When you decide to go into private practice, the advice for building a thriving business is everywhere. In fact, there are often so many voices shouting so many different things that it's really hard to filter through and pick out what you need to pay attention to.

Unfortunately, today I'm going to add a bit to that noise, but not without reason.

The truth is, if you want to have a private practice that stands out online. You MUST be creating consistent content. Now, I refer to this as blogging, but the medium you use to create your content - whether that is a podcast, video marketing, or written blog posts - does not actually matter. What matters is that you are regularly publishing new content on your website.

You may be aware that blogging absolutely boosts your ranking on Google and gets you noticed by search engines. And it also boosts your credibility online.

But there are also some not-so-obvious reasons blogging is essential to marketing your practice online:

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No matter what professional degree you hold, no matter what advanced training there are going to be times when you doubt yourself. You'll wonder whether what you have to say is worth listening to, or what you do is worth watching.

And there's no truer time for imposter syndrome to pop up than when you are promoting your private practice.

There are many ways to make sure your practice stays visible and relevant in your ideal client's mind. And some of them require much more effort and energy from you. But, regardless of how you choose to market, the fact that you are putting yourself, and your business baby, on a stage to be oggled at is intimidating no matter who you are. 

One thing that really helps to escape the inner emotions that come with marketing is to take an objective view. When you remove feelings from the equation and rely solely on data to tell you whether your marketing efforts are working, you can create a strategy that you know works based on empirical evidence.

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Everywhere you look practice builders are telling you to go FAST.

To fill your caseload in three weeks with 15 cash-pay clients. Or to add on five clinicians to your group practice tomorrow to explode your income.

And while there's absolutely nothing wrong with striving for more, having an entrepreneur mindset, and thinking like a business owner, sometimes this pedal-to-the-metal type of growth just doesn't feel right.

If you think about it, most of us entered the helping professions to do just that - help. To offer our clients a sense of transformation and to make an impact on the world. But typical marketing strategies often feel out of alignment with the idea of growing a practice that truly gives back to your community.

In fact, rushing to grow your practice too quickly can lead to a lot of gaps in your marketing. Like continually attracting the wrong types of clients or those that can't afford your fee. And, if you don't stop to pause early on in the process, it can be even more difficult to find out exactly what it is that's driving you off track.

Intervening in your marketing, and being fully intentional about the strategy you use, might mean foregoing a bit of quick growth (and the income that comes with it), the practice you build slowly will be all the more sustainable.

Slow marketing requires you make a few changes…

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One of the first places therapists go to market their private practices online is Facebook.

It makes sense since this social media has over 2 Billion active users and pretty much every demographic possible is represented on the platform. 

Creating a Facebook business page for your practice is pretty much a no-brainer these days. Not only does it function as an online business card, housing all of your practice's digital data (location, phone number, hours of operation, etc...), Facebook also has the ability to function as a directory of sorts for your practice.

That's right, just like Psychology Today, your Facebook page has the potential to show up at the top of Google rankings. What's more, you actually have control over what you put on your page and have a greater influence on others seeing it. WAY more than you can say about your passive PT profile.

Another win for creating consistent, on-brand content!

But whether you want to be found by ideal clients on Facebook itself, or through a Google search, there are certain steps to ensure you use your page as a successful marketing tool.

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A few weeks ago, we talked all about where to find topics for your therapy blog. If you missed out on that video, you can check it out right here.

One of the best parts about being a therapist and having direct access to your ideal client on a regular basis is that it's really hard to run out of ideas to write about. All you have to do is head to your clinical notes, your intake paperwork, hell even your textbooks from grad school to come up with a ton of inspiration.

The disconnect, however, often comes when it's time to take the idea from out of your head and put it onto the page. In fact, actually cranking out 2000+ words that are going to ping the interest of search engine robots, and then making sure it's evergreen, can be so intimidating, that most clinicians end up starting at a blank screen rather than actually creating marketing content.

So that's why this week, I'm breaking down the five best types of blog posts to have on your website that will actually work as stand-alone marketing pieces.

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Being in private practice brings up all kinds of insecurities. I mean, nothing makes us feel less like we know what we're doing than being faced with decisions we've never had to make before. And what's even more intimidating, is that the success of our practice lies heavily on our ability to invest more time, energy, and money into the things that are bringing us results and to know when to cull the things that aren't working.

And this couldn't be more true than when it comes to marketing.

Spreading the word about your practice, filling the spots on your calendar, and putting butts on your couch is essential for the growth and sustainability of your business. But to do this, you have to know exactly what is working to attract new leads to your therapy practice and how you are converting those leads into paid clients. It's about developing a strategic and measurable plan that you can track and tweak as necessary.

Without a marketing plan such as this, you might as well be basing your livelihood on trial and error. But that doesn't mean you have to equate strategy with ruthlessness. Your desire to grow a profitable practice does not have to be mutually exclusive from your calling to help those in need.

In fact, before you ever begin to develop a marketing plan, you should do some soul-searching first. 

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I think one of the biggest things that hold therapists back from branding their businesses is that they believe having a brand means they are in the business of selling therapy.

Like profit and loss are important

That our client's mental health is now something that we have to compete with other helpers over and sell the best solution for the right price.

That therapy is for sale

And it's true. When you went into private practice you took on the role of business owner. You put on the hat of someone who has to think of sustainability and profitability as well as someone who legitimately wants to help improve the lives of others. While a business mentality is a bit necessary if you want to have a practice that sustains you, your, family, your lifestyle, and your livelihood, your brand does not have to be something that distances you and your practice from your calling.

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One of the biggest barriers I hear from my fellow therapists about creating consistent content is coming up with ideas to write about. It's easy to think of one of two things that your ideal client might find interesting. But to do it on a weekly basis, over and over again is much more daunting.

But, if I'm honest, I think there's another reason entirely why therapists have difficulty coming up with what to write about. And that's the feeling of inadequacy. It takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to write an SEO optimized blog post that has the potential to convert your ideal reader into your ideal client. And it takes even more self-assuredness to publish it.

I think many of us are experts in our industry, but have a great bit of discomfort stepping into that expertise and owning just how awesome we are. Plus, it can feel ethically grey to toot our own horns all the time. Lastly, there's the worry that after mustering the courage to write and publish that anyone is even going to want to read it.

So, I recorded this video for all of us who battle our own feelings of inferiority and also for those who just want to have an endless supply of blog ideas.

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So by now, I'm sure you've chosen a side on the "whether or not you need a niche" debate. And since you're here, I'm betting you're in the camp of wanting to define your ideal client.

Knowing who you serve and why is a huge element of marketing your practice. In fact, you can go through all of the branding exercises in the world, you could hone the most beautiful, well-written, and impactful messaging, but if you don't know who to send your message to, all of that work is a massive waste of time.

To me, defining your ideal client and marketing your practice is a bit of a chicken-egg situation. You can't promote yourself until you know who you are and what you stand for, but you also can't dive into the impact you want to make on the world without first knowing who you want to help.

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