Ever feel like the marketing strategies that once filled your caseload just aren’t cutting it anymore? You’re not alone. In this episode, I share my personal story from 2025—how I realized my own marketing systems needed a serious refresh and what I did about it. Whether you’re brand new to private practice or a seasoned therapist, staying flexible and connected to your business is non-negotiable right now.

We’ll dive into why the market has changed, why your clients’ expectations have evolved, and why that Psychology Today profile or “good enough” website might not be pulling its weight anymore. Most importantly, you’ll hear how getting scrappy—moving faster, testing, tweaking, and not waiting until things feel perfect—can help you regain momentum and confidence in your marketing.

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

1️⃣ Why relying on outdated marketing strategies can quietly stall your private practice—and how to spot when it’s happening to you.

2️⃣ What “getting scrappy” really looks like in your marketing (spoiler: it’s not about being sloppy—it’s about staying connected and moving forward).

3️⃣ How cultivating a flexible, evolving relationship with your marketing helps you fill your caseload in today’s more discerning, competitive client market.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Confident Copy: walkerstrategyco.com/cc
• The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com
• Join the Confident Copy waitlist: walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist

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 me—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, hey, welcome back to

Marketing Therapy episode 16.

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I'm excited about this one.

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I'm gonna share a little bit about my

personal journey so far here in 2025,

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because I don't think this year has

been something any of us quite expected.

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If you've ever had that sinking

feeling like something's not working.

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Anymore.

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Maybe it's your website,

maybe it's your referrals.

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Maybe it's something else entirely.

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That's what we're gonna talk about

today because one of the biggest

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patterns that I see, and one that

I have been through myself, which

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I'm gonna share today, is this.

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You launch your business, you set

things up the way you are told to,

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the way you see other people doing it.

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That system, it builds some momentum.

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You figure out what

works for you and then.

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At some point, that system stops

working at least as well as it used to.

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And when that happens, it is frustrating.

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It is discouraging.

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It is anxiety inducing because you

already put in the effort, right?

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You thought you had this

whole thing figured out.

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. What I wanna talk about today

is the value of pivoting.

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Okay, of getting what we call

around here a little bit scrappy.

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It's about being willing to evolve

your strategy, your approach,

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your marketing, your mindset,

even when you don't feel like it.

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Because whether you are brand

new to private practice or years

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into running your own thing.

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Staying connected to your business,

staying flexible is absolutely essential

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if you want to keep your caseload

full, especially right now in the

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market that we find ourselves in.

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So in this episode, I'm gonna share

a little bit of my own story around

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this, how I realized it was time

to make changes in my own business.

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Earlier this year.

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I was forced to confront the fact

that things weren't working in my

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marketing the way that they had been.

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Things had slowed down a little bit, and

quite frankly, I didn't wanna admit it.

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I really dug my heels in when it

came time to look at changing things.

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But I wanna zoom in on what

was really going on there.

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'cause it wasn't just about

numbers dropping, like the business

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was fine, we were functioning.

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It's not that we were in any sort of

panic, five alarm situation, but it was

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about what those numbers meant to me.

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These were some of the thoughts going

through my head, but this used to work.

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I already did the hard

work setting this up.

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I built the systems.

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I've already done this, and maybe you

felt that too, especially here in 2025.

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I've talked to many therapists

who can resonate with this.

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The seasoned therapists listening right

now that might sound like I used to have

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referrals and now they've slowed down.

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I used to get a bunch of referrals

from Psychology Today, and now I don't.

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I built my website years ago.

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It was good enough back then, and

if that's been true for a while, if

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you've been having those thoughts so

far this year or even longer, I get it.

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I get it so deeply because it

feels like you shouldn't have

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to mess with it again, right?

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You got it right the first time.

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There should be some moment

where the marketing is done,

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set it, forget it, trust it.

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But what I've learned and what I've

had to just come to grips with, and

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what I ultimately wanna emphasize

here is that the market that we find

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ourselves in requires evolution.

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The same effort today does not get the

same result as it used to for a long time.

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A plus B equals C.

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And if your marketing has

worked in that way, hallelujah.

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What a wonderful thing Today, A plus

B, they're not adding up to C anymore.

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The therapists who filled their

caseloads effortlessly five years

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ago, maybe you came into private

practice in the pandemic times.

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A lot of them are now realizing what

worked then is just not cutting it now.

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Now, if you're newer in practice, this

shows up a little bit differently.

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Because it's not about holding

onto old strategies, right?

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You're starting new, you're starting

afresh, but it's about wanting to get it

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absolutely perfect before you even start.

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I see this all the time with the

newer therapists we work with.

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They're telling themselves things

like, I have to figure out my niche

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and get it perfect first, or, I need

to finish my entire website before I

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even tell anyone about my practice.

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Or the biggest one.

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I don't wanna waste time

doing the wrong thing.

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Whether you are brand new or years in the

same mindset is underneath these thoughts.

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I want this to be easier.

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I want this to just work and listen.

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That is a completely human instinct.

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It is something I relate

to on a very deep level.

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We all want that.

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We want the thing that once

worked to keep working.

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Of course we do.

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We want the thing we're building right now

to be done right, and to be done already.

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But here's the real issue.

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If you hold on to strategies that

used to work, or if you avoid starting

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because you don't feel 100% ready, then

you are going to miss what's really

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possible for your practice right now.

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Because if there is one thing I

can say to sum up where we find

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ourselves right now in our industry

is that things have changed.

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The market has changed, client

expectations have changed, and

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it isn't enough anymore to rely

on the strategies of yesteryear.

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The Psychology Today Profile you wrote

two years ago and haven't touched since,

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the networking contacts that you may

be made five years ago and then never

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followed up with to be successful

right now, you have to stay connected.

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You have to keep refining

and adjusting and evolving.

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The clinicians who I see being the

most successful right now have a

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fundamental mindset that is flexible

and open and willing to make changes.

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Now, if you are sitting here right

now with systems that used to

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work, please know that this doesn't

mean you have to throw everything

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out and start from scratch.

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You don't have to burn it all down.

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But it does mean you need to get really

honest with yourself about what's

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actually working and what isn't anymore.

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And once you identify what that

gap is, you've gotta fill it.

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So consider pausing and reflecting

as you're listening right now.

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Are you holding onto strategies just

because they used to work or avoiding new

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ones because you don't feel 100% ready yet

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If the answer is yes.

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That's okay, but it

means it's time to pivot.

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That's the mindset shift we're

really talking about here.

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It's what my marketing mentorship

confident copy is all about too.

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Helping you build a marketing system

that's not just set it and forget it.

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The idea of filling your practice

on autopilot these days isn't real,

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but instead something that evolves

with you, that evolves as you

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change and as the market changes.

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We'll get into that a little bit later

in this episode, but first I wanna talk

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to you a little bit more about my own

story and what happened once I stopped

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resisting and digging my heels in.

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Once I decided and committed to getting

scrappy and started moving forward again.

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So once I finally admitted to myself

that things needed to change, and I came

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to terms with the fact that yes, Anna,

while this used to work three years ago.

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It's not working the same way anymore.

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Then the next question

was, what do I do now?

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Because I had this belief that what

I had done and set up two, three

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years ago was the best I could do.

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I had this thought that I wasn't

capable of anything else, that that was

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the best of the best, and so I had to

start examining what I might actually

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be capable of and pushing myself.

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A little bit outside of my comfort

zone to consider new approaches and new

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strategies and to not limit myself to

what I believed was good enough back then.

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And I wish I could tell you I had some

perfect plan that I sat down and I

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mapped out a flawless new strategy before

doing a single thing that my friends

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is not what happened, not even close.

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What actually happened was a

whole lot messier than that.

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I think back to when I really

had this light bulb moment.

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It was in February I

had an idea on a Monday.

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I was implementing by Tuesday

and delivering it to by Friday.

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So we're talking a five day

turnaround for something brand new.

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That's what being scrappy

has started to look like.

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In my business.

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It is meant to moving

faster than I'm used to.

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Letting go of the need for absolutely

everything to be perfectly polished

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and buttoned up before putting it

out there and not in a reckless

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throw stuff at the wall way.

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I mean, my standards for what we put out

into the world are still extremely high,

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but in more of a deliberate, let's try

this and see what happens kind of way.

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And I wanna be really clear

about this because I know we

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have two kinds of listeners here.

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For the experienced therapists.

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The ones who have been practicing

for years and feel like you

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already put in your time, you

did your time on your marketing.

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Scrappy here doesn't mean sloppy.

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It means staying present and

staying engaged with your business.

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With the ongoing effort required,

it's not just setting things up once

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and expecting them to run forever.

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And for our newer therapists

listening, the ones who aren't holding

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onto old systems but are trying to

get things right the first time.

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Scrappy means willing to

figure it out as you go.

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It means not waiting until you feel 100%

confident before you take the first step.

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It means testing and

tweaking and optimizing.

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For both groups, both

experienced and newer.

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It means being willing to test,

to tweak and to stay connected.

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So in my case, I launched things faster.

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I wrote new copy faster.

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I tried different approaches

and angles faster.

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I gave my team updates with a much shorter

runway than they were used to because

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I didn't have time to sit on things.

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And I'll be honest, it

felt chaotic sometimes.

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Especially because I'm not someone

who usually operates like that.

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I am usually much slower and thoughtful

and deliberate, and I tend to twiddle

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my thumbs a little bit longer.

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I like things to be really

thought through, really dialed

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in before putting them out there.

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But the cool thing is there's also

something really energizing about this

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because even when something I tried didn't

work perfectly, that example back in

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February, it didn't work by all accounts.

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What I hoped it would accomplish.

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It didn't.

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And so it's not that everything

that I tried worked brilliantly,

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but I wasn't stuck anymore.

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I was taking action.

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I was in motion in a way

I hadn't been for years.

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And that did something

really important for me.

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It helped me get back in touch with my

business because when you set things

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up once and then you leave them to run

on autopilot, even if they're working.

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You start to lose that connection

and in some part that's okay.

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You're able to put your energy

elsewhere, but it can lead to getting

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disconnected from what's really

happening, what's really effective.

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And I found that once I started taking

action, even when things didn't pan

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out the way I hoped, testing things

again, paying attention again, I could

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feel that connection coming back.

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I felt more committed.

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I felt more creative.

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I felt more energized and in touch with

my business than I had been in years.

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Now, I wanna be honest again, the

tangible business results, right?

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The bottom line, those numbers, the

data, it didn't show up overnight.

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It took time for those things

to compound, but that internal

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shift happened almost immediately.

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The belief that if I'd done it

before, I could do it again.

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The belief that I was

capable of figuring it out.

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The feeling of, okay,

I know how to do this.

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I am in charge of this.

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I am capable.

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And that's what I want for you too,

because whether you are fixing a website

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that's feeling stale, you haven't looked

at it in five years, maybe you are

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pivoting to a group practice and trying

to fill your clinician's caseloads.

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Maybe you are updating your Psychology

Today profile that you haven't

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touched since your associate days.

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Maybe you are reconsidering

what you need to be doing on an

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ongoing basis to get clients.

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The act of just engaging with your

business in this way is powerful, even

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00:13:22,364 --> 00:13:24,254

when it doesn't lead to an instant result.

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It builds confidence, it builds

momentum, it builds self-trust, and

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it keeps you from falling into the

trap of waiting around and hoping

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things will get better on their own.

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Take a moment and be honest with yourself.

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Have you been doing that?

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I have talked to countless clinicians

so far this year who are dumbstruck

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by what's happening in their caseloads

and in the market, and I get it.

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Believe me, if I, if this story about

my own business tells you anything,

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it's that I deeply understand that.

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But are you simply sitting around and

waiting, hoping things will get better,

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or are you doing something about it?

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That's really what we emphasize inside of

Confident Copy as well, not about writing

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the perfect about page and then never

touching it again, but about learning the

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skill of staying connected to yourself, to

your clients, to your marketing, so that

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when things change, you know how to pivot.

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You know how to refine, you know

how to get scrappy without feeling

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like you're starting from scratch.

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That is what scrappy really is.

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And scrappy has become the word of

the year for myself and my team.

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It's not chaos, but it's creative control.

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And if that's resonating with you,

if you're realizing maybe it's time

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to get back in touch with your own

marketing, we'll talk a little bit

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more about how to do that in a minute.

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But first I wanna zoom out even

further and look at why this kind of

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adaptability is so important right now.

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Not just for me, but for you, for every

therapist I know who was trying to grow

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a sustainable full fee practice in 2025,

because things are different right now.

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Now everything I've shared up until this

point, what happened in my business,

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what I had to shift, how I got scrappy.

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This isn't just my personal story.

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It's a pattern that I am seeing

across the board right now with a

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therapist I work with every single day.

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And that's ultimately why I wanted

to record this episode because the

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reality is we are in a different market.

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And I don't say that to be dramatic.

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I say that because it's true,

and you probably know that too.

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The therapists who filled their practices

easily five years ago are not necessarily

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the ones filling them easily right now.

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And if you're sitting here wondering

why things feel harder or why

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something that used to work doesn't

seem to be cutting it anymore.

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It's not just you.

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You haven't done something wrong.

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The landscape has just changed.

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Five years ago, we're

talking early pandemic 2020.

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You know, the days clients were looking

for availability, plain and simple.

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If you were licensed and had a slot

open, that was pretty much enough.

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I know therapists who didn't even have a

website back then, we put together their.

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Psychology Today profile.

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They would get four calls the next day.

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It was glorious.

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But fast forward today, and

here's what I'm really seeing now.

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I want you to really listen for where you

might recognize yourself in these things.

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Therapists are saying things like, I've

been full for years without a website.

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Now I'm realizing I might need one.

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I used to get all my clients from word of

mouth, but things have really slowed down.

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My Psychology Today profile

worked great before, but now

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it feels like it's crickets.

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Do those things sound familiar to you?

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Here's why this is happening.

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Your clients are more discerning

than they have ever been.

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They are more skeptical, they

have more choices, and they're

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ultimately looking for specialists,

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your client's standards are higher.

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It's not enough anymore to just

have a general catchall website.

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It's not enough to say, I work

with anxiety and depression

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and expect that to stand out.

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Clients want to feel like you get them.

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Like you specialize in the specific

challenges they are facing.

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Like your therapy services

are designed for them.

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They want to know within seconds of

learning about you and interacting

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00:17:47,919 --> 00:17:52,389

with your marketing that this person

is exactly who I've been looking for.

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It's interesting as clients have

become more psycho aware through

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Instagram and TikTok and all the

things, they're realizing more and

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more that therapists do specialize.

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00:18:04,194 --> 00:18:08,184

And so they go looking for specialists

in a way that they never used to.

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That's why what worked five years

ago might not be working today.

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And that applies whether you've

been in practice for 20 years

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or you are just starting out.

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For my more seasoned therapists listening,

the ones who feel like, but I already did

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00:18:25,704 --> 00:18:28,374

the work, I really want you to hear this.

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You're not wrong for wanting to lean

on the systems you already built.

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Of course you want that.

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But in this market, if you are

still relying on strategies from

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2018 or 2020, there's a really good

chance they're holding you back.

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Now,

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. that website you made a few

years ago that felt good enough.

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If you haven't touched it since

then, it probably doesn't reflect

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the level of expertise you've built.

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It probably doesn't feel as premium

or as specific as it could in order to

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stand out to right fit clients who are

more discerning and more skeptical.

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And I say that gently because, hello.

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I've been there.

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I had things in my own business that I

set up once and just let them run until

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they didn't work the way they used to.

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Now for my newer therapists, the

ones who, again, aren't holding

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00:19:18,734 --> 00:19:22,424

onto those old systems, here's

the opportunity I see for you.

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You don't have outdated systems to undo,

but you do have to be willing to figure

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out what works in this market, not what

worked for somebody else years ago.

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That means not getting stuck in

perfectionism before you even start.

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It means not just relying on

reverse engineering what you see

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other clinicians do, and it also

means not waiting until everything

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00:19:48,209 --> 00:19:50,879

feels 100% dialed in to get going.

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It means accepting that

building a full fee.

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Right-Fit caseload is not

a one and done project.

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It is an evolving process.

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00:20:04,019 --> 00:20:07,229

I've worked with newer therapists inside

Confident Copy who joined because they

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didn't want to waste their time guessing.

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00:20:10,109 --> 00:20:12,989

They didn't just wanna throw something

together and hope for the best.

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00:20:13,349 --> 00:20:15,569

They wanted to get it

right from the beginning.

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They wanted to invest the time and

the energy now, so they weren't

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00:20:19,949 --> 00:20:21,689

constantly spinning their wheels later.

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And I respect that mindset.

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But whether you are brand new or

years into the private practice thing.

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The main thing I want you to take

away from today's conversation is that

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your marketing isn't something you

can just set up once and forget about.

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00:20:40,179 --> 00:20:45,339

Your practice evolves, your skills

evolve, the market evolves, your ideal

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00:20:45,339 --> 00:20:50,889

clients evolve, and your marketing, your

website, your networking strategies, your.

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00:20:51,133 --> 00:20:56,352

Directory profiles, your visibility

strategies, they need to evolve with it.

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00:20:57,942 --> 00:21:00,939

That's why I always say

marketing is like an ongoing

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00:21:00,939 --> 00:21:02,619

relationship with your business.

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And the therapist who I see feeling

their practice is the fastest right

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00:21:06,489 --> 00:21:10,449

now is not necessarily because

they have the flashiest websites or

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the biggest Instagram followings.

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It's because they're paying attention.

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They're willing to pivot.

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00:21:16,464 --> 00:21:19,314

They're willing to check in on

what's working and what isn't.

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00:21:20,154 --> 00:21:23,364

They're not simply waiting around for

things to bounce back on their own.

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00:21:24,924 --> 00:21:29,874

Growing a practice, growing a full

fee caseload of clients who light

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00:21:29,874 --> 00:21:32,634

you up is not a passive exercise.

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00:21:34,614 --> 00:21:37,014

That's what it really means

to run a sustainable practice

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in this season of the market.

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00:21:40,449 --> 00:21:44,199

It's why we built Confident Copy the way

we did, not just as a course to help you

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00:21:44,199 --> 00:21:48,579

write your website once, although that's

helpful, but as a skill building system

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00:21:48,669 --> 00:21:50,859

that helps you evolve your copy over time.

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I just talked with a former student.

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She graduated three years ago and she

said she still comes back to the Confident

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00:21:57,459 --> 00:22:02,019

Copy curriculum to make changes to her

practice as she has added skills and

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00:22:02,079 --> 00:22:03,909

niches to what it is that she does.

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She continues to come back because

it is that skill building system.

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So this isn't about writing your

Psychology Today profile once and

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00:22:12,354 --> 00:22:17,424

crossing your fingers, or sending five

networking emails and expecting those

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00:22:17,424 --> 00:22:19,194

to fill your caseload on their own.

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Building a website that feels good

for six months, and then wondering

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00:22:24,654 --> 00:22:25,884

why inquiries have slowed down.

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00:22:25,884 --> 00:22:32,664

Again, I want you to have the skillset,

the mindset, the confidence, the

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clarity to adjust when you need to.

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Without having to second

guess yourself at every turn.

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That's where a lot of

clinicians tend to hang out.

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00:22:42,129 --> 00:22:46,569

They identify that there's an issue,

they realize there needs to be

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00:22:46,569 --> 00:22:49,869

action, and then they sit in between

there, second guessing themselves,

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00:22:49,869 --> 00:22:53,829

spinning their wheels, twiddling their

thumbs, not taking forward action.

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So before we wrap up, I wanna leave you

with a couple of reflection questions.

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When it comes to being scrappy

and pivoting and staying

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00:23:02,189 --> 00:23:03,599

connected to your practice.

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00:23:04,289 --> 00:23:08,249

Where in your business might you be

holding onto strategies that used to work

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00:23:09,029 --> 00:23:10,469

without actually checking if they do?

372

00:23:13,109 --> 00:23:16,889

What's an experiment you could

try this month to reconnect with

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your marketing, with your message,

with your clients alliance?

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00:23:22,019 --> 00:23:27,029

And how might these things feel if

you approached them from a place of

375

00:23:27,029 --> 00:23:29,489

possibility rather than pressure?

376

00:23:32,519 --> 00:23:34,349

Don't dig your heels in the way I did.

377

00:23:34,409 --> 00:23:35,579

Learn from me here.

378

00:23:36,209 --> 00:23:43,949

View this change as an opportunity,

as the beginning of something new

379

00:23:44,939 --> 00:23:48,089

as possibility, not as pressure.

380

00:23:48,899 --> 00:23:51,749

'cause pivoting doesn't have to

mean burning it all down, and it

381

00:23:51,749 --> 00:23:53,279

doesn't have to mean being sloppy.

382

00:23:53,609 --> 00:23:55,289

It doesn't have to mean wasting your time.

383

00:23:55,919 --> 00:23:57,089

It means paying attention.

384

00:23:57,839 --> 00:23:58,889

It means staying connected.

385

00:24:00,659 --> 00:24:04,349

It means recognizing you will learn

something, whether something quote

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00:24:04,349 --> 00:24:09,719

unquote works or it doesn't, that

you will get valuable information

387

00:24:09,719 --> 00:24:12,179

because you are capable of this.

388

00:24:13,739 --> 00:24:18,419

You're building a practice that works

now and in whatever season comes next.

389

00:24:21,269 --> 00:24:23,759

So remember, pivoting isn't failure.

390

00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:24,809

It's critical.

391

00:24:25,619 --> 00:24:27,089

Scrappy isn't sloppy.

392

00:24:28,894 --> 00:24:33,839

It is what's required right now, whether

you're brand new to private practice

393

00:24:33,869 --> 00:24:35,309

or you've been doing this for years.

394

00:24:35,849 --> 00:24:39,359

The therapists who are filling their

caseloads the fastest right now in 2025

395

00:24:39,659 --> 00:24:44,429

are the ones who are willing to get back

in touch with their business to view it

396

00:24:44,429 --> 00:24:48,599

as an ongoing relationship and something

that they have to continuously cultivate.

397

00:24:49,319 --> 00:24:51,689

They're willing to pay attention,

and they're willing to make

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00:24:51,689 --> 00:24:53,069

changes when things shift.

399

00:24:55,769 --> 00:24:59,099

If you're realizing as you're listening

to this that it might be time to reconnect

400

00:24:59,099 --> 00:25:04,139

with your own marketing, maybe your

website, your niche, your approach to

401

00:25:04,139 --> 00:25:05,699

marketing could really use some love.

402

00:25:06,209 --> 00:25:08,459

That is exactly why I

created Confident Copy.

403

00:25:09,479 --> 00:25:14,219

Confident Copy is my signature program

where we help you identify your niche,

404

00:25:14,334 --> 00:25:18,419

create a website that calls in those

RightFit clients, and ultimately

405

00:25:18,419 --> 00:25:22,769

builds a foundation for your marketing

that can work for years to come.

406

00:25:23,189 --> 00:25:29,009

Even when things change, it's about

learning skills to evolve your marketing

407

00:25:29,009 --> 00:25:34,079

as your practice grows because your

practice isn't static and your marketing

408

00:25:34,079 --> 00:25:37,829

can't be either twice every year.

409

00:25:37,829 --> 00:25:38,849

I reopen confident.

410

00:25:38,849 --> 00:25:40,279

Copy at a reduced rate.

411

00:25:40,279 --> 00:25:44,025

And if you're listening to this

in summer 2025 the good news is

412

00:25:44,025 --> 00:25:46,065

the next one is coming in August.

413

00:25:46,810 --> 00:25:50,170

You'll get access to not just an

additional discount, hello, extra

414

00:25:50,170 --> 00:25:53,980

savings, but also a way for us to work

together for an additional six months.

415

00:25:54,250 --> 00:25:58,510

Then make sure your name is on the wait

list, walker strategy code.com/waitlist.

416

00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:00,640

Also drop that link in the show notes.

417

00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:02,260

Thanks for being here today.

418

00:26:02,410 --> 00:26:04,240

Remember, you're capable of this.

419

00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,060

Get back in touch with your business.

420

00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,740

Remember that pivoting doesn't

mean failure and keep your head up.

421

00:26:11,950 --> 00:26:12,250

You've got this.

422

00:26:13,030 --> 00:26:13,925

I'll see you in the next episode.