Need to optimize your earnings? Consider selling merchandise that resolves your clients' problems and addresses their pain
As a clinician who was mentored to provide excellent clinical services, I never understood the value of developing and selling merchandise. Like thousands of mental health professionals around the world, I embraced the concept of making money by primarily providing individual and group counseling. I poured my heart and soul into counseling because I thought creating a service-oriented practice was the only way to increase my income.
After many years of feeling burned out and exhausted due to engaging in long hours of clinical work, I decided to research other ways of increasing my income. I read more than 25 business articles, and attended several entrepreneur workshops that highlighted the importance of repackaging my clinical knowledge and expertise as sellable merchandise. With this newfound knowledge, I published 14 self-help books, produced four relationship documentaries and created more than 30 on-demand courses. Since I have had some success producing and selling merchandise, I wanted to learn about other therapists who have done the same thing. So, I interviewed Anim Aweh, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Aweh Support LLC, an online mental health practice that provides a judgment-free zone for Black women in need of counseling. As I spent time chatting with Aweh, I learned she increased her income by 30% by selling books and apparel. Her best-selling product, Therapy Over Silence, is a socially conscious clothing line consisting of T-shirts and hoodies that encourages help seeking behavior. Also, I learned Aweh is in the process of releasing her second book, "My Mindset Journal: For BIPOC Women Looking to Shift From Surviving to Thriving" in October 2022.‘Run with your ideas'Aweh's advice for bringing ideas to life? "It's important to allow ourselves to be creative," she says. "As therapists, we are often overwhelmed with daily tasks such as seeing clients and maintaining good clinical records. And, while these tasks are extremely important, we must get out of our own way and believe that we have more to offer than clinical services."The quickest way to bring an idea to life is to run with your ideas. Do not dread over the small details, just get moving. Do some research to better understand the needs of your clients. By conducting research, you gain deeper insight about what merchandise is sellable and not sellable. Lastly, I believe that it is important to work with a business coach who can help you brainstorm and transfer your ideas into sellable merchandise." As for how to make money from selling merchandise, Aweh – whose products are available at animawehlcsw.com – says to focus on three things: pain, product and problem."People spend money to eliminate or reduce their pain, so the easiest way to make money from merchandise as a mental health clinician is to create products that address your clients' pain points," she explains. Also, "You must ask yourself two basic questions before creating and attempting to sell merchandise: ‘Is there a need for the product?' and ‘What problem can the product solve?' "For example, my first children's book, ‘Elijah Was Brave,' sold very well and increased my income because a large percentage of Black and Brown families struggle to cope with children's mental illness. Again, making money is possible if clinicians create merchandise that solves clients' problems and addresses their pain." Making money by selling merchandise can increase your income and free you from the day-to-day clinical hustle. If you take nothing else from this article, please remember that the key to making money by selling merchandise is to repackage your knowledge and expertise in the form of a product that provides solutions and lessens pain.
First published in Black Mental Health Today, Fall 2022 (Vol. 5).
