In order for your Reiki business to be a success, you need to grow your reach. After all, the more people who see your name, read your blog posts, and watch your videos, the more chances that you’ll convert some of them into paid clients or students.

But your path to growing your audience may be vastly different from another practitioner’s path. There is no right or wrong here; so long as you work every day to market your business and get new eyes seeing your content and services, pick and choose which activities will work for your schedule and for your target market.

These 21 ideas will get your creative juices flowing. Some you have probably heard of before, maybe others you’ve forgotten about. Keep what is working so far in your marketing efforts and try something new to shake things up a bit. Let’s get started!

1.    Search Out Sponsorship Opportunities 

Look around your community for sponsorship opportunities, even if your business is completely online. Local youth sports teams often need sponsors and advertising is often sold in school playbills or for other events. Youth sports teams usually sell advertising spots at the fields or sometimes they print sponsor t-shirts to sell. Supporting a local organization will bring name recognition as well as the opportunity to meet other local businesses.

Online sponsorship opportunities abound with the popularity of online summits. Search out a summit that speaks to your target market. Even if you’re not a guest speaker, most summit hosts welcome sponsors. Search out podcasts that speak to your audience and ask if they have sponsorships available. At the very least, ask about their advertising rates. As always, be selective with your sponsorship money. The target audience and how many people have the potential to see or hear your name should play into your decision making.

2.    Create an Evergreen Webinar

Webinars in general are another great way to incorporate video into your marketing plans. You have the live option, where you present in front of a live audience and take questions; or you have the pre-recorded option, also known as on-demand webinars. These on-demand webinars are basically replays of a live webinar but viewers have their choice of date and time to watch.

Both recorded and live webinars allow you to grow your reach AND your sales. When people register, they are giving you their email address, thereby growing your reach. If they purchase your offer at the end of the webinar, that obviously is growing your sales. Creating evergreen webinars based on topics that don’t get outdated allows you to produce the webinar once but yield sales for years to come. Plus, you still have email access to those who still need some time before purchasing.

3.    Embrace JV Partnerships

Joint Venture (JV) partnerships may not be the easiest to form but they have huge potential for growing your reach and sales. The key is to partner with someone who is targeting the same market as you (or very similar) and whose strengths counterbalance your own weaknesses.

For instance, if you prefer working behind the scenes, partnering with someone who thrives being in the spotlight might be beneficial. You can still collaborate on strategy and the production of your product, but you’re also both happy taking over those tasks that you love. If both partners promote the product and introduce the partner to their own audience, it’s a win-win situation for both partners to grow their reach.

4.    Participate in Local Meetups and Business Networking Events

You probably thought that if you created a business online you wouldn’t have to leave your house, right? That’s only partially true. The world of online business is much more accepted and easier to explain these days, so why not ramp up your marketing by attending local events?

Use Meetup.com to find business and recreational meetings. Bring your business cards and keep your focus on simply having easy conversations with other like-minded people. Join your local Chamber of Commerce or service-oriented business group and attend these events with the same goal: Meeting new people and having conversations. You just never know who you’ll meet or who can be a referral.

5.    Become a Board Member of a Networking Group or Favorite Charity

Most networking groups, like BNI, have a board of officers as well as other committees which need volunteers on a yearly basis. In addition to networking as a member, you’ll show your leadership skills, improve name recognition, and grow your credibility whenever you speak to the group.

Local charities also have board members, but these positions are not necessarily advertised. However, if you network enough locally, you’ll learn of these opportunities as they arise. Choose a charity that has a special meaning to you and get involved any way possible. Sometimes starting from the ground up as a volunteer is more meaningful than just searching out a board position.

6.    Search Out Podcast Interview Opportunities

Don’t look down on podcasts. At last count, Apple Podcasts boasted over 800,000 podcasts, including content in 100+ different languages. Without a doubt, you can find multiple podcasts that serve your audience and that would love to have you as a guest.

Find shows that serve your target audience and research what topics that show has already produced. Listen to a few episodes so you can get an idea of the host’s personality and if you think you’d be a good fit, reach out to the host. Hosts will be quicker to accept your offer if it’s clear that you’ve done your homework and you offer a unique pitch that is beneficial to their audience.

If you’d prefer to outsource this task to professionals, Interview Connections will do all the footwork for you, for a fee.

7.    Subscribe to HARO – Help a Reporter.com

Getting your name and business quoted in the media is another way to grow your reach but the key is to act quickly. Journalists especially are known to have very tight deadlines, so the one who answers their request the fastest usually wins.

HARO is a way for journalists, bloggers, and sources of all kinds to connect and share information. While there are subscription options, there’s also a free email list you can join. They will send emails three times a day. You read through the requests and submit your answers and/or pitch to the masked email address provided. If the journalist likes what you say – and you can meet their deadline – they will contact you directly.

8.    Ask for Referrals  

According to Dale Carnegie, 91 percent of customers would give a referral, but only 11 percent are asked. It’s time to create an active referral program where you actively ask your current clients and customers for referrals. These are names of people your clients know and who think could benefit from your products or services.

This process works best when done personally, so reach out by phone or by email and simply ask if they know anyone who you should speak with. More often than not, you’ll get a name or two. At this point it’s up to you to reach out; often social media is the easiest way to start a connection, then you can chat more directly and share who gave you the referral.

9.    Give Away Something on Facebook

Creating a Facebook giveaway is another way to generate leads online. Choose your giveaway prize (which should be linked to your business), create your Facebook giveaway page, and then start promoting the event across all your social platforms.

Using a contest app makes life much easier but even if you don’t use an app, collect email addresses as part of the giveaway entry process. Announce your winner across all your social platforms, and also email everyone who entered. Now that you’ve grown your list, send emails consistently.

10. Create a Social Media Cross-Promotion Campaign   

If you have multiple social platforms in use, then you should be cross-promoting on all your platforms. Consider these platforms as your place to “shout from the mountaintops” about what you’re doing in your business, the new content you’ve published, and any kind of giveaways you’re running (see #9 above).

Not everyone will connect with you on every platform, so it’s likely that your Instagram followers have no idea you’re running a giveaway on Facebook. Tell them! Entice your Facebook followers to find you on Instagram by promoting your latest video. Add a video to YouTube where you talk about your newest content and how to find you on the other platforms. Add a blog post to your site about what you’re doing on the different social platforms, giving your usernames and links so readers can connect easily with you.

11. Create a YouTube Channel to Teach Your Audience Something  

YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google but are you using it to drive traffic to your website? Most people search YouTube by using keywords, so optimizing your channel and every video you post with keywords is important. Also include your website URL in the video and within the video description so people can find you easily.

YouTube is great for showcasing tutorials whereas Facebook and Instagram LIVES are mostly known as a way to discuss issues. Want to give a tour of your membership program? Post it on YouTube. Want to show a software tutorial? Post it on YouTube. How many times have you searched YouTube for ways to fix things around the house? Well, people will also search for the tutorials you produce, so utilize this platform to grow your reach.

12. Create Events on Facebook  

Social media is about being social, so create an event on Facebook and then promote it. Events can be based on a live video you’ll host, an in-person event, or even a book launch party. Anything that should be celebrated can be celebrated on Facebook.

With these types of events, your followers will see notifications in their feed with an Interested and Going button. You can post frequent updates to the event page itself while also encouraging your followers to share the event, too. Organic sharing of social posts is equivalent to word-of-mouth advertising, and it doesn’t get much more authentic or inexpensive than that.

13. Run Ads on Facebook for Your Event or Your Sales Page  

This option does require a monetary investment, but Facebook ads are relatively inexpensive to run, provided you know how to set up the ads for maximum reach. Craft enticing words that strongly encourages the reader to click your link. Use stock photos that are eye-catching because we’re all so used to Facebook ads that sometimes we can block them right out of sight.

Set your target audience not to the highest number available but to the demographics that best represent your target audience. Remember, targeted followers and subscribers are what we’re aiming for because the more targeted your audience, the more likely they will be to make a purchase.

14. Expand Your Library of Products  

While you always want to have a steady stream of new prospects discovering you, your current clients and customers still want access to your knowledge. One way to satisfy your current customers AND increase your income is by producing more products and/or programs.

Whatever you produce, write down all the steps you took from start to finish. Make as many detailed notes as possible so the next time you want to create a product, you can just pull out your system and use it as a checklist. Trello or Asana are great tools for creating these types of lists and they’re stored on the cloud, so no fear of your notes getting lost or destroyed. As always, create something you’re proud to promote and then cross-promote on all your channels.

15. Promote Affiliate Products

Some practitioners look down on affiliate promotions because they feel that they have to produce everything they sell. However, if you discover someone else in your circle who has an amazing product, or a private retreat in a lush location, it’s perfectly fine to join their affiliate program and promote to your audience.

When choosing affiliate programs to join, you always want to do some research. Is this a product you have used before? Is it relevant to your audience? Are you familiar with the product creator? Does s/he have a good reputation in your industry? Affiliate marketing isn’t just about making some extra bucks; it’s about recommending trusted products to your audience because you know the product can help with their struggles. If you start recommending dud products, you’ll hurt your credibility tremendously.

16. Create VIP Days  

For those 1:1 clients who could use some extra special attention, create VIP days where they pay for access to you for an entire day. You can schedule this via online or meet in person, but you are at that client’s beck and call to focus solely on their issues.

Whether you reserve an entire 8-hour day or a shorter 4-hour half day, the client is expecting significant help, either in the form of session work or course work to help them achieve results. Depending on what you’re offering your clients, the charge is likely to be more than your regular session fee. Consider if you’re traveling to meet in person; if you need a hotel room; if you need to order lunch; the cost to pay your team to perform certain tasks at a moment’s notice. All these fees should be included in the VIP fee.

17. Plan an Exclusive Retreat for VIP Clients  

Retreats are all the rage and they range from a quiet weekend at a beach bungalow to five days at an exotic location. Choose the length of time and the setting based on your audience and who will be invited to this retreat.

If you’re not used to setting up live events, hire an event planner to handle the details. Retreats generally have an itinerary, goals, speakers, and networking opportunities. During your downtime, you can plan excursions or just let people relax in peace. Like VIP days, retreats will cost significantly more because the attendees will be paying for access to you, lodging, and food.

18. Be a Guest Speaker at a Live Conference or Online Summit  

Conferences and summits are abundant, as are the opportunities to speak. Speaking is yet another way to gain name recognition and to expose your expertise to new people. Obviously, you’ll have a more intimate gathering if you speak at an online summit, from the comfort of your home, to a smaller number of attendees. This is a great way to get started as a speaker.

However, speaking to a larger crowd at a live event will grow your reach more quickly. The key is to deliver quality content in a way that keeps your audience’s attention. Newbies won’t get those huge speaking gigs right away but certainly start at smaller, local venues to get your feet wet. Perfect your speech and your delivery and the bigger opportunities will come.

19. Get Active in Online Groups  

Active does NOT mean spamming those members of your Facebook and LinkedIn groups! Active means participating by answering and asking questions; leaving comments for people who need encouragement; sharing a bit of inspiration or a funny but relevant cartoon meme; writing exclusive content that is relevant to the group.

When using these online groups, make sure your profile is up to date so other participants can see what you do and who you serve. Offering to become a moderator or a conversation starter is another name to gain name recognition. Even though you want to grow your reach and income, treat these groups as a way to serve their members.

20. Start Your Own Podcast

We’ve already covered how to look for guest interview opportunities on podcasts, but why not start your own? It’s one more content format that many people who live on-the-go lives love because your content is portable and can be enjoyed in the car or at the gym.

Apple Podcasts is also the go-to place to find new podcasts (think of it as the Amazon of podcasts) plus you have other popular platforms, such as Stitcher, which makes listening to podcasts via your smartphone much easier. If you decide to interview guests on your podcast, that’s yet another way to expand your reach because your guests’ audiences will most likely listen in. Again, create high-quality content and those new followers will be hooked.

21. Write a Book

Amazon is where it’s at when it comes to selling books and what better way to become an instant expert than with a published book. Whether you go the Kindle route or self-publish a physical book, having that Amazon author title boosts your credibility tremendously.

Your Amazon Author’s Page should also be highly optimized so new followers will know how to connect with you. Include your website and all your social platforms. Include your Amazon Author title on all your social profiles and in your email signature. Not everyone can write a book and if you reach that Bestseller threshold, then shout that for all to hear!

As you can see, you have multiple ways to increase your reach and your income. Tweak your current marketing campaigns by adding a few of these ideas and track your results. Whatever works, keep in your plan. Whatever doesn’t work, save those notes and try something else.

In the end, the most important point to remember is that marketing is proactive and should be done seven days a week. Engagement with your audience on all your platforms is another must, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from a VA or social media manager if your days get filled with marketing tasks. All your efforts will pay off if you stay consistent.