Sarah Nelson is currently the Founder and CEO of Npress and the Practice Marketing Revolution. Sarah has been helping doctors and dentists get new patients and keep them since 2007. Sarah and her team advise health care practices, organizations, and individuals on how to build strategic marketing plans and use social media and social networks to build relationships with their patients and deliver value. It’s a place to learn about the adoption, understanding, and implementation of these tools and how to use them to provide value to your patients and community.
Npress develops newsletters and marketing systems to help healthcare professionals decrease their need to spend on external marketing tactics and achieve a new level of patient rapport, education, and loyalty.
Sarah Nelson lives in Austin, TX and Portland, ME.
What are you working on right now?
We just launched the Practice Marketing Revolution which works with health care practices to manage their participation in social media and build relationships with their patients in an online space. (I built the site myself on a WordPress platform a first for me!)
I am also developing a social media for healthcare course that will help practices guide patients’ online health literacy. I’ve got a seminar in the works for the early summer, and am helping plan the 13th annual World Kickball Championship in October.
3 Trends that excite you?
1. Developing strategies for what to do once we get fans and followers: how we would talk to them, how we give them something to keep them engaged.
2. Twitter chats. I participate in a few of these each week and learn so much from a diverse group of people.
3. Real-time communication and seeing the real people behind a brand. I know transparency is not a new idea, but I love seeing the adoption and application in industries across the map.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Trial and error. No, really though, I spend a lot of time setting goals and visioning. There is definitely something to be said for the law of attraction and focusing on what you really want. I also try to do whatever I am least excited about 1st thing in the morning (I think this is a Brian Tracy idea).
What is one mistake that you’ve made that our readers can learn from?
When I first started my business, I tried to be everything to everyone. What some would call a “generalist”. I’d agree to work with any client with a check book and then struggle to keep them happy even if it wasn’t a great fit. One day, I looked at my upcoming list of meetings and realized that I was dreading all of them. I went for a run and asked my “Why run a business if you hate the work?”
Now, I am much more discerning about the projects that I accept and as a result, I’m more successful, and both my clients and I are much happier.
What is one idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Think about multiple income streams. More often than not, whatever work you are doing can be re purposed to create passive income for you.
Why should health care practices use social media?
Social media gives doctors an opportunity to build trust that is hard to come by at routine visits. In a time when everyone googles everything, health care practices can use social media to stay relevant. Social media tools allow doctors to become a part of the conversation about treatment and help their patients find the best information available. In addition, health care practices can develop patient support networks online and help their patients find others just like them to connect with and share experiences.
The whole point is for doctors to demonstrate that they care and respond. Their response tells a story about their practice’s character and from there, they can attract more patients and build their businesses.
What do you do when you are not thinking about marketing and social media?
I love playing kickball. I play in the World Adult Kickball Association’s TX Capital Division. I also enjoy adventure racing, reading, attending concerts, exploring the world, and eating. I am currently on a mission to find the best tacos in Austin.
Connect:
Sarah Nelson’s different web sites include:
@SarahNelson_
@npressmarketing
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.