Are You Afraid To Charge More Than Your Mentors?

Most of us earned a paycheck somewhere else before we started in private practice. Those work places used frameworks for deciding how much we got paid. In some places, we negotiated our wages. In others, our wages depended on what our union representatives had negotiated for us.

Some therapists expect that wage framework to show up in private practice, and they unconsciously try to recreate it. They look to therapists with a similar amount of experience to find out what their own fee should be. They look at what their mentors are charging and make sure to charge far less than that. They find out what interns are charging and make sure to charge more. These therapists are limiting their own incomes based on a structure that doesn’t exist.

What if your mentor chooses to keep her fees low because she’s independently wealthy, or because she paid off the mortgage on her home 15 years ago? On the other hand, what if your mentor has no idea what she could be charging? Do you really want to wait for her to raise her fees before you do?

I see therapists get distressed when they see other therapists not following that imaginary wage framework. If they hear of an intern charging more than an experienced therapist, they get confused or even mad. They express disbelief when a therapist with a similar level of experience charges twice their own fee. If you experience disbelief, confusion or anger when another therapists breaks the rules of this imaginary framework, its time for a mindset shift. 

In reality, you set your own fee.

You don’t have a boss to negotiate with any longer. You don’t have coworkers to compare wages with. Your fee is up to you, and the only people who need to approve of it are the people who choose to hire you.

Instead of deciding what you want to charge based on where you believe you fit in an imaginary framework, here are the factors I want you to base your fee on:

• The value you place on your expertise and your work
• Your living expenses
• The financial resources of the clients you work best with
• The value those same clients place on their healing
• The number of sessions you want to schedule each week
• The expense and time needed for your training, consultation and self-care
• The monthly expenses of running your business

I encourage you to find a fee that works for you; a number that:

• allows you to earn a good living
• respects your time limits
• makes room for a few low-fee clients
• sets you up not to burn out.

When you set your fee that way, something interesting happens. You don’t compare your fee to other therapists’ fees as often. When you do, you feel more curious than stressed. You also make mental room for other therapists to leave that imaginary wage structure behind. Who knows? Seeing you behave differently may even rub off on your mentors. 

If it's time to build your practice in a big way, apply for a free consultation with me. What we come up with might surprise you. 

Find YOUR best method for getting more referrals.

I often tell my clients that building a strong referral network is the fastest way to fill your practice. And now I’m leading a free 30-day challenge to help you do it. Sign up here so you can start with me on June 1st.

 How many colleagues regularly refer to you? Include anyone who refers to you even a few times a year. If your number is low, let’s say 2 or 3, you may feel discouraged. You’ve known dozens of therapists and other professionals over the years, and they all know you’re in private practice, but only a small handful refer to you.

I want to help you look at this in a totally different way.

 What if you could double or triple the number of colleagues who regularly refer to you? Imagine what that would do for your practice. Then imagine doubling or tripling that number again. You see where this is going.

Let’s start by examining the referral partnerships that are working. A referral partnership is a relationship with another professional in which you both refer clients to each other. Even if you only have one or two referral partnerships that are working, that’s the best place to start.

Consider what is making those relationships work. There are reasons those people are referring to you, likely including one or more of these:

•  You gave them the impression that you have a high level of care for your clients.
• They come into contact with your ideal clients a lot and you’ve given them the impression that you work well with that group.
• You’ve shown them that you have integrity.
• They have spoken with you 1:1 and like the way you think and communicate.
• They like you.
• You have let them know that you are likely to refer clients to them.
• They have seen you recently or heard from you recently enough that you are on their mind. 

Think about each person who has referred to you. Consider which of those factors I listed might be present. Look for patterns in the ways you have created or maintained those relationships. Those are great clues for what will work again.

Your goal is to reproduce those results by reaching out to more people in similar ways.

 If you just can’t figure out why your referral partners have sent you clients, think about what comes easily to you in your relationships with colleagues. As you reach out to more colleagues, lean on those strengths. For example, if small groups are the place where you shine, look for opportunities to interact in small groups. Long-term group trainings and consultation groups might be two of your best places to grow relationships.

Sign up for the 30-day challenge now. You’ll get small assignments and a structure for taking smart action throughout the month.

Join Me For This Free Challenge: 30 Days To A Strong Referral Network

If you've been reading this blog or if you've ever worked with me, you know that I am constantly saying that a strong referral network is the fastest and most reliable way to grow a profitable practice. 

You also need a website that attracts your ideal clients and converts them into clients, but if you were only going to work on ONE thing, I'd tell you to choose a referral network in your offline community over online marketing. (But please please don't make me choose. I want you to do both.)

You're growing a local practice. That means you need a locally based strategy. A big part of that strategy is creating referral partnerships with other local professionals. 

When you participate in this free 30 day challenge, you'll be focusing on depth over breadth. I believe strongly that having a smaller number of deep and highly interactive partnerships is more effective than having a huge number of people know you but not know you well. 

If you're an introvert (and I happen to know that a LOT of you are) you will be pushed a little bit out of your comfort zone. And you'll  like this part: I'm NOT going to challenge you to go to a single networking event. 

Is this right for you?

If you've been neglecting the networking aspect of your marketing plan, this is perfect timing. If you've already been doing well with building a referral network, this will give you a chance to get a little boost and fine tune your strategy. If you're saying "what marketing plan?" This is going to help you quite a bit.

What do you need to participate?

A phone, email, and the willingness to try something new. 

Sign up right here. 

Who Should Be In Your Referral Network?

I'm always telling therapists that the fastest way to build a private practice is to build a strong referral network. I notice that some therapists make a lot of mistakes while they’re trying to make this happen. I’ve made a lot of mistakes myself. Believe me. One mistake a lot of therapists make is focusing on the wrong potential referral partners. A referral partner is a person who you are likely to refer clients to and who is likely to refer clients to you. 

You've got limited time and energy. Maybe you're an introvert, which means you've got limited social energy too. That means you've got to be strategic about who you reach out to. I'm not advocating that you get snobby or exclusive. I'm advocating that you think carefully about who fits both of these criteria:

 1. A person who comes into contact with your ideal clients. 

 Do a little bit of mind mapping of your ideal client. When she’s ready to look for a therapist, who is she likely to talk to? There is no one right answer to that question, so open up your mind, and let it wander a bit.

 2. A person who is likely to make a referral for a therapist. 

Again, do a little mind mapping, this time, from the perspective of the person who might make the referral. If she would refer the client to a therapist she likes and trusts, consider becoming that therapist.

I’m just scratching the surface of the steps it takes to create a strong referral network.

Next week I’m going to tell you more about a free program called “30 Days To A Strong Referral Network.”

Participants will be given daily assignments through email (except on weekends) starting on June 1st. If you already know you want to participate, email me at info@coachingwithannie.com and I’ll put you on the participant list.     

Understand WHEN Your Potential Clients Are Searching For You

I’m constantly talking about your ideal clients, and I ask you to identify who you work best with. When you follow the process I use, you get to know about many aspects of your ideal clients, including the issues they looking for help with, how they think about therapy, their hopes, and even their personalities and sensibilities.

So let’s say you’ve done my exercises about the ideal client and you know a lot about WHO your ideal client is. You also need to know WHEN this person is your ideal client.

You need to know this, and I'll tell you why. 

When you’re writing your website copy or your directory profiles, you should write those things to the right person at the right moment. If you do that, you’ll be much more likely to hear from them.

Your ideal client is seeking a therapist at a particular time, when they are ready for therapy. I’ll call that “the moment”. Before the moment, they may think about finding a therapist, but it isn’t at the top of their list yet. When they hit the moment, they have already tried to take care of the problem on their own or with the help of friends. Maybe they have been hopeless for a long time, and at the moment, they are feeling a little bit more hopeful. Maybe there is a change coming from the outside such as a break up or new job or the death of a loved one, and that event brings the moment on.

One mistake therapists make is trying to create their content for their potential clients without thinking about the moment. They write their copy to the person at a moment when they are not actually ready for therapy. Then the therapist’s job is to convince the ideal client that it will be safe and helpful to come to therapy. That’s some very heavy lifting. The therapist writes their copy  to reassure the client that therapy is not too scary. They write their copy to convince the client that they won’t hate therapy. When the client is ready to call you, they may feel those fears, but they are not looking for reassurance from you until later in the process.

If you ask your friends to look over your content and give you feedback, you’re likely to feel reinforced in this idea that you need to reassure potential clients. Your friends may not be at the moment of looking for therapy.

When you start your content with something like “It’s hard to find the right therapist” or “I want you to feel welcome” or “Therapy can be scary” you’re falling into that mistake. You might get some calls from people who are not ready for therapy with a line like that. Be ready for some more heavy lifting in those conversations. You have the choice to work with people who are ready and focused on getting their problem solved or investing in a process for personal growth. Write your content to those people.

If you do ask your friends to look over your content, give them some context not only of who your ideal client is (never describing an identifiable person of course) and what they are dealing with as well as what moment they are in right as they search for you. 

No One Wants To Pay For Therapy

Do you sometimes believe this?

It’s sort of true.

No one WANTS to pay so that they can drive across town, deal with parking, spend 50 or 90 minutes talking about difficult topics and then return to the rest of their day.

But many people are willing to pay for the relief and the benefits therapy brings them. When a potential client believes that therapy with you can bring them the solution or relief they value highly, that client will want to pay for it.

Use yourself as an example. Are there areas of your life you are willing to spend proportionally high amounts of money on? Why? What does this spending say about what you value and who you want to be?

For me, one area I devote a lot of time and money to is professional training. When I spend large amounts of money on professional training and consultation I know I’ll get much more value out of good training than what I’m paying. I have spent well over 10 grand on advanced training in couples therapy with the leaders I admire. I would have found a way to spend more if it was necessary, because I knew it would make me a better therapist. 

There are other services and products that are incredibly important to others that I don’t spend much on at all. For example, I live in a city with incredible restaurants, and I rarely spend more than 5 or 10 dollars on a meal out.

Every dollar you spend reflects what you value and how you want to be. That’s true for your clients.

Here is a small list of things that many people, not just wealthy people, will gladly pay for:

• Preventing a break up or divorce ...and feeling in love again
• Getting out of depression ….and living a full life
• Increasing self-confidence at work ….and earning more
• Help one’s child feel less anxious ….and watching the child thrive
• Breaking out of a dieting and shame cycle ….and enjoying food and one’s body
• Ending PTSD symptoms ….and experiencing freedom
• Finding relief from addiction ….and experiencing a range of feelings
• Getting out of a sexual rut ….and creating an exciting erotic life

When you find yourself thinking “no one wants to spend money on therapy,”  it is because you’re not remembering the IMPACT of the work you do.  

Now if you’re thinking “but some people who value this stuff really CAN’T pay a lot for therapy,” consider this: If you charge a higher fee, you could then offer some sessions at a very low fee while still making a good living.

Is it time to rework your business? Apply for a free 30 minute consultation and you'll probably be surprised with what we come up with for you.

How Do You Think Your Clients Describe Therapy?

Picture this:

A therapist describes her work with a new client to her consulting group. She talks about the therapeutic relationship they are creating, and the changes the client is making. She says the client’s attachment issues are playing out in their sessions, and that she is using the transference for healing.

That client describes her therapy to her best friend at lunch. She talks about the changes she is making in her communication with her family, and how she’s taking better care of herself. She says therapy is helping her feel more confident and assertive at work. She says she feels exhausted after sessions sometimes, but that it’s worth it.

The therapist and client use different words to describe what’s happening in their sessions.

Now let’s look at how they each talk about the goals of therapy.

The therapist wants to help the client heal her attachment wounds. She wants the client to experience better emotional regulation and to form close and secure relationships.

The client wants to feel less anxious and more confident at work. She would also like to find a partner and have less conflict with her best friend.

The therapist and the client agree that therapy is working, so why does it matter that they think and talk about therapy differently?

Knowing the language your clients use is an important key to building a successful practice. You need to know how the clients you work best with think and talk about therapy, and you need to know how they describe what they are hoping to get out of therapy. 

Knowing what words your  will help you attract more of the clients who you work well with. You will use that language in your online directory profiles, your website, the articles you write, and in conversations with potential clients before they decide to hire you.

Once you show your potential clients that you speak their language, you can also describe the benefits of therapy that they might not even be expecting. After they know that you understand what they are struggling with and what outcome they are looking for, they will be happy to find out what else you have to offer. If you don’t start by speaking their language, you’re less likely to have a chance to work with them at all.

Is it time to get some help taking your private practice to the next level? Apply for a free consultation now.

Could Your "About Me" Page Be Better?

Your private practice website exists to help clients to find a way to connect with you as a therapist. That’s why you should share who you are on your private practice website. I specialize in helping therapists identify and express their “superpowers” so that their ideal clients can find them. Your superpower is that thing or set of things that sets you apart from other therapists. It includes your personality, your point of view, and the skills that come easily to you. On a great practice website, that superpower will come through on every page. I recently offered an article and then a webinar on how to improve your homepage. Your homepage is the most often visited page on your site, and therefore the most important.

The second most visited page on your site is usually your ‘about me’ page.  The purpose of ‘about me’ is to help your potential client get to know you as a therapist, and it’s the place to share more about you. It is great to share your most important training and experience, but first give them a sense of what you’re like.

What should you have on your ‘about me’ page?

Here are some questions to help you come up with the copy for your ‘about me’ page. Don’t use any jargon.  

• Why do you do this work?
• How do you think your clients would describe you?
• What do you believe about how people get better in therapy with you?
• What bugs you in the field of therapy when you see it?
• How would you describe your personality?
• What are the outcomes in therapy you most value?

Use those questions as a place to start from, and ask people who know you well for more ideas about who you are as a person and a therapist.

Sharing who you are does not necessarily include sharing details about your personal life. Once you’ve shared personal information on your website, you’ve potentially shared it with all of your past, present and future clients. That means it's important for you to feel totally comfortable with what information you choose to share, and that you're ready to discuss any of that information with your clients.  

Is it time to get some support in building your private practice? Apply for a free consultation with me. 

Are You A Therapist In A Crowded Market? Congratulations!

If you work in a crowded (or competitive) area for therapists, you’ve got a great opportunity.

When I say that, you might be surprised. I hear from therapists every day that they are worried that they can’t thrive because they work in areas with a lot of other therapists.

What living in a crowded market actually means is that you have to speak to a more specific niche in order to stand out. That's the incredible opportunity. You don’t need to call out to all of the people in your niche. You can gear all of your language, both online and in person, to the kinds of clients you like working with the most.

When you are considering how to reach the people with whom you most want to work, conventional business advice tells you to focus on the problems your clients are looking for help with. Your ideal client is out there looking for a therapist who can help them with ________.

Fill in the blank with depression, relationship problems, parenting issues, anxiety, substance use issues, distress over a life event, grief, infertility, body image issues…

That’s a fine place to start, but it’s not enough in a crowded market.

Think about the clients throughout your career who you have felt most fulfilled by working with. Go beyond the niche and look for patterns of what kinds of sensibilities, values or personality traits these people share. Do they tend to be sarcastic and skeptical? Do they tend to be spiritually driven? Are they over-achievers? Are they highly sensitive? Do they identify as misfits?

I know that as a therapist you meet all of your clients where they are and you attune to each of them in very different ways. Without de-valuing any of your clients, take a moment to think about who you work best with. When you take a bird’s eye view on your practice, see if you can find common themes with those people.

I’ll use myself as an example. As a business coach, I don’t market to all therapists. The therapists I work best with tend to be highly sensitive or deep thinkers. They are neurotic in the most loveable sense of the word. They don’t just want to build profitable practices. They want to build practices that reflect their deepest values, and they feel that what they put out there on their websites should reflect what they truly believe. They tend to be passionate about social justice whether or not they apply this directly to their work. If they have tried other business coaches, they have often felt unhappy with the lack of understanding they experienced. If you’re still reading this, you may be in the tribe I’m describing.

I get to be picky and specific like this because there are plenty of therapists out there for everyone.

I encourage you to explore and get specific about who you really work best with. If you’re in a crowded market, there’s really no better way to build your practice.

Is it time to get some help taking your practice to the next level? Apply for a free consultation now.

How to Use Your Strengths More In Your Business

When I talk to therapists about marketing and running their practices, they often tell me they know they should do certain things they don’t like doing. If this sounds like you, it probably means you’re not fully embracing your strengths. When you don’t embrace your strengths, it’s very hard work to market and run your business, and all that hard work does less than you want it to. You may have heard some of this before, on a surface level. I have said many times that if you’re an introvert, you can focus on one on one networking with a smaller number of colleagues to develop deep relationships rather than spending times at large events. If you love to write, you can build your online presence using articles. If you’ve got a big personality, you can do public speaking.

Let's take this thinking to a deeper level.

How can you play to your strengths in every activity you do? 

Here's an exercise to learn more about your strengths and find out you could be using them more. 

Start by listing the business activities that are easy for you and that bring you energy. Include anything from balancing your checkbook to clinical work with clients.

What strengths do you lean on in these activities? Here are some possible answers:

• Ability to listen deeply
• Humor
• Analytical skills
• Creativity
• Attention to detail
• Energy for scholarly research
• Ability to engage with large groups
• Energy for clinical training
• Interest in trying new things
• Consistency
• Dependability
• Ability to come up with insights
• Ability to connect quickly with new people
• Ability to stick to a routine or predictable process over time
• Charisma
• Long attention span
• Story telling

Now list the business activities that you enjoy the least, and that drain you the most. Again, include any activity you do (or think you should do) for your business.

Look at the second list and see which of those activities you could do differently. How could you do these activities while using your strengths?

For example, a therapist might feel drained by public speaking because she tries to be charismatic and connect quickly with her audience. Those aren’t her strengths, so she does a decent job, but then collapses at the end. The strengths she uses for one on one networking and in her clinical work are deep listening and consistency.  I would help her use those strengths in public speaking and let go of trying to be different that she is.  She might create a presentation for smaller groups that uses written exercises in which participants answer questions independently. She might direct them to examine a deeper question in pairs. She might lean on her consistency by giving this presentation several times to different small groups.

Look at those activities you like the least and see how you could do them differently, in a way that leans on your strengths. 

Some activities just can’t use your strengths. For example, if your strengths are creativity and an interest in trying new things, you probably can’t use those in your practice record keeping. Look for ways to minimize those tasks or delegate them as soon as you can. That will free you up to lean even more on your strengths. 

Is it time to build your practice in a whole new way? Apply for a consultation with me.