Checklist for Launching Your Online Healing Business

Sheila Franzen

You’re ready to launch your online healing business and you know you want a website, yet you aren’t sure what else you should be considering. While launching a website is a big deal, there are some other things that you may want to consider as well. It’s one thing to have your website up, it’s another thing to have the tools and processes in place to manage it behind the scenes.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using the link. I only recommend what I use and love. ?

Checklist for Creating Your Online Business

One. Establish the Business

In order to get your business online, you need to do the preparatory things of choosing your business name and setting up a bank account. Often people want to dive into the website without taking the time to define the container for the business to run in.

Select a Name. This is the fun part. Many people are just using their name as their business, which works well if you are ready to brand yourself and confident that your name isn’t going to change. ?. If you do use your name, then having a tagline that clearly describes who you are is the first step to your brand.
Reserve the Domain Name. While many of the online tools offer you a free domain name for the first year when you signup, I generally recommend that you use a 3rd party registrar. This allows you to move your site easily if you need to move it in the future and you will pay less than if you have it with the tool provider. My favorite is NameCheap. Prices are reasonable up front and for the renewals from year to year.
Establish a Legal Entity (US). Years ago, I took a class on legal entities and spent several days learning about legal entities and the benefits of each and tax implications, etc. The main thing that I took away from that class is the benefit of having an LLC to protect your business. If you live in the US, this is a fairly simple thing to do and it protects your personal ‘stuff’ in the scenario that anyone ever sued you for something related to your business. I’ve set LLC’s up myself and have found that it’s easier to just have a company that specializes in this to do it for you. My favorite at this point is Zen Business.
Obtain your Federal Employer Identification Number -FEIN (US). If you have a company like Zen Business setup your business, then they’ll do this for you. If not, you need to obtain one from the IRS. This allows you to create a business bank account.
Open a Business Bank Account. While this may seem like overkill, it makes it so much easier to know what is business and what is personal. When you go to do your taxes at the end of the year, having everything in one place will make this worth it.
Obtain Licenses and Permits. In the US, some states require that you have licenses and permits. Just make sure you check into this.

Two. Brand Yourself

This is where the online part comes in. It’s where you define your identity online and create your website. When I work with clients, I take them through a process to identify what they like and what they don’t.

Identify Your Brand. When you launch your business, most people start with getting a logo. This becomes the beginning of their brand. It also allows you to start small and build the rest of what you want around the logo. A logo will have a feel to it along with colors and this allows the website to flow with that. Sometimes people want to create more of a brand, so that you have a look and feel for your social media and email marketing, etc. If this is you, then you’ll want to look for someone who specializes in branding. You’ll find some names on my referrals page.
Define Your Content and Products to Sell. This is where you get to sell your services. For most, I suggest that they start with a list and a description. As you mature into your own brand and offerings, then you may want to consider hiring a copywriter or finding a business training program to invest in to help you more fully define your business model. There are more ideas on my referrals page.
Launch a Website. This is where you are now ready to get online. You’ll need to know the look and feel you want, your content and images of yourself or other stock photography that you want to use. Selecting a tool and knowing if you want an online schedule or email marketing will also be part of this process. This is one of my specialties and I would love to help you out with this part of the process!

Three. Tell the World

Now that you have your site online with services to sell, it’s time to share and promote your business. This is an ongoing process and requires you to put some structure in place so that it’s easier as you move forward. If you’re like many, you might need some support to share your new creation.

Create Your Social Media Accounts. Generally, you’ll want to create separate social media accounts for your business. On Facebook, this is a page. On Instagram, you create a business page. On Twitter, it’s a separate account. I always recommended starting with the social media platform you like most.
Define Your Online Marketing Strategy. Unless you love social media, you’ll probably want to find some help with this one. I have a few referrals that can help you out.
Network and Begin to Serve. You can find ways to network in person or online. Joining Facebook groups is a great way to network as you can simply reach out and help people. Focus on being of service more than you focus on promoting yourself. You promote yourself and create your brand through your service to others.
Share. Writing to your friends and family telling them about your business can be one of the simplest, yet most productive steps you can do. I did this when I started the website portion of Limitlessly, I wrote to many people and shared with them how I had stepped away from Corporate America to start doing technology and websites. People loved connecting and I discovered many new clients. My friend Jacq has a great article on this.

Other things to Consider

Business Insurance. In the US, litigation can be a bit crazy. You might want to look into some basic liability insurance if your business grows and you are serving a large number of people.
Bookkeeping and Accounting. This is often something put off until tax time. Yet, if you do it each month and have a process in place, it will be much easier. The bonus, you can see how much money you are making. What we put our attention on grows!
Email Marketing. This is the concept of building an email list where you can market to people. Every marketing class you take will focus on building your email list. There are many tools available. My favorite for people to start with is Mailerlite.

Online Scheduling. Many in today’s environment want to simply schedule their time to meet with you when they come to your site. This can save you a ton of time and allow you to have people pay upfront at the time that they book their sessions. Win-Win!New Paragraph

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Stay Curious & Expand Your Energy through Learning

By Sheila Franzen • 30 May, 2023

I often mention that I’m constantly learning. It’s so much fun for me! My journey of life is more complete when I’m learning. I’ve often had people tell me… you don’t need to learn anymore. I’ve gone through phases where I let that go, yet life just isn’t the same. I realize for me that it’s about being curious. The energy of curiosity creates openings for possibilities. Possibilities are what the universe is made of! Every moment that we tap into a possibility, we are opening a portal of energy. Everyone wants more energy, right? There is a flow created when we are in the energy of curiosity and learning. Expansion happens! Why focus on learning? When we are learning, we are literally creating new neural pathways and that keeps one from getting locked into belief systems. Learning something new is a way to connect to the energy of creation. When you learn something new, you are creating a new YOU! Just as children are like sponges for new information and ideas, continuing that curiosity in your life keeps you young. Creating a habit of learning sets the stage for learning to be easy, not hard. So, even if you have something hard to learn, you’re not afraid of it. As the quote from William S. Burroughs goes “ When you stop growing you start dying ”. Are you growing? Are you learning? Are you willing? Change starts with the first step. Habits start with a first step. Learn for fun. Learn for joy. Learn with passion. Learn because you can. There is an ocean of knowledge and wisdom available to us. A habit of curiosity and learning allows us to tap into the depth and breadth of knowledge. The incredible thing is that when you surrender to being open to learning, the wisdom drops in when you least expect it. You might find it in a book, looking at a tree or while taking a shower. The true key is being open. Openness is like a funnel that just keeps expanding. At first, it might seem like you are just learning through the books you are reading. Yet, then, you discover that you have new ideas, new insights and new awareness and you aren't even sure where they came from. That's living in the flow of the universe. In that flow, you have more energy, more fun, more insights, more wisdom and more expansion. Learning truly does create more energy.

Honoring the Origin of Mothers Day

By Sheila Franzen • 13 May, 2023

I woke up early this morning feeling melancholy. It took a bit of writing before I realized I was feeling sadness with Mother’s Day tomorrow and not having my Mom to honor. After some writing and tears, I’ve honored her in the way that I know best as I write to her. I write how I love her, how I miss her and the gratitude for being my mother. The gratitude for giving me the opportunity to live in a human body that her body created. As soul, the miracle of human experience is mind boggling and it’s even more mind boggling to ponder that we live in a body created by another. It is one of the most beautiful aspects of creation that exists on earth. As my journaling continued, I found myself pondering the origin of Mother’s Day. I do that often as I’m curious how things came to be on earth. How do these traditions start? I discovered that Ann Jarvis and her daughter Anna Jarvis, both women’s activists are the origin of the 2nd Sunday in May that we observe as Mother’s Day here in the US and Canada. Anna desired to memoralize her Mother’s life and a national day to observe all mothers. Ironically she was saddened as it turned into a commercial event and not just the simple gathering and honoring of mothers everywhere. [ Article ] If you look further back, pagan celebrations honored mothers in Greece and in Rome, Cybele, a mother of goddesses was worshiped as early as 250BC. [ Article ] Sitting with this energy of mother is humbling. We have the concept of mother in the planet as we call her Mother Earth. We have the energy of God as Mother as Sophia God. We all carry the energy of the divine feminine in us as Goddess. We have mothers who bravely and courageously choose to bear children and BE Mother as humans. Dropping into the depth of the energy of Mother settles my Soul. I am reminded that as a drop in the ocean of creation, so much has come before me. The gratitude that I feel for all aspects of Mother fills my heart to it’s brim. Mother is the energy of creation. Sophia God is the origin of creation. Goddess is our inner strength which fuels our creations. Being a mom is an incredible gift of creation. Our ability to create as individuals, as groups, as humans, as parents–it is all the gift of creation. As you honor the energy of mother this weekend, consider extending your honoring to those that have created awareness through time to honor the energy of creation. My prayer for Mother’s Day I honor Sophia God for being the source energy of the divine feminine for all of creation. I honor Mother Earth for her energy that she shares being the mother for our planet. I honor all the Beings of light, Christ Lights, Higher Selves, Angels, Guides and more for being Creators. I honor my Higher Self who gave birth to my Soul. I honor every individual who has ever created anything on this planet as they have tapped into the possibilities of creation and have given birth to something in this world. I honor every woman who has conceived a child on this planet through all time and all lives. I honor my mother who gave birth to me. I honor myself and my partner as Mother to two beautiful children. I honor the energy of Mother.

A New Way to Use a Todo List as a Tool for Manifestation!

By Sheila Franzen • 13 Apr, 2023

A todo list is empowering when you embrace it. It is a tool that you can use with manifestation. Todo lists seem like a very 3D world construct and they indeed are. After all, you do live in a 3D world, so using the 3D constructs that are available to you is a good thing. The opportunity lies with not becoming attached to a construct.