Marketing Your Practice

1. Marketing Your Practice

3. Marketing
Money
Promotion
Publicity
Profit
(ye gads!)

4. Money
 Feels taboo or at least odd to discuss making money
 No one minds telling your where they graduated
from or how many patients they see but rarely does
anyone feel comfortable chatting about their net
worth
 Dr. Hofman’s “Psychotherapy for the rich and
psychotherapy for the poor.”
 Pro bono

5. Promotion
 This also feels uncomfortable for most professionals
as in poor taste or self-aggrandizing or may seem
like “selling-out”
 APA and the FTC
 Helps potential clients and colleagues know you
exist and what you have to offer, your ethics ensure
that you are competent and honest
 As long as you provide honest information in a
tasteful manner, then it’s beneficial to you and to
others.

6. Publicity
 Today publicity seems = poor taste.
 Indeed, it can be, but it is defined as “notice or attention
given to someone or something by the media.”
 So, if one publicizes something that would be a help to
others, that’s not a “bad” thing
 Maybe think more so of what-you-do versus who-you-
are, and then is seems less ego driven and more “other”
focused
 Each of you have skills that benefit others in various
venues:
 Therapy, writing, public lectures…

7. Profit
 OK, this may be the BIG one
 Making a profit (good) ≠ profiteering (bad)
 If you are in private practice, you are in business.
 If you cannot pay your rent  then you cannot
practice  then you cannot be as helpful to others.
 If you simply “breakeven” you cannot pay for your
mortgage or your shoes or your child’s pediatrician.
 Profit is what you get to live one once you have met
your expenses of practicing. It’s OK.

8. Deep breath….

9. The Marketing Plan
 Situation analysis
 Marketing goals
 A marketing strategy
 Specific marketing tactics to support the
marketing strategy
 An implementation plan (including budget)
 A method or methods to track progress of
marketing plan

10. From a Mission to Goals
Time frames of 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years,
10 years, 15 years, and on up to 20-year-plans.
SMART goal, it must be:
Specific
Measurable
Action-oriented
Realistic
Timed

11. What Are Your
Marketing Goals?
Here is a good example of a SMART goal:
Build my private practice (by marketing
activities including speaking engagements and
networking) to a full practice of 22 clients per
week over the next 18 months.

12. Strategies To Focus Your
Marketing
The SIX Ps:
 People
 Price
 Place
 Product
 Promotion
 Positioning…

13.  The selection of the target market.
- PEOPLE, PRICE
 What are you trying to sell?
- PRODUCT
 How will people know about you and your
services?
- PLACE, PROMOTION
 Your overall marketing message.
- POSITIONING

14. Marketing Your Services
 Website
 Publishing
 Media
 On-line Referral Services

15. Creating Strategic Referral
Partnerships/Networking
 Chiropractors
 Nurses
 Physician Assistants
 Physicians
Psychiatry
Pediatrics
Orthopedics
Oncologists
Pain/Physiatrists
OB/Gyn

16.  Attorneys
 Accountants
 Clergy and spiritual advisors
 Community leaders

17.  Professors and staff at your current or past
university
 Other therapists
 Therapists who do short-term treatment and then
seek referral sources for long-term work that you do,
or
 therapists who do not treat the clinical issue that you
specialize in.
 Holistic or alternative medicine
practitioners.

18.  Dietitians or nutritionists
 School psychologists, guidance
counselors, or teachers
 Physical therapists and rehabilitation
specialists
 Professional association or agency
leaders or members
 Massage therapists

19. And now, the über connecter…

21. Specialist or Generalist?
Bavonese & Restum, Uncommon Practices
 When you try to be all things for all people,
you risk being perceived as a non-specialist for
any specific problem or issue in the minds of
potential clients.
 The message to your community of what you
can help with, what your offer or service is,
gets very diluted.

22.  We have all seen ads for therapists who
“specialize” in ten or more clinical issues.
 Sadly, in their attempts at spreading a broad net,
such people end up creating a confused, unfocused
image in potential clients’ minds.
 As business guru Seth Godin puts it,
"If you can't state your position in
eight words or less, you don't have a
position."

23. THE ELEVATOR
PITCH

24. What’s yours…?

25. Having a Specialty Can Give You an
Advantage Over Your Competition
 Potential clients have specific challenges in their
lives they want help with.
 When seeking help, they are more likely to
contact you if...

26.  You have helped someone they know with the same
problem or issue;
 You have advertised your services to target how
you can help with their specific problem or issues;
 You are identified predominantly with a specific
problem or issue.
 When people think of “X,” they think of you.

27. Why Is Having A Specialty
So Important?
 Having A Specialty...
Enables you to be seen as an expert in your field
Gives potential clients a clear, specific idea of
what problems or challenges in their lives that
you can help them solve or feel better about

28.  Having A Specialty...
Makes it much easier to promote your services
offline and online.
Makes it much easier to develop
 Referral Systems;
 Joint Ventures;
 Public Relations campaigns and other diversified
marketing activities.

29. How To Find Your Market Niche
When identifying your niche or specialty, the first place to
look is at your own interests and life experiences. Ask
yourself these questions:
 What kinds of clients do I most enjoy working with?
 Do you have a relevant linguistic and/or cultural knowledge
base?
 What training have I had that would qualify me to ethically
claim that I specialize in a specific area?
 Is there any additional training that would add value for me
and my patients?

30. You can have more than one specialty,
but limiting it to a few areas is best because you
want people to think of you when they think of
your specialty.
Listing eight or ten areas of specialty in your marketing
materials creates the impression that you are all
over the place and don’t truly specialize in
anything.

31. Here Are Some Examples…
 Tamara was born in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew.
She markets her counseling services to Israeli
immigrants and conducts many of her sessions in
Hebrew.

32.  Krystal spent 15 years as an executive recruiter before
becoming a therapist.
She specializes in career counseling and offers a
support group for survivors of corporate downsizing.

33.  Jack is a registered dietician and licensed psychologist.
He specializes in working with clients with eating
disorders.

34. Consider Factors Such As These…
 Where you grew up
 Where you went to
school
 Places you’ve lived
 Special talents
 Past misfortunes
 Languages you speak
fluently
 Special training
 Past careers
 Unusual skills
 Life experiences

35. Example:
Charley A. of Toronto is suffering from anxiety. He
doesn't know where it comes from, and he’s used to
being in control of his life.
He's scared and confused.
He finally decides to get help.
He goes online and searches in Google for “anxiety
help Toronto.”
What shows up on the list are four different clinicians.
He clicks on all of their links...

36. Example:
Dr. Slate says he treats marital problems, depression,
anxiety, ADHD, sexual abuse, dissociative disorders
and eating disorders.
Dr. Rubble says she is the Director of the Center for
the Treatment of Anxiety.
Dr. Flintstone says he specializes in new techniques
that provide rapid relief from all sorts of symptoms.
Who does Charley call?

37. Dr. Rubble Of Course!
The one who is the specialist.
The one whose web site discusses the exact symptoms he’s
having.
“This woman understands me already," thinks Charley.
For all we know, one of the other therapists might be better for
Charley in terms of their skills. But that's irrelevant because
they are out of the game. Charley calls the Center for the
Treatment of Anxiety and never looks back.

38. It’s also a huge advantage in your field because so many
struggling clinicians don't specialize, for fear of
losing some clients.
The opposite is actually the truth: the more well-known
you are as an expert, the more referrals you get of all
kinds - not just in your specialty.
Why Is Having A Specialty So
Important?

39. Let’s see a real world example

40. Brad’s Practice
North Shore Center for
Weight Management

42. The Great Example of Dr. B
 Win-win-win galore
Patients, referring docs, and Dr. B
 Specialty in Obesity Treatment
 Grand Rounds Lectures
Expertise
Non-competitive
Articles and resources
 Health Clubs
 East Bank Club
 Follow-Up

43.  Health Clubs
Doctor’s Expertise/Value Added
Group/education model/method
Achieving your weight goals
Overcoming food challenges
 East Bank Club
High-end, concierge clientele
Exclusivity/Prestige

44.  Does Great Work
Groups are more affordable for patients and
profitable for you
10 meetings @ 10 pts @ $100/week = $10,000 for
10 hours work or $1000/hour!
 Some Patients Need 1:1
More help and/or intra-psychic issues present
 Follow-Up

45.  Excellent (and easy) Follow-Up to Referral
Source
Monthly, 1-page formatted letter (on letterhead)
Gives clinical update
Helps confirm referring MD’s request for consult and
mitigates risk for him/her as you have demonstrated pt is
in your consultative care
Helps remind referring MD that you are an available
specialist with good results and good follow through
Refer back when appropriate from your patient
population

46. Where to Focus Your
Marketing Energies
Remember, One Size Fits Few
Here is a quick list:

47.  The power of newspapers is news. Marketing
that is newsy gets noticed because news is in the
forefront of readers’ minds.
 The power of magazines is credibility. Readers
unconsciously attach to the expert/ author/
interviewee the same credibility that they
associate with the magazine.

48.  The power of radio is intimacy. Usually radio is
a one-on-one situation allowing for a close an
intimate connection between listener and
speaker.
 The power of brochures is the ability to give
details. Few media allow you the time and space
to expand on your benefits as much as a
brochure.

49.  The power of the Internet is interactivity,
connectivity and information. You can be found by
interested individuals, inform them, answer their
questions, and make appointments.

50. Go Where Others Aren’t
The “Go Where Others Aren’t” strategy can apply to
factors besides your location.
It can also mean marketing your therapy services to
people in special situations — especially
populations that may be underserved.

51. Let’s see a real world example

52. Yellowbrick

54. Let’s see some more examples

55. Joyce’s Blog

57. Joyce’s Practice
Urban Balance

60. Bill’s Concierge Practice
Clear Life Path

63. Alan’s ADHD Practice
ADDvisor