Archive for Economy
Is the Economy Improving?
Posted by: | CommentsIn Bob Brinker’s MarketTimer newsletter for May, he talks about the state of the economy. This month indicates continued economic expansion even with a weak housing market and high energy prices. The jobless rate declined in 34 states but the unemployment rate remains high at 8.l8% and the underemployment rate is very high at 15.7%.
So, what does that have to do with aesthetic medicine? Everything. You want to be strategic about who you target for your aesthetic practice. There’s a good chance the economy is not going to bounce back anytime soon, so just prepare. Market to your higher-end, more mature patients versus the young girls who don’t have as much need for your aesthetic services. Your mature patients are least likely to be affected by changes in the economy and last affected by changes in the economy.
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For a free download of Catherine’s book, Visit www.YourAestheticPracticeBook.com or call Catherine at (877) 339-8833. Her firm specializes in creative patient attraction – conversion – retention strategies to drive aesthetic profits.
How the Aesthetic Physician Can Thrive in the New Economy
Posted by: | CommentsThe Old Economy is gone; never to return. Aesthetic patients no longer spend like drunken sailors. A majority of them have pulled back on aesthetic enhancement due to the uncertainty of the bad economy. That doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have the money anymore. It could simply mean they are not willing to spend it without a good cause.
To thrive in the New Economy, aesthetic physicians must better understand their patients’ decision-making processes. Here are four main points that should be carefully considered:
- 1.)The aesthetic patient has all the power to decide who gets their business (and cash).
- 2.)The aesthetic patient does not tolerate average treatment.
- 3.)Money will be spent more judiciously by the aesthetic patient.
- 4.)You will need to earn the right to your patients’ needs and interests.
To enjoy endless cosmetic patients in the New Economy, get smart about your messaging, your marketing and your customer service. It will pay off for you handsomely. Click Here To Read Full Article
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Get Your FREE Marketing Checklist on www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com and see how you compare to top aesthetic practices. Catherine’s firm specializes in attracting cash-paying patients to a medical practice using PR, advertising and creative marketing strategies. Catherine can also be reached at (877) 339-8833.
Marketing to Aesthetic Patients in Tough Times
Posted by: | CommentsThere is still much you can to help keep your own aesthetic profits consistent while our economy corrects itself.
For starters, this is not the perfect time to fish for new aesthetic patients. It will take much more time, money and effort to attract total strangers to your practice. These people don’t know you so it would take expensive repetition and effort to get them to spend their disposable income with you rather than with someone they already know. Or, not spend any money right now.
This is the perfect time for you to go inward and concentrate on your low-hanging fruit. The patients, who already know, like and trust you are much more likely to respond to your marketing efforts. If you have been ignoring the very patients who could sustain your practice during this shaky time, you better start communicating with them before they drift off to your competitor.
Marketing to Your Current Aesthetic Patients
Be smart about your internal communications. Start with your more mature, affluent patients. They have the most need and wherewithal to actually want and pay for your services. They have been on the planet longer and are now showing signs of aging – wrinkles, folds, fat, droopy body parts and sagging skin. They also are more likely to have the financial means to afford your services. Perhaps they are married and a homeowner and have built up a nice nest egg for rejuvenation.
It would behoove you to invite them to your in-house seminar to discuss new solutions to crepe skin and sun damage. Send them fun, themed postcards with a special offer to try a new service they haven’t yet experienced. And, inform them of anything new in your office they should check out such as new technology or new staff. Bottom line – educate these more mature patients on what they can do to turn back the clock easily and quickly.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Please watch my free videos by filling out the form to the right, now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
What Can I Do To Save My Aesthetic Practice?
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a brief dose of brutal reality.
It was easy before now and you didn’t have to try very hard to fill up your office with cash-paying patients.
Consumers were spending like drunken sailors. Credit was available for everyone for whatever they wanted. TV shows like Extreme Makeover made it possible for everyday people to have a new life of love, wealth and health with cosmetic enhancement.
The demand was high, the patients were showing up for their appointments and the money was flowing.
But not anymore….The party is over.
Many of your patients have lost their jobs or are afraid they would lose their jobs soon so they stopped spending on aesthetics.
Others had their credit dry up and couldn’t afford aesthetics anymore.
Many of your patients who once considered aesthetic services a necessity now viewed them a luxury to be put off until things are better.
The media pours on doomsday stories about stocks sliding, businesses closing and the world coming to an end. Let’s face it – it makes for a good story!
There’s been a shift in wealth. The wealth is still there – it’s just in different hands now.
As a service provider, you now have to work at it to get the same results that used to come to you effortlessly.
That’s the difference and that’s why only the strategic will survive.
Remember those sayings:
There’s a silver lining in every cloud or when one door closes, another one opens?
The current state of the economy is doomsday for some and opportunity for others – so which group do you fall into?
Do not let highly publicized pessimism stop you from being excited and enthusiastic about your future in aesthetic medicine.
The good news is that with the right mind set and strategies, there is much you can do to survive and even flourish during this shaky time.
Rather than sit back and wait for things to get better, those who proactively “do something” will fare much better.
“Don’t you see – all is not over. It’s just different.”
You Are in an Enviable Position
You cater to a very hungry market – the patient who wants to look and feel better and will invest their time, money and effort to do so
These aesthetic patients want to feel better. That is not a one-time feeling. This is an ongoing, innate desire for an ever-growing, aging population.
Think about it. This patient has a built-in need now and for years to come because if they care today how they look, they are really going to care as the aging process takes an even bigger toll.
So, spending effort up front now to attract that aesthetic patient to your practice and nurturing that relationship, will prompt them to return again and again for procedures, treatments and products that help them look and feel good.
The point is, this is not a one-time transaction. The first transaction should always lead to another and another.
It can cost a small fortune to acquire a new patient – but it costs next to nothing to keep them. The financial beauty of this relationship-based practice is that your costs will dramatically decrease if you simply maintain your patient database you spent time, money and effort to get in the first place.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Please watch my free videos by filling out the form to the right, now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Promoting Minimally-Invasive Procedures Using External Marketing – Part 4 of 4
Posted by: | CommentsNow you want to go out into your community so they know you exist. Use your non-threatening MI procedures to help the patients get comfortable with you so they stay for all of your services. Get to know the neighboring businesses that share your same demographics such as:
- Hair Salon/Spa
- Gym/Personal Trainers
- Retail Shops
- Country Clubs
- Non-competing Physicians
Invite them to your events, partner with them on a cross promotion and offer to speak to their clients, members and patients.
Get involved in your community and work for a cause. Offer a gift basket of products as well as a gift certificate for a MI treatment. This ensures they return to your office to redeem their gift and gives you an opportunity to bond with them so they become a loyal patient and bring their friends back.
By participating in fundraisers, you get name recognition since it will be added to the invitation that is mailed throughout the community, they may mention you at the event and you can attend for further networking opportunities.
External advertising is another way to grow your aesthetic practice but be careful. It can be costly since it takes lots of repetition. Be sure to advertise where your preferred patients are. Or, rather than advertise the usual way, consider using advertising to announce something such as a grand opening or a new procedure. The point is to use advertising to education rather than promote. While nobody wants to be sold, aesthetic patients are always interested in the latest news to keep them looking good. And, of course, invite the public to your seminars and events.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Promoting Minimally-Invasive Procedures Using Internal Marketing – Part 3 of 4
Posted by: | CommentsNow let’s talk about promoting your MI procedures using internal marketing to your current patients. I highly recommend starting there. Your #1 asset is your database since they are your low-hanging fruit.
They already know, like and trust you and they are much more apt to respond to your marketing efforts.
By the way, next to email marketing, direct mail is still the cheapest form of promotion today because it’s so targeted since it’s going to people who know you versus advertising to total strangers.
And, you use direct mail to reactivate patients. Such as those you haven’t seen for a long time, those who came in for a consultation but didn’t book and those who need to return to finish their treatments. Some of those patients were simply saying, “Not Now” or “Not Yet”. Educate your patients about MI procedures using:
- Patient newsletter
- Fun postcards
- Email messages
- Birthday cards
- In-House Seminars
- Open House
- Vendor-sponsored events
How to Price MI Procedures
Since MI procedures often entail multiple txs. Sell packages they pay for up front.
This ensures they visit several times and gives you the opportunity to bond with them and it also helps ensure they receive the best result possible. Otherwise, there’s a chance you told them they needed 3-5 tx, they came in for one, never returned and now tell their friends it didn’t work.
Give them choices of packages that cross-promote comparable products and services so they decide which package to go with rather than decide if they should do it at all.
Here are some examples….
Free underarm LHR with leg LHR package. The reason being if the aesthetic pt has hair concerns on one part of their body, they most likely have it on other body parts.
Buy 4 and the 5th treatment is free – Free is always a good word in promotion.
Buy a facial package and get LHR ½ off. The point here is to introduce them to other comparable services you offer since an aesthetic patient. is most likely interested in lots of different treatments that keep them looking their best.
Every 4th visit = free product and that introduces them to your product lines.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Promoting Minimally-Invasive Procedures Using In-House Marketing – Part 2 of 4
Posted by: | CommentsUse In-House Marketing to promote MI procedure to ensure every patient who walks through your office knows about every treatment, procedure and product you offer. You never want to hear a patient say, “I didn’t know you did that” while having it done elsewhere.
Display albums full of before/after patient photos of other patients who have gotten great results from your MI procedures. You can use the vendor’s at first but start collecting your own photos and the more, the merrier. Also, be sure to collect photos of different skin types so the patient can relate to their own skin concerns. Include patient testimonials since it’s more compelling for a patient to tell another patient about their own experience.
Use your vendor marketing kits filled with their posters, brochures, t-shirts, lapel pins and any other Ask Me About tools made available to you. And, use your own customized materials as well.
By the way, it’s a good idea to turn your business card into your working networking card. You do that by adding your services to it so a patient who pulls your card weeks or months from now will recall all you offer and mention you to their friends. And, go one step further, have business cards made up with a special First Time Offer to be handed out to prospective patients who are interested in MI procedures.
Use tools such as skin analysis systems and computer imaging to help the pt visually see their own skin damage and concerns as well as the results they can expect. Pictures really do say a thousand words and nothing is more compelling than seeing your own skin concerns.
And Gift certificates build word of mouth referrals as well as your database.
Offer beautifully-designed gift certificates by setting up a display at your checkout that includes a gift bag and tissue along with a sign that says, “Need a Quick Gift?”
The busy aesthetic patient who is checking out and has their wallet open will appreciate the convenience and will most likely add it on to their order.
Institute your own Refer a friend program.
We all know the best prospective patient is a referred patient. They are already pre-sold on you, are much less price conscious and more apt to stay loyal to you.
Encourage your patients to refer their friends, family and colleagues to you by telling them you would love more patients just like them. And when they do refer someone, be sure to show your appreciation. Send them a Thank you note, call them to thank them and for multiple referrals send them a gift card or invite them in for a complimentary treatment from your staff.
But always remember, good news travels fast but bad news travels even faster so be sure every patient has a good experience with your practice every time.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Promoting Minimally-Invasive Procedures to Grow Your Aesthetic Practice – Part 1 of 4
Posted by: | CommentsWhile the economy is in a slump, aesthetic patients are opting for less. They may be scared they’ll lose their job or they may just be hanging onto their disposable cash for now until things get better. That’s the reality but so is this: Aesthetic patients didn’t stop wanting to look good. Even though they may be holding back on the bigger-ticket surgical procedures, they will find the money to do something that makes them feel better about themselves.
Give them alternatives to expensive surgery. Show and tell them how you can treat them with minimally-invasive (MI) procedures to give them a temporary WOW look they will love. Give them “Beauty on a Budget” alternatives they can live with for now.
And, by all means, you – the physician should be administering the injectables yourself. Not only is it great to stay in practice and get really good at facial rejuvenation using injectables; it’s an easy way to connect with and build relationships with your patients. The more points of contact you have with patients, the more they will remember you when they’re ready for surgery. Building solid relationships with your aesthetic patients will keep them loyal to you, returning more often and referring their friends.
Most patients don’t know all the uses for Botox, wrinkle fillers and lasers. You need to tell them and show them. Nowadays, you can really get some excellent results using MI procedures. You have probably thrilled some of your patients with your injecting techniques that have filled, plumped and stopped wrinkles in their tracks so show off your rejuvenation skills to other patients who would appreciate these quick and inexpensive solutions.
How do you promote MI procedures? Start with your telephones. Have your receptionist answer the telephone with a little verbal ad. For example, have her announce you now offer the Botox Alternative, wrinkle filler that gives you a cheek lift or skin tightening. Rotate your messages and say them in a conversational tone to prompt the caller to learn more.
Use on-hold messaging rather than music if you must place a caller on hold. I guarantee aesthetic patients want to know what’s new so tell them and then urge them to ask to learn more.
Part 2 will discuss In-House Marketing of MI procedures…
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Where Did the Aesthetic Patients Go?
Posted by: | CommentsI’m getting more and more stress calls from aesthetic physicians saying they need help. Their phones have stopped ringing, the reception area is a ghost town and their staff is way too busy doing nothing. Help!
Ok, let’s regroup. First, we need to check your mindset – otherwise known as attitude.
Have you ever heard that saying “If you believe it’s true or you believe it’s not – you’re right?” What are you saying to yourself? Are you coming from a place of abundance or from scarcity? The aesthetic physicians who will fare better are those who believe and are open to opportunities. Open your mind and eyes to “see” the opportunities and what you can do now to combat the negativity going on around you.
By the way, aesthetic patients have not vanished. In my book “Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients Are Saying” I remind you there are many social trends driving their needs. Let’s not forget there are 76 million baby boomers who still want to look and feel good. They may need more prodding from you but their initial want is still there.
Here’s a secret in marketing. Always cater to the wants of an aesthetic patient on an emotional level. Remind them how your services will make them feel better, more alive and younger. And, stay in touch. You must build a relationship with these patients who may be rethinking and re-prioritizing their needs. Simply communicating with them regularly and letting them know their options should be enough to get them to come back.
Help your aesthetic patients see the opportunities as well. Perhaps they have backed away from more expensive surgical procedures so this is the perfect opportunity to educate them on what you can do for a lot less money and downtime (fillers and Botox). The more you connect with them now on the smaller procedures, the more likely they will be to stay with you for the bigger procedures.
Keep a good attitude – keep in touch with your aesthetic patients – keep your revenues flowing.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments
or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice
and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
Aesthetic Marketing Strategies for Tough Times
Posted by: | CommentsNow more than ever, your patients need compelling reasons to part with their hard-earned money. The media is scaring them and they are not sure they will have jobs so they are pulling back on their disposable purchases. Have you noticed a dip in your own revenues? Are you experiencing more no-shows? If so, that just means you need to be more strategic than ever before.
If patients don’t come to you as freely as before, strategically put a plan in place to make it happen. They are not saying no necessarily. They could just be saying give me more logical reasons to come to you to fulfill my emotional needs of looking as good as I feel.
Target Your Current Aesthetic Patients
This is not the time to start a new advertising campaign to attract total strangers to your practice. Focus on those who already know you since they are more apt to respond to your promotional efforts. Use proven patient attraction tools to wake up your sleeping patients and get them visiting and referring.
Need more tips, tactics, strategies and resources to drive patients to your practice? Watch my free videos now.
Thank You, and I encourage you to leave any comments
or questions below.
Article by Catherine Maley, MBA, Author, Your Aesthetic Practice
and President, Cosmetic Image Marketing
