In the last issue I talked about how not to use your online therapist locator statistics as a measure of your success.

This week I was working with an interior designer who is starting her business. I recommend she join BNI, a referral organization for business owners. When she learned that BNI cost $370 a year plus the costs of the weekly breakfasts, she did some fast numbers and said “What a bargain. An average client will spend between $2,000 and $5,000 with me. If I get one or two clients a year, it will be a phenomenal investment.”

Some therapists tell me that their online therapist locator listings “aren’t working.” When I ask what that means. I begin to understand their frustration. Their expectations aren’t realistic.

I will tell you that many therapists in North America are starting to notice a slow-down in the number of referrals they are getting from the internet. I think this is due to: 1) the economy 2) the summer season and 3) the number of therapists marketing on the internet is increasing.

Last week, I searched 90210 for a therapist on Psychology Today. There were 223 of them. That is a lot of profiles and believe me, no one is going to look through all 223 of them to find a therapist to contact. The pool is very large.

(An interesting note, on Find-a-Therapist.com there were 76 therapists in that same zip code.)

Are online therapists still a good investment? Some are free such as CAMFT’s Therapist Finder so make sure you are on your association’s free site.

I do recommend you be on at least 3 to 5 online therapist locators. So let’s say you are paying about $300 a year for one of these paid locator services. How many new clients would you need to make sure you were getting your money’s worth?

Is this beginning to sound like a word problem from 6th grade? Hang in here with me.

If you get one client a year from your listing and that client spends a total of only $300 with you, you would break even on that investment. But of course, I don’t want you to just break even.

Let’s say you get 3 clients a year from your listing and in total they spend a total of $9,000 with you. You spent $300 to make $9,000. There aren’t many financial investments where you can invest $300 and get back $9,000.

So, don’t be too quick to decide your online therapist locators “aren’t worth it.” You may be noticing a slow down but please look at your numbers from an annual perspective. That will give you the bigger picture.