April 23, 2025 • 25 mins
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Episode Transcript
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(00:08):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast.
I'm Allison from Abundance Practice Building.
I have a nearly diagnosable obsession with helping
therapists build sustainable, joy-filled private practices, just
like I've done for tens of thousands of
therapists across the world.
I'm excited to help you too.
If you want to fill your practice with
ideal clients, we have loads of free resources
(00:29):
and paid support.
Go to abundancepracticebuilding.com slash links.
Alright, on to the show.
(01:10):
I know, HIPAA isn't sexy, but we don't
avoid compliance in an abundant practice.
We check the boxes we need to check,
and this is the easiest way to do
that with email.
Check out my friends at powbox.com.
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(01:31):
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(02:34):
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Hi.
Hi, Kimberly.
How are you doing?
Okay.
How are you?
I'm all right.
Yeah.
Well, what would be most helpful today?
Well, I maybe can run through a few
things I've been working on and doing and
get your take on a couple of questions
I had.
(03:14):
Sounds great.
Okay.
So in some of the materials that I've
been accessing, things I've been focusing on are
trying to improve my website.
And so I definitely feel like I've done
some improvement, but I don't love my website
platform.
It's through simple practice.
Super basic.
There's not a lot of opportunity to do
(03:35):
much.
I used Squarespace for financial reasons, shifted over.
Not that it was necessarily like, I felt
totally crunched.
It just was like, oh, this makes sense.
But I think after being over there for
a few years, I feel like I'm not
getting the traffic I used to, which I
think there's probably multiple variables about that reality.
(03:55):
But so I'm thinking about going back.
But website thing has been something and it
definitely, I feel like it's better than it
was just with content and things.
Same with psychology today.
Changed that up a little bit.
Worked on some warm letters.
I'm just throwing some stuff out.
And that's some of the stuff I've been
working on.
So some of the things I'm grappling with
(04:16):
is to stay with an insurance panel or
not.
How much to raise my prices by and
actually office space.
And so I'm really like what your thoughts
are or just your experience, especially at this
point in time.
If that feels like that's a pretty big
benefit, you know, to have that offer that
(04:37):
for clients.
Okay.
Which of these do you want to start
with?
All of them sound good.
Let's go backwards and then yeah.
Yeah.
I will say in our group practice, having
an office is of great benefit and everything
I'm about to say is anecdotal.
Right.
So that's my own personal experience.
I have a new client who was very
much like we had like a snow day,
(05:01):
which wasn't actually a snow day, but they
canceled school anyway.
And I was like, you know, we can
do it virtual.
She's like, I do not do virtual.
Like I really want to be an office.
Let's just reschedule.
So I think that the majority of people
are fine either way.
But I think that there are more people
who prefer in person than prefer virtual as
clients.
(05:21):
Of the students I have, the people with
hybrid practices seem to build a bit faster,
not significantly faster.
Fully online is totally 100% doable, but
just slightly faster.
And I think the more physically disconnected we
get from one another in our culture, the
(05:44):
more valuable that in-person is going to
become over time, in my opinion.
I wonder too, I feel like this is,
I don't know, I'm in talking to some
colleagues that online platforms like BetterHelp and things
like that are kind of sucking from what
would be the typical pool from at least
(06:05):
the last few years.
And so as I've been processing the office
question, that was one thing I was thinking
like, well, that does obviously differentiate us from
BetterHelp and stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And like I said, if your heart's desire
was like, I want to work from home
virtually, it's what feels right to me.
I'm 100% behind you and you can
(06:25):
absolutely fill your practice.
If you're on the fence and you, like
I'm somebody who has to get out, this
is my away from home office.
I have to get out of my house
and I'll probably have an office when I'm
retired.
Like I'll probably, you know, just need somewhere
to go.
But if you're kind of in the middle
and you don't have a super strong opinion
(06:46):
either way, I might consider the office.
But if money is tight, like if you
went to this simple practice, one pager from
Squarespace, because Squarespace is what, like 20 bucks
a month.
But like if it's tight enough that 20
bucks a month matters, then rent's going to
not feel great.
Right?
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(07:06):
And I don't think it was more due
to that feeling so tight.
It was more of like, well, this just
makes financial sense.
Like I would say $200 a month, you
know, it's included in something I'm already paying
for.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
But it's a far inferior product.
Yeah.
I'm feeling that.
I just, I think that's where I'm at.
Like, so I've had a fairly decent base
(07:28):
of people.
I'm not dying over here, but I'm feeling
it though.
Like my weeks are not as full or
some week, maybe I'll have one week out
of the month.
That's really full.
And then the other ones are just, just
not as full.
And, and I think I get well in
the state of our country and world.
Like, I think there's a little bit of
fear there of, of signing another year lease
(07:50):
of doing some of these things and yeah,
just not knowing.
Obviously I know life's always unknown, but it
just feels different with, with everything going on.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I kind of hopped into your other question
about website in the midst of that, which
is, I would very strongly recommend you switch
(08:10):
back to Squarespace because you just have so
much more capability.
The simple practice websites don't look good.
They're not a place I want to scroll
and hang out.
Right.
Well, there's not much to scroll anyway.
Right.
But it just feels like a directory listing
or something.
It doesn't feel like a legitimate business website
and having a legitimate business website matters for
(08:31):
credibility.
I kind of was leaning that way.
So I'm kind of of a strong opinion
today.
So no, no, it's good.
Okay.
So I guess the other things that I'm
kind of grappling with are then the marketing
space.
I do feel like I was lucky enough
(08:53):
when I started that I didn't really have
to worry about that a ton.
I just had some great colleagues that had
already been in practice for a while.
So they just sent kept sending me their
referrals and kind of stayed that way for
a while, except for the last year to
18 months.
So, and what's happened with that?
Do you know, like, are they getting fewer
(09:14):
referrals?
So they're taking the people who call them
or have you kind of gotten disconnected?
That's a piece of it that they are
also getting fewer calls, which makes me feel
like it's very, just a systemic issue with,
again, multi multilayered, but right.
So that, which adds to the fear and
things like that, but also then knowing I
(09:35):
need to do something with marketing and which
is why I'm doing because I suck at
that and like it.
So I'm trying to like, find that space
for doing blogs, not doing that.
Like online, social media stuff, not doing that.
But so I started with some warm letters
(09:58):
kind of approach and I'm playing around with,
so curious to think about this.
So I'm a nature informed therapist, like I
did a little certification thing.
So like, not, not just like, yeah, I'm
going for a walk with my clients.
Like I actually try to use different components
of nature to help find some connection for
people in various ways.
So I'm trying to kind of highlight that
(10:21):
a little bit as something a little different.
So there's an Earth Day festival in my
town in April and thinking about doing a
booth there, which kind of feels weird to
me to be like, have you ever done
a booth for anything before or a woman
to booth before?
Okay.
Are you more introverted or extroverted?
(10:43):
Introverted.
Okay.
I have done one booth one time and
despite being an outgoing extrovert was like, I'm
never doing this again.
You'll have to get little free things.
Like if you can put a bunch of
free stuff, you'll be good.
I didn't have enough free stuff.
And so then it just felt like people
don't want to come up to your booth
because they know you're there to sell to
(11:04):
them is how it feels.
But if you've got freebies and that could
be, you know, little gift bags with like
some tea, some, you know, these kinds of
things with your card in it or something
like that, then I think it could be
worth it.
But we also need to consider like, what
is your niche?
Who are you helping?
(11:24):
And how does that overlap with the people
who are going to show up?
So tell me about your niche.
So I really like to work with women
who, I mean, it's a little vast, I
guess, but are in transition, transitional phases of
life.
So whether that's like they now just have
children or the children have left the home,
(11:46):
menopause type stuff, retirement, kind of the kind
of gamut and either helping women stay connected
with themselves and, or refined their voice.
Cause I find a lot of, a lot
of my 50s, 60s, you know, are like,
I don't know who I am.
So what I would recommend before you do
anything, before you work on your new website
(12:06):
or any of that is to get that
more refined because somebody who just had a
kid isn't such a vastly different life place
than somebody going through menopause, maybe becoming empty
nesters and retiring all around the same time.
And the specificity of what we say on
our website is what has people choose us
or not.
And you can't be specific about both having
(12:26):
a new baby and feeling out of your
element there and feeling like you're coming to
the last third of your life and you're
not sure what's been worth it and what
hasn't.
Right.
Like there's just such different phases of life
there.
And nobody, yeah, nobody's like, ah, you know
what my problem is?
I'm just in transition.
(12:46):
Right.
It's always more specific than that.
Okay.
Women in transition is one I often I'm
talking people out of because we see it.
We understand that the identity stuff that comes
up with each transition is ultimately what's at
play, no matter the transition, but that's not
what they're looking for.
(13:08):
So do you feel like the identity is
too broad as well or no?
Which identity, which one say our identity as
a human, as a person, as a woman.
Yeah, for sure.
Cause nobody's like, I just need to work
on my identity.
Sorry, not sorry to interrupt this podcast.
There are only two days left to act
on this.
So here I am.
(13:28):
If your practice has felt stuck or slow,
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now.
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(13:49):
We know you need a break.
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The sale ends Friday, April 25th.
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for.
Yeah, for sure.
Cause nobody's like, I just need to work
on my identity.
Whereas I'm going through a menopause.
(14:29):
And I think right now perimenopause and menopause
are hot topics.
Finally, thank God.
Right.
And so if that's a population you love
to work with talking about you're going through
menopause, you've become invisible.
You're coming towards the end of your career
or it's recently ended.
You're looking at the places where you've sold
yourself out over the years.
(14:50):
And as your estrogen has dropped, so has
your willingness to deal with bullshit.
And like as describing that is going to
speak so clearly to that ideal client.
If that's your ideal client versus that broader,
I'm not sure who I am.
We have peaks and valleys of that throughout
our lives.
(15:12):
You know, my eight year old said that
to me a few months ago.
She's like, I just don't feel like I
know who I am.
It's like, baby, yeah, you're not supposed to.
Yeah.
Like, you know, it's fine.
But like we all go through moments of
that and phases of that.
And depending on what's going on, like what
(15:34):
else is going on, that's going to, the
other thing is going to determine whether or
not somebody is going to actually seek therapy
for it versus it just being like an
annoyance or something you wish you could change
or, you know, that kind of a thing.
It's usually the other stuff going on that,
that it boils to the top.
Like I'm no longer in my career.
Who the fuck am I?
(15:55):
Or who I've been my whole life so
far is gone now that I'm a mom.
I don't know how to get her back.
It's tough.
So I'd go through that know your niche
course again.
And you can, you can still love the
new moms.
It doesn't mean you'll never get a new
mom because our niche ultimately ends up being
about 60% of our practice if that's
(16:15):
what we want.
But you'll call in people much easier.
And if you're doing a booth, I don't
know how I brought the conversation over to
this from the booth, but if you're doing
the booth and it's centered around women in
menopause or women at the end of their
career or new moms, you can weave in
(16:38):
how the nature informed therapy can help them
specifically.
Right.
You can gear whatever your freebie is to
them, that kind of thing.
Right.
Okay.
And of course, I think about the freebies
at anything ecologically based, right?
Like when I go to conferences, I'm like,
(16:59):
God, there's so much nonsense plastic.
I'm just going to throw away at the
hotel.
So much of this is just useless.
So being thoughtful about what would your ideal
client appreciate?
Yeah, definitely.
Okay.
And it depends on the cost of the
booth too.
And weighing the math, you want it to
be worth it.
If you just get one client from it,
(17:19):
who you see the average number of times
you see clients to make sure that you're
still making a profit.
Right.
Right.
And you have a really hard time making
decisions.
And that's, that's not uncommon because we don't
just love working with one person.
So it's not a rejection of the other
(17:40):
people or you giving up on the other
people.
It's really just something to make your marketing
work better and easier.
Okay.
So, and I know I like looked over
all the different, like those, the blogs and
the warm letters and those things.
Anything else to you that stands out for
a person who, I mean, I'm not the
(18:02):
only introvert and maybe some introverts do like
to do blogs, but as something of like,
Oh, well maybe consider this or this could
be another way that you try to network
or market or whatever.
Yeah.
Well, when I think about introverts, I actually
do think of like blogs and SEO, because
those go together.
You can't really do SEO without blogging.
But if you don't love writing, you know,
(18:23):
like if it's like pulling teeth, then that's
not the thing I want you to spend
time every single week doing, you know?
So you've got your warm letters.
How often are you networking?
Not very often.
I mean, okay.
I think more so recently, you know, there
may be been like three times in the
(18:45):
last, well, maybe three weeks trying to remember
actually a little event, but I'm trying.
Yeah.
And I think the more specific your niche
is, the more effective the networking is too,
because then they'll be like, Oh, that's, that's
Kimberly.
She works with menopausal women.
And then you've got all these natural referral
sources like gynecologists and functional medicine docs and
(19:09):
all the different places that your ideal clients
are going to go when they're like, okay,
like this shift is not going the way
I wanted it to go, you know?
Or if you're going with new moms, for
instance, you know, you've got OBs, you've got
pediatricians, you've got family docs, you've, you know,
so in addition to all the other people
(19:32):
that are doing therapy that aren't working with
your population, because if you become known as
the therapist who works with this, you know,
with menopausal women in your area, then like
you're that therapist that everybody refers to.
And whenever somebody brings it up or with
later midlife women, you become everybody's go-to,
(19:54):
but if it's women in transition, nobody really
knows who to send to you because it's
not specific enough.
Cause it's, that's one of those things most
people will just take, right?
But if they're full, it's not specific enough
that they're going to think of you first.
Right.
I think that feels scary too, to like
hone it in so much.
So I think that's definitely my fight there.
Okay.
I promise it, it makes everything easier and
(20:15):
it makes things happen faster too.
So those spots that you have that are
open can definitely get filled faster with an
itch.
So given also, well, I don't know if
I'm keep framing it in like recent environment,
but with insurance, what are your thoughts on
that?
Yeah.
I mean, I feel like insurance has been
(20:39):
a system I wanted nothing to do with
for a really long time anyway, but I
think particularly now, as it continues to feel
more like a racket and more detrimental and
who knows what's going to happen with the
current administration and oligarchs.
So if you don't want to take insurance,
I think it makes sense to get off
(21:02):
of insurance, but you're going to have to
hone in your marketing.
It's definitely a much scarier climb without an
itch and without very intentional marketing.
Because if you're having fewer referrals right now
while taking insurance, you're going to have fewer
conversions when you're not taking insurance.
So we need to get more people calling
(21:22):
period.
Okay.
Which I hope is, I mean to be
motivating with that, not like overwhelming with it.
Well, I think it's, it seems like maybe
two years ago would be like, well, you
don't like it.
You don't want to do it.
Okay.
I mean, still focus on those two things,
but it didn't seem as, I don't know,
it just feels like less secure.
(21:46):
I'll say it's taking people a bit longer
to get full private pay folks than it
did before, but it's still just a matter
of months.
Like it's not like it's taking them two
years to get full instead of a few
months, you know?
So as long as your marketing, and that's
a caveat, like as long as your marketing
is on point, you just have to be
so much more intentional with your marketing because
(22:08):
we are now competing with these tech companies
that pretend to be mental health companies and
there are more people in private practice.
So there's, I don't like thinking of the
other people in private practices competition, because they
really can just, if you look at them
as great referral partners, it's going to serve
everybody better and it's going to get everybody
(22:29):
full faster, but we have to do a
better job at marketing than these tech companies
in order to be found.
And that means the great thing is as
a solo practice, that means you bring all
sorts of heart that they can't emulate.
And when you can describe this one problem
that this one ideal client has, it lands
so much more for people than all the
(22:51):
marketing dollars towards all the SEO and podcast
ads they're doing.
Okay.
Yeah.
And again, probably do stay with insurance for
now, but it's just feels that stressful too.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Stay with insurance and really ramp up your
marketing and see what happens.
And as you're getting your calls back up
and then maybe higher than you've ever gotten
(23:12):
them, that's probably a good time to start
being like, okay, I think it's, I think
it's safe to get off insurance.
Yeah.
That makes sense.
Don't do it at a time when you're
still some people.
Yeah.
I mean, you can, some people jump, they
do a great job.
They just like take the leap.
I took the leap that works for a
lot of people, but it's paralyzing for a
lot of other people.
(23:33):
And if it's stressing you right now to
have fewer people, I would rather you be
working from a place of safety in a
place of, I have enough and I want
to optimize at this point, instead of I
don't have enough people and I'm going to
change this thing that might make it harder
for more people to come in without having
really clear evidence for yourself that you can
(23:56):
get more people in.
Yeah.
I think it would be good.
I mean, I did listen to all the
niche stuff and, but listening to that again,
probably is a good idea.
Did you do the worksheets?
No, I didn't do the worksheets.
The worksheets make all the difference.
And I know I'm the same when I'm
doing courses or things like that.
(24:17):
I'm like, I'll think my answers, but I
promise like the people who end that course
with a niche versus the people who haven't,
the people who are still a little wibbly
with their niche, almost a hundred percent of
the time haven't done the worksheets and the
people who ended with a niche have done
it.
So we have lots of good evidence that
it makes a difference.
Okay.
I think I honestly kind of forgot about
(24:37):
the worksheets because I did that part a
little while ago.
So yeah, I will do that.
Awesome.
That's helpful.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Very cool.
Well, keep us updated in the party, like
in the Facebook group.
And if you land on a niche and
you need some help fleshing it out, post
in there and we'll see how we can
get all the feedback possible from everybody.
(24:59):
That sounds great.
Awesome.
Thank you for your time.
All right.
Yeah.
Take care.
Make sure your email is actually HIPAA compliant
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(25:20):
If you're ready for a much easier practice,
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Go to TherapyNotes.com and use the promo
code ABUNDANT for two months free.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast.
I'm Allison from Abundance Practice Building.
I have a nearly diagnosable obsession with helping
therapists build sustainable, joy-filled private practices, just
like I've done for tens of thousands of
therapists across the world.
I'm excited to help you too.
If you want to fill your practice with
ideal clients, we have loads of free resources
(00:29):
and paid support.
Go to abundancepracticebuilding.com slash links.
Alright, on to the show.
(01:10):
I know, HIPAA isn't sexy, but we don't
avoid compliance in an abundant practice.
We check the boxes we need to check,
and this is the easiest way to do
that with email.
Check out my friends at powbox.com.
That's P-A-U-B-O-X.
Use code ABUNDANT to get $250 off your
first year of Powbox.
That makes it less than $100 for your
(01:31):
first year.
Again, that's P-A-U-B-O-X
.com.
Use code ABUNDANT.
So I've talked about therapy notes on here
for years.
I could talk about the features and the
benefits in my sleep, but there are a
couple of things I want you to know
about therapy notes that doesn't typically make it
into an ad script.
First is that they actually care if you
like their platform.
(01:52):
They don't only make themselves available on the
phone to troubleshoot so you don't pull your
hair out when you get stuck.
They also take member suggestions and implement those
that there's client demand for, like therapy search,
an included listing service that helps clients find
you, internal and external secure messaging, clinical outcome
measures to keep an eye on how your
clients are progressing, a super smooth super bill
(02:13):
process, real-time eligibility to check on your
client's insurance.
In my conversations with the employees there at
all levels, they all really believe in their
product and they want you to love it
too.
Second, they are proudly independently owned.
Why should you care about that?
Because as soon as venture capital becomes involved,
the focus shifts from making customers happy to
(02:34):
making investors happy.
Prices go way up, innovation plateaus, making more
money with as little output as possible becomes
the number one focus.
With over 100,000 therapists using their platform,
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(02:54):
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Hi.
Hi, Kimberly.
How are you doing?
Okay.
How are you?
I'm all right.
Yeah.
Well, what would be most helpful today?
Well, I maybe can run through a few
things I've been working on and doing and
get your take on a couple of questions
I had.
(03:14):
Sounds great.
Okay.
So in some of the materials that I've
been accessing, things I've been focusing on are
trying to improve my website.
And so I definitely feel like I've done
some improvement, but I don't love my website
platform.
It's through simple practice.
Super basic.
There's not a lot of opportunity to do
(03:35):
much.
I used Squarespace for financial reasons, shifted over.
Not that it was necessarily like, I felt
totally crunched.
It just was like, oh, this makes sense.
But I think after being over there for
a few years, I feel like I'm not
getting the traffic I used to, which I
think there's probably multiple variables about that reality.
(03:55):
But so I'm thinking about going back.
But website thing has been something and it
definitely, I feel like it's better than it
was just with content and things.
Same with psychology today.
Changed that up a little bit.
Worked on some warm letters.
I'm just throwing some stuff out.
And that's some of the stuff I've been
working on.
So some of the things I'm grappling with
(04:16):
is to stay with an insurance panel or
not.
How much to raise my prices by and
actually office space.
And so I'm really like what your thoughts
are or just your experience, especially at this
point in time.
If that feels like that's a pretty big
benefit, you know, to have that offer that
(04:37):
for clients.
Okay.
Which of these do you want to start
with?
All of them sound good.
Let's go backwards and then yeah.
Yeah.
I will say in our group practice, having
an office is of great benefit and everything
I'm about to say is anecdotal.
Right.
So that's my own personal experience.
I have a new client who was very
much like we had like a snow day,
(05:01):
which wasn't actually a snow day, but they
canceled school anyway.
And I was like, you know, we can
do it virtual.
She's like, I do not do virtual.
Like I really want to be an office.
Let's just reschedule.
So I think that the majority of people
are fine either way.
But I think that there are more people
who prefer in person than prefer virtual as
clients.
(05:21):
Of the students I have, the people with
hybrid practices seem to build a bit faster,
not significantly faster.
Fully online is totally 100% doable, but
just slightly faster.
And I think the more physically disconnected we
get from one another in our culture, the
(05:44):
more valuable that in-person is going to
become over time, in my opinion.
I wonder too, I feel like this is,
I don't know, I'm in talking to some
colleagues that online platforms like BetterHelp and things
like that are kind of sucking from what
would be the typical pool from at least
(06:05):
the last few years.
And so as I've been processing the office
question, that was one thing I was thinking
like, well, that does obviously differentiate us from
BetterHelp and stuff.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And like I said, if your heart's desire
was like, I want to work from home
virtually, it's what feels right to me.
I'm 100% behind you and you can
(06:25):
absolutely fill your practice.
If you're on the fence and you, like
I'm somebody who has to get out, this
is my away from home office.
I have to get out of my house
and I'll probably have an office when I'm
retired.
Like I'll probably, you know, just need somewhere
to go.
But if you're kind of in the middle
and you don't have a super strong opinion
(06:46):
either way, I might consider the office.
But if money is tight, like if you
went to this simple practice, one pager from
Squarespace, because Squarespace is what, like 20 bucks
a month.
But like if it's tight enough that 20
bucks a month matters, then rent's going to
not feel great.
Right?
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(07:06):
And I don't think it was more due
to that feeling so tight.
It was more of like, well, this just
makes financial sense.
Like I would say $200 a month, you
know, it's included in something I'm already paying
for.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
But it's a far inferior product.
Yeah.
I'm feeling that.
I just, I think that's where I'm at.
Like, so I've had a fairly decent base
(07:28):
of people.
I'm not dying over here, but I'm feeling
it though.
Like my weeks are not as full or
some week, maybe I'll have one week out
of the month.
That's really full.
And then the other ones are just, just
not as full.
And, and I think I get well in
the state of our country and world.
Like, I think there's a little bit of
fear there of, of signing another year lease
(07:50):
of doing some of these things and yeah,
just not knowing.
Obviously I know life's always unknown, but it
just feels different with, with everything going on.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I kind of hopped into your other question
about website in the midst of that, which
is, I would very strongly recommend you switch
(08:10):
back to Squarespace because you just have so
much more capability.
The simple practice websites don't look good.
They're not a place I want to scroll
and hang out.
Right.
Well, there's not much to scroll anyway.
Right.
But it just feels like a directory listing
or something.
It doesn't feel like a legitimate business website
and having a legitimate business website matters for
(08:31):
credibility.
I kind of was leaning that way.
So I'm kind of of a strong opinion
today.
So no, no, it's good.
Okay.
So I guess the other things that I'm
kind of grappling with are then the marketing
space.
I do feel like I was lucky enough
(08:53):
when I started that I didn't really have
to worry about that a ton.
I just had some great colleagues that had
already been in practice for a while.
So they just sent kept sending me their
referrals and kind of stayed that way for
a while, except for the last year to
18 months.
So, and what's happened with that?
Do you know, like, are they getting fewer
(09:14):
referrals?
So they're taking the people who call them
or have you kind of gotten disconnected?
That's a piece of it that they are
also getting fewer calls, which makes me feel
like it's very, just a systemic issue with,
again, multi multilayered, but right.
So that, which adds to the fear and
things like that, but also then knowing I
(09:35):
need to do something with marketing and which
is why I'm doing because I suck at
that and like it.
So I'm trying to like, find that space
for doing blogs, not doing that.
Like online, social media stuff, not doing that.
But so I started with some warm letters
(09:58):
kind of approach and I'm playing around with,
so curious to think about this.
So I'm a nature informed therapist, like I
did a little certification thing.
So like, not, not just like, yeah, I'm
going for a walk with my clients.
Like I actually try to use different components
of nature to help find some connection for
people in various ways.
So I'm trying to kind of highlight that
(10:21):
a little bit as something a little different.
So there's an Earth Day festival in my
town in April and thinking about doing a
booth there, which kind of feels weird to
me to be like, have you ever done
a booth for anything before or a woman
to booth before?
Okay.
Are you more introverted or extroverted?
(10:43):
Introverted.
Okay.
I have done one booth one time and
despite being an outgoing extrovert was like, I'm
never doing this again.
You'll have to get little free things.
Like if you can put a bunch of
free stuff, you'll be good.
I didn't have enough free stuff.
And so then it just felt like people
don't want to come up to your booth
because they know you're there to sell to
(11:04):
them is how it feels.
But if you've got freebies and that could
be, you know, little gift bags with like
some tea, some, you know, these kinds of
things with your card in it or something
like that, then I think it could be
worth it.
But we also need to consider like, what
is your niche?
Who are you helping?
(11:24):
And how does that overlap with the people
who are going to show up?
So tell me about your niche.
So I really like to work with women
who, I mean, it's a little vast, I
guess, but are in transition, transitional phases of
life.
So whether that's like they now just have
children or the children have left the home,
(11:46):
menopause type stuff, retirement, kind of the kind
of gamut and either helping women stay connected
with themselves and, or refined their voice.
Cause I find a lot of, a lot
of my 50s, 60s, you know, are like,
I don't know who I am.
So what I would recommend before you do
anything, before you work on your new website
(12:06):
or any of that is to get that
more refined because somebody who just had a
kid isn't such a vastly different life place
than somebody going through menopause, maybe becoming empty
nesters and retiring all around the same time.
And the specificity of what we say on
our website is what has people choose us
or not.
And you can't be specific about both having
(12:26):
a new baby and feeling out of your
element there and feeling like you're coming to
the last third of your life and you're
not sure what's been worth it and what
hasn't.
Right.
Like there's just such different phases of life
there.
And nobody, yeah, nobody's like, ah, you know
what my problem is?
I'm just in transition.
(12:46):
Right.
It's always more specific than that.
Okay.
Women in transition is one I often I'm
talking people out of because we see it.
We understand that the identity stuff that comes
up with each transition is ultimately what's at
play, no matter the transition, but that's not
what they're looking for.
(13:08):
So do you feel like the identity is
too broad as well or no?
Which identity, which one say our identity as
a human, as a person, as a woman.
Yeah, for sure.
Cause nobody's like, I just need to work
on my identity.
Sorry, not sorry to interrupt this podcast.
There are only two days left to act
on this.
So here I am.
(13:28):
If your practice has felt stuck or slow,
this is the moment to shift it right
now.
You can get access to the abundance party
for the rest of 2025.
This is our program that helps you fill
your calendar and grow a sustainable private practice.
You can get this for just $310 total
for the entire rest of the year.
That's 50% off.
(13:49):
We know you need a break.
We know it's hard out there.
We've never done a sale like this.
So whether you're brand new or you're plateaued,
it's really not just a sale.
It is a call.
I am asking you, please to rise up
and be found by the clients who need
you now more than ever in this political
and economic chaos.
But you have to act fast.
(14:09):
The sale ends Friday, April 25th.
That's just two days from now.
If you're listening to this, when it airs,
hit the link in the show notes ASAP.
Let's build the practice your community is searching
for.
Yeah, for sure.
Cause nobody's like, I just need to work
on my identity.
Whereas I'm going through a menopause.
(14:29):
And I think right now perimenopause and menopause
are hot topics.
Finally, thank God.
Right.
And so if that's a population you love
to work with talking about you're going through
menopause, you've become invisible.
You're coming towards the end of your career
or it's recently ended.
You're looking at the places where you've sold
yourself out over the years.
(14:50):
And as your estrogen has dropped, so has
your willingness to deal with bullshit.
And like as describing that is going to
speak so clearly to that ideal client.
If that's your ideal client versus that broader,
I'm not sure who I am.
We have peaks and valleys of that throughout
our lives.
(15:12):
You know, my eight year old said that
to me a few months ago.
She's like, I just don't feel like I
know who I am.
It's like, baby, yeah, you're not supposed to.
Yeah.
Like, you know, it's fine.
But like we all go through moments of
that and phases of that.
And depending on what's going on, like what
(15:34):
else is going on, that's going to, the
other thing is going to determine whether or
not somebody is going to actually seek therapy
for it versus it just being like an
annoyance or something you wish you could change
or, you know, that kind of a thing.
It's usually the other stuff going on that,
that it boils to the top.
Like I'm no longer in my career.
Who the fuck am I?
(15:55):
Or who I've been my whole life so
far is gone now that I'm a mom.
I don't know how to get her back.
It's tough.
So I'd go through that know your niche
course again.
And you can, you can still love the
new moms.
It doesn't mean you'll never get a new
mom because our niche ultimately ends up being
about 60% of our practice if that's
(16:15):
what we want.
But you'll call in people much easier.
And if you're doing a booth, I don't
know how I brought the conversation over to
this from the booth, but if you're doing
the booth and it's centered around women in
menopause or women at the end of their
career or new moms, you can weave in
(16:38):
how the nature informed therapy can help them
specifically.
Right.
You can gear whatever your freebie is to
them, that kind of thing.
Right.
Okay.
And of course, I think about the freebies
at anything ecologically based, right?
Like when I go to conferences, I'm like,
(16:59):
God, there's so much nonsense plastic.
I'm just going to throw away at the
hotel.
So much of this is just useless.
So being thoughtful about what would your ideal
client appreciate?
Yeah, definitely.
Okay.
And it depends on the cost of the
booth too.
And weighing the math, you want it to
be worth it.
If you just get one client from it,
(17:19):
who you see the average number of times
you see clients to make sure that you're
still making a profit.
Right.
Right.
And you have a really hard time making
decisions.
And that's, that's not uncommon because we don't
just love working with one person.
So it's not a rejection of the other
(17:40):
people or you giving up on the other
people.
It's really just something to make your marketing
work better and easier.
Okay.
So, and I know I like looked over
all the different, like those, the blogs and
the warm letters and those things.
Anything else to you that stands out for
a person who, I mean, I'm not the
(18:02):
only introvert and maybe some introverts do like
to do blogs, but as something of like,
Oh, well maybe consider this or this could
be another way that you try to network
or market or whatever.
Yeah.
Well, when I think about introverts, I actually
do think of like blogs and SEO, because
those go together.
You can't really do SEO without blogging.
But if you don't love writing, you know,
(18:23):
like if it's like pulling teeth, then that's
not the thing I want you to spend
time every single week doing, you know?
So you've got your warm letters.
How often are you networking?
Not very often.
I mean, okay.
I think more so recently, you know, there
may be been like three times in the
(18:45):
last, well, maybe three weeks trying to remember
actually a little event, but I'm trying.
Yeah.
And I think the more specific your niche
is, the more effective the networking is too,
because then they'll be like, Oh, that's, that's
Kimberly.
She works with menopausal women.
And then you've got all these natural referral
sources like gynecologists and functional medicine docs and
(19:09):
all the different places that your ideal clients
are going to go when they're like, okay,
like this shift is not going the way
I wanted it to go, you know?
Or if you're going with new moms, for
instance, you know, you've got OBs, you've got
pediatricians, you've got family docs, you've, you know,
so in addition to all the other people
(19:32):
that are doing therapy that aren't working with
your population, because if you become known as
the therapist who works with this, you know,
with menopausal women in your area, then like
you're that therapist that everybody refers to.
And whenever somebody brings it up or with
later midlife women, you become everybody's go-to,
(19:54):
but if it's women in transition, nobody really
knows who to send to you because it's
not specific enough.
Cause it's, that's one of those things most
people will just take, right?
But if they're full, it's not specific enough
that they're going to think of you first.
Right.
I think that feels scary too, to like
hone it in so much.
So I think that's definitely my fight there.
Okay.
I promise it, it makes everything easier and
(20:15):
it makes things happen faster too.
So those spots that you have that are
open can definitely get filled faster with an
itch.
So given also, well, I don't know if
I'm keep framing it in like recent environment,
but with insurance, what are your thoughts on
that?
Yeah.
I mean, I feel like insurance has been
(20:39):
a system I wanted nothing to do with
for a really long time anyway, but I
think particularly now, as it continues to feel
more like a racket and more detrimental and
who knows what's going to happen with the
current administration and oligarchs.
So if you don't want to take insurance,
I think it makes sense to get off
(21:02):
of insurance, but you're going to have to
hone in your marketing.
It's definitely a much scarier climb without an
itch and without very intentional marketing.
Because if you're having fewer referrals right now
while taking insurance, you're going to have fewer
conversions when you're not taking insurance.
So we need to get more people calling
(21:22):
period.
Okay.
Which I hope is, I mean to be
motivating with that, not like overwhelming with it.
Well, I think it's, it seems like maybe
two years ago would be like, well, you
don't like it.
You don't want to do it.
Okay.
I mean, still focus on those two things,
but it didn't seem as, I don't know,
it just feels like less secure.
(21:46):
I'll say it's taking people a bit longer
to get full private pay folks than it
did before, but it's still just a matter
of months.
Like it's not like it's taking them two
years to get full instead of a few
months, you know?
So as long as your marketing, and that's
a caveat, like as long as your marketing
is on point, you just have to be
so much more intentional with your marketing because
(22:08):
we are now competing with these tech companies
that pretend to be mental health companies and
there are more people in private practice.
So there's, I don't like thinking of the
other people in private practices competition, because they
really can just, if you look at them
as great referral partners, it's going to serve
everybody better and it's going to get everybody
(22:29):
full faster, but we have to do a
better job at marketing than these tech companies
in order to be found.
And that means the great thing is as
a solo practice, that means you bring all
sorts of heart that they can't emulate.
And when you can describe this one problem
that this one ideal client has, it lands
so much more for people than all the
(22:51):
marketing dollars towards all the SEO and podcast
ads they're doing.
Okay.
Yeah.
And again, probably do stay with insurance for
now, but it's just feels that stressful too.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Stay with insurance and really ramp up your
marketing and see what happens.
And as you're getting your calls back up
and then maybe higher than you've ever gotten
(23:12):
them, that's probably a good time to start
being like, okay, I think it's, I think
it's safe to get off insurance.
Yeah.
That makes sense.
Don't do it at a time when you're
still some people.
Yeah.
I mean, you can, some people jump, they
do a great job.
They just like take the leap.
I took the leap that works for a
lot of people, but it's paralyzing for a
lot of other people.
(23:33):
And if it's stressing you right now to
have fewer people, I would rather you be
working from a place of safety in a
place of, I have enough and I want
to optimize at this point, instead of I
don't have enough people and I'm going to
change this thing that might make it harder
for more people to come in without having
really clear evidence for yourself that you can
(23:56):
get more people in.
Yeah.
I think it would be good.
I mean, I did listen to all the
niche stuff and, but listening to that again,
probably is a good idea.
Did you do the worksheets?
No, I didn't do the worksheets.
The worksheets make all the difference.
And I know I'm the same when I'm
doing courses or things like that.
(24:17):
I'm like, I'll think my answers, but I
promise like the people who end that course
with a niche versus the people who haven't,
the people who are still a little wibbly
with their niche, almost a hundred percent of
the time haven't done the worksheets and the
people who ended with a niche have done
it.
So we have lots of good evidence that
it makes a difference.
Okay.
I think I honestly kind of forgot about
(24:37):
the worksheets because I did that part a
little while ago.
So yeah, I will do that.
Awesome.
That's helpful.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Very cool.
Well, keep us updated in the party, like
in the Facebook group.
And if you land on a niche and
you need some help fleshing it out, post
in there and we'll see how we can
get all the feedback possible from everybody.
(24:59):
That sounds great.
Awesome.
Thank you for your time.
All right.
Yeah.
Take care.
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(25:20):
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