Note: These marketing practices will get new patients into your business, but only if you follow them consistently. Patient advertising is simply part of good practice management.

As the economy remains weak, the rising costs of energy and food force consumers to cut back on spending. As a result, many doctors must witness the decrease in patient visits and the postponing of certain treatments by patients.

This presents a problem of great magnitude to private practitioners across the country. So here are 5 key points to help you, the private practitioner, to counteract the changes:

1. Recognize that you are only in the business of marketing your business, and that is it. The #1 mistake made by many practices is to believe that giving good service or care is all that is needed to succeed.

This concept may have been true one hundred years ago. But today, if your service is not put in front of the potential clientele on a constant basis through marketing, then awareness of your practice will never reach the hands of the people who need it. As a result of this, you will have a hard time, especially in a slow economy. Ultimately, only those who continue to learn and implement marketing consistently will survive and prosper.

2. Become a ‘Jolly Good Fellow’ to reach more new patients. Instead of only relying on traditional advertising, why not do something positive for the community that will create goodwill and ultimately more patients for your practice?

We’re not talking about some PR gimmick here. While most of us try to be good human beings each day, few realize that taking this basic concept into actual interaction in the community - by doing good deeds, such as food drives and anti-drug events - not only raises your visibility through free press, but your credibility as well. This is where you will stand head and shoulders above your competition. Social participation does not need to take much time, contrary to common belief. And, if done correctly, will build up trust for the potential patients towards you, the doctor, even before the patients select you as the doctor. Doing this will also prompt more referrals from other doctors.

We call this the ‘Un-Advertising’ approach, whereby through doing actions as a humanitarian in your community, you do not ‘advertise’ your service but get positive attention that remains in the public’s mind. Doctors who have done ‘Un-Advertising’, especially in a slow economy, have found that the public and the referring doctors do remember them for a long time; in most cases, longer than their advertising counterparts would elicit.

3. Step up your marketing efforts in a bad economy. Growing and succeeding well above average can often be easier in a slow economy than it is in a steady and growing economy. It has also been proven that many millionaires and billionaires have been made during recessions and even in depressions. During a fast paced economy many practices will get their normal growth. However, the typical reaction during a slow economy is to ‘hide one’s head in the sand.’ But when the going gets tough, the tough get going and step up their marketing efforts.

Most practices that cut down their marketing during slow times do so believing the efforts bring in even less than before. This action will simply shrink them even more and in one, two or three years when the economy picks up again, they will be too paralyzed financially to take advantage of the economical upturn.

4. Use a marketing system. If you keep looking for that ONE marketing action which will bring your business growth, then financial hardship and being overworked will unfortunately result. There is no ONE marketing action that increases your patient volume, it is always a combination of several actions done together.

Talk to different marketing consultants and put together a “system” that you can use over and over again. Most people engage in a ‘bee-hopping’ approach to marketing. They would try one thing and if it did not work then they try the next. This shotgun approach would not help you, but give you the result of a smaller practice. Go for ‘marketing systems’ - complete marketing plans which involve both internal and external marketing activities - that could be done without you spending a lot of personal time or money to implement them.

Marketing is as scientific as engineering, and important scientific data show that half of your marketing efforts will probably not work, even if you are very good at it. Another scientific fact is the principle of synergy, which, again, support why a ‘bee-hopping’ approach would not work. It is like in war, attack with all the ammunition available and attack from all corners possible.

5. Realize that you do not have to like the marketing action for it to work. People do not like root canals or having their transmission fixed, or having to stop smoking in order to keep them alive. Most do not like to hire lawyers either, but winning a law suit and staying out of jail makes the liking part immaterial. What counts is that your practice increases, and that is it.

Marketing in a slow economy or fast economy is not only survival for the health of a practice, it is also vital for the prosperity of a private health care professional in the long run.

Remember: Good patient marketing is like good nutrition for your practice. Only a large quantity of new patients will keep your business strong and thriving.

Helmut Flasch, CEO of Doctor Relations and founder of award-winning ‘Un-Advertising’ principle, is a practice marketing consultant who helps dentists and doctors with new patient marketing. Find out more information about his marketing strategy at http://www.unadvertise.com/

[tags]marketing, small business, doctors, public relations, networking, business, un-advertising, success[/tags]

There is nothing more disappointing that seeing a good book collecting dust because no one knows about it. It’s heart-breaking for the author and a shame for the potential readers who would love to read the book if they only knew about it.

It’s essential for authors to build a platform of name recognition within the target market of their book. However, unless you’ve worked in PR or marketing, you may have no clue about how to begin building your author platform. I certainly didn’t when I wrote my first book back in 2003.

A platform is built by how many people know about you and your work. The best way to build your platform is through a combination of media appearances, a strong website, public speaking and social media. You want folks to recognize your name and feel that you are credible in your topic area.

It takes time, consistent effort, and knowledge to build a platform. You also need some expert guidance, especially if you’ve never done this before.

Knowing that your platform will grow over time, take these beginning steps to start building your platform:

1. Create a website for your book. Make sure that your website highlights your expertise. Look at other book websites for models to see how things are done.

2. Ensure that your website has a blog. I highly recommend using a Word Press based website as they are affordable, easy to customize, and can grow as you do. Use the blog function of the site and post at least 3 times per week. Fresh content will help your site in search engine rankings and give site visitors a reason to return to your site regularly.

3. Write articles based on your blog posts and submit them to article directories. The more articles you have circulating, the more people will be reading your work and finding your website.

4. Create a media page for your website, tailored specifically to make it easy for members of the media to learn about you and get the information they need to book you on their shows.

5. Use press releases to attract website visitors and media appearances. Post these press releases on your media page.

6. Reach out to your local media and offer your information as a local expert.

7. Do presentations about your topic. Speak and do teleclasses as often as possible. Keep track how many presentations you do and the number of people who hear you. In 2006, I kept track of the number of people I taught about books. I was at more than a thousand people before October. That statistic sounds pretty impressive and contributes to my platform.

8. Participate in social media. Twitter and Facebook are here to stay. They are becoming essential business tools for authors. If you’ve been avoiding social media, take the plunge and get involved right away.

9. Document your efforts. Keep track of any media appearances, the numbers of articles you have posted on article databanks, presentations, interviews, etc. All your efforts at building your name recognition should be tracked. Soon you will be able to say that you’ve done hundreds of presentations, spoken to thousands of people, and appeared on numerous radio and television shows.

When you take small, weekly steps to build your platform, you will reap great rewards. Take a look at the list above and pick one action to perform today. You will build your platform over time, just like you write your book one page at a time.

Need a book to build your business? Lynne Klippel is an author and publisher who specializes in helping entrepreneurs and aspiring authors write non-fiction books. For a free audio filled with publishing information, “How to Write Your Book the RIGHT Way,” visit www.LoveYourLifePublishing.com

[tags]Lynne Klippel,author,book,book marketing,author,author platform,PR[/tags]

PR is the process of ensuring that the business is, in essence, as popular as it can be within its target market and this can be carried out by a variety of different means. This has become particularly apparent to the masses in recent years with the introduction of online procedures. However, without the use of the media, be it print, screen or sound, the whole PR service would struggle immensely.

Although it sounds somewhat drastic, it is a fact that carrying out an effective PR campaign would be extremely difficult without the use of the media. Each and every media source or type is relied heavily upon by the PR industry and they can be broken down into three main areas.

Newspapers. The most traditional PR method, using newspapers, or other print options in general, can be an extremely beneficial option for most companies. Assuming that the business has an item or service to offer to the masses, either having it discussed or advertised in a national newspaper could bring in a substantial amount of new customers. Of course, if the business is in more of a niche market, then national newspapers or general magazines should be avoided, with the more tailored and sector focused publications being used.

Television. Whilst often the most expensive, television is seen as the best media PR method available. Similar to national newspapers or mainstream magazines, businesses that have a specific market to focus on should stay away from the more generic television channels and should aim for advertising of some form on a more suitable channel for their business needs.

Radio. Wilst national radio generally does not offer any form of paid advertising, local radios do and it can be very beneficial to a businesses that is either from the area or has a service that would be of use to those who live in the area. Surprisingly to most businesses, radio advertisements can be relatively inexpensive, especially if a lengthy block is purchased and they can offer a fantastic return on the initial investment, assuming that the product is suited for the radios listeners.

Of course, if media PR disappeared from our lives and was not a possibility for public relations, then there are other avenues to follow. For example, public speaking has always been popular and the popularity of the internet allows for a whole range of different techniques to be put into place. In some cases, both media PR and digital or online PR can work hand in hand very effectively. A prime example would be the amount of press releases that are created and published each day online. Once solely an offline process, online press release writing is an extremely popular PR process and can offer the same, if not more, rewards of a print based press release.

Whilst there are alternatives to media PR available, the use of newspapers, television and radio will be at the forefront of any large PR campaign, at least for the immediate future.

The Spa Way Media PR has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]media pr, public relations, pr[/tags]

If this was the case, it would be irrelevant if the client was based in London and the PR company was situated in Australia, as the work would all be carried out electronically and there are no major permutations with geographical locations online.

However, the location of a PR professional should be taken into consideration if a localised campaign is to be commenced. An example would be a PR, London based, who was planning on providing a small company in the North East of England with an effective PR campaign in their local area. As good as they may be as a standard PR professional, this project would be better suited to someone from the same area as the client and their target market.

Is media or digital PR better?

The main difference between media and digital PR is that media is based primarily offline, including the use of television and print, whilst digital is carried out mainly online, with procedures such as blogging, forum posting and online advertising being most prominent.

Media PR is generally the more expensive choice, as it can involve advertising on global television channels and within newspapers that are published and read up and down the country. However, the rewards are often on a much greater scale than those from a digital PR campaign and are also seen quicker, due to the increased and larger exposure.

Conversely, digital PR is a lot cheaper, with a range of procedures being completely free to carry out. Although this is tempting to a lot of people, the results are often slower in comparison and are on a smaller scale than from media PR.

Once this is understood, the differences begin to become clearer and it is easier to make a judgement on whether media or digital PR is most suited to the businesses needs.

Should a PR professional be hired?

Whilst it would be easy to say yes, the answer relies almost solely on how great, if existent at all, the marketing budget for the business is. As with all industries, a professional is much more capable at carrying out the task in hand as they have a range of experience and know how and what exactly to do.

Sometimes however, it is simply not financially viable to hire a professional to implement and oversee a PR campaign and in this case, the business owner should look to begin their own PR steps.

Can small businesses benefit from PR?

Any business, regardless of size or industry, can benefit from some form of PR. Whether it is a full and complete PR campaign carried out by a leading professional in the industry or simply only the basic principles of PR put into place after thorough online research, it will all be beneficial to the business. Simply put, any PR is better than no PR.

The Spa Way PR London has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]pr london, public relations, pr[/tags]

Whilst starting up a new business can be extremely nerve-wracking, time consuming, exciting and confusing, it is imperative that for the long term success of the business, with good initial results, business PR is adhered to and carried out.

Although there are many professionals who will be able to provide a fantastic service in regards to this, these professionals, whether a company or a standalone person, are often too expensive for a new start up company. Whilst this is the case, it does not mean that business PR should be completely disregarded, as it is quite simple, after a small amount of research, to be able to put the basics and guiding principles into place.

For example, one of the primary points that a professional would look to work around is the right target group or customer base for your item or service. Regardless of what your company has on sale or to offer, there will be a market for it and whether it is a niche area or a large target group, the main focus should be to offer your product or service to as many of these people as possible. This is often referred to as exploiting your target market.

If the item or service you are providing is aimed at a niche market, then it is very easy to distinguish where to aim your product towards. However, for something that has a wider market, it can often be difficult to find an area to tailor your product to. For example, if a website was selling dog harnesses for a certain breed of dog, it is relatively straightforward when determining where to market this item. However, if you were to sell shoes, this is much more difficult as the market is a lot bigger and to some extent, may already be saturated, so breaking into this area would be extremely difficult. If this were the case, a business PR professional would be able to research and find a small area of the market to begin with, building up your following and market share, eventually breaking into the large market.

Once your target audience has been defined, one of the next important steps in business PR is to let the audience know who you are, where you and what you have an offer. A lot of mistakes are made at this point with new businesses, especially those who have spent thousands of pounds on having a new website designed. Some people believe that as they have spent a lot of money on having a website professionally designed that the customers will flock to it. This, unfortunately, is not true. The best website in your sector could be created, but without people knowing that it is live and functioning, it means nothing. Therefore, to ensure that the target audience knows about your business, they have to be told and this could involve a range of different media types, from leaflets to television adverts, as long as they include the three primary points, who you are, what you offer and where you can be found.

The Spa Way Business PR has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]business pr, public relations, pr[/tags]

The term food PR is one that may not be particularly well known with those who are not involved in the public relations sector, but the work that this umbrella term encompasses is evident in almost everyones daily life.

Food PR is not as confusing or secretive as one may first assume and is, in its most basic form, the act of providing a public relations service within the food industry. To make things slightly easier, drinks are generally seen as being under this topic, meaning if food PR is mentioned, it is often referring to both food and drink.

One of the reasons why this type of PR is given its own name, rather than coming under the standard PR tag, is the fact that the food and drink sector has so many different permutations, from what ingredients can and can not be used in soft drinks right through to ensuring that the correct market is targeted when focusing on a strict lacto-vegetarian product. The spectrum is so huge that most PR companies dedicated a team to this industry and those professionals who work by themselves often pass any food and drink work they receive to a colleague who specialises in that area.

For a new company who sells a specific range of food, for example, it can be a difficult process deciding how to carry out an effective food PR campaign. Unlike a large amount of start up businesses in the majority of other industries, most in the food and drink sector do not even make basic steps when first looking at promoting their product. The main reason behind this is that as the industry is so heavily dense with companies actively fighting for a respectable market share, if they were to make one mistake, whether they were conscious of the fact or not, it could have such a detrimental effect on their business it may take years for them to be able to start again. Due to this reason, choosing an established PR company who specialises in food and drink is without doubt the safest choice.

Although making the choice to hire a PR company is a relatively easy one, choosing which company to work with is something completely different and can take a great deal longer. There are three main points that should be considered when choosing a food PR company.

1. Their knowledge / experience. Without doubt the most important factor when deciding upon a food PR company or individual is the knowledge and experience that they have in the sector. There is such a large amount of variables and changing circumstances within the sector that without the correct knowledge, gained largely from past experience, it can be extremely difficult to succeed as a specialist in food PR.

2. Their reputation. As companies or individuals are often chosen on their reputation, it is regularly seen as essential criteria. However, it is not necessarily true, only good reputation is essential. When searching for the most suitable company or individual, a new company should not be disregarded simply because they have no reputation. However, companies should very rarely be hired if they have bad reputation, unless it can be duly explained.

3. Their contacts. As with a lot of things in life, the PR sector relies quite heavily on who you know within the industry. Speak to a handful of prospective companies or individuals and see what contacts they have. They will probably be unwilling to provide names, but if they can demonstrate that they are close colleagues with a national newspaper columnist, they may be a better choice over someone who has just started in the industry.

The Spa Way Media PR has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]food pr, public relations, drink pr, pr[/tags]

In a nutshell, business PR is not strictly a necessity to any type of company. Compared to necessary business overheads and outgoings such as tax and National Insurance contributions, any type of public relations is generally going to appear low down on the absolute necessity list.

But is that where it really should be?

There is a strong belief in the world of business that without PR, companies, especially new startup companies, are destined to fail. Companies need the exposure to be able to increase their presence and therefore their sales or final goals. However, there is just as strong of an argument that PR is far from compulsory and in some cases, once basic marketing principles have been put into place, there is no need for any on going PR campaign.

The actual answer depends entirely upon the company and whether they require, or can afford, business PR to succeed or further themselves in their chosen industry.

Taking a look at start up companies and it is a rare occurrence that a start up company begins their business life by utilising and implementing a full PR campaign. One of the main problems that new companies are faced with is a distinct lack of funds, especially if they are a sole trader who has started up their own company using personal savings. Very little spare money is left over to be used in a marketing and PR budget, which is the reason why only a small amount of new businesses employ a full time PR individual or company.

For those established companies who can afford to pay for PR to be carried out however, there is often the argument that if they have become popular within their market place, the need for PR has gone. This is untrue and can be likened to an Olympic athlete. A 100m sprinter may have trained for years by themselves or with a group of friends, paying only token gestures for the support he has received. When they reach an Olympic level however and can afford to pay for a renowned trainer, they do so, as they need to ensure that they stay at the top of their game. If a business was at a level that it can comfortably afford for business PR to be implemented, then it is highly recommended that it should be. Businesses have to remember that PR is there to help the business and should not be seen as a measure because they are failing, all of the biggest brands in the world, whatever industry they are in, employ full time PR specialists to ensure that they stay at the top spot.

Whilst a large amount of professionals may well consider that business PR is a necessity, the level of the PR that is carried out all depends on the businesses individual requirements. Not having a PR campaign in place may result in the business going bankrupt and folding, but paying thousands of pounds for a fully functioning PR campaign may also have the same detrimental effect.

The Spa Way Business PR has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]business pr, public relations, pr[/tags]

The explanation of digital PR is a very straightforward one, it is simply the process of using PR methods that are not the traditional offline ones such as print, television and radio. Actually carrying out an effective digital PR campaign however, is something that is a little more complex.

Almost anyone who has a website will have carried out at least the most basic of digital PR techniques. Whether it was mentioning their website in a chat room or posting a link in their signature on a forum they visit frequently, the underlying principle was the same, to increase the awareness of their website. Although basic, these techniques are extremely useful and will, at least temporarily, attract new visitors to a website. The problem lays with how to keep these visitors on the website and convert them into a completed goal, whether that means purchasing an item, clicking on a link or simply signing up to an e-mail newsletter.

One of the first things to note with a digital PR campaign is that for it to be successful, the correct market has to be chosen. Without the correct people coming to the website, all efforts are going to be worthless. For example, a website that sells football boots may start receiving 100 unique visitors a day after the webmaster had a successful advert placement on a sports website. However, as the advert was under the cricket section, only 2 of the 100 visitors were converting into sales. Noting this, the webmaster changed the advert to the football section and saw that not only did the daily unique visitors rise to 200, the conversions were now at a respectable 30 percent, unlike the previous 2 percent.

Once the most suitable target market has been chosen, the next thing to consider is how much spare time is available and how much, if any, money is available to devote to digital PR. The reason these two points come next is because the answer determines which digital PR path will be chosen.

There are a wider variety of different techniques that can be carried out under this umbrella term and if there is a large budget available, the work involved differs to if there was no budget. For example, if there is money available, advertisements can be placed on the appropriate websites, online videos can be created and if the budget stretches to it, a professional can be employed to carry out a complete and effective digital PR campaign.

Assuming there is no budget however, does not mean that digital PR cannot be carried out. There are plenty of free techniques that can be used and they are all simple and straightforward to carry out. For example, commenting on relevant blogs is extremely helpful (ensuring the website URL is in the comment box), as is including the website URL and details in a forum signature and becoming an active member of the forum, which should be in the relevant industry or sector, by posting and replying to as many threads as possible.

Setting up an effective digital PR campaign can be time consuming and confusing if the process has never been carried out before. However, once up and running, it should help tremendously in bringing visitors to the website who should convert successfully into a completed goal.

The Spa Way Digital PR has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]digital pr, publication relations, pr[/tags]

Most people would agree that PR, regardless of the company or product, should be implemented to ensure the best possible outcome for the business. Whilst this may be true, there is such a vast amount of PR companies available, it can be difficult to decide which one to choose.

Although there are several other factors to take into consideration, such as the area of expertise that the company specialises in, reputation, location and price should be at the forefront of any decision making.

Reputation. You would not hire a bad plumber to fit your new bathroom suite, nor would you entrust your money with a recklessly thought of electrician when your house needs rewiring. Likewise, you would not, or should not, hand over any money to a PR company that has a bad reputation.

It should not take any considerable length of time to discover whether a PR company is or is not reputable. Have a search in one of the major search engines, using the companies name and negative phrases such as bad reputation or bad work as the search terms and see what results, if any, come up. Additionally, have a call around some of your business contacts, as they may have heard of the company, or better still, worked with them and could therefore offer some first hand advice.

Location. If the majority of your PR campaign is based online, the location of the company or individual is not a major problem. However, it can begin to become an issue if part of your PR campaign is offline, for example through television or newspapers. The reason behind this is if, for example, a PR company based in London was contracted to work with a small company based in Liverpool, whose marketing budget was minimal and only wanted to become well known locally at first, chances are the PR company would not have any good quality local contacts in Liverpool. Whilst they may have been able to offer the opportunity to be on the front of a popular London newspaper, this is irrelevant as the clients brief was to become established in their local area.

To find a suitable and local PR company, the easiest and most straightforward way is to head to a search engine and simply type in the word PR, along with your location. For example, the term PR London would bring up a list of companies who offered PR services in the London area.

Price. The deciding factor for a large amount of businesses, the price that a PR company or individual charges is one that causes a lot of heated discussions between professionals. On the one hand, as with most things, you get in return what you pay for, therefore if you pay a low price, you should not expect a high quality service. However, there is debate as to whether any PR is better than no PR at all, meaning regardless of your budget, you should attempt to implement some form of public relations.

Whilst it would be easy to say that PR should or should not be implemented by simply looking at the price, in reality, this is the way a lot of companies work. Therefore, the best route to take is if you can comfortably afford to carry out PR, then it should be carried out. However, if your budget is stretched without looking at PR, chances are it should be delayed until a more suitable time when additional money is available.

The Spa Way PR London has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]pr london, public relations, pr[/tags]

One of the most important and influential parts of media PR is the use of a press release. If written correctly, a press release can be extremely effective and help considerably with the increase in popularity for a business.

Many people believe that writing and submitting a press release is all that is needed to fully complete the process. Unfortunately, as ideal as this would be, it is not the case and there are actually five separate steps that should be followed to ensure press releases are created and released effectively.

1. The very first point to be aware of is that the press release should be written properly, which includes the use of correct and proper spelling, punctuation and grammar. Furthermore, it has to be remembered that a press release is not simply an article and must contain several different writing points, including a catchy yet appropriate headline, an interesting story that will gain the attention of its readers and the relevant and appropriate contact information.

2. The second point is what makes or breaks a press release and is to ensure that the right publication is chosen. Depending on what your press release is about depends entirely on where it should be distributed. For example, if your press release is focused on something local, then a call to your local newspaper is probably the most suitable. Furthermore, it also has to be decided whether print or sound would be better, as occasionally a press release would be more appropriate if first published on the radio.

3. Once the correct publishing outlet is decided upon, it is important to find out who to send the press release to. It is very easy to find a general postal address or e-mail address for most types of media outlet. However, there are copious amounts of information, not just press releases, sent to these details each and every day and therefore if a more detailed address can be found, such as a name for a person within the relevant section, your press release will have a much greater chance of being seen.

4. After the press release has been the submitted, do not be afraid to chase the submission up. Press releases are submitted in large quantities and it is easy for a press release to be overlooked, regardless of how well it is written. As this is so often the case, especially in larger publications, a quick phone call to the person who was sent the press release is all that is needed to ensure it has been received and is being read through.

5. Resubmit if necessary. If your release gets lost in the shuffle or does not generate a response, resubmit it. Simply resend a copy of the original release to the same media contact. Then follow up to see if your release has been received. And don’t forget to soft pitch your news item. If these efforts fail, be persistent and repeat the process. Remember, it is the squeaky door that gets the oil. Now that you’ve been introduced to these five steps, try them and see what happens. You will be pleasantly surprised at just how easy it is to implement a successful publicity campaign.

The Spa Way Media PR has created a number of well devised successful campaigns for a range of businesses to help them seek the right exposure in the market.

[tags]media pr, public relations, pr[/tags]