Principles of Private Practice Marketing
Marketing your business to have more billable hours
The most general principle of marketing is that people will pay for what they value, whether it is health, looks, image, love, sex, etc. As a result they will purchase memberships in health clubs, seek the services of cosmetic dentists, pay for diet programs, buy certain cars, clothes and houses or take large quantities of Prozac or Viagra.
More specific to psychotherapy are the following marketing principles:
- People will pay for psychotherapy if they understand what it has to offer them. They will pay as much or as little as its perceived value.
- People will pay in FULL and out of pocket for YOUR services, if they view you as an expert who can give them what they want. The same way they pay for personal trainers, attorneys, manicurers or gardeners.
- Elimination of clients’ expectations of third party reimbursement is essential for the development of a managed-care-free practice. Educate the public about consulting for life’s problems and differentiating your services from mainstream medicine. It also means dissociating yourself from experimental and academic psychology, the prescription and hospital privileges movements and hardest of all, DSM.
- Market a practice that keeps you close to your inherent talents, best skills and, most importantly, your passion. Choose a specialization that is close to your calling. Follow your bliss.
http://www.zurinstitute.com/marketing101.html
