Therapist Blog Challenge #7: Invite a Guest Blogger

Inviting a colleague to write an article for your blog is a great way to post fresh content, share interesting resources, and help both of you build your online presence.

Blog posts on your private practice blog don't have to be written by you. For therapist blog challenge #7 I want you to invite a colleague to contribute a blog article to your blog. The guest blogger doesn't have to be a therapist. It can be any other professional that you respect, that you would like to help promote, or that you would like to be associated with.

The content from your invited guest blogger doesn't have to be written from scratch. They can choose to  repost an article from their blog that is slightly modified for your blog audience. You could even do a blog article swap - I'll post yours if you post mine.

Be sure to include a little blurb about your guest blogger and a link to their website at the beginning or end of the guest post.

Ready, set, blog!

Here are some examples of guest posts on Private Practice Toolbox.

Additional reminders about the 2013 blog challenge

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too.
• Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

Therapist Blog Challenge #5: Top 10 Books List

Listing your most recommended books makes a quick and easy blog post and is a fantastic resource for website visitors

You know those books that you recommend to clients over and over again? Write  down a list of them, add a couple of sentences about why you like that book, and provide a link to purchase the book. That's it. Easy, right? Just to make it even easier, here's my top 10 list. As always, feel free to use some or all of the following on your own list.

Here's my list of top 10 most recommended books

Marriage

1) Hold Me Tight: 7 Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Dr. Sue Johnson

2) And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance After Baby Arrives by John Gottman Ph.D. and Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD

Parenting

3) Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting by John Gottman, PhD & Joan Declaire

4) Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson & Ahsley Merryman

5) The Whold-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel J. Seigel, MD

Relationships

6) Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder by Paul Mason MS, Randi Kreger

7) Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation by Daniel J. Seigel, MD & Tina Payne Bryson, PhD

Self-Worth

8) The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown, PhD

9) Reinventing Your Life: The Breakthough Program to End Negative Behavior...and Feel Great Again by Jeffrey E. Young, PhD & Janet S. Klosko

10) Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind by Kristin Neff, PhD

Additional reminders about the 2013 blog challenge

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too.
• Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

5 Elements Of An Effective Practice Website

An effective website is key to building a thriving private practice in the digital age.

According to Pew Research, 80% of internet users look online for health information, making it the third most popular online pursuit following email and using a search engine. Additionally, 44% of internet users look online for information about doctors or other health professionals.

Since the majority of people are looking for your services online, your website is the heart of your professional web presence. All other online efforts should focus primarily on directing potential clients to your website where they will get to know who you are and how you can help them. Your website is your first impression, your "billboard", and your best chance to build trust with potential clients. I suggest these 5 C's when building your private practice website.

The 5 C's of an effective website:

1) Clean design

Overall design feel should look uncluttered and cohesive. Here's an example of a clean looking practice website from The Healing Group. When designing your site focus on the following:

• Use only 1-2 type fonts
• Select a cohesive color scheme
• Avoid DIY look
• Visually appealing to your ideal client

2) Clear Navigation

Is your site navigation user friendly? Can visitors quickly find what they are looking for? When I redesigned my practice website I selected the order of navigation buttons based on the Google Analytics statistics pages views. Then I put the navigation buttons in order according to what the site's previous visitors were looking for. Here were the top 5

• Home
• Meet Therapists
• Services
• Appointments
• About Us

3) Compelling copy

Does the text on your website pages accurately describe your practice  and your services? Does the copy engage your visitors and give them a feel for who you are? Here are a few tips to write more compelling copy:

• Speak in first person
• Answer your potential client’s pain
• Highlight the benefits of your services
• Conversational writing style is the new "professional"
• Use keywords throughout your text on website pages. Keywords are  words or phrases that describe your services that ideal clients would likely type into a search to find the services you provide.

4) Contact Information

One of the biggest mistakes therapists make is making potential clients work too hard to find contact information. Here are some suggestions to make sure that potential clients can easily contact you. Keep in mind that the primary  goal of a website is to get potential clients to become your clients. Make sure that you include your contact information and your location on every page.

5) Consistent Content

It's important to give visitors a reason to come back to your website on a regular basis. Creating valuable content makes your site a valuable resource, increases traffic, and helps build your clientele. Here are some examples of types of content that I create regularly on my private practice website:

• Blog Articles
• Videos
• Audio (mp3s, podcasts)
• Social/Visual (graphics, pictures)
• Newsletter

Take a look at your practice website. If you have incorporated these 5 elements then you're in good shape! If not, look at where you can improve. Maybe you can add "Spruce up my private practice website" to your New Year's Resolution list.

Feel free to post your practice website link in the comments below and ask for feedback from colleagues. I encourage you to give feedback to other practitioners on their practice websites.

Practicing Outside The Box: Growing Tomatoes In Psychotherapy

Stuck in a therapeutic rut? Find inspiration from other therapist's creative strategies and get outside the box!

As therapists, especially those of us who have been practicing for a few years, it's easy to get into a rut and become less creative than we were as eager, bright-eyed interns. Feeling the need to be more creative in the therapy hour inspired me to reach out to other therapists for ideas and inspiration and start this series about practicing outside of the box.

Because I managed to kill every plant I have ever owned (I have a "black thumb") and because I have always fantasized about living in New York City, I was intrigued by psychotherapist Janet Zinn, LCSW's use of "outside the box" strategies to help her clients. Janet found that incorporating nature in the form of a garden in the middle of a New York City practice was a welcome and healing environment for her clients.

Here is what Janet said about her work with a female client:

I had a client who was diagnosed with a serious borderline personality disease. She had been hospitalized on a number of occasions.  She loved gardening, and we planted a tomato plant that she watered, cut back and cultivated twice a week. When the tomatoes grew in she had a sense of accomplishment. As someone who was always told that she was bad, here was something she could feel good about.

We used the tomato plant as a metaphor for her own process in life.  How could she treat herself in a kind and cultivating way? What would nourish her soul?  The tomato plant calmed her.  She felt less reactive when working with the tomato plant.  In the winter, we would use the tomato plant as a  metaphor of patience and the seasons became a lesson on the process of growth and change.

Have you found a creative niche, a unique office space, use non-traditional interventions, or have something that sets you apart from other private practice clinicians? I want to hear about it! Email me with "outside the box" in the subject line.

jacki-dee (catching up) via Compfight

Who's Talking About You Online? Find Out With Google Alerts

Do you know who's talking about you and your practice on the web? If not, you should. My favorite way to to track who's talking is through Google alerts. Google alerts sends me an email whenever they come across "Julie Hanks" or "Wasatch Family Therapy" on the web. It's a quick and easy to see what information your name is being associated with, where you're being mentioned, who's quoting you, and more. If nothing pops up about you and your practice on the web via Google Alerts over several months, that's helpful information too. If Google can't find you, then it's likely that you're potential clients can't find you either. To learn more about Google searches read my article Does Google Love Your Therapy Practice?.

Click here to set up your Google Alert. You can set up your alert to filter different sources like blogs, news, video, discussions, or everything on the web, how often you'd like to be alerted, and how many results you'd like to receive. When you're name pops up on the web, you'll be alerted via email. You'll also find out what other people who share your name are up to on the web, which is amusing, and sometimes annoying.

I found out last week, through a Google alert that I had been named the #1 online influencer making a difference for depression by Sharecare, an website founded by Dr. Oz and Jeff Arnold, founder of Web MD. That's information that I'm glad I didn't miss!

Here's the Google alert email I received last week:

So take a few minutes today to set up Google Alert. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Please post links to what you find below! I'd love to see where other private practitioners are popping up on the web.