Connecting With Your Community
Hi, I'm Linda Kats with Therapist Consultants, and I’ve got a tip for you. I want to be sure your practice grows the way you want it to. So today, I'm going to talk to you for just a minute about how you connect with your community. Because one of the things that happens is, as you grow and get known, your community will want to know all about you so that they can be confident in referring to you.
One of the things that you can do, (because sometimes connecting with the community has a fear factor to it, and you're going, "Where do I start? I'm a little bit introverted."), start with people you know. Connect with people that you're familiar with. It's so much easier to just have a casual conversation with somebody you know than to try to do a cold call connection. First of all, connect with somebody you know.
The next thing you can do is connect with maybe somebody that you know knows. For example, you can go to a school that your children are in or your grandchildren or niece or nephew; somebody in your family because you already can make that connection with the person that you talk with at the school that this is who you have in common. And that immediately gives you a connection, and it takes that fear factor away of trying to connect with somebody you absolutely know nothing about.
One of the things that you can do, (because sometimes connecting with the community has a fear factor to it, and you're going, "Where do I start? I'm a little bit introverted."), start with people you know. Connect with people that you're familiar with. It's so much easier to just have a casual conversation with somebody you know than to try to do a cold call connection. First of all, connect with somebody you know.
The next thing you can do is connect with maybe somebody that you know knows. For example, you can go to a school that your children are in or your grandchildren or niece or nephew; somebody in your family because you already can make that connection with the person that you talk with at the school that this is who you have in common. And that immediately gives you a connection, and it takes that fear factor away of trying to connect with somebody you absolutely know nothing about.
Connect through family members or people that you do know. The next thing you can do in order to connect in your community is to think about any church leaders or people that work in a church that you might know, because they're always looking for somebody that they can trust to refer to. So connect with church leaders or somebody in your church that you know would have the potential for referring.
Another great way to connect with your community is to Google the events in your community; find the event calendar; go to the chamber calendar; look and see what's going on and just get involved in some of those events. You'll get to know people that way, you can talk to them that way as well. Another good thing to do is to join some of your community people activities such as, go to the chamber, join the chamber. Maybe you're interested in going to rotary. You can join them. Some of those things will get you connected quickly. You can get past that fear, remember, in connecting with others, by starting with the people that you do know.
I'm Linda Kats with Therapist Consultants, and I'll see you next time.
- Linda Kats, LPC
Another great way to connect with your community is to Google the events in your community; find the event calendar; go to the chamber calendar; look and see what's going on and just get involved in some of those events. You'll get to know people that way, you can talk to them that way as well. Another good thing to do is to join some of your community people activities such as, go to the chamber, join the chamber. Maybe you're interested in going to rotary. You can join them. Some of those things will get you connected quickly. You can get past that fear, remember, in connecting with others, by starting with the people that you do know.
I'm Linda Kats with Therapist Consultants, and I'll see you next time.
- Linda Kats, LPC