This episode kicks off a brand-new bonus series inside Confident Copy: alumni check-in sessions.

Think of this like a post-discharge check-in—where therapists who’ve already completed Confident Copy come back with real questions about what they’re noticing in their marketing now. What’s working, what’s slowing down, and where they’re unsure how to adapt in a changing market.

In this first session, I answer two thoughtful questions from alumni who are seeing slower inquiries despite having strong websites and clear niches. We talk honestly about social media fatigue, fears around AI replacing therapy, and why some of the most effective marketing strategies right now are also the least flashy.

If you’ve been wondering how to adjust your marketing without chasing every new platform or trend, this episode will help you refocus on what actually drives high-quality inquiries today.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

1️⃣ The difference between attention and intent—and why that distinction matters more than ever in therapist marketing

2️⃣ Why social media isn’t where most therapy decisions are actually being made

4️⃣ Why networking still works—and how to network with the right people

Resources & Links Mentioned:

1. Join Confident Copy: https://walkerstrategyco.com/cc
2. 22. Where Are All The Clients?: https://walkerstrategyco.com/show-notes/22
3. The Walker Strategy Co website: https://walkerstrategyco.com

Connect + Subscribe

Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe so you never miss an episode—and feel free to share it with a fellow therapist who’s building their private practice.

Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com

About Marketing Therapy

Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.

Hey everyone.

2

Welcome back to Marketing Therapy.

3

This is a really special episode.

4

I'm excited to be diving in.

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This is our first alumni check-in session.

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This is a bonus we just added to the

7

month or so, I'm going to be answering

questions from our Confident Copy alumni.

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So just like you would have a check-in

session with a client after they

9

discharged, maybe you hear from

someone a couple months later to

10

just kind of come in and check in.

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That's what these episodes

are designed to be.

12

So anytime after a confident copy

student graduates, they can now submit

13

questions to me about their marketing.

14

They can give me in-depth context

about what it is that they're thinking

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about, what they're not sure of, what

they want advice on, and I'm gonna

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answer them in these special sessions.

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This is exactly what I would

share with these students if we

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were sitting down one-on-one.

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But you get to listen in

on the check-in session.

20

We wrapped up our Confident Copy live

promotion last week, and the cohort got

21

to kick off together yesterday, actually.

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It was fantastic getting to meet all

these amazing clinicians and now the

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curriculum is available in self-paced

format whenever you'd like, so you

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can dive right into the Confident copy

process, go through it at your own pace,

25

and get lifetime access to all of the

updates we make in the future, including

26

access to these alumni check-in sessions.

27

So today I'm gonna be answering two

different questions, one from Kirsten and

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one from Noor, and there's some overlap

in my answers here, which is why I chose

29

to combine them into this single session.

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The first one comes from Kirsten.

31

She is based in Rancho Cucamongo,

California and specializes in EMDR,

32

anxiety, women with narcissistic

parents, and she's facing

33

what a lot of you are facing.

34

She wrote to me, she said, for

many therapists, myself included,

35

there are very little bites from

perspective clients recently.

36

Between cost of living and AI

as replacement for therapy, I'm

37

seeing a reduction in interest.

38

I've refined my niche present on

social media and recently hired

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an SEO company to help me blog and

fix mistakes I made to my website.

40

Since finishing Confident Copy, oops,

I'm wondering what creative ways we can

41

funnel perspective clients to my site.

42

They spend hours on social media and

consulting chat GPT about their issues.

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How can we use these platforms

to get people to my website?

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Alright, so a really great question.

45

Like I said, there are likely

those of you listening right

46

now who resonate with this.

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Maybe you too are noticing

a slowdown in inquiries.

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That's something that we heard

from a lot of clinicians last year.

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And while we've talked about many

times recently on the podcast, the fact

50

that the data shows that people are

still very much looking for therapy,

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that being successful as a private pay

practice is still very much possible.

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How we're responding to

that, how we're getting those

53

inquiries is needing to change.

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And so Kirsten is really wise

in thinking about, okay, what

55

do I need to do differently?

56

People are spending hours

on social media and chat.

57

GBT, how do we use those platforms

to get people to our website?

58

So there's a couple things

I wanna chat about here.

59

One, just because people are spending

time somewhere does not mean they're

60

looking for a therapist there.

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And I mean this particularly in regards

to social media Kirsten shared, which

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is very true that her clients are

spending lots and lots of time on

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social media and that's very, very true.

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But just because people spend time on a

platform does not mean they are there.

65

Looking for a therapist.

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And so it's really important when

you're deciding how to market

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yourself, that you are distinguishing

between attention and intent.

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So attention is people are giving

social media their attention, but

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what is their intent on that platform?

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They might be consuming information,

but are they there to make decisions?

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That's what we wanna suss

out when deciding where to

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focus your marketing efforts.

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So often you are told that visibility

equals clients get on more platforms,

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be more visible, get more clients,

and in some regards that's true.

75

Visibility is critical so

that people actually know you

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exist and get to your website.

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But that's not all therapy decisions

actually work when people are displaying

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intent and interest in your services.

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So your marketing's job is to meet people

at their moment of intent, not at a

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moment of distraction or consumption.

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And that's often where the disconnect

is when it comes to social media in

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particular, I mean, we get on social

media to distract ourselves, to regulate

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ourselves, as unhealthy as that may be.

84

To entertain, to avoid, not necessarily

to go looking for a therapist, right?

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But on the therapy side, people

are making decisions about therapy.

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When something gets intolerable, right,

it crosses some sort of threshold.

87

The coping strategies that

used to work don't anymore.

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They say, I need help out loud to someone,

and they're resourced enough to act.

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That isn't necessarily congruent with

social media, so high volume platforms,

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people we're spending a lot of time, or

where there are lots of people aren't

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necessarily high intent platforms.

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And so when it comes to social media in

particular, I wanted to break that down

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and make sure that we're operating from

the same sort of place of understanding.

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I do wanna offer a caveat.

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This is not to say that social media

cannot work with a correct strategy.

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Can you get clients from Instagram?

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Absolutely.

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Does it require significant

effort, investment, and strategy?

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Yes.

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So this advice is more so for the

person who says, well, I'm on Instagram

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'cause I feel like I should be,

versus on Instagram with a very clear

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strategy because we wanna be meeting

people at that point of intent.

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Okay.

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Now when it comes to ai, we've

gotta focus on that here too, right?

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First and foremost, right?

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Fit, premium, fee motivated clients.

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Are not replacing therapy with Chat GPT.

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They might be using Chat GPT.

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They might be talking to Chat GPT

between sessions, but motivated,

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depth oriented therapy clients,

they recognize that Chat GPT cannot

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replace what a human can provide.

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And so if you're feeling fears

around ai, replacing therapists,

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while that's something to keep

our finger on the pulse of.

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No doubt about it as AI evolves,

but right now that's not something

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that clinicians who are targeting a

highly motivated and resourced client

116

needs to be laying awake at

night, thinking about or worrying

117

about in their marketing.

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AI we know is helpful for things

like insight and reflection and being

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told we're doing a good job, right?

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Maybe there are some short term coping

skills we could gain, but therapy is

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for that deeper relational change.

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It's for the accountability, it's

for the depth resolution, it's for

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the things that no robot can replace.

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Okay, so I just wanna calm

those fears a little bit that.

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Again, if you are doing a good job of

speaking to deeply motivated, resourced,

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interested, ready to do the work, clients.

127

AI is not a competitor to you

when it comes to someone deciding

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whether or not they're going

to book you as their therapist.

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Oftentimes, people aren't actually coming

to therapy because they lack information.

130

These days.

131

They're coming more educated

than they have ever been.

132

Thanks to Instagram, thanks to

ai, but they come to therapy.

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Premium fee clients come to therapy when

they realize that the insight and the

134

knowledge isn't enough, and they recognize

the value of what it means to sit down

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with a skilled human like yourself.

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Now, what do we do with this information?

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We've talked about intent here.

138

We've talked about the fact that social

media, while high volume is actually often

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low intent, and we've talked about where

AI is starting to fit into that puzzle.

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Now people are absolutely coming to

AI and asking for recommendations.

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And so I do wanna touch on that here

and how we can make it more likely

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for you to be surfaced in those

results, but first and foremost, I just

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wanna share what the data tells us.

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When we look at our state of the

industry survey and that report

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will be coming out later this month.

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When we look at the state of the industry

survey, we see that the boring unsexy

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tried and true stuff is still working.

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Directories still work.

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Are they gonna fill your caseload?

150

No, but they do still work when

it comes to attracting enough

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clients for a positive R-O-I-S-E-O,

referrals and networking Google ads.

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Why do these work?

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They work because they

are high intent channels.

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If I go to Google and I type in couples

therapist in Nashville, I'm probably

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interested in couples therapy in

Nashville, and I'm gonna be served results

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that are either organically ranking

through SEO or paid through Google Ads.

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If I'm talking to someone actually

saying out loud that I am interested

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in therapy, whether that is a friend

of mine, that is my physician, that

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is my acupuncturist, guess what?

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I'm probably interested in therapy.

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I am displaying high intent.

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If your marketing, again, can meet

people at their point of high intent,

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you are far more likely to get results

from what it is that you're doing.

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When your marketing is focused on lower

intent channels, there is far more

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legwork that that marketing has to do

to get people ready to work with you.

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People are already

looking on these channels.

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They're closer to a decision, and so while

you might get fewer inquiries, they're

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likely to be higher quality through

these channels because you're meeting

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people at that moment of high intent.

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Now, what about showing up in AI results?

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That is kind of an untapped

area of potential here.

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Right.

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And I wanna be really,

really clear about something.

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None of us know exactly how AI works yet.

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We have decades of information about SEO.

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We have the people who actually

develop the algorithms at Google

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telling us things over time.

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We have the leaked documents

that we got last year.

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We know a lot about how SEO works.

180

We don't know that about AI yet.

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And so any guidance and

experimenting with it is not gospel.

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We don't know yet.

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Everyone is still experimenting and

figuring things out, but what we can

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do is provide guidance based on what

we're seeing, based on the trends, based

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on when we do this, we notice this,

and when we do that, we notice this.

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But these actual models do

not have documented algorithms

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the way that SEO does.

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So I just wanna offer that caveat

when it comes to listening to advice

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out there about showing up in AI

results, just like you would probably

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be suspicious of someone saying, I'll

get you on page one of Google tomorrow.

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Anyone saying something similar

about AI needs to really be

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vetted before listening to now.

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What we know about AI

is that AI appreciates.

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Human language, things that are incredibly

consumable, clear, specific copy

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information that displays

your expertise and authority.

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Lots of things that a

good website already does.

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Okay?

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And quite frankly, lots of what

you learn in Confident Copy.

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We've heard from many confident copy

students that they are getting clients

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through Chat GPT because of what

they've developed in Confident copy.

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So Kirsten, you obviously are a graduate.

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You have a powerful website in place

that you have proven results from,

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and now you're seeing a little bit

of a slowdown, which I understand

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and is quite normal, right?

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Those ebbs and flows are real.

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But it's important to make sure,

especially as you start making some

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of these SEO updates, you mentioned

as you work with this company, that

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you continue to write in incredibly

client friendly language, that you have

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clear single topic, specialty pages.

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This is one thing we go through

really, really deeply in confident

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copy and something that might be

worth revisiting for our alumni.

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One of the best parts about

AI to me is the fact that.

213

Clinicians who maybe haven't been in

the game as long and who might struggle

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to rank organically on Google in

saturated markets, have opportunity.

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In ai, it's a little bit more

of a level playing field than it

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has been traditionally in Google.

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In SEO, one of the reasons for that

is you can get incredibly specific.

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You can have those micro

niches that we talk about.

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And that is because if you are

incredibly specific in your language

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and you have very clear and compelling

specialty pages that are relevant

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to things that people are talking

about, then you can potentially be

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surfaced in those conversations.

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We have an entire training and confident

copy called the Mighty Micro Niche.

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Alumni.

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If you haven't watched it, go back

and watch it if you're interested.

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Obviously that's part of the Confident

Copy curriculum, but I think micro

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niches are about to become more

and more relevant because of the

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opportunity it presents to ai.

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If I go to Chat GPT, having a

conversation about the fact that my

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husband had an affair and I don't

know what to do about it, pages.

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On websites that are specific to a

fair recovery, specific to infidelity.

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Maybe I want a faith-based clinician

specific, not just to infidelity, but

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also to having a faith basis of the work.

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I am more likely to show up than the

generic couples therapy page that maybe

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you've had on your website for years.

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So that's what I mean about clear

single topic specialty pages.

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That is not to say that you need

to consider every single possible

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scenario that your client would come

to therapy and make a page about it,

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but it does represent an opportunity

to get more specific in some of these

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topics, especially in the areas that

really light you up and make you

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excited to actually dedicate some

space on your website to those things.

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So where could you be

offering faith-based?

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A fair recovery work for your clients.

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Where could you be offering

something more specific?

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And that's where that mighty

micro niche approach is gonna be

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really, really powerful for you.

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So make sure that those are in place.

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Revisit your specialty pages,

consider adding additional ones.

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If you haven't touched that part of

your website in a while as an alumni.

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Answer real questions in your copy.

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Now, this is something we do in

Confident Copy, just by default,

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but make sure that the FAQs on your

specialty pages, for instance, are

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incredibly relevant to your clients.

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So not just what does anxiety

feel like, but how does

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anxiety affect my newborn baby?

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Or

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how are anxiety and perfectionism related?

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These are far more specific.

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Two, what your ideal client is

likely thinking than just what

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does anxiety feel like or how

do I know if I have it helpful?

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Psycho ed.

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Way better these days to go a

level deeper and to answer really

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relevant questions in your copy.

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And then consider the sound

bites on your website.

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Make your site quotable.

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Have you noticed that when you talk to

ai, especially if they are pulling from

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an existing website, they will pull

specific quotes from that website to.

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Actually answer your query.

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How could you be quotable?

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So by this I mean having that clear

niche statement we talk about in

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confident copy, using language like I'm

a licensed therapist who specializes

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in X, Y, Z, and making sure that that

is client friendly and relatable.

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How can we have some small sound

bites that summarize the work that

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you do that AI could easily pull from?

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So consider that as you're making

your way through your copy.

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Reread your homepage.

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Look for places.

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Could I pull this out and know

exactly what it is that Kirsten does?

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Again, what we teach in Confident

Copy teaches you how to do a lot of

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this, but it is worth revisiting.

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What does it look like to be quotable?

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That's like sentences that

can stand alone, right?

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If I could read this, would I

have a good sense of Kirsten?

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Just from this statement, really clear

positioning where you work, who you

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work with, what makes you different.

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Saying those in concise sentences,

really plain spoken client friendly

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descriptions of what it is that

people are struggling with.

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So rather than relational trauma

and complex PTSD, patterns of

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people pleasing and continuing to

attract wrong fit partners, right?

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We are taking the clinical language and

we are putting it into client friendly

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language and that concise who I help and

how statement, the niche statement that

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you write in confident copy and that you

can now work on with our Nelly AI coach.

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Make sure that that is present

on the website where relevant,

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and we show you kind of places

where that can be incorporated.

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But those are some

things to be evaluating.

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I'm not giving you some AI

specific marketing plan here

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because AI is looking at language.

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If you can have this language in place,

if you can be thinking about some really

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specific specialty page topics and

things like that, you are inherently

300

making your website more friendly to ai.

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So Kirsten, coming back to your question

of people spend hours on social media

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and Chat GPT, how do we use these

platforms to get people to our website?

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When it comes to social media, if

you're going to engage in that strategy,

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I recommend that you do so with an

incredibly clear plan and intention

305

for driving people to your website and

ultimately to book a consult with you.

306

What you might find instead is that

social media is not necessarily meeting

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your clients at their point of highest

intent, and instead, some of those,

308

again, unsexy, tried and true strategies

are better to lean into things like

309

networking, SEO, Google Ads, whatever

that might be on the AI side of things.

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I don't think that you need to be

concerned that AI is replacing you

311

or causing people to not reach out

because again, the right fit client

312

for you recognizes the value in you,

not in a language learning model.

313

And if you revisit some of the core

tenets of confident copy, if you

314

perhaps explore some additional micro

niches and specialty pages, you can

315

continue to make your website more

and more AI friendly over time.

316

I hope that's helpful for you,

Kirsten, and for those listening.

317

And now I wanna head into Noor's

question, which is similar and sort

318

of a double click down on some of the

guidance I just provided to Kirsten.

319

So Noor is based in downtown Boston

and she specializes in therapy

320

for daughters of immigrants.

321

I loved working with

Noor in Confident Coffee.

322

She's all about kind of helping those

daughters of immigrants live a life

323

that still feels like theirs without

losing or sacrificing their family,

324

their culture, but also themselves,

which is a really common tension that

325

children of immigrants often experience.

326

So nor said, when I get

clients, they are a perfect fit.

327

Amazing, and they often mention my

website is something that sold them

328

also amazing, you should see the

copy that Noor wrote in Confident.

329

Copy people are feeling that way for a

reason, but they're coming in slowly and I

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want to increase the number of referrals.

331

Awesome.

332

She said, I have a premier rate practice.

333

Excellent.

334

And I keep networking, but I'm

not getting referrals from the

335

people I've networked with.

336

Do you have strategies on how to find

the right people to network with?

337

So a really fantastic question and.

338

In Kirsten's question I mentioned that

networking continues to reign supreme.

339

It's one of those unsexy tried

and true strategies that the

340

data shows us gets clients.

341

But who the heck do you network with?

342

So I'm glad Noor asked this question.

343

Now, I want to remind you that if your

clients are a great fit, if they are

344

mentioning your website to you, then you

have an incredibly solid foundation here.

345

If you're sitting here listening

right now and you don't have that

346

in place, then I would really.

347

Encourage you to make sure that

that foundation is there before

348

you go out and expend energy in

these other marketing strategies.

349

Because we know that it's

leading back to your website.

350

If your website isn't pulling

its weight, it's like pouring

351

water into a leaky bucket, right?

352

So Noor has this incredibly

solid foundation.

353

Now we need to be building on that.

354

Now, networking is incredibly interesting

because networking is a volume game.

355

You might talk to a hundred different

networking contacts through.

356

Facebook connections and zoom chats

and business cards, whatever, you only

357

really need a handful to be fruitful.

358

But it's incredibly common when

reaching out to people for the first

359

time that you're not gonna vibe,

that you're not gonna hear back,

360

that they're not necessarily gonna

send you a solid stream of referrals.

361

And so it can be incredibly discouraging

to feel like you're expending all of

362

this energy into networking and to

not get the results that you want.

363

And so I just wanna encourage.

364

Both you Noor.

365

And those listening, that networking

is a volume game that it is about

366

continuing the practice of reaching

out and putting yourself out there

367

even when you don't hear back, even

when it doesn't feel like a good fit,

368

even when you don't get a referral.

369

The beauty of networking is that when

you come across someone who does send you

370

regular referrals, you get to foster that

relationship in an incredibly natural way,

371

and those referrals can continue to come.

372

So this isn't necessarily that

you're doing anything wrong,

373

but it sounds like we don't have

enough alignment and volume here.

374

So what do we do with that?

375

Now one good conversation with someone

does not equal referrals, right?

376

Maybe it does, sometimes it does.

377

Rarely.

378

10 good conversations doesn't necessarily

either, which is the discouraging part.

379

So you might make a lot of connections,

but if you can land on a few aligned

380

ones, then really you need three,

four consistent referral partners for

381

this to actually be really, really

meaningful and fruitful for you.

382

So if it feels like your conversations

are going nowhere, or I thought we

383

clicked, but they never sent me a

referral, know that that is normal.

384

I remember hearing from a confident

copy student that she received a

385

referral from someone that she had

connected with six months prior.

386

It's just not a black and

white situation with networking

387

and nor I know you know this.

388

I'm more offering this to everyone else

that's listening, but when we enter

389

into networking expecting referrals,

we are bound to be disappointed.

390

If instead you enter into networking with

an interest in learning about the person

391

across from you with a spirit of curiosity

about the work that they do and how you

392

might be able to send clients their way.

393

If it is more of a service and an

organic desire to learn than it is a

394

desire for transaction, you're likely

to have far more fruitful relationships.

395

But like I said, it's still a volume game

and most of the volume probably isn't

396

going to turn into referrals, but that's

actually how this is supposed to work.

397

So if you have been dedicating yourself

to this and not seeing results, I'm

398

going to encourage you to keep following

up with those folks you did click with.

399

Keep looking for new opportunities

to connect, and I'm gonna

400

give you some examples here.

401

Keep going because this

strategy does work.

402

But it doesn't work automatically

and it doesn't work with just

403

a handful of conversations.

404

Now.

405

We talk a lot in this podcast and

confident copy and everything that we

406

do, all about the importance right now of

being specific, how specificity is more

407

in demand from your clients than it's

ever been, and it's also more effective

408

on the marketing side than it's ever been.

409

So, rather than the kind of generic

networking that perhaps you've done you

410

know, knocking on doctor's offices doors,

or dropping off business cards at your

411

local coffee shop, I'm gonna encourage

you to think about who is already

412

encountering my ideal client at a point

of need, who is already encountering

413

my ideal client at a point of need.

414

Okay.

415

The lowest hanging fruit when it

comes to networking that I don't see

416

enough clinicians taking advantage of.

417

Are you ready?

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Continuity of care.

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If you have someone on your caseload who

has another provider, a psychiatrist, a

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primary care physician, an ob, whatever

that might be, and you have not leveraged

421

the opportunity to connect to that

person to get an ROI, and then to speak

422

to that provider, you are missing out

on a fruitful potential relationship.

423

And one of the easiest ins with

someone else who we know is speaking

424

to your client at a point of need.

425

Okay.

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If you have not leveraged continuity

of care in your networking

427

strategy, now is the time.

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Truly the most underused networking

strategy that I see for therapists.

429

If they are already seeing your client,

then you can probably assume that they

430

have other ideal clients of yours on their

caseload that you just haven't met yet.

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And we all know that it's

incredibly difficult to get in

432

with other providers specifically.

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PCPs obs, other physicians, but

quite frankly, it can be challenging

434

to get in front of any provider.

435

This is an easy, natural, obvious in.

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So if you're not doing this yet,

get an ROI from your clients.

437

And reach out to that person again in a

spirit of curiosity and in a spirit of

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service to your client and to explore

ways that A, you can serve that client

439

better, and B, that they can be aware

of the incredible work that you do and

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you of them, so that this can become a

reciprocal and fruitful relationship.

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So continuity of care, number

one, recommendation here,

442

and I love that it focuses on

service to your existing client.

443

That is huge.

444

Alright, next up, I mentioned this

in an episode way back in the day

445

called Where are All the Clients?

446

And I'll link that in the show notes.

447

But the next area that I recommend

looking at are adjacent professionals

448

who are also serving premium clients.

449

Who else is out there serving

clients who have the resources

450

to pay out of pocket for services

and already value their wellness?

451

Who's out there doing that?

452

Where else is your ideal client already

investing time and money and indicating

453

intent in improving themselves?

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Acupuncturists, chiropractors, pelvic

floor PTs, concierge medical practices.

455

Functional medicine doctors, these

are often out of pocket providers

456

that are working with people who

value their wellness enough to pay out

457

of pocket, to invest in themselves,

and to invest in their wellbeing.

458

You should be talking to those folks

because chances are, if they're interested

459

enough and resourced enough to be going

to a pelvic floor PT, for instance,

460

that if they're also struggling with

postpartum anxiety, that you could

461

be a wonderful compliment to that.

462

And how often are you sitting down with

a client who in the middle of their

463

postpartum anxiety are also sharing

these physical symptoms with you?

464

How wonderful would it be to

be able to send them somewhere

465

you trust and you know about?

466

That's the beauty of these

adjacent professionals.

467

Traditionally, therapists have

networked with other doctors.

468

Again, the PCPs, the obs, and

those are fabulous psychiatrists.

469

But what about the other professionals?

470

What about the other wellness folks

that are also seeing that ideal client?

471

That is, again, an untapped place for

a lot of therapists to focus in on.

472

I shared in that where the client's

episode that I recently started

473

taking our son to a chiropractor,

474

he was displaying some sort of motor

delays and things like that, and

475

I wanted to explore that with him.

476

Turns out that the chiropractic office

that I go to has this little networking

477

library, and so if you're part of

their quote unquote family, they have

478

a list of everyone from a roofer to

probably a therapist that's in their

479

community that they're happy to refer to.

480

What might be out there for you?

481

Where are you already going that you

could be talking to someone about?

482

Get creative here.

483

Be open to putting yourself out there and

start thinking beyond the bounds of just

484

the traditional medical provider here.

485

Again, if I'm going to one of those

other providers, I value my wellbeing.

486

I'm indicating intent, and I'm likely

resourced, which is incredibly important

487

when you are a private pay practice.

488

Alright, and then finally we have our

therapist to therapist networking.

489

This is rich and it's also one

of the more challenging ones.

490

Now we think about therapist

to therapist, networking.

491

Kind of two buckets.

492

One are the adjacent niche therapists.

493

So these are people who are

overlapping around your ideal client.

494

They're not necessarily seeing your ideal

client in the same way that you are, but

495

they have the potential to refer to you.

496

So if you serve moms, you might

network with child therapists so

497

that they could refer moms to you.

498

If you work with individual men, you could

be networking with couples therapists.

499

If you specialize in ed, you

might be networking with trauma

500

therapists, for instance.

501

So where is their overlap?

502

Where is someone perhaps seeing

your ideal client if perhaps just

503

in passing that they could then.

504

Transfer and refer on to you.

505

So those are adjacent niche therapists.

506

And then they're same niche therapists.

507

I think there's a lot of

hesitancy to network with folks

508

who are in the same niche.

509

'cause it can feel competitive like

you're both looking for and seeking

510

out the same type of client, but.

511

I actually think that there's

really rich opportunity here.

512

There are often reasons that

someone needs to refer out.

513

It could be a scheduling thing.

514

It could certainly be that they're

full, but it doesn't have to be.

515

It could be that for whatever

reason, they aren't the right fit.

516

You do something different, even then the

other people in the same niche as you.

517

And so being open to having

those conversations and

518

forming those connections.

519

Can make it incredibly easy when

that other therapist of yours who

520

doesn't have Wednesday evening

availability, can fire that referral

521

off to you and again, reciprocity.

522

You potentially could be firing

someone back their way that isn't

523

the best fit for you for some reason.

524

So being open to both those

adjacent and same niche

525

therapist is incredibly helpful.

526

And again, entering into these

conversations with a spirit of curiosity,

527

learning about their practice, learning

about what they do differently.

528

Learning about what excites them.

529

Be curious.

530

Be interested, view this as a relationship

and an opportunity for connection.

531

Private practice is incredibly

isolating for many of you.

532

So rather than, I hope this

person sends me clients, what

533

can I learn about this person?

534

How might I be able to

send someone their way?

535

If I run across them?

536

What are they experiencing or

noticing in their practice that

537

I could learn from or appreciate?

538

Those are the types of questions

and thoughts to have as you

539

begin these conversations.

540

Now, I mentioned that we've been

talking a lot about specificity and

541

how that's just critical right now.

542

If networking is going to

work for you, you need to be

543

ridiculously easy to refer to.

544

That's one of the reasons having

a clear niche is so powerful.

545

Yes, it's powerful for your clients and

we teach you that in Confident Copy.

546

But one of the coolest things I hear

from Confident Copy alumni is how much

547

better their networking gets because

all of a sudden people remember them.

548

People cannot refer to you if they don't

remember you, and so you need to be

549

very, very easy to refer to rather than

having a single elevator pitch that you

550

share with every single person you meet.

551

I strongly encourage you to tailor

what you're saying based on who you're

552

talking to, change how you describe

your work, depending on the audience.

553

You're gonna talk to a fellow couples

therapist differently than you're gonna

554

talk to a pelvic floor PT differently

than you're gonna talk to another

555

clinician who also specializes in this.

556

So be willing to tailor this a little bit.

557

Don't feel stuck and bound

by just one single statement

558

or description of your work.

559

Think about who you're talking to and

what's gonna be most relevant to them.

560

What's gonna be most memorable to them.

561

If you are a therapist who doesn't

know, what makes you memorable,

562

doesn't know what makes you different,

we've got to figure that out first.

563

If this piece of the puzzle is gonna fall

into place, you have to be memorable.

564

You have to be easy to refer to

right now because there's so much

565

competing for those referral contacts.

566

Attention.

567

I want you to come to mind

immediately, and the only way you

568

do that is if you are specific and

you are clear about your niche.

569

All right, so Noor, I hope this is

helpful for you and got your gears

570

turning in some new directions.

571

Continuity of care.

572

Go do it.

573

If you're not yet, go do it.

574

Go do it more if you're already doing it.

575

But that is one of the lowest

hanging fruits I see for clinicians.

576

Complimentary professionals who

are also working with those premium

577

fee clients, go talk to them.

578

Go form connection, go get curious.

579

And then those other therapists

of yours, again, a volume game,

580

but very, very worth talking to.

581

Getting curious about connecting to not

just for the benefit to your practice,

582

but to you as a business owner and

as a therapist, getting to a point

583

where your practice receives regular

networking referrals, takes time.

584

It takes commitment.

585

It's gonna be discouraging at times.

586

Keep at it.

587

Continue working at this because

the data shows us that when you do

588

that, the results do come eventually.

589

So I really, really

encourage you around that.

590

All right.

591

That is it for our very first

alumni check-in session.

592

I hope this was useful for you,

Kirsten, and Noor certainly, but

593

everyone that is listening, that you

found some helpful nuggets and that

594

you also learned a little bit more

about how Confident Copy is equipping

595

these alumni to go out into the world.

596

The market is different right now.

597

We would be silly to not

realize that and acknowledge it.

598

And also when you keep your focus

in the right places, when you are

599

willing to evolve and pivot and

keep your head down, the results

600

do come and it's one of my favorite

things to cheer these folks on in.

601

Alright, thanks for being here today.

602

I can't wait for our next check-in

session and I'll see you next week.