3 Ways to Rev Up your Counseling Career in 2012

Counseling is one of the most rewarding jobs. By helping others work through their issues and feel better about themselves, counselors can go home after work and feel great about their jobs. Maintaining one's mental health and reducing stress are becoming recognized as crucial component of a happy life, and more people are turning to counselors to help them work through these issues. Competition, however, can make it difficult for some counselors to attract the customer base they need to succeed. Here are three ways to rev up a counseling career in 2013.

Counselors Can Use Social Media

One of the best ways to reach out to potential patients is to form an online presence. The best way to accomplish this is to take advantage of social media. When looking for a counselor, people want to find someone who enjoys helping others; by using social media, counselors can demonstrate their love of helping by offering free advice online. By allowing anonymous questions and posting helpful answers, counselors can use social media to establish themselves as experts. When using the strategy, it will not be necessary to leave posts designed to draw clients. Instead, those looking for a counselor will look up contact information and take the initiative to schedule appointments.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising for Counselors

Another great way to reach out to potential customers is to use pay-per-click advertising. Using PPC advertising, counselors will only be charged when someone clicks on a link. Many people search the Internet for information about their symptoms before scheduling an appointment, so counselors can place ads targeting these keywords to attract those who are looking for help but they do not yet feel comfortable with scheduling an appointment. If these links point to a helpful landing page, many of these visitors may decide to take steps to schedule an appointment. Fortunately, PPC advertising can be done on a local basis, so counselors can ensure that their ads are only seen by those who live nearby. It is important to track the performance of ads over time and remove those which are performing poorly while investing more and those that perform well. Sophisticated analysis tools make this task simple and straightforward, and the time spent learning about PPC is well worth it.

Community Outreach

A common technique people in many industries have relied on the past is reaching out to the community. Car dealers, in particular, make sponsoring events a top priority, and many lawyers use this technique as well. Counselors are not allowed to use television and radio advertisements, so their options for getting their name out may be limited. These community outreach efforts, however, are a great way to interact with others and build a reputation. Fortunately, community outreach does not need to be expensive, and there are a number of ways to interact with attendees of a local event. Hiring a local masseuse and offering the massages as a way of relieving stress may be enough to send the message that one is concerned about helping others and improving the lives of those in the community. In addition, community outreach is fun; most who participate continue to do so in future years.

Over time, counselors build strong client bases that are enough to sustain their businesses. Building this initial client base, however, can be challenging, and new counselors may struggle more than those who have been practicing for years. By taking advantage of recent online trends, counselors can build their brand names and become important parts of their communities.

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Tim Newberg is a career counselor and guest author at Best Masters in Counseling, where he contributed to the guide to The Top 10 Best Online Master's Programs in Counseling.