Erin Blakemore of 
VOCO Creative wrote a great little post suggesting 10 easy ways to nurture those online relationships you are building.
Whether you call it “do unto others,” “cross-promotion,” or “backscratchin,” the results are the same. Check out her tips and get busy building your private practice with social media!
Then, drop in here and tell us where we can find you and how it’s working for you.
When you get ready to close your private practice, for whatever reason, you can’t just shut the door and walk away. Did you know that? Attorney Richard S. Leslie has written a thoughtful article in the January 2010 issue of the Avoiding Liability Bulletin. In it he details some of the following for your consideration when you decide to close up shop:
"You Couldn't Have Planned This if You Tried" by Ken Douglas / Today is a Good Day
Every mental health professional and every professional coach is required to responsibly close their private practice – regardless of whether their closing is planned or unforeseen. Whether you’ve been in business for years or you are just now getting started, now is the time to take the steps necessary to prepare for the eventual closure of your practice.
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It’s easy to get stuck in the middle of gathering ideas, stirring them up and daydreaming about how perfect each one will be . . . and six months later finding that you haven’t moved forward on any of them!
One thing I’ve learned from my writer friends in Boulder Media Women is that if you want to write a book, you have to sit in a chair and write; and, if you want to implement a new project in your private practice, you need to put one foot in front of another to achieve that goal.
It doesn’t happen by itself. And, it doesn’t happen if you are spread too thin by feeding all your great ideas at once.
Carve out time on a weekly basis dedicated to your one new project.
Block out the time on your calendar.
Set measurable goals for your work.
Develop the idea / product / project.
Finesse the details. (Need a focus group to help?)
Create a marketing plan.
Fill your seats / meet your goals.
Then you’re ready to pick (another) one . . . and GO!
I put off building my websites for at least five years simply because I didn’t know where to start. Now that I have two, I thought it might be useful if I shared some of my thoughts to help you get your website started. There are several things you need to consider before you even talk to a web designer.
Why Do You Want A Website? A good website will not be all things to all people. Do you want it to build your credibility? Do you want it to provide information? Is there another reason that you want a website? Get clear about it and stay focused.
Who Is Your Target Audience? Be specific here because it matters. The look and feel as well as the content of my counseling website is geared to women with a particular focus on complex trauma. It’s not necessarily going to be attractive to servicemen or useful to parents of small children. It’s not very focused on addictions or compulsive sexual behaviors. Take the time to identify and speak directly to your targeted audience.
Why Will People Take Time To Visit Your Website? Are they looking for relief? Entertainment? Information? Know why they will take time to visit your website and then use that information to meet their needs.
How Will People Find Your Website? Will they be looking for someone like you or will they be looking specifically for you? Your networking will both affect how and be affected by how others find you / your site.
What Are The Measurable Goals For Your Website? After being up for one year? After five years?
Answering these five questions is critical to developing a good website. Once you are able to answer them, you are ready to begin the next phase of developing your website. Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll walk you through the next step!
I’ve mentioned in the past that one of the ways that I keep my marketing fresh is that I borrow ideas from other professions.
This morning I was reading Erika Trimble’s blog, Physical Therapy Biz Success, when I ran across a great little post on setting priorities. She recommends the A-B-C-D-E Method for setting better priorities.
These are the things that if you put off, will cost you your practice.
These are the things that really need to be done but they are not critical. If you don’t do them in the short term, there are only minor consequences. However, if you put them off indefinitely, the cumulative effect can bump these into the A = Critical and Urgent category.
These include all the niceties and, often, fun-to-do’s that can so easily distract you from your business-building tasks. They may be of added benefit to you or your clients but if they don’t get done, you don’t incur negative consequences.
If you don’t do it easily and well, you need to give serious thought to delegating or contracting to get the task accomplished.
These are often acts of repetition or 100% time wasters.
As you are gearing up for 2010, make sure you take some time to re-think your priorities. Assign each of your to-do’s an A, B, C, D, or E using Erika’s method of prioritizing and then let me know what changes for you.
What is it that you think is important . . . to attend to, to delegate, and to eliminate as you build your private practice?
I’m not a big fan of resolutions . . . at least not the ones made for the new year. My thinking is that if you’re serious about making a change or making a commitment, you’ll make it when it is needed . . . not on December 31st. And, you won’t need some day on the calendar to remind you that it’s important.
However, in my opinion, your business will benefit from an annual review. So, after waiting a week or two to let you resolution-friendly folks have your say, I’m here with a quick review of my accomplishments in 2009 . . . .
If you haven’t taken time to review your accomplishments in 2009, take time to do that right now. What is it you have you done for your business in the last 12 months?
Before you even decide where you are going to locate your office,
"Mr. Zip, 1966" by Roadsidepictures
you need to conduct market research on possible locations.
One way to begin that process is to learn about the demographics of different zip codes in your area.
Check out ZipSkinny to help you start your own market research because location matters.
Teaching is a great way to establish yourself as an expert . . . so what do you know?
"Teacher" by Ben Russell / ben110
What body of information or skill set comes naturally to you? What is so common sensical that you marvel that others don’t know it? That’s what you need to be teaching! Teach clients; teach children; teach physicians; teach teens; teach teachers; teach therapists; just teach.
If you are reading this blog, my assumption is that you are a mental health professional with a minimum of a master’s degree. Don’t tell me, and more importantly, don’t tell yourself that you don’t know enough to teach. You have more formal education than 98% of the population in the United States so you know something and I choose to believe you know something of value.
So what is it you know right now that you can teach? And, more importantly, why aren’t you teaching it? What do you need in order to leverage that natural skill set or body of knowledge to boost your image and name recognition?
What keeps you from inviting more clients into your practice?
The purpose of a professional disclosure statement is to inform clients about your professional background and the limitations of your professional relationship. It is sometimes referred to as a document of informed consent.
It is important to note that the state you practice in may dictate what must be included in your statement of disclosure.
The following items are often included:
Your professional disclosure statement is a living document. By that I mean that it will grow and change as your experience, training, and practice changes. It’s a good idea to review (and amend as needed) your disclosure statement at least annually.
When writing your disclosure statement, you may find it helpful to gather samples of other professionals statements. You will find a copy of my disclosure statement here at my counseling website.
I was reading this post by Jennifer Gandin Le
Making Notes on GTD" by Stompy / Abizer
in the blog, Crucial Minutiae. In it she references Natalie Goldberg’s concept of a “Practice Notebook.” According to Le, Goldberg suggests using a notebook to establish a habit of self-monitoring your writing practices. I love this idea . . . and not just for writing!
Your habits of private practice need monitoring, too! Borrowing from Goldberg’s suggestion, one way to do this would be to designate a practice notebook. In it, you should record the date every single day, whether or not you have worked on your practice, and any related thoughts you may have .
Remember . . . working on your business is not the same as working in your business. Your practice notebook should contain your notes and thoughts about working on the business.
Go ahead! Give it a try for 30 straight days and let me know what changes for you!
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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
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.
Another Strategy for Marketing to the Educational Community:
Collaborating with Your Competitors
I’ve been reading Louis Baraja’s book, Small Business, Big Life: 5 Steps to Creating a Great Life with Your Own Small Business. In it he lists the 22 Temptations of a Small Business Owner that entrepreneurs often fail to notice and then stumble over while building their businesses.
That list got me to thinking about the many ways that psychotherapists and allied health professionals get tripped up on the way to building their businesses so I decided to share my list of 22 things you say (with a nod t o Louis Baraja) before you even know your private practice is in trouble .
Have you tripped up on these already? Or, do you have other red-flag statements to share?
If you are getting ready to start shopping for a clinical supervisor, here are 10 more questions you need to ask before you invite them to work with you.
"Question Mark" by Segozyme
Are you finding these questions to be helpful?
These questions came from the Institute in Counselor Supervision taught at the University of North Texas’ Counseling Program by Carolyn W. Kern, Ph.D., LPC, NCC and Cynthia K. Chandler, Ed.D., LPC, LMFT.
If your post-graduate supervision is not all that you had hoped for, there may be a really good reason. Do you know that clinical supervision is different from administrative supervision?
An administrative supervisor typically operates from a business model rather than a clinical model. His priority is to make sure that the organization (or her department) runs smoothly. There are local, state, and federal regulations (like the EEOC guidelines and the Disability Act) that impact his decisions concerning her supervision of you.
Administrative supervisors are often
"In Which Zac Never Realized . . . " by Zac Peckler
what you encounter as a new graduate entering the workforce through an agency, hospital, or school setting. You will recognize an administrative supervisor because he will emphasize paperwork and productivity, managing your caseloads, scheduling, and accountability.
An administrative supervisor must train employees to systematically complete basic paperwork, manage crises, work within systems, and deal with large numbers of clients needing many different things at the same time. There is much to be learned from an administrative supervisor that will serve you well throughout your career but this is NOT clinical supervision.
If you are frustrated with the quality of the supervision you are receiving, perhaps you assumed that the supervision you would be receiving from your supervisor would be clinical supervision rather than administrative supervision. Here are some things that you can do to insure that your experience under supervision is all that you want it to be.
9 Steps You Can Take to Insure a Great Supervisory Experience
If you still haven’t taken the time to have a business card made for yourself, then you are making a big BIG mistake.
Here’s two things that you really need to know . . . . Your cheapest form of marketing is a great business card. They can cost you as little as six dollars for 250 at an on line printing service like VistaPrint or they can cost you as much as several hundred dollars for 1000 from a local printer like Maverick Press in Littleton, Colorado. Your design, choice of paper and quantity ordered factor in to your final costs but any way you figure it, your business card is your least expensive marketing cost and is the most versatile tool you will use.
The second thing you need to know about your business card is that once you hand it over to another professional and leave the premises, it serves as a reminder of who you are and how to reach you. Think about it . . . . I told you about that old adage “last in, first out.” That means that if your business card keeps your name in front of other professionals’ eyes last, then your name is the one that is likely to be recalled when they are ready to call with a referral. Last in, first out.
And, here’s one more thing you need to know about having a business card. It’s the professional thing to do. No CEO, no professional, and no office manager is going to refer clients to you until you take yourself seriously enough to get decent business card. Think about it. . . . Having a business card implies that you are serious about your professional services. . . . It implies that you have some degree of stability i.e. your address, website, and phone number aren’t changing daily. . . . And, it implies that you have something of value to offer.
Still putting off getting that business card? P-L-E-A-S-E! What’s keeping you from taking that step? Let me know and I’ll be happy to nudge you along!
Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed., LPC has maintained a private clinical practice since 1991 and founded Private Practice from the Inside Out in 2003. She has spent almost 20 years consulting and teaching marketing strategies to health care professionals like you. You can learn more about her clinical practice at her website.
Email Tamara
