Over the years, I've often read advice to the effect that, when I've written something like a blog post or an ezine article, I should look at how else I might use that content, or how I could "repurpose" my efforts. Occasionally, I guess I have edited something I've written and used it elsewhere, but not often. It does make sense to me that I should, but I just never got myself organised enough to do it with any consistency. But now, I hope to change that, at least a little! You see ...
I've been following my own advice recently and getting a bit more active again on online forums (fora?), sharing my knowledge of what it takes to build a practice and offering help where I can. I posted this question - "If you have recently started out in Private Practice, or are thinking about making that leap to work for yourself as a therapist, what question(s) do you need answered to help support you on your way?" - on several LinkedIn groups about a week ago, and you know what, some of them have been buzzing! I've been rattling off responses, thoughts, comments, ideas, all over the place and it dawned on me that maybe some of my readers here might appreciate hearing some of these thoughts too! I mean, I've put a bit of effort into my response, so ... I plan to "repurpose" some of my replies over a series of blog posts for your consideration. If you fancy commenting or picking up on any of the points raised, please feel free to do so.
Oh, and by the way, as was my hope (and intention, of course) ... these efforts have already stated to bring me in some direct client work! Trust me, I do know something of which I ramble on about ....
But how do you identify who to connect with? This takes you back to thinking about who your clients are or will be. Who is your ideal client or client group? You can be a generalist if you want to be in your practice, but to develop the practice you aspire to, I always encourage people to think about who they want to work with and look to become the "go-to" person for that group. Build your practice with all-comers to begin with, but as you develop your niche, you can narrow your focus to the clients you love working with. Sound good?
So, once you know who you want to work with, think about who else connects to them; who else serves them? Do you want to work with Pain Management, for example? Who else sees that client group? Medical professionals yes, but what about chiropractors, osteopaths, physics, acupuncturists ... who else? Now look at what you can do to make contact with these other professionals, to connect with them and share your services with. Offer to meet with them, give talks to their practice, provide information products that they can use with their clients ... and let them know that if they have clients who they feel need therapy rather than physical treatments, you are on hand to offer this - and you'll be happy to refer on any of your clients who do present with a physical need to their practices too.
Building referral partnerships widens your potential pool of referrers and creates momentum for your practice. But you need to nurture these relationships - it's not a once-off meeting; keep in touch and look to see what else they need from you to help in their business and you'll always be the first person they think of when they have a client who needs therapy services in front of them.
And as you've been in a practice for 6 years ... look at what you can offer to their clients that might add to their services too .. keep building relationships ...
Let me know if that's helpful. What do you plan to do to move this idea forward in your practice now ...
Oh, and by the way, as was my hope (and intention, of course) ... these efforts have already stated to bring me in some direct client work! Trust me, I do know something of which I ramble on about ....
Q1 (from Jessica) "I am just building my private practice after working at a clinic for the past six years. My burning question (and the one I am sure you hear often): What are the most effective marketing strategies that will get clients in the door?"
My response: Great question, and yes, it is a common one, but the fact it comes up so much really does show how important it is for every practitioner. My initial response is going to be this: Build Relationships. We're in a referrals business, so primarily, clients will come to us because they've been signposted to us by someone else; an insurance company, a medical professional; a fellow therapist, any number of others. Yes, some clients will find us via web searches and come direct, but your marketing efforts should, I believe, be primarily rooted in creating - and maintaining - good relationships with potential referrers.
But how do you identify who to connect with? This takes you back to thinking about who your clients are or will be. Who is your ideal client or client group? You can be a generalist if you want to be in your practice, but to develop the practice you aspire to, I always encourage people to think about who they want to work with and look to become the "go-to" person for that group. Build your practice with all-comers to begin with, but as you develop your niche, you can narrow your focus to the clients you love working with. Sound good?
So, once you know who you want to work with, think about who else connects to them; who else serves them? Do you want to work with Pain Management, for example? Who else sees that client group? Medical professionals yes, but what about chiropractors, osteopaths, physics, acupuncturists ... who else? Now look at what you can do to make contact with these other professionals, to connect with them and share your services with. Offer to meet with them, give talks to their practice, provide information products that they can use with their clients ... and let them know that if they have clients who they feel need therapy rather than physical treatments, you are on hand to offer this - and you'll be happy to refer on any of your clients who do present with a physical need to their practices too.
Building referral partnerships widens your potential pool of referrers and creates momentum for your practice. But you need to nurture these relationships - it's not a once-off meeting; keep in touch and look to see what else they need from you to help in their business and you'll always be the first person they think of when they have a client who needs therapy services in front of them.
And as you've been in a practice for 6 years ... look at what you can offer to their clients that might add to their services too .. keep building relationships ...
Let me know if that's helpful. What do you plan to do to move this idea forward in your practice now ...
More "repurposing" soon ... but if you want direct support, feel free to d
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