One of the best things we ever did for our Medical Practice marketing program was purchase a mascot. Over the last four years he has not only gone viral socially through various marketing campaigns, but he has also become the very essence and symbol of what our brand stands for. Recently one of our readers wrote in and asked, “Do you use your mascot on all print materials, ads, etc..?” I thought that was a great question that merited a response for all of our readers. Why Get a Mascot? Before I can answer the first question, I need to explain the primary reason for having a…

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” ~Charlie “Tremendous” Jones … The above is one of my favorite quotes of all time. I believe it is imperative that we continue reading, pushing ourselves to new limits, and exploring ideas with different people if we want to grow. I am often asked which books have lead to my success in marketing. The truth is, there are a lot of books that have made me who I am today, but I do have two favorites. The first is a book entitled Positioning: The Battle for…

One of the more challenging aspects of starting, or growing, an occupational medicine practice within an Medical Practice is finding ways to get leads for new accounts. Kathleen from Sarasota, Florida, wrote in recently and asked us if we would share ideas on how to obtain these accounts. I believe the first step is knowing where to look for leads. Strategy 1: Read the Newspaper One of the easiest places to start looking for leads is also the most antiquated in our digital society: Your Local Newspaper. One of the best tips I was ever given as a sales professional was to read your local…

Yesterday morning I had breakfast with a new business partner. At 78 years old, he currently operates four different businesses, and recently sold his fifth venture to family members in May of this year. We were meeting to discuss his latest venture, private bottling of wine for promotional purposes. A recovering alcoholic, you might find it odd that he had taken a dive into the wine business. But after studying the growing market, he realized wine is where the money is at right now. And his past failures have led him to find success in that market – including having a popular…

This past week I was in Dallas, Texas at the Create Leads, Close Sales conference. I love attending conferences for three reasons. First, they often reaffirm that I'm doing the right thing, while giving me optics on how to improve things. Second, they give me new ideas to implement that perhaps I had not thought of (or I knew I should be doing, but I just hadn't yet implemented). Third, they allow me the opportunity to network and meet new people. The main instructor, Randy Tate, started the conference off with this quote by Mark Twain: "I live in a state of constant conversation, some of it…

Did you realize there are 5 main functions of an Medical Practice business, and successful businesses figure out how to grow the five areas sequentially over time. This is a concept I learned recently at a live event I attended, and it was interesting as I listened to other business owners share their thoughts on the concept. Function 1: Marketing … The first function of a business is marketing. It does no good to open the doors to your Medical Practice if you do not have patients walking through them. Marketing means finding people to talk to and narrowing down your target audience to ensure…

When was the last time you took a day to focus solely on learning and thinking about how to improve your business? For me, that answer is this past Friday. Prior to that, I don't remember when the last time was that I took an entire day to focus only on thinking about how to grow our business. It is amazing what you can come up with when you take the time to focus on how to run your business, instead of spending all your time focused on running your business. This past Friday for me started by completing a 5 hour marketing training course I had purchased a few weeks ago. As I went through the…

No matter what role I am playing, from time-to-time I find myself falling into the “Busy But Not Productive Trap”. I will start the day with an impressive to-do list and end the day with a million things done, unfortunately, most of them were not on my to-do list. This usually happens when I’ve had a major change in my life, and I’ve managed to stray from my normal, more productive, routine. This morning, while I was reading a Launch by Jeff Walker, I had an AHA! Moment. I thought I would share the words that inspired that moment with you today: “Your most scare…

This past week a friend of mine visited a medical practice clinic. Her visit lasted less than four minutes. That would be a majorly impressive record if the connotation within that sentence allowed for only one (positive) result. Unfortunately, the record has a less than impressive ending, for both the patient and the medical practice. How the Visit Started … My friend woke up with a severe pain in her back. Unable to drive, she called a neighbor to help shuttle her 20 miles to the nearest medical practice facility. As she shuffled into the building and up to the check-in area, she was…

The world of online marketing can be complex and overwhelming to navigate. The cost of advertising online can be expensive – the cost of not advertising online even more expensive! So how do you know where to spend your marketing dollars online? Recently one of our subscribers wrote in and asked me, “I only have a limited marketing budget. Which would you recommend I spend my advertising dollars on, Google Ads or Facebook Ads?” It’s a great question with a fairly simple answer. Google Ads! Why? Because Google Ads are the new Yellow Pages. When people need a service…