Shahar Lawrence: I'm doing well, Ajay. How are you?

Ajay Prasad: Good, good. So, tell me, where are you located?

Shahar Lawrence: I am based out of -- oh, go ahead.

Ajay Prasad: I'm sorry, where?

Shahar Lawrence: I'm based out of Utah.

Ajay Prasad: Oh, you're based out of Utah. Okay. Good, good. So, right now, I'm in Tennessee, actually, and our office is based in Orange County. That's why I was wondering what time zone you're in. So, first, like Oliver explained, I want you to tell us something about you and the issues that you are facing.

And this is for our audience, because all of our audience are healthcare providers, so they can relate to what your challenges are, and what you are doing, and what your challenges are. And then, when I answer your questions, it will be most relevant for them. So, why don't you take like a few minutes? Let us know about you, about your business.

Shahar Lawrence: Yeah, absolutely. So, I have a business called Holistic Counseling, based out of Utah. We are currently doing everything via telehealth, and we have therapists that are licensed – like I am licensed in Utah and Nevada, so we can provide mental health therapy to populations in both states, and that telehealth practice. We primarily focus on taking a holistic approach to healing.

I have found that there's just such a benefit in connecting our mind, our bodies, and our soul to being able to get the most full peace and healing that a lot of individuals come to therapy for, and I'm a huge advocate for trying to make sure that they get the best outcome out of that. I also am a huge advocate for having specialization.

So, I personally specialize in working with sexual assault and domestic violence, or intimate partner violence survivors, because that's something I'm super passionate about. It's something I've worked with for the last six years, and primarily just worked with that.

So, I've learned a lot, from experience working with clients, from experiences volunteering at the hospitals, working at the capital, trying to change laws; so, I've been able to get a broad perspective of what that looks like, which then, in turn, helps that when I'm working with a client, we're able to really understand that whole picture, and help them move through that healing process.

So, anytime that I've hired therapists and had other therapists working for me, that's also a big piece of what I look for in a therapist that I hire – is that they have certain specializations that they can offer to the team. So, when I have clients call in, those clients get those specialized therapists who can really focus on that. So, that's kind of –

Ajay Prasad: I have a quick question here. So, when you are saying "therapist," what does – is a therapist able to write a prescription? Tell me what is required to be a therapist in your organization.

Shahar Lawrence: Yeah, so, we are doing mental health therapy. So, we don't prescribe medication. That one, we refer out to psychiatrists and APRNs, who more of the prescriptions and the medication. We focus a lot more on the actual talk therapy, the movement therapy, EMDR therapy; a lot of that being able to process through whatever the events or the challenges are. Some of it will also include coaching, where it's more of like how do we take one specific problem and come with a better result, a little bit more solution-focused of what are these exact steps we can take to have a more positive result.

Shahar Lawrence: I would love to grow. I am busy; I personally have a good case load; I'm doing okay; but I would like my organization to grow. I'm a very ambitious individual, I would like to say, and so, I have all these big dreams and goals, and I would love to create a big facility that's really accessible to a lot of people, which is why I'm looking for getting more.

Ajay Prasad: Perfect, okay, good. So, let's talk about your specific question.

Shahar Lawrence: Awesome. The first one I had was how to advertise to cash-paying clients.

Ajay Prasad: So, first thing, you said that you are licensed in Utah and Nevada, right? So, those are two states that you can people. I'm correct?

Shahar Lawrence: Yes.

Ajay Prasad: And it's all telemedicine, 100 percent, right?

Shahar Lawrence: Yes, right now it is. Eventually, I'd like it to be with a facility, like an in-person place, but for now, we're just doing telehealth.

Ajay Prasad: Okay. So, you know, the strategy for in-person versus telehealth is going to be very different, right, because in-person, you are now targeting just the local people, which is, believe it or not, is relatively easier. Even though it may sound like, "Oh, I'm all over the state, in two states, so it should be easier to get the patient there," but actually it is somewhat harder.

So, let's just talk about the telemedicine aspect of it. So, let's just assume you are doing telemedicine, and when you are ready, when you have your location, I'm happy to talk; we can do a follow-up, if you would like. That's not a problem. So, for telemedicine, if you are advertising, I would say, really, you want to target to a couple of things. Social media is the ideal place to go when you are advertising, because you can always make it very geographic-centric.

So, you can just say, "Okay, my ad is going to go this and these" – and I don't suggest Google, because you can try that with Google paid advertising, also. I don't suggest it, because generally it becomes very expensive, and by that time you figure out – if you have a marketing expert, definitely you should try Google, also, because with a small budget, you would know what is the cost of each patient that you can get from Google.

Shahar Lawrence: Okay. That's awesome. Okay, that's really helpful. So, really being able to use social media to get out there, to get seen, and then paying somebody else to do those Google ads, if the budget is there, to get to a better network.

Ajay Prasad: Definitely. Again, I'm not saying that a Google ad is brain surgery. It's not. But the challenge of a Google ad is that you have those small components that you have to become expert in; creating a landing page; you have to become expert in creating the Google accounts, and the texts, and finding what's working, not working; and it's not worth it, because you're not in that business.

So, that's the reason I'm saying that you are better off doing that. Social media, yes, the more you have yourself active, participating on social media campaigns, the better it is, generally speaking. It doesn't take so much time on social media. You would still need to be able to and there are so many contractors that you can reach out to, and get some ads done, that you can put on social media.

But beyond that, you have to be you can respond to people who comment there and follow, and ask questions. So, that's the reason I'm saying that you are better off managing social media, an expert in managing, because on Google advertising, straight advertising, the only thing they are doing is getting to a point where someone fills out a form and asks you to talk to them, or calls you. That's what Google will do; and this one, there's a little bit more engagement there do that.

Shahar Lawrence: Okay, great. Thank you. The next question I had was how to do some market research on whether or not what I'm wanting to offer is something that is needed or wanted in the area that I'm trying to offer it in.

Ajay Prasad: Oh, okay. So, you're talking to someone who started a career in market research, and in those days, even a simple research used to cost $20,000, $30,000, and I'm talking a long time back; $30,000 was worth something in those days. But now, it is very easy. What I would do is, you should go to SurveyMonkey. So, you can go there, you can sign up for an account. It's very easy. You can create the survey that you want to open, and someone writes it, or you want to make it multiple choice; so, whatever need – are these corporate executives? Are these investors, venture capitalists? Are these retired CEOs? Whatever.

So, first thing, in the ad, you have, based on your experience, or based on talking to people, or even with your gut, you can start to do that; and interestingly, the best way to reach out to them is LinkedIn. So, what you do is through the LinkedIn ad. So, say you said that the pharmaceutical C-suites are the ones that are my best target, or the CEOs in general are the best target.

So, you have to decide, and I always suggest to narrow target as much as possible, because then you can have a message in your ad that will just appeal to them, than everyone. But once you do that – and you can have five different campaigns. So, LinkedIn let's you target it. If you said that I want this to go to the CEO, CEO, and chief medical officer of healthcare providers – because there's a feeling, also, that you send a patient there.

So, if you do that in LinkedIn, it will let you just target those people. The ad will only show to those people, and you pay only if someone has clicked. So, of course, you will have to create a landing page, on your website, for a donor, and why they should be a donor, and what's the benefit of it; and then, you can just advertise. And on this particular case, I would say, start with LinkedIn. That's one of the best sources to reach professionals and rich people, investors, kind of people.

Shahar Lawrence: Okay, that's cool. I didn't know LinkedIn had that option, either. Thank you.

Ajay Prasad: Sure.

Shahar Lawrence: You're teaching me all the little tracks and hacks, here. I love it.

Ajay Prasad: I'm happy that I'm really helpful here. So, great, yeah. LinkedIn, you'll be surprised how cheap and accurate, that you can just target people that you want to reach out to.

Shahar Lawrence: Yeah, that's awesome, okay. Now, how do I make sure that I'm appropriately using my SEO to help advertise my business website?

Ajay Prasad: So, there, I would suggest that you should work with an SEO company. So, I will tell you the general process is that someone will do an analysis; so, the first thing is, what is the market. So, America, and you get your account, then they're going just through the most junior person to do your work.

So, make sure that you have reasonable attention, and talk to two or three people. They will educate you, also, what is needed, what's the opportunity, and then make a decision there. But there's just way too many moving parts for someone to learn and do it. And also, the other thing is that you can spend hundreds of hours to learn what is happening today, and then tomorrow, Google changes their algorithm again, and you will have to do it all over. So, you have to deal with a company that does SEO on a regular basis.

Shahar Lawrence: Okay, I like that. Okay. Are there any other marketing types that you would say I should follow or try?

Ajay Prasad: One thing that I always suggest to people: these days, your online review has become the most important piece of marketing, whether it's telemedicine or in office. And now, we have research after research that suggests that more than 80 percent – 83, 84 percent of the people – check reviews before they make any decision about their healthcare provider. So, you want to be sure that number one, you have good reviews, and also on all the relevant platforms that people check.

And so, it's not just Google or – Yelp probably is not even as relevant for you – but it's not just Google or Facebook only. I don't know for your area; is it and all those things are there or not, but it makes a lot of sense for you to find out what are the platforms, a review platform where people can find a therapist; and then make sure that you are profiled there. And then, drive people, your happy patients, to go and write reviews. It will either make it or break your digital marketing effort.

Shahar Lawrence: Okay. I've got to work on piece as well, then. Awesome. I think that's all of my questions. I really appreciate everything you taught me today. Thank you.

Ajay Prasad: Yeah, it was really good talking to you. I always like the business owners who have specific questions, so I can help, and for my audience also; anyone who has exact, your issues, which believe it or not, most of the people have the same problems that you have. So, they can also see, and so, this was a very good, productive talk today. So, thank you for asking some really smart questions.

Shahar Lawrence: Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you for your time. Yeah, so, we've got Holistic Counseling. We're just really focused on making sure that we're using a full mind, body, and soul integration to getting that whole healing that most of our clients are looking for.

We also like to prioritize having specialized therapists, so that you're working with a therapist who specializes in the things that you're trying to work through. I personally focus primarily on sexual assault and domestic violence or intimate partner violence survivors, and working with them in finding that healing, and we use a lot of movement, art, music, animals, yoga, things like that.

We just really like to make sure that it's not just your standard sit-talk therapy. You can check us out on our website, yourholisticcounseling.com, and we'd be happy to answer any questions you have from there.

Speaker: Thank you for listening to this episode of The Founder's Corner Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to rate and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and SoundCloud. If you are interested in being a guest, be sure to visit our main page at https://www.gmrwebteam.com/thefounderscorner.