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What are the basics of private practice? Would you choose private pay or insurance? How can you set up a business plan for your new business?
In this reverse podcast episode, Beatriz De La Espriella hosts a private practice Q&A with Joe Sanok for the Southwest Florida Therapist Network.
Podcast Sponsor: PsychMaven
Starting with 2021’s Killin’ it Camp, we started hearing from so many of you about your dreams of creating new sources of income outside of the traditional practice setting. Particularly, we saw a lot of interest in learning about new income streams that could really scale.
So, with all that in mind, I wanted to see if you might join me live for a free webinar next week! Dr. David Hall with PsychMaven was a recent guest of mine on the podcast and in our episode, we talk about David’s passion for doing therapist continuing education trainings, and how these can provide an amazing, scalable income.
I’m going to be live with David for this exclusive Practice of the Practice webinar, it’s called “Three Therapist Secrets to Making Money Through Continuing Ed Trainings”. It’s how continuing education income from in-person and online offerings is way more achievable than you might think.
It’s going to be live on Thursday, April 13 th 2023 at 2 o’clock Eastern, 1 o’clock Central, noon Mountain, and 11 o’clock Pacific, and it’s going to be hosted by PsychMaven. And even if you can’t make it for the live webinar, we are going to have replays available. David is an expert in this area and I’m so excited to be partnering with him on this!
Please sign up at joe.mavenwebinar.com. Also, it’s free!
Meet Beatriz De La Espriella
Beatriz helps Children, Teens, Young Adults & Women: ones that have it within them to improve their quality of life, but just need the support and guidance to get there.
She helps her clients increase their self-confidence, self-awareness and achieve inner peace, by providing them with the tools they need to understand and make sense of their emotions and experiences.
Visit Beatriz’s website and connect on Facebook and Instagram.
In This Podcast
- Don’t overthink it
- Networking is necessary
- Get your marketing strategy organized
- Private pay and insurance
Don’t overthink it
We’ve been taught [in grad school] to do things right, to do things perfect[ly], to follow the ethics … all of those things are right, it makes us overthink things and delay and take way too much time to launch something.
Joe Sanok
Running a practice as a businessperson is different from running a practice as a therapist. In the therapy room, you have to be patient and aware of how the process unfolds with your client, but with your business, you need to go at a different pace.
When your CEO hat is on, you need to be quicker, less attached to the outcome, and prepared to fail so that you can move forward.
Get a checklist like the one through this link to make sure you’re hitting all the milestones while developing your private practice.
Networking is necessary
Networking is important to grow your network, but it’s way more effective when you network correctly. There are three main ways to network:
You don’t have to be salesy and try to convince people to work with you, because they’re also most likely not your people if you have to persuade them.
- Be intentional and work in and around your niche, and connect with other therapists that see clients adjacent to yours. Ask other therapists for a quick coffee meeting, or set up a quick 20-minute zoom call.
Have those relationships [and] see it as friend-building. See it as connection-building … see it that way instead of [thinking], “Oh, I gotta get business out of this coffee date”.
Joe Sanok
- Approach other therapists in your area who work in your niche as well and strike up a relationship there too because if they’re full, the chances are that they will refer their clients out to you now that they know you.
- Network with other medical health professions like the wellness industry, yoga classes, church events, and so on. Wherever your ideal client is, connect with those other businesses and set up a referral system.
Get your marketing strategy organized
Whether you dedicate certain days or times of the day to marketing, it’s good to have a strategy in general.
Look at what works, and double up on that.
Knowing the numbers and the flow, and making sure that [you’re] tracking that is going to help us be as focused with our marketing as maybe we would be with our networking.
Joe Sanok
Test your system and keep track of any progress. Remember that failure isn’t really a failure, and use it as a redirection to try something new that could work better!
Use the know, like, and trust method for your marketing process:
1 – Know: the community has to know that you exist. You need to get your practice name out there and circulating in common knowledge.
2 – Like: you connect with your ideal clients through your content and what you post on social media. This is the first contact that they have with “you” and your practice before you meet in person.
[Make] sure that on your website people know right away that you’re a therapist and they [can clearly see] who you help. Joe Sanok
3 – Trust: use platforms like HARO to show the community that you know your stuff and that you provide quality services. Put things in your local newspapers and magazines so that the community can get to know you more.
Private pay and insurance
If you are deciding which routes to take to grow your practice, whether it’s through private pay or through taking insurance, first start by looking at your community.
Where do you like spending your time? Because, if you do private pay, it’s going to be a lot more on the marketing and showing your value and niching in often times whereas, with insurance, the insurance is going to [spend] more time on billing, making sure things are correct, and getting authorizations.
Joe Sanok
No route is better than the other, it mostly comes down to how you enjoy spending your time and which bracket your ideal client mostly falls into. Find a common ground there, between those two aspects.
Sponsors mentioned in this episode:
- Joe.mavenwebinar.com: sign up for the webinar!
- Check out audience building academy!
Useful links mentioned in this episode:
- Visit Beatriz’s website and connect on Facebook and Instagram.
- Find out more about Group Practice Launch
- Visit practiceofthepractice.com/apply and join our membership communities!
- Check out practiceofthepractice.com/invite to join Next Level Practice
Check out these additional resources:
- Growing through your team with Danielle Levy | POP 860
- Apply to work together
- Events – click on the event’s dropdown
- Sign up to join the free webinars and events here
- Podcast Launch School
- Practice of the Practice Podcast Network
- Free resources to help you start, grow, and scale
- Apply to work with us — a decision-making matrix for your next steps
Meet Joe Sanok
Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners that are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.
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