Promotional Ideas

How to overwhelm yourself with new clients in 2021!
 
Wisconsin Billings teacher, Heather Turner, has found herself with a full client load thanks to several marketing ideas that she started implementing before the pandemic.
 
Tap into your diocese/parish:

• Put listings for intro sessions, both online and in-person, in your parish's bulletin.
• Have your intro sessions announced at Mass (apparently, few people read bulletins!)
• Get on your diocese's NFP page, even if NFP instruction isn't required for engaged couples.
• Meet with priests in your diocese and give them business cards and/or brochures.

 
Use the BOMA brochure:

• Speaking of brochures, there's a space on the back of this one (https://www.bomausa.org/store/p14/BOMAUSA_Brochure_%28Pkg_of_100%29.html) for a label. I buy Avery 22822 clear labels (https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Print.../dp/B008FKRXC0) and print my condensed business card on them and stick them to each brochure.
  
  

Offer freebies:

• Teach free intro classes outside the Catholic bubble, such as at crisis pregnancy centers, midwife offices, local libraries, community centers, etc. And, don’t forget, eventually, you'll start to get referrals from current clients too.
• Offer free intro classes online every 1-4 months. Depending on how much I can take on new clients; I will advertise those classes more or less. I post about the free classes on my personal page, in local mom groups, (on Facebook and in email lists), as posts in Facebook (FB) groups (or comments on the advertising posts, if a group has restrictions), and drop the link when I'm talking to people in comments or private messages. (People message me their random charts often!) I have anywhere from 2-25 people attend each intro, but at most a handful from each become clients.

 
Get on lists:

• List yourself on a bunch of directories. There's the One More Soul's directory (https://onemoresoul.com/nfp-directory), FACTS's directory (https://www.factsaboutfertility.org/physician-clinician-directory-form/), and numerous other little directories out there if you go looking.
• Be on the remote teachers list for BOMA (https://www.boma-usa.org/learn-remotely.html) and include as much info as possible. One client said she picked me as her instructor because I was the only one with a website listed, so she felt like she could get to know me a little before contacting me.

 
Have a web presence:

• Have a website. It doesn't have to be awesome. Done is better than perfect. If you have a contact form or your email listed, prepare for spam. But some sincere requests will sprinkle in too.

 
Consider social media:

• Be active in a variety of FB groups. Yes, there's a lot of misinformation out there in these groups, but the volume of people who need help - either to be taught from the ground up, to make a method switch, or go through a Billings refresher is enormous. It would be a dereliction of duty for Billings teachers to avoid these spaces entirely. I'm in many groups such as:
              https://www.facebook.com/groups/700439266684610/ and  
              https://www.facebook.com/groups/412486138896385/ and
              https://www.facebook.com/groups/NFPfans/ and
              https://www.facebook.com/groups/NFPCatholicStyle/ and
              https://www.facebook.com/groups/1547240995521476/ and
              https://www.facebook.com/groups/338240116547758/).
• For each FB group, my contact info is on the instructor list in the Files section, and I sometimes offer non-pushy takes on charts posted or problems people post. Billings has helped me, and I know it can help a lot more people. I will offer to teach people, for free if necessary if they seem to need it. Sometimes it's people quietly watching the conversation who will be the ones to reach out to me, rather than the person I'm actually talking to. I could probably be on Instagram, but I don't have the energy to take on another platform.
• Make a business page on FB (here's mine, for example:
              https://www.facebook.com/PlanningLifesBumps/), which you could link to your personal FB page. I've done more with my page in the past, but I'm maxed out

 
Now with current clients.
 
Stretch beyond your borders:

• Consider working as a distance instructor for the Diocese of Fort Worth, since

they have an NFP requirement but not enough local teachers, as was the case at least a year ago (https://fwdioc.org/natural-family-planning). I found having Fort Worth engaged clients were only about 2.5 months of commitment for each couple and gave me a diverse set of experiences, which also benefitted my own learning.

As you can see, promotion can be, “a little bit here and a little bit there, mostly passive and all free” (except for time, supplies, and gas).

If you do all of the above, you'll be overrun in pretty short order. If you are new to teaching, don't be afraid of a slow buildup by choosing a couple of the suggestions.

Be patient with yourself. Learning how to work with actual people and their charts, getting a routine for documenting contacts, and really letting all this information seep down deep in your bones – it all takes time!

To contact Heather, email her at hturnernfp@gmail.com.