Episode 110: Five Steps to a FULL Private Pay Online Therapy Practice

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Private Practice Startup Podcast – Episode 110:
Title: Five Steps to a FULL Private Pay Online Therapy Practice
Hosts: Dr. Kate Campbell & Katie Lemieux
Guest: Dr. Amber Lyda, Licensed Psychologist & Online Practice Coach
Date: November 3, 2018

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into building a thriving, private-pay, online therapy practice. Hosts Kate and Katie welcome Dr. Amber Lyda, who shares her "Five Steps to a FULL Private Pay Online Therapy Practice." With a focus on designing private practice around the life you truly want, Amber offers actionable insight on building, marketing, and sustaining an online mental health business—centered on authenticity, relationship, and service. The conversation is rich with practical tips, encouragement, and real-world examples directly from Amber's experience.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Start With Your WHY (Bonus Step)

• Amber’s Journey:
  Amber describes her transition from a "cushy" college counseling job to forging a practice built around her preferred lifestyle, prioritizing time and flexibility over traditional markers of success.
• Why Focus Is Crucial:
  “The clearer folks can get why they’re doing it, the easier it is to set up a marketing plan and a business plan that will support that.” (Amber, 07:16)
• Defining Moments:
  The leap comes when the comfort zone is outgrown, often after repeated compromise of personal fulfillment.

2. Step One: Do the Damn Video

• Video Is Non-Negotiable:
  Amber insists that therapists must move past video hesitancy: “If you’re not making video, you are really, really underselling yourself.” (15:06)
• Practical Approach:
  Amber started by making videos specifically for clients (e.g., teaching diaphragmatic breathing), which she later shared publicly.
• Tips for Getting Comfortable:
  • Pretend you’re speaking to a current client.
  • Start simple—record yourself teaching something you do repeatedly in sessions.
  • Remember: “Done is better than perfect.” (Katie, 18:05)
• Content Tips:
  • Grab watchers immediately: “Nobody wants to know who you are in the first 30 seconds. First three seconds, tell them what you’re going to help them with.” (Amber, 17:09)
  • Amy Porterfield’s content creation strategies (Recommended: Online Marketing Made Easy podcast).

3. Step Two: Get On the Right Social Media

• Go Where Your Clients Are:
  Usually, that’s Facebook, which has the best SEO for therapists.
• Repurpose Content:
  Share YouTube videos on Facebook for 2-for-1 marketing.
• Be Helpful First:
  Build trust in the novelty of online therapy by providing genuinely valuable resources before seeking anything in return.
• Addressing Video Discomfort:
  “If you can get yourself to make video with your face in it, that is best. But if you really can’t…do a podcast with your picture as a video slide.” (Amber, 15:16)

4. Step Three: Spread Wide, Then Go Deep

• Experiment Across Platforms:
  Try Facebook, Instagram, etc. at first, to “get your online footprint widely spaced.” (Amber, 21:09)
• Find Your Fit:
  Narrow to one you prefer and master it; for Amber, this is Facebook. Use tools like MeetEdgar for automation elsewhere.
• Organic Growth Is Possible:
  “It’s all organic, baby.” (Amber, 21:28)
• Pro Tip:
  Universities are eager to share helpful mental health content—offer your videos to their counseling centers for massive exposure. “That would be so easy to contact universities and be like, ‘hey, if you need some content for your page, here’s my YouTube channel. Feel free to use it.’” (Amber, 22:42)

5. Step Four: Don’t Forget In-Person Connections

• Your Network Matters:
  Despite being an online practice, “most of your referrals are going to come from person-to-person contact.” (Amber, 23:15)
• Start With Your Current Contacts:
  “If you’re going to have the wedding of the century and invite everybody you know and everybody that they know…write that list of people down." (Amber, 23:21)
• Outreach Script:
  Contact those in your network, prioritize complementary professionals, and reach out with a genuine, specific request to connect—all focused on learning about them, not pitching yourself.

6. Step Five: Relationship Nurturing

• Stay Genuinely Connected:
  Every interaction should invite a next point of contact, e.g., schedule a follow-up, or simply check in periodically.
• Be Authentic:
  Celebrate colleagues, send thanks, or just say hello—without expectation—keeps your network warm and fosters return referrals.
• Examples:
  Simple gestures like a birthday text or congratulatory email can be both heartfelt and effective for staying top of mind.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lifestyle Design:
  “How can I build my practice…around the lifestyle I wanted to live?”
  — Amber Lyda (06:04)
• On Accountable Support:
  “Having somebody outside of me who knew what my real goals were and who could kind of call me out…That’s not what you said you wanted to do. You said you wanted to bring in time.”
  — Amber Lyda (10:42)
• On Being Helpful as Strategy:
  “What did turn into clients was every time I tried to help somebody else.”
  — Amber Lyda (12:30)
• Video Confidence Hack:
  “I pretend that only my client is gonna see it…so it just helps me not think about it.”
  — Amber Lyda (15:37)
• Simplicity of Content Creation:
  “It’s probably five minutes of something that you just did in session for the 20th time today.”
  — Katie Lemieux (19:34)
• Therapist Marketing Superpower:
  “We really have collectively so many skills that put us in a prime spot to really help us…not only do well in the therapy room…but do well in really creating a business.”
  — Katie Lemieux (28:48)
• Easiest Path Forward:
  “This is easier than you think. You don’t have to spend a ton of money…Just start the damn thing.”
  — Amber Lyda (30:04, 31:17)

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Important Timestamps

• Defining your WHY – 07:09
• Amber’s story of leaving agency work – 08:23
• Accountability and Getting Off-Track – 10:29
• What truly works for building an online practice – 12:27
• The power of helpful content & video – 14:01
• Amber’s video tips (mindset, content) – 15:16
• Amy Porterfield’s content strategy – 16:19
• Step 1: “Do the damn video” – 18:00
• Step 2: Social media, Facebook focus – 18:17
• Repurposing in-session material for content – 19:07
• Step 3: Spread wide, go deep on one platform – 21:20
• Universities as video sharers/ninja tip – 22:19
• Step 4: Person-to-person networking – 23:13
• How to reach out: sample script – 24:12
• Nurturing professional relationships – 26:18
• Genuine follow-up examples – 27:03
• Emotional connection & trust in marketing – 28:35
• Takeaway: Start now, shortcut the obstacles – 31:18

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Final Takeaways

• Build your practice intentionally around YOUR desired lifestyle, not what you think you “should” do.
• Video and helpful content are non-negotiable for connecting with clients and standing out.
• Start broad in your online presence, then focus on one platform you enjoy.
• In-person professional relationships still matter immensely—even for online practitioners.
• Stay genuine in all connections. Being helpful, present, and real is your best marketing asset.
• “Just start the damn thing”—perfection isn't required to be successful.

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Recommended Resource:
Amber's free guide to launching an online practice with shortcuts to common questions (details in show notes).

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To Connect with Amber Lyda:
Visit her YouTube channel (link provided in episode show notes).

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Up Next:
Dr. Joy Bradford of Therapy for Black Girls
Stay tuned for niche-building inspiration next episode!

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For tools, free trainings, and more, visit theprivatepracticestartup.com

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Private Practice Startup where we inspire you from startup to mastery. We chat with entrepreneurs, experts in the mental health and business arenas, and successful private practitioners to give you the tools needed to make your dream practice a reality. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, free trainings, and so much more. Here are your hosts, Dr. Kate Campbell and Katie Lemieux.

[B]

Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Private Practice Startup podcast. I am one your host, Katie Lemieux, hanging out here with my co host and business partner.

[A]

What's up everybody? It's Dr. Kate Campbell.

[B]

So usually we're together podcasting, but we are actually in three separate locations today, so it's a little bit of a difference. Usually I nudge Kate and give her the cue, but I'll just have to stare at her on videos. For those of you watching video.

[C]

So start.

[B]

Anisha, we wanted to welcome you back for another episode. Last week we had Dr. Elizabeth Bonet talking about Hypnotize Me and how she created and really scaled her hypnosis practice. So you definitely going to want to check that out. If you're really interested in understanding niche and niche building and niche based marketing, you'll definitely want to check that out. So check that out. If you haven't checked that out already. For those of you who are brand new to Startup Nation, we are saying welcome to the family. It's great to have you guys come on over for Thanksgiving dinner. Well, just kidding because I am not going to be at my house for Thanksgiving but like that's how close we are to you guys and making you our family. And if you haven't joined us yet, where we hang out, head over to Facebook, where else? And look for the Private Practice Startup group. And and if you are brand new to our family, we have a special gift to you and that is our A to Z cheat sheet. The essentials for building and growing your dream practice. Not only do you get the A to Z cheat sheet, but you get.

[C]

Five, not one, not two, but five.

[B]

Days of practice building emails to really help you accelerate your podcast. Recently we've had some really awesome people just reach out to us and share with us what they've gotten from our podcast and share us or Cheris, I'm probably messing up your name but just share it. How much she loves listening to our podcast, even if it's just for a laugh. And Amber Lyda, our special guest today actually said she's been binge listening to our podcast, so that's really awesome. So we hope you guys have a lot of get a lot of great value from this and our desire is really to help you build and grow your dream practice. And also if you are part of our Startup Nation family or if you're binge listening, you probably now heard my voice five times in a row today. So welcome back and welcome to this podcast. Before we do get started with Amber Lyta, who is a licensed psychologist and therapist advocate promoting creative ways to provide service without self sacrifice. Amen to that. Can I get a hallelujah right feel today guys? And she loves teaching therapists to build profitable online therapy practices and turn their passions into passive generating income projects. How amazing does that sound? Sounds pretty good. Awesome.

[A]

So don't be familiar.

[B]

Hey Amber. So before we jump into this awesome podcast topic, Kate is going to do a quick bake for our sponsor.

[A]

If you're in private practice, you wear a lot of hats and some of those hats are totally great, but some like filing taxes and running payroll for example, not so great. Yeah, total snooze fest for me. And that's where Gusto comes in. Gusto makes payroll taxes and HR actually easy for small businesses like we run fast, simple payroll processing, benefits and expert HR support all in one place. Gusto automatically pays and files your federal, state and local taxes so you don't have to worry about it. Plus they make it easy to add on health benefits and even 401ks for you and your team. So let's let them wear one of your many hats so you have many better things to focus on. Listeners who take advantage of this opportunity will actually be able to get their first three months for free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and see for [e-mail] pps we will actually put the link in our show notes so make sure to check that out. There are so many ways to keep your practice organized, but TherapyNotes is by far the best. They're easy to use, secure platform, lets you not only do billing, scheduling and progress notes, but also create a client portal to share documents and request signatures. Plus they offer amazing unlimited phone support. So when you have a question, they're there so you can get help fast. Get started with TherapyNotes today, trusted by over 60,000 professionals. Go to therapynotes.com and enter promo code PPS as in Private Practice Startup and you'll get two months for free. Also you can listen to episode 54 where we interviewed Brad Pliner and took an in depth view into their ehr.

[B]

Awesome. So Amber officially welcome.

[C]

Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here and.

[B]

We'Re glad to have you and Amber's actually. So for those of you who do live in Florida or maybe ever visited Florida. So Florida is an extremely transient state, especially in south Florida or the really, you know, areas like Orlando and stuff like that. So to find a Florida native is almost like finding the Gold Buddha.

[A]

A gold Buddha.

[C]

A gold Buddha.

[B]

A gold Buddha, right, Yeah.

[A]

A Buddha with a tan. Right. Because we live in California, we all.

[C]

Have nice things going on. Right.

[B]

With a tan Buddha. So she's actually a Florida native and she lives in Jupiter now, which is about an hour, maybe 10 minutes from us. She lives in North Carolina for a little bit, but is back here in the state of Florida.

[C]

Yeah. And glad to be. This weather is just so much better. I can pop out of a therapy session. I've got like a 45 minute window, hop in the pool, relax for a while, and then run back in and do some more therapy.

[B]

You like, totally know how to like live that dream lifestyle. I mean, in the short time that we've been talking to you before we hit record, like, you're talking about how you live six months out of the year or a certain amount of year on the west coast and fish and then you come and you, you made your practice really work around your dream lifesty, which is something we preach all the time. So it's really awesome.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, that's definitely what led me here in the first place, was just feeling like as much as I loved my work, it was all that I was doing and I was really missing out on living any other part of my life. So when I decided to leave that job, my sole focus was how can I build my practice, whatever that was going to be, around the lifestyle that I wanted to live. So.

[B]

Well, it's interesting you say sole focus as you're like one focus. And I heard Sol like S O U L like what is my soul? You know what I mean? And it's just, it's so important. I was just reading a real estate book this morning. We talked about real estate before we hit record and the author was talking about, like, we usually go for the things that we need, not the things that we want, but the things that we want really fills our soul. So we're super excited for you to share with Startup Nation your five sets of full private pay online therapy practice. So this is going to be an exciting topic. You guys know we love to talk about marketing and growing your business, but Amber obviously has it going on. So she's going to share with you guys a lot of these tips. So where do you want to start?

[C]

I think let's start with the why. Since we're already talking about sole, I think that that's probably the best place for people to start. So whether it's your online business, a private practice business, or any other kind of online business, the clearer folks can get why they're doing it, I think the easier it is to set up a marketing plan and a business plan that will support that. So for me, I knew that what I really needed more than anything else was time. I didn't know if any of the experiments I was going to try out were going to work, but I knew that all of them were going to have the end goal of having more time and more flexibility. So I knew it had to be online because I knew I wanted to be able to travel and take my job with me. And I knew that it had to give me a lot more time. And those two things helped me create the structure for what I was going to do next. So for anybody who's listening, sit down and just start talking about your why so that you start from the place where you want to be led from.

[B]

Nice. Was there, like, a moment for you, like, you realize, like, was there this, like, I don't know, defining moment, or were you, like, frustrated, irritated, like, what happened for you, for you to be able to sit down and really look at your why?

[C]

You know, I've always really loved the work that I was doing, and I worked in the cushiest agency type of setting you could. I worked in college counseling centers. So it's about the best of the best kind of agency work that you can do. Right. And it was so comfortable for so long that even though I knew I really wasn't having much of a balance in my life, it was easy and comfortable and cushy. So it wasn't until I kept moving up and up in administration and farther away from the things that I really loved doing and more into bureaucracy and kind of annoying things. And so as work got less fulfilling in that way, it created enough discomfort that I thought, okay, like, now's the time. If I don't do this now, I'm just going to keep moving up and farther from the things I enjoy, and I'm not going to have balance. So let me just take a leap. I was not attached at all to what that leap might look like practically. I mean, I looked at teaching online, I looked at doing an online practice. I Looked at tons of different things, and I just thought, like, I'm just going to experiment and see what works and then follow that.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

I love that you're talking about this because so many clinicians take the leap and get into private practice because they want more time and freedom and flexibility and to be able to be their own boss and create their own schedule and go fishing on Fridays if they want to, or whatever they want to do with that. And so often we hear how clinicians get, like, just they start to drown in the work in private practice because they're doing everything and the business becomes so consuming. So when you're clear on what your why is and what that vision is for how you want your lifestyle to look first, and then you can build your business around that, that's something that Katie and I are like, super passionate about, being able to support clinicians to really think that through, because so often they don't. And they find themselves all of a sudden, you know, the business is running their life other way around. So what have you found most helpful in being able to kind of have your dream lifestyle and then building your business around that?

[C]

A business coach. Business coach. To hold me accountable. Because I was very clear about what I wanted. But what I noticed was that even when I left my agency job, I just brought my little personality right with me into my new setting. And I tend to like to work and I'm a go getter and I get excited about shiny objects and ideas. And so I was doing that and I was feeling excited. And then when I would meet with her, Evie would be like, and so how many clients are you seeing? Because I think you told me you wanted to see 12 and you're at 20. So what you doing? I was like, right, right. That's what I said. Okay, all right, let me get back on track. So having somebody outside of me who knew what my real goals were and who could kind of call me out when I was doing things that society or somebody else would be like, yeah, you're doing it. You're doing a good job. And she'd be like, no, girl, you're not doing a good job. I see you bringing in money, but that's not what you said you wanted to do. You said you wanted to bring in time. So that hugely helpful.

[B]

What a great business coach. I love it.

[C]

She's fantastic. Shout out, EVD consulting.

[B]

I love that you're saying you're just like a woman after our own heart. You're talking about purpose. The why dream lifestyle coaching and Accountability. And those are just really essential things because, you know, we hear your story and Kate and I, and I'm sure many people listening can totally relate. Like we became slave to the business, the business ran us, you know, and that whole successful mindset, especially like the American mindset, it's kind of like the more you do the busy you are, the more quote unquote successful you appear. But that's not true.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And as we really look at what we want and you wanting time, well, how can I have 12 clients and also have my dream practice and, and do that online in a way that works for me? So I'm curious of what you found works for building an online therapy practice. What hasn't worked and kind of share with Startup Nation.

[C]

Yeah, so I guess like the. Let me just give you the quick and short version up front and then we can get into details. But the thing that helped me the most was to be helpful to other people. So you're going to have a lot of time before you've actually built your practice. You should be using that time to be helpful to other people. I played with my website for hours and hours and hours. I curated Pinterest inspirational quotes for hours and hours and hours. None of that was particularly helpful, especially because I ended up paying somebody else to do my website because that was just not my strength. So what did turn into clients was every time I tried to help somebody else. So I had a friend who had a doctor who was struggling with how to help clients with anxiety and I was like, ooh, I could make some quick YouTube videos for him to give to his clients. So I just made some quickie little self help videos, put them on a usb, sent them. I didn't do a whole lot of strategic marketing. Like I didn't even put my logo or anything on the usb, which would have been wise. But I just sent it and I think people could feel, oh, she's not doing this to manipulate, she's not doing this to try to like get something from me. She's just genuinely being helpful and it demonstrated my competence. So I was being helpful, demonstrating my competence and then that just naturally turned into getting client referrals. So every step that I'm going to give to you guys is going to be about starting with the premise of being helpful to someone else. And I love that.

[B]

And Kate and I do talk about video and actually conversion from video, utilizing video as a marketing tool. It's about 60% or greater.

[C]

And the cool thing is, is when.

[B]

You use video and I Love how you did that. Because how many doctors are getting this USB of someone, a therapist, on video? And it's a great way to make a connection, but yet it makes you really memorable. And when we talk about marketing, being memorable is so important. Recently we actually just scored two authors of two books that we've read or been reading that are going to be on our podcast. And what we did is we sent them videos. We just sent them videos and like saying hi and how much we appreciated their book and inviting them to be on the podcast. And they both said yes the first time. So video is huge. And so what would you share with people? Because I know a lot of people have some discomfort around video. What are some of your kind of top tips on really how to curb that discomfort?

[C]

So some of the things that helped me is I. And video is where it's at. If you're not making video, you are really, really underselling yourself. If you can get yourself to make video with your face in it, that is best. But if you really can't do that, then do a podcast and then put your picture up behind it and create that as a video. So you just have to get video content out there. It's just a deal breaker if you're not. Everybody is. Everybody wants to see video. I pretend that only my client is gonna see it. So I initially started making videos for my clients because I was sick of teaching diaphragmatic breathing and doing it over and over and again. And so I was like, all right, I'm going to do a diaphragmatic breathing and then I'm going to send you the video. So I put it on YouTube and then just sent the link. And then I thought, wait a minute, I could just. Anybody could watch this and it would be helpful. So I took it off of Private and left it up. And I just pretend in my head that the only person that's going to see that is my client, who I already have a relationship with, who I've already looked like a knucklehead with in session doing diaphragmatic breathing. So it just helps me not think about it. That's cool. I love that. Yeah. The other is this YouTube post it note creation strategy on Amy Porterfield's podcast. So she does a podcast called Online Marketing Made Easy.

[A]

Love her.

[C]

Me too.

[A]

I follow her. She's awesome.

[C]

It's so actionable. You walk away from every podcast like, oh, I can do that.

[A]

Totally. So inspiring. So actionable. Awesome.

[C]

So this particular podcast, it's a post it note Creation strategy. And she basically goes through exactly what needs to be in a blog post, a video, whatever, and it's like 40 minutes of awesome juiciness. And at the end you're like, I can create any content ever. It's so easy. What's the pain point? How do I want to make them feel? What are the steps to getting there? Bam. Done. So that would be the other piece and then the last, like, kind of ninja tip, as you guys say, is when you're talking in your video.

[B]

It'S.

[A]

Like, we're throwing up gang signs.

[B]

We're so badass.

[C]

When you're doing your video, nobody wants to know who you are in the first 30 seconds. First three seconds, tell them what you're going to help them with. So start with, hey, today I'm going to teach you the three tips to blah, blah, blah, so that they know what they're watching. And then you can introduce yourself and then get into the content.

[A]

Awesome. This is such. I mean, we could keep going down this rabbit hole of, like, video. And it's so important because video, like you said, it's where it's at. And those are really great tips. And I wonder if we can even put the link for that Amy Porterfield episode in the show notes. We'll have to look that up and see if we can share that with you guys. And you do have five steps to share with us today, so let's get moving. Yeah, let's get focused on that. Was the why your first step or.

[C]

The why was a bonus step? Not the first step.

[A]

So we're on step one.

[C]

Video. Do your damn video.

[A]

Do the damn video. Do the damn thing.

[C]

You're done.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Done is better than perfect.

[A]

Yes. And people connect with the imperfections. Just be yourself. That's it.

[C]

Easy as that's all iterations. You can always do another one six months from now. Make it better.

[A]

Totally.

[C]

So step two is get on the social media where your clients are, and usually that's going to be Facebook. Facebook has the highest SEO. So if you're trying to think about where to be, get your YouTube videos and then also upload them to Facebook. It's two for one. So get to the place where your clients are going to be. And again, be helpful. Share helpful content. That's how they get to know, like, and trust you. If you're doing online therapy, it's a novel thing. And so people are naturally going to be suspicious. So you have to make more effort for people to get to know like, and trust you. For them to take a risk with this modality.

[B]

One thing, Amber, I just want to. Sorry, Kate. I want to expand on when you say you like you have to make an effort. So one of the things that we really realize as we learn to focus and scale in our business is exactly what you said. Everything that you do in session.

[A]

Right.

[B]

If you're teaching something to your client, you probably do it over and over and over. And sometimes I get, I always say I get sick of my own examples. So I love to hear my colleagues talk about their work with couples because I was like, oh, I'm gonna use that example. But take that information and you can do it with your eyes closed and you put it on a video. So it's nothing new. It's not like you're trying to go out and figure out how to create this or solve the world's problems or your clients problems. It's probably five minutes of something that you just did in session for the 20th time today.

[C]

That's it.

[B]

Simple guys. It's so simple. But you know what, your new audience or the people that you haven't reached yet, they're going to find it so valuable and it's just something you do. Alright? Yep.

[C]

Don't let that imposter syndrome hold you back. You're already doing it in your sessions. So just pull what you're doing in your sessions and get it out there. Marissa Lawton talks a lot about, she's a marketing person. She talks a lot about using even your session notes to help inform what you're going to do in videos or on your social media. So you can just mine your therapy notes like, okay, oh yeah, I've done that 12 times. Yes, somebody probably needs that.

[B]

Yeah, it's all there. It's right in front of you. You just have to have a different lens and look at what is there and what is available.

[C]

Awesome.

[B]

So what's the next step?

[C]

So the next step is to get across as many places online as you can just to help your findability and then pick one place to go deep. So I know you can do Instagram and you can do Facebook and you can be all over the place. I really like the idea of experimenting for the first few months with all of them. Number one, because it gets you across lots of platforms in the beginning. You do not need to stick with them. Just getting across lots of them a helps you figure out what you really like. Some people love Instagram. I don't really understand Instagram. So get across many. So you just get your online Footprint widely spaced, and then you'll get a sense of which one you really like and then focus in on that one and go deep on that one. So most of my time is on Facebook. Actually, all my time is on Facebook. I don't do anything else. Anything that shows up on any other social media for me is kicked out there by my Meet Edgar account. That just does all of that for me.

[A]

Now, with your Facebook presence, are you boosting your post and putting an ad budget behind them or are you just going all organic?

[C]

It's all organic.

[A]

All organic, baby.

[B]

Do you drive people to like your Facebook business page like your clients? Like, hey, I uploaded that video or check that out or do you even have a Facebook group? What do you do to nurture that relationship?

[C]

You know, I think it really depends on what you're trying to do. So I talk with some people about how they can use a Facebook business page and a Facebook group kind of that's client facing to generate clients. That's not what I do. I really just for my therapy practice Facebook page, I just post helpful stuff. So I really don't drive my clients to it. I just put helpful stuff there. Occasionally I'll share a YouTube video with one of my clients. They tend to share it with other people and then you know where you can get actually. Okay, another ninja tip.

[A]

All right, there we go.

[C]

University counseling centers love finding content to share on their Facebook pages. So I have some university somewhere has found my YouTube channel and they're sharing my YouTube videos. So all of a sudden I'm like, whoa, where did these 3,000 views come from?

[B]

That's awesome.

[C]

University shared them. It would be so easy to contact universities and be like, hey, if you need some content for your page, here's my YouTube channel. Feel free to use it.

[A]

How cool. I love that. And I'd also like to put the link for your YouTube channel so our listeners can check it out and see what kind of content you're producing. And you can get more views that.

[C]

Is certainly lower than for everybody. They're going to look at that and be like, oh, is that all I have to do? Okay, no problem.

[A]

Nice. Good stuff. So what else other steps do we have?

[C]

Number four is I think the thing that most online therapists forget because they think, okay, my business is online, so all I have to do is online stuff. But the reality is that most of your referrals are going to come from person to person contact. All this stuff you're putting out online is about when your potential clients stalk you Online, that's how they get to know like and trust you. Right. But to get your name in the first place, it's often going to come from somebody who's given it to them. So doing your networking is crucial. Your face to face connections are crucial. So step four and five are about those face to face connections. Four is about looking at who you already know. Like I always say, if you're going to have the wedding of the century and invite everybody you know and everybody that they know to your wedding, write that list of people down and then go through that list and see do any of them do any kind of service that you might refer your clients to. Prioritize reaching out to those folks and send them an email or a phone call or a video and say, you know, like I have pretend in your head like you have a full practice. I have an online therapy practice and my niche is this and I really need places to refer my clients to. I'd love to hear more about what you do. I really liked this part of your website. I think that could be helpful to my clients. Could we have some coffee via Skype sometime so I could learn more about what you're doing? That's awesome about them. Yeah.

[B]

And in the spirit of being helpful and that's so important, I can't tell you how many times and it kind of sometimes like blows my mind and I'm sure many of you guys can relate is especially like marketing companies, whether it's like an SEO or website and it's like a cold email in your email box all about them and it's like delete, delete, delete. And then sometimes if I'm just in a funky mood, I'll just like email back and be like, you're a marketing company. Don't you need to know my needs first and what's going on with me? So that being helpful is just really important and wanting to learn about them. And also like you said, identifying some aspect of something that they're already doing that you like. Complimenting people, that really gets people engaged and curious because naturally it's not going to be a one way conversation. They're going to say, well just tell me more about you. I want to know more about you. So that's a really cool thing. I know that my colleague Susan and I, we actually work in the same office and we both work with couples and we decided to do like a trauma therapist meet us meetup. And really our intention was to learn more about them because we have a, we work with a lot of affair recovery. So we wanted to know who very locally we could refer to. And when we asked about them, they actually didn't even want to know about us. To them, I guess they were like, asking us questions about, like, how to refer to us, which was really cool. Of course, you know, we were able to bring it all around and understand their specific aspects of trauma work. So we can refer, but it is. It's very reciprocal relationship. And then nurturing the relationship is really important. Right. It can't just be. I mean, unless you decide, like, oh, maybe this isn't a right fit, or I don't even really like this person.

[C]

Or I'm concerned about their ethics.

[B]

But if it is a good fit, really, how do you then nurture that relationship after?

[C]

Right. And I think part of the nurturing that relationship is having a very clear call to action in your email. So just saying, I'd love to meet. That kind of puts the burden on them to follow up. And they're busy. We want to make their lives easy. So I always like to put, like, I have time on these days and at these times, any of that work for you? If not, let me know something that does because it's a clear, like, what is the next step you want them to. To take so that it's easy for them. They're not having to guess at it. And I think when you're nurturing the relationship, every contact should lead to another contact. Like, okay, I'm going to hit you up in another six months and see how it's going. And we can collaborate with any clients that we might share. So there's an expectation of an ongoing relationship.

[B]

Very cool. Actually, as you're talking, it just reminded me, interestingly enough, I was in Fort Lauderdale Dale yesterday visiting with Kate. We had a meeting and I was driving, and I saw one of my clients is in a certain type of business, past clients. And I saw a picture of her on a park bench as an advertisement. And I was like, that's cool. And then I just decided, I was like, I just wanted to reach out and say, hey, you know, how are you? Just thinking about you, hope things are going well. And it is really just genuine. And it's not wanting her to come back or not. But even at the same time, when we do reach out, whether it's colleagues or past clients, just to check in on them, a lot of times it triggers a memory and be like, oh, yeah, I either need to schedule our appointment or oh, my gosh, my friend just told me, like, she's having major trouble with anxiety. Amber does online. She's freaked out about, like leaving her house. Perfect referral. So just being curious, being helpful, just kind of seeing how people are doing sometimes also really helps our business and nurture that relationship.

[C]

Absolutely. And I love how you say like, genuine. I think if you're really thinking about My own therapist always texts me on my birthday, always. And it's a sweet and it's genuine for him. Like, that's his personality. He's that guy. So when he does, I know he means it, but it also keeps him front of mind for me. And so I'm like, oh, right, you know, I should get in touch with him and we should like, you know, start up again or I should at least do a check in session or something like that. And it is marketing, I guess, because the result is a marketing outcome. But it's a real genuine sense of wanting to connect with somebody.

[B]

Right. And furthermore, business is really about the relationship. Right. And that's a lot of times what people are attracted to. Yeah, they might be attracted to our lovely video or the colors on our logo or whatever, but that's not what like, touches the soul and makes people say. Yeah. And Kate and I talk a lot about buying decisions. Buying decisions are usually based off emotion. Right. And I know I'm like chopping it down. Like therapy is like you're buying something. But ultimately, you know, people are, you know, trusting. Like you said the know, like and trust factor. And that comes from emotional connection. So this is where Kate and I always talk about how therapists are primed to be great marketers. And we'll say it again, guys. So if this is the first time you're hearing this, great. And if it's not, the more that we say it, really, you guys, we really have collectively so many skills that put us in a prime spot to really help us not only do well in the therapy room, because you guys got that right. But do well in really creating a business. And I'm just going to kind of use what we preach and what Amber's talking about, but that dream lifestyle that you serve, a specific population that you love working with and all your passion is there and you feel energized by that. And at the same time, you serve yourself in creating the dream lifestyle that you've always desired and dreamed of. So we so appreciate you being here. And last question for you today, Amber, is what is it that you want? Startup Nation take away from your message.

[C]

Today, if nothing else, that this is so much easier than you might think that it is no matter what the online business is that you're trying to create, or even an in person business. I know that we get caught up in like, branding and making things pretty and our headshots and things, all of that stuff, but to me, that's all icing on the cake. If you can genuinely share your enthusiasm and genuinely share your goodwill, that is naturally going to result in your practice or your business becoming full. And even with cold contacts, if you're reaching out to them genuinely and you're not just bulk emailing, you just really look at something on their website and think like, equine therapy. That's fascinating. I'd love to know more about that. You just really genuinely reach out to people. This is easier than you think. You don't have to spend a ton of money in order to get started. The obstacles to getting started in any business aren't as big as you make them. And most of us who are teaching it, we've done it for several years. And so we're thinking like, oh, if I could do it again, I would do it all like this. And then we hand that package to somebody who's new and it just feels totally overwhelming. So just start. Just start the damn thing. And the freebie that I'm giving you is a quick guide to getting started with an online practice with a bunch of shortcuts. So all of the questions that you think are holding you back from taking that step, there are shortcuts to getting answers to each one of those so that you can just let it go, build relationships and build your practice.

[A]

Love it.

[B]

And while you're going through that, make sure you sing the Frozen song. Let it go. Well, Amber, it's been such a pleasure.

[C]

Having you here with us today and great to connect with you.

[B]

We got the opportunity to do that right here on the podcast and you guys got to experience that. So we wanted to thank you for hanging out with us today. You guys want to make sure you check out those show notes. Next week we're going to have Dr. Joy Bradford hang out with us. And if you guys know about Dr. Joy, she is therapy for black girls. So she created a really specific niche in the market that was of a huge need. So. So you're going to want to check out that podcast as we talk with her all about that. Make sure, like I said before, hang out with us on Facebook and show us some love. If you just really enjoy the podcast or there's some way that we or one of our guests have inspired you. Shoot us an email, Give us an iTunes review, give us a Google review. That's just what inspires us to keep doing what we do. So Startup Nation, we will see you later. Have a fantastic day.

[A]

See you next time everybody. Thanks for joining us on the Private practice startup. Visit theprivatepracticestartup.com for awesome resources, free trainings, attorney approved private practice paperwork, and so much more.

[B]

SA.