Is the Marketing Advice You're Following Already Out of Date?

There's so much marketing advice out there for counsellors. Blog more. Post on social media. Try this new tool. Follow that latest trend.

But how much of it is actually worth your time?

Well, I've been revisiting a book about marketing for counsellors from almost seven years ago, fully expecting to find a few things that made me cringe.

So, had it stood the test of time, or was it ready for the recycling bin?

In this episode of The Grow Your Private Practice Show, I'm looking at what still works when it comes to marketing your counselling practice, what I'd do differently today, and something I'd put far more emphasis on now.

If you're wondering where to spend your precious marketing time, this one's for you.

• Grow Your Private Practice – get my book on Amazon
• The Armchair Test – looking at your marketing through a potential client's eyes
• How I Overcame Imposter Syndrome and Published My Book
• Why I Don't Talk About Niching Any More (And What I Say Instead)
• Why Blogging Keeps Working for Counsellors Long After It’s Written

Not sure where to start?

Visit my Start Here page to explore resources and support to help you attract more of the right clients.

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Thank you for listening.

With love,

Jane xx

What’s the best way to market your private practice?

You might expect me to have a straightforward answer to that. After all, I’ve been helping counsellors with their marketing for years.

But I don’t.

And actually, I think that matters.

In this episode, I’m looking at why the question we tend to ask about marketing might not be the most useful one — and what to ask instead if you want to spend less time wondering what you ‘should’ be doing.

Find Your Focus

If you’re doing lots of things to market your practice but aren’t sure where your time and energy are most likely to help you get more of the right clients, Find Your Focus is a 90-minute 1:1 session where we’ll work that out together.

Find out more about Find Your Focus

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What if you're earning less from your private practice than you could be, simply because of something you've convinced yourself is true?

Ouch.

It's surprisingly easy to make decisions about your business based on what you think people want, need or can afford. And those decisions could be costing you money.

The annoying thing is, you might not even realise you're doing it.

And what if questioning just one or two of those decisions could make a difference to your income?

That's what we're exploring in this week's episode.

Have a listen. You might be surprised by what you've been taking for granted.

Related blogs and podcast episodes

• Should Counsellors Offer Concessions? What to Consider Before You Decide
• Counsellors: Stop Apologising for Charging!
• Putting a Price on Therapy: The Importance of Getting it Right
• 5 Easy ways to give back to charity (without reducing your fees or working for free)

More from Grow Your Private Practice

• Start Here: Free and paid resources to help grow your private practice
• Buy Me a Coffee

Does blogging still work – especially now AI can answer almost any question in seconds?

It’s a fair question. Because if you’re going to spend a couple of hours writing a blog, you want it to do more than sit looking pretty on your website.

But perhaps we’ve been judging whether a blog ‘works’ in completely the wrong way.

In this episode, I’m looking at what’s changed, what hasn’t – and why getting found might only be half the story.

HubSpot – The 2025 State of Blogging Report

Read the HubSpot State of Blogging Report

Neil Patel / NP Digital – The Human Edge: What AI Still Can’t Do in SEO

Read The Human Edge

Framework First gives you a different blogging framework every month to help you turn your knowledge, experience and ideas into blogs that sound like you – and help the right clients find and choose you.

Framework First link

☕ Buy Me a Coffee – because the podcast is largely fuelled by coffee, cake and me having far too many things I want to talk about.

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🌱 Start Here – find my free and paid resources to help you grow your private practice.

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You’ve been paying for that online directory for months.maybe even years.

It doesn’t seem to be bringing you many clients, so perhaps you should cancel it. Except... what if you cancel it today and next week the perfect client would have found you there?

So how do you know when to keep paying, when to change something - and when it really is time to call it a day?

In this episode, I’m using a real question from GYPP member Tony to help you work that out.

Links mentioned in this episode:

The Directory Revival is a 90 minute, one-off, one-to-one session that gives you expert, tailored feedback on your online directory profile.

You'll walk away with clear, actionable suggestions you can implement immediately, no vague advice, no one-size-fits-all templates.

Just a focused counsellor directory profile audit to help you improve your listing and make it easier for the right clients to say yes.

Check it out HERE

Ep 267: Blog/podcast 'What’s the best way to market your private practice? Well… it depends'

Ep 182: Blog/podcast 'The hidden cost of wrong fit clients'

☕ Buy Me a Coffee

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Looking for help to grow your private practice and get more of the right clients? You’ll find my free and paid resources HERE

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How long have you been meaning to review your counselling fees?

You know it's something you probably ought to do, but then you think about telling your clients, worry about how they'll react, and somehow it gets pushed to the bottom of the list. Again.

But what if there's something about the way we approach increasing counselling fees that's making the whole thing harder than it needs to be?

In this episode, I'm sharing an idea that could make reviewing your fees feel a whole lot less daunting. And it might make a surprising difference to your income too.

Have a listen. You might wish you'd heard this sooner.

Useful links:

• Read the blog and see the fee calculations
• Grow Your Private Practice book
• Buy Me a Coffee
• Free and paid resources

When was the last time you looked at the photographs you're using on your website, online directory profiles and social media through the eyes of a prospective counselling client?

Not to check your wrinkles, your hair or whether you've somehow acquired an extra chin. Believe me, I know all about that.

But to think about what your photograph might be communicating to somebody who's considering trusting you with some of the most personal parts of their life.

Because there's something about the photographs we use in our marketing that I think we often overlook.

In this episode of The Grow Your Private Practice Show, I'm sharing a conversation with a counsellor that really made me think, along with a few confessions about my own rather complicated relationship with having my photograph taken.

And there's one particular thing I want you to think about when you look at the photographs you're using. It's something that took me a while to recognise myself.

Listen now, and you might find yourself looking at your website and directory profiles rather differently.

Branding your private practice on a budget with Laura Pearman

Practical ideas for showing up professionally without spending a fortune on photography and branding.

The Armchair Test: How Clients Choose a Counsellor

An interesting look at what might be going through somebody's mind before they decide to contact you.

Why So Many Counsellor Websites Sound the Same

Because your photograph isn't the only thing that helps somebody decide whether you're the right counsellor for them.

Visit my Start Here page for practical help with getting found by more counselling clients and building a private practice that works for you.

If the show has helped you with your private practice, you can Buy Me a Coffee to support it. It's a lovely way to help me keep creating free resources for counsellors.

Have you ever had something on your to-do list for so long that it’s somehow become enormous in your head?

I was watching one of my slightly addictive decluttering videos recently when a woman tackled a job she’d been putting off for three years.

It took her 12 minutes.

And watching her made me realise something about the way we approach marketing our private practices.

In this episode, I’m talking about what happens when all those things you could be doing start merging into one enormous job, and the question that can make the whole thing feel very different.

Find Your Focus

If you’re tired of carrying the whole of your private practice around in your head and you’d like some help working out what deserves your attention, Find Your Focus is my new 90-minute one-to-one session.

Find Your Focus

Resources mentioned in this episode

Free FIND Assessment

Write Your Homepage

Are you getting clients from your online directory

Blogging: The Best First Step in Counselling Marketing

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Explore all the free and paid ways I can help you grow your private practice.

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Buy Me a Coffee

If this episode inspires you to finally tackle the cupboard, drawer or shelf you’ve been ignoring since 2022, I think I’ve earned a coffee for services to household organisation.

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