I met Shane Petty, the founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Revved Business, at a networking breakfast earlier this year. We exchanged business cards, and I was super-impressed with an email he sent me later that afternoon, thanking me for chatting it up with him but also telling me he looked at my website and would love to offer ways to improve my traffic.
We had a phone consultation, and within a few days, I received a video link to him going through my website and talking me through his suggested changes – all of which were spot-on, and all of which drove more traffic (aka paying clients) to find me.
Revved Business concentrates on delivering leads and clients to small businesses through online marketing. In previous blogs, I’ve written about the importance of marketing, and Shane was gracious enough to have a Q & A with me to give his expertise on how a business can increase visibility – and get new clients.
JS: Hey Shane, thanks for talking with me today. Tell me about yourself and what your company does.
SP: Well, first I’m a husband of 21 years and a father of 3 kids. I grew up in San Antonio and after attending Baylor University, stayed in Waco for 19 years. I’ve been working in traditional and online marketing since 1996, and launched Revved Business in 2010.
JS: Therapists are notoriously horrible at marketing themselves. How do you suggest someone starts?
SP: You’ve got to define your target market. Write down a description. If Johnny or Sally walked into your office – who are they, what do they look like, what are their ages? Then you need to research your competition. Who are your biggest competitors, who are you up against? A person also needs to know how much a month can you spend to acquire a new client. Say, for example, if a therapy client is worth a lifetime amount of $1,000, you should plan on spending 5-10% to acquire that client.
JS: What are the biggest mistakes you see with small business owners and their marketing practices?
SP: I think one of the biggest mistakes is that they don’t know the ROI of their marketing spend, and that goes back to understanding the basic value of acquiring a client. If you spend $125 for a $500 client, you need to look at that.
Another thing is they don’t understand technology. Today, it’s adapt or die, because it’s all changing so quickly. For instance, Twitter was so popular and now that’s changing – people are on Instagram and SnapChat. So you need to know where you’re ideal client is hanging out.
Also, people don’t have clear, concise, measurable goals. They don’t know what they can or cannot spend. Make a business plan, and revise it as needed. You really should visit it at least quarterly, but it’s better to do it monthly. Especially if things aren’t going as well as you want them to be.
JS: A therapist has started out but has limited marketing dollars. In your opinion, what gives the biggest bang for their buck?
SP: You need to understand, again, where your clients are. Figure out where they are hanging out. Do your legwork so you aren’t spinning your wheels. Are they on YouTube? Then maybe you make some value-based videos. Are they on FaceBook? Facebook Ads are a cheap and easy way to target specific populations.
JS: What are the apps you use and can’t live without?
SP: I use Freshbooks for my accounting system, it’s easy to use and tracks everything. I use Dropbox to manage all my files and share with clients. Facebook is the social media I use the most. People generally are not buyer-intent on Facebook, but they are always looking at you. That could turn into a client eventually if they see you enough.
JS: What is the best advice you can give to someone starting out?
SP: Here’s the thing – you have to figure out if you have more time than money, or more money than time? Probably it’s the former at first. 10-15% of the population are willing to do whatever it takes to be successful. If you have more time at first, then get creative. For example, I was watching the Spurs play on Sunday, but I was on my computer and working on stuff during the game. And always, always count your costs. I’m amazed at business owners that don’t track their costs.
JS: Thanks, Shane, for speaking with me today.
SP: It was my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
You can find out more about Revved Business at www.revved.biz, or contact Shane on LinkedIn.
It goes like this: I get a phone call from a potential client. We chat about therapy and their individual needs. We discuss appointment days and times. Then they ask if I take insurance. Instead of simply saying, “No, I don’t, I’m cash-pay only,” my first instinct is to say, “I am really sorry, I only take cash.”
Another scenario: I charge full-price to clients that fail to give a 24-hour notice of cancelling an appointment. This cancellation policy is clearly stated on my website, as well as in all intake paperwork signed by my clients. I also verbally state my policy to all clients in person when they fill out their credit card form (which I keep on file to charge no-shows). I’ve had to implement this policy on ocassion, and each time I found myself telling the client, “I’m sorry, but I have to charge you.”
Why, oh why, am I always compelled to say “I’m sorry?”
Studies have shown that women like to apologize. A lot. We do it in our personal and professional lives on a daily basis. In fact, in a 2010 study in Psychological Science, it states that women are more likely to see a need for an apologies in everyday situations, and suggests that men apologize less frequently than women because they have a higher threshold for what they consider offensive behavior.
So here’s the thing.
Nearly one-year into running my private practice, I am going to stop apologizing for my business policies. The truth is, I’m not sorry I don’t take insurance. I’m not sorry that I charge no-shows for my time. And I’m certainly not sorry that my latest policy is to charge for my intake upon making the appointment (no-shows at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning or 8:00 p.m. at night – and I’ve had both – make me totally not sorry for this one).
I’m in a person-centered, helping profession, but at the end of the day, I have a business to run. My policies are sound and fair, and clearly spelled-out from the get-go. Apologizing makes me sound as if I did something wrong or am worried that I offended someone.
So I’m sorry – wait, not sorry, that I’m done apologizing. I’m proud of my business, and my practices, and for that, I’m not sorry.
I am nine months-plus into owning and running my private practice. From my first night in grad school through successive various agency work, it was my goal to work for myself as a sole practitioner. I opened my official doors on August 1, 2016 and want to share with you so far what I’ve learned.
There have been successes and set backs, and pretty much everything in between. I’m going to write about all of them here. I want to teach others who are considering hanging their own shingle over a shop certain things to do, and absolutely what not to do based on my own humble (and eye-opening) experience.
There’s a huge misconception in the mental health field about opening up your own business. The misconception is this: that people will care. I mean….don’t flatter yourself. You might be great at what you do. You might be marginally good-looking and charming. But you are 100%, absolutely, completely, unequivocally wrong that anyone will care. Trust me, I was one of those people with the same misperception before I started.
No one, I repeat, no one cares about your business.
Yeah, I said it.
Why does no one care? Because. Because there are other people out there that have the exact same thing, offer the exact same service or the exact same product. They’ve done it longer than you. They know more about it than you. Even if they don’t do it better than you, no one cares about that, either.
But you care. Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have taken the leap of faith and done it.
So how do you make other people care? Here are five things I did to make my private practice turn a reasonable profit in nine short months, and to make people care about (and utilize) my business:
- Find Your Niche – In San Antonio, counselors are everywhere. In my zip code alone, there are 40+ counselors within a 10-mile radius. So why choose me? Because I meet people in their homes. Because I provide “Walk & Talk” sessions, where I meet people at work, parks, trails, etc. Because I have dual licenses in Counseling and Substance Abuse. None of those other 40+ people do what I do. And that’s not an accident on my part.
- Hustle – I am a constant marketer. I tell people what I do all the time and am shameless about self-promotion. In the hours I am not seeing client, I am busy marketing. I launched this website (with help). I had marketing materials and business cards made that I hand out on the regular. I’ll write more in-depth about my marketing practices – and the hustle – in future posts.
- LinkedIn Yoself – LinkedIn has been invaluable for me in reaching out to the local mental health community (and beyond) to let people know I am available. I engage with local businesses and agencies as well as individuals about my practice.
- Meet Up – My goal this year is to have one meeting per week with an agency, individual or company that could utilize my services (and that I can refer clients to if needed). This has proved invaluable during the hours that I don’t see clients. If I have a blank day (and believe me, there are some of those), I reach out and set up a meeting or tour of a facility. I’ve had three of those “meetings” so far this week. I’m aiming for 52 meetings (minimum) in 2017.
- Social Media-ize – Build a social media presence for your counseling practice. It doesn’t take a ton of time or energy, just some effort and advance planning. You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as @jenniferseelpc. I am on Linkedin as well (see #3). I have a blog on my website (duh, obviously, you are reading). All of these help build my presence and spread my message, as well as connect with a vast audience and potential future clients.
I care about my business. I care about it a lot. I know you care about your counseling practice, too. So start making others care about it. Good luck to you, and check back here for more Private Practice Chronicles.
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