The Latest Social Media Marketing Trend Will Sabotage Your Financial Goals

Aisha: 00:00:00

Unless you're driving a car, cooking dinner or blow drying your hair

2

: 00:00:03

while listening to this episode, put

a finger down if you're using social

3

: 00:00:06

media to market your private practice.

4

: 00:00:09

If you put a finger down, then the

next two episodes are just for you.

5

: 00:00:13

And if you're not currently using

social media to market your practice,

6

: 00:00:17

don't worry and stay with us because

you will definitely learn a thing

7

: 00:00:21

or two about how to use social media

marketing for your therapy practice.

8

: 00:00:25

Sadly, one of the most inauthentic social

media trends has found its way onto

9

: 00:00:31

the mental health side of the internet.

10

: 00:00:33

Social media is fake.

11

: 00:00:36

Yes, that is the hook of the latest

internet craze that's taking over and

12

: 00:00:42

then resulting in people sharing a

series of real things that they have

13

: 00:00:46

been dealing with behind the scenes

coming into a close second to therapists,

14

: 00:00:51

trolling each other on the internet.

15

: 00:00:52

For me, social media is fake is

the cringiest trend I've seen

16

: 00:00:57

private practice owners embrace.

17

: 00:00:59

And that is why on this episode of

beyond the session with Ayesha, I

18

: 00:01:03

will tell you why the social media is

fake trend is sabotaging the financial

19

: 00:01:08

stability of your private practice.

20

: 00:01:11

Welcome back to another fun filled

episode of beyond the session

21

: 00:01:14

with Ayesha, the business podcast

for mental health therapists who

22

: 00:01:17

want to keep the private practice.

23

: 00:01:19

They work so hard to build.

24

: 00:01:21

I'm your host, Ayesha Shabazz, and

I'm honored to have you tuning in

25

: 00:01:24

for our first episode of quarter two.

26

: 00:01:28

And for you business newbies out

there, that is just a fancy way

27

: 00:01:31

of saying April, May, and June.

28

: 00:01:34

As you were listening to the show,

you will hear me use a lot of business

29

: 00:01:38

buzzwords and marketing ABCs, not in an

attempt to trip you up or confuse you, but

30

: 00:01:43

to help you become more business savvy,

which is what this show is all about.

31

: 00:01:48

Because if you don't know the language

of business, you are more likely, to

32

: 00:01:51

get lost and frustrated along the way.

33

: 00:01:54

And speaking of loss, if being in

private practice has you feeling a

34

: 00:01:58

loss in the sauce because you recently

realized that you bit off more than you

35

: 00:02:02

could chew because you didn't realize

that starting your private practice

36

: 00:02:06

actually meant that you had to learn

how to run a profitable business.

37

: 00:02:10

All hope is not lost because you, my

friend can get back on track once you

38

: 00:02:15

take the thriving private practice quiz,

after taking this quick, easy, and dare

39

: 00:02:20

I say fun quiz, you will know which

of the four paths you are currently

40

: 00:02:25

navigating and know exactly how to

reach your next milestone towards not

41

: 00:02:29

just having a thriving mental health

business, but a business that will

42

: 00:02:33

provide your clients with high quality

care and support your financial needs.

43

: 00:02:38

If you're ready to consistently feel

capable of being a mental health

44

: 00:02:41

business owner without imposter syndrome,

making a cameo appearance every other

45

: 00:02:45

week, take less than one minute to

take the thriving private practice

46

: 00:02:49

quiz by visiting Ayesha R Shabazz.

47

: 00:02:52

com backslash thriving, or click

the link in the show notes.

48

: 00:02:56

Now, let's get back to the show

to clarify when I say social media

49

: 00:03:01

marketing, I mean, any and all social

media platforms, Snapchat, Facebook,

50

: 00:03:04

Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter.

51

: 00:03:08

By the way, I know they've rebranded

to X, but I will always refer to

52

: 00:03:13

it as Twitter and two of my current

favorites, LinkedIn and Tik TOK.

53

: 00:03:18

Are also a few that you may not have

heard of before, which deserve an

54

: 00:03:22

honorable mention, Lemonade and Clubhouse.

55

: 00:03:25

There are tons of options out there

these days and the platforms you choose

56

: 00:03:29

depends on a ton of factors that I'm

happy to cover during a live Q and a, you

57

: 00:03:34

can click the link in the show notes to

tune into the next live Q and a, which

58

: 00:03:38

takes place during the live recording of

this podcast on Wednesdays at 4 30 PM.

59

: 00:03:43

Eastern standard time on LinkedIn.

60

: 00:03:46

My coaching clients that have

added social media marketing to

61

: 00:03:49

their strategic marketing plan.

62

: 00:03:51

I've had great success without having

a huge following myself included

63

: 00:03:55

currently my Instagram for my therapy

practice at in real time wellness

64

: 00:04:00

has a whopping 549 followers.

65

: 00:04:04

And having a small following did

not stop me from earning my first

66

: 00:04:08

100, 000 in the first 13 to 14

months of my solo private practice.

67

: 00:04:14

It breaks my heart when I hear therapists

who spend their limited time focusing

68

: 00:04:19

on building a social media following

with the hopes of filling and refilling

69

: 00:04:23

their caseload, and then feel resentful

of all the time, energy, and time.

70

: 00:04:27

Effort, attention, and focus, and

money they spent just to arrive to the

71

: 00:04:31

conclusion that social media doesn't work.

72

: 00:04:35

And then they hop on the cringy

bandwagon and say social media is fake.

73

: 00:04:40

Okay, now it is time for real talk.

74

: 00:04:45

Is social media fake?

75

: 00:04:47

Or are you mad that a social media coach

was able to convince you that you should

76

: 00:04:51

focus on building a massive social

media following so that you can fill and

77

: 00:04:56

refill your caseload and record speed?

78

: 00:04:59

I don't mean to rain on your

parade, but when it rains, it pours.

79

: 00:05:03

According to various studies, if

you have anywhere from 10, 000 to

80

: 00:05:08

100, 000 followers on Instagram,

your conversion rate Is about 1.

81

: 00:05:13

1%, which means if your definition of

success was to increase the number of

82

: 00:05:18

let's say visitors to your website,

you can expect an average of 110 people

83

: 00:05:23

out of 10, 000 to visit your website.

84

: 00:05:27

Now that might sound like

a great number, right?

85

: 00:05:29

110 people.

86

: 00:05:30

Can you imagine being in a

room of 110 people right now?

87

: 00:05:34

Well, it's not a big number.

88

: 00:05:37

If your website is severely lacking

and not optimized, or at the very

89

: 00:05:41

least not user friendly enough.

90

: 00:05:45

You cannot count on any of

those 110 followers to actually

91

: 00:05:49

schedule a therapy consultation.

92

: 00:05:51

And let's be clear.

93

: 00:05:53

If you look at your website analytics,

I would put money on it that you

94

: 00:05:58

don't have 110 people visiting your

website, let alone an optimized website.

95

: 00:06:05

And so again, I ask you is social media

fake, or is it that no one taught you

96

: 00:06:10

how to have realistic expectations

when it comes to using social media?

97

: 00:06:15

As a marketing strategy for your

private practice revenue goals.

98

: 00:06:21

Here's the deal therapy

is considered a service.

99

: 00:06:25

And so when you have a dynamic

service based business, like

100

: 00:06:28

providing mental health therapy,

it is important to realize.

101

: 00:06:32

What worked for one person

might not work for you.

102

: 00:06:35

If you are learning social media

strategies from someone who sells

103

: 00:06:39

digital courses and you were trying

to apply that to your mental health

104

: 00:06:43

business that sells one-on-one

therapy group therapy, family therapy,

105

: 00:06:48

child therapy, and it doesn't work.

106

: 00:06:53

There's a reason why it doesn't work

107

: 00:06:54

This is why I offer hands on custom

coaching sessions for therapists

108

: 00:06:59

because therapy is not cookie cutter

and your business strategy shouldn't be

109

: 00:07:03

cookie cutter one size fits all either.

110

: 00:07:06

Even if I was to narrow down my focus

to only serving grief therapists

111

: 00:07:10

in private practice, each of their

processes would be different.

112

: 00:07:14

This Because their

businesses are different.

113

: 00:07:16

Matter of fact, two of my individual

coaching clients are grief specialists.

114

: 00:07:20

One is an amazing clinical psychologist

who just launched her podcast

115

: 00:07:24

called brief is the new normal.

116

: 00:07:26

I'll link to it in the show notes.

117

: 00:07:28

And the other is a phenomenal LCSW who

is currently refreshing her website copy

118

: 00:07:33

so that her website is optimized for

her ideal client to enthusiastically

119

: 00:07:37

say yes to working with her.

120

: 00:07:39

Both of them are using social media

to promote their private practice

121

: 00:07:43

in addition to other strategies.

122

: 00:07:45

And when it comes to knowing how they want

to showcase their unique way of treating

123

: 00:07:50

grief, both of them are hella authentic.

124

: 00:07:54

And to make it even better, after getting

to know each other during the Blissful

125

: 00:07:58

Booking Accelerator, they decided to

do an epic collaboration together,

126

: 00:08:02

which I can't wait for you to witness.

127

: 00:08:04

See what happens when you are real,

you meet real people along the way

128

: 00:08:09

who don't see you as competition.

129

: 00:08:11

They see you as a true colleague.

130

: 00:08:14

If you are anything like me and

my coaching clients and want to

131

: 00:08:17

use social media marketing with

integrity and increase your financial

132

: 00:08:21

stability, your social media content.

133

: 00:08:23

Won't be fake, but what if you are

still one of these therapists that

134

: 00:08:29

believes social media is fake while

simultaneously posting your content

135

: 00:08:33

on social media, then stop using

social media to promote your practice

136

: 00:08:39

because like it or not, your negative

vibes are oozing into your content.

137

: 00:08:44

If you think social media is

fake, what do you think that

138

: 00:08:47

says to your future clients?

139

: 00:08:49

That are following you on social media.

140

: 00:08:52

It's like a cruel April fool's joke.

141

: 00:08:54

Gotcha.

142

: 00:08:55

You thought I was trying to build

community on this app, but what I was

143

: 00:08:59

really doing was creating an inauthentic

image of what therapy can do for you.

144

: 00:09:03

Would you want to work

with a therapist like that?

145

: 00:09:06

I don't think so.

146

: 00:09:08

If it's not already clear, I have a lot

to say about social media marketing.

147

: 00:09:12

So tune into the next episode of

beyond the session with Aisha, where

148

: 00:09:16

we will go into the five social media

habits you need to break immediately.

149

: 00:09:20

Plus I'll tell you how to

handle internet trolls.

150

: 00:09:24

I'll be recording the next podcast episode

live on Wednesday, April 3rd at 4 30 PM.

151

: 00:09:29

Eastern standard time

through LinkedIn audio.

152

: 00:09:32

So if you want to listen in and ask me a

question live on the show, click the link

153

: 00:09:36

in the show notes to join in on the fun.

154

: 00:09:40

I'll be the first to admit that

my least favorite platform to

155

: 00:09:43

create content for is Instagram.

156

: 00:09:45

And it's not for the reasons you think

instead of the makers of Instagram

157

: 00:09:49

sticking to what they're good at,

which was creating a picture sharing

158

: 00:09:52

app, it decided to try and switch

and change and morph into a TikTok

159

: 00:09:57

lookalike, resulting in constant

glitches, malfunctions, and algorithmic

160

: 00:10:02

changes that give even the most skilled

social media strategist whiplash.

161

: 00:10:06

You know what I do like about Instagram,

all of the amazing people that engage

162

: 00:10:10

with my content for my therapy account

at in real time wellness, they're very

163

: 00:10:15

engaged because they want to have a

different relationship with their anxiety.

164

: 00:10:20

And I'm reminding them of how that

can happen off of social media

165

: 00:10:25

and for my consulting account at

I use our Shabazz, my audience is

166

: 00:10:29

split into two groups, the lurkers.

167

: 00:10:32

And the action takers, the lurkers are

the ones that are curious to know what

168

: 00:10:36

it's like to have a profitable private

practice, but they're not ready to commit.

169

: 00:10:40

They're the ones that watch my stories

and not engage with anything because

170

: 00:10:45

they're too afraid to take action.

171

: 00:10:47

They're the ones where I will have DM

conversations with about how things

172

: 00:10:51

are going in their private practice

and where they want it to go, but

173

: 00:10:54

they're too afraid to make the move.

174

: 00:10:57

But the action takers are like you were.

175

: 00:11:00

They tune into the podcast, they've

taken the quiz, they've subscribed

176

: 00:11:04

to the newsletter, and they've

taken the next step in embracing

177

: 00:11:10

their role as a business owner.

178

: 00:11:11

And they've taken it seriously enough

to hire me as their personal business

179

: 00:11:15

coach and consultant, Because just like

you, they want custom accountability to

180

: 00:11:20

reach and exceed their revenue goals.

181

: 00:11:23

I told you a few episodes back that I was

refreshing my social media strategy this

182

: 00:11:28

year and the therapist that has subscribed

to my email newsletter will now receive

183

: 00:11:32

behind the scenes content on Instagram.

184

: 00:11:35

If you want to make sure that you have

this behind the scenes all access pass,

185

: 00:11:39

reply to one of my email newsletters

with your Instagram handle and I'll

186

: 00:11:42

make sure that you're added to the list.

187

: 00:11:46

Okay, after all of this, if you

still think that social media is

188

: 00:11:50

fake, you know what isn't fake?

189

: 00:11:53

The fact that you are running

a private practice isn't fake.

190

: 00:11:56

Your dream of having financial

security and stability isn't fake.

191

: 00:12:01

The clients that you serve week

after week, they're not fake.

192

: 00:12:05

When you are ready for another

dose of real talk, tune into

193

: 00:12:08

beyond the session with Aisha.

194

: 00:12:10

And until then, take care,

talk soon and keep thriving.

Share Episode

Shownotes

Transcripts

Follow

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube