Is Your Myofunctional Therapy Business Using the Blue Ocean Strategy?

What’s it like out there in the myofunctional therapy business world, today? Like tons of sharks swarming around, competing to get dinner? Spend some time in a Facebook group and you will see everyone competing, crowding the space and fighting to be noticed. Welcome to the red ocean. Doesn’t it sound more inviting, to swim in the blue ocean where you’re not afraid to be different? When you choose to swim in a blue ocean, you create the demand rather than fight over it with fellow therapists. There is less frenzy. Less cutthroat competition. No rules set by others. No sharing the demand with the other desperate therapists.

If you’ve never heard about the Blue Ocean Strategy, aaaand you’re planning to start a business, I highly recommend you plan a trip to the library or your favorite bookstore and get a copy.

I learned about the Blue Ocean Strategy in grad school when I was getting my MBA and it has stuck with me (although I haven’t always been a perfect student of the strategy, I’m way better than I ever was).

When you’re running your biz with a Blue Ocean Strategy, you’re marching to the beat of your own drum. You’re working to make the competition irrelevant, you’re building your business in an uncontested arena, you’re creating your own demand and pricing your services according to the value of them, not what someone else says you can charge.

In contrast, when you’re swimming in the red ocean, you’re competing with others in a loud, noisy crowded marketplace, you’re desperately competing with the competition for what demand is there and you’re allowing others to have an effect on your pricing and the rules of your business.

If you’re in the myofunctional industry, I’m sure this resonates with you. One of the biggies that I teach and preach about to my students is working with your ideal customer. Perhaps you’ve read my other blogs about this, but you can’t and shouldn’t try to be everything to everyone.

(Read 5 Words That Changed My Myofunctional Therapy Biz)

Last year, thanks to my girl Amy (@amyporterfield) I got granular about this concept. I doubled down on making sure my marketing and messaging were clear. I tripled down on understanding who was my potato chip guy (you’ve probably heard me say this a bazillion times, but if not…you need to get familiar with @sethgodin).

Everyone isn’t my customer. I don’t need or want all of the people who need my services. I’m only the perfect therapist for certain people. I only wanted to work with those who wanted to be healthy and well. Those who had goals for their therapy, not just jumping through the hoops. Those who were going to be A+ students, not underachievers who would barely squeak by. I didn’t need or want everyone to choose me.

In this article, I will share with you my 3 easy steps to make an exit strategy from the shark, infested waters of the red ocean to the calm, relaxing waters of the blue ocean.

Step #1: Determine just how many “Perfect Clients” you need to choose YOU over the course of a year.

Rather than looking at my financial goals as a whole number, I break it down into the exact number of people that need to choose me. You can do that by simply dividing your revenue goal by the cost of your service. This will give you a great starting point.

It will also allow you to decide if this seems reasonable for you or if you need to make changes. What I mean is this… if you’re new to the industry and you do the math and see that you’re gonna have to drum up 1000 clients next year to meet your financial goals (and you have exactly zero) this seems unrealistic to me. On the other hand, if you did the math and saw that you needed to have 48 new clients, that seems more doable right? This is also a chance to see if you have the bandwidth to hit that number as well, or maybe you will have to evaluate your pricing strategy. ( Pricing strategy is something I teach inside Triumph: Business Training for Myofunctional Professionals if you’d like to learn more!)

Step #2: Learn about who that “Perfect Client” is.

If you’re going to market to the right people don’t you need to know who that is? You want to know everything about the people you want to serve. Spend some time drafting an ICA (ideal customer avatar).

Perhaps you’ve already worked with your dream client. Aim to know everything about him or her. You want to know exactly who to speak to when you write your copy. You want to know what pain points or problems you’re solving for your ICA . You want to know how to interact with and engage with him or her.

Step #3: Be the lighthouse.

In the book, Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity by Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez, they use a lighthouse metaphor when talking about attracting the perfect customer.

Lighthouses stay still, in one spot, and provide a light for boats to be able to find shore with ease. Consider if lighthouses were mobile. They would be trying to chase down every light in the sea. What kind of massive confusion would that cause? The lighthouse would only be able to catch one boat at a time. It would be wiser for the lighthouse to stay put and shine a light to attract the boats that need it. You want to be the lighthouse.

Stay put and stop trying to be everything to everyone.

What I’ve learned.

✨ If I want to make sure my schedule has the right people filling it up, I need to be very specific about who I’m marketing to!

✨ My job is a lot more enjoyable when I feel valued by my clients and they appreciate what I’m doing for them.

✨ Recognizing that I’m not everyone’s therapist has freed me up to be available when my dream customers come calling

✨Not only are people willing to pay for my specialized services, but they trust me as an expert, which really makes me feel satisfied with the job I’m doing!

In a nutshell, when you narrow your niche, you are not eliminating opportunities. People want an expert in specific areas, not a “jack of all trades”. You don’t want to be “okay” at several things, you want to be truly exceptional at one thing. Take the time to dial in that one thing and aim to be different!

The blue ocean is the place to be. Come on in, the water is fine!

xo, 😘

P.S.  Continue the awesomeness with “If I Cast a Smaller Net, Will I Catch Less Fish?”.

About the Author, Carmen M. Woodland

Carmen is a powerhouse myofunctional educator, whose “secret sauce” is teaching women how to build their own, incredibly satisfying career in myofunctional therapy.  She is obsessed with all things myo, myofunctional therapy business, marketing, social media, content, data, revenue, goals, and helping you navigate the messy and magical journey to becoming an authority in the myofunctional therapy niche.

She teaches you the tried and true secrets to building a career you’re in charge of, and one that’s life-changing for both you and your clients.

Shy away from the hard stuff?  No way, Carmen gets down in the trenches with you, just like your favorite gal-pal there to cheer you on.  Her no-nonsense-tough-love-common-sense-solutions-oriented approach is the real reason that she gives you the kick in the pants you need.  Carmen is your one-stop shop to learn everything you need to know about delivering effective myofunctional therapy, and building a thriving, profitable myofunctional therapy business.

A dental hygienist who got tired of watching unhealthy people slip through the cracks.  She took her 15 years of dental hygiene experience, completed advanced post-graduate training in orofacial myofunctional therapy, earned a prestigious M.B.A. (Masters in Business Administration), grew a successful myofunctional therapy business, and now she works from home with clients around the world and runs an extremely popular myo coaching and business training program.

If you find your passion intersection at the corner of Myofunctional Therapy Avenue, Dental Hygiene Highway, Female Entrepreneur Boulevard, and Work From Anywhere Way…then get cozy here, because you’ve found your unicorn!  Carmen is here to educate, encourage, and empower you while she teaches you all the things!