danno..
a lot of people find that the best way to get results with self hypnosis is simply to state your desired outcome before you go into trance and then go into trance for however long. e.g. say "i want to be be an expert at going into trance" or "i want to think with clarity and precision".. then slip into trance with the intention and knowledge that your unconscious mind will organise its resources to fulfil your outcomes. once in trance, you dont have to think about anythiing, you dont need to make any visualisations, just let your mind drift away. your unconscious is working on yur outcome, you dont have to try to do anything. the less you think, the deeper you will go, and the more you will get out of your hypnosis sessions.
the taped suggestion thing will work too, but do some reading on making good hypnotic suggestions. there is an art to making good suggestions and it would be worth you while to learn as much as you can about them.
try the pre-trance outcome method and see how that works out for you. you will be training your mind to go deeper and deeper, quicker and quicker.
in the meantime, you could be learning about making great suggestions, so that by the time you have learned to make fantastic suggestions, you will also be able to go mega-deep from all your hypnosis practice.
combine the two and whammo!
