As you know, the key to getting new clients to your practice lies in your marketing. If you find yourself anxious about where the next client will come from, it's likely that you don't have a solid strategy. Here are three reasons your current marketing strategy isn't working and how to fix each of them.

1. You aren't invested

Most therapists I know HATE marketing. They have so many fears and misconceptions about marketing that they freeze up and don't do anything. Or they use the 'drawing at straws' approach, randomly picking from several strategies without research or planning.

I know it's hard to see yourself as a business owner. You probably didn't think much about that when you decided to become a therapist. They certainly didn't teach you anything about business in therapy school.

You want to do what you're good at: Helping people. But when you decided to start a private practice, you became a business owner. And every decision you make about your practice affects you and your clients. To create a practice that brings you freedom, joy, and a sense of fulfillment, you must take ownership of all your decisions.

How you market yourself will affect nearly everything about your business - your clients, finances, and well-being. You must make marketing a priority. And you must stay consistently engaged in it.

I spend about 2-3 hours per week on marketing activities. It might be writing a blog post, contacting my network, posting to social media, or conducting research.

Tip: Make sure you track your marketing activities to hold yourself accountable and see what strategies work effectively.

2. You don't separate yourself from the pack

What separates your practice from every other therapy practice in your area? You will get lost in the crowd if you don't differentiate your business. You need to give potential clients a reason to choose you and then focus all your branding around this differentiation.

Answer the following question: "Why should a client pick me over every other therapist?"

This is your value proposition. It should be ALL OVER your website. It should be your elevator speech. It should roll off your tongue like it's honey.

3. You chase clients

This is a big one I struggled with when I first started my practice. I chased after clients. I went on the hunt and got minimal returns on my investment. Chasing feels like a hustle, like a hamster on a wheel. It's a time-consuming process that reaps very few rewards. And it's not sustainable.

This type of marketing (outbound marketing) pushes your message out far and wide, hoping it resonates with that haystack needle. I scheduled coffee dates with professionals, dropped business cards off at doctor's offices, gave talks in my community, and mailed out ugly brochures.

A more sustainable and effective strategy is inbound marketing. You want to market your practice so that clients come to you (not the other way around). This way, you help yourself "get found" by people already looking for a therapist. To do this, set your website up like a "hub" for your industry that attracts visitors naturally through search engines, blogging, and social media.

Here's an analogy: Outbound marketing is like lions hunting in the jungle for elephants. The elephants got tired of being hunted, so they moved from the jungle to Savannah watering holes. A lion doing outbound marketing will keep going to the jungle to hunt. The lion who has mastered inbound marketing will set up shop at the watering hole.

Your website, blog, and social media are the watering holes. Instead of chasing clients, you are actively positioning your business so that clients see you as the best option to help them solve their problems.