5 Keys To Writing Killer Blog Post Titles

Is your great blog content hiding behind boring or predictable titles?

Next time you're browsing the web, notice the articles that catch your eye and pique your interest. What is it about them that interests you enough to click through and look at the content? Often, all that you have to go by is the article title.

Titles matter.

I was just reminded of the importance of blog post titles over the weekend when I posted an article on PsychCentral's World Of Psychology Blog. The article was titled "8 Surefire Ways To Emotionally Screw Up Your Kid." Within 24 hours the post had been shared over 1000 times on Facebook and had been retweeted 100 times on Twitter.

What was it about this post that made it popular and sharable? It all started with the totally unexpected title that piqued people's interest.

5 Key Questions When Titling Posts

1) Does it make you go "huh?"

Is there some kind of twist you can give the title that piques readers interest? For my "8 Surefire Ways" post I wanted to give it a different approach. There are millions of how-to parenting posts on the Internet, so I wanted to do something unexpected while still being helpful.

2) Is your title relevant to the content?

You don't want to g0 with a catchy title that has nothing to do with the content. Your post title should accurately reflect the article content or you risk losing your reader's trust and decreasing your traffic. One of the favorite titles of a recent blog post was 20 Ways Shrinks Stay Sane, where I interviewed therapists around the globe on how they take care of their own emotional health. It was clever and reflected accurately what the post content had in store for readers.

3) Can you say it in fewer words?

If you can title a post with fewer words, then do it. If titles are too long they make it more difficult to share through social media. I titled a recent blog post What The Heck Is Social Collaboration? A less effective title would have been Why Therapists Need To Know About Social Collaboration: What It Is And How To Use It.

4) Does the title include keywords?

Whenever possible, use keywords in the title of your blog post so people searching for your topic can easily find your content. For example, this post is titled 5 Keys To Writing Killer Blog Post Titles. The keywords are blog, post, and titles.

5) Is it in layman's terms?

When writing for the general public, avoid psychobabble, and write titles in language that is understandable to everyone. For example, one of my colleagues wrote a blog post called Mean Girls in Marriage. That title is more approachable than using Relational Aggression In Female Partners After Marriage.

Coming up with great blog post titles is an art that takes practice. It helps me to brainstorm with colleagues or family members to see which titles work best. Do you need feedback on a blog post title that you're working on? Feel free to post it in the comment below and I'll give you my feedback!

Sharing Office Space With Your Spouse (part 1)

Today's guest post is by Christina G. Hibbert, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist and expert on Postpartum Mental Health, Women’s Emotional Health, Grief & Loss, Motherhood and Parenting. Dr. Hibbert runs a successful private practice in Flagstaff, Arizona, housed in the same location as her husband's dental practice.

A few years back, after I had my fourth baby and we inherited our two nephews (that’s a long story for another day!), I quit working in the group practice I’d been with for four years. After staying home for two years to put our new family together, I felt it might be time to open a practice of my own. Being a mom of six, I was very nervous about adding a private practice to my already jam-packed “to-do” list. Thank goodness my husband was thinking for me.

“Why don’t we build you an office behind mine?” he suggested one day. My husband has a dental practice in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona.  The office is a little historic home that was converted years ago. It has a white picket fence and a hand-painted sign hanging from a shingle out front. Very quaint. Flagstaff is known for its interesting combination of businesses (airport/beauty salon; antique shop/physician), so why not dentist/psychologist? It seemed to make sense.

My husband and a couple of his buddies began construction in what was the small parking lot behind his office, and a few months later, my 12' x 12' little “house” was ready to go. I painted the outside blue with white trim and a flower box, decorated the inside comfortably, hooked up a new phone line, and we were in business.

There are a few definite perks to sharing an office space with your spouse:

1) No or low rent

The biggest perk, of course, is that I don’t actually pay rent. I added a line to his phone line and only use minimal utilities, so it is a real money saver!

2) No wasted space

My husband uses my office as a consultation room or lounge on the days I’m not there. Since I work part-time, it feels good to know I’m not wasting my space. It’s also a handy place for our kids to hang out on the off days when I’m out of town and they need to go to work with dad. We put toys and a TV in the office, so it’s ready for visitors of all kind (including all the babies that come in with the postpartum moms I see!).

3) Double-duty staff

Another perk is that I can utilize my husband’s staff to help me as needed. Though I take all my own phone calls and do my own scheduling, I am able to count on his office manager to help me check in clients, take payment, and give them a “waiting room” in the snowy winter months. His staff also helps clean my office, water my plants, and take care of the weekly postpartum support group that still needs to meet with my co-facilitator when I am out of town.

4) Built-in referrals

Sharing office space is an excellent referral network. Many of my clients end up in his dental chair and several of his patients end up on my couch.

5) Time together

Though it may not be a perk for all couples, my favorite thing about sharing office space is that we are working together. I don’t run his office and he doesn’t run mine, but we help each other out. We give suggestions and share tips. We chat in between clients and some days we get to “do lunch.” I always get to end my day with a hug goodbye as he stays to support the family financially and I leave to support the family as chauffeur and chef.

So, if you’re looking for a way to make a part-time practice work for you, consider office-sharing. In my case it’s with my husband, but whether it’s with your spouse, a friend, or a colleague, it just might be the solution you’re looking for!

Dr. Christina Hibbert is a Clinical Psychologist and expert on Postpartum Mental Health, Women’s Emotional Health, Grief & Loss, Motherhood and Parenting. She received her BA from Brigham Young University and her MA and Psy.D. from California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. Dr. Hibbert is the Founder of the Arizona Postpartum Wellness Coalition, and is the producer of the internationally-sold DVD, Postpartum Couples.  Dr. Hibbert is a dynamic and engaging speaker and is currently finishing up her first book, This Is How We Grow. Mostly, though, Christina Hibbert is a happily married mother trying to keep up with six energetic children!

(c) Can Stock Photo

From Cosmo to Wall Street: 7 Tips For Giving Great Interviews

What do you think of when you think of professional networking? Private practice therapists who I've worked with in business consultations usually consider networking to be meeting with other like-minded professionals for lunch or handing out business cards to physicians offices.

While those are important ways to make connections that build your therapy practice, there are other ways to get the word to thousands and thousands of people in one shot, instead of just a few folks at a time.  Rarely do shrinks think of networking with reporters.

Over the last few years I've focused on responding to reporter queries seeking quotes from experts on a variety of mental or emotional health issues, and family relationship advice. There are a few who now contact me for quotes when they are pitching new articles or stories. I've had a great time corresponding with them by email or talking by phone.

This month I am thrilled to have quotes in:

Cosmopolitan Magazine (June 2012) article "Are we boring"

Wall Street Journal (today May 15, 2012) "For a nation of whiners, therapist try tough love" (with a photo included)

Click here to see quotes in other national publications

Tips for interviewing with reporters and journalists:

1) Seek out opportunities

Keep an eye out for opportunities to interview with local and national reporters. Sign up for services that notify you of reporters looking for interviews, like Reporter Connection, ProfNet Connection, Expert Engine.

2) Respond to requests ASAP

I've come to realize that journalistic deadlines are incredibly tight, and the sooner I respond, the better. I've interviewed one afternoon for an E! Online article and it posted that evening. When I get an email request for an interview I will respond right then on my smart phone with comments off the top of my head. I've been known to pull over on the side of the road while driving carpool to respond to an interview request.

3) Avoid psychobabble

Interviewing with the popular media is different than talking with colleagues. Fellow shrinks can talk in short hand with acronyms like DBT, CBT and EFT; we know what transference and countertransference are, but most people don't know and don't care. Always use layman's terms that can be easily understood even if someone's never taken Psychology 101.

4) Give quotable sound bytes

In the therapy office, we are used to taking our time, starting where the client is, and exploring client's deeper emotions. Media interviews require doing the opposite of what you do in therapy.  In media interviews you have to get right to the point. Most journalists are looking for a few engaging and relevant sentences to support their piece, not a dissertation.

5) Let your passion show

I think part of why I've been successful in getting quoted in national publications is because I show my passion for the work and for the topic of the story or article. Even in email correspondence, don't be afraid to show your personality and be approachable. I also openly share my gratitude for the interview opportunity and how much I enjoy media interviews.

6) Make your contact info easy to find

Make sure that your name and credentials (the way you'd like them to appear if you're quoted), your email address, and your cell phone number are easy to find in any correspondence. Reporters don't have time to hunt you down.

7) Ask them to contact you again

At the end of each interview or correspondence, whether you interview or not, be sure to ask them to keep you in mind as a resource in the future. Ask them to keep your contact information should they need your expertise in the future.

Pin A Quote: My New Social Media Marketing 'Crush'

Pin A Quote is a quick and fun way to create a graphic out of your favorite quotes. It allows you to highlight any text and with the click of a button, turn it into a shareable graphic that is automatically links to the site where you found the text. Though it's designed to interface with Pinterest, you don't have to have a Pinterest account to use Pin A Quote.

Once you've selected the quote and created your graphic, Pin A Quote creates a custom URL for that specific quote that you can share on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites, and of course, Pinterest.

Here's a screenshot of what I'm talking about. I use Pin A Quote Pro because you can customize the fonts and colors for $1.99. Notice the link at the bottom is the page on my website. When people click on the graphic they'll be directed to that web page.

You may be wondering how this is relevant to your private practice. Good question. Important elements of marketing your private practice are:

1. Building a professional online presence
2. Presenting yourself as an expert in your specialty area
3. Attracting an online following that views you as a valuable resource
4. Creating links that direct more visitors to your website

Pin A Quote can help you accomplish all of these goals.

How To Use Pin A Quote

Here's a brief tutorial published by Pin A Quote on how to use the tool.

Using Pin A Quote To Build Your Practice

1) Share other's inspirational or helpful quotes

If you find an article that would be helpful to your followers, you can create a graphic and direct people to the article. Another idea is to quote your favorite psychology gurus and use it as an additional graphic in a blog post. Here's one of my favorites:

2) Quote yourself as an expert

Take a sentence from a professional presentation or blog post that you've presented and create a graphic of your own quotes. This helps build your identity as an expert and lets others share your wisdom.

3) Engage followers by sharing quotes on social media

Look back at the graphic at the top of this post. See the share buttons on the bottom? You can share quotes on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc. Here's an example of my Private Practice Toolbox board on Pinterest. You'll see that I've pinned many quotes using Pin A Quote.

Try it out and let me know what you think. Feel free to post links to quote graphics you create in the comments below.

Simplify Your Social Media Life With HootSuite

I have wholeheartedly embraced social media to build my therapy practice and to educate the public on important emotional health and family relationship topics. Technology and social media have allowed me to grow my private practice free of managed care during difficult economic times. Facebook is the #2 referral source to my private practice website, topped only by Google. A common  challenge for private practice therapists is learning to effectively manage social networks in a way that maximizes their time and draws people to their practice.

People often ask how I stay on top of posting and interacting regularly on my social media networks. Just to give you an idea, I manage  3 Twitter accounts, 8 Facebook pages/profiles, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Ping.fm, 3 Ning accounts. One of my favorite social network management systems is HootSuite, a social media dashboard. Although I can't manage all of my accounts from HootSuite, I can manage the largest networks. I pay only $5.99 per month which includes the ability to add one "team member" to can access and manage my social network accounts.

Here's a list of social networks that you can manage from Hootsuite:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Foursquare
• Ping.fm
• WordPress
• MySpace
• Mixi

I'm hoping they'll add Facebook groups, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest very soon.

Here's my 5 minute tutorial walk through of HootSuite's basic functions so you can see the dashboard, functions, and how easy it is to use.

Here are some of the reasons I like HootSuite:

1) Save drafts

You can save drafts of updates, posts, links, etc. to post at a later time, or to repost which saves time.

2) Schedule posts

If you find an article link , quote, or other resource that you want to share on any or all of your social media networks, you can schedule a post in the future by setting the day and time. You can set aside a certain amount of time every week and schedule your posts for the week on all of your networks.

3) Interact directly from the dashboard

Not only can you post updates, photos, links, etc. for HootSuite, you can interact, comment, "like", retweet, and many other options on several networks from one place. You don't have to login to each site separately which saves time.

4) Selectively post to networks

You can send or schedule an update to specific social media pages and not to others. For example, one of my Facebook Pages is a "Music/Band" page for my performing and songwriting. I post more music related links, stories, etc. there and I don't post those on my  private practice Facebook page. You can select which updates to send to each social network depending on the interests of your audience on any specific account.

5) Add team members

HootSuite allows you to add team members to your accounts to help manage your social media. I recently added a team member to assist me. The dashboard shows which team member responded to certain social media posts so you can track the other member's interaction and avoid duplicating responses.

How do you manage your social media networks to build your therapy practice?