Influence and Impact II

A couple of weeks ago I attended several sessions of the virtual Influence and Impact Summit produced by Michael Hyatt of Platform University. It was seriously one of the best online summits I’ve ever participated in. (If it happens again next year make sure you sign-up for the free event!) The speakers were insightful, the topics were impactful, and the take-aways were truly meaningful. In my last blog, I reviewed several quotes by the legendary John Maxwell. (Missed it? Check it out!) As I mentioned in that blog, I actually had two favorite sessions. And because I couldn’t pick a winner, I chose to talk about them in alphabetical order.

Today, I’m happy to share my other “tied-for-first-place” speaker from the Impact and Influence summit: Amy Porterfield. Now, I confess…I LOVE AMY PORTERFIELD! I’ve been following her on social media for some time, I subscribe to her blog, and I’ve purchased several of her products. She’s a gifted entrepreneur who’s changed the lives of countless people. Honestly, I almost didn’t listen to her talk because I thought I was familiar with her message. I’m so glad I changed my mind! In all the time I’ve been tuning in to Amy, this was the first time I saw her “unscripted” in an interview.

She was absolutely magnificent. Her vibrant personality and genuine compassion were evident from word one. Amy was engaging, funny, sincere, and humble while sharing pieces of her story and motivation. What struck me the most from her 30-minute interview was how much I could relate to her on a personal and professional level. We’re in completely different fields, but she has the same fears and worries that I do. (Well…she didn’t come out and say she’s afraid of zombies, but isn’t everyone???)

I was floored to learn that Amy sometimes worries her products might not be good enough…that her success might vanish…that there might not be enough money for future needs… Wow! Does that sound familiar? Do you ever have those same fears or worries? How do you handle them? When faced with these fears, Amy gives herself 10 minutes to worry about it, then she consciously shifts her focus to the next important thing. What a great tip to use in healthcare practices! (The host, Michael Hyatt, said he’s a worrier too. His wife tells him “wait to worry.” Basically, there’ll be time later to worry, right now you need to buckle down and get to work. Invariably, by the time “later” comes, there’s no need to worry!)

Another interesting lesson Amy shares is how, when she left her 9-5 job to begin her entrepreneurial journey, she was scared. So, she took on consulting clients for the first two years. She later realized that while comfortable, this was a distraction holding her back from her true path. Have you ever struggled to make something fit your life or your practice, to no avail? Then, when you stop pushing, you realize you were meant to go in another direction? (Me too!)

One last impactful moment in the interview occurred when Amy shared “What’s ahead of you is where the magic is.” We can get bogged down in the minutiae of today or the regrets of the past and lose sight of the future. We can’t change what happened yesterday…and the actions of this moment may have little impact on today. But…the future is molded by the thoughts and actions of today…it’s completely up to you. You can have a future that looks identical to your present life if you change nothing. However, if you plan carefully…choose your actions with intention…take deliberate steps…your future can be magical!

So how does this relate to healthcare practice marketing? If you change nothing about how you market your practice…if you fail to put a plan in place…then you’ll get the same level of practice success you’ve always had. Or, you can experiment, try new marketing strategies, take intentional marketing steps, and create new levels of practice success.

One last thought about the summit, and then I’ll go back to my normal healthcare marketing blogs…there were so many fantastic speakers. I have to give honorable mention to several more: Dr. Josh Axe, Dave Ramsey, Carrie Green, Donald Miller, Bob Goff, and Andy Andrews were all amazing. If you think about it, there’s no shortage of inspirational leaders. Even if they aren’t in the healthcare field, their messages can translate to your healthcare practice. Block some time out of your schedule to listen to a few of your favorites (via podcast, e-book, interview, etc.) every week. Their messages can raise your energy, motivate you, and help you intentionally create the practice – and life – of your dreams!

What about you? Who are your favorite inspirational leaders? Please share your comment, quote, or story in the comments section!

5 Steps to Create Your Healthcare Marketing Calendar: A Strategic Guide for 2025

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern

Creating a healthcare marketing calendar is a vital step for any successful medical practice. Just as you carefully plan your office layout, design your brochures, and structure patient care protocols, your marketing efforts deserve the same level of thoughtful preparation. A well-crafted marketing calendar—sometimes called a Connections Calendar—helps you map out all the community touchpoints and promotional activities your practice will engage in throughout the year.

A desk with a calendar, computer, and marketing materials. Post-it notes with "healthcare marketing" and a pen. A phone with scheduling app open

Planning your healthcare marketing in advance allows you to maintain consistent patient communication and capitalize on seasonal opportunities. Rather than scrambling to create last-minute campaigns, a marketing calendar gives you the structure to build meaningful relationships with your community while efficiently managing your practice resources.

Key Takeaways

A structured marketing calendar helps healthcare practices maintain consistent patient engagement and community outreach throughout the year.
Planning your healthcare marketing efforts in advance allows for better resource allocation and more strategic promotional activities.
Creating a comprehensive marketing calendar transforms reactive healthcare advertising into proactive patient connection opportunities.

Why You Need a Marketing Calendar for Healthcare Success

A busy healthcare office with a desk covered in colorful sticky notes, a computer open to a marketing calendar, and a team collaborating on ideas

A well-planned marketing calendar serves as the backbone of your healthcare practice’s outreach efforts. It brings structure to your promotional activities and helps your practice grow in several important ways:

Focuses Your Efforts
A marketing calendar helps you prioritize activities that align with your healthcare brand and practice goals. This focused approach prevents scattered efforts and maximizes your marketing impact with potential patients.

Controls Budget Flow
Planning your marketing activities in advance allows for better financial management. You can:

Allocate funds strategically throughout the year
Avoid unexpected expenses
Ensure resources are available for high-priority campaigns

Optimizes Staff Scheduling
Your calendar helps coordinate everyone involved in marketing efforts:

Practice staff
External partners
Volunteers

This coordination prevents burnout while ensuring proper coverage for events and activities targeting your niche market.

Prevents Missed Opportunities
Without a planned calendar, important marketing opportunities can slip through the cracks. Last-minute marketing rarely delivers the same results as well-executed, thoughtfully planned campaigns that connect with patients in your location.

Remember, successful healthcare marketing strategies require planning. Your marketing calendar transforms good intentions into actionable steps that attract patients and build your practice.

Get Ready!

A desk with a computer, calendar, pen, and coffee mug. A person is organizing and planning healthcare marketing activities

Block dedicated planning time on your schedule for creating your marketing calendar. You’ll need 1-2 full days either working alone or with your team during a staff retreat. This focused time ensures thorough planning without interruptions.

Gather essential planning tools before you begin:

Calendar with important dates marked
List of holidays and planned vacations
Schedule of major local events that might affect attendance
Inventory of potential marketing activities
Basic supplies (pens, paper, calculator)
Digital tools if you prefer electronic planning

Brainstorm creative marketing ideas by developing a master list of successful past activities and new concepts you’d like to implement. Consider your practice strengths and market opportunities while being mindful of potential threats and competition.

Personalize your approach to reflect your unique practice identity and values. Your marketing calendar should showcase your strengths and address your weaknesses through strategic planning.

Remember that your marketing calendar is a living document. You can and should update it regularly as you track progress, respond to market changes, or identify new opportunities. Flexibility is key to maintaining an effective marketing strategy that grows with your practice.

5 Steps to Build an Effective Marketing Calendar for Your Healthcare Practice

Creating a well-organized marketing calendar helps your practice stay on track with promotional activities throughout the year. Here’s how to build one that works:

1. Gather Patient Feedback

Ask your patients about their experiences with your previous marketing efforts. Create a brief questionnaire with questions like:

Which events did you enjoy most?
What activities would you like to see in the future?
How do you prefer to receive practice updates?

This feedback provides valuable insights about what resonates with your target audience and helps shape your marketing strategy.

2. Block Out Your Calendar Year

Start with the basics by marking:

Holidays and office closures
Staff vacations and time off
Industry conferences and events

Then plan at least three marketing activities each month:

One internal office event (staff or current patient focused)
One community-focused external event
At least one social media or content marketing activity

Remember: It’s better to plan conservatively than to cancel events due to time constraints.

3. Establish Clear Marketing Goals

Set specific, measurable objectives for each marketing activity. For example:

Increase new patient appointments by 15% this quarter
Generate 25 new reviews on Google by June
Grow email newsletter subscribers by 100 people

Your goals should be realistic, time-bound, and aligned with your overall business goals. Write them down and revisit them regularly.

4. Implement Tracking Systems

Every marketing effort needs a measurement plan:

Marketing Activity	Tracking Method	Success Metric	Person Responsible
Patient referral program	Referral cards	Number of new patients	Front desk staff
Educational webinar	Registration form	Attendance rate	Marketing coordinator
Social media campaign	Platform analytics	Engagement and clicks	Digital marketing team

Proper tracking helps you determine your ROI and informs future marketing tactics.

5. Ensure Team Alignment

Your entire team needs to understand:

The marketing activities planned
Their specific responsibilities
How success will be measured
Why these efforts matter

Hold regular meetings to discuss upcoming events and review past performance. When everyone understands the “why” behind your marketing calendar, they’ll be more invested in its success.

Pro Tip: Create a dedicated folder system (physical or digital) organized by month, with subfolders for each marketing activity. Include all relevant materials, budgets, checklists, and post-event analysis in these folders for easy reference when planning future events.

By following these steps, you’ll create a structured approach to your practice marketing that drives patient engagement, builds brand awareness, and supports practice growth throughout the year.

Common Questions About Healthcare Marketing Calendars

What should you include in your healthcare marketing calendar?

An effective healthcare marketing calendar needs several key elements to work well. You should include:

Important dates such as holidays, industry events, and health awareness months
Marketing campaigns with clear start and finish dates
Content publication schedule for blog posts, emails, and social media
Budget allocation for each marketing activity
Team responsibilities showing who handles each task

Your calendar should also include specific and measurable goals for each marketing activity. This helps you track progress and measure success.

How can you add digital marketing to your healthcare calendar?

Digital marketing should be a core part of your healthcare marketing calendar. Here’s how to integrate it effectively:

Schedule regular social media posts about health topics, services, and patient education
Plan email campaigns for appointment reminders and health tips
Coordinate website updates with your other marketing efforts
Schedule search engine optimization (SEO) reviews quarterly

It’s important to combat misinformation and provide accurate health information in all your digital marketing efforts.

How do you align your marketing calendar with organizational goals?

Your marketing calendar should directly support your healthcare organization’s broader objectives:

Goal Type	Calendar Alignment Strategy
Patient growth	Schedule campaigns targeting new patient acquisition
Service promotion	Time marketing around service launches or slow periods
Brand awareness	Plan consistent messaging across all channels
Community engagement	Include community events and outreach activities

Before creating your calendar, survey and gather insights from stakeholders to ensure alignment with organizational priorities.

When should you start planning your marketing calendar?

You should begin planning your healthcare marketing calendar at least 3-6 months before the start of the new year. This timeline allows for:

Thoughtful strategy development
Budget approval processes
Content creation lead time
Coordination with other departments

Many healthcare organizations create an annual calendar but leave room for adjustments. Start by filling in holidays, vacations, and office closings before adding marketing activities.

How can you measure your marketing calendar’s success?

To track the effectiveness of your healthcare marketing calendar:

Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for each marketing activity
Use analytics tools to monitor website traffic, social engagement, and conversions
Track patient acquisition sources to connect marketing efforts to results
Conduct regular performance reviews against your goals

Your calendar should include tracking mechanisms to measure performance and make data-driven decisions.

How often should you update your marketing calendar?

Your healthcare marketing calendar requires regular reviews and updates:

Weekly: Check for immediate adjustments needed
Monthly: Review performance and make tactical changes
Quarterly: Assess larger trends and strategic alignment
Annually: Complete overall evaluation and planning for next year

A written marketing calendar provides focus and consistency to your strategy, but it must remain flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities.

Metrics to Measure By

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

In order to gauge the success of your practice, you need to track certain data. In a sea of numbers, you need to know what metrics to measure by. ruler

Revenue Per Visit

It’s never easy to raise your fees but sometimes it’s necessary. You don’t want to do it arbitrarily, on January 1 for example, because it will seem to your patients, well, arbitrary!

You should have a solid number to base rate increases on. That’s what revenue per visit will give you. To calculate your revenue per visit, calculate the average amount you collect from patients and subtract the average cost of conducting a visit. Now that you have that number, you can determine if you need to increase your fees. (For additional information and guidelines, you can consult the most recent edition of the Physicians’ Fee Reference book.)

Not Always Dollars

Revenue isn’t the only metric you should judge your practice on. If you want to have long term success, you need to have a high patient satisfaction rating. You can design a brief survey for patients to fill out rating you on things like waiting time, ease of scheduling, how well you listen, and how helpful your staff is. A simple 1-10 rating on a few key questions is all that’s required to get some good data here.

stars-1128772_1280 If patients don’t feel they can address these issues with your office, you can bet they’ll address them on public forums like Yelp and Zocdoc and give you a poor review. Give them the chance to explain any frustrations to you.

Not Always Patients

It’s not only patient satisfaction you should be concerned about. How happy is your staff? How much turnover do you have? Unhappy employees aren’t going to treat patients the way you’d like them to be treated. Unhappy staff quit, and it’s frustrating for patients to see a different face each time they come in. It makes you look bad and it’s expensive to continuously hire and train new staff.

And honestly, a lot of doctors don’t know how to run the front desk. Some don’t even know how to schedule an appointment, let alone the complicated stuff like insurance billing or sending out blood for lab testing . If your entire staff quit without notice (whether that’s one person or several), how bad off would you be? You probably don’t want to find out.

You likely give feed back when a staff member does something you’re unhappy about. Give them the same opportunity to provide feedback to you. And make an effort to tell your staff when they’re doing something right!

Traffic Patterns

What times of day are you busy and slow? Do you open at 10:00 and wait until 12:00 for your first patient to come in? It’s easier for working people to come in before work or during lunch than late morning or late afternoon. Would your patients benefit from evening appointments? open

Start asking your patients if they’d have any interest in Saturday appointments. For people who are paid hourly, they lose money if they aren’t at work. Saturday appointments might work really well for them and increase patient satisfaction for you!

There’s a lot to be said for working a typical 9-5 schedule, but even if you were available one late evening a week or one Saturday a month, it might help increase your patient load.

Slow Times

Make note of busy and slow times of year too. Summer is typically slow for many practices. Use those times to go on vacation, to do renovations, or to do major systems upgrades. Sometimes if makes financial sense just to close the office rather than pay staff when it’s quiet.

Referrals

You should know where every patient who comes into your practice was referred from. By an existing patient, a Facebook ad, Google, another physician? If you want to grow you practice,you need to know where to concentrate your energy and money when it comes to attracting new patients.

If you aren’t getting patient referrals, something is wrong with your patient satisfaction or education. How can you fix it? If you aren’t getting a lot of referrals from people who were Googling, you need to improve your SEO.

If you aren’t getting traffic from ads you’re paying for, you need to rethink your advertising strategy. If you aren’t getting doctor referrals, you need to work harder at building relationships with your colleagues.

If You Don’t Measure It, You Can’t Improve It

You should always be striving to improve every aspect of your practice. And maybe you are, but if you aren’t using metrics to measure your improvements, you don’t know what impact those improvements are having. Or not having. And that wastes money, time and energy. If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

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!

Junk Food Marketing

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Junk food marketing works in the short term, but it’s not a sustainable way to grow your practice. Make sure you aren’t a junk food marketer! Hot dogs

Have you ever read ingredient labels while food shopping? Almost everything is filled with sugar, even savory foods like bread and tomato sauce are loaded with the stuff! Why? Because it’s a cheap, lazy way to make food palatable. Is it good for you? Certainly not, but it’s cheap and easy. The same thing holds true for practice marketing.

Junk Food Marketing

Cheap and easy and not good for you seems to be the way some practices approach marketing. Good marketing, like good cooking, takes time, and there are no shortcuts. So while you might initially tempt some people with cheap and easy “junk food” marketing, it’s not sustainable.

Have Something to Say

Regular engagement is important, but make sure you have something meaningful to say every time you communicate with your patients. Don’t send out a communication for every little holiday. Your patients won’t mind if you don’t Donut wish them a Happy National Donut Day (yes it’s real, it’s June 3!).

If you’re a veterinarian, though, your patients might get a giggle if you wish them a Happy National Puppy Day (also real, March 23!). But things like that are a special case and just meant to give your patients a little laugh. The other 99% of the time, you should have something informative and engaging to communicate whenever you reach out to your patients.

Make it Professional

All your marketing materials should look professional. It’s easy to take shortcuts like printing out brochures on a regular old office printer or to take your own photos for your website, but those are perfect examples of junk food marketing. Those kinds of things stand out to potential patients; it makes your business look cheap and unprofessional. Have your marketing materials professionally done.

Quality Over Quantity

There’s a fine line between marketing and spam. Even the best quality content will be ignored if it’s too much. You want to engage your audience and keep your practice on their radar, but people are bombarded 24/7 by information. It can be overwhelming. You don’t want your marketing content to be thought of as spam.

You Only Promote Services

It’s understandable that you want to use your marketing to promote your services, but make sure that isn’t the only thing you’re doing. People want to read information that’s helpful, funny, or interesting. Consider your demographics. Do you have a lot of athletes in your practice? Write a post or newsletter about ways athletes can avoid injury. Do you have a lot of families in your practice? Write a post about fun summer activities coming up in your area.

People don’t want to read constant self-promotion, they want to feel like you’re writing for them. You can feel free to add a few lines about your services at the end of a post, but it shouldn’t always be the entire focus of every post.

Set a Schedule and Stick to It

It’s frustrating when you find a blog you like and it’s not regularly updated. It seems unprofessional. If you worry that you can’t keep up a regular writing schedule, batch several articles and schedule them regularly. This not only helps to keep the readers engaged, but it also helps with SEO ranking too. Frequency matters, but it matters less than consistency.

Get in the Kitchen!

Don’t feed your patients and potential patients junk food marketing! Get in the kitchen and cook up something good for them. No one can live on a diet full of sugar forever, and your business can’t survive on a diet of junk food marketing.

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!

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!

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!

Who Are Your Healthcare Patients?

by Dr. Kelley Mulhern Leave a Comment

Who Are Your Healthcare Patients?

As Seth Godin, marketing genius, once commented, “Everyone is not your customer.” In the solo healthcare practice realm, this can be re-stated to say that everyone is not your patient. What?!? A healthcare marketing consultant and published author is telling you not everyone is your patient? It’s true. On a superficial level, of course every single one of the billions of people on this planet aren’t your patients. Let’s look closer and use a specific example.

Imagine you’re a dentist in private dental practice in a town of 40,000. Of that population, perhaps 500 people have seen you professionally. What about the other 39,500? Do they all need a dentist? Yes. But do they all need to see you as their dentist? The answer is no. You can’t be the “right” dentist for all people.

So how can you help increase the chance that those who find themselves in your dental practice are your “right” patients? By being crystal clear on who your ideal patients are. What characteristics do they have? What are their demographics? Et cetera. If you’re passionate about instilling proper dental habits at an early age, your ideal patients are likely to be moms with young children. You’d build your branding and private dental practice identity around this concept. You wouldn’t necessarily turn away patients who didn’t match your ideal, but you wouldn’t spend time and money marketing to them.

When you develop a clear picture of who your ideal healthcare patient is, you’ll be able to identify those for whom you’d be a good match. You can spend your time and resources marketing directly to them instead of trying to be all things to all people.

What does your “ideal healthcare patient” look like? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comment box below!