Ideal Practice
Ideal Practice
#62. From Click to Client: 5 Key Strategies for an Effective Online Profile
Question or comment? 🙋♀️ Send me a text message!
🙋♀️Hey there!
Looking to boost your online profile and connect with your ideal clients? 🤝
Check out the 5 quick tips I'm sharing on the podcast today to create a profile that leaves a lasting impression on the right people.
In this episode, you’ll learn…
- How to make MUCH better use of this important marketing real estate.
- How to sharpen you message so that you stand out from the 100s your clients are considering.
- How to take advantage of one powerful tool that too many wellness professionals ignore.
And more!
Remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.
Your online profile is like your virtual receptionist, your calling card. Getting this right will make all the difference in whether your next awesome client reaches out to you, or moves on.
Let’s get this right. :)
Enjoy!
~Wendy
xoxo
P.S. if you’re enjoying the podcast as much as I hope you are, could you help me spread the word? Who are two friends or colleagues you know who could really use a boost of encouragement each week? Who else needs this kind of teaching? Please share this episode with them - and thank you!
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THIS WEEK’S JOURNAL PROMPT:
How quickly and clearly can you answer these questions?
- Who are you as a human being?
- Why should I trust that you ‘get’ me?
- How can you actually help me?
- What do you do that’s like no other?
- And why should I choose you over the 100s that are right there beside you on my screen?
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MENTIONED:
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NEED SOME HELP?
Got a problem in your practice that you’re trying to solve? Have an idea you want to try but don't know where to start? A Quick Start Consult may be exactly what you need. I'm serious about your success - so we don't just talk about your business. We work on it - together. Click here for details. https://www.wendypittsreeves.com/consult
Wendy Pitts Reeves, LCSW
Host, Ideal Practice
Private Practice Coach and Mentor
www.WendyPittsReeves.com
Wendy@WendyPittsReeves.com
You're listening to Ideal Practice, episode number 62. So are you a therapist with an online profile on psychologytodaycom, or maybe you're another kind of wellness professional, but you've got a profile on Instagram or Facebook or some other social media platform. Well, in my experience, that is prime marketing real estate, and a lot of people are getting that piece wrong and losing business as a result, because this can make all the difference on whether your ideal client gives you a call, shoots you an email, looks into your program or moves on. Well, that's what I'm gonna help you with today, my friend, and I hope you will stay with me all the way to the end, because I've got a little exercise to help you make the most of this. So stay tuned. Hi, i'm Wendy Pitts Reeves and, with over two decades of experience in the private practice world, i've built my six-figure business while learning a lot of lessons the hard way. This is the first podcast that shows you how to apply the principles of energy alignment and strategy to build a practice that is profit-centered but people-forward. This is the Ideal Practice Podcast. Hey guys, this is Wendy. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Ideal Practice Podcast.
Speaker 1:How are you, how are you guys doing? How's your summer going? How's life? Are the kids home from school Or are you at the beach? Is business a little slower right now? That's not unusual this time of the year, don't let that worry you, though. I encourage you to take advantage of that. If things slow down a little bit, take a breather. You need it, you've earned it, you deserve it. Right? Don't even get me started there, but I hope things are going well for you no matter what, and what we're talking about today is a little bit of the marketing side of your practice. That's gonna make a difference for you, especially if your numbers might be a little down during the summer. Right, this is a good time to tweak some of your messaging, give your online profiles, your website, your presence in the world a little bit of a review and see if there aren't some ways that you can tighten things up. Yeah, that's a good thing to do when things are a little bit slower.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about one particular area where I would really love to see you take a closer look. So, in last week's episode, i gave you five key decisions you need to make before you even start a practice. Those five areas were really core to kind of who you are and what your practice is gonna be like. If you didn't hear that, be sure and go back and listen to that. If you did, or if you've already got all that stuff figured out, you are gonna be ready for what I wanna share with you today, because what I wanna talk about today, guys, is your online profile in social media platforms. When you do this really well whether it's your little about statement on your Facebook profile or whether it's the post that you put in a professional directory like psychologytodaycom that provides a really powerful way for you to connect with ideal clients who might wanna work with you. But if you're not careful, you could also turn them off. In fact, in my opinion, a really, really well-written online profile will help your client's self-select. Those who are not a good fit for you will get a sense of that right off the bat and move on, and those who are will come closer. But let's talk about how to make that happen. I wanna start by giving you five key steps or tips for what things that you can do fairly quickly to make sure that your online profile is effective and it's engaging And then it's going to bring those clients that you love right back home to you, where they belong, right. So let's go through those five tips, and the first one is going to make a lot of you squirm Y'all. Do yourself a favor, spend a little money and get a professional head shot done, a picture, get a professional photo taken.
Speaker 1:Now, when I started my practice here's a little something you know where, when I started my group practice, remember y'all y'all know that I ran a group for a long time. When we first got that thing off the ground, there were I think there were four of us in the very beginning, when we first kind of got things rolling, we took our lunch hour one day as a group and went over to Walmart and had pictures taken in the Walmart in-store studios. How fancy is that? Yeah, not so much. But do you know what? There were two things about that. For one, it was quite cheap. We got all kinds of pictures that we could use pretty easily. Number two, doing it in a group was really so much more fun and we were all able to help each other.
Speaker 1:Because when you're getting your picture taken, you feel so silly, don't you? I do y'all. I mean good Lord, in the interest of if I can be real for you for a moment. This is an area that I actually have a lot of problems with. I couldn't tell you how many photo shoots or pictures I have left in tears over, because it's really something I struggle with personally, but when it works, it works well and golly, it's really helpful to your practice. So, whether you do it by yourself, whether you do it with a friend, find somebody who will take a professional picture And, if you can, i really encourage you to hire a professional photographer who specializes in headshots for business and ideally, somebody who's got someone on staff who can help you with hair and makeup for the women especially.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that can. There's something about that like having somebody professionally apply makeup, which is a little bit more like theater makeup. If you're not a big makeup person, it can feel kind of nuts, but the truth is you will look better on camera, because it's different for a camera. All you have to do is scroll through some online profiles and you'll get a sense of why this is important. So getting a good picture with good hair and makeup is important, but even beyond that, guys, you wouldn't think you'd have to say this, but I'm going to say it.
Speaker 1:Make an attempt to look friendly, smile. Some of you look really serious, really thoughtful That's great. But you want people not to be afraid to call you, so, don't you know? try not to look depressed or scary or like oh my gosh, i hate having my picture taken Like. Try not to do that. That's why having a friend go with you can really help, because you will smile more naturally when somebody's behind the photographer smiling, records you, right. So that's a thought I also encourage you to like be careful, like. Make it you. Like.
Speaker 1:I don't think you need to be all dressed up. You don't need to have a suit. You don't have to look like some kind of attorney. I want you to be yourself. Casual is fine, but be careful, like. Make sure that it is professional, even if it's casual. You don't want to look like you had this taken while you were out on a date on a Saturday night, right? Make sure that it looks like you're worth paying the premium fees that I want you to be charging.
Speaker 1:Okay, you want to be competent, friendly, professional, approachable and have a really good protection, a decent picture taken, right, and I say all that with a lot of love, because I have spent a lot of money trying to get pictures taken, and I almost always hate them, but there are usually one or two out of a batch of a hundred that I can stand. So do yourself a favor and get a professional headshot. All right, that's my first thing I want you to do. The second thing I want you to do this takes a little more thought and we might talk a little bit more about this in a minute, and that is to sharpen your message. Who are you and why should I come see you? When I'm scrolling through image after image after image, paragraph after paragraph, paragraph after paragraph, profile after profile, how do I even notice you? Make sure that the message, the copy that you have is not messy or boring, that it captures who you are, how you are different, like how would I know that you're the one for me to see and not the other 10 people who sound exactly like you? right? Who do you work best with and who do you not work best with? I've talked about this a little bit in last week's episode.
Speaker 1:Many of you have heard me say this all along many times, because I come back to this all the time, because it was such a powerful lesson for me. The first time I had a colleague refer someone to me because she said that client needed a quote kick in the pants, unquote. I was horrified. I thought that was terrible, but it wasn't. It was a compliment. She just meant that I was direct and that I would hold this person accountable, which is what they needed. It's also what my coaching clients like about my work, but I had did not know that, i did not see myself that way. Once I got over my oh, my gosh, is this okay, kind of a little moment I went and rewrote my profile to reflect that and that totally changed the kind of clients that I got and then and I think, my referrals went up because I stood out right. So how do you stand out? Make sure that your message is sharp, clear, unique to you. There's a lot more to say about that, but I'll leave that for there for right now.
Speaker 1:The third thing I want you to do that people don't often think of is I want you to have a clear call to action. You've got my attention. I kind of like the way you look. You seem kind of friendly and like maybe you don't bite, and I feel like you're talking to me in the words that you've got here on the page. So, yeah, i'm kind of curious, but, like, what do I do now? How do I find you? What's the first step that I should take? Do I call you? Do I send you an email Like, how does this work? Don't make me have to think too hard and don't make me have to figure it out. Make it crystal clear and really easy. Okay, so I will know exactly what to do next.
Speaker 1:And then I've got two little tips that are especially suited for psychology todaycom, depending upon, like, what your particular situation is. If there are other directories that work this way, this might be helpful to you. I don't know. The first one is I want you to think about the zip codes that you are marketing to Now. This is especially useful for those of you whose practice has a geographical boundary. So, for example, on psychology today in particular, you can put in I think it's five zip codes that you want your profile to show up in. If you have a mostly in-person business, you want to, of course, give the zip codes of people who are right around your office, but you also might want to plug in one from an urban area that is, say, 30 to 60 minutes away, right? If, however, you are not limited to a local audience and you can market across your state or across your region, then you might want to have one or two that are in major population areas. That would speak to your ideal client, right? So think carefully and strategically about that, not just local. That's particularly useful for psych today. I don't know about other online directories, if they work the same way or not, but that's certainly something to think about.
Speaker 1:And then one last little bit specifically related to this on psych todaycom, they give you an option to create a 15 second video. 15 seconds, y'all is kind of crazy. It takes practice. I can barely say my name in 15 seconds, but when you start scrolling through profiles, you will notice most people aren't using that little extra opportunity, and so I encourage you to do so. In fact, i need to go redo mine, because I did it a long time ago before I had a different setup. I need to redo mine, but when people see that it gives them a sense of your energy, how you move, your smile and they are, they will feel like they're more likely to call you, because it sort of gets past that initial barrier. It's a way of meeting you before they meet you. So I really encourage you to use that, particularly on that platform. But let's take that a little farther. Even if you don't have that on wherever you're at online, you can use this, guys, even on your website, one of the main ways that I connect with potential clients for the counseling work that I still do. As I say, go to my counseling website. I've got a video on the homepage that tells you everything you need to know, and it does.
Speaker 1:And just this week, two days ago, i had a new client in my office who, yes, very much fit my profile, the profile of the kind of client I really want to work with, and I I had never met her until she walked in the door because I had my system set up to work this way. She had walked, she had paid me in advance, she had done her paperwork in advance. She walked in the door the day, the day, of our first visit And I met her in the waiting room. That was our first connection. So when we were sitting down to say hello and kind of get to know each other, i said did you watch the videos on my website? She said, oh, my gosh, yes, several times And I showed it to my husband. Yes, she said I feel like today is my birthday, which just tickled me. It was a really big deal to her to make the decision to come in for help And she was excited about it, not nervous about it, because she felt like she already knew something about me just from having watched that video.
Speaker 1:So don't underestimate how important this is. Don't be like so many other folks who are like I can't do that, wendy, i don't do video. Oh, yuck, don't do that. Be the one Don't say I can't do this. Be the one who says I can't do this, but I'm going to figure out how and I'm going to do it. All you got to do, y'all, is say this is who I am, this is who I think you are, dear client. Perhaps we should have a conversation. Right, that's it, try it.
Speaker 1:So those, just those little things a picture, tighter messaging, a really clear call to action, thinking about the geography, the where you want to promote this, and adding some video those little bits can all make a difference in your online profile. But let's just sort of explore this a little bit further. I saw a quote, actually that by Harvey McKay that said, you only get one chance to make a good first impression And yours just may be in the hands of the receptionist. Well, so here's the thing y'all your online profile. It kind of is your receptionist, it's your calling card, it's your handshake, it's your introduction to the world and to your potential clients. With it, you've got maybe two seconds to make the right impression on a potential client, a potential paying customer, and that's it. And in those two seconds they're going to do one of two things They're going to come closer or they're going to move on. So this is actually worth paying attention to. So which one are they going to do?
Speaker 1:Taking the time to get your copyright, to find the words that nail down who you are and what you offer, is time well spent When you write that copy. Well, it takes time, y'all, and sometimes it takes a lot of rewrites, but when it works, it works. So let me give you some questions to just kind of get you started. As you think about that, all the stuff I said last week, you can fold that into this. Let's go a little further with that.
Speaker 1:Here are some questions Like, for example, who are you just as a human being? Why should I trust that you get me? I don't know you. You don't know me. How do I know you're going to understand who I am And how do you actually help me? Like, what do you even do? What's this like? And, good grief, what do you do? that's different from other people, because I don't know how to choose here. I mean, i'm literally looking at hundreds of profiles that are right there beside yours on the screen. How the heck do I know who to pick? Talk to me. Talk to me like you, get me, and let me get a sense of you.
Speaker 1:If you and I were meeting for lunch or we were going to meet for a cup of coffee and I was going to ask you those kinds of questions, how would you answer them? I really do see where I'm going with this y'all. I want you to be real and to be human and to be strategic. So here's the little exercise I said I had for you I want you to pull out your journal and spend some time writing down your answer to those questions that I just asked you. Who are you as a human being? Why should I trust that you get me? How can you actually help me? What do you do? that's not like other people. And why should I choose you over the hundreds of others that I see beside you on my computer?
Speaker 1:Write out your answer to those five questions While you're at it. You might want to write out what your call to action is too. What do I do if I do want to talk to you? Write all that, write some more and then set it aside, and then I encourage you to just let it rest and then go back the next day and read what you wrote and then maybe write some more. Keep going until you are crystal clear about who you are, what you do and how you help, and keep going until the language is quintessentially you and nobody else. Oh goodness, gracious, yeah.
Speaker 1:And here's just if I can make a little offer to you. I know like it sounds easy, but it's not necessarily, and I have had folks who have come to me and asked me to help them with this. If you would like, we could do a quick start consult where you and I meet together in person, if you're local, or online, if you're not and by golly, hammer this stuff out together. We can co-write it and I will help you with it. All you have to do for that is to sign up for a quick start consult. If you go to my website, wendypitsreevescom, you can click on the button that says start here at the top, or just go wendypitsreevescom forward, slash consult, and that will get you to the right page. I'm happy to help you with this.
Speaker 1:Honestly, yes, it takes a little time to get it right, but when you look at what else is out there, it's not hard to stand out y'all, it's just not. Yeah, this is important. This is marketing real estate that you should use, and use to your advantage, so that the people you love working with love you right back, because you leap off the screen and into their hearts and they cannot wait to talk to you. That's worth doing, isn't it? Yes, it is. Well, that's what I got for you guys today. I hope you have an awesome week, everyone. I hope you will do this exercise and then I will see you next time right here on Ideal Practice. Bye now, bye.
