• Marketing,  Multiple Streams of Income

    IT Career: Business Analyst Position

    We present a new article in the IT Career series. This time we will talk about a business analyst who acts as a link between the customer and the developers. A business analyst is a specialist who explores a customer’s problem, seeks a solution, and compose his concept in the form of requirements that developers will continue to focus on when creating a product. Sometimes analysts complain that the customer does not know what he wants himself. Usually, the customer knows for sure, but the analyst simply does not have sufficient analytical skills to understand it. For example, considering this writing service: https://resumesbot.com/professional-resume-writing-service/ Just as a professional writer needs to…

  • social media for therapists

    Getting Started Online: Setting Up Your Website and Blog

    To get started online you need a website and a blog. Why? Your website, with a blog as a part of your site, is your “online office” and where you will send anyone and everyone who wants to learn more about you, your work and your programs. Once you have a website, you will never need another brochure. You will simply send people to your website to get all the information they need. A blog is where you will write posts (like this one) to give people useful information that can improve their understanding of their mental health. The blog posts position you as a knowledgeable expert and provide fresh…

  • social media for therapists

    Got Your Practice Online But Clients Don’t Show Up? Now What?

    Thanks to those of you who are asking good questions about getting online. Obviously some of you are online and want to know how to optimize your presence there. Smart, you. So, let’s talk about what’s next after you have the basics in place (including your website/blog and social media accounts). Got goals? The first step to making an online marketing program work is to develop it within the context of your business goals. People start to glaze over when I talk about online business strategy. It’s not quick, fun or sexy to plot out a plan, but without one all your efforts will be a big waste of time,…

  • Small Business Book Club

    Small Business Book Club

    Have I told you about my new Small Business Book Club yet? This project came out of the wonderful interactions and learning I am doing over at Third Tribe Marketing. Every week a small group of people who are building small businesses designed to make a difference in the world will gather for one hour on Twitter to discuss a book that teaches us how to grow our businesses and make them more successful, profitable and helpful to our clients. The whole program is very grass roots, no hype and no cost. I figured I was going to read these books anyway, so I might as well do it with…

  • Practice Building

    You Can’t Just Sit There

    You Can’t Just Sit There As I talk to struggling therapists one theme tends to emerge and it sounds like this, “I understand the business stuff, but I just want to sit in my office and see clients face-to-face. How do I make a good living doing that?” You don’t. Please don’t shoot the messenger….. you just can’t build a thriving practice that brings in good money by sitting in your office. To grow a small business that is always busy and sufficently lucrative you need to get out of the office both in your community and online, talk to people, listen to their needs and tell them about how…

  • Practice Building

    Renew Your Private Practice in April

    It’s warm and spring has come to the Northeast US! This is a time for new growth as well as a good point to look back at the first three months of 2010 and take stock of progress in your business. Have you added new clients, services, an online presence? Are you clear on your specialty and HUB to center all of your practice building efforts? During the first quarter of 2010 I did a great deal of listening to you, my readers and newsletter subscribers. As therapists, you know the power of active listening. It can deepen and inform relationships, allowing us to better understand others’ needs and goals…

  • New Models of Mental Health Care

    Where Making Money and Making a Difference Come Together

    This week Anderson Cooper of CNN is doing an expose on cyber bullying. As mental health professionals we need to pay attention. Your clients, whether adult or child, are plugged in. They have relationships, positive or negative, online. You don’t need to be plugged in just for business/marketing/networking reasons, you need to be plugged in to be an ethical, effective clinician. Today Michael Langlois, LICSW brings that to our attention, too. Cyber relationships affect everyone. People make friends, fall in love and hurt each other online. They act out fantasies, explore new identities, and keep secrets online. The next generation of kids aged 8-18 don’t know a world without cell…

  • New Models of Mental Health Care,  Uncategorized

    The Two Directions of Health Care in the Future: Where will you work?

    Health care is changing today. Right now in my small state of Massachusetts new models are being developed and experimented with. Everyone is talking about the sacrifices we’ll all need to make to bring the cost of health care down to manageable levels. The direction this is all moving in is team-based “medical homes” where people get all of their care within one group. This group will get paid a flat fee per patient by insurance companies and the business must figure out how to make ends meet. In theory this is a good model, but there will be bumps as it develops. One such missing link is, “Where does…

  • Multiple Streams of Income

    Behind the Curtain: New Directions for my Practice

    Now that I know I need to quickly generate multiple streams of income because my insurance reimbursements will soon be imploding, I reached out to a new business coach today (Yes, coaches have coaches. How else do you think I became so biz savvy?). My new coach is not a therapist, but his wife is, so he understands the business I’m in, which is a huge relief. I told him, “I need a different business model. Managed care isn’t going to work as an income stream. I’m tired of dealing with all of the changes, phone calls, hassle, expense and misery. And I want to work from home ALL the…

  • Multiple Streams of Income,  Uncategorized

    Getting Started Online: Products and Programs

    One of the main draws of getting your practice online is the opportunity to develop multiple income streams in the form of products and programs you can sell to a wide audience. This is what I mean when I say that when you get online you can “help more people and make more money.” Here’s a quick example (the actual dollar amounts are not what I list here). I offer a program for kids with executive functioning weaknesses called, “The Homework Survival Bootcamp.” All the material is sent online and I created the content once and any one can now download it at their convenience. This means I do no…