WP 52: Creating a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Faith-based Practice - Live consulting with Bryan Purcell
In this episode of the "Wise Practice Podcast," host Whitney Owens, a seasoned therapist and faith-based practice consultant, engages in a candid conversation with Bryan Purcell. Bryan, at the early stages of his practice, delves into the emotional rollercoaster of starting a practice and the challenges of marketing it effectively.
The Emotional Journey of Starting a Practice:
Bryan Purcell shares his raw and relatable experiences in the initial weeks of running his practice. "The emotional experience has been very human. There are moments... where I feel completely hopeful and filled with faith... and then there are days where I feel anxiety and maybe even a little panic," Bryan reveals. This section resonates with many in the counseling field, highlighting the highs and lows of embarking on a new professional journey.
Effective Marketing and Tracking Referrals:
Whitney emphasizes the paramount importance of tracking where referrals originate. "Whatever you do, you're tracking it... Sadly, a lot of people put their efforts into things that aren't working," she advises. Bryan acknowledges the value of this approach, mentioning his use of a tracking sheet from the wise practice community page. This segment offers invaluable insights into the significance of understanding and optimizing marketing strategies based on tangible results.
Building and Nurturing Professional Relationships:
One of the episode's standout moments is the discussion on the power of appreciation in nurturing professional relationships. Whitney suggests, "If somebody sends you a referral, thank them for the referral... It just shows that you took that extra effort." This gesture, as simple as it may seem, can be a game-changer in fostering long-term professional connections.
Tips for Integrating Faith and Business:
For those at the intersection of faith and psychology, Bryan's appreciation of the faith-based perspective in the wise practice community is a beacon of encouragement. Whitney underscores the importance of faith-based practice owners finding their tribe and support system. She passionately states, "I also really want faith-based practice owners to be able to incorporate faith and to meet one another and find that community."
Advice from the Episode To Build Your Practice
Track Referrals: Whitney emphasizes the importance of tracking where referrals are coming from. This helps in understanding which marketing efforts are working and which aren't.
Ask for Feedback: When people contact Bryan, especially through platforms like Psychology Today, Whitney suggests asking them what specifically about his profile spoke to them. This can provide insights into what's resonating with potential clients.
Follow-Up and Show Appreciation: Whitney advises sending thank you notes or messages to those who refer clients, even if the client doesn't end up working with Bryan. This nurtures relationships and increases the likelihood of future referrals.
Clarify Your Niche: When receiving referrals, especially from family or friends, it's essential to clarify the types of clients you enjoy working with. This ensures that future referrals are more aligned with your specialty.
Networking: Whitney suggests setting a goal for networking, such as having a meeting or a phone call with one potential referral source per week. This consistent effort can lead to long-term growth.
Invest in Your Business and Personal Growth: Whitney emphasizes the importance of taking time every week to invest in growing your business and personal development. This could include attending therapy, business consulting, or participating in community meetings.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Whitney recommends investing time in understanding and implementing SEO for Bryan's website. She suggests taking courses on SEO and consistently working on the website to improve its visibility on search engines.
Consistency: Whether it's podcasting, updating the website, or any other marketing effort, Whitney highlights the importance of being consistent. Over time, consistent efforts can lead to exponential growth.
This episode of the "Wise Practice Podcast" serves as a treasure trove of insights for those navigating the challenges of starting and marketing a faith-based practice. From the emotional intricacies of embarking on a new venture to the practicalities of effective marketing and the power of gratitude in professional relationships, Whitney Owens and Bryan Purcell provide a roadmap for integrating faith and business seamlessly.
Learning Activity
Register for - How to Double Your Practice in One Year Webinar Nov 6, 2023, 01:00 PM in Eastern Time Zone
Show Sponsor
Alma - Your private practice support system
Wildwood Creative - Let us help you bring your unique story to life in a way that is authentic, compelling, and unforgettable.
Links and Resources
Check the podcasts on the PsychCraft Network: PsychCraftnetwork.com
Podcast Production and Show Notes by Course Creation Studio
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WP 52 | Creating a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Faith-based Practice - Live consulting with Bryen Purcell
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[00:00:00] Whitney Owens:
[00:00:04] Whitney Owens: Going in network with insurance can be tough, such as benefits checks, catering to the insurance company needs of your clients, late payments, or sometimes making less than you deserve. Filling the paperwork out correctly can be time consuming and tedious. And even after you're done, it can take months to get credentialed and start seeing clients.
[00:00:22] Whitney Owens: That's why Alma makes it easy and financially rewarding to accept insurance. When you join their insurance program, you get credentialed within 45 days and access enhanced. Reimbursement rates with major payers. They handle all the paperwork from eligibility checks to claim submissions and guaranteed payment within two weeks of each appointment.
[00:00:45] Whitney Owens: Once you've joined Alma's program, you can see clients in your state of licensure, regardless of where you're working from. I find this particularly amazing when I'm traveling with my family to conferences or to Disney world. Learn more about building a thriving private practice with Alma at helloalma.
[00:01:03] Whitney Owens: com. You can go to the show notes and grab a special link that you can tell them that you heard about this on the podcast. So that's hello. A. L. M. A. dot com.
[00:01:37] Whitney Owens: Today on the wise practice podcast, I have my new friend, Brian Purcell. He has a private practice in Mayfield, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, three children, four cats, and two dogs. He began his mental health career in 05 and began counseling in 08. He opened a solo faith based practice in August of this year, which was a direct result of God's perfect plan after a painful experience.
[00:02:05] Whitney Owens: And while there are still hurdles to leap, Brian is excited on how God is designing, um, his practice and how it unfolds. Regardless of his next steps, God will receive the glory. Brian, thanks for coming on the show.
[00:02:18] Bryen Purcell: Thanks so much for having me. So excited to be.
[00:02:21] Whitney Owens: Yeah, great. Great. Um, and then, you know, I was trying to think about this earlier today.
[00:02:26] Whitney Owens: I know we did a pre consulting call. I couldn't remember how you found me or you reached out to the website. Is that what happened? That's how we met.
[00:02:33] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, it was actually through, um, 1 of your, um, practice building colleagues. I think it was 1 of the Kate and Katie episodes. Oh, yeah, cool.
[00:02:44] Whitney Owens: Awesome. Awesome.
[00:02:45] Whitney Owens: Well, I'm glad you reached out and we connected and now we're here doing a podcast episode. Um, first of all, can you kind of share a little bit, whatever level of comfort you have on kind of how you started your private practice and how it's going right now? Yeah, absolutely.
[00:03:00] Bryen Purcell: Um, yeah, kind of, as I mentioned in the bio, it was really a series of circumstances that sort of lined up in my life.
[00:03:10] Bryen Purcell: I was commuting, um, about an hour away from home one way every day. And, you know, um, and then some things kind of just happened in my life and in that practice over the course of this past year. And it made sense. Uh, to come home and not just come home, but, um, you know, to create a practice that I would be really passionate about, you know, by.
[00:03:35] Bryen Purcell: You know, as God wills and as he directs my steps, that was the goal. So yeah, um, started to do all the homework with that, um, earlier this year and trying to plan and receive good consultation and then, um. At the end of July, um, I left my former practice opened up that 1st week of August. Um, you know, just this year, as you mentioned, and then soon after that, um, as I said to you before, in the pre consultation call, I found I found my people.
[00:04:09] Bryen Purcell: So this has just been. Another, um, part of God's design that I would be launching a faith based practice. And then I would find that there is, um, you know, someone like yourself who helps faith based practice owners and then a community of faith based practice owners. So, it's, um, from that standpoint, it's going well so far.
[00:04:30] Bryen Purcell: Um, I knew that it would be a slow build, um, and private pay only. So I know I've got to, you know, hit the, hit the ground, uh, running and hitting it hard with the marketing piece. So it's a slow build, but nothing that I wasn't
[00:04:43] Whitney Owens: expecting. Yeah, definitely. Well, way to go on starting a private practice and so many of us, it's similar, it's, um, Whatever the situations were in our lives circumstances that draw us into starting a practice.
[00:04:56] Whitney Owens: And I think about when I moved here to Savannah, I couldn't find a job anywhere. Actually, I wasn't necessarily wanting to do private practice. I just wanted to have work, and no one would hire me. So I started a private practice and now look what happened. So, you know, we all have those circumstances, and we're recording here at the beginning of September so you've really only had.
[00:05:18] Whitney Owens: Five, six weeks of running the practice. So you are right on the cusp of something new. And I'm sure there's a lot of people listening that feel the same way that you do. Um, can you share just a little bit about kind of what is that experience like for you? What are some of the emotions, um, and have you started seeing your first clients or where are you in that?
[00:05:37] Whitney Owens: Yeah,
[00:05:37] Bryen Purcell: great question. Um, yeah, I think, um, the, the emotional experience has been. Very human. So there are moments and times where I feel completely hopeful and filled with faith and excited. And I know exactly. What I'm doing, um, I'm following the steps, you know, that I've received from various consultations and then there are days where I feel anxiety and maybe even a little panic.
[00:06:09] Bryen Purcell: Like, it's going to kind of start to materialize how long can, you know, kind of hang in there possibly before I would need to kind of find a supplement in some way. And, you know, just leaning into all of that. So definitely some highs and some lows. Um, yeah. But I keep reminding myself that it's early, you know, as you mentioned, it's just 4 weeks and, um, I do have a client.
[00:06:33] Bryen Purcell: And as I mentioned, before we started the call, I've had some inquiries, um, thankfully, because I've been networking, I have been able to direct the calls that I'm not able to serve to some, some good colleagues and some people in the area, which I know, um, is just as important sometimes as being able to take on a client, um, kind of knowing.
[00:06:54] Bryen Purcell: Thank you. Who you work with when to say no, and because of some good networking, being able to direct those folks to somebody that can help them, um, and is a, is a better fit for them. So I've had quite a few of those as
[00:07:06] Whitney Owens: well. Yeah, that's great. And a lot of times those come back around where they start referring to you too.
[00:07:11] Whitney Owens: So, yeah. Yeah. Well, I remember all the feelings that you're bringing up. So you are not alone in that. And I remember being Being by my phone, wanting to drink and praying for clients to come. And there were times that I was like, what's God doing here? And then all of a sudden people would call, you know, and God just has a way of bringing the right people at the right moment.
[00:07:34] Whitney Owens: We just have to keep trusting that even when it feels scary. You know, we don't understand the process. Um, but hey, you've got your first client and, uh, that's awesome. I remember when I got my first client, the heat wouldn't turn on. I thought I'd set the heat up correctly at the building and evidently I didn't.
[00:07:50] Whitney Owens: And so right before the session, I was freaking out and I brought in a space heater and it was in January. So it was, but hey, she ended up being a client for years. So yeah. Yeah. So those humble beginnings. Um, so today we're going to do some live consulting, which these are some of my absolute favorite podcasts, uh, cause I love doing it.
[00:08:12] Whitney Owens: So what's your question for today, Brian?
[00:08:15] Bryen Purcell: Yeah. Thank you so much. Um, yeah, it, so it's, my question really centers around, around marketing. Um, and really I'm kind of torn between, um, you know, the strategies. That I've learned about that, I think, you know, would be enjoyable. Um, and I think. Would I would be energized by versus kind of.
[00:08:40] Bryen Purcell: Given where I'm at in my practice, needing to, um, to get calls to generate traffic to my website, for example, having to just. You know, kind of, um, take on the marketing strategies that would just be most effective, but maybe I wouldn't necessarily enjoy that as much. Yeah. So kind of having to kind of how to think through that, I think, is where I'm at.
[00:09:06] Bryen Purcell: You know, even, um, you know, kind of like there's a lot of noise just to elaborate just a little bit in terms of like, there's so many different things that we can do that technically fall under the umbrella as. As marketing strategies or even marketing best practices, but I also know if I try to do all of them, I'm going to be, you know, spread too thin and none of them will work very well.
[00:09:38] Whitney Owens: Well, first of all, this is a great question. And again, lots of practice centers, especially in your phase have this question and I love how you. Kind of identify there are so many options here. And even as I think about the consulting world, there are so many consultants that are going to tell you different things to do and make it even more muddy, right?
[00:09:57] Whitney Owens: So the first thing I want to recommend here, whatever you do, you're tracking it. And too often I meet with people and they're not tracking how people are finding out about them. Cause you want to know what's working and what's not working. Sadly, a lot of people put their efforts into things that aren't working.
[00:10:19] Whitney Owens: So they think to themselves, Oh, well, I haven't done in network marketing. I need to make sure I do that. Well, then they go do it and they don't track it. Or they're not getting calls from a certain place, so then they keep pushing it harder. Well, why would we spend our time and energy on something that's not working?
[00:10:36] Whitney Owens: Try, it's like trying to put the square into the round hole. It's just not happening. But if you're like, Oh, I've been tracking these four inquiries and all of them came through this place or two or three of them came from this place. Keep marketing that, right? So the first thing, I guess the question I have for you, do you have a way that you're tracking your referrals?
[00:11:00] Whitney Owens: Yes,
[00:11:01] Bryen Purcell: um, thanks to your tracking sheet. Um, I found on the wise practice community page. Great. So I'm kind of tracking everyone that I've reached out to in terms of networking. And whether or not that's a successful contact and somebody that I want to reach back out to, um, and whether or not I've received referrals from them.
[00:11:27] Bryen Purcell: So there's specifically a networking tracking that I'm, that I've started on your sheet to kind of cover all the other different, um, ways that people might find me.
[00:11:38] Whitney Owens: Oh, I love that. I love that. Okay. Great. So tracking that and doing more of that. Now, you told me. When we, you know, just when we started interviewing here, you just got some people recently inquiries.
[00:11:53] Whitney Owens: Yes. Where have the majority of your inquiries come from?
[00:11:57] Bryen Purcell: Yeah. Um, so I've had quite a few, um, inquiries from just local word of mouth. Once I launched my practice, you know, friends and family just kind of spreading the word. And so people have heard about me. Um. The downside to that is, is it wasn't exactly somebody, um, landing on like my website or my psychology today.
[00:12:23] Bryen Purcell: Um, and so they weren't real sure kind of who I served or kind of what I was doing. But again, as I mentioned, that led to me being able to kind of refer, refer, refer folks on to some quality colleagues of mine. Um, one of them, one of the inquiries came through the wise practice community. So somebody that knew somebody.
[00:12:43] Bryen Purcell: Yes, I saw that. Uh huh. Yeah. And then I've had, um, I've had 1 psychology today, profiling or 2 psychology today, profiling queries had about 10 or 12. Most of those have been kind of local word of mouth
[00:13:02] Whitney Owens: so far. Okay. Awesome. I want to encourage you to when the people, especially like the psychology today, people call specifically ask them, what was it about my profile that spoke to you?
[00:13:15] Whitney Owens: Because I think that's helpful for you to know your, your language and who's reading it. Um, I also encourage you to really follow up with the, with the referrals that are working well. So if somebody sends you a referral, thank them for the referral. Now we do not use client identifying information, right?
[00:13:37] Whitney Owens: So you can simply send a text or an email that says, Hey, I, it's my understanding you gave my name out to someone recently. I really appreciate that you're thinking about me. It doesn't have to be complicated. It just shows that you took that extra effort. And that means so much to people. They will think of you the next time they need to refer because you actually appreciated the referral.
[00:13:59] Whitney Owens: We sometimes even write handwritten thank you notes. Now our logos are on the back of the note. It's not on the front because I don't want to make it about our practice. It's about thanking somebody. So it says thank you on the front and it's just like two or three sentences. Thank you for the referral.
[00:14:14] Whitney Owens: We appreciate you thinking about us. If we can help you with anything, here's our contact information and we leave it at that. And then it says Water's Edge Counseling on the back of the card if they want to know. That and so we send that to referrals as well. Now, I usually send those to, like, professional referrals, not necessarily a family friend.
[00:14:31] Whitney Owens: I might send a text to, like, a family friend. Hey, thanks for thinking about me and sending someone my contact info. I do think that any way we can nurture those relationships and show appreciation, you're more likely to keep getting referrals from those people.
[00:14:46] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, absolutely. I love that idea. Um, yeah, we typically kind of think about it in terms of, like.
[00:14:53] Bryen Purcell: A referral that ends up working with us, but it's just as important to to send those notes to people that we may not have been able to to serve, or they may not have been a good fit for us, but still letting them know. We appreciate it. Yeah, that's a great
[00:15:07] Whitney Owens: idea. 100 percent and if there is a, and obviously letting them know, hey, I'm happy to take any calls and send people to the right person.
[00:15:15] Whitney Owens: But just so, you know, here are the types of people that I really enjoy working with. I wouldn't necessarily say that to a family friend, but if it's a professional referral, letting them know. What kind of clients you enjoy working with and if it's someone you don't know, like, someone heard about you, that's a professional referral.
[00:15:32] Whitney Owens: I would offer to go get coffee with them. Yeah, or at least do a phone call with them to say, hey, I just wanted to get to know you. You referred somebody to me. Here's a little bit about me. It's a great idea. Absolutely. Yeah. All right, so let's come up with a marketing plan. So when it comes to word of mouth, which you were in a small town and you're from Maysville, correct?
[00:15:52] Whitney Owens: Yes. Great. Great. So I think word of mouth will be big for you. Um, one, I'm a rule follower or I like strategies, I guess I should say. And so when I first started, when I was solo, I told myself one contact a week was my goal. So if I could have a meeting or a phone call with one person a week as a referral source.
[00:16:12] Whitney Owens: I took that as a success and all that work is now what's allowed my practice to be what it is today. So, I, I don't know if that's a rule that you would want to follow or something that you could do, but maybe make a sheet of people. You want to work with. Or get referrals from and then try to do one meeting a week.
[00:16:35] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, absolutely. No, I, I like, I like structure. I like rules, um, measurable goals. Uh, I think that's helpful because, um, it's framed more in terms of, of the outcome that I'm looking for. I have been setting a goal to at least reach out to five people a week. So that's that's been something that aim for now.
[00:17:02] Bryen Purcell: I wasn't successful with that last week, though, in full transparency, but this week, um, I'm on, you know, I'm on track, but I like the idea of maybe even taking that a step further to to have 1 contact per week, even if that means I'm circling back, you know, somebody that, um, I've met with before.
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[00:18:06] Whitney Owens: And I would also consider your ideal client, where's your ideal client hanging out and making sure those are the people you're networking with. So who would you say is your ideal client? Yeah,
[00:18:29] Bryen Purcell: um, well, my, my ideal client is adults as an adult, male or female, typically, um, family folks, but not necessarily, um, and church leaders, and they specifically are struggling with.
[00:18:52] Bryen Purcell: Feelings of not good enough, feeling not good enough, um, the exhaustion of overthinking, um, guilt, shame, you know, and a lot of times experiencing some complications within their faith, cynicism or, um, you know, anxiety within, you know, their faith experience. And so, you know, obviously a lot of those folks.
[00:19:15] Bryen Purcell: Although not exclusively are hanging out. Um, and I found that churches. Yep. So that's been a big focus, um, for me, although not as we've talked before, not the most, um, fruitful for me in terms of networking as of yet. Um, beyond that, that's kind of, you know, where I get stumped. Um, you know, there. Everyday folks, you know, they're going, they're dropping their kids off to school.
[00:19:47] Bryen Purcell: They're going in some cases to the chiropractor to get a massage. They have regular ailments that come up. So they're going to the doctor, um, you know, and, and doing normal, regular things like I do. Yeah. That answers your question.
[00:20:01] Whitney Owens: Definitely. Yeah. So I would be putting my efforts into churches for sure.
[00:20:05] Whitney Owens: Um, and. You know, we won't go into all this because we could do a whole podcast episode on how to market to churches. Um, but churches take a lot of time to trust us. So just keep being consistent with it, um, and potentially, you know, offer something for free at a church, you know, offer to come do a training or something like that and kind of see how that goes and try to make as many warm connections as you can.
[00:20:32] Whitney Owens: So if you know someone who is a member at the church or, you know, a pastor already or your own church, like use those connections to make more connections. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So when we're talking about our marketing plan, we want to be well rounded here because you don't want everything to come from 1 thing.
[00:20:51] Whitney Owens: Because what if 1 thing falls through? Right? I remember 1 time my Google, my business went out. It was terrible and we had it. We were off for 6 weeks with that and we had to work really hard to get it back. All that to say is our Google. Rankings started dropping and we weren't getting calls through Google the way we were.
[00:21:10] Whitney Owens: So I was really glad we had word of mouth referrals because it kept us getting referrals even when we were struggling. So just making sure that you have that well rounded practice. Now the Google My Business, I would say is the next thing to make sure that you have because it's free and it really does help your rankings.
[00:21:28] Bryen Purcell: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:21:30] Whitney Owens: Great. Great. And then getting reviews. Okay, so yes, um, that I can't tell you how many people, especially in my solo practice days would call and say, I'm, I'm calling because you have 5 stars on Google. I mean, that is why they call. So I think I had, like. 10 referrals, I mean, 10 reviews now we can't explicitly ask clients for reviews of course, but I would take that link.
[00:22:01] Whitney Owens: Email it out to people or text it to people. And hey, could you take five minutes to give me an honest review? You know me. You don't have to say I'm a therapist. You could just say what I'm like, and, um, this would really help my business. And some of them will do that and it will really help.
[00:22:22] Bryen Purcell: I love that so much.
[00:22:23] Bryen Purcell: Yeah. Like that's been kind of more of like a passing thought, but how to think through, you know, executing that of course, without soliciting from clients. Um, that's really helpful.
[00:22:35] Whitney Owens: Yeah, definitely. And then I would say your website. I mean, I think a therapist can't really have much of a practice without a website these days, especially if you're new to the area, you don't have that old world of mouth, you know, that's you've had a practice for 30 years, you know.
[00:22:52] Whitney Owens: So, making sure that you have a website that it's well done and that you are working on it regularly. You're posting regularly on there because that will help your rankings. Now us talking about SEO and rankings, that's like a whole nother 7 podcasts, but make sure that you do your work surrounding Google and your rankings and, um.
[00:23:15] Whitney Owens: I use simplified SEO for all my SEO services and it has really helped my my website rank. We get over 50 percent of our referrals just through Google.
[00:23:26] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that kind of comes back to the question where I've done a consult with them and it's kind of 1 of those things where. Um, I need to get a little bit more revenue going before, like
[00:23:41] Whitney Owens: I could, yeah.
[00:23:42] Whitney Owens: So here's what I say about that. So,
[00:23:45] Bryen Purcell: but it also thrills me to do it either
[00:23:49] Whitney Owens: way. If I, if I could go back and be where you are, I wish I understood more about SEO. Like by the time I figured out what SEO was, I just hired somebody to work like one of my marketing people at the time took the simplified SEO, do it yourself courses.
[00:24:08] Whitney Owens: And did it herself. I wish that I had taken those courses and done it myself. So, um, there is a coupon code for wise practice members, which you are a part of to get 25 percent off. So if you go into the circle community, I'm not going to say it here on the mic necessarily, but if you go in the circle community and get 25 percent off of those classes.
[00:24:30] Whitney Owens: Which is a special deal they only give to me because I know the business owner. So, yeah, so you can go in there and just slowly start doing the SEO on your website. Then when you are big and, you know, going gangbusters with your big group practice, um, you'll know how SEO worked. Fair enough. Yeah, but I think that's one of your best investments.
[00:24:53] Whitney Owens: So when it comes to creating your marketing plan, block out an hour, two hours a week, every week, just to work on your website. If you can block out more, block out more.
[00:25:07] Bryen Purcell: That's helpful. Um, it's on my to do list to create some additional pages. Um, but thinking about it as something that I'm touching every week, um, you know, that wasn't on my radar.
[00:25:19] Bryen Purcell: So that's so helpful that I need to be refining something, working on SEO, adding a service page. Um, I should be touching my website for an hour or two every week, especially.
[00:25:32] Whitney Owens: Right now, definitely, definitely, and yeah, it's a slow process, but over time it starts to grow exponentially. So be consistent about it.
[00:25:45] Whitney Owens: Like even, even this podcast, um. So see, I started the podcast in November and it's exhausting podcasting every single week, paying somebody to promote your show, put it on your website, all the things. It's a lot of work, but I would say just in the past, like two months, boom, like it's growing exponentially all of a sudden.
[00:26:03] Whitney Owens: So what was that? Six months. Something like that, and that was tough. That was tough. But all those being consistent every single week, um, doing all the links correctly, put putting it on social media, putting it on my website, it's helping people find it. And then people are telling people, and that's just what private practice is like.
[00:26:24] Whitney Owens: You're going to have good experiences with clients. They're going to find healing from you. They're going to tell people about you and you're going to start to grow exponentially. But yeah, make sure you're touching things every single week. And know that you are going to grow over time.
[00:26:37] Bryen Purcell: Okay. This is so that's kind of what I was looking for and asking my question today.
[00:26:43] Bryen Purcell: You know, there's going to be some sales that. I knew you would recommend that, Hey, this is worth the time, the investment, even if it maybe isn't necessarily, you know, top of your list in terms of marketing strategies you would want to do. Um, I'm of the mindset that I want to be open minded about what's going to work and to do it.
[00:27:04] Bryen Purcell: Uh, yeah. I've gotten some consultation before where, you know, it matters. That, you know, it's got to be something that you're really passionate about. I mean, not super passionate about marketing in general, but I want to help people. So, SEO is one of them. Can I get your quick take on, since I recently watched the RevKey episode, like.
[00:27:31] Whitney Owens: Oh, in wise practice. Sure.
[00:27:34] Bryen Purcell: Um, on Google ads. And if that would fall into that SEO category, even if
[00:27:39] Whitney Owens: that's not something interesting question. Yeah. So to be at the top of the game, you'd be doing both. Okay. But some people, some people have conflicting opinions about this. They would say not to do both. I think the more the merrier right now, I also think of it like this SEO is the gift that keeps on giving.
[00:28:04] Whitney Owens: You put your money into something, it continues to give back to you. Google ads, you're putting the money out there and it's gone. Once someone clicks it. You can't control what they choose to do and you got to really, if you're going to work, if you're going to do Google ads, work with a company that understands Google ads like Revki because they can really go in and monitor people that are clicking, where are they going to or let's tailor this ad or these words or this population.
[00:28:29] Whitney Owens: I could tell you so much about that, but, um, I would say do the SEO if you, as much as you can keep touching it. If you really want to get clients fast, then you can invest in the Google ads, but you're going to have to invest. I mean, a place like ref key could tell you a lot more, but it's going to be several hundreds of dollars for it to have any kind of significance.
[00:28:53] Whitney Owens: Like, when I did it, I think I was putting in about 800 dollars a month. I did it for 6 months. Yeah, when I, and I did it because I had 3 therapists that I had hired and I needed to get them full.
[00:29:06] Bryen Purcell: At that time on the ads alone, not counting the support
[00:29:10] Whitney Owens: that I think it included at all. I can't say with certainty, but I'd have to go back and look, but thank you.
[00:29:16] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, it is too far
[00:29:18] Whitney Owens: off track, but I want to no problem. I think a lot of people have that question. So you know what I need to get, um, I need to get John on the podcast.
[00:29:25] Whitney Owens: I don't think I've had him on here yet. So that's a, that's a good question. Um, so it sounds like this has been helpful. I see you taking notes and, uh, You'll you'll get there 1 step at a time, but before we kind of wrap up, I wanted to talk a little bit about you've mentioned wise practice a couple of times.
[00:29:42] Whitney Owens: So you're a member of the wise practice community. Can you talk a little bit about how that's been helpful for you?
[00:29:48] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, absolutely. Um, well, um, I mean, I think the primary thing that's been helpful is, is the fact that, um, faith and how to think through our business and practice building and even how we serve clients from a faith based perspective is infused in, um, all of the different things that wise practice offers.
[00:30:17] Bryen Purcell: So whether it's, you know, the Facebook community or the, um, Yeah, absolutely. Small group, which I've been able to do 1 of those and the Wednesday calls, which I've been able to jump into at least. 1 or 2 of those so far, um, it's that's a part of the conversation every time in some form or fashion. Um, and I just love that.
[00:30:40] Bryen Purcell: Um, you know, whether it's marketing or something that's going to serve our clients on a clinical level. Or some, some other topic, um, they're in, like we're talking about it from a faith based perspective. That's such an encouragement to me. That's so helpful because before I found this community, yeah, I was, I was receiving really good help.
[00:31:04] Bryen Purcell: Um, tried and true, um, strategies and support, but this piece was missing. And so I think that that's kind of the primary benefit that I've gotten out of it so far, and it's just been a few weeks that I've been a member.
[00:31:17] Whitney Owens: Great. Well, thank you for sharing that. And that's actually super meaningful to me because the whole reason I started this community, even though I want to give all the value.
[00:31:27] Whitney Owens: I also just really want faith based practice owners to be able to incorporate faith and to meet 1 another and find that community because it can get so lonely in the work that we're doing. So I'm so glad that you found your people and that you're a part of the community. And I think that. The people that do invest in themselves and their business.
[00:31:45] Whitney Owens: So this is the other tip I want to leave you with take time every week to invest in growing your business and growing yourself. So that could be you're attending your own therapy because I think every business owner needs to be in therapy. It could be that every week you're making that commitment to come to the one o'clock Wednesday meeting and wise practice and then maybe setting aside a little bit of time after the meeting or whenever to enact the things that we're talking about.
[00:32:10] Whitney Owens: You know, or another time in your month, a one hour outside of the wise practice meetings where you're like, here's the one hour I'm going to work on everything I learned in wise practice. So you're going through the courses that wise practice has. So making sure that you're having some kind of business consulting or working on yourself.
[00:32:25] Whitney Owens: And I will tell you, Brian, the people that come regularly, I see their practices grow. And this is what happened to me. I was in communities. I did consulting for two years. Before my group practice really got going, and I still jump into consulting with people even since then, because that's where my growth is gonna happen.
[00:32:45] Whitney Owens: Yeah.
[00:32:46] Bryen Purcell: Well, thank you for the encouragement and yeah, I, I believe that and, um, I know that that's important, so I appreciate the confirmation for
[00:32:55] Whitney Owens: sure. Yeah, of course, of course. Yeah. Well, I'm so glad to have met you and that you're a part of the community and I appreciate you taking the time to come on the podcast today.
[00:33:06] Bryen Purcell: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Thank you for all of the. Um, wise advice and, uh, look forward to some of these things in action. And if I don't get to connect with you before then, um, praying for y'all down in Savannah, that that would be just an incredible time. I wish I could be there. Um, but I look forward to hearing about, um, you know, what, what, uh, what happens down there and some of those experiences that, uh, I know y'all be able to share.
[00:33:31] Whitney Owens: So yeah, the summit is going to be fabulous. Yeah. We're recording here in September. So we're just a few weeks away. From that, and actually, this episode is going to come out right around the time of the summit or right after. So, uh, I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to share at that point with you. Good, thank you.
[00:33:48] Bryen Purcell: Thank you so much.
