Marketing Your Therapy Practice: Your First Month’s To-Do's
Stepping into the world of private practice is exciting, liberating, and full of potential. It can also be overwhelming. Unlike working for an agency or group practice, where your caseload is assigned to you, owning a business means you have to be the one to bring in new clients.
For most private practice therapists, marketing is a foreign endeavor, shrouded in mystery and bad vibes. When I was a therapist, dreaming of opening a private practice, marketing was the last thing I ever wanted to do. The thought of selling my services made me sick to my stomach.
What I learned, though, was that I had a lot of preconceived notions about marketing - none of which were true. I thought marketing was about forcing my services down people’s throats, and being annoyingly persistent and loud.
In reality, marketing is just about offering your services. Not forcing or controlling. Just offering.
And while referrals are likely how your practice will get up and running, a solid marketing plan can help you create a self-sustaining stream of client leads that grow your practice on autopilot.
But where to start?
A simple Google search can easily cause more overwhelm than clarity, so I want you to remember this: marketing your practice is a journey. It takes an open mind, consistent, steady effort, and time.
You don’t have to be an expert yet, and you don’t have to do everything at once. Today, I’ll be guiding you in taking just the first few steps.
STEP 1: Define your niche and ideal client
You may have heard the terms “niche” and “ideal client” before, and they may seem like triggering buzzwords at this point, but stay with me.
The most basic tenet of marketing is that you have to know who you’re marketing to. If you don’t, I can almost guarantee that your marketing efforts will end in frustration and even more resistance.
Start by determining the group of people you want to work with (your niche), and the one person within that group (your ideal client) who is most perfectly aligned to be benefited by your gifts. If you need help, my free, 3-day email training, How To Become A Client Magnet, will walk you through defining these two foundational pieces. Click here to take the training.
STEP 2: Build a simple website
A website is a business owner’s most powerful marketing asset. Having a well-designed website increases your professionalism, credibility, and trustworthiness.
Your website needs (at minimum) these three things:
A clear description of what you do and who you do it for.
A professional picture of you.
A way for people to contact you.
Squarespace is my favorite website builder because it’s extremely easy to set up a website that can grow with you as your business grows. If you don’t have time or energy to build yourself a website from scratch, our Premium Squarespace templates can help!
We recommend these website templates for therapists in the “start-up” phase of private practice:
Bridge
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Andrea
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As your practice grows, you can add more pages to your website, or have a full site designed for you. For now, having a simple website, with a custom domain, will start to establish your online presence and build your SEO.
STEP 3: Create a therapist directory profile
One of the easiest ways to get in front of potential clients as a new private practice owner is to join a therapist directory.
Therapist directories already have potential clients filtering through their websites looking for the right therapist, so instead of searching for the right clients or waiting for them to come to you, position yourself in a place where they’re already looking.
After your website is set up, shop around to decide which therapist directory is best for you. Therapy Den, Mental Health Match, and Inclusive Therapists are all great platforms worth checking out.
Need help creating your therapist directory profile? Read this post by Mental Health Match founder, Ryan Schwartz: 5 Must-Haves for Your Therapist Directory Profile.
In fact, we love Mental Health Match so much that we’ve partnered with them to give you a 4-month free trial! Enter code HOLDSPACE120 when you sign up. Learn more on mentalhealthmatch.com →
Owning your own business is one of the most rewarding adventures on which you’ll ever embark; establishing an online presence from the very beginning is the best way to set yourself up for marketing success going forward.
Remember, just take it one step at a time, and visit our blog often for more tips and advice on growing your practice with more ease and authenticity.
Ready to set up your private practice website?
Our Premium Squarespace website templates were designed specifically for therapists who want a professional online presence but don’t yet have the budget for a custom-designed website. All of our website templates are pre-built and come with easy-to-follow instructions to quickly add your content and publish!
