Ten Things to Do to Make Money in Anger Management

March 05, 2007

The single most important thing to do to succeed as a professional anger management provider is to select a nationally recognized curriculum and absolutely master the material and techniques for teaching this model. Once you are certified with a minimum of 40 hours of training, you would do well to complete a 104 hour supervised internship. The following ten steps will most likely lead to financial and professional success:
1. Being good and competent is essential but it is also necessary to have a written marketing plan to make sure that potential clients know who you are, what you do and why they should select you over your competitor.
2. Location, location, location. Your location will determine the type of clients which will utilize your services. If your office is in a low income area, your clients will require a sliding fee scale and you must compete with non-profits. If you establish your office in an upscale area, you will attract upscale clients and those who think of themselves as upwardly mobile. Your location must also be easily accessible to transportation with ample parking. Business parks are often a great resource for business referrals.
3. A functional website is just as important as a telephone. Your website must, or should be narrowly focused on anger management, stress management, assertive communication, emotional intelligence and/or executive coaching. If you claim on your website that you can do everything, your chance of convincing potential clients is drastically reduced. You must use your sinage on every e-mail sent. i.e. George Anderson, CAMF
http://www.andersonservice.com/
http://www.anger-management-resources.org/
http://www.aaamp.org/
http://www.angertrends.blogspot.com/
4. Specific curriculum material. Anger management assessment and skill enhancement material, DVDs, Posters, client workbooks and other training material must be made available for clients as well as for marketing purposes.
5. Flexible schedule. I recently spoke to an unsuccessful anger management provider who was puzzled over not receiving referrals. In response to my questioning, he explained that he had only one group. This group met at 7:00 P.M. on Friday nights. Unfortunately, few Americans will attend anything except a party on Friday nights. If is essential to have a flexible schedule based on the needs of the clients served. The United States Postal Service operates around the clock. Therefore, they offer anger management to its employees days, evenings, nights and weekends.
6. Fees must be realistic. If you provide executive coaching for physicians, attorneys, celebrities and other high profile clients, you can charge whatever you like. If you market to Human Resource Managers for line staff employees, you can establish a reasonable fee. If your referral base is primarily court referrals, you may need to consider the need for a sliding fee scale.
7. Acceptance of VISA and MASTERCARD is a must. Americans are addicted to credit cards. American Express is generally too expensive for most anger management businesses. Individual checks are problematic and caution is advised.
8. Client appreciation generates more business. We are Anderson & Anderson is generous with small tokens of appreciation to our clients as well as our referral sources. We give free Anderson & Anderson Anger Management Polo shirts to clients who spend in excess of $500 for services or products. We give free Anger Management Tips booklets to Human Resource Managers as well as DVDs (Gaining Control of Ourselves) to Key Persons in large Hospitals and businesses.
9. Personalizing the service. Clients often like copies of their assessment. Therefore, we routinely offer each client a cope of his or her assessment and Post Test. For Executive Coaching Clients, we give a free copy of the DVD, Gaining Control of Ourselves.
10. Respectful client interaction. All of our staff are trained to treat everyone who contact our office can expect to be treated with respect in spite of how they respond to us. It is important that anger clients are generally angry about being in an anger management class.

George Anderson, MSW, BCD, CAMF
Dipmate, American Association of Anger Management Providers
http://www.andersonservices.com/
http://www.anger-management-resource.org/
http://www.aaamp.org/

--- George Anderson is the first global provider of anger management facilitator certification.

George Anderson, MSW, BCD, CAMF
Diplomate, American Association of Anger Management Providers
http://www.andersonservices.com/
http://www.angertrends.blogspot.com/
www.anger-management-resources.org