Blogging is a powerful tool to attract more therapy or counseling clients online.
Not only does blogging help boost your search results, it positions you as a trusted authority so your potential clients know that you have the expertise to truly help them.
But while we ALL know how important blogging is, very few therapists actually do it on any type of semi-regular basis.
Zig Ziglar used to say, “Most people get stopped at the start.”
I think of this every time my son sits down to do his homework. He’s a good student and he enjoys school, but homework is his kryptonite. Our evenings generally go something like this: he sits down with the assignment in front of him. He gets a pencil. Then he needs to sharpen his pencil. Then he needs some water. Then he can’t work because his sister is too loud. Then he needs a snack. Then he doesn’t understand the question.
Now we’re about 30 minutes in, and he’s still staring at a blank page. It’s so overwhelming that he just shuts down. This is the point at which he’ll have a bit of a meltdown, and needs to just walk away from it for a while. When he comes back, he’ll take it 1 or 2 questions at a time. Answer one, play some Pokemon. Answer one, play some more Pokemon.
His 15 minutes of homework has now become a 3-hour ordeal that we ALL dread.
As much as I dread this, I can also identify with his experience. I think we all can. How many times have you been so overwhelmed by something that you just shut down?
I see this happen with my clients so often with blogging. It’s one of the most effective marketing tools you have at your disposal, and yet it causes anxiety for so many.
When I can help one of my clients get started blogging, and doing it consistently, I know that they’re going to see great results in their practice within just a few months. But just getting started seems to be the most difficult part.
What the heck is going on? To answer this question, I invited blogging guru Sharon Martin, LCSW as the guest for this podcast interview. In addition to her own private practice, Sharon helps mental health professionals use blogging to build their practices.
Blogging is such a successful marketing strategy that many marketing experts consider it a marketing “MegaTrend”.
[RELATED: Online Marketing Trends for Psychotherapists]
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How to find juicy blog content so you never have to stare at a blank Word document again
- 5 tips for reducing blogging overwhelm
- A time-saving strategy to dramatically reduce the amount of time you spend blogging
- Why blogging makes you irresistible to Google AND to your potential clients.
Blogging is one of the most ethical forms of marketing for psychotherapists, and it gives your clients a huge vote of confidence in you and your work. To see how blogging fits in with your overall online marketing strategy, download my “4-Step Process to Attracting Clients Online“.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE 4-STEP PROCESS FOR ATTRACTING MORE CLIENTS ONLINE
Sharon Martin, LCSW is a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and writer in San Jose, CA. She loves helping therapists grow in their personal and professional development and particularly enjoys teaching them how to blog and market their practices with social media. Sharon blogs regularly for Psych Central and regularly contributes to other publications.
You can connect with Sharon and find more blogging resources on her website: http://SocialWorkCoaching.com