Participants were asked to rate the importance of 69 criteria with respect to their influence on rankings in the Google, Bing and Yahoo Local “Universal” search algorithms (those that drive the 7-pack, 3-pack, and authoritative onebox search results; NOT the standard organic algorithms).

Results on the site.

Marketing may be the most hated word in private practice. Most of my clients tell me that they can’t stand marketing their practices. For them, any marketing is synonymous with push marketing — shameless advertising, overpromising, promoting, or seducing — the direct opposite of the healing relationships they are trying to build. They don’t want any part of it.

But you can leverage your marketing efforts (leverage = learning to do a lot with a little) by applying two steps:

1) Find the need in the market
2) Stay within your comfort zone.

The “here’s how” is on her site.

Facebook, twitter, Yelp, LinkedIn, and the like, all covered.

Worth your browsing time.

The posts are here.

I‘ve rearranged my schedule to make time for you.  Let me help you develop a strong web presence.  For not a lot of money, I can help you get an appealing and effective website launched, integrate it with social media (twitter and facebook), help you get promoted and listed, and otherwise assist your arrival here in the future.

I’ve got several sites under my belt with a variety of looks and purposes.  Where the Client Is (this private practice blogzine); Social Work Test Prep (exam preparation); Will Baum, LCSW (private practice).

Yours next?

I’m portfolio building, so prices are very reasonable.  Please write me with questions, to discuss, and to otherwise get started:  wheretheclientis@gmail.com.

Didn’t used to be an option, but the future has arrived, courtesy of Google.  Google TV Ads lets you set a budget, upload an ad, and see it aired on real-live TV for not a lot of money.

Here’s Slate doing and describing it.  Here’s Google, explaining how-to.

Any therapists out there used this yet?  Not sure.  Are you going to try it?  Let us know how it goes.

Getting Listed in Local Business Search Results duration: 15:15

There are over half a billion searches for local businesses (including therapists) in Google each month. In this webinar, you will learn the essential skill of listing your therapy practice website on the Google Local Business Center so that you can be found. We also teach you how to list your website in the Yahoo and Bing Local Business Centers, as well as show you a tool for easily verifying your listings in the local business centers.

Submit My Practice Website to the Search Engines duration: 6:03

Learn the important skill of submitting your therapy practice website to Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Best Practices for Emailing Prospective Clients duration: 7:17

Every day, prospective clients are emailing therapists for a potential initial session. Do you know what the best practices for responding to these emails are? Learn how to effectively respond to emails from prospective clients so that you increase the probability that they become a client.

Also, posted previously, and full of very useful tips:

Search Engine Optimization for Therapists duration: 42:43

In this webinar, you will learn how the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization for your therapy practice website. Topics include: How Search Engines work, how to do keyword research, which keywords to use on your website, where should the keywords go, linking, social media and much more.

The upshot:  Just having a website isn’t necessarily going to bring you clients.  There are ways to build a site and ways to promote it so it gets seen.  (If all of this is Greek to you (and you don’t speak Greek), you can always try WTCI Web for inexpensive/effective/friendly help.)

Liquic.com is a comprehensive online health and wellness resource for individuals seeking a better quality of life, providing access to coaches, psychologists, yoga instructors, dieticians, fitness experts, relationship therapists, counselors and financial advisors regardless of physical location.  By merging the traditional world of psychology, the practical hands-on touch of the coaching and counseling industry, and the exciting techniques of alternative and holistic wellness, Liquic is able to serve as a gateway to improved overall well being.

Today, Liquic.com launches its eClinic facility in beta test mode, connecting mental health and wellness professionals with consumers online. Signaling the convergence of professional consultations and online communication, Liquic enables professionals worldwide to grow their practice area virtually through bylined articles, videos, online chat, email sessions and more.

Included in the eClinic’s areas of expertise are body and health wellness; mental health and personal development; finances and money; family; children; and intimacy.  Consumers can utilize the site’s comprehensive database to find practitioners based on their individual needs, browse a variety of health related articles and videos, or connect directly with select professionals. Since the site is location sensitive, professionals with premium listings are presented on the home page to consumers in their area.

“Liquic brings two eager groups in contact with each other – professionals who want to reach out to new clients with new techniques, and individuals who are looking for a low-barrier of entry for personal help,” said John Khoury, CEO of Liquic.com. “People are looking more and more to preventative health measures and are increasingly rejecting medical solutions to cognitive and emotional issues. Liquic offers a single online location for consumers to educate themselves on treatment options and connect with professionals – as well as a one-stop-shop for professionals to present themselves and conduct their work online.”

For March, 2010,  create a profile for the online sessions and get a free premium listing for 6 months (usually 500 bucks).

Here’s a nice, shiny, new avenue to help promote your practice:  YourTango.com ProConnect.  The site is offering nine months free for new clinician sign-ups this month.  Melanie Gorman, the company’s Director of Marketing & Business Development explains:

Each relationship expert who lists on ProConnect receives a 3-6 page website that details their professional bio, contact information, services offered and more. Professionals are able to directly access potential clients and make a name for themselves within the YourTango community by posting content and answering questions from our readers.

My hope is that lots of Pros will take advantage of the free offer because for so many, marketing is a barrier to a successful practice. A smart marketing package holds so many different components and that’s the beauty of ProConnect, it’s one site that covers all of the most important bases and it’s easy for anyone to use. What better time to do something like this than when it’s free? Not to mention it will give a great depth to our list of Pros and that will allow our audience find the exact person they need to work with.

Here’s the press release regarding the free offer:

YourTango.com, the premiere women’s website for relationship advice with over 1 million readers each month, proudly announces the beta launch of its latest channel, ProConnect.

ProConnect (as the name implies) is a unique service integrated within the YourTango community designed to connect relationship and dating professionals with readers who are seeking advice. ProConnect is seeking professionals like therapists & counselors, relationship/dating/life coaches and educators, faith-based professionals, matchmakers and more to participate in ProConnect for absolutely no cost for 9-months.

Throughout January 2010, Up till Valentine’s Day, 2010, professionals who list on ProConnect will receive a 9-month membership absolutely FREE.

If you are looking for an innovative, inexpensive and quick ways to market your practice, then we want to you to join our team.

Here’s what ProConnect will do for you:

• Establish or expand your online web presence—with countless people using search engines like Google to find information, being on the web is imperative to your success!
• Generate interest in the your activities and workshops to increase your client base
• Help improve the power of your name and brand by promoting your services to our vast community.
• Complement other directory listings you’re already paying for to boost your existing marketing efforts

Additionally, this free offer includes:

• A 6-page website designed to highlight the Pro’s practice & services
• Services to generate new client leads by:
  • Submitting articles for publication on YourTango & partner sites –reaching not just YourTango’s 1mm+ readers, but millions more through our content partnerships with sites like Yahoo, MSN, AOL and many more.
  • Answering reader’s ‘Free consultation’ questions
  • Participating in the Ask YourTango community – to establish your expertise among our readers who are looking for advice
  • Commenting on content and sharing professional opinions
  • Becoming a part of our network of Pros we look to for expert opinions and comments when requested for by larger media outlets
• Promoting events & workshops
• Selling their products available via Amazon.com
• Education, advice and tips on how to market your practice ethically on the web

No credit card or payment required; this is a 100% legitimately free offer

All the details on this exciting offer are available at:

http://www.yourtango.com/proconnect/freeoffer

http://www.yourtango.com/proconnect/sneakpeek

Receive a free ProConnect membership in 3 easy steps!

1. Click http://www.yourtango.com/proconnect/join?m=2
2. Choose “Advanced Membership”
3. Enter Coupon Code = FREEPRO

For additional questions or help, contact ProConnect customer service:

Email: pchelp@yourtango.com; Phone: 410-923-6905 or 321-459-1399

Corey Quinn is founder of WTCI affliate MyTherapistMatch.com, a service that matches clients and therapists based upon results of a personality-traits survey. He talked to WTCI via email about why he started the company and how it does what it does.

MyTherapistMatch.com is offering one month free to WTCI readers. Sign up using coupon code 204.

What’s your background?

I was born and raised as an only child in an entrepreneurial family here in Los Angeles. After graduating college, I started up an Internet company in 1999, where we raised $6 million in seed funding. The company streamed live events on the web (webcasting) and unfortunately took a hit in the bubble burst of 2000/2001. After that, I went into financial services and eventually made my way back to school to get my MBA in finance and entrepreneurship from the Marshall School of Business at USC. Just before entering business school, I went back into the internet industry, where I’ve been ever since.

Currently, I am the founder and CEO of MyTherapistMatch.com. MyTherapistMatch.com is a website that matches individuals with therapists based on compatibility.

What made you start MyTherapistMatch.com?

When my parents decided to get a divorce, they put me in therapy. I was 12 years old. My first experiences with being in therapy were positive. My therapist Jackie and I played games, ate candy and just kind of hung out. Her low key approach to therapy worked for me, and as we became friends, I began to open up to her. She was my ally and helped me successfully deal with the range of emotions I was experiencing though the divorce.

Several years later, when I was in high school I wanted to speak with another therapist about typical “growing up” type issues. I began having sessions with Cathy, the school counselor. Cathy was amazing – I felt like she and I were able to talk and relate on a deep level. I felt like she could really understand me – more than anyone else ever could. The work that she and I did fundamentally transformed and improved my life in amazing ways. Looking back, I am so grateful for her and our therapy sessions.

That was the last time that therapy was amazing for me until recently (I am 35 years old). I had a series of mildly disappointing experiences while seeking therapy after high school. Each time, I would go to a website to find a therapist (such as an insurance website, therapist finder directory, etc.) and would find a couple of therapists that seemed to have the right experience, areas of focus, etc., call them and set up initial appointments.

My hope was that I would find another Jackie or Cathy, but what I found were therapists who were not quite what I had previously experienced. All were licensed, competent and well intentioned, but there wasn’t that connection, I didn’t feel that powerful chemistry that was the important ingredient in the transformational process.

Instead of continuing to shop around to find the “right” therapist, I would decide to stay with a good, but not great (for me) therapist – more out of convenience than anything else. I was not in the mood to interview a large number of therapists to find the right one. I was ready to begin the therapeutic process – to start the work. I would come to find that the outcome of these therapy sessions was positive but it was not the transformational experience I was hoping for.

At the end of one not so satisfying therapy session, I thought to myself – “there has got to be a better way to find a ‘good’ therapist.” Good meaning one that I can really feel connected to and trust at a deep level.

I spent some time thinking about different ways to solve this puzzle, and it hit me – take an eHarmony style compatibility approach and apply it to the finding a therapist process. While the client/therapist relationship is not romantic in nature, the requirement for interpersonal trust and rapport does apply. This was the genesis for MyTherapistMatch.com

What do you do now?

As the founder and CEO of MyTherapistMatch.com, I spend much of my time improving the visibility of the MyTherapistMatch.com site to individuals who are actively seeking a therapist. Finding the right therapist is the most important decision in therapy, and by using MyTherapistMatch.com, individuals looking for a therapist can dramatically reduce the amount of time and improve the probability of finding a compatible therapist. In our first month (we launched in November 2009), we had two times the number of people complete our compatibility survey than we had therapists on our site. We are growing in January and look forward to a great 2010.

How’d you come up with the criteria? Why, for instance, “preferred orientation in time”?

My co-founder and I created the matching survey and algorithm. We base the matching criteria found in our survey and algorithm on our understanding of interpersonal rapport. Dr. Robert Dee McDonald, co-founder of MyTherapistMatch.com, is a therapist who has taught interpersonal communication skills in 18 countries to thousands of students. He has been in private practice for over 35 years, has taught psychology as the University of San Francisco, and is a co-author of the best selling NLP book of all time: The New Technology of Achievement.

We know that in general, people like people who are like them. The same is true for therapists and clients. In the therapeutic realm, the client must feel a great deal of trust in the therapist for real change to happen. Without this trust, clients will not open themselves up to the therapist, making the effort futile, extending the therapeutic process for the client, running up the cost of doing therapy and more. The premise of MyTherapistMatch.com is that we help people find the right therapist by getting connected with a therapist who moves through the world in a similar way to the client, thereby increasing the probability of natural rapport and trust.

In the case of “preferred orientation in time,” which is just one of the 23 criteria with which we match therapists and clients, people tend to “live” in either the present, future or past. We match therapists and clients who prefer one of the three orientations similiarly. Contrarily, if we were to match up a client who prefers to be future oriented with a therapist who prefers to be past oriented, there will most likely be a subtle disconnect. Providing support for the preferred orientation in time concept, Dr. Philip Zimbardo, former president of the APA and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, has recently presented his findings, called Time Perspectives. Please see the following video clip (duration 2:23): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlTphlvB0xs.

Is there evidence that this kind of compatibility helps in a therapeutic relationship?

There is no hard evidence to support our ideas about this particular kind of compatibility. But we do know from clinical evidence that therapists report that when there is deep rapport, there is a higher probability of therapeutic movement. Carl Rogers, PhD., founder of Person Centered Counseling, said that compatibility is absolutely necessary to create a climate for therapeutic change. In addition, Bruce Wampold, from the University of Wisconsin, reported in 2001 that the therapeutic alliance, i.e., rapport, is a key factor in psychotherapy.

In addition, much of the criteria with which we match people are based on the works of well known psychologists, such as Carl Rogers, PhD, Virginia Satir, PhD, Fritz Perls, MD and Milton Erickson, MD.

Has My Therapist Match been working–are clients and therapists matching up and doing good work so far…?

I am grateful to say that MTM is working. We are only in our 3rd month, so the feedback is just starting to come in. The feedback that we have received so far from therapists on our site has been generally positive. In addition, the feedback we collect from our therapist members gets fed back into our matching algorithm, allowing us to better understand the core drivers of a good match for clients and therapists. In that way, our algorithm learns and improves over time.

Corey Quinn’s company is MyTherapistMatch.com. Find more information at the company’s blog, The Compatible Therapist.