Pink-Spoon Marketing - Page 4

 

Some years ago, I, too, was at a point where I was tired of hustling to get more clients into my practice, which was feeling more like a job than a vocation. This hit home one December when I felt burned out and needed time off to rest and reenergize. I began to think about the odd contradiction of our profession: we're a helping profession, yet when we need to help ourselves, we do so at the expense of our income. I knew there had to be a better way. Then I discovered a business model that had been used successfully in other fields, most notably in the coaching profession: the Multiple Streams of Income model. I found it useful and decided to modify it for therapists.

Simply put, this model helps clinicians augment their in-person practice with "information products"—books, CDs, audiotapes, e-books, and e-courses—created once and then sold repeatedly. The products may be physical, but the power of the model comes from using the Internet to sell and deliver them. Using this model meets consumer demand for instant gratification; lets therapists help people who can't afford therapy; extends therapists' reach beyond their local communities; and offers dependable, additional income.

When implementing this model, some therapists choose to reduce the number of one-to-one hours and limit their in-person time to high-end workshops or retreats. Others choose to stop all clinical work and spend more time creating and selling products, or providing speaking and consulting services. The beauty of this model is that it can be adapted to each provider's desires and personality.

Getting Started—the Lure of the Pink Spoon

The model makes sense, but will it work? Can clinicians compete in the oversaturated self-help market and still make a good living? People have been publishing self-help literature for decades. How can we break into that market?

You don't do it by trying to get your idea published or produced by a big company; few are likely to take on the projects of an unknown psychotherapist. Not to worry! Technology has made it easy for independent practitioners to create downloadable written or audio products and compete with the big companies quickly and inexpensively.

<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next > End >>
(Page 4 of 9)