B (2:15)

Hey, Beth.

A (2:16)

Hi. Well, I'm so glad to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

B (2:20)

We are great. It's great to have you here.

C (2:22)

So before we dive into your topic, just a little bit about Beth. She owns and manages Alfred Creative, a great little creative agency based in Austin, Texas. They love helping therapy practices become the go to authority in their local market with their simple formula, authority plus reach equals impact. And on a personal note, she loves live music, a great cab, and road trips. And it was funny when I read that before we hit record, I'm like, a cab ride. And I was like, oh, come on now.

B (2:49)

Come on now. You're becoming a wine snob. I'm channeling those vibes to you. You should do this.

C (2:57)

It's a little long day. I've had supervision this morning and this.

A (3:00)

Is our fourth podcast, so I think.

C (3:01)

I'm a little brain dead, but I know Beth and Kate has to know too. What is your favorite Cabernet?

A (3:06)

Oh, gosh. Well, currently it's wine. I have so many, but I think, well, just right off the shelf, like an under $20 bottle of Jaylor. It's just, you can't beat that. But I have some local wineries in the Fredericksburg, near Austin area that I've been exploring and loving. So. Yeah, so much wine, so little time.

B (3:26)

Exactly. The more you know about wine, the more you realize you don't know anything. There's so much more to know. And I just learned that in Texas there's this amazing wine country besides right next to Napa. I guess Napa is like the top. And then Texas. Who would have thought?

A (3:41)

I know. Who knew? And you know, that's funny about not. There's so much wine. I decided a long time ago that I couldn't conquer Europe and the United States and South America. So I decided to focus on an American wine. So, yeah, started in Sonoma and then, yeah, Texas is booming. So if you ever want a little road trip, it's right near Austin. Come visit me and come check out the wine country. Cool.

C (4:02)

I didn't know that. Now I know. And I'm sure I'll land in Texas soon. I was in Houston, but I'm sure I'll be back soon. I actually really like Texas. I've been to Dallas, Houston, Austin. Really nice place. So welcome. And so, Beth, I'm just wondering, how did you get started in the field.

A (4:19)

That you are today? Yeah. So I've been in communications most of my adult life, and then also organizational development. And I watch digital. You know, the communications go from. I started out as a freelance writer, and then as it moved through becoming, everything became digital. And I was fascinated. And I realized I had a little bit of an aptitude for tech, and I just learned how to do all the things. And then my last job before I started on my own was with an actual. An autism provider. They have a therapy, a developmental therapy. And so I got to just fell in love with working with therapists. And so that catapulted me when I decided to create my own thing. I knew it was going to be communications, and then I knew it was going to be therapy practices, because first, they're mostly female. I love men, too, but I just love working with females. Right. And helping them succeed. And I also knew that it was a big gap because the therapists I talked to, PhDs who had one semester of how to grow a business. Right.

C (5:24)

If they had one semester.

B (5:26)

Yeah, if they were lucky.

A (5:30)

So I knew it was a gap, and I knew I could help fulfill it. I think I put in my original notes to you guys. I really am fascinated and tormented by the statistic that 8 out of 10 businesses fail. You know, they're not going to be here in two years. And the helping professions are the same. And that's such a shame with all the great work. So I just. It's kind of my mission to help that, and this is my little way of helping that out in the world.

C (5:54)

And that's awesome. And we all have our own little niche in our way, and Kate and I very much believe the same, is that, you know, we say that we don't fulfill our mission unless we help really keep therapists in business. And that's why we're a bit bonkers when it comes to marketing and really growing a business, because we know how valuable therapists are in the work that they do, and they need to stay in private practice, not go into hospitality or something else because they got annoyed with the field. So we hear you there, and we appreciate you being part of the cruise aide to keep this happening and make it happen. Awesome. Very cool. So I am really curious about your topic, because Kate and I are always talking about marketing and helping therapists create copy. But I really like the spin that we're taking today about copy to really reduce the stigma of therapy. But before we dive in, I just want to make sure we take a quick break for our sponsor, so let's do that. Now, the work you do as a therapist is important and your private practice deserves the best website possible to allow you to see more clients. As an industry leading company that makes marketing simple for therapists, Brighter Vision understands exactly what it takes to help your practice grow to new heights. This year, Brighter Vision's team of developers will work with you to first understand your business and what makes it unique. Then use this information to build you a website centered around attracting and retaining your ideal client. Better yet, there's never been a more affordable time to get the website your practice deserves. During the entire month of January, Brighter Vision is running its biggest sale of the year until the end of the month, pay no setup fees, and get your entire first year for just $49 a month. That's a savings of over $200 on your first year with brighter Vision. To take advantage of this offer, simply go to brightervision.compps Again, that's brightervision.compps as in private practice Startup.

B (7:42)

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. That's where Gusto comes in. They make payroll taxes in HR actually easy for small businesses like your private practice. Fast, simple payroll processing and 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 for you to add on health benefits and even 401ks for you and your team. Let them wear one of your many hats. You have so many better things to do with your time. Listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll. Try a demo and see for yourself@gusto.com PPS that's gusto.com PPS let's dive in.

A (8:32)

Beth awesome. Where do we want to start?

C (8:38)

Wherever you take us on the journey.

A (8:40)

Fantastic. Well, so I got interested in this topic when I was doing research on behalf of my clients and researching pain points and realized came across a little statistic that was interesting to me and that's that there's a 2017 survey that 69% of Americans claim to have at least one mental health issue affecting their well being. But only 29% and 29% say they're embarrassed, they don't want to talk about it, and even to professionals they just can't cross that hurdle. I think there's probably some research out there too that each generation is getting better. So I guess there's hope for some of the younger generations. But it's still a pretty startling statistic, right, that you've got this massive amount of people that need help, but they're too embarrassed. And so I just was interested in that as a way to help my clients build out their content marketing. So really, this is what we're talking about today is content marketing, which is a foolproof way to gain what you want in the world, right. In your business world, gain rank. It's just a foolproof way. But another thing that I've noticed with some of my clients is the hesitancy about marketing. Marketing still has that yucky feeling to it, that word. And to be able to connect it to a real mission, like this idea of stigma has helped, right? So to build out a content strategy around this idea that you are helping reach people where they are and educating and hopefully changing the perceptions around these issues in the general public and you're normalizing these things. So I liked both of those things and how they converged in this idea of content marketing.

B (10:21)

You know, it's so interesting that you bring up both sides because from the client's point of view, yes, unfortunately, there still is a stigma. It's decreasing slowly over time as therapy comes, becomes more mainstream and, you know, all these celebrities and people are sharing their stories and it's really like therapy becomes a thing to celebrate, it becomes normalized. And on the flip side, for clinicians, there's a stigma against marketing. Right. So it's like the stigma on both sides. And so many therapists have this negative relationship to marketing. They feel like it's sleazy or salesy or icky or imposing and all of that stuff. And it couldn't be further from the truth. I mean, maybe if you're going about it in old school ways, but new school marketing, it's more about just communicating and building relationships with people.

A (11:03)

Absolutely.

B (11:04)

And that's it. And really sharing your passion and your personal story.

C (11:08)

Well, not totally personal stories, but really your authenticity, especially when it comes to therapists. And, you know, we talk about like, you know, the world evolving in regards to stigma therapy, but also therapy has evolved extremely, you know, just even in, I don't know, the last decade or even five years. I mean, you know, Kate and I constantly talk about, like, there was none of what we do today available when we started private practice. And that was, you know, just a decade ago. So it's really cool to watch it evolve and really needs to continue to evolve.

A (11:36)

So this is like my biggest herald, I guess. To my clients always is. This idea of marketing is not. Let's just set aside that word, right? It's about connecting and getting your stuff to the world, right? The world already is just so full of noise and it's so full of the online world, so full of the anger and all the stuff that we see all the time that we don't like. And so we need your audience. Those are the people we need out there, right? Spreading hope and clarity. So forget marketing for a minute. Let's just talk about how to do that. And then it takes the scary away from marketing, the feeling that it's not something you want to do. But as a side bonus, this idea of this content marketing, you're going to reach people, but there really is a side bonus. If you learn to do this well, you have an opportunity like never before to gain page rank. So it's like this amazing little thing that happens. But I really did want to say, I think a lot of people, even if they're savvy about Google or things like that, for a long time people just kind of thought, well, they could never rank because there are all these big, the big boys out there doing the thing. But there's just that we're in a really amazing time with ranking in Google because Google is becoming laser focused on local. So your audience right now, wherever they are locally, really has a chance to rank for some of these. I'm not talking about the keyword for therapist in town, right? I'm talking about. I'm depressed. What do I do? All these keywords, right? They have a. Because Google is trying really hard to. And we'll just get better at it to deliver local content, so they actually have a chance to outrank the big boys in their local market. So it's really pretty fascinating. But this idea of reaching people where they are and then building trust. Like you said, we all know the statistic. Four to five pieces of content people want to see before they ever engage. And I don't have a statistic for this, but I'm imagining if you're already reticent, you're already embarrassed, it's going to be even more. It's going to take a little bit longer to build trust, but the average person online, it takes four to five pieces. So if you're not out there giving that content in your local market, where are they going to turn? Right? They're going to find it somewhere. But this is such a, such an ability to help. When you think about this audience, this person that's got an issue, whatever it is, and they're just nervous. I guarantee you they're out there searching. Right? They may be there. I think actually the anonymity of search makes it even more brilliant way to reach people who are reluctant to reach out because they are online. It's just almost guaranteed that they're out there seeking relief. They are googling their pain points. Absolutely. Whatever your specialty, you can tailor your message to that pain point to their issue that they can't get on the phone yet and call. So, I mean, everything from marital problems and addictions, even people who may have reached out on their child's behalf, maybe they have a child on the spectrum and they're dealing with that, but they have their own shame around that or their own whatever around that. Maybe it's affecting their marriage and they're ashamed of that. So what I want to encourage your people today is let's figure out content to that person that's keeping them up at night and reach out to them and connect where they are.

C (15:01)

I'm really curious as I know what Kate and I do and really try to helping reframe the relationship to marketing. What you said you like to invite therapists to think of it as a way of connection. So what else do you kind of help them to see that as a form of connection, which then begins to switch their relationship with marketing?

A (15:19)

Well, I mean, just everything. They do such amazing work in that room in their office. Right. But I've noticed some are reluctant to be seen outside of that. So we're in a. We are in a different world. And it's not always comfortable or pleasant, you know, to step out of ourselves. But it's all about connection. It's all about building trust. I mean, even the old, you know, we do business with people we know like and trust. Right. We're gonna go to therapists we know like and trust. And in today's world, with the celebrity culture and people, lots of people out there that are maybe a little more slimy or we see that and we don't like that. We know it feels bad. Right. We don't want to be that. I don't know. I just want to encourage people to press into that because they're the voices we need. They're the voices. And if they're more reluctant and I say press in even harder. Hey, listen, starting your business already took a lot of risk, right? It takes risk. It takes courage and guts. Every day. This is a little bit different kind of courage and guts, but it's just so worth it because not only are you potentially reaching out and meeting a client, but who knows what that content can do, even if you never meet that person? And then if you share some of those things around your social media, changing perspectives about what it means to live with issues. Right. I answered your question.

C (16:53)

No, I mean, I really like that you said that. You know what I mean?

B (16:56)

I don't think I've ever really thought.

C (16:57)

Of it that way. Is your piece of content or a blog that you write or even your specialty page can impact someone and you might not even have a clue and how important is that? So I love how you position it that way. And one of the things that Kate and I find with therapists is that, you know, we have these awesome skills, and they usually exist between four walls with the client.

A (17:16)

Right.

C (17:17)

And then we walk out of the therapy room and what skills.

B (17:20)

Right.

C (17:20)

And so one of the positions that we take is, like, therapists are primed really to be amazing marketers. And do you have conversations every day with your clients?

B (17:28)

Yes.

C (17:29)

Do you summarize and reflect and validate and empathize with them and talk about their pain and their goals?

B (17:34)

Yes.

C (17:34)

Okay, great. That's marketing. You know what I mean?

A (17:36)

Like, it's really. Oh, my God, I love that you said that. I keep a document on my desktop in the same way when I talk to my clients and they're having, like, I work with. Through the issues with them. So I keep notes about. I don't use their name, but I keep notes about, oh, my God, I helped them with this thing so that I know it'll help somebody else. It's the same thing. These people are having amazing conversations. They're seeing results, they're seeing evolution, they're seeing breakthroughs. To keep notes about that and then package that up and show the world what can happen when you, you know, you step into. Into a relationship with another person that can guide you to a better place.

B (18:12)

Right.

C (18:12)

And that's why we say, like, therapists are prime because they are already doing those highlighted things that are required in copywriting and marketing. And it's very different than, like a real estate agent or a CPA or a lawyer. I mean, we can teach them to do that, but they're not doing that. Validation and empathizing and talking about the pain points and dreams and stuff like that. So that's what we share all the time.

A (18:33)

Yeah. That's awesome.

B (18:35)

I know you had three specific ways that your content can help ease that stigma of therapy. So let's dive into those. What's your first tip?

A (18:42)

Well, actually, I think it's about normalizing, right? So creating stories that normalize. We all hear it. We understand online they want story, they want story, but that really is how you're going to connect. And stories of how others have, you know, that offers hope that people aren't alone, right? I think that's a huge part of it. And then things that bring aspiration and hope. You think about your social media, for example. Of course you've got. When you think about content, we think about blogging videos, YouTube, the different channels. Social media can have its own kind of content or it can point back to this other stuff. But you can take this idea of connecting and reaching people where they are and educating and normalizing and put it in any of these different pieces. Using story, you think about social and using memes and strong CTAs to encourage connection. I also think another thing is just dispelling myths, right? This is a great way to dispel myths. And I actually think dispelling myths make great lead magnets. So because they're catchy and their lead magnets are typically titled in a way to get people to click, right. It's a lot of times the lead magnets may be what come up on search if you've got a dedicated landing page for a lead magnet. So dispelling myths because the myths are the things. If we're talking specifically about stigma, whatever, whatever, maybe specific topic you might think that person is dealing with, and then creating a lead magnet that hits that myth and says, nope, that's not really the way it is. Here's how it is. And then begin to build trust through more follow up. I did want to just jump back a little bit and say, and I know you guys, I know y' all talk about blogging. You'll do a great job of talking about some of these key concepts. But it's always good to keep remembering this idea that this just follows good, you know, good SEO principles around knowing who your audience is and speaking to their pain points, getting into their world. So I wanted to encourage people. It feels. It may feel a little clinical, right? Or a little not clinical. This is a bad word to use in your, in your. In this scenario. But it may feel a little rigid or like, I mean, your audience is so relational, right. And they do the relationship piece. But there are things we need to do. Let's use these tools. We know people already. People do things online in a predictable manner so we can learn about those things and then make sure that we are there to answer their questions and have content. So understanding your audience, we know they already know their audience. They know their pain points, but really put yourself in their head. What are they waking up at night on? And then do some research around those keywords. Go use your webmaster tools to find out. You can actually go in your webmaster tools and put in your geography and put in your keyword. It'll tell you how many people in your area are searching for a keyword. So let's say depression. You might put in a keyword. It'll tell, you know, you can tweak it and get it till it's just right. And then you can write a piece of content on that that you know is going to hit people your area. I think that's super powerful.

C (22:11)

Yeah. Share with us. When you said we know what people do online, it's predictable. What are some of the predictable things we do as humans?

A (22:18)

Yeah. So we browse, right. And we. And we search. We. We click. And when we click onto something, we have a. Well, different statistics vary, but it's between seven and 15 seconds when we're gonna make up our mind to even go further. So since we know that, we know there's certain ways you build out a website. Right. Y' all talked about this last week. Certain ways you can build out a website to make sure you hit those points. So that's a predictable thing. People. We know people prefer to have the menu done in a certain way because they want to be able to click in a certain way. So. Yeah. So around keywords and things like that, we know they talk in a certain way. They talk in little phrases, but usually without certain words. Right. So understanding some of those things that would be a great show in and of itself or some of these predictable ways that people click on just to know. So that it's. We're just using the tools that we already have the resources to be smart. Right. Cool.

C (23:27)

And what's another one of the tips that you were talking about? So talking about telling stories to connect, share more.

A (23:32)

Yeah. So stories are just. Just, you know, the biggest piece. I feel like you've got all your channels and, you know, it can be. I don't. I know that often content marketing is. It can feel overwhelming to people, but there are some little things you can do to make it easier. Like maybe if you are good at video, maybe just. Maybe just spending a couple minutes on video and then taking that video go. And getting it transcribed. Using it. Using it on your site as a blog. Because we Know, Google doesn't read a video, but it will read the words, right? And then putting it on YouTube. So maximizing that piece of content is a great way to think about it. But you know, around this idea of building trust is also having a good bank of content to continue to nurture. So hopefully you're going to be connecting. So somebody clicks on your piece of content and maybe they get on your email list, maybe they don't. Maybe they, you know, they poke around a little bit to have four or five pieces, they're going to speak to those same things. But if they get on your mailing list, be sure you've got a drip campaign with more content around that same topic. And maybe for case studies, one of the things that mistakes people make with things like drip campaigns and the funnels is they like feels like a bait and switch to people so they'll have a piece of content and then they get dumped into a generic drip campaign and all of a sudden it's about something else. The idea is that the person clicked on that content because they are in need of help around that area. So to build trust around that area. So things like case studies are amazing in results like that. But also case studies are great for any, for but not really. The big clinical case studies I'm talking about just highlights like, you know, there's this person with this problem and here's how we could help them and here's how it wasn't scary. So all these ways to normalize things for the general population, but also to make people feel like it's okay. It's not just me. There's so I would say too. Another thing is having lots of content. So it's not just a one off having plenty of examples. And you can kind of automate that so that, so that again, keep it small, keep it simple. It's another concept that's so, so important is you don't have to have this, you know, massive production. Just, just do one thing at a time and just be authentic. That's what the world's crying out for, is authenticity. Oh, oh, oh.

B (26:12)

You said it.

C (26:13)

Our authenticity. Cowbell.

A (26:16)

It's my favorite word in marketing.

B (26:18)

Oh my gosh.

C (26:19)

Awesome. You know, it's funny, when Kate and I started podcasting, like every podcast had the authenticity word in it. And I don't even know how we got started ringing the bell, but it hasn't been said as often. But you said it and I was like, awesome, thanks.

A (26:32)

I'm glad you called.

C (26:33)

That gave you the ring of authenticity. Cowbell, which is so, so important. And you're right. The world is really trying out to connect. One of the things that I really like that you said, Beth, and we call this a ninja tip, is to utilize case studies in that drip.

A (26:45)

Yeah.

C (26:45)

A lot of times, you know, we'll have therapists like reach out to us and say, oh, should I have an email list? And whatever. And you know, sometimes I think therapists, they'll see like one aspect of a system, right. It's like, okay, it's important to have an email list, but how are you getting the emails? Because if. And I've seen this before still nowadays it's like, well, newsletter. No, people aren't signing up for newsletters.

A (27:06)

No, that's the most unused thing on your website.

C (27:11)

Get rid of it.

A (27:12)

It does not convert. It does not convert. Right.

C (27:14)

But a lot of times, and I hadn't thought about that way for therapists, right? It's like, okay, well that makes sense for some type of cheat sheet. I like dispelling the myths. Those things are cool. But then put them into this funnel or this drip campaign about sharing stories and how they can help. And really you're nurturing them to prime them to continue to see, to position yourself to be the therapist. Obviously you're gonna have some type of continued follow up to continue to engage them. But that's a really great ninja tip to utilize for therapists because, you know, I've been kind of like thinking, again, it depends on the niche and the specialty of how to use that stuff for a therapist. Because what I can go into a whole bunch, I'm not gonna go into my whole life marketing tirade.

A (27:54)

Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that.

B (27:55)

Yeah. In terms of using case studies, we have to make sure that we're attending to the ethics and not disclosing too many details about who the case study is about or disclosing a name or anything like that. So details need to be changed. Or it could even be a story that you went through that you wanted to disclose and share how you were able to overcome something. And that's why you're so passionate about being able to help people in that particular area. And if you do use past clients as case studies, then do so in a way that you're not exposing their identity in any possible way.

C (28:32)

Yeah, I was just kind of thinking that goes without saying. That was my thought.

A (28:37)

It's a good tip. It's a good reminder though, because I think, I wonder sometimes if people get shut down because out of that fear, right. Therapists are so aware of their licensure requirements, and they're super. And I think there's a lot of mystery about how does it fit into the online world these days. So I think that's a good reminder and continue to have some resources around that to put them at ease. Maybe they're afraid to blog because they're gonna say the wrong thing or they're afraid to write. I mean, we had a client not long ago that got in trouble with Google with her Google Ads because, you know, Google's changing all the time. Facebook's changing every day. You can't say certain things anymore. You can't promise certain things anymore. And so I think sometimes it shuts people down. They're like, nervous to even share anything.

C (29:21)

Yeah, we definitely experienced that when we launched our marketing E course. And in our copy, we were kind of like writing like, you know, so and so went from this many clients, like, nope, can't say that anymore. I can't promise results. So that can get a little tricky. But Beth, thanks so much for joining us today. What would you like for people to take away from your message?

A (29:37)

I just think that the online world needs their voice. I mean, I said it once, but it's really so important if you're hesitant to blog or maybe marketing feels gross, Remember that you're here to change the world. It's a way to do it nice.

C (29:54)

And I know that you have a giveaway for our audience. What is that?

A (29:57)

I do. So just in line with this whole topic of content around pain points and needs, I wanted to offer something that would help your listeners when they have to go think about making those decisions. So a free downloadable worksheet that can guide them through the five steps to create their own funnel for their therapy practice. That's another term that people probably are gross about. But hey, it's a system. It's all it is is a system to get people into your to make them be aware of you. So just think of it that way. It'll have all the questions you need to ask to create it for yourself all by yourself. I'm a big fan of those kind of resources and I know you guys are too. So it just brings some order and focus. So offercreative.com offer and we'll put that.

C (30:39)

On our show notes page for easy access for you guys. So thanks so much, Beth. I really appreciate your tips on how to reduce the stigma of therapy. Really three really good quality content. We hope that you guys join us next week as we dive into utilizing really systems on how to create a dream lifestyle. We talked to psychologist Damien Adler, who is an Australian. He joined us at 3:30am to do this podcast which was kind of cool. And we really talk about getting unstuck from working in your business to working on your business.

B (31:10)

Yes. Let's take a moment for our Startup Nation superhero shout out. This comes from Casey Pennington. We actually had Casey on the podcast a little while back and she talked all about systems and processes that you need to have in your practice. So it's been like system talk day and I know you guys are getting the podcast kind of batched out so you'll hear us talk about systems a lot. We love them. Casey says Katie and Kate, Kate and Kati are amazing. I had the opportunity to be a guest on the podcast. It was a blast. These ladies are the real deal. Right back at you, Casey. Thanks for all you do to support the mental health professionals in private practice. We love it and we look forward to meeting her at the not so typical Psychotherapist conference round two. That will be. It's more than a conference, it's like a movement. It's so cool you guys. And it will be in our backyard in south Florida in May 2020. So if you have not registered for that, you definitely want to. We'll put the link in the show notes as well for this episode. And if you guys are loving these episodes. Subscribe, rate and Review Please send us your feedback in terms of a Google review or also Facebook or just send us an email. Let us know what topics you would love to hear. And we just want to make sure we're providing content that's on point with your needs and we want to invite.

C (32:24)

You to join our community of growing therapists, 7,000 plus all over the world. So look for the Private Practice Startup group in Facebook and we'll see you guys there. So as we say always, our sign off is thank you for allowing us to inspire you from startup to mastery. Have an awesome and amazing day, Startup Nation. Take care.

B (32:44)

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.

A (33:14)

It.