8 Simple Steps To Starting Your Private Practice Newsletter Today
This simple strategy can bring better results for your current clients, create new heights of engagement, reach potential new clients and send your income soaring. Want to know what is it?
A regular private practice newsletter helps to develop trust and rapport, boost results and — at the end of the day — adds extra $$$’s to your end of month bank statement. It’s an important private practice marketing approach.
If you are like many therapists, you might know private practice email is important. You get that a newsletter is delivered digitally, is cost effective and can make a big difference to your bottom line, but you’re not quite sure how to get started.
You are now reading the perfect article at the perfect time to fill in the missing pieces. Let’s take a look at the steps and strategies needed to simplify this process and get you up and running fast.
1) You Need an Autoresponder Service
Breath! This is not scary. An autoresponder is simply an automated responder — or email — service. Some of the big providers for small businesses include aweber.com, mailchimp.com, and constantcontact.com Take a look through their sites and choose one. Sign up. Look at the beginner’s tutorials and you’ll be ready to start.
This is the service you will use to deliver your private practice email newsletter. Content is first uploaded here and then sent out to subscribers with the click of a button.
2) Decide On Your Private Practice Newspaper’s Purpose, Focus, and Frequency
What do you want to share with your community? How can your content benefit your readers? What do your clients really want and need? And how often will your private practice email newsletter be delivered (it needs to be a least once a month)? Decided? Great!
Next…
3) Get Clear
As a therapist, chances are you’re busy. By deciding exactly what you want to include in your newsletter and maintaining the same layout, it is possible to shortcut completion as you understand precisely what you need to do each time. And as clients become accustomed to your newsletter, they will know exactly where to look for the type of content they enjoy (just like newspapers, not everyone will read cover to cover).
4) Therapy Newsletter Nuts and Bolts
There are ways to streamline your private practice email newsletter and some simple rules to keep you on-track. Print these out and use them as a guide. Now let’s get into the nuts and bolts…
Content Rules!
Want people to open your newsletter, read it thoroughly and share it with their family, friends, even the frail old widow down the road? Then quality is key.
Your newsletter must deliver helpful and engaging content that is well presented. I’m going to share how to shortcut your way to success shortly. Before I do, also consider… When you read an article and notice a spelling error, does it impact on your sense of the writer’s credibility? Most would answer, yes! Grammar and spelling matter.
Expert tip 1: People DO judge a book by its cover.
In fact, you have a small amount of time to hook a reader and then compel them with your content. Your newsletter, website and print branding need to look professional and congruent. A professional template is a design option, and many autoresponder services offer a suitable, editable option.
Use your blog posts, always!
These brand you as the expert, increase your influence, and may even be shared by readers with non-clients to bring in new opportunities. Plus, efficiency is important and using your work in multiple ways makes sense.
Note: If you don’t have a blog, you need one. Technology is in constant evolution, cyberspace is growing and people are switched on. If you want to grow your private practice, reach new clients, and make more money, you must have a professional website with an optimized blog. We specialize in therapist websites containing blogs. We know how transformative this is for private practices like yours so we offer a 1 on 1 consultation to see if we are the right option for your practice. It is time we talked.
Expert Tip 2: If you’re not a natural writer — and even if you are — use templates. They speed up the process and keep you on track. How?
Headlines that begin with ‘How to’ or a number work great.
Are you a relationship counselor? How about: How to heat up your romantic relationship in the bedroom.
Maybe your niche is common mental health issues? Maybe: 5 simple ways to finally discover depression relief.
Keep it simple, use a layout!
Article writing can also be made easier. Stick to a simple layout similar to this:
Introduction (include statistics, why this issue matters, etc)
What is (issue)?
Why does it occur?
How does it affect people?
What can be done?
How does what you do help?
Conclusion
Inject your humor, where appropriate, and use terms your clients do. In simple terms, cut the jargon.
Article done! High-five!
Curate carefully.
Caught in a web of creative envy, feeling every word shared should be original? Stop! Think about it. Many huge companies successfully and profitably incorporate syndication. Your practice newsletter is not the time to reinvent the wheel.
A helpful free site like Paper.li enables you to create a set-and-forget source of daily automated and focused shareable content. When it is time to create your private practice email newsletter:
- Visit your Paper.li ‘stand’.
- Find content perfect for your newsletter.
- What should you include?
The lazy way: Copy and paste the first and second paragraph from a shared article straight into your newspaper.
The less lazy way: Paraphrase the article.
Include the original link so your reader can continue reading, should they wish to.
Rinse and repeat.
Voila! You’ve just saved hours on your content creation.
Still not sure what to put in your newsletter? This article talks about getting local media, and mass media exposure — both perfect pieces of content to include in your newsletter to gain the trust of your audience.
5) Important Private Practice Newsletter Rules to Follow
Here are some important rules to follow:
Include Actionable Steps.
Think about the excuses your clients deliver. I’m sure these are raised, and often: I don’t know, I get confused, it’s too hard, I forgot. When crafting and collating information for your newsletter, include a step-by-step strategy where you can. This will result in better, well, results.
Be Relevant.
You are a therapist, so create your newsletter accordingly. Include content relevant to your audience, some health tidbits, even appropriate jokes or puzzles. If you begin spouting the virtues of democracy or the end of the world drawing near, you do not offer the value your clients seek, and worse, you may alienate them. Stay on track.
Links Matter.
Newsletters should include links both back to your website and to others. These should look professional, as credibility by association is real and by sharing a link, you recommend the source. Choose well as your reputation is at stake.
6) How to Boost the Credibility of Links for Your Therapy Newsletter:
- Use links in a natural and related manner.
- Hyperlink an appropriate line of text. For example, in our business we might say private pay patients are possible when you know these five proven techniques rather than stating the outdated: Click here.
- Refer to great content on sites by well-known and respected experts. Name drop in your newsletter. Got a picture with that person? Use it.
- You need a professional website. If you send your audience to a poorly designed site — even if the information is good — this can harm your reputation. Many therapists make website errors that can be very costly in terms of client trust, rapport and your bank balance. Don’t make this mistake. (See what I did there? A natural and related link back to a great article on our professional site).
- Set Aside Time and Delegate
As the saying goes, time flies in our busy lives. It’s easy to fall into the trap of only working in — not on — your practice, even though on is the key to making more money.
These two steps will help you to get your newsletter done:
- Schedule regular, specific times to write. Does Monday 9am-11am suit? Permanently block out your client consultations and treat this time like the important appointment it is.
- Have a team or outsourcer? Delegate the responsibility of the actual newsletter build, just make sure you confirm the quality before they hit the send.
7) It Is Like Dating…
Regular, consistent loving is needed to build a romantic relationship. In practice, swap the romance for regular, consistent high-quality content. Be gentle, converse often, give helpful and implementable advice… and remember that building all solid relationships takes time and effort.
8) Share The Love
You’ve done the hard work and your first newsletter has just been sent. Congratulations! Now share the love. Why limit your newsletter to those currently in your practice or on your subscriber’s list when you can use it to connect with potential new clients? Create a page on your website dedicated to your practice newsletters. Upload each newsletter here as completed and share it to the net.
A regular private practice email newsletter is important for many reasons, from the development of trust and rapport to increasing your practice profits. With the steps, strategies, and resources above, you’ll be on your way to newsletter success very soon.
—> Excited about getting your therapy newsletter out, but know you won’t have time to dedicate to writing blog posts? We’ve got you covered. Our Growth Platform service allows you to choose from hundreds of already written therapist blog posts and publish 2 each month to your website. Pretty awesome, right? To make this deal even sweeter, we’re giving you a free month to test out the platform!
Get started with your free month of already written blog posts right here:
[…] The newsletter connection. When registering, have a tick box where workshop participants can opt-in to receive your regular practice newsletter. This builds a relationship over time, which at next to no cost, may result in a new client or referral down the track. Not sure how to start a practice newsletter? We’ve got you covered in our article, 8 Simple Steps To Starting Your Private Practice Newsletter Today. […]