I recently met with Vanessa Passov, a caring and talented chiropractor. Like
many of us in helping professions, she loves her work healing painful injuries
and teaching patients how to keep their bodies healthy. But the marketing class
she took during her training was completely inadequate for showing her how to
attract patients with whom she can do the work she feels is her calling. "They
said we can get pens printed up with messages on them and our phone number.
That's about all I remember from that marketing class."
There's a place for imprinted messages on everyday items. But if you don't
have an overall plan based on your niche in your field, a pen with your phone
number is not going to fill your office with clients.
Do you need to write or revise your marketing plan? Before the holiday season
is an ideal time for most of us to plan for the year to come. One way you can
use this sample marketing plan is to write down the following headings and
brainstorm how you can adapt these suggestions to your own business.
My focus is to help people who serve a population they care about, and to
network and educate colleagues, community members, and others with whom they
genuinely enjoy interacting.
Here are the suggestions I made to Dr. Vanessa Passov, Chiropractor in
Calabasas, CA. Her specialty area is deep muscle work, and she enjoys working
with patients on preventive maintenance.
Goals: Vanessa's goals are to:
Increase her professional reputation in the community
Create networking relationships to develop ongoing referrals
What are your current goals? Specific goals will help you create a plan that
"writes itself." Broad or dollar-based goals sound good but don't help you spell
out how to meet those goals.
Note: You can write it out like this sample plan, or you can chart it
like a flowchart. The flowchart might be easier to grasp at a glance and add
ideas to later.
1. What is your niche? (Previous article on this topic: "No Niche, No
Scratch" available by email) You can define this by either a, b, or c below.
Then make sure the other two elements are in alignment:
Specialty area (e.g., deep muscle work)
Population you care about (e.g., active children & teens)
Type of problem you solve (e.g., youth sports injuries and injury
prevention; teaching young people to understand, take care of, and listen to
their bodies)
2. Who else cares about this niche that could be networking partners
or an audience for you?
Parents of 8 to 18 year olds
Pediatricians in Calabasas, Agoura and Westlake Village
Little league coaches
Phys. ed. teachers
Dance, martial arts, and other instructors
Massage therapists
3. How can you share your interest with, and solve a problem
for, the people listed in #2?
Parents: Do talks, provide flyers, etc. Think about where you'll speak and
on what topics (for example, "Helping your child get ready for the baseball
season," or "Helping your child recover more quickly from a sports injury.")
Pediatricians: Provide flyers for their patients, consults for them, share
technical info.
Coaches: Share stretching, prevention tips, offer flyers for their team
members. Go before a practice at the beginning of the season to teach young
people how to prepare for daily practices, and what to do if they think they
have just gotten injured: when to "walk it off" and when to wait for the
stretcher, for example.
Phys. ed. teachers: Offer continuing education for them with more
technical information so they can prepare their classes and understand their
students' needs better.
Dance/martial arts/other instructors: Combine c and d suggestions above
Massage therapists: These are people you can really network with and work
together as a team. Find some you think are really good, and meet
regularly/swap services if appropriate and help each other grow your
businesses.
4. How do you stay in touch with your network/the people in #2? Send
information on regular basis...flyers, articles by other people, etc. You don't
have to meet each of them face to face, although it's better to network with
fewer people more personally in my opinion. But at least remind them of you
on a regular basis...quarterly is good. An email newsletter can be a good way to
do this. Or just write a tip sheet and pass it around, drop it off, or snail
mail it to those that could use it.
Note: If you have one basic specialty area, most of your network will
be interested when you write on that topic. You just have to determine if that
piece is for the lay public or other professionals.
5. Build relationships, and your practice will follow
You're educating, not selling
You're meeting with people you like and with whom you share a common
interest. NEVER network with someone you don't like or respect because you
think they can help you.
6. Talks/Writing
Depending on which you feel more comfortable with, these are two ways to
build your professional reputation in the community.
Write/talk about problems you solve for that particular audience.
If you're talking to a group of phys. ed. teachers, talk about how they
can better understand the needs of their students. You can use some
technical language, and give them some expert information to better plan
their classes.
If you're talking to parents, acknowledge their anxiety about their
child getting hurt, how they can encourage their child to take better care
of their body, and you may even mention something about sportsmanship.
7. Your marketing materials need to be consistent, reflect your
personality and professional style, and focus on your niche. A good printer (the
person, not the machine) can be very helpful with this aspect.
8. A written marketing plan can help you coordinate all the
elements above, including how to incorporate pens imprinted with your name and
phone number. Start with your mission statement (email me if you want this
worksheet), how you will reach your market, and how often.
Save 30% on Marketing Plan Pro! Marketing Plan Pro includes everything you need to create a
professional, complete and accurate marketing plan. Whether you are
presenting a marketing plan to your department, working for a Fortune
500 company or simply looking for a marketing direction for your small
business, Marketing Plan Pro has all the
tools and features you need.
Leslie Godwin, MFCC is a Career & Life-Transition Coach,
Writer, and Speaker. She publishes a free email newsletter on career and life
transition. For information, email
godwinpss@aol.com and mention that you'd like to be on the email newsletter
list.
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