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So You Want to be a Famous Aesthetic Physician?

By: Catherine Maley, MBA

Author: Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients Are Saying

Do you ever wonder how or why you saw your colleague on Oprah, the Today Show or in Vogue Magazine? He seems to be everywhere, toting himself as the expert and you just know that’s not true? How does he do that? How is he portrayed as the expert and not you?

PR is the greatest vehicle available today to set you apart from your competitors. It helps convince the public that you are the market leader in your industry. It’s a creative way to stand out from the crowd and get noticed in a credible way. Since traditional advertising is just not working like it used to because the public is wary from being bombarded with promotion, PR overcomes the skepticism that viewers have for paid promotion and it’s free! Or, is it?

Today’s savvy medical professionals are turning to their media professional counterparts for help in getting the exposure they crave. It’s not happening by accident. Oprah and Katie Couric did not just call your competitors out of the blue. There is a very good chance they paid dearly for that type of exposure. It can run from $2,000-$10,000 per month to have a PR agency use their media contacts to represent you and typically includes a 6-12 month contractual agreement with no guarantees.

Think Before Investing Your Entire Aesthetic Marketing Budget on PR Efforts

Decide what your objectives are. What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want to bring in new patients from all over the country? Do you want to be the celebrity physician known by all? Do you want your colleagues to be jealous of you? Do you want to grow your credibility with your current patient base? How much are you willing to spend to get your name in lights and what is that worth to you?

Ask yourself how important is it that you be on national TV or print? If your objective is to grow your patient database, why not go local? You have a much better chance of getting coverage and the viewers, readers and listeners are more apt to actually call your office since they are nearby.

Do-it-Yourself PR Strategies for Medical Professionals

Be your own PR agency for free! It takes effort on your part, as well as time, patience and creativity, but it can really pay off. Here are some basics to get you started:

Position Yourself as an Expert

Prepare a media kit including your CV, photo, topics of expertise and any other PR you’ve gotten as well as any research, writing or speaking you’ve done in your field. If you position yourself as an expert, the editors and producers may call on you when the need arises for professional comment.

Build Third-Party Credibility

Getting endorsements from unbiased third parties is a good indication to the media that you are credible and respected in your field. Be sure you add accolades you’ve gotten from groups you’ve spoken for and your most-respected mentors. Sit on boards and participate in your specialty’s society. They often have a PR department that can help you get coverage.

Pitch Ideas with Hooks

It is really not about you or your products. Self-promotion is a huge turn-off. Rather, it’s all about whether your story will interest the media’s readers or viewers – period. Be sure to always address their interests (not yours) when pitching story lines.

- Offer a free booklet, report or other new literature on a certain treatment or procedure. Not only do the media love to offer freebies to their audience and audiences love receiving them, but you can collect names and addresses of prospective new patients.

- The media wants to give their readers, listeners and viewers news they are

interested in. Offer stories that are of interest to their audience. Examples include acne solutions for teenagers, cosmetic enhancement for Baby Boomers and sun protection for everyone.

- Introduce a new product or service, especially one that is a solution to a common problem. Many magazines have special sections featuring new products or services.

- Tie in your product or service with a current trend, fad or news issue. The point is to piggyback on that coverage. For example, summer is coming so topics about leg veins, sun protection, hair removal and hyper pigmentation are apropos.

- Use your ethnicity or gender if it differentiates you.

- Any story of human interest or pro bono work is good. For example, the dermatologist who provides his services and time to a summer camp attended by children with serious skin concerns is a great human interest story.

Preparing a Press Release

Your press release is a one page summation of a newsworthy story. It should be on your own letterhead and the words, “For Immediate Release” should be in the top left corner. Include a date and your contact information. Include a very catchy headline that sums up the information in the release. Then use another two or three paragraphs explaining your key points. Add as much emotion as you can. Be succinct. The reporters will contact you if they need additional information. Your job here is to just get their attention so they want to learn more.

After sending a press release, it’s important to follow up to ensure they received it and to give them a verbal pitch. The more points of contact they have with you, the more likely they are to respond.

Talk to Your Patients

Network with our own patients. There is always a chance they are a member of the media or someone they know is. Put the word out. Let them know you would be interested in PR and see what happens.

Develop a Media Contact List

Building media relationships is essential. The players want to work with those they trust to give them the stories they want, when they want them. You don’t have to have media contacts if you have a fabulous story but it does make your life easier.

Build your media contact list by visiting the Websites of each local newspaper, magazine, TV station and radio station to look up the beauty and health editor, the station manager, the assignment desk manager and the producer. Do the same for trade journals in your industry or specialty. The more names included on your media list, the greater your chances of getting your story out there. Pitch ideas often.

Now, here’s the secret – follow up! It’s essential that you follow up with each contact several times so they get to know your name and feel comfortable with you. Remember, you are competing with hundreds or even thousands of other press releases they received that day; not to mention all the non-aesthetic new stories happening so it’s imperative you toot your own horn and push for some media time.

Become the “Go-to” Aesthetic Physician in Your Community

Send a press kit to each media contact and include your photo, CV, previous media coverage, white papers, topics you know well, articles you’ve written, practice brochure, etc. so they will consider you as their media resource when certain topics come up they need medical advice on. And, be available to the press. You are on their time now – not yours. They work with tight deadlines so if you are not available, they will move on to someone else. Also, know yourself. You want to make a good impression so if you are uncomfortable in front of the camera, practice, get some help or stick to print.

Write for the Internet

Self publish by writing interesting articles and posting them on the internet using Websites such as www.ezinearticles.com or www.searchwarp.com. You can then reprint them for hand outs for your patients. And, if someone were to “google” you, that article would appear in the search results so be sure you have a Website to refer them to.

Bribe

If all else fails – offer your media contacts complimentary procedures, lunches, dinners, invite them to your events and lectures. You never know.

Lastly, let your PR piece grow legs. Use it for additional exposure and credibility on your Website, mention it in your newsletter, display a framed piece in your reception area, or reprint it for your patient information packets.

Remember, if you don’t like what’s in the news, go out and make your own.

Good luck.

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About Catherine Maley. Catherine Maley, MBA is author of Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients are Saying and President of Cosmetic Image Marketing. Her firm specializes in coaching physicians how to promote aesthetic services to their patients. You can visit Catherine at www.CosmeticImageMarketing.com or call her at (877) 339-8833.

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