How To Create Passive Income in Your Therapy Practice

Have you been thinking about adding passive income to your therapy practice?

The truth: “Passive income” is not really passive. It takes a lot of work, thought and creativity to build an offer that will meet a need and make you a good living.

Before we get any further, I’m going to get rid of the word “passive” and start talking about “scaled.” Using the word “scaled” will protect us from the fallacy that creating this kind of offer is easy.

In a little bit, I’ll walk you through an example of how you might create a scaled offer successfully.

Here are four principles to help you get started with creating a scaled (formerly known as passive) offer:

1. You can’t create crap and make money.

You can NOT create something crappy, put it up on your website, and make a lot of money.

Just 10 years ago, the bar was much lower. At that point, you may have been able to create an informational product in your niche that was basically just an ebook, call it a program, and make lots of money. Not now. The internet has expanded exponentially. Pretty much any information your potential client is searching for is free and available. They can find a youtube video or a set of articles about almost anything.

The way to make money online right now is to genuinely WANT to meet a need, experiment, work hard, and develop your offer until you’ve begun to meet that need.

This is good news for the therapist whose purpose is to serve. I think that’s you. You’re not trying to make a bunch of money quickly. Your standards for what you will provide online are as high as your standards for what you provide in your sessions.

When you’re focused on serving people well, you take the long view rather than trying to grab cash fast.

Look out 5 years from now and consider what kind of business you would like to be running. Imagine how your scaled offer could fit into this business. You’re going to create a high-quality offer that you want to be known for.

2. People pay for experiences, not information.

You have put in thousands of hours providing an experience: therapy. You might provide some psycho-education in your therapy sessions, but you don’t lecture for 50 minutes. You co-create an experience to facilitate growth and change. You’re going to bring some of those same skills into a scaled offer.

Focus on what you want your customer to be able to do or how you want them to feel by the end of the experience, then design an experience to make that possible.

Here are some examples of scaled offers that can be experiences:

• Workshop

• Group

• Online course with community interaction and interaction with you.

• Adding clinicians to your therapy practice.

If you choose to create a self-led online course, you’re going to have to provide a process for the client to walk through. You’re going to provide videos or audios in addition to written material. I recommend you also provide some kind of access to you, at the very least through a private Facebook group.

I’m a participant in an evergreen online course right now. I get on that Facebook group regularly and ask questions. If I couldn’t get access to the teacher, I’d be frustrated.

Now maybe you're wondering: "What if you want to write a book?"

The vast majority of us will not make our living from selling a book. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write one. Your book can help people, make more people aware of your work, and give you more prestige. Some of your readers might want to work with you directly or with a scaled offer. When you think of your book as a marketing tool rather than as a big money-maker, you can enjoy getting paid for your marketing.

3. The more specific your niche, the better you know your niche, and the more you care about the people in your niche, the more likely you can successfully scale a service.

Let’s look at 2 therapists.

Joe wants to create a self-led online premarital course so that he can make money while he sleeps. Here’s the problem: If you search “online premarital counseling program,” you’ll find fancy, in-depth programs with quizzes included, all for the whopping price of...FREE.

Sorry Joe, but your course is not super-likely to make a lot of money.

On the other hand, if you are providing premarital counseling for a group of couples or throuples who you care about and know are underserved, you might be able to create a scaled service for them.

Tanya wants to create a scaled offer for queer, engaged couples. She’s queer, works with queer couples, and knows exactly what’s already available and why those things aren’t the right fit for her clients. She’d like to create a new service that comes directly from her current work with queer couples.

Tanya, you’ve got a good possibility here.

4. If you start with a very small group of people, hands on, you will know how to scale up from there.

Start small and simple with the format of your scaled offer. Design it to meet a pressing need for the people you want to serve, and offer it to a small group of people you have hand selected or who have been referred by your colleagues. Give a ton of interaction with YOU the first time you offer it.

Look at what worked and what you want to change the next time.

You can grow this service over time so that you’re providing a great experience with a little bit less of you. If you start the offer in-person, you may be able to move it online in the future. If you’d rather start online, you can do that too. Video conferencing and online course platforms make online delivery easy.

What if you think about all of this and would rather just stay in your therapy room and NOT create a scaled offer?

There will always be a need for in-person therapy in your office. Scaled services are not for every therapist.

Ok, Annie. How would one actually start this “scaling” you speak of?

I’ll give you an example: Dee provides individual therapy to people who want help with their use of substances. She uses a harm reduction approach. She’s building her 1:1 practice and would also like to create a scaled service.

She could start with a 3-hour workshop that takes participants through a key part of her process and gives them a few of the most useful tools. She could design this workshop to be experiential and avoid throwing an overwhelming amount of information at them.

The first time Dee offers it, she might set the fee at $100, open it to 6 people, and schedule it for a Saturday, and run it on zoom. That’s small enough to attend to each participant, and inexpensive enough that many of her potential clients could easily afford it.

She would create a page on her website that explains what problem this workshop solves and what a participant will walk away with. As soon as they read this page, they’ll know whether it’s right for them. They can register and pay right then and there.

She would let all of her colleagues know that she’s got this workshop coming up, exactly who it’s for, and how it will help them

She’d announce this workshop on all of the online groups and social media platforms where appropriate. In those posts, she would name one or two things the participant will be able to understand or do by the end of the workshop. She would reach out to everyone she knows who might be in contact with her ideal participants.

And look at that. Dee just did a bunch of networking and put herself out there as an expert who has passion and knowledge about how to help people using a harm-reduction model.

She’s done a ton of marketing for her therapy practice even if she doesn’t fill the first workshop.

The maximum $600 she’ll get from this workshop is NOT the most important outcome.

The most important outcomes are: visibility and building of her reputation, the networking, the huge amounts of feedback from participants, and the testimonials some of them provide.

The fact that she gets paid for all of that is a bonus.

Dee is taking the long view, so she knows that the future iterations of this offer are when she will really get paid.

You've probably already figured out that growing your offer so that it can get to dozens or hundreds of people is a whole process. Yep, there's a lot to it, but don't let that stop you from getting started. You can get there, step-by-step.

If you’re thinking: “But what about those successful online courses I see that seem to enroll hundreds of students? Why can’t I just do that?”

Listen. 

Those course facilitators started much smaller. They created an offer for a small number of participants, poured sweat into it, and grew it over time. That’s how this works.

If you want to scale up, you’re going to need some help. If I had tried to scale up my business without help, I’d still be scribbling on an envelope in a corner somewhere, perhaps drooling by now. I help people like you and Tanya and Dee create joyful and profitable businesses every day. If you want to join a committed and innovative group of therapists and expand beyond private practice with my help, start here.

Do I Have To Fill My Therapy Practice BEFORE Adding A Second Stream Of Income?

Before I get to this question: "Do you need to fill your therapy practice BEFORE you add a second stream of income?" I'm going to share a little background on how I make decisions.

I don't always do things in the order I'm supposed to. For example, I decided to become a single parent in my late 20's, started that process, THEN met a partner I wanted to commit to.

Lots of folx warned me that raising a child on my own would be really tough and that I should wait and see if the right partner showed up first. They warned that single parenting should be a last resort, and that I should at least wait through my 30's to see if an ideal partner arrived. What they said sounded kind of logical, but I just knew it wasn't the right solution for me. I really wanted to start being a parent sooner than 10 years down the line. I sought out some single moms and asked them about their experiences. Like pretty much any category of parents, their experiences were mixed but leaning to pretty positive. I started in on my process to becoming a single parent.

Then... before I became a parent, I met the person who is now my wife. She happened to come on the scene in time for us to parent together. That was 17 years ago.

Following what I really wanted led me in MY right direction.

Yes, I was extremely lucky to meet my partner because she's awesome and makes my life better. But for me, single parenting in a community of friends and family would have been great too.

I sometimes get distracted when people don't mention their privilege, so I'll throw in here that I was in a privileged position to have the option of considering single parenthood by choice.

I don't think there's one right order to do things in. Not in our personal lives or our businesses. Which brings me back to this question.

Therapists and healers often ask me: Do I have to fill my practice before I can consider adding a second stream of income? (When I say "second stream of income", I mean a course, workshop, online community, or another program beyond the therapy room)

All the other practice building coaches I know answer "100% yes." or "Your practice must be at 70k before you should consider adding a second stream of income." Or "Your practice must be at least 75% full."

My answer is: Maybe. It depends on what you really want.

Folks I work with tend to cluster into 2 general groups:

Group One finds that filling their practices FIRST makes sense. The therapy practice brings them the steady income and teaches them a ton about business. They prefer to maintain a small but highly profitable therapy practice while they build their second stream.

I talked to a therapist recently who said "Once my therapy practice was almost full, I looked around and said: What else do I want to do? I realized I wanted to create an online membership community." And she did.

Then there's group 2. These folks really want to build their second stream BEFORE their practices are full. They are more excited about their work beyond the therapy room than they are about their private practices. They've got big energy around building a program beyond the therapy room, and they don't want to wait.

Here's what often happens for this second group of people: They put a small amount of time and energy into building their therapy practices, and they put MORE time and energy into growing their program beyond the therapy room. And their therapy practices fill up!

Why does this happen? Creating a program beyond the therapy room gives them energy and clarity. That energy and clarity comes across in everything they do, and colleagues and potential therapy clients feel it.

I would love to know which group you identify with more strongly.

Are you more comfortable filling your practice BEFORE building your second stream of income?

Or do you want to jump right into building your second stream before your practice is full?

Too-Long-Didn't-Read-Summary

You don't have to fill your therapy practice before you start creating your second stream of income. It's up to you.

If you want my help creating your signature program beyond the therapy room, I can help.

—> Learn more and apply right here.

The Before And After Of Your Therapy Practice

Can we look at the potential before and after of your therapy business for a minute?

We’re enrolling people through Thursday for The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program.

The therapists in the Superpower community are a special sort. They’re ethical, dedicated, skeptical, warm-hearted, and smart. They don’t like flashy programs that promise you’ll make six figures if you follow a blueprint. They can spot fake pretty easily. My people!

This program isn’t a blueprint. So what is it?

What’s the before and after story of this program?

This is you BEFORE the program (September 2018):

• You’ve got a practice that is sort of working. You’ve got a good reputation with people who know you. You’ve got some ideas about where you’d like your business to go, but you get overwhelmed trying to make changes and maintain your practice at the same time.

• You get some referrals, but not enough to keep your practice full of clients who are a great fit.

• There’s something about the way you’ve set up your business that is holding you back. (You may not know what it is, but that’s ok because I’ll be able to spot it very quickly.)

• Working harder isn’t leading you to what you want. You’re not taking the right steps so no matter how hard you work this way, you’re not getting there.

• You might be on insurance panels and you’d like to get off of them, but you’re scared to start that process.

• You might feel stuck in a particular niche you don’t love, or feel stuck without any niche at all.

• You have a lot of community and guidance around your clinical work, but when you talk to colleagues about your business, the advice and support is hit or miss.

This is you AFTER the program (January 2019):

• You’ve got a plan that you love for your business. You’re clear on exactly who you want to fill your practice with and how to reach out to them. You’ve already taken some of the key steps to bring those clients into your practice.

• You’ve changed your business model. You didn’t throw out what was working, but you analyzed your business model with a coach and smart group of therapists who saw possibilities and opportunities you didn’t see. Your business model is now designed to help you make a profit, do more of what you love, and do less of what you suck at. (There’s no blueprint, because they don’t work. We’ll explore over 10 possible additional services and discover which ones will fit into your ideal business model.)

• You have a solid marketing plan, and you’re following it because it’s set up to leverage your strengths. You created this plan with help from a coach who helped you connect the dots between what you do well and what your right-fit clients know they need.

• You have a business community! You’re part of The Superpower Method For Therapists Alumni Program. It’s free for you now that you’ve completed the program. You worked through the 14-week program with a small community of therapists, and now you’ve joined a larger community of like-minded therapists who continue to give you feedback and want the best for you and your business.

• You have Annie’s guidance. You’ve got access through an exclusive facebook group to Annie’s feedback every day. You’ve got a Q&A community call every month where you get coaching from a business coach who already knows you and your business.

If you know that “after” is the one you’re ready for, register right now so we can get started.

**Click here to register.

Enrollment is open until the end of the day tomorrow, September 20th.

Maybe there’s a part of you that thinks you’re not ready for this “after.” If you’ve read this far, there’s a big part of you that knows this is the time to enroll.

Do this for yourself and your practice so that you stop wasting time and start taking the right steps.

I would love to work with you and the Superpower community would love to welcome you in.

Have You Hit A Plateau In Building Your Practice?

If you’ve hit a plateau in building your private practice, you need 2 different kinds of support to get to the next level.

The first thing you need is a solid plan to bring more income into your private practice. Your plan will involve both some in-person activities like networking and public speaking, and some online activities like improving your website and creating great content.

The next thing you need is help with mindset issues. When you start working on your plan, your mindset issues will show up and slow you down. You’ll start hearing “who are you to…?” or “this isn’t going to work…” or other messages that are just as unhelpful.

The Superpower Method For Therapists® Group Program is designed to help you create a plan AND work through your mindset issues so that you don’t stop.

I offer this program 2 times a year. Registration opens on September 11th and won’t open again until 2019.

So what’s covered in the program?

The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program will teach you to:

• Identify your right-fit clients in specific ways that help you reach out to them successfully
• Connect the dots between what you're great at and what those clients need
• Overhaul or update your website so that it attracts your potential right-fit clients and converts them into actual clients.
• Create a marketing plan completely tailored to who you are.
• Grow a referral network with the people who will refer your right-fit clients to you over and over again.
• Create a business model that brings you monthly profit rather than just paying the bills.
• Identify the one big goal you need to put first in your business and then create a plan to accomplish it.
• Set up your financial systems so that you feel empowered about the money in your business.
• Create and implement a plan to improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As the ideal participant you are:

• Passionate about providing excellent services to your clients.
• Committed to making your private practice a significant source of income.
• Insistent that your marketing and messaging must be authentic and ethical.
• Ready to participate fully and take action to get results.
• Open to giving and receiving feedback from me and a small group of like-minded therapists.

Here's how we'll do this:

• 90-minute group video calls each week with me and guest teachers (7 calls total)
• Video lessons and homework assignments two times per month (8 lessons total)
• Community access between the calls through an exclusive Facebook group
• Office hours calls with our 2 Superpower coaches for extra support
• One 20-minute individual session with me by phone or video

What you'll need:

• A computer to use for the video calls and to access the lessons and homework
• A Facebook account to access the exclusive group
• Time and energy to work through the program (this is the most important one!)

This program runs for 3 months.

The investment is $1695.

A monthly payment plan for $339 per month is available.

Want to know what’s in the 8 lessons?

Our step-by-step process: 

Lesson 1: Assess where your business is now

You'll assess where you are in all aspects of your business, including finances, energy and mindset. You'll get crystal clear about where you're starting from with no shame or judgment. You'll also set up a system to track what's working and what's not working as you build your practice and bring in clients. 

Bonus challenge: Start a networking challenge to begin bringing in more referrals (day-by-day challenge provided).

Lesson 2: Set up solid financial systems

with guest teacher Andi Smiles, bookkeeper and small business consultant

Andi wants you to develop a transparent and loving relationship with your finances. Proper bookkeeping does more than just relieve stress at tax-time. It also serves as a powerful ally in growth and expansion. Her lesson will help you set up your bookkeeping system. You'll learn foundational concepts like how to claim business expenses and pay yourself as a business owner. She'll also be on a 90-minute Q&A call so that you can get your bookkeeping questions answered. 

Lesson 3: Your right-fit clients

You'll identify your right-fit clients and access valuable information about them. This will help you authentically reach out to them using language that speaks directly to them. This approach allows them to recognize you as their therapist. Don't expect a typical "ideal client exercise." 

Bonus challenge: Overhaul your home page (lesson and worksheet provided).

Lesson 4: Your Superpowers

Your Superpowers are those qualities that set you apart from other people. You can also call them your differentiator, onliness, uniqueness, or specialness. When you build your business around your Superpowers, you move from your strengths and embrace who you are. You set up everything in your business in a way that leans on your strengths. When you don't build your business around your Superpowers, you're always trying hard and feeling ineffective. 

Bonus challenge: Overhaul your about me page (lesson and worksheet provided).

Lesson 5: Business Model Overhaul

Your business model is simply the combination of services you offer. You'll walk out of this lesson with a business model that provides more income and fits your strengths. You'll examine at least 8 different kinds of services you can consider for your business model. Many participants expand their business models by offering new services as a result of this lesson. 

Bonus challenge: Create a new service for your business and a description of it for your site. 

Lesson 6: Identify your ONE BIG GOAL and design your marketing plan

You'll choose one big goal to focus on first. Narrowing your focus to one big goal allows you to accomplish more, not less. With that focus, you don't get overwhelmed or lost in the weeds. You're able to choose what to act on from all the information you're absorbing. You'll learn about a number of marketing tools and create a plan that accomplishes your big goal, fits your Superpowers, and attracts your right-fit clients. 

Bonus challenge: Take new action with one or more marketing tools and get feedback.

Lesson 7: Look at your business as a whole

You'll be guided through a process to review all you've learned in the program and bring it all together.

Bonus challenge: Get started with The Superpower Method For Therapists® Alumni Program! 

Bonus Lesson: SEO Crash Course

with guest teacher Cathy Hanville, private practice consultant

Cathy will walk you through the basics of search engine optimization techniques to help you improve your website performance. She wants to make it easier for your right-fit clients to find you online. You'll learn about keywords, blogging, how google ranks sites, and you'll get started on your SEO! Cathy will be on a 90-minute Q&A call so that you can get your SEO questions answered by an expert. 

After the last lesson ....(drumroll)...you get ongoing support

When you complete the program, you're invited to become a member FOR FREE of our Superpower Method For Therapists® Alumni Community.

You'll join therapists who have been through the program for group calls facilitated by me and daily access to support through an exclusive Facebook group. We offer all this ongoing support because building your business is not a one and done process.

Get on the waitlist now.

Where Will Your Practice Be In 6 Months?

You're thinking this is the right time to grow your practice into something more profitable and more fulfilling. It's time to become an empowered entrepreneur. That's what The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program has helped many therapists like you do. I’d love to help you do it too.

To decide whether it's the right time for you to invest in this program, ask yourself these questions:

1. Where will my business be in 6 months if I don't do this program?

2. Where will my business be in 6 months if I do this program?

To help you answer those questions, I'll tell you what this program is all about.

This program is about taking action for 3 months.

This program is designed for you to get important stuff done in your business. The entire program is action oriented. You’ve got homework with deadlines, and each assignment will bring you closer to the practice you want. I also give you a bonus challenge for every lesson so that you can take your business even further.

Register now.

This program is about accountability.

You’ll be on weekly video calls and a secret Facebook group with an experienced business consultant and a group of your peers who are also dedicating 14 weeks to turning their practices around. Watching other therapists make changes and take risks is inspiring. It makes you want to do more.

Register now.

This program is about making changes.

For 3 months, you’ll be guided through a process to identify the weak spots in your business and address them. You’ll be encouraged to shift your business to take full advantage of your unique strengths. Therapists in this group usually make at least one of these big moves:

• Changing their business from a general practice to one with a clear specialty

• Adding one or more clinicians to their practice

• Adding a new service to their practice that leverages their time

• Starting (or completing) an overhaul of their website

• Getting off of insurance panels

• Raising their fees

• Establishing new cancellation policies

Register now.

Registration closes on Thursday, September 20th. This program typically fills up.

Hear what one of our graduates has to say:

Bianca Hughes had been in private practice for two years, working too much for not enough income. She had tons of great ideas but felt unclear about where to start.

“Before I signed up for the program I realized I had to start doing things differently and have a different mindset about business.”

During the 3 months of the program, she made these changes:

• Raised her fees by 50%
• Overhauled her website
• Got clear on her niche
• Embraced video rather than writing as her preferred mode
• Created several videos to reach out to her right-fit clients

Bianca says The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program is for you “if you’re ready to dig in, and you need feedback and support.”

Watch short videos of Bianca and 4 of her fellow Superheroes talking about how they changed their businesses and became empowered entrepreneurs. 

Your Great Questions Answered

Registration for The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program is open until next Thursday, February 8th. Think it might be right for you? First, let me answer some common questions to help you get clear.

1. Can I afford this?

The investment of the program is $1695. A payment plan of $339 per month is available. If you’re feeling scarcity about money in your business right now, that might feel like a scary number. Because it is a lot of money!  If you’re ready to invest time and energy into your business, you will use this program to increase your income by much more than $1695. You’ll apply yourself to the homework assignments and use the group calls as well as your individual session to create a business that brings you profit. Yes, I said profit. 

Let’s do a little math. If you add one client to your practice for a few months, you will have recouped your financial investment. I hope you intend to do much more than that! Most participants make changes that add thousands of dollars to their businesses each and every year going forward. Don’t do this program unless you want to increase your income significantly.

2. Will I get any personal attention?

Lots of therapists I’ve worked with have participated in some sort of practice building program or conference or have gone through a workbook before. Many of you got some value there. If you’re the kind of therapist who will benefit from The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program, you also need a more individualized process to take your business to the next level. In this program, you'll get individual attention and opportunities to connect directly with me and 2 other Superpower coaches throughout the process. You'll get a chance to work on an individualized strategy in your 1:1 session that’s included in the program. You'll also be matched with an accountability buddy unless you opt out of that opportunity. Many of these buddy relationships last well beyond the 3 months of the program. 

3. Can I really turn my business around in 3 months?

This program is designed to give you a structure that you can use intensely during the 3 months of the program, and then that you can use over and over again throughout the life of your business. You CAN shift your mindset, get clear on your vision, and create a strategy for your unique business in this process. You’ll also receive bonus challenges in each of the 7 chapters. If you are ambitious, you can complete every bonus challenge. In that case, you’ll have overhauled the most important pages on your website, started implementing a strategic networking plan, started improving your SEO, and launched a new aspect of your business model before the program is over.

4. I want to add something besides 1:1 therapy sessions to my business. Will this program help me do that?

Many participants of the Superpower Method For Therapists® Program go on to launch new offerings outside of in-person therapy sessions. If you’re considering adding coaching, a group program, taking part of your business online, or hiring an additional therapist for your practice, this program can help you create a new business model and take the first steps to make it happen.

5. After the program is over, what if I still need help?

I created the Superpower Method For Therapists® Alumni Community so that you can keep the momentum, support and accountability going. After you complete the 3-month program, you’re eligible for this free follow-up program. The Alumni Community includes group video calls and an exclusive Facebook group where you can get feedback and support from me and your peers every day.

6. How can I get more questions answered?

Sign up for my Q&A session. Reserve your spot, show up by video or phone (easy, I promise), and ask me anything about the program. We can talk about your business and see if this program is the right fit.

This program is filling up. I’m against scare tactics and pushing scarcity buttons. I just want you to know the program is filling so you don’t miss your chance if it’s right for you.

The program runs only 2 times per year, and space is, of course, limited.

Find out more and register.

Let's Bust A Misconception You Probably Have About Making Money

The Superpower Method For Therapists® Program is designed to help you make some big changes in your business. Here's one of my favorites:

Transform your business so that you make plenty of money without working too many hours.

If you believe you have to settle for working too much or not making enough money, I want you to toss that.

That's not fair and it’s not true.

The first step to making more money without working more is to identify a better way to set up your business and then to insist on it moving towards that new way. Maybe that will mean raising your fees, getting off of insurance panels, or adding a new service to your business. Maybe it will mean something else.

There is no blueprint to make this happen because each therapist has a different set of strengths, preferences, and right-fit clients.You are unique. Your business is unique.

This 3-month program is an in-depth process to envision and then create YOUR ideal business.

Each therapist comes out with a different business at the end of the process.

From the very first week, you’re getting clear on your income needs, what parts of your work bring you energy, and what parts drain you. This is not just about getting to 6 figures and beyond. It’s about creating a business that supports the life you want and fits the person you are.

What will YOUR business look like?

--> Register now.

If you'd like to hear what several other graduates of the program have to say, check out what Tom, Ellie, Bianca, Annie (not me), and Albert have to say right here. They'll tell you where they were before they signed up and what happened as a result of their work in the program.

Thursday, February 8th is the very last day to register, and this isn’t offered again until the fall.

With love and respect,

Annie

P.S. I'm having a free Q&A call on Thursday this week. Reserve your spot and we'll talk about your business, your goals, and whether or not the program is a good fit for you.

Got A Goal To Grow Your Practice This Year? Let's Get Real.

I want to get real with you. Because I want you to succeed.

This is the year to embrace your role as an entrepreneur and grow your business into a unique and profitable machine.

That means looking at your business in a totally new way.

Are you ready?

Here’s an area you need to prioritize: Write killer copy for your website that doesn't blend into what everyone else has on their websites.

Most therapists write website copy that does a mediocre job of converting visitors into clients. If you improve your conversion rate even just a tiny bit, it will make a big difference in filling your practice. When you turn more visitors into clients, you increase your income substantially, even before you increase traffic to your site.

We’ll start with your About page. It’s probably the hardest page on your site to write, and it’s one of the very most important.

Next week I’ll share my new free training on how to create a better About page. I’ll provide step-by-step instructions on how to write and edit your About page in a way that helps your right-fit clients decide to hire you. 

My definition of success has changed. What's yours?

What does success in your therapy practice and life mean to you?

My definition of success continues to evolve. I used to see success as having a full practice. I wanted to see 20 clients a week and to have a steady flow of referrals. I figured once I'd achieved that, I’d have arrived.

I worked really hard and learned everything I needed to know about building a therapy practice. I filled my practice and had a nice income. But I had a schedule that didn’t work well for me or my family and I was heading for burnout. I hadn’t created my business around my life, so I had lots of evening appointments and was seeing people in my office every day. I thought I had no choice about those things.

I know...smallest violin in the world, right? Stop complaining and feel grateful for your success. That’s what I used to think.

Then I realized that by creating a business I love more, I can help my clients more.

Now, aside from seeing the impact of my work and making a good income, here are some markers of success for me:

• Long chats with my best friends and my sister
• Time with my kids and wife
• Daytime walks
• Riding my kick-scooter to the office
• Working from home several days a week

What does success look like to you right now? More clients? More income?

Those things are totally possible, and I’m here to help you get them. But I also want you to create a private practice that allows you to have more of what you REALLY want. Freedom. Love. Fun. Meaning.

Life is so short. We’re lucky to do meaningful work. We sometimes even get to save lives. And yet…you can burn yourself out if you don’t take enough time for self-care or time with the people you love.

Your business should be in service of your life, not the other way around.

What do you want your business to make possible for you?

Do you ever say: “When my practice is successful I will finally…”

For example:

“When my practice is successful, I’ll only work 4 days a week.”

“When my practice is successful, I’ll start exercising more.”

What are you looking forward to changing once your practice is successful?

What would it take to do those things now? Could you pull it off if you raised your fees a little bit? Would it be possible if you cut back on a couple of expenses?

How could you create more freedom or happiness for yourself right now?

Here are some moves that might bring you more joy and freedom right away:

Schedule a morning walk every week with a friend.

Start your work-day a couple of hours later once a week.

Stop working a couple of hours earlier once a week.

Schedule a week off a couple of months from now and start planning your vacation or staycation.

If your practice won’t allow you to do those things, let’s work on fixing that right away. Like I said, life is too freaking short for that.

The Superpower Method For Therapists® Group Program begins in February. Registration opens on Monday, January 29th.

During the program, I work with a group of passionate, warm-hearted therapists to transform their businesses and bring in more money while also embracing more fun, meaning and freedom.

It’s a 14-week program with lots of interaction and (honesty time!) lots of homework too.

I love running this program because the therapists always blow me away with the changes they make in their businesses.

Get on the waitlist now.

Ask Yourself These 3 Questions Before 2018

As you get ready to set your business goals for 2018, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What worked this year?
2. What have you started doing that will likely show results in 2018?
3. What have you been doing that needs a small tweak in order to show results?

If you’re just starting out, read this to help you create your plan for NEXT year.

The Pareto principle states that 80% of your success will come from 20% of your efforts. Let’s apply this principle to your business. Identify the marketing activities that have contributed the most to bringing in clients, do more of those things, and you’ll fill your practice.

Are you drawn to trying new things? I get it. Me too. As you set goals for 2018, it’s tempting to add new marketing activities. That MIGHT be a good idea. After carefully considering these 3 questions, you’ll be in a good position to choose the RIGHT new activities. It might be the year for you to start a blog, add a workshop to your offerings, or launch a podcast. Just wait until you’ve figured out what’s already working. This process is like going through the clothes in your closet before you head to the store.

You may think doing a little bit of every marketing activity will be the best way to build your practice. That’s exactly wrong.

Doing a very small number of activities well and consistently is more likely to bring you the practice you want.

Wondering how it can hurt to do a bit of everything?

You’ve got limited time. If you spend 2 hours a week on marketing you’ve only got 100 hours to dedicate all year. Spending those hours wisely is one key to your success.

When you spend time on one marketing activity, you’re taking time away from another one. That’s opportunity cost. Doubling or tripling the time and energy you spend on the most effective activities will bring you more clients. You can’t increase the most effective activities unless you cut back on the activities that have been taking up the other 80% of your marketing time. Something’s gotta go.

If you were a larger business, opportunity cost would be less of a big deal. For example, you could afford to send a team off to work on social media and then measure the results of that experiment. You’re one person. When you experiment with social media, you spend less time writing articles, talking to your colleagues, or finding public speaking gigs. You must make room for change and innovation, but you also must be careful with how much of your time you spend in different areas.

WHAT WORKED THIS YEAR?

How did your clients find you in 2017? It might be difficult to identify which of your marketing activities led to new clients. Sometimes you don’t know exactly where your clients found you because they don’t remember when you ask them. That’s ok. Just do your best to figure out where your clients came from this year.

Two tools that will help you gather this information are an inquiry tracking system and Google analytics. If you aren’t familiar with Google analytics…Google it.

If you’ve been using an inquiry tracking system, you have a wealth of information to examine. If you don’t have one, start one now! At a minimum, track this information for each person who inquires about services: date, name, where they found you, and whether they come in for a session.

To figure out what’s happening with your website, use Google analytics. Install it now if you haven’t already. Google analytics will start gathering information from the moment you install it, but it can’t gather past data. Start looking at how many people visit your site each month, where they come from, and which pages on your site are most popular. Don’t go down a wormhole and spend too much time on Google analytics. As all online tools, it can be a helpful assistant or a time suck.

If you have no tracking system and you don’t have analytics installed, do your best to remember where your last 10 clients came from.

Now get ready to do more of what worked. Here are two examples.

If you discover that many of your clients found you through your profile on an online directory, put even MORE energy into that profile. Get a better photo, update your specialties, and edit your statement so that it speaks directly to your right-fit client in the very moment that they need you. Then consider joining a second directory.

If you notice that one or two colleagues sent you many of your clients, nurture those relationships. Invite those colleagues to attend a training with you, or set up a lunch date. Then think about what makes these referral partners such a good fit and look for a few more colleagues just like them. Nurture those relationships.

WHAT HAVE YOU STARTED DOING THAT WILL LIKELY SHOW RESULTS IN 2018?

Maybe you’ve planted seeds with some of your marketing activities and they haven’t had a chance to grow yet. Don’t abandon your activities before they have a chance to work.

For example, if you’ve started relationships with colleagues who have told you “I’ve sent you a few referrals,” but those people never seem to call, don’t give up. It sometimes takes months for the necessary chain of events to happen: Your colleague gets to know you and understands what you do well, they talk to a person who is looking for a therapist just like you, they give that person your name, the potential client looks you up, and then the potential client takes the first step of contacting you. If you’re planting networking seeds with several colleagues, those seeds will bloom. You just can’t control when.

In my experience and the experiences of the many therapists I’ve worked with, these are the activities most likely to start working after a number of months of persistent activity:

• Networking 1:1 with colleagues
• Giving talks to groups of people that include your right-fit clients
• Creating good, niched profiles in directories with high traffic
• Creating great copy on the most popular pages on your website
• Creating great content such as articles or a podcast and including that content on your website

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THAT NEEDS A SMALL TWEAK IN ORDER TO SHOW RESULTS?

Maybe you’re doing some of the right things, but you need to make small changes to HOW you’re doing those things.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Example 1: Your Website writing needs help

You study Google analytics and discover that your website isn’t turning visitors into clients often enough. You’ve got hundreds of visitors to your site each month, but you only get one or two phone calls. Just about every visitor looks at your homepage, so work to make the copy better. Every word should speak directly to your right-fit client. Need some help with this process? Here you go.

Example 2: Your networking needs help

You’ve gone to an organization’s networking event every month all year, and not a single client has been referred from the colleagues you met there. If no one you’ve met there appeals to you, jump ship now and don’t look back. If, on the other hand, you feel like you’ve made some good connections with colleagues who you like and respect, make a tweak to your process. Go to the event every other month, and invite one or two of those colleagues to coffee one on one in between. Go here for more help with networking.

Example 3: Your public speaking strategy needs some help

You’ve done 3 public speaking gigs this year, and only one client has resulted. Ask yourself a few questions to identify what small changes you need to make. Did you give your audience members an easy path to sign up for a free consultation right after the talks? Did you keep the topic of your talks narrow enough that you could cover that topic well? Did you give opportunities for the participants to interact with you and the other participants? For more tips on public speaking, go here.

Before you go on to the next stage of goal setting, take a deep breath and congratulate yourself on what worked this year.

Ready to create the practice you want and deserve? My next Superpower Method For Therapists® Group Program begins soon. This program will help you ask the right questions and take the right actions to create that practice. Get on the waitlist now so you're the first to know when registration opens.