Hi, gang! I hope you guys know that I’m blogging for you! I hang out right here with you almost every day to give you great information to get you unstuck and motivated to take the next step to grow your private practice.
I’m giving you the good stuff that I know.
I’m listening to where you are most frustrated and challenged.
And, I‘m encouraging you to share all the resources that you already know about that have worked for you, too, so that as mental health professionals we don’t waste our time reinventing the wheel while building our businesses!
That’s exactly why I’m getting ready in the next few weeks to launch a quick little series on blogging basics! Shhhhh . . . ! It’s almost a secret but the details are coming!
Before I invite you to join me there, I thought I might ought to take time to talk to you about how blogging can help you get more clients . . . and referral sources, too! Here’s the deal . . . .
- If you are showing up online (by blogging) on a regular basis, you’re easier to find when people go looking for you. That’s because the search engines send you more love!
- If you are showing up with useful information, there’s a reason for your readers to remember you, return to your site, and to tell others about you, too.
- If the “you” that shows up is actually warm, friendly, and approachable, then your readers are more likely to call you when they need to see you because you’ve removed the barrier called “fear.”
- If you are generously sharing what you know, then your readers begin to trust you.
- If you can interact with your readers online, you are beginning to build relationships with them.
- And, when your readers (rather than total strangers) call you for appointments or to refer someone to you, you’ve already warmed them up to the idea of working with you!
If you still aren’t blogging the way that you know you need to be blogging, then we need to talk! If you are all ready to blog but still aren’t cranking out those weekly posts, leave me a comment below so that I can help. Otherwise, I’m just blogging into the wind without an echo i.e. making it up as I go along!
Oh, the universe works in mysterious ways! I’m terrible at keeping up a blogging schedule, and I’ve been procrastinating writing a new blog post this morning. As part of my procrastination, I checked my e-mail and found your message saying you had a new blog entry. So of course I immediately clicked on it (one– because I always immediately click on your new blog entries and two– because I was *procrastinating*!!!) and found this post about the importance of blogging. 🙂 So thanks! I’m off to write my blog post…right now.
P.S. Thanks for all the wonderful tips and advice you give, as well as the kicks in the pants. 😉 Ok, *now* I’m going….
So glad to help you jump start that blog post, Stephanie. Thank you for letting me know that I’m on track this morning. Why don’t you drop back in here to let us know when you actually get it up?
It’s up! 🙂 Feeling kind of scared about putting it out there like this, but here goes.
http://imageryandmusic.com/articles/?p=192
Stephanie! So glad you pushed through the nuisance of fear! Loved the imagery of fog and not knowing where you are going! It works that way often!
Hey, I noticed a couple of things on your website . . . . (1) I can’t remember and can’t find where you are geographically. City and state, please. And, (2) I’m so excited to see that you are a member of the Association for Women in Psychology! Me, too! And, I so love the group! Any chance you’ll be attending their conference in 2013? Would love to meet face to face . . . .
Stephanie! So glad you pushed through the nuisance of fear! Loved the imagery of fog and not knowing where you are going! It works that way often!
Hey, I noticed a couple of things on your website . . . . (1) I can’t remember and can’t find where you are geographically. City and state, please. And, (2) I’m so excited to see that you are a member of the Association for Women in Psychology! Me, too! And, I so love the group! Any chance you’ll be attending their conference in 2013? Would love to meet face to face . . . .
Tamara, thanks for the feedback! And also for pointing out that my city/state isn’t listed anywhere on the site– ack! Will have to get my web guy on that ASAP.
I hadn’t looked at the AWP conference info, so I’ll have to check that out! Attendance might be a possibility, and it would be lovely to meet you in person!
Great work Stephanie. I know how publishing a blog can make you feel truly vunerable but what I’ve learned is if your content is great, helpful and consice, you will get nothing but positive responses. And, those responses are usually what gives me the drive to press the “Publish” button or “Send” thereby making my blog post go live.
Good Luck and keep up the good work.
Christine
Christine, I appreciate you reaching out with supportive comments here. It strengthens our community and reflects on your own collaborative nature. Thank you for being part of our community and taking your time to offer support to a colleague
Thanks, Christine. 🙂 Appreciate your positivity!
Hi Tamara,
Thanks for posting this and remindign ME of the importanct of blogging. I have been blogging regularly but now have another website that focuses on my other niche and I’m debating whether to blog regularly. Have you come across private practioners who have two websites and are doing two blogs or thinking about it? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts about managing two different blogs. Thanks in advance!
Hi, Christine! Oh, yeah . . . I know of therapists that do it. Me, for one and I really struggle with it! [Sigh . . . .] Here’s the link to my clinical sight. The truth is I started my clinical site even before this website and, as my friend and author Beth Hayden would say, it’s virtually a blog orphan!
This is one of those times that I need to say “Do as I say . . . and not as I do” because an abandoned (or even very dated) blog looks unkempt, “old,” and like you don’t care about the work that you do. And, it really doesn’t matter that you do care . . . . That’s not the impression you are leaving your visitors with when you ignore your website, allow links to fail, and leave dated posts online. In fact, if you can’t keep up with the maintenance and posting of a second website, you need to take it down.
Christine, thanks for dropping in today to chat! Comments and questions make this site so much richer! And, obviously I needed your nudge, too!
Hi Tamara,
Even though you are on the other side of the country, I’m in NY, you really do inspire me. So, thank you! I definitely don’t want my website to look “outdated” or neglected so I will have to put in the extra effort. I’m sure someway I will find the inspiration and content.
By the way, I like your other website as well.
Christine
Christine, that’s so nice of you to say! Hey, I forgot to ask . . . don’t you want to let us know about your “other” website, too? If so, feel free to leave the URL here so others can check you out there, too!
Thanks for asking! Here is the website…. http://www.christinemvalentin.com. Feel free to let me know what you think. Any and all comments are welcomed, even from other readers!
Thanks again Tamara.
🙂 You’re so welcome, Christine!
I have two blogs, two web sites, two Facebook pages, two Twitter accounts. One for my play therapy practice http://www.pamdyson.com and the other for my play therapy training services http://www.stlplaytherapy.com
It takes a bit of time to manage two of everything but for the most part they’re complimentary. I like keeping my two businesses separate from one another.
Pam, I’m with you! I like keeping my clinical work and my consulting / coaching work separate, too. It seems cleaner for me. You do a brilliant job with your blogs and with your social media in general. Was just commenting on Pinterest where someone had pinned some of your videos how great the content is that you share. I can always take inspiration from you, Pam!
Pam, I like what you have to say about insurance on your pamdyson.com site. You really stand up for yourself when you say that people choose you based on your reputation not on whether or not an insurance company will pay for your services.
I plan to add similar wording to my kordenbrockchristiancounseling.com site, if you don’t mind.
Hi Tawnya! Feel free to use my words regarding fee for service. I added that to my website several months ago after finding something similar on another website. I contact that therapist and asked if I could use his words as a guide and he gave me permission. Told me he and based it on something he saw somewhere else. One think I’ve noticed since I’ve added it is a drop in the number of calls where the first question they ask me is I accept their insurance. I understand why people want to use their insurance but I also want them to be aware of options and of what they can get/expect going private pay or using insurance.
Thanks, Pam – Can I assume anyone who reads this is also welcome to use your language concerning fees?
Yes!
I started a second website/blog this year because I wanted to write inspirational posts, but also keep my play therapy blog and since they are different interestes of mine, keep them separate. I am also in the process of moving everything to a self hosted site from blogger (which is challenging but fun) and am trying to decide if there is a way to meld both into one site, or should I keep them separate sites?
Ohhhh, Jill, I hope someone here has some thoughts on this. I’m no help here because there is not a technical cell in my brain. I have no idea if it’s possible to merge those sites or not from the technical side. It would be such a shame though if there is not a way to that and that you then end up losing your content! I think you’ve been blogging for a while, right?
And, that reminds me . . . when you are considering your blogging platform, you need to think long term and ask questions about these types of things. For example, I’ve been blogging here for a little over 3 years. I would want to be able to take all of my content – including all the wonderful comments and resources that you guys have shared – if I ever moved to a different platform or website. Asking those questions ahead of time may be deal breakers for you guys like they are for me. And, many of those “bundled” services websites make it extremely difficult, costly, or impossible to do so.
That’s exactly why I tell therapists that it’s important to choose your blogging platform for the long term. Moving a blog with a decent amount of content to a different platform can be costly, difficult, or even impossible to do. Among the costs (in addition to the money) is the time you are down from the internet, the likelihood that you will lose followers (and possibly not regain them), etc. The favor / clout you have gained with the search engines will be lost as well so you’ll be starting from scratch. When you are factoring in the price of your website / blogging platform, make sure you are thinking 5, 10, even 20 years down the road. It’s like buying an office space online. You don’t want to be moving your office or your website every year or two.
Tamra, my cousin actually gave me the info on how to move my content and re-directed it without losing google clout but I will still always have to have a blogger account. I tried it with my new blog just as a test run since it’s fairly new and it worked.
What I meant by merging I meant I wonder if I could have two blogs on one website or is it better to keep them separate?
Yes, Jill, I know that’s possible for you but it’s not always possible for some of those other platforms:)
Websites do best when they are very targeted / focused. If the content of the two blogs can be merged into one without losing your focus, that would work. If not, then I would maintain two different sites so that the focus of your audience is not blurred.
Hi Tamara,
I will be glad for you to share information about blogging, since I am just starting one. As soon as I get it set up properly, I will begin adding posts.
Right now, I’m having trouble figuring out why my page tabs at the top are not showing.
Thanks for your work.
Tawnya! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out! I hope you’ll be back often to share your concerns and your resources, too!
Tawnya,
I don’t know what website host or software you are using, but I’m building my website using WordPress (it’s not up right now because I’m still waiting on one particular document from someone else). I was writing the different pages without the website being published, and they don’t show up in the tab bar at the top until they are published. I don’t know whether that is what you are experiencing or not, but if it is, hopefully that helps.
Hi, Lauren. Hey, just want to add that what you are doing is really smart – writing up the different pages now as you have time. I see so many therapists who just wait until some web developer needs that stuff and then writing it under pressure with looming deadlines. The content on your website . . . things like who you are and what services you offer . . . how you work and your theoretical orientation are so important . . . . They are too important to throw together in haste.
Lauren, thanks for the idea. Actually, I figured it out and now have my page tabs showing. Although, I have only begun writing what I want each page to say and haven’t published them yet.
As Tamara said, it’s important to not throw something together just to get it online.
Hi Tamara, I for one would like some input about what blogging sites are “best” (to me, this means free :-), easy to use, and easy for readers to find.) I have tried to start a blog on WordPress, but have not gotten familiar enough with it yet to accomplish much. I wonder what sites others recommend? I do not have my own website yet, and also wonder how necessary that is. My practice is mostly full, and as a result I don’t want to take on a lot of time-consuming computer work in the evenings, but on the other hand I love to write and think I could have useful things to say without my goal necessarily being to get more people into my office. Thanks for another timely topic for your readers!
Hi, Susan! Welcome back! WordPress really is the standard bearer in blogging and I do not see that changing any time soon. They do some things really well. So there is WordPress.com . . . and there is also WordPress.org. When you are thinking about “free” I want you to consider what that really means.
My website is on a WordPress.org platform. That means that I had to pay for the particular theme i.e. template that my website uses (a one time fee of about $50? I think). This particular template is a bit of an upgrade from those available on WordPress.com (which is also a good platform); this one allows me greater flexibility and ability to “grow” by adding new bells and whistles to my site as my practice grows. I also pay for web hosting with Bluehost (maybe $10 / month).
And, here’s what’s important about me hosting my own site rather than using one of those “packaged” sites that bundles your website and hosting together – I own it. No company can simply shut down and take my years of blogging down with it! That’s not the case for those sites that bundle their services.
I have used blogger for three years and have been very happy with it. It is free and over time has improved a lot of their themes and it’s really easy to use and navigate. There are some limitations, such as I don’t own it and wordpress.org is more flexible. I am working on a new self hosted site for more flexibility and growth potential, and paid for hosting through bluehost which came out to about $5.00/month for a three year term (all paid up front really). I am finding that there is a learning curve with wordpress but i’m technically minded and there are really helpful tutorials out there on wordpress. Bluehost I have also found has very good customer service, including being able to chat with a tech person and have been able to do a lot of the work myself. While it is taking more time than probably paying a designer, i found that 1. I enjoy designing it myself, 2. i don’t have $$ to pay someone to do it right now. you can view my blogger blog at http://www.jillosborne.org, and the wordpress one is http://www.jillosbornelpc.com, which is not finished yet, but it’s getting there.
Jill, thank you so much for sharing an alternative to WordPress and desribing your thought process and experience! That’s so helpful to others who aren’t quite as far along!
Thanks for more encouragement to start a blog, Tamara. I’ve been thinking about blogging, have been encouraged to blog, and continue to run up against the wall that says, “What would I blog about?” I would enjoy hearing from others about topic ideas, and perhaps we could collaborate as a springboard to creativity. One thought I had was blogging about local mental health resources, after doing interviews with people in the field. I believe it would be a great way to network.
Thanks for your encouragement,
Patricia
Hi, Patricia! Welcome to our community here and thanks for taking time to comment, too!
There’s only a million and one things to blog about if you just know how to capture those ideas. I’m sure others here can suggest specific topics that might fit for you. And, if you are interested in learning how to either come up with those ideas from scratch or what to do with them after you capture them, then stay tuned! The details are almost here!
Hey, Patricia, I just noticed that you don’t have a little picture of you next to your comments. You’re missing an opportunity to help people remember who you are. If you want to have a little picture of you show up in your comments, you can find out how right here. It’s really simple – I promise!
Hi Tamara,
I’m looking forward to your upcoming series! My own blogging schedule tends to be on a whim and driven more by inspiration than by necessity. At times, fitting blogging and communicating with other bloggers into the work week feels outright overwhelming. I find myself asking, “How does she DO it?” as your timely and insightful blogs pop into my inbox. I hope to learn a few tricks around developing and maintaining a schedule!
Hi, Deanna! Welcome back! And, stay tuned because I’ve got two different series coming up on blogging [Ooops – wasn’t quite ready to mention that yet but I can’t help myself!] and I’m thinking that at least one of those is definitely going to help you get on blogging track, stay on blogging track, generate blogging inspiration, and keep you committed, too!
“How do I DO it?” YES! That’s exactly what I’m going to tell you and I can hardly wait!!!! I have learned some hugely helpful tricks in scheduling and in developing content and formatting and . . . and . . . and . . . ! Just you wait and see!
You can always write more than one post at a time when you have down time (or the inspiration, which is when I do it) and then you can schedule them on your blog platform to post later.
Hi, Deanna! Welcome back! And, stay tuned because I’ve got two different series coming up on blogging [Ooops – wasn’t quite ready to mention that yet but I can’t help myself!] and I’m thinking that at least one of those is definitely going to help you get on blogging track, stay on blogging track, generate blogging inspiration, and keep you committed, too!
“How do I DO it?” YES! That’s exactly what I’m going to tell you and I can hardly wait!!!! I have learned some hugely helpful tricks in scheduling and in developing content and formatting and . . . and . . . and . . . ! Just you wait and see!
Hi Tamara,
Thanks for this. My problem seems to be a “blogging block”. Every time I think about blogging I go blank and can come up with no ideas for what to blog about. I teach graduate school and I have no problem talking to people in class and, of course, in therapy, but I have the hardest time figuring out what I should write in a blog.
Is this familiar to you? I’d love to hear your comments.
Thanks,
Jeffrey
Hi, Jeffrey! Welcome to Private Practice from the Inside Out! Just checked out your website and it’s lovely! Clean, fresh, easy to navigate and feels hopeful! Nice job!
I do know about “blogger’s block!” It doesn’t make sense, does it – to be a really intelligent guy who is probably never at a loss for words in therapy or in class. But, when you look at that blank screen . . . YIKES! I’ve learned a lot of really great tricks to jump start the process – way too many to list here. But I don’t want to leave you hanging, Jeffrey, so I’ll leave you with one of my favorite (and the inspiration behind it) . . . .
My dad died about 20 years ago. In his earlier years he was mentally as sharp as a tack. However, as he rolled into his 70’s, he got a little fuzzier in his thinking and that really bugged him. But, being the practical, left-brained engineer-type that he was, he started carrying around this little spiral notebook that he called his “Brain Book.” He carried that little notebook with him everywhere he went and I saw him writing in it all day long because he “didn’t want to forget.” I regret that when he died I didn’t keep those little notebooks. They didn’t make any sense to me or anyone else that read them, though. For example, he would have a list of “Milk, Eggs, and Cheese” and right under that was the Latin name for some flower he saw at a rest area on the highway. And, that would be followed up with “Turn right at the stop sign and then right again at the next light.” And, then there might be a Bible verse and a doctors name and . . . well, you get the idea. He dumped everything in there.
So, with a little bit different spin, I want to suggest that you start your own Brain Book. But, this one is for you to simple brainstorm ideas and also collect ideas as you are reading, as you are watching TV, and as you are having lunch w/ friends. Just one single, easy-to-reach place to start to curate those passing thoughts and brilliant ideas that may turn into your evergreen blog posts!
Jeffrey, I’m still working on the content for my two blogging classes and I’ll definitely be incorporating this into the lengthier class because there’s a lot to say and a lot of ways to get past blogger’s block. Give me just a little longer and I’ll have this piece incorporated and polished up and ready to share with you guys.
In the mean time, if you guys have other ideas on how to move past blogger’s block, I hope you’ll share them with us so that we can all get busy bloggin’ and finding those clients, too!
Hey, Jeffrey . . . I just noticed that you don’t have a little picture of you next to your comments. You’re missing an opportunity to help people remember who you are. If you want to have a little picture of you show up in your comments, you can find out how right here. It’s really simple – I promise!
I wonder if anyone could provide some clarification on something…it’s something I’ve been struggling with for quite some time.
According to some of my reading and classes and supervisors, as counselors, I was taught to be careful that I do not give counseling advice to people who are not my clients because I could be held liable for that. If I was to blog about, say, favorite counseling techniques or worksheets, is that different in some manner?
I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. Thanks!
I’m no expert about this, but I’ve seen many counseling websites that have a disclaimer at the bottom of all pages that says something along the lines of “everything here is for informational and educational purposes only and isn’t meant to be a substitute for in-person medical/psychological evaluation and treatment– please consult your medical doctor or therapist if you’re experiencing these issues.” Your professional association and/or malpractice insurance provider might also have a legal department that can answer the question as it specifically pertains to your practice.
Stephanie’s right. Your professional associations and / or malpractice insurance providers will definitely have advice about the ethical parameters and the legality of these types of posts.
Thanks for the ideas. After I get my practice going, I’ll look into contacting ACA and my liability insurance before I do any blogging. I really appreciate the supportive environment here.
You’re so welcome, Lauren!
Yes, Lauren, that’s correct. The ethical concerns behind this are several . . . . You cannot do therapy without a proper assessment. Likewise, you must attend to confidentiality. Publishing a list of your favorite counseling techniques or worksheets might not be considered counseling but I would ask you to consider two things . . . . (1) Who is your target that you are marketing / speaking to (2) And, what are the problems you are trying to solve / solutions you are trying to present by sharing techniques and worksheets there?
Favorite counseling techniques or worksheets would be more likely to appeal to and solve problems for other mental health professionals. If that is your target market and purpose, then perhaps that would be a great thing to share. Otherwise, you might want to re-think the focus of your content.
Maybe your “brain book” is the answer to this, but I was wondering if you think it’s a good idea, before you start publishing a blog, to build up a bit of a stock of pieces, or at least ideas, a kind of backlog to fall back on?
Mike, I’ve been blogging for several years. As a child therapist and parent coach I find that I repeat a lot of my blogs, not word for word necessarily, but with updated information as the situations families face is sometimes seasonal in nature. Holiday stress, starting school, etc. This way I’m not continually having to come up with all new content.
That’s not a bad practice either! As new eyes continue to follow us on our blogs and elsewhere, much of the information needs to be recycled.
Mike, I do think that before you start publicizing the existence of your blog, you should definitely have something there for your readers to feast on. Otherwise, they’ll show up and see nothing! First blog posts that say “Hey, this is my first blog post!” come across as a novice. And, the truth is that you are not likely to be a novice in the world of mental health so why would you want to come across that way.
My social media guru / friend, Beth Hayden, advised me to have at least 3 really good posts up before I start telling people about my blog. Personally, I prefer to see more “meat” there than just 3. If you have everything else in place for your blog then, I like to see at least 5 quality posts up. And, if you are not quite ready with everything else in place, then I say put yourself on a writing schedule and crank out as many quality pieces as you can. And, you are right! I wouldn’t publish them all at once . . . (and I don’t). I schedule them (because that’s one of the FABULOUS things about a WordPress platform – you CAN schedule them to publish automatically whenever you want them to appear). So, rather than put up 10 on a single day, I schedule them to show up at a specific interval. For someone just starting, I recommend once / week if possible.
Tamara,
I probably wont be able to start blogging until after business stablizes and after I finish dissertation 🙁
I really wish I could devote more time to it!
Hi, Carla! I know you’ve been busy because I haven’t heard from you in ages! Welcome back!
I certainly get that working on your dissertation is taking up boat loads of time. However, I was just talking to a colleague today about her own misconceptions (and maybe yours, too) that blogging is something to do after you’ve got your business up and running. That’s missing the biggest opportunity of all! Blogging is how you can help potential clients actually find you online.
And, by the way . . . there are lots of little tricks and shortcuts that actually allow you to throw up a blog post really quickly, too. I understand that you may prefer to market your practice in ways other than blogging . . . and that’s certainly do-able. But, don’t put off blogging because you think it is going to be labor-intensive or time-consuming. It doesn’t have to be and I’m getting ready to show you guys exactly what I mean.
Well considering I have not been really working on my dissertation since I have been sooooo busy(and time is ticking rapidly on that)! A consultant that I hired to get some of the workload off me quit (the day after she signed the contract), and now I have had to cover the sites that she was assigned to. So right now I am every aspect of the practice (administrative, service provider, etc). The only thing I do not do is the actual billing. So once I finally get all this off my plate I will be able to devote more time to marketing. I really want to blog, but taking the time away from my four page to do list to make it happen makes me feel a little guilty that I could be devoting that time to knocking some of those things out.
OK, Carla, so my litmus test (and maybe yours is different) is . . . Do you have all the clients you want? If not, then you need to do something different than you’ve been doing . . . and that something different might be blogging! What’s your litmus test?
I found a website planning guide at the following link that I am going to use, thought i’d share
http://hswsolutions.com/documents/web_planning_worksht.pdf
Jill, thank you! This is so helpful to me personally and professionally. I was just talking with a colleague on Friday who was asking for systems to put in place. This guide systemetizes the process nicely. I address these things with my consulting clients – chunking it down into smaller pieces. However, it’s great to have the big picture here all at once and accessible to everyone!
I so appreciate your willingness and ability to collaborate and share as we continue to curate information and inspiration here. Thank you!
I always like to share, I plan to use it for my website transition, since I am in transition phase 🙂
Tamara,
I love this entry because you are so right: blogging can make a world of difference for a small business owner. I also know that some people just don’t have the time to spend writing a new blog post each month, and that is where the Blog Babe can help.
If blogging just isn’t your thing, “I take your stuff and turn it into blog posts so you don’t have to deal with it.” Easy peasy.
To find out more visit http://www.theblogbabe.com.
Allison
Hi Allison,
Thank you for posting your website information. I took a look at your website and I love how concise and simple it explains what you do. Blogging is important, in my opinion, for a variety of reasons and I’m happy to say my business is picking up to the point where I’m finding it hard to blog. The only problem I found on your website was there was no way to contact you with questions re: fees without having to sign up first. I would love to hear more about what your rates are.
Thank you,
Christine M. Valentin
christine.m.valentin@gmail.com
Christine, I see so many psychotherapists do that, too – forget to add all forms of contact or share info about fees. Thanks for the reminder!