I Can’t Self-Promote (Market) Myself!
As therapists, marketing ourselves can feel awkward and icky. It’s actually interesting because the more I learn about marketing, the more I learn it’s not just therapists who struggle with marketing, but MOST people struggle with it!
Marketing can feel sleezy - like the “sleezy car salesman”. Nobody likes that experience. Marketing can also feel vulnerable. You’re putting yourself and your business out there for the world to see. Many therapists are introverts and this is not comfortable!
You may have thoughts like “I don’t know how to start” or “I can’t” or “I never learned”.
Here are a few things I learned about why marketing is hard for therapists:
We are hardwired to avoid rejection.
When we randomly go up to busy people at doctor’s offices or call the receptionist and say “Hi, I’m Meg, a mental health therapist in the area. Do you have 5 minutes to talk with me about your practice?” You’re likely to get more than one “not right now”.
In days gone by (like cavemen days), rejection was as good as death. If you don’t like me or don’t have time for me, am I not wanted in the clan? If you kick me out of the clan, I’m much more likely to die - whether of starvation, animals, or exposure. If you don’t want to mate with me, the species will die out. Rejection is not safe.
That part of our brain is still working exactly as it was then. “If this, then that.” If I’m rejected then I’ll die”. That is a very old part of our brain. So, we are hardwired to avoid rejection. Why are you going to do something to potentially get thrown out and die?
We aren’t taught how
Here’s where thoughts like “I don’t know how” come into play. We were taught to talk about the other person. We were not taught to talk about ourselves. This is not part of the therapeutic process; it isn’t OUR therapy session!
Furthermore, we didn’t have any classes on business or marketing in school. We were taught the foundations of how to do therapy ethically. We learned about different conditions and how to best treat them. We learned how to diagnose. We learned how to conduct individual versus couple versus family versus group therapy. We basically were taught how to operate in an agency, but not on our own.
Here’s the really cool thing. All I just said above taught you how to market yourself. When you’re promoting yourself, the best way to do so is to build relationships. We live in a very busy world. People don’t remember us among the million other people and things that distract them every day. Build relationships and that will do more for your marketing efforts than any other sales technique.
Our thoughts lead to our emotions. Our emotions lead to our behaviors if we don’t hit the override button in our brain. When we think (and believe) that we don’t know how, our body senses something isn’t right and automatically the fight/flight/freeze response activates. We “freeze” and we don’t do anything. It’s safer to not do anything than to do something that might be dangerous. Why would we do something that is potentially dangerous?
Our experiences
We are “sold to” every day. We are inundated with sales messages on television ads, facebook ads, internet searches (how many times have you searched for something specific - ie you used the name of your veterinarian’s office in your search - and it wasn’t the first result to come up), etc. Most of these ads we ignore. Others will do the same about you. It is just part of marketing.
What are the experiences you remember about trying to be sold something? How many solicitors come to your house? How many employees of a store say “can I help you find something?” Many people want to look and buy at their own pace…unless they specifically ask for help.
The brain remembers discomfort more than comfort because it’s the discomfort that will save our lives. If you put your hand on a hot stove, you remember next time to look and make sure the stove isn’t on and there’s no red light saying it’s hot. How many times do you remember putting your hand on a hot stove? How many times do you remember putting your hand on a cold stove? We remember the discomfort; it saves our lives.
The experiences we remember with marketing and a business promoting themselves are more uncomfortable than comfortable.
As you want to market your business, discomfort comes up because of your experiences. Why are you going to do something that is uncomfortable?
As you think about marketing your private practice, think about which of these three (or if all three) are stopping you from marketing. You are not alone in your discomfort of marketing.
You probably know how to overtake the survival system and market your practice already. If not, I’ll give you some tips in the next blog. Remember: therapists make some of the best marketers because marketing is about building relationships and that’s what we do every single day.
So go out there are promote your business by introducing yourself to people and getting to know THEIR business.
Contact me if you’re struggling and want some help overcoming the fear of marketing! Let me help you help as many people as you possibly can by getting over your fear! Book a 15 minute consultation call at right here!
Click here for more information on Marketing your Private Practice.