MICHELLE NOFTALL RETURNS: THE BENEFITS OF TRYING SOMETHING NEW IN YOUR CANADIAN PRIVATE PRACTICE | EP 34

MEET MICHELLE NOFTALL 

Michelle Noftall is a Canadian Certified Counsellor who opened her own online practice, OPAL Counselling NL, this past Fall. Her areas of interest are grief, loss, and life transitions. She is also a musician and educator who has almost finished a training program to integrate music into her counselling practice. She strives to provide a valuable service to her clients as well as build on her own strengths and passions as she does so.

Learn more about Michelle on her website. 

In This Episode

• Early struggles that Michelle faced in her practice 
• Helpful Instagram changes 
• Taking professional photos 
• Investing in a professional website

Early struggles that Michelle faced in her practice 

Before my first consultation with Michelle, she had struggled with a period of slow growth within her Canadian online practice. 

‘I was feeling frustrated. I felt [that] I was doing a lot of things … and putting a lot of time and energy into marketing the ways that I thought would work, but things weren’t picking up … I wasn’t experiencing the growth that I had hoped I would.’ – Michelle Noftall 

After our conversation, she tried some new techniques and approaches to marketing that I recommended, and things turned around for the better!

Helpful Instagram changes 

Michelle was inspired after our first consultation and committed herself to making some of the changes that we had discussed to help her reach and surpass her goals. 

Some of these changes included:

• Filming videos that reflected what in-session counselling with Michelle would look and feel like 
• Switching to a more casual-looking yet professional set of earphones to wear during videos and counselling 
• Creating Instagram reels 

‘Within about 15-minutes [of posting a reel] … [it] got over 400 views … wow! That is why … I had to embrace using this tech form … it was a learning curve but I just got to dig in and learn and do what works, and that is what I’ll be doing moving forward.’ – Michelle Noftall 

In creating her Instagram reels, Michelle got more comfortable and as she did so, she became more popular online. She often created reels out-of-office to be less formal, makes some reels outside, and used music in the background. 

‘[Creating more casual reels] is less pressure on me to do it [professionally], it seems like it’s resonating with my followers more this way, and I guess Instagram is a more casual platform … so I’m leaning into that and going with that flow.’ – Michelle Noftall 

Taking professional photos 

Michelle reached out to a friend of hers whom she had previously worked on music projects with to take some high-quality, professional photos. 

Together, they took some new headshots and did some indoor and outdoor photoshoots. These top-quality photos can instantly boost your credibility and approachability, so consider investing in working with a professional photographer to take a few. 

Investing in a professional website 

Creating an authentic, smooth, and professional online representation of yourself and your business is an integral aspect of building sustainable success for your Canadian online private practice. 

Consider working with companies like Brighter Vision to build you an impactful and easy-to-use website that connects you more easily to your ideal clients. 

‘Brighter Vision has been fantastic! [I] am so pleased with how my website looks and I’m adding resources … so that has been wonderful.’ – Michelle Noftall