I sent an email out to folks on my email list (click here to join or learn about it). I said to them that I wanted to feature them on my website. I thought to myself, I know them, they know me, but y’all don’t know one another!
Today I want to introduce you to Sharon C. Martin, MSW, LCSW. I met her at The Most Awesome Conference. What’s really cool about the conference, is it has given us all a huge network of people that can help us grow! For me, I have all these new people that know about my work and want to be a part of my community. For them, they get all sorts of tips and leads to grow their practice, it’s such a win-win.
Name: Sharon C. Martin, MSW, LCSW
Practice: www.sharonmartincounseling.com
www.socialworkcoaching.com
Follow Sharon on Twitter
What’s something you learned from Practice of the Practice?
I learned how to use social media to grow my practice and connect with like-minded professionals. I learned the being authentic and a “real person” is just as important online as off.
What is your therapeutic specialty?
I help over-stressed adults and teens to create more balanced lives. Many of my clients struggle with people-pleasing and become overcommitted and worn out. I help my clients become more assertive and break though perfectionism in order to increase both productivity and connection with others. I also love to train, mentor, and supervise new social workers and therapists.
What is an action you took to grow your private practice?
I began blogging on a regular basis and this brings a lot more traffic to my website. I had no idea how important blogging is for SEO, building trust online, and reaching my audience. I also learned that blogging doesn’t have to be perfect and each post doesn’t have to be a revolutionary idea.
Complete this sentence: When I first started a private practice, I…
Had a very small vision and very little insight into what I was doing from a business standpoint. The idea of working for myself was appealing, but I didn’t realize that I can bring my message to a larger audience. For many years my practice was on auto-pilot. I now have the support and knowledge to create the kind of private practice I really want.
How have you grown your income and influence?
I raised my fees and am removing myself from insurance panels. It was a little scary, but I feel good about it. PoP helped me recognize my worth and I am already experiencing greater satisfaction as a serve my ideal clients.
I am growing my marketing list, seeing many more blog readers, and have had several posts pinned 1000+ times on Pinterest.
What’s next for you?
I will be learning how to get myself in front of the media through Julie Hanks’ Rock the Media School this fall.
- I expect this will give me the next push towards reaching a larger audience.
- I would like to write a regular blog or column for a large website or publication.
- I intend to write a book on tackling perfectionism.
What is one specific podcast or article that helped you grow quickly?
This is a hard question because I honestly love so many of the podcasts. The episodes with Pat Flynn and Michelle Corteggianno, however, really contributed in a shift in my thinking. They helped me envision a larger reach and understand how social media and online marketing can help me serve more people and increase my income.
If every counselor in the world was reading this, what would you want them to know?
Dream big! Don’t limit yourself. Therapists do so much good in the world. We don’t have to be limited to the clients sitting in our offices.
What are 2-3 resources you love? How do you use them to grow your practice?
- Practice of the Practice (I’m not just saying that!) is such an awesome resource. I always learn something new in every podcast. And I love how Joe models being authentic and wonderfully imperfect in his podcasts.
- Facebook groups – I’m a part of several Facebook groups for therapists. These groups have created community, idea sharing, creating a wider reach through social media. These groups and connections have been key in helping me move forward in my practice.
- Canva – This free online design program makes it so easy to create graphics for blog posts, infographics, catchy graphics for Pinterest. I use it all the time. Nothing else similar compares.
- Simple Practice – going paperless has been a huge time saver. Wish I had done it sooner.
Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC
Joe Sanok is an ambitious results expert. He is a private practice business consultant and counselor that helps small businesses and counselors in private practice to increase revenue and have more fun! He helps owners with website design, vision, growth, and using their time to create income through being a private practice consultant.
Joe was frustrated with his lack of business and marketing skills when he left graduate school. He loved helping people through counseling, but felt that often people couldn’t find him. 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+ .
