10 Reasons Mental Health Pros Should Join YourTango Experts

Whether you are a marriage and family therapist, psychologist, coach, counselor, healer, author, speaker, nutritionist or some other kind of mental health professional ... YourTango Experts can help you gain exposure, web traffic, and new clients. Here's how:

1. Your own URL. YourTango Experts are given a mini-website where they publish a profile and bio that is fully customizable and comes with a personal, unique website address.

2. Unlimited articles. YourTango Experts reach readers and potential clients through publishing unlimited articles on our site. YourTango editors read each article published on the site for potential homepage promotion and syndication to our partners.

How many readers are being reached by our individual experts? Our most successful Experts are gaining exposure from 25,000-60,000 new visitors each month to their articles, profile and Q&A. Test aftertest, the results are clear: content published on our site achieves higher placement on Google than the same content does when published on the Experts own website or blog.

3. Unlimited promotional opportunities. YourTango Experts have unlimited promotional opportunities on the YourTango homepage, the YourTango Experts homepage, and throughout the YourTango blogs.

4. Unlimited syndication opportunities. YourTango Experts are given unlimited opportunities for syndication through our partner sites such as Huffington Post, Match.com, eHarmony, MSN, Yahoo, Ask Men, AOL On , AOL Health, Cafe Mom, Psych Central, The Good Men Project and many others. This kind of professional exposure can't be obtained anywhere else on the internet!

5. Direct contact with potential clients. YourTango Experts can connect with readers through Q&A on the site by replying to reader questions that are posed daily.

6. Unlimited links. YourTango Experts are allowed unlimited links to their own website, newsletter or workshop sign-up, Facebook page, and other social media sites within the articles they publish, in the answers to questions posed by readers, and throughout their profile.

7. Interactive office hours. YourTango Experts have a fantastic opportunity to take part in our 90-minute, interactive office hours call each week. This is where YourTango Experts call in and our YourTango Experts Vice President, Melanie Gorman, discusses everything having to do with the business of online writing, therapy, and the business of coaching. Topics include how to write articles, social media, branding your practice, marketing, business, and much more. One of the most talked about and anticipated portions of the call each week is when the editors give out topic ideas for promotion and syndication that the Experts may take on as an assigned task if they choose.

YourTango Experts office hours take place every Thursday from Noon to 1:30 EST. The call is recorded and a link is sent out weekly, so that our Experts may listen to it at their convenience if they are unable to attend the live call.

8. Better Blogger Guide. YourTango Experts receive a free eBook called the Better Blogger Guide that will assist with the art of online writing. We often cover topics more in-depth from the Better Blogger Guide during our weekly office hours call.

9. Directory and rolodex. YourTango Experts are listed in our directory and rolodex. The YourTango Experts Directory is used primarily by our readers and is searchable by location and area of expertise. The YourTango Experts Rolodex is primarily used by for media contacts such as local and national news programs, Anderson Cooper Show, PBS, and more when they look to YourTango for Experts on certain topics.

10. Local placement on Google Maps. YourTango Experts are also being assisted with gaining exposure locally through local placement on Google Maps. When someone searches for a therapist in Orlando, Florida the YourTango Expert who is a therapist in Orlando, Florida would appear on the map.

If you are an MFT, Psychologist, counselor, author, or other expert in your field who is looking to gain exposure, traffic to your website, and new clients … let YourTango help you expand your circle of influence and put you on the map! Would you like further assistance or do you have questions about joining YourTango? Feel free to schedule an appointment on my Calendar for us to chat.

I don't know about you, but when I attended graduate school, we weren't exactly taught the ins and outs of business. My business training consisted of one Business Basics class where we learned how to write a business plan. This was definitely helpful in getting me started, but where were we supposed to go from there? Yes, I too chose this profession to help people, and even during that Business Basics course I never thought I would be writing about business, branding and marketing. I have come to this conclusion though, if we are to help people, don’t they need to be able to be able to FIND our services?  

What's next? Watch for my upcoming series of articles entitled, What Grad School Didn’t Teach Us ... Here we will take a more in-depth look at the business of therapy; ethical business practices and the various Code of Ethics for MFTs, counselors, and psychologists; marketing (it doesn't have to be a four-letter word); social media (Facebook reframed); websites; SEO; newsletters, branding, & more!