Melvin Varghese:
Hey it's Melvin. Before we jump into today's podcast session just wanted to take a moment to thank the team over at Alma for supporting today's podcast session. Alma is an all-in-one platform that works with solo practitioners particularly who want to take insurance but don't want to deal with all of the headaches of taking insurance. We know that as clinicians doing private practice, that managing all of the different facets of private practice is absolutely overwhelming. everything from managing clients to the admin to the billing. It's not just seeing the clients, right? It's all the other stuff. And so Alma is an all-in-one platform that really makes this process a lot easier. Their core thing is that they let you get credentialed with a majority of insurance providers. They do a 45-day credentialing process. They offer higher reimbursement rates than if you were to go through just solo and apply for insurance. And they also do guaranteed payback within two weeks. So basically your income stays steady. You get paid within 14 days of actually seeing the client. Now, where Alma really shines is actually beyond all of this, the other stuff that they do. So they offer everything from peer supervision groups to resource sharing groups, where clinicians can exchange worksheets and all sorts of stuff, as well as live CEUs and on-demand CEUs, so you can get your CEU hours. They also provide a HIPAA compliant telehealth platform so you can see clients and do telehealth sessions without worrying about safety and security and all of those things.

The team at Alma hooked Selling the Couch listeners with a special code two months absolutely free. This is not even advertised online, but if you go to sellingthecouch.com forward slash Alma, Alma is spelled A-L-M-A, you get two months absolutely free. Again, that's sellingthecouch.com/alma.

We'll jump right into today's session. Hello, hello. Welcome to today's session of Settling the Couch. I hope you're doing well, having an incredible day. So the LA wildfires are happening as I am recording this, and I know that many of our colleagues have been directly and indirectly impacted by these fires. So before even jumping in, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge just the heartbreak of the situation and how so many of us are struggling. And I just wanted to also let you know that definitely thinking about you, your loved ones, you're definitely in my thoughts and prayers as we sort of navigate the, both like what's happening right now in the moment, but also what I imagine will be many, many months of piecing things together and rebuilding things. Today's podcast is for you if you have been thinking about LinkedIn and posting more on LinkedIn or just have been curious about LinkedIn.

LinkedIn, to be completely honest, absolutely intimidated me. We've been posting on LinkedIn consistently over the past two years and some change. And over that two years, we have grown. I basically had about 600 some odd followers. These were friends and colleagues that I knew, but I wasn't really active on LinkedIn. To be honest, I thought the whole point of LinkedIn was basically to share job updates and then occasionally to like post a resume or something. Since I wasn't actively looking for a job, I just didn't really see the purpose for LinkedIn. But over there, about two years ago, I started noticing a couple of things. One is, when Elon Musk bought Twitter, I felt like there was a huge change within Twitter and the Twitter landscape. And I was actually posting on Twitter, or X as they call it now, but I had grown on X to just a shade under 5,000 followers, but the reality also was I was connecting with some pretty awesome folks, a lot of founders and creators, but I wasn't connecting with a ton of therapists on X. I started kind of looking more on LinkedIn and I made a post two years and some change ago.

It was literally around Thanksgiving about serving mashed potatoes at our daughter's Thanksgiving Day school meal. And that post ended up getting a couple of thousand impressions, which I was so surprised by. And since then, we have grown to, as I record, just 3,664 followers from 600. We've reached 550,703 impressions, which are basically the number of people that are seeing your posts throughout this two years and about, what, two months. And I've actually created about 474 posts on LinkedIn during this time. So I've learned a lot mainly by just testing and experimenting and by no stretch of the imagination am I an expert on LinkedIn. But I wanted to create this episode just to share some of the things that I have learned over the past two years with the hope that it just it helps you and helps you think about LinkedIn. Now, the complete honest truth of this is LinkedIn was very intimidating to me. I had friends and like family from India and friends that don't know me like in a professional setting like with selling the couch as LinkedIn friends and there was always this like mental thing that I was navigating where I was like do I want to post some of this stuff on linkedin and i worried like if my friends would judge me or what they would say for example i i do a lot of hikes so i pretty much hike daily kept wondering like what would people think if i was posting like daily hike you know selfies on linkedin and but i I pushed through it, which I'm just so grateful for, and some of those fears around being judged. And I have learned some pretty surprising lessons.

And I wanted to specifically share five lessons with you that I've learned along the way. So the very first thing is the magic is in the DMs. So DMs is direct messages. So it's, especially on a platform like a LinkedIn or Instagram or TikTok or any of these or X, where followers, where the number of followers you have is very explicitly put on the profile, it's really easy to chase followers and comments. And I did that for a while, and what I found is I was burning out because I was trying to like churn out all of this content. And I was definitely getting followers, but I was also burning out. And I honestly don't even know if they were like the right type of followers. I think people were… I was attracting, for example, people that were marketing folks that could help you grow on LinkedIn. But what I've learned along the way is focusing on thoughtful relationships are way better than chasing followers and comments. So, kind of a couple of practical things. If you are listening and you're in private practice, LinkedIn has an amazing, like, search tool. You can search by all sorts of things, like, for example, what city somebody on LinkedIn lives in, or what interests they have, or stuff like that. So what I would do is I would connect with local therapists using LinkedIn's filters. So you can say, for example, I want to find therapists in Philadelphia or something like that. You can also find therapists who have similar or the same specialties or are trained in a certain modality, perhaps as you are. So for example, like EMDR or IFS. Because usually, so what LinkedIn is basically doing with their search tool is they're analyzing everybody's profiles. So if inevitably, for example, a therapist might have that they're IFS trained therapist or an EMDR trained therapist. And so LinkedIn is then able to capture that on the search. Now, here's kind of a next level strategy. If you want to guest on podcasts, which I think is such a smart play for every therapist, because if you're like, hey Mel, at some point maybe I want to create a podcast, but I just want to kind of feel it out. Or if you're like, Mel, I have no desire to create a podcast, but I do see the power of podcasting. I've mentioned this before, but from a strictly research perspective, there was a study that came out about a year ago and they found that podcasters are the most trusted media personalities. And so definitely guesting on podcasts is a wise move because there's a connection that people feel to you. So what you can then do is you can search your niche plus podcast or plus podcaster and you can kind of see what comes up.

So essentially you are looking for folks that are in similar or aligned niches that also have podcasts. You can reach out to them, connect with them. Now here's kind of a key strategy. I highly recommend engaging with their posts. So leaving a thoughtful comment, not like an AI-generated one, but like a smart, thoughtful comment, and before you actually send them a request to connect. So, the reason for this is, if you have a premium account on LinkedIn, premium users can see if you just search for them and then hit the connect. Right? So, I've gotten a ton of DMs like this, like, Hey Mel, I've been following you for a while and love what you're doing. I'd love to connect. And then I look on their profile and then I saw literally they found me 10 minutes ago on search. So basically they're not being truthful and they're just trying to connect with me for the sake of connecting or growing their business or something like that. Instead, this whole process of what I personally do is I engage with somebody's content for a couple of weeks and then I'll send them just a quick DM and I'll just say, hey, hey Mel, like I've been really enjoying your post, particularly the one on online courses, thinking about creating an online course. So these tips have just been helpful. I would love to connect. So something like that is a way more genuine ask than the previous example that I shared. Another thing you can do is you can share like what resonated from the posts that they've created and how that's been impactful to you or to your business. The second tip or the thought that I wanted to share is the algorithm will always change. So LinkedIn, like many of these kind of platforms, they're basically, when you create a post, they will send it out to a group of people, and if it's resonating for a lot of people, i.e. the post ends up getting engagement, it will end up pushing it out to more and more folks. Now here's what I've kind of learned being I think on both sides of this where there was definitely a season where I was trying to chase virality so that I could grow my followers quickly. But what I found is don't chase trends, focus on consistency. So instead of, you know, trying to post many times a day or trying to post like carousels, which are basically like PDFs, like think of it like a slide deck, like a PDF slide deck, which those are really popular on LinkedIn. Instead of just posting those like day after day, focus on diversifying your content. So, for example, create just regular posts that share thoughts that you have. Other times include a post with perhaps a selfie that is ideally connected to what you shared in the post. Other times do something like a video, like a video short. So posting short on video and just including some text as well. Side note, we use Opus Clip for these, so what we basically do is when I record this podcast, I'm recording an audio version of the podcast and I'm also recording the video. The audio gets distributed to Apple and Spotify and Amazon Music and all of these folks. And the video version gets placed onto YouTube. What we then do is I use the URL for the video version, the YouTube URL, and run it through OpusClip, and OpusClip finds all of these, like, shorts using AI, like, interesting moments in these videos. And then it will make recommendations of, like, it'll basically clip it.

So you can say, like, I only want 30 to 60 second shorts created. And then the cool thing also is OpusClip will then give you, like, a score. It'll say, like, this is in terms of, based on 0 to 100, and 100 being, like, the most engaging. And so basically you can then, like, post some of those shorts on LinkedIn as well. And now carousels are the same way. Carousels traditionally are, again, almost like a PDF of a slide deck, like a PowerPoint slide deck is essentially the way that I think of a carousel. Carousels do really well because people, I don't know, for some reason I think it's just like they break apart the posts and the videos and that kind of content on LinkedIn. They also take a little bit more time to create. But now all of that being said, I would still like diversify your content. So generally what I try to do every week is post some combo of posts, some video shorts, and if I can try to get a carousel in, I'll try to get a carousel in. And if I don't, I don't put too much pressure on myself. I used to put a lot more pressure on myself on LinkedIn, and I just found that the process was just not getting as enjoyable. Basically, what you want to do is experiment on LinkedIn, but don't overthink the metrics. Also just remember, one of the reasons that I went on to LinkedIn after just doing an audio podcast is I noticed that LinkedIn stuff was starting to get indexed by Google. So, for example, LinkedIn articles definitely get indexed by Google. And I've heard kind of mixed things, but LinkedIn posts are also, I think, starting to get indexed by Google. What's interesting is when I just ran like a, I just put out like a, like a privacy on my browser, like I went into private mode. My LinkedIn account was like one of the top, like top five when you just search for my name, which is really interesting. So it's definitely getting indexed by Google. You know, as therapists, we manage so many roles in private practice, from being a clinician to a business owner, to doing all the things that we need to do to market our practice. It's really easy for all of us to feel overwhelmed, especially when we are juggling so many things. That's where the team at Alma comes in.

This is a platform that I would consider if you are a solo practitioner that is either wants to take insurance or that is private pay but just wants to hedge a little bit, especially to account for periods of economic uncertainty or weird things like hyperinflation like we've been dealing with in more recent times. Alma makes it easier than ever to build a thriving private practice. They include a bunch of different cool stuff. So one is they have a members only platform where you can exchange resources with other clinicians, exchange referrals, and just find support. They have consultation groups as well. And they also offer CEUs as part of your membership at no additional cost. These are both live and on demand. Now in order to get credentialed with Alma, typically to get credentialed with insurance it takes months and months, but Alma actually has a 45-day credentialing process and you actually get increased reimbursement rates. So they're often higher than if you were to go just through the insurance carrier and if you were just apply as a solo practitioner. And the really cool thing is they guarantee payback within two weeks of when you see the client so that you can ensure your income stays steady. You can see as few as like one client or two clients just to hedge a little bit. And Halma also has a HIPAA compliant telehealth platform so that everything is safe and secure.

Alma also has a bunch of different stuff to support clinicians, all the way from workshops and all sorts of things, as well as an online directory, so that you can continue to get referrals coming your way. The best part, the team at Alma was able to hook the Selling the Couch family and listeners with a unique code, which is over at sellingthecouch.com forward slash Alma. That's actually for two months absolutely free on Alma's platform. This is a non-advertised, like non-publicly advertised discount, so definitely encourage you to check it out over at sellingthecouch.com forward slash Alma for a 60-day free trial just to see if it makes sense for you. Now, as I alluded to, all of these different types of content, what I've seen over the past couple of years is there's a season where one type of content does really well and then it moves on to like another type of content. So when I first got started, for example, carousels were extremely popular and they did really well. And then it kind of moved to like videos and video shorts. So those ended up doing pretty well.

Now, the key thing is currently like videos and shorts seem to be getting popular. But again, don't try to get hung up on like trying to just produce one type of content. Try to diversify and and I think it'll just make it like a lot more enjoyable and fun. The third tip is watch out for growth gurus. So, I don't know, I think I was like a little teep when I got on LinkedIn. But all of these like social media platforms, whether it is like you run a Facebook group or if you are on TikTok or Instagram or whatever it is, All of these platforms have folks that own agencies, or they're solopreneurs that focus on helping you grow on that specific platform. Now, there's definitely legit ones out there, and they're doing amazing work in the world. But I've also found that many of them kind of over-promise and under-deliver. So just be a little bit careful as you get on LinkedIn as you start posting more, you'll definitely attract like ideal clients, but you'll also attract sort of these growth gurus. And what I found is just broadly, when I create content, I'm usually speaking to like a earlier version of me, which is The therapist that was in clinical practice that now wants to diversify and expand into online income, specifically related to courses and podcasting and things like that. And I realize that I will never like quote-unquote go viral or have like hundreds of thousands of people following me just because there aren't like, I have like, I have a pretty niche audience. So I'm more interested in posting things that's gonna resonate for a therapist that is struggling and navigating that than I am trying to like quote-unquote chase virality. Now, this is a side note, but I also try to find folks on LinkedIn. Again, this is just things that you can do over time, but I try to find folks who are growing a following where most of their content is not about growing on LinkedIn. So this is a little subtle nuance, but the folks that write about growing on LinkedIn, by and large, I think, tend to get followers. But I'm more interested in folks that are writing kind of regular content and how are they writing, what's resonating, that kind of stuff. The fourth point I wanted to share is followers are less relevant than you think.

So it's about the right people, not all people. So what basically you can do is you have to turn on something on LinkedIn called creator mode. Now if you're like unfamiliar with that, I had previously done a podcast on LinkedIn. and but it's an option that you can turn on where basically it allows you to quote-unquote have followers versus just connections and I would highly recommend turning on on creator mode because the main thing is LinkedIn has a 30,000 person connection cap So for me, realistically, it's probably going to take many years to get to that 30,000. But I'm also trying to think long term. And I'm like, OK, what would it be like? Who are the 30,000 people that I want in my first my first like network, my first green network? And so basically, I think as you start to post more and more on LinkedIn, folks will follow you, but then folks will send you like connection requests. And you want to be really discretionary about who you connect with, because you basically want to curate your network intentionally. So for example, if you're connected to some pretty big folks, you being, if you let in somebody, I think there's something with the algorithm where it's seen as beneficial. So I don't see it as an arrogant thing. I'm just more like, okay, who are the folks that I want to connect with? And others, I kind of just let them give them the option of following me if they want. Now, the fifth and final point is the daily posting game is a slow burn. So if you follow any sort of LinkedIn experts, one of the things that they'll often tell you is post on a regular cadence and ideally even like daily or even like multiple times a day. Now, I tried to do this and it is extremely hard to post thoughtful content on LinkedIn. and engage on LinkedIn, like especially if you're doing this like multiple times a day. I tried to do this and for for a couple of months and I quickly burnt out and I've learned now to just pace myself with LinkedIn. I am kind of thinking about like I'm always thinking like 10 years ahead. If I maintain this consistent pace, this pace that I'm maintaining now, what would it look like 10 years from now? That's what I'm focused on versus like trying to focus on just like one month or even one year into this. For example, for me, I take what I call Walden months throughout the year. This is a shout out to Henry David Thoreau. But basically, Walden months are times where I focus a lot on self-care. I work on big projects. But for the sake of LinkedIn, I actually pull back on posting on LinkedIn.

I still post on LinkedIn, but I just don't post as frequently. And This just allows me to like, one, make sure that I still enjoy LinkedIn, make sure that I'm posting content that's actually going to be helpful to folks versus just like posting it to like feed an algorithm. This often, this way of doing it, to be completely honest, it's definitely a slower way of growing. I have friends that we both started around the three, like two year mark, two years ago. And they now have 20, 30, 40, 50,000 followers and I'm closer to like 3,500. But the other side of this is, so one is there's not a high, I found, right, like high followers doesn't necessarily mean like high revenue or anything like that. But the other thing is I'm finding that even though I'm not growing as fast, I still, I'm enjoying it because I'm able to just pace myself. And I'm, this mindset came from podcasting. The STZ podcast is 10 years old this year. And one thing I realized early on, I kept, all these like podcasting coaches that I was working with would tell me, Mel, the average podcast lasts like seven months. And so if you can get past that, like you're in good shape. And I just thought, okay, I got past the seven, or sorry, seven episodes. So if I can just get past the seven episodes, I can, you know, I'm in good shape. But then once I got past the seven episodes, I started really thinking, okay, I love podcasting. I want to do this for a long time. So how can I design it around my schedule? And so that's why, even with this podcast, I only release live episodes about six months of the year, new episodes.

The other six months we do replays. And the main reason is because I found that this is a good cadence for me, especially having a young daughter and managing multiple responsibilities. And I took this same mindset to LinkedIn and what I'm realizing is consistency and sustainability are way better than like speed and burnout. So i.e. trying to post a whole bunch of content and not really getting anywhere. So I hope that you found this podcast really helpful. I wanted to make this like less tactical, but more of like, hey, here's the mindsets that I think has been helpful for me on the first two years on LinkedIn. Again, the magic is in the DMs. Second, the algorithm will always change, so don't get too caught up in that. Third, watch out for growth gurus. So there's definitely folks that can give a wealth of knowledge on terms of what's working on LinkedIn, but trying to like follow what they're exactly saying while not filtering through what makes sense for you. I think it's usually a formula for burnout. And the third, fourth one is followers are less relevant than you think. So it's more about the quality of followers. And the fifth one is the daily posting game is a slow burn. The daily posting game is a slow burn. I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn. You can go to sellingthecouch.com/LinkedIn if we haven't connected there. And yeah, and if anything, just I would love to connect. And then feel free to also send me a DM and say, hey Mel, I heard this episode and I'm connecting with you. And I try to respond to all the DMs that I get. Have a great rest of your day and I will see you next time. Bye.

Narrator:
Thanks for listening to the Selling the Couch podcast. For more great content and to stay up to date, visit www.sellingthecouch.com.

Melvin Varghese:
Hey there, thank you so much for tuning in to today's session. Just wanted to also let you know that we have a free email newsletter that goes out every week. You can download it over at sellingthecouch.com forward slash newsletter. Basically that newsletter contains some of the stuff that's happening behind the scenes with STC and also with my life and how I'm balancing and trying to balance being both an entrepreneur as well as building a life around my family and my health as well. And it also contains the latest podcast episode and some of the stuff that I'm doing on LinkedIn, some of the strategies and things that are working for me. And then finally, a brand new section called On Mel's Mind, where I take a video or a book or a blog post or something like that, that's inspiring me for that week. And I share how I'm implementing it both in my life and in my business. Again, you can download that over at signthecouch.com forward slash newsletter. And if you are one of the 3,700 colleagues that have been a part of the email newsletter, I so appreciate you and I'm grateful for your support. We genuinely try to make these helpful and just based on the data and based on the feedback we're getting, it seems like we're doing a really good job. So appreciate you and I hope that you have a great day.

05:00 Point 1: The Magic Is In The DM's
10:00: Point 2: The Algorithm Will Always Change
15:17: Point 3: Watch Our For LinkedIn Growth Gurus
17:46 Point 4: Connect With The Right People
19:37: The Daily Posting Game Is A Slow Burn