Talk to thousands about your practice by submitting content for Private Practice Toolbox.

I've written a lot about the importance of content creation in building a professional online presence, creating value for website visitors and social media followers, and establishing yourself as an expert in your specialty area.

Incoming links to your practice website boost SEO, boost traffic, and establish credibility. It's always better to create content for larger websites. Well, here's your chance to shine. I want to feature you on THIS blog in 2013! Here are 4 ways you can be featured:

1) Pitch a guest blog

I'm always looking for guest posts from qualified individuals from a variety of fields who can share insights about how to run, manage, market, and thrive in private practice. I recently started working on my PhD and I'm not able to blog as often as I used to. I'm open to posts from professionals outside the mental health field as well. Attorneys, accountants, SEO experts, marketing, website design, interior design...If your expertise can help private mental health practitioners build successful businesses, pitch away!

2) Be featured in my"Adventures in Private Practice" series

Answer the following questions and submit them with a photo, a brief summary of your practice and a link to your website here.

Tell me a little about your practice…
Why did you decide to open a private practice?
Clients that therapists find to be the most “difficult” are sometimes the ones who can teach them the most. What have you learned from your toughest clients?
What’s your biggest pet peeve about private practice?
How did you discover or develop your practice “niche”?
What resource (book, website, person) helped you the most when setting up your private practice?
What has surprised you most about being in private practice?
Has your private practice helped you grow professionally? How so…
Has it helped you grow personally, too? How so…
Being a therapist can be emotionally exhausting. What do you do to care for your own emotional and psychological health?
How do you cope with the inevitable stressors involved with being your own boss?
What personal strengths have helped you succeed in private practice?

3) Be Featured in a "A Day In The Life" Series

How do private practitioners spend their time? What does it take to create a thriving practice? Track your private practice activities for one day. Submit a word doc, photo, practice summary, and link to your practice here.

4) Be feature in my "Virtual Office Tour" series

Submit a video tour of your office space and I'll feature it on this blog! Submit you information here. Peek inside other therapist's offices.

Other ways to connect with private practice resources:

Join the Private Practice Toolbox Facebook Group

Join the Twitter conversation using hashtag #practicetoolbox (I'm @julie_hanks)

Join the 2013 Therapist Blog Challenge for help creating regular content on your private practice website.

Martin Fisch via Compfight

Do you have a Twitter account for your practice but you're not sure how to get more followers? Do you feel like your tweeting into thin air and no one is "listening"? Here are a few tricks I've learned that have help me grow my Twitter following and promote your private mental health practice online and build your professional identity.

1) Search and follow

Use the search box at the right top of your Twitter homepage to search your specialty areas and interests. Follow people who are tweeting helpful and relevant info relating to your practice areas and let them know that you like what they're sharing online.

2) Make it easy for others to find you

Hashtags "#" are a great way to make it easy for others who are searching for certain topics. If you're tweeting a blog post about depression, add #depression to your tweet. While we're talking hashtags, I have a favor to ask you...will you use #practicetoolbox when sharing this article?

3) Mention others frequently

Talk directly to different Twitter users by including "@" sign and someone's twitter handle in your tweet. Retweet great tweets and thank people who retweet you i.e. "TY for RT @julie_hanks!" People want to talk to people, not agencies or businesses.

4) Learn from effective Twitter users

Use Twitter lists to organize key influencers that you follow. Watch and learn from people who have large numbers of active Twitter followers and who tweet helpful information that's relevant to your area of interest. Learn from those "tweeps" that you admire and model what they are doing.

5) Drive traffic to your website

While it's great to tweet helpful information that others are producing, remember that your goal is to drive traffic to your website. You have a website right? An active blog on your site gives you content to tweet and link back to your site. You can also tweet links to different pages on your sit.

photo credit: harry-m

Want to connect with other private mental health practitioners on Twitter? Join my private practice Twitter list here.

EHR "SimplePractice" to Add Group Practice Option

As healers, we genuinely like to do our work. Guiding clients through the therapy process and seeing them make progress is why we do what we do. But if you're in private practice, you know there's a lot going on in the back end and that it's crucial to run an efficient and organized business.

How to Write Compelling Website Copy: Interview with Website Whisperer Nicole Bonsol

I recently had the opportunity to interview Nicole Bonsol, a writing, branding, and graphic designer for healers. She helps therapists create an inviting and powerful website and best craft their message to engage with their viewers. I was fascinated at what Nicole had to say, especially because of her unique role in the process of helping clinicians reach their audience. Here are some highlights of our discussion:

Private Practice Website: Should You Hire a Pro or DIY?

As therapists in 2016, we understand that having a functioning, informational, and attractive website isn’t just a good idea-it’s a necessity. But if you’re just starting out in private practice, it can be intimidating to build one from the ground up. How do you design your home page so a user can easily navigate and find what they need? How do you present information in a way that isn’t overwhelming or too “busy”? What’s the best way to make sure your content is mobile-friendly? And even when you figure out the answers to these questions, how do you make the vision in your head actually become reality on a website?