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KLG NEWSLETTER
- Laurie Kolt, Ph.D.
Practice Development Tips For the New Year Now is the perfect time to reflect on the successes of your 2006 practice and to complete your goals for 2007. Look back at any activities that got the word out to others about the value of the services you provide. If you did not use practice management forms, make a list of all the projects that you can remember. Find a quiet time for a business retreat and revisit all of your promotional projects, including networking, referral organizations, workshops, groups, seminars, writing, brochures, advertising, contacts with the media, open houses...and the list goes on. REVIEW THE COSTS Project costs should be viewed in terms of both time and money spent. If you have a young practice that is less than three years old, you are in a building phase. Therefore, the worth of projects that cost you time are often very valuable building components. If you are a well-seasoned practitioner with a full practice, your time spent gaining exposure will usually have less value and payoff. By now, you should be designing projects that focus on previously established referral sources and how to create more second generation referrals. The only exceptions would include: 1) striking out to develop a new specialty or 2) attempting to capture a larger audience or client base, such as with a national book tour. After evaluating your time expenditures, look at the dollars spent going out to complete each separate project. Common costs can include stationery, brochure or flyer stock, graphic designers, advertising fees, support staff costs, stamps, membership fees, etc. Knowing these figures will help you evaluate which projects lead to a return on your investment. EXAMINE THE BENEFITS Project benefits should also be evaluated in terms of both time and money. For a young practice, this means exposure and opportunity. Did you speak in front of a group of professionals who are in a position to refer their clientele to you? Are you writing a column for a self help group's newsletter that concerns your specialty? Did you get interviewed on the local news? Maximizing your exposure is an excellent way to get a lot of people to know about you, often at no cost at all. Obviously, money is a critical interest in your promotional efforts that is both legitimate and necessary. All your expenditures for each project from speeches, newsletter mailings, referral source promotions and office brochures must more than pay for themselves. You should also know what your average fee per hour is and evaluate whether it is supporting you adequately. You may feel in your heart that you are following your "calling" by being a therapist, but today, you must also integrate that valid purpose with the ability to feed your family and pay your mortgage. If you feel that the time and effort to create forms to track these figures will take too much time, spend the money to purchase them. They will more than pay for themselves, so why try to reinvent the wheel? CREATE A PRACTICE BUILDING PLAN FOR 2007 You will discover many trends during your examination of last year's projects. List the most successful projects that you want to expand on. List the new ones that you would like to begin. Sketch out each project and break down the tasks into quarterly projects. Estimate time lines, costs and benefits. With the right business mindset and strategy, you can build a lucrative and enjoyable practice this year!
Don't Miss SEMINARS
Our popular seminar, "How To Build a Thriving Therapy Practice - Today and Into the 21st Century" - - - "Women's Health Issues" Practice Building Seminars (covering cardiac care, trauma survivors, infertility, ovarian/breast cancer and menopause practice building) at the APA National Convention in San Francisco, CA in August. Our new book! Publication of Make Your Practice Thrive by Harcourt Brace/Academic Press in autumn 1998.
In 1997, Harcourt Brace/Academic Press asked Dr. Kolt to write a book on practice building. She is heavily (and enjoyably) involved in it now, and will let you know the publication date when it is established later this year. After teaching a Continuing Education practice building class at the APA national convention in Chicago, Dr. Kolt has begun working closely with the APA. This year she will be coordinating their national Brochure Project and doing several national practice building seminars for them. We have also introduced a new practice building 6 week correspondence course into Kolt Leadership Group's line of practice building training resources. It is designed to teach practice development skills in a structured format for therapists in any part of the country. From start-up practices, moving locations, specialty marketing, to seasoned professionals and therapists ready for large scale media exposure, the program is uniquely tailored to make your practice thrive. You will benefit from reading assignments, exercises based on your practice goals and a mentored experience to help you build a successful practice. Your clinical specialties, personality and community are all unique and we will help you shape your yearly business and marketing plan around them. In August, Dr. Kolt will also be speaking at the National APA Convention on several topics. She will present a clinical symposium on infertility with Harvard Psychologist, Ellen Slawsby. For those of you following the field, Dr. Slawsby is affiliated with the renowned Mind/Body Institute in Boston. Part of our "How To Build a Thriving Infertility Practice" training manual is based on their excellent work. Dr. Kolt will also be writing a book chapter on the clinical and practice building issues for infertility specialists, and has invited Dr. Slawsby to be a co-author.
What's new? We want to warmly welcome you to our new Kolt Leadership Group newsletter! Our purpose is to help you grow a practice that you are proud of, fulfilled by and that reaches out into your community to help you serve more clients. This is a forum where you can learn business and marketing skills that are ethical and effective so you can build your practice to its peak potential. The health care system is changing dramatically and Kolt Leadership Group is an organization that is on your side. - Laurie Kolt, Ph.D. In 1997, Harcourt Brace/Academic Press asked Dr. Kolt to write a book on practice building. She is heavily (and enjoyably) involved in it now, and will let you know the publication date when it is established later this year. After teaching a Continuing Education practice building class at the APA national convention in Chicago, Dr. Kolt has begun working closely with the APA. This year she will be coordinating their national Brochure Project and doing several national practice building seminars for them. We have also introduced a new practice building 6 week correspondence course into Kolt Leadership Group's line of practice building training resources. It is designed to teach practice development skills in a structured format for therapists in any part of the country. From start-up practices, moving locations, specialty marketing, to seasoned professionals and therapists ready for large scale media exposure, the program is uniquely tailored to make your practice thrive. You will benefit from reading assignments, exercises based on your practice goals and a mentored experience to help you build a successful practice. Your clinical specialties, personality and community are all unique and we will help you shape your yearly business and marketing plan around them. In August, Dr. Kolt will also be speaking at the National APA Convention on several topics. She will present a clinical symposium on infertility with Harvard Psychologist, Ellen Slawsby. For those of you following the field, Dr. Slawsby is affiliated with the renown Mind/Body Institute in Boston. Part of our "How To Build a Thriving Infertility Practice" training manual is based on their excellent work. Dr. Kolt will also be writing a book chapter on the clinical and practice building issues for infertility specialists, and has invited Dr. Slawsby to be a co-author.
- - Please call us regarding registration or information on all seminars and workshops listed. Also let us know if your organization is interested in sponsoring an event. - - Welcome Walt Litwin, Ph.D., our new associate, who has joined Kolt Leadership Group to develop ADHD clinical, marketing and practice development materials. Dr. Litwin has been a successful psychologist in Louisiana for ten years with a specialty in ADHD issues. His expertise will be integrated into our "business and marketing model" to create a training manual, similar to our How To Build A Thriving Practice training materials that have been well-received across the country. - - Please contact us if you would like to contribute your expertise to Kolt Leadership Group as we assist therapists in serving more people. Program designers, writers, public speakers and other "entrepreneurs with integrity" are welcome to call us.
Share Your Ideas: Tell us about your success stories in finding creative and ethical ways to build your practice. Here is an example: "Yesterday I attended a community planning meeting to address developer interests in building 1000's of new houses that would increase congestion considerably. I felt that it would decrease the quality of life and increase stress. With both personal interest and professional insight, I organized the local therapy association to oppose the development and spoke at `standing room only' meetings about the stress related impact on people's lives. Even the local newspaper covered what I said. All of a sudden the whole community knew my name and knew that I was a local psychotherapist. Referrals began to follow. It was amazing how caring about an issue and giving psychology away lead to my private practice expanding!" Write to us: LJKOLT@aol.com
Does Your Practice Need Exposure? Weekly Talk Show Seeks Guests... If you would like to gain local credibility by getting national coverage of your clinical specialty, this may be an excellent opportunity for you! For the last several months, Dr. Kolt has been co-hosting "Perspectives," a weekly radio talk show that is aired in 30 cities across the country. Recent shows have covered the emotional effects of the Unibomber and Oklahoma City Bombing trials, infertility, cloning, President Clinton and sports stars as role models, new divorce laws and many other stress factors in every day American life. If there is a topical side to your specialty and if you would like to be on the air, call us.
10 Unique Specialties/Market Niches:
Solid Steps To Success:
Direct correspondence to: Kolt Consulting Phone: (858) 509-1330 Fax: (858) 526-8887 E-mail: LJKOLT@aol.com
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