Eat healthy. Get your fruits and veggies. Drink plenty of water. Skip the drive-thru for healthier options. It’s probably a no-brainer for you at this point.
But the reality is that many people don’t eat this way. You have lots of different opportunities to help people change their eating habits, be healthier, and reduce their risk for disease while growing your nutrition business.
Help People Develop Healthy Eating Habits
There are people who need your help and expertise. About 76 percent of adults don’t eat enough fruit. And 87 percent don’t eat enough vegetables, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Then there’s millions of people who need to follow a special diet to lose weight, manage diabetes, control blood pressure, and manage many other health issues. And you can’t forget the avid gym-goers who need to eat to build muscle.
Potential clients and opportunities to grow your nutrition consulting business are everywhere. So how do you find them? Networking and marketing.
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If you want to build a nutrition consulting business that allows you to set your own hours, have a steady stream of clients, help a lot of people, and increase your earning potential, networking and marketing need to be part of your plan.
Networking and marketing can drive traffic to your site, connect you with thought leaders and influencers, land you more clients, and ultimately help you make more money.
Not sure about networking, or don’t have a budget for marketing? No worries. These strategies are easy to implement and cost little to nothing.
Here are six things nutrition consultants can do to grow their business:
1. Attend networking events.
Meetup.com and similar sites can help you find networking events in your area. Show up, introduce yourself, make connections, and let others know what you do; referrals will follow.
2. Develop a short “elevator speech” that describes what you do.
“I’m a nutrition consultant who designs meals plans to help people [insert a short description of your specialty here].” These are some suggestions for how to fill in that blank:
- Lose weight
- Manage diabetes
- Control blood pressure
- Build muscle
- Improve digestion
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Follow the Mediterranean diet
- Become a vegetarian
- Adopt the Paleo diet
- Eat healthy on a busy schedule
Keep it brief and simple. No need to go into detail about macronutrient ratios, carb cycling, or the nutrient density of food. The elevator speech is a great way to introduce yourself at a networking event. But it’s also the perfect response when someone asks you, “What do you do?”
3. Book presentations at businesses and organizations.
Call, email, or visit gyms, hospitals, businesses, schools, and other organizations, and offer to do a free presentation on a health- and nutrition-related topic.
It’s no secret that health care costs are a big issue for employers. It’s one reason an estimated 70 percent of employers have wellness programs in place. Many even offer employees insurance premiums, discounts, and prizes for achieving specific health goals.
Giving a presentation to encourage healthy behaviors or addressing a specific health issue for a group of employees is a great way to help a business and can get you in front of potential clients who need your help.
Making presentations in other settings can also help you become a recognized expert, help more people, and get referrals.
Use PowerPoint, Google Slides (free), Open Office Apache (free), or similar software to create a professional presentation.
4. Work with a mentor in your field.
One of the best ways to ramp up your nutrition consulting business is to model the strategies used by other successful people. Working with a mentor can help you map out plans to grow your own nutrition consulting business, find new clients, and develop nutrition plans to help people achieve their goals.
But there’s at least one other benefit. A good mentor with more experience in the field will have a large network of contacts you can connect with.
Do you need to work with a mentor who specializes in nutrition consulting? Not necessarily. An experienced personal trainer, health coach, wellness coordinator, or doctor, for example, can also help you shape your business and connect you with their network.
5. Ask for referrals.
Here’s another great networking strategy to help you grow your nutrition consulting business: Ask for referrals. Existing clients can be a great source for generating referrals. You may even develop an incentive program to reward clients for providing referrals. You can also ask family, friends, social groups, and business contacts for referrals.
The easy, no-pressure way to do this is to simply ask a question like this: “Do you know anyone who needs help with their diet?”
Just ask, and see what happens. The chances are good that the people in your existing network and client base know someone who could use your expertise. And don’t worry if your contacts can’t think of anyone at the moment. When they know you’re trying to grow your nutrition consulting business, they’ll be on the lookout for referrals to send your way.
6. Leverage the networking power of social media.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, SnapChat. Millions of people use these social media platforms and many others.
Pick one or two that you can excel at, create a profile, and start posting nutrition-related content regularly. For example:
- Point readers to your blog posts.
- Share relevant articles and research on food, health, and nutrition.
- Post pictures of meal plans and before/after pictures of your clients (with permission, of course).
- Record and share a short video of a grocery store tour, cooking a healthy meal, or a client consultation (again, with permission).
You’ll probably have to do a lot of networking and marketing when you first get started. But once you help a few clients get results, you’ll get more referrals to keep going.
Want to learn more about becoming a nutrition consultant and building your own business? Check out our Nutrition & Wellness Certification Programs.
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