What I just learned…the hard way

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COUNSELING PRIVATE PRACTICE HARD WAY

COUNSELING PRIVATE PRACTICE HARD WAY

I have learned a lot lately. Most of it has been the hard way and actually probably helped me lose some money, connections with clients, and knowledge. So that you don’t make the same mistakes, let me tell you all about what happened, how I got through it, and what I’m doing to improve.

The Situation

So in late July I saw that I could upgrade my WordPress theme (it’s what makes my website look cool. It’s the formatting code that I don’t have to know that makes my website look good). I thought this was a good idea, since they probably worked out some bugs and made some improvements. When I went to upgrade there was a warning that I did not heed!The warning said something along these lines:

By upgrading your theme, you will lose all customizable formats.

Or something like that.

Here are a few things that tend to drive how I make more money, am more efficient, and build my practice and this website:

1. When I can, I try and do it myself. That way I can update and grow my technology skills, while also building my skill-set to help others.

2. If I can save money, I try to. As a result, I’d rather have a slightly clunkier website that ranks #1 on Google, than one that cost $4,000 to build and then all updates cost money too.

3. I’m fairly stubborn.

So…and I say this with a deep breath and a rolling of my eyes, I clicked “accept.”

Dumb.


The Outcome

Here is what happened, some I realized right away some I just realized.

1. My header that linked with my FREE e-newsletter disappeared. Now, I could hire someone to replace it, but I have just switched a few things through Aweber to help make it easy to sign up. Aweber is the e-newsletter service I use to keep things organized and flowing well. It has saved me tons of time, feel free to check them out (Aweber affiliate link).

2. The whole format changed to a new look that is not nearly as cool. Again I could hire someone, but I’m trying to figure it out.

3. This is the worst one, I have no Google Analytics data after late July! This is a really big deal, because I just did a free book giveaway of all of my e-books (here’s the post about it). Now I know that 494 books were downloaded, because Amazon lets me know that. But that landing site was going to be where I gathered the information about which marketing was the most effective or waste of my time. For example, I promoted it on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and set up a Facebook Event for it. I think I know what worked, but the fact that probably 200_ people took action and I have no idea what worked, really hurts.

Google counseling
so sad 🙁

So what now?

The Solution

Well, here’s the first thing I have done. I researched the best plug-ins for WordPress and Google Analytics. I think that “Google Analytics for WordPress” is the best one I have found. It has been around a while, has great features and makes it easier than figuring out how/where to copy and paste code. Also, if I update again, it will still be there!

Problem solved. I found this video to be helpful in learning more about it:



So that’s where I am with that.

Something Else I Learned

Now I don’t want you to think I am just pushing products. I just joined this thing called HootSuite. I am actually going to apply to be an affiliate because I love it so much. It has helped me organize all of my social media so that as I grow I can keep up with it easier. But I think that post is going to be for another time! So check it out on your own, then when I launch the post about it, you’ll already know what’s up.

headshot fromhttp://kalamazooportraits.com/

Joseph R. Sanok, MA, LLP, LPC, NCC is an innovator and consultant in the fields of counseling, business, and private practice. He works with angry kids, frustrated parents, and distant couples at his private practice, Mental Wellness Counseling in Traverse City, MI. He helps serious counselors that want to grow stay on track through his member’s e-mail, it’s so intense, you might not like it. If you want to take your private practice to the next level, check out the paid e-newsletter subscription.

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