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12. If You Want to Charge More, Look the Part (Summer Slump #4)
Episode 1224th June 2025 • Marketing Therapy • Anna Walker
00:00:00 00:33:26

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If you're raising your fees—or thinking about it—there's one piece that often gets overlooked: your brand. Because if you want to charge more, your brand needs to reflect the caliber of the work you do.

In this final episode of our Slaying the Summer Slump series, we're rethinking branding from the ground up—not as a design task or a “someday” project, but as a core part of how clients experience your practice. You'll learn what branding really means for therapists, how to bring clarity to the vibe you're putting out there, and how even subtle choices (like your tone or visual consistency) can make or break a potential client’s trust.

Whether your brand is DIY, outdated, or just due for a refresh, this conversation will help you finally align how you show up with the value of the work you provide.

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

1️⃣ Why branding is really about trust and emotional connection—not just color palettes or fonts

2️⃣ The subtle but essential distinction between your personal brand and your practice brand

3️⃣ Four common branding mistakes therapists make (and how to avoid them) so your marketing actually connects and converts


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Past Episodes to Check Out:


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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.

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome back to Marketing Therapy

and to our final episode in our

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Slaying the Summer Slump series.

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It's been a lot of fun this month

of June looking at ways to make

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the most of this summer season.

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If you've been with me the last

few weeks, you've hopefully already

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made some really powerful moves.

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You've looked at where your

marketing might be getting stuck.

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In episode nine, we did that

self-audit to really point out

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where your areas of opportunity are.

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Then hopefully you did some reconnection

to your authentic clinician self In

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episode 10 and last week we talked about

networking and how you can be using

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not just this season, but any season,

quite frankly, to be growing connections

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with people in a really effective

and also authentic non slimy way.

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And today we're bringing it all

together with something that's often

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overlooked, but absolutely shapes

how you show up and who you attract,

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and that thing is your brand.

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Now, I know branding can feel like

one of those of buzzwords that gets

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thrown around a lot, and it might

immediately conjure up images of logos

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or Canva templates or color palettes.

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Or maybe you hear that word and you

think, Hmm, that's for influencers

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or product companies, not for

solo practitioner therapists.

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But here's the truth.

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In this market, if you want

to charge premium fees, you

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brand needs to feel premium.

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And I don't mean expensive

or fancy or over-designed.

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I mean intentional, aligned, consistent.

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You need a brand that is ultimately

reflective of the caliber of

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work you do and the types of

clients you want to be attracting.

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Because branding isn't just about

aesthetics, although that is a huge piece.

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It's about ultimately the emotional

experience someone has when

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they encounter your practice.

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It's the tone of your

Psychology Today profile.

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It's the vibe your website gives off.

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It is the impression your Instagram

leaves, even if all they ever

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do is glance at at once, all

of these things send a signal.

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All of these things tell a potential

client something about who you

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are, how you work, and whether

they feel safe, investing their

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time, energy, and money with you.

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So in this episode, we're gonna dig

into what branding actually means for

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therapists, the subtle difference to

keep in mind between your personal

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brand and your practice brand.

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A few of the common branding mistakes

that I see, and then of course, how

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to actually start building a brand

that's going to help you stand out and

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ultimately get paid for the absolutely

incredible work that you're already doing.

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And of course, as with all of

these summer Slump series episodes.

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We have a simple and creative challenge

for you to end today's episode.

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Alright, so let's start

with the big question.

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What is a brand?

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We gotta make sure we're clear on

that because if your only exposure

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to branding has been in the context

of logos or fonts or tinkering

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around in Canva, you're not wrong.

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Those are all part of it, but you're

working with a pretty limited definition.

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Here's how I think about it.

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Your brand is at the end of the

day, the experience someone has

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when they interact with you.

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Full stop.

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That's it.

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Lemme say that again.

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Your brand is the experience someone

has when they interact with you.

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So that includes visual elements, of

course, but it's so much bigger than

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just how your website or logo looks.

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It's the tone of your writing.

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The energy of your headshot, the way

your marketing makes someone feel,

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the emotional vibe that someone

picks up when they land on your

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homepage or read your site today.

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Profile your brand is how

someone experiences you before

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they've ever spoken to you.

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And that's huge because especially

for private pay clients, that first

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impression carries a lot of weight.

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Think about it from your

client's perspective.

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They're browsing through profiles.

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Scroll, scroll, scroll,

clicking through websites.

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Maybe they're comparing a handful

of therapists who all say they

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specialize in anxiety or trauma, or

relationships, whatever it might be.

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How do they choose?

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How does your client choose?

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They choose the one that feels right,

the one who makes them think, oh, I feel

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seen, or I'd feel safe here, or, wow,

this person seems like they really get it.

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That feeling, that spark of trust or

that kind of curiosity or connection

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that they have is a branding moment.

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And here's the thing that might surprise

you and I might get some pushback on, but

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you already have a brand, even if you've

never consciously thought about it, even

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if your visuals are scattered or DIY.

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Or you've never gone through some

brand values exercise, you already

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have a brand, because people already

have some kind of experience when

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they interact with your practice.

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That experience might be calm and grounded

and inviting, or it might be kind of

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hard to tell if they're trustworthy or

a little bit scattered and inconsistent.

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Whatever it is, it's happening.

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The cool thing about the fact that it's

happening is that you have a choice.

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You can let your brand exist passively

shaped by default or guesswork on

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behalf of your client, or you can

start shaping that brand on purpose

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and not in a fake or performative way.

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I wanna be clear about that, not by

pretending to be something you're

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not putting lipstick on a pig kind

of situation, but instead by being

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intentional, by deciding how you

want those people to feel when

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they interact with your practice.

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By ultimately aligning how you

show up in your marketing with how

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you actually want to be perceived.

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Because ultimately, branding isn't about

decoration, although design is part of it.

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It's about trust, it's about consistency.

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It's about giving people a clear

sense of who you are and what it would

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actually feel like to work with you.

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Fortunately, that doesn't

require being a designer.

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You don't need to run out right now

and drop $5,000 on a branding package.

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It just starts with

getting clearer about this.

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What do you want people to feel

when they land on your website?

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What impression do you want to

leave behind after someone reads

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your profile or watches a video

of you talking about your work?

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If you don't know that yet, that's

okay, and that's ultimately what

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we're hoping to explore here today.

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But the thing is, once you do know this.

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Everything else can become easier.

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Not just the colors you choose, but the

words you write, the images you pick.

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Each of these things become extensions

of a deeper understanding of your brand.

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And when that happens, when those pieces

align, become not just recognizable,

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but memorable and if there's anything

we are seeing the need for in this

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market, it is being memorable.

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So now we know what a brand is.

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It's that experience people have

when they interact with you.

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Let's zoom in a little bit further

because when I talk about branding

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with many clinicians, they have

sort of this push and pull between

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the idea of their personal brand

and also their practice brand.

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And this is gonna look

a little bit different.

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Depending on whether or not you

are a solo or a group practice.

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So let's look at this a little

bit more to make sure we're

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operating from a good place.

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Your personal brand is you, period.

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It's your voice, your personal values,

the way you show up in the therapy room.

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It's your perspective as a clinician,

how you think, how you relate to

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people, the experience you create, how

you guide your clients through change.

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That's you.

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So your personal brand is gonna

come through in everything.

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If you are a solo practitioner, most

likely, not just the way that you write,

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but also your body language in a video

or a photo, it's usually more intuitive.

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When done well, it feels

like, oh, that's totally Anna.

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That's totally Sam, or

that's totally sandy.

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You know when you can see

something that just feels like that

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person, that's a personal brand.

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Your practice brand.

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On the other hand, that's the public

facing identity of your business.

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So that's gonna include your name and

your visuals, your website copy your Psych

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today, profile anything that represents

your practice to the outside world.

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So if you're a solo practitioner,

these two things, your personal

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brand and your practice brand

are almost entirely intertwined.

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That is perfectly fine.

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That works.

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Because when you are your business,

it's gonna make sense that your

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brand would reflect your personality

and your voice and your energy.

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But if you are someone who is thinking

about hiring or building a group

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practice, or maybe you're just wanting

a little bit more boundary between

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you as a person and your business.

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Then your practice brand needs to become

a little bit more defined and a little

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bit separate from your personal brand.

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The way I think about this is an

author who has a really successful

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business but decides to write

a book about their own life.

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That author, if you imagine going

to that author's Instagram, they're

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probably gonna have a pretty

particular look and feel about them.

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Maybe they have a podcast or they have

kind of this personal brand that's

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related to them and then their business.

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Is likely in some ways similar in

branding and feels consistent and

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cohesive with that personal brand,

but it's distinct and it's different.

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That's the way I sort of imagine

the difference between personal

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brands and practice brands.

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Like I said, if you're a solo practice,

these things are almost entirely

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overlapping, and that's perfectly fine.

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If you're sitting here right now

attempting to brand a group practice,

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then you want to think a little

bit more about that practice brand.

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It is that shift from branding yourself,

marketing yourself to branding a team.

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So then you need to begin

thinking about how the business

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shows up as its own identity.

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One that's absolutely informed by

you, but not fully centered on you.

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Now, I wanna be super clear here.

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I don't hope to add to the confusion.

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This is not about

choosing one or the other.

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This isn't am I building a personal

brand or a practice brand because.

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No matter what you're doing, solo or

group, you are ultimately supporting both.

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You're always doing a little

bit of both, and they're

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definitely not separate entities.

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They're different facets of the

same presence in your marketing.

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So you can absolutely build a personal

brand that supports a strong practice

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brand, and you can also create a practice

brand that feels deeply aligned with

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your individual values, whether or not

you are the only clinician on the team.

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So it's not that one is better.

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They're both just tools and things, ways

that you can think about how you are

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putting yourself out into the world.

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So as you listen to the rest of this

episode, I want you to just keep both of

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these in mind, that your personal brand is

the essence of how you show up as you, and

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then your practice brand is the expression

of that essence through your business.

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So again, they're not different.

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They're not separate, but

they're different facets.

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Now that we're clear on that, I

want to dive in a bit deeper to

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why this matters, not just in

theory, but actually in practice.

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What we're seeing right now, how

does this actually relate to your

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day-to-day effort to fill your

caseload with RightFit client?

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When you are trying to grow a private

pay practice, especially at a premium

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fee, your brand is one of the most

important tools that you have, and I

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just don't see enough therapists thinking

about it this way because here's what's

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happening, whether you realize it or

like it or not, potential clients are

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landing on your website, your site today,

profile your Instagram, wherever you

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are on the internet, and within seconds.

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They are making snap decisions

even in less than a second.

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Studies show us people are making

judgements in less than one second, not

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about whether you're a good therapist, not

about whether you're ethical or skilled.

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They're making decisions about whether you

feel trustworthy, whether you seem like

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someone they'd be willing to invest in.

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So if we're being honest, they're

making decisions about whether your

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practice looks like it matches.

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Your fee.

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This is what we call brand perception,

and here's what I want you to know.

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This is not shallow and

it's not manipulative.

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Branding yourself well is not

about tricking anyone into thinking

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you're more qualified than you are.

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Of course not of what this is about.

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It's about removing friction.

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She charges two 50.

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She feels like she should charge two 50.

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She charges 300.

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She doesn't feel like

she should charge 300.

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It's about aligning how you show up

with the value of what you're offering,

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because no matter what you charge,

no matter how you brand yourself, the

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work doesn't change, but the way that

your client perceives it does, because

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you can be an amazing therapist.

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Trained, experienced, effective, and still

not get inquiries if your brand feels

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outdated or inconsistent, disorganized,

or just off to your ideal clients.

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It's sort of like if you were

to wear sweatpants to a job

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interview that isn't on Zoom.

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Of course you can wear sweatpants all you

want to a Zoom interview, but it's like

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wearing sweatpants to a job interview for

a role that you are 100% qualified for.

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Are you still capable and qualified?

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Yeah.

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But does your presentation signal that

you're not ready to be taken seriously?

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Yeah.

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So are you wearing sweatpants to

your job interview with your clients?

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Because clients, especially full fee,

private pay ones are looking for signals

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of professionalism, and your brand is

sending some type of signal all the time.

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It's the tone of your copy, the quality

of your headshot, the clarity of your

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niche, the design of your homepage,

the consistency across platforms.

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It's all working together to answer one

big question that your client is asking

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in their mind, is this someone I can

trust with my time, my money, and maybe

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the parts of me I don't usually share.

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This is why branding is so

much more than decoration.

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Like I said earlier, branding is about

conversion because if you're doing it

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right, your website isn't just a digital

resume of everything that you can do.

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Your Psych Today profile

isn't just a billboard.

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Neither is your Instagram, your

LinkedIn, your podcast, whatever it

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is, you do to grow your practice.

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Your brand is either working for you

or against you 24 7, and when your

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brand is clear and consistent and high

quality, then you start hearing things

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like, I was thinking about working with

a couple different therapists, but I

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chose you, or Your website really spoke

to me, or you seemed so professional.

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I felt really safe reaching out to you.

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That's the power of intentional branding.

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It doesn't just look good, but it

connects and it builds trust, and it

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helps the right clients say yes to you.

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But the flip side is also true here.

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If your branding is misaligned, if your

visuals feel too casual or your writing

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feels scattered, or your design looks

like it hasn't been touched in 5, 10,

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15 years, you know what I'm talking

about, then even the most qualified

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therapist can end up being overlooked.

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And it's not personal, it's

just pattern recognition.

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It's your clients doing what all

humans do, making judgements based

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on how something feels, whether

or not those judgments are right.

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I've referred to it in the

past as the halo effect.

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It's actually a proven psychological

phenomenon that we assign greater

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value to a brand depending on

our first impression of it.

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It's like walking into a boutique

where all of the hangers are, you

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know, three inches apart and there's

a candle burning, and they come

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up to you and offer you a drink.

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You expect to pay a lot of money there.

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That experience is quite a bit different

than walking into Walmart where you're

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just gonna grab what you need and

self-check out and make your way out.

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You are more comfortable paying

money and you recognize that

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more money will be asked of you.

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In the boutique than in the Walmart,

even if the price tags are the same.

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That is why it's so important to

treat your branding strategically.

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Not like an afterthought.

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If you're sitting here

thinking, okay, Anna, that's

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great, but I'm not a designer.

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I don't know what looks good together.

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I don't like these things.

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You don't have to be, you don't

actually need a fancy logo.

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You don't need a brand strategist.

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You don't need a complete

brand photo shoot.

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But you do need to be intentional here.

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You need to think about how you want

your practice to be perceived, and you

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do need to show up very consistently

across all of your marketing platforms.

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You do need to choose visuals and copy

and design elements that support your

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credibility rather than undercut it.

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And I get it.

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This is the stuff most therapists weren't

taught unless you have proactively sought

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out guidance around how to brand yourself.

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This is all brand new.

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You're trained in ethics and

interventions, not in visual

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identity and mood boards, right?

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But if you want to build a full fee

practice in today's world, then you

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cannot ignore the impression that your

brand is ultimately leaving behind.

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But once you learn how to shape

this, it gets a lot easier.

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Everything becomes more cohesive.

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Your website, your directory profiles,

your social content, even your

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networking efforts, they all point

in the same direction, and that's

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when your marketing can start to

work without needing you to just do

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more and more and more all the time.

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So branding these days, it's not

optional and it's there no matter what.

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What are you gonna do about it?

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It's doing a job.

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I wanna help you make

sure you're doing it well.

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The thing is though.

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Most of the therapists I work with

aren't out there intentionally

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building an effective brand.

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Of course not, right?

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They're just winging it.

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Or on the flip side,

they're overthinking it.

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They know this is important, and so

they spin their wheel, spin, spin, spin,

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spin, spin, or just copy what they've

seen other people do because they

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assume that's the right and only way.

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When they do that without meaning

to, they end up making choices that

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actually lead them to continue feeling

stuck and not getting the results

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they should from their branding.

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There are a couple mistakes I often

see in this, and I wanna walk you

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through those real quickly as we

think about branding because it's

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important that you avoid these.

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They're pretty prevalent in our world.

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The first is letting a personal

taste drive every decision

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. this is the biggest one.

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I see this all the time.

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I had a client come to me and

say, I love the color teal.

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Okay, awesome.

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Great.

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Teal's, wonderful.

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So she built an entire brand

around that personal preference

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without thinking at all about what

actually resonated with her clients.

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Now, don't get me wrong here, especially

because like we talked about earlier, your

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personal brand and your practice brand

have a lot of overlap, but at the end

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of the day, your brand is not for you.

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Your brand is not for you.

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It is for the people you want to reach.

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And so letting your personal tastes

and preferences guide your branding

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decisions may potentially be missing what

actually resonates with your clients.

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You need to feel good about your brand.

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You should feel at home in it.

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It should feel reflective of you, but

it also needs to reflect the kind of

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experience you are trying to create.

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So just as thoughtful as you

might be about what you like.

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In the branding process, you must

also consider what your clients like

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and what is going to help them feel

soothed, grounded, empowered, energized,

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whatever it is you want people to

feel when they interact with you.

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Because remember, at the end

of the day, that is your brand.

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So that emotional tone, that vibe

needs to guide your choices far more

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than your Pinterest aesthetic or the

way you decorate your living room.

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Okay.

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The next one.

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This happens everywhere in

marketing, but it's this attempt to

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be everything to everyone, right?

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And this shows up as really generic

visuals and the stacked rocks and the

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stereotypical things we see in just about

quote unquote every therapist website.

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If your website looks like it could

belong to any therapist, anywhere

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in any specialty serving any type of

client, you're missing an opportunity

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there to, again, be memorable,

which is so critical right now.

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:

So your brand should have some

sort of clear point of view.

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:

Clients want to feel like you see them,

not just like you see everyone, right?

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:

Give them a sense of who you are,

especially great at helping, what

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:

kind of work you do best, what

sort of environment you create.

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:

This doesn't require niching all

the way down into one particular

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population or presenting issue, but

it should reflect something specific.

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A style, a tone, a vibe, a philosophy,

something otherwise you end up fading

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into the noise of all the other websites

they've clicked into and clicked out of.

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:

The third mistake here is

inconsistency across platforms.

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This is one of the biggest reasons even

strong brands don't convert because

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you can have a gorgeous website, but

if your Psychology Today profile.

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Feels dry, your Instagram feels

outdated or looks like an entirely

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:

different person altogether.

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It creates doubt.

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It creates friction.

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That gap between platforms

that misalignment, makes people

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wonder which version is right?

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:

Why does this feel so off or different?

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:

Can I ultimately trust this person?

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:

And even if those questions are subtle.

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:

That moment of uncertainty is often

enough to keep someone from reaching out.

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:

So your brand, it doesn't need

to be fancy or elaborate, but

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:

it does need to be consistent.

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:

Everywhere you show up

should feel like you.

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:

That means repeating your tone, your look,

your language, your message across every

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:

single place your clients might find you.

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:

That consistency is huge.

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:

The fourth mistake thinking

branding only matters later

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:

once you're more established.

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:

I hear this a lot.

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:

I'll invest in my brand when I have more

clients or I'm still figuring things out,

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:

so I don't wanna lock myself into any one

thing or whatever that might be right now.

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:

But the truth is that branding

is how you get more clients.

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:

It's how you build that early traction,

how you show up with clarity and how

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:

you make your practice feel credible

even before you're fully booked.

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:

We've been speaking in recent episodes

about the idea of operating like the

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fully booked, thriving practice owner

You want to be not the still growing one.

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:

You currently are.

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:

You need to be branding your practice

like the fully booked thriving practice

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:

owner, you are going to be one day.

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:

It means showing up

professionally from the get go.

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:

So here's the takeaway as you

consider each of these mistakes

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:

and where we're at right now.

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Branding isn't just about looking good.

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Okay?

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:

It's deeper than that.

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:

It's about creating alignment.

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:

Alignment between how you show

up, how your clients want to

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:

feel when they interact with you.

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:

And the experience your

practice actually delivers.

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:

When you get that right, you

don't actually have to be the most

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:

credentialed, the most extroverted,

the most active on social media.

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:

You just need to show up clearly

and consistently as the right fit

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:

for the right people, and that is

what branding helps make possible.

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:

Now we're here in this summer season.

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:

That can bring up a little bit of

nerves and stress and anxiety, but

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:

it's also a slower pace and hopefully

a time for you to step back and

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:

ask the bigger questions related to

this brand of yours that you have.

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:

Whether you like it or not, this isn't

about how do I get more clients right this

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:

second, but how am I showing up in the

places my clients are already looking?

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:

What kind of impression

am I leaving behind?

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:

Could my brand be quietly turning people

away rather than helping them say yes.

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:

If you spend some time in these summer

months getting a little clearer on

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what your brand is, communicating

how you want your practice to be

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:

perceived, you can ultimately make

everything else you do next easier.

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:

Whether that's rewriting your site

today profile or choosing images.

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:

Designing your homepage, your

website, posting on social media,

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:

even showing up in console calls with

more confidence because your branding

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:

gives you something to anchor into.

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:

So if you're finding yourself

with a little more space in your

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:

schedule this summer, use it.

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:

Use it to reflect on these things, and

then to begin fine tuning how you are

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:

showing up to make sure that your brand

actually matches the level of work.

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:

That you do in the room with your clients,

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:

this is the perfect time

to strengthen that trust.

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:

So if you're feeling inspired to

finally get intentional with your brand

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:

without overcomplicating it, of course,

here's what I want you to do this week.

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:

It's simple.

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:

It's hopefully a little bit creative as

branding always is, and it's something

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:

you can do, even if you don't consider

yourself a branding person or a designer.

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:

I want you to head over to Pinterest.

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:

I want you to create a brand

Pinterest board just for you.

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:

It doesn't need to be public.

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:

You can make your Pinterest boards

private, start pinning things, images,

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:

colors, typography, textures, interiors,

anything that visually resonates with

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:

the vibe you want your practice to have.

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:

You want to be associated with how your

brand and your practice is perceived.

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:

And I really encourage you as

you do this, don't overthink it.

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:

Don't try to make it perfect.

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:

Just follow your gut

if you like something.

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:

My mom used to tell me that growing

up, she would often help us, design

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:

our bedrooms and that kind of thing.

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:

She'd say, just choose what you like.

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:

There's something about what you

like here, so just choose it.

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:

Don't think about it.

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:

We can always come back to it.

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:

Follow your gut.

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:

Then once you've got a solid board, maybe

you have 10 to 15 things pinned there.

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:

Take a step back and study it.

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:

Ask yourself, what does this feel like?

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:

If this brand were a space, what

would it feel like to walk into it?

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:

That boutique example

I talked about earlier.

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:

What would it be like to walk

into this brand and what kind of

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:

clients would feel at home here?

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:

Study what you've chosen, and then from

there, I want you to write down five

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:

to seven adjectives that describe this

aesthetic or vibe that you're aiming for.

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:

Not just pretty or clean or simple.

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:

I want you to go deeper.

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:

Maybe pull out a thesaurus

or chat GBT if you need to.

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:

Maybe it's grounded, warm,

professional, creative.

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:

Energetic, luxurious, bold, whatever

feels aligned for you and the experience

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:

you want your clients to have.

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:

This exercise can really shift how

you approach your brand because

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:

every choice that you're making

can be aligned with this experience

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:

that you ultimately want to create.

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:

Once you can name that feeling

that your brand should evoke,

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:

you're not guessing anymore.

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:

You're making intentional choices

about whether or not this choice

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:

reflects that feeling, and that's when

your brand really starts to click.

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:

Now, if you wanna go even deeper than

this, if you're really ready to define

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:

your brand personality, hone in on the

fonts and colors to use pull images that

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:

create that clean, cohesive experience.

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:

That's exactly what I built our

therapist, DIY brand kit to do.

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:

It walks you through the exact process

we use with our private clients.

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:

I've actually developed a handful of

AI tools that are trained on the brands

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:

we have built for other therapists.

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:

They're deeply trained on what's actually

working in private practice right now.

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:

It's very, very therapist specific

and also therapist friendly.

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:

You do not have to be a designer, really

accessible process, even if you don't

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:

think you're good at this kind of thing.

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:

So if this episode got your gears

turning and you decide you want

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:

that step by step to really bring

that brand to life, check it out.

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:

Walker strategy co.com/db

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:

k.

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:

I'll put the link in the show notes.

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:

But whether you use the kit or you

just follow the challenge this week,

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:

remember you already have a brand.

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:

The question is,

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:

are you shaping it on purpose?

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:

Thanks for being here today.

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:

Thank you so much for joining me for

our slaying the Summer Slump series.

501

:

I hope this has been useful for

you, that you have started to take

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:

action in your marketing and you

know I'm here cheering you on.

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:

I'll see you next time.

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