Episode #616: Marketing A Perinatal Practice

Summary

Abundant Practice Podcast
Episode #616: Marketing A Perinatal Practice
Release Date: January 29, 2025
Host: Allison Puryear

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Introduction

In Episode #616 of the Abundant Practice Podcast, host Allison Puryear engages in a deep dive with her guest, Janine, focusing on effective strategies for marketing a perinatal mental health practice. Skipping over initial promotional content, the episode zeroes in on actionable insights and personalized advice to help therapists refine their niche, enhance their online presence, and leverage social media for client acquisition.

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Defining and Articulating Your Niche

Janine begins by expressing her struggle to define her niche within perinatal mental health. With a background in generalist training, she has honed in on working with women experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders but seeks to expand her reach to include women beyond the immediate postpartum period.

Allison advises Janine to focus on the challenges rather than specific diagnoses to appeal to a broader audience. At [05:08], Allison suggests:

"I work with new moms who are not having an easy time with their babies or toddlers."

This approach allows Janine to connect with women experiencing ongoing struggles beyond the newborn phase, such as relationship strains and career challenges, without limiting herself to clinical terminology.

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Enhancing Website Copy

The discussion moves to website optimization, where Janine shares her concern that visitors from Psychology Today are not engaging further with her site. Allison recommends creating dedicated specialty pages to delve into specific issues like postpartum anxiety and tailored content that resonates with daily struggles. At [07:43], she emphasizes the importance of addressing the "intense difficulty" mothers face, such as:

"Checking on your baby 37 times in the night to make sure they're sleeping."

By incorporating relatable scenarios, Janine can better capture the attention of her ideal clients and encourage them to seek further assistance.

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Social Media Strategies: Embracing Instagram

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to leveraging Instagram as a marketing tool. Janine admits to her hesitance and inexperience with social media, noting at [11:32]:

"I have a page with just one picture there for a year and a half. I haven't done anything with it."

Allison provides a comprehensive roadmap to building an effective Instagram presence:

1. Content Creation through Reels: She encourages the use of video content to engage audiences, stressing the importance of consistency and authenticity.

   "Getting comfortable on video ... have three different content buckets." ([12:27])

2. Educational and Entertaining Content: Combining education with entertainment ("edutainment") can help retain followers and attract clients.

   "Whether it's educational, whether it's funny, and if you can do a blend of education and entertainment, it really helps hook people." ([12:40])

3. Strategic Planning: Allison advises developing a content calendar to maintain consistency and prevent impulsive posts that lack strategic intent.

   "You just need to have an actual strategy ... planning it out ahead of time." ([15:01])

4. Handling Negative Feedback: Preparation for potential negative comments is crucial. Maintaining professionalism and resilience can keep the focus on providing value.

   "You will put something out there that people don't like ... look at you getting visibility." ([13:24])

Janine acknowledges the challenges but finds the strategies empowering, expressing readiness to implement them despite initial awkwardness.

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Networking and Collaboration

Beyond digital marketing, the episode explores traditional networking avenues. Janine discusses difficulties in networking due to childcare constraints, prompting Allison to suggest alternative strategies:

• Collaborating with Related Professionals: Partnering with ob-gyns, lactation consultants, doulas, and midwives can lead to valuable referrals.

  "Midwives and my lactation consultant were how I found a perinatal mood disorder therapist …" ([17:15])

• Engaging with Local Mom Groups and Daycares: Offering workshops or talks at these venues can position Janine as a subject matter expert and attract potential clients.

  "They tend to be smaller groups … sometimes they're looking for speakers." ([17:46])

• Utilizing Online Networking: Given the size of Houston, leveraging online platforms to connect with local professionals can expand her network without the logistical challenges of in-person events.

Janine appreciates these suggestions and plans to utilize the upcoming period to refine her networking approach, especially once childcare becomes more manageable in January.

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Website Optimization and Client Conversion

Janine expresses concern about her website's conversion rates, noting that traffic from Psychology Today isn't translating into client inquiries. Allison recommends:

• Evaluating Website Usability: Ensuring that the website is user-friendly and that calls-to-action (CTAs) are clear and compelling.

• Engaging Content: Incorporating testimonials, success stories, and detailed service descriptions can enhance credibility and encourage engagement.

• SEO and Analytics: Utilizing search engine optimization and analyzing website metrics to identify and address potential bottlenecks in the client journey.

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Actionable Takeaways

1. Refine Your Niche: Focus on the challenges your clients face rather than limiting yourself to specific diagnoses to appeal to a broader audience.

2. Optimize Website Content: Create dedicated pages for different specialties and incorporate relatable scenarios to engage visitors.

3. Leverage Instagram Effectively: Use reels, blend education with entertainment, maintain a content calendar, and prepare for audience interactions.

4. Expand Networking Efforts: Collaborate with related professionals, engage with local groups, and utilize online platforms to build your referral network.

5. Enhance Client Conversion: Improve website usability, incorporate engaging content, and utilize SEO and analytics to boost client inquiries.

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Conclusion

Episode #616 of the Abundant Practice Podcast offers a wealth of strategies for therapists aiming to market their perinatal practices effectively. Through personalized advice and practical tips, Allison Puryear equips listeners with the tools needed to define their niche, enhance their online presence, and build meaningful professional relationships. Whether you're refining your website or stepping into the world of social media, this episode provides actionable insights to help you create a sustainable and fulfilling private practice.

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Notable Quotes:

• Allison Puryear [05:08]: "I work with new moms who are not having an easy time with their babies or toddlers."

• Allison Puryear [12:40]: "If you can do a blend of education and entertainment, it really helps hook people."

• Allison Puryear [13:24]: "When that first one happens, that you made it, you did it. Look at you getting visibility."

• Allison Puryear [15:26]: "This is not therapy. Right? So go ahead and make sure that your information is all really clear in your bio."

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Additional Resources

• Abundance Party Membership Program: For step-by-step guidance on building a private practice, visit www.abundanceparty.com.

• Free Resources: Access private practice checklists and worksheets at www.abundancepracticebuilding.com.

• Support: For personalized assistance, email the team at [e-mail].

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This summary is crafted to provide an in-depth overview of Episode #616 for those who haven't listened, highlighting key discussions and actionable strategies to enhance marketing efforts for perinatal practices.

Transcript

[Janine]

Foreign.

[Alison]

Hi, welcome to the Abundant Practice Podcast. I'm Alison 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 and paid support. Go to abundance practice building.com Links all right, onto the show 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 things I.

[Janine]

Want you to know about Therapy notes that doesn't typically make it into an ad script.

[Alison]

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[Janine]

In their product and they want you.

[Alison]

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[Janine]

Happy to making investors happy.

[Alison]

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[Janine]

Experience to stay there.

[Alison]

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[Janine]

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[Alison]

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[Unknown]

Hello.

[Janine]

Hey, Janine. How you doing?

[Unknown]

Good. How are you?

[Janine]

I'm good. I'm good. What would be most helpful today?

[Unknown]

Well, I guess I'm kind of thinking through my niche a little bit more. I think I have an idea, but I just want to maybe I just kind of need to talk it out and flesh it out. And then also thinking about, I would like to get in the social media world how to kind of go about that, like, how to bring that there. So, yeah, I think that that's awesome.

[Janine]

Yeah. Well, lay your niche on me so far.

[Unknown]

All right. So as of right now, so I actually come from more of a generalistic training and background. And so it took me kind of a while to find my niche just because I can kind of work well with a lot of different folks and what I've landed on or what feels more exciting for me and more in tuned with kind of my specialty. My expertise is working with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

[Janine]

Amazing.

[Unknown]

So my website copy, I feel like, speaks to kind of that, you know, overwhelm kind of pregnancy and postpartum. But I feel like I'm also wanting to attract the women that maybe don't consider themselves like postpartum but still have kind of similar struggles. So maybe the moms who are a couple years out but still have, like, those itty bitties are still struggling with prioritizing themselves. And so I feel like my website copy kind of speaks more to, like, the baby or having the baby. But I feel like the women who are a couple years out, like, they've gone through the newborn phase. They've got, you know, maybe they're into a toddler phase or preschool phase, but now maybe they're seeing more of the effects in, like, their relationships, like in the marriage, in their career.

[Janine]

Right.

[Unknown]

Like, it's just. They're just. It's kind of different complexities. And so I feel like I'm just wondering, like, how to kind of combine it or to articulate it in a way. Sometimes when I talk to people about it, I kind of ramble on. I just need, like, a Concise way of, like, my elevator pitch, you know?

[Janine]

Yeah. So I think you could kind of phrase it like, I help women who are going through what feels impossible sometimes with newborns, all the way up to toddlers. Better than that. But you know what I mean? Like, I think speaking more to how hard it is, rather than a particular symptom of perinatal mood disorder or something like that. But, like, I work with new moms who are not having an easy time of it with their babies or toddlers. And then in your website, you can get into the specifics of what that struggle looks like for them day to day. And I'm wondering, too, if some of the toddler moms would have been ideal clients when their kids were babies. Is that okay?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Janine]

So it's like, maybe some untreated, you know, postpartum anxiety or something like that that really has festered in some ways.

[Unknown]

I mean, they kind of just powered through. Right. Hoping that it would maybe get better in. It kind of doesn't.

[Janine]

Right.

[Unknown]

Because kids need you in different ways, even when they're, like, older.

[Janine]

Yeah. And you can speak to the specifics. So, like, for. For postpartum anxiety, for instance, we don't necessarily need to call it postpartum anxiety. On the homepage, I would have a perinatal mood disorder specialty page where you can go into those. But you can talk about, you know, checking on your baby 37 times in the night to make sure they're sleeping like the. And then you. And you could say, like. Or for toddlers who are just so mobile and so active and so ready to bump their heads, you follow them around more than your friends follow their toddlers around, just noticing kind of the panic and the behaviors that follow or alleviate the panic. So I would speak to that. The intense difficulty of leaving your kids with other people. I would just talk through those. Those really specific things to your ideal clients. Like, the first time, if you don't have any sort of perinatal mood disorder, the first, second, third time, you leave your kid with somebody that you. You're like, I hope it goes okay, you know, but it abates over time in a way that it doesn't always for people who are struggling.

[Unknown]

I also want to be able to speak to maybe more of the, like, working moms, too. And, I mean, the fact that having a balance is just not. Not really possible. Like, something's always gonna, Like, Right?

[Janine]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

The guilt that comes with feeling like you're having to choose.

[Janine]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

You know, so then you kind of lose part of Yourself. I guess maybe the way I'm thinking about it, website wise. Right. So can kind of speak to all these, these are good ideas, kind of pinpoint, maybe not necessarily make it too specific to baby, but just kind of generalize it a little bit more. But also that like specialty page maybe I guess is that where I would kind of go more into what it would be called but just like motherhood and because I would definitely have one for the, you know, depression and anxiety. Right. What that would look like. I guess maybe that's where I'm stuck. Like how I think that a little bit more.

[Janine]

Yeah. I mean your homepage can, can say like, I work moms of babies and toddlers trying to manage the impossible task of staying on top of things at work, trying to be a good partner, keeping a house that's not a disaster zone and being the kind of mom they want to be. That's going to speak to a broader audience than those who have a potential perinatal mood disorder diagnoses. And I don't know if that's what you want, like if you want it to be less acute. Maybe you can be really specific about the working mom piece because there is, there are different layers, you know, not more, just different. With working moms versus stay at home moms, it's. There are some different struggles and some similar struggles and particularly for those age groups also like being a working mom to my 8 and 11 year olds is a very different, much easier experience than it was when they were 1 and 4.

[Unknown]

Yeah. So I feel like I want it all.

[Janine]

Yeah. And you'll still get people on the outside, you know, you'll still get people outside your very specific niche. The people who are resonating with a lot of what you're saying. So it's not that you're excluding them. You're really calling in your very, very favorites and you'll get the others too.

[Unknown]

Okay. Okay, this is good. I'll think, think about how to kind of flesh that out a little, a little bit more in thinking about like my marketing. Right. So right now it's my website. I have directory psychology Today. I haven't started but I'm going to start blogging. I already have some ideas and obviously I've been trying to kind of network, although that one's proven a little bit difficult because I have talk about working mom struggles. Right. Like have very, very like limited and sometimes even like no kind of child care. So you know, sometimes toddler does come along with me but can't always come along with me every single networking. Right, right. Networking event. So that's been a little bit challenging, I would say. And the other one that I wanted, I would like to do and not put off by it, but I'm just not really sure kind of where to start would be social media.

[Janine]

Got it. So which social media you mentioned? Instagram. Right.

[Unknown]

I think Instagram. I think Instagram feels. Instagram and LinkedIn, but I think Instagram feels more like me. Like, I tend to do better. You know, I'm more of an introvert at heart. Although if I need to speak to a crowd, you know, I can. And that feels like kind of safe, like where I'm speaking to a crowd, but I don't necessarily see them.

[Janine]

Yeah, yeah, perfect.

[Unknown]

That feels a little bit safer for me. And I like that. Like, that's how I connect with a lot of my friends and family that I probably wouldn't necessarily connect with. And so I like the idea of that, but I'm just not really sure how to start. Like, I've had a page with just one picture there for a year and a half. I haven't done anything with it. Not sure if it's my own anxiety about it or if it's just. I really kind of just don't know where to start.

[Janine]

Yeah. So what I'd recommend is reels, first and foremost. So getting comfortable on video, you know, you have to have your niche really well honed.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Janine]

And I would have three different content buckets, like, three different things you talk about over and over and over and over. And you would think, aren't people going to get sick of this? But they don't. They really don't. Because people are seeing themselves and they're gaining something new from most of what you put out, whether it's educational, whether it's funny, and if you can do a blend of education and entertainment, like edutainment, then it really helps hook people. It makes people want to follow you. What I see some people doing is focusing more on building up a large following, which isn't necessary to have success in private practice through Instagram. So, like, even if you end up with like a thousand followers, you can still have lots of clients. You don't need 100,000 followers for that.

[Unknown]

Yeah, yeah.

[Janine]

So don't put a lot of pressure on yourself with it. I think the hardest thing about social media to prepare yourself for is at some point you will put something out there that people don't like and they will be really shitty about it. And so to just be able to hold on to yourself, to know, like, when that first one happens, that you made it, you did it. Look at you getting visibility. And you know, when and if that happens, you just come to me and I will pep talk you. It's fine. But there's a lot of. There's a lot of consistency necessary. And as your audience grows, there's going to be a lot more time and energy that you're going to need to invest in Instagram in order to maintain and continue to build. You do not need to have, like, long DM conversations with people. Don't do that. This is not therapy. This is Instagram. Right? So go ahead and make sure that your information is all really clear in your bio of, like, this is not therapy. In the party, Kelly walks us through what helped her grow her Instagram really solidly. And she gets lots of clients and she helps people with that. So she's a really good resource. And that's in both the social media part portion of the party and in the trainings. We put it in both because it's really good. You'll need to do video. That's something everybody needs to get used to. If you want to have Instagram, you can't just post cute quotes and things like that.

[Unknown]

Like, it's not gonna work. I've actually been, like, practicing that. Good. So obviously deleting the right way, but just, like, I have to get used to, like, because it's awkward, right?

[Janine]

Like, yeah, it really is. Okay.

[Unknown]

So that's. I've been kind of practicing that. But, I mean, I feel like I'm ready for it. And I think that could be a really good strategy for me, just knowing my personality and stuff. I feel like that could be.

[Janine]

Yeah. And, like, really? You just bet everything that you would post? Like, would my ideal client giggle at this or learn from this or feel validated through this? Because we really want to normalize for people that it's like, they're not the only ones. They're not broken. Like, babies and toddlers are brutal. It's just, like, there's so much that you can convey to them that will help them feel seen and known, even if they never come to see you. And do not hesitate in every single caption to say, like, if you're in my state and you're looking for therapy, hit the link in my bio or set up a. An automatic replier and say, like, DM me the word therapy, and you'll get a link. Like, be really clear. You'll get a link. I'm not chatting with you through that. So it's planning it out ahead of time, knowing what you're going to do, not just like on a whim. I think that's how a lot of therapists end up using social media is like, oh, this is funny, I'll repost it. Or I made this. I have something to say. But they don't work an actual strategy. They don't put forethought into it. And that's what's necessary.

[Unknown]

Like a calendar of on these days. This is what I'll post.

[Janine]

Yeah, exactly.

[Unknown]

I think we saw some time. I guess my other thing in thinking about, like, marketing and like I said, networking has been challenging. Although in January should be better. More childcare, reliable child care. But in thinking about, like, who to reach out to.

[Janine]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

So right now on my list is, you know, obviously other, like, colleagues or people in practice. Psychiatrist. I am reaching out, having a little difficulty, but reaching out to ob GYN lactation consultant Lindsay. I recommended pelvic floor therapist. And I had the idea the other day about, like, mom groups.

[Janine]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

I wasn't sure if there's anything else maybe that I may be missing or that maybe thinking outside the box that could be a really good person or, you know, kind of group tip to network with.

[Janine]

Yeah. I mean, it's inside the box. But like postpartum doulas, because they're seeing a lot.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Janine]

Night nurses.

[Unknown]

Night nurses. Okay. I mean, think about them.

[Janine]

I love the lactation consultant and midwives. Midwives and my lactation consultant were how I found a perinatal mood disorder therapist when I needed one. We did craniosacral therapy with my daughter when she was an infant because she had latch issues. This was in Seattle. We go a little woo. And I'd been given the card from my midwife. The lactation consultant had recommended this cranial sacral therapist. And the cranial sacral therapist was like, you need help, girl? She was very much like, I'm much less concerned about your baby than I am about you. And it was her saying that that actually got me to call to make the call. So anybody who, like, specializes in infants and toddlers, so you could also do talks for parents at daycares. I know that that's. I don't know if that feels good to you or if that's too much of an audience, but if it's like you're teaching something, they tend to be smaller groups.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Yeah. I can do toxic parents. Not like a grand round.

[Janine]

Right, Right. There we go. Yeah. So Offering toxic at daycares. And I might play off some things that are really popular right now, like gentle parenting is something everybody has heard of, probably in like, the millennial and younger generations and some of my Gen Xers. But I wonder about if you did a talk called something like gentle parenting with a backbone, because gentle parenting inherently has a backbone, but people don't expect that from the name. If gentle parenting is your thing, I don't know. But that could be like a gateway. In the moms groups you mentioned, that's a really great idea we had in Seattle. We had very organized moms groups where by zip code and the month that you gave birth to your body, you were your body, your baby, you were put into a group together. And so we had both our birthing group that we went through all our prenatal stuff, and then we had this other group of people who had babies born the same month in our same zip code. And both of those would have been great places to learn more. And sometimes they're looking for speakers, so.

[Unknown]

Yeah, well, I'm here in the Houston area, so there's definitely a lot of, like, monsters here. It's much more specialized to kind of. Because it's so big, like, to like, where you're. Where you're at. Yeah. But, yeah, okay. I mean, it sounds like there. I mean, there's a lot of people I can.

[Janine]

Sorry. Yeah. With your niche, I feel like your niche has the most people to reach out to, honestly, which is beautiful. It's because there's a team of. A huge team of people here to help and support this process. Right. And that's wonderful. And it can be overwhelming. So I would also take your time with it, especially without childcare yourself right now. All this can wait until January and maybe spend the next month or so just reaching back out to people that you'd already met with and just be like, hey, I'm just thinking about you. I hope that you're going to get some rest this holiday season or whatever. Just like letting them know that they're on your mind situation.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's a good suggestion to kind of still reach out. Yeah. I planned on using this time much worth, like, blogging and trying to get some of that set up so that I can kind of full speed, you know, go full speed ahead in January.

[Janine]

Absolutely.

[Unknown]

Meeting up with people, which is what I like when I network. Like, I like. I like that. And so. Okay, well, this is good. This is helpful. This is really helpful.

[Janine]

Good, good. And let us know in group or in the Facebook group. Any support you need.

[Unknown]

All right. Thank you. Once I kind of think a little bit more probably my. I think I have my about page pretty good. And my specialty page, for the most part is pretty good. I am noticing that, like, people go to, like, my website from Psych today, and then they're not clicking. So I don't know if it's my website or if it's. I don't know, something. Yeah, something's. So I'm not sure. I'm. I'm imagining it's probably my website. So I may have to reach out to the group to get some people.

[Janine]

Yeah, absolutely. Throw it up there. That'd be really good.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Great.

[Janine]

Awesome.

[Unknown]

Thank you.

[Janine]

Yeah, absolutely. Take good care.

[Unknown]

Okay, Bye. Bye.

[Alison]

If you're ready for a much easier practice, Therapy Notes is the way to go. Go to therapynotes.com and use the promo code ABUNDANT for two months free. Make sure your email is actually HIPAA compliant with Powbox. Use code ABUNDANT to get Palbox for less than a hundred dollars your first year at paubox.com let's stay compliant. If you're listening, you probably need some support building your practice. If you're a super newbie, grab our free checklist using the link in the show Notes. I'd love for you to follow rate and review, but I really want you to share this episode with a therapist friend. Let's help all our colleagues build what they want.