My e-friend, David P. Diana, was kind enough to send a copy of his new book to me.  I’ve only read one hundred pages into Marketing for the Mental Health Professional but already I can tell you that it is an excellent addition to your practice-building library.

As David notes in the preface, this is a book full of ” innovation, opportunity, and abundance.”  He is quick to remind you of what you already know . . . understanding human behavior . . . while teaching you what you may not know as well . . . the tools of marketing, business, and sales.

Here are some of the nuggets that I have already gleaned from David to help you grow your business:

• On making mental health relevant – Become “part of the conversation people are having both online and offline.  Offer helpful information.  Build awareness by sharing your expertise.  Reach out to others in ways that show you genuinely care about them.”
• When you are doing something right – ” . . . you are highly visible within the marketplace . . . ” and  ” . . . you are viewed as a valuable resource and partner, people begin to seek you out without any soliciting on your part.”
• To gain power and influence when networking – “Take some time to notice when you are rushing your speech and begin making an effort to slow down, relax, and confidently present your point.”
• Concerning the need to establish credibility – If you (or any other mental health professional) do not have “distinguishing characteristics or credentials, then why would someone choose that person when so many options are available?”
• About strategic use of your time and energy – “. . . shifting your time and energy in new and more productive ways can have such a powerful impact.”
• On the art of public speaking – “Try to identify two to three new concepts and ideas that you will feature in your presentation.  Your audience will buy you and your message if you are able to do so.”

• And, here’s a tip that I didn’t know – “When customers consider a particular set of choices (services or products), they tend to favor alternatives that are so-called compromise choices. These are choices that fall between what a person needs at a minimum, and what they could possibly spend and fully desire at a maximum.”(Thanks to David, I’m actively re-thinking my menu of services and ways to include more-than-the-minimum compromise choices.)

So have I peaked your interest in Marketing for the Mental Health Professional? If I’m learning from it, I’m betting you have some things to learn, too.  Run out and get the book.  Read it.  Apply it.  And, let me and David P. Diana know what is changing because of it!

Tags: Choice, Credibility, Menu of Services, Power and Influence, Public Speaking

If you have published a book and are struggling to get your work noticed, you might want to check out this post in the Nieman Journalism Lab by Megan Garber on microdistribution.

Tags: Microdistribution

Are you one of those mental health professionals who is constantly coming up with great ideas for therapeutic products but has no idea how to get them developed?  If so, you may want to check out Courage To Change. This online and print catalogue is interested in your ideas for books, workbooks, and games  that address dealing with life challenges at any age.

If you have prior experience with this company or if you decide to pitch an idea to this company, I hope you’ll drop back in and let us know about your experience!

Tags: Pitch Your Idea, Products

"New Year - Which Direction?" by Randi Hausken

Change Therapy is a free eBook designed to introduce new business development ideas and concepts for the mental health profession.  It is written by my colleague, David P. Diana, a licensed professional counselor and Director of Business Development for a large behavioral health care company.

You can download the book for free at  www.davidpdiana.com.  Enter your name and email in the sign up section on the top right hand side of his website.

Tags: E-book

If you have been marketing to the educational community with little success, you may need to slow down and reassess your own educational history.  Your personal relationship with education may be getting in the way . . . .

Linda L. Lawless and G. Jean Wright suggest in their book, How to Get Referrals: The Mental Health Professional’s Guide to Strategic Marketing, that you ask the following questions when reviewing your educational history:

"Not My Hat!" by Alan Levine / cogdogblog

• Are there any teachers in your family? Are any family members employed by the school system?  What is their input to other family members regarding their work and the system?
• What has been the family response to their vocation?
• What educational levels have been attained by family members?  Did they attend public or private schools?  If private, was it religious or nonsectarian?
• What has been shared about their experience?  What was the quality of the experience?
• What has been your educational experience from kindergarten through graduate school?  Your siblings?  How do you rate it?
• Who were your favorite teachers?  Worst teachers?  In your experience and /or perceptions, what were the characteristics of each that made them “good” or “bad” teachers?  As you reflect on these relationships, what are you feeling now?
• What are your family’s belief systems, biases, prejudices, regarding education and the educational system (school taxes, the school board, election of board members)?
• Did any family members ever serve on the school board?
• What is your trust level of teachers?
• Do you have special training that would correlate with the experiences and needs of educational professionals?
• Do you have children in school?  If so, public or private?  How do you make decisions regarding your children’s education?

It is critical when marketing to the educational community that you feel comfortable and that they know that. Liberally share your unique school stories with other professionals in the educational community.  Use your unique experiences to help guide where you choose to enter the market.  If you attended a private or parochial school, consider focusing your energy on the same.

By taking the time to reflect on your own school experiences, you will increase your comfort and effectiveness in marketing to this community.

Related Posts

Another Strategy for Marketing to the Educational Community:
Collaborating with Your Competitors

Gathering Market Research on the Educational Community

Teachers Needs Vary and So Should Your Marketing Strategies

Tags: School, Stories

Casey Truffo has extended a generous offer to you on her website . . . . Until  9 pm Eastern / 6 pm Pacific on Sunday December 13th , Casey is inviting you to download her entire 300+ page book, Be a Wealthy Therapist, Make a Living While Making a Difference.  You can take advantage of her offer right here.

Tags: Free

Part of growing your private practice includes learning new things.

"Red Thread at WSDP Nepal" by Sara Parker

What books have you been reading to help you grow your private practice and what are you learning from them?

Tags: Red Thread

This is part of an episodic series, The Therapist’s Networking Guide.
To see the previous post in this series, click here.

Do you dread attending social events because you don’t have anything to say?

Do the palms of your hands start sweating and your mind go blank every time you meet someone new?

If so, don’t worry!  I’ve got some great tips to share with you from one of my favorite chit-chat gurus and author of The Fine Art of Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep it Going, Build Networking Skills — and Leave a Positive Impression, Debra Fine.  I got to hear Debra speak to the Denver Coach Federation several years ago and picked up some really practical things to do to make conversation flow more easily at networking events.  Here’s a few for your consideration:

• Start with a positive statement or an open-ended question like “I’m really looking forward to hearing the speaker tonight.  Her book looks really interesting!” or “Is this your first time at the Chamber of Commerce meeting?  How did you hear about us?”
• When you are asked a question, be generous with your response.  By that, I mean give a little more information than you were asked for. If your colleague asks what you did this past weekend, tell her i.e. ” My partner and I went to Santa Fe for the weekend.  I found a terrific artist there who creates hand painted scarves and bags.”
  

  "Knot 2 . . . ." by Elb_the_Prof

By offering extra information about yourself, you have provided multiple opportunities for your colleague to respond . . . about the location . . . , vacation . . . ,  artisan boutiques  . . . , or an artist that she knows.  You’ve made it easy for her to find something relevant to talk about.

• Dig deeper. When you’ve asked an open-ended question and the response you get is less than generous, ask for more. Ask follow up questions to draw her out.
  

This is what I know for sure . . . . As a mental health professional, you cut your teeth on asking open ended questions and digging deeper.  If these tips don’t come easy for you then choose just one and commit to practicing it for a week or two.  When you master it, move on to the next tip.  Within a month, you’ll be able to comfortably talk to anyone and put them at ease, too!

Whatever you do, don’t let the networking environment tie you up in knots.

Tags: Debra Fine, Denver Coach Federation, Dig Deeper, Extra Information, Positive Statement, Social Events, Worry

Health care professionals often forget that the general public is yet another constituent of  the educational community.  As such, it is another potential focus for your marketing in an attempt to get referrals from the school system.

Research has shown that the public perception of problems faced by schools is often very different than educator’s perceptions.  That discrepancy opens up many opportunities for you to orchestrate community dialogue and related services to facilitate constructive feedback and input between these two groups.

Listed below are some of the ideas that I have collected . . . .  Some of them I’ve tried; some of them I’ve only heard about.

"Woods Waterfall Door II" by John Banks

• Hold a focus group.
• Host a town “chat” at the local library.
• Facilitate a problem-solving group.
• Conduct research on a perceived problem.
• Write letters to the editor addressing the concerns of the public.
• Start a book club that deals with education-related issues.
• Create a collaborative education-community visioning group to set goals for the school system.

What’s going on in your community?  What has worked for you? I’m sure that you have other ideas and experiences to share.  Take a minute to add your thoughts below as we begin to mine the many opportunities related to public perception of school problems.

Related Posts

Back-to-School Marketing for Your Private Practice

K-12 Support to Feed Your Private Practice

Tags: Collaborate, Letter to the Editor, School, Vision

True wealth is abundance that does not create scarcity.

- Rabbi Nilton Bonder interpreting The Talmud
in The Kabbalah of Money: Jewish Insights on Giving, Owning, and Receiving

Tags: Abundance, Scarcity, Wealth

If you’ve been following AllThingsPrivatePractice from the beginning, then you know that a marketing calendar is one of my secret weapons.    Here are a few ideas for your September marketing calendar . . . .

September 16 is Working Parents Day.  How about partnering with a drop-in childcare facility.  You can offer a free workshop for the most overlooked of working parents . . . stay-at-home parents while the childcare facility offers free or low cost childcare!  Consider topics that might be of interest to stay-at-home parents like Finding Time for Self Care, Holding on to Your Dreams While Holding on to Your Little Ones, and Raising Feminist Boys.

Another marketing opportunity is International Day of Peace on September 21.  This is a day set aside to promote

"Islamic Peace" by Trey Ratcliff / Stuck in Customs

peace and non-violence.  Offer to facilitate a book study for other therapists based on Marshall Rosenberg’s book, Nonviolent Communication:  A Language of Life.

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on Sunday, September 27 and ends at nightfall on Monday, September 28, 2009.  This is the most important of all Jewish holidays.  It is traditionally spent worshiping and fasting.  If you are not Jewish, consider offering to take call or cover other work-related duties for you Jewish colleagues in mental health.

Can you come up with other ideas to market your private practice in September?  Drop me a note here to share them.

Tags: Book Study, Calendar, Dreams, Free, On Call, Partner, Self Care, Workshop

This is part of an episodic series, The Therapist’s Networking Guide.
To see the previous one in this series, click here.

Your network is your lifeline.  These are the people that know you best.  These are the ones that can vouch for you and sing your praises!  They are the people who will refer clients to you.  And, they are the ones that you can most influence. . . . Are you helping your network take really good care of you? Here are some things that I do . . . .

• Stay in touch. Have you heard the old saying, “Out of site, out of mind”?  It’s definitely true when you are wanting referrals.   You can send them a note, pick up the phone and call, or make a visit to their businesses.  Find reasons and creative ways to stay in their thoughts. Research shows that when office managers make a referral, they typical refer to the last name that they ran across — a business card, a newsletter, a person, etc.  Remember, “Last name in, first name out.”

• Pay attention. When someone in my network receives recognition, I congratulate them.  If they’ve written a new book, I make an effort to read it.  And, if they are looking stressed or a little worn out, I try to offer a little support — offer to cover their on call duty for the weekend or just let them vent.  If there is a death in their family, I offer condolences and make sure I send a card.  Don’t ignore your network’s challenges and triumphs.

• Be generous. Your time, talents, and resources are no more or less valuable than your networks’ time, talents, and resources so share them liberally!  By doing so, you will build good will, great friends, and a better world.

• Make referrals. Make sure that your network knows that you have their personal and professional best interests at heart by making appropriate referrals to their businesses.  You don’t want to develop a reputation for always wanting referrals and never reciprocating.

Take Time to Say Thank You

• Say “thank you.” I do not do business with professionals who fail to say “thank you” and you shouldn’t either.  Gratitude is an attitude that is cultivated and I pride myself on cultivating many ways to say it.  I write notes, send cards, bake baskets of cookies, send flowers, give small token gifts, and write public articles of gratitude.  It costs me very little to tip my hat to those that have been kind to me / my business and I make a point to not forget.

• Be transparent. Transparency is not about wearing your feelings on your sleeve.  However, being transparent is about being committed to the truth and honesty.  It’s really about your level of integrity.  If you are nervous about working with a new client that has been referred to you because you haven’t worked with their presenting issues before, don’t fake it.  Let your referral source and your client know that you will be seeking consultation while working with them or refer them to a different therapist.  Don’t pretend that you know it all.  Your clients and your referral sources will appreciate you being willing to admit your limitations.  And, in doing so, you give them permission to do the same.

• Ask for what you need. Your network thrives when the relationships in it are reciprocal rather than lopsided.  In order for a network to work for you, you need to be willing to ask for what you need.  I have, at different times, asked my network for help securing office space, community resources for my clients, and to be a sounding board for a new project, etc.  If you can’t ask for what you need, then you need a new network!

So, what is it that you are doing to help your network take better care of you?  And, what is it that you can commit to doing better?

The next post in this episodic series is

Tags: Network

Fast Company just sent me their online newsletter with an article (well, really a slide show)  titled, “The Kanye Curriculum: 7 Ways to Be a Success.”  According to Kanye West, the very first key to success is “Know your worth.” I agree.

For psychotherapists, artists, and healing arts professionals, knowing what you’re worth is key to attracting your ideal client and building a strong practice.

If you don’t know what your services are worth,

"Money Grab" by Steve Wampler

here are four ways to find out:

• Call your state licensing board and ask them what the UCR, Usual and Customary Rate, is for someone with your credentials.  When I moved to Colorado, I called the Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners to ask what LPC’s charge.  (In 2002, their response was ” between $80 and $125 per hour.”)
• Poll the professionals in your geographic area.  Call them up, introduce yourself and explain that you are doing a survey of your profession’s fees in the area.  Ask them what they charge for their hourly fee. (And, offer to share your results with them.  Better yet, offer to share it with us here at All Things Private Practice)
• Check out Psychotherapy Finances.  They poll their subscribers each year and do the work for you!
• Contact the state division of your professional association.  For me, that’s the Colorado Counseling Association. Most state organizations will have this type of information available to share with the general public.

And, do the rest of us a favor . . . let us know what you learn about UCRs in your geographic area and tell us where you got your information.

Tags: Fee, UCR

If you aren’t sure about where to begin working on your private practice, you may want to start by creating a Life List for Your Practice. Here’s how you do that. . . .

"Up, Up and Away! 236 / 365" by mollyjolly / Maria Johnson

Step 1 – Start by making a list . . .

a “brain dump” of everything you know you need to do for your business. Do you need to put your Marketing Kit together? If so, itemize exactly what you need to do i.e. find a graphic designer, find a printer, find an office, print receipts, meet physicians, create a menu of services? Be as specific as you can be when making your list.

Step 2 – Then, add to that list (being as specific as you can) everything that you know you want to do with your business. Do you want to write a book? Expand to multiple locations? Hire other therapists? See clients only on the weekend? Offer EMDR? Facilitate retreats in France? Provide workshops on hypnosis? Begin offering public speaking? Think big! Be bold! You have the rest of your professional life to accomplish these things!

Step 3 – Think of your Life List for Your Practice as a product that is a working list in continuous flux. It changes as you change. As you accomplish these goals, check them off.

And, back to Step 1 – As you become aware of new to-do’s for your practice, make sure you add them to the list.

What are the to-do’s you have on your Life List for Your Practice?

Tags: Goals, Life List

Working on your business is not the same as working in your business.   That came as news to me when I first read Lynn Grodski’s primer, Building Your Ideal Private Practice.  I used to think that if I was seeing my clients or charting notes on my clients that I was working on my business.  After all, this is why I went to graduate school — to learn the clinical piece.

It’s Not Enough

Unfortunately, the clinical knowledge and skills of psychotherapy did not begin to prepare me for the business end of private practice.   As long as I wanted to work in an agency or hospital for someone else, that would have been good enough.  However, for those of us who have the entrepreneurial bug and yearn to be in business for ourselves . . . the clinical knowledge and skills are only half of the private practice package.  In fact, you can easily and quickly starve to death if you know nothing or do nothing to work on the business end of your practice.

Working On Your Business

To paraphrase Lynn Grodski, “working on your business is at least as important as working in your business.”  And, working on the business means spending time, money, and resources to create and sustain a healthy flow of clients coming into your business.  Some of these tasks include:

• Developing ideas for new services;
• Learning about new marketing strategies;
• Re-working packaging for your services;
• Branding for your business;
• Designing business cards, letterhead, postcards, and advertising;
• Networking with other professionals to educate them about your business;
• Creating (and using) a marketing kit;
• Writing articles / books for publication;
• Drafting informational brochures for client education; and,
• Updating your professional vita;

To work on your business means recognizing that your work in private practice extends far beyond just the skills of counseling and psychotherapy.

What I’m Doing

Today, I have met with my graphic designer, Jennifer Gunther of Nudge Creative, to rework my business card and letterhead.  I have vetted a potential printer for my print needs. I have collaborated with my blog designer, Beth Hayden of Basics of Blogging.  I met another colleague for lunch to brainstorm about my marketing needs. I’m writing this post for my blog.  These are the things that I am doing to work on my business today.

What about you? What are the ways that you are working on your business today?

Tags: Articles, Brand, Brochure, Business Card, Packaging, Resume