Hey Therapist Entrepreneurs,
Running a business is full of risks. Will your investment in Google Ads pay off? Will talking to your team about finances bring you all together or tear you apart? How do you know if the clinician you're about to hire is going to be a rock star or a liability?
I'm always trying to get more clarity in these areas, and I know you are too. That's why I love these podcast episodes that shine some light on our biggest challenges.
We can't control all of the outcomes, but we can be thoughtful about the way we approach these mysteries. That's what these episodes are all about, and I hope you find them worth it.
And in this week’s Personal Story Time...
The real life problem that tanked my March numbers
My 3 Favorite Episodes This Week
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For understanding Google Ads and how to use them…
Do you have questions about Google ads? Most of us do. On this week's episode of Entrepreneurial Therapist, Danielle's guest is a Google ads winner, and we are so lucky to hear what she thinks. How do I know that Christi knows what she's doing? It's because she actually does my Google Ads for Thriving Child Center and PCIT experts! I've been trusting her to make them work, but I still didn't fully understand the behind-the-scenes.
I was so excited to listen to this week's episode. Christi talks in detail about what makes Google ads work, when you should see results, and when you should and should not use them. If you've had questions about Google ads yourself, this episode is a must listen
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For discussing business finances with your team....
One of the aspects of business ownership that no one prepared me for was discussing business finances with my team. To be honest with you, whether or not to discuss your financial situation with your team is a polarizing conversation. Telling your team about business finances might bring you together and improve clarity over your decision making. At the same time, it could also incite jealousy or increase confusion and maybe some unwanted opinions.
That is why I so appreciated this episode of the Therapy Business Podcast. Craig discusses how to talk to your team about group practice finances, whether you even want to, and ways of sharing that help you grow collaboratively.
One thing I have learned working with therapists is that very few people in my practice understand the level of overhead cost that it takes to run a thriving business. They often make assumptions about the way that I spend money in the business without understanding the ongoing expenses.
Recently I have been having to share more with my leadership team about the practice's financial goals, and I definitely appreciated having some different perspectives on how to discuss them.
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For my secret to hiring good clinicians…
Your practice is only as good as the clinicians you hire. If they're excellent, your reputation will soar. If they are unethical and incompetent or problematic, your reputation, client satisfaction, and outcomes, and your own personal stress level will rise.
That's why I'm giving you my favorite question to ask all potential therapists when you are thinking about making a hiring decision. It's pretty simple, but the insights that this question gives me have helped me to bring on clinicians who have stayed with me for years.
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Leah's Personal Story Time:
Sometimes it really is broken
I'm getting really honest with you this week about something that's going on in my practice. I like to give it to you straight, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and this past week, it was the ugly.
Over the past couple of months, I noticed a steady dip in referrals. At first I thought it was fallout from when we tried to move to a new EHR (which failed, and we had to move back). Then I blamed the economy. Then I told myself it was just random variation. Then I blamed Spring Break...
But over the course of March, it became clear something bigger was going on. We weren't getting the traffic we usually do, and people weren’t converting the way I expected.
Well, it turns out there's a reason.
The reason is changes to SEO that were made in January that no one flagged to me. All of a sudden, we have a domain authority problem that I had only just noticed. In simple terms, domain authority is Google’s way of measuring how credible your website is. When that drops, your rankings drop, and when your rankings drop, people can’t find you. And now we're seeing the results in our numbers.
This SEO nightmare is both good news and bad news.
The good news is that there's a diagnosable problem I can actually fix, one that has nothing to do with the core of how I run my business. The bad news is that this should have been caught three months ago, and it's going to cause a real financial hit. Yikes.
So what do I do now? I focus on improving domain authority through backlinks and other strategies to build our presence back up. At least now I know what I’m solving.
The lesson here is simple: pay attention to your numbers. I don’t think I would have caught how serious this was if I hadn’t been watching closely. You don’t want to be overreactive, but you definitely don’t want to be underreactive either.
And here’s my suggestion to you: go check your domain authority. You want it to be close to 50. If it's significantly lower than that, like mine is right now, you want to know about it and you want to start fixing it.
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Got a fellow therapist or practice owner who would love this info? Send them this email! They can also join the list by clicking on this link. Let's help more people thrive in their businesses.
Hope these resources help you grow your practice this week! Here's to your continued growth and success!
Warmly,
Leah
CEO of Thriving Child Center and PCIT Experts
Host of Educated Parent Podcast
Host of The Worth It Practice Podcast
CEO of Worth It Practice Consulting
PS: If you'd like a break from business, the newest episode of Educated Parent Podcast is now live! This week's episode is helping your child in public situations. That trip to the grocery store that you've been dreading? I have a solution for you!
