Tips For Creating A Great Therapy Website, Video Interview with Kat Love

If you're creating or revamping your website, you want to hear what Kat Love has to say. She's a web designer who builds sites just for therapists, and she was generous enough to allow me to pick her brain.

Warning: You’ll wish you’d seen this before you created your website!

Below are some gems from the interview. 

One common misconception:

A common misconception is that your web designer will create your entire site. Web designers don’t create the written content for your site. You need to have your content prepared before the designer begins. You can work with a copywriter who will create the content for you, or you can go through the process of creating that content yourself.

Therapists usually underestimate how much time and energy it takes to write even one good page for a site. Strategizing, writing, and editing good content is time consuming.

Mistakes Kat sees therapists making over and over again:

Many therapists have a lack of clarity about what’s necessary in terms of both design and functionality on your website. For example, having share buttons on a services page distracts the visitor from reading about how you can help them. It sends the wrong message to ask the visitor to share your services page on social media. It’s important to think carefully about what you want to invite your visitor to do.

More is NOT always better.

When your visitor is pulled in many directions on your website, they are less likely to take the right next step. Having too many calls to action leads to paralysis. You as the professional need to guide your visitor to the next thing they should do on your site.

Your website is often the first impression a potential client has of you.

If they arrive on your site and experiences chaos and overwhelm, they might expect to feel that way in therapy with you. If they go to your site and find the experience clear and comfortable, they will expect to find therapy with you clear and comfortable too.

Advice about images:

Images are really important. They communicate on a different level from anything else. Colors, layouts, spacing, and copy matter, but images are in their own category because they are so quickly understood and felt. We need to be thoughtful when we choose images.

Three categories of images to use on your site:

1. Images that validate their experience: For example, if you’re working with people who struggle with depression, you would use images that connect with what depression feels like.

2. Destination images: These images represent where the visitor wants to be. For the example of depression, you might choose images that bring up feelings of calm, balance, or freedom. Feel into what your ideal clients desire in their life and choose images to reflect those things.  

3. Calming images: These are more emotionally neutral. They promote a sense of trust and don’t elicit emotional activation. One example of a calming image would be a beach.

From these 3 categories, choose images that speak to the entire journey your potential clients travel through in therapy with you.

The process you use when choosing your images is similar to the process you need to use when you write your copy. You need to identify the pain your clients experience, the gains your clients hope for, and the solution you offer.

Before You Hire A Designer:

If you’ve got a do-it-yourself website and want to work with a designer to bring your site to the next level, here are some things you can do to prepare and have a better result.

1. Clarity: Get clarity around what it is you do and who you serve. If you’re clear on who you are trying to attract and how you serve them, you’ve got the foundation for everything you create in your business, including your website

2. Copy: Assess what’s working on your current site and what isn’t. Evaluate whether your copy is actually speaking to your ideal client. Answer these questions: Is your navigation easy or difficult? Is your organization of content logical? Look at what’s on each page from the visitor’s point of view. (and remember you can hire help for this!)  

3. Design: Think about the color, images, and layout. See what’s working and not working with the design on your current site. Research by visiting other websites and tracking your emotions when you see different things. (How do you feel when you look at a website that is bright red?) When you hire your designer, you’ll be the best client ever, and they’ll really be able to help you create an effective site.

Links

You're gonna want more from Kat. 

Here's her article about how to choose images for your website. 

Kat Love's website: KatLove.com

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Take the Challenge: 30 Days To a Strong Referral Network (Back by popular demand)

If you need an infusion of clients who are a great fit for you, building referral partnerships is the fastest way to make it happen. This isn’t networking as usual. It’s a targeted and strategic plan to create relationships that will bring you great referrals over and over again.

Participants have said:

“I met with one new colleague who has already referred me a new client.”

“I was able to take steps with this challenge that I couldn’t before.”

“I have tools I can use after the challenge.”

"Thanks for all the resources you shared in this (FREE!) challenge."

When you sign up you'll receive your first assignment right away. 

You'll also receive weekly practice building tips, NEVER spam. You can easily unsubscribe at any time. 

Need A Few New Clients NOW?

“I need a few new clients right away.”

I often hear this from therapists. It’s time to bring in more income to pay your bills. Maybe you’ve had some clients graduate recently, and you need to fill those slots. Maybe your expenses have gone up. Perhaps you’re just tired of waiting for your practice building strategies to pay off.

Even for this very short-term goal, you need to make a plan that moves you closer to achieving your long-term vision for your practice. You can tackle a short-term goal in a way that takes you OFF track from your long-term vision, or you can tackle that same goal in a way that brings you CLOSER to it.

For example, applying another insurance panel will take you OFF track from a long-term goal of creating a private pay only practice.

Slow down and figure out your long-term vision of what you’d like your practice to be like.

The first question I usually ask in a consultation with a therapist is: “What’s the difference between the private practice you have now and the one you’d really love to have?”

One part of that answer is how much money you’d like to make.

Just a few other parts of your vision are: who you’d like to be working with, what methods you’d like to be using, what hours you’d prefer to work, and what sort of office you’d like to be working in.

After you’ve tapped into that vision you can make a plan to bring in a few clients fast. Here are some potential ways:

Speak. 

When you speak for an organization where your right-fit clients are hanging out, you have a chance to bring many people into your practice quickly. Make sure you’ve got a process to help people sign up for a free consultation at the talk.

Network. 

Reach out to a small number of colleagues to get together with. Bring your calm and generous self to these meetings. This is about creating or renewing long-term authentic relationships. When you’re top of mind for a number of people, you’re more likely to get referrals.

Make some key changes to your online presence. 

Creating a great online presence requires a thorough and time-consuming process, but there are a few important things you can do quickly. Doing these things is sort of like tidying up quickly before a friend comes over.

Edit your homepage so that it speaks more directly to your right-fit clients using words they would use.

Make sure your site makes it easy to take the next step to work with you.

If your photo isn’t great, get a new one taken.

Check your directory listings and make sure they highlight how you’re different from other therapists.

All of these practice building activities can take you closer to your long-term vision as long as you’re clear on what that vision is.

Is it time to create the private practice only you can create? Apply for a free consultation now. 

Find out what you need to do next to bring in more therapy clients. Take my Private Practice Strength Assessment. 

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Doing The Taxes For Your Therapy Practice?

Are your finances disorganized?

Maybe you’re struggling with tracking down all the numbers you need to get your taxes ready, and you’re feeling frustrated, anxious or even ashamed. You’re not alone. Lots of therapists in private practice lack a clear set of financial systems.

When you're preparing your taxes, you're reminded of every way that your financial systems are failing you. 

It’s a good time to consider making your systems better. Maybe you’re considering investing in a bookkeeping application to help you with your finances. It may be a great idea, but before you do, get clear on the systems you need.

The tool you choose is less important than the consistent habit of using whatever system you have. Even if you only have a spreadsheet and a calendar, you can track the numbers you need. I use quicken for personal and business finances, but there’s no one system that’s perfect. Just a few others to check out are FreshBooks, Quickbooks, Xero, and YNAB. As you read this, think about how you’ll create a system that suits you and your business.

There are a minimum of 3 things that you need tracking systems for in order to make your taxes easier next year. 

1. expenses paid

2. bills yet to be paid

3. collected and uncollected fees

When you have a hole in those tracking systems, you lose time and money. You also experience a feeling of overwhelm every time you need a information and you can’t find it. Disorganization leads you to spend time trying to track down information for client receipts, lose money when you don’t claim all your business expenses, pay late fees, or lose money in uncollected fees.

Now I'll go over the bare minimum you need to do in order to track those 3 things. 

Expenses Paid

Daily or weekly:

• Keep a big envelope or file for your business receipts for each year. File ALL of your business receipts in that envelope. Sure, you can file your receipts in several different categorized files. If you’re in business by yourself, one file is probably going to be easier and less time consuming.

• When you receive receipts online, label them or put them in a special email folder so you can find them easily. You’ll need all of those receipts if you get audited.

• Categorize your expenses. If you use a program to track your finances, go in and choose or create a category for every business expense. If you’re using a spreadsheet, create categories that you can use each month. If you don’t do this daily or weekly, you’re likely to forget what some expenses were. Use categories that you’ll use for your schedule C at tax time. If you don’t know what they are, look up Schedule C categories. Go ahead. It’s easy to google.

Monthly:

• Add up all of your business expenses so that you have a picture of how much you’re spending in each category and how much you’re spending overall. If you’re using a bookkeeping application, you can have it generate this report. Easy peasy.

Annually:

• File the past year's big envelope. Start a new big envelope.

• Add up all of those monthly numbers for each category to create your schedule C.

Bills yet to be paid

• Use a separate bank account for business expenses.

• Put any bills you can on autopay. Keep a list of these so that you’ll notice if any aren’t automatically paid due to a glitch in the system or an expired credit card. Losing your URL due to a late payment would be a real bummer.

• Keep all incoming paper bills in one place. Once a week pay those bills, write a note on each bill of the date you paid, and then file them right away (with your other expenses paid).

Collected and Uncollected Fees

Daily:

• Use one system to record the sessions and fees you collect every single day. The low tech system is to use your calendar and make a note right there of what your client paid and whether there is any fee to be collected. Be consistent with your record keeping so that no uncollected fees fall between the cracks. Online scheduling systems like simple practice and cliniko can hold your scheduling and fee information in one place.

• Generate any requested receipts.

Monthly

• Add up all collected fees (be sure not to include any sessions for which fees weren’t collected). Record this monthly number.

Annually

• Add up all of the months of collected fees. That’s your number for Gross receipts for your Schedule C.

Of course there's much more you can track, and over time you may choose to use a more sophisticated set of systems. First get really consistent with the basics, and notice the peace of mind it brings you to be more organized.

Is it time to get some help with building the business only you can create? Apply for a free consultation with me.

How To Answer The Question: "How Do You Work?"

What’s the question that makes a lot of therapists nervous?

"How do you work?"

When you’re on the phone with a potential client, they are likely to want to know what you charge and when you’re available, and then comes that question: “How do you work?”

Many therapists find themselves falling into therapist-speak at this moment.

The words you've learned as a therapist don't belong in this conversation.

You may never hear feedback about how little of your answer the potential client understood. You might walk away from the conversation thinking they have a pretty good idea of the way you work, while the potential client is thinking, “I have no idea what the heck they just said.”

They aren’t likely to give you that feedback because 1. they don’t want to look stupid, and 2. they don’t want to be rude.

I say this with love. You could be losing potential clients who are a great fit for you if you answer this question in therapist-speak. Come up with a better answer so that your potential clients can make a better decision about whether to work with you. If you’re the best therapist for them, they’ll be more likely to realize that.

So what should you say?

There are a couple of great ways to answer the question.

One way to answer the question “how do you work?” is to take the description you would normally give of your method and describe it with no therapy words. If you’ve ever played the game “Taboo,” this might feel familiar.

For example, if you normally say:

“I use depth psychotherapy” (followed by your therapy-speak description), try something like this: “I help my clients figure out what’s going on deep, deep down. You know how sometimes you think or feel something painful, and you’re not sure where it comes from? I help my clients find out where that stuff is coming from so that we can make some really lasting changes.”

Another way to answer the “how do you work?” question is to think about the clients who are the best fit for you, and describe one important thing about the work you do with them. By focusing on one thing, you help them imagine what it would be like to be your client.

For example, I might say:

“One thing I do with clients is help them let go of shame. Most of us carry around shame, and it gets in our way in lots of parts of our lives, like at work or in our close relationships.”

When you find an answer that feels right to you, practice it a few times. Don’t memorize it. You might use the same phrase or sentence to get you started each time, but make sure you’re speaking in a grounded way rather than just reciting your lines. Then practice your answer on a few friends who are NOT therapists. If they understand what you’re saying, you’re on the right track.

Are you ready to create the practice only you can create? Get free stuff from me every week. No spam. I'll never share your email. That would be weird. 

Copy On Your Therapy Website: Less Is More

When it comes to copy on your therapy website, less is more.

When I say “copy,” I’m talking about the words on your site, such as your home page, your about me page, and your services pages.

I know it’s hard to keep it simple. You do so many things as a therapist. You help people with so many different kinds of problems, and you’re trained in so many methods.

It takes a lot of words to describe all that.

Luckily, describing everything you do is NOT the job of your website. 

The job of your website is to help your right-fit clients get a sense of whether you will understand them, whether they will feel comfortable with you, and whether you will be able to help them.

One way to help a potential client feel comfortable is to give them a clear and simple experience on your website. 

What if you have a lot to share with your potential clients?

There’s room for that in the form of articles or blog posts. Some potential clients like to read more. You can give them a chance to access more content if you have a blog or articles on your website.

That’s where you can tell your potential clients all about the different issues you work with, the methods you use, and everything that you think they might like to know.

If you follow my advice and start editing down the pages on your site, save everything you edit out on a separate document. You might find that you’ve got enough left over content to start writing some articles right now.

Want more help? Get my free stuff in your inbox every week. 

I Changed How I Set Goals For My Businesses And Here's How

It’s early February. How are you doing on your year-long goals? Every year I set myself year-long goals in my personal life and for my businesses. I did it again this year. Then in January I read the book The 12 Week Year, and I’ve completely converted to a new kind of goal setting.

The book points out that when you set 12 months goals, you tend to procrastinate. 12 months is pretty far away.

Let’s say you want to have a full practice by the end of 2016. You may not feel the need to take any major steps in January. Even if you haven’t made a lot of progress by May, you still might feel like there’s plenty of time to turn things around.

Perhaps there are actions you dread that you know you SHOULD to build your practice. You might put those off until closer to the end of the year.

In the 12 Week Year method, you choose a small number of goals that you’ll accomplish by the end of 12 weeks. Then you map out what steps you’ll take to accomplish each goal, and give yourself a due date for each and every step.

The key to this is that you choose goals that will move your business forward.

After your first 12-week “year,” you assess what your next most important goals are.

Does this mean you’ll lose track of your long-term vision? Nope. Before you choose those 12 week goals you spend time thinking and writing about your LONG TERM vision, the one you’d like to get to within several years. You choose the goals that are most likely to move you towards that vision.

Let’s say your long-term vision includes having a practice full of cash paying clients. First you’ll create your vision, considering what you’d like to earn, what kinds of clients you’d like to work with, what your hours will be, and even what your office will look like. You’ll spend some time thinking and writing about that vision until it feels clear and you can easily tap into your desire for it.

Then you’ll choose one or two measurable goals that you can accomplish within 12 weeks to bring you closer to making your vision into your reality. You won’t pick more than one or two goals because you also have to do all of the regular stuff that takes up time in your life. Choose goals that will stretch you AND that you can accomplish in a few hours a week.

If you think you don’t have a few hours a week to carve out, question that. (link)

I’ll repeat: The key to this is that you choose goals that will move your business forward.

Maybe you’ll choose a goal of rewriting all of the copy on your website or of reaching out to 50 colleagues. Then you’ll break down the tasks that it will take to get you there, and spread those tasks out with due dates spanning the 12 weeks.

Why not just map out your goals for the whole year all at once?

Once you’ve accomplished your first 12-week goals, you’ll be in a better position to decide what your next goals should be. Opportunities and challenges come up several times throughout the year, and 12 weeks is a short enough time to stay flexible.

Will you find out how much you can change your business in the next 12 weeks?

Ready for more free help? Get free stuff from me every week. 

Are You An Obliger? Here's How to Succeed In Private Practice

You’ve got so much to do in your therapy business. You want to revamp your website, meet more colleagues, update your intake forms…It takes a lot to run your private practice. How you stay motivated and effective depends on who you are and how you’re wired. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before, has created a model called the Four Tendencies. It divides people into four categories, based on what kinds of expectations they respond to. When you know what kinds of expectations get you motivated and allow you to form good habits, you can be more effective by using that information to your advantage.

Read my overview of The Four Tendencies.

Now take the quiz to find out whether you’re a Rebel, Questioner, Obliger, or Upholder. Read my posts about how to run your practice if you’re a Rebel or a Questioner. Upholders will be up next week.

To The Obliger:

If you’re an Obliger, you kick yourself when you don’t follow through with the goals you set for yourself. You try over and over to set goals and keep going until you’ve accomplished them, but it often doesn't work. Rather than trying to change yourself, why not set up your work in a way that comes more naturally to you?

You respond to outer expectations. You’re driven to please others and to give of yourself. When a group or individual expects you to do something, you tend to step up and get it done. If you join a gym and plan to go 3 times a week, you may not follow through. If you sign up for an exercise class with a friend, you’re much more likely to show up consistently.  Both the teacher and your friend are expecting you!

When you’re building your therapy practice, the key to your success is accountability. Don’t just set arbitrary deadlines for yourself. Work with a coach,  accountability partner, or group so that you know someone is expecting you to follow through with each step.

Some of my Obliger therapist clients have accomplished more in 3 months of my group coaching program than they had in several years of working on their own. Many of them had tried and failed at using self-study marketing courses or workbooks. Without accountability and feedback, they stalled out.

If you’re an Obliger, embrace your tendency and start using it to your advantage. For every important task you’ve been procrastinating, there’s a way to build in accountability.

If you’re ready to get help building your unique private practice, apply for a free 20-minute phone consultation with me. 

Writing A Blog For Your Therapy Practice, Part 3 (Mindset Issues!)

I’ve been posting about writing a therapy blog for the past few weeks, addressing the most common concerns that come up. In part 1, I discussed what to write about. Most bloggers deal with panic as they face a blank page at some point. I shared some tools for idea generation and ways to store those topics so you don’t forget them. In part 2 I talked about finding your voice as a therapy blogger, and I encouraged you to experiment and think through some key questions. Today I’ll write about mindset problems that come up for therapist bloggers.

Your mindset will mess with you at some point when you’re writing a regular therapy blog. Here are some of the sabotaging thoughts that make appearances for many of the therapist bloggers I work with:

“No one wants to hear what I have to say.”

“I am an imposter or a fraud.”

“This has been said before.”

Here are some ways to respond to those negative thoughts. Think of them as hacks for getting through them and holding on to your sanity.

Sabotaging thought: “No one wants to hear what I have to say.”

Response: Your therapy blog is a lot like your therapy practice. It’s not for everyone. Your work is for a particular group of people who really need YOU, who are in pain or who are hoping for a particular outcome and are turning to you to guide them or facilitate that process. Those people want and need to hear what you have to say. Many of them are hungry for it. Your intended blog readers are the people who might want to work with you, but first would like to read your blog. Some of them will read one article, and some will read your articles for months before they are ready to call you.

You are writing this blog to help the right people find you. You’re NOT writing this blog so that you become the next internet sensation. Your blogging is not meant to create a huge following. It’s meant to express your message in your unique voice, and your ideal clients do want to hear that.

Sabotaging thought: “I’m a fraud.”

Response: You’re honest in your blog. You are in fact a therapist. You help people. You’re not claiming to have invented this field or the methods you use. You should also know that imposter syndrome comes up because you’re doing something new and stretching yourself.  Try to make friends with it, because every time you do something brave and wonderful, that imposter syndrome will show up at the door. Eventually “I’m a fraud” won’t show up as often when you blog… but it will show up again when you stretch in a new direction.

Sabotaging thought: “This has been said before.”

Response: In your therapy practice, you don’t put pressure on yourself to come up with something completely new in every session (at least I hope you don’t!) It’s very rarely possible to come up with something completely new anymore. All of the information you’re offering is available in other places. Your readers aren’t looking for brand new information as much as they want your perspective on the topic. For example, your ideal client has already heard that using meditation helps with anxiety, but when she reads YOUR article about meditation, she may feel for the first time that she’d like to give it a try. Perhaps your sense of humor or the examples in your article help her feel a new sense of hope.

Here’s an extra tip: You can’t maintain a blog without support, and you don’t have to. Some ways to get support are to talk to other therapist bloggers, work with a business coach, or set up a relationship with an accountability buddy.

If you’re ready to build a unique therapy practice, apply for a free 20-minute phone consultation now.