ESI Las Vegas professional development speaker Stacy Conlon is a strategic marketing consultant and a certified wellness coach working at San Francisco-based SenSpa. During ESI Las Vegas, she will talk about “Wellness Works: How to Effectively Integrate Wellness Programs into Your Spa.”

Specifically, here are Stacy’s recommendations for building awareness and clients for wellness coaching:

1. Communicate the benefits of wellness coaching. In essence, coaching helps clients drill down to what they really want. Throughout the relationship, coaching offers personal support, accountability, guidance and practical tools to help integrate wellness into client’s every day lives. The benefits of coaching are to transform these new levels of self-awareness into sustainable lifestyle changes and a renewed sense of health and well-being for your clients.

2. Educate through Social Media. Start promoting wellness coaching on your spa blog, Facebook fan page, Twitter and LinkedIn. Join the conversation on LinkedIn Groups, post short videos on YouTube. Answer the questions. What is wellness coaching? And, How can it work for you? Share wellness-related articles and daily wellness tips for your clients

3. Give a presentation to spa staff. Make sure they understand what you are doing with clients and the benefits they can expect to realize from your program. Make sure they understand how wellness coaching is integrated into membership package (if applicable) and how coaching is an complement to spa services.

4. Offer a Wellness Inventory Assessment. Assessments are a wonderful way to understand your clients. Stacy administers the Wellness Inventory Assessment: a revolutionary online assessment and educational tool that will give client’s profound insight into and the ability to assess their current state of wellness. This tool is designed to baseline where they are today and to stimulate self-awareness of new directions and possibilities for change in their lives toward maximizing wellness in 12 dimensions.

5. Offer complimentary sessions. To get established, Stacy is currently offering free 30 minute sessions to all SenSpa clients. Of the 15 sessions she has given to date, two have converted into paying customers. “It’s an uphill battle,” says Stacy, “because lack of awareness of the benefits of wellness coaching is the number one road block. However, as life and wellness coaching becomes more common and hits the critical mass, the conversion rate will be higher.”

6. Educate in your E-Newsletter: Insert wellness tips and links to articles, and offer a complimentary coaching session in your newsletter. Track how many opens you have, play around with the verbiage and see what gets the best results.

7. Promote A Healthy Lifestyle In-House: SenSpa’s Five Year Anniversary event offered workshops throughout the day including things like a yoga class, a wellness coaching workshop and an acupressure class. Healthy snacks and beverages were offering in the retail store to reward current customers and connect with new customers.

8. Be your own PR Agent: Contact your local paper and offer to write a monthly wellness column. It’s a great way to build awareness and gain credibility in your community. Stacy’s most recent article was published in San Francisco’s Northside Magazine How to Find Balance During the Holidays.

9. Integrate into Membership Packages. Offer a wellness coaching session as an alternative option to a monthly choice of a massage, facial or acupuncture. Let the clients decide.

Stacy is also the founder of Zen Friend blog and a Master Tweeter, follow her @TheZenGirl.