Yes, it absolutely is too early for Merry Christmas but seeing as this is the last chance I'm going to get to say it, it's going to have to be now!

December is traditionally a time when things start to go quiet. Clients are busy doing their Christmas shopping, and budgets are generally stretched a bit more so if you are finding that your diary is quieter than usual, don't worry, invest this time back into your business.

Remember all those things you've been promising to do (maybe since last December...?). Now's the time to get them done. It could be marketing your business, it could be sending a thank you letter to your clients for using you through 2018 - whatever it is, do it now.   

It can be tempting to coast through December, but by grabbing that time back for your business, you can make a head start into 2019.

We were delighted to have Emily Sutton from Egress join us last week for a webinar on "GDPR Six Months On". We had record sign-ups so thank you all for joining us. You can catch up on Emily's or any of our other previous webinars here and keep an eye out for more webinars coming your way soon. 

What do you know about Chatbots?
Have you heard of them? Do you know what they do? You may have even spoken to one without knowing it!

They're a computer program in the form of a virtual e-mail correspondent that can reply to messages from computer users and you usually find them on websites. They'll pop up in the corner asking if they can help you, usually with an English sounding name. Sometimes these pop-ups are manned with people but generally they are AI (artificial intelligence) Chatbots.

You can see some examples at websites such as: Starbucks / Lyft / Fandango / Spotify / Whole Foods / Sephora / MasterCard / Staples.

But how can they help I hear you ask? Spotify's Facebook Messenger bot makes it easy for its customers to search for, listen to, and share music. Once you get started, you'll get playlist recommendations based on your mood, what you're doing, or any genre of music you want.

Starbucks makes it ridiculously easy to place an order for your favourite drink or snack, whether you prefer using voice commands or text messaging. The Chabot will tell you when your order will be ready and the total cost. You can find Starbucks' Chatbot inside the Starbucks app (for iPhone, Android, and Windows).

MasterCard’s Facebook Messenger bot makes it easy for customers to check on account transactions. You can just ask "how much did I spent on restaurants in May?". 

I know you're probably thinking what has this got to do with therapy? But in reality, this is something that could take the therapy world by storm. Imagine a Chatbot taking your clients through daily exercises or giving them mindfulness techniques to use on demand?

I'm interested in looking more at how Chatbots could work within the world of therapy so if you're interested too, get in touch and let's talk about how we can explore this amazing piece of technology and be ahead of the curve. Simply reply to this email and mention Chatbots. 

Looking to make a fresh start in 2019?
If you are, you could think about using WriteUpp’s ISO27001 certified cloud-based practice management software. It's used by thousands of clinicians in over 20 countries and their infrastructure is world-class. They’ve invested heavily in Microsoft’s Azure technology to create a highly resilient and reliable product that you can rely on day in day out.

Their software is feature rich and being enhanced at an astounding pace whilst their service is second to none. If you’re in any doubt take a look at their Facebook Reviews. If you feel it’s time to move on and make a fresh start in 2019 you can take a FREE 30 day trial today - click here.

Slowing down this Christmas?
Christmas is a magical time of the year, particularly for those who have small children. Whilst it’s magical, it’s also expensive, and most of us see our client numbers plummet in the festive months. This is normally because our clients are spending their money and their focus on other things rather than their health and well-being. However, this is also a belief system or a mindset that we practitioners adopt. And as we know, what we think about and what we believe shapes our reality!

The good news is that Christmas doesn’t have to be your quietest time.  Change your mindset and your expectations and start taking different actions and you can make December the busiest and highest earning month of the year!

What actions can you take to make this happen? One way is to start networking more effectively. After all, face-to-face marketing is still the fastest, most effective way for us to build our client base. You can download your free copy of Passion To Profit’s Guide to Networking. This will help you network effectively and make this Christmas your busiest, most successful period where you get to help more people and make a whole lot more money! Download your early Christmas present now and get networking.

Your chance to attend & review a Human Givens course
We're really pleased to offer one of our members the chance to attend and review  some Human Givens training.

The Human Givens approach provides a holistic, scientific framework for understanding what individuals and groups need in order to thrive.  It includes the most up-to-date scientific findings from neurobiology and psychology, as well as established wisdom, and combines these into a highly practical therapeutic approach that is reliably effective and enables practitioners to tailor interventions to each individual client, helping them overcome, often remarkably quickly, a wide range of mental health and behavioural problems. Find out more here.

To have a chance to attend and review a Human Givens training event, simply reply to this email and include 'Yes to Human Givens Event and Review', giving us an indication of which course you’d like to attend.  

We'll let you know by email if you've been selected.

Free webinar on Pocket Site
Sophie Wood from Buzz Web Consultancy delivered a webinar for us earlier this year on therapists and GDPR and she's back to offer another free webinar on Pocket Site. The webinar is happening at 10.30am on Tuesday 18th December 2018. Pocket Site is a website builder designed with the busy therapist in mind. Providing step by step support to help you build a stylish, unique and effective website to grow your business. You'll get a website builder that you'll love and support to match. Sophie's webinar will take about an hour and will cover the following:
- Introduction
- Before Creating Your Therapy Website
- What Is Pocket Site?
- Benefits Of Pocket Site
- Who Is It For?
- Take A Tour
- Q&A

Offer for webinar attendees - she's also offering you some free templates as part of the webinar so it's well worth an hour of your time. You can sign up here. Don't worry if you can't make the webinar time as replays will be available for all those registering.

Do you want more clients?
Of course you do - especially clients who will pay your full private practice fee. Since most therapists want this on their wishlist this Christmas, we're really excited to work with ProfitablePractices. They've created an on-demand interactive video course for you to learn more about how to find those clients. Developed by million-dollar practice owner and TV psychologist Dr. Chloe Carmichael, the program is highly rated by therapists worldwide.  If you are serious about attracting, booking, and retaining private paying clients, try Dr. Chloe's interactive video course.

Caduceus to celebrate 100th issue
Launched in 1987, Caduceus magazine focuses on health, healing and spirituality. Over the last 30 years it’s covered a wide range of issues. Some of these include:
- antibiotic effects on the microbiome and mental health
- connecting light, vision and consciousness
- sound healing (plus cymatics)
- meditation
- the importance of vitamin D and iodine in maintaining health, especially in women to avoid hypothyroid symptoms.

A recent issue was devoted to latest cancer treatments and research, particularly the Metabolic Theory with its focus on the ketogenic diet. You can find details of the current issue on their website and the celebratory 100th issue in January will include a review of the new, magnum opus by Peter Kingsley: Carl Jung and the End of Civilisation. For more information visit their website where you can download a free back issue and find the full contents list of their back issues. Alternatively contact editor Simon Best on simon@caduceus.info or 01373 455260.

Use Gift Up! this Christmas
We're delighted to be partnered with Gift Up!, who allow you to sell gift cards for your products and services to your clients through your website. It's quick and easy to add to your website and you'll only pay when you sell a gift card and Gift Up! handle everything from the payment to delivery.

Why wouldn't you take advantage of a different way to sell your services to your clients? Find out more at Gift Up!'s business partner page.

Well since this is the last newsletter before the end of 2018, there's nothing left for me to do but send you Seasons Greetings and wish you a very Happy Christmas and see you all in 2019.

Best wishes
Geoff Simons

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