Interesting Annual Trend in Counseling Searches

So the baby is *still* sleeping, and thus I am wandering around the Internet looking for new information to use (and to share, too).

Found an interesting trend I hadn't realized was there. If you look at each year, you see a huge crater in searches for "counseling" in November and December. This makes intuitive sense - people are too busy with holidays, vacations, shopping & family to delve into their own psyches. I don't think I expected it to be so sharp and so regular though.

The lesson from this is, of course, don't be counting on big additions to your client ranks during November and December. One oddity in the stats is that in 2008, and only in 2008, there was a large spike in marriage counseling searches in late December. The economy? That would be my guess.

More on trends later! Best, Peter

2 New Negative Keywords on a Sunday Night

Hi folks,

I haven't logged into my Statcounter account in a little while, but I did tonight, and as always there was some interesting information.

While I do not share my negative keyword file (it's a secret sauce thing, ya know?) I'll share a new addition to it from tonight - ftm.

I found a search for an ftm counselor in seattle. My ad appeared. They clicked. Guess what? I am not a female-to-male transexual, nor am I likely the appropriate counselor for that person.

And thus is born two new negative keywords (mtf is the other).

Happy Sunday! Peter

I'm Presenting on Monday!

Hey everyone,

I'm a late and happy addition to the Therapist Leadership Virtual Conference starting this Monday (April 20th). It's a non-travel way to learn a whole lot.

I'll be presenting "Traffic x Conversion = Clients: The Two Sides of the Web Marketing Equation for Therapists" at 5:00 PM Pacific (I think the whole thing gets recorded too, so if you miss it, you can buy it later).

I am really thrilled about this - I'm part of something that includes luminaries like Cloe Madanes, Bill O'Hanlon and many more. I encourage you to read about it, maybe it's something you'd like to do.

I have to get offline and work on my presentation. I'm also getting something ready for the "goodie bag" with the latest SEO intelligence for therapists.

All the best, Peter

Your Customers Don't Care About You

OK, so that's a shortened version of a great article I ran across today on Biznik

I've written before about what I call the "ego-driven" site, where we focus too much on ourselves. I should know, I did it myself once (see V1.0 and V1.1 of my therapy website). This author hits that nail *right* on the head.

I'll just finish with this drop-quote from the piece, and let you decide if you want to read it:

On the top of every prospect’s mind is one question. When you answer it, you’ll be in business.

Best, Peter