How to master the unrelenting business demands of practice
Some start a mental health business to avoid having a boss. They want to answer to no one. This is a myth. In truth, every owner must make peace with […]
How to grow consistent community marketing: Community Connection Plan
For the first 20 years of my practice, we struggled with our marketing our mental health practice. We needed to find a community marketing system that we all could embrace […]
Push and pull marketing for mental health
Professional marketers talk about two types of marketing, push and pull marketing. Let’s start with some definitions. Push marketing A push strategy involves promoting your services directly to the customer […]
Connecting therapists with each other: An interview with David Klow
David Klow, the founder of Skylight Counseling Center, has a unique way of connecting therapists with each other. I first heard about his “Therapist on Tap” events via his email […]
Social media builds practices: An interview with Dr. Kelly Flanagan
There are questions about whether using social media builds practices. I weigh in on the topic here. Following is an email interview with Dr. Kelly Flanagan, a friend and practice […]
Developing deeper referrer relationships: How to broaden your reach
Whenever a clinician begins a new referrer relationship, that clinician becomes the point person for that connection. And we want the clinician to nurture that referrer relationship until the point […]
How to convert solid referral relationships into fan clubs
You have identified a prospective referrer and have begun to build that referral relationship. What do you actually want to say in that first meeting? What is your objective in […]
How many referrals do you need for a full caseload?
One of the early concerns when starting to build a practice is how to have enough referrals for a full caseload. I suggest that 1000 sessions per year is a good […]
How to accelerate the building of a full-time caseload
How long does it usually take to build a full-time caseload? In my experience, when one is starting from scratch in a new community and one takes the typical approaches […]
Why join insurance panels
Should I become a provider on all the insurance panels in my area? One can find many practice management consultants promoting the “cash only” model of outpatient psychotherapy. There are […]
The benefits of creating demand in your community
Creating demand needs to be a constant focus when starting a practice. When any service is in demand, people are generally willing to pay more for it. Furthermore, they tolerate […]
Daily business demand #1: Scheduling
For the client who is scheduling an appointment, the process of therapy begins with a phone call. The client begins to learn about the therapy process from how the first […]
Daily business demand #2: Providing therapy
When we meet with a client, i.e., when we are providing therapy, we are offering a service. And clients are purchasing that service. There is a commercial transaction that is […]
Daily business demand #3: Billing
When I was a solo practitioner, there were times when my insurance billing got months behind. Doing therapy was my focus. I ignored my paperwork until I was in a […]
Weekly business demand #4: Collecting
Collecting our fees comes before we can pay our bills. Practices of all sizes require efficient and consistent methods for collecting the money owed to the practice. With few exceptions, […]
Weekly business demand #5: Planning marketing
Marketing does not need to be done every day. . . but therein lies the trouble. We cannot ignore daily chores like scheduling, doing therapy, billing, and collecting. We know […]
A marketing video on a practice-wide marketing system
This marketing video lays out some of the details of how we developed a systematic way of marketing a mental health practice to the community. It includes a low-key method […]
Creating demand by marketing
Practices succeed when they market services to the community they reside in a consistent, congruent, and appealing way. But creating demand by marketing does not come natural to many of […]
Spectacular belly flops in marketing
Me doing a belly flop: I approach the diving board with enthusiasm and commitment. I bounce high into the air, reaching the apex of my dive only to suddenly realize […]
Types of marketing: What works for you?
The types of marketing that are used today has gotten more complex with the advent of the internet. When I began is was all about getting to actually meet people […]
