Simplify Your Social Media Life With HootSuite

I have wholeheartedly embraced social media to build my therapy practice and to educate the public on important emotional health and family relationship topics.

Technology and social media have allowed me to grow my private practice free of managed care during difficult economic times. Facebook is the #2 referral source to my private practice website, topped only by Google. A common challenge for private practice therapists is learning to effectively manage social networks in a way that maximizes their time and draws people to their practice.

People often ask how I stay on top of posting and interacting regularly on my social media networks. Just to give you an idea, I manage 3 Twitter accounts, 8 Facebook pages/profiles, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Ping.fm, 3 Ning accounts. One of my favorite social network management systems is HootSuite, a social media dashboard. Although I can’t manage all of my accounts from HootSuite, I can manage the largest networks. I pay only $5.99 per month which includes the ability to add one “team member” to can access and manage my social network accounts. Read more

7 Strategies To Revive Your Dead Facebook Page

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Do you have a Facebook page for your private practice? If not, read these articles first:

How To Set Up A Facebook Page and Facebook Pages For Therapists: Some Risks And Benefits

If you already have a practice Facebook page but there’s very little interaction going on here are a few tips to revive your page. If people aren’t visiting your page and interacting on it, what’s the point of having it, right?

7 Facebook strategies that boost interaction on Facebook:

1) Post on weekends and afternoon/evening

According the Entrepreneur.com, weekends and late afternoons are the times when page admins are least likely to add a new post and those posts that receive the highest interaction rates.

I’m thrilled to introduce to you Stephanie Adams, LPC – my very first guest blogger on Private Practice Toolbox. Stephanie’s passion for counseling and develop multiple streams of income, like offering online counseling and webinars, and self-publishing her first book are impressive. For all of you shrinks who’ve been thinking about writing a book, I hope Stephanie’s guest posts will encourage you to take action!

photo credit: Mark J P

Among therapists, “multiple streams of income” is a phrase with buzz. For good reason: though we all love our one-on-one work with clients, it gets nerve-wracking to rely solely on “dollars for hours” income. Those times when a client gets sick – or we do – can mean a major hit to our paycheck.

That’s why more and more, smart therapists are looking to diversify their methods of earning income. Self-publishing a book for your main client group is one excellent means of doing just that.

Do you have a Twitter account for your practice but you’re not sure how to get more followers? Do you feel like your tweeting into thin air and no one is “listening”?

Here are a few tricks I’ve learned that have help me grow my Twitter following and promote your private mental health practice online and build your professional identity.

1) Search and follow

Use the search box at the right top of your Twitter homepage to search your specialty areas and interests. Follow people who are tweeting helpful and relevant info relating to your practice areas and let them know that you like what they’re sharing online.

When I “met” Dr. Meredith Hansen on Facebook and Twitter recently I was struck by her cohesive online presence. Rarely have I come across such an impeccable private practice website and a therapist who has such clarity in her private practice message: “Helping individuals and couples find love, get love, and keep love.”

If you want to see an example of a powerful practice website and clear practice message visit DrMeredithHansen.com. Dr. Hansen projects a nice blend of accessibility and professionalism that make me feel confident referring clients to her practice.

Mobile App For Your Private Practice? It’s Easier Than You Think

By now you know that love technology, especially when it comes to practice building. I recently blogged about how shrinks can prepare for the mobile marketing revolution. Well, here’s another cool way to make sure that your private practice website is “mobile friendly.” You can now build your own private practice app! Seriously.

Last weekend I stumbled on this blog http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57336404-94/how-to-build-your-own-app-for-free/ and thought I’d give it a try.

My clinic website, Wasatch Family Therapy, has an active blog, newsletter, YouTube account, Twitter, and Facebook page and we pride ourselves in being fairly tech-savvy, so an app is the next step, right? In addition to providing clinical services, we highly value outreach and community education and technology and the Internet allow us to reach far beyond our own community in Utah.

In less than an hour, through the tools available on conduit.com I created a custom mobile “Wasatch Family Therapy” app, complete with it’s own QR code (the code you can scan with a bar code scanner on your mobile phone). I was also able to set up a notification to my website visitors using a mobile device to select the app or open the full-version. Cool huh?

10 Resolutions I’ll Actually Keep in 2012

1- Gain a few pounds
2- Exercise sporadically
3- Pile up more papers around the house
4- Leave Christmas decor up until Feb
5- Start taxes on April 14
6- Watch too much reality TV
7- Write in my journal…once
8- Eat chocolate daily
9- Buy some shoes
10- Spend more time on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest

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Paper Or Electronic? Why I’m Grieving My Paper Files

Call me a bad therapist. It wouldn’t be the first time. But I write my case notes during sessions. It’s not “writing” really. It’s more like “jotting” a few important things down as I go. I sign and date the note at the end of the session and I’m done. Call me crazy, but I like to complete all work, notes, letter writing on behalf of the client during the session. I have resistance to adding and hour or so at the end of my day for case notes.

If you haven’t been able to tell from past posts, I tend to be an early adopter when it comes to technology. I had a therapy website in the early 2000′s. I’ve been on Facebook and Twitter for 4 years (which is a long time for the over 40 crowd). I love my iPhone and iPad. I developed an app. But, I haven’t yet transition to electronic notes and health records, until now.

Starting today my therapy clinic is finally transitioning to an electronic records and practice management system. After a lot of research we decided to go with Care Paths.

Mobile App For Your Private Practice? It’s Easier Than You Think

By now you know that I love technology, especially when it comes to practice building. I recently blogged about how shrinks can prepare for the mobile marketing revolution. Well, here’s another cool way to make sure that your private practice website is “mobile friendly.” You can now build your own private practice app! Seriously.

Last weekend I stumbled on this blog http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57336404-94/how-to-build-your-own-app-for-free/ and thought I’d give it a try.

Do you have a Facebook page for your private practice? If not, read these articles first:

How To Set Up A Facebook Page and Facebook Pages For Therapists: Some Risks And Benefits

7 Facebook strategies that boost interaction on Facebook:

1) Post on weekends and afternoon/evening

According the Entrepreneur.com, weekends and late afternoons are the times when page admins are least likely to add a new post and those posts that receive the highest interaction rates.

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The Shrink’s Guide To Self-Publishing (part 1)

A Day In The Life: Meet Relationship Expert Dr. Meredith Hansen

10 Resolutions I’ll Actually Keep

10 Resolutions I’ll Actually Keep in 2012