Latest / OT Potential Podcast | Occupational Therapy CEUs / #155 Marketing Your Therapy Practice with Erica Stevens

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#155 Marketing Your Therapy Practice with Erica Stevens · OT Potential Podcast | Occupational Therapy CEUs

0:00
SPEAKER_01: More than 2.4 billion people around the globe live with a health condition that would benefit from rehabilitation.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: And more than 1 billion are living with a mental health condition.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: But how do these people find the right therapist?
0:16
SPEAKER_01: The answer is pretty obvious: marketing.
0:19
SPEAKER_01: But in our busy clinical lives, we tend to overlook the importance of this initial point of connection.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: And we certainly do not spend enough time thinking about how better marketing could drive better outcomes.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: We rarely think of marketing as the first step in helping a patient find the therapist who is right for them and how it sets expectations and lays the groundwork for the therapeutic alliance.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Luckily, there is some fascinating research out there to help us think about this overlooked therapy activity.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: And I'm excited to welcome to our course today Erica Stevens, occupational therapist and owner of Thrive OT.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: Erica built her practice from square one, selling a niche of therapy that really made her get clear about who it's for and what the benefits are.
1:08
SPEAKER_01: We have a lot to cover today, so let's dive in.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the OT Potential Podcast.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Sarah Lyon, OTRL, and I wanted to let you know that this podcast may qualify as continuing education for you.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: You are probably listening to this podcast on a free podcast platform.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: But to gain CEU credit, you will need to be a member of the OT Potential Club, our OT Continuing Education platform.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: You can go to OTPotential.com to learn more.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: Okay, here we go.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned at the top, joining us today is Erica Stevens, OTRL C L T C H C Y T.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: Erica is a passionate health and wellness occupational therapy private practice owner.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: Her private practice, Thrive Occupational Therapy Health and Wellness PLLC, serves clients across the lifespan related to perinatal rehab, fertility support, lymphedema therapy, scar tissue treatment, and general health and wellness.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: Erica holds specialized training and certifications in women's health and pelvic floor therapy, pregnancy and postpartum corrective exercise, lymphedema therapy, health coaching, integrative mental health, and biofeedback.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: Erica graduated with her master's degree in occupational therapy at the College of St.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: Mary, along with her post-professional doctorate at Creighton University.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: And for this episode, I do have a financial disclosure.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: Erica runs her practice on Jane App, and it plays a role in her marketing.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: So it will likely come up today during our discussion.
2:50
SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to let you know that OT Potential is a Jane App affiliate, and we receive a commission when listeners purchase Jane App through our referral link.
2:59
SPEAKER_01: That being said, Jane App had no role in the content of this course, and the opinions that you will hear today are our own.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, we'll patch Erica into our live studio.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to OT Potential, Erica.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: It's so great to have you.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: Hi, Sarah.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: It's so nice to be here.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for giving all of us OTs a platform to share what we're out there doing.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: I am so excited about this topic today.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: It's honestly more fun than I realized it was going to be when we scheduled.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: I think when you think of marketing, I just think of getting hit with spammy stuff to try to get me to buy things that I don't need.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: But when we are talking about marketing therapy, it is a totally different ballgame.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: We are meeting people seeking help who are often afraid of being judged, of getting the wrong kind of help.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: And we're really entering this like into this dyad relationship.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: This relationship, it's way more personal.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: Um it's totally different than um traditional marketing.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to hear about what you've been doing about Thrive and your approach to marketing.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: I've loved watching it over the years.
4:15
SPEAKER_01: And let's just start with your story of how Thrive OT got started.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for that introduction.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: I agree that marketing and sales can get a bad reputation.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't have to be that way.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: There's a way to be authentic about it and to really show our distinct value in what we're doing.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: And so that's really what we've tried to channel here at Thrive.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: I started Thrive OT nine years ago.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: And I started it for several different reasons, which I will work through explaining some of them.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: But there was never a blueprint to what I was doing.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: And so that has made it challenging and also thrilling and exhausting in all of the emotions that you could think of trying to figure out how to climb that ladder and create that path for me and my team.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Much of the creation of Thrive started with me and some paper and a pen sitting in my backyard, sketching out ideas of what could be.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: And I distinctly remember driving to my jobs as an OT in rural Iowa and thinking, what more could I do with my practice framework?
5:30
SPEAKER_00: I felt a little bit like I was put in this box of what was expected of me as an OT.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: And I took out my OTPF one day and I started highlighting all of the beautiful areas of OT that I felt like I wasn't able to do in specific settings.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: And with reimbursement and insurance, it really kind of stifled what I was able to do as well.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: And so then I started writing out business ideas of what if I was able to do these things, what would that business look like?
6:02
SPEAKER_00: And I remember one day stumbling across Lindsay Vestal, our public health queen, right?
6:09
SPEAKER_00: And some documents that she had written.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: And a light bulb moment went off for me.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: Before deciding on the niche area of public health, I had decided I'm starting a business.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: I think we need more OT leadership out there.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: I felt like there were things I could bring to our communities that were not there, including driver rehabilitation.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm pediatric, like consulting with existing schools and centers.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: And I had a list of about 10 different business ideas.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: And then I started narrowing down what I thought might work best for my community.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: I did a needs assessment at a local hair salon when they had an event.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: I came in with flyers.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: They let me graciously let me come in and ask the community what they might be interested in.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: And that combined with my own health journey really led me to starting a practice based on pelvic chlor therapy.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: So I was going through at the time my own fertility journey.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: And I felt alone, as I think a lot of women do.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: I felt like my body was kind of a test tube and nobody was linking for me the physical and mental aspects of what I was going through.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: And so I felt compelled to, as I was diving into more research on women's health and public floor therapy and fertility, I really felt compelled to create resources for women out there.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: And the town that I was in was a town of 5,000.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: And so at that time, they definitely needed those resources.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: They um no one was really talking about it in that town or even some of the larger cities, to be honest with you.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: And so I kind of made it my mission to share that with them.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: No one knew what pelv health therapy was in that town.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: People really didn't know what occupational therapy was, let alone how they went together.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: And so I really devoted the first, you know, few years of my business to just getting in the community as often as possible, speaking and sharing more about the information that I was learning.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: It was probably eight months before I even found my first client.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: It took a lot of laying the groundwork and foundation of who am I?
8:27
SPEAKER_00: What do I do?
8:28
SPEAKER_00: How are these services valuable?
8:30
SPEAKER_00: And really destigmatizing things in women's health.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: People were afraid if they came to me, their friends might see them and know that they have something wrong with them.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, people were afraid to talk about these issues.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Another pillar of why I started my business in pelvic floor therapy was I was working in the skilled nursing facilities, um, home health, outpatient, everything in rural Iowa and Nebraska.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: And I was seeing so many comorbidities that had to do with pelvic health.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: And I kept thinking, if I could work with this client 15 years sooner, would they really be in this home right now?
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Would they be having these falls with urinary urgency?
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Would they be having UTIs because of the urinary incontinence and the, you know, health-related things that come with that?
9:16
SPEAKER_00: And I kept thinking, what can I do to circumvent this happening?
9:20
SPEAKER_00: And also at that time, I did not know that pelvic floor PT was even a separate thing.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: All I knew was as an OT, these are things I've been doing with my client organically, areas of opportunity that fall so beautifully within our practice framework.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: And how can I improve my skills to help people?
9:41
SPEAKER_00: And so I started seeing clients in their homes.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: I, of course, wrote a business plan.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: I spent several months doing that.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: I would say up evenings, um, weekends while I worked full-time, practicing some of those public floor skills and honing those.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: And um I started seeing clients in their homes.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: I was still throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick, what feedback am I going to be getting?
10:04
SPEAKER_00: I started as a cash-based practice exclusively, which we'll get into more of.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then about a year and a half into that, I opened my first brick and mortar location.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: It was an office at the back of a yoga studio that I taught at in our small town.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: And I still would go to within an hour radius, really, to see clients in their homes a couple of days a week.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: And that went on for several years.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: I have so many pictures and videos of my kids as babies and toddlers crawling through those first offices that I had while we were setting them up.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: My husband helped me tremendously as we moved, as I grew into bigger offices and bigger spaces.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, and each time I'd sit in the office and like want to pinch myself.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Is this real?
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Are we really doing this?
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, people are really finding these services valuable.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And that went on with me being a solopreneur for about five years.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: Within that timeframe, there was the pandemic, which brought a lot of challenges.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: I finally had a full schedule, and then that hit.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: And so I had to pivot and get creative.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: I had two children within that time and finished my doctorate, my post-professional doctorate at Creighton University.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: And with that doctorate, I started thinking of how can I help more people?
11:24
SPEAKER_00: What would that look like?
11:26
SPEAKER_00: How could I scale this?
11:27
SPEAKER_00: At that time, I had about a six-month wait list of clients.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: And I had known for about a year that I was running at a pace that was really hard for me to keep up with.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I would either forever have this long wait list and be kind of a dog chasing its tail, or I could have the opportunity to serve more people, both clients and my team, by digging in and scaling the business.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what I did.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: I there's a funny story that I had a week in my schedule.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: We were gonna go on vacation.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: And I told my husband, we're not going anymore.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to spend this week figuring out, because I don't have clients this week, how I'm going to scale this and how what it would look like to hire somebody and build a team.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: And then since that time, it's been four years.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: We now have four locations two in Iowa, two in Nebraska, Omaha, Gretna, and Nebraska, Harlan and Carol in Iowa, and a team at this time of about 13 with new team members coming on and a student coming on this fall.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: Oh, there are so many parts of that story that I absolutely love.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: Two things I want to highlight related to our conversation is one, I just love that you are we're in a rural town with just 4,000 people.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: I think sometimes we want to limit ourselves based on our location.
12:57
SPEAKER_01: Like even myself, I also live in a town of 4,000.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, that would only work in uh Chicago or LA or a major metropolitan area.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: But I hope people listening hear the power of building connections, no matter what size of community that you're in, and that it can't be done.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: The second thing is I can just already tell that you are good at the long game, which I think is so important in business, and I think will come up multiple times today as we're talking about marketing.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: I like to use the phrase people always tend to totally overestimate what they can do in one year and totally underestimate what can happen in five years.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: So I love the illustration of like, it took eight months to get to the first client.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: Like that first year is slow, but within that five-year time window, so much can happen.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: And then you look at you at 10 years, I think sometimes we just have troubles with the imagination of and the patience of what those longer time windows look like.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Thinking back to those first clients, how you spent like eight months before you got a client.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: How did you get your first couple clients?
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what did that process look like?
14:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: I I like the points you just touched on as well.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: My team has heard me say over and over that I play the long game.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: And even though I haven't, I can't always definitively forecast what's gonna happen and where we're going, you really have to develop strategies and that commitment long term.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think we're a society.
14:36
SPEAKER_00: I mean, so you know, technology is partially to blame for this, but we're a society of instant gratification.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: And when people ask me, you know, what's the secret?
14:43
SPEAKER_00: One of the major aspects to that is consistency over a long period of time.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, turning that flywheel a little bit every single day.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: And so by doing that, I did get my first client.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: She lovingly refers to herself as patient zero.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: This was like pre-Taylor Swift song.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: And she um she still calls herself that and she still is in touch with me and sends me messages constantly.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: She she's moved, but she um started with me nine years ago and was still coming in up until the point that she moved for various things, just because she simply felt felt better.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: And really, when she trusted me, taking that opportunity with that client and then the next client to do my absolute best, and knowing that word of mouth and community is so important is really how I was able to grow a caseload.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: So that first client heard me presenting somewhere and came up to me afterwards and said, I need to come in to see you.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: How do I do it?
15:46
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't know it at the time, but that would be an ongoing theme of me presenting, or now our team presenting places where people will often come up afterwards, sometimes in tears, just saying, I've you said something that made me feel seen and heard for the first time in my healthcare journey.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: What can I do to come in?
16:08
SPEAKER_00: And so I never took, and we still don't, took advantage of or took for granted any client walking through our door.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: My team hears me say it all the time that every single client that comes through, we have gratitude that they came in.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: They devoted their time to come see us.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: And we treat that session with our best ability because that's your number one referral source, honestly.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: Aside from that, I did some marketing at local, um, like I mentioned, the hair salon.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: I tried to first partner with people outside of the traditional medical model, seemed to be a little more receptive to what I was saying at that time.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: So, like fellow um healthcare specialists like chiropractors and other rehab clinics, that sort of thing, massage therapists, really just getting into, you know, those other areas of healthcare that were outside of the traditional hospital setting.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: And then eventually one client a few weeks later turned into two clients, and a few weeks later turned into three.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: And now we've had thousands, thankfully.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: But yes, that first one was quite special.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: That first client telling other clients and then they tell clients is truly just an amazing process.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: And as you said, something to not take for granted.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious, as that like web is growing, are you starting to um find any like regular referral sources, like a doctor who tends to refer to you, or uh someone else in the healthcare realm, uh, were there fellow profession professionals that started referring to you?
17:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, or is that not an important part of your business?
17:52
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good question.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: So initially, how it looked is a little bit different than how it looks now, because now we have that credibility.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: We have years of being in business, we have years of success stories, but starting that from nothing is incredibly hard.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: Why should people trust you?
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Why should they listen to you?
18:09
SPEAKER_00: And so that credibility really came from having good outcomes with my clients who would then go back and tell their healthcare provider, you have to meet Erica.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: You have to hear about what she's doing.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: And they got probably sick of hearing that by the, so they called me.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing out there?
18:26
SPEAKER_00: And that truly paved the way for me to be able to go to the hospital and do a presentation.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: They had a separate rehab team, which I respect and you know, we get along fine and can mutually exist in the community.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: I think there's plenty of people that could benefit from our services, but they respected me enough to let me come in and speak to the nursing department and then eventually the OB department.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: And then you really had to earn that trust.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: I read before I started my business, however, to not rely solely on one referral source to generate those clients coming in.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: And so while those engagements were great and it was nice that they were getting to learn my name and the business name and learn about us, I always try to get us in the community and out in front of potential clients when I can, because that's where we see the most referrals come through.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's the friends and family, the networking with existing clients.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: That being said, in each location, we have a pretty robust list of where we see those referrals coming in.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: And we work hard to nurture each of those relationships.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: But I wouldn't say that we rely, rely exclusively on any one of them.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, because they're so varied and, you know, even what those referral sources do professionally.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: I love the that good outcomes then drives these good relationships with other potential referral qu uh referral sources.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that truly is a key to marketing.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't think we think of our outcomes with patients as a marketing thing, but it totally is.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: I love hearing that connection.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to zoom us ahead a little bit to where your business is now, but I want to linger in the past in the early years for just one more question and ask just as you think about the first years of those businesses, was there anything else you haven't said yet about that were important in building a sustainable business, like building a business that continued to get clients and get those referrals?
20:28
SPEAKER_01: What else went right in those early years that you are thankful for now?
20:33
SPEAKER_00: You know, it comes down to what my parents always told me, and they were right.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: It's like creating connections with people, whether it's that referral source or that client, being authentic and truly wondering what you can do to help someone else.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: You, if you want to be successful in business, you can't lead with how does this benefit me?
20:53
SPEAKER_00: It really needs to be what is important to my community, what's important to that person standing in front of me right now.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then, like I said, just that consistency.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Truly, I've had so many setbacks, like every business owner.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: And there's that saying that successful people just failed more times than other people, right?
21:13
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what it is.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: Like it's every time something got hard, and I looked at my husband, I said, I don't know if I can do this another day.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I'm gonna keep going.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: Having that grit and that plan to sit in that discomfort and move the needle forward a little bit further.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: I think what really helped me in the beginning stages was creating a list of core values for myself and for a business that I didn't know I was going to grow to what it is now.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: But I've relied so heavily on those core values to guide my decision making because it can feel like you're on an island.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: Sarah, we've talked about this when you're starting something from nothing and there's no roadmap and you feel alone at times and you're being pulled in various directions.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: What really tethered me to making sound Decisions and having that perseverance was core values and just this commitment to I'm gonna figure it out.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think this probably doesn't get said enough on when we're talking about marketing or even private practice, but like failure is definitely part of it.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: And when you talk to people who are successful, there is such a passion driving them.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm like, I don't know how people get through it without that passion driving them.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: I totally relate to the core values too.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: I did the exact same for my business.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: They've stayed the same, they're on my about page.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: I still reference them, I would say, every single day as I'm making decisions.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: I tell other people about them.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, this is a tough decision.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: If you look at my about page, this is one of my core values, and this is going to inform how I make it.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Thinking now, okay, now we're fast-forwarding to, I want to just ask questions about where you're at today.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: I look at the Thrive OT website, and I think one of the first things that I see is your passion, is your vision.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: Like, even though it's a website and that's not where you expect to feel those things, I can just see it on that website as I'm reading.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: So I want to start with just like that big picture question about how that vision and leadership really shines through to me.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: How have you made that such a core part of your team and of your marketing?
23:31
SPEAKER_01: Just what did that process look like of infusing your passion from early on into this larger platform?
23:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, first of all, for noticing that.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Um many, many hours and days and weeks, we're still tweaking things, right?
23:46
SPEAKER_00: But I remember thinking if I'm going to hire someone and I've created this buzz around what I'm doing, and I am the brand currently before I hired someone, how is it possible to scale something so it's not exclusively me as the brand and that we can still uphold the commitments of excellence and quality and all of these things that I really prioritized with each and every patient that walked in my office?
24:13
SPEAKER_00: And what are those pillars to what we do?
24:15
SPEAKER_00: What are those niche areas?
24:16
SPEAKER_00: What am I doing with the client?
24:18
SPEAKER_00: How do I explain that?
24:19
SPEAKER_00: And I sat with these questions over and over.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: And I would, again, draw out ideas.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: I'd write out what I thought if I were the client.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: What would what am I seeing if I'm that client walking into that space?
24:31
SPEAKER_00: And so I created at that time a graphic that has the three pillars really of what we do.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: And so the first pillar being pelvic and core, the second pillar, lymphatic and fascia, and the third, mental and emotional.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: And I felt confident enough at that time to create this graphic and market what we're doing with those three pillars versus exclusively pelvic floor, because by that point I had learned that pelvic floor therapy as an OT has so many layers and can spider web into so many different directions.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: And I had so many clients telling me not only is my urinary incontinence better, but my anxiety is better.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: And I knew there was so much to it beyond, you know, simply pelvic floor therapy.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: I actually got to present on this topic at the pelvic health conference with a lab on this, that pelv health, in my opinion, is whole body health.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that all sounds great to us OTs who know the OTPF, but how is that how are we translating that to a potential client or referral source?
25:33
SPEAKER_00: And so this graphic really helped.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: We bring that graphic with us to when we're doing presentations.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: We have it set up in every room.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And so I try to get very clear with our messaging.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: When somebody walks in that space, they know why they're there and they know why the connections are there with the anxiety and the myofascial release and you know, our mental health improving because some of the body work we're doing.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: And so that's yeah, that's one of the main aspects to the marketing.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Another one is really building in those layers within the team.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: So now I've kind of figured out where we're headed, how do I weave that into every person's elevator speech and that they can embody this when they go share what Thrive does in the community?
26:18
SPEAKER_00: One of my strengths with Strengths Finder, well, one is ideation.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: So I love to come up with these ideas and how they're gonna potentially, potentially work.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: And one is individuality.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: And so per Strengths Finder, apparently I have the skills to see that um employee in front of me for who they are, my colleague, for what makes them an individual, what are their unique skill sets?
26:42
SPEAKER_00: And how can we weave their unique skills into this fabric of what we're we're doing here at Thrive?
26:48
SPEAKER_00: And from there, we've been able to build these high achieving teams.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: And then that now you see that displayed in the website, in the marketing.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: They're out doing some of the marketing as well.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: So we really tried to weave that into every layer.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: I love this because, well, just as a fellow website owner, I'm like what people see is what's on our website, and it looks like polished and technical.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: But what's behind that for it sounds like you and for myself as well, is just drawing, literally drawing a picture of what's important.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: And I like people I work with literally are used to getting texts of like my hand drawing, like mind map of something like that.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Happens to me on the regular when I'm planning my year, it usually starts with a drawing.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that is also how I communicate.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, same.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: My team is used to, you know, trying to read my chicken scratch.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, I will put it in a document, it will be professional.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's what I'm thinking right now.
27:49
unknown: Yes.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: And that's usually the what I carry in my head is my own hand-drawn version of it, too, which is really interesting.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's like I can see it now.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: How do I get it?
28:00
SPEAKER_00: Like, how can I translate that for my team?
28:02
SPEAKER_00: Because I can see clearly what the answer is.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I think that is totally where marketing starts, is with that vision and then trying to weave it through.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: I want to I want to bring in an article right now to help us think about like clients seeking us.
28:28
SPEAKER_01: Like we've been talking about your process and like what you're thinking on your end.
28:34
SPEAKER_01: I want to bring in some research to help us think about what clients are thinking.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: I specifically loved this article.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: It was called Seeking Help for Perinatal Depression and Anxiety, a systematic review of systematic reviews from an interdependence perspective.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: This is an article that, as it said in the title, is about seeking help around pregnancy for depression and anxiety.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: I do want people to know, um, I also linked to a very similar, similar article on pelvic floor.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: And I was kind of surprised just how many articles there are out there about different niches on the help seeking process.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: So if this article doesn't resonate with uh our listeners for their clientele, there are more like this.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I loved this particular article.
29:24
SPEAKER_01: I definitely encourage people to read it because it definitely, first of all, it opened by talking about our clients in the stage of help seeking.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: And in the help seeking phase, uh, they are quickly looking to enter into this interdependent dyad with a provider.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: And I think that starts like right at marketing.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: Like the provider and the client are kind of meeting on your website.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: Like that's where it's already this active process that's starting to set expectations.
30:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh, they're learning about you.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: As you go through the article, then it has all this great research on what clients articulate as the barriers to getting help.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: And I was surprised and sad that one of the big barriers that they shared a lot about was just the client's fear of being judged.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: I think as therapists, we kind of forget that.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: Like we're like, oh, we're a safe place.
30:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, but most clients seeking help are afraid of being judged, and they're afraid of getting into the wrong service.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: So some of the things that they said in particular are fear of being stigmatized as a person with a mental health problem, a fear of being perceived as unfit mothers, a fear of losing custody towards due to judgmental attitudes, lack of trust in the healthcare provider due to prior negative interactions, and anticipation that healthcare providers will devalue symptoms or will not help.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: And the list honestly goes on and on.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: But I'm going to stop there and be like, as you hear this research, I have a two-part question.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: One, how does this like interdependent dyad language hit you when you're thinking about marketing?
31:21
SPEAKER_01: And two, I think that your website is really good at like right away trying to bust like the stigma of seeking help.
31:29
SPEAKER_01: I assume that's what you're doing intentionally.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: And tell me a little bit more about that.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: So for the website portion and really what we have, how our clinics are set up, we are really trying to provide that messaging that it's a safe place emotionally and physically.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: And we even have signage in our clinics that articulate that message.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: This is a safe space.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: We have a sign up that says that.
31:53
SPEAKER_00: And I think we can all relate to being the patient in a space where you walk in and right off the bat, you feel like they're not gonna listen to what I have to say.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: They don't, they're not here to hear me.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: And then that anxiety is elevated, and then we shut down.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: And all of the research I had read on healing, it needed to occur in a safe environment.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we've read so many studies that we could throw out here about like placebo effect, right?
32:23
SPEAKER_00: And if the body is really in a position to heal, it needs to feel safe with the person that has the privilege to be that healthcare provider for them.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: And so it's been our messaging on the website, our messaging in the clinic.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then in terms of that dyad between the practitioner and the patient, you know, I have noticed over the years that if I help that patient to feel like they can trust me, over time, they start to trust themselves more.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: They feel confident in trusting their intuition because they have found a safe space with me or our clinic.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: And then that has helped them evolve into finding a safe space within themselves in a healthcare journey that maybe was really anxiety-provoking or they felt alone.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: And then the the flip side of that, the other piece of that diad is as the practitioner, I am feeling more confident with the skills that I have and how I'm delivering my services to the community.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: And so this article really highlights how I was able in the beginning, without knowing these statistics, just being a consumer of healthcare, knowing how I felt as a consumer, what I could do with my clients to alleviate that entirely.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: And we have not compromised on that.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, with every client that comes through the door, hopefully they feel that to some degree.
33:44
SPEAKER_01: In this marketing is such a complex process.
33:49
SPEAKER_01: We we've talked about setting your vision.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: We've talked about um creating this safe space.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: We've talked about how a lot of early stage marketing was just building relationships and being kind of true to who you are.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: I kind I want to um move us into like a logistical part of this process now.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: Like now that we have the big important things kind of established, how you got there.
34:22
SPEAKER_01: And the first is just online booking.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: Like I think that when someone is seeking help, I see online booking as a huge asset.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: I love that about your website that you get all this passion, and then I can go book an appointment right there.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious when you instituted online booking.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, did that help?
34:41
SPEAKER_01: Has that worked for you?
34:42
SPEAKER_01: Tell me about that part of the user journey.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: So as you mentioned in the beginning, I think your affiliation with Jane, and we've chatted about this before, Sarah, as well.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: That we've been using Jane now for nearly four years.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: And I had um a system, an EMR system prior to that.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: I had several systems that Jane has allowed us to really put all into one.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: And one of those being the online booking and then putting that into our website.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: And so what we used to do was book clients in real time when they were there, and then um maybe have to make a follow-up phone call or that sort of thing.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: But the online booking has really allowed some positives and then also some hurdles and challenges we've had to come.
35:21
SPEAKER_00: So the hurdles have been if a client does not know that we've opened schedules for a future date, they can become disgruntled understandably, not knowing that, hey, that OT I want to see at that specific time, I didn't know her schedule was open.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And so we have um alleviated that problem by putting in a newsletter and sending out an email.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: We really, every time a challenge came up, we create like a think tank.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, people were, you know, not as happy because of this.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: How can we improve that with future systems?
35:52
SPEAKER_00: Which is one major tip I have for all aspiring or entrepreneurs out there is when there's a problem, dig in and find a long-term solution, not just like a quick fix to that problem.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: Cause then we've been able to use that system now for years, where I think we started opening schedules a couple of years ago online.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: And so now all of our clients get an email when our schedules are open and they can go in and select their preferred time for the next however many months.
36:20
SPEAKER_00: And then we also get clients who find us online through the website and we'll go in and book.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: And then we get those clients, and I can understand this totally, who maybe don't want to make the phone call to our office or text about an appointment.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: They're so busy and they don't have time to talk to someone right then.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: They want to just go in and book it.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: And that has allowed them the autonomy to do that.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: So it's been good overall.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: I love how um solving one problem always creates a new problem.
36:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that is the story.
36:47
SPEAKER_01: I know.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: You think you've got like check the box, I'm done.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: It's like, no, you're not.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: It's yes, yes.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: And I love um when you're thinking about marketing your practice, I'm always like showing the picture, like showing your showing off your therapists helps so much because usually people, to your point, want that one particular therapist.
37:09
SPEAKER_01: Like, I just don't want to go to the PT clinic down the street.
37:12
SPEAKER_01: I want to go see that one person.
37:14
SPEAKER_01: And your site allows that pathway.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: Like you're booking with a particular therapist, you're not booking a general appointment.
37:22
SPEAKER_01: But then I can see what you're saying, the uh downside of, oh, people really want that one therapist.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so that creates, I guess, competition.
37:32
SPEAKER_01: What percentage now do you think people just find you online?
37:36
SPEAKER_01: Like, is that a big driver for you or a small one?
37:41
SPEAKER_00: I would say it's still, I mean, every few weeks we get a random referral that has found us online.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: And so we do see it consistently, but I've never counted on that being a driver.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's kind of like if you go somewhere and hand someone a brochure and leave, they're probably not gonna call you or send you referrals.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: There has to be more layers.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: So I would say it helps, but usually what's that saying?
38:02
SPEAKER_00: People need 13 touch points um with someone before they fully can jump in.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I uh I had heard you say that you thought it was like around 15%.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: Like that's something that like helps boost your business, uh, but still that word of mouth referral remains your core.
38:20
SPEAKER_01: Is does that sound right?
38:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that does.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's just building in those layers.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: And like I said earlier, never counting on one path to be the exclusively what keeps you going.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: When you get to your website, this I think is another key part of marketing.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: As I was reading the research and prep for this, I definitely saw like the stigma stigma being a big uh barrier, but also just confusion about the process.
38:49
SPEAKER_01: And one thing that helps a lot to alleviate confusion is price transparency.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: And I think especially in uh rehab OTPT SLP, we tend to not be very price transparent.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: Um, on your website, you can see I want to book private pay, and you see the amount, and then you can see the different insurances that you work with.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: What's your thinking behind that and what has that done for your business?
39:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: Good thought process um or good question for that thought process because it's one that has evolved over the years.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a scarcity mindset with a lot of business owners because it's hard work.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: And you know, a large percentage of small businesses fail within that first year, five years, 10 years.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: And so people tend to kind of hoard what they know and some of that information.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: And what that actually tells says to me is like they're trying, I'll use the word trick, even though maybe that's not their intention.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: It feels like they're not being totally transparent and they're trying to lure someone in without saying, here's what you're actually up against, and here's what you're going to have to um commit to and um invest in.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: And so over the years, I've tried to peel back those layers of if I'm not saying it, what am I actually communicating to them?
40:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: And so then I've really challenged myself, what's my fear with saying it?
40:14
SPEAKER_00: And I had a client once tell me, because it's hard as an OT to ask for money.
40:20
SPEAKER_00: We are not trained in business.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: And one of my clients initially, when I started, I told her the price at the end of the session, just like if you were getting your hair done.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for doing my hair.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: That'll be$200, you know, and it's a very normal exchange.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: And in healthcare, you're just not used to that.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: And so I told her my price and I like apologized.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: And she said, do not apologize.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: I want you here the next time I need you.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: And so comments that I've heard along the way have really helped me recognize the responsibility I have in transparency and also setting those prices.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not doing it out of greed.
40:55
SPEAKER_00: I go back to my core values to really know what why those prices are what they are, um, what we're up against with insurance.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, we could talk about that for hours.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: But I realized transparency, I always want to be transparent.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: And we do that not only with what's online available to see, but with our insurance verifications.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: So we have a hybrid model where we accept a couple insurances and then we're out of network and create, can create a super bill for the other insurances.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: And then we also have a wellness package that's non-skilled therapy.
41:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, again, several layers to all of that.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: But we try to go above and beyond to do an insurance verification prior to that client coming in.
41:35
SPEAKER_00: We make a personal phone call.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: Marissa, who's been on here, and our office manager Bonnie, shout out to her.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: They call these clients and say, here's what I see.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: What are you seeing from your end?
41:46
SPEAKER_00: And so we are never trying to get somebody on the schedule, you know, to earn to try to generate revenue without them knowing what that looks like from their end.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: And that's where that trust is built in.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: Even though they might not like necessarily that price or that they have a high deductible and they're gonna owe us until the high deductible is met.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: We've had that conversation.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: So now they know what that looks like long term.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: And then we see those clients stick with us long term because we started out with a trusting relationship.
42:17
SPEAKER_01: No, pricing and pricing transparency is just like difficult and emotional, but it helps so much.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: And then you layer in the confusion of insurance that we're trying to help people navigate as what best we can.
42:30
SPEAKER_01: That's um, I feel like just a disadvantage for us here in the United States, having to help people through that.
42:36
SPEAKER_01: But the more we can be transparent about the rest of our offerings, the I think the better uh for clients.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: So even though it's hard, I see how it helps and helps the whole relationships and you're building a sustainable business.
42:51
SPEAKER_01: Another logistical thing I wanted to ask you about was like the keywords of your website, knowing that one, you want people to look at it and understand what it's for.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: You also want Google to like read it and know who to serve it to.
43:08
SPEAKER_01: And it does that through your keywords.
43:10
SPEAKER_01: My question that I was going to ask you, and I think we know the answer to, but I'm just gonna say it out loud anyway, is I open your website and I see holistic occupational therapy, and then I see pelvic floor, lymphatic and fascial, and mental health and emotional wellness.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: I was going to ask you how you landed on those.
43:31
SPEAKER_01: I now know it's tying back to your pillars.
43:34
SPEAKER_01: So my question just is how have having those like kind of precise keywords helped you and have you tweaked them at all over time?
43:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they've they've stayed pretty consistent.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we tweak some of the phrasing, but the holistic part is kind of a funny story.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: When I started, I did not use the word holistic.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: And I got confident using that word again through my doctorate program because I was reading textbooks about the inception of.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Occupational therapy and the word holistic was there.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: And I got more confident explaining that it's whole body.
44:05
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean non-science.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: It just means I'm having this whole body approach.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm using the person environment occupation moho models of practice.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: And I'm weaving in all these layers that I've seen right in front of me with my clients factor into their outcomes.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: And so in the beginning, I felt like if I said holistic, that the traditional medical model might not take me seriously.
44:29
SPEAKER_00: And then once I really established my footing and I knew I was having good outcomes with patients, and people were telling me they were happy with the services I was providing, I felt like I can speak to the roots of OPT now and I can use that word to convey what we're doing.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: It's also why I use the word occupational therapy in our business name.
44:47
SPEAKER_00: It probably would have been easier if I called it pelvic floor therapy in the Midwest, you know, something like that.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: But I really wanted to like I love my fellow PTs, but every corner you see a PT clinic.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to be that for my profession.
45:01
SPEAKER_00: And I knew it was a going to be a challenge, but it would be an opportunity for me to speak to what OT is.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: So it's been a little trickier for like our search engine optimization to make sure that if people in Omaha, Nebraska are searching for pelvic floor therapy, that we come up.
45:15
SPEAKER_00: But I truly think that it's been worth the challenge because now we also get people who see nutritionists and they need lymphatic work to make you know what they're doing about nutritionists optimized.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: And so by staying true to all those layers, we have we are now reaping the benefit, in my opinion, for various types of clients to come in, not exclusively pelvic floor.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: I have a whole podcast episode and a super long blog post related to SEO and finding those right keywords.
45:45
SPEAKER_01: I love how your website kind of shows the best practice of like saying your profession, saying the areas that you specialize in, and then ideally also saying your location.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, when you're just start out and you're in one location, that's way easier because you can be like in Aurora, Nebraska.
46:04
SPEAKER_01: As you're growing, that becomes more complicated.
46:06
SPEAKER_01: But for the beginner, it's pretty easy, like just say where you're at, and that will help uh Google Notice serve it to the people around you.
46:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I want to shoot a shout out to our team too.
46:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, that our marketing team.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: So we have Julia who leads that team now, who started with us as a student from Creighton.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: And so she's helped us tweak those things as well and pay attention to what SEO is and you know, our rates with that.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: And growing that marketing team has been really fun and um really speaks to what I love about leadership and again that scalability of a business and leaning into people's individual strengths.
46:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm really passionate about I have this person in front of me that I can see is good at these things.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: They might not even know it about themselves yet, but how can I create a position or a circumstance that highlights those strengths?
46:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so with that piece of marketing, that was one example.
47:00
SPEAKER_01: Super fun.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: I also wanted to ask you as we're clicking through this logistical list about reviews.
47:09
SPEAKER_01: That's something that when people are um in the help seeking process, they definitely see reviews pop up.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, I was Googling like pelvic floor therapy, Omaha, and seeing like on Google, you have 23 reviews, which puts you towards the top, the top just in number.
47:28
SPEAKER_01: And then you have uh your reviews are high, like they're close to that five star.
47:34
SPEAKER_01: What has that process looked like of collecting reviews?
47:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think there's several layers to this.
47:40
SPEAKER_00: One again, being Jane and a feature in Jane is to prompt the client after X amount of visits to leave a review in Jane.
47:49
SPEAKER_00: And then we also have put in their um encouragement to go on and to leave us a Google review.
47:56
SPEAKER_00: And so that's been helpful.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: I hear a lot of clients say, you know, that they're happy with their services and that they want to share.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: I'd say that's a huge part of it is that they we it's so fun when we go do marketing events or public speaking.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes our existing clients will show up just to be able to share the experience they've had.
48:17
SPEAKER_00: And that that hits home with me every time.
48:20
SPEAKER_00: Like that feels so special every time those people show up just to say, I had a good experience there, you should go too.
48:26
SPEAKER_00: Just how wonderful.
48:27
SPEAKER_00: And so that shows up in our Google reviews, people who are just proud to share.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: And then sometimes for events, we've had, you know, a computer setup where we ask for, you know, hey, while you're here, do you want to leave us a review?
48:38
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't always go, it's not as helpful doing it that way.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we've also had referral sources we've partnered with where maybe I was used a certain doula group for my the birth of my children and they've used our services.
48:51
SPEAKER_00: And so we'll go in and leave each other a review as well.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, just supporting those like-minded businesses that are in our communities.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a couple really rich, like high-quality reviews is way more important than a bunch of like love it reviews.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: Um and like everything we're talking about, that just takes time.
49:15
SPEAKER_01: Like all these things really take time to build the foundation for.
49:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but when you do, you have this amazing flywheel that you're starting, yeah, that you're enjoying currently.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, each time we get a review and I see that notification come through, I still get this excitement and feel so much gratitude that someone took the time to go in and do that.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's really cool.
49:37
SPEAKER_01: We've kind of clipped through the just the logistics of marketing, like starting with the more nebulous, like uh vision, passion, and then going through just like the steps of what happens.
49:50
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, it kind of has demystified the process for people.
49:54
SPEAKER_01: Marketing to me is just about having the right client find the right therapist.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: I think that is way harder, or that is a very hard thing.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: How would you like to see this space evolve over the years?
50:11
SPEAKER_01: Like what how would you like to see, I guess, marketing change?
50:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think a big um barrier in general with that is insurance.
50:21
SPEAKER_00: So it really creates this divide with how we're able to market ourselves.
50:26
SPEAKER_00: I met with one of my mentors recently, and she shared a positive review for me that over the years, she's never seen our quality be compromised in the services that we are giving, which is I'm so grateful that we are able to say that.
50:41
SPEAKER_00: But I think insurance puts a lot of pressure on therapists to fulfill things, you know, pressure from higher-ups to do certain things in some of those models.
50:51
SPEAKER_00: And I really think it creates a divide when people are seeking services.
50:54
SPEAKER_00: So I'll give an example.
50:55
SPEAKER_00: We've had clients come in and work with our therapists, and then maybe we don't take their insurance, and so they go elsewhere and they end up coming back to us.
51:04
SPEAKER_00: And I don't believe that it's because that other therapist was bad.
51:07
SPEAKER_00: I just believe that sometimes what the stipulations insurance puts on that place that is accepting insurance might be a different, um, it might look different how that therapy is delivered.
51:19
SPEAKER_00: They might be with a tech most of the time because that place is trying to figure out how to get the highest reimbursement and stay afloat with declining reimbursement rates every year.
51:30
SPEAKER_00: So that's what I've seen.
51:31
SPEAKER_00: The biggest divide is between a client finding the right therapist and how we're able to market that is the barrier with insurance.
51:40
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
51:41
SPEAKER_01: I saw this like YouTube clip a week ago where some guru was advising a physical therapy owner about growing his business.
51:52
SPEAKER_01: And the advice was to be like, do you just want subpar care?
51:56
SPEAKER_01: Use your insurance.
51:58
SPEAKER_01: Do you want great care?
51:59
SPEAKER_01: Then upsell them to private pay.
52:02
SPEAKER_01: And I just do not like that future for us.
52:05
SPEAKER_01: Like, I agree with what you said.
52:07
SPEAKER_01: Like, insurance is a barrier.
52:09
SPEAKER_01: Currently, I would just love to see our scope of practice like more fully reimbursed and recognized by insurance, and then a lot of clarity around just like uh where insurance can be utilized.
52:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, I there's kind of two futures in front of us, and I don't want it to be that guru YouTube clip.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: I do you agree with that?
52:31
SPEAKER_00: I agree with that.
52:32
SPEAKER_00: I think for me, there's two truths that I have to think about.
52:37
SPEAKER_00: One is I want to be able to offer people the ability to use that insurance, but I also have to be realistic about what that looks like reimbursement-wise, which is obviously maybe a talk we could do another time too, right?
52:48
SPEAKER_00: What we're up against is OTs in that space.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, and again, I don't think it's just saying that that other therapist is bad.
52:54
SPEAKER_00: I think what they're up against in that other model is just it's different.
52:57
SPEAKER_00: And it's insurance is creating this divide with us.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: I've tried to do my due diligence by writing to insurances and telling them what I'm up against, trying to tell them my value.
53:07
SPEAKER_00: I've been in network with several that reimburse low.
53:10
SPEAKER_00: I've I've negotiated rates, I've tried to show our distinct value.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: And I think that comes with supporting AOTA and just continuing to advocate.
53:18
SPEAKER_00: So we try to do that as a business while also trying to be responsible with being sustainable.
53:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, marketing by itself is a very complex topic.
53:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, just in the things we've covered today, it's also complex.
53:32
SPEAKER_01: And then for us as therapists to layer in this um insurance reality just really drives home the complexity of this topic.
53:41
SPEAKER_01: But I hope that people listening, one, just don't give up hope.
53:46
SPEAKER_01: I hope that there's been like some clarity around this topic, some hope around it.
53:52
SPEAKER_01: I, after like sitting in this topic, I'm really like marketing is the first step of the therapeutic process.
54:01
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think it's so important how we're setting expectations and doing our best to match the right client with the right therapist.
54:08
SPEAKER_01: Those are my takeaways from this conversation.
54:11
SPEAKER_01: What do you want to leave us on today, Erica?
54:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I hope that anyone listening feels some inspiration to be a leader in the OT world.
54:21
SPEAKER_00: To if you're considering starting a business, get up and do it.
54:25
SPEAKER_00: You can do it.
54:26
SPEAKER_00: I love to see OT leaders, even if starting a department at your current place of employment.
54:32
SPEAKER_00: As Sarah and I were talking about being a leader and showing what OT can do and our distinct value, that comes in a lot of layers.
54:38
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to exclusively be private practice.
54:41
SPEAKER_00: But I think we are so good at leadership.
54:43
SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to see more OTs take that opportunity.
54:47
SPEAKER_00: So I hope I've inspired you to get up and do it and to try and try to persevere through it because it is worth it.
54:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, as an entrepreneur, I get asked a lot, you know, what's your number one takeaway in this entrepreneurial space?
55:03
SPEAKER_00: And for me, it's doing two things really well.
55:06
SPEAKER_00: It's always being able to rip the band-aid off of an issue or a challenge we have, face it head on, and find a solution.
55:13
SPEAKER_00: And then the second thing is have unwavering faith that we're we're gonna make it.
55:18
SPEAKER_00: And I have to be able to hold both truths and do them simultaneously.
55:22
SPEAKER_00: And that's can be really uncomfortable.
55:24
SPEAKER_00: So get comfortable in the discomfort and know that that you can do it too.
55:29
SPEAKER_01: Well, Erica, I so appreciate your time today.
55:35
SPEAKER_01: I feel like this is such an important topic.
55:38
SPEAKER_01: I know for me, I'm going to take and build this out into um, we have a marketing your OT practice blog post.
55:45
SPEAKER_01: There were a couple of questions at the end that we won't get to, but I will continue to try to answer people's questions in that blog post.
55:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the foundation that you laid for us today is so helpful.
55:59
SPEAKER_01: Building that connection foremost.
56:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then all the kind of everything else flows from that.
56:05
SPEAKER_01: And I think this is both for private practice people, but for people in all settings, like building that connection with the people we're working with is the heart of marketing.
56:14
SPEAKER_01: And thank you for how you've exemplified that and you've shared with us today.
56:18
SPEAKER_01: I just so appreciate this conversation.
56:20
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for your time, Sarah, and for being a huge inspiration in what I've done over the years.
56:25
SPEAKER_00: And for hundreds and probably thousands of OTs out there, we really look up to you as well.
56:31
SPEAKER_00: And so thank you for trusting me with this topic.
56:33
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your time today.
56:39
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining us on the OT Potential podcast.
56:42
SPEAKER_01: To earn one hour of AOTA approved continuing education for your time today, you will need to sign in or sign up at OTPotential.com.
56:52
SPEAKER_01: Once you're in the OT Potential Club, you will find a five-question post-course quiz connected to this episode.
56:59
SPEAKER_01: When you pass the quiz with a score of 75% or higher, you will be able to download a PDF certificate that certifies your completion of this course.
57:08
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I want to thank you for joining us today, and we'll see you next time.