Starting from scratch (again)
Those of you familiar with my bio know that I was a Rolfing practitioner from 2000 to 2008, and that these days most of my time is spent raising my sweet boy and writing about my own adventures in practice building. My practices- in Napa and Sonoma, CA and in Brooklyn, NY- were built from scratch having moved to both of these cities without contacts, clients, or office space (or savings or trust fund- so I couldn’t afford to dawdle). It was the old throw a dart at a map, show up, and make it work routine. By throwing myself into the fire this way I learned a tremendous amount about practice building and even fell in love with it. My practice building experiences are the inspiration that led me to start this blog and to write my book.
But here’s the thing: what that means is that the last practice I started from scratch was in Brooklyn in 2004. The world has changed A LOT since 2004. There are huge upsides, thanks mainly to technology: Yelp! Wordpress! Zazzle! And one downside of note: the punishing economy. It’s occuring to me that to kick back and reflect from the perspective of the good ‘ol days is not the most authentic way to write this blog or to publish my book. I need to be out there with all ya’ll making it happen.
That brings me to the experiment: I just so happen to have moved to another new city where I don’t know anyone who isn’t family: New Haven, CT. I’m going to kick off a brand spanking new practice and write here about what exactly I do that both does and doesn’t work for me. Think of me as your very own guinea pig and read along to avoid my mistakes and copy my successes. I have the benefit of knowing how to grow a practice quickly, but the knowledge I’ve gained is my only upside. Everything else is starting from step one: I need office space, a website, business cards, and all the other uber important things that will get the word out about why the good people of New Haven should invest in Rolfing in a down economy.
Follow along with the blog posts and we’ll learn together! Click the shiny RSS button and subscribe so you don’t miss any of the ups and downs- I’ll be posting twice a week.
*side note: I just read The Think Big Manifesto and my brain was exploding with great ideas through the whole thing. It’s a good read if you’re interested in making a big impact by way of being totally authentic. Gotta love that.
Tags: Michael Port, practice building, Rolfing, transparency
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
[...] many of you have read, I’m starting from scratch again. I’ve hit my first hurdle: *Licensure. Argh! The legal minutiae! However, it’s important to [...]
May 28th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
hey this is a very interesting article!
June 16th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
[...] of you know, I’m heading into practice number three and I’ve just scored my new office. I couldn’t be happier- the light is good, the room [...]
July 13th, 2009 at 11:15 am
[...] “From Scratch” Chronicles: Right here on this handy dandy blog I’m chronicling my experiences (read: wipe outs and successes) in starting another practice from scratch. Subscribe to the blog by [...]
July 15th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
[...] Starting from scratch, again [...]
August 13th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
[...] Starting from scratch, again [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I’m in. I found you over at the Art of Nonconformity. I’ve got a very specific interest in wellness and holistic stuff–I’ve got a very severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome (but I manage it–in fact, I beat it down every day with a quickness:).
Traditional medicine hasn’t done a whole lot of favors for me, but that’s all right.
I’ll be back often to pester you for advice and cheer you on.
Take care friend
August 26th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
[...] Starting from Scratch (again) [...]
August 27th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Hey Josh,
Thanks for stopping by! Pester away.
And I always love to hear stories from people who have had success with holistic healthcare- so if you have anything to share, jump on in.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:21 am
[...] I’ve been building my third practice I’ve been thinking a lot about what it is that has helped me to grow so quickly in a crap [...]
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:39 am
[...] I’m going through the process of kicking off practice number three- it’s occurring to me that it would be useful to have a series of articles here on exactly [...]
October 14th, 2009 at 10:19 am
[...] for this particular endeavour came in the form of nine years in practice, and this being the third time I’ve started a new practice from scratch. So much for overnight success. My ability to grow a [...]
October 26th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
[...] a few months ago I announced to all ya’ll that I would be kicking off practice number three and regaling you with tales of the tactics I used to grow the aforementioned new practice. I [...]
January 25th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
[...] reel post for all of you today. But when I announced I was kicking off a new practice from scratch I promised total honesty, even with the flops. So here [...]