Therapist Blog Challenge #6: Embed a Favorite YouTube Video

Commenting on expert YouTube videos can make for a quick and meaningful blog post that lets potential clients know more about you and provides them with helpful information.

While your blog posts may be a way of sharing your unique perspective, you can use existing content as a springboard for meaningful content. Blog posts don't have to be entirely original material. One way to do that is to share your favorite YouTube video with your blog readers and potential clients.

Many experts, researchers, and  psychology gurus have YouTube videos or channels. Find one that speaks to you and is relevant to your ideal client. Summarize why the video speaks to you and how the information will be helpful to your ideal client. Then embed their video on your own blog post. Easy, right?

How to embed a YouTube video into your blog post

• Underneath the YouTube video there are several links.
• Click on the "share" link.
• Then click on "embed" option.
• A box will open that has the code needed to embed the video on your site. Copy this code and paste it into your blog post.
• If you're totally lost here then contact your webmaster for help.

Here are a few of my favorite videos. Feel free to use these or find your own.

Additional reminders about the 2013 blog challenge

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too.
• Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

Social Media Ethics (part 3): Top 3 Ethics Gurus You Should Be Following

photo credit: Carol VanHook

Where do I go for trusted information on ethical use of social media for therapists? Here are the top 3 resources on the cutting edge of online ethics for mental health therapists that I find myself referencing time and time again. I have taken their online courses, read dozens of their articles, signed up for newsletters, and of course, I follow all of them on social media sites.

Here my top three recommendations, links to my favorite resources on each site, and their social media links so you can follow them:

1) The Online Therapy Institute (OTI)

The Online Therapy Institute, co-founded by DeAnna Marz Nagel, & Kate Anthony, is a premiere resource for all things digital. OTI and Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. created a comprehensive Ethical Framework for the Use of Social Media by Mental Health Professionals that is an invaluable resource. Also, watch Nagel and Anthony discuss common online scenarios therapists face online in this Ethics and Social Media video.

Twitter @TherapyOnline Facebook The Online Therapy Institute

2) Dr. Keely Kolmes

Dr. Keely Kolmes is on the forefront of social media ethics discussions and offers a variety of excellent articles on her website. As a sought after presenter at professional conferences Kolmes speaks on a the intersection of digital ethics and mental health care. Check her presentation schedule on her website to see if she's presenting at a nearby conference.

Twitter @DrKKolmes

3) Zur Institute

The Zur Institute, founded by Dr. Ofer Zur, offers dozens of continuing education courses for mental health professionals, including free resources on social media and ethics. I'm currently taking the online course Digital and Social Media Ethics for Therapists (for 8 CEUs) through the Zur Institute and I'm finding it to be very helpful in clarifying my social media ethical philosophy (much of the course content was written by Dr. Keely Kolmes).

Twitter @ZurInstitute Facebook Zur Institute

Where do you go for social media ethics discussions? Do you have any resources that you'd like to share with other clinicians? Please post them in the comments below.

Pin A Quote: My New Social Media Marketing 'Crush'

Pin A Quote is a quick and fun way to create a graphic out of your favorite quotes. It allows you to highlight any text and with the click of a button, turn it into a shareable graphic that is automatically links to the site where you found the text. Though it's designed to interface with Pinterest, you don't have to have a Pinterest account to use Pin A Quote.

Once you've selected the quote and created your graphic, Pin A Quote creates a custom URL for that specific quote that you can share on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites, and of course, Pinterest.

Here's a screenshot of what I'm talking about. I use Pin A Quote Pro because you can customize the fonts and colors for $1.99. Notice the link at the bottom is the page on my website. When people click on the graphic they'll be directed to that web page.

You may be wondering how this is relevant to your private practice. Good question. Important elements of marketing your private practice are:

1. Building a professional online presence
2. Presenting yourself as an expert in your specialty area
3. Attracting an online following that views you as a valuable resource
4. Creating links that direct more visitors to your website

Pin A Quote can help you accomplish all of these goals.

How To Use Pin A Quote

Here's a brief tutorial published by Pin A Quote on how to use the tool.

Using Pin A Quote To Build Your Practice

1) Share other's inspirational or helpful quotes

If you find an article that would be helpful to your followers, you can create a graphic and direct people to the article. Another idea is to quote your favorite psychology gurus and use it as an additional graphic in a blog post. Here's one of my favorites:

2) Quote yourself as an expert

Take a sentence from a professional presentation or blog post that you've presented and create a graphic of your own quotes. This helps build your identity as an expert and lets others share your wisdom.

3) Engage followers by sharing quotes on social media

Look back at the graphic at the top of this post. See the share buttons on the bottom? You can share quotes on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc. Here's an example of my Private Practice Toolbox board on Pinterest. You'll see that I've pinned many quotes using Pin A Quote.

Try it out and let me know what you think. Feel free to post links to quote graphics you create in the comments below.

Overcoming Blogophobia (part 2): Quick and Easy Blog Post Ideas

Are you a beginning blogger feeling overwhelmed by the thought of coming up with original content to write about on a regular basis? I have some good news for you! Much of what is posted online is not entirely original content. Braden Talbot posted this insightful comment on my post  5 Tips To Overcoming blogophobia.

Once you understand that 99% (if not 100%) of information [posted on blogs] isn't really new, it’s not so scary.

The new part is your story and your spin and you’d be amazed at how many people are interested to hear it.

Adding your perspective on existing information makes blogging less overwhelming. I'm not talking about plagiarism here. I'm talking about using other people's ideas, books, posts, videos as a springboard to sharing your perspective on a particular topic. Remember, always credit the original author you are citing and provide links to the original work.

Here are some easy blog content ideas and examples to help spark your creativity, help you overcome "blogophobia", and add blogging to your private practice marketing strategy.

1) Share a video

Embed or share a video link that explains or expands on some aspect of your therapy work, your philosophy, or approach. Pick one of your favorite psychology "gurus" and write a brief paragraph about how this model or theory informs your clinical work. Here's a video from a brilliant psychologist who has revolutionized couples therapy that I recently shared on my clinic blog.

What is a healthy marriage? video by Dr. Sue Johnson

2) Bulleted or numbered lists

Give quick nuggets of advice or recommend resources that speak to your ideal client in a bulleted or numbered list. For example -- Top 5 parenting books, 6 ways to survive new parenthood, 5 things never to say to your teen, or 10 tips for managing depression. Here's a great post in this style from PsychCentral's Therese J Borchard.

5 Ways to Silence Your Inner Critic By Therese J. Borchard

3) Summarize relevant research

Watch for new and interesting research studies, summarize the research, and share why it's relevant to your practice. Here's a recent example of a research summary post from PsychCentral News.

Attention Problems Limit School Success By Rick Nauert PhD

4) Q & A

Solicit questions on social media sites, on your website, or make up the question based on commonly asked questions or themes drawn from your clinical practice and provide answers. This fun and informative style provides practical information and tools for potential clients and helps them understand your therapy style and philosophy.

For the past 10 years I've been unhappy By Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker

6) Current events

Regularly visit a local or national news websites and select a top news story to use as a springboard for your blog post topic. Hurricane Irene could lead to a post on helping your family deal with natural disasters, for example. Here's a recent post by one of my colleagues at Wasatch Family Therapy inspired by the 10th anniversary of 9-11.

How to talk to young children about 9-11 By Clair Mellenthin, LCSW

7) Seasonal topics

Consider the time of year and blog about seasonal topics. If you work with families, back to school time could lead to a post about helping your child with attention problems transition back into a routine. If you work with mood disordered clients you could blog in December about surviving the post holiday let down. You get the idea. Here's an example of one of my blog posts that I posted during spring.

"Emotional" Spring Cleaning by Julie Hanks, LCSW

Now that you have tools to overcome "blogophobia", and some blog post ideas, I want to read them! Feel free to post comments, concerns, questions, and your own blog post links below. Happy blogging.

photo credit: miguelavg