May 14, 2025 • 21 mins
Psychology Today remains one of the most powerful lead generation tools for therapists, yet many practitioners make critical mistakes that prevent them from converting profile views into clients. This episode explores common pitfalls and offers practical strategies to transform your directory profile into an effective marketing asset.
• Avoiding bland, unprofessional photos that fail to showcase personality and build trust
• Creating short, engaging videos to establish connection before the first contact
• Leading with client pain points rather than credentials or professional background
• Using "you" language instead of "I" language throughout your profile content
• Breaking text into digestible paragraphs with clear formatting
• Creating a compelling three-part profile: client pain points, how you help, and call to action
• Including direct scheduling links to reduce friction in the booking process
• Ensuring your profile links to a website where potential clients can learn more
• Tracking your leads before and after making these changes to measure improvement
Make these tweaks to your Psychology Today profile, then email me to share how these changes have impacted your practice growth. Check out my previous episode on Psychology Today optimization for additional strategies to improve your profile's performance.
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*Intro/outro song credit:
King Around Here by Alex Grohl
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Psychology Today is one of the best lead generating
avenues for therapists.
So, whether it's for you as asolo practice owner or for your
entire team, I assume and hopethat everyone has a Psychology
Today profile.
However, today I went on anadventure through Psychology
Today and was browsing profiles,and I saw a lot, a lot of
(00:20):
mistakes and missedopportunities, and, while I
don't know these therapistspersonally, I'm willing to bet
that they're not seeing theresults from psychology today
that they would like.
I'm going to guide you throughsome of the top mistakes and
things I'm seeing and how youcan make sure that it's not
happening in your profile.
My name is Craig and I'm theowner of Dacey Financial
Coaching.
Our team is on a mission tomake your therapy practice
(00:43):
permanently profitable.
If you own a solo or grouppractice, we're here to help you
build a business that createsmore time, makes more money and
serves more people.
This is the Therapy BusinessPodcast, all right?
So, like I said, I've beenspending some time scrolling
through and part of me wishes Icould share these profiles, and
(01:06):
I probably could.
However, I don't want to becalling anybody out or shaming
them or embarrassing somebodythem as a person.
In fact, I bet all of them, ormost of them, are amazing
therapists, but what's comingacross is not being articulated
(01:28):
that way, and I am willing tobet that most people are just
scrolling right past them andmoving on to somebody else.
And so let's talk about some ofthe things that I am seeing and
ways that we can fix this.
So number one is bland, blandphotos.
So we want to showcase ourpersonality.
On psychology today, therapy isa relationship.
(01:51):
It's a relational thing.
People need to be able to trustyou.
It's already a lot for them tobe doing this research,
admitting they need help tryingto find someone.
There's so many factors in playof can I afford this?
Can this person help me?
Am I too far gone?
Am I going to like them?
All these things are coming toplay, and the first thing
somebody looks at when they'rescrolling is your picture.
(02:12):
We want to have a good picture.
I've seen a bunch where it'sgrainy.
It's a bad photo.
It's them with somebody elsewhere their face is half cropped
.
It's boring.
Maybe it's just a headshotwhere they're, you know, close
mouth, smiling.
They're not showing anypersonality.
Any way that you can showcasepersonality is going to be huge.
(02:35):
So, instead of taking a picturein front of a blank background,
like you would for a resume orfor something professional.
This is how can I show them mypersonality, who I am, how can I
show them what I enjoy, what doI like?
So still keeping itprofessional, making sure it's
done with a good quality camera,ideally with a professional
photographer, but maybe it's youin your office space, so you
(02:58):
can showcase a little bit aboutwhat that space looks like.
When they show up, really focuson your facial features Are you
loose, relaxed, are you havingfun?
A lot of times I like to seetherapists take pictures of them
almost laughing, enjoying andjust showcasing joy, versus this
buttoned up, just like smile,which is awesome.
I mean, it's better thannothing.
(03:20):
Of course, you know I've seenplenty where there's no picture
at all and, trust me, or it's apicture of their office space
and not their face at all.
Those are going to be notconverting, probably at all.
If it were me, I wouldn't evenclick on their profile.
I want to know who I'm workingwith.
It's a visual process.
I want to be able to visualizeworking with this person and
that's why having a picture thatreally showcases you, your
(03:44):
personality, is huge.
All right, the next missedopportunity I'm seeing is no
video on your profile Video.
While it's not a requirement,having a video on there is going
to be huge for getting andbuilding trust.
That's really what we aretrying to do is.
We're trying to build trust.
We're trying to help clients,potential clients, know and
understand that we see them, weget them and bridge that gap.
(04:07):
I'm a huge fan of video andpodcasting and getting that my
personality out there because,just like yours, my engagement
with our clients is relationshipbased.
It's huge.
There is a lot of fear, anxiety, fear of judgment, a lot of
shame around finances, and so weknow and acknowledge that
scheduling a call with someoneon our team is a huge, huge,
(04:30):
huge step, and so we want tobridge that gap.
The amount of times that peopleget on a call with me, on a
consultation call, and just evenfrom out the gate, just say,
man, I feel like I already knowyou, they recognize my
background, they have engagedwith me in some capacity through
video or through the podcast,it eases that anxiety, that
stress and that tension andtrust has already been
(04:51):
established.
Now, psychology today limits youto 15, 20-second videos, so
just something short and sweetthat can showcase your
personality once again, kind ofgoing back to that picture.
Showing your personality alsoin the video is huge.
Now, be careful You're not toostiff.
I see that a lot on thesevideos that you're really stiff.
Make sure you crop and edit Ifyou make a mistake.
(05:12):
If you have a long you know twoto three seconds at the front
or end of the video of youtrying to hit the play button
and squinting at your phone,just chop those up.
It's not hard to do.
A quick Google search will helpyou trim those down.
You can do them on your phone.
(05:32):
It's easy to trim a video andtrim those edges off so that
it's clean, it's quick and it'sshowing who you are.
If you're going to write ascript for it, just make sure
you're not again too buttoned up, just robotic.
Practice it enough times thatyou don't have to read it, that
you can just loosely say it andshow who you are.
What kind of personality do youhave?
Ease their anxiety, ease theirtensions that's the goal of the
video.
All right, I'm going to dig intothe real meat and bones of your
(05:56):
Psychology Today profile,because what I kind of just went
through was the personalitypiece.
But here is something huge, andI'm going to say probably 95%
of the profiles as I wasscrolling through.
If there's 10 profiles on apage, nine of them have this
mistake and it's not leadingwith the client's pain points.
(06:17):
When somebody does a search onpsychology today, what they're
going to see is a list oftherapists that meet the
perimeters of what they pluggedin.
You're going to have yourprofile picture, which we
already touched on, and thennext to it is going to have a
blurb the first two, threesentences in your profile
description.
That's what's going to show up.
This is opportunity.
(06:39):
This is the most important partof your bio, because this is
what they're looking at first,before they even decide to click
on you.
They're going to see yourpicture, they're going to read
this blurb and the mistake I'mseeing is people talking about
themselves, people talking abouttheir credentials.
I am a licensed fill in theblank with this acronym and this
(07:04):
acronym, this acronym.
I believe in this.
I am prioritized.
My clients, I, I, I, I do this,I do that.
We're not leading with theirpain points.
It's not about you.
They, yes, we get.
This is where I think themisconception comes.
It's people are searching for atherapist and we are doing our
best to say here's me, look atme, pick me.
Here's why you should pick me.
We're forgetting.
(07:24):
They're there for themselves.
They're there trying to solve aproblem for themselves, while
they're looking for someone.
They're looking for someone whosees and acknowledges and knows
what they're dealing with and,through something as simple as a
few sentences, is saying tothem I know what's going on and
I can help you.
So lead with your client's painpoints.
(07:46):
If you're feeling frustrated,overwhelmed, disconnected, if
you're feeling like you and yourspouse are living on two
different sides of the planet,like you and your spouse are
living on two different sides ofthe planet.
Whatever your ideal client isdealing with, you hopefully know
this.
If you're a good therapist, youknow their main struggles, your
ideal client.
What are their pain points?
(08:06):
When they come to see you?
What are they struggling withFor us, for me and in our
business?
We know that, while people canbe struggling with a million
different things, the mostcommon ones are they're not
paying themselves enough.
They're feeling burnt out.
They feel like they have noclarity or plan when it comes to
their money.
They feel like a failure.
(08:26):
They wish that they could takehome more money and that they
could free up their time.
These are all common, commonpain points that we try to speak
into because we know it, we'velived it, I have lived it, I
have been there.
I know that feeling and I knowthere's hope and I know we can
help.
We have to lead with that.
(08:50):
If you do this one, if, out ofall the things I'm going to talk
about, if this is the onechange you make, it's going to
be huge because you're going tojump out, because I promise you
you're going to change it.
Do a search, find yourself inthat search and look at yourself
compared to all the othertherapists and they're all.
I bet you nine out of 10 ofthem are going to be me, me, me,
me, me.
And then here is going to beyou and I.
As I found the people whoalready do this, the ones who
(09:12):
stood out, I clicked on theirprofile and they were the most
compelling candidate and I amwilling to bet that they are
getting a lot of leads throughpsychology today.
So start with their problem.
What are they struggling with?
That can lead later into thebio, once they've clicked on
your profile.
That's where it leads into howyou can help.
They don't care about youracronyms.
(09:33):
And that leads us into the nextone, which is your people write
it like it's a resume insteadof speaking to the client.
They don't care about yourcertifications and your acronyms
.
Most of them don't.
They don't even know what theymean.
They don't even know what theyserve.
All they want to know is here'show I feel, here's what I
struggle with.
(09:53):
Can you help with that?
If you are a, if you have fouror five letters after your name,
yes, I would say, put them nextto your name, whatever where
it's appropriate, but leadingwith.
I am certified in this, I havea bachelor's in this and I have
a master's in this and I do thisand this and this.
We're leading with the problem,and then we're speaking
(10:15):
directly to their experiencesand we're speaking directly into
how you can help them.
What I would encourage you todo is go through and count how
many times are you using theword I, I, me, we, where it's
all about you or your company.
Count it out and figure out howmany times it's there and then
(10:37):
count how many times you'reusing the word you or something
focusing on them.
And if you are talking aboutyourself more than you're
talking about them.
There's a problem and we needto fix that.
Again, I'm not judging you.
This is opportunity.
This is going to be a hugeturnaround.
So if you find that you'resaying, I don't beat yourself up
, be like amazing because now Ihave a way to increase.
(10:59):
Our psychology.
Today leads by making this onechange use language that talks
about them.
Use you language, not Ilanguage, not me language.
And please don't talk in thethird person.
I saw a couple of those.
Craig Dacey is a licensedtherapist.
No, that is like the mostdisconnected you could be from
the potential client is by noteven talking from yourself.
(11:21):
It's like a narrator wrote thisabout you and here's why you
should choose them.
So please don't do that.
Use you statements.
We can help you feel betterdoing this.
After therapy, you will feelmore like this.
So it's that piece changingyour phrasing from I to you.
All right.
(11:41):
The next one is poor formattingor just like a wall of text or,
even worse, bad grammar.
Please proofread it.
Please ask a few friends toproofread it.
Please use paragraphs andpunctuation and show your
competency level in there.
When somebody clicks on yourprofile, if it's all one giant
block of text back button that's.
(12:03):
No one is going to read that.
We want it to be digestible.
Most people are going to skim.
Most people are skimmingbecause the odds of your profile
being the first one theyclicked on is slim.
They've probably clicked on afew, they've probably been doing
this for a little bit andthey're not reading word for
word everybody's profilesbecause most of them are saying
already saying similar things.
(12:24):
So we want to break it apart.
Make sure it's not too long ortoo short.
Usually, ideally, we want 150to 200 words.
So try and hone in on that anduse multiple paragraphs as
you're doing that.
So breaking it apart intochunks, I usually say two
sentences, maybe three, and thenyou do a line break.
(12:45):
So really chunking it out intosections.
That's going to helpdrastically with just how people
read it, how people skim it,how you can talk to them.
If you're wanting to getcohesive on how you're doing
this, here's a way to break itup into three parts as you're
writing your bio or yourdescription.
The first part, the first twoto three sentences, once again,
(13:06):
are the client's pain points.
What are they dealing with,what are they struggling with?
Don't go too broad on this.
You're not trying to helpeverybody.
You are trying to hone in onthe ideal client.
If you have a specialty focusin on that, what are they
feeling, what are theystruggling with?
Then the middle section is howyou can help and, once again,
using you language as much asyou can.
(13:28):
So what is what is therapygoing to do for them?
What is working with you goingto do to their life?
How does that help?
If you are wanting to talk aboutyour office, if you're wanting
to talk about those things, posta picture.
In fact, that's that's as weeven going back to picture and
(13:49):
bridging that gap, post apicture of your.
If you meet people in person,post a picture of the office,
even if it's empty.
That's just visual, is going toease some of that tension of
here's what I can expect.
They're no longer stepping intothe unknown.
They can visualize what they'restepping into.
They can visualize you.
Because you have a picture anda photo.
All of those unknowns aregetting cleared out and it's
(14:10):
making room for them to takethat action step.
So, instead of talking about wemeet in person and it's a calm
and quiet, soothing place, justpost a picture, Don't even talk
about it.
Okay, that's going to help withthat piece.
We're focusing on them and thenfinally closing.
How can they reach out to you?
With that piece, we're focusingon them and then finally
closing.
How can they reach out to you,how can they get in touch with
(14:31):
you?
Which is going to lead me to myfinal thing that people are not
doing, which is there's noclear call to action and then
mostly psychology.
Today's profiles are making itreally difficult for people to
get in touch, for people to getthat next step of help.
We're not making it clear whatthat looks like.
Get that next step of help.
We're not making it clear whatthat looks like.
What does it look like to workwith you?
So here's getting the help youneed is easy Click this link, go
(15:01):
to our website, email us, call,whatever that is going to be.
I'll talk about my preferenceson this in a second.
Do say click here.
Let's just say email us at thisto schedule a 15 minute
consultation.
This call will just be a andkind of in one sentence, give
them an outline of what they canexpect on that call.
Again, easing that unknown.
Just what is this call for?
It's a low pressure, just getto know you, opportunity to see
(15:22):
if we are a good fit.
It's a low pressure, just getto know you opportunity to see
if we are a good fit, if we canhelp you.
So just really outlining whatdoes that look like?
What do they need to do next?
Please have a website linked.
The number of people I saw onhere without websites was too
high for my liking.
I truly believe you need awebsite.
(15:44):
I don't think you need to gospend thousands and thousands
and thousands on a web designerto create one.
There's so many resources andtools out there, like Wix.
You could go on Upwork and hirea contractor to help you design
it if you would like.
A website's really important.
It doesn't have to even berobust.
Even if it's just one page withpictures and some copy.
(16:05):
That's going to help captivateand motivate them to reach out,
and then a link so that they caneasily contact you.
This is all about the moreinformation.
Like I said, with PsychologyToday, they limit you.
I believe it's like 2,000characters, 2,000 to 3,000
characters, so you are limitedon what you can even write in
there and we don't want ourprofile to be too long anyway.
(16:26):
So people want to learn more.
There's nowhere for them to go.
Maybe there's something on yourprofile that they are still
wanting to explore more, and ifthere's nowhere for them to go,
again back button, they're goingto move back.
They're going to find someonewho's got a website.
I did that when I was lookingfor my therapist if they didn't
have a website, because I wasfeeling really, really nervous,
(16:50):
anxious about hiring a therapist.
I'd never done it before and soI was almost looking for every
excuse not to reach out, asfunny as that sounds.
I'm wanting to find one, butalso I'm trying to give myself
an out to not actually pick upthe phone and call.
So if the call to action waspick up the phone and call.
So if the call to action waspick up the phone and call to
schedule, I was hitting the backbutton.
If it was email, I was morelikely to do it, but I needed a
(17:13):
website so I could go learn moreabout them, and I've shared on
the podcast multiple times.
My therapist has his ownpodcast.
That's what ultimately made thedecision for me, because I got
to know his personality, justlike I've been kind of hitting
on throughout this episode.
Getting to know theirpersonality, getting to know you
, is huge.
So please include a website andthen my favorite way to do it
(17:33):
is to have a calendar linkdirectly to your calendar so
they can just book aconsultation.
Have it there.
We are reducing friction.
We are getting rid of friction.
They can come to your websiteimmediately schedule a
consultation.
They don't have to send anemail, they don't have to pick
up the phone and call While theyare at their peak of all.
(17:54):
Right, I've carved out time,I've sat down.
I'm going to do this.
It's important to them.
They are emotionally at a highwhere they want the help.
Give them the opportunity toschedule that consultation and,
as best as you can, create spaceso that they can book with you
within 24 to 48 hours.
This is where having a team issuper helpful.
This is one of our stipulations, or something we track with my
(18:18):
team is that if somebody goes tobook a consultation with us,
that they can get on somebody'scalendar within 48 hours.
It's not always going to be thecase, but for the most part, if
we're getting booked outfurther than that, then we need
to either make some tweaks, makesome changes, or we might need
to hire we might be just shorton staff at that point so making
(18:39):
sure they can get on a callwith you very soon Outlining
what does it look like in thatcall to action.
What are those steps take?
All right, that's a lot ofstuff I just threw at you.
I recommend going backlistening, pull up your profile,
listen to this again and makethese tweaks in real time.
Do an audit of your, of yourprofile.
Have some fun with it.
Have some fun looking at otherpeople's profile.
(19:00):
Without being mean, I wasn'tbeing malicious as I was looking
at these, but go through andjust have some fun saying, ooh,
yeah, what is this?
This guy put a picture of abird which I saw, and what does
that have to do with anything?
So go through and find areaswhere you you can see where
they're maybe lacking, and thenfind ones where you are like,
(19:21):
ooh, this, this profile isreally compelling.
What are they doing?
Well, what are the ones doingthat are turning you away?
Just be curious.
Have some fun with it.
Be curious, take notes and thengo and evaluate your own
profile, make the necessarytweaks, and I can't wait.
Shoot me an email, make thetweaks and then let me know what
has changed from what you'redoing before to what you're
(19:42):
doing now.
Maybe sit down and how manyPsychology Today leads have we
gotten in the last 30, 60, 90days and then, moving forward
over the next 30, 60, 90 days,track it again and see do we see
an uptick from these changesand tweaks that we're making?
And then shoot me an email.
I would love to hear how it haspositively impacted your
business.
All right, I'm rooting for you.
I hope it is just the.
(20:07):
I hope you're just swimming inleads and clients your ideal
client and that business is justgoing to grow exponentially
Once you get your psychologytoday profile honed in.
I do have a full episode where Italk about other ways to
improve your psychology to todayprofile.
Scroll through, find thatepisode, listen to it.
While some of these are onthere, there's also some other
ideas and other ways that youcan improve it that maybe we
didn't hit on today as I wasgoing through the mistakes that
(20:27):
I commonly see.
So check out that episode,improve that profile.
I can't wait to see it and I'lltalk to you guys next week.
Thanks for joining us on theTherapy Business Podcast.
Be sure to subscribe, leave areview and share it with a
practice owner that you may knowIf your practice needs help
getting organized with itsfinances or just growing your
practice.
Head to therapybusinesspodcomto learn how we can help.
Psychology Today is one of the best lead generating
avenues for therapists.
So, whether it's for you as asolo practice owner or for your
entire team, I assume and hopethat everyone has a Psychology
Today profile.
However, today I went on anadventure through Psychology
Today and was browsing profiles,and I saw a lot, a lot of
(00:20):
mistakes and missedopportunities, and, while I
don't know these therapistspersonally, I'm willing to bet
that they're not seeing theresults from psychology today
that they would like.
I'm going to guide you throughsome of the top mistakes and
things I'm seeing and how youcan make sure that it's not
happening in your profile.
My name is Craig and I'm theowner of Dacey Financial
Coaching.
Our team is on a mission tomake your therapy practice
(00:43):
permanently profitable.
If you own a solo or grouppractice, we're here to help you
build a business that createsmore time, makes more money and
serves more people.
This is the Therapy BusinessPodcast, all right?
So, like I said, I've beenspending some time scrolling
through and part of me wishes Icould share these profiles, and
(01:06):
I probably could.
However, I don't want to becalling anybody out or shaming
them or embarrassing somebodythem as a person.
In fact, I bet all of them, ormost of them, are amazing
therapists, but what's comingacross is not being articulated
(01:28):
that way, and I am willing tobet that most people are just
scrolling right past them andmoving on to somebody else.
And so let's talk about some ofthe things that I am seeing and
ways that we can fix this.
So number one is bland, blandphotos.
So we want to showcase ourpersonality.
On psychology today, therapy isa relationship.
(01:51):
It's a relational thing.
People need to be able to trustyou.
It's already a lot for them tobe doing this research,
admitting they need help tryingto find someone.
There's so many factors in playof can I afford this?
Can this person help me?
Am I too far gone?
Am I going to like them?
All these things are coming toplay, and the first thing
somebody looks at when they'rescrolling is your picture.
(02:12):
We want to have a good picture.
I've seen a bunch where it'sgrainy.
It's a bad photo.
It's them with somebody elsewhere their face is half cropped
.
It's boring.
Maybe it's just a headshotwhere they're, you know, close
mouth, smiling.
They're not showing anypersonality.
Any way that you can showcasepersonality is going to be huge.
(02:35):
So, instead of taking a picturein front of a blank background,
like you would for a resume orfor something professional.
This is how can I show them mypersonality, who I am, how can I
show them what I enjoy, what doI like?
So still keeping itprofessional, making sure it's
done with a good quality camera,ideally with a professional
photographer, but maybe it's youin your office space, so you
(02:58):
can showcase a little bit aboutwhat that space looks like.
When they show up, really focuson your facial features Are you
loose, relaxed, are you havingfun?
A lot of times I like to seetherapists take pictures of them
almost laughing, enjoying andjust showcasing joy, versus this
buttoned up, just like smile,which is awesome.
I mean, it's better thannothing.
(03:20):
Of course, you know I've seenplenty where there's no picture
at all and, trust me, or it's apicture of their office space
and not their face at all.
Those are going to be notconverting, probably at all.
If it were me, I wouldn't evenclick on their profile.
I want to know who I'm workingwith.
It's a visual process.
I want to be able to visualizeworking with this person and
that's why having a picture thatreally showcases you, your
(03:44):
personality, is huge.
All right, the next missedopportunity I'm seeing is no
video on your profile Video.
While it's not a requirement,having a video on there is going
to be huge for getting andbuilding trust.
That's really what we aretrying to do is.
We're trying to build trust.
We're trying to help clients,potential clients, know and
understand that we see them, weget them and bridge that gap.
(04:07):
I'm a huge fan of video andpodcasting and getting that my
personality out there because,just like yours, my engagement
with our clients is relationshipbased.
It's huge.
There is a lot of fear, anxiety, fear of judgment, a lot of
shame around finances, and so weknow and acknowledge that
scheduling a call with someoneon our team is a huge, huge,
(04:30):
huge step, and so we want tobridge that gap.
The amount of times that peopleget on a call with me, on a
consultation call, and just evenfrom out the gate, just say,
man, I feel like I already knowyou, they recognize my
background, they have engagedwith me in some capacity through
video or through the podcast,it eases that anxiety, that
stress and that tension andtrust has already been
(04:51):
established.
Now, psychology today limits youto 15, 20-second videos, so
just something short and sweetthat can showcase your
personality once again, kind ofgoing back to that picture.
Showing your personality alsoin the video is huge.
Now, be careful You're not toostiff.
I see that a lot on thesevideos that you're really stiff.
Make sure you crop and edit Ifyou make a mistake.
(05:12):
If you have a long you know twoto three seconds at the front
or end of the video of youtrying to hit the play button
and squinting at your phone,just chop those up.
It's not hard to do.
A quick Google search will helpyou trim those down.
You can do them on your phone.
(05:32):
It's easy to trim a video andtrim those edges off so that
it's clean, it's quick and it'sshowing who you are.
If you're going to write ascript for it, just make sure
you're not again too buttoned up, just robotic.
Practice it enough times thatyou don't have to read it, that
you can just loosely say it andshow who you are.
What kind of personality do youhave?
Ease their anxiety, ease theirtensions that's the goal of the
video.
All right, I'm going to dig intothe real meat and bones of your
(05:56):
Psychology Today profile,because what I kind of just went
through was the personalitypiece.
But here is something huge, andI'm going to say probably 95%
of the profiles as I wasscrolling through.
If there's 10 profiles on apage, nine of them have this
mistake and it's not leadingwith the client's pain points.
(06:17):
When somebody does a search onpsychology today, what they're
going to see is a list oftherapists that meet the
perimeters of what they pluggedin.
You're going to have yourprofile picture, which we
already touched on, and thennext to it is going to have a
blurb the first two, threesentences in your profile
description.
That's what's going to show up.
This is opportunity.
(06:39):
This is the most important partof your bio, because this is
what they're looking at first,before they even decide to click
on you.
They're going to see yourpicture, they're going to read
this blurb and the mistake I'mseeing is people talking about
themselves, people talking abouttheir credentials.
I am a licensed fill in theblank with this acronym and this
(07:04):
acronym, this acronym.
I believe in this.
I am prioritized.
My clients, I, I, I, I do this,I do that.
We're not leading with theirpain points.
It's not about you.
They, yes, we get.
This is where I think themisconception comes.
It's people are searching for atherapist and we are doing our
best to say here's me, look atme, pick me.
Here's why you should pick me.
We're forgetting.
(07:24):
They're there for themselves.
They're there trying to solve aproblem for themselves, while
they're looking for someone.
They're looking for someone whosees and acknowledges and knows
what they're dealing with and,through something as simple as a
few sentences, is saying tothem I know what's going on and
I can help you.
So lead with your client's painpoints.
(07:46):
If you're feeling frustrated,overwhelmed, disconnected, if
you're feeling like you and yourspouse are living on two
different sides of the planet,like you and your spouse are
living on two different sides ofthe planet.
Whatever your ideal client isdealing with, you hopefully know
this.
If you're a good therapist, youknow their main struggles, your
ideal client.
What are their pain points?
(08:06):
When they come to see you?
What are they struggling withFor us, for me and in our
business?
We know that, while people canbe struggling with a million
different things, the mostcommon ones are they're not
paying themselves enough.
They're feeling burnt out.
They feel like they have noclarity or plan when it comes to
their money.
They feel like a failure.
(08:26):
They wish that they could takehome more money and that they
could free up their time.
These are all common, commonpain points that we try to speak
into because we know it, we'velived it, I have lived it, I
have been there.
I know that feeling and I knowthere's hope and I know we can
help.
We have to lead with that.
(08:50):
If you do this one, if, out ofall the things I'm going to talk
about, if this is the onechange you make, it's going to
be huge because you're going tojump out, because I promise you
you're going to change it.
Do a search, find yourself inthat search and look at yourself
compared to all the othertherapists and they're all.
I bet you nine out of 10 ofthem are going to be me, me, me,
me, me.
And then here is going to beyou and I.
As I found the people whoalready do this, the ones who
(09:12):
stood out, I clicked on theirprofile and they were the most
compelling candidate and I amwilling to bet that they are
getting a lot of leads throughpsychology today.
So start with their problem.
What are they struggling with?
That can lead later into thebio, once they've clicked on
your profile.
That's where it leads into howyou can help.
They don't care about youracronyms.
(09:33):
And that leads us into the nextone, which is your people write
it like it's a resume insteadof speaking to the client.
They don't care about yourcertifications and your acronyms
.
Most of them don't.
They don't even know what theymean.
They don't even know what theyserve.
All they want to know is here'show I feel, here's what I
struggle with.
(09:53):
Can you help with that?
If you are a, if you have fouror five letters after your name,
yes, I would say, put them nextto your name, whatever where
it's appropriate, but leadingwith.
I am certified in this, I havea bachelor's in this and I have
a master's in this and I do thisand this and this.
We're leading with the problem,and then we're speaking
(10:15):
directly to their experiencesand we're speaking directly into
how you can help them.
What I would encourage you todo is go through and count how
many times are you using theword I, I, me, we, where it's
all about you or your company.
Count it out and figure out howmany times it's there and then
(10:37):
count how many times you'reusing the word you or something
focusing on them.
And if you are talking aboutyourself more than you're
talking about them.
There's a problem and we needto fix that.
Again, I'm not judging you.
This is opportunity.
This is going to be a hugeturnaround.
So if you find that you'resaying, I don't beat yourself up
, be like amazing because now Ihave a way to increase.
(10:59):
Our psychology.
Today leads by making this onechange use language that talks
about them.
Use you language, not Ilanguage, not me language.
And please don't talk in thethird person.
I saw a couple of those.
Craig Dacey is a licensedtherapist.
No, that is like the mostdisconnected you could be from
the potential client is by noteven talking from yourself.
(11:21):
It's like a narrator wrote thisabout you and here's why you
should choose them.
So please don't do that.
Use you statements.
We can help you feel betterdoing this.
After therapy, you will feelmore like this.
So it's that piece changingyour phrasing from I to you.
All right.
(11:41):
The next one is poor formattingor just like a wall of text or,
even worse, bad grammar.
Please proofread it.
Please ask a few friends toproofread it.
Please use paragraphs andpunctuation and show your
competency level in there.
When somebody clicks on yourprofile, if it's all one giant
block of text back button that's.
(12:03):
No one is going to read that.
We want it to be digestible.
Most people are going to skim.
Most people are skimmingbecause the odds of your profile
being the first one theyclicked on is slim.
They've probably clicked on afew, they've probably been doing
this for a little bit andthey're not reading word for
word everybody's profilesbecause most of them are saying
already saying similar things.
(12:24):
So we want to break it apart.
Make sure it's not too long ortoo short.
Usually, ideally, we want 150to 200 words.
So try and hone in on that anduse multiple paragraphs as
you're doing that.
So breaking it apart intochunks, I usually say two
sentences, maybe three, and thenyou do a line break.
(12:45):
So really chunking it out intosections.
That's going to helpdrastically with just how people
read it, how people skim it,how you can talk to them.
If you're wanting to getcohesive on how you're doing
this, here's a way to break itup into three parts as you're
writing your bio or yourdescription.
The first part, the first twoto three sentences, once again,
(13:06):
are the client's pain points.
What are they dealing with,what are they struggling with?
Don't go too broad on this.
You're not trying to helpeverybody.
You are trying to hone in onthe ideal client.
If you have a specialty focusin on that, what are they
feeling, what are theystruggling with?
Then the middle section is howyou can help and, once again,
using you language as much asyou can.
(13:28):
So what is what is therapygoing to do for them?
What is working with you goingto do to their life?
How does that help?
If you are wanting to talk aboutyour office, if you're wanting
to talk about those things, posta picture.
In fact, that's that's as weeven going back to picture and
(13:49):
bridging that gap, post apicture of your.
If you meet people in person,post a picture of the office,
even if it's empty.
That's just visual, is going toease some of that tension of
here's what I can expect.
They're no longer stepping intothe unknown.
They can visualize what they'restepping into.
They can visualize you.
Because you have a picture anda photo.
All of those unknowns aregetting cleared out and it's
(14:10):
making room for them to takethat action step.
So, instead of talking about wemeet in person and it's a calm
and quiet, soothing place, justpost a picture, Don't even talk
about it.
Okay, that's going to help withthat piece.
We're focusing on them and thenfinally closing.
How can they reach out to you?
With that piece, we're focusingon them and then finally
closing.
How can they reach out to you,how can they get in touch with
(14:31):
you?
Which is going to lead me to myfinal thing that people are not
doing, which is there's noclear call to action and then
mostly psychology.
Today's profiles are making itreally difficult for people to
get in touch, for people to getthat next step of help.
We're not making it clear whatthat looks like.
Get that next step of help.
We're not making it clear whatthat looks like.
What does it look like to workwith you?
So here's getting the help youneed is easy Click this link, go
(15:01):
to our website, email us, call,whatever that is going to be.
I'll talk about my preferenceson this in a second.
Do say click here.
Let's just say email us at thisto schedule a 15 minute
consultation.
This call will just be a andkind of in one sentence, give
them an outline of what they canexpect on that call.
Again, easing that unknown.
Just what is this call for?
It's a low pressure, just getto know you, opportunity to see
(15:22):
if we are a good fit.
It's a low pressure, just getto know you opportunity to see
if we are a good fit, if we canhelp you.
So just really outlining whatdoes that look like?
What do they need to do next?
Please have a website linked.
The number of people I saw onhere without websites was too
high for my liking.
I truly believe you need awebsite.
(15:44):
I don't think you need to gospend thousands and thousands
and thousands on a web designerto create one.
There's so many resources andtools out there, like Wix.
You could go on Upwork and hirea contractor to help you design
it if you would like.
A website's really important.
It doesn't have to even berobust.
Even if it's just one page withpictures and some copy.
(16:05):
That's going to help captivateand motivate them to reach out,
and then a link so that they caneasily contact you.
This is all about the moreinformation.
Like I said, with PsychologyToday, they limit you.
I believe it's like 2,000characters, 2,000 to 3,000
characters, so you are limitedon what you can even write in
there and we don't want ourprofile to be too long anyway.
(16:26):
So people want to learn more.
There's nowhere for them to go.
Maybe there's something on yourprofile that they are still
wanting to explore more, and ifthere's nowhere for them to go,
again back button, they're goingto move back.
They're going to find someonewho's got a website.
I did that when I was lookingfor my therapist if they didn't
have a website, because I wasfeeling really, really nervous,
(16:50):
anxious about hiring a therapist.
I'd never done it before and soI was almost looking for every
excuse not to reach out, asfunny as that sounds.
I'm wanting to find one, butalso I'm trying to give myself
an out to not actually pick upthe phone and call.
So if the call to action waspick up the phone and call.
So if the call to action waspick up the phone and call to
schedule, I was hitting the backbutton.
If it was email, I was morelikely to do it, but I needed a
(17:13):
website so I could go learn moreabout them, and I've shared on
the podcast multiple times.
My therapist has his ownpodcast.
That's what ultimately made thedecision for me, because I got
to know his personality, justlike I've been kind of hitting
on throughout this episode.
Getting to know theirpersonality, getting to know you
, is huge.
So please include a website andthen my favorite way to do it
(17:33):
is to have a calendar linkdirectly to your calendar so
they can just book aconsultation.
Have it there.
We are reducing friction.
We are getting rid of friction.
They can come to your websiteimmediately schedule a
consultation.
They don't have to send anemail, they don't have to pick
up the phone and call While theyare at their peak of all.
(17:54):
Right, I've carved out time,I've sat down.
I'm going to do this.
It's important to them.
They are emotionally at a highwhere they want the help.
Give them the opportunity toschedule that consultation and,
as best as you can, create spaceso that they can book with you
within 24 to 48 hours.
This is where having a team issuper helpful.
This is one of our stipulations, or something we track with my
(18:18):
team is that if somebody goes tobook a consultation with us,
that they can get on somebody'scalendar within 48 hours.
It's not always going to be thecase, but for the most part, if
we're getting booked outfurther than that, then we need
to either make some tweaks, makesome changes, or we might need
to hire we might be just shorton staff at that point so making
(18:39):
sure they can get on a callwith you very soon Outlining
what does it look like in thatcall to action.
What are those steps take?
All right, that's a lot ofstuff I just threw at you.
I recommend going backlistening, pull up your profile,
listen to this again and makethese tweaks in real time.
Do an audit of your, of yourprofile.
Have some fun with it.
Have some fun looking at otherpeople's profile.
(19:00):
Without being mean, I wasn'tbeing malicious as I was looking
at these, but go through andjust have some fun saying, ooh,
yeah, what is this?
This guy put a picture of abird which I saw, and what does
that have to do with anything?
So go through and find areaswhere you you can see where
they're maybe lacking, and thenfind ones where you are like,
(19:21):
ooh, this, this profile isreally compelling.
What are they doing?
Well, what are the ones doingthat are turning you away?
Just be curious.
Have some fun with it.
Be curious, take notes and thengo and evaluate your own
profile, make the necessarytweaks, and I can't wait.
Shoot me an email, make thetweaks and then let me know what
has changed from what you'redoing before to what you're
(19:42):
doing now.
Maybe sit down and how manyPsychology Today leads have we
gotten in the last 30, 60, 90days and then, moving forward
over the next 30, 60, 90 days,track it again and see do we see
an uptick from these changesand tweaks that we're making?
And then shoot me an email.
I would love to hear how it haspositively impacted your
business.
All right, I'm rooting for you.
I hope it is just the.
(20:07):
I hope you're just swimming inleads and clients your ideal
client and that business is justgoing to grow exponentially
Once you get your psychologytoday profile honed in.
I do have a full episode where Italk about other ways to
improve your psychology to todayprofile.
Scroll through, find thatepisode, listen to it.
While some of these are onthere, there's also some other
ideas and other ways that youcan improve it that maybe we
didn't hit on today as I wasgoing through the mistakes that
(20:27):
I commonly see.
So check out that episode,improve that profile.
I can't wait to see it and I'lltalk to you guys next week.
Thanks for joining us on theTherapy Business Podcast.
Be sure to subscribe, leave areview and share it with a
practice owner that you may knowIf your practice needs help
getting organized with itsfinances or just growing your
practice.
Head to therapybusinesspodcomto learn how we can help.
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