Selling the Couch

Today’s show is about a topic that has been a struggle for much of my life and career.

I’ve fallen victim to comparing myself to others and feeling like I’m not measuring up.

It’s taken a lot of personal work for me to learn to compare in healthy ways that don’t cripple and stifle my creativity and purpose.

Are you in the same boat? Join us to learn more!

Our Featured Guest - Supriya Blair, PsyD

Dr. Supriya Blair is a psychologist in Albany, NY. We have connected through the STC community, and I wanted to get her input on the topic of comparing ourselves to others.

We’ll start by discussing how comparison comes too easily for many of us and how Supriya noticed this

comparison impacting her life until she was able to reframe her perspective.

We will consider an all-too-familiar scenario in which a colleague’s success triggers insecurity in our lives, along with helpful tips and resources to navigate the tricky field of comparison to others.

Dr. Supriya

You’ll Learn

●     Why comparison is so prevalent in the helping professions

●     Three ways we compare ourselves to our colleagues:

○     Seeing someone else’s path and journey as THE template for success

○     Not recognizing my authenticity as a source of empowerment

○     Not allowing for different business models in finding my unique path

●    How to handle the pushback when we launch into our own path

●     Navigating the difficult moments when someone else experiences success or achieves the milestone that we want

●     Why the ability to serve is the most important thing

●     Practical help in the area of comparison to others:

○     Brene՛ Brown’s book, I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't): Making the Journey from "What Will People Think?" to "I Am Enough"

○     Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)

○     Meditation practice

Resources

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

What if I told you that there is something simple and free that most of us can do daily for an hour or less that yields amazing physical and mental benefits? Would you want to know what it is? Since the pandemic has forced us to take a closer look at our habits and make some changes, I want to share this life-changing activity that has become an almost daily habit for me. It’s hiking! 

Incorporating a midday hike several times each week helps me sleep better at night and stay centered for daily tasks. My inner “research nerd” got curious and took a deeper look at the intersection of hiking, mental health, and entrepreneurship, and I want to share with you what I’ve found.

You’ll Learn

●     Why hike? What are the benefits?

○     Hiking helps keep our minds sharp and agile.

○     Hiking helps us to focus better.

○     HIking can spark serious creativity.

●     If you’re a hiker, please share with the STC Community what benefits you’re seeing in your personal and professional life. I’m very interested to hear about your results!

Resources:

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Also mentioned:  Successful Aging by Daniel Levitin

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

Many of us find the concept of networking to be an intimidating endeavor. Even though it’s a vital element of business success, it can feel scary and shady, and a little too sales-y. Join us to learn more about what you should be focusing on in your networking relationships.

Our Featured Guest

Patrick Casale, MA, LCMHC, LCAS

Patrick Casale is a clinician in Asheville, NC. He provides coaching for clinicians who are transitioning from a group practice or agency to a solo practice. He’s here to talk about networking in authentic ways. We’ll discuss what authentic networking means to Patrick and how to make your networking relationships count. We will also examine different scenarios that might be a win-loss situation, a win-win situation, and the most common mistakes that happen in the networking space.

Casale Coaching 

Resilient Mind Counseling 

You’ll Learn

●     How clinicians aren’t taught to use collaborative communication to support each other’s businesses in reciprocal ways

●     What is networking? Getting to know people as people and learning about their lives and passions

●     Why networking can feel artificial, very “surface level,” and inauthentic

●     Some authentic questions to ask in networking situations include questions about family, passions, how they ended up here, fears of entrepreneurship, etc.

●     How to have reciprocity in relationships by making the other person the priority and supporting them

●     Why you should ask, “How can I help this person be successful? And not, how can this person help me?”

●     Why Patrick says, “A lot of networking opportunities feel like awkward first dates.”

●     Why a win-lose scenario would be talking too much about yourself and not listening actively; a win-win scenario means talking and getting to know each other with connection and trust

The most common mistakes in networking:

○     Not having clear strategy and intention

○     Scheduling too many networking events in one day

○     Making networking one-sided in your requests

●     Why your networking strategy should include colleagues who don’t work with the same client population, those who do work with the same, and client groups, and psychiatric providers

●     The best action step for you to take in applying the wisdom of today’s episode

Resources:

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

Overwhelmed. That’s the best word to describe how most podcasters feel as they take the leap and start on their podcasting journey. Perhaps the biggest source of overwhelm is confusion about the gear needed to get going, and I remember this well from my beginning in 2015. I didn’t have a pro-level setup when I began, and I wondered and worried about how I would be perceived in this new world. In all honesty, I had about $100 in gear, the biggest part of that being a $60 mic.

Things have changed since those early days, and STC has blossomed from nine downloads initially to over 1 million today. The tech-junkie part of me has enjoyed being able to upgrade my gear, and those upgrades have been a process of learning and experimenting. Even though your gear IS important for podcasting, I believe strongly that the most important keys are consistency and personality–and you don’t have to spend a fortune to have those elements. In today’s episode, I’m discussing my tech stack, what I use now, and what I recommend to other podcasters. Join me!

You’ll Learn:

• The three-prong fork in the road on the podcasting journey: the basic starter set of gear, incremental upgrades as the budget allows, and the decision to “go all in” with podcasting
• Why I invested about $2K into gear upgrades in 2021–and how I made this decision
• My current tech stack:
• The Shure SM7B mic
• Many podcasting pros use this mic because it is top-notch quality; it runs about $400 on Amazon.
• The RODECaster Pro all-in-one podcasting studio
• It gives more nuanced control of the mic and headphone sound levels. The Pro I runs around $400, and the Pro II is about $700. A less expensive starter piece that I recommend is the Samson Q2U, for about $60.
• The Cloudlifter CL-1 signal booster 
• This elevates the signal from your mic to give quality sound, and it costs about $150.
• Mogami Gold XLR cables
• These are about $60 each and are top-quality cables.
• The Gator Frameworks tabletop mic stand
• I pair this with the Rode PSA1 mic arm. It’s worth it to spend more for quality because it stays in place and doesn’t shift or droop.
• Audio-Technica ATH-M50x studio headphones
• These connect to the RODECaster Pro and give consistent sound; they cost about $190.

Resources:

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

Today I’m sharing what I’m using for no-code tools and my tech stack as an online course creator. Believe me, I’ve experimented with a lot of different things, and I’m always willing to share what I’ve learned and what I recommend to others. If you aren’t familiar with the term “no-code,” it simply refers to tools that don’t require a code or advanced programming to use. I hope this information is helpful to anyone who is creating a course or thinking about this endeavor in the future. Join me to learn more!

You’ll Learn:

11 no-code tools I’m using to create online courses:

• Kartra is an all-in-one platform with features that fit our needs. 
• Circle provides a place for community outside mainstream social media. 
• Stripe allows us to take payments within Kartra.
• Loom is great for recording online course videos because there are many recording options.
• Notion helps with lesson planning because there are lesson and template options that make it easy to repurpose content later. 
• Testimonial.to makes it easy to gather testimonials from students; a downside is that it is expensive.
• Smarter Queue helps with social media management because it integrates with Facebook groups and LinkedIn, and it recycles posts.
• Canva is amazing because there are many clean and modern slide templates with animation and graphics. 
• Headline Studios helps create engaging course titles with built-in AI and feedback.
• Captivate is great for podcast hosting because of dynamic ads insertion.
• Easy Webinar makes the webinar sign-up process easy for students. 

Resources:

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

Are you a course creator who wants to get better and better at your craft? I launched my first online course back in 2015, and I’m glad I did it and started on this journey. The truth is that I had no clue what I was doing! I feel like I’ve learned so much since then, and I’m happy to share those things with all of you. In today’s session, I’m discussing three non-negotiable meetings that I’ve implemented with my online courses. This simple technique has played a massive role in making over $300K more than the original $2K I made from the same course in 2015. Are you curious to hear more? Join me!

You’ll Learn:

Three meetings course creators need:

• After-action review (AARS)--takes place after a launch. 
• Ask and answer three questions: What went well? What did not go well? What was missing?
• This simple step has a massive impact on course growth and future scaling.
• Live chat–is a way to “put yourself out there”
• I recommend a quarterly live chat with existing students, whether one-on-one or in a group.
• This feedback gives you an idea of what’s working/what’s not and allows you to come up with better offers in the future.
• Learning time–is a way to be a student for life.
• Block off time weekly to get better at your course topic and related topics by learning more
• “Being a lifelong student of your course topic opens up a lifetime of opportunities.”

Resources:

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

When I was a first-time course creator in 2015, I was excited and scared at the same time. The tension around building fast or building thoughtfully was difficult to navigate. In today’s session, I’m discussing three important questions that I wish I had asked myself back then. 

You’ll Learn:

3 questions to ask before launching your online course:

Do I want a “strip mall or a skyscraper”? (This concept comes from a session with Nathan Barry of ConvertKit and Jay Klaus of Creator Science.)

• Both models require energy in different ways, and both have several benefits and challenges. 
• The key question to ask: What do I want to optimize for?
• Why I have gone from a strip mall to a skyscraper mode

Where should I focus my marketing?

• Focus on one platform at a time.
• Remember that it takes time to build trust and rapport. 

How can I validate my online course?

• The secret is to validate with paying students each step of the way.
• Take a long-term view and grow slowly with care, intention, and thoughtfulness.

Resources:

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

As clinicians and entrepreneurs, we are always looking to use our skills more creatively and expand our offerings and services. We recently released the STC Online Course Creator Kit, which is a 7-day free email course. In today’s session, I want to share the framework and strategies we used and explain why we are giving them away for free. Curious? Join us!

Our Featured Guest

Daniel Bustamante

Daniel Bustamante is an entrepreneur who helps content creators build high-converting sales funnels. He is the Head of Ops and Automation at Ship 30 for 30, a cohort-based writing course that teaches the fundamentals of online writing. Daniel and I met on Twitter, and he is the one I turned to for this online course project. We explore how an email course differs from a traditional email opt-in, how to visualize the purpose of the course and give you a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process. We also highlight the tech used in the course creation, along with why I take the unpopular approach that it’s better to give our best stuff away for free. 

You’ll Learn:

• How an email course functions as a hybrid of an opt-in and a course to deliver a lead magnet
• How an email course uses an automated drip sequence
• When it makes sense to create an email course
• How an email course helps you build an email list and generate leads
• How Daniel uses a “boats and islands” metaphor to illustrate the power of lead magnets (What are your “boats and islands”?)
• How Daniel began the process to build STC’s free email course as a precursor to the STC Mastermind
• How to avoid a common trap for course creators and realize that what you are selling are outcomes
• Highlights of the tech tools we used in building our email course: Kartra, Survey Monkey, and Calendly
• The #1 mistake people make in creating free email courses
• How the email course is a logical, sequential roadmap
• What the numbers are showing about the success of the STC course: almost 300 subscribers, 52% opt-in rate, and 67% open rate

Resources:

Daniel on Twitter

Daniel's Free Email Course (5 Proven Marketing Frameworks To Help You Sell More Digital Products On Autopilot)

We'd LOVE To Partner With You!

 Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

 Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

If you’ve thought about getting more active on LinkedIn and building an audience there to increase the number of referral sources for your private practice or to move from clinical to online income, today’s session will be helpful for you. Since my very first LinkedIn post a few months ago, I’ve gone from 789 to 1864 followers and from 1000 to over 245,000 views.

The growth has been phenomenal! Throughout this process, I’ve done some things right and a lot of things wrong, and I hope you can learn from my experiences.

In today’s session, I’m sharing the mistakes I’ve made in the past six months in writing on LinkedIn and the best lessons I’ve learned along the way. 

You’ll Learn:

• Why I started writing on LinkedIn in November 2022–and was shocked at the views on my very first post
• My best tips for writing on LinkedIn:
• Turn on Creator Mode when you begin. 
• Make narrowly-focused carousel posts related to your paid offerings–and this process can evolve over time. (Use these links to find out more about Shield and Flocksy.)
• Engage with targeted accounts to create an informal tribe.
• Post on a schedule that fits with your energy and mental health, even if it means you play the long game.
• My biggest challenges in writing on LinkedIn:
• Feeling pressure to post more often than I’m comfortable with doing. 
• Overcoming perfectionism in artwork and graphics in my posts.
• Being on the “content-creation treadmill.”
• Determining whether I want the successful version of this endeavor–and the issues that accompany that success.

I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn!

💻 Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit

🎙️ Looking to launch a successful podcast?

Please check out our free "Using Podcasting To Grow Your Business" workshop for therapists:

https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworkshop

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.

In today’s busy online world, virtual presentations are everything in how you are received AND perceived. If you put forth the effort to create an online course, webinar, or speaking engagement, you want to show up authentically and masterfully to engage your audience. This is an important area in which there is always room for improvement! My guest today is a proven expert in virtual presentation, and she’s here to share her knowledge with us. Join us to learn more!

Our Featured Guest

Lorraine K. Lee

Lorraine Lee is a top career and business virtual keynote speaker who has been featured in several publications and on podcasts with numerous accomplishments and awards throughout her career. She has worked in several editorial roles at LinkedIn and Prezi and has built a LinkedIn following of over 300,000, so she is very much immersed in the world of virtual presentations and online learning. She is the perfect person to help us understand more about improving our virtual presentations. 

Lorraine's Website

You’ll Learn:

• How virtual presentations give you access to a wider audience and help you stand out in your expertise
• Why the entertainment factor of virtual presentations cannot be ignored
• Examples of different types of virtual presentations
• Lorraine’s tips for improving your virtual presentations:
• Add movement to your presentations and incorporate “state changes.”
• Curate your background with features that are calming, positive, personable, and professional.
• Include visuals on your screens to help people learn and remember. (90% of the information processed by our brains is visual!)
• Use eye contact to improve your connection to your audience.
• How to implement visuals like logos, color gradients, and simple info on your screen
• How to use artwork, photos, and personal elements to cultivate a deeper connection
• How to set up your monitor, camera, laptop, etc. to maximize eye contact with your audience
• Lorraine’s tips for introverts in showing up better in visual presentations
• An overview of Lorraine’s expanding consulting business

Resources:

Interested in becoming part of our affiliate program? Learn more!

Want to launch your online course?

Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit for Therapists at https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit.

If you are a seasoned therapist who wants to move from clinical to online course income, we have a specific mastermind for you. We meet together to build, grow, and scale our online courses. You can learn more at https://sellingthecouch.com/mastermind.

Mentioned in this episode:

Try Alma!

Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice.