Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hey, hey. This is Shauna A and you are listening to delightful audio sodes, a copy of the email newsletter where I give you tips, tricks and great information about managing your therapeutic business. We're going beyond one on one therapy services and talking about ways you can incorporate multiple streams of income as a clinician. So here's the show today in this episode, we're going to be talking about marketing because I really don't think we talk about marketing well enough as clinicians. And what I mean by that is that they did not teach us marketing in grad school. As a matter of fact, there's a couple of things that they missed out on grad school. And I have said this before and I will scream it from the mountaintops. This just does such a great disservice to us clinicians. We really do need to understand more about marketing and how it affects the businesses that we're trying to have. And I think a big thing for us as clinicians is that we have it easy in a way that when it comes to opening up a private practice, when it comes to opening up our business, a lot of times we have the single service therapy model where we are trying to bring in new therapy clients. And one of the first things that we do is put our name on a directory, but they don't even talk to us about how we can make that directory enticing enough for people to come in and get to see our profile picture, get to see what we have to offer and say, yes, this is the clinician for me. I will tell you that I feel like I have perfected my consultation process where at this point in time, I'm about 90% of the people that get on a consult call with me will actually go on to book a session with me and become clients with me. And this is something that I think is really important. As a clinician, you need to be able to understand who it is that you are trying to attract through your marketing as well as who it is that you don't think will be a fit for your services. So one of the things that I've noticed with my consults is that typically the people that are now calling, the people that are now looking to work with me are aligned with my niche and exactly what it is that I do. So that is a form of marketing, being able to share your message and it hit the right people. But again, that's not stuff that they teach us in grad school. A lot of our grad school work is very foundational and it's really just teaching us the basis of the services that we're providing. And for some of us, we aren't getting the same kind of basis. I know that for me, as a degree in community counseling, as well as a concentration in marriage and family therapy, I got a lot, a lot of counseling classes where we are talking about the art of therapy and the founding forefathers of therapy and their modalities and what those look like. I was practicing those frequently in all of my classes. Now, I know that for social workers, they get different kinds of courses. They have some of those counseling courses, but they also have more courses around. Here's how you do research. Here is macro social work. Here's microsocial work. Here are the different expansions of this system that we have. So while we can do very similar things as far as counseling work and therapy work is considered when it comes to the different disciplines, there is one thing that we share in common as far as our education stands, is that most of us did not get business related information as therapists in grad school, as well as marketing related information when it comes to our degrees. That's okay. We're going to fill it in today. So one of the things that I think it's really important to recognize is that when you don't have this kind of information, when you're not marketing, when you're not engaged in these business practices, when you don't have that information and you're trying to build a business, it's going to take up time, energy and money. And that can be really frustrating. And the other thing is, I have no problem with the traditional model of owning a private practice and having the single service model. It is just not the way that works for me as the person that I'm and the clinician that I am. I find that for me, that sometimes I get bored doing the same thing over and over again. And while my peeps are amazing and the work that I do with them is different in many cases, I also find that I would like to continue to expand. But I also know that my capacity is at a certain number.
[00:05:12] So where does that put me? That either puts me in a place where I have to raise my prices if I would like to make more money, or it puts me in a place of having to raise the number in my caseload. So let's say I decide that I'm going to raise my prices because I want to make more money. There's nothing wrong with that. People do this all the time. The issue is that what if I raise my prices and I price out my clients, or what if I raise my prices and my insurance decides like, yeah, you could raise your prices, but we going to stay right here. This is what we contracted at. This is what it is. I can ask for more. That doesn't mean that they'll give it to me, though. So I find that having the single service model kind of puts me in a place where it limits me financially because it puts me in a rock and a hard place, especially if I'm not wanting to raise my caseload and I'm not wanting to raise my prices. And again, if people feel comfortable doing those things, go for it. There's nothing wrong with that. I just know that for me not going to work, and for many clinicians, not just me alone, for many clinicians, we don't always raise our prices. We don't always want to raise our prices. It may not always seem to fit, and that's okay. So what I say to people is, okay, if we don't want to do that, what about introducing something else in our service that allows for us to make that money or to bring in some additional funds without overextending ourselves or having to raise our prices, what would that look like? And if we're getting to talk about that, for many people, they can envision that they can see themselves writing a book. They can see themselves putting out a digital course. And that is wonderful, except for when you actually write that book or you actually put out that course and you launch to crickets, what's the problem? Why are we launching to crickets? We're launching to crickets because we don't know how to market. We don't know how to build an audience without putting ourselves on a directory. And we don't know how to get people to convert from being an audience to warmed audience to actually buying the products that we've created. So there's a knowledge gap. And I think that knowledge gap prevents clinicians from actually taking the action steps because they feel like they can put in all of this work and it not work out, which is very true. The reality is that it does take time to build and get ourselves to a place of actively moving sales. But the thing about it is once you find the formula, once you've taken the steps, once you've put something in place, that thing starts to move. Like once that ball is rolling, it's rolling. And that means that you do get to bring in sales. But the middle piece that we constantly miss is the marketing part in this episode. We are going to talk about how you can market, and I'm going to give you some tips about marketing that's going beyond the average tips that you hear. I'm going to drop some tips right now that I bet you've heard already. And I want you to notice the feelings that you experience when I say some of these tips. When we talk about how else can I market, what does somebody say, oh, you need a website that is optimized for SEO. What's SEO? SEO is search engine optimization. So basically what happens is when I put in a search on Google, does Google read my website or my pages and bring back this information at the top? Because usually when you google something, you're probably going to look at that first page, you may find your way to the second page. So you want your information to come up at first. How do you do that? Increasing your website's search engine optimization? What is that? People are like, okay, how do I do that? You know what search engine optimization is? It's having the appropriate keywords, the kinds of keywords that people are putting in and having enough of it that the search engine recognizes that and says, oh, this content is what needs to come first. That sounds like a lot. It sounds like a lot for people because it's like, okay, how do I put in these keywords? Did you also know that search engines recognize when you're keyword stuffing, there's so many things that comes with search engine optimization that I think a lot of people just check out because they're like, nope, not doing that. So what's the next thing that somebody says to do when it comes to marketing your business? They say, oh, put your business on Google. My business. Yes, you can do that. But the big thing about putting your business on Google Business, and there's nothing wrong with this, but putting your business on Google. My business also opens you up to reviews. And for a lot of clinicians, they get overwhelmed when they get bad reviews. And so we are put into this position of, I want for people to notice me, but then that also puts you in the position for people to be very subjective when it comes to your work. So what happens if you have a couple of bad reviews on Google? Right.
[00:10:40] Not everybody wants to choose that option. There's nothing wrong with it, but we also want to have options when it comes to our choices in marketing. There are many ways to market that doesn't have to be complicated. And I think the thing for us clinicians is that we have all of this knowledge and skill in one particular area. And sometimes it feels like so much to have to go back in and be like, okay, now I need to learn about SEO. Now I need to learn about Google, my business. Now I need to learn about YouTube and social media and Pinterest and all of these other things. And I don't know if I have the time because I still need to see 2025 people to make the money that I need to make this week, right now, here in this moment. So when I give you these marketing tips, I am not focusing on the little things that you can do here and there. I am talking about here is the plan that we are going to take to really expand and get the word out about my business and create connections, because that is the most important thing. Your audiences, your people, they want connections. And the more that you help people feel connected within your boundaries, of course, the more that you help people to feel connected, the more you're going to notice that people are interested in your business. So how do we get people to feel connected? So tip number one, when you're thinking about marketing, I want you to think about marketing as a full blown process. There are many stages when it comes to marketing. I'm going to break down these stages for you. So stage one, marketing research. Stage two, marketing plans. Stage three, warming the audience. Stage four, selling the audience. These stages really happen simultaneously as you're doing other things. So when you are building your business, you want to do market research. And what market research does, it really helps you to understand your audience, their needs, their pain points, what they've got going on and what they want.
[00:12:46] This is the time where you think about what your niche is. And remember, your niche is who you help and the issue you help them to resolve. And as you're putting this all together, you really get to know your people. So once you've done the marketing research, from there, you're going to decide, okay, this is what I'm going to offer. This is what I'm putting together. And then the next thing you want to do is put together a marketing plan.
[00:13:14] That marketing plan, you are going to start from day one. I'm putting this together. I need to know how to talk to these people. What is it that they're talking about? What is it that they need, want they're thinking about? Right. That's part of your marketing research. But the next step is, okay, where are they hanging out? Oh, they're hanging out over on this particular social media app. I'm going to be over there, too, and I'm going to talk about this particular pain point and my approach. I'm going to start making those connections from there, just from my marketing plan. I'm doing this week one, week two, I'm doing this thing. Week three, I'm doing that thing. That's your marketing plan. From there, you're actually going to start executing your marketing plan. Remember when I said week one, I'm doing this thing, I'm creating connections. I'm doing this, that, and the third that's warming your audience. So you're attracting people over to what it is that you have going on. You're warming that audience, and then as you're warming them, you are not even trying to sell in that moment. You are creating connections, but you're also giving them information.
[00:14:21] You're giving them all sorts of kinds of information. Not just this is my idea on the solution, but you're talking about your story, you're talking about case studies, you're talking about different things that you've seen and you are empathizing and again, building that relationship.
[00:14:41] That's all a part of your marketing plan. But now you're actually executing it with warming the audience. This is also a good time to expand that audience, right? This is a good time to get people onto the mailing list. This is a good time to get people engaged and commenting and resharing, reposting. This is a good time to really build those relationships in warming. And then by the time you know it, it's ready to sell. This is when you're going to launch the item, or maybe you're putting it into beta and you are asking those questions. What do you guys see? What do you like? What do you don't like? And then you are launching and selling and again doing the same thing. And in your selling phase, this is the part where you are really talking about the solution. But remember, since you were just warming your audience, since you were just building those connections, you have all of this information now about what it is that they have going on. You've had their pain points from the beginning. So now you're saying, hey, I know you have this going on, and I think this, and this is my big idea. This is my way of resolving it. What do you think? Check it out. Here's what I have to offer. This is the thing of value that I'm dropping to you that I think is really cool and really important, or I think that is going to be a benefit to you, my audience. The next thing that we're going to do is figure out how to expand our network. So expanding your network is not just putting yourself on that directory. Expanding your network is also expanding your colleagues. So it's like, how do I get myself into places where people are actively recommending me? We know that word of mouth is one of the best pieces of marketing that you can have. And many people say, like, they fully build their caseloads off of word of mouth. Again, expanding your network is expanding your ability to get word of mouth. And so not just from clients, but also from colleagues. Expanding your network is also like going out and meeting the people who actively engage with your clients. Is there a particular doctor's office that is looking for a therapist to refer to? I work in perinatal mental health, and I went around with a flyer to all of the OBGYN's offices and said, hey, this is what I do. If you have any clients that you're concerned about, here's my card. Please feel free to hand it out. I also went to fertility clinics as well because I work in fertility impairment, and I did the same thing. Hey, I'm a new practice I'm opening up. I went out far beyond where I am because I'm virtual and said, hey, if you have a clinic, you've got people who are looking to talk through this process. I'm your girl. And I've walked into offices and seen my flyers handed out. I've seen business cards. Those are the kinds of relationships that you want to make, especially if these people have regular access to your clientele. You also want to know where your people are hanging out. If there's like a local coffee house and they have a bulletin board, that might be a good place to put your flyer, if that's allowed. Even the local libraries often have bulletin boards you might want to see. How do you get yourself up on the bulletin board? If there's any vendors, if there's any places that do those bridal events or things like that. Especially if you're a couple's therapist and you do premarital counseling, you should be at a bridal event. If you are a therapist that puts on travel like a retreat, you should be at the vendors for the travel event. That is a good place for you to work with travel agents and say, hey, if you have any clients that are looking for this, this is an intimate experience. Let's work together to see if we can have people come to this particular event in this way. So expanding your network goes beyond the particular things that you are doing, right? It goes beyond colleagues, but again, a really good place to expand is with colleagues as well. You're going to reach out to those other helping professionals. You're going to reach out to the places where your clients are engaged in, where they like as well. The last tip that I have for you today is you want to give yourself time to test your marketing system. You've created this marketing research. You've done the marketing plan. You've warmed your audience. You've sold to your audience. You want to give yourself time to see it all the way through. So instead of coming to the point of I've created this product and I'm just going to drop it and then be frustrated when nobody gets it, you want to start from the beginning, do your research, do the marketing plan. But you also are watching and seeing what works and what doesn't work. You might even want to a b test some of the things that you're doing right. If you decided that you wanted to start an Etsy shop and you were going to do digital products, you might put out two of the same listing. It's the same thing, but this one has different words than this one. Why are you doing it that way? To see what people respond to. Does one of them sell over the other one? Does neither one of them sell? This is your way of testing your information, but you have to give yourself time to be able to test and watch and give a realistic amount of time to actually see results. I know they didn't teach us marketing in grad school, but it doesn't have to be complicated. And I think that's the thing that throws off therapists the most, is that we have so much information at our fingertips that it becomes complicated. And when things are complicated, we back down from it because we have this tried and true system for us, which is the one to one therapy services. But going beyond that, you don't have to be burned out as a clinician, you can bring in other streams of income, but we do have to be able to do some of these things for ourselves. The good thing is your marketing research. Your marketing plan does not have to be fully created by yourself. Hop on one of these AI systems and ask it to write you a marketing plan for a particular product for your particular audience and see what comes out. See how you can tweak that and see how it will help you work through your way so you don't have to do it on your own. Use the robots to help you build and go from there. You have just listened to the episode on marketing. I would love to see some of these marketing steps in action. If you haven't caught up with the other email episodes, they are now available along with the transcripts. And here's the thing, I want you to go and test this. Your mission, should you accept it, is to try out one of the AI systems and put in your prompt for doing your marketing research. You are more than welcome to share your results in the therapizing therapist collective. It is a Facebook group, a free Facebook group where I drop all sorts of videos and tips about social media and side hustle. It's a great place to start and again you can share what you found when you submitted your prompt for marketing research and if you drop into the group, I will even share with you my favorite marketing research prompt. So I look forward to seeing what you all come up with again, drop into the group if you'd like to see my favorite marketing research prompt and I will see you all soon. Bye now. Bye.
