5 Steps To Transforming Your Practice Into A Thriving Business

Guest post by Edita Atteck

I believe I know who you are. You are here to be of service to others and you want to create a thriving business. You want to get client referrals, retain existing clients, and you don’t want to live from paycheck to paycheck.  You want to have a good reputation and earn client's trust.

I know first hand how starting a business is a challenge. I’ve been there and I fully respect your feelings. I left my corporate career to pursue my passion and committed to turning it into a business helping one person at a time. And I am here today to share with you six steps I believe can help guide you to building a practice that will help you and your business to thrive.

1) Crystal clear profit clarity

Just like any creation, your business starts with a foundation. Be very clear on how your business makes money. Who is your ideal client and how do you stand out from your competition? Review your current revenue model and identify gaps. What is the minimum income you need to make and what is your ideal annual income? Use these numbers to work backwards to figure out the number of hours, clients, sessions you need to have to arrive at the income you want to make. Address gaps creatively.

2) Create a website that attracts clients

Do you have a website that conveys a clear message and exceptional content to your target audience? Have you Googled your name lately? If so, what search results did you get?  Think of the words or phrases your ideal client would use in a Google search? Can s/he find you? Be visible in the digital world and that includes social media.  Just think of the hundreds of potential clients hanging out on Facebook or Twitter.  Allow your website to be a dynamic platform where clients can tap into an expanding knowledge base and valuable resources. Leveraging your online presence is essential to your success.

3) Communication and client list building

How do you communicate and build client lists? Having effective open channels of communication with your existing and prospective clients is a key to creating trusting relationships. You want to be the “go to” person when people are trying to solve their problems. Create a blog where you post valuable tips weekly or a newsletter that offers relevant content. Stay in touch with your client base. Even if some people may never book an appointment with you, they may recommend you to their family and friends because they hear from you regularly.

4) Create excellent products, services, and marketing

Brainstorm on the possibility of creating unique service offerings or value packages. It’s your job to prove to your clients that you are the solution to their problems and not the other way around.  And don’t be afraid of marketing.  I used to think that certain industries should not use marketing otherwise they may be perceived as "sleazy".  I was wrong!  Create marketing that is completely honest, ethical, and truthful and your clients will love you for that.

5) Infuse your personality into your brand

Do you incorporate your personality into your practice brand? If not, I suggest you get creative and infuse your unique personality into your brand. While many therapists can offer good therapy, nobody can replicate YOU. Step outside of the box and allow creative thinking to develop an image that is uniquely yours, draws on your strengths, and attracts the clients that you want to work with. And while you may want to be tempted to look for inspiration inside your industry, I challenge you to step outside. The biggest breakthroughs come from getting insights from professionals in other industries.

If you want to learn more about these steps, I highly recommend you enroll in Marie Forleo’s b-school program. I am a proud graduate and an affiliate.

Edita Atteck entered the world of healing, empowering, and motivating people as a result of her passion to make a difference.  Edita’s mission is to inspire her clients to overcome stress, deepen their intuition, achieve a quieter mind, heal their lives, and fall in love with their lives. The result of her passion led to founding Journey to Healing, a company dedicated to helping people live more healing, empowered, and joyful life. You can connect with Edita through her website, editaatteck.com, Facebook, or Twitter.

Plant photo (c) Canstock.com

Content Creation Opportunities For Shrinks

Writing articles for high-traffic websites can help you grow online presence and your practice.

Content creation is crucial for building an online presence, particularly on your own professional blog on your private practice website. In addition to creating content for your own small website, you may want to start strategically writing for other websites, too. Seek out higher-traffic sites to write for

If the thought overwhelms you, don't stop reading quite yet. Some of the benefits of writing or blogging on other sites as part of your private practice marketing strategy are:

• Getting more back links to your own site which increases traffic and boosts SEO
• Increase name/brand recognition
• More credibility as a trusted expert
• Opportunity to educate and build awareness of important issues
• And best of all, you can re-purpose the content and post it on your own website

All of these benefits will help bring more visitors to your website, which will, over time, mean more clients for your practice. It's important to write on topics directed to your ideal client. Write  on your areas of passion and expertise in order to bring in clients that are a good fit for your practice. Writing articles for other websites does take some commitment, but in my experience, it has been well worth the effort.

Consider pitching articles or blogs to these sites:

About.com

About.com has different levels of paid contributors: guides, topic writers, and video producers.

Psych Central

If you're ready to make a regular commitment to create and write regularly for your own blog, pitch your passion here. you can also submit individual articles to PsychCentral's World Of Psychology blog.

Sharecare.com

Sharecare is a health social media site owned by Dr. Oz. You can sign up as an expert and answer questions on a variety of health and mental health questions. Here's my Sharecare page.

Your local news website

Every newspaper and TV news station have websites and I've yet to come across one that doesn't have additional bloggers contributing. Here's an example from my articles on a local Utah news website

Examiner.com

The Examiner accepts bloggers based on specific topics and locations. See if they are looking for bloggers in your area of expertise.

Professional organization websites

Check with your professional organization to see if they have a blog and accept articles from licensed professionals. The American Counseling Association has a blog with contributors.

GoodTherapy.org

This professional therapist listing site also allows therapists to become "topic experts" on their site and publish blog articles.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all of the writing opportunities for therapists on the web. My hope was to get you thinking about how to build your online presence and create content that you own and can reuse on your own site.

Do you contribute articles or other content to larger websites? I'd love to hear about your experience. Have you noticed an increase in traffic to your site? What benefits have you experienced writing for big websites?

I've just launched the 2013 Therapist Blog Challenge. Join us!

10 Things I Accidentally Did Right In Building My Private Practice

As I reflecting back on 10  years in private practice I did a few things right, mostly by chance.

With a business license, professional license, and big dreams, I opened a private practice ten years ago. Having never taken a business, marketing, or management course, I have learned "on the job" how to be a small business owner. Hopefully, you can learn from what I accidentally did right and intentionally apply them as you build your private practice.

1) Start small, think big

At the time I opened the doors I was a solo practitioner. Those of you in solo practice know that means I was the receptionist, the billing manager, the webmaster, the marketing specialist...Being a "one woman show" for a few years not only taught me what it takes to run a practice, but also how to teach others what I had learned as the practice grew. My vision was to grow my practice into a group with several practitioners and over time, that has happened.

2) Grow slowly

I didn't know it then, but one of the main reasons new businesses fail is because they grow too quickly. As a mother of 3 children at the time, I was fine growing slowly so I could manage the multiple demands on my time. Turns out it was good for business too. Growing slowly allowed me to build a business without loans or going into debt.

3) Charge more than you think you're worth

From my first day in private practice I have always charged a higher fee than I felt I was worth. This forced me to deal with my own money issues, and to learn to value my own services and skills more highly. I came to understand the value of the perceived value of my services as clients assumed that I must be very skilled in order to charge at the high end of the scale for my location.

4) Think like a business owner

My family of origin tends to have an entrepreneurial mindset where self-employment, flexibility, and freedom are highly valued. This framework helped me to be able to think like a business owner and a therapist and to find an emotional place where those two roles weren't mutually exclusive. Although they are occasionally in conflict, I've found that that is a rare occasion. Thinking like a small business owner has helped me to set better therapeutic boundaries with clients as well.

5) Trust your gut

In all areas of practice, from office location, to logo design, to who to hire, to which practice software to purchase, after researching the best options I ultimately followed my intuition in making key decisions for my private practice. While the path hasn't been perfect, I can't think of one decision where I trusted my gut and regretted it.

6) Hire qualified people that you trust with your reputation

One of the scariest things in growing from a solo practitioner to a larger practice is hiring people who have the power to impact  your professional and business reputation. In addition to hiring very qualified staff, also hire people that you'd trust and train them how to present themselves in a way that builds your credibility.

7) Set strong boundaries with money

Whether it's following through with your office policies regarding collections, or saving for those dips in client numbers, I have tried to be consistent with money policies. This also applies when hiring employees. My tendency was to give away a little too much at first, because of my inexperience. I soon learned that there is a cost, emotionally and financially, to having employees, and that I deserve to get paid for management time and for holding all of the liability in the practice setting.

8) Create a home away from home

Creating a comfortable yet professional office space has helped me, and my clients, to feel welcomed and safe. I've found self-expression in my private office environment and decor helps foster a sense of safety and nurturing and creates a space where I feel at ease.

9) Integrate your passions into your practice

I have always integrated current interests and passions into my private practice. If there's a film that I really like, I'll use that with clients. More recently I've become a tech geek, so I've integrated technology into my private practice by launching an online therapy division, moving to electronic records, and building a social media following.

10) Take good care of you

Personal self care has always been high on my priority list. I've known that if my own needs were going to get met it was my job to make it happen. Whether it's scheduling exercise, bringing healthy food to work, making time for social events, or attending my own therapy, I am fiercely committed to making sure I am taking care of me. I think those habits have allowed me to energetically continue investing in my clients, my practice, and my employees without feeling burned out.

What things have you accidentally done right in building your practice? Please share so we can learn from each other!

Your Office Is Ugly! Get Creative

Many therapists have ugly offices. Does your therapy office reflect your personality, practice specialty, and appeal to your ideal client? Here's one creative solution. During a private practice consultation meeting a few weeks ago psychologist Kimberly Sieber, PhD expressed excitement about securing a large office space at an amazingly low rent for her private practice Good Medicine Healing Community. New to private practice she was concerned about the costs of furnishing such a big space. We estimated a budget and listed the basic furnishings she'd need to start seeing clients: a couch, chair and desk for one office, and a few chairs for the large waiting room.

She turned to me with a worried look and asked, "But what about the walls? They're blank and white and ugly!"

"Do you have any artist friends who are painters?" I asked. "Can you think of anyone whose art speaks to you and supports the holistic philosophy you have for your practice?"

Her eyes brightened and she could sense where I was going. "Yes, I can think of a few!"

She accepted my challenge to reach out and see if any friends would be willing to display their art in her practice with a small plaque with their name and contact information. She was thrilled with the idea and is meeting with a few artists this month. I anticipate that her office will look much warmer once it has some furnishings and lovely art on the walls.

I love brainstorming win-win situations in solution to obstacles. My client Kim gets cool, original, and moving art to transform her office space into a warm, inviting place, and the artist she collaborates with gets more exposure for her art (which makes artists very happy). I believe there is a solution to every obstacle in life, even when it comes to decorating your private practice, if we're willing to get creative.

The same week I consulted with Dr. Siebers I was in the process of hunting for decor for my second location of my practice Wasatch Family Therapy, spending hours at World Market, TJ Maxx, and discount office furniture stores. I was searching for art for the new office space when it dawned on me to take my own advice and I contacted one of my nieces Lisa Marie Crosby to asked if she would be willing to loan some of her amazing paintings to display in my new office. She agreed. My new office in Provo, Utah has the warmth and passion of Lisa's original art on its walls. I didn't have to spend a dime on pictures and wall art, and she gets more exposure for her work.

Is your office decor congruent with your practice mission? Does it appeal to your ideal client?

What problems or barriers are you struggling with in your practice? Can you get more creative with your solutions?

What Do You Love About Private Practice?

Ask me about my private practice and I light up. I love it. I just spent the last day and a half furnishing and decorating an additional office location in a neighboring city. I'm excited to be able to expand the reach of my practice and help clients in other geographic locations. There is such a satisfaction in feeling fully self-expressed professionally and to make a difference in the lives of my clients and my colleagues. My passion for building a private practice is why I asked Dr. John Grohol, CEO of PsychCentral.com if I could start this blog. I can't imagine being happier with a work situation and I want to help you develop the tools to feel the same way about your practice. I asked several successful private practice therapists the question, "What do you love about being in private practice?" I wanted to share their answers with you to inspire those of you who are considering going into private practice to do it! If you're unhappy with your practice, I hope you'll draw from these successful private practice experiences to create a practice that you love.

It's not "work"

Lynn Krown MA, MFT:

When you do something you are passionate about it's not work. I intend to work well into old age. The more life experience and mindfulness I have, the more wisdom I have to offer. I'm grateful to feel so fulfilled and alive as a psychotherapist age 70 this month.

Accurately represents who I am

Julie Jeske, M.S.:

I love it because it is mine. It is an accurate representation of who I am and the work I do. I truly love what I do and having a private practice gives me the freedom to really design and build my ideal practice. I can work when I want...in fact this summer I spent 5 weeks in Paris. I don't know if I could have done that if I didn't have my own practice.

I look forward to work

Gabby Acord, LCSW:

I look forward to my work and the days fly by. I don't get insurance benefits or paid time off, but I also earn 50% more than I would working full-time for the local University hospital and they pay very well. I feel good that my children know that my work is to help people and they don't resent the time away.

I'm my own boss

Amy Luster, M.A., LMFT:

I am passionate about maintaining a private practice as it grants me the ability to participate in the way that best suits me. I am an active parent to four elementary school aged children and I am able to schedule clients in a way that permits me to be present for my children. As they grow older and more independent, I am able to increase the amount of hours I can see clients in my private practice. I am not beholden to a specific way of working with each client, but rather, I'm able to respond to the needs of each individual, couple or family.

Allows me to refine my specialty

Geoff Steurer, MS, LMFT:

Private practice allows me to refine my specialty in working with marriages impacted by sexual betrayal. When I was working in an agency setting, I was required to see whatever cases walked through the door. So, in any given day I could end up working with children, teens, couples, elderly, and families. Even though I certainly enjoy the variety that comes from working in an agency setting, there is something deeply gratifying knowing that I'm developing a skill set that comes from working with the same types of cases day after day. I love knowing for certain that I can make a difference in the lives of the clients sitting across from me in my office.

I set the rules

Esther Kane, MSW:

I set the rules and love it! I’m independent and it suits my personality. I love the flexibility- going away whenever I choose and working hours I prefer. I get a highly-motivated client-base who are ready and willing to do the work. I own my own office overlooking the ocean and it’s like my second home.

It adapts to my changing lifestyle

Shannon Purtell MA, LPC:

In the last 3 years I have gotten married, and had 2 children. Private practice has allowed me to adapt to my changing lifestyle. It worked great when I was single and could work evenings/weekends, etc. and it works great now when I need to be home evenings and weekends to be with my family. Private practice affords me the opportunity to build a company that makes a difference in the lives of our clients, and provide a healthy work environment for my associates and interns.

It's a thrill to see people change

Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD:

There is no greater thrill than seeing people make real change for the better in their lives and being part of that change process. I'm grateful for the opportunity to do work I love, as my own boss, with hours that mesh with my family needs.

Meaningful connection with others

Loren A Olson MD, who is in the process of retiring from his psychiatry practice:

I have experienced the joy of connecting with people in the most emotionally intimate ways. I *know *them deeply and meaningfully. And although I've always maintained professional boundaries, I find that they know me, too. And so I grieve the loss of these relationships even while knowing that I am responsible for my own happiness. And as I retire I will find new ways to find pleasure in my life, but I also look back with a sense of satisfaction about having chosen such a meaningful profession.

Do you love being in private practice? Tell me about it! If you're not happy with your practice, what would you like to change?

If you have any topics you'd like me to write about, or specific questions for me comment below, ask me on Twitter @Julie_Hanks, or contact me directly here.