Welcome to 2015!  With the New Year comes new learnings, challenges, and opportunities for personal and career growth.  Before we focus on what to do in 2015, let’s make sure you know what to avoid, what not to do, when focusing on your private practice.

#1:  Charging Less Than Your Full-Fee

It sounds obvious, it sounds trivial, but my oh my how important it is:  you must get in the habit of charging clients your full-fee.

Change your mindset about your services to one of a consultant, a strategic adviser who provides far more “return” (in terms of happiness and mental health skills) than the cost of their help.

Remember: your private practice is a business and businesses fail when they earn less than they spend!

Make 2015 the year you refer clients to other therapists who cannot pay your full fee.

Make 2015 the year you say “no” more to say “yes” less, but to the right clients: people who need your expertise, who can afford your services, and who are willing to spend the time and money it takes to invest in a happier, healthier future for themselves.

#2:  Getting Lazy about Marketing & Losing Touch With Your Network

When new clients pour in, especially after New Years, we can often get overwhelmed and hunker down into our immediate workload.  And no one is to blame in this case because the work is there, the demand is real, and there is only so many hours in the day to help.

It is easy to overlook the long-term necessity of marketing and networking to maintain a steady stream of ideal clients during the short-term flurry of work, but be weary, this is a huge mistake.

In 2015, create a marketing and networking schedule and stick to it.  Learn and implement a new marketing technique every month.  Then shortly summarize the technique and your results and share that information with your network!  This is an easy way to provide value to your colleagues and stay in touch at the same time, keeping you top of mind and positioning you as an expert (or at least as someone with energy to experiment!).

In 2015, make sure to follow up with your new clients as fast as possible!  It blows my mind to hear that therapists don’t call back incoming new clients within two hours (sometimes taking the weekend or even a week).

In 2015, reach out to referring providers and health professionals to follow up about clients, marketing tips, and your skills.  Don’t be ashamed of letting folks know that you spent your hard earned money and time developing new mental health treatment methods — it is in their best interest to know your resume is up to date!

In 2015, stay consistent with your marketing and nurture your network!  New clients will take care of themselves!

#3:  Not Regularly Seeking and Implementing Advice From a Successful Mentor

It can be scary to ask for help, admitting to yourself that you might not be the best of the best at a few specific things within your private practice.

Three words:  Get Over Yourself!

Asking for advice from successful private practice therapists who’ve done it before you is the easiest way to accelerate your private practice experience; simply borrow it!

Happily stand upon the scaffolding of generations of therapists who’ve molded a private practice they love.

Be unabashed about asking them for help but be specific.  It is hard to lend expertise when the questions are vague:  “My private practice is struggling, what should I do?”  vs.  “I am having a hard time with online marketing, have you used any websites to help generate new clients and if so, what tips would you recommend I follow?”

You may know this already but most of us love to help each other; doing so is gratifying, a bit of an ego-boost, and a great way to connect and build a thriving, diverse social life.

Let go of the fear that successful people don’t want you to succeed, that they don’t have time for you.  You are exactly who they want to help (beyond their clients of course)!

In 2015, spend time reaching out to successful private practice therapists.

Begin a relationship by making contact and offering value where you can: compliments, suggestions, even free help with things you can help with (if you can help spruce up their website for instance).  Having established a rapport, ask a specific question that you know will impact your private practice.

And when you get a suggestion or piece of advice, implement it immediately, measure it, and respond back with your results.  Your mentor wants to know you take their advice seriously enough to implement it, otherwise you are both wasting your time.

In 2015, drop your ego and seek advice from those who’ve done it before you, asking specific questions and implementing their advice immediately.

Learn from the best to get ahead of the rest!

#4:  Not Doing Due Diligence With Insurance Clients

Taking insurance often times a necessary evil, especially for new therapists looking to develop a core caseload while gaining skills, expertise, and further education.

Sadly, not only do you earn less than your full-fee with insurance clients but there are also many opportunities to not get paid at all!  Incorrect information from the client, confusing insurance policies, and not doing due diligence on every new client can put you in precarious situations.

In 2015, always check eligibility and benefits for new clients.  Always get on the phone to ensure you’re in-network, understand the co-payment, make sure that you know information about their deductible, and where to file claims.

You will save yourself so much stress, headache, and head-banging with this simple 10-20 minute phone call.

Join our newsletter at the bottom of this article to get access to a free PDF report teaching you, step by step, how to check for eligibility and benefits, how to skip insurance lines, as well as a full script for the call.

#5:  Not Updating Your Resume Every 6 Months

Your resume should be expanding every 6 months from continued education, conferences and events, lectures, and other activities you practice regularly to help grow your skillset and your private practice.

Your resume needs to be current and its current version needs to be in the hands of your network and easily accessible to new clients.  This is a great excuse to reach out to your network as well.

In 2015, make sure you are prioritizing professional growth and continued education above a haphazard client schedule.

Bonus: #6:  Not Asking For a Raise

Every 6-12 months you should be contacting your insurance panels with an increased income request.  We have a whole PDF teaching you that you get when you join our Newsletter.

Huge.  Almost every other professional has upward mobility based on merit, education, skills, and services offered.  You probably deserve a large raise!  Take action this year and earn it (since no one will do it for you).

In Closing..

2015 is an opportunity.  Seize it.

1)  Charge Your Full Fee!

2) Focus On Regular Marketing and Nurturing Your Network

3) Establish A Relationship With a Successful Mentor

4) Always Verify Eligibility and Benefits of Insurance Clients

5) Keep Your Resume Up To Date

6) Ask For a Raise!

7)  Join Free Newsletter Right Now (and learn from successful private practice therapists how to expand your practice this year!)

Cheers and to 2015!