5 Ethical ways to Earn More Money

1. Help more people

Yes I know this is obvious, but it's also the quickest way to earn a better living. 90% of self employed therapists have space to see more people each week.

The question there is: how can you let a lot more people know about what you do and where to find you in a short time? A press release, editorials in newspapers, speak to community groups, post on Facebook and target your local area, etc. There are lots of ways.

If you want to do more of what you're already doing, you need to put the word out.

Your desire to help people has to be greater than your desire to hold back.

2. Group offerings.

This is another way to help more people. What can you offer that would help, which can be up-scaled from one on one sessions to a group format? From small groups of 4-6 to large groups, most of us have some value to offer, something that would make a difference for people.

Here are a few examples I've encountered:

Psychotherapists/Counsellors/etc. - group de-stress offerings such as a mindfulness hour, techniques to spot and reduce stress, weightloss classes, stop smoking groups, and similar. With 5 people paying a smaller fee than on one-to-one sessions, more people can access help, and you can earn better per hour because you're helping more people.

Mind Coaches/Business coaches – group coaching sessions. Very popular, and in business coaching the group dynamic can add a lot thus giving extra value from the format.

Physical therapists/Chiropractors, etc. - Classes or workshops on avoiding injury, tips and methods to stay limber and reduce sports injuries, how to maintain mobility into later life, fitness courses etc.

Every time I've sat down with a therapist or coach to explore options like these we're started with an 'I don't know what I could do' and ended up with 'Wow, I never thought I'd find so many options'. Have a think about it. Some element of what we do is nearly always scalable. We don't have to solve whole issues in a group session, just deliver value that helps. On/off thinking often holds us back in this. What would help people? How can you give some of that help to more than one person at a time?

3. The exact same service to businesses.

This is one of my favourite paths to explore. Businesses understand the time-to-value equation better than most do.

Here's an example: a massage therapist in Oxford who offers massage at £60 for a 45 minute session. She wasn't busy enough and wanted to find more clients. She approached a local business and asked if anyone would be interested in a 20 minute massage over lunch on-site.

She was inundated. She now charges the same rate of £60 for a massage but it's for 20 minutes on-site.

After a few weeks she expanded to where she does two hours a day 3 days a week there, and management are happy for people to have a 20 minute break for a massage because they saw a benefit in stress reduction. Those 6 hours a week sees her work hard for them, but she gets 6 clients a day at £60 = £360 each afternoon she's there. That's £1080 a week for 6 hours work. (That's more than she was making in her whole business per week up to that).

It's a huge win for all concerned. The business has less stress, staff get to have a massage during working hours, and the therapist is better paid for that work by delivering her same service but on the businesses' preferred terms.

I've seen companies make counselling available on-site, stop smoking therapy available on site, life coaching, business coaching, and more. What service do you offer one on one, that you could deliver on-site for a business, making it more convenient for them and allowing you to charge a premium rate for that convenience? End result is more people getting help, and the therapist getting a better income.

4. Online course

This is a huge area. Our limitation normally is that we can only deliver help when we're present ourselves. Online and recorded courses of all types change that.

Online training is one of the fastest growth areas in business in general because people like the convenience of watching the training at their own leisure.

For some things it's better than in person. The online Facebook training I offer, is delivered weekly so people can use it while online and are able to set things up in real time, and build that week to week. That would be hard to replicate in a seminar or weekly live course. Just the broadband requirements would rule out most venues I use 🙂

I've seen people buy personal development courses, mindfulness courses, stress reduction training, EFT training, and a lot more online. What could you teach that you can simply record on your phone? You'd be amazed how many professional courses are shot on iphones and high end android phones. The technology isn't an issue any longer.

Setting up a good course is a lot of work and of course, like every other offering it has to be put out to the world if people are to be able to buy it, but while the work is big, you only have to get it right once and it's scale-able. Waking up in the morning to find someone started your training while you slept is a pretty good feeling.

As always the equation is the same. In person, or by recording, if you help more people you earn more too. Win / win is the way to go. Create something truly valuable and then offer it to those it can help.

5. Group offering to Businesses.

Just as we can offer one to one services to businesses, we can take any group offering we have, or create a new one for businesses.

What offering could you make to large or even small businesses? It might be a stress reduction training, communication skills, yoga, mindfulness, or anything else, but offer it to them in a way that shows how it can help them and their staff and how it can open a lot of opportunities while creating more of a 'win for them and win for you' situation.

Businesses are in the mindset of paying well for value. Offer value, show them how it pays for itself in the benefits, and make your life easier too.

Don't be afraid to charge what you're worth.

A final thought

If you don't work weekends or evenings, would you consider offering a premium version of your service

at that time? For example, when someone needs a low cost option could you offer that at the time of day that's hardest to fill? Then offer the evening/ out of work hours service at a higher rate? It might let you help more people at every stage of the money spectrum, allowing them to choose their time at different rates. If it lets you help more people and earn a better income too, it sounds like a win / win again.

Working in coaching and training with so many therapists, coaches, and facilitators, I've yet to see any sector (type of therapy, coaching, mentoring, classes) where the demand isn't high as long as it's offered in a way that connects.

As I write this, many of my colleagues are complaining that its a quiet time of year, but my waiting list for therapy is 5 and a half weeks long. The clients are there, but we have to find, connect, and support them if we want to get to help them in person.

Please put yourself out there. Tell people what you can do. Be approachable, and please, keep sharing your help.

Every best wish,

John