My goodness - I had no idea the number of people who scolded me for saying Sam Walton redefined Big Business. Okay, several asked me to talk about a successful woman who does good with a lot of money.

Okay - what about Oprah? Philanthropist, advocate, contributor.. I don’t know about you but she is an inspiration to me. She is so busy, seems to care a great deal about people, has her own troubles (her school problems) and still finds time to read and recommend good books!

Please know my point was meant to inspire - sorry I missed the mark with some of you!

Love, Casey

Click the play button (you may need to click it twice), then please wait a few secs for it to start streaming.

Somedays I love to look at the people that have made a difference in the world - and who have made a good living doing it.

I think about Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart. His goal was to bring low prices to small cities, but, as Time Magazine reported, he also changed the way Big Business is run. Sam Walton has been called the best businessman America (and even the world) has ever seen.

Then I think about Bill and Melinda Gates. They have made billions by making computing a part of our everyday life. They have also established the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - the largest transparently operated charitable foundation in the world. Then in 2006, businessman, Warren Buffet donated $30 million to the foundation and it doubled in size.

So, good people have done a lot of good with a lot of money. And so could you!

But what is the difference between these people and you?

I think it comes down to their undeniable passion coupled with a willingness to move through the fear that comes with succeeding.

It is very scary to go out on a limb and try and make a difference in the world. It is even scarier to think about becoming very successful doing it!

For therapists, consultants and healers, it means letting those in our community know what we do. It means moving through those crazy catastrophic thoughts that keep us up at night. The “No one will think I am interesting” or “I don’t really have a lot to say so giving a speech would be a waste of time” Or “What will people think of me if I really succeed.”

These thoughts and our responses to them are what keep some people from the great things they were really called to do.

Don’t let this happen to you. Find others that you can talk about your fears with. Share your passions and have them help you move through the fear.

Ask your self “What could I do for 15 minutes today that would really make a difference in the success of my practice?” Then follow it with “Am I afraid to do it?” Finally, “Will I do it anyway?”

You are here on this planet to do very great things. Don’t let any pesky irrational thoughts keep you from being what the world need you to be.

I really, really want you to have the practice you really want! Your success is our mission. Let’s make 2008 your best year ever!

Love and blessings,
Casey

I hope this finds your phone ringing and more clients coming in your doors!

Lately, many of you have shared with me that you are using the Be A Wealthy Therapist system and filling your practices with cash-paying clients. I am so excited to hear your success stories! Please continue to share them with me. It truly warms my heart!

Wondering how to best use our Be a Wealthy Therapist services? Let’s chat!

We have had so many people call saying they are ready to pull out the stops and make 2008 their best year ever. And they want as much information as they can to make the most of their marketing time and dollar.

And my Be A Wealthy Therapist team and I have been creating products and services to help you do just that. It is our passion, our goal and our vision.

But sometimes people say that we have so many services and products that they don’t know which Be A Wealthy Therapist offering is best for their particular need.

So, in true Be A Wealthy Therapist tradition, I ask “How can we serve you?”

Have you read my book: Be A Wealthy Therapist - Finally you can make a living while making a difference and wonder what to do next? Perhaps you a motivated self-starter and want very detailed, step-by-step instructions to build your practice. Maybe you are feeling lonely in your practice-building journey and want to connect with like-minded therapists and healers for sharing and support.

Or maybe you are someone (like me) who wants an individual coach to teach, support and sometimes nag at you - to help you maintain focus and get the results you really want.

At Be A Wealthy Therapist we offer group, individual and self-study programs for all budgets designed to teach you what we know works. You provide the motivation, we provide the knowledge and support. Together great things can happen! Just this week, two people told me how their caseloads actually increased in December when they used what they learned in our programs.

But what service is right for you? If you are considering taking the step and investing in your marketing education this year, we are here for you.

I have decided to offer an Open House Call on Thursday, January 24 at 4 pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern. In this call I will share with you all our Be A Wealthy Therapist products and services so you can make a better decision about what might support you best. We want you to be sending us your success stories this year!

On this call, we will be talking about our premier program - our individual coaching program, as well as the Be A Wealthy Therapist Implementation kit (our Self Study Course) and our Exclusive Members program. We’ll discuss the differences and pros and cons of each.

And just a point of clarification, this won’t be a coaching or Q&A call where we work on your particular marketing questions; it will be an information call where you can learn all about Be A Wealthy Therapist and what we offer so you can see if you’d like to join with us in 2008.

And I will share with you our plans for a first-time-ever Advanced Coaching Group set to start next month. This group will be for those who have attended a workshop or read the book and have already started to implement their marketing plan. My goal with this Advanced Coaching Group is help you push through any blocks you have so you can truly have the success you deserve. I am very excited about it!

As you know, my mission is to serve and I hope you will attend our Open House call and learn more about what we have to offer and see if it might match your need.

To register for the call, please click here. And no worries if you can’t make it, sign up anyway and we will send you the downloadable mp3 recording.

Whether you decide to join us is up to you. But please make sure you have a plan to market to your community … because your peers are!

Hope to “see you” on the call.

Looking for office space in Laguna Niguel, CA.?

Many of you in Orange County, CA ask me if I know of anyone who has office space to rent. I am very pleased to announce that my dear friend Judy Westerfield, Creativity to the Max, has some space to rent (full or part-time) in the heart of lovely Laguna Niguel. It will be available March 1. For information, please contact Judy at judy@CreativitytotheMax.com.

Blessings to you - and really - may 2008 be your best year ever!

you this for sure - I did not want to come back home to California! Here I am during one of the many beautiful sunny days on the beach.

This issue will be a short one this week. I wanted to make sure you were aware of some great things coming up next week…

CAMFT Los Angeles Winter Conference

I am excited to be a presenter next weekend (January 11-13) at the CAMFT Winter Conference in Los Angeles at the LAX Hilton. I will be presenting on Friday, “How to Build a Full and Rewarding Fee-for-Service Private Practice”. I sure hope you are available to attend - I would love to see you there!

You can learn more about the Winter Conference and find registration details here:
http://www.beawealthytherapist.com/camft/

Are You Ready to Jump Start Your Practice in 2008?

Have you been procrastinating? Stuck on your ideal client?
Feeling overwhelmed with creating your marketing plan?

There is no better time than now! Let’s get together. I will be offering a few in-person consultations next weekend while I am in the LA area. I am offering both 90-minute and 3-hour sessions. And, to start 2008 off great, all 3-hour consultation sessions include the Digital Self Study Course - at NO ch.arge! A Value of $177!

How cool is that?

If you are interested in learning more, please send a blank email to:
consulting@beawealthytherapist.org

Happy practice building!

Love and blessings,
Casey

Over the past few weeks, an interesting trend has emerged here at Be A Wealthy Therapist. We noticed that people were buying multiple copies of my book Be A Wealthy Therapist: Finally You Can Make A Living While Making a Difference. At first, we were worried that our website had a problem since people usually only order one copy. (My husband Bob - joker that he is - wondered if people were buying multiple copies so they could read the book multiple times.)

So we did some investigating and it turned out people were buying the books as gifts for their therapist friends! I never even thought of that! So, I checked our printing house and they say that US orders placed by Thursday, December 13 should arrive on or before the December 23rd. Of course, we can’t guarantee it as we aren’t in charge of the post office. (Now that would be a job - wouldn’t it?) But just thought I’d let you know in case you were wondering what you might get for a suite mate. (By the way, they also make good New Year’s gifts. ) You can orders yours directly at: http://www.MakeALivingBook.com
On a more serious note, I hope you take very good care of yourself this holiday season. Bob and I will be spending Christmas and New Years in Hawaii. We are really looking forward to having some fun and “down time.”

I so adore you! Love and blessings,

Casey

Bob and I are at the Ericksonian Hypnosis International Congress. There are people here from all over the world and it is fun to listen to the different languages.

Early this morning, before my presentation, we stopped in the restaurant for breakfast. There was a fantastic buffet with fruit, baked good, eggs and a myriad of bacon and sausages.

And there was a pot of very plain-looking, white oatmeal. I am not crazy about oatmeal but my doctor encourages me to eat it. So I reluctantly filled a bowl (while passing up the double-chocolate-chip muffins.) Then I saw it - next to the oatmeal pot were over 20 “toppings” for the oatmeal. There were not only raisins, brown sugar and maple syrup, but pistachio nuts, candied pecans, pineapple chunks, chocolate chips, M&Ms, dried soy beans, along with several other types of nuts and fruits. If that wasn’t enough there was also flavored yogurt and dried breakfast cereal that you could stir into the oatmeal. Needless to say, I have never enjoyed oatmeal so much!

So how does this relate to marketing? Quite honestly, oatmeal is boring. And counseling is often considered boring. But when you can bring your uniqueness to marketing your practice.. When you can talk about what you do in ways that invite people to say “I want that!” then you have transformed something that no one is really too excited about into something that excites people and makes them want to make an appointment. Please - tap into your creativity, learn what your ideal client wants, and then let your community know about you!

And I don’t think I will ever be able to eat oatmeal without pistachio nuts or candied pecans again.

I hope you take very good care of yourself this holiday season. Bob and I will be spending Christmas and New Years in Hawaii. We are really looking forward to having some fun and “down time.”

Love and blessings,
Casey

Why the heck would you want an online scheduler?

Imagine it is the middle of the night and your ideal client is on the internet searching for a therapist. He reads your online therapist locator listing and likes what he sees. He wants to make an appointment, but during regular business hours he will be in meetings. So he closes up the computer and says to himself “I will call another day to make an appointment.”

You know the story. Days go by - then weeks and maybe one day he gets a referral to a different therapist from his co-worker. That therapist gets the client that was originally drawn to your website.

Now, imagine you had a tab on your website that said “Schedule an appointment.” When your ideal client visited your website, it would be of great benefit to him to be able to schedule the appointment online - without having to play telephone tag with you. Then he can go into his all-day business meetings knowing he has an appointment scheduled with you within a couple of days. Now you both win - he feels great that he has scheduled an appointment and you have a new client!

More and more I hear of therapists getting a lot of referrals from “the internet.” (Which is support for my point that the internet will be the #1 place you will get new clients in the next decade.) So, let’s make it easy for your web visitors to schedule time with you!

Here is how it works…

You, the therapist, put the times into the scheduler that you want people to see as “available.” Potential clients sign up (give you their information) and pick a session time. You both get an email about the appointment. Your job is to call the client asap, connect with him and do your normal intake call script. After speaking with the potential client, you get to decide if this is a good client for you.

I am telling you - if you do this now, you will be ahead of many of the other therapists marketing via the internet. As I’ve mentioned before, some of my clients are getting as many as 5 new clients a week with their online scheduler.

An added benefit is that you can invite your existing clients to use the scheduler, thereby almost eliminating the telephone tag around rescheduling appointments.

You can also set it up so that you will have a certain amount of notice (24 or 48 hours) before someone can schedule or cancel. That way you won’t be surprised in the middle of the day.

Are you using an online scheduler? If so, please let us know your experience below in the “comments” section.

Happy practice building!

Casey

PS Visit www.CaseyTruffoRecommends.com for a link to the appointment scheduler we recommend - and see other tools you may be interested in there too! Stay tuned - I will be announcing our new “do-it-yourself website builder” soon!

AAMFT conference is fantastic. Great questions. Lisa said that Marketing is difficult. What do you think?

xoxo

Casey

Hi there,

My friends with young children are attending “back to school nights” this week.

It got me remembering when I was a kid. Back to school meant new notebooks, pens and pencils, and new clothes. There were new kids in my class every year and I loved learning new things.

What does back to school mean to you? Do you get excited about the prospect of learning new things?

Recently, a therapist told me she wanted to learn more about how to write a great business plan. While my heart soars when I hear someone wanting to learn more about business, I am often concerned when I am asked this question.

That is because many of us will use the excuse “I have to learn something new before I start anything” as an opportunity to procrastinate. (Okay, maybe that is just me…)

So, to satisfy those of you who want to have a business plan, you can do it very simply.

Answer the questions below and you will have an abbreviated but well-conceived business plan.

1) Business Vision - How do you want to spend your time in your business? When do you want to work? How much do you want to earn? Whom do you wish to see as clients?

2) Mission - Why are you called to be doing the work you do? What is the mission of your business?

3) Ideal Client - Whom do you wish to serve?

4) Unique Selling Proposition - What makes you unique? How does your message/wisdom differ from others?

5) Objectives or Goals - What do you want to accomplish in your business?

6) Strategies to Achieve Your Goals - What marketing activities will you employ? (This would be your marketing plan.)

7) Plans - What will you do this month, this week, today to meet those objectives and goals? These are your “to-do’s” and should be designed with an eye toward your goals.

8) Accountability and Measurement - How will you stay motivated and on-track toward those goals. How will you know if you are fulfilling your mission?

This exercise can be a lot of fun. Take yourself to Starbucks, have a double-diet-no-soy latte and play with it! You might find yourself clearer on your business and feeling that old “back to school” excitement.

Hugs,
Casey

Marianne Williamson has been quoted many times when she said:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”

It is true. Your playing small doesn’t serve you, your clients or your community. Let your wisdom out. Let the world see your beauty and your “fabulous-ness!”

I believe in in you.