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You kids I can't even with Catherine Newman right now because I am a Wreck and a Sandwich myself at the moment but wow, she's a good writer, so honest it's like there's no skull between her mind and the readers. We talk about what it means to use yourself and your world in your fiction and what it's meant to Catherine to play as big as she possibly can and go bigger and deeper with every book.We ALSO talk about Catherine's totally granular technique for planning and tracking and keeping her eye on the ball in every chapter while still pulling in all the other things while making sure that if it's Friday night a teacher character doesn't get up and go to teach the next morning and the blackberries never ripen in April, and let me tell you that I just went back and listened to that now and I am about to implement it because it's brilliant.Ok, time to let you listen (although links to what Catherine and I are reading and loving are below). ALSO…Truth? We wanted to tuck the transcript away behind a paywall, but it turns out we can't do that and still give you the episode… so, here it is. But we have to pay someone to make a good one, that you can read. And we still have to pay ourselves and all our people. BUT LOOK YOU GET ALL OF US. We're not just one writer, we're a whole bunch—a Groupstack, and yes we coined the term, and you get a lot of bang for your subscription. So, if you could kick in, we'd cheer.Please don't make us try to sell you Quince clothing or gambling sites to support the pod.#AmReadingCatherine: A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam ToewsKJ: EPISODE TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaIt's fall, y'all, and there's got to be a T-shirt that says that, right? So it's, you know, fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, sharpened sense of ambition, excitement after the languid summer days, and, of course, the glory that is decorative gourd season. You can say that with all the swears that you like, but I'm not going to hear “falling leaves” and “Halloween,” which means it's time for smoky, eerie, witchy reads, and I have just the thing for you—Playing the Witch Card. Expect a woman starting over again after her marriage collapses, hampered by her magic-obsessed daughter, her flaky mother, her enchanted ex, and a powerful witch who's thrilled that she's back in town—and not for a good reason. To keep her family together, Flair has to embrace the hereditary magic that's done nothing but ruin her life in the past and make it her own. I was inspired by what I see as the real magic of tarot cards, which play a huge role in this book—and tea leaves and palm reading, and honestly, every form of oracle. They're here to help us see and understand our own stories, which is pretty much what Flair figures out. And as someone for whom stories are everything, I love that. You can buy Playing the Witch Card everywhere, and I hope you will do exactly that—and love it too.Multiple SpeakersIs it recording? Now it's recording, yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay, now—one, two, three.KJ Dell'AntoniaHey, kids, it's KJ, and this is the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast—the place where we help you play big in your writing life, love the process, and finish what matters. Today on the pod, I'm talking with Catherine Newman. She is the author most recently of We All Want Impossible Things and Sandwich, and also, earlier in her career, Waiting for Birdy and Catastrophic Happiness, as well as two fabulous “how to be a person in the world” books for kids that, honestly, I think we could all benefit from. I'm considering just, you know, sending out copies. They are How to Be a Person and What Can I Say?—that one's really useful. Okay, so now, just out, she has Wreck—which kind of comes after Sandwich, but you could read them separately. They're both small, intense books. Wreck, like all of Catherine's work, is inevitably about exactly what I just said—it's how to be a person in the world. Which—I didn't actually ask Catherine this; I'm recording my intro for y'all after talking to her—but she would not tell you she knows how to be a person in the world. But she is so fantastic about the part where we're all figuring it out, and being aware that we're all figuring it out. And that's what all of her books are about. In the interview, which you're going to love, she calls herself the queen of the slight plot element, which made me laugh really hard and also made me realize that I think Catherine Newman is the modern Anne Tyler. So tell me what you think in the comments on the show notes—which you'd better be getting. They are at...there's no hashtag in our name—AmWritingPodcast.com—or search anywhere they will have the books that Catherine mentions, and also all of your chances to do all of the things, like have your First Page appear in a Booklab episode. Talk to us. Get in there. Tell us what you're thinking about writing. Write along with us. Really just—just all the community stuff that we all so desperately want. Okay, here comes my interview with Catherine. I know—gosh, it was so fun to talk to you. You guys are going to love it. Catherine Newman, welcome to the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast, where you've been at least once, maybe twice—I need to go and look. It's so fun to have you back. I remember us walking in the woods before you had finished We All Want Impossible Things in 2021.Catherine NewmanI remember it too.KJ Dell'AntoniaWhich, actually, for three books, is not that long ago.Catherine NewmanHey, that's true. I know... I remember your dog.KJ Dell'AntoniaHe's here somewhere.Catherine NewmanYou had a young dog with you. It was the best. And you—you said so many things that I've thought about so much on that walk. But I don't want to derail the thing you want to talk about.KJ Dell'AntoniaBut, but same—it was a great walk. We must do it again. All right, meanwhile—okay, so I already described in the introduction all the things you've ever written in the past and raved about you, so don't—don't worry about that. You've been—sorry you don't get to hear the petting. But the question is, tell us—tell us a little bit about Wreck.Catherine NewmanYeah, so Wreck...KJ Dell'AntoniaI know, I know, it's painful. Elevator pitch or whatever you want to say, because seriously, I did just tell everyone about them in the intro.Catherine NewmanI really need an elevator pitch. I feel like We All Want Impossible Things was like a woman whose best friend was dying while she, like, slept with everybody.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, it was joyful.Catherine NewmanThat was easy.KJ Dell'AntoniaAlso sad.Catherine NewmanSandwich was like Cape Cod for a week, reproductive mayhem, sandwich generation. Wreck is so weird because there's these two sort of very slight plot elements. So it's, you know, a woman in her mid-50s living in a house with her husband of many years, her daughter, who's between college and grad school, and her dad, who was fairly recently widowed and in his 90s. And that's mostly what the book is, but the little plots are that she has a rash—she notices that she has a rash—and it inaugurates this kind of diagnostic tornado. A slow and quiet tornado, but a tornado nonetheless, where she has to see a billion doctors. She has to constantly check her patient portal to see if she's dying or not, and anyone who's had—who's been anything but healthy in the last 10 years will understand the patient portal.KJ Dell'AntoniaYes, I love the checker. I checked a patient portal from a hockey-rink parking lot, and that's a mistake, just FYI.Catherine NewmanJust don't...KJ Dell'AntoniaTo anyone considering it, don't do it on a Friday night. Don't do that.Catherine NewmanJust don't even look. And then the other plot point is that there's an accident—there's a collision between a car and a train—and a schoolmate of her kids, like someone they went to high school with, is killed in this accident. And she becomes kind of weirdly obsessed with the accident. She looks at it online all the time. She stalks everyone's...KJ Dell'AntoniaWhich so tracks for the character that you have created.Catherine NewmanDoesn't it? And that's it. And so the book sort of is those things unfolding in this parallel way—these uncertain things.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo when you wrote it, what—what was your intention for this? What did you want Wreck to be in your career and for your readers?Catherine NewmanWhat? It's so funny to be asked questions about my career. I don't know what I wanted it to be in my career, but maybe while I'm talking to you, I'll figure that out.KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay.Catherine NewmanOr you can tell me. But for my readers—I do think we're in this funny place where some of us are hungry to read about the experiences of other menopausal women who are taking care of aging parents, whose nests are emptying, who are in long marriages, who are, you know, doing the things of this age, including tracking weird illnesses. So I guess that—you know, I think, I feel like the thing that I love about writing—one of the things—is when people say to me, like, “Oh yeah, I feel the same way about that,” or they write me and they're like, “Oh, I read this, and I felt so relieved that I wasn't alone.” And I guess I have a lot of that hope—you know, that it speaks to someone, or someone's been in their portal rummaging around and finding out horrible things about their health and Googling them. Like, that's not a small part of the population who's probably doing that. So I guess just that—you know, the handout, the “I'm with you on this” vibe.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo what do you love most about it?Catherine Newman(Laughing) I mean, that's a funny and embarrassing question. I... you know, the father character is based very closely on my own father. Many of the things he says are verbatim lifted from conversations and texts with my dad. And I just love that character so much. I think he's so funny and has this kind of deep wisdom. I mean, Wreck plays him for laughs a little bit, but he offers so much to her. He's still this really profound caretaking force in her life, even though he himself, you know, is failing in different ways. So I guess that's what I like.KJ Dell'AntoniaHow does your dad feel about you taking his stuff?Catherine NewmanHe loved this book.KJ Dell'AntoniaI love this!Catherine NewmanHe has not felt that way always about the way I represent him. I represent him in Sandwich in similar ways, and Sandwich—there were just particular things that bugged him. He loved the book overall but didn't love his character. I think in this book, maybe because there's so much of his character, that it gets to be a very well-rounded kind of person, and also somebody whose opinion it's obvious the other characters respect. So he really loved it, which was, like, everything to me, you know?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, oh, wow. I'd give a lot for that. That's—that's wonderful. I would—it's... although all my dad ever says is, “Why don't you—you only write about mothers? You never write...” I'm like, well, I don't know if you read some of the mothers. You're kind of lucky. You're doing okay. I don't know why—you guys were great. You should have been better fodder for affection, and then I would... yeah. All right. So, okay, so that's what you love about it. What was the hardest about this?Catherine NewmanIt's funny—it's a little hard to talk about without spoilers, but, um, there's a difficult part of the plot that involves Rocky's son, who works for a consulting firm in New York, where she really questions his values, questions the decision to do that kind of work.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat would stun me, frankly.Catherine NewmanHowever, he knows a lot about that kind of work, and talked to me a ton about it for the book—like, went on a million walks with me and let me pick his brain about it. And I really just found it so hard to write about this kind of painful conflict between Rocky and her son. I just found it really hard. Yeah...KJ Dell'AntoniaObviously, yeah, that's actually what you did, wasn't it?Catherine NewmanI can imagine... that's it. I imagined it. And honestly, my husband could hardly stand to read it. He found it so devastating. Just—and it's, as you know, it's not massive conflict. It's like...KJ Dell'AntoniaBut it is. It's...Catherine NewmanBut it is. YepKJ Dell'AntoniaI mean, it's, you know—Catherine NewmanYep.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's it—goes back to Alex Keaton, right? [Unintelligible] Both of us, yeah, yeah, no, I get it. It's a really—and by writing it, even if it's not autobiographical, which it's not, it's fiction, you are saying something about some compatriots, you know, some other—you're really, you're—you're putting—you're putting a stake in the ground, which I think has always been pretty obvious for anyone who knows you or has read you, but maybe you had not verbalized even in a fictional form.Catherine NewmanHmm, maybe.KJ Dell'AntoniaCould feel judgmental because—it's judgmental (whispered). But it's values. That's what values do. A value that doesn't judge anyone isn't a value, even if you don't want to judge people. But I think it's kind of true, like...Catherine NewmanYeah, yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou can also be open. But, I mean, that's—I don't know if, if you don't offer that up, then we're all just sitting here going, “Oh, it's fine. It's all...”Catherine NewmanEverything's fine.KJ Dell'AntoniaEverything's fine, it's fine. That's a joke in our house, because we had this Spanish exchange student, and he would always say, “Oh, it's fine,” when—and it—what that meant was, it wasn't.Catherine NewmanOh no, it wasn't fine.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no... that's what it means when we say, “It's fine.”Catherine NewmanOh my God, KJ.KJ Dell'AntoniaAll right, so this kind of gets to, I think, my next question, which—which is, what about this was, um, bigger for you? Was a bigger leap to take in your writing?Catherine NewmanIt's like, you know, I think it's just a little more plot in a novel than I've ever managed. Even though, you know—don't laugh because there's not a ton of plot. But nonetheless, there were sort of these two vectors of significant—I thought—dramatic contention that I had to manage in the writing, and—and I was anxious about it. Like, I—I like a quiet story that's not like—is too plot-driven. But anyway, so that is—it was, you know, I definitely plotted it a little more actively before I wrote it, like I wanted to make sure that these plots were unfolding in the timeframe I wanted them to unfold in.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd did that present some new, like, “Oops, I did this too fast, oops...” just that you hadn't really had to...?Catherine NewmanNo, because I plotted it. It actually didn't, but it just presented—before I started writing, I had the challenge of, you know, practically trying to graph these two plots to see where they would intersect, and—and the sort of ways that the two plots together create this kind of character arc for Rocky, the main character. And so I was—I just, like—I usually, I have this way that I plot stuff, and it's kind of based on that book that I use because of you, which is like, you know, Put On Your Pants—or Take Off Your Pants, or, you know, the book...KJ Dell'AntoniaOh yeah, oh yeah.Catherine NewmanAnd—and I, so I do this thing where I make a—I write down the numbers 1 to 25, and I print that. I print a piece of paper that has the numbers 1 through 25 in type font. I don't know why I don't just hand-write the whole thing. That—and I guess the thought's how many chapters it's going to be, but it's never quite right. And then I fill in what I know. So I put in everything I know, and guess where it's going to go in terms of the—what are the things? What's it called when it's like a thing...?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, the... the turning point or the...Catherine NewmanOr the beat...KJ Dell'AntoniaOr the moment of last resolve? Yeah, the beat!Catherine NewmanYeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Catherine NewmanSo I fill in everything, like, I know, you know. I have a sense of how it's going to open. I have a sense of the different elements of the two plots, and I put them in this weird numbered-chapter thing. And usually—like, usually as if I've written so many books—but with the other two novels, I did that a little willy-nilly, and it was fine. Like, I sat down and wrote the books beginning to end without all of it totally sorted in terms of where everything would go, and that was fine. This book, I really had to understand where it was all going to go, so I had to just be sure that all of the most important plot points were plotted in that 1-through-25.KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you? I mean, you have a lot of moving emotional pieces too. Asking for a friend—how do you make sure that those are all resolved? Or do you? Or does it just happen?Catherine NewmanThat's a really good question. I hope they're resolved, or if they're not, that that's intentional, by the way. Yeah, I—I'm just thinking about, like, the different relationships. You know, most of what the book is, is like Rocky's relationships with the people she loves—like, that is sort of the heart of the book. And then her grappling with herself, both physically and psychologically. I think I have a sense of those. Those are kind of included in those. I have, like, a—in that 1-through-25— sorry if this is too granular.KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, I love it.Catherine NewmanIn the 1-through-25, I have the plot thing that's like, “Rocky reads her biopsy results,” or, you know, whatever the thing is. And then I have this other column that's like, the other things that need to happen in that chapter, if that's what's happening in the chapter. And that's where I keep information about stuff that's like, “Willa forgives her,” you know—whatever other thing needs to happen. So I sort of track the plot, and then I—and I also have a little other column that's just like, seasonal details. And that I don't fill out super carefully, but, like, because this book moves from essentially Labor Day to New Year's, I—I just tracked a little before I started writing, like, around when in that season things were going to be happening, you know, that's Halloween, it's Thanksgiving, it's the winter holidays, New Year's, and then it's going to be, like, the leaves are turning, the blackberries that, you know?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no, it's so hard. Is it Tuesday? Like...?Catherine NewmanYeah (laughing).KJ Dell'AntoniaDang it. Oh, wait—if its four days from the first day, and the first day was a Thursday, that means its Sunday, and Sundays do have a particular rhythm on their own. And yeah, no, it's so hard.Catherine NewmanIt's really hard, although that part's my favorite part, probably—besides, I love dialogue. But I love—I keep a lot of notes that are really dull on their own about, like, the weather and the landscape, just in general. I don't even know what I'm going to use them for. I just keep a ton of notes about the seasons. And I love pilfering stuff for fiction from them because it's just like—it's going to be fairly accurate. Like, I will have dated it. I'll have a fairly strong sense of whether that will work or not.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, you're not going to put the blackberries in April.Catherine NewmanAnd I'm not going to put the blackberries in April, and I have that cheater feeling of chunking in something I've already kind of written down, and then your word count goes up by, like, 300 words.KJ Dell'AntoniaYou're like, hey... [Unintelligible].Catherine NewmanYeah, exactly.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh my gosh, I love this. All right, well, one last question, and that is—what have you read recently where you felt like the writer was really, you know, playing big, doing their very max?Catherine NewmanYeah, I just read—well, I just got it in the mail, although my kitten—I want to show you, she has, like...KJ Dell'AntoniaShe had some fun with it...Catherine NewmanChewed up every corner.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Catherine NewmanSo this book is A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews. And she is a very, very favorite writer of mine. She wrote the novel All My Puny Sorrows that I always press on everybody, because it's like the perfect funny, sad novel. This book I got to blurb, so I read it a while ago, and it just came—and I think it just came out maybe this week, I'm not sure. It's so incredibly good. It's really strange—someone—she's doing some conference in Mexico, and she has to write an answer to the question, “Why do I write?”KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay.Catherine NewmanAnd she keeps starting and stopping, and it's so—it's nonfiction. I mean, it's just authentically this, and she includes, like, letters to her sister. Her sister killed herself some number of years ago, and that's the event that All My Puny Sorrows—which is a novel—is based on. But this, I am under the impression that's the first time she's written about it...KJ Dell'AntoniaIn a nonfiction way—yeah.Catherine NewmanIn a nonfiction way. And it is just—I did that thing, you know, when a book is so good? I picked it up because I knew I was going to talk to you about it, and then I read it for, like, an hour.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no, I get it.Catherine NewmanEven though I have, like, already read it. It's so moving and beautiful and so—like, she's just struggling in this, like, really profound way to process loss and to understand herself and what she's created in the world. And it's so good.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt sounds huge, and I would—yeah, I'm going to pick it up. I have a funny story about All My Puny Sorrows, which is that I took it to Spain while I was waiting for one of those patient-portal things. I had cancer at the time, and that's—the character of the sister who wanted to kill herself made me so angry that I had to hide—not only did I have to leave the book behind, I had to hide it in the hotel so it would not juju me. I obviously survived, because this was, I think, seven or eight years ago. But I couldn't—like, I just—it was... but that actually speaks to the power of the book.Catherine NewmanInteresting... yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's not that it wasn't an amazing book. It was that I literally couldn't handle the particular, you know, mental illness that the sister was struggling with when I, you know, did not really want to die. Did not want to die, yeah. So I...Catherine NewmanThat's amazing... yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaShe's a really powerful writer.Catherine NewmanThat—that is a really powerful story. Wait, were you going to share with me a book? Or it doesn't work that way?KJ Dell'AntoniaWell, it doesn't...Catherine NewmanKJ looks around...KJ Dell'AntoniaBecause I did not prepare.Catherine NewmanWhat are you writing, KJ? What are you working on? What's happening?KJ Dell'AntoniaAll right, we're going to call this as an episode.Catherine Newman(Laughing)KJ Dell'AntoniaBecause it was excellent, and then I'm going to answer Catherine's question, which all of you listeners kind of vaguely know. Let's just say I'm trying to play big. All right, so this is me ending with: thank you so much, Catherine Newman, for joining me on the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast.Catherine NewmanThank you, KJ; it was a pleasure, as always.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd for all you listeners, we're still saying it—keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.NarratorThe Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perrella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work.Subscribe to back the show that backs your writing life This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

If your business isn't ranking on Google Maps, you might as well be invisible. In this episode of Rocky Mountain Marketing, I am joined by local SEO expert Josh Thompson, founder of Bright Beam SEO. They dive deep into practical strategies that local business owners can implement today to rank higher in local search results.Josh shares his powerful OCTBR SEO framework—Optimize, Content, Targeting, Backlinks, and Reviews—and explains why focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel searchers leads to real, revenue-generating results. From the future of AI in search to the simple tweaks you can make to your Google Business Profile, this episode is a masterclass for business owners who want to get found by customers ready to buy.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why Google Maps rankings matter more than everThe most common local SEO mistakes (and how to avoid them)The real deal on backlinks—and how to earn quality onesHow to future-proof your business against AI-driven searchJosh's go-to SEO strategies for immediate visibility gainsTimestamps: 00:00 Introduction: The Power of Google Search00:29 Welcome to Rocky Mountain Marketing01:06 Understanding Local SEO with Josh Thompson02:19 The Importance of Google Maps for Small Businesses05:49 SEO Strategies: Optimize, Content, Target, Backlinks, Reviews09:38 Impact of AI on Local SEO14:02 Building Effective Backlinks19:26 Quick Wins for Improving Local SEO22:28 Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid26:59 Conclusion and Contact InformationDon't miss this chance to turn Google into your best lead generator. Tune in now and walk away with a game plan for better visibility, stronger reviews, and more ideal customers.Visit Joshua Thompson:Website: https://brightbeamseo.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshualinkedYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@brightbeamseoLearn more about Katie and Next Step Social & Podcasting:Speaking: https://katiebrinkley.com/Website: https://yournextstep.agency/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiebrinkleyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/@rockymountainmarketingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkatiebrinkley/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialprofitlab Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textJoin Drake and Marie as they explore how to write interiority using a 12 layer model. We go over everything from showing, to telling, to worldview and more! Writer's room (50% off for lifetime membership): https://writersroom.mn.co/plans/338439?bundle_token=196fd3965307a65eee0d1bf2bc6fa5a6&utm_source=manualMembership for Just In Time Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvBH0EkwuHsQ9ryHHQNi2Q/joinGive us feedback at releasingyourinnerdragon(at)gmail(dot)comDiscord: https://discord.gg/vMrmBsF5fhMagicfall: http://magicfallnovel.com/Drake's Contact Details:Starving Writer Studio: https://www.starvingwriterstudio.com/Drake-U: https://class.drakeu.com/  - Use RYID25 for 25% off!Writer's Room: https://writersroom.mn.co/Marie's contact details:Books: https://mariemullany.com/booksJust In Time Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/c/JustInTimeWorlds?sub_confirmation=1writersofthefuture.com

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Who are you when no one is telling you what to want?In this episode, I explore how journaling became a powerful mirror, helping me realize that I didn't want children, that I didn't need to build a business she didn't love, and that I might just belong in animal care again.If you've ever changed your mind because someone else said something with confidence, this episode is for you. You'll hear:Why external input muddies our inner knowingHow journaling cuts through the noiseThe surprising clarity that came through writing (and how you can find it too)

Today I'm chatting with Mike, a Utah photographer who specializes in couples and weddings and calls himself a "professional third wheel." His transformation story is absolutely incredible!Mike went from posting on social media once every year and a half to completely revamping his online presence. He was struggling with consistency and didn't know how to market himself effectively.But here's what blew my mind during our interview - Mike tested his SEO after launching his new website and jumped from the 4th or 5th page of Google straight to the FIRST PAGE. As a new dad balancing business growth with caregiving, his dedication to completing the program is truly inspiring.In this episode, you'll hear about:How Mike overcame his biggest hesitation about joining "just another course"The marketing strategies that transformed his social media presence by 90%Why the community aspect of group coaching was a game-changer for himHow he managed to complete the 8-week program while caring for his newbornHis honest advice for photographers on the fence about investing in themselvesMike's confidence transformation is something you can literally feel through the screen, and his results speak for themselves.Ready to hear how he went from inconsistent posting to first-page Google rankings? Press play now!Connect with Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ The doors to the Fully Booked Method open again on July 15th! Join the waitlist for all the details and to get first dibs on one of the spots. Go from inconsistent photography bookings and marketing overwhelm to a streamlined business with a calendar full of dream clients—giving you predictable income, creative fulfillment, and the freedom to build a photography career on your terms.It's time to go from stressed out to booked out!!

Send me a Text Message!Writing coach April Davila reveals the non-negotiable elements that make first pages irresistible to readers and agents. Learn why most manuscripts fail in the opening paragraph, discover the strategic approach to character revelation that transforms boring descriptions into magnetic hooks. Then find out which common opening mistakes instantly kill reader interest. Plus, April shares her surprising advice about when to actually write your first page (hint: it's not when you think).What You'll Learn:The essential elements every first page needsWhy dream sequences and flashbacks kill reader interestStrategic character reveals through environmental detailsClick here to learn more about April Davila. Guest Bio: April Davila is an award-winning author, speaker, and writing coach. Publisher's Weekly called her debut novel, 142 Ostriches, a "vivid, uplifting debut" and the book went on to win the WILLA Award for Women Writing the West. Writer's Digest listed her blog (at aprildavila.com) as one of the Best 101 Websites for Writers and she is the creator of the Sit Write Here writing coaching program, which integrates mindfulness meditation techniques to help writers quiet their inner critics, overcome writer's block, and edit more effectively. Her second novel is forthcoming.Episodes I think you'll love…Literary Agent Amy Nielsen on How to Fix Your Opening Pages (Part 2)How to Write an Opening Chapter that Keeps Readers Reading with Author David McCloskey3 Keys to Nailing the Opening of Your NovelAgent Carleen Geisler Reads a Submission & Shares How Agents Evaluate Opening PagesWriting Your Opening Scene with Thomas MullenGet the list of 125+ Literary Agents who rep Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, and Crime Fiction Study the Opening Paragraphs of the Top Authors Writing Thrillers Right Now

Send us a textJoin Drake and Marie as they explore how to write interiority using a 12 layer model. We go over everything from showing, to telling, to worldview and more! Writer's room (50% off for lifetime membership): https://writersroom.mn.co/plans/338439?bundle_token=196fd3965307a65eee0d1bf2bc6fa5a6&utm_source=manualMembership for Just In Time Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxvBH0EkwuHsQ9ryHHQNi2Q/joinGive us feedback at releasingyourinnerdragon(at)gmail(dot)comDiscord: https://discord.gg/vMrmBsF5fhMagicfall: http://magicfallnovel.com/Drake's Contact Details:Starving Writer Studio: https://www.starvingwriterstudio.com/Drake-U: https://class.drakeu.com/  - Use RYID25 for 25% off!Writer's Room: https://writersroom.mn.co/Marie's contact details:Books: https://mariemullany.com/booksJust In Time Worlds: https://www.youtube.com/c/JustInTimeWorlds?sub_confirmation=1

If you're a chiropractor trying to improve your website traffic and get more patients through Google, this episode is for you. Discover where most clinics go wrong with SEO — and the four key areas you should be focusing on instead. Episode Webpage & Show Notes: https://propelyourcompany.com/seo-for-chiropractors-what-works/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Hi! Jess here. As an author and host of this podcast, I hear “I have a great idea for a book!” a lot, and while I believe everyone has a story to tell, I've only been knocked over by these book pitches twice. The first was the idea for the book Raising Empowered Athletes: A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Raising Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids by Kirsten Jones (pitched to me at speaking event in 2015, published in 2023) and the second was last week, in a conversation with this week's guest, Dr. Megan.I'm SO excited to introduce you to our new series, “From Soup to Nuts,” and its subject, Dr. Megan. She's a therapist, speaker, and hopeful author who presented me with that aforementioned great idea for a book and a hook for a speaking career. She's the right person to write this book, there's a hole in the market for it, and it's timely.So….now what?Over the next weeks and months, I will be mentoring Dr. Megan through her proposal, querying an agent, and planning ahead for a potential speaking career whether or not she sells the book. This week, we talk through the preliminary process of getting to a book's why and wherefores while crafting the introductory section of the book proposal (see resources below) and researching potential agents. This first episode is for all subscribers, but the rest of this series will be available to supporters only. Please consider supporting the podcast so you can follow along (and learn from) Dr. Megan's planning and writing process. Resources we mention:While I am not an Author Accelerator book coach, I do find Jennie Nash's book, Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book incredibly useful and asked Dr. Megan to read it. We will be referring to it from time to time throughout this series. Introductory section of a book proposal. Since we will be referring to the proposal for The Addiction Inoculation as a reference, I thought it would be helpful to make that available to #AmWriting Podcast listeners. Click through to Jess' website to download. Jess's episode: What is a “Comp”?Dr. Megan's assignment: write the introductory section of her book proposal, identify and research potential agents, and compile a list of agents she would like to query.Geeky footnote: “From soup to nuts” means “from beginning to end” and refers back to the practice of serving soup at the very beginning of a formal Western meal and nuts at the end. As a former Latin teacher, I prefer the saying “ab uvo usque ad mala” or “from the egg to the apples” in the tradition of Roman meals, but regardless, this series will cover everything from the beginning to the end of Dr. Megan's book process.Additional links from the Pod:Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Plot & The SequelVicki Hoefle, Duct Tape ParentingOp Ed ProjectNadine Burke Harris, The Deepest WellNed Johnson, The Self-Driven ChildDaniel J. Siegel, BrainstormAnna Lembke, Dopamine NationICYMI: Sarina's latest thriller is out in the world!Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring an historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine. But inside, she's a mess. She knows that stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. But she's out of ice cream and she's sick of romcoms.Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car.Instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.Digital books at: Amazon | Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | AudiblePhysical books at: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | More paperback links here!New! Transcript below!EPISODE 451 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaListeners who I know are also readers. Have I got a summer book for you, if you haven't yet ordered Dying to Meet You, Sarina Bowen's latest thriller with just enough romance you have to, so, let me lay this out for you. Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring a historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine, but inside, she's a mess. She knows stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup, but she's out of ice cream and she's sick of rom coms. Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car. But instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder and the primary suspect. But Rowan isn't the only one keeping secrets as she digs for the truth. She discovers that the dead man was stalking her too, gathering intimate details about her job and her past, struggling to clear her name, Rowan finds herself spiraling into the shadowy plot that killed him. Will she be the next to die? You're going to love this. I've had a sneak preview, and I think we all know that The Five Year Lie was among the very best reads and listens of last summer, Dying to Meet You is available in every format and anywhere that you buy books and you could grab your copy, and you absolutely should right now.Multiple Speakers:Is it recording? Now it's recording, yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay, now one, two, three.Jess LaheyHey, this is Jess Lahey, and this is the Hashtag AmWriting podcast. Hashtag AmWriting is the podcast about writing all the things, short things, long things, poetry, nonfiction, fiction, book proposals, queries. It's about the publishing industry. This is the podcast about getting the work done. I'm your host today, this week. My name is Jess Leahy. I am the author of The Gift of Failure, how the best parents learn to let go so their children can succeed, and The Addiction Inoculation, Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence. I had a column at the New York Times for three years called the parent teacher conference, and I've written for The Atlantic and The Washington Post and numerous other outlets. Okay, today we are going to be talking with someone I am identifying for now as Dr. Megan. We're going to decide later on whether or not we get into her full name and all that stuff. But she is being super brave by coming on this podcast, because this podcast is going to be this episode of the podcast is going to be the first in a series. I met Dr Megan, I've been on the lookout for someone like her with a book idea like hers, with an aim towards, you know, an idea of wanting to be a speaker like her, and I just am really excited to mentor her through the process of hopefully getting an agent, hopefully getting a book deal and hopefully becoming a speaker, and we're just going to work our way through it. I also have been looking for someone like Dr. Megan, because I really wanted to pick someone for you so that we can mentor, someone who is dedicated to the process, interested in doing all the homework and is not going to, like, give up halfway through, and this is someone who's really dedicated to this series. I'm hoping you can learn as much as possible. As always, this podcast is about flattening the learning curve for other writers. So that's what Dr. Megan has offered to do with us... again, super brave, like the people who do the First Page's Booklab and submit their work. This is a really vulnerable position to be put in. And so, over the next hour, however many months this takes, we're going to be following her trajectory as an author slash speaker and see how it all goes. This first episode is going to be free for all subscribers to the Hashtag AmWriting podcast. And after that, we're going to be putting it under the umbrella of supporter podcasts. So, if you would like to follow along and learn from Megan's journey, go ahead and hit the support button and figure out a way to support the podcast, because we're you know, we're here because of you, and we're here and grateful for your support. So, with that, I'm going to introduce you to Dr. Megan, she is a therapist, she is a speaker, she is a wannabe author. She's someone who has a lot of experience in her field. She wants to write a book that is squarely in her field, related to her life, related to the life of her patients, her clients, and she is exactly the right person to write it. And it is a book that is needed right now. And so, with that, let's get started. As I promised. I have a hopeful, potential, exciting phase. new author here with me today. One of the reasons that I wanted to do this sort of it's not really book coaching, because that's not my domain. I'm not a Author Accelerator book coach. I also, but I get asked to do this a lot, and I get asked specifically about the speaking piece of it. So, I wanted to get our listeners started with how we met. I would love for you to explain how we met, and you don't have to get specific about places, but how we ended up in the same place together, because there's a reason I decided to work with you, and a reason that I thought that your potential book idea has a lot of a promise. And so anyway, could you tell our listeners how we met?Dr. MeganAll right, this is a good question. Let's see. So, we met before you knew me. I met you via the Hashtag AmWriting podcast.Jess LaheyOkay.Dr. MeganAnd then when I was... I think it was just after finishing my doctorate, I found your book The Gift of Failure. So, then I met you there. But then, since I moved about almost three years ago now, and as part of my move, I thought, oh, I'm going to career shift. I've been working as a therapist for about 17 years with kids and families. And I love doing speaking, I love disseminating information. And I've been sort of marinating on this idea of a book... I don't know, probably five years and anyways, and I started emailing some people, and the majority of people actually don't answer said email. So I went to the librarian, and I was trying to get the scoop on those people at the library, and they're like, Oh yeah, yeah, Jess Lahey? She's super nice. She totally answered. Like, okay, I'm just going to cold turkey email her from the website, like she probably won't respond, but I just thought it was sort of a fate moment that you even we lived in this same small town, so it just all kind of perfectly collided.Jess LaheyYeah, and I think your approach was really interesting, because you came at it from the perspective of someone who has done a lot of work to learn stuff in the first place, and you, when we got together, the book that you told me about, just hit all of the it, my alarm bells went off this, the like, oh my gosh, this needs to be a thing. And the last time this happened was when I met Kirsten Jones, who wrote Raising Empowered Athletes. So, I met her. She came to one of my book talks in California. Right after The Gift of Failure came out and she started, she met me by saying, you know, I want to write something like The Gift of Failure, but for parents of athletes, which I was like, oh my gosh, yes, you have to write that book. And when you told me about the book that you want to write, I immediately thought, this book has to happen. Now, here's the tough part. As anyone who is thinking about writing a book knows you can't just throw your idea out there, let alone the title, which you have. And the title, essentially was what sort of struck me in the first place, but we can't give away the title. We can't give away the main idea. So, listeners, I want you to think about when KJ and I originally talked about the book The Plot. There's a book by... it's a book called The Plot. And the essential idea behind this book, and there has now been a follow up called The Sequel, both of them really brilliant. The idea behind The Plot was, student comes to a teacher with a plot that is so good it can't fail. And the idea is that, like, well, it doesn't matter. No matter what I do, this is going to just be a thing and it leads to murder, but I do promise not to murder you in order to take your book idea and publish it for myself in that book, though the author correlates is her last name, manages to not talk about the plot while talking about the plot, which is the unfortunate place we're in where we have to talk about this really good idea that I think is there's a hole in the market, which we'll get to later. We're going to talk about market analysis later, it's as someone who's been in this speaking in this area and writing this area for a while, there is a place for this book, and this book really needs to happen. And I think, but what I think is fairly irrelevant here, because this has to be about what you think. I think you are the perfect person to write this book. So, with that I decided this would be a great way to teach to do, almost like a mentoring series for listeners who would really like to just not just write a book, but also build a speaking career around that book, which you very much want to do. So, we're going to do today a sort of get to know you, get to know what you've done, and why I thought you were sort of prepared to start this process. Because KJ and Sarina and Jennie were like, but is this person ready? Like, are they going to do the things? Are they ready? Is this going to be like a one off, and then she'll disappear into the night? Has she done the work? Is she prepared? So could you talk a little bit about some of the work you've done, like, you know, you talk about the fact that you have done the professional work, and that this book is going to be very much tied to your professional work, but in terms of writing, which is a very different thing, and then speaking, which is, on top of that, a very different thing, sort of why do you think that it's the right time for you to write this book?Dr. MeganWell, I feel like all of the pieces have sort of fallen a little bit into place lately, because I thought the right time to write this book was actually two and a half years ago.Jess LaheyOh, that's always the right time with any book which is always the case. But I will tell you, from experience that I think that when you're doing the searching and when you're doing the research and when you're doing the pondering, the book happens at the right time. I happen to think that which is another way of saying you can procrastinate. But it's not that. It's, you know, it's the processing part.Dr. MeganYeah, and I feel like the process keeps aligning for me with this book, because I had this idea and I thought, Oh, I'll move and here I will sit in my new home writing a book, because now I don't have a bunch of clients, and I'm not as busy once everything is perfect, once everything is right, exactly, yes. So, so it turns out that's not a thing.Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd so, I was really sort of dragging my feet. And so, I, as part of my licensing requirements as a therapist, I had to take some classes. So, one of the classes I took was “Writing a book for therapist”. And so, I did that, and I thought, Oh, that's really interesting. So, then I reached out to the person who taught the class, and they said, what else do you do?Jess LaheyRight. Now was that a full on, full length, like...?Dr. MeganThat class was just kind of a short, like, two hour continuing education.Jess LaheyBut you had to do writing prompts. You had to do the work; you had to do the writing...Dr. MeganYeah, I had some low... yeah, like, low level prompts, okay, just like, sort of marinate, get your idea going, kind of prompts. And so, I thought, oh, that was really helpful. It made me realize that the missing element for me as a creative is, I need structure.Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd so, we, when we met, I was like, oh, homework, bring it on. Because I actually, I love homework, because I think it gives you some structure around the creativity and gets things flowing. So anyway, so I reached out, and then she said, Oh, I have this class, and it is once a week for eight weeks, and every week you turned in different things, and it sort of ranged an arc from solidifying your idea writing your introduction, but also like making a faux book cover, or making a faux blurbs, or thinking about, how do you use something like Amazon to look at what categories might your work be in which I think is a beautiful gateway over to the Blueprint Book.Jess LaheyRight. So, I gave you a copy of Jennie Nash's Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book. All of the books are great, but I think, and I'm, again, not a Author Accelerator book coach, but I thought it was really good starting place for the process of thinking about the like, why me? What is my book? What is my purpose? Who is my audience? You know, who's my ideal reader, all that kind of stuff. So, having looked at blueprint for a nonfiction book, what parts for you have sort of resonated either because they were overlooked in other classes or other preparation that you've done, or you think actually will hit at what you need to work on for this??Dr. MeganI like it because, I think it's really useful in the learning process to keep asking same questions in different ways. So, every time it kind of elicits a new response, a new thing to think about, a new way to connect it. And so, you know, I originally had this book idea, and I wrote down, I think several years ago, 10 chapters...Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd then through the class, I was like, oh, wait, no, no, there's a narrative quality. It needs to be in parts.Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganHow does the parts become within one thing? And so, but then in doing this book and looking at it, I feel like the most valuable piece was also the why. Like, why me? Like, really? Because I think to be an author feels vulnerable. To be a therapist is sort of vulnerable, but not really, because you're not, actually, you're encouraged not to share as much about yourself. And so...Jess LaheyOh! That's interesting I hadn't thought that.Dr. MeganYou know...Jess LaheyBut that's a really important part of this process.Dr. MeganYeah, and it got me really looking at and comparing, do I really love this thing? Okay, if you thought of your book with other writers in the same category as sort of a conversation, not like as competition, but as collaboration, like, where do you sit with that?Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd to me, that kind of prompt is very helpful because then I, even, you know, as an artsy person, was like, Oh, how do I, like, imagine yourself, like, if you sat at your Knights of the Round Table, who are your people? Like, who would you want there? How would that go?Jess LaheyAnd that gets at when you're thinking about, obviously, we're going to have to talk about, you know, market analysis and comp titles and things like that. That also helps you realize, because you're going to have to write this section, which is like, what's out there, and why is my book going to be different or and also thinking, and I've talked about this before in other episodes, in another episode, and I'll link in the show notes to that one, not just the books that have been successful in this area, and how your book will be different from those. But also, you have to think about like, which books didn't work, and you have to explain why your book is not that.Dr. MeganYes, yeah, without yeah, without being like a show and fraud, right kind of person. But also Yeah, because there's a million people that I think are super brilliant that have written parenting books, but either they sound like too therapist-y or like, are there a little, like light on the actually, how does this work kind of thing, and also accepting you can't be all things to all people.Jess LaheyRight, right.Dr. MeganSo, the part about who's your audience, I thought, but, but I think the really golden nugget in that first part too, is the why, and so I even did that writing exercise, like, why this book? Why me? Why now? Kind of questioning. And I thought that was really helpful, because I wrote that more in, like a talking way, because I think some of those same things filter into an introduction for a book, but by writing it in an unpolished way, I feel like I reignited sort of the passion for the subject.Jess LaheyRight. Oh, that's so good.Dr. MeganSo, I feel like it's missing...Jess LaheyAnd a lot of that's going to happen during the book proposal process as well. I mean, when you first were full disclosure, we're recording this at my house, because it's just easier to have two people in one space, and we're in my office, and I showed you all of the bookshelves that are filled with the books for the book for the book proposals that I've written and decided that I don't want to write right now, because I think that's really, really helpful. And as onerous as the book proposal process is, it's incredibly revealing. It helps you see what's working, what's not working, what you want to write, and what you don't want to write. So, I'm really excited for you to get really immersed in that process. Okay, so your why coming into this like, given that you're going to have to have a bit of an elevator pitch for people, what is your WHY for this book?Dr. MeganI thought about this in different ways. Okay I was a sort of neurodiverse kid—dyslexic, ADD—and therapy was super helpful to me as a child. And as a, you know, what Elaine Aron might call a highly sensitive person, I just think there's all these... I was so lucky, because I had a school for dyslexia, and I had all these opportunities in my childhood and as a therapist, I found myself working a lot with these kids that you might be like oh, ADHD learning like that's not normal but it's actually very normal. And within that there's just such a wide way people can be. And I just sometimes think as a culture a society we get so binary, and I just feel like that gets people really locked into either "oh no big deal" or "ooh super problematic thinking". And my big why is, there are easy solutions to helping understand your child. So, my really, my, why is I feel like there's, there's answers out there, and it drives me bananas, if you're like, oh, I don't know what to do, or there's just nothing. So, I feel compelled to do that.Jess LaheySo the nice thing about that answer is and I tend to bring... because it's my experience the so when I was thinking about The Gift of Failure, the big why was because I want kids to be able to learn to the best their ability to be engaged, to be motivated, all those sorts of things, but also that they're having conversations with their parents about what really matters to them and all that sort of stuff. So for me, there was no one writing at that intersection of parenting and education in this particular way, and because you have cred, not just as someone who grew up neurodiverse and as someone who works with neurodiverse kids, you have that sort of both sides of the table thing going on, which I think is a really, really, not just a great why, but a really great answer to why me.Dr. MeganYes.Jess LaheyYeah, yeah, to the why me question we're going to be talking about in future episodes, and about owning your expertise. So, I want to give you some homework.Dr. MeganOkay.Jess LaheyTo think about, things and, oh, and I have a I even brought, I have a little notebook for you I get, I got you a little notebook. So, okay, so when it comes to your why, it sounds like you have a sort of a really good hold... a handle on that, but you're going to be asked definitely, during blueprint for a nonfiction book, and during our conversation to be re-articulating that lots and lots of times, people are going to be asking you about what you're working on, and that can be a really, really great opportunity. It's sort of like when, when you have to do interviews about your book, you're not going to want to go like, let's assume all of this goes well, and you're going to get to start doing interviews about your book. You need for now to be the time that you're articulating those really good answers, like, who is this book for? Why? I mean, the question I get in every interview is, give me a bit of your background and why you decided to write these books. And you want that answer to be great. You want that answer to be concise. You want that answer to not be rambling. And that's sort of your, you know, your elevator pitch sort of thing. The other thing that we talk a lot about, KJ and I, have talked about this a lot, is I like to have a stack of books that are the “voice I'm aiming for. So, I've had, there was a book called Duct Tape Parenting when I first wrote The Gift of Failure, and she just was really brave. The author of that book was, like, really not concerned with people yelling at her and saying, you're wrong, and she would just have this brave voice. And that was my brave voice book. And then I had another book that was like my owning your expert voice book, and so that they gave me a sense of on the days when I really needed them and I needed... because one of the hardest things for first time authors to do is to own their expertise. This is also something that comes up a lot in The OpEd Project, a group that I have worked with and mentored with for a while, where they help people who wouldn't normally get the chance to write op eds, to write op eds. And Katie Orenstein, the founder of that, said, a big part of that is helping you own your expertise. Like, yeah, why do I deserve to be the person talking about this? And I think, especially, as you said before a therapist and not having the opportunity to sort of talk about you, that's going to be incredibly important. So having a book for that, and sometimes we refer to them as, like our dissection books. So, here's the thing, you want, a great book that helps with the, no, I have the right to say these things, and I'm correct. And then the owning is sort of, and it could be the same thing owning your expertise book. And then you need to find a book whose format is really great for this topic. So, like, and it doesn't have to be exactly modeled. Your book doesn't have to be exactly modeled on that. But find a book that you feel like, really, if you want to integrate narrative arc, if you want to have it be straight up research, if you want this research and the narrative arc to come together, if you want to do storytelling, find the book that you think is like, yeah, this is what I'm aiming for in my book. Find one of those books, because being able to dissect how that person does that. Sarina does it sometimes, like when she switched over to thrillers from romance, she needed to be able to say, okay, well, how long are how many pages are we spending on exposition? How many pages are we spending on research? And for me, I found a couple of books that I thought just did a really good job of organizing in the way I wanted to organize it. So having a stack of those books as well is going to be really important.Dr. MeganTo my book stack...Jess LaheyOkay, yeah, yeah.Dr. MeganIn my kitchen. Okay, good, because that's...I have three kids, and by about 9:30 most people are asleep, and no one can, you know, trouble me for a glass of water, et cetera,Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganSo, I have, like, a big stack, and that is what I think has been really interesting. When I first got here and thought, oh, I want to write, and I was just really feeling blocked and unclear. My other passion is painting. And so, I got really into painting and studying art. And how did people craft things, you know, like, studied with other artists, looked at things, and I realized in this writing process how similar it is to the painting process. And in a painting, often I'll do an under painting of a color that might be radically different from the rest of the painting, but I feel like it sets the tone. And what I felt like was really useful in working on the writing has been like, oh, permission to be creative about it and to look at other things. So, I literally very neurotic...I counted like, number of words per page, and then would like, multiply them, and then I made a list, like, in a chart, like, how many pages are each of these books in this category?Jess LaheyOh my gosh.Dr. MeganJust to kind of get the structure in, very much a similar process in artists, where you're like, oh, how does this person use light in a painting?Jess LaheyRight.Dr. MeganAnd I think that's where I feel like, by putting creativity, like, using those same dynamics has been really empowering, because it's that same sort of thing for me, just finding, yeah, so the more, the more I do that, the better it becomes, because it invites a whole new structure you might not have thought of, or...Jess LaheyOkay, whatever. So, and we'll talk about this eventually, but at a certain point, all of the charts and the graphs and stuff are going to have to give way to this, like really big, creative and word output. So, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we're in the planning stage, and then the last thing I need you to think about is, and I don't think it's too early to start thinking about this, is, you know, how is this going to translate into speaking, and how we're going to do an entire podcast just on the planning? You know, obviously, you don't even have a book yet. You don't even have an agent yet, any... all of this stuff.Dr. MeganYeah.Jess LaheyBut, but... and we're going to talk about all this stuff, but in order to really be able to pitch yourself as a speaker, because I think there's even the possibility the speaker thing could happen without the book thing. It's going to happen most effectively, obviously, with the book thing. But it's since that's what you really want, we're going to start planning for that speaking career while the book is also happening. Right?Dr. MeganI'm in.Jess LaheyOkay, all right, so you've already done what I was going to give you homework about. So, I think, I think what you need to start thinking about is...I have given Megan a copy of The Addiction Inoculation book proposal, right?Dr. MeganUh-huh.Jess LaheyOkay, so the reason it's not that I think that my book proposal is all that, but my agent...Dr. MeganBut it is.Jess LaheyLaurie Abkemeier, just is amazing, and she helped shape that. So, I think it's a really good starting place. And I think the first section, the introductory section, I think would be a really great place for you to start. Unless you have anything, you think would be another great place for you to start. I want to take your input into this as well.Dr. MeganNo, that seems good. Yeah. Because in this class I did, we had to write the intro and the first thing, but then when I read what you had, I was like, whoa, there's so much more.Jess LaheyYeah.Dr. MeganThere's so much more.Jess LaheyAnd all of the things we've talked about go into that introductory section, like, why me? Why this? Why now? And I think the why now when it comes to your plot, and I'm sorry again, listeners that we have to be a bit vague, but I think why now, with your title and your subject matter, I think it's a really great time for this book as well and it and without linking it into, you know, popular culture references and stuff like that, I think it's really important to help basically, I like to think of this section as the section that the editor, potential editor will have to go to the group at her publishing house to pitch to say, can I buy this book... and for how much... that section really is, here's why this author is the right time, why it's the right time, why this is the right author, why there's a there, this book needs to be written, what the hole is in the market. And I think that's going to be a really important part of that for you.Dr. MeganYeah, and that's where it felt like, oh, now this doctoral thing that I did 10 years ago is coming into play, because they'd always be like, what are your gaps in the literature? And you have to get really granular about it. And so...Jess LaheyOh, over and over again, I've been like, oh, wait, I can go back to that other thing I wrote in order to pull some of the pieces from that. So, this is very helpful. Okay, so for just the two of us, that's going to be the first thing I would love to see from you is that introductory section, sure, and then we're going... this podcast is going to be from here on out. This introductory level is going to be for everyone from here on out. This is going to be for supporters. But if you want to follow along on the journey, we're going to remain vague, like I said about the topic, simply because we don't want anyone to take it. And we are going to keep things a little bit vague on some fronts, but for the most part, we're going to get really specific, like I'm going to we're going to be talking about querying agents. We're going to be talking about the what the query format is like and finding an agent. I mean, that's the first place we have to start for you, and I have some ideas, but I'm going to give you some homework around that as well, which is, and I think you may have heard this before on our podcast, because we've talked about it, but look at the books that you really, really admire in your genre, and then look at the acknowledgement section, because people thank their agents, right? So, for example, if I am looking at a stack of books, I recommend a lot. So, for example, I really love, you know, like Nadine Burke Harris's The Deepest Well, and Ned Johnson's The Self-Driven Child, and uh, Dan Siegel's Brainstorm, and Anna Lembke's Dopamine Nation, those books sort of hit the tone and the topic that I would be writing about. So, who are their agents? Because those agents are clearly open to topics that are similar. Now, you don't want to go for someone who's written, who's published, or, you know, sold, the exact same thing, but you want someone who's hitting the spirit of the and is someone that is reputable and that you're also going to find by looking at who authors you respect thank in their acknowledgements. So that's a good starting place. So that's your other assignment.Dr. MeganOkay.Jess LaheyYou can go to the library and do that. You can go clearly you have stacks of books at your house. You can borrow any of my books you would like. But let's start looking for potential agents to pitch this idea to, because a query is like, almost like a mini it's like a super mini version of your idea, and if they like it, they're going to ask for more. So, we need to have that more ready for when you query. Nonfiction is a little different from fiction, and for those of you have been listening for a long time, you know that if you're going to query a fiction agent, that agent is going to ask for a full manuscript, which so you better have finished it if you're going to pitch a fiction agent. It's not always the case, but mostly the case. But with nonfiction, the idea is you sell the book with a proposal. So, an agent in this arena is going to be expecting that maybe you have chapter summaries, maybe you have a sample chapter. So those are going to be our early goals for this sort of thing. But I think baseline introductory section is going to be the best place to start, and getting an idea of potential agents is the other great place to start. So how does that sound for you?Dr. MeganSuper exciting, slightly intimidating.Jess LaheyOkay.Dr. MeganBecause what if...I'm like, oh no, what if they love it, and now I've got to, like, crank out this whole book. Like, oh my gosh!Jess LaheyYeah. Oh, it's scary. Like, The Gift of Failure stuff happened really fast. I got my dream agent who had been chasing, I don't know if you know this story, but I chased her for 10 years. I knew she was the right agent for me, but I kept sending her projects that weren't quite right, and The Gift of Failure happened to be right, but everything happened really fast after that. So, I've done like a crash proposal and agent acquisition, but I've also done, you know, the slower version, The Addiction Inoculation version. So, I totally get that each piece of this can be really scary, especially when it needs to happen fast and there isn't any urgency. It's not like you know, but we're also going to talk about articles that you could start writing for the media that will start being test balloons for this idea, because it helps if you have an article that does well on the topic that you're addressing.Dr. Megan Yes, and that would be maybe a whole umbrella conversation, but, yeah, I actually was wondering about that, because...Jess LaheyAnd that could be a whole episode.Dr. MeganOf all these links to the amazing articles. And I'm like, oh no, you haven't done any of that, like, you know, sort of, but not really.Jess LaheyWe'll do a whole episode on that, and especially on how to pitch those, how to think about those. And yeah, we'll be doing a whole entire episode on pitching articles that are in line with what you would like to write for next book. There are lots and lots of authors who do send up these test balloons to see what sticks. I know lots of them that do that, and there's a balance to me made between including content for the potential book and still sending up that test balloon. So, we'll talk about all of that in a separate episode, but for now, looking for potential agents writing that introductory thing, and then we're going to get together in like two weeks or so, and we'll start, and we'll start talking about actual... we'll actually do stuff.Dr. MeganAmazing, yes!Jess LaheyBecause this book needs to happen, I'm really excited about it. I know you're excited about it, and I'm really just honored to be a part of helping in any way.Dr. Megan Mutual and likewise, and this is super exciting.Jess LaheyAnd the dogs have pretty much behaved themselves today, so hopefully they'll continue to behave themselves. All right, if you want to get the rest of this series, and I think, I think I'm going to call it something like, I have an idea now what? That kind of idea, but if you want to be a part and listen to the rest of this series, you're going to have to become a supporter of the podcast. Becoming a supporter of the podcast gets you other stuff too, like First Pages, the Booklab thing that we just recorded a bunch of episodes. I don't know if you've ever listened to Booklab, but we get submissions from very brave listeners who give us their first pages, and then we talk about whether or not we turn the page, and we critique them, and it's really fun. And then you get other bonus materials as well. So, think about becoming a supporter, and I'm really excited about this new series. So, thank you for being a guinea pig, because it takes a lot of bravery to do that.Dr. MeganWell. Thank you. I'm super excited and nervous and excited.Jess LaheyAll right, until next week, and this is for you specifically, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game. The Hashtag AmWriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

How to Optimize Photos for Your Google Business Profile:  Google Maps Local SEO Strategy for Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, & Clinics Google Business ListingsToday, we're diving deep into a crucial strategy for local SEO that can easily get overlooked. Optimizing the images in your Google Business Profile is a massive win for your local SEO campaign.Episode Webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/photos-google-business-profile/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

In this episode, we break down what Google's new AI Mode is, how it's reshaping search results, and what it means for your clinic's local visibility. If you rely on SEO or Google Business Profile traffic to bring in patients, you can't afford to miss this. Learn what actions to take now to stay competitive and show up in AI-powered search results. Episode Webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/google-ai-mode/ Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

This episode explores the differences between traditional and local SEO and local SEO. Learn how Google's algorithms impact search results and provide insights into optimizing your online presence for local visibility.• Understanding what SEO is• Differentiating traditional SEO from local SEO• Importance of local intent in searches• How to recognize if your business needs local SEO• Key ranking factors for local SEO• Strategies for optimizing your Google Business profile• The role of local citations and online reviews in visibility

Internal linking is a simple yet powerful strategy to improve your clinic's SEO and website performance without spending money. By strategically connecting pages throughout your website, you can boost visibility, enhance user experience, and help Google better understand your site's content and structure.

Today, we're diving into a super actionable strategy to help boost your Google reviews quickly and easily. If you're a clinic owner, chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist, or any local business looking to stand out in search results, stick around—you won't want to miss this!So, what's the big news? Google now lets you create a QR code that takes your patients or customers straight to your review page—no searching, no hassle. 

Reviews can make or break your local rankings, build trust with potential patients, and drive more people through your doors. But here's the catch: if you're not careful about how you get those reviews, Google could remove them—or worse—wipe out your entire review history.So today, we're going to talk about how to get more Google reviews the right way and the best practices to make sure they actually stick around. Let's get into it.Episode webpage & blog post: https://propelyourcompany.com/mistake-that-gets-google-reviews-deleted/Other Helpful Links:Free local SEO webinarClinic Local SEO GuideGoogle Business Profile Ultimate GuideSend in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Selecting the perfect website platform for you and your business is a personal quest. And with so many to choose from, how do you know which platform will work best for your unique needs? Popular website platforms, including WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and others, each have their own strengths. From WordPress's famed SEO capabilities and customization options to the user-friendly nature of all-in-one solutions like Squarespace and Wix, you've got excellent options. Whether building a website from scratch or contemplating a revamp, understanding your platform options is critical. We're going over numerous site considerations, including:HostingDesign featuresCustomer supportData ownershipAdmin accessContent rightsAnd more

Today, we're diving into how clinic owners can optimize for "near me" searches to capture high-intent local patients actively seeking healthcare services in their area.Millions of daily searches like "chiropractor near me" or "acupuncturist near me" represent valuable opportunities to connect with patients ready to book appointments.The big question is—how do you make your clinic show up in those results?Let's break it down.

As a clinic owner, your website serves as the digital front door to your practice. It's crucial to ensure that your site effectively represents your clinic and you, providing an excellent user experience (UX) for visitors. However, you may have elements on your website that are hindering its performance, turning potential patients away. In this episode of the Propel Your Practice Podcast, we'll discuss 12 things you need to remove from your clinic website right now and why they need to go.Clinic owners can enhance the UX by addressing these twelve key areas, which contribute to their search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. The ultimate goal is to create a digital space that is not only reflective of your clinic's brand but also inspires, informs, educates, and entertains your current and potential patients. 

FAQs aren't just convenient information for patients—they're a powerful SEO strategy that can boost your clinic's search rankings while making your website more useful and reducing phone calls.When strategically implemented, they can help you rank for natural question-based searches, appear in rich results, and build trust with potential patients.Episode webpage: How to Leverage FAQs to Improve Your Website's SEO and User ExperienceSend in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

AI writing tools, heard of them? Well, get ready to unlock the secret weapon that's revolutionizing content creation. AI-powered writing is no longer a thing of the future; it's here and here to stay, so go on and embrace it. And, trust us, it's easier than you think. In this popular episode replay, we explore cutting-edge tools that are transforming how we brainstorm, outline, and generate ideas. But it's not just about the tech—we uncover the ethical considerations and safety measures that set these content game-changers apart.We'll discuss:How to supercharge your creativity with AI assistanceThe evolution of writing tools from basic grammar checks to advanced assistantsPractical tips to elevate your content and stand out from the crowdThe art of balancing AI power with human creativityDon't miss this episode, which is packed with actionable insights that will transform your writing process. We promise your content will never be the same again.

We're diving into the essentials of website tracking for clinic owners who want to understand their performance without getting overwhelmed by data.A listener of The Clinic Marketing Podcast asked: “I just set up my new website. I know it's important to track how it's performing, but without getting overwhelmed… Where should I start? What should I be looking at in Google Analytics and other tools?”Such a good question—and one I know a lot of clinic owners wonder about, especially when they've just launched a new site and aren't sure what to expect next.So, in this episode, we're going to break down:What “good performance” actually looks like for a clinic websiteWhich tools to use And what to focus on inside Google Analytics—without drowning in dataLet's get into it.Episode webpage: Tracking Website Performance Without Drowning in DataSend in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Learn five advanced strategies to boost your Google Business Profile listing and help your clinic stand out from competitors, focusing on tactics that most businesses overlook. [

Ever wonder why your beautifully designed clinic website isn't bringing in new patients? The answer might be more straightforward than you think. Thin content – pages with minimal substance – could silently sabotage your SEO efforts regardless of how polished your website appears.

What makes your clinic visible in local searches? It's a question that haunts many healthcare providers struggling to attract new patients online. The answer lies in understanding the complex signals that influence local search rankings – signals that vary dramatically depending on your location, specialty, and competition.Diving deep into the world of local SEO, we explore the critical differences between ranking in the Google Map Pack and the localized organic results below it.Episode Webpage & Shownotes: https://propelyourcompany.com/local-seo-what-influences-local-visibility/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Today, we're diving into a question that could be costing you serious rankings and revenue: Are extra Google listings hurting your visibility? You might think that more listings mean more opportunities to show up in search results.But in reality, those additional profiles could be doing more harm than good.Stick with me as I break down how Google's ranking filter works, how to tell if this issue is affecting you, and what to do to fix it.Epsiode Webpage & Shownotes: https://propelyourcompany.com/are-extra-google-business-listings-hurting-your-rankings/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Ready to transform your blog posts from forgettable to remarkable? The structure of your content matters just as much as what you're saying—perhaps even more.In this value-packed episode, we dive deep into the anatomy of truly effective blog posts. I break down the five essential structural elements that separate high-performing content from everything else cluttering the internet. From crafting headlines that demand clicks to conclusions that drive action, each component plays a crucial role in your content's success.Webpage Episode: https://propelyourcompany.com/anatomy-blog-post/ Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Question: List two pieces of information that should be placed on the first page of a protest. Answer: Each protest should be clearly identified as a “PROTEST UNDER 37 CFR 1.291.” It is also important that any protest against a pending application specifically identify the application to which the protest is directed with the identification being […] The post MPEP Q & A 325: List the pieces of information that should be placed on the first page of a protest. appeared first on Patent Education Series.

Ever wondered why other healthcare providers consistently appear at the top of search results while your clinic struggles to gain visibility? The answer lies in strategic competitor analysis—a powerful yet often overlooked aspect of local SEO.In this episode, we'll break down exactly how to identify your real competitors, what to look for when analyzing their online presence, and how to use that information to improve your own SEO strategy.And stick around to the end, because I'll be giving you three actionable steps you can implement today to gain a competitive edge.Webpage Episode: https://propelyourcompany.com/how-to-spy-on-your-competitors-seo-plan/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

The number one question we're asked is, “How do I improve my website's position online?” It's a great question and you may be surprised at how simple some of the steps are to rise in Google rank. Today, we'll scratch the surface on how you can start improving your ranking through some common SEO (search engine optimization) best practices. Free, organic traffic is the goal, we want to help you achieve it! In this episode, we'll go over:Some SEO basicsWhy organic website traffic is importantThe three critical parts of SEOWhy keywords, target audience, and user experience are important Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) And, more!Are you ready to propel your practice? Let's do it!Episode Webpage - https://propelyourcompany.com/improve-clinics-website-position/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

A simple five-minute website update could be the key to boosting your clinic's visibility on Google and attracting more local patients.In this episode of The Clinic Marketing Podcast, we'll reveal a quick, free, and proven SEO strategy that helps Google recognize your clinic's location—improving your rankings in both organic search and the local pack.Healthcare is inherently local, and by making this small change, you'll send a strong signal to Google that puts your clinic in front of more potential patients.Tune in to learn exactly what to do and how it can impact your search results.

If you're not taking full advantage of Google Posts through your Google Business Profile Listing, you're missing an incredible opportunity to drive more business. So, how do you create Google Posts that get great results?In this episode, we discuss Google Post strategy and detail the best ways to ensure that those looking to take action come to you.We'll give you three categories of  Google Post-creation guidance:What not to do with your Google PostsGoogle Posts that CAN work if done correctlyGoogle Posts that you simply must do to connect and engage with your users so they take actionIf you're ready to implement easy Google Post strategies and get your clinic some business, grab your notepad, and let's get to it. Episode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/google-business-profile-post-strategy/  Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

A properly maintained website significantly improves patient acquisition through better SEO, user experience, and conversion rates. This episode outlines a simple five-step spring cleaning process that clinic owners can implement immediately to refresh their online presence.✔Grab your website spring clean your website checklist - https://propelyourcompany.com/spring-clean-your-website/ Visit https://propelyourcompany.com/spring-clean-your-website/ for the complete website spring cleaning checklist and all tools mentioned in this episode. Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

If you've been wondering what kind of website photos are better for SEO, stock images, or your own unique images, wonder no more.In this episode, we're exploring a topic that is often overlooked but can have a big impact on your online visibility: your website images. Specifically, we're asking the question: When it comes to SEO, does Google prefer stock photos or unique photos? Stick with me as we discover how the type of imagery you use on your clinic's website can impact your visibility and brand authenticity. Are you ready to unlock the secrets of SEO with images? Let's do it. Episode Webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/photos-for-seo/Additional resources and Show Notes related to this episode include: DIY Blog Images: Tips & Tools to Create Impact Image SEO: How to Optimize Your Website ImagesDetailed Clinic Photoshoot ListHow to Plan a Picture-Perfect Photo ShootSend in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

In today's competitive healthcare landscape, multidisciplinary and hybrid clinics are becoming increasingly common. Whether you're a chiropractic clinic gym hybrid, a wellness center with diverse services, or any other hybrid model, standing out online is crucial. Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the most effective ways to ensure that your clinic reaches the right audience and grows its patient base. In this episode, we'll explore five actionable strategies for enhancing your clinic's online presence, boosting visibility, and simplifying the patient experience.Tune in and take your clinic's SEO to the next level!Complete episode details - https://propelyourcompany.com/local-seo-strategies-for-hybrid-clinics/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Today we're diving into a super actionable strategy to help boost your Google reviews quickly and easily. If you're a clinic owner, chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist, or any local business looking to stand out in search results, stick around—you won't want to miss this!So, what's the big news? Google now lets you create a QR code that takes your patients or customers straight to your review page—no searching, no hassle. 

What if I told you there's one simple thing you could do right now to instantly improve your online presence and boost your local rankings?It doesn't require tech skills, fancy tools, or a big budget—yet most clinic owners overlook it completely. And when they do, it costs them visibility, patients, and revenue.In today's episode, we're diving into the #1 fix you can make today to strengthen your local SEO and ensure potential patients find accurate, trustworthy information about your business online.

Selecting the perfect website platform for you and your business is a personal quest. And with so many to choose from, how do you know which platform will work best for your unique needs? Popular website platforms, including WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and others, each have their own strengths. From WordPress's famed SEO capabilities and customization options to the user-friendly nature of all-in-one solutions like Squarespace and Wix, you've got excellent options. Whether building a website from scratch or contemplating a revamp, understanding your platform options is critical. Episode Webpage - https://propelyourcompany.com/website-platform/We're going over numerous site considerations, including:HostingDesign featuresCustomer supportData ownershipAdmin accessContent rightsAnd moreWe know your website platform must deliver a stimulating experience for your visitors. Usability, scalability, and the impact of future SEO developments are all high priorities. This episode explores insights that will empower you to make the optimal choice for your clinic's online presence.If you'd like to talk SEO shop, book your free discovery call with Propel Marketing & Design and get ready to transform your website into a powerful business tool.Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

The episode discusses the complexities of personal and company branding for clinic owners, highlighting the advantages and challenges of each approach. It emphasizes the importance of building trust and making informed decisions based on long-term goals.Episode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/personal-branding-vs-company-branding/Here's what we're going over: Comparing personal branding to company brandingUnderstanding when to utilize personal brandingAnalyzing the challenges of a personal branding approachEvaluating the advantages of company brandingTips for blending both branding strategies effectivelyEmphasizing the importance of consistent online presenceRecommending resources for clinic owners seeking branding guidanceEpisode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/personal-branding-vs-company-branding/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

Patrick rates and critiques the opening pages of numerous novels, and even harshly reviews his own work.

The research shows that the most important part of investing isn't the investment vehicle you choose but how you build your investment portfolio inside of it. Today, Paul admits that investing in the stock market doesn't come with a manual, but he wants to share with you what he would put on the first page if there was one. Listen along as Paul and Evan share the traps that even the most educated investors fall into and why it gets even harder over time to abstain from predicting the future.    For more information about what we do or how we can help you, schedule a 15-minute call with us here: paulwinkler.com/call.

Today, we're diving into one of the easiest and most effective ways to come up with content ideas for your clinic's website, blog, and social media—Google's ‘People Also Ask' feature.⚡ Episode Webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/people-also-ask-content-ideas/ If you've ever typed a question into Google, you've probably noticed a section in the search results called ‘People Also Ask' (PAA). This box contains related questions that real people are searching for.But here's the exciting part—this feature is an absolute goldmine for clinic owners like you who want to create content that directly answers your potential patients' questions.So today, I'll cover:✅ What the ‘People Also Ask' feature is and how it works✅ How to use it to find endless content ideas for your clinic's website, blog, and social media✅ Real examples of how chiropractors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists can leverage this tool✅ How to turn these questions into high-ranking SEO contentGrab a notepad because by the end of this episode, if you follow the steps we chat about, you'll have dozens of content ideas ready to go! Let's get started.⚡ Episode Webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/people-also-ask-content-ideas/ Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

I'm hosting a FREE live webinar all about Google Analytics 4—and I'll be walking you through everything you need to know to make data-driven decisions that will boost your clinic's online presence.✨ Here's the link to sign up - https://propelyourcompany.com/ga4-webinar/ Whether you're just starting with Google Analytics or have been using it for a while, this beginner-friendly session will show you exactly how to track your website's traffic, measure key metrics, and understand what's working (or not) when attracting more patients.I'll be covering:The most important GA4 reports for clinic ownersHow to track website traffic sources like SEO, social media, and paid adsThe engagement metrics that matter mostAnd, how to track patient conversions like appointment bookings, calls, and form submissionsPlus, I'll walk you through the GA4 dashboard and share common mistakes clinic owners make and how to avoid them!✨ Here's the link to sign up - https://propelyourcompany.com/ga4-webinar/ Can't make it live? No worries! You'll get access to the replay so you can watch at your convenience.So if you're ready to take control of your data and see real improvements in your clinic's growth, head over to https://propelyourcompany.com/ga4-webinar/ to sign up today.This is a MUST-attend event if you're a chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist, or wellness practitioner looking to level up your online presence. Don't wait, sign up now and get ready to make smarter, data-driven decisions for your clinic!✨ Here's the link to sign up - https://propelyourcompany.com/ga4-webinar/ Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

If you're a business owner struggling with a negative Google review that's hurting your online reputation, you may feel a bit vulnerable and discouraged. We get it. Whether you received a fake review, a customer had a bad experience, or a bot got into your Google Business Profile listing, you have options for handling the situation. In today's episode, we're diving deep into the world of Google reviews and uncovering the secrets to managing your online presence effectively.

Learn how to optimize your local SEO strategy to boost visibility in the Google Map Pack and localized organic search results!Local SEO plays a pivotal role in helping your clinic stand out in competitive search results. However, mastering its complexities requires an understanding of the factors that drive success.In this episode of The Clinic Marketing Podcast, we break down actionable strategies that clinic owners can implement to strengthen their local presence and build trust within their community.Here's what you'll learn:Why local SEO is a game-changer for clinics and small businesses.The key differences between Google Map Pack rankings and organic search results.Essential factors influencing your visibility in the Google Map Pack.How citations, reviews, and quality backlinks impact your rankings.The role of personalization and optimizing your website for local search.Why consistent business information across directories matters.How small, ongoing efforts can lead to lasting local visibility.

If you're not taking full advantage of Google Posts through your Google Business Profile Listing, you're missing an incredible opportunity to drive more business. So, how do you create Google Posts that get great results?In this episode, we discuss Google Post strategy and detail the best ways to ensure that those looking to take action come to you.We'll give you three categories of  Google Post-creation guidance:What not to do with your Google PostsGoogle Posts that CAN work if done correctlyGoogle Posts that you simply must do to connect and engage with your users so they take actionEpisode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/google-business-profile-post-strategy/ Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

This episode explores the differences between traditional and local SEO and local SEO. Learn how Google's algorithms impact search results and provide insights into optimizing your online presence for local visibility. • Understanding what SEO is • Differentiating traditional SEO from local SEO • Importance of local intent in searches • How to recognize if your business needs local SEO • Key ranking factors for local SEO • Strategies for optimizing your Google Business profile • The role of local citations and online reviews in visibility

This episode of The Clinic Marketing Podcast dives into the game-changing potential of ChatGPT's latest AI search features for clinic marketing and patient engagement. By bridging the gap between AI tools and traditional SEO, clinic owners can enhance their visibility, strengthen their branding, and connect with more patients effectively.We'll cover:How ChatGPT integrates with local search capabilitiesWhy visibility and direct engagement are critical for clinicsThe role of navigational queries in building a stronger brandThe impact of real-time data access on marketing strategiesPractical use cases for ChatGPT's evolving search functionalitiesWhy clinics must prioritize SEO and ensure their online presence is accurateHow ChatGPT can become a valuable tool for patient engagement✨Episode webpage - https://propelyourcompany.com/ai-meets-local-search/Send in your questions. ❤ We'd love to hear from you! ⚡ Free Workshop + Bonus ⚡How to Dominate the First Page of Google and Get More New Patients Without Spending Money on AdsRank at the top of Google and get free website traffic. Join me in the workshop and find out how! https://propelyourcompany.com/learn Let's Stay Connected: Website Free SEO Training

As 2024 comes to a close, we're looking back at the episodes you loved most this year on The Clinic Marketing Podcast. From mastering Google Business Profiles to optimizing your website and diving into AI writing tools, these episodes were packed with actionable tips to grow your clinic.In this special year-end recap, we're counting down the most popular episodes, including:The Ultimate Google Post Strategy to Drive More Business (Episode 86)Advanced Strategies for Your Google Business Profile Listing (Episode 61)12 Items to Remove from Your Clinic Website Immediately (Episode 49)How to Optimize Photos for Your Google Business Profile (Episode 47)3 AI Writing Tools You Should Try: AI, Writing, SEO & Creating Content (Episode 77)Online Reviews: Important Trends, Behaviors, & Platforms for Local SEO (Episode 87)Get Found Online: 4 Listings Every Clinic Needs (Episode 79)Homepage Checkup: Does Your Clinic's Website Attract Patients? (Episode 76)Stock Photos vs. Unique Photos for SEO: How Google Ranks Them (Episode 83)SEO 101: How Do I Improve My Website's Position Online? (Episode 88)Beyond AI and Clickbait: Crafting Content That Converts (Episode 84)What's the Best Website Platform: WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, or Something Else? (Episode 85)

Michael "Skitch" Schiciano welcomes you back to Shardpoint Academy, where a project 100 years in the making is on the cusp of being finished…   Austin charts the X's and O's as Chad Swozzle, Gnome Wizard. Sara makes trouble on campus as Eclair, Aasimar Fighter. Forneia leads the cheer squad as Phyrlass, Drow Wardancer. Peter enters from stage right as Ashley Simpson III (No Relation), Halfling Rogue.   STARRING -   DM Michael "Skitch" Schiciano: https://bsky.app/profile/skitch.bsky.social   Players: Austin Yorski: https://bsky.app/profile/austinyorski.bsky.social Sara (Cosmignon): https://bsky.app/profile/cosmignon.bsky.social Forneia: https://bsky.app/profile/forneiavtuber.bsky.social, https://twitter.com/ForneiaVTuber Peter Hunter: https://bsky.app/profile/pretorhunter.bsky.social   Edited by Austin Yorski: https://bsky.app/profile/austinyorski.bsky.social   Title Sequence by Matt Crowley: https://bsky.app/profile/mattjcrowley.bsky.social   SUPPORT LINKS - Austin - https://www.patreon.com/austinyorski  Sara - https://www.patreon.com/cosmignon - https://runawaydrakaina.com/ Forneia - https://ko-fi.com/forneia Skitch - https://www.patreon.com/skitch - https://skitch.bandcamp.com/    Art by Sara (Cosmignon): https://bsky.app/profile/cosmignon.bsky.social Matt Crowley: https://bsky.app/profile/mattjcrowley.bsky.social   AUDIO & MUSIC - Shardpoint Theme by Skitch - https://skitch.bandcamp.com/album/dice-funk-one-shot-themes   FAN COMMUNITIES - https://discord.gg/YMU3qUH