The Private Practice Online Survival Guide’s Live Question & Answer Session
We get lots of questions from colleagues who are interested in building their private practices online. We get questions like:
“What should I say on Twitter to help clients find me online?”
“Do I really need a website to be in private practice?”
“How do I set up goals in Google Analytics?”
“My website doesn’t get much traffic. What can I do to get more visitors to my site?”
“What’s important to know about putting my website together?”
“Is it OK to “friend” my clients on Facebook?”
If you have been struggling with questions like these, you are invited to join us for The Knowledge Market – a FREE Q & A session hosted by the Private Practice Online Survival Guide.
This is your opportunity to pick the brains of Social Media and Marketing Experts, Beth Hayden and Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed.,LPC. for FREE. Almost anything goes! Ask every one of your burning questions related to marketing your private practice online by registering for The Knowledge Market.
Cost: It’s FREE!!!
When: Tuesday, December 6th, 1 p.m. Pacific / 2 p.m. Mountain / 3 p.m. Central / 4 p.m Eastern.
Sign up for the call by filling out the form below – you’ll get details for the call as soon as you sign up!
We’re also doing something new for this call….if you submit a question, you will get a recording of the session! So please leave a comment below and let us know what your question is!
I find my fan page on FB growing. People interact with most everything except the counseling acticles I post (the most important stuff). Is this normal for people to read these topics but not respond to them?
I wan to contribute to articles section of website for the practice where I work. How do you come up with topics for articles that clients would find helpful and even print off the website?
Hi Beth and Tamara,
Thank you so much for doing this free service for us private practitioners. Can’t wait for the call!
Here’s my question:
I’m just getting started in private practice (I have my license, my insurance, my specialization (the treatment of social anxiety), an office, a phone number and a basic website). What’s the best, most effective way for me to get started with the marketing of my practice to attract my first few clients?
Thank you so much!
- Brett C Rhodes, LCSW
My intuition as a therapist is to be very cautious about what I say in public, so as not to inadvertently (and possibly unknowingly) cause a client unnecessary turmoil. For example, it seems completely possible that a client could stumble upon this comment, and wonder if I’m talking about them. Which I’m not! No particular client in mind here!
So, I’m confused about how to participate in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. while protecting my clients from my information and dialog in those places that might get them thinking in ways that would not be helpful. I know some of them google me regularly and are fully capable of finding anything that’s out there with my name associated. I’m OK with that. But this seems like it’s potentially opening a new can of worms (or making the existing can bigger and wormier?). Is it just about being very, very careful what you say?
- Peg
Thanks for the opportunity for this training. My question:
Is it okay to maintain a list of former, active, and potential clients to send newsletters and market to? Sometimes I offer “stuff” for sale such as meditation downloads and essential oils….ethically can I sell to current clients or is that a conflict (dual relationship)?
Thanks, Barb
Hello Beth & Tamara,
I have a discussion forum on my site – do you have suggestions how to engage people more and get them talking on subjects that interest them?
Thanks,
Steve
I’m very much looking forward to this training. Currently, my website is managed by a company I pay to optimize the site. They do a great job. . . but I am wanting to take over that tasks myself as I am planning to create two more sites. . . one to advertise a workshop I will be teaching and the other to market my assistant. I would like to learn all I can about SEO. What hints can you offer?
Thanks,
Linda
How often would you recommend sending out a Newsletter?
I am also new in private practice so I have more questions than I know what to do with. This issue of ethical marketing and delineating professional boundaries seems to be at the forefront, especially with regard to use of blogging and other social media formats. Are there clear ethical guidelines established?
Thank you, ladies! What are your thoughts on periodically “purging” your newsletter lists every so often?
I am resistant to starting a facebook presence or twitter. I don’t use them in my personal life and don’t really want to be needing to continually monitor them. I do use email to send info and stay in contact with clients. Are there any hazards and concerns I should be aware of if I slowly increase my web presence?
I have a practice that deals with solicitors, rehab companies and the general public, what sort of subjects would you blog about that would be relevant to these different markets or would you handle it a different way? So, if I write about x subject that deals with the sols market it is unlikely that is of interest to the genral public and so on. I do not want to turn these people off coming to my web site.
I am just about ready to launch my website and want to coordinate Facebook and Linked in with it. What would you suggest to coordinate them so that they are all interesting and not redundant.
I look forward to the call session. It would be awesome if someone had the time to make a transcript for future reference. I know that transcribing takes a very long time, however.
My question:
In person, I can be animated and cheerful or soft and compassionate. It varies with each client. In my writing however, I feel like I come across very “flat.” What can I add to my written words to make them sound more like “me?”
Thanks so much.
Hi Tamara and Beth!
My question: How can I market my therapy site to areas outside of my immediate community? To clarify: I live in small to medium community in Nebraska close to our “metropolitan” areas but I would like to reach small communities in the Western end of the state. I am interested in starting email/online counseling with rural individuals.
Looking forward to the call!
Thanks for the help with marketing. My question is:
I’m trying to create a brand with my specialization of child and family therapy, and it takes more than a one sentence explanation. How do I get folks to think of me as an experienced, results oriented, brief therapy clinician that focuses on how problems are defined relationally? I want to advertise with word of mouth pointing to my good outcomes with anger and aggression, depression, anxiety, and conflict resolution for children, teens and parents. I don’t have my own website yet as I hear it takes time and money, so I have a webpage. What suggestions do you have as I go forward with building my practice?
What sort of content is most important for gaining client attention on my website?
Most of my clients found me from the internet, but I worry about the uncontrollable nature of internet presence. How do I avoid from getting flamed?
Also, what’s the best way to deal with clients/former clients who send a facebook request to my personal profile?
What recommendations do you have for marketing a new practice via website and internet therapist directories (i.e., network therapy, etc). Specifically, what tips do you have for creating content that drives business?
I’m so looking forward to this call!
Question: Do I have to pay an SEO specialist to get more traffic to my website, or are there other ways?
Thanks for putting together and offering this call! I’m very happy with my web site and traffic to my web site, but I was wondering about other free or low cost ways to attract clients to my practice online.
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these great questions already posted! What three (or five, or ten!) steps do you consider most important in drawing in potential clients? Also, what have you found is not worth spending much effort/money on (i.e. yellow pages online)?
I know that Facebook is a good format for communication but it seems it will require a lot of time. What is the minimum one can do and still be effective?
Thank you! I have two Q’s:
How much is TOO much when it comes to outlining your policies (or even your views on managed care) on your site? Does more info turn off clients, or make them more able to commit? (I’ll have my ppw for download, but how much to put on the info pages?)
One blog- two passions that may or may not overlap – clinical applications of therapy (for therapists) and self-help stuff for clients. How do you do this? Two blogs? One blog and a bunch of articles/pages on your site? Two blogs on one site? Two sites? (oh, please no…)
Thank you!!!
Kat
I have a website, and I set up a profile on Linkedin, and Facebook, and I am wondering how to proceed from there.
What are your thoughts about pro bono work? How do you incorporate it into a private practice setting?
Do you have a template that can be used as a receipt for services rendered in a private practice setting that clients can use to submit to their insurance for reimbursement?
Many times when a client is seeking counseling,, their diagnosis can easily be determined as an Adjustment Disorder. Can this diagnosis become troublesome for the practioner?
Hi Tamara & Beth,
I really appreciate your putting together this call. My question echoes the one from Peg Shippert. If I begin to use FB or a blog, how do I protect the identity of people who are responding to my information. Is there a legal aspect to protecting the identity of people who respond (since I’m a therapist and their identity is supposed to be confidential) or because the sites are considered public domain, do different laws apply? Is there some sort of warning I should include in these formats to let people know the sites are public? Thanks.