You did it! You signed up for the networking event! You practiced your introduction, ordered business cards, went to the event, had meaningful conversations, and came home with a stack of business cards (and maybe a notebook full of ideas).

…Now what?

For many private practice owners, this is where networking ends. The business cards get tucked into a desk drawer. LinkedIn requests never get sent (or accepted). Follow-up emails remain drafts. Months later, the names and faces begin to blur together.

And that's exactly why so many people say networking "doesn't work."

When therapists think about marketing their private practice, networking is often one of the first things they say they "should" be doing and one of the first things that falls off the calendar when life gets busy.

Part of the challenge is that networking is frequently misunderstood. Many clinicians picture awkward mixers, forced small talk, or collecting business cards from strangers they may never see again. The assumption is that networking is the act of being at an event, when really it is about building the network that you will refer to, call upon, confer with, and build your business using in the future.