Inbox: "A Marathon, Not a Sprint"

From my inbox, an email, from reader/social worker Coleen, chock full of practice start-up advice. Great to get just as the blog is starting. Printed with permission. Thanks, Coleen!

I am an avid reader of your earlier blog (SW Test Prep Blog), and want

to give you well-earned congratulations on your LCSW. I am (re)taking

the Vignette exam on Friday and have found your clarity and

reassurances to be just what I’ve needed. I was licensed for 20 years

in Michigan before moving here in 2008 and am working as an oncology

social worker in a private outpatient medical facility. It’s good to

be an employee (c;

My years in private practice (14) lead me to recommend that you create

a website for your practice; it may be different in southern CA, but

in the Bay Area I’m thunderstruck at how few people use the web to

market their practices. There are ethical ways to do it, and doing it

well (including getting it placed on search engines). Though it’s

expensive, linking to the Yellow Pages was helpful to me and added

credibility to the potential clients that looked me up in the wee

hours of the morning, not to mention people moving into the area.

Photos are very helpful, with a bio and explanation of how you see

your work, how people “tick”, etc.

There may be a professional organization of clinicians who have banded

together for collegial and marketing purposes that you can join

locally, or specialty areas (children, trauma, aging, etc.) with

in-services at which you can network. I have found that while

presentations to the public can bring referrals, it’s haphazard and

often doesn’t bring enough referrals to merit the preparation but it’s

good experience and “gets your name out there”. I would encourage you

to think of three years (minimum) as a way to establish yourself; this

is a marathon, not a sprint. Build the foundation for yourself. The

IRS states you must turn a profit in three of five years or else

they’ll consider your practice as a “hobby”, FYI. Document all

mileage you can, it adds up, even distributing your literature or

business cards.

There is also Psychotherapy Finances (www.psyfin.com) for practice

building and niche marketing, excellent but requires a subscription to

see full site. Also Psychotherapy Networker

(http://www.psychotherapynetworker.com/), the e-zine of the paper

edition for resources. I really like their work.

I don’t know how organized or helpful the local NASW-CA Chapter is

(it’s non-existent here) but maybe you can rent from other social

workers. You can negotiate a flat fee per hour or a percentage of

what you bring in. Make sure that your malpractice insurance includes

your private practice, and if the person you’re renting from is going

to consider you a subcontractor , they’ll need to update their

insurance too. You’ll need to get tax advice no matter what.

Oh, get a EIN or tax ID for your practice! You can use your SSN but

it is better to have a layer of protection so your personal assets

cannot be considered a part of your business should you ever be sued.

Perhaps consider forming a corporation or PC. Separate personal

assets from business. We can do everything right and still need to

protect ourselves.