Selling the Couch

Latest Episodes:

322: How To Avoid Information Overload In Your Online Course Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

Today’s session is a coaching call, and our main focus is on a struggle that many course creators face. When you are an expert in your course content, how do you find the balance in presenting information without overwhelming your students? I feel sure that every course creator has felt this struggle, so I hope you find today’s call to be helpful.

Our Featured Guest for today’s coaching call:

Heather England, Ph.D., LCP, LCPC, CST, CDWF

Dr. Heather England is a coach, certified sex therapist, and licensed clinical psychotherapist in Overland Park, Kansas. She is part of our online course mastermind, which you can explore at www.sellingthecouch.com/mastermind. Heather is in the process of creating a course on erectile dysfunction, and she has already learned a lot in preparation to launch her course. Her biggest question is how to present her course without information overload for her students. You are invited to listen to the coaching call with Heather and Melvin!

Love Filled Life

You’ll Learn:

How Heather evolved as a sex therapist and realized the need for more information
How Heather found the niche for her online course in helping men with erectile issues
A common mistake that our colleagues make in creating an online course
How the STC Mastermind course has fast-tracked Heather’s course creation and launch (scheduled to begin in a few short weeks!)
How Heather’s four-week course is structured with videos, downloadable resources, and a coaching call
Why Heather is being intentional to allow her students to maintain anonymity if they prefer
Tool options that can be used to allow students to submit questions to Dr. Heather privately
Why Heather is struggling to uphold her standards of competency and concrete research without overwhelming her students with information and exercises
How Heather is approaching a particular module of her course that includes a lot of information
How to pare down exercises and activities to the most important “Aha moment” for students
The value of using a survey to get feedback at the end of EACH module–rather than waiting until the end of the entire course
Heather’s top takeaways from this coaching call and how she plans to implement what she has learned

How you can find Heather’s course, free webinar, and other resources at www.lovefilledlife.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

321: Business As A Tool For Growth, Creativity, and Social Justice with Ariana Lloyd, LCSW Sep 01, 2022

Show notes

Hello! Welcome to a brand new season of STC that will take us through September and October before I take an extended sabbatical of several months. Today’s session is a fascinating conversation about considering the greater purpose of our businesses beyond merely generating income. How can our businesses be a vehicle for much, much more in the world? Let’s discuss this topic with today’s guest!

Our Featured Guest

Ariana Lloyd, LCSW

Ariana Lloyd is a licensed clinical social worker in Portland, Oregon. She runs eight-week live cohorts to help therapists coming into private practice set up their businesses in ways that are focused on personal growth, creativity, and social justice. In this conversation, we talk about the ways her business has been a means of personal growth and healing, along with how to offer programs with intentionality and meaningful service to clients. Ariana tells us how she exercises her creative muscles through her business, and we wrap up with ways to tackle social justice issues and advocacy with intention, care, and cultural humility.

You’ll Learn:

How Ariana’s business became a source of healing and personal growth
How even the practical tasks in business-building can help heal past wounds
How to find balance between personal healing and being of service to clients
How Ariana has tapped into her creativity by offering her unique programs to clients
What works best for Ariana in exercising her creativity muscles: writing and talking to a trusted friend when facing a new project
Why clinicians have unique opportunities to step into leadership, advocacy, and empowerment for social justice issues
How the business-building process can incorporate more radical values that address systemic change for social good
Why Ariana offers free training on specific topics and donates to organizations doing good in the world
How social justice applies to the sense of duty Ariana feels to help others
An overview of Lloyd Collective offerings and the help offered to private practitioners

Mentioned in this episode: Barbara Love, author, and researcher

Connect with Ariana

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

ENCORE: Improving Your Private Practice Website with Daniel Fava Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

Like many of you, I’m looking forward to a different 2021, but I am grateful for what we’ve learned about ourselves, our businesses, and our resilience. Today’s topic is more relevant than ever, as we all want to learn more about improving our private practice website. Join us to learn more! Our Featured GuestDaniel FavaDaniel Fava, from Private Practice Elevation, is my friend and an expert in website design. I trust his insight and advice, and I rely heavily on him for everything website-related. Daniel is here to share what is working for private practice websites post-pandemic. Much of what we think about our private practice websites has shifted greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what used to serve us well may not be working now. As many of us are transitioning to full-time online counseling or at least some increased element of online therapy, Daniel’s advice is relevant and timely.WebsiteROI ReportWebsite AuditYou'll Learn:What has changed about websites and online traffic since the pandemic beganThree things that are working well for private practice websites:A professional website is more important than ever.People are searching online, so you need to have a presence there that stands out.Content is the foundation for getting found online.Foundational content includes your home page, service pages, and specialty pages.Online therapy has become an essential part of private practice.Your website audience is now expanded throughout your entire state, instead of just your local vicinity. How to incorporate non-written content, like videos and podcasts, into your websiteWhy you should take this opportunity to view your website through new eyesTranscript:Melvin:Hello, welcome to session 262 of Selling the Couch. I hope you are having a good start to the New Year. Man after the fun adventure that was 2020 I am really looking forward to a different 2021. At the same time, I feel like I'm so grateful. As hard as this has been that in some ways that we were able to go through this because I think it's definitely taught all of us just how resilient we are; especially if you have been able to manage a business and during a pandemic, you're pretty legit.So today's podcast session is with my good friend Daniel Fava from Private Practice Elevation. Daniel is an expert when it comes to website design. It's someone I rely on for both STC and my private practice website. And Daniel is here to share three of the things that are working for private practice websites post-pandemic. I know that how we think about private practice and even how we think about our private practice websites has shifted in the midst of this pandemic.There are just things that were working in the past that are not working as well now and we've learned a lot of insights and key things in terms of what could work and what will be working going forward. Especially as many of us transition either fully to online counseling or maintain some element of online counseling in our practices. I think there are just a lot of different things there. So we'll get right to today's conversation. Here is my conversation with Daniel Fava from privatepracticeelevation.com.Hey, Daniel, welcome back to Selling the Couch.Daniel:Hey Melvin, how's it going? Thanks so much for having me back.Melvin:You're welcome. And Happy New Year, because by the time this releases, it'll be the New Year.Daniel:That's right. That's always the interesting and strange part of recording podcasts is the timing bit because we're recording before Christmas, but we're saying Happy New Year.Melvin:Yes, absolutely. We have to get it all in our mind.Daniel:Yeah.Melvin:I'm really excited for our conversation because this pandemic this past year has up ended so many things. Even I think about like just across but especially in the mental health field. Many of us have had to transition to telehealth, think differently about marketing, and think differently about our websites. Even as we record this right now, we've had one vaccine that's I guess been approved for emergency use, but looks like a second and potentially third and fourth ones on the way. So we see the dim light at the end of the tunnel.But I do feel like this is definitely going to change our field and how we see private practice. And I'm grateful for this conversation because you're my friend, first of all, and second here, someone that I really trust when it comes to just learning about what's working for private practice websites and websites in general. So I’m grateful for this time together.Daniel:Yeah, thank you so much. I'm grateful for it too. I really appreciate you having me on and it's always fun to chat about this stuff. I know that we tend to geek out a bit and so you're kind of like an equal with me as we nerd out on some of this stuff and dig into it. It's a lot of fun.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely! About you, I would say you're probably a little bit more. I love websites, but when it comes to at least a website, I think you take it to a level that’s more than I can go. So perhaps you’re my nerdy friend.We were thinking about the topic for this podcast conversation, and one of the things we just realized is, websites are changing, and how we think about websites are changing in the midst of this pandemic, and even afterwards, and what I asked Daniel to share was the three things that are working for private practice websites post-pandemic. So we'll just jump right in.Daniel, what would you say is like-- well, I guess maybe even before we get into those three things, if you could sort of give a big picture overview, how did people look at websites pre-pandemic and what do you think has changed since the pandemic?Daniel:Yeah. Well, I think that for a while, I kind of noticed, and I've been doing websites for therapists and private practice owners for little over four years now. And so I have seen sort of a shift and it's been kind of slow going from people were like, “Oh, maybe I need a website, maybe I don't. I've got referral networks going on. Maybe just having really basic website is enough and it's just a place that I can send people to.”But then over the years as platforms like Squarespace have evolved and they've become more popular People are starting to see really the importance or have been seeing the importance of having a website and how it can be really an asset in their business to get more clients. That shift has really been happening slowly over the years that I've been noticing.I remember when I first began this work and kind of just talking to people and looking at in like social media and Facebook groups and stuff like that. A lot of people there are still in this mix of like, “Oh, I'm thinking about starting a website, do I really need a website?” That sort of thing, but I feel like people have kind of really grabbed hold of; yes. “Yes, I do. I do need a website.” And especially with the shift to more online therapy, and not being able to do in person marketing and networking and stuff like that; it's become more important than ever.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely! I forgot who mentioned this. But this phrase has always resonated with me that, website is the modern day business card and I feel like that that statement is true now more than ever. Like you said, because of like, so many restrictions and having a presence online is just really important, especially because telehealth was growing, and it's definitely not going away post-pandemics.Daniel:Yeah, absolutely, and that's really my point number one was kind of just starting at the beginning. And I wrote down in my notes here, a professional website is more important than ever, because so many people are turning to online, so many people are turning to searching- clients are searching for these services in Google and if you're not able to do in person networking, and you don't have a number of different streams for your marketing, you could be missing out on a lot of potential clients there.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely! So you said a professional website is more important than ever. So what's the difference between a regular website and a professional website?Daniel:Well, with the shift that's been happening is that a lot more people are as we said, getting smart to the fact that you need to have that presence online, especially if you're doing online therapy, you can reach more and more people and we'll talk a little bit more about that later on. So many people really hustled to get their online presence in order. And that was really what we saw a lot in my business was, I got all this influx of people who were like, “My website is just, it's really crappy, I haven't done anything with it. It's just kind of there. But now we are really in need of more clients especially with the uncertainty of COVID.”When all that started a lot of people weren't investing in their online marketing or their website. So a number of therapists came running to us like, “Hey, I need help, I got to get this in order, we need to get this up, so our clients don't dry up.” That's great, but when you kind of look at the big picture for each of those individual therapists, that often lead to even more competition; more people are investing in their websites, more people are getting their SEO in order. So that means that there's more competition, especially if you're in a densely populated area or largest city.So it's important not to only have a website, but you have to have one that really stands out, because people are going to be doing those searching, they're going to be researching who do they want to work with, who's the best person to help me with my challenges. So you want to make sure that your website stands out. So when I talk about professional, and this is not just because I am a web designer, yeah that can be a little bit of part of it.But you want a website that does what it's meant to do. It's got to be clean; it's got to be modern and easy to use. And if you really want to stand out among that crowd of competition, you want your website to look stellar, you want it to be professional, you want it to work the way it's supposed to work to get you more clients.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely, and I think both with selling the couch as well as my private practice website, I felt like, especially with selling the couch, I felt like I was like a little bit naive to it. I just thought, what website is, I can kind of use a template and put my main sections up and put the words up. But I think what you're saying is a website in a way is kind of this living, breathing thing and evolving thing. So just because you post something or have a certain sections doesn't mean you stop tweaking it.Daniel:Yeah, absolutely, and I understand that there's certainly a starting point for everybody. Budgets are super important when it comes to should you invest or should you build it yourself? You want to make sure that no matter what stage you're at, you are investing whether that's time or money into your website to make it better and better and make it stand.One client of ours comes to mind and she is in New York City and so there's a lot of competition in her location and she had a website that she put together herself on Wix, and there was a lot of just for me, as a designer, when I come to it, I can see all the things that are just kind of out of place, or it's missing the right content, or it's hard to schedule that first appointment or a consultation call. And so we worked on her website, and we redesigned it made it beautiful, professional, easy to use works on mobile, and then when her website went live in just three months, she went from about eight clients a week to 25 clients a week.That project actually, funny thing, it didn't really have a lot of focus on SEO. But because she was getting a number of people searching through Psychology and landing on her website, because we focused on that conversion optimization, she was able to get more leads, have more phone calls with people, and then sign those people up.So certainly investing in a website; it's my hope, it’s my desire and it's really our goal to make sure that we help our clients reach those goals and impact their business. Like I don't want to just create pretty websites to create pretty websites, and that's something that I’ve really been passionate about over the last year, is I want to dig in and be a partner with people in their private practices, in their business and how many more clients do they want in their business? What goals are they trying to achieve?Melvin:Yeah, I know. Absolutely, all are really good points. I wanted to come back to something you said a little bit earlier.Daniel:Sure.Melvin:A professional website-- like this is can really be silly question; should there be like, especially in 2121, should there be like certain core elements in a professional website? Like, you should have a homepage, you should have a specialty page, like any of that kind of stuff? I'd be like, really interested to hear from you and pick your brain on that.Daniel:Yeah, absolutely, and we can actually go there. That's kind of part of my point number two here for things that are working post-pandemic.Melvin:It's so funny. Like I asked Daniel like to share these tips, but I haven't seen the tips, and it's funny how we're on the same wavelength. So yeah, let's jump into point two, then.Daniel:Yeah, you're tracking with me here. So number two is that content is still the foundation for getting found online. With the folks who have come to us over the last year who are really starting to focus in on their online marketing, I would hear time and again, “We're not getting found for these keywords, the right types of clients that we want to track aren't coming to the website.” And when I dig in and look at their current website, I can see just clear holes in their content.I've really been working on really our process at Private Practice Elevation, like what do we do to elevate people's practices with their online presence, and I've been working on this diagram. I think we've spoken about this before. But I have these three circles, and in the first circle, the very first thing that we focus on really is the foundation, the foundational content for your website.What I mean by that is yes, definitely having a homepage. Your homepage is super important, because it's often the most visited page on the website, and that homepage really serves to get people to the information that they're looking for as quickly as possible, and as easily as possible. So that could be an introduction to you and your private practice, followed by the services that you offer, and getting people to those services pages; and that's really the second most important thing, if not the most important.It's kind of like a toss-up between the homepage and your service pages, because your service pages are so specific and that's really where the SEO piece comes in; and I encourage people to get creative, and it might sound like a lot of content. But this is something that you can develop over time, you can start with your initial services, might just look like individual therapy in Atlanta, or whatever the city is, couples counseling in Atlanta. But then over time, you want to build those things out to have subpages even under that and all of those really act as ways for Google to see those services.Because people are more likely to search for anxiety therapy or counseling after divorce, something like that,…

Full show notes at the publisher

ENCORE: Moving From An Online Course To A Membership Model with Jennifer McGurk, RDN, CDN, CEDRD-S Aug 18, 2022

Show notes

Today’s show takes on a very niched perspective, but the information and wisdom are useful in many aspects of our work as clinicians and business owners. We are specifically discussing how to move from an online course to a membership model. Maybe you’ve wondered about these components of your practice and how to make the transition. Join us for expert advice!Our Featured GuestJennifer McGurk, RDN, CDN, CEDRD-SJennifer McGurk is a registered dietitian in NY whose specialty is helping clients with eating disorders. She made the transition from an online course to a membership model, so she is sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly of such a move. I hope our discussion will be helpful to you if you’re considering a similar transition. WebsiteYou’ll Learn:● How membership sites can help a clinician accomplish career goals● Details of Jennifer’s journey in private practice from an online course to a membership model● The benefits to therapist and client of a membership model over a one-time course model● How imposter syndrome can crop up when creating a membership site● How it’s helpful to see others reaching their goals in transitioning from an online course to a membership site● Common mistakes in this transition● What the business gurus DON’T tell you about your online course as a passive income stream● The components of Jennifer’s membership site: Dietitian Business School● Jennifer’s advice to a clinician either launching an online course or making the transition to a membership siteToday's Podcast Sponsor: Hushmail- Hushmail is a safe and secure way to email and send secure forms (e.g., intake packets and consent forms) to potential and current clients.Please visit https://sellingthecouch.com/hushmail and please let them know Mel sent you =). TRANSCRIPT Melvin:Hi Jennifer,welcome back to Selling the Couch.Jennifer:Hi, Melvin; thankyou for having me. I'm so excited to talk to you.Melvin:I really enjoyedour last conversation. I'm so grateful that you reached out, you are doing justso many neat things in the world, so many out of the box things. And I'm justgrateful when you reached out and then two, just to hear about the journey andshare all the lessons and all those things that you've learned.Jennifer:Yeah, thank you somuch. I'm so grateful for your work, too. We were talking before we hit recordabout how mental health is so needed right now and therapists are doing such anawesome job. So anyone out there listening, thank you for your work too. It's atime where people really need mental health services.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely;I do feel so grateful to be part of this profession. I don't know who couldhave imagined something like this. But I think one of the things that's reallybeen on my mind, especially through this pandemic, I think it was there beforebut it's kind of accelerated it is this question of like, what do I want mycareer to look like? And where do I want to focus my energy?And one of thethings that I've kind of realized is, I actually want to eventually justcompletely pull back on one on one work or if I have to it's kind of morehigher-priced and it's very limited. And I think one of the ways that you cando that is through online courses and membership sites. I think there's like alot of information online about how to do these, all of that kind of stuff. ButI wanted to hear from you, because you had an online course, you transitionedinto a membership site, you're actually doing it and yeah, I'm just sograteful, I think for this conversation.Jennifer:Yeah, thank you so much for letting me to share my story. Yes, I did have a course and I was inthe same situation that you have just said, I was seeing clients and I had beenseeing clients at that point for probably seven years or so in private practiceand even more before that, before I started my private practice, and I did getto the point where- I was going to say burnout, but I just wanted to dosomething different because I specialize in eating disorders.I felt likeeveryone's story is very different in a way. But I was seeing the same thingover and over again and I just thought to myself; I really want to work with Dietitians,as well to teach them all of the knowledge that I've learned over the years, fromworking with clients and my own supervision and just everything that I'velearned about business.So that's when Istarted my second company pursuing private practice. And pursuing privatepractice really was for Dietitians to start and grow a business. So long storyshort, it started out as a book series, it turned into a DIY course, and thenit kind of morphed itself into a group program/business coaching, hot seat,stuff Facebook group, and it just got way too big for a one time purchase and Ifelt like I was coaching forever.So I turned itinto a membership and that membership Dietician Business School has really doneawesome in the past six months since it's been open, and I've been able tobring on team members and really help Dietitians in a way that feels so good,because I'm giving them so much support. And I'm not burnout, because it's amembership versus a one-time course payment. So I'm happy to talk and elaborateon that process, because it was a journey to transfer it from a course to anactual membership.Melvin:Yeah, I know. Itis quite a bit of a journey. So for those of you guys are listening, I had avery similar process, I guess back in like 2018, where I had my health casterspodcasting course and then it was a single payment. And then I got to thispoint where for me I hated doing these launches, and I hated the like you saidthe one off kind of payments. And then I just began to think about how I thinkthe question that you just or the statement that you said, of thinking about yourown personal health and how do you sort of scale this while preserving thataspect, right?Jennifer:Yes, definitely. Ithink courses are great, and for anyone out there interested in even doing acourse I think courses are really great for information, and really awesome tostart someone on a journey. But let's face it; a lot of times the businessgurus out there that are teaching people how to sell courses are basicallysaying, “Oh, it's passive income, create once and sit on the beach and watchyour money roll in.” Which I absolutely hate; I feel like it's diet culture in whatI do, I'm an eating disorders dietician.So I feel likeit's this false message of hope. But yet, the reality of it is that your peopleare going to have questions, they are going to need to process and theinformation, and they are going to want to bounce ideas off of somebody, and youcan provide more than just the information as a course. But if you do thatyou're probably creating a Facebook group or you're having people come to groupcalls. And that in my opinion, I have learned kind of the hard way like, that'sa membership, that's not a course.So I was doingthis one time course all the way up until I probably knew I needed to changeJanuary 2020, before the pandemic, but once March hit, what happened to me wasjust, “Oh my Gosh, my people need help.” So I added extra group calls to mycourse, I added more prompts in my Facebook group. I added so many differentworkshops and things like that. And I saw that my Dietitians were getting somany results from it, they were actually doing better.And this was whereCOVID was really starting to hit our at least in the United States, like inMarch was starting to hit our country and people with eating disorders werereally struggling. So the Dietitians are really struggling and no one reallyknew what was going on. So I felt like all the support that I gave my Dietitiansin my course, was so helpful and I could see the results happening I could seepeople making better connections and I almost created a little bit of a mockmembership in that Facebook group and group calls. And then I decided likeokay, this is working, but I need to really officially change my businessmodel.Melvin:Yeah, that's cool.So a lot of really great information, I want to like break it down here. Sopractical kind of tools; the group was on what? Was it on Facebook? Or was iton? Where was the group on?Jennifer:The course startedout as information in teachable. I use teachable and I really like teachablealthough you can use whatever platform you want. I did information in teachableand then we had a Facebook group and we had zoom group calls once a month justas a quick QA and it was great. It was awesome to connect with people.But I personallydon't feel like that's enough of a connection for a lot of people like peopleneed constant reminders, people need to feel supported, people need to process.So once COVID hit, I really stepped up to the plate and I said my people needme. And granted meanwhile, Melvin I know you know what it's like to havechildren at home. My two kids were home. We lost our babysitting for a couplemonths. But looking back, I don't even know how I did that. But I did it. Butyeah, we were meeting over zoom with a group call. So you would see in my oldcourse site, it was literally like 15 group calls just one after the other.That's not a course that's a membership.Melvin:Yeah, it's such agood way. So you notice, like you looked at the practical schedule, and youwere like, “Oh my Gosh, this isn't sustainable.” You said it so clearly,though. But like, this is not a course this is a membership; was it as clearcut in your mind? Or was this like, “Oh my Gosh, I'm going to betrayed mymembers, or like all of that?Jennifer:It was clear cutin my mind. But how do I say this, it was not clear cut in my heart, maybe inmy soul. My brain knew that I needed to switch. But my heart had a really hardtime with it. Because I felt like I was going betray the Dietitians that hadsigned up for my course and I had a little bit of imposter syndrome, like “Whoam I to run a membership program for Dietitians in business?” Because I feellike everyone has imposter syndrome when they start something new.I really just feltlike, “Oh my Gosh, what if people don't like it,” that scary type of feeling.But then I thought to myself, and there are so many parallels, in my opinionwith running a business and eating disorder recovery, which is what I focus onin my practice. My clients do hard things all the time, they really battleeating disorder thoughts, and behaviours and feelings every single day, likesometimes even every single hour, and to think about all the clients that I havehelped and I've said to them, “You can do hard things.”I kind of said tomyself, I can do hard things and I can make decisions from a place of where Iwant to be, and almost by making that decision, I hope to inspire other peopleand other business owners that they can make those hard decisions too. And noteveryone is going to like your decision and that just goes without saying evenif you were to stay in the same exact model, some people are not going to likethat decision. So you have to almost make a decision based on what's best foryou as an act of self-care.Melvin:How do you dealwith that part? Because that's the part I often struggle with, which is knowingthere's going to be a percentage of people that will be upset by this.Jennifer:Yes. Oh, my Goshyeah. And honestly, I don't know if I have a great answer with that, because Ifeel like some people are more sensitive than others. Some people are moreempathetic than others. Some people just feel other people's energy. But Ithink what I said to myself is, you are going to have some people that are not goingto like this decision, but you have to think about what's best for you becauseif you burn out, there's going to be no online business. And you really want todo this; this is your passion. This is your calling, I almost felt like I knowthat it's a little Woo but I love it. Like this is my calling and his is what Iwant to do. And I think also to seeing other people's memberships, and not inlike a comparison type of way. But seeing other people's memberships reallywork and being a part of other people's memberships. It helps casters includedbecause I was a part of health casters for a long time; I saw that people weredoing it and I saw that other people are turning their models into memberships too.So that was really helpful to see other people reaching goals that I wanted todo as well.Melvin:I think that's areally good point. And I would say for those of you guys are listening, onething that was really helpful for me, I don't know that I thought about it, andit but I feel like there's a common overlap between our two courses in that Ithink there's some wisdom, even if you want to start with an online course.Initially, I thinkthere's some wisdom in just thinking like, is the content of this onlinecourse? Is it possible to move it or scale it into a membership model? Like,can you add things like, I don't know, I can't think of a tangible example ofhim where that wouldn't be beneficial. But I don't know. Just asking thatsimple question, I think was really helpful for me.Jennifer:Yeah, definitely, Ithink it also depends on your content and your mission too. And for me, I teachDietitians, especially non-diet dietitians, which is like anti-diet, eatingdisorder recovery, intuitive eating, and weight inclusive dietitians like I'min a very special, specific niche.Jennifer:I teach dietitians how to run abusiness from that lens. Diet Culture is everywhere. There are mixed messageswith marketing everywhere my people need to process, they need to experiment,they need to try, they have questions on not just business stuff, but clinicalcases. We all need a lot of support, especially my dietitians; we need acommunity and a lot of support sometimes, because we're battling against dietculture, which is so normal, especially if we're recording in January,especially this time of year. So it's important for them to feelsupported. And I just felt like I couldn't give the amount of support that Iwanted to give in a onetime course. I almost needed to hold their hand withmore group calls and more accountability, more team members, more people otherthan me, which I couldn't really afford to do when it was a onetime thing. NowI can bring on a lot more people, which is really awesome.Melvin:That is really awesome. What are thecomponents now? What were the components when it was just a one off course?Like it was the course the community and then a monthly coaching? What is itnow?Jennifer:Okay, so I'll tell you my mistakewith the course, which for anyone listening, you can totally learn from mymistake. The mistake with the course was that it was just a course and peoplewere paying for a course. And then I added Facebook group, I added the groupcalls. So they didn't expect it almost at first. And again, my course startedin 2017. Once it grew, and I was launching over and over again, I would talk toyou about these things, but that was my mistake to kind of just do that just,here you go, which I love doing. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret anythingI've done. Now a Dietitian Business School is,well, first of all, when I decided to revamp the course, I should say this isimportant. I decided it was time for an update because that's another thingthat a lot of the business gurus don't tell you. They say make a course andrecord once, and then you're going to be making money in your sleep and you cango on vacation all the time, you don't have to work. And that's like totallynot true. So you have to really record your information in a course. I don'tknow what you would say, Melvin every two, three years, ma…

Full show notes at the publisher

ENCORE: Building A Personal Brand On Social Media Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

If the topic of building your personal brand on social media brings feelings of anxiety and insecurity, then today’s show is for you. As clinicians, we know it makes sense to have a digital footprint in the online world, but it’s difficult to know just how to establish yourself with authenticity and transparency. There are so many nuances to the intimidating world of social media! Today’s conversation will give you valuable insight and practical tips to help people get to know, like, and trust you. Join us to learn more.

Our Featured Guest-Lisa Mustard, LMFT

Lisa Mustard is a personal brand coach, psychoeducator, therapist, podcaster, and self-described personal development junkie in South Carolina. This mom of two has created an awe-inspiring presence on social media around topics like fitness, health, mindset, and goals. Recording with her phone, Lisa proves that a high-quality, high-dollar studio is not a requirement for building your personal brand, and she does it in very unique and authentic ways. Lisa joins us to talk about what personal branding is, how much to share, and that all-important line between OK and TMI. We’ll wrap up with the most common mistake people make in personal branding and three tips that you can utilize today to start building your personal brand on social media.

Lisa Mustard

You’ll Learn

● What is a personal brand? Your reputation, what people say about you, and what you’re known for

● The best way to narrow your brand down to three specific things is to identify your top values and priorities

● Why you have to be clear and specific about how you want to move forward on social media

● How to decide how much to share online

● The most common mistake people make is----not taking the time to build a personal brand

● Three tips for a clinician who wants to build a personal brand:

○ Identify your strengths, uniqueness, and how you help people

○ Know your values and what you stand for

○ Know where you want to go and what you want to accomplish

● Why you should realize that not everyone will resonate with your message---and that’s OK

● Why social media is the best place to build your personal brand

Today’s Podcast Sponsor: Headway

Headway: Headway is building a new mental healthcare

system by using cutting-edge software to connect clients with therapists who

accept insurance, helping providers to expand their practices, and individuals

to finally find a therapist they can afford.

Solo and group practices in network through Headway can get better

rates, get paid automatically twice per month (no more rejected claims or

delayed payments), and get complimentary billing and admin support so you can

focus on serving your clients. And the best part...Headway is paid by insurance

companies, so it’s free for us to use.

Solo and group practices out of network through Headway also get

full admin support and access to the vast pool of potential clients who need to

use their insurance to pay for care. And the best part...Headway is paid by

insurance companies, so it’s free for us to use.

Learn More at https://sellingthecouch.com/headway

RESOURCES TO GUIDE YOUR BUSINESS JOURNEY

Disclosures: Please note that all opinions are my own and based on my personal experience. Sponsors are acknowledged. Some links in the description are affiliate links where if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission at no additional cost to you. I use these funds to continue to create helpful content to serve our field. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

MY FREE ONLINE WORKSHOPS (These Can Be Watched At A Date/Time That Works For You):

🎙️ Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business (Lessons Learned From 9 Downloads On Day 1 To 1.2 Million And a 7 Income Stream Business)

💻 How To Launch And Grow A Successful Online Course (Lessons Learned From A $297 First Sale To $150k Online Course)

MY FREE GUIDES:

🎤 Start your Podcast: The QuickStart Guide

🖥️ The A To Z Online Course

MY COURSES:

🎧 The Healthcasters (A podcasting course + community for helpers/healers):

💻 Online Course School (A course to create, sell, and grow a successful online course): COMING IN 2022 (please feel free to download the online guide course above and I can keep you updated as I'm trying to build this with ample input and care including a chance to work 1 on 1 with me!):

MY FAVORITE SOFTWARE:

🧳 My Podcast Hosting Platform (Captivate-Includes 7 Day Free Trial):

🚀 My All In One Online Business Platform (Kartra-Includes 14 Day Free Trial):

🤖 What I Use For Evergreen Webinars (Easy Webinar)

🌐 My Website Host (SiteGround-Includes Discount)

🎨 My WebSite Theme (Divi)

MY FAVORITE GEAR:

❤️ STC Home Office Tour!

📔 My Online Counseling + Coaching Gear

🎥 My YouTube + Live Streaming Camera Gear

SUBSCRIBE TO THE STC PODCAST:

Since 2015, I've hosted a weekly podcast where I interview successful therapists in private practice and other business owners to help us grow our impact + income in and beyond the therapy room.

The podcast has been downloaded over 1.2 million times and is heard in over 140 countries.

You can find also it by searching “Selling The Couch” on any podcast app (eg: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify etc) or simply saying "Alexa, listen to Selling The Couch" on your Amazon device. =

Or simply click below for ease =).

SUBSCRIBE HERE

LET'S BE FRIENDS:

💌 Sign up to receive the free A To Z Online Course Guide + receive the weekly STC email newsletter (trusted by over 7k colleagues)

🌍 My website / blog

📸 Instagram (I mainly post "behind the scenes" stuff about my life and business)

WHO'S THIS GUY?

Hi. I'm Melvin. I'm a psychologist (PhD), entrepreneur, and online creator living in Philadelphia, PA.

In 2014, I began to think about how to use the therapy skills we learn in grad school, and in our clinical work into different realms (e.g., podcasting, consulting, online course creation, etc).

This allows us to serve others on larger scales while diversifying our income beyond 1 to 1 work.

I make podcasts and videos about business, tech, productivity, and lessons I'm learning from becoming the CEO of a lean, mean 5 person 100% remote team (we're not really mean..it just rhymed =P).

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

ENCORE: Writing a Children's Book Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever considered writing a children’s book? I’ll admit that I’ve thought about it, and it might be a new endeavor in my future. Writing a children’s book takes creativity and planning, and much perseverance is required to navigate the publishing process. Join me as I talk to a longtime friend who has been through the process and published two children’s books.

Our Featured Guest

Amy Jivani

Amy is a childhood friend of mine who has become a children’s book author. Her latest book, Meera’s Flowers, tells the story of a young girl celebrating an Indian holiday while living in America. She also wrote More Than Words: A Book About Body Language, a story about body language and feelings. Amy is a former first-grade teacher who is inspired by her students and her cultural background to write children’s books with ethnically diverse characters. Amy shares with us where she gets ideas for books and how the creative process works. We also discuss the concept of self-publishing compared to the traditional publishing route. We wrap up with Amy’s insights into the hardest part about writing and releasing a book during a pandemic.

www.amyjivani.com

You’ll Learn:

● Where Amy’s inspiration came from for Meera’s Flowers

● Amy’s advice for other aspiring writers:

○ Write something you can champion.

○ Storyboard your ideas as you begin.

● How the traditional publishing route requires resilience and seems like a “closed club”

● Why Amy decided not to self-publish her first book

● How Amy realized that creative stories could teach and reinforce important concepts to children in more memorable ways

● How Amy gives herself creative space to think and produce rather than setting aside a disciplined time slot

● The hardest part of what Amy has accomplished: getting publishers to see the quality of what she wrote and releasing a book during a pandemic when typical book promotion is a no-go

● How Amy handles the newfound attention of being a published author with humility

RESOURCES TO GUIDE YOUR BUSINESS JOURNEY

MY FREE ONLINE WORKSHOPS (These Can Be Watched At A Date/Time That Works For You):

🎙️ Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business (Lessons Learned From 9 Downloads On Day 1 To 1.2 Million And a 7 Income Stream Business)

💻 How To Launch And Grow A Successful Online Course (Lessons Learned From A $297 First Sale To $150k Online Course)

MY FREE GUIDES:

🎤 Start your Podcast: The QuickStart Guide

🖥️ The A To Z Online Course

MY COURSES:

🎧 The Healthcasters (A podcasting course + community for helpers/healers):

MY FAVORITE SOFTWARE:

🧳 My Podcast Hosting Platform (Captivate-Includes 7 Day Free Trial):

🚀 My All In One Online Business Platform (Kartra-Includes 14 Day Free Trial):

🤖 What I Use For Evergreen Webinars (Easy Webinar)

🌐 My Website Host (SiteGround-Includes Discount)

🎨 My WebSite Theme (Divi)

MY FAVORITE GEAR:

❤️ STC Home Office Tour!

📔 My Online Counseling + Coaching Gear

🎥 My YouTube + Live Streaming Camera Gear

SUBSCRIBE TO THE STC PODCAST:

Since 2015, I've hosted a weekly podcast where I interview successful therapists in private practice and other business owners to help us grow our impact + income in and beyond the therapy room.

The podcast has been downloaded over 1.2 million times and is heard in over 140 countries.

Or simply click below for ease =).

SUBSCRIBE HERE

LET'S BE FRIENDS:

💌 Sign up to receive the free A To Z Online Course Guide + receive the weekly STC email newsletter (trusted by over 7k colleagues)

🌍 My website / blog

📸 Instagram (I mainly post "behind the scenes" stuff about my life and business)

WHO'S THIS GUY?

Hi. I'm Melvin. I'm a psychologist (PhD), entrepreneur, and online creator living in Philadelphia, PA.

In 2014, I began to think about how to use the therapy skills we learn in grad school, and in our clinical work into different realms (e.g., podcasting, consulting, online course creation, etc).

This allows us to serve others on larger scales while diversifying our income beyond 1 to 1 work.

I make podcasts and videos about business, tech, productivity, and lessons I'm learning from becoming the CEO of a lean, mean 5 person 100% remote team (we're not really mean..it just rhymed =P).

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

320: 5 Lessons I Learned After 2 Cohort-Based Course Launches Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

Today’s solo episode is the last one before we take an extended summer break for August. We will return with new episodes in September and October before I plan a sabbatical of several months.

Today’s focus is on cohort-based courses, which are becoming very popular in the world of online education. It’s a very powerful model that I truly love. Join me for a closer look as I share what I’ve learned so far!

5 lessons I’ve learned about CBCs:

It truly gets easier the second time around, but the first time is a lot of work.
There are tweaks you may have to make in real-time.
Guest workshops are very high leverage.
Use the “I-do, we-do, you-do” framework.
Realize that a CBC is a lot of work, so beware of having multiple endeavors go on at the same time.

Check out our Online Course Guide for more information!

Mentioned in this episode:

Ready to create your own course? Download the FREE Online Course Guide!

Learn how to create and market your own online course in Melvin's unique online course guide. Download the FREE online course guide today!

Online Course Guide

Try Alma!

319: 9 Ways to Turn Your Podcast Into A Money-Making Machine Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

Before I started this podcast in 2015, I had rolled the idea around in my head over and over again. The problem was that I was full of fears and apprehension, and I just wasn’t sure that I could make it work like I wanted. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to help almost 300 of my colleagues build their online businesses through podcasting, and I’ve learned what to do and what not to do. I’m sharing helpful tips today to help you transform your podcast into a money-making machine. Join me to learn more!

You’ll Learn:

9 Ways to Turn Your Podcast into a Money-Making Machine

Record coaching calls.
This is a way to use interactions with current clients/students to drive future sales, share your expertise, and genuinely connect with someone.
Introduce solo episodes.
This is a powerful way to build authority on topics that highlight your expertise while promoting your product or service.
Show your humanity.
This is a way to show your personality and connect with others authentically.
Use private podcast episodes.
These are targeted, independent episodes on very specific topics. (Example: Build a Second Brain by Tiago Forte)
Use dynamic ads.
These are dynamic ads used across all your podcast episodes, which translates to higher sales and higher relevance. (Check out www.sellingthecouch.com/captivate)
Demonstrate value elsewhere.
You can point your audience to a free guide, webinar, course, ebook to create more value and make you more valuable to your audience.
Use strategic invitations.
Try to find strategic partnerships in your niche and promote high-value speakers for your audience.
Collect emails early.
An email list is your online business’ secret weapon to create an audience you own and collect customer research through surveys.
Create a consistent schedule.
A schedule creates routines that your audience can count on.

I hope these tips are helpful for you! If you want to know more, sign up for my podcasting workshop: www.sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop.

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Ready to create your own course? Download the FREE Online Course Guide!

Learn how to create and market your own online course in Melvin's unique online course guide. Download the FREE online course guide today!

Online Course Guide

318: Why You Should Not Just Build a Social Media Following with Craig Morris Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

Today’s topic is relevant to many different types of businesses and entrepreneurs, and it’s something I have pondered along my own journey. We are taking a look at owning an audience compared to “renting” an audience through social media platforms. Social media can be overwhelming with many challenges, and the number of followers is not always a reflection of the success of a business. Join us to learn strategies to help you own your audience!

Our Featured Guest

Craig Morris

Craig Morris works with creators to monetize their knowledge. He has worked at Google for the past seven years, and we connected through our mutual friend Kevin Shen, a previous STC guest. Craig has learned a lot about the power of social media, email lists, and more, and he’s sharing his tips and strategies with us. If you’ve debated the merits of creating an email list and wondered if it’s worthwhile, you will find today’s conversation helpful and informative. As a reminder, please note that Craig is sharing his opinions and insights and not necessarily those of his employer.

LinkedIn

You’ll Learn:

Why focusing on the numbers of your social media following may not be best because of the risks
Why relying too heavily on your social media following means you are “renting” your audience
Craig’s recommended strategies for owning the audience you have created via social media: “If they are only a social media follower, they are one extra step away from being converted to a customer.”
Ideas about creating an email list or opt-in, while understanding you typically need to give something away in exchange for that information
Craig’s thoughts on platforms for email automation, lead generation, landing pages, etc. (Apollo, Sendinblue, and Hubspot are a few options.)
Practical tips for top converting strategies to use, both proactive and more passive formats
How to find contentment and satisfaction in knowing how much is “enough”

Mentioned in this episode:

Ready to create your own course? Download the FREE Online Course Guide!

Learn how to create and market your own online course in Melvin's unique online course guide. Download the FREE online course guide today!

Online Course Guide

Try Alma!

317: A Niche Working With Incarcerated Men Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

Today’s session is atypical and very specific, but I think it’s a relevant and timely focus. The topic of supporting incarcerated men has been something I’ve thought about for a long time because the need is great, and I have a heart for those clinicians who do this difficult work. I want to learn and understand more about this field, so I hope you’ll join me for today’s conversation.

Our Featured Guest

Robert Fields, LPA

Robert Fields is a Licensed Psychological Associate in Durham, NC. His 15-year career has included a variety of clients, including veterans, adjudicated youth in the juvenile justice system, and individuals with developmental disabilities. His current focus is on incarcerated men within the prison system. Ever active in his community with youth and adults, he works to educate and reduce the stigma by making mental health a more relatable, useful, and transparent topic. Robert and I recently connected on Twitter, and I’m excited to learn more about his work in this field.

Twitter and Instagram

You’ll Learn:

Why Robert chose to work with incarcerated men, despite his initial hesitancy
How Robert figured out that being present is the most important element in his work, whether working with juveniles or adults
How Robert depends on his personal experience to understand how people make poor choices
Robert’s advice to those who want to work with incarcerated individuals:
Don’t lose sight of their humanity.
Be consistent, respectful, and fair above all else.
Have well-defined boundaries.
How Robert maintains optimism in this challenging environment

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Ready to create your own course? Download the FREE Online Course Guide!

Learn how to create and market your own online course in Melvin's unique online course guide. Download the FREE online course guide today!

Online Course Guide