Steve Turney, an Expert on Mental Health Marketing, on the Do’s and Don’ts of Branding | POP 888

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A photo of Steve Turney is captured. He is the Executive Director of the Mental Health Marketing Conference. Steve is featured on the Practice of the Practice, a therapist podcast.

What does the full power of a developed brand give to your business? Which of the most important aspects of successful branding are you making sure to use? How are you making use of your time?

In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok speaks with Steve Turney, an expert on Mental Health Marketing, about what you should and should not do in branding.

Podcast Sponsor: Alma

A photo of podcast sponsor, Alma is captured. Alma is an insurance company for therapists. Alma sponsors the Practice of the Practice podcast.

Going in-network with insurance can be tough. Filing all of the right paperwork is time-consuming and tedious, and even after you’re done, it can take months to get credentialed and start seeing clients.

That’s why Alma makes it easy and financially rewarding to accept insurance. When you join their insurance program, you can get credentialed within 45 days, and access enhanced reimbursement rates with major payers. They also handle all of the paperwork, from eligibility checks to claims submissions, and guarantee payment within two weeks of each appointment.

Once you’ve joined Alma’s insurance program, you can see clients in your state of licensure regardless of where you’re working from.

Learn more about building a thriving private practice with Alma at helloalma.com/joe

Meet Steve Turney

A photo of Steve Turney is captured. He is the Executive Director of the Mental Health Marketing Conference. Steve is featured on the Practice of the Practice, a therapist podcast.

Steve Turney is the Executive Director of the Mental Health Marketing Conference. This conference educates about consumer marketing so mental health, behavioral health, and addiction organizations and professionals can reach more people, more effectively. I’ve worked across a range of verticals, including the complex healthcare industry and within full-service marketing agencies, SaaS-based startups, and the leading press release distribution firm in the country.

Visit Mental Health Marketing and connect on LinkedIn.

In This Podcast

  • A brand is a pathway and a promise
  • The NBs of branding in the mental health field
  • What is the best use of your time?
  • Steve’s advice to private practitioners

A brand is a pathway and a promise

A brand is a path to a position of advantage.

Steve Turney

There are two definitions of branding that you can think about:

1 – A brand is a guide, a pathway, to a destination or position that holds an advantage over others in your field.

No industry is comfortable forever. Things are often in flux and change every few years – if not every few months – and in that nature of constant change, you need something to guide you.

Your brand is that guide, that substance of your company that remains true even when the tides shift.

One way to continue to build your brand is to be very clear and communicate [the] things that you’re best at, the work you want to do, the work that’s most profitable for you … and sometimes growth happens through pruning.

Steve Turney

2 – What are you promising that you are going to later deliver?

From a marketing standpoint, this is Steve’s main standpoint. Where can you build the trust and humanity to build a connection with your audience in the room? What can you do to play the long game with your brand right now?

The NBs of branding in the mental health field

What you should be focusing on:

  • Communicating on one channel (like Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn) about one solution that you can offer to one group of people.
  • Get better at repeating yourself in fresh, different ways.
  • Understanding the needs of your niche and ideal audience.
  • Building up an email marketing list.

Email marketing has a very high likelihood or possibility that it will exist way farther out into the future than, let’s say, a TikTok simply because it’s stood the test of time and it has the potential to acquire market share and get momentum ahead of some of these other technologies that maybe have a quick rise … but then a quick fall.

Steve Turney

What is the best use of your time?

How many hats are you wearing right now?

If you are a specialist in your niche but not a specialist in marketing and you find yourself spending hours trying to get something working that someone else could do in their free time, then consider hiring out.

Consider that there are people who have gone to just as much school and have just as many years of professional education and experience [in] marketing as you do [in] therapy, and how can you make the best use of their skillset?

Steve Turney

There is a maturity in knowing when to try and when to bring someone in that can do it better and help you get it done. Pick your battles with your energy and know that hiring out is often a good choice for yourself and your business.

Steve’s advice to private practitioners

Your work is important, both to your clients and also to the tidal wave of change. Additionally, be sure that you are caring for yourself while you are doing this great work within the community.

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Meet Joe Sanok

A photo of Joe Sanok is displayed. Joe, private practice consultant, offers helpful advice for group practice owners to grow their private practice. His therapist podcast, Practice of the Practice, offers this advice.

Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners that are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.

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