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This interview with Tamara Suttle is amazing. She is one of counseling’s leading bloggers and private practice owners. She is a frequent speaker and growth professional and starting a blog. Tamara talks openly about private practice, the question of “should I start a blog?” and what she did wrong.
How you will be changed
1. What every new clinician should do before the think about “should I start a blog?”
2. Patterns in career that Tamara would have done differently
3. What every clinician needs to do on a blog and grow comments
4. Things to consider when starting a blog
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Should I start a blog resources
How to launch a website article: Start a website for $15
Tamara’s Website Private Practice from the Inside Out
Music
Silence is Sexy
The Madpix.project
Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC
Joe Sanok is a private practice business consultant and counselor that helps small businesses and counselors in starting a private practice. He helps owners decide whether they should start a blog or website. He helps clinicians by evaluating website design, vision, growth, and using their time to create income.
Joe was frustrated with his lack of business and marketing skills when he left graduate school. Over the past few years he has grown his skills, income, and ability to lead others, while still maintaining an active private practice in Traverse City, MI.
To link to Joe’s Google+ .
 Photos by ChadCooperPhotos, mkhmarketing, and Rosaura Ochoa
Good morning, Joe! That was so FUN!!!
I loved your introduction talking about practice-building being no harder than just offering good customer service.
As more clinicians begin to hear us use that kind of language . . . “good customer service . . . , ” I really think more clinicians will figure it out – that they don’t have to learn a lot of new skills.
We already have the skills to build our businesses.
What we often don’t have is the understanding of just how transferable (and necessary) those skills are to building a business.
If you can show up and build relationships, you can thrive in private practice.
It was so much fun to hang out with you in Hawaii.
I don’t ever remember an interview when I have laughed so much or had time pass so quickly.
I hope we have an opportunity to collaborate on something interesting in the next year.
Thank you for the opportunity to meet you and your tribe here in your “online home.”
You’re building a wonderful community here and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
That’s so true Tamara,
We’re trained in being relational, you’d think we’d all figure that out quickly! I’m wrapping up my blog post for you, can’t wait to get to know your community more! I can’t wait to hang out with you in person again!
Hey, Joe, I forgot to ask – in the podcast, you referenced a blog post you had written that talked about the tools you use to produce your podcasts. Can you provide a link back to that post for us?
Thanks!
Sure, I’ll give it here and put it in the article:
Here are the 7 questions to ask yourself first: https://backup.practiceofthepractice.com/how-to-make-a-podcast-questions-to-ask-yourself/
Here are the tools and walk-throughs by my podcast guru, Pat Flynn: https://backup.practiceofthepractice.com/how-to-make-a-podcast-a-walk-through/
Above you’ll see the two photos on how to make a podcast, enjoy and send me your link when you start, I’d love to promote it!
I totally love the idea of having a barista making coffee for my clients 🙂
Me, too, Steve! I’m so stealing this idea!
Jill, it’s so great! I bought a fridge a while back that has a clear front and clients love it! I don’t have any traditional soda, only “fancy” drinks and Starbucks frapps. Even if each drink cost me $1, I can charge more because of the elite feeling of the office. I wrote a whole blog post on it: Starbucks Counseling | How drinking and counseling have made my practice explode
https://backup.practiceofthepractice.com/starbucks-counseling-how-drinking-and-counseling-have-made-my-practice-explode/
Thanks for this Joe & Tamara! I stumbled across Tamara’s blog a year ago. It encouraged this old fogey therapist to begin blogging. I’ve faithfully blogged each week since. Like Tamara I came to social media reluctantly. But I now found I really enjoy it. My motivation?
1. I’ve always considered a large part of my work was educating clients in “what works”. Blogging lets me share 20+ years of expertise with a much broader audience. I see it as a service to the community. (I can only see one client at a time!)
2. As I scale down my individual client practice focus, having a blog keeps my presence up for the study groups, workshops and lectures I deliver.
3. I intend to spend the next decade on some publishing projects. My website & blog serve as a platform for people and other therapists to find me.
Thanks guys for the encouragement and info!
Mary,
Thanks so much for comments! Isn’t Tamara amazing! Blogging sure takes your practice and expertise to the next level! I love your 3 points, another one is that it helps you transition into consulting work (if that’s what you want). Thanks!
Hey, Mary! It’s great to “find” you here ! Thanks for listening and joining in the conversation here!
You are bringing up a couple of really great points. A therapist who is committed to using her blog as a work of community service can definitely extend her educational outreach.
And, I work with a lot of writers and creative types who are surprised to learn that publishers love (and often expect) that their authors create an online platform for their works with their blog being the online hub.
Mary, I’ve been away from your blog too long and this is reminding me . . . I need to be telling my BlogStart for Therapist gang about your beautiful website!
Hey, Joe, this is so wierd! I left a comment here early yesterday morning . . . and I can see that you have approved comments since then so I’m not sure what happened to mine. See what I mean about me and technology? We’re not always friends 🙂
I had dropped in just to say how much I really enjoyed hanging out with you, sharing ideas, and laughing . . . lots and lots of laughing. Thank you for allowing me to “meet” your online community and share some of my own successes with blogging.
Blogging can be a scary step for many of us to take . . . but it can also be a game-changer, too. I know it was for me.
You know, I’m a Southern girl and my mom always taught us to bring a little gift when we visit in someone else’s home. So I wanted to give your readers who are interested in attending the next round of BlogStart for Therapists http://www.allthingsprivatepractice.com/blogstart-for-therapist-registration/ a nice little discount. The details for the next round should be up in the next few weeks and the Discount Code for you guys is LETSBLOGGP50.
Thanks again for having me in your online home! I hope we have a chance to do this again!
( Joe, I forgot to check with you before this went live. Feel free to edit this out or place the info elsewhere on your site if you wish. Or, maybe that’s what you did already – just deleted the entire comment?)
You’re a friend of Practice of the Practice and you give so much content away, I am totally fine with you announcing this great resource to folks! I’d love to be a resource to your audience for the BlogStart for Therapists. Maybe we could host a Google Hangout together and let people ask us questions?
There you go, Joe, nudge me along into new ventures! I would love to learn from you about Google Hangouts – haven’t mastered that yet! I’ll reach out to you back channel and see what we can get rolling! Thank you!
Sounds like an awesome plan!
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