Thanksgiving has come and gone and we’re entering what is, for many of us, a slow season in our practices. Yes, the tumbleweeds are about to start blowing across the prairie my friends.

Every year since the beginning of my practice I’ve written off that barren stretch of time between Thanksgiving and New Years as a time when everyone is too busy and cash strapped to schedule with me. I had caved to the defeatist in me by consoling myself with the knowledge that the New Year’s Resolution boom always followed.

Eh, I think it’s time for a change. This year I’m just saying “no!” to the inner defeatist! No more tumbleweeds in December!

Ok, ok, to be fair my first couple of weeks of the month are looking as full as usual. But I know that we’re in that lull where people haven’t quite realized just how many commitments they have this month, and just how surprising the cost of holiday shopping is. I figure the time is now to grab people while they’re in their lull and try to keep a little momentum going. After all, we private practice people have gifts to buy and travel to pay for too!

So here are my Operation Thriving December brainstorms that I’m working on. Feel free to steal whatever feels like a fit for you, and to leave your own December practice building ideas in the comments. The more we can share with eachother, the more we can all rock it this holiday season.

• Get to know the neighbors: The wellness center I have my office in happens to be one bright spot o’wellness in a large office building filled mostly with lawyers and mortgage brokers. It’s a bit odd, but it works for us. The thing is, our dear neighbors don’t really know we exist (the center is a year old, and did I mention it’s a big building?). Turns out the holiday season is the perfect time to introduce ourselves to our neighbors with a little ethical bribe gift to inspire them to come on down and get some work. I’m thinking we’ll get some holiday cards or postcards printed up with “Happy Holidays from your neighbors! Hope this gift can bring you some holiday cheer and help you to kick off your New Year’s Resolutions. Bring this card in for 50% off one session if you book between now and January 15th.” with a link to our websites, etc. Yes, 50% is a big heap off a session- but it’s only for one session and we didn’t want it to seem too self-serving. Yes the goal is to juice up our practices, but it is also a gift. In my mind a gift requires a certain level of generosity. If you decide to use this idea- remember the crucial cut-off date. You don’t want to be honoring these things come spring when the whole idea is to keep your winter busy. For printing, I’m looking at Zazzle’s holiday postcards. This design is my favorite so far. Overnight Prints has some custom card and postcard options as well. What neighbors- whether they’re near your office or not- need to know you exist?
• Give thanks: There are always a few people who grow our practices for us like crazy by spreading the good word. You know who they are- they’re your true fans. Methinks tis the season to express our gratitude with a dollar amount off of a session. You decide just how generous you’re feeling- $10 off? $20 off? 50% off? (gasp!) free? Send them this discount thank you in a cheery holiday card and your true fans will be spreading the word about just how fab you are with even more vigor.
• Rock the gift certificates with a little something extra: If you offer gift certificates, don’t sit around waiting for someone to request one. Remind your clients of this wonderful gift idea by sending out an email to your client list. I’m thinking I’ll up the ante a little with a perk for the purchaser: anyone who buys a gift certificate gets $10 (or $20?) off their next session with me. That way they get a gift for themselves at the same time that they’re gifting another, and it insures that they’ll be more inclined to schedule with you sooner than later.

These projects ought to keep me busy through the New Year. However, I usually report on practice building experiments after the fact to let you know how they went, so this time I’ll do a follow up to know what flew and what bombed.

Very Happy Holidays to all of you! And again, I’m just ridiculously honored to be able to be of service to all of you. Thanks for reading.