As you may know, I am holding a one-day conference here in New York City on September 29th called Build Your Practice-2018. It’s on a Saturday from 9:00-3:30 and will weave together simple, actionable strategies with a chance to create a strong referral network of other professionals looking to support your growth. Add to that an internationally renowned speaker, relaxing and rejuvenating breaks, and the best cupcakes I’ve ever had in my whole life. . . I have no doubt that it’s going to be AMAZING.

But I get that another way to look at it is that you’ll spend a Saturday in September with strangers. It’s reasonable that you might be hesitating. In this post, I’m hoping to put those hesitations to rest so that you’ll want to go ahead and register before the early bird tickets end, then spend the rest of September getting excited about everything you’ll learn.

10 reasons to come to Build Your Practice-2018!

1. Building a practice is HARD! Don’t try to do it alone.

I know it sounds simple, but coming to this event solely for the community you’ll tap into is a SMART idea. A strong professional community gives you people to ask for advice when something isn’t working (like your Psychology Today profile, for example), people to lean on when you are doing things that make you nervous (public speaking, perhaps?) and people to celebrate with when you crush your goals (like the first time you turn someone away because you are booked solid and they aren’t your ideal client). And that’s before they’ve sent a single referral to you! In my world, we call this your nerd club because everyone needs people to geek out with. Come to Build Your Practice-2018 and connect with yours!

2. Libby’s Cupcakes.

I know I keep harping on these cupcakes, but New Yorkers are known for their cupcake obsession and these are THE. BEST. I’ve ever had.

Let me tell you a story: Libby lives outside of Philadelphia and I met her at a conference I was speaking at down there in February. Since then, I’ve had her cupcakes three times…. once because she was having a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. I piled my two kids and husband into our car one Saturday morning, drove for an hour and thirty minutes, pulled up to her house, bought 12 cupcakes, and drove home. WORTH IT. And my husband didn’t mind because he’d already experienced the mouthwatering cupcake topped with melt-in-your-mouth icing. You will not be sorry to have these cupcakes during our afternoon break at Build Your Practice-2018.

3. Fall is a time of possibility… don’t waste that energy!

There are two times of the year when the air practically shimmers with possibility. One is New Year’s, and the other is RIGHT NOW. Kids are headed back to school with new backpacks and pencil cases, and you may find yourself unable to resist purchasing office supplies. If it feels like you, too, can start anew and finally take your practice to the next level, that’s because it’s true. It’s actually always true, but when the world is supporting your motivation, it’s a lot easier. Coming to Build Your Practice-2018 is a great way to capitalize on this energy– you’ll walk away with a concrete plan for moving forward that you can implement right away.

4. Sometimes you just need clarity.

I think it’s very likely that you know basically what to do to build your practice. The concern of many of my clients isn’t so much that they don’t know what they can do, but that they don’t know what to choose. There are so many things one can do to build a practice, but which ones provide the highest leverage? Which ones suit your personality and style most authentically? Which one can you stick with when things get busy or hard? At Build Your Practice- 2018, we’ll create that clarity.

5. Val Bullerman, internationally renowned business coach and professional speaker is our keynote speaker.

I met Val about a year ago, and with her help, I’ve transformed my own business from a small coaching firm into a six-figure business. Val knows what it takes to grow a business as a service to people who need to connect with you on a deep, energetic, and personal level. Come to Build Your Practice-2018, hear her speak, and be inspired to play to your biggest possibilities and your deepest strengths.

6. You were trained as a therapist, NOT a marketer!

There’s a saying in the world of sales and marketing: the best coaches and therapists are the worst marketers. This curse stems from the very expertise that allows you to be top notch at helping your clients. The problem is that you know so much more than your potential clients do about what is going to help them. You want to talk about EMDR or CBT or emotionally focused therapy, but they just want to stop feeling like crap. You have to speak their language if you want them to listen.

At Build Your Practice-2018, we are going to dive into the language of your client to build that complementary skill set: Selling your services.

7. As a therapist, you know this: Normal is something we construct.

If you think differently, speak differently, and act differently, the very same event, action or context will be experienced differently. It’s true for your clients, and it’s true for you.

When building a business, one of the most powerful things you can do is to surround yourself with people who help you create a positive, action-focused normal. When everyone around you is stretching themselves, exploring new strategies, and playing big, it becomes natural to stretch, explore, and play big yourself. Come to Build Your Practice-2018, and find out what this powerful normal feels like.

8. Rachel Shanken, LMHC, is sharing her signature mind-body break with us.

Rachel is a therapist who focuses on helping women calm their anxiety by strengthening the mind-body connection. Rachel helps her clients to “go deeper quicker” and “to experience a profound sense of clarity.” Rachel will offer two mini-sessions to help us all strengthen our mind-body connection during Build Your Practice-2018. It’s sure to leave you relaxed and open to the possibilities in the room (of which there are many).

9. Let’s beat procrastination… together.

There is a saying in the policy world: “The easiest thing to do is nothing.” And ain’t that the truth? How much easier would it be to just hang out at home and maybe watch some of the amazing new Prime series that just dropped, Jack Ryan? So much easier.

But here’s another saying for you, this time from the change management world: “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” I know how hard it can be to make a change. In fact, my personal specialty in the world of change management is helping people to make a change in areas where they have struggled for years! So come to Build Your Practice-2018, and let me help you make a plan and solutions to overcome procrastination.

All you have to do is sign up and show up, and we’ll do the rest together.

10. Fun, Friends, & Strategy!

Build Your Practice-2018 is a day of fun, friends, cupcakes, strategies, and inspiration. It’s a room full of people who believe that YOU can take your practice to the next level… and the level after that. There’s nothing quite like that. Come to Build Your Practice-2018, and find out for yourself. I can’t wait to see you there!