20 Dietitian Resources for Building an Online Private Practice
Having your own online private practice can be extremely rewarding as a Registered Dietitian. Your own nutrition business allows you the freedom to help who you want, how you want. Plus, you can live anywhere and work as many or as few hours as you please! This all sounds great, but we all know that taking the entrepreneurial leap is a BIG and potentially risky step.
To start a nutrition private practice takes a tremendous amount of COURAGE, TALENT, and PASSION. You have everything in you to make your business a huge success! However, you don’t need to do it all on your own. The right resources and partners will help you avoid common setbacks and disasters that come with growing an online nutrition business as an RD.
So, to help you get started, set yourself up for success, and reduce your risk of mistakes, I am sharing a collection of invaluable resources for your online private practice! Here’s what you need:
20 Dietitian Resources for Building an Online Private Practice
Online Business Plan Template
One of the first steps to starting a nutrition practice is developing a business plan. Even if you’ve had your practice open for a while, it won’t hurt to plan out your business going forward and iron out some details you maybe didn’t consider in the beginning. The plan is more for organization and vision casting, so just have fun with it and don’t be afraid to dream a little bit!
What’s even more important is what you do after creating a business plan!
Marketing Plan Strategies
There are lots of pros and cons to going out on your own as an RD, and one of the scariest detractors is the responsibility of private practice dietitians to find their own clients. Though it can be intimidating, it’s nothing you can’t handle! You just need a good marketing mix between things like SEO, social media, collabs, and physical media. It’s all laid out for you in the resource!
Client Management, Telehealth Platform, and Billing System
When you have your own business, there are a lot of online practice management responsibilities, like billing, scheduling sessions, onboarding new clients, and storing sensitive health information. Plus, if you’re all-online, you need telehealth capabilities! Luckily, you don’t need half a dozen tools to do all these things. Practice Better, the program I linked above, can do all of this and is tailor made for businesses like a nutrition private practice!
Website Design and Management Partner
You can design a website on your own, but if this isn’t your specialty you run the risk of limiting your business potential online. Of course, as an online business, this is the last thing you want to do. That’s why I recommend investing in an expert web developer! This way, you really set yourself up for success in the digital space for the long haul.
Logo and Asset Graphic Designer
Much like a website, a professional logo and other graphics help you look professional and establish authority online. Plus, it helps set your business up for long-term success! You’ll be able to use assets you purchase now for years to come if it’s done by the experts from the beginning.
Legal Consultant
As someone who’s worked in the nutrition business to some capacity, you know that there are legal complexities to giving health advice. A legal consultant is really essential to make sure you navigate everything appropriately. It’s an enormous responsibility to stay above board legally; there’s no reason to do it alone!
HIPAA Compliance Tool
A HIPAA Compliance Tool helps businesses ensure they’re properly protecting sensitive health information. It helps remove the risk of human error by running risk assessments, providing compliance reporting, encrypting data automatically, managing access controls, and offering guidance on common HIPAA related incidents.
Professional Liability Insurance
Even if you follow all the laws and regulations, you’re still vulnerable in this line of business, so definitely get yourself professional liability insurance. It’ll give you legal protection, financial security, and professional credibility.
CPA or Accountant
Here’s another area you want to leave to the professionals! Put your money management in good hands with a CPA who can keep accurate bookkeeping, do tax preparation and planning, run financial analysis, help you maintain regulatory compliance, budget appropriately, and plan for the future.
Expense/Invoice Tracker
With lots of clients and vendors, it can be difficult to keep track of invoices and expenses without any organization system. You can find low to no cost trackers like Quickbooks that’ll help you and your CPA out a lot!
Content Creation Tool
Creating valuable assets for your website and marketing campaigns can be super helpful for your growing business! Instead of commissioning assets from a graphic designer every time you need something, you can use a tool like Canva with plenty of templates and user-friendly tools to make graphic creation really easy.
Creative Marketplace
If you need photos, icons, fonts, or anything else for website, social media, or marketing graphics curation, Creative Marketplace is a great resource! They have plenty of material to fit any niche.
Copywriter
You’re a nutrition expert you don’t need to be a rockstar at marketing, graphic design, financial management, and everything else. Copywriting for your website, intake forms, and marketing material is another task you can delegate to ensure your text is always professional, clear, and grammatically correct.
SEO Service
For an online nutrition business, how you rank on search engines is important. You want people searching for your niche to find you before the competition. Experts can optimize your website and content to rank high for the right searches. So, if someone searches “the best sports dietitian for runners,” and that’s you, they’ll find you first on Google.
Email Marketing System
Email marketing and communication is difficult with a long contact list. There are lots of options for email marketing software that can handle a lot of email addresses and allow you to schedule and manage email marketing campaigns with ease.
Document Manager and Electronic Signature System
A document manager with electronic signature abilities is essential for a private RD because it enhances the efficiency, security, and convenience of handling client documentation WITHOUT you having to keep a bunch of physical paperwork on file. These systems enable secure storage and easy retrieval of client records, personalized nutrition plans, and consent forms, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations like HIPAA.
Course and Membership Builder
Courses and memberships are a good way to diversify the services you offer to reach a wider target audience, generate more income, and retain more clients. This can be a complicated process on your own, so use special software to build and host your course or membership.
Form and Survey Builder
You’ll need forms, contracts, surveys, and questionnaires for your online nutrition business. Whether you’re sending out documents for intake or collecting feedback for testimonials, use a form and survey builder to make creation, collection, and analysis of documents super easy!
Continuing Education Resource
This one you’re probably familiar with! To maintain your Registered Dietitian certification, you’ll need to stay on top of your CPEUs. A resource or portal that displays eligible classes and workshops is a great way to streamline the process!
Dietitian Business Coach
I hope this list hasn’t overwhelmed you! It’s true that to run a successful online nutrition business, you’ll probably need support. Your background is in nutrition and health, not finance, business, marketing, and everything else that helps you be a successful entrepreneur. That’s where these resources and the wisdom of a Dietitian Business Coach can be invaluable.
As a Dietitian Business Coach, I’ve not only built my own online private practice from the ground up, but I’ve helped hundreds of dietitians achieve their own dreams of growing a successful practice! My programs are specially designed to give you the best insight and strategies to get you to your goals with as few setbacks as possible. If you think hiring a Dietitian Business Coach is right for you, apply to work with me!
How To Grow A Private Practice As A Dietitian
Tip 1: Network with other healthcare professionals and relevant businesses.
Usually, for a client to reach their goals, they need a holistic approach that means there are other healthcare professionals your potential dreamy clients will encounter before you! There may also be related businesses that draw in your target audience. Partner with these professionals and businesses and become their go-to dietitian for nutrition coaching referrals!
Tip 2: Collect and showcase testimonials and success stories.
Establishing trust and authority is extremely important when trying to convert potential clients to actual clients! One of the best ways to show you’re the real deal is to share lots of testimonials. The impact you’ve made on the lives of others is irrefutable and one of your best marketing tools!
Tip 3: Curate and present valuable content for your audience.
If you can provide value to potential clients before they’ve spent anything, they’ll be much more likely to convert into paying clients down the line. Provide content relevant to your niche and post it on your website and social media!
Tip 4: Establish an online presence.
A strong online presence is not essential to a successful nutrition business, however it can be very helpful for capturing an audience organically! You can post on social media channels, blog, guest appear on podcasts, make videos whatever feels right and authentic to you. Just remember that marketing with honesty and heart is key to connecting with your dream clients.
Tip 5: Leverage technology and the web.
There are certainly challenges to gaining clients online and working with clients virtually, but there are a lot of benefits, too! Leverage technology (many of the resources above) to streamline your processes, innovate, and grow your business.
Tip 6: Set-up an appealing referral program.
Like I mentioned earlier when discussing testimonials, what your current clients have to say is one of the best marketing tools at your disposal! Establish a referral program that’s enticing to your current clients so they tell their friends and family about your services. It’s a great way to organically acquire more clients at a low cost!
Tip 7: Connect with your audience in meaningful ways, both digitally and physically.
What community are you serving? You obviously have a passion for the health and wellness of a certain niche, which is why you’re so devoted to your practice and clients! Show this dedication to your audience by engaging with them where it matters most. You could volunteer at a charity event, host workshops and support groups, speak at seminars, and/or celebrate people’s victories on social media. Just find ways to meet people, learn their stories, and demonstrate how much you care!
Tip 8: Keep a supportive network of consultants, partners, and/or coaches to keep you on track.
Resources often come in the form of printables, programs, or software but sometimes they’re in the form of people! Assemble a dietitian dream team to help support your business. Some key players are legal consultants, accountants, nutrition assistants, website developers, and, of course, a Dietitian Business Coach like me!
The right resources can help set your nutrition business up for success!
To make your business dreams into a reality, you need a strategic system of support! Lean on resources like templates, programs, software, vendors, partners, and even a Dietitian Business Coach like me to fortify your business for any challenge that may come your way.
With the right resources and support combined with your incredible talent or passion, you’ll reach all your online practice goals in no time!