Marketing. Simple.

: Dost thou follow me on Twitter?

Marketing is not mysterious. Let me simplify.

Be Yourself. In Public.

Ok, being yourself: Self awareness of who you are, what you are intellectually curious about, what moves you, what you do when you have 10 minutes of free-time, etc. Not just what you are good at already. (although that shows insight in to what you have put your efforts in to, thus, perhaps, what moves you)

Examples? Chris Johnson and running. Jerry Durham and the patient perspective. You see, they do what they do. They certainly have passions that oscillate around the set-point, but they are real about their interests. Would a post from Neil Maltby on the "Five best closed chain knee exercises" seem right? He certainly has ideas here, but he is clearly passionate about the practitioner-patient interaction and the philosophy of treatment and Physio. He's being himself.

Keep it simple. Be yourself. The quality that people want in an interaction is genuine authentics.

Now, In a public venue: The internet. The coffee shop. Your running club or gym. Again, keep it simple. Be in front of people (the right people?) and be comfortable talking about it. I'm using the term public to define any environment that involves you not in your room with your dog, reading a journal, etc.

Need help with the public? Many will rise up to help you spend money and give you advice. SEO, direct mailing, "you should use Snapchat," or "a Facebook page is what you need."

As far as a medium is concerned: use the one you are comfortable with. If you are super chatty, then going to the gym/CF box or being part of the any face-to-face groups (book club, civic league, church) is your best bet. Maybe placing banners at sports events you are working helps you have those conversations you want to have. If you are more comfortable on-line, pick the interface that suits you. If you think Twitter is dumb and Facebook is cool then don't spend time trying to make a Twitter impact. Boss out where it's easiest for you, it will show to everyone and not look forced.

Who was the person to go to in PT school if you had an exercise/training question? What professor did you ask about the patient with complex co-morbidities? How did you know who to ask? You knew who to ask based on who was being themselves, in public. That's marketing.

Sometimes, if you want your message to be heard, you have to leave the comfortable environment. Maybe you have to go to that conference, maybe you need to try to give a presentation to a group you don't totally relate to, to open up new avenues. Maybe you have to talk to local seniors groups or MD offices. This will certainly happen. But your base will be whatever public you use more often.

Focused on a $ale? You may also need to add "the ask" to your interactions at some point. If you are being yourself, in public, many will seek you out, based on this confidence and authenticity. Don't worry about that. If you feel you have overextended value or effort in one direction without a sale or tangible result, you can ask directly. (for business, a contact, a chance to meet, etc).

Cause and effect in marketing is not always clear. Sometimes it's straight forward "I saw how you helped out at my nephew's soccer game. I was impressed, now my knee is hurting, can I come see you?" Or it can be unclear; ex. a patient saw your #GetPT1st Facebook posts, has never needed services and 2 years later is now coming in. It's a bit like car ads. You ignore them until you're in the market, and by then, it's hard to separate all the influences, subtle as they may be, that impact this current decision to choice one dealer.

The choices are all yours as far as the details go. This is your thing. In any respect, if you remember this simple idea, you won't get burned out, because it's authentically you.

So... Combine these two concepts and yes, you too can be a marketer! or something like that.

People do business with people they like and trust and who they know about.

Be yourself, in public.

-Matt Dancigers, DPT

*image credit

Interested in live cases where I apply this approach and integrate it with pain science, manual therapy, repeated motions, IASTM, with emphasis on patient education? Check out Modern Manual Therapy!

Keeping it Eclectic...