What is a counselor “Niche Specialty Listing”© on CounselingSeattle.com?

  
FOR THE CONSUMER: The counselor “Niche Specialty©" listing on CounselingSeattle.com is one client problem that the counselor self-declares as an area of special interest and expertise (out of all the client problems the counselor works with).

The counselor usually selects a Niche Specialty because the counselor feels best prepared in this area by training and experience, because the counselor has been very successful in working with this problem in the past, or because the counselor has a special interest in working with this client problem.  The Niche Specialty should be in an area of counselor competency by education and experience, but it does not indicate that the counselor has completed a formal internship or residency, such as might be found in the medical community.

The first purpose of the Niche Specialty© listing is to help the potential client satisfy special needs. The second is to help the counselor to market special skill or knowledge. [ Return to counselor locator--Niche Specialties © page. ]

FOR THE COUNSELOR: This is your opportunity to do some niche marketing. Please think of your niche specialty--whatever it is--as being just one additional way of setting yourself apart from all the other counselors in the area.

Think of the potential client who turns to the telephone Yellow Pages to find a counselor. The client finds a long list of counselor names--each followed by mysterious initials and a telephone number. To the consumer it looks like: "Sam Jones, ZP, NOLLP, ROL, SOR, (206) 555-7532."  [These are nonsense initials, but that’s what they look like to people who aren’t familiar with professional designations.] The potential client thinks, “What do these stupid initials mean? Does this Sam Jones work with my kind of problem? Does he work near where I live or work?”

To assist the consumer in the search for a counselor,   CounselingSeattle.com gives the consumer (1.) a dictionary of professional initials.  (2.) The geographic locator help potential clients find counselors with offices near where they live or work and provides a summary of the counselors qualifications, including their "general areas of practice." This tells most clients exactly what they want to know.

Finally, for those counselors who wish to list one, the optional “Niche Specialty” listing gives a counselor one more way to set him/herself apart and to promote a special interest or skill in dealing with a particular client problem.

Please note that a Niche Specialty statement should be relatively brief and is intended to deal with various aspects of one problem, and is not a place to list all the different client problems you work with.  Niche Specialty statements are short and focused so that clients can scan them quickly to determine the scope and nature of the specialty and the gender and geographic location of the counselor.

In May 2006, 1,577 unique visitors viewed the counselor locator page 2,801 times.  From there you can go to "Counselor Names" (374) "Cities" (667)  or Niche Specialties (829).  Without a Niche Specialty the potential client can only find your listing under "name" or "cities."

Discussion:   [ Example #1. ]     [ Example #2. ]

Think of the client problems that you started working with in your practicum or internships, your various jobs in the mental health field, and your private practice, and decide what ONE client problem you most enjoy and feel well qualified to work with.

Or, think of the niche specialty in terms of ONE particular client problem that you would like to work with more often.  Express that problem in "client language"--so that the client can search for and find your listing.

Ask yourself what type of client is most likely to have this problem?--[men, women, adolescents?]  How can you word your specialty listing to set you apart from all the other counselors?  Your niche specialty listing should meet common client needs and help make you unique and sought-after within your geographic counseling area.

You don't need to decide what your specialty is yet.  If you want to develop a niche specialty to include in your listing, just indicate this when you send in the information form for your private practice listing.  You and I can talk by phone or email; I will take your ideas and do some web research and then get back to you with my recommended wording. [It's important to use wording that clients actually use in search engines when searching for counselors.]  There is an additional $41.00 charge to add a Niche Specialty listing to your "basic listing."

As webmaster of CounselingSeattle.com, my job is helping counselors make money by using the Internet to connect them with appropriate clients.  Contact me and let me help. 

Floyd Else, MA, LMHC, NCC, MAC                    
Webmaster: http://www.CounselingSeattle.com
PO Box 6714, Bellevue, Washington 98008       

See How It Works: Counselor locator page: "Finding a Counselor or Therapist by Niche Specialty"

Place an Ad: See log-in and other suggestions and instructions on the advertising page.

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This document is Copyright © 1999 and 2003 Floyd Else, MA, and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part without the prior written permission from the author. All rights reserved.

If you find a typo or a link that points nowhere, please tell me about it.  I am happy to receive feedback, and grateful for the time you take to let me know.

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