Passive Income Strategy for Metal Health Professionals

Hey, Pie Tribe. Welcome back to another episode of the Passive Income Examiner. I'm your host Lindsay Sutherland. I was just taking a look here at my episode tracking sheet and realized it's episode 99. Oh my goodness. Just saying that sounds so surreal. I wanna remind you about the 100th-episode giveaway going on right now. I'm giving away a free strategy session to everyone who does the next three things. So it's really simple, I promise. 1) Follow me on Instagram. If you don't already. 2) Share one of my posts and tag me in it. 3) DM me the word 'STRATEGY,' and we will get you on the calendar and get you booked. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for this momentous occasion, at first, I intended to only offer one or two sessions to the first or second person or do a drawing or something.

I was kind of noodling over how this contest would look. And my second thought was, "NO! I am on a mission here to make a big impact and help as many people as I can. And I'm not limiting this!" Now friends don't take this lightly because I currently charge $95 for a strategy session for maybe like a business that's looking for a mapping session or content strategy session, just kind of a one-off type of a thing. So this is a $95 value I'm offering you for free, right now, by simply doing the three things I said. Plus you only have between now and next week to take advantage of it because that's when the 100th episode is gonna air. So get on the ball. I can't wait to get to know you. I wanna hear your dreams. I wanna hear your plans.

I want to be able to watch you grow and connect with you on Instagram and follow along as your passive income strategies skyrocket. So please reach out to me.

I've been meeting a lot of people on LinkedIn too. I've been connecting with frankly, a lot of people in the mental health industry. And I thought it was interesting that this was coming up for me, and just a little side note, this episode might seem a little bit out of my norm and it is, but I wanted to take a moment after connecting with these people to really acknowledge and honor the people who are working in the mental health industry. Many of whom are supporting or have supported so many people in the U.S. and around the world.

I've had the pleasure of getting to know these people. And I wanna tell you about that and what I've learned. Plus, there are a couple of them that I've really been talking to about their business. I've got some strategy tips here towards the end that can apply to really any business that is part of the time for money exchange. So whether you're a therapist or counselor, mental health, professional, or massage therapist or chiropractor — anything along that lines where your clients pay you a fee for the service, even nail techs, things like that, you know, where you're, literally only get paid if you do that hour of your time or dedicate that specific time to that client, for that experience, whatever that may be. That's, who can benefit from this episode. So stay tuned. Even if you aren't in the mental health industry, you might learn something about that industry and actually find a new appreciation for the people who are out there in the world helping people who are struggling with their mental health, which is such a debilitating place to be anyway.

It's a profession I definitely feel our country needs more than ever.

So, as I said, I've really been enjoying getting to know so many of these people and getting to know more about who they help and how they serve. One thing I've noticed. So many of these men and women share something in common which is a deep desire to help others who have been where they are or who are going through something similar, like a similar struggle that they've already overcome. I feel like this is really what connects us. I think it's part of why I've been connecting with this genre of people because we both seem to have a congruent desire to make an impact in other people's lives and do it in a way that we've learned to elevate our own self in some way, shape or form.

And so maybe that's the thread that has us connected. I'm not quite sure, but it certainly seems to be a similarity. I must say most of the people I meet are so cheerful, it's really been rewarding for me, which is why I wanna dedicate this episode today to all of you in the mental health industry. That's who this episode is here to help.

One thing I've learned is there is a lot of red-tape, they go through. Especially when dealing with insurance or Medicare. Often they spend hours or have someone on their team spend hours, literally chasing money that at the end of the day, they just might not get, sometimes they just don't get paid. Maybe the insurance company just says, "Nope," for who knows what reason.

I can't even imagine, you know, pouring your heart out, letting all this compassion flow through you while you help your client. And then at the end of the day, you have to eat the time, your time, essentially. My gosh, it's incredible discouraging. I know some of these people have even admitted they wonder at times if it is even worth it? Is it even worth the hassle of dealing with hours they spend on paperwork?

The only thing I can equate it to is this time when my sister was working for her husband, who was a naturopath, and I remember she was his office manager and she told me all about the intricacies of trying to deal with insurance. It's just such a beast. So some of these practices, you know, these smaller practices, maybe can't even afford to hire help, or it's not feasible.

And the finances to pay somebody to help with this, or finding good people that can be reliable is another challenge. Like there's just so much like it's like the ultimate small business, you know, where you're kind of wearing all the hats. Like you've heard me talk about that probably so much on the podcast, but the dedication you all must have, not just to your profession, but to your clients to work through that. And to truly push past that headache, just to serve people who are seeking help is astonishing. And I really admire that. Here's another interesting factoid. I learned professional counselors, psychologists in some cases, therapists, In some cases they are limited to helping people in a specific geographical area. So apparently it's regulated by each state. So some states are looser on it than others, but like a realtor who who's licensed in California and maybe Oregon, so they can sell or buy, you know, sell or buy for a client in one of those two states.

But they can't in Washington, cuz they're not licensed there. Therapists can sometimes be restricted in areas like that, depending on where they live. And then here we go with other people out there in the world, which again, I, I came up in this like self-help industry, right, where I learned from coaches, I've met coaches, you know, looked at my own coaching program and all of that. And here are coaches who are putting themselves out into the world as mental health mentors, or, they're not putting themselves out as counselors. They're putting themselves out there as a coach and they're not re held to the same standards and restrictions. So it just seems really unfair. And I'm thinking if I was somebody who went and paid for my higher education, built my practice, you know, doing it all by the book and then to see the coaching industry take off the way it has, like that could just be such a rub.

You know what I mean? So I don't really understand why there is a restriction. I'm personally not really clear on that, but I'm sure somewhere along the way, somebody thought it was wise somewhere and maybe they still do. But I heard that, during COVID some of the states lifted the restrictions, because of all the mental health crisis that had begun plaguing, the people that were in lockdown. And then now I'm hearing that a lot of these same states are starting to enforce those regulations again. And it just seems so counterproductive. You know, when we have people willing to help people, it just doesn't really make sense to me. But again, I'm not in that industry personally, so maybe there's a good reason for it. I don't know, but that's just my 2 cent, you know, to me it seems like a tough profession to be in, when you look at it like first getting the education, like I said, going, getting your ongoing educational credits, working through the hiccups and the legalities, dealing with insurance companies and all their red tape.

And then on top of all of that, carrying the weight of the anguish that your clients expel on you in their sessions. And I just literally was thinking about this is why this episode is happening because I'm thinking it's got to take an enormous amount of mental strength and a deep compassion to just bear those burdens, you know, to keep persevering. And I, again, I'm just, I'm inspired by all of you. And I want people who are unfamiliar with this perspective to really understand and appreciate this. It's, definitely something to admire. And I know we all work in industries where we all put up with a lot of crazy cred, but to me to do this, just to make a difference in someone's life in that capacity is just so I don't know, it's just so kind really, and I just felt that it was necessary to extend my gratitude.

Now it made me ask, and this is a question for you too, who takes care of the mental health professionals, like who takes care of the mental health of the mental health professionals? Like that was my thought. I was like, thinking about that as I'm writing this and, you know, in a way it's kind of funny cuz of the way it sounds and the joke, but it's not funny because that's a lot of intense in stress just from running a business is stressful, but you know, managing the intricacies of your business, plus dealing with the things for your clients. I can imagine that if so many of these people started out with these good, true compassionate hearts, which I cannot imagine, otherwise it's got to be something that weighs on you, especially when you have somebody who's really struggling, like to think about them, even when you're not in session like that mental weight, you know, that just, something that I know has to be part of it.

And to some degree, I'm sure, you know, there's another sticky point I see in some professionals in this industry and that is that their income is tied to clients and their, personal time that is dedicated to seeing these clients. So again, mental health professionals being one, but chiropractors are an example, massage therapist and so on, you know, and I bet it can be a real challenge to do, take a vacation, especially when you have repeat clients that are accustomed to having you having that regular visit, like they get comfortable in their routine and it could be disruptive to their, to their progress I imagine. And it can also be difficult to cope with things like maternity leave or maybe your own family crisis. What about a sudden death in the family or something like that? My gosh, one woman I spoke to, she has her own health, physical health issues that she's been dealing with and, has been prompting her to wanna limit her time, seeing patients and not really because she wants to get out of the industry.

Although I sense that if she could, she would just because she's coping with what she has going on, but mostly she's reducing her time because it's a lot of strain on her to deal with what she's doing on top of helping her clients, even just sharing this with you. Now, it makes me a little teary eyed because I can feel that like, I don't know. Can you, can you imagine what that would be like to be dealing with your own personal, ongoing issue? And you have to set that aside to help somebody who in their moment is, you know, verbally vomiting, whatever crisis they're dealing with and you're trying to maintain your own, you know, sanity to help them through it. Like that just takes enormous, enormous, uh, golly, strength, compassion. I'm truly impressed. Like I'm almost speechless just thinking about it.

So, you know, I really truly wanna help people who are in this industry who are looking for a way to bring in an income that doesn't require you sitting in front of a client to make that, make that money. Not because you don't love what you do and not because you don't wanna be there for your clients because I know absolutely you do. But because heaven forbid like something happens, right? Like what if the word I don't even wanna say, like, I don't wanna put the Juju out there, but imagine if you know, something came up and your, you couldn't perform your duty the way you do now, or it put even more stress on your plate to continue to perform this obligation that you've put your heart and soul into. You know, it just makes sense that on some level there should be an alternative source of income as a buffer, as a cushion to give you that grace, when you wanna take a vacation or, you know, if you want to stockpile the money away and retire early, I don't know.

Maybe you get yourself to a point where you only take cash paying clients and you stop dealing with the headache of Medicare health insurance. And to do that, you only wanna see three or four people, you know, a day or a week. However, it goes, you get what I'm saying? Like it is just at some point we just don't know what could happen. Right. We just don't know what we don't know. So it makes sense to have something there. Now I would say if you were to look at your website and look at the various problems you solve, okay, so this is where we're getting into some of the teaching. Every single person I've noticed in the health profession tends to specialize in a certain area, right? Maybe you specialize in divorce, people going through divorce, or maybe you specialize in child trauma.

Maybe you specialize in, I don't know, veteran PTSD, whatever, you know, the PTSD could not just always be veterans, but you get my gist, but even then those are still considered, broad topics. Okay. So I would look at it even under a more of a magnifying glass, more of a microscopic lens. Okay. And ask your yourself, what are some of the actual issues that are plaguing the individuals that you help? Okay. So for example, what are their coping mechanisms with what they're doing? So,let's say for example, you executives cope with interoffice stress. And I'm choosing that because I would think that's probably a profession with an intense amount of stress and it could be any form of executive, right? So we're talking high level execs or upper management of a corporation or a business.

And that maybe that's your niche. And that sounds really niche in, but what are their symptoms? What's their symptoms of their stress or their coping mechanisms. Let's say, for example, and by the way, I'm totally riffing this, but it seems to be coming together pretty well. Let's just say you find that a lot of women who are in a corporate situation who are dealing with the stress of running an organization and being a mom and all those things, right. Let's say, they tend to be shopaholics and maybe even online shopaholics or something like that, where it can be done in their office or covertly, shall we say, and maybe this is their symptom. This is what they go to when they're reacting to the stress, rather than being aware of the stress. They're like, oh, well, you know, I saw a sale and I just couldn't help myself.

And now I have 200 pairs of shoes or something, you know, I don't know, but let's say that's the symptoms. So here's what you can do to create a passive income stream around this. Like, this is not, this is not a joke. This is like really what I would do. If you were my client, you were sitting in front of me, I would ask you these questions, I would say, okay, who do you help? Right. So we established the CEOs. It's a broad topic. And then I would say, great. Now what are some of the really specific things that they struggle with? And you might say, well, I noticed that especially female CEOs, they tend to be shopaholics. And that's just our coping mechanism. And they seem to not be able to stop. And it's putting a strain, on them because the more they spend, the more they have to work and they feel stuck in their job.

Right! it just creates a snowball and so on. So then what we would do is we would work together to establish a course or a program that isn't necess is, its more along the lines of helping women that are shopaholics. And yes, we might target specifically that industry, CEO, female CEO, specific, if that's really a real thing. Like I said, I just, Adlib that. But if let's say that was a, a legitimate case and a consistency you saw in your industry, then that would be the ideal person to target. You would know who is going to buy this and the coolest, let me rephrase that. It's not cool. I get excited and geek out a little bit when it comes to marketing. So forgive me. But what I'm, what I'm getting at is the, even more important reason why this specific course or coaching program would be important is because I'll bet many women don't recognize their stress as the trigger for their shopping problem, right. They just know they have a shopping problem. So we would market to them to say, Hey, let's help you save your money and cure your shopping problem so that you can live a fill in the blank, more fulfilling life, right?

And it's also one of those symptoms that women are not gonna want to share. Maybe it's causing problems in their marriage. You know, it could be a very embarrassing thing, which I think probably a lot of mental health issues are embarrassing. I'm sure, but you get my drift, right? This isn't something that someone's necessarily gonna reach out to a therapist for, because they may not really recognize it as being that level of a problem, right? It's almost a joke at this point in their life. And B it's also something that is a real issue. They don't recognize it, but you can help. You can really make a difference. And you can show them by this little mini course or this little program, how their symptom is exemplary of something bigger than what's in front of them. And then the beautiful part about it is you are not, this is an online business, this isn't something like you are not offering specific counseling.

You're not offering any medication. There's no, you know, now again, obviously I don't wanna get anybody in trouble. If you have regulations that prevent this, you have to know that. And I'm sure you do. But I think for the most part, this is a workaround I've seen a lot of therapists that mental health people, mental health people I've talked to talk about is, yeah, I have my therapy business where I charge insurance and I do all that. But you know, for cash pay, I just run it through a separate entity. And it's my coaching business. So I don't know if that works for you. That's what somebody told me works for them. So please don't like, go do that based on just Lindsay's testimony but in the end, if that is true for you, and you can do that, the strategy is to what we just talked about.

So take the broader topic, break it down by symptom, create a course or program or an ebook around the solution to that symptom. Because again, this is the psychology. This is the point I'm trying to drive home. It. What people need is a solution to their problem. You know, that they're problem being a therapist. Let's say, you know, that their root problem is stress and the stress of their job, because they're a CEO because you see it in your industry, but to the woman who is going to work in her executive job every day and who finds herself without even realizing it on her favorite, online boutique, shopping up a Wazoo sending it to her mom's house so she can pick it up and hope her husband doesn't find out, right. That is an addiction. And she isn't aware of it to the same capacity.

She just knows that it's causing a problem in her marriage. And she wishes she could do something about it, but she just, just can't seem to, it's just speaking to that person in that, in that symptom mindset. So that's really the takeaway today. And, and then again, that goes for anybody who's, if you're a chiropractor or a massage therapist and you want to create or develop a course or a program or an ebook focus on a symptom and a solution to that, you know, on a quick little bunny trail, cuz I don't want to take up too much time. There was a chiropractor I was working with just to give you an example. He was really good at helping people resolve their back pain to the point where they didn't need the chiropractor anymore. He had specific exercises that he would give his clients to help their ailment.

So they wouldn't have to come back again. And so we had put together a content strategy all around this specific topic. Now at the time he was working with his wife who was an insurance broker and was really busy. And so I don't think he actually ended up moving forward with this because he just ended up working with his wife. But it's the same principle that you take the symptom and then you develop a program around that. So let's say in his case, for example, we broke out all of the different specific ailments that he noticed were more chronic than others. Obviously we wanted to not necessarily pick out just very isolated issues, like a specific, you know, hereditary issue or whatnot. It was really focusing on bigger issues. Like for example, I think he, if I recall correctly, it's been a little bit, but if I recall correctly, he helped people with back injuries from like work related problems, like lifting too much, things like that.

So he had specific techniques to help people resolve these issues. And obviously he encouraged them to see their chiropractor, but continue to do these exercises in the meantime, to help offer a more permanent solution. So you get where I'm coming from. That is the psychology behind the marketing to help you develop a program or an ancillary program. And just use that to bring in extra income. And for some people they might even want seek out your services as a cash pay basis. And you may be able to work around some of the issues you have. I don't know about that, but that's an opportunity for you to explore, at least in the meantime, you know, cuz something, I, I think I will say this and talking with so many people, something I see is they get stuck in a routine therapists, counselors, chiropractors, whatever the case is, they're stuck in a routine just like everybody else, right?

Show up to their office, they do their paperwork or some of their admin duties. They get started for their day. They see their patients, they go home and there, isn't always a lot of thought about the, what if scenario and that's kind of why I brought that up. And then when that day comes, it's kind of like, oh crud, what do I do now? How do I get out of this? But we don't wanna wait till that day. Right? We wanna be prepared for that day. And so imagine if you had a program that was already thriving and producing and, heaven forbid something happened, but you could just take that time off and have that peace of mind. That's really the beauty behind what I'm offering you today. I hope it was helpful. I hope you found that to be beneficial and maybe expanded your mind in an, in a new way. so to speak. If you would like to reach out to me and, and have that strategy session, take advantage of that hundredth episode because that's the time to do it. I love having creative conversations with professionals and I love to connect with you as well. So thank you so much for tuning in until next week. Bye for now!