Did you ever hit publish on a blog post and immediately wonder if anybody anywhere is actually going to read it? Well, yeah, me too. So today I want to unravel why that silence might not be a sign of failure at all, but about something else entirely.
Hi, and welcome to the Grow Your Private Practice Show. I'm Jane Travis, and I help counsellors to get found by more of the right clients, mainly using blogging, but also by keeping things simple, doable, and maybe even a little bit of fun along the way. So let's get started.
So hello, hello, hello and welcome back and if this is your first visit, it's really great to have you here.
So let me start with this. There have been times when I've pressed publish and then just stared at the screen and those doubts start to raise their heads. You know, that waiting, that hoping, and that wondering if anything's gonna happen and well. Truthfully, nothing did. You know, sometimes there's no comments, there's no messages, no polite little nod from the universe that somebody was out there listening.
And maybe you know that feeling too, because it can feel really, really discouraging to say the absolute least. And that little voice in your head, you know, the one, the one that can sound so convincing, it starts up with its normal chorus.
Saying things like, maybe this isn't working, or maybe nobody cares, or maybe I'm just talking to myself. Look, sometimes silence doesn't mean that your words didn't land, because sometimes it just means that they landed in a different way. They landed with somebody who needed to hear them, but didn't quite have the words or the energy to say so.
So I often picture somebody coming across a blog that you write late at night. You know, maybe they're curled up on the sofa after a long day, or maybe they've been holding onto something that's really heavy and they just dunno where to put it. So they might scroll, they might look up on Google and they might pause on a title, and then they read it and somewhere in their body, something shifts, so their shoulders drop something inside of them whispers “oh, that's me” and then they close the tab and they go to bed and there's no comment.
You don't get to hear anything. There's no email. They don't send you a testimonial talking about how fabulous you are. But what does happen is that person might just sleep a little bit easier, and you were a part of that.
Because not every blog post becomes a client, and not every reader is meant to, you know, let's think about this for a minute. So some people already have some support. Some people they're just not ready to reach out and go to counselling. And some people just need a little bit of reassurance in that one moment on that one wobbly day. And you know, the thing is that that's okay. You know, that's more than okay because your blog isn't a huge sign that's out there with, you know, lights flashing or something like that. It's not a pitch deck. It's actually a place where someone can come in. And read and feel a little bit more human and leave with something that they didn't have before, and that matters. Now, I know that we're taught, especially in the online world, that it's all about chasing numbers and conversions and outcomes, di da, all of that stuff.
But generally that's not how it works. For marketing, for counsellors, you know, the kind of work that you do, it's gonna be different to that. It's gonna be slower, it's gonna be softer, it's gonna be deeper because people generally don't go from, “oh that was an interesting blog post” to “please let me bear my soul to you next Thursday at two o'clock.” You know, that's not what happens. They'll read something, they'll sit with it. They might disappear, they might come back and they test how your words feel in them.
So your writing becomes part of that slow warming up process. It's not meant to be loud and flashy, that's not the way we work as therapists, but it is steady and it is safe, and that's where trust starts to grow. So look, if you've been feeling discouraged, like the effort that you are making isn't paying off, or like you are not making a difference, look, I want you to hear this and really understand that you don't always get to see the impact of your words, but that does not mean that those words aren't working.
Your blog might just be the stepping stone that helps someone to feel a little bit less alone. You know that bridge from, I could never talk about this to maybe one day. I might, and that is very powerful work. So the next time you sit down to write, maybe don't start with the idea that you have to be really impressive or you need to prove that you are good at this or even how can I, someone that's only been working as a therapist for six months sound like an expert because look, you don't need to try this.
Instead, just think, who might this help today? You'll feel it when that shift happens. You know it's gonna feel so much better. You are not gonna feel as though you are performing and have to be somebody other than you. You just have to let that warm, compassionate version of you that you are in the counselling room out. Into the blog and weirdly, that's when people start to trust you more when they feel like you're just being you.
You know when you're not trying to sell or you're not chasing new clients, you are just showing up gently and honestly with something that's going to be really helpful for people. Even if it's quiet, especially if it's quiet, please keep going. Keep writing, keep helping, and keep offering what you can from where you are because your blog might just be doing far more good than you'll ever realise.
And my goodness, that absolutely counts. So look, if you are sitting with this today and you are feeling a little bit more seen or a little bit more grounded, I'm so glad because look, that's why I do this. And if writing has ever felt like a lonely part of your practice, or if you are not even sure where to begin with things like blogging or messaging or making it easier for people to actually find you, then look, that's exactly what we work on inside the Grow Your Private Practice membership. It's a space for practitioners just like you.
You know, thoughtful human beings that aren't there to shout louder than everybody else, but that still want to show up and get found by the people that need help so that you can find those people, that you can work with them and make the income that you deserve. Now, the support for you in your writing.
Yes. But also for your visibility, for your systems, for your confidence, and all the behind the same things that are gonna help your practice feel more sustainable. So you can come and take a look at growyourprivatepractice.co.uk, or just keep it in your back pocket for when you're ready. But up until then, look, please just keep writing, keep helping, and keep trusting that your quiet voice will still carry because it really will.
So that's it for today. So I do hope that this has helped you, that it's you know, just made you feel a little bit less alone. And if you do want a little bit more help, go and check out the show notes in there. You'll find the start here page that's got details of all the different free and paid resources that I have that's going to help you out.
And so that's it for this week and until next time, have a fantastic week. Take care. Bye-bye.
