PodcastsBusinessSelling the Couch

Selling the Couch

Melvin Varghese, PhD
Selling the Couch
Latest episode

Available Episodes

5 of 329
  • ENCORE: Mental Roadblocks Of Going From Clinician To Coach with Angela Williams, LCSW
    Many clinicians are left wondering if their best work lies in the clinical field or the coaching/consulting arena. I’ve felt this dilemma myself, pondering how to balance my interests, endeavors, and the evolution of family life. I realized that I couldn’t sustain multiple paths, and I made the hard decision to give up my clinical work. If you are struggling along those same lines, I hope today’s show gives you insights, clarity, and encouragement. Join us to learn more!Our Featured GuestAngela Williams, LCSWAngela Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Orlando, Florida. She has made the transition from clinician to coach, and she now works with other therapists who are making the same change in their lives. Angela shares her thoughts about why so many clinicians are leaving for the world of coaching, along with the biggest roadblocks that may come up on this path. She gives her best tips for overcoming those big roadblocks and recommends several books as helpful resources. WebsiteYou’ll Learn:Why so many therapists are becoming coachesHow the therapy field, with its inherent regulations, contains many barriers to providing services to clients—and coaching is differentThe biggest mental roadblock for Angela in moving from clinician to coachWhy each clinician feels like the “insecure expert” and has to intentionally build up their confidenceWhy it’s challenging to become an online, visible brand rather than a care providerWhat holds clinicians back the most and presents the biggest roadblocksHow a mindset coach can help us rewrite our roadblocks into our success storyHow perfectionism, fear of failure, and standards of success can prevent us from taking actionWhy money blocks and financial literacy play into our beliefs about moneyWhy the fear of success can be just as crippling as the fear of failureBooks recommended by Angela: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas, and You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen SinceroResources:Want to launch your online course?Check out our new membership site that’s launching in January! Find out more and join us in Haven here.Mentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.
    --------  
    44:20
  • ENCORE: 3 Tips To Become An Awesome Storyteller Online
    Today’s topic is a fascinating one for me. As therapists, we are wired for stories, but telling an effective story online is a struggle for many of us. Fortunately for us, my guest has wisdom and tips to share to help us become awesome storytellers. Join us to learn more!Our Featured GuestKieran DrewKieran Drew lives in Leeds, England, and is my writing coach for Twitter. In an interesting career twist, he was a dentist who left behind his stressful, work-filled life to become a copywriter/storyteller. My first connection to Kieran came through the viral story he wrote about his unique medical experiences as a teenager. He is a talented storyteller who has helped my writing immensely, and I know his insights will be helpful to anyone looking to improve their writing. WebsiteYou’ll Learn:Why Kieran made the unconventional transition from dentist to copywriter/storytellerAn overview of Kieran’s spinal issues involving a tumor, surgeries, and titanium rods—this is the experience that helped him discover storytelling and a new love for life3 tips to become a better storyteller:Make a story bank by writing down everything that happens to you with specific details.Cut through the noise to impart a lesson. Even in sales, start every point with a story. How specific details make your stories more impactfulHow to draw a “lesson” from each storyHow storytelling breaks down skepticism and improves your selling abilityHow storytelling can be your differentiator in the online worldA storytelling template: what happened/the lesson, why people should care, and a call to actionHow Kieran reviews his story bank to choose his next storyResources:Want to launch your online course?Join our Free 90-Minute Workshop happening on December 10th: Will AI Make My Course Irrelevant? Save your spot at sellingthecouch.com/aiwebinarCheck out our new membership site that’s launching in January! Find out more and join the interest list for Haven.
    --------  
    31:31
  • ENCORE: The 10 Biggest Mistakes I Made As An Online Course Creator
    I’ve been focused on building a life around my family and self-care rather than fitting those things around a career. I’ve learned that there is much wisdom in slowing down and not keeping up a crazy pace. One thing that has helped me accomplish these goals is creating an online course. Even though I’m super grateful and blown away by the success, I made a lot of mistakes along the way. Join me as I share my insights and lessons learned. You’ll Learn:The 10 biggest mistakes I made as an online course creator:1–I didn’t understand how my childhood trauma affected my course pricing. Check out these resources: “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship” (Inc Magazine), We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers, and courses by Tiffany McLain.2–I gave my students lifetime access to coaching and community.This caused me to feel resentment for not charging more for that kind of access to me.3–I focused too much on gear instead of creating a steady marketing system. I have learned that marketing, which is not my strength, is all about authenticity and connection.4–I focused on being in the “middle of the pack” on pricing instead of in the upper tier.Ask yourself, “Do you want to be the Apple or the Walmart in your niche?”5–I didn’t realize that I could invite students into other experiences beyond my course.Options include a mastermind, cohort-based course, and other recurring income buckets.6–I realized that looking at my bank account doesn’t drive sales as testimonials do.7–I thought I’d be stuck on one business model, so I built a “strip mall model.”8–I thought having a mentor with a similar course meant that I couldn’t create one.When someone else has a similar course, you can niche down into a more specific message.9–I was too concerned about the sale over the relationship.This came from a poverty mindset instead of the abundance mindset to which I aspire. 10–I didn’t think about the one-off sale on the front end and the recurring invitation on the back. A certain number of students will want a more in-depth experience with us. Resources:Want to launch your online course?Join our Free 90-Minute Workshop happening on December 10th: Will AI Make My Course Irrelevant? Save your spot at sellingthecouch.com/aiwebinarCheck out our new membership site that’s launching in January! Find out more and join the interest list for Haven.
    --------  
    28:15
  • ENCORE: Where Should I Focus My Online Course Marketing?
    Our Featured Guest for today’s call: Heather McKenzie, LCMHCSHeather McKenzie came through Online Course School as a beta student back in the fall of 2021. Online Course School is a live, eight-week experience that takes your online course from a simple idea all the way through the development stages so that you are ready to record. Heather created a course specifically focused on anxiety that can be found at Dial Down Anxiety. Like most of us who create an online course, she faced a common struggle about how to handle marketing time and costs to promote her course. Join us to hear the coaching call!McKenzie Counseling You’ll Learn:How to handle logistical challenges in the online presentation of your courseWhy Heather’s course is an eight-week course to help people understand anxiety and DBT emotion regulation skillsHow marketing options for an online course can be overwhelming for most people How to pinpoint your own superpowers in teaching and the style that works best for youHow to structure the content levels for promoting your course in six-month blocks:Start with webinars, both free and paid.Offer a downloadable guide or cheat sheet.Use a core blog post as a stand-alone feature that blows people away.Tips from Melvin about content levels:Offering too many things can confuse people, so stick with one core webinar.Less is more!Be thoughtful about using the words “webinar” and “workshop” so as not to intimidate people.Link your blog post videos to YouTube to drive more traffic back to your webinar.Consider that high-quality offerings through webinars, guides, and blog posts help to establish your authority as an expert and give people value that keeps them returning.How podcasting can help with future promotion by giving a call-to-action to your webinarWhy you need to take notes during the first offering of your course with beta students to know what content resonates the most; that content can be used for future free webinarsIn summary, five tools to market an online course that have evergreen potential:Webinar (start with live ones and then transition to evergreen ones)Downloadable guides or cheat sheetsCore blog postSelect podcast episodesMini-podcast Resources:Want to launch your online course?Join our Free 90-Minute Workshop happening on December 10th: Will AI Make My Course Irrelevant? Save your spot at sellingthecouch.com/aiwebinarCheck out our new membership site that’s launching in January! Find out more and join the interest list for Haven.
    --------  
    34:53
  • ENCORE: 7 Questions to Ask Before Launching an Online Course
    Today’s episode takes a closer look at a major passion of mine: online courses. Let’s talk about the important questions to ask–and answer–before launching an online course. Join me!You’ll Learn:How online courses can help fill in the gap for those who need mental health services7 Questions to Ask Before Launching an Online Course:Have people paid me one-on-one for this course idea?Can I see myself being in this space for 10+ years?Is this course idea confronting a “massive pain” vs. an “annoying inconvenience” for my audience?Can this population afford the course I’m selling? Do they have purchasing power?Is this a population that is easy to target and find online?Is my course idea a growing concern/need for my audience?Are there others out there creating information products for this niche?Resources:Want to launch your online course?Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit for Therapists at https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit.Check out our new membership site that’s launching in January! Find out more and join the interest list for Haven. Mentioned in this episode:Try Alma!Building and managing the practice you truly want can feel overwhelming. That’s why Alma is here—to help you create not just any practice, but your private practice. With Alma, you’ll get the tools and resources you need to navigate insurance with ease, connect with referrals that are the right fit for your style, and streamline those time-consuming administrative tasks. That means less time buried in the details and more time focused on delivering exceptional care to your clients. You support your clients. Alma supports you. Learn more at sellingthecouch.com/alma and get 2 months FREE—an exclusive offer for STC listeners.
    --------  
    26:49

More Business podcasts

About Selling the Couch

With 1.81 million+ downloads, Selling the Couch is an Apple Top Career podcast for current and future mental health private practitioners who think differently. Psychologist Melvin Varghese interviews successful therapists in private practice about how they built their businesses as well as top entrepreneurs, business/marketing, and social media experts.* You'll learn how therapists get referrals, grow their practices, work through fears, find their enough, and stop "trading time for income." Melvin also shares the lessons as he grows his impact + income beyond the therapy room (podcasting, YouTube, writing, online courses, masterminds, investing, etc) and the tips and tools he uses to grow STC from a single-person business to the CEO of a 6-figure business.* Featured in Psychology Today, Good Therapy, and Psych Central ****Get show notes and even more good stuff at sellingthecouch.com/stcpodcast*
Podcast website

Listen to Selling the Couch, Prof G Markets and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app

Get the free radio.net app

  • Stations and podcasts to bookmark
  • Stream via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
  • Supports Carplay & Android Auto
  • Many other app features
Social
v8.1.1 | © 2007-2025 radio.de GmbH
Generated: 12/11/2025 - 6:54:28 PM