Are You Sick & Tired of Burning Thru Money With Weak Ads?

It’s not your advertising; it’s your content, it’s weak so your ads fail! Learn 3 proven tips for creating a killer message.

Patient attraction is EVERYTHING in business! As such, you’re going to learn how to transform your clinic into a patient magnet via improved content marketing strategies!

The goal, however, isn’t to be good at content—it’s to be good at business because of your content.

Before proceeding much further, let’s define what content means from a marketing prospective. According to the Content Marketing Institute: “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent messaging to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

Like every piece of targeted communication, the only job that content marketing has is to create behaviors among target audiences that benefit the business.

Interestingly, if you research content marketing on line, much of what is written is a very superficial and nebulous. This means that many who write about content marketing don’t fully understand it themselves. Hence, the lack of detail and nuance.

So, it’s no mystery that there is great confusion about the subject. Often you find ethereal definitions describing “content marketing” as a means of communicating that elicits emotions in your reader. For example, content marketing makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you angry, etc.

Though it is true that good communication relates with it’s readers on multiple levels. The purpose is to provide a deeper message that doesn’t necessarily focus on the product or service you provide but solves needs.

The ultimate goal is to attract more patients to your practice. You want to be seen as the “go-to” resource for medical answers within your discipline. To become a patient magnet you need to understand your patients. You need to identify who, within your clinic, is your ideal target market, where do they hang out, what do they read, and so on. You need to know things, like:

What details can you tell about your chosen target market?
Who are the top influencers in the markets your patients seek; for example, bloggers, websites, podcasts or social media giants?
Are you receiving email newsletters from the influencers in these markets?
What are the latest marketing trends regarding their [your patient’s]needs?

Only when you understanding their needs can you create interesting, relevant and compelling messages which speaks their needs. This article is designed to teach you how to focus your practice’s message to achieve winning marketing strategies. Continue reading Are You Sick & Tired of Burning Thru Money With Weak Ads?

3 WAYS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS QUICKLY!

Grow your business through proven strategies to increase your traffic, convert the curious into patients and retain your patients for years to come (all the while, providing additional necessary procedures).

Business success doesn’t occur by accident! Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Michael Dell didn’t succeed on a whim. They consciously and intentionally pursued, explored, and diligently worked hard to attain the brass ring. Therefore, so must you!

You took the time and effort to hire a real estate person, find an office space, and secure your loan. Then, you had that office space built out to your specifications. After that, you hired contractors to fill your new clinic with phone lines, computer equipment, and medical equipment. One can only presume that your intention was to be as successful as possible.

You were diligent in your efforts to create a suitable location for your medical practice. You secured a beachhead for your enterprise. Now comes the moment of truth; the time when you must attack your prosperity intentionally!

In this spirit, your task is to raise your hand and to tell the world that you are open and ready for business! Additionally, your effort needs to cultivate your reputation, to stand out in your area, to become a local expert. In so doing, you can begin to develop your foothold on being considered the “go-to” doctor in town.

We know that this active pursuit of excellence is supposed to happen. It’s a shame though that far too many doctors don’t approach their business in this manner. There seems to be an attitude that simply by hanging their shingle over their door, patients will come!

Maybe it has to do with the amount of time that passes between a college business course and the actual practice of medicine. Perhaps, it’s in this period from beginning one’s practice to thinking about attracting more patients that the disconnect occurs. The fact is that from the moment you opened your clinic, the competition was on!

Every business school in the country teaches that business success is a daily struggle for survival. Every day someone is going out of business. Likewise, every day someone is trying to build their business; however, in a crowded marketplace every time a clinic gains a new patient, someone else loses one!

Though you can make the argument that the world is your “patient” oyster, depending on geographic limitations, population density, availability, and opportunity, your pool is not nearly as large as you may believe.

The fact it is that every day your competitors are actively marketing to your patients. If they’ve done a good job of incentivizing, they are doing everything they can to compel your patient to become their patient!

This book has a single purpose: to show you how you can keep your patients (both current and past) from jumping ship and increasing your profits. As we go along, you will also learn to attract more patients and increase your clinic’s traffic and earnings.

Additionally, we plan to show how you can maximize your budget to reap the maximum benefit from your marketing efforts.

Did you know that it costs five times as much to attract a new patient than it does to keep an existing one?

The reason that it costs so much more to attract a new patient is because patient acquisition has a very measurable cost. Let’s face it, and every business needs a steady supply of new patients, but it comes at a high price.

Some of the standard patient acquisition costs center around things like outbound, or traditional, marketing (including advertisements, direct mail, cold calling, and so on). Add to that the costs of event marketing, sales, and business development salaries, set up the maintenance of compelling websites, blogs, social media, etc., these things add up quickly and immediately attach themselves to your bottom line!

That’s why patient retention can dramatically and positively impact profits. According to a fascinating article in Marketeer.kapost.com, titled Customer Acquisition Versus Customer Retention, studies performed by Bain and Company, along with Earl Sasser of the Harvard business school, have measured that just a 5% increase in patient retention can lead to an increase in profits somewhere between 25 and 95 percent.

They go on to point out that: Current patients are more willing to try new services. Existing patients are 50% more likely to try new services and spent 31% more, on average, when compared to new patients, which translates to cross sales and up-sales.

Secondly, you already have the trust of your current patients, so they will be willing to truly listen to what you have to offer (without the standard resistance that comes with a perceived sales “pitch” from an unknown source). The probability of providing additional services to an existing patient is 60 to 70%, while the likelihood of providing those services to new patients is just by to 20%.

The third benefit has to do with advocacy and trust. Your current patients are your best advocates which impacts prospective new patients that want to know by what means to be your patients, giving perspective patients a glimpse of the patient experience your brand provides.

A clear model of the benefits of a defined client retention strategy is played out every day with the Disney Company. Think about it, when most people are asked about their experience at the park they respond with “It was incredible!” They often overlook standing in long lines, the hot, humid weather, or ever-rising ticket prices. If the trusted customer experience that has allowed Disney to have an attendance growth over 30 years. Returning customers trust the Walt Disney brand and know what to expect when they plan to visit for the coming summer. Continue reading 3 WAYS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS QUICKLY!

9 Proven Ideas For More And Happier Patients — Secure Your Competitive Advantage

What makes you better than the competition in your patients’ minds?

Any business that enjoys a durable competitive advantage is likely to have a long history of profitability — Warren Buffett

You must be able to emphasize, with clarity, the benefit you provide to your target market that’s better than the competition! That’s your competitive advantage.

It’s a shame that far too many doctors don’t approach their business as it really is. There seems to be an attitude that simply by hanging their shingle over their door, patients will come!

This article has a single purpose: to show you how you can keep your patients (both current and past) from jumping ship. As we go along, you will also learn to attract more patients and increase your clinics traffic and profits.

There are only three ways to increase your business (incidentally, this transcends all industries):

I. You must increase your traffic.
II. You must convert the curious into believers.
III. You must retain your patients for many years.

These next points refer to vital attachments to the original three laws for increasing your clinic’s profits –

1a. Attract more patients – this tactic correlates with patient retention (points I and III) because, if done properly can lead to referrals of friends and family to your practice.
2a. Provide more services for the patients you have – you achieve this by incentivizing your current patient base.
3a. Raise your prices – if you ever analyze what the market will bear for your services, this strategy may have merit. You still may want to proceed with caution when using this approach.

Logically, the goal for every doctor, which owns their own practice, is to attract as many potential patients, convert those people into actual patients, and retain the “best” patients for years to come.

The question then becomes “How does someone stand out amongst all of the competition?”

Continue reading 9 Proven Ideas For More And Happier Patients — Secure Your Competitive Advantage

5 Valuable Tips: Building A Referral Business That Works!

A steady stream of patients is extremely vital for the survival of every clinic! How effective is your referral program with your medical colleagues?

“The best way to predict your future is to create it!” — Abraham Lincoln

Medical professionals have built their success on forming and nurturing referral partnerships since time infinitum. The most powerful of these referral relationships are created when mutual benefits are built-in to those alliances.

This is precisely the point of this article! We intend to show you how to create stronger ties with your medical colleagues. Additionally, this piece will teach you how to provide greater value and separate yourself from other doctors also seeking referrals.

The first place to begin is with the basic inventory of your current actions, for example:

What are you doing to position yourself with your colleagues to stand out from every other doctor that requests referrals?
Are you a good and beneficial referral partner?
Have you established strong bonds of trust?
Are you providing a reciprocal benefit to your referral partners?
Have you established a sense (within your colleagues) of superior expectations?

Many clinic owners give no thought to the fact that success in business is an on-going competition for survival! In order to thrive, you need to implement intentionality! Every day, you must build into your calendar a plan and action to generate more and better patient leads.

According to noted business development guru, Jay Abraham, there are only three ways to grow your practice. You either increase the number of new patients, get them to buy more medical services, or pay more for each proceedure.

For this article, we will focus on increasing the number of new patients. We will focus on the other two methods in future articles (as well as in past issues such as in “8 Steps For Increasing Business“).

CREATING AN ALLIANCE –

In order for a referral program to work, you have to do some investigative work. You must figure out your colleague’s needs and motivations. There are both psychological and emotional components in play when referring patients. You need to know about your colleague’s current referral partners. Why is your colleague using them rather than someone else? How committed are they to these people? How open are they to adding to their list of referral partners? Do they have long-standing ties such as school, social, or fraternal affiliations?

“More than features, more than benefits, we are driven to become a member in good standing of the tribe. We want to be respected by those we aspire to connect with, we want to know what we ought to do to be part of that circle.” – Seth Godin

As you can see, you may be asking someone to break or significantly bend long-established ties. In order to do so, you will have to consider “What’s in this proposed relationship for your colleague (ie. what’s in it for them?)?”

It may seem crass to say but we’re all motivated by self-interest. As such, as part of your detective work you need to uncover your colleague’s “why.” In other words, what is the perceived benefit they stand to gain from you? Continue reading 5 Valuable Tips: Building A Referral Business That Works!

10 Proven Business Techniques For More And Better Patients

Are sick and tried of advertising with no guarantee of results? At last there is a proven method for attract more and better patients!

Webster’s dictionary describes a commodity as a class of economic goods; especially an item of merchandise (such as soybeans) whose price is the basis for future trading. If you want your clinic to grow, and to get more and better patients, you need to break free of the commodity trap!

We live in a world where your patients have more options than ever before! The fact is that patients are loyal to doctors and not to practices. However, if the only thing that separates you from your competitors is price then you have become a commodity. Your value has been reduced to the lowest common denominator — cash! You will only get more and better patients if you provide value well beyond a price-point.

As you read this, think back to when you initially opened your doors. Did you intend to open a practice that was only distinguishable by the prices you charge for the services you provide? A clinic where the only discernible difference between you and your competitors is that the decor and color of the scrubs you wear?

As you read further, you will see many examples of things you can easily do to connect more fully with your patients. In so doing, you will also gain greater insight of your patient’s needs while reaching them!

First and foremost, to attain the success you desire, you must take personal responsibility for your promotional efforts. You may not be well-versed in marketing and advertising, but you need to align yourself with someone who is. Your clinic’s survival literally depends on it!

Additionally, according to the Harvard Business Review, it is up to 25% more expensive to acquire a new patient than to retain existing patients. Further, Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company states that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25%-95%. So the motto of the story is, you don’t have to spend time and resources to get new patients, you just have to make the ones you have happy.

Jill Avery (lecturer at Harvard business school) states that “churn rates’ provide important and measurable matrices. This matrix is important because it focuses directly on the lifetime value of a patient and your return on investment. It’s not just marketers who look at churn, many investors use the metric to evaluate the underlying health of a firm. The higher the churn rate, the more they question the companies viability. Therefore, it’s not just understanding that patients leave, it’s about understanding why they leave. Then, you must make a concerted effort to make sure that the rest of your patients don’t follow suit!”

If you have never considered the value, over a lifetime, of each patient you are in for an eye-full! The lifetime value a patient represents is an easily calculated formula. You simply calculate the amount of revenue you receive from a patient each time they visit. You would then multiply that figure by the number of times per year they visit. Finally, you would multiply that amount by the average number of years that you retain your patients. As I’m sure you can see, each patient represents a significant amount of revenue to you.

You will also notice that losing patients means that you are handing over thousands of dollars to your competitors. This is not to say that you can’t be discriminating. There is no reason not to exclusively work with your favorite patients. You simply have to be more astute with your promotion and content. You may even wish to explore strategic affiliations to increase the numbers of desirable patients.

“65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied.” Source quoted as Gartner.

You should now do some calculations to fine-tune and identify more and better patients. You need to evaluate the quality of your current patients. Essentially, you need to determine which patients represent the 20% that provides you with 80% of your annual revenue. Once you establish this number, you then figure out what their primary concerns are. For example, if these patients represent chronic migraines, and you would then target your marketing for that specific ailment.

Stay very close to your patients, so you know their exact needs, today and tomorrow. Your aim is to be irreplaceable as their healthcare provider. Continue reading 10 Proven Business Techniques For More And Better Patients

Save Thousands On Your Marketing & Still Get Killer Results!

Promotional efforts can be extremely expensive. What if you could save thousands on your marketing and still achieve your best results?

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the average business spends 7% of its annual revenue on their advertising; in raw dollars, if you make a few adjustments, you could save thousands on your marketing!

More importantly, not only can you save thousands on your marketing, you can do it and still get impressive results with your promotional efforts.

Business promotion is a core element of one’s standard operating costs, i.e. “the cost of doing business.” However, how one promotes their clinic is an invaluable commodity for the astute marketer, which requires keen senses! Moreover, promotional better strategies allow you to save thousands on your marketing!

Your medical practice, like every other business, needs a steady stream of patients to stay solvent. Beyond word-of-mouth and family, you need to engage in some sort of advertising to succeed. Unless you’re prudent, you will probably fall into the government statistic. It also means you will likely be spending thousands on your marketing as well. As such, it is in your best interest to figure out how to shrewdly boost your returns on investment (ROI)!

Therefore, let’s see where we can maximize our budget, and save you money immediately.

Every business school in the country teaches one very important principle, it costs you significantly more money to get a new patient than to maintain and do more business with your current patients!

* It is 6 Times More Expensive to Win a New Customer than to Retain an Existing One – ThinkJar.com

Additionally, according to Sales and Marketing Magazine, 80% of all people who inquire about medical services take action within one year (emergencies excluded). However, they seldom do business with the clinic they originally contacted. This means you are educating your prospective patients to do business with your competition.

Your best and most lucrative strategy then is to focus on and provide excellent service for your current patients! Above all else, it is far more logical to do business with those people that know you and trust you.

In fact, the evidence is in and the Internet is chock-full of information supporting this evidence! Author Tricia Morris, from Business2Community.com, writes an excellent, enlightening, and convincing piece on the subject. According to her research, “the probability of selling to an existing customer is 14 times higher than the probability of selling to a new customer.”

Her article titled “It is 6 Times More Expensive to Win a New Customer Than to Retain a New One” further points out the following interesting facts:

If satisfied by the customer experience, 73% of the customers will recommend a brand to others, and 46% say they will trust that brands products and services above all others. – SDL Global CX Wakeup Call Report
97% of global customers say that customer service is very important or somewhat important in their choice of and loyalty to a brand. – Microsoft Global State of Multichannel Customer Service Report
76% of consumers say they view customer service as the true test of how much a company values them. – Aspect Consumer Experience Survey.
62% of global customers have stopped doing business with the brand or organization due to poor customer service experience. Microsoft Global State of Multichannel Customer Service Report
Once a customer leaves, for in five say they will never come back, and if they do, 59% say they will be less loyal. – SDL Global CX Wakeup Call Report
According to a new PwC Survey, more than a quarter of the U.S. CEOs are increasing their spending on advertising this year. But the most valuable promotion will come to those who not only invest in winning customers by keeping them.

Okay, you now know some very intriguing statistics. So what are you going to do about it? Where do you begin? Moreover, who’s your audience? Maybe most important of all, what do you say to these existing patients? How are you going to increase your ROI and the effectiveness of your advertising? Continue reading Save Thousands On Your Marketing & Still Get Killer Results!

Ninja Video Marketing Secrets Revealed!

In an ever-changing world, business owners are seeing that video marketing increases engagement, conversions, brand loyalty, and provides a far greater customer experience. *

It was Sun Tzu that wrote (in The Art of War), “Thus those skilled in war subdue the enemy’s army without battle…. They conquer by strategy.” Video marketing is proving to be a formidable weapon in the daily skirmish for business dominance!

When you opened your clinic, you opened it to be triumphant! Unfortunately, it’s not easy to have a successful clinic. Prosperity requires a lot of energy, work, diligence, and a strong yet engaging tactics.

What if you could increase the effectiveness of your email campaigns by nearly 20%? Does that seem like a bold and unrealistic claim? According to Business2community.com, using the word “you” in an email subject line open rates of that email by 19%! Further, according to Infographixdirectory.com, eight out of 10 website visitors who watch an online video view the advertisement in full, 26% looked for further information on the business and 15% visited that business.

How would your tactical tool case benefit from having such a weapon at your disposal? What an essential strategic component a 19% boost in your email and 80% ad readability be towards your goal! Your promotional platform would be profoundly enhanced!

At the end of the day, your aim is to access as many viable and profitable options as possible. Your goal is to find the best marketing option which yields maximum influence and provides an excellent return on investment (ROI).

A well thought out strategy also requires that you continually remind your current patients that you are the best resource. Like most doctors, you need to overcome patient anxiety concerns; which mean, you must put future patients at ease. There are many patients that are completely unnerved by the cracking and popping. You must find a way to address that feeling and move past it as quickly as possible. Simple words on a page do not convey the same message as an empathetic voice on the screen!

* According to Forbes, 59% of executives would rather watch a video rather than merely reading a lot of text.

Your video allows those people that don’t know you to engage and emotionally connect with you.

More importantly, your video marketing allows you to place emphasis on your unique and highly skilled services. For example, if you treat a lot of patients with fibromyalgia you should include brief videos from satisfied patients. Likewise, if your practice deals with chronic headaches and migraine relief, that too should be highlighted in your video.

Let’s discuss the readership within your advertising. According to Ragan.com, shoppers who viewed videos were 174% more likely to purchase than viewers who did not.

The statistics that we have been talking about are compelling and impressive. However, your video must have a very targeted message. You don’t want to play around with videos that are either so boring they don’t get shared or so vague they don’t connect with your viewers. Focus your video around clear objectives and calls to action. Create an environment where patients know what they’re supposed to do and can easily take the next step.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend a small fortune to get exceptional quality videos. Current technology allows for a lot of options without a huge expense. In fact, depending on the model, your phone has impressive video capabilities. All you would really need is a tripod and some basic lighting tips (available on YouTube). You could then submit that video to a company who could do your video editing for a very reasonable price.

If video editing is your concern and your anchor, then allow me to introduce a brilliant company to you. Like many of you, I am not very technical. Many of my projects were being put off while I either learned how to do something or hired someone.

Learning how to do something, though self-gratifying, ruins your timelines. Unfortunately, the danger with hiring an unknown entity is that you have no assurance of the quality of their work. Without further ado, allow me to recommend **Fiverr. The company’s platform is based on contracting technical professionals who will do your finish work for you. The work they do is provided in $5 “gigs” (hence the name). More importantly, Fiverr features reviews from past clients of all the professionals that work for them — thus eliminating any trepidation. So, you submit your video to a company like Fiverr who could do your video editing for a very reasonable price.

DreamGrow.com (which is a source of social media and content marketing information) states that videos can make you some serious money. Adding a product video on your landing page can increase conversions by 80%.

Continue reading Ninja Video Marketing Secrets Revealed!

The Secret to Business Success: Intentionality

Ultimately business success depends on human intentionality which is the most powerful evolutionary force on this planet. — George Leonard

You were diligent in your efforts to create a suitable location for your chiropractic practice. You secured a beachhead for your enterprise. Now comes the moment of truth; the time when you must attack your prosperity intentionally!

In this spirit, your task is to raise your hand and to tell the world that you are open and ready for business! Additionally, your effort needs to be to stand out in your area, to become a local expert. In so doing, you can begin to develop your foothold on being considered the “go-to” DC and town.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

To become that local expert, you must approach every promotional effort with these primary objectives in mind: Every advertising piece should have a strong and compelling headline. Your content should allure and appeal to people’s self-interest. You must provide a tantalizing offer. You must clearly define your unique stature in the area (your brand). And, you must provide testimonials for those prospective patients who don’t know you and need reassurance.

This is the point at which many chiropractors ask vital and telling questions: “So, what do I say in my promotional pieces (other than the obvious — I’m a DC)? How do I know who I’m supposed to reach? Because at this stage of my career, I treat everyone!

The questions listed above are extremely legitimate! I find that many doctors, though they excel at medicine, they don’t often have the time handle the marketing. What they do have, is an abundance of knowledge. Use your knowledge as currency, which if done properly, can reach and touch multitudes. Continue reading The Secret to Business Success: Intentionality

How to Use Your Branding to Get Genuine Practice Dominance!

“When you look at strong branding, you see a promise!” — Jim Mullen

What if every time you send a promotional piece to your patients, that message gets received with great excitement? It is possible to attain genuine dominance of your marketplace; and, it’s only a few key steps away. An essential aspect of fruitful and predictable marketing begins with superior branding.

A properly developed brand identifies you as the absolute “go-to” doctors in the area. Excellent branding allows you to accurately achieve your reward with stable, dependable, and genuine, programmable response and communication rates.

Think of your marketing promotion like a three-legged stool. You need each leg to be sturdy, or the stool will fall. In this case, the legs of your stool represent your niche, your content, and your credibility. Therefore, to achieve great branding, you must also focus heavily on the content of your message. You must spotlight that segment of your market (your niche) for which you want to be known. For example, prenatal care, make it your mission to provide fresh, innovative, and helpful information that compels Moms to read.

In fact, in an article written for the Balance.com, author Laura Lake says,

“There is a lot of confusion around branding, there are multiple definitions, so what is branding? Decades ago branding was defined as a name, slogan, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these elements that identify products or services of a company. The brand was identified of the elements that differentiated the goods and or service from the competition. Today brand is a bit more complex, but even more important in today’s world of marketing.

It’s the perception that a consumer has when they hear or think of your company name, service or product. That being said, the word ‘brand’ or ‘branding’ is a moving target and evolves with the behavior of consumers, I think of it as the mental picture of who you as a company represents to consumers; it is influenced by the elements, words, and creativity that surround it.”

As you can see, to create a successful brand, you must understand the needs and wants of you patients!

You must also establish your credibility. In a crowded market, where your patients have a lot of choices, you must stand out as a leading expert. Incidentally, this would be the complete opposite of mass marketing. You will never be an expert if you try to be all things to all people!

As stated earlier, credibility starts by targeting your market and developing your reputation as a great resource. In essence, becoming a mini-celebrity to the right people because you’re trustworthy, knowledgeable, and close at hand.

Because of your status, everything you send must be excellent and incomparable. You must position yourself as the best and only solution! Think about it; you’re not breaking new ground, organizations like the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins set a masterful blueprint. You too can achieve similar results, if you dedicate your brand to that level of preeminence.

*I would invite you to discover more about our unique strategy to develop your Authority Brand. Read our article on becoming a “resident expert” in your field. Learn how to create division (from a patient’s perspective) between you and every other chiropractor in town. Continue reading How to Use Your Branding to Get Genuine Practice Dominance!

The Secret to Success: Branding

Branding: Don’t be scared to present the real you to the world, authenticity is at the heart of success.

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or business to business (B2B). An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does “branding” mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?

“Your brand is that ADHESIVE image you carry, that has the ability to STICK to the minds of people you meet physically or otherwise. Brand yourself positively because whoever gets to know you when passing by takes your image along!” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365

Recently, John Williams wrote in a very informative article in Entrepreneur Magazine, titled the Basics of Branding. He points out that simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors’. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

Now that you know what branding is, how do you attain it? How do you form it? How build your business off of it?

The first place to begin is to look in the mirror. Who are you? Who is the principle patient? What is your specialty? If you don’t know, you will need to do some soul searching. Figure out where your passion lays. Maybe your answer is right in front of you? Do an inventory of your entire patient base and establish each patient’s unique need. Clarity may be closer than you think.

The next step is to figure out your practice’s mission. Based on that information establish the unique benefits and features of your services. Now build off of that by establishing what your patients think of your service. Finally, determine what qualities you want patients to associate with your practice.

Congratulations, you have just determined your unique selling proposition (U.S.P). In short, that unique benefit, essence, appeal or promise that you hold out to the patient (one that no other doctor offers). It must be a clear, concise, compelling reason that makes your patient aware of what your practice can do for them. Continue reading The Secret to Success: Branding