

The series kicks off on 1 July 2009 with an event themed The Value of Marketing for Holistic Therapists.

"The Australian natural (complementary) healthcare industry has domestic sales of over $1 billion per year...the popularity of natural healthcare products is increasing with a growth rate of 7% year on year."

Even in today's economic climate, there are huge opportunities for holistic therapists - so why is it that the average weekly earnings before tax of massage therapists is $600, compared with the average weekly earnings of all occupations of $940?

Marketing is critical for any business - and holistic therapists are no different! Effective marketing can not only help to improve this large discrepancy in earnings, but can help therapists to create and grow successful businesses.

This event will focus on the value of, and need for, effective marketing in the holistic therapies industry. As well networking with fellow therapists, you'll receive valuable tips for your business and loads of information about the range of marketing resources available. Click here for more information or to download the flyer.

Places are limited - book online or call us to secure your place!

The Secrets of Spiritual Marketing

Lawrence Ellyard, CEO and Founder of the International Institute for Complementary Therapists is launching a new book called The Secrets of Spiritual Marketing, A Complete Guide for Natural Therapists to Making Money doing what they Love.

I've had the privilege of seeing a pre-publication preview of the book, and can't wait for it to be launched.

As therapists, we spend much time and money gaining and maintaining our holistic therapies qualifications, but receive little guidance about how to market ourselves and our services.

This book should be incorporated into all holistic studies courses as a recommened text - its down-to-earth, practical advice - written in plain English, provides a great overview of how therapists can develop a successful business.

For therapists requiring further information about marketing, Revive Holistic Marketing offers 2-day or 5-session marketing workshops throughout Queensland and NSW. You can also earn CPE/CPD points as you learn!

The importance of marketing can never be underestimated. You can be the best therapist in the world, but if your potential customers don't know about you, or if your service does not match their expectations, it may be a short career!

Keep an eye out for The Secrets of Spiritual Marketing!

Places still available at a Yoga Retreat on Sunday

I just received an email from the Australian School of Meditation & Yoga: Gold Coast announcing they still have spaces available for their mini yoga retreat this Sunday. I did a retreat with the ASMY a few months ago and it was an awesome day - highly relaxing, informative and surrounded by lovely people.

Here's the details below for anyone who may be interested.

------------------------
Hi everyone,

The Free Mini-yoga retreat is coming up on Sunday the 17th May, we have some spaces if anyone would like to come. The retreat starts with the normal Sunday yoga program at Burleigh which will be an hour and a half of yoga and relaxation followed by 30 minutes of kirtan (meditation to music), a talk on the timeless wisdom of yoga and how we can apply it in our daily lives. Lunch is served about 1.00 pm and after about 10 minutes of yoga dance we have a massage workshop.

This month the workshop will be Shared Neck and Shoulder Massage.

If you would like to book in for this event please call Andrew: 5554 5440 or email: margaret@asm.org.au

When: 10:15 am for 10:30 am, Sunday 17th May

Where: Fradgley Hall (Above Burleigh Heads Library), Cnr Gold Coast Hwy & Park Ave, Burleigh Heads

Bookings: (07) 5554 5550 or margaret@asm.org.au

Free talk on the Value of Marketing to New Therapists at Q Academy

I'm very excited to be speaking about the Value of Marketing to New Therapists at the Q Academy's (Brisbane Campus) Careers Evening this Thursday from 7.00pm - 7.30pm.

Prospective massage students are welcome to attend this free event. Please contact Q Academy on 1300 20 40 80 for more information about the Careers Evening.

Hope to see you there!

Slumber party!

For any insomnia sufferers, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a great article this week on getting a good night's sleep.

"Poorly manufactured beds and bases, inappropriate lighting, the wrong bedding, bad usage habits and inadequate airflow can all contribute to us getting a dreadful night's sleep."

The article suggests many things, including decluttering your bedroom, to get a better night's sleep.

Did you know that regular massage can also help to relaxed a stressed mind and body, and therefore promote sleep?

Revive launches innovative new marketing workshops for holistic therapists

I'm very excited to announce that Revive Holistic Marketing has launched its marketing workshops and marketing services for holistic therapists.


Revive Holistic Marketing was created in 2009, after it became clear to me that there was a need for further training for massage therapists and other holistic therapies practitioners. Nationally accredited courses such as the Certificate IV in Massage Therapy, Diploma of Remedial Massage and Diploma of Aromatherapy, provide excellent technical training, however therapists often do not receive specific and thorough guidance on how to market their services.

The Expedition to Success – Marketing Your Holistic Therapies Business workshop provides therapists with a solid overview of marketing, and offers practical tools and templates to help them launch or grow their businesses, and attract and retain clients.

Designed for newly qualified and practising massage therapists, aromatherapists, reflexologists, Chinese medicine practitioners, naturopaths, homeopaths, astrologers, numerologists, energy healers and virtually any holistic therapies practitioner, participants require no previous experience in marketing.

Workshops are currently scheduled to run in Brisbane, Byron Bay, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle and Sydney, with more locations to be added throughout the year. The workshop fee is $385 per person and includes course materials, a complimentary listing on the searchable global therapy directory, Local Therapy, a 50% discount on a custom 6-page website (this offer is valued at $125) and more.

Revive’s workshops can also be customised for, and delivered to, natural therapies colleges, holistic therapies associations and other related organisations throughout Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

I’m passionate about holistic therapies, and my vision is to help holistic therapists grow successful businesses, while raising awareness of the benefits of holistic therapies in the community.

Therapists invest substantial time and money in gaining and maintaining their holistic therapies qualifications. By better understanding how marketing can drive sales and revenue, therapists who attend our workshops will also learn how to convert that investment into profit quicker, while earning continuing professional education points (CPE points).

Feel free to check out the site, or to contact us if you have any queries about the workshops.

Fantastic digital photography workshops in Mt Tamborine

I love photography. I've been tinkering with cameras, both non-digital and digital, for as long as I can remember.

For me, wandering round a park or garden, or out in the bush somewhere, photographing nature, is as relaxing as it is inspiring. It doesn't matter if the pictures are not perfect; it's finding the details, scrutinising the minutae, seeking out unusual shadows and angles.
















In searching for a birthday present for my Dad recently, I came across some photography workshops up at Mt Tamborine run by Bluedog. It looked like the perfect pressie, so I booked us both in.

Hosted by Danielle and Nick Lancaster, the Introductory Workshop kicked off with introductions and a brief description of which of the camera's functions we use the most.

"Er...the automatic function", was the general reply. "After this workshop, we want you to promise that you will never use the auto function again," said a smiling Danielle. "It's a smackable and sackable offence."

We started with a discussion about the three main variables we could control on our cameras, the ISO, shutter speed and aperture - all terms I'd heard of before, but really had no clue how to apply in a practical way.

Our first practical exercise was to test out different shutter speeds. Until then, I had no idea what shutter speed my Canon EOS 400D could go up to - nor what I could do with it at high speed.

Danielle explained that she would start pouring water over her fingers, and our task was to try to get a shot of the water, "frozen" in mid air. We started with our cameras on the slowest shutter speeds, gradually notching it up until indeed, the water started to form funky patterns in our viewfinders.
























We discussed depth of field and looked through a bunch of photographs as a way of talking about composition - how pictures should be constructed. The Rule of Thirds, which I had heard about, came up, and we looked through batches of stunning photos taken by the Lancasters, to see how this rule worked in practice.

During the afternoon, we headed out for a practical session in the stunning Mt Tamborine Botanic Gardens. Danielle and Nick were on hand to advise about settings, composition and all of the stuff we'd talked about.

The gardens up at Mt Tamborine are definitely worth a visit for anyone remotely within the vicinity. They were lush and gorgeous.....so peaceful!

The final hands-on session took place back at the studio. It simulated night work, and let's just say, Nick did some incredible drawing work with a live sparkler. Who'd have thought my camera shutter could stay open for that long!

Bluedog also does retreats, and I'm definitely going to do more of their photography workshops. I learnt heaps on the Introductory Workshop, so I can only imagine what lays ahead in the more advanced courses.

Womenspace

I was out looking at various venues last week, and came across Womenspsace, a little oasis out in the north Brisbane suburb of Kedron.

It's simply a place for women to commune and explore their spirituality. As well as hiring out rooms suitable for workshops and therapists, Womenspace runs a wide array of workshops and discussion groups - click here on all sorts of topics.

Women can drop in, any time from 10am - 4pm on Tuesday to Friday. It's a lovely, peaceful space and worth checking out if you live in Brisbane.