There was a strange silence in the village today. Merchants weren't hawking their wares and even the children didn't seem interested in playing. Today a priest was coming to town. Many remembered stories of the great powers the priest had. He had once converted an army of attackers into a swarm of fleeing cockroaches. Any who dared defy him had been mercilessly mauled by magical dragons that filled the sky. And today he was making his annual pilgrimage down from the monastery.
It might have been like that, or maybe not quite so romantic, but legend and tid bits of historical data tell us of the incredible feats and powers attributed to the ancient Shinto Priests. They were supposed to be able to create incredible images in the minds of their followers, images capable of causing people to die of fear. They were able to order peoples deaths, knowing that the incredible belief their followers had in them would surely cause death at the appointed hour. Were these "powers" purely legendary? Should we discount them as worthless superstitions? I don't think so. In fact, I can duplicate most of the "powers" we've written off for so long during any of my stage shows. Actually, I think I can duplicate them. I'll have to admit nobody has ever died on my stage and I usually get laughter rather than fear as a result of my antics. But I'm a big boy, I can take it.
The point I'm trying to make here, is that as hypnotists, I truly believe we are just starting to scratch the surface of what is possible. I know that stage performers have tapped into plenty of phenomenon available to hypnotists that have not yet been totally explored in the therapy room. I regularly have people on stage see elephants run by them on cue. I am able to make people completely forget anything I choose. I can have them feel emotions on cue and experience pain and pleasure on demand. I can easily have them imagine themselves as being someone else. 
But the source of my "power" is rather illusive. Yes I've carefully rehearsed the wording of my suggestions, and I know how to quickly capture a subjects attention and point them in the right direction. But the process actually starts long before that. The process that seems to allow me to be able to take a stranger from skeptic to subject in less than 5 minutes actually began several weeks before the show. The size of the ad in the paper had a lot to do with it. Comments like "He's made over 150 television appearances nationally" help ad to the mystique. Articles in the local paper, written by me, that explain how to use hypnotic techniques to get your life in order seem to acknowledge me as an authority. The fact that I'm appearing in the towns "large theater hall" doesn't hurt either. And, in much the same way as the Shinto Priest only arrived once a year, my image is certainly not hurt by the fact that I come from a land far off (Oklahoma City?!) and only arrive at your local comedy club once a year. All of this has a lot to do with the speed and depth of the trancing phase of my show.
And it can certainly have a lot to do with the effectiveness of anybody trying to use hypnosis in private practice. Imagine finding an ad in the local paper from a hypnotherapist claiming to be able to "cure all, solve all". You decide to drive down to his office, even though it's in the low rent district. You walk into a tiny, one room office with a card table and two folding chairs. The guy assures you that the setting is just temporary, and he'll soon be moving into a "better place". He's happy to announce, however, that since his accommodations aren't as good as "some of the other guys out there doing the same kind of thing", he's able to offer his services for about a quarter of the price everybody else in town does. What's going to happen? Will you trust him? Will you believe he actually can hypnotize you? Probably not. And even if the guy were Emerson himself, and had a better understanding of the inner workings of the human mind than anybody else in town, chances are you'll never actually reach a deep enough level for any therapeutic attempts to have an effect on you.

So what am I saying? Am I suggesting you dress well and have a nice office? Yes I am. But then this won't come as a mystery to you, will it? No, I'm trying to say so much more. I'm saying even the smallest hypnotherapeutic business will benefit from very careful promotional planning. No ad is better than a poor ad. How and what you advertise has as much to do with your effectiveness as does what you say during the session. And how much you charge has a lot to do with it, as well.
I remember back when I was elated to make $50US per hour of hypnotherapy. At the time I needed the money and it helped me fight my insecurities concerning whether or not I truly was doing any good. Then a crazy thing happened. I was scheduled to do a week of shows in a smaller town, and the club owner was willing to allow me to help with the promotional package. As a ploy to try and make me out to be an authority in hypnosis, we decided to do a one day (Saturday) seminar at a local hotel during the week of the show. In it I promised to teach self hypnosis, some memory systems, meditation and general focussing techniques. We called it my "Mental Mastery" seminar (a name I still use to this day). Considering someone else was paying to promote the event, I was willing to work up something to kill 8 hours of lecture time. We didn't expect much, if any, turnout, so I reserved a room that held a maximum of 12 people.
As the date got closer, I started doing radio spots that were supposed to be aimed at promoting my appearance at the club. Instead, people were asking if they'd be able to stop smoking or lose weight if they attended my seminar. I got to joke a lot, but I also got to toss out plenty of intelligent sounding morsels of advice. Long before my first show, word was out that the "guru of mental dynamics" was coming to town. I soon realized I didn't even own a coat worthy of the "sage" I was being made out to be. I almost cried as I dished out way too much for a coat and tie that would rival any doctor down at the med center. And I decided I better put together a classy looking brochure to hand out during the show.
And an amazing thing happened. I had been so focussed on promoting the seminar, that I expected my Monday-Wednesday shows to be very slow. I was shocked to find a line of people waiting to get in when I arrived for my Monday performance. Even when I pushed like crazy to try and sell a club show I rarely got more than 50 or so people at early week shows. That night, and every other night that week, I worked to sold out audiences. And each night we signed up more people for the seminar. In fact, I pushed past the 12 person limit on our room that first Monday night. By the time I welcomed my audience at the Saturday morning session of our event, it had grown to a banquet room that could hold the 110 paid reservations. I had even found myself being forced to go out and find a couple local hypnotherapists willing to work pretty cheap to help do special smoking and weight loss sessions in the hope of establishing a following among our attendees.
Our seminar ended just before dinner time, which gave me time to prepare for the nights show. As I was standing at the back of the room, I suddenly discovered another, unexpected benefit from the "image" I was now portraying. People were lining up to ask if I would do private sessions with them while I was in town. Having all the extra money from the seminar, and knowing I would only be able to fit in, maybe ten sessions on Monday, before having to leave town, I decided to hike my price up to the level a friend of mine (who graduated high in his class at Harvard as a Psychologist) charges. I tried to keep a straight face as I told the first person that "yes, I'm available, but I'm sure you can find plenty of local therapists that are a lot cheaper than I am." When pushed, I "admitted" that I ask for $150US for an hour of my time. She bought it! And so did the next person in line. In fact, I turned people away who were willing to pay $150 for the "privilege" of sitting with the guy who did all those incredible things on stage and had masterminded this "incredible" seminar. I almost felt guilty, but then my greed kicked in and I got over it.
And that has become my going rate. And over the years I've worked hard at maintaining the "image" of a person who can get things done. And the funny thing about it, is, it actually goes against my nature. I've never been a glamorous kind of person. I just look for what's practical and use it. Right now, with as much driving as I do when doing comedy clubs, I decided it would be foolish to throw away the value of a new car. Instead, I paid almost nothing for an old beat up 1985 Ford Econoline Van that had been built by a local mechanic. The outside looks like something a hippie might drive. But it does the job. I have plenty of room and it's got a good engine. It is a pain, however, having to park a block or two away from the club so nobody sees "the classy entertainer" stepping out of the old van. But I manage. 
The point I'm trying to make here is that probably moreso than in most professions, hypnotherapists are ultimately in the business of selling image. As long as I sold myself as a "young upstart", I was glad to get $50, and clients wondered if I was worth it. Once I created an image that projected authority, ability and competence, I suddenly found I could fill my schedule at 3 times that amount. So how can a typical hypnotherapist make that leap? How can the average Joe put on the same kind of image I manage to create on stage?
Back in the late 70's I used to have a center in Los Angeles where we trained hypnotherapists. Part of our mission was to help them get themselves going and we spent a lot of time considering how to help them create that image quickly and effectively. Here are some of the "nuggets of wisdom" we came up with.

1. Associate yourself with competence. We suggested that the therapists should look for small rooms they could rent in medical buildings or in association with local, established physical therapy centers. Several were quite successful in office suites rented from health clubs. One successful venture I pulled of was to get a landlord of an office building to allow me to manage it. The building had been pretty depressed, and had had a serious problem attracting tenant. It had a large central room surrounded by offices. We took the central area and put in a large fountain in the middle. We then brought in several free standing bathtubs which we filled with dirt and made into planters. A lot of greenery and a few well selected posters (framed as expensively as we could) that had "you can do it" messages on them. We then ran around town, recruiting acupuncturists, herbologists, a family doctor, a dentist, and a massage therapist. We added our own hypnotherapists and became a center for holistic health. The beauty of this concept was that most of the people visiting the alternative medicine offices already had open minds and were willing to "step across the hall" when they needed hypnotherapy. We backed that up by creating a comprehensive mailing list where each area added a small "health tip" column to a monthly newsletter that went out to all. It worked well. In much the same way a mall helps everybody do more business, our "medical coop" promoted everybody. We even set up a "membership" program, where for a small monthly fee we offered all the basic, good health programs people needed. Annual medical check ups, dental checkups, a couple hypnotic sessions for "Behavior Adjustments" and so forth. Basically, everybody was willing to give us a slight break in their normal rate and we broke down the package into monthly payments. It gave clients a feeling of ownership and helped introduce them to therapy techniques they might not have otherwise explored.

2. Become visible in the media. Send out articles regularly to local newspapers that "give away" some of your secrets. I find it pretty easy to sell (and write) articles that list ideas. Articles like "10 Ways to Use Hypnosis in Daily Living" or "A Hypnotherapist's lists of Don'ts for parents" are very easy to pull off. If you're well enough known as an author, you can ask for some money for the articles. Whenever I write something like this locally, I usually include in the deal that I be given a certain amount of ad space near the article. I also insist that the editor allow me to include a small plug somewhere near the end or in the byline. Something to the effect of "Mr. So and So is a practicing Hypnotherapists and can be reached for comments at 123-456-7890". Another way to promote the image of competence is to make occasional radio appearances. Find a local talk show and set up a monthly or maybe weekly time when you give out advice (kind of like the radio Psychologists) on how to focus and using hypnosis in daily living. If you do this, make sure all your regular clients realize when and where you'll be appearing so they can call in and tell their stories. Finally, with a little planning, it's not hard to orchestrate events that'll get you plenty of coverage. I often go into Senior Centers and do time regression on patients. The little old ladies love going back and reliving their proms and the old guys get a kick out of remembering when they used to be able to play soccer. A simple note to the local paper and/or radio stations is sure to get a crowd out for your "charity work".

3. Clean up your act. Walk up to the front door of your therapy center. What does it look like? Does the person working there seem successful? Are the bright colors stressful? Do you look transient? A person walking up to your door should get the same basic feeling they would get when approaching a lawyer or doctors office. Inside they should feel relaxed. Everything needs to be extra organized. Have everybody fill out a general information sheet before each session, which gives you their address and helps get you organized for a background file on the client. The therapy room should rival any Psychologist in town. Quiet, soft lines. Comfortable, secure settings. It's important you be brutal with yourself here. If any of the "image" is missing, it'll eventually cost you far more money than you could ever plan on spending on improvements. Your dress and personal hygiene needs to be impeccable as well. Go out and get a weekly manicure or at the very least, learn to do your own nails. It allows you to hold hands or get closer to clients with confidence. And it's one of those tiny things clients tend to notice. Personally, I enjoy plants, fish and water fountains, although I've had some of my students put together incredible offices without any of them. My office has a 200 gallon aquarium in it that manages to catch the attention of most anybody who walks in the room. It also seems to have a self contained calming effect on all and sets a good atmosphere for the entire office. It also shows a bit of extravagance that reflects success. Another little "bit" that I find helps a lot is a large plexiglass tube (about 3 feet [80 cm] in diameter) next to the door. It's been converted into a "trashcan" that sits a little over waist high. On the wall behind it is a sign that read "Place Unneeded Cigarettes Here". We started it off by buying a bunch of cigarettes and filling it about halfway. Now it stares at smokes coming in to quit as they sit in the lobby. They start planning the "moment" when they'll graduate, when they can show off to everybody in the room that they've won. And sure enough, it becomes a big moment (and an ego commitment) for them to empty their pockets as they walk out the door.

4. Get published. No you don't have to talk some major publishing house into buying your book. Write small, 5 or 6 page "booklets" on how to use hypnotic methods in daily living. Topics like "Self Hypnotic Help for Students" or "Overcoming Phobias using Hypnosis" are popular topics and will be widely accepted. If you put together a series of cassette tapes (or even CD's now that copying CD's has become an easy task), on hypnotic topics and then create professional displays to set up around town in bookstores, health food centers, even local neighborhood clinics, you're going to find your name spreading around town quickly as the "authority" on using hypnosis for health. And let's face it. How many people actually have the discipline to work through a therapy treatment by themselves? Most of them will wish they had followed through, and will eventually call you for private sessions. I have a complete 27 page course on how to do self hypnosis that can be downloaded for free on my web site. It gets me posted on bulletin boards and chat rooms all over the place. But you'd be amazed at the number of people that try and decide they can't go it alone and then go on and pay me $40US to send them the CD's.

5. Get a web site. It's almost a crime not to. You can put one together yourself for free and it saves you a ton of money in advertising. I used to have to go up to people and try to sell them on the fact that it was okay for me to mail them a general information package about my services. Now, just be mentioning I'm a hypnotist I can count on people asking questions. When I tell them I have a free self hypnotic course on my web site, they usually pull out a pen to see where it is. Once they're there they usually stop and look over not only the course, but also information about private therapy, shows, my books, my tapes, and a whole bunch of other "stuff" I would have never been able to interest them in before. Come up with a web site and make sure you "give away" plenty of practical information. Then, when you hand someone your business card, with the web address on it, and explain some of the "free" stuff they'll find on it, your card suddenly earns a special spot in their wallet. If you go on and get a URL with your name on it, it works wonders. I mention at parties that they can find a free hypnotic course at WWW.HowardMorgan.com and for some "magical" reason everybody in the room seems to remember my name during the rest of the evening.

6. Do seminars. I already explained a larger, more elaborate seminar, but yours doesn't have to be that fancy. Do "Stop Smoking" seminars on the first Tuesday night of each month. Do "Weight Loss" on the first Monday (so you can rent the room back to back). Make it classy and you'll soon be finding people lining up for Phobias, Stress, Sales Ability, Self Esteem and the works. The beauty of this process is that it gets people in at a reduced price and then makes it easy for you to sell your tapes and books to them. It also helps people who felt "it might have worked, but somehow I didn't really get into it" to take the next step and sign up for private, one on one sessions. The beauty of seminars is that it allows you to advertise who you are and what you do and gives you an immediate, tangible profit for the effort! It also works as a great way to introduce yourself to the immediate community. Bulk mail to everybody announcing a free Saturday morning "Coffee or Tea and biscuits session" during which you talk about the various upcoming seminars and the benefits of private therapy. You then do a group hypnotic session, suggesting people will feel "more empowered to get the things done today that they set out to do". The very fact that you focus their attention on "getting things done" and give them a one day time limit will make most of them work like crazy, convincing them that you do, in fact, have the "powers" of a Shinto Priest.