For Therapists & Healers: What If We Saw Marketing as an Act of Service (Not an Annoyance)?

Introduction

This is an excerpt from Delightful Sites — an email newsletter helping therapists, coaches, and entrepreneurs build sustainable, values-aligned businesses, through the power of website marketing. 💐

While in grad school, working toward my master’s degree in counseling, I told myself that I would never start a private practice because I “hated marketing.”

My assumption was that marketing would feel gross & soul-sucking, and that it would be too hard to learn – so why bother.

Years later, my determination to not burn out through agency work exceeded my fear of marketing. So, with sweaty palms, I registered my new LLC and started to put myself out there. 

• I created a website (a simple one-pager to begin; then I edited & added pages across time).

• I listed myself on therapist directories.

• I let all my colleagues know that I was accepting new clients. 

• I experimented w/ different strategies, from social media to blogging to SEO.

• I noticed what worked & what wasn’t working, and adjusted my approach across time. 

Slowly, ideal clients started reaching out. My practice began to fill – and to stay full or near-full. I was able to experience work-life balance & financial stability, instead of just scraping by.

I realized I had proven my graduate-school-self wrong: a successful private practice is possible, even for someone like me who once felt allergic to marketing.

Here’s what else I realized:

Though grad school doesn’t teach us how to market, many marketing skills are actually an extension of the skills that led us to become therapists / coaches / healers in the first place. 

💬 Networking = building relationships, connecting w/ fellow practitioners, & finding ways to mutually support each other (which builds on your skills of empathy & connection)

✏️ Copywriting = writing words that make your ideal clients feel seen & heard (which builds on your skills of listening deeply to your clients & acknowledging their struggles, worries, hopes, & desires)

🗒️ Content creation (ex: blogs, videos, podcasts, social media posts – which can help your work get found online & increase your credibility as an expert in your field) = sharing psycho-education that is genuinely helpful for your clients (which you’re probably already saying in sessions, multiple times a week)

When I began to see marketing as an extension of the skills I use every day in my therapy work (rather than as a completely separate degree that I would need to go back to school for 🥲)… marketing began to feel like a service & gift that I can offer to my clients & my community, rather than as a burden.

I share this with you in case it’s the gentle nudge / reminder you need: putting yourself (& your business) out there might feel scary, but it just might be worth it. 🩷

I am cheering for you,

Liz 

Liked this blog post?

👉🏽 Subscribe here to receive letters from Liz directly in your inbox.