FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
1) Who can join the TherapyToday network as a Member/Contributor?
A: Any mental health professional that has a private practice. State licensure is strongly preferred. We recognize that there are some brilliant minds out there who may be coaches, for example, and we plan to launch a separate brand for that category of self-help / mental health. We rarely take submissions from non-practicing contributors, because the entire Therapy Today Network platform was built to help mental health professionals grow their client base & revenue.
2) Q: What do you need to accept an article or piece of content from me?
A: We require the content of course and when we first set you up: your headshot, your website URL (or where you’d like those clicking to contact you to end up), and your bio. These are used to help promote you on your articles and even more importantly when we show your profile on other articles (more on that later). See our Writing Guidelines for more info.
3) Q: As a member, how often do I need to provide content?
A: While we prefer once a month or more frequently, we don’t have a specific minimum. Some members also install the Therapy Today widget on their site (generally very easy to do, particularly in WordPress), so that they can earn ad-credits for any readers of that content who aren’t in their service area. See more on Ad-Credits.
4) Q: If I’m writing an article for Therapy Today, how long should it be?
A: Most written columns are 500 – 1500 words long, as necessary to get the point across. If you feel you need more than 1500 words, consider making the article a 2-part submission which is typically better for both the reader and for SEO. In certain instances we are open to longer contributions.
5) Q: Can I also submit video and images?
A: Sure we can embed a YouTube video and you can comment on it with some text to provide context.
6) Q: Why should I promote the content I create for Therapy Today?
A: When you share on Facebook, tweet or link to your article its great PR. Each links from a blog or other site to your article helps it rank better on Google and Bing. But even better as a TherapyToday member if any readers outside your service area are reading your articles you are earning ad credits. (see ad credits portion of the FAQ)
7) Q: Do I need to submit original content to Therapy Today?
A: We won’t post existing duplicate content as-is. You are free to submit existing content to TherapyToday.com, we request that you revisit the article/column to make any changes based on new findings, an updated perspective, to improve clarity based on comments or feedback you have received, or to shorten/lengthen. We want to improve your chances of Google and Bing ranking your revised article in the search results, and we won’t post an exact article that Google/Bing have seen before. Please consider updating the article, particularly the first paragraph and title. We recommend that at least 30% of the content be revisited at least in some way. If we like an article we are open to making the first edit for you and submitting it back to you for approval. Some times a fresh set of eyes can actually improve upon your article (even though it was “perfect” when you wrote it)…
8) Q: Can I get a login to be able to post content myself rather than send it to you in document form?
A: After we publish several of your columns, we will consider providing you with the login so that you can publish any time.
9) Q: What are “Ad Credits?”
A: When your articles on TherapyToday.com are read by readers outside your service area (where you can see them as in-person clients or outside your service area based on state licensure), you earn an ad credit for each remote reader, because that remote reader is not in the target audience of potential clients. Those Ad Credits you earn based on remote readership are used when other readers within your service area are reading articles written by TherapyToday members outside your service area. Since those readers are of interest to you (due to proximity) and not of interest to the member who contributed the article, the reader is presented with the “TherapyToday Professionals In Your Area” ad widget including your profile.
10) Q: Who retains the copyright for the authored posts that are published on TherapyToday (or other sites)? The original author and creator of our content, you retain copyright on your original work and can publish that work in its original form or made additional edits to re-post elsewhere. However, you grant the Therapy Today network the right (in perpetuity) to publish the original content or submission as well as publish edited or modified versions of your content. If our editors have made changes to your submission the edited derivative content must remain exclusive to TherapyToday but you retain copyright on the original . For example, its not unusual for our editors to shorten, clarify, rearrange or add data or citations to articles while they also check for grammar, spelling and punctuation. The edits we make combine with our right to publish your copyrighted work to give us exclusive use of the final edited content. From a practical perspective that means you can publish, sell or otherwise use your own work and any derivative of that work but the version we edited is only to be published by us.
11) What right am I granting Therapy Today? You hereby grant Therapy Today a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, exclusive, and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, incorporate into other works, distribute, perform, and display such content, in whole or in part in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.
