I started writing this “Private Practice Chronicles” series two years ago when I opened my practice. It was a way for me to write about the ups, downs and everything in-between. My chronicles of PP have been some of my most-read blogs, and it’s been fun for me to re-read them to see how far I’ve come in a relatively short period of time.
I’ve written about my mistakes here and here. Looking back over the last two years, though….well, I know I’ve made mistakes but, dang, I’ve also done a lot of things right. So today, I’m sharing six things I feel I’ve done well:
- I don’t try to solve everyone’s problems – When I first started out, I felt immense pressure to fix everyone and everything that walked through the door. That’s what a good counselor does, right? WRONG. I know here are some things that are simply not fixable. The only thing that can change is the level of acceptance in the client, and my job is to help them get there anyway I can.
- I set boundaries – Of course, I’m admittedly still a work in progress on this one, but I’m getting much, much better. I’m not answering every email or phone call or text that comes through on the weekends (or all hours, for that matter), and I end my last appointment of the day at 7:00 p.m. (I used to take 9:00 pm appointments, even on a Friday)!
- I keep the hustle up – Just because your practice starts taking off doesn’t mean you can sit back and rest on your laurels. I am constantly marketing myself and thinking of new ways to get new business in the door.
- I screw up – and own it. Double-booked clients? Been there. Called a client by another client’s name? Done that. Completely forgot about a business meeting I set up with someone I admire who squeezed me into his busy schedule? Yup, that’s me. I’m a human being. I’m imperfect. I never make excuses for my mistakes, I can only own them, apologize, then do my damndest not to repeat them.
- I stick to my guns – People told me to take insurance (I don’t). People told me to see everyone that walks through me door to grow my business (I don’t). People told me to take on a partner (I haven’t). People advised me to take on business contracts that, while lucrative…..would be the only reason why I was doing it. People told me to do lots of thing that, in my gut, I knew weren’t right for me or my business. It’s your practice, to run your way – not anyone else’s.
- Listen to others – Contrary to my previous point, there have been times where I have sought out advice from older and more experienced clinicians in private practice. Something a colleague said to me has resonated with me since my early days. We were talking about marketing and he told me he doesn’t spend a lot of time or money on it. Why not? I asked him, almost incredulous at his answer. He said this: “I spend my time reading and learning and just trying to be the best therapist I can be for my clients, and when I do that, I find that my business grows itself.” He has a successful practice, and this statement of his is true on many levels.
So there you have it, the six things I’ve done well. I’d love to hear from you and what you do well in your practice. Keep going and keep growing.
It’s a question I’m asked often. How, praytell, did a 40-something former marketing and journalism gal become a therapist?
It was a gradual move. In my previous career, I was in marketing and content writing. When my kids were small and I was moving around the country as a military spouse, I shifted to freelance writing. I wrote mostly for military publications and websites and it was great having the flexibility and ability to work from home (wherever home happened to be at the time) and around my kid’s schedules.
Then a funny thing happened. My kids started getting older and the pull to go back to work became stronger. In my writing world, though, I realized something: I was writing features and interviewing tons of people around the country on different topics. And they’d all tell me lots of stuff. Private stuff. The article topic wasn’t even discussed and people I’d talk to, mostly strangers, and usually on the phone, are telling me about their affairs, abortions, family problems. I remember distinctly one phone conversation where an enlisted soldier in Virginia, who had gone well over our 30-minute allotted phone interview time, said to me, ‘Gosh, you are just so easy to talk to. You really listened to me.”
Something clicked for me. I knew that I was easy to talk to – I’d been told that all my life. Moving around the country as a military spouse kinda forces you to talk with different people from many walks of life – in my case, Upstate New York, the Pacific Northwest and finally the Texas Hill Country.
But obviously there’s more to it than that.
I knew a fellow military spouse, an RN who also was pursuing her LPC that was in my book club at Ft. Hood. I spoke with her and asked her a ton of questions. How is the program? What do you have to do? She was completely encouraging and I’ll never forget her telling me this: “Girl, you have to do it. You’ll be great.”
So one year later, I find myself at 6:00 p.m. a Monday night in a classroom in downtown San Antonio, sitting in my first (of many) 3 hour graduate night-school classes for my Master’s in Counseling at UTSA. I had applied for and received a $4,000 grant from the Army (thanks, Uncle Sugah) towards my studies. For the next two and a-half years, I spent a minimum of two nights a week and two summers in class, pulled many late-nights writing papers, completed 400 closely-supervised clinical counseling hours, took two big national certification exams and graduated.
And I loved it. I counseled groups of teens at a Juvenille Justice Academy in downtown San Antonio. I did in-home case-management with at-risk youth and their families on the west and east sides. I worked at a crisis center, detox, and IOP. I visited clients in jail and detention centers. And now, 7 years after starting this journey, I have my own private practice.
I’m finally able to say, at age 46, that I love what I do – and that journalism degree? Well, I get to use my marketing and writing skills on a daily basis, just in a different way – to promote myself and market my own business, and of course, write this blog.
At the end of the day….even the most challenging of days (and believe me, there are many) here is what I know, and the answer(s) to why I became a therapist:
I became a therapist to help others.
I became a therapist to listen to others.
I became a therapist to learn from others.
I became a therapist because I know, from personal experience, that therapy works.
I became a therapist because I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Every time someone walks through my door and sits down in my office, I know what a privilege it is that they’ve chosen me to help them. That is never lost on me. My job, while demanding at times, is fulfilling in a way that no other job has been for me.
There is no better feeling than when a person tells me that I’ve changed their life, or helped them stop using, or made their relationship with their spouse/parent/child better.
So that’s why this former marketing girl is now a therapist. I plan to continue working in this field until I retire. And as long as people want to tell me their stories, I’ll continue to listen.
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.
Recent Comments