Community Connections

Marketing Among the Madness

Summer is over and everyone’s lives are hectic again. When you’re marketing among the madness, make sure your message doesn’t get lost. Vacation

Vacation is Over

Summers tend to be slow for a lot of practioners. We hope you used your slow summer season productively. But summer is over now and we need to make up for the downtime and ramp up business through smart marketing. However, during this time of year, when people head back to reality, your marketing has to compete with all the other things vying for the attention of potential patients.

Make Partnerships

The two main things taking the attention of your potential patients right now are school and work. So instead of competing with those two things; partner with them! If you’re a chiropractor, hit the schools! A big concern for parents is the heft of backpacks their kids carry. Some schools are doing away with lockers for safety reasons and that means kids have to haul around all their books.

Offer to do a talk on backpack safety on the first parent’s night of the year (usually within a few weeks of classes starting). The parents are already at the school, so you have an automatic audience!

Human resources departments are always looking for ways to improve employee health because it saves them money both in insurance premiums and productivity lost to sick days. What are some large employers in your area who could benefit from wellness talks? If you have an employer near you that has shift workers, offer to talk about how to get good sleep. The WHO has classified working nights as a probable carcinogen. There’s your opening pitch. Not only is poor sleep dangerous to a worker’s overall health, but it’s also dangerous on the job. Lack of sleep is responsible for 274,000 workplace accidents a year.

Hit the Field

School sports are another area getting into high gear as we go into fall. One of the most controversial aspects of kids playing sports is head injuries. In the not too distant future, we may see sports like football eliminated in many schools. Until then, there are still plenty of kids who play and you can teach parents and coaches how to keep them safe. Helmet

Of course, head injuries aren’t the only injuries student athletes suffer. There’s plenty of room to talk about other safety measures and even things like proper nutrition and hydration for young athletes.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…

Christmas is how the lyric finishes and while it seems to start earlier and earlier each year, there are still some holidays between now and then you can incorporate into your marketing. Halloween is a fun holiday to do a bit of marketing.

If you have a lot of children or families in your practice, have a contest during the week of Halloween for the best costume. Even if you just stay late and hand out candy at the office, this is a good will gesture for your community. Candy

For Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can hold a food or coat drive. Coat drives are especially effective because nearly everyone has a few in their closets they’d be happy to get rid of and see go to a good home. Make sure you have gift certificates for sale and that you let patients know they’re available. What’s better than the gift of health?

You can also hold an open house. Do this soon after Thanksgiving as people tend to get booked up with parties and events the closer we get to Christmas. A great way to get people to attend is to hold a raffle. Sell tickets for a small fee with the money going to a charity. The winner must be present at the time the names are drawn in order to claim the prize.

Use it or Lose it

HSA dollars that is. Many plans require that the money set aside in an HSA account be spent on qualifying medical expenses by the end of the calendar year or it’s lost. This is your patient’s hard earned money! Encourage them to make appointments before the end of the year, not only so you can help them devise health-related New Year’s Resolutions, but so they don’t lose that money too.

Health is a Priority

Health is a priority for most people, but life can get in the way. Devise your marketing strategies during this time of year to push those health priorities to the forefront. It will mean better health for your patients and a healthier practice for you!

For more information on building community connections, I encourage you to read my new book Community Connections! Relationship Marketing for Healthcare Professionals. If you want more valuable information about how to Connect with YOUR Community, you can find FREE healthcare practice marketing content, PowerPoint Presentation Jumpstart Kits, workbooks, blog articles, and my FREE “Practice Marketing Planner” Now!

Patient Education

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Patient education can make or break your practice. No amount of marketing can make up for a lack of patient education.

What Do You Do?

It sounds like a ridiculous question, but ask the average person what an orthopedist does. Answers might range from “I don’t know” to, “Something to do with knees.” But what if you’re an orthopedist who specializes in shoulders? A potential patient with a shoulder problem might pass you by because they don’t know orthopedists do more than deal with knee injuries.

It’s up to you to educate patients on what you do…everything you do.

How Does That Help Me?

The most important part of patient education is to teach how what you do can help a patient. (Also, why is it important for the patient that they should take care of their health issue?) Sure, fixing knee pain takes care of the immediate problem, but what else happens when the knee is fixed? When the body is taken care of, walking and exercising are less painful, favorite hobbies can be resumed, and quality of life is improved.

Educate patients on the positive “side effects” of using your services to resolve their current health issues — and to prevent future health concerns.

Your Site is Your Chalkboard

In 2012, 72% of people used the internet to find health information, and you can bet that number is even higher now. This means that one of your first (and best!) opportunities for patient education is your website. You want all the nuts and bolts such as your hours and if you accept insurance. However, you want more meaningful forms of education available, too. Tell your potential patients what you can do to improve their lives.

This is where having a section of your site devoted to blogging can be useful. It’s a more personal way to connect with patients and tell them all the great things you can do for them and their health.

Videos are Worth a Million Words

While you have patients in your waiting room, you have a captive audience. Rather than fill that time with outdated copies of People Magazine, set up televisions to play patient education videos. Sure, a few people might read brochures or check their FaceBook while they wait, but others will allow their attention to be captured by something on TV. Leverage the time patients spend in your reception area by using it to educate them on your practice.

Train the Troops

Make sure your front desk staff knows how to properly educate patients on the telephone. This is especially important if you don’t accept insurance. If that is the first thing a prospective patient hears, they may say, “Thank you,” and hang up.

Do you file with insurance as a courtesy? Do you have low-cost monthly plans that make your practice affordable for those who don’t have insurance? These should be the first things your staff is trained to convey to prospective patients calling with insurance inquiries.

Patient Seminars

Seminar Holding patient seminars is a great way to share your knowledge, educate current patients, and engage with potential new patients in a relaxed, informal setting. You can demystify procedures that seem “scary” to some people, showcase services that current and future patients may be unaware you offer, and increase awareness of yourself and your practice within your community.

These seminars can be very inexpensive, especially if you have space to hold them in your office. You’ll want to advertise the event on all your social media outlets and perhaps take out some ads in local media. Patient word of mouth will likely be your best advertisement, so encourage patients to bring along a friend or family member.

Always Be Teaching

Every encounter – physical or virtual – you have with a patient or potential patient is an opportunity to educate, and that’s an opportunity to grow your business. Patient education is one of the most important aspects of any practice. Always be teaching!

For more information on building community connections, I encourage you to read my new book Community Connections! Relationship Marketing for Healthcare Professionals. If you want more valuable information about how to Connect with YOUR Community, you can find FREE healthcare practice marketing content, PowerPoint Presentation Jumpstart Kits, workbooks, blog articles, and my FREE “Practice Marketing Planner” Now!

Slow Summer Season

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Summer is upon us, and that can mean a slow down in business for some. Let’s look at some ways to give your practice a boost during the slow summer season.

Step Up Your Projects

Now that things are quieter, you have time to devote to all those projects you neglected when things were hopping. And if you focus on the right ones, they can help drive business to your practice during the slow summer season.

Write some posts for your blog and social media sites, in fact, write a batch of them to drip out during your busy season when you’re short on time. Is there a class you could take to help improve some aspect of your practice? Public speaking, writing, nutrition? Sign up, just don’t think of it as summer school!

Have you wanted to write a book? With the many options available for self-publishing, it’s easier than ever to write a book or an e-book that can help get your name out there and help to establish you as an authority in your field.

Think of the Children

Summer means that school is out, and kids are home driving their parents nuts! Even if you don’t see children as patients, there are still some things you could do that would be fun for them and introduce their parents to your practice. Mint

If you’re a nutritionist or dietician, hold a gardening class to introduce kids and parents to growing their own herbs or vegetables. Chiropractors can hold a class to show parents and kids how to protect their spines while enjoying their favorite summer vacation activities.

If you’re a PCP, you could hold a summer first aid class. These are all ways to get kids out of the house (and their parent’s hair) for a few hours and drive new business to your practice. At worst, you’ll build some goodwill in your community.

Recall

Are you keeping a recall list? If not, you should be and now is a great time to use it. If you use scheduling software, you should be able to pull a report for patients that have not been in since X number of days, weeks, etc. Contact these disappearing patients and try to schedule them for an appointment.

Depending on how big the list is, you can send out postcards, automated e-mails, or make good old fashioned phone calls. It’s a low cost, low effort way to round up some AWOL patients.

Start a Referral Program

Let your current patients find new patients for you! Offer something for each new patient an existing patient refers. But make it worth their while. Don’t just give out things like pens with your name and logo printed on them. Give away things of value. (Be sure to check with your state rules and regulations regarding “gifts” to make sure you’re not inadvertently providing “kickbacks” to patients.) Something like a free supplement of their choice, an ice pack, or an add-on service such as a free 15-minutete chair massage or an aromatherapy treatment are great ways to thank patients for their referrals.

I’ve also had great success with a handwritten, heartfelt note thanking the patient for trusting me with their family member or friend. Always remember that a referral is a gift from a patient to a practitioner, so make sure they feel appreciated!

Hold a Fair

Not the kind that sells fried stuff on a stick…a health and wellness fair! Partner with a handful of other healthcare practitioners, rent an event space and put the word out. Are there any sports tournaments in your community? This is a great place to set up a health fair. Fair

Cut Back

This won’t drive business, but it will cut down expenses if a slow summer season is impacting you more than you’re comfortable with. Go back through your schedules for the summer months for the past few years and see when the slow times were. Mondays, Fridays, the first few days before and after holiday weekends?

It makes more sense to close during those slow times and see more patients on fewer days or for shorter hours. Consider how this will affect your staff before making any decisions. (Alternatively, beef up your marketing calendar to increase your office visits.)

Take a Break

If you’re not seriously impacted financially from a slow summer season, do what everyone else is doing; take a vacation! Most Americans don’t get or take enough. Taking a break from work is good for you, your practice, and your patients. There’s a reason the flight attendant tells you to put your oxygen mask on first. You can’t help others if you don’t take care of yourself. School’s out, enjoy the lazy days of Summer!

Healthcare Practice Marketing Indecision

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Healthcare practice marketing indecision can cripple your practice growth and stability. Wow, that’s a pretty bold statement…but it’s true. Indecision can result from a lack of focus, certainty, information, or confidence. Since most healthcare professionals receive little education in how to successfully conduct healthcare practice marketing, it’s no wonder they struggle to make strategic marketing decisions.

For example, do you have a written description of your ideal patient? If not, this lack of focus can cause you to dilute your practice marketing efforts. Do you track your healthcare practice marketing activities and calculate specific metrics? If not, this lack of information can cause you to continue to conduct low-performing practice marketing events. Do you suffer from decreased confidence in your skills, abilities, or knowledge? If so, this changes the way in which you communicate with patients and prospective patients about your ability to help them.

Sometimes the roots of indecision run deep, and it takes a little soul-searching to dig them out. Here’s a simple exercise that may help you combat indecision or uncertainty:

Step 1: Think about your car. (Wait…what does your car have to do with healthcare practice marketing? Read on and I promise it’ll make sense!) What happens to your car when you step on the pedal to the right? Well, since it’s the gas pedal it’s designed to make your car “go.” What happens to your car when you step on the pedal to the left? As the brake, it’s intended to make your car “stop.” What happens to your car when you step on both pedals at the same time? In that scenario, you’re sending mixed signals as to what you want your car to do. If you drive a standard, you just lurch about until the car stalls. Automatics are a little more forgiving and will respond to the pedal you have more pressure on.

Step 2: Think about your healthcare practice marketing efforts (and your life in general). Where do you need to step on the proverbial gas? On the proverbial brake? Where might your lack of focus, certainty, or information be causing you to step on the gas and the brake? Let’s look at these a little closer…

Healthcare Practice Marketing Indecision

What are some ways in which you might simultaneously accelerate and decelerate your healthcare practice marketing? Consider the language you use to promote your practice. Is it specific and consistent, or do you describe your practice different ways in different settings? While some minor variance is normal, some practices try to please everyone. They might describe themselves as a wellness practice, a personal injury practice, a sports rehab center, and a weight-loss clinic. Tip: Determine who your ideal patients are and how you can best serve them. Let your healthcare practice marketing verbiage flow from those decisions.

Here are a few more ways in which you could be stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time in regards to your healthcare practice marketing:

Accelerating Behaviors	Decelerating Behaviors
Setting written and specific goals	Never reviewing or modifying those goals
Creating a written marketing calendar	Ignoring the marketing calendar – adding and removing events or activities based on how you feel at the moment
Focusing on what you want in your practice – for example, wanting 15 new patients this month	Having conflicting thoughts or energies – for example, wanting new patients, but dreading the paperwork or time involved
Establishing solid marketing processes and procedures	Not following your established marketing processes and procedures

Step on the Brake!

Next, where are some areas you may need to step on the brakes in order to improve your healthcare practice marketing? (These topics are easy to come up with, but maybe a little harder to address.) For example, slow down or stop negative self-talk, procrastination, fear, sloppiness, and disorganization.

Rev Your Engines!

Finally, where are some areas you may need to put your gas “pedal to the metal” in order to ramp up your healthcare practice marketing and take it to the next level? For example, accelerate your accountability and decisiveness, turn your weaknesses into strengths, train your staff, and practice positivity.

Taking the time to figure out what you need to do more (or less) of in terms of your healthcare practice marketing strategy can lead to clarity and certainty. This can produce tremendous results for your practice

What works for you? Do you have a clarity tip to recommend? Please share your comment, quote, or story in the comments section!

Healthcare Practice Marketing Sabotage: 3 Surprising Tactics

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Healthcare practice marketing sabotage exists, and should be considered when reviewing your practice marketing strategy. Sabotage is the intentional destruction (or obstruction) of an action, process, or accomplishment. Most of us would be furious to discover someone sabotaging the healthcare practice we’ve worked so hard to build…yet sometimes we’re the ones unintentionally sabotaging ourselves. For example, you’ve probably seen a patient sabotage his own efforts to stick to a new exercise regimen, or her own efforts to lose weight. Self-sabotage happens in personal life, as well as in our businesses.

Healthcare Practice Marketing Sabotage: 3 Surprising Tactics:

Negative Self-Talk. If you were to listen in on the chatter filling your mind, what would you hear? For many people, they’d hear an overwhelming amount of criticism, skepticism, and negativity. This can destroy your practice marketing before it even gets started! Imagine you want to host a premier wellness event for your community. If your self-talk says “You can’t handle such an event,” or “You’re not organized enough to develop the event” you might not even try. How many times have you talked yourself out of a practice marketing activity due to negative self-talk? (Please remember there’s a difference between negative self-talk and the truth. If you truly are not in a position to try a particular marketing activity, the self-talk may be accurate.) Tip: Keep an ear out for self-talk that raises fear, doubt, or otherwise holds you back. Make an honest assessment as to the validity of the self-talk. When appropriate, quiet the inner voices, be brave, and try something new!

Procrastination. When running a healthcare practice, numerous things demand your immediate time and attention. Your patients need you, your team needs direction, the web developer needs feedback, the equipment needs maintenance, and so forth. Under such busy circumstances it’s easy to put off projects or activities, especially if they don’t ignite your passion. (And let’s face it, for many healthcare providers “marketing” is a four-letter word!) But when we procrastinate practice marketing activities, we slam on the brakes in our practices. Tip: Set aside time every year to develop a Connections Calendar^TM complete with your marketing strategies and events for the year. (Check out my last blog post for more information on Connections Calendars^TM: ) Make a written plan, and then take steps to work that plan every single day.

Keeping “tolerations.” I first heard this term used by The Master’s Circle chiropractic practice management company. Essentially, a toleration is anything you put up with in your life. It can be seemingly small, like having a closet full of old clothes you plan to sort through “someday,” or it can be hugely impactful, like breaking promises to yourself. Tip: Scour your life and dedicate yourself to finding and eliminating tolerations. In terms of your practice marketing, what tolerations have you allowed to creep in? Are you using the same old tired marketing events and activities because you don’t have the energy to create new ones? Perhaps your website needs a complete overhaul, but you get depressed just thinking about it. Are your business cards the same ones you started practice with 20 years ago? Whatever your marketing tolerations are, select one and attack it! Empower yourself! Take a stand and eliminate tolerations. As you whittle away the things you “put up with,” you’ll feel a sense of renewed control and focus that can change your practice.

There you have it! Three surprising ways you might be guilty of healthcare practice marketing sabotage. Sometimes we really can be our own worst enemy. However, if you pay attention to your self-talk, stop procrastination, and eliminate tolerations you can nip self-sabotaging behaviors in the bud. Did this blog resonate with you? What’s been the single most self-sabotaging behavior you’ve noticed? I invite you to share your comments, stories, and tips in the comments section!

Healthcare Marketing and Zonkies [Dare to be Different!]

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Healthcare marketing and Zonkies? Seriously, what’s the connection? Healthcare providers often do the same, old, tired events and activities for their healthcare marketing. Certainly there’s a place for those things…they became “standard marketing” (or “workhorses”) because they were effective or provided useful information. We don’t want to throw them out completely…but consider enhancing them with some new, fresh, and interesting healthcare marketing activities where you dare to be different! (The zonkey!)

That’s right! Think outside of the box. Pretend there is no box! Be clever. Be unique with your marketing. Stand out from the crowd of healthcare providers clamoring for the public’s attention…

But how?

That’s a great question…

And I don’t have a specific answer for you.

Why not? Because your marketing should be as unique in your community as you are…and I don’t know you personally to be able to give you the perfect answer. Instead, look for general ideas. Then see what resonates with you…what looks like it would be fun…what your community needs…and tweak it to fit your situation. For example:

Develop a unique twist on an old standard. For instance, if 5Ks are a favorite stand-by, freshen them up by creating a new theme. Some fun runs that have been popular lately include zombie runs, color runs, and bubble runs.

Ramp up your professional use of social media. There are an infinite number of ways to creatively use social media and market your practice. There are even ways to systematize and automate it so it doesn’t suck time from your busy schedule. Refer back to my May 2015 Marketing Tip of the Month Newsletter for more on this topic of social media automation.

One newer social media tool to make a splash is “Periscope” by Twitter. Set up a free account, then dive in to real-time video experiences. Sure…there are people “scoping” strange things…but it can be very useful from a professional perspective. Imagine hosting a patient dinner or delivering a healthcare talk and having people drop in from all over the world! They can see and hear you…and interact with you via chat. Viewers can even send “hearts” (by tapping on their screen) to give you applause or to show their agreement. Or imagine a patient “scoping” their appointment with you…how else could you use it in your practice?

What fun and unique practice marketing activities have been successful for you in the past? Please share them in the comments section so we can continue the conversation!

6 Signs Your Healthcare Practice Marketing is Failing

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Sometimes the harder we work, the less effective we are, and the same can be true for practice marketing. This blog will explore 6 signs your healthcare practice marketing is failing and what to do about them.

Sign #1: You find yourself working harder, yet producing fewer results. For example, you’re doing more marketing events, but have the same number of new patients each month. Like a hamster on its’ wheel, you can’t seem to make any marketing progress. Tip: Do less marketing with more focus, planning, and intention. Create a written Connections Calendar™. If you need help with this, my Ramp Up For Success Package! is perfect for you. Click here for details.

Sign #2: Your patients or staff can’t explain what you do. Part of marketing is explaining to people what you do and how it can help them. Your patients and staff may see results, but if they can’t explain the results (in general terms) then your marketing has failed in its educational component. Tip: Provide constant education to your patients and staff. Make sure your staff is completely comfortable explaining what you do in multiple ways.

Sign #3: Low conversion. You’re able to attract people to your healthcare talks, marketing events, and practice, but few of them make the transition to becoming a patient. This can be closely tied to sign #1. Tip: Carefully examine your “close.” How can you change it to make it more effective?

Sign #4: Few referrals. Related to sign #2, internal marketing is a never-ending process of communication and education to current patients and staff. Tip: Provide multiple opportunities for patients to learn more about the variety of people and conditions you can help through testimonials, articles, health talks, podcasts, etc. And don’t forget to ask for their referrals!

Sign #5: Burnout. We could have a chicken-and-egg conversation here, but I think we’d all agree when you’re marketing-marketing-marketing it can lead to exhaustion and burnout. (And when you’re burned out, your marketing becomes less effective…hence the chicken-and-egg…) Tip: Build relaxation time into your schedule. Systematize and streamline your marketing so it requires less effort.

Sign #6: Stagnation. It’s been said the only constant in life is change. If your healthcare practice marketing strategy isn’t growing and changing, it’s stagnating. And that’s unhealthy. Tip: Review your written Connections Calendar™. Are the activities and events the same ones you’ve been doing for years, or do you try to add new items each year? How can you freshen it up?

Have you seen your own practice in any of these 6 signs? What did you do about it? Please share your thoughts in the comments section – I look forward to seeing you there!

External Marketing for Healthcare Practices [Easy Definition]

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

We examined the concept of internal marketing for healthcare practices in a previous blog. Let’s turn our attention now to the concept of external marketing for healthcare practices. Simply stated, [external marketing] for healthcare practices is any activity or event done outside the walls of your office to promote your practice. The most effective marketing strategies utilize a combination of internal and external marketing for practice success.

What are some examples of external marketing for healthcare practices? Effective and attractive business cards and brochures you give to prospective patients at events…a healthcare talk or series of healthcare talks hosted off-site…providing services at an athletic event…sponsoring a 5K…and so on. (Remember, don’t get caught up in the labeling because it is possible for an item or activity to be used for internal and external marketing.)

When establishing your marketing calendar each year, start by scheduling one external and one internal marketing event or activity each month. You may be tempted to schedule more than one of each, but resist the temptation. Consequently, you may overwhelm yourself, your staff, or your available resources. Then when the event occurs, you’ll likely be exhausted and unable to project the best image of your practice. You can always add more activities and events to your calendar throughout the year as your resources and energy permit.

Once the events are scheduled you can begin the planning process. Create a system to organize all your event information and materials. Try a 3-ring binder or a digital folder structure, depending on your preference. This way, the next time you host the same (or similar) event, you don’t have to start from scratch! Establish reasonable goals for what you hope to accomplish with your marketing activity (i.e.: New patients, increased awareness, raise money for a charity, etc.). Determine how you’ll track the progress of those goals. Research, collaborate, delegate, and modify as needed.

Finally, with proper preparation, you can relax and enjoy the event when the day arrives. Afterwards, debrief with staff and volunteers. (If you can get feedback from participants that’s even better!) Discuss what went well, what could have gone better, and what to change for next time.

I’d love to hear from you! What types of events and activities does your practice do for external marketing? Share your most creative and successful ideas in the comments section below!

Healthcare Marketing Mindset I

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Healthcare Marketing Mindset I

If you spend any amount of time speaking with healthcare professionals in private practice, it’ll quickly become clear as to their healthcare marketing mindset. In other words, what do they think about the concept of marketing their healthcare practice? I find this topic so interesting that I decided to write a series of blogs on the subject of practice marketing mindsets. This first installation will discuss the two main mental perceptions regarding the financial aspect of healthcare marketing.

We all know marketing takes time and money. The question is, how do you view that expenditure of resources? Some healthcare professionals focus on the expense involved, while others accept the cost as an investment into their practice. Have you ever had this conversation with a patient? Where they saw the cost of care in your practice as an expense and you tried to help them see it as an investment into their health and future?

When you view something as an expense – in this case, your marketing efforts – the tendency is to want to minimize the expense. Every decision becomes about the bottom line – dollars and cents – instead of how it could impact your practice or community in multiple ways. An expense is part of the cost of maintaining a business, but doesn’t necessarily help it to grow and thrive.

Conversely, when you view something as an investment, there’s a willingness to commit the necessary resources to make sure it’s successful. The hope is that the investment will pay off in some form in the end. An investment seeks a long-term outcome such as practice growth.

It can be easy to fall into the habit of seeing marketing as just another expense…dollars flowing out of your accounts, never to be seen again. And actually, that can be the reality if you aren’t monitoring, measuring, tracking, and modifying your marketing activities to implement the ones that work best for you.

A better approach is to look at your healthcare practice marketing from the perspective of an investment. Do your research. Determine your goals (what are you hoping to achieve with your healthcare marketing?). Consider your options carefully. Obtain expert guidance when necessary. Have a plan. Invest in the future growth of your practice and your life by financing those activities that successfully grow your practice.

A word of caution – not every marketing activity will produce spectacular results in terms of new patients or revenue. In fact, not every healthcare marketing activity is intended to produce patients or revenue, so be clear on your goals. (For example, perhaps you host an event simply to raise awareness of a serious health condition.)

I’d like to hear from you! How do you perceive the commitment of time and resources necessary to market your healthcare practice? Have you recently switched from seeing healthcare practice marketing as an expense to an investment? How did that happen for you? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!

Impact and Influence

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

I recently attended several sessions of the virtual Influence and Impact Summit produced by Michael Hyatt of Platform University. Online summits are everywhere these days, and some are worth your time to listen in. The Influence and Impact Summit was one of the best online summits I’ve ever participated in. The speakers were top-notch, the topics were relevant, and the take-aways were truly meaningful. For those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to attend, I thought I’d highlight some of the best quotes from some of my favorite sessions.

I actually had two favorite sessions, for two entirely different reasons. I couldn’t possibly pick one over the other, so to be fair, I’ll talk about them in alphabetical order! John Maxwell, a well-known leadership guru, has written over 70 books. Many of them are New York Times best-sellers. He recently released his newest book, Intentional Living. I got so many fantastic nuggets of wisdom from his 30-minute talk…

“You have to write your first book to get to your best book.”

“You should write books in order to influence people you’ll never meet.”

These two quotes resonated on a deep level for me as I’m in the finishing touches on my second book, Practice Excellence! An Integrated Approach to Creating a World-Class Healthcare Practice. While my first book, Community Connections! will always hold a special place in my heart, I’m super excited about the next one. It’s filled with so much more information, so many more tips, and so much more heart…I can’t wait for healthcare professionals all over the world to read it!

My fiancé, Michael, and I started Sage Media, LLC over a year ago with the stated purpose “To facilitate Practice Excellence in healthcare.” Writing books helps me to expand my reach and achieve this purpose in a way being in private practice never could. As John Maxwell would agree, my books are allowing me to help and influence practitioners I’ve never met!

“Preparation releases pressure.”

“Don’t wing it…work for it.”

John Maxwell shared these two quotes when talking about public speaking. Although it was something that came easy for him, he never got complacent about it. He could easily have gone on auto-pilot, but instead he was intentional about every talk he did, no matter how large the audience. Apply this to your practice. Have you ever gone on auto-pilot when taking a history, performing an exam, rendering care, or talking with your team? (I think we’ve all done it at some point…) Maxwell would say that no matter how good you are at what you do, never take it for granted. Work on every single interaction you have and ignore the temptation to “wing it.” Consistent preparation will help to combat pressure or stress you may feel, while honing your performance until it’s razor-sharp.

“What you have to share is more important than the perfection

with which you present it.”

“People want your heart more than they want your skill.”

Perfection is stagnation These quotes were a great reminder that we’re often harder on ourselves than anyone else. And…if we’re really being honest…your patients connect with you, not just the information you provide. Stop beating yourself up, struggling for perfection, and holding yourself back. Don’t put off a great marketing event or speaking opportunity because you’re worried it won’t be perfect. Because,…guess what? It won’t be perfect, no matter how hard you try. Do your event, learn from your mistakes, and commit to constant improvement. Be authentic and genuine, and people will respond.

“Don’t despise where you are…love where you are. If you don’t love where you are, you won’t love where you’re going.”

“Everyone influences someone.”

love Finally, in case you’ve forgotten…your life is amazing! Regardless of where you are right now, you’ve been blessed with opportunities, friendships, skills, and lessons no one else has. The best way to move forward is to be grateful and appreciative of what you currently have. Oh…and not only does everyone influence someone…but everyone is loved by someone.

Phew! I didn’t realize when I started writing just how many great pearls I took from John Maxwell’s talk! So I think I’ll end this post here, and save my “tied-for-first-place” other favorite speaker from the Impact and Influence summit for the next blog!

What about you? Were you able to listen in on the summit, or do you have an impactful quote which changed your life? Please share your comment, quote, or story in the comments section!

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