Selling the Couch

This episode is the last one before I take an extended break for a few months. The plan is to be back in April 2023, with exciting, brand-new STC episodes. I think rest is important in the human journey AND the entrepreneurial journey, so I’m looking forward to some extra downtime after podcasting regularly for seven years and hitting the 1.5 million download mark. Unbelievable! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! This is my life’s work and my great privilege to serve you, my colleagues. Today’s episode takes a closer look at a major passion of mine: online courses. Let’s talk about the important questions to ask–and answer–before launching an online course. Join me!You’ll Learn:How online courses can help fill in the gap for those who need mental health services7 Questions to Ask Before Launching an Online Course:Have people paid me one-on-one for this course idea?Can I see myself being in this space for 10+ years?Is this course idea confronting a “massive pain” vs. an “annoying inconvenience” for my audience?Can this population afford the course I’m selling? Do they have purchasing power?Is this a population that is easy to target and find online?Is my course idea a growing concern/need for my audience?Are there others out there creating information products for this niche?Further details about the STC Elite Mastermind for therapists who are creating online courses (The next launch is scheduled for Spring 2023.) If you aren’t ready for the mastermind-level commitment, check out my FREE Webinar about creating online courses. Mentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

Today’s topic is very relevant in our post-pandemic world. Many clinicians are left wondering if their best work lies in the clinical field or the coaching/consulting arena. I’ve felt this dilemma myself, pondering how to balance my interests, endeavors, and the evolution of family life. I realized that I couldn’t sustain multiple paths, and I made the hard decision to give up my clinical work. If you are struggling along those same lines, I hope today’s show gives you insights, clarity, and encouragement. Join us to learn more!Our Featured GuestAngela Williams, LCSWAngela Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Orlando, Florida. She has made the transition from clinician to coach, and she now works with other therapists who are making the same change in their lives. Angela shares her thoughts about why so many clinicians are leaving for the world of coaching, along with the biggest roadblocks that may come up on this path. She gives her best tips for overcoming those big roadblocks and recommends several books as helpful resources. WebsiteYou’ll Learn:Why so many therapists are becoming coachesHow the therapy field, with its inherent regulations, contains many barriers to providing services to clients—and coaching is differentThe biggest mental roadblock for Angela in moving from clinician to coachWhy each clinician feels like the “insecure expert” and has to intentionally build up their confidenceWhy it’s challenging to become an online, visible brand rather than a care providerWhat holds clinicians back the most and presents the biggest roadblocksHow a mindset coach can help us rewrite our roadblocks into our success storyHow perfectionism, fear of failure, and standards of success can prevent us from taking actionWhy money blocks and financial literacy play into our beliefs about moneyWhy the fear of success can be just as crippling as the fear of failureBooks recommended by Angela:  The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas, and You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen SinceroMentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

I think often about legacy in providing STC as a resource for our field and being of service to our colleagues. The same desire for a lasting legacy drives me to connect with good people who are doing great things in the world, which is what this podcast is all about. Today’s conversation, with two of those good people, focuses on a common issue for clinicians in referring out clients. If you are looking to do referrals in a better way, this session will give you valuable information. Join us to learn more!Our Featured GuestsAnna O’Brien Jim PasquarellaAnna O’Brien and Jim Pasquarella live and work locally in the Philly area as a clinician and commercial real estate developer, respectively. They have created a resource called The Consult List, which addresses a common problem for clinicians. “Referring out” clients to other colleagues is something every clinician faces, but what’s the best way to do it? Anna and Jim will share with us how they created The Consult List for clinicians to use in making sure the clients we serve are getting appropriate and helpful referrals. This resource allows clinicians to harness the power of their community and streamline the referral process. They will explain how the resource handles issues like data privacy and protection, and we will discuss how they are monetizing this free resource.WebsiteYou’ll Learn:The story behind The Consult List and how it came to be as Anna and Jim teamed up to improve access to mental health servicesHow Jim’s efforts are inspired by the memory of his mom’s tireless dedication in caring for othersHow Anna and Jim met through the shared vision of making a vacant building into an affordable wellness center to serve the local communityWhat The Consult List is and how it helps clinicians with referralsHow the client can interact with The Consult ListWhat a prospective clinician would have access to on The Consult List in keeping safety and privacy in mind for the prospective clientHow the location parameters are set for clinicians and clients on The Consult ListWhy The Consult List is free in its essential version and offers a premium membership with extra featuresHow data is protected on this referral platformMentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

I still call myself a Twitter newbie because I haven’t been there for very long, but I’ve been honored to connect with amazing people holding full and varied skill sets. I’m chatting with one of them in today’s session, someone who has helped me learn what I was doing wrong on Twitter and how I can improve. If you need Twitter help, too, join us to learn more about standing out on Twitter!Our Featured GuestAadit ShethAadit Sheth is a 21-year-old engineering student who started on Twitter only a couple of years ago. He has built a following of over 200,000 by focusing on the life optimization habits of top entrepreneurs. Aadit shares with us about Twitter threads and how they work to make this social media platform one of the top ways to network and stay current with technology, productivity, and business.WebsiteYou’ll Learn:How Aadit decided that Twitter would be his “place”How Aadit began by engaging with people he admired on Twitter and finding ways to provide value to themHow to build strong connections through a “permission-less action” approachA basic understanding of Twitter threads vs. single tweetsAadit’s best tips for writing threads and hooks on Twitter–”80% of the performance of a thread is driven by the hook.”Why you should identify the emotion you want to evoke and the purpose of your thread hook (i.e. counterintuitive, suspenseful, successes, novelty)An example of a thread idea in a specific niche for mental health providersHow to use templates to help find a balance between perfectionism and spontaneity in writing Twitter threadsHow to combat the crippling pressure to write the perfect Twitter thread by repurposing your contentAn overview of Aadit’s work, including the Maker’s Mark agency and course on audience building for creators and foundersMentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

Today’s topic is inspired by a Twitter thread I wrote about a life-changing event in our family when our daughter began preschool recently. Since she was born prematurely, going through the NICU experience four years ago coupled with the demands of entrepreneurship brought me to the realization that things had to change. The season of life that was one of the hardest things became the best thing to help me reevaluate and realign my life and goals. As much as I love my work, I wanted my life to be about much more than my work. Join me to learn how shifting my work week has made me a better entrepreneur, husband, father, and person. You’ll Learn:Business becomes more complicated with more time. “You don’t have to suffer in order to succeed.”For any task, look to automate, delegate, eliminate, or systemize.There are more metrics than money. “Not everything that counts can be counted.”The time I’ve spent and the memories I’ve made with my daughter are priceless.Creativity time is essential.Time to explore and be curious should be an intentional part of the day/week. Giving your mind time for creativity and play will help you make better business decisions.Business doesn’t have all the answers.Work will not fulfill you in every aspect of life. “Don’t build your life around your business; build your business to support your life.”Simplicity is key.Concise communication is essential for people to understand you.“Be clear, not clever.”Seasons don’t last.Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster ride, but time will pass quickly.“Focus on the present and be grateful for now.”The courage of a child is inspiring.Be resilient like a child, and get back up when you fall down.“The only way to fail in building a business is by refusing to get back up.”Mentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

“Will anyone listen to it? How can I grow my audience?” These are the questions that badger everyone who starts a podcast, and even though I am a veteran podcaster of several years, I know there is a lot of room to grow. The good news is that there are people who can help us learn by sharing their knowledge and experience. My guest today has answers to your biggest questions about growing and marketing your podcast. It’s easier than you think! Join us!Our Featured GuestJeremy EnnsJeremy Enns is a podcast marketing strategist for scrappy brands, networks, and creators who are looking to punch above their weight. He has helped his clients generate over 50 million podcast downloads and millions of dollars in revenue. By working with many different podcasters, Jeremy has learned what works best in podcast growth, and he’s here to share his top tips for growing a podcast strategically and intentionally. WebsiteYou’ll Learn:Jeremy’s outlook on the fate of the podcasting industry–Is podcasting here to stay?Why people from different platforms are getting into podcasting to build long-term engagementJeremy’s tips for beginning podcasters:Have realistic expectations. “The root of unhappiness is misaligned expectations.” Think of podcasting as a five-year plan for learning a new skill—and appreciate the intangibles.Think of marketing as just another way of creatively communicating ideas to help the people you want to serve. Find ways to make marketing fun for you.Use the writing methods that work best for you.Be an active participant in communities where you feel comfortable and always look for one-on-one conversation opportunities. “Go live in the world where your people already are.”An overview of Jeremy’s upcoming workshop, The Minimalist Podcast Marketing Method, and his flagship course, Podcast Marketing AcademyMentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

Today’s topic is a fascinating one for me. As therapists, we are wired for stories, but telling an effective story online is a struggle for many of us. Fortunately for us, my guest has wisdom and tips to share to help us become awesome storytellers. Join us to learn more!Our Featured GuestKieran DrewKieran Drew lives in Leeds, England, and is my writing coach for Twitter. In an interesting career twist, he was a dentist who left behind his stressful, work-filled life to become a copywriter/storyteller. My first connection to Kieran came through the viral story he wrote about his unique medical experiences as a teenager. He is a talented storyteller who has helped my writing immensely, and I know his insights will be helpful to anyone looking to improve their writing. WebsiteYou’ll Learn:Why Kieran made the unconventional transition from dentist to copywriter/storytellerAn overview of Kieran’s spinal issues involving a tumor, surgeries, and titanium rods—this is the experience that helped him discover storytelling and a new love for life3 tips to become a better storyteller:Make a story bank by writing down everything that happens to you with specific details.Cut through the noise to impart a lesson. Even in sales, start every point with a story. How specific details make your stories more impactfulHow to draw a “lesson” from each storyHow storytelling breaks down skepticism and improves your selling abilityHow storytelling can be your differentiator in the online worldA storytelling template: what happened/the lesson, why people should care, and a call to actionHow Kieran reviews his story bank to choose his next storyMentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

Today’s session is a coaching call, and our main focus is on a struggle that many course creators face. When you are an expert in your course content, how do you find the balance in presenting information without overwhelming your students? I feel sure that every course creator has felt this struggle, so I hope you find today’s call to be helpful.Our Featured Guest for today’s coaching call:Heather England, Ph.D., LCP, LCPC, CST, CDWFDr. Heather England is a coach, certified sex therapist, and licensed clinical psychotherapist in Overland Park, Kansas. She is part of our online course mastermind, which you can explore at www.sellingthecouch.com/mastermind. Heather is in the process of creating a course on erectile dysfunction, and she has already learned a lot in preparation to launch her course. Her biggest question is how to present her course without information overload for her students. You are invited to listen to the coaching call with Heather and Melvin!Love Filled LifeYou’ll Learn:How Heather evolved as a sex therapist and realized the need for more informationHow Heather found the niche for her online course in helping men with erectile issuesA common mistake that our colleagues make in creating an online courseHow the STC Mastermind course has fast-tracked Heather’s course creation and launch (scheduled to begin in a few short weeks!)How Heather’s four-week course is structured with videos, downloadable resources, and a coaching callWhy Heather is being intentional to allow her students to maintain anonymity if they preferTool options that can be used to allow students to submit questions to Dr. Heather privatelyWhy Heather is struggling to uphold her standards of competency and concrete research without overwhelming her students with information and exercisesHow Heather is approaching a particular module of her course that includes a lot of informationHow to pare down exercises and activities to the most important “Aha moment” for studentsThe value of using a survey to get feedback at the end of EACH module–rather than waiting until the end of the entire courseHeather’s top takeaways from this coaching call and how she plans to implement what she has learnedHow you can find Heather’s course, free webinar, and other resources at www.lovefilledlife.com  Mentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

Hello! Welcome to a brand new season of STC that will take us through September and October before I take an extended sabbatical of several months. Today’s session is a fascinating conversation about considering the greater purpose of our businesses beyond merely generating income. How can our businesses be a vehicle for much, much more in the world? Let’s discuss this topic with today’s guest!Our Featured GuestAriana Lloyd, LCSWAriana Lloyd is a licensed clinical social worker in Portland, Oregon. She runs eight-week live cohorts to help therapists coming into private practice set up their businesses in ways that are focused on personal growth, creativity, and social justice. In this conversation, we talk about the ways her business has been a means of personal growth and healing, along with how to offer programs with intentionality and meaningful service to clients. Ariana tells us how she exercises her creative muscles through her business, and we wrap up with ways to tackle social justice issues and advocacy with intention, care, and cultural humility. You’ll Learn:How Ariana’s business became a source of healing and personal growth How even the practical tasks in business-building can help heal past woundsHow to find balance between personal healing and being of service to clientsHow Ariana has tapped into her creativity by offering her unique programs to clientsWhat works best for Ariana in exercising her creativity muscles: writing and talking to a trusted friend when facing a new projectWhy clinicians have unique opportunities to step into leadership, advocacy, and empowerment for social justice issuesHow the business-building process can incorporate more radical values that address systemic change for social goodWhy Ariana offers free training on specific topics and donates to organizations doing good in the worldHow social justice applies to the sense of duty Ariana feels to help othersAn overview of Lloyd Collective offerings and the help offered to private practitionersMentioned in this episode: Barbara Love, author, and researcherConnect with ArianaMentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.

Like many of you, I’m looking forward to a different 2021, but I am grateful for what we’ve learned about ourselves, our businesses, and our resilience. Today’s topic is more relevant than ever, as we all want to learn more about improving our private practice website. Join us to learn more! Our Featured GuestDaniel FavaDaniel Fava, from Private Practice Elevation, is my friend and an expert in website design. I trust his insight and advice, and I rely heavily on him for everything website-related. Daniel is here to share what is working for private practice websites post-pandemic. Much of what we think about our private practice websites has shifted greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what used to serve us well may not be working now. As many of us are transitioning to full-time online counseling or at least some increased element of online therapy, Daniel’s advice is relevant and timely.WebsiteROI ReportWebsite AuditYou'll Learn:What has changed about websites and online traffic since the pandemic beganThree things that are working well for private practice websites:A professional website is more important than ever.People are searching online, so you need to have a presence there that stands out.Content is the foundation for getting found online.Foundational content includes your home page, service pages, and specialty pages.Online therapy has become an essential part of private practice.Your website audience is now expanded throughout your entire state, instead of just your local vicinity. How to incorporate non-written content, like videos and podcasts, into your websiteWhy you should take this opportunity to view your website through new eyesTranscript:Melvin:Hello, welcome to session 262 of Selling the Couch. I hope you are having a good start to the New Year. Man after the fun adventure that was 2020 I am really looking forward to a different 2021. At the same time, I feel like I'm so grateful. As hard as this has been that in some ways that we were able to go through this because I think it's definitely taught all of us just how resilient we are; especially if you have been able to manage a business and during a pandemic, you're pretty legit.So today's podcast session is with my good friend Daniel Fava from Private Practice Elevation. Daniel is an expert when it comes to website design. It's someone I rely on for both STC and my private practice website. And Daniel is here to share three of the things that are working for private practice websites post-pandemic. I know that how we think about private practice and even how we think about our private practice websites has shifted in the midst of this pandemic.There are just things that were working in the past that are not working as well now and we've learned a lot of insights and key things in terms of what could work and what will be working going forward. Especially as many of us transition either fully to online counseling or maintain some element of online counseling in our practices. I think there are just a lot of different things there. So we'll get right to today's conversation. Here is my conversation with Daniel Fava from privatepracticeelevation.com.Hey, Daniel, welcome back to Selling the Couch.Daniel:Hey Melvin, how's it going? Thanks so much for having me back.Melvin:You're welcome. And Happy New Year, because by the time this releases, it'll be the New Year.Daniel:That's right. That's always the interesting and strange part of recording podcasts is the timing bit because we're recording before Christmas, but we're saying Happy New Year.Melvin:Yes, absolutely. We have to get it all in our mind.Daniel:Yeah.Melvin:I'm really excited for our conversation because this pandemic this past year has up ended so many things. Even I think about like just across but especially in the mental health field. Many of us have had to transition to telehealth, think differently about marketing, and think differently about our websites. Even as we record this right now, we've had one vaccine that's I guess been approved for emergency use, but looks like a second and potentially third and fourth ones on the way. So we see the dim light at the end of the tunnel.But I do feel like this is definitely going to change our field and how we see private practice. And I'm grateful for this conversation because you're my friend, first of all, and second here, someone that I really trust when it comes to just learning about what's working for private practice websites and websites in general. So I’m grateful for this time together.Daniel:Yeah, thank you so much. I'm grateful for it too. I really appreciate you having me on and it's always fun to chat about this stuff. I know that we tend to geek out a bit and so you're kind of like an equal with me as we nerd out on some of this stuff and dig into it. It's a lot of fun.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely! About you, I would say you're probably a little bit more. I love websites, but when it comes to at least a website, I think you take it to a level that’s more than I can go. So perhaps you’re my nerdy friend.We were thinking about the topic for this podcast conversation, and one of the things we just realized is, websites are changing, and how we think about websites are changing in the midst of this pandemic, and even afterwards, and what I asked Daniel to share was the three things that are working for private practice websites post-pandemic. So we'll just jump right in.Daniel, what would you say is like-- well, I guess maybe even before we get into those three things, if you could sort of give a big picture overview, how did people look at websites pre-pandemic and what do you think has changed since the pandemic?Daniel:Yeah. Well, I think that for a while, I kind of noticed, and I've been doing websites for therapists and private practice owners for little over four years now. And so I have seen sort of a shift and it's been kind of slow going from people were like, “Oh, maybe I need a website, maybe I don't. I've got referral networks going on. Maybe just having really basic website is enough and it's just a place that I can send people to.”But then over the years as platforms like Squarespace have evolved and they've become more popular People are starting to see really the importance or have been seeing the importance of having a website and how it can be really an asset in their business to get more clients. That shift has really been happening slowly over the years that I've been noticing.I remember when I first began this work and kind of just talking to people and looking at in like social media and Facebook groups and stuff like that. A lot of people there are still in this mix of like, “Oh, I'm thinking about starting a website, do I really need a website?” That sort of thing, but I feel like people have kind of really grabbed hold of; yes. “Yes, I do. I do need a website.” And especially with the shift to more online therapy, and not being able to do in person marketing and networking and stuff like that; it's become more important than ever.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely! I forgot who mentioned this. But this phrase has always resonated with me that, website is the modern day business card and I feel like that that statement is true now more than ever. Like you said, because of like, so many restrictions and having a presence online is just really important, especially because telehealth was growing, and it's definitely not going away post-pandemics.Daniel:Yeah, absolutely, and that's really my point number one was kind of just starting at the beginning. And I wrote down in my notes here, a professional website is more important than ever, because so many people are turning to online, so many people are turning to searching- clients are searching for these services in Google and if you're not able to do in person networking, and you don't have a number of different streams for your marketing, you could be missing out on a lot of potential clients there.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely! So you said a professional website is more important than ever. So what's the difference between a regular website and a professional website?Daniel:Well, with the shift that's been happening is that a lot more people are as we said, getting smart to the fact that you need to have that presence online, especially if you're doing online therapy, you can reach more and more people and we'll talk a little bit more about that later on. So many people really hustled to get their online presence in order. And that was really what we saw a lot in my business was, I got all this influx of people who were like, “My website is just, it's really crappy, I haven't done anything with it. It's just kind of there. But now we are really in need of more clients especially with the uncertainty of COVID.”When all that started a lot of people weren't investing in their online marketing or their website. So a number of therapists came running to us like, “Hey, I need help, I got to get this in order, we need to get this up, so our clients don't dry up.” That's great, but when you kind of look at the big picture for each of those individual therapists, that often lead to even more competition; more people are investing in their websites, more people are getting their SEO in order. So that means that there's more competition, especially if you're in a densely populated area or largest city.So it's important not to only have a website, but you have to have one that really stands out, because people are going to be doing those searching, they're going to be researching who do they want to work with, who's the best person to help me with my challenges. So you want to make sure that your website stands out. So when I talk about professional, and this is not just because I am a web designer, yeah that can be a little bit of part of it.But you want a website that does what it's meant to do. It's got to be clean; it's got to be modern and easy to use. And if you really want to stand out among that crowd of competition, you want your website to look stellar, you want it to be professional, you want it to work the way it's supposed to work to get you more clients.Melvin:Yeah, absolutely, and I think both with selling the couch as well as my private practice website, I felt like, especially with selling the couch, I felt like I was like a little bit naive to it. I just thought, what website is, I can kind of use a template and put my main sections up and put the words up. But I think what you're saying is a website in a way is kind of this living, breathing thing and evolving thing. So just because you post something or have a certain sections doesn't mean you stop tweaking it.Daniel:Yeah, absolutely, and I understand that there's certainly a starting point for everybody. Budgets are super important when it comes to should you invest or should you build it yourself? You want to make sure that no matter what stage you're at, you are investing whether that's time or money into your website to make it better and better and make it stand.One client of ours comes to mind and she is in New York City and so there's a lot of competition in her location and she had a website that she put together herself on Wix, and there was a lot of just for me, as a designer, when I come to it, I can see all the things that are just kind of out of place, or it's missing the right content, or it's hard to schedule that first appointment or a consultation call. And so we worked on her website, and we redesigned it made it beautiful, professional, easy to use works on mobile, and then when her website went live in just three months, she went from about eight clients a week to 25 clients a week.That project actually, funny thing, it didn't really have a lot of focus on SEO. But because she was getting a number of people searching through Psychology and landing on her website, because we focused on that conversion optimization, she was able to get more leads, have more phone calls with people, and then sign those people up.So certainly investing in a website; it's my hope, it’s my desire and it's really our goal to make sure that we help our clients reach those goals and impact their business. Like I don't want to just create pretty websites to create pretty websites, and that's something that I’ve really been passionate about over the last year, is I want to dig in and be a partner with people in their private practices, in their business and how many more clients do they want in their business? What goals are they trying to achieve?Melvin:Yeah, I know. Absolutely, all are really good points. I wanted to come back to something you said a little bit earlier.Daniel:Sure.Melvin:A professional website-- like this is can really be silly question; should there be like, especially in 2121, should there be like certain core elements in a professional website? Like, you should have a homepage, you should have a specialty page, like any of that kind of stuff? I'd be like, really interested to hear from you and pick your brain on that.Daniel:Yeah, absolutely, and we can actually go there. That's kind of part of my point number two here for things that are working post-pandemic.Melvin:It's so funny. Like I asked Daniel like to share these tips, but I haven't seen the tips, and it's funny how we're on the same wavelength. So yeah, let's jump into point two, then.Daniel:Yeah, you're tracking with me here. So number two is that content is still the foundation for getting found online. With the folks who have come to us over the last year who are really starting to focus in on their online marketing, I would hear time and again, “We're not getting found for these keywords, the right types of clients that we want to track aren't coming to the website.” And when I dig in and look at their current website, I can see just clear holes in their content.I've really been working on really our process at Private Practice Elevation, like what do we do to elevate people's practices with their online presence, and I've been working on this diagram. I think we've spoken about this before. But I have these three circles, and in the first circle, the very first thing that we focus on really is the foundation, the foundational content for your website.What I mean by that is yes, definitely having a homepage. Your homepage is super important, because it's often the most visited page on the website, and that homepage really serves to get people to the information that they're looking for as quickly as possible, and as easily as possible. So that could be an introduction to you and your private practice, followed by the services that you offer, and getting people to those services pages; and that's really the second most important thing, if not the most important.It's kind of like a toss-up between the homepage and your service pages, because your service pages are so specific and that's really where the SEO piece comes in; and I encourage people to get creative, and it might sound like a lot of content. But this is something that you can develop over time, you can start with your initial services, might just look like individual therapy in Atlanta, or whatever the city is, couples counseling in Atlanta. But then over time, you want to build those things out to have subpages even under that and all of those really act as ways for Google to see those services.Because people are more likely to search for anxiety therapy or counseling after divorce, something like that, and maybe not just couples counseling, but it's related to couples counseling, you understand what I'm saying?Melvin:Yeah.Daniel:You got to really dig into the services and the topics and the things that you help your clients with. And that's really the best way even before you start building links back to the website or doing other things that are off of your website, you really got to focus on that content.Melvin:Yeah, that's like really good stuff. So I wanted to just understand because you said like specialty pages. So would that be like I often get confused between these. Like it's a specialty page saying like, you do individual counseling versus couples counseling, those are separate pages or are the specialty pages like the niches that you serve?I can even give like a practical example from my own private practice. So in general I think my niche is successful by overwhelmed entrepreneurs. But within that, like I have pages for entrepreneurs with what's called founder depression and then I have like specialty page for entrepreneur from a dysfunctional family or alcohol dysfunctional family. So I guess, are those the examples of the specialty pages?Daniel:Right, yeah. That's what I consider the specialty pages. And another example, just to kind of drive this home, we just worked on a website for a psychologist, Long Island, New York, which I'm super excited about, because that's where I grew up. So it's fun to look at their content and see all the towns nearby where I grew up at. So my Long Island accent kind of came out while I was working on that project. But anyway, so they have done a great job; their website was very outdated, but the content that they had was incredible. It was like 95 pages of content and I was like, “Oh, my goodness, they have done a really great job and they’re getting great traffic, because of all the different content that they have on there.”So what it kind of looks like and how it's organized. And I just pulled it up just to get this right. So they've got services on their homepage, they list their services for individual therapy and couples...