Why Your Marketing Feels "Off"—And How to Fix It [Summer Slump #2] (Episode 10)
Today, we're diving into a powerful yet often overlooked truth: your marketing is only as effective as it is authentic. You can have the perfect profile or all the right keywords, but if it doesn’t sound like you—the real, attuned, grounded version of you that shows up in the therapy room—then it’s not going to connect with the clients you’re most aligned to serve.
This episode is all about getting radically clear on what your practice is and what it is not. That kind of clarity doesn’t just make your marketing easier—it makes it more magnetic, more effective, and more energizing to sustain. You’ll walk away with a deceptively simple challenge that can instantly sharpen your message and start attracting better-fit clients.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why showing up in your marketing like you show up in the therapy room is the key to attracting aligned, full-fee clients
2️⃣ The quiet but costly consequences of vague, safe-sounding marketing—and how to fix it
3️⃣ A powerful “what my practice is / isn’t” list-making exercise that becomes a compass for every marketing decision you make
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Hey, hey, welcome back to Marketing Therapy, episode 10 and the second in our slaying the Summer Slump series. Again. Say that five times fast. If you're just joining us here's what this series is all about. Now, summer is often a slower season for therapists, not for everyone, but for many. It usually means fewer inquiries, more cancellations.
And quite frankly, that dip in momentum can absolutely feel discouraging, especially if your caseload already wasn't as full as you would like it to be. But I really see this summer season a bit differently. I believe summer can be one of the best times, if not the best time to work on your marketing.
Not from a place of hustle or panic, but really from a place of clarity. Having margin in your practice, in your life, in your mind, in your body, in your energy to make changes. So this slaying the Summer Slump series is designed to help you use this season strategically. It's meant to help you reset, realign, and really move into the fall season when we would expect to see that uptick with greater confidence and a lot more direction in your business.
Last week we kicked things off with a marketing self-audit. If you missed it, I highly recommend going back to episode nine. It's a really powerful exercise to identify what your greatest opportunities are for this season. You'll get a really clear map of what's working, but also what's not and where you should be focusing.
But today, in this second in the series, we're zooming in on something even deeper, how you show up. Because you can do all the audits engage in all the strategies, make all the SEO tweaks in the world. But if your marketing doesn't reflect who you actually are as a clinician, your voice, your values, your energy, your approach, then it's going to feel off to you and almost more importantly, to your potential clients.
They can feel it. Please know that when I say marketing, I don't just mean your website copy or your Psych today profile. I mean how you are showing up across the board in your Psych Today profile. Yes, but also in the way you describe your work to colleagues or new networking contacts, how you introduce yourself at events, whether that is with other therapists or with just regular old folks at a cocktail party.
In the tone of your emails, your responses to referrals. I'm talking everywhere you show up as a clinician. So today's episode is about getting clear, maybe clearer than you've ever been on what your practice is and what it isn't. Not just in theory, not just in your head, but in a way that actually shapes how you show up and how you speak to potential clients.
We're gonna talk about here, why this kind of clarity is ultimately so powerful and what it unlocks for you, why it also can feel incredibly vulnerable. We're gonna name that we're gonna look at it, but also how you can begin putting language to the version of your practice You actually want to build, not someone else's, not what you're told to want, but what you want to build.
My hope is that by the end of this episode. You're walking away with a really simple but incredibly effective tool for showing up more fully and authentically across all areas of your marketing. Now remember in our slaying the summer slum series, we end each episode with a challenge, something that you can do and actually take action on this week.
So stick around for that 'cause it's a good one this time. Alright, now as we get into this, I want you to start with a moment that hopefully feels familiar. Okay. You're in a session with a client. You're not overthinking. You're not trying to sound smart. You're present. You are there with your client.
You're attuned to what's happening in the room. You're picking up on the nuance of what your client is saying. You're trusting your own gut and intuition. You respond to your client with empathy. You challenge them. Maybe there's a little bit of your humor in there. You're not performing. You're just being, you are at your best.
That version of you, the one who is grounded and clear and fully in the work doing what you do best, that is your authentic clinician self. It's the version of you that your best clients connect with the most. It is the version of you that leads to those incredible outcomes and breakthroughs and transformations for your clients.
It's the version of you that makes you so glad you got into this line of work to begin with, and it's the version of you that needs to be coming through in your marketing. But here's the problem. Most therapists don't sound like that version of themselves in their marketing. They sound clinical, robotic, or just overly professional or contrived in a way that essentially flattens who they really are.
I don't get the dimension of how you're showing up in that room in your marketing. Now, please note that's not a judgment. Responding in that way, showing up that way. It's a really common response to. A, not knowing what to do, and B, the anxiety that can come from getting visible.
Because putting yourself out there, sharing your perspective, your tone, your personality, your voice, it feels vulnerable. There is absolutely no two ways about that. So instead, often therapists play it safe, they use fill in the blank templates that sound fine, but definitely not like them. They try to copy or reverse engineer what other therapists are doing.
Have you ever done this? You see someone post that their caseload is full, so you jump over to their website and try and figure out what they're doing. They assume that if someone else is booked out, their style must be the right one or ever done this. Plug prompts into chat, GPT.
And just take the first thing it spits out, even if it doesn't resonate, and it's quite frankly, word salad. It's through these things. It's through these exercises that often clinicians lose connection with their own voice. They write in circles, they edit end endlessly. What they do put out there in their marketing doesn't feel quite right, but they have absolutely no idea how to fix.
They end up putting things out there in their marketing that don't feel quite right, but they cannot put their finger on why. Sometimes the clinicians that I talk to don't even realize anything's wrong until they notice that they're just not getting consults or the ones that they are are not a great fit, and so they're forced to examine What's the disconnect here?
The clients aren't showing up ready to do the work. They're not resonating with this therapist's actual style and vibe, and so it creates this really low level frustration that's very, very hard to name and pinpoint.
Here's what I want you to hear today. If your marketing doesn't reflect the real you, that version of you, the one in the room doing powerful and attuned and meaningful work. Then your best fit clients may not realize that you're the therapist for them. If your marketing doesn't reflect the real you, your clients might not realize that you are actually the right fit for them.
They might end up scrolling past your profile. They might land on your site and leave without taking any action at all. And this isn't because you're not qualified, it's because they couldn't feel you. What is hopefully liberating to realize here is that marketing is not about crafting some perfect, flawless pitch.
It's about helping people feel who you are before they ever reach out to begin to cultivate connection that they respond to. And in order to do that, you have to bring your full self to the table, your real tone, your actual beliefs. The way you truly relate to your clients when you are in your zone, I want you to think about marketing from the place of that incredibly attuned, lit up in the zone clinician that you are in your very best sessions.
So before we can get into strategies or lists or copy tweaks, I want you to sit with this question. Have I been showing up as the clinician? I actually am. Because when that answer shifts from not really to heck yes, that is when your marketing can start to feel easier.
That's when it connects. That's when it clicks, that's when it converts, is when you show up as the clinician, you actually are.
The thing is you can't market a practice that you haven't clearly defined. That might sound obvious, and that might sound a little bit lofty, but I work with so many therapists who are technically on paper doing all the right things. They're networking, they're posting on social media or blogs. They're building their websites, they're writing their site today, profiles, whatever, but they've never really named who they are, what they're building, what they want, what they don't want, what they're moving toward, what they say no to.
So what ends up happening? Well, they write in really vague terms 'cause they don't actually know what they're working toward. They try to appeal to everyone. They rely on marketing that sounds safe and looks professional, quote unquote, but doesn't actually say much of anything. But this isn't a lack of effort, surely.
Like I said, these people on paper are doing exactly what they should be, but it's a lack of decision. It's a lack of clarity because when you haven't clearly defined what your practice is and is not who you are and are not who your clients are and are not. It is incredibly hard to make aligned marketing decisions because you're stuck.
Second guessing. You become very, very vulnerable to shiny object syndrome because you're not actually leading yourself in a clear direction, and you're constantly looking around to see what other therapists are doing because you don't have that strong internal compass guiding you. Do. You have an internal compass when it comes to your marketing and who you are as a clinician and how you show up.
That's why the challenge in this episode is about something deceptively simple, making a list of what your practice is and what it is not. Now, this isn't just a branding exercise. This is a tool. It can become a filter for your website, copy, for your networking conversations, your referral network, your pricing, your policies, everything.
When you do it right and you get this clear, it becomes the in internal compass that so many therapists that I work with lack. Let me give you an example. I have worked with a therapist for many years who early on in her practice had. Described her style as maybe warm and supportive, but the truth was, as she has evolved in her own work and her approach, the version of her that is today most effective in the room, the version that led to the best client outcomes was incredibly direct.
She has a really incredible ability to call things out clearly, compassionately, yes, but clearly. She doesn't let people cut corners. She's not gonna beat around the bush. But her marketing, when we had written from that warm and supportive place, it didn't reflect that it was soft, kind of neutral, rounded at the edges.
But as she underwent this evolution and got really honest about the fact that her approach was direct and a little bit sharper.
Then we sharpened the language. We added just a little bit more edge to how she presents herself, just enough to reflect the strength and the clarity that she really brings into sessions. And guess what? It worked. I heard from her that within weeks she started getting consults from people saying things like, I knew when I read your profile that you were exactly who I was looking for.
Or I'm really seeking someone who's not gonna let me stay stuck. She was hearing those things from people because they resonated. These are the clients who are ultimately going to thrive in their work with her. They love her approach. They're ready for the work and for this clinician. That all started with a decision of, this is who I am now and this is who I'm not.
What a great example of the fact that you can evolve the way you put yourself out there today. May not be how you put yourself out there three years from now, but it needs to be authentic and it needs to be honest about what people can expect in the room with you, because the less friction there is between who you are in your marketing and who you are in the room.
The more congruence there is and connection people can find early on before they even reach out.
When you define what your practice is and isn't, you stop diluting yourself. You stop defaulting to what feels safe or familiar. You stop marketing to people who are never going to reach out in the first place. That one can sting a little bit. Are you marketing to people who aren't gonna reach out in the first place and instead you start building something that actually feels good to be inside of.
Now, like I mentioned earlier, this kind of clarity is not just in one part of your marketing, not just your website or your site today. This changes how you show up. It cha changes the energy that you bring to your marketing, how you show up to your practice as the leader that you are. It gives you direction and it hopefully also gives your potential clients something very, very real to connect with.
So what's something about your practice that you've been afraid to say out loud?
Have you ever thought about that?
On the flip side, what's something that your practice is not, that you've been trying to accommodate? Anyway,
we'll put this into action in a few minutes, but just notice now what comes up. What's something your practice is that you've been afraid to say out loud, and what's something your practice is not that you've been trying to accommodate anyway?
Now, when you avoid making those decisions, answering those questions, when you stay really broad in general, or good enough. Or maybe you leave things really vague because you're afraid to take a stand. It doesn't feel like a big problem at first. That's what's so interesting. It's kind of a quiet culprit.
You think I'll just get the website up and fix that part later, or this doesn't totally sound like me, but better than nothing. But over time, that lack of clarity starts to cost you. And it costs you some really expensive things. The first is momentum, because you're putting things out into the world. You are putting energy behind getting yourself out there, but it doesn't land.
You're posting, you're networking, you're updating, you're writing, but it doesn't actually translate into clients, or worse, it translates into consults. But with clients who aren't the right fit and you have to get off yet another consultation defeated. Because you had that little flutter in your tummy when you saw the consult come through, and how disappointing to get off the phone and it not be the right fit.
And the second thing that this costs you is doubt. And I only know this because I've seen it be true in many of the therapists that I work with. You start wondering if something's wrong with you, with your fee, with your marketing strategy. And you start thinking, maybe you're just bad at this. You're not cut out for it, it's not gonna work.
Everyone else knows something you don't. But often the real issue isn't actually your strategy. It's the disconnect between who you are, that authentic clinician self, and how you're showing up.
And that doubt can haunt you and really detract from the results that are possible. The interesting other cost here is perceived value. What do I mean by that? When people can't tell, what makes you different? They default to comparing you based on two things, price or convenience. Do you want to be evaluated based on price or convenience in your practice?
If you're like most of the therapists that I work with, the answer is no. You end up getting a lot more price resistance or maybe you just get ghosted altogether. Clients hesitate 'cause they're not really sure if you're the right person. People make decisions about your value, whether you like it or not.
We all do it as humans. Based on what they see in your marketing. And so when you aren't showing up with this authenticity, when you are avoiding taking a stand, when you are staying generic to please others, you lack value in the eyes of your clients. The good news is that this is fixable and it isn't about having to be louder.
It's just about being clearer. But clarity is always going to start. From the inside owning who you are and what your practice is really and truly about. So here's your challenge for this week, and it's one of my favorites. It's simple, but it is powerful. And if you really do it, I don't mean just listen to this podcast episode and move on.
I mean, if you really do this, then it can reshape how you show up across all of your marketing.
So after this episode, I want you to sit down and I want you to make two short lists. One titled My Practice Is And the Other. My Practice is Not Two Lists. This is a space to get honest. No one else has to see it. It's just for you. Start with five bullet points for each list. Challenge yourself to at least list five, and don't overthink it.
No one's gonna see this anyway. Just name what is true. I'll give you a couple of examples to get your gears turning. My practice is built to support my wellbeing, not just my clients. A space where honesty matters more than comfort. Designed for clients ready to do deep, sometimes uncomfortable work worthy of a premium fee because of the depth and quality of care.
I provide an intentional space, not a one size fits all solution.
My practice is not. A fit for people who aren't ready to reflect, take ownership, or try new things built to coddle rescue, or people please about giving you homework just to say you got something practical designed to burn me out, underpay me, or compromise my boundaries. A match for clients looking for rigid structure or quick fixes.
Those are some examples. Did any resonate with you? I'm curious. Know that you can make this as clinical or as casual as you want, but the point is to define what you are building and who you're building it for. Then once you've got your lists, use them as a filter. Use them as that filter for everything that you do.
Maybe you revisit one part of your marketing this week, your website homepage, your profile, your networking intro. Even just the way you describe your work to a friend or a colleague. We might call that a niche statement. Does it reflect who you actually are or is it still playing it safe? As always, you don't need to overhaul everything today, but pick one thing to update.
One place where you can show up just a little more clearly, a little more fully.
If you're listening to this right now, feeling the summer slump, things are a little quiet. Maybe you're not sure what to do next. There's lots of thumb twiddling where you would normally have sessions. This kind of clarity is one of the most powerful places you can start. Because when your marketing isn't landing, the instinct is so often to just do more, tweak this post that add one more thing to your to-do list.
But more action will not help if the foundation isn't aligned. And that's what we're doing here. We're laying the foundation. We are rooting you in who you are. That authentic clinician self, the version of you who is in the zone. Lit up serving your clients well so that every future marketing decision has something to stand on.
This is the kind of work that can set you up for a stronger fall, because when things pick up again and they will, what you've built through this slower season will start to compound because your messaging will be clearer, your referrals will feel more aligned. You'll be showing up with more confidence, more conviction, more ease.
But that all starts with naming what is true, what your practice is, what it's not, who it's for, who it isn't. So that's your challenge this week. Take some time to do this list, even if feel simple, even if it, if you think you already know, put it in writing and let it shape one part of your marketing this week.
Then maybe notice what shifts externally. Certainly I'm curious what you change, but also internally too in how it feels to show up that way,
because this is how you can make the most of this season by showing up more fully, more clearly, and more you. As you do this exercise, I would love to hear from you. Jump over into our Get Booked Out Facebook community. If you're not there already, you'll find a link in the show notes or head over to Instagram. We are officially on Instagram at Walker Strategy Co. Send me a dm. I would love to know what you're taking away from this one, and I'll talk to you next week.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com
Confident Copy: walkerstrategyco.com/cc
Follow on Instagram: @walkerstrategyco
Join the Get Booked Out Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/getbookedout
Past Episodes to Check Out:
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About Marketing Therapy
Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.
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