Omagine Health

The Anti Social Online Marketer

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Suzen

There’s no more denying it. As much as I’ve attempted to live the Social Media Dream for the last few years I’m hangin’ up the hat. Throwin’ in the towel. Wavin’ the white flag. I surrender, ok? I. Just. Can’t. Anymore.

At the risk of sounding like a grouchy old hag I need to come clean. I don’t care that you just arrived at Applebee’s. Nor do I care that you’re feeling peaceful. Not that I don’t like you; please don’t misunderstand. And I do enjoy photos of your kids. I post photos of mine from time to time too, so I won’t be hypocritical here. But let me vent for just a few. It’s nothing personal and I admire those out there who have developed a great Twitter following and who have even become close friends with your Tweet Sisters. A colleague told me a few months ago that she’d developed such a close relationship with one of her Twitter followers that they ended up going on a vacation to the Bahamas’ together last fall. I am in awe of that. But it will never be me. No judgements, it will just never be me! And that’s ok. Continue reading →

Grow Your List= Make More Money

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Suzen

A simple equation, and it’s true. I’m in the process of growing mine now, in multiple ways. In this video I’ll give you 7 sure fire tips for filling your practice and reaching more potential patients your medical website and your marketing materials. The last 2 tips are a biggie:

Make sure you have an “opt-in” box in a very obvious spot on your website, preferably above the “fold”, (the area on he website that appears before having to scroll down),so that you can be capturing potential patients emails…to grow your list!! They came to your website for a reason, and even though they may not call the office first thing the next morning, if you are capturing their emails then you know they came and did this voluntarily; they wanted information or else they wouldn’t be there. But why should they give you their email address? What’s in it for them besides yet more “junk in their box”, and I don’t mean that in a sexy way. Seriously, why should they give you their e mail address? Because

Step #7: You are going to offer them an irresistible gift just above the opt-in box, that your visitors will really want to know more about, and enter their email and name to reveive. A gift, from you to them, with no strings attached, just an even exchange: their name and email address in exchange for something that might help them right now. For example: a free report on ways to relieve severe back pain prior to going to the doctor, or a holistic home remedy for relieving bad headaches. Or your newsletter which offers great tips on all sorts of health issues that relate to them. This should be something downloadable that they can get their hands on quickly and read (unless it’s a monthly newsletter. You get the picture. Now you have a qualified, interested patient who you are establishing a relationship with and whom you’ll now continue to be in touch with, through email…because they have given you permission to do so. From here you also have their permission, and their interest peeked, to make offers, invite them to look at…., etc.

Posted in Grow Your Medical Practice, Grow Your Patient List | Leave a comment

How to Lose a Good Patient or How to Create a Lifelong Patient

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Suzen

I was in the bank Saturday morning, waiting in line behind the cutest 4-year-old and his mommy I’ve seen in a long while. It was a long line, and Junior was getting restless.

“Mommy, I have to go.”

“Go where, honey?” (mommy was distracted)

“I have to pee, mommy.”

“In a few minutes, sweetie, we’re almost done”.

“Mommy I can’t wait, I reaaaaallllyyyy have to pee pee.”

“Honey you’re going to have to wait. They don’t have a bathroom here.”

“I can’t wait mommy, I need to pee RIGHT NOW.”

Junior really had to pee. He couldn’t wait. You know how it is. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Just ask any new mother, post childbirth give or take 3 years. There is no gray area, and it’s no different for a 4-year-old who’s just getting it down in the first place.

I, of course not minding my own business, and not wanting to be used as a fire hydrant (I was wearing red… who knew how he’d been potty trained) sidled up to the mom and quietly said, “I’ll wait on line with him if you want to go up and ask if you can use their restroom.”

After being sized up and down, the mom nodded gratefully and left Junior with me holding my hand with one hand and his whatsis in the other, and proceeded to jump up and down. I noted that he was starting to turn red. Continue reading →

Posted in Patient Relations, Relationship Marketing, Reputation Management | 1 Comment

Why I Attended WordCamp 2012

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Suzen

One of the best and the most challenging parts of what I do is the constant upgrading and self-educating of my…professional self. In the field of online marketing, SEO and internet advancements for doctors, this world is spinning so fast it is hard-(really hard! )to stay ahead of the curve. Forget ahead, actually. I figure if I stay somewhat abreast of the most important elements- the things that are going to impact my clients, my own business and the future of our industry, I am doing my job. And it’s continuous! And it’s all good! Beware the “online marketing expert” who constantly thinks they know everything and has nothing to learn. Because as soon as we think we have it down- Google’s new algorithms, the newest of helpful plug-ins, the state of the legislature (remember SOPA?), the ever growing cloud based options, etc., the next wave, huff….puff….is upon us and we must adapt. The good news here is that upgrades are a good thing. Ways to simplify, streamline and adapt without the historical pain, abound now and even though there are so many more choices, for the most part those choices are good ones (remember dial up? Banner ads popping up every 2 seconds, constant viruses and system crashes?) . A plethora if you will of choices designed to lure you in are out there now and technology is better because it has to be. they are Competition and choices is a good thing! Remember that, as it creates high expectations and excellence in our fields. Continue reading →

Posted in Medical Marketing, New Tools, SEO for Doctors | Tagged increase medical website traffic, online marketing for doctors, SEO tools, Wordpress | Leave a comment

4 Easy Ways to Attract People to your Medical Practice Facebook Page

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Suzen

4 Easy Strategies to Attract More People to your Medical Practice Facebook Page

You’re told all the time that you need to be creating a Facebook business page. Not a personal Facebook page, no…a business, or “fan” page. You’re thinking, oh crap, yet another “thing” to be doing? People already like me, why must I ask for more “likes”??? And yet, you ‘ve been told it must be done, so you create one. Now what? Where are your throngs? Where are mine for that matter? And why, oh why would a busy doctor need a Facebook page?

Rome was not built in a day, and neither are your Facebook fan page…fans…but over time, with consistent and innovative thinking, your Facebook page can be the cheaper alternative to a website, or at the very least a valuable addendum. Recently, and especially with anticipation of and since its’ recent IPO, Facebook, because of its intense scrutiny by investors and the business community, is under the gun to perform in a “serious” manner to demonstrate its’ great business value and ability to make money. Therefore massive efforts are being made by the Facebook developers to create additional perks and attraction apps, and it is, in fact becoming more and more versatile and simple to use. At the end of the day though, it comes down to client attraction and simple psychology. What will ‘hold ‘em on the page? What will push them to like, to engage and to share your page with others? What would the value be, to a doctor? What will nudge them to click into your website link? Doctors are using Facebook as a way to relate and add additional value to their patient relationships in all sorts of creative ways these days. Medical journal reports, helpful videos on timely or seasonal conditions, health tips, or seasonal shots and screens and reminders. I don’t need to tell you that your time is limited with your patients these days. Use your Facebook page to reconnect and give them the added bonus of your expertise, your personality, your support. It goes a long way in patient retention as you are solidifying relationships. Here are some simple but tried and true ways to rope the masses: Continue reading →

Posted in Medical Marketing, Social media for Doctors, marketing for doctors | Tagged creating a facebook page for doctors, Doctors using FAcebook, social media and doctors | Leave a comment

8 Great Tips to Increase Your Blog Comments

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Suzen

Aha! Struck a chord, eh? Probably the #1 biggest issue I get from frustrated, beleaguered bloggers is that of the empty comments box. I know, I’ve been there, and often times, I’m still there, resorting to a steady stream of urgent pleas for interaction from my faithful posy. Payments works as well, especially for a teen comment.

I’ve let all this go, slowly, for the most part as I’ve found that in the last 2 years of blogging, slowly but surely my readership has, indeed increased and so has the response rate. Understand however, that just because folks aren’t commenting does NOT mean they are not reading, absorbing and appreciating your words.

Did you get that? I said “Not much of a correlation!” Did I make your day? Continue reading →

Posted in Better blogging, Medical Marketing | Tagged blogging, Google Analytics, increase comments, increase readership, SEO | Leave a comment

6 Good Reasons To Join A BNI

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Suzen

Not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to join a BNI (Business Networking International) group in my neighborhood, other than the idea of a networking group based solely on the idea of giving and receiving referrals, with none of the froo- froo attached to it, none of the dancing around….seemed so appealing. If you read my last post about my networking group challenges you’ll get what I’m talking about. So when my “Computer Troubleshooter” Rick Van Akin suggested that if I wanted to grow my business I should come to his BNI meeting just to “check it out” I thought, why not?

Little did I know at the time, or perhaps I just wasn’t listening, that the meetings began at 7 AM. AM? I thought he’d said PM. AM??? AM it was, and when I emailed the president to see just how formally attired I needed to be at 7 AM I was bummed out to hear that yoga pants were really not an option, unless of course I was a yoga instructor. I briefly considered switching careers. So I’d be lying if I said that I was ecstatic about attending my first meeting. Grumbling under my breath, I made it to the first meeting with seconds to spare, leaving my daughter to figure out how to get herself dressed, fed and to the school bus on her own. Third graders can do that in this country, can’t they? Kidding- she’s a teenager. Much more dangerous than a third grader. Continue reading →

Posted in Relationship Marketing, Smart Networking | Tagged Best Networking Group, BNI, Business Networking International, Givers Gain, Ivan Misner, Lead Generating | Leave a comment

5 Most Effective Strategies to Expand Your Network

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Suzen

By nature I’m a crummy networker. I know this might strike you as odd, coming from someone who teaches how to attract business, but this is a fact. I’m a crummy social networker, I’m a crummy Happy Hour go-er, I’m a crummy Chamber of Commerce attendee, and in general I’m a crummy schmoozer. When given a choice I’d rather go to the small dinner party rather than to the bar, would rather be one to one coaching a client friend than stand in front of a crowd and speak; no one would ever mistake me for the “life of the party”. That would have been my ex husbands job. And I was glad he was there to take on that role as it got me off the hook. One can see how this might prove a bit problematic given my field of choice, which relies heavily on attracting clients so that I can help others do the same.

So early on I realized that if I really wanted to help others expand their reach to gain new patients that I needed to lead by example. Hence I’ve developed a series of systems that have not only worked for me, but have allowed me to expand my “list” and networking reach x4 within the past 2 years. And growing. Continue reading →

Posted in Relationship Marketing, Smart Networking, marketing for doctors | Tagged grow medical practice, increase exposure, increase patients | Leave a comment

Email Marketing : alive and well

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Suzen

You can relax now. All this buzz about blogging. Blah-blah-blah-blah- blogging. Will she never shut up about the many great virtues of blogging? Probably not, but today I will give you all a break and tell you what you’ve been longing to hear for a while now: email marketing is still alive. Yes, it’s true, alive and well, and yes, converting leads to patients. I’ve felt this for a long while now, but with all the buzz about social media being the place to be, no wait, blogging, no wait, video marketing, no, wait once more —you get the picture, we seem to have thrown poor worn down email marketing under the bus, along with the VHS tapes. Its’ efficacy continues to be debated – I recently had the conversation with one of my Master Mind partners, so Kim this blog is for you! You can all take a deep sigh of relief now because if btobonline confirms what I’ve suspected, what with all of their crazy pie graphs and statistics, then we know it’s for real. I feel like I’m sounding facetious here, but honestly I’m not.

Not that email marketing isn’t without its pitfalls. But let’s address them so that we can get past them: The Big 3 Pitfalls to a successful email campaign are: Continue reading →

Posted in Email Marketing for doctors, marketing for doctors | Tagged email marketing, increase patients, target audience | Leave a comment

Omagine Health

Grow Your List= Make More Money

How to Lose a Good Patient or How to Create a Lifelong Patient

Why I Attended WordCamp 2012

8 Great Tips to Increase Your Blog Comments

6 Good Reasons To Join A BNI

5 Most Effective Strategies to Expand Your Network

Email Marketing : alive and well

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