Sidenote: Anyone who knows me pretty well knows that I enjoy shortening words.  And I have a somewhat dirty mouth.  And finally, I have an odd sense of humor.  So naturally, amazeballs is one of my favorite words.  Add “totes,” to that?  I.am.sold.

From Tweet to Treat

An hour after he sent his Tweet, Kellogg’s had gotten in touch with Burgess, and the idea of Totes Amazeballs was on its way to becoming a reality.

While the cereal-making-mavens only planned on making one box (which they sent to Burgess), the response on Social Media has been so overwhelming, that they may actually produce Totes Amazeballs on a grander scale.

Social Media as a Product Development Tool

What does Totes Amazeballs mean for your organization?  Don’t discount Social Media as a serious forum for product or service development.  Listen online to not only develop, but enhance and evolve what you do.

The end-result may be Totes Amazeballs.

The wonderful folks over at Copyblogger (one of the blogs on my daily “must read,” list) published the following infographic.

I hope you find their 22 Ways to Create Compelling Content as fun and helpful as I did!

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Howard has experienced, first hand, how social media works for clinicians. He has shared how the medical industry should communicate and sell to clinicians and health care institutions.

I first introduced you to Howard in The Best Social Media Strategy for Medical Manufacturers.

Now, I present one of my favorite clinicians, bloggers, social media contributors, and friend:  Howard Luks, MD.

In many of my previous posts regarding the relative value propositions of establishing a deep digital presence in healthcare — or entering onto the stage of healthcare and social media we have talked about the overall value to the:

• healthcare system,
• the patient,
• the physician as a solo practitioner
• the device industry,
• and healthcare institutions.

Clearly the number one benefit chosen by most health care professionals for entering into the digital arena is to improve upon their ability to drive patients to their office, institution, promote a service line,  or to increase the use of their products.

Similar to its effects on many industries, social media has turned traditional healthcare marketing upside down.  The traditional approach to healthcare marketing was and remains outbound in nature.  That simply means that you are  pushing products or services on your customers or potential patients utilizing various one way,  unidirectional — and typically expensive channels.  Typical examples of outbound marketing initiatives include:

• television
• print
• radio advertising
• direct mail initiatives
• blast e-mail campaigns
• cold calling

Over the last two years, and especially over the last number of months there’s been a tremendous focus on the value proposition of an inbound healthcare marketing as a strategic focus. Outbound  healthcare marketing efforts are on the decline. This is simply because people are now in control of the healthcare information they receive, and where they choose to receive it. In the outbound marketing world all the control was with the company.  This is no longer the case.  80% of consumers trust the recommendation of a friend or colleague.  16% or so trust the information contained within and advertisement.   Where are these healthcare consumers exchanging information about physicians, hospitals, diseases, products and other information they find useful — On Facebook, Twitter, and other internet social media platforms.

Inbound healthcare marketing focus’s on sharing information about you, your practice, product, service, or your hospital in front of your perspective audience where they reside online and on the platform that they choose to utilize. Bottom line, You need to be where your prospects are seeking information.

Some of the most effective inbound healthcare marketing techniques include content marketing as well as social media participation. This includes

• blogs
• video blogs
• podcasts
• And a “foundation”  —or dynamic web 2.0 compliant website.

If you want to enhance your visibility dramatically, once you have produced useful, actionable, meaningful educational health related content, you then need to combine this with a strong presence in social media.  Inbound marketing allows your audience to share and spread your content through their own networks, invites them to share their information in order to access the information you are providing, and ultimately, become a patient, consumer, advocate or customer.

Outbound healthcare marketing initiatives are quite labor-intensive, require the assistance of expensive marketing professionals, media professionals —  and have a lower return on investment when compared to many successful inbound healthcare marketing initiatives. The cost of establishing a blog, generating meaningful content and utilizing an aggregating platform to share that content is far less expensive and time-consuming than developing a television, print ad campaign or direct mail campaign.

In addition, 80% or more of your customers or patients are online and searching for information about you. Outbound healthcare marketing initiatives, do nothing to improve your search engine optimization, nor do they assist you in online reputation management.

Inbound techniques offer you the ability to improve your:

• outreach
• ability to educate
• promote your service line
• promote your healthcare practice
• collaborate and engage
• google ranking
• reputation management

and offer a lingering “residuals” effect —  long after the original content is published.

Healthcare marketing channels have changed on a fundamental level.  Social media has revolutionized how we  interact not only with each other, but with many of the products and services that we may wish to utilize. We’re moving away from marketing channels which focus on pounding information into people’s heads. The focus is now on inbound techniques, which primarily focus on adding value by providing meaningful information, and engaging your potential customers or patients in a far more meaningful, engaging and social manner.

Once again, as I’ve said many times over, from a healthcare perspective — I feel that physicians have an obligation to produce meaningful, educational healthcare content for patients to identify and utilize when researching online. This aids them in drowning out much of the commercialized nonsense that a typical google search produces.  That being said, most healthcare professionals who choose to establish a presence online will do so purely for marketing purposes.

The world has changed. Communication standards have changed.  Does your healthcare marketing professional understand this? Do they understand the difference between inbound and outbound healthcare marketing initiatives, and how to promote your image, brand and service lines with a properly planned, and executed social media strategy?

This is yet another reason why physicians, hospitals, device manufacturers, as well as the pharmaceutical industry need to place a social media agenda very high up in the ranks of importance when discussing their overall strategic and marketing initiatives.

Over 76% of consumers trust peer recommendations, either through social networks or more traditional means of communications. This compares to only 14% of consumers who have been shown to trust advertisements. In the past, word of mouth recommendations occurred offline at parties or dinners with friends.   Today’s hyper-connected world brought forth by digital communications has tremendously increased the magnitude, rapidity and reach of those who have something to say about you or your practice.

In 2011 it is simply no longer advisable to simply have a static, template driven online “presence” or no presence at all.   In today’s fast-paced world of digital communications, you must be where your potential patients chose to be. You must be in a position for them to find you on the platforms that THEY have chosen to use.

Possessing a firm understanding of the potential of a deep Inbound Healthcare Marketing strategy, combined with a deep digital healthcare presence is of paramount importance… especially to healthcare providers who are being squeezed on all sides.

Note: This post originally appeared on Howard’s blog.

Brands are already trying to maximize their $3.5 Million (on average) buy, and they’re taking to Social Media to do it.

Entertainment Weekly published a complete guide to this year’s Super Bowl commercials, and I’ve already decided what I think will be my favorite (and possibly this year’s overall favorite):

How about you?  Which 2012 Super Bowl Commercial is your favorite, thus far?

So many of our clients have had serious issues with website developers, so, we also find ourselves discussing what to look for when hiring a website developer.

And beyond that, we educate our clients on the importance of having their website work for them.  In short, your website is where your customers and potential customers should be landing for good, quality information and to learn more about you.

Once our clients understand that, we delve further into Inbound Marketing as a means to capture leads once they land on your site.

I bet you’re wondering where I’m going with this.  Bear with me.

Jeff Bullas recently wrote a great post on the history of media, and Why Social Media will Disappear.

In his post, Jeff discusses how media has evolved and how each medium has sustained value by evolving with the changes.

All the tools we utilize (and will continue to discuss and educate our clients about) are important in the transition and positioning for New Media.

Getting your house in order is the name of the game.

Media will, in fact, continue to become more social.

Your information and content needs to be free for the finding and beneficial to the business or person seeking that information.  The more prepared you are, the more viable your business will be moving forward.

Media, in and of itself, is more social.  It will all be under the same umbrella: MEDIA.

What are you doing to prepare for the new Media?

Image courtesy of Tombstone Generator.

Now that we’ve done some housekeeping.

This morning, I came across an article from Entrepreneur.  The title really caught my attention: What to Do When You’ve Built it and No One Comes.

The author writes about retail businesses, but my little Inbound Marketing mind immediately thought of our clients and their websites.

Look at my shiny, new penny.

There’s a common misconception, that goes a little something like this: We spent $xx,000 on a brand, new website.  It has a lot of capabilities and tons of information.  Ta-da! My response then goes a little something like this: Oooo, ahh.  What’s your traffic like?  How are you getting people to your site?  Once they’re there, how are you converting visitors into leads, and leads into customers?

Crickets.

The truth is, if your website isn’t working for you, that shiny new website is about as valuable as a shiny, new penny.

What to Do When You’ve Built it and No One Comes

The good news is, there’s something you can do.  Immediately.

1. Start creating quality content
2. Start sharing said quality content online.  Send it to your prospects, colleagues, current clients and share it on Social Media.
3. Rinse and repeat.

In the Entrepreneur article, the author closes with the following question: “How have you used unconventional methods to find more customers?”

While creating and sharing quality content is hardly an unconventional method, it’s something that many of your competitors are not doing online.  They’re doing it the old-fashioned way: with feet on the street, and a bag in one hand and a one-sheeter in the other.

They’re going out and finding their customers, rather than empowering their customers to find them.

Create quality content to draw your prospects to you like a magnet.  If you do, and really commit to it, you’ll watch your website become a 24/7 salesperson.

Image courtesy of mwlguide.

I love the title: When It Comes To Innovation, Small Is Beautiful!

I’ve been known to mention (tongue in cheek) how, I always seem to be on the cutting edge.  It could be my sensible gift of discernment, or maybe my incredible sense of intuition. (If my family reads this, they will undoubtedly roll their eyes.)

Either way, owning a small business is by for the most challenging, fulfilling, and amazing experience of my career.

The Good Old Days.

I was talking to an old friend and colleague this week. We were reminiscing about the great times we had in building a company together and how quickly we made changes in product, marketing, pricing, etc.  We talked about how quickly we could care for a customer; brainstorm amazing solutions, and not worry about all the issues that come with working in a large corporate environment. We didn’t have the red tape, or line of approvals to deal with.  We just made things happen and celebrated our success.

How encouraging it is for us to see larger corporations trying to go back to somewhat of a small business mindset, developing innovative small teams within a large environment: Google, Apple, Facebook, GlaxoSmithKline.

How does KBK do it?

At KBK, our clients are reaping the benefits, the excitement, and creative discussions of our small business.  They love when we develop a new strategy to help them gain dominance in the market.  They love when our results fire up their sales teams.

We make our own decisions without a lot of red tape.  We brainstorm, evolving, create and pull the trigger.  A small team effort with big team results.

Enjoy, innovate and bring that energy to your clients in 2012.

Photo courtesy of: Cedim News

Now, Rob is the kind of person that has no inhibitions.  Case in point, his willingness to do anything for the sake of supporting his staff and sales teams.

This is Rob aka ‘The Bovie Leprechaun” at the last HIDA MedSurg conference.

Rob is about as real as they come. He doesn’t realize how many lives he’s touched in our business or what a difference he makes in our lives but he’s the real deal.

Rob is a dear friend and mentor in my life and I’m sure you’ll enjoy following his blogs at Bovie Medical.  Following is one of his latest posts, that originally appeared on his blog.

I have been debating how to approach this subject, and after much procrastination, I guess I will just jump in.  There are many challenges that medical manufacturing organization leaders face on a daily basis. However, the most frustrating part for me is the regulatory and legal red tape that exists in the process today. While I understand that regulations and legal issues are designed to protect the public (myself included) I often feel that much of what is happening today is not beneficial to the public and in actuality detrimental to our economic well being.  The first challenge on every leaders list in the medical manufacturing arena is the Food and Drug Administration and the additional burden of much longer approval times for new products.  At different trade shows we casually talk with friends in the industry, and a common topic is the pain felt in dealing with the FDA today.  I personally rate the first subject so high on my list that I think number two is actually number three on the list.

Number two is the additional testing and new standards being implemented which drive up the cost of either bringing the product to market or keeping it there.  If it actually made a better and safer product because of these tests I couldn’t argue with it, but in 99% of the cases it only makes it more expensive, not better in my opinion.  I am reminded of elementary school where we played with mercury and were amazed at all of the tiny balls and how it behaved in your bare hand.  Today you would evacuate the school and call in a hazmat team.

Next on the list is a tossup between too many lawyers in the USA that can sue anyone for any reason or none at all and international labor costs which are significantly lower than the good old USA.  As an addendum to US labor costs are our health insurance costs for our already higher labor costs.  Let’s go with too many lawyers for $100 Alex.  The legal system serves a purpose, and I know that, but I still think my best long term deal was over an exclusive agreement made on a handshake.  We tried over the years to get something in writing, but our mutual attorneys kept making it impossible to do a deal.  That handshake deal lasted until the patent ran out and then we sold the registered trademark to them for half a million and all of it was accomplished with nary an attorney in sight.  We have had multiple lawsuits over the past year and about all they have accomplished is wasting money, wasting time, and distracting us from what we need to do to make Bovie Medical a better company.  Why don’t the politicians help us with this problem?  Oh yes, now I remember, they are 90% attorneys too.  Heaven forbid that they might do something that is good for the USA and bad for their brethren in the legal system.

Lastly, unless you make highly protected patented product for a special application and can command a premium from them, then labor costs is a problem.  In some countries electrical engineers are a third the cost of what we pay here.  If we are speaking of basic labor rates, we pay more per hour for the health insurance to cover these workers that our international competitors pay their workers.  We then add our hourly rate on top of it and as you can see, Houston we have a problem.  I could probably go on, but this kind of reminds me of a book I once lost on a plane, and was glad I did titled “The Death of Common Sense”.  Don’t read the book, it will only depress you.

While we did accomplish some pretty great things in 2011, I’d be lying if I said this year wasn’t fraught with challenges.  I’d also be lying if I said I’m sad that 2011 is over.

At the end of the day, I survived.  What’s more, I learned a lot along the way, and I’m certainly grateful for that.

As I was reflecting on 2011, this morning, I came across Jon Acuff’s blog on writing and sharing your 2012 goals.  Acuff references a great post by Michael Hyatt, that speaks to the benefits of writing down your goals.  He also challenged his readers to write our goals, before next Tuesday…and share them with the hashtag #FinishYear.

Without further ado, here are mine.

Your Turn.

What are your 2012 goals?  Share and link to them, in the comments section below.

Happy Holidays to all!

Last Friday, Professional Women In Healthcare hosted a Coffee Chat focused on giving back.

We invited PWH Member, Jackie Jones, to share with us how she finds the time, energy and interest to give back.

First of all, Jackie is one of the kindest, most positive people you’ll ever meet.  When I met Jackie, a number of years ago at a PWH board meeting, she was smiling, approachable, and helpful.  All while fighting the biggest battle of her life.  Jackie was battling breast cancer.  The only way I knew this was:

1. I was told before I met her.
2. She wore a scarf around her head.

To observe Jackie was and still is fascinating and inspirational.  She always has a smile and focuses on whomever she is talking to.  Back then, her eyes were tired, and I could see how hard her body was fighting this horrible disease.  Yet Jackie, continued to give back.

For the record, she fought and won.  Jackie has now been cancer-free for quite some time.

When we talked to her on the Coffee Chat, she shared her involvement with Gilda’s Club.  Gilda’s Club was such a support to her and her family while she was battling breast cancer.  To support those who are struggling with a disease she understands first-hand, is now one of her passions.

One of the other inspirational things about Jackie is her ability to challenge herself and go outside her comfort zone, to give back. Her desire to help others has brought her to get involved with a Habitat for Humanity project, one which she says was not her talent area.  Nonetheless, she put herself out there and did what Jackie does best.  All in!

With all that she has been involved with whether through NDC, her employer (who encourages their employees to give back by providing 2 days of PTO per year to volunteer, and donates a monetary amount to that charity in the employee’s name) her church, or Guilda’s Club…she’s a giver.

We all have the ability to to give back and help our fellow man. So in the spirit of the season, I’ve chosen to share a couple of  organizations I think are pretty special.

• Operation Homefront. Supporting troops and their families needs on the homefront
• Operation Support Our Troops of Illinois Sending care packages to our troops while deployed.

I pray that all of you will find where you feel lead to give back.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Image courtesy of Michael Kappel