Social Media presentation for the Mental Health Counselors of Central Florida

1. Welcome Mental Health Counselors of Central Florida How To Build Your Practice Through Social Media

2. Becky’s Garden Therapy Website

3. “With Social Media, it’s like the starter’s pistol went off and everyone started running, and not a lot of us stayed behind to question: “Why am I in this race to begin with? Who is gong to run it and why?” The important aspect of Social Media is the ability to define your desired outcomes before you even design a program.” Brian Solis, Sociologist and Published Author

4. Social Media Facts During the average 20-minute period in 2010, there were 1,587,000 wall posts, 2,716,000 photos uploaded and 10,208,000 comments posted. (AllFacebook.com) Social networking site usage grew 88% among Internet users aged 55-64 between April 2009 and May 2010 (Pew Research) The change in Social Media use among Baby Boomers 55-64 rose from 9% in 2008 to 43% in 2010(Marketingcharts.com via David Erickson) College-aged kids (18-24) made up the fastest growing segment of users on Facebook in 2010 (AllFacebook.com)

5. It’s All About The Conversation Social Media isn’t a one-way marketing tool but a place where you can engage and participate in an exchange with the community to tell them about your practice.

6. Top Social Media Programs That Will Relate To Your Practice:

8. Case Study A counselor has a family practice. The counselor is trying to reach moms to build his/her client base. Let’s see what this counselor should do to use Social Media to reach moms.

10. Facebook is FREE

11. Use Facebook to share blog, posts, and practice updates with other Facebook users

15. Get unlimited “fans” for your Facebook Page (Personal Facebook Profile is limited to 5,000 friends)

16. Visible to all visitors because Facebook users do not need to request to be a friend to view a Facebook Fan Page

20. Linkedin connects you to your business contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals

23. You can thenform enduring connectionsby inviting business contacts to join Linkedin and connect to you

25. While there are no specific statistics to show the usage of moms on Linkedin, we can conclude that if moms are working, then there’s a high probability they’re on Linkedin. 60% have high incomes and hold executive/consultant positions. 28% are executives with personal annual incomes averaging $104k, 30% are consultants earning $93k on average (BizReport.com) 66% are decision makers or are involved in the decision making process at companies (BizReport.com) 41.1% of Linkedin users are female with the highest percentage of Linkedin users falling between the ages of 25 – 54 which is the general child bearing age range for women(Linkedin Ad Platform)

27. Establishes you as an expert

28. Comment on content posted by other therapists

29. Could land “guest” blog spot on another website

30. Expands your network

31. Brings more business to your practice by reaching more people

33. Mom Bloggers Stay Connected Moms are most active in parenting-focused communities where she shares in-depth mom-to-mom advice, wisdom and support Blogger moms live their life in public and some turn their passion for Social Media into a profession Moms who blog will do extensive research before making recommendations on a broad range of topics like parenting tips, product reviews and giveaways (The BabyCenter)

34. How do Moms Use Social Media? Moms are creators - moms are heavy developers of blogs, writers of articles, as well as creators of content by creating videos Moms are conversationalists - moms create conversation with their friends with their status posts, videos of their family, and leave comments on their friend’s pages Moms as critics - moms are active on web sites by posting ratings and reviews of products and places like kid-friendly restaurants as well as commenting on blogs and articles Moms as spectators - moms are also readers of content (blogs, online articles, watch videos and reviews) for research

35. A Little Whine and Cheese

37. Reasons Why Moms Would Choose Becky’s Garden Therapy Not just ‘fixing the problem’ Developed a unique and enjoyable experience Not just therapy but creates many ‘teachable moments’ Research shows that communing with nature is grounding and nurturing which allows Becky to provide a unique therapeutic experience

39. Establish yourself as an expert

40. BIG IDEA for moms: Becky’s Garden TherapyBecky was able to share her passion for gardening with helping children

41. Social Media Policies Develop a Social Media policy – whether you’re using Social Media programs to promote your practice or not Share it with clients and ensure that they understand your boundaries Your primary concern is client confidentiality which could eliminate any mixed messages with your clients Think about Informed Consent and your Code of ethics

42. Facebook Tips for Counselors Do not engage in Facebook friendships with clients, family members or friends of clients (former or current). Adjust Facebook privacy settings to allow only “friends” to view your profile, status, photos, posts, etc. Even choosing the option “friends of friends” can leave counselors susceptible to ethical violations. Do consider making your profile unsearchable as a privacy setting. Do not accept friendship requests from persons unknown to you, even if you share mutual friends. Do not post your e-mail address, phone number, date of birth or physical address on your Facebook page.

44. Use great care in selecting photos of yourself for display on Facebook.

45. Remember that photos of yourself from past years can cast suspicion on your otherwise stellar reputation.

46. Use discretion when joining certain groups, fan clubs or specialty pages. This can open up your personal information to others who have also joined these pages.

48. If Social Media can drive and win revolutions, think what it can do for your practice! QUESTIONS? Contact Penney Fox at Become a fan at www.facebook.com/FoxInteractiveFB www.foxinteract.com