Marketing Tips for Doctors

In this episode, Barbara and David discussesdiscuss: Six right-fit target markets for physician practices David outlined six crucial audiences: current patients, new patients, current employees, potential employees, current referral sources, and potential referral sources. He stressed that practices often neglect one or more of these or blend them together instead of treating each as a distinct target. Culture as the foundation of retention and marketing He emphasized that employee retention and effective marketing both start with culture—clearly defined core values, core behaviors, and a “cultural handbook” that goes beyond legal HR documents and is built with and for employees. Systematic feedback from employees, patients, and referral sources David recommended annual “snapshot” surveys using an outside party to gather more candid feedback from employees, patients, and referral sources. This yields insights to improve operations, strengthen culture, and collect testimonials. Employees and patients as powerful referral engines and storytellers He explained how employees can be coached to talk about the practice’s culture in everyday conversations, and how practices should proactively gather and use patient testimonials (written and video) on websites, in waiting rooms, and in email newsletters. Key Takeaways: “Culture is everything, and communicating that culture and building it with and for your employees is really critical.” Connect with David Mastovich: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmmastovich/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/massolutions/ Business website: https://davemastovich.com/ Email: dave@massolutions.biz Book: No bullsh!t Marketing: https://davemastovich.com/books/ Connect with Barbara Hales: Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist TRANSCRIPTION Chapter 1: Introduction & Guest Overview Narrator [0:00:02]: Paul, welcome to the Marketing Tips for Doctors podcast, where you’ll discover the secrets to attracting more patients ready to schedule their first appointments to grow your practice without spending hours and hours away from your practice or home. Hear how to boost your online presence, develop a strong rapport with each patient to increase patient compliance, and add value while growing revenue. Now, here’s your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, America’s leading medical strategist. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:00:32]: Welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, and today we have a really special guest with us, by the name of David Mastovich. Dave is the CEO and founder of Mass Solutions, and you will find the contact information and more about the company in the show notes. He is a consultant who drives growth in revenue, recruiting, retention, and results. He is the author of No Bullshit Marketing, a number one bestseller, and host of the long-running No Bullshit Marketing show, Easy to Remember. He turns data, behavior, and patterns into practical actions and stories leaders can use to transform their organizations. Earlier in his career at UPMC, Dave’s marketing leadership helped grow the system’s revenue from under 1 billion to 10 billion. Today, he brings that same mix of cognitive science and real-world execution to help organizations strengthen culture, increase enterprise value, and accelerate performance. Welcome to the show, Dave. David Mastovich [0:01:57]: Thanks for having me, Barbara. I’m really excited to be here. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:01:59]: Tell us about the six target markets that matter to physician practices. Chapter 2: Six Target Markets & Culture / Retention David Mastovich [0:02:05]: Thanks. Great question. It comes down to the fact that we often don’t realize the various target markets out there, so some of the ones I tell you about will be neglected. They’re neglected right now, and they’ll become obvious and say, “Whoa, I have been neglecting them. But first and foremost, it’s actually current patients, and I think that’s sometimes neglected a little bit, because you have an opportunity to talk to them more than you currently do, and then they become marketers for you. So, I think the first audience is tied to your current patients, the second is the one that everybody knows and targets the most, and that is trying to find new patients, and so that’s the one that everyone will relate to. But then there’s a group called Your Current Employees, and I think we don’t talk to them enough about how they can become a part of the marketing team, and how the culture that kept them is something they should talk about. And then potential employees, because we’re in a field with a lot of turnover and retention issues, and we’re also going through a lot of growth. So, the third and fourth are current and prospective employees, and there needs to be the same rigor in marketing and communication to current and prospective employees as there is for new patients. And then the fifth and sixth are referral sources, so current referral sources and potential referral sources, so all six of those are intertwined, and they make sense, but what ends up happening is we neglect one or two, or we blend them into one, and we just say we’re trying to talk to referral sources, and we don’t break down the art and science of it, and say, okay, here’s our current referral sources, and here’s what they look like, and here’s how many referrals they give, here’s how many they could give. So we try to get them to give more, but then who are the look-alikes that are similar to them that we’re not getting anything from? So that’s how the fifth and sixth ones come into play. So those are the six right-fit target markets for physician practice. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:03:53]: Where so many practices say that once they train people to work as staff members, the next thing they know, the staff have up and quit. Do you have a special secret to retain them? David Mastovich [0:04:07]: There’s no magic wand. I wish I did, but I will say that culture is everything, and communicating that culture and building it with and for your employees is really critical. So, where we’ve seen success at companies as large as UPMC, with the 10 billion and now like 20 billion in revenue, all the way down to a physician practice of two physicians and a mid-level practitioner. We’ve gone all the way, everything in between, and we’ve talked about how important it is to convey your cultural story. Why do employees come to work for you? Why do they stay? How long do they stay? What do they love about you, and talk about that to patients, even because patients need to hear that, and current and potential patients need to hear that? Current and potential employees need to hear that, talk about them, and give them positive feedback. All of those things matter, and some of those sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often we aren’t. When talking about our employees and our culture to current and potential patients, we also aren’t giving that positive feedback as much because we get so busy, and we don’t tie that back to the culture and say, “You’re living the culture in this way.” I think that’s what I mean by the feedback. The feedback needs to say, ” Hey, here’s a core behavior of the company. We have core values, but we also need to define the core behaviors that show that value in action, and then when it happens, we have to say to that employee, ” You know, our core value is customer service. We have multiple ways to say there are behaviors, and one is going above and beyond by doing whatever it takes to get the patient comfortable. You did that yesterday, Suzanne, when you did x. That’s how you make sure you’re talking to your employees about the culture and making the culture about them. It’s built by and for them. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:05:48]: Do you create a handbook that you give to them when they first start under your employment? David Mastovich [0:05:54]: Yes, yes, I think a lot of it comes down to we have an entire system around the retention and recruitment, and it does involve continually having input from the employees on what they see as the core behaviors that show the core value, and then over time you continually update that core handbook, cultural handbook that you have, and you call it a cultural handbook, as opposed to employee handbook. Use your terminology; play to your strengths. If you say we’re all about culture here, and the culture is this, then here are the three or four core values, examples of those core values in action, and core behaviors for each one in our handbook. In addition to the, oh, you have to do this, and we’re off on Thursday, you know, all that stuff that’s in the legalese is what people tend to remember to give, but when you talk about it from a culture standpoint, that’s when you make the most difference, Dr. Barbara Hales [0:06:42]: That’s great. And also, I noticed that when a person has been working a while, asking them what they recommend to improve what they’re doing and valuing their opinion, as opposed to just giving you, you know, a statement about what they should be doing. I think that they appreciate that you respect them when you value their opinion and your own. Chapter 3: Employee Feedback, Surveys & Referrals David Mastovich [0:07:14]: Oh, there are two parts that as well, Barbara. So, the first is that they absolutely value you asking for their opinion. The second part of that first part is that you’ll actually hear things you can change and improve, but there’s a second way to do it as well. I recommend that you, everybody, do a quick snapshot survey every year when you talk to your employees, some patients, and some referral sources, using an outside source. It doesn’t have to be a big huge budget buster, but what it does is when you’re talking to an employee from the outside and saying, hey, your employer thought enough of you to have us talk to you, that also elevates you, and then they give their little more frank, both positive, they’re a little more direct on the positive, a little more direct on the constructive feedback with an outside party, so then when you can gather that back together, and even if you only have five employees, 10 employees, you’ll get that feedback, and you can hear ideas of how to improve, but they also appreciate that you talk to them. Then that same survey of patients gets you testimonials, and referral sources get you feedback on why they refer and why they don’t. They don’t say it exactly that way, but if you have a good interviewer and you have a good firm, that’s what our team has been trained on. Each of our team members has been trained to conduct those surveys because we do that for all of our clients across the country, and that’s a way to really get that touch-point in for employees as well. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:08:29]: You don’t find that some of the employees are hesitant, to be honest, for fear of it affecting their employment. David Mastovich [0:08:36]: Well, at a really small organization with two or three employees, it’s, it’s going to be a little more challenging, because they know that there’s less chance of anonymity, so with those, we often do it in sometimes in a group setting, and we try to make it less punitive, like as if they’re being less negative, but you can still get that done once you get beyond talking to two or three people, so if you’re a company that has 2530 employees, you can send an all employee survey out, and then we do the interviews as well, and they know that it’s the feedback is then coming multiple ways, the completely anonymous employee survey, and then the qualitative feedback, they know that we’re telling them, hey, we’re not going to say that Suzanne said that statement, and Barbara said this statement, and Dave said that statement, we’re going to come back and say some trends, we’re going to, because what you’ll, what you’ll find, we’ve seen three to four items get mentioned three or four times, and when you’re doing a qualitative survey, that means those are the ones to bring up, and so we can bring those up and combine it with the quantitative piece of the all employee survey that had maybe 10 questions, key is keep it really short, keep it to eight to 10 questions on the email survey, and three or four open-ended questions when you’re talking to them. Then they get the sense they can tell that this is not something you’re going to run and say so and so said this, because you’re saying, like, what’s one thing you’d change, what’s one thing that makes you want to work here. Those kinds of open-ended questions can make a huge difference. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:09:57]: Absolutely, how would you encourage? Urge them to be referral sources, David Mastovich [0:10:02]: well, with the with the employees, that there’s multiple things that they can do, they can talk to patients about the positive culture of the organization of the practice, so that’s something we want to get them to feel more comfortable talking about the culture, talk about the core values and the behaviors that exemplify those second thing is we want to get them to where they’re positive enough that they feel look when we go to our Fourth of July get-together here in a little bit, or when it’s around Labor Day, or whatever holiday, we’re going to talk about what we do for a living. It’s almost impossible after we get through the small talk, we end up inevitably saying something, so what do you do, or how’s work? We’d like them to maybe give a positive example, and the more you coach them on that, the more you support them. You get them then talking about you that way, so they’re talking to patients more because we’ve encouraged them to do that. They’re talking about us more in their private lives. We encourage them to do that, and when they get a referral from someone, the follow-up to them and the thank-you for that referral can help that person refer again. If they have someone call with a question, that could be a potential referral source. How they handle that can increase referrals. All of that takes communication from us as leaders, and we can’t just say it once. Saying it once helps a little, but you’ve got to say it repeatedly. You’ve got to recognize when someone does it well and include it in your employee email newsletter. You might put a sign in the break room about it. These are all different ways to get the message out again and again, so employees know they really drive the company’s growth and will be recognized when they exhibit that behavior. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:11:36]: And I would assume that that stands the same way for having them speak to patients about ratings and reviews. David Mastovich [0:11:46]: Yes, absolutely, absolutely. And I think that we have to be really patient because we have to look at ourselves. How often do we do reviews? And I’ll give you a personal example. So, whenever you go, and this is my second book, and you, you learned from doing the first one, and there’s a big gap between it, so the world has changed so much since the first two, and I had some experts that I brought on board to help me with, and they said you need to really talk to your employees, your referral sources, or centers of influence, your clients, your friends, your family, and get them to do reviews. Well, I have to tell you, the average person hasn’t really given a review, and they don’t even know how. My parents didn’t know how to shoot. My brother, my brother’s gonna kill me for saying this. He didn’t use Amazon. I’m like, what? So he didn’t. You can’t just go on to Amazon and give a review. They think it’s fake, then. So he had to get a gift card from Amazon and buy the book, even though I’m his brother and he didn’t know how to do any of that. So we actually built a little PDF that we sent to our clients and everybody on our email newsletter. And I tell this story because we expect reviews to come in so easily when we don’t review much ourselves. We don’t give ratings much ourselves, so we have to be patient and realize that that’s just not a normal train of thought for the average person; they can love your practice and never do that, and it’s nothing malicious. So, there’s a way to coach it. An example I would give is, look what I did with my book. We ended up hitting 100 reviews before the first anniversary, and I will tell you, my book publisher said, I told him I have a goal of getting 100 reviews. He said, he said, yeah, right, Davis. I tell you what, I’ll give you a kicker if you get that. Well, he had to pay that kicker, but the reality is that people don’t get that many, and we got to 100 like three days before the book’s anniversary in one year. So that’s the example I would give you: we went out and talked to everybody we knew, and we didn’t just do one phone call, one email, or one conversation, but we didn’t bag either. We had one official email that went out with a little how-to, and we talked to people when we had the chance. Anybody who talked to me the week before the book, the day before the book, a week after the book, a month after, when I was on a Zoom call, I’d bring it up. These are the things that people listening to your podcast can do. Do they have something that explains how to do a review, and they’re thinking, what again? Go to my brother’s example, my parents’ example. One of my best clients said, ‘Dave, I’ve never given a review. Now, the fact that he told me that took vulnerability, because it’s kind of.. we’re all a little embarrassed when we haven’t done something like that. So I said to him, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re going to be getting this PDF, and Courtney sent it out to everybody, so if you’re thinking you want more reviews, do something like that. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:14:25]: Okay, so with the next book that you’re going to put out, would you consider having a QR code in there that takes them right to a page where they could then give their opinions? David Mastovich [0:14:39]: Absolutely, absolutely, I think that’s good. QR codes are working way more. It’s funny, they’ve gone through this cycle 20 years ago when they came out, and we would push them for clients. The clients thought we were crazy; they didn’t do much. Then they did nothing for a while. Then, 10 years ago, they seemed to come back, only to be an afterthought again. And then the last three or four years, they’re now really common, and we had a client that they had a. Graduation for their career and technical school, and we had QR codes all around saying to go to this QR code, and you can drop your pictures there, because everybody’s taking pictures of themselves with their kids, and, and so we use that, and we had a tremendous response. So, yes, QR codes are really valuable, and I think that practices could do that as well. Chapter 4: Storytelling, AI & Referral Source Growth System Dr. Barbara Hales [0:15:21]: Yes. What do you mean when you say science and math drive the creative art in storytelling? You know, storytelling is just so important these days, but you know, obviously, there has to be some analytics involved. So, could you explain that? David Mastovich [0:15:38]: I’ll explain it, particularly for your audience, the healthcare audience, and specifically physician practices, so the art is driven by the science and math. When you do some level of systematic gathering of insights, I gave you examples of qualitative and quantitative research you can do without breaking the bank or the budget. Both of those bring you more science. The math is in taking the time to study your referral sources and patterns, because then you have some math behind it. And the Pareto principle is true: 80% of the outputs come from 20% of the inputs. If you go look at your closet and mine, the 20% of that closet is what we wear 80% of the time, if you look at our meals that we eat, 20% of the stuff in our kitchen is what we eat 80% of the time. It is human nature. So, 80% of your referrals will come from 20% of your referral sources. So, if you haven’t done that math and looked at that for real, your gut instincts are going to be right on for many of them, but you’re gonna be some, you know, that one’s in our top 20, and this one isn’t. So you start looking at that, and you now have the math from that, and the science from the systematic gathering of insights of qualitative and quantitative research. And now your story is being built by and for your patients, referral sources, and employees, because you ask them for their insights, you listen, and then you use your math to see who they are, and you build the story by them, for them, and with them. So now your story is that much more powerful, and that can be done in any industry, but in healthcare, it is particularly important, because healthcare is all about meaning. We place meaning with our healthcare, meaning behind hospice, meaning behind home health, meaning behind assisted living and senior living, meaning behind an oral surgeon, meaning behind what our family doc means to us, and that means the story has to be built with, by, and for the target audience through the science and the math. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:17:38]: Okay, so because of the experiences that we have with patients as physicians, obviously, we can give stories from the experiences we have, but to you, do you recommend that stories are built by the patients themselves in the stories they relate to their experiences? David Mastovich [0:17:55]: I think it’s fantastic when you have a combination, so each physician practice has people that are incredibly happy with them. My family doctor just left UPMC. She knew I was part of UPMC and part of building it, and she would lament some of the things she didn’t like. And I said to her, it’s still a great system, it’s one of the first integrated financial health care delivery systems in the world that has the financing arm, the provider arm, the insurance arm, the doctor arm, and the health hospital arm, but it’s big now. And so she left, and I went with her. I followed her because I’ve been with her for 15 years and have a personal relationship. You talk about meaning, meaning is this person, what she’s done to help my health, that’s what we have. So when she goes to this new place, she would be wise to ask me to do a testimonial. I’m gonna see if she does. If she doesn’t, I’ll offer at some point, but I want to wait, see if she does. So, there are people like me with her at each practice, listening to us right now. So, at the very least, they should be able to get 358 of these testimonials on their own without much trouble. Just go out and ask the person, will say they’re going to do it, and then they won’t necessarily do it. You then come back and say, ‘Hey, I typed this up next time there. And I typed this up, would this be okay? And you put in from… they’ll probably say yes. Then you say to them, ‘Hey, I’d like to get you on Zoom. Can we just call you on Zoom? Can we do a Zoom call? And you just edit it right in Zoom yourself. And now you have a video testimony to put on your website. Look, would I like you to do better quality? That’s sure, I use Riverside FM, which is a tool for your audience that takes away the bubble and Zoom and makes it look much better as far as your crisp quality of video, but my point is I want to get people out there listening to get started. So now you’ve got no matter what, you’ve got a testimony you can put on a brochure, you can put it on your website, you can put it on the monitor in your waiting room, you can have testimonials or scroll on that, and you start to get them to do some on video, but you build your library of testimonies. The first three or four are layups, to use a basketball term, because they’re people like me with my doctor who love the practice, but over time you start asking more and more people when they say something like. Boy, I hate going to the dentist, but you make it so okay. That’s saying someone telling you they’ll do a testimonial, and when they say no, who cares? Someone just doesn’t want to have their name out there, doesn’t want to be, but most people will say sure. So now you’ve got testimonials from real patients telling your story for you, and you should use your waiting room to share that, and you ought to put it on your website. You ought to get the video that’s on your website. You may send that an email newsletter with that video in the email newsletter. You have three little stories in your email newsletter, which comes out every two months, because you’re busy, you don’t even get to it. Okay, do it every two months, preferably every month, but every two months, and you get three stories in an email newsletter, and one of them is a video testimonial every time from a different person. That’s the way you have your patients telling your story for you. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:20:48]: Do you recommend that most medical and dental practices have e-newsletters? David Mastovich [0:20:55]: Yes, I do. I think there’s a couple of things that people might think are old technology, but they’re still relevant as a hub for you, the first is your website still has to be relevant, still has to be updated, still has to be real, because of the search aspect, but also because we still use it, we still, as humans, use it, even though we’re going to Facebook or whatever, we still use websites. Second thing is, a blog is still important for this reason: I’m not claiming that the dentist’s patients are running to read her blog or his. What I am claiming is that you will now be the thought leader, frame that message, and then use it in other ways. Sending that link out helps with SEO. You have all kinds of ways to use it. I’m not expecting people to run to your blog, but it’s a blog that can be sent via email, can be part of an email newsletter, helps with SEO, and shouldn’t be that difficult for you. You are an expert in your practice. You are an expert in your practice. It doesn’t have to be 1000 words; it can be 300 words. In fact, less is better. So, I think a website and a blog are still relevant today as hubs of activity where people can go to, but it also helps with SEO. So, yes, I think that those are two things that each practice should be doing. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:22:04]: What is your opinion about AI taking over that role? David Mastovich [0:22:08]: So I think that right now we’re going through what I call the AI sameness of content, and I’m being nice. I have friends who call it AI slot, and here’s what’s happened: we’re not using in the way we can, because we, I think, most people get nervous about writing, the vast majority of humans, and so they get that’s why there’s a term called writer’s block, but most people get nervous about writing, so they think, well, I’ll enter into Chat GPT and it’ll give me what to write, that’s what creates what we call AI sameness of content, if you go to LinkedIn every morning, not every morning, but most mornings, I do this just for fun. I go on my phone, pull up my LinkedIn feed, and I scroll with my thumb. I stop and take a screenshot, and after about 45 seconds, I can have four screenshots of the same opening sentence, each from different people in different industries, and there are a couple of tells that something’s AI. If it says not only is Barbara a great podcast host, she’s great at motocross. You know that phrase, “we don’t talk like that”? That phrase is in there. Another one is the em dash; you see the two-line em dash in between two thoughts that weren’t used much at all. Now with AI, you see it all over the place. Another is that it says not only are you this or that, but it also says that when you set out to do your business, you didn’t want to do blah, but you ended up doing blah. Those are all tales of AI, because the person who doesn’t like to write didn’t realize that the way to leverage ChatGPT, Claude, or any of the others is to get out of writer’s block and say, “I’d like to write a blog for my dental practice.” I’d like to do a blog for my neurosurgery practice. I want to talk about what’s happening in the field. Here’s my take on it. My voice is, I tend to be very direct, and I bring this up, and then you pop that in, and it comes back and gives you about six 800 words of of crap, it’s not really crap, but what it is, is there’s enough slop in it that we know it wasn’t written by a human, but it still got you closer. If you then take that and come back to it, and you say, well, my voice would be this, I talk more like this, and here’s an example of a success, and please don’t use em dashes, and please don’t use a paragraph like this, and copy and paste it. Then the second version gets you even closer, and then you take that second version. You go, now what would I really say in paragraph two? And you just change that. So now this blog that you were nervous about writing takes about 20 minutes and didn’t stress you out, but instead we’re making it take five, and then it’s an AI slop. So that’s one tiny example of a blog post, but the same thing is happening for your LinkedIn post. It’s happening for people trying to write their website copy, people doing email blasts and email newsletters, and people writing video scripts. It’s because we’re not doing the three parts. The first is priming your voice, telling them who you are. Telling them stuff about you, whatever personal stuff, what you like, what your tastes are, what your tendencies are, writers you like, things like that. The second is putting, putting in your thoughts for that particular piece of content. The third is editing it. Most people don’t prime it well, and hardly anyone edits it well, which is why we have AI sameness in storytelling. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:25:19]: Gosh, I do speak like that. I’m really in trouble now. David Mastovich [0:25:24]: If you speak like that, people will know, and then you’re okay. Yeah, okay. The people who know you will know. I have a certain style, and people will tell me, Dave, I can tell anything that you’ve written. Like, if I write something for… so when I have to write for a client, I actually prime it in that client’s voice. I describe that client, whatever, but I end up still doing the editing myself. But if you, if that’s your style, then that’s what you do, that’s how you write. But that key thing you just said was, I said, that’s how I write, that’s how I talk. Those are the things most people don’t do. Write as you talk. Who says nonetheless? Not many people say so. If you do good, not many people say; nonetheless, you open a sentence up with nonetheless, and you don’t use that. This will have a deleterious impact. Who says “deleterious” is a nice long word and everything? I don’t know many people who say that. So, if you put that in there, someone’s going to go, “Oh, that doesn’t sound like Joanne, that doesn’t sound like Rob, and so write as you talk, and then it’s easier for you. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:26:22]: Well, I think that in itself is good advice. Tell me, could you speak about your referral-source growth marketing system and how it works? David Mastovich [0:26:33]: Sure, it’s really a growth accelerator, and involves most of what we’ve talked about today. It involves first ensuring we’re not neglecting any of those six right-fit target markets for healthcare companies, healthcare organizations, and physician practices across the board. The second is using science and math to drive any of your storytelling, that is, making sure that you’ve gone out and done the qualitative research, and then this part, analyzing that referral data, because until you do that, analyzing that referral data, you really don’t have the full system. I know people who will go and hire liaisons, I know people who are staffing companies of liaisons, and that’s important. I’m glad there are people who do that, but if you haven’t done the other part, if you haven’t done the systematic gathering of insights, studied the data yourself, if you haven’t built the story with the target audiences, because that liaison has to have a story, they have to have the story that really will resonate emotionally and factually. So, the system is to go through all of those. It’s a five-step part, which the first part is systematically gathering insights, the second is mapping out, based on the math, science, and math, what the target markets are. Then the third is activating the story and the repetitive system of having someone tell that story, whether it’s a liaison or another employee. And then the fourth is continually doing that and tracking it and testing, tracking, and tweaking what’s working and what’s not, because anything we do in life doesn’t work 90% of the time. And so the same thing of your referral source marketing, so you have to tweak and track and test that, and that’s what the whole system is, as each of those steps in it, and most people do a couple things, some do nothing, they actually do nothing, and they think the quality of their care is going to matter, and sadly that’s not the case for any of us in any field, the quality of my marketing. Hey, if this were all judged solely on the quality of the storytelling, the science, and the system, we’d be a heck of a lot bigger at Mass Solutions. So, you still have to go and tell that story, but you have to do it systematically. Others do the liaison thing, they have a liaison going out talking to referral sources, that’s good, but not if you haven’t done all this other stuff, and not if you haven’t used things like predictive index to see what drives the communication of your liaison team, not if you haven’t given them the stories and tested them on the stories, not if you haven’t gathered the testimonials, not if you don’t track the referral sources on an ongoing basis to see the outcomes that the liaisons are getting you, so it’s more than just getting liaisons, it’s more than just doing a story, it’s a whole system. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:29:05]: What social media platforms are for no-bullshit marketing? David Mastovich [0:29:11]: Well, the main one for me is LinkedIn, and my team makes fun of me because I’ve been a big LinkedIn user for 15 years, and they’ve made sure that we still have a presence on other social media outlets, like Instagram, Facebook, to a degree, Twitter, not as much. And the reason I haven’t put into all four of those the full level of activity is because you’re not going to be an expert at 10 things in your career, and you’re not going to be great at five social media platforms, so you need to pick one or two that you’re going to really focus on, then another two that you’re going to focus on to some degree. So, because a lot of my business comes from entrepreneurs, CEOs, owners, and the like, LinkedIn is important. However, there are many, many doctor practices that we’re not going to get from LinkedIn, so we’ve got to make sure we have other ways. To market to them and to reach them and communicate to them, so I would say that it depends on what your target markets are like within those six, what their makeup is, and what you want to convey. So, for me, I personally use LinkedIn a lot, for me and for Mass Solutions, but we also have posts on Instagram and Facebook to a degree. You also have to be realistic about it. While we are passionate about what we do, and we’re excited, and we have a cool little no bullshit marketing thing, and we have our no bullshit button, that bullshit. So we have that for what we give to clients, so we’re still not going to be something you’re thumbing through regularly to see what you know what you and I are doing, Barbara. That’s not going to happen as much as when you’re watching, you’re looking at stuff on social media about other things, about different products, movie stars, celebrities, things of that nature. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:30:47]: Do you sell that button? David Mastovich [0:30:48]: No, I haven’t. We’ve thought about doing that. We probably should. What I do for the button is that new clients get buttons for the people on the team that brought us in and are working with us on a regular basis. Funny story behind that is with the podcast, one of the team members came up to me one day and just said, “Hey, give me for the test today, you know, you’re testing the audio, just give me a.. that’s bullshit. I go, “That’s bullshit. About a week or so later, this was on my desk, so they did it without telling me. I said, “That’s that’s cool, and it is a.. it is a proud.. as a crowd favorite, people like that a lot. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:31:22]: When I was speaking to you prior to the show today, you mentioned that there is another book by you that is in progress. What is that going to be about? David Mastovich [0:31:31]: Well, my first book was Get Where You Want to Go through Marketing, Selling, and Storytelling, and that was in 2011 when storytelling was still not considered a good thing. Storytelling was like, oh, you’re kind of bs, and so forth. So we’re ahead of the curve there. The most recent one is no bullshit marketing, and as a, there’s a large focus on healthcare. The one I’m in progress right now is looking at the family business aspect, because we’re at a time when the very high percentage – it’s about, I think, it’s between 60 and 67% I don’t know the exact stat of businesses are turning generationally right now within the next three to five years, and so I want to be able to help with recruiting, retention, and revenue results for those kind of family owned businesses, and that family owned business could be a physician practice, it could be a dental practice, it could be anything that’s family owned. It could be a physical therapy company, so it is in healthcare. I don’t want people to think that that’s not just outside of healthcare, but the reason it’s so passionate to me is my dad had a family business, he’s my hero, and my mom and dad are my heroes. I got to see them yesterday, and so I’ve always had a soft spot for family owned business, and I have one myself, but these businesses that are generationally going on and are big enough that they’re handing it down in these next three to five years, they really need to be able to convey that cultural storytelling and the market storytelling, and if they aren’t going to do that with the science, math, and driving the creative art, they’re going to have problems, so I’m looking at any type of multi-generational business out there, many in healthcare and some not, and that’s what the book’s going to be about. Chapter 5: Family Business, Offer & Episode Close Dr. Barbara Hales [0:33:08]: There are a lot of family-owned businesses, or businesses that are passed on, that have a tremendous amount of friction between siblings that are in there, you know. Is there something that you do to get rid of that tension? David Mastovich [0:33:24]: Well, it’s about clarity, and that’s what we want to bring to the situation, is clarity about what you want to keep of the existing culture. So, let’s say there’s a 70 year old dad that owns this, that’s still in the top spot, and his 45 year old daughter has been there for a while, and she’s been in the number two spot, and everybody kind of knows she’s going to be the number one, and there’s some friction there because he doesn’t want to walk away completely yet, and she doesn’t want the shadow there. So we have to get clarity on what they both want, convey that to each other, and then have the new generation decide what we are keeping from the culture. You don’t throw the entire culture out, you don’t even throw 70% of it, I don’t throw 50% about you, probably just tweak the culture 20 to 30% So, let’s, let’s, what’s the two thirds that’s going to stay and make sure that story remains intact, and what’s that new third going to be for that new leader, so they have some pride in ownership of the culture, and then you have to infuse that culture through current and potential employees again and again and again, and then convey that to the market. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:34:30]: Very often, with these family businesses, there is friction when it comes to disbursement of funds, and like, how much each person you know can get, like, where the money is being spent, you know, which is not always something that they agree upon. How do you get them to not only see that there is a problem, but also how to resolve it? David Mastovich [0:34:56]: Well, we see it as a mass solution as one key part of. Our team, and we’re the part that’s finding out what the market is thinking, and the market is those six target markets. We’re finding out what those six target markets are thinking and feeling, coming back to convey that, and building plans around it. But we’re only one part of the team. We know that there’s going to be a wealth manager, financial planner part of that team, and we know there’s going to be a CPA firm part of that team, we know there’s going to be a top legal person part of that team, and what we do that’s a little different is we love talking about that, because we’ve had clients in all three of those spaces, so we have had multiple CPA firms, multiple wealth management firms, and multiple law firms, and so we kind of know that space and we look at it as a positive to make it a team, whereas I think a lot of times when someone’s doing mainly the storytelling and not all the other business solutions that we’re doing in the strategy, they don’t even realize who the law firm is, or who the CPA firm is, or the wealth management team is, and so then it’s they’re just an afterthought, so then your, your digital agency is an afterthought. Oh yeah, when we get the story done, we tell them, whereas what we’re trying to do is say, no, no, this is a key team that you got these four external forces along with your internal leadership team. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:36:13]: Well, what I’d like to throw out to the audience listening is that if this happens to pertain to you, if you are part of a family or a legacy where it’s being passed down, and I’m sure you’ve got stories. Then what I’d like, before the book is finished, is to know, write your story out, and submit it to Dave, and maybe it’ll wind up in his book. David Mastovich [0:36:38]: Yes, for sure, that’d be great. That’d be amazing, Dr. Barbara Hales [0:36:40]: So you know, let me say this again. If you missed that, write your story, good or bad, don’t have to put your name on it if you don’t want to, and send it to Dave, and you know your company, and, and if you put your name, you know, and and it winds up in the book, you know that’s going to be great exposure for you. So write out your story, submit it to Dave, and you know it may be in his next book, David Mastovich [0:37:05]: and to be, to be completely transparent to them, so they know if you email me this stuff, I’ll reach back out and we’ll talk, and you can say, I want it to be anonymous, or no, I don’t mind, like, I want, you know, that’s the way we tackle that, so it’d be good to just hear that and learn that, and it’s Dave at Mass Solutions dot biz dot biz, and even, even if a listener wants one of my other two books, just tell me which one you would like, and because they listen to your show, I’ll give them a signed copy. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:37:31]: Okay, so also before the show started, Dave told me that he was going to offer, you know, something great for all of you listeners, but not only listeners, you have to actually engage and submit a request. So, could you repeat what you offered them again? David Mastovich [0:37:51]: Sure. If any of your listeners would like either of my two books, No Bush Marketing, or Get Where You Want to Go Through Marketing, Selling and Storytelling, email me at David Mass Solutions dot biz. Mention which book, and mention that you listen to the show, and I will sign it and send it to you. Dr. Barbara Hales [0:38:05]: Well, thank you so much. This has been a great episode, and I’m sure everybody learned a tremendous amount. You know, thank you for being on the show with us. David Mastovich [0:38:15]: Hey, thanks for having me, and I really enjoyed Dr. Barbara Hales [0:38:17]: it. Okay, well, that’s the end of the show. Thank you for watching Marketing Tips for doctors with your host, Dr. Barbara Hales. Until next time, Narrator [0:38:29]: Thanks for listening to Marketing Tips for Doctors. If you like the podcast, please subscribe, rate, and review. Press the subscribe button so you never miss an episode, and tell your friends about the show. Join us on Marketing Tips for doctors.com for replays and more resources to help grow your practice, strengthen your brand, and dominate your field. Remember, your one tweet from greatness, you. The post What Doctors Market Wrong first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

In this episode, Barbara discusses: Why networking is really about what happens after the introduction—because relationships, not contacts, are where the real value lives. The simple “48-hour rule” and no-ask follow-ups that make you instantly stand out, since almost no oneactually does them. How to treat every relationship like a bank account—making genuine deposits of value and kindness long before you ever ask for anything. Key Takeaways: “Networking ends when the event is over. Relationships begin when the follow-up starts.” -Dr. Barbara Hales Connect with Barbara Hales: Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist TRANSCRIPT Introduction: We’ve Met… Now What? Dr. Barbara Hales 0:00 Hi, welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales. Today we’re talking about something that almost nobody teaches us—not in medical school, not in residency, not in business school, not even at most networking events. We’re talking about what happens after you’ve met someone. You attend a conference, you exchange business cards, you connect on LinkedIn, you have a wonderful conversation—and then nothing. Weeks pass, months pass, years pass, and the connection quietly disappears. That’s why today’s episode is called We’ve Met… Now What? Networking isn’t just what happens during the introduction. Networking is what happens after it. The introduction is simply the beginning of the story. The relationship is where the value lives. Today, I’m going to share practical follow-up strategies that work, but I also want to share three stories that taught me something important. People rarely remember your elevator pitch. They remember how you made them feel. A Lost Badge and a Lesson in Kindness Several years ago, I attended a healthcare conference. Like many conferences, there were hundreds of attendees. Everyone seemed to be collecting business cards like children collecting baseball cards. Near the end of the day, I noticed a woman standing alone near the registration desk. She looked frustrated. She had misplaced her conference badge and was worried because she needed it to attend an evening reception. I helped her retrace her steps. We searched a few meeting rooms. Eventually, we found it tucked under a chair. She was relieved. We chatted for maybe five minutes—nothing remarkable, no business discussion, no sales pitch, no strategic planning, just two people having a conversation. A year later, completely out of the blue, she reached out. Her organization was looking for someone with expertise in healthcare communications and patient engagement. She remembered me—not because I handed her a brochure, not because I gave her a perfect elevator pitch. She remembered me because I helped her during a stressful moment. That interaction led to introductions, opportunities, and relationships that lasted well beyond that conference. The lesson: people may forget what you said, but they rarely forget kindness. A Contact Is Not a Relationship Here’s a controversial statement: most networking doesn’t fail because people can’t meet others; it fails because they never follow up. Think about it. How many business cards have you collected over the years? How many LinkedIn connections do you have? How many names sit in your phone that you haven’t spoken to in years? A contact is not a relationship. A relationship requires attention, just like a garden. If you plant seeds and never water them, nothing grows. The 48-Hour Rule Here’s the 48-hour rule. One of the simplest things you can do is follow up within 48 hours. Send a message, keep it simple: “Great meeting you at the conference. I enjoyed our conversation. I’d love to stay connected.” That’s it. No sales pitch, no proposal, no immediate request. You’re simply continuing a conversation. Most people don’t do this, which means when you do, you immediately stand out. The Handwritten Card Years ago, a physician I met at an event sent me a handwritten Christmas card—not an email, not a newsletter, not a marketing piece, a simple handwritten card. Inside, he wrote, “Barbara, it was a pleasure meeting you this year. Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season.” That was it. No agenda, no hidden ask, no business proposition, just kindness. Over the years, we exchanged occasional notes. Sometimes months would pass, sometimes years, but every interaction was genuine. When someone later asked me if I knew a physician they should connect with, his name immediately came to mind—not because he marketed himself, not because he promoted himself, but because he stayed present, because he stayed human. The lesson: being memorable often has nothing to do with being impressive. It has everything to do with being thoughtful. Relationships Are a Bank Account I love thinking about relationships as a bank account. Every interaction is either a deposit or a withdrawal. Many professionals make a withdrawal immediately: Can you refer patients? Can you hire me? Can you introduce me? Can you buy my service? But they haven’t made any deposits yet. Successful relationship builders do the opposite. They make deposits first. They share an article, offer encouragement, congratulate someone on an accomplishment, make an introduction, and provide value without expecting immediate return. Eventually, trust accumulates, and trust is the currency that creates opportunities. People often tell me, “Barbara, I don’t want to bother people.” Thoughtful Follow-Up Is Not Bothering Dr. Barbara Hales 8:06 I understand that, but thoughtful follow-up does not bother someone. Nobody is annoyed by “Congratulations on your promotion,” “I saw your article and thought of you,” “Your recent presentation was excellent,” or “Hope you’re doing well.” That’s relationship-building, and relationship-building is never out of style. Every Conversation Matters Many years ago, I met a young student who was exploring a career in healthcare. We spoke briefly. I offered some encouragement and answered a few questions. That was it—nothing dramatic, no expectation of ever seeing that person again. Several years later, I received a message. The student had become a healthcare professional. In the message they wrote, “You probably don’t remember me, but years ago you took time to talk with me when I was trying to figure out my future. That conversation meant more than you know.” I sat there reading that message with tears in my eyes because I genuinely didn’t realize the impact that brief interaction had. We often underestimate the effect we have on people. A few encouraging words, a few minutes of attention, a little kindness—sometimes those moments stay with people for decades. The lesson: every conversation matters. You never know which connection will become meaningful, and you never know whose life you may influence simply by showing up as a decent human being. Relationships Create Opportunities—Networking Just Creates Introductions One of the biggest misconceptions about networking is that networking creates opportunities. I don’t think that’s true. Relationships create opportunities. Networking simply creates introductions. The opportunity comes later—often much later, sometimes years later. That’s why the goal isn’t to collect contacts. The goal is to build genuine relationships. After meeting someone, send a short note within 48 hours. Connect on LinkedIn and include a personal message. Share a useful article related to your conversation. Congratulate them when they achieve something. Introduce them to someone who may help them. Check in every few months. Remember birthdays or work anniversaries. Be genuinely curious about their success. Most of these take less than five minutes, yet almost nobody does them consistently. Conclusion: Build Something Meaningful As we wrap up today, I’d like to leave you with this thought. The most valuable relationships in my life did not begin with a transaction—they began with a conversation, a shared moment, a small act of kindness, a genuine interest in another person. So the next time you leave a conference, a networking event, a medical meeting, or even a chance encounter with someone interesting, don’t ask “How can this person help me?” Instead, ask, “How can I continue this relationship?” Because networking ends when the event is over, and relationships begin when the follow-up starts. And that’s the answer to today’s question: We’ve met… now what? Now you build something meaningful. Thank you for joining me on Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m Dr. Barbara Hales, the Medical Strategist. Until next time, keep building trust, keep building relationships, and keep making a difference. The post We’ve Met Now What’s Next first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

In this episode, Barbara discusses: Why most business owners are using AI the wrong way — and how to shift from “tool usage” to AI-powered systems. How Ronnie automated repetitive admin work and saved 10–15 hours every week. Why identifying your biggest business pain point is the best place to start with AI. Key Takeaways: “AI should not replace the human connection in your practice — it should remove the repetitive work so doctors can spend more time building trust, relationships, and better patient care.” — Dr. Barbara Hales Connect with Barbara Hales: Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPT (242) Introduction to AI for Business Owners Dr. Barbara Hales 0:02 Hi, welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Doctor Barbara Hales, and today we have a special guest named Ronnie Toronto. She is the founder of One Woman. A woman shows a community how to help women business owners bring AI into their work strategically, in a language that feels like theirs. Her mission: no woman should have to figure AI out alone now. This is big, because you know every day you hear about AI doing new things, and every day there’s a new type of AI, whether it’s the three different divisions of Claude or Nano Banana or one of many, many AI types, and each one you know is known to do something better than any of the others, so you know it can get really confusing, especially if you want it to help you out in, in your business, you know, AI isn’t just Chat GPT anymore. Her method starts with the pain, not the tools. She does not ask a business owner which AI to buy; she asks which task is killing her this month, today. She walks us through how she built her own AI-run business and where any solo practitioner should actually start. Welcome to the show, Ronnie. Ronnie Toronto 1:59 Hi, welcome, and thank you for the opportunity to be here with you and share about some of my work. How Ronnie Got Started with AI Dr. Barbara Hales 2:10 How did you get involved in AI to begin with? Ronnie Toronto 2:15 Um, as I think, as like everyone else, I saw AI ads and AI all around the news and the platform at Instagram and Facebook, and like I felt left behind, and because like I knew a CGPT, but I didn’t know how really to use it, and everybody say like, oh, it’s the best thing, it’s it’s helped me in my business, so I just started to explore more and more, and read, and to take process, and I like surround myself with people that use AI as a victim and not only as a tool, and and then from that moment and on I realized that I can change my entire business with AI. Life Before and After AI Automation Dr. Barbara Hales 3:10 Tell us, what a week in your life looked like before AI, and what it looks like now. Ronnie Toronto 3:18 So, before AI, I was doing all of the admin tasks, and all of all of the tests, actually alone, like I did everything manually, and if it’s to spend like between 10 to 15 hours a week on on building reports for clients, and and now I can actually say that, like, AI build me the same report, the exact same system, but even better to send to clients without me needing to operate a single file, like he can do everything for me, and it’s actually same between 10 to 15 hours a week, only for one task. The First Task, Ronnie Automated Dr. Barbara Hales 4:09 What was the very first task you handed over to AI, and what happened? Walk us through that, I Ronnie Toronto 4:28 What was the first task that I gave to AI to do for me, because I thought it’s like taking a lot of time and a lot of effort, and to actually uploading the same, the same numbers through Google Sheets manually all day long take me a lot of time, and so I think that was my biggest pain point, and but I didn’t, I mean to say that I didn’t automate my. Our business, because I do believe in humanity, and I do believe that we need to do some stuff in the business, because in them the client chooses me because of who I am, and not because the AI can do it, and I chose four pain points to automate it, and there are 1000 in a business. AI Morning Brief and Email Prioritization Dr. Barbara Hales 5:25 You get something called a morning brief in your inbox every day. Tell us what it is, who built it, and how it changed your mornings. Ronnie Toronto 5:42 Okay. I don’t know if a lot of people in the podcast know about what is it, but you can use clothes and clothes have a clothes and you have code a cloud code, so I’m using Power right now, and I build a skill like you have your own system that you teach her how to be new, so I build my co-work to do the same thing that I’m doing manually, so every morning when I wake up, Co-op already builds for me the priorities that I have on my email, like who is the most important to answer, who I can actually ignore, and so he, he built for me this, and that I can see what is the urgent stuff in my business, what I need to answer, and I don’t need to just go through 40 or 20 or even five emails anymore. It’s just in, and when I wake up and open the computer, it’s already building for me. It’s already showing me what I need to do next in the morning, without me having to start reading and exploring what was happening when I closed the computer last night. Building an AI Stack Beyond ChatGPT Dr. Barbara Hales 7:01 Most people think AI just means ChatGPT. What is actually in your AI stack, and what does each tool do for you? Ronnie Toronto 7:16 And so I was starting to say that what I’m using isn’t a tool, and it’s not that I’m trying, like, to sell another product, but when you’re using AI at JGPT, you’re using one tool, like you pay $30 months for one tool, they do one thing, but the co-work that I’m using, the AI that I’m using right now, it’s a system that you pay, that you pay, you pay $20 but $20 a month, but you can have unlimited tool that, like, is built for you, and that you can operate with your entire business, and to reduce the amount of time that you spend on the same repetitive test, but is one tool that do every, like, it’s one tool, but inside with unlimited rule. Yeah, it’s magic. What is Common AI Mistakes Business Owners Make Dr. Barbara Hales 8:28 What is the biggest mistake you see business owners making with AI right now? Ronnie Toronto 8:40 I think the biggest one is that people that business actually they are not replaced by AI but being separated by AI because again it’s easy to use JGP team to ask him the same question but in the end you need to build operation, you need to build AI that is like your team, and you need to ask yourself not how I’m using AI, it’s actually how AI helping me to replace my pain point to reduce my repetitive test, like how he’s walking without me needed to touch the computer, need to use or ask him over and over again the same question, because I’m not asking for my tool to build me report, he know the co-work, know to send an email to each client every Sunday, and every, and every month, actually, like it’s weekly, it’s daily, weekly, and monthly. He knows how to send the reports along without me needing to tell him, “Oh, you need to send reports. He knows how to open Google Sheets. How to build the same report that clients like to see and send it to the mail with the sentence that and summarize with text that the clients want and like to see. What is one How to Avoid AI Overwhelm Dr. Barbara Hales 10:17 What is the biggest thing that could save them from the mistakes that they’re making with AI, Ronnie Toronto 10:30 I would say that they need to stop using it as a tool, they need to start exploring more than only chp and ask themselves what can help me to reduce the time that I’m spending or or even to eat, like I know it’s sometimes very nervous, like it’s become nervous like to just using Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn, and see the ads popping up with AI, and then become confused where to start, what to do. So just stop anything. What is your biggest pain point? And from that point on, explore what can help you replace this pain point with a tool with AI. The Vision Behind One Woman Show Dr. Barbara Hales 11:26 Tell us about the one-woman show that you have. I understand that’s a community. Ronnie Toronto 11:33 Yes, so one more show is for women in business and a movement that turns women business owner from traditional operation using AI as a tool into AI powered operate with their team running in the background, and so it’s helping business women to see there is more, and like I was attending in a lecture a few months ago, and 90 90% of the people in the room were women, and most of them knew what is AI, but none of them know how to actually use it. So I realized that there is a gap on the market, and it’s important that business women out there will become one and actually understand how to speak with AI in more in a feminine language, language in a way that we can understand how to use it, and I didn’t find it, so I realized that if I didn’t find it, maybe I can open one and help other women out there to understand a bit more about AI and how to use it correctly, What Happens Inside the One-Woman Show Community Dr. Barbara Hales 12:46 So what happens inside the One Moment Show, Ronnie Toronto 12:52 And so right now, I am trying to share as much information as I can about how I automated my business, and most of it is for free. I even launch a small, a small course that actually explore how to, how to use the co-work, how to do the same thing that I did to automate, to automate like 70% of my business right now, and I’m trying to share all the time my progress, and my system, and how to use different tools out there, and what is more, what is more fit for you and for your business, and yeah, how to operate AI. Future Plans for Coaching and Community Growth Dr. Barbara Hales 13:39 So, will there be a coaching program in the future? Ronnie Toronto 13:43 Oh, yes, I hope I can do a Zoom call, like once a week, so more and more women can share and explore how they use it, and I can give some tips and actually talk with business owners out there. Yeah, something that I really, really want to do Two Practical AI Tips for Business Owners Dr. Barbara Hales 14:09 for the listeners that we have on the show. Could you give us two helpful tips that they could implement right away? Ronnie Toronto 14:22 and one stop using certificated and just I and yes, explore co-work and second thing is that something that I’m doing, I’m asking this every AI that I’m using, I’m asking AI to ask me questions, because as much as AI is a wonderful tool, you need the magic of humanity, and if we don’t go into ask for ChatGPT or co-work or whatever you use to ask us. To ask us questions, we are going to start thinking. I think it’s very, it’s very important for us to continue thinking and not to give the AI to do the work for us and to do it together as a team. Using AI Chatbots for Customer Support Dr. Barbara Hales 15:16 Do you also show people how to use and create chatbots? Ronnie Toronto 15:22 Yeah. yes, yes, I’m doing, I yeah, I help some businesses to do it as well, and I don’t have a website to do a chat, but it’s actually very helpful to some businesses to have, because it’s reduced the amount of time that you spend on answering the same repetitive questions that you have from clients, so you just upload all of your base knowledge to there, and they, I know how to answer the client for you, so yes, How to Join the One Woman Show Community Dr. Barbara Hales 15:58 How can people find you if they would like to join the one-woman show, and can anybody join? Ronnie Toronto 16:12 Everyone can join. I know that I’m speaking only for women, but I think that men also, if they need help, I would be more happy to help them, and you can find me in LinkedIn as Ronnie Toronto. And also, if you have school or you want to sign up for school, you just search One Woman Show AI, and you can find me there. Yeah, Expanding the Community Beyond Women Dr. Barbara Hales 16:38 okay. Well, you’ll also be able to see that in the, in the show notes, but if a guy approached you, he said, “Well, I know that you have this thing going on for women, but I’d like to learn too. So, you would accept them into the pack. Ronnie Toronto 16:55 Yes, I might even open a new pack, a new community for everyone. Ronnie Toronto 17:00 Yeah, I would be happy to help everyone. Yeah, Final Advice and Closing Remarks Dr. Barbara Hales 17:04 okay. Great. Is there any last bit of advice that you would like to say that I didn’t ask, or did we go Ronnie Toronto 17:15 on? I think no, I think I. I hope I have explained everything clearly. Yeah, Dr. Barbara Hales 17:24 Well, you know, listeners, if there’s something that you’re unsure of, then we are giving you the way to reach Ronnie, and you could just ask her directly. So, thank you very much for being on the show today. This has been another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors with your host, Dr. Barbara Hales. Till next time. Ronnie Toronto 17:53 Thank you. The post Women, and the AI Revolution first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

In this episode, Barbara discusses: Why video creates deeper patient trust than traditional advertising and why trust is the real currency in medicine. How simple, authentic smartphone videos outperform expensive, polished productions in attracting the right patients. How familiarity bias makes patients feel like they already know you before the first appointment. Key Takeaways: “The future belongs to physicians who learn how to combine technology with humanity, not one or the other.” – Dr. Barbara Hales Connect with Barbara Hales: Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPTION (240) Introduction: Can Doctors Survive This? Dr. Barbara Hales 0:02 Hey, welcome to another episode of marketing tips for doctors. I’m your host. Dr. Barbara Hales, today, we’re talking about something that many physicians are quietly asking themselves right now: Can doctors survive this? And when I say this, I mean the exhaustion, the bureaucracy, the endless charting, the emotional depletion, the inbox overload, the pressure to see more patients in less time, and now, artificial intelligence entering medicine at lightning speed. Some doctors are excited about AI. Some are terrified of it, and many are simply too burnt out to even think about it. But today, I want to talk about AI differently, not as a threat, not as science fiction, but as a tool that may actually help restore some of the humanity medicine has been losing for years, because, let’s be honest, most physicians are not burned out because they stopped caring. They’re burnt out because they care deeply inside a system that often makes caring harder and harder to sustain. And I think that distinction matters. So today we’re going to talk honestly about physician burnout. What AI is actually doing right now, what concerns me, what gives me hope, and why the future may belong to physicians who combine humanity with technology instead of fearing one or the other. The Real Problem: The Machinery of Medicine Dr. Barbara Hales 3:24 The real problem, you know, when people outside medicine imagine physician burnout, they often assume doctors are exhausted because medicine itself is emotionally difficult. And yes, of course it is. We deliver bad news. We carry enormous responsibility. We witness suffering. But strangely enough, that’s usually not the part physicians complain about most. What many doctors are truly exhausted by is everything surrounding medicine, the machinery of medicine, the clicks, the forms, the documentation, the prior authorization, the inbox messages, and the constant interruption of human connection by administrative overload. I’ve heard physicians say I spend more time talking to my computer than my patients, and honestly, that’s heartbreaking, because medicine was never supposed to feel like data entry with a stethoscope. I once spoke with a physician who told me something that stayed with me for a very long time. He said I realized one day that I barely look patients in the eyes anymore, not because he didn’t care, not because he was cold, but because he was trying to survive the pace, typing, clicking, documenting, trying not to fall Behind, trying not to drown, and he said the moment that really shook him happened when a patient stopped talking in the middle of a visit and finally said, Doctor, are you listening? That hit him hard because he was listening, but the patient couldn’t feel it. And honestly, I think that’s one of the great tragedies of modern medicine, not that doctors stopped caring, but that the system slowly began interfering with the visible expression of caring. The eye contact, the stillness, the presence, the humanity. AI as a Tool to Replace Friction, Not Physicians Now here’s where things get interesting, because the same technology many physicians fear may actually help restore some of what we lost and before anyone panics, no, I do not believe AI is replacing physicians, at least not good physicians, not thoughtful physicians, not emotionally intelligent physicians, not doctors capable of judgment, ethics, intuition, empathy and trust building, but AI is beginning to replace friction, and that matters Right now. AI is helping physicians with charting documentation. Note, generation, administrative tasks, patient education, marketing, scheduling, and communication. And if that sounds small, you haven’t been in medicine lately, this is all administrative work, because reducing just one hour of nightly charting can feel life changing to an exhausted position. AI Scribes and the End of “Pajama Charting” One of the most promising uses of AI in medicine is the AI scribe: instead of physicians spending hours typing notes and navigating electronic medical records, AI can now listen during patient visits and generate documentation in real time. That means doctors can maintain eye contact, focus on the patient instead of the screen, and often finish charting before they even leave the office. Miracle of miracles for many physicians, this could dramatically reduce the exhausting pajama charting that steals evenings, weekends, and personal time. AI isn’t replacing the physician’s judgment. It’s removing the administrative friction that has slowly drained energy and humanity from medical practice. I recently heard about a physician who started using an AI documentation tool during patient visits. At first, she resisted it. She thought, I don’t want a robot in the exam room. Fair concern. But after a few weeks, she noticed something surprising. She was finishing notes before leaving the office for the first time in years. No more logging back in at 10 pm, no more pajama charting, no more sitting in bed, exhausted with a laptop, balanced on her knees, trying to finish documentation before midnight. And what struck me most was not what she said about productivity, but about her family. She said my children stopped asking me why I was always working. That’s not a technology story. That’s a humanity, a humanity story. And I think we need to start looking at AI through that lens. Not only can it replace us, but it can also help us reclaim our lives. AI for Content Creation and Online Presence Now, let’s talk about something many physicians know they should be doing, but often don’t have time for, content creation, patient education, social media, videos, blogs, newsletters, most doctors are already overwhelmed just trying to survive the work day. The idea of consistently posting online can feel impossible, but AI is beginning to change that, too. AI tools can now help physicians generate post ideas, create captions, organize educational content, and repurpose long videos into short. Clips, draft newsletters, and simplify medical information into patient-friendly language, and honestly, this matters more than many doctors realize, because patients today are searching online long before they ever schedule an appointment, and the physicians who communicate clearly online are often the physicians patients trust first. AI-Enabled Patient Education and Teaching Videos AI is also transforming patient education itself, with past educational videos often requiring expensive equipment, editors, designers, lighting scripts, and hours of production time. Now, AI can help physicians create teaching videos quickly and efficiently. Imagine a cardiologist creating a simple animated explanation of high blood pressure, a pediatrician generating a short video on fever management for anxious patients, or a gastroenterologist sending a post-procedure recovery video for patients to watch at home. These tools allow physicians to educate patients at scale while still maintaining their own voice and expertise, and better education often leads to better compliance, less confusion, less anxiety, and stronger patient Trust. Let’s look at the patient who finally understood. I heard about a physician who kept running into the same problem. He would spend 15 or 20 minutes carefully explaining diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, and lifestyle changes to patients, and by the next visit, many still felt confused or overwhelmed, not because they weren’t intelligent, but because patients are often anxious during appointments. They forget details, they mishear, and they leave things emotionally overloaded. So this physician started experimenting with short AI-assisted educational videos. After each visit, patients would receive a brief, two or three-minute video explaining their condition in simple, easy-to-understand language; some included animations, and some reviewed medications. Others explained symptoms to watch out for or how lifestyle changes could improve outcomes. And something remarkable happened. Patients became more engaged, more compliant, and less anxious. Staff phone calls decreased because many common questions had already been answered. But what really struck him was when an elderly patient said, “Doctor, this is the first time I actually understood what’s happening in my body.” That was powerful because AI didn’t replace the physician in that story; it amplified the physician’s ability to educate, reassure, and connect. Automated Patient Communication and Self-Scheduling Another area where AI may significantly improve both efficiency and patient satisfaction is in automated. Patient communication, AI-powered chatbots can already answer many simple, repetitive questions that flood medical offices every day, such as office hours, refills, policies, insurance participation, directions, pre-visit instructions, Portal, access, and follow-up information. And at the same time, many patient portals now allow patients to schedule their own appointments online without waiting on hold or speaking to front desk staff. That’s huge for me. I remember waiting a good 20 to 25 minutes before I got someone in the office who could actually give me an appointment. This doesn’t replace staff. It frees staff to focus on more complex patient needs and higher-level personal interactions. When used correctly, technology can reduce frustration on both sides of health care. The Danger Zone: Protecting Humanity in Medicine Let’s take a look at the danger zone now, with all that said, there are legitimate concerns and positions should absolutely be thoughtful and cautious, because medicine cannot become emotionally automated. There are things AI cannot replicate: compassion, intuition, emotional nuance, trust, moral judgment, and human presence. Patients do not heal simply because information was delivered correctly. Patients heal through connection, through reassurance, through feeling seen, and my concern is not that AI will replace good physicians. My concern is that systems may try to use AI to strip medicine down to efficiency alone and medicine without humanity becomes cold, mechanical, transactional, forgettable, we cannot allow that to happen. The Future: Human-First, Technology-Assisted Care I truly believe the future belongs to physicians who learn how to combine technology with humanity, not one or the other. Moving forward, the smartest doctors will not be blindly anti-AI, nor will they be blindly dependent on it. They will be balanced, curious, intentional, human-first, technology-assisted. And honestly, I think that’s where medicine is heading, not physician versus machine, but physician plus machine, with the physician remaining the center of trust, judgment, empathy, wisdom, and healing. And if this conversation resonates with you, whether you’re a physician, health care leader, or someone simply trying to understand where medicine is heading. I’d love for you to subscribe, share this episode, and join our growing community here on marketing tips for doctors, because these Conversations Matter, and the more honestly we talk about burnout, technology, humanity and the future of healthcare, the better chance we have of building a medical system that works not only for patients, but for the people caring for them. Thank you so much for being here today. This has been another episode of marketing tips for doctors with your host, Dr Barbara Hales, see you next time. Thanks. The post Can Doctors Survive This first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

In this episode, Barbara and Thomas discuss:   The conversation covers expertise in ethical persuasion and neuromarketing to help business owners become unforgettable in 11 seconds. It is explained how human decisions are driven by primal brain responses and the critical role of emotions in choosing. The “you language” strategy is discussed, focusing communication on the audience’s needs rather than self-promotion. The importance of silent listening is highlighted, emphasizing truly hearing others instead of planning responses. Methods for accessing specialized training and books are shared, encouraging the application of these techniques to boost professional visibility and effectiveness.   Key Takeaways: “To make a decision and rationalize that decision takes 11 seconds… deciding to listen to me and keep me in your mind, that will take 11 seconds.”   Connect with Dr. Thomas Trautmann:   Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/thomastrautmannneuro/?_rdc=1&_rdr# LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomastrautmann/ Book Sale’s website: https://home.happy-brains.com/products-list Show website: https://home.happy-brains.com/   Connect with Barbara Hales: Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahales Books: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist TRANSCRIPTION (227) Chapter 1: Introduction & Guest Background [0:00:02] Dr. Barbara Hales: Welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, and today we have with us a host of happy brains, also known as Thomas Trautmann. Welcome to the show. [0:00:20] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Yeah. Super happy to be here. Thanks for having me. [0:00:24] Dr. Barbara Hales: Thomas is a really interesting guy. He is a dynamic entrepreneur, coach, author, and speaker, passionately dedicated to making business owners unforgettable in 11 seconds. Get that as the founder of Happy Brains, Thomas utilizes the science of ethical persuasion to transform lives and businesses, fostering communities that thrive on mutual growth and success. Before I get further into it, I just want to say he is one of the first people to have flown around the world, including jumping into the North Pole in a special suit. So, this is an extraordinary guy with a PhD in artificial intelligence and an engineering degree in computer science, which is perfect for now. Thomas’s career path led him to influential roles at companies such as IBM, HP, AOL, Bosch, and Steelcase. His entrepreneurial spirit eventually guided him to start his own business, where he learned invaluable lessons from both triumphs and challenges. As a former certified neuro marketing instructor, Thomas leverages cutting-edge brain and decision-making science to enhance his clients’ marketing, sales, and business strategies, recognizing the need for a more human touch. In neuromarketing, Thomas developed the ethical persuader system and authored Make Me Great. Central to Dr Trautmann’s mission is the Make Me Great concept, which focuses on helping business owners stand out in 11 seconds. Keep that in mind. That is a great tagline. He guides CEOs, executives, and business owners to evolve from stressed chihuahuas into happy, successful Kangals, fostering trust, success, and fun in their lives. For all of you out there that say at this point, what the heck is a Kangal I will tell you, it is a dog that is similar in appearance to an Anatolian Shepherd, which is quite large, but he is very sweet, very protective, very astute, smart, very protective of the people around him, so now you know what a candle is. Also, a 10x performance coach with Grant Cardone Thomas combines brain science and ethical persuasion with Cardone’s expertise in money marketing and sales, helping clients achieve exponential growth. Today, Thomas delivers workshops, training, coaching, and seminars worldwide as a conference speaker. He empowers people to become ethical Persuaders and fulfilled business owners living life to the fullest. Wow, wow, wow. Welcome to the show. I’m so happy to see you today. [0:04:17] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Thank you. I don’t know what I can add to all that that’s good, thanks.   Chapter 2: The 11 Second Concept [0:04:23] Dr. Barbara Hales: So, tell me, how did you get the idea of people being noticeable in 11 seconds? [0:04:34] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Well, the idea is that most people try to persuade other people. I mean, you are persuading all the time, right from yourself to wake up, to get out of bed, to your spouse, for example, and then to your clients to come to see you, or even just to listen to you. So, most people do it rationally. You know, we’ve, we’ve, we. Facts were about the. Cells, their brand, their services, their products, whatever, and it has been scientifically proven. Then, in fact, the human brain doesn’t make any rational decision. We rationalize a decision afterwards. It has been made by a part of the brain called the primal brain. And to make a decision and rationalize that decision takes 11 seconds when you make 30,000 decisions per day, approximately, so many, many, many, on automatic, without knowing them, but deciding to listen to me and keep me in your mind, that will take 11 seconds. So that’s how I help people. I help business owners. I’m a business owner myself, and we all struggle a lot. You know, in my very first business, I remember sitting at my best desk, looking at the bank account and seeing that, well, no more clients were coming in, and no more money was coming in. So, it was either I got the job, or I found something else. So, I didn’t find it over. Find it over overnight, of course, but I paid attention to neuro marketing. It was the first time there was a documentary about it, quite some time back, and that’s how it started. We implemented some of the techniques and saw a 400% increase in our business. And it was a motorcycle tour business at that time. And we even had BMW friends approach us to organize the motorcycle tools for their clients. So that’s how it started, and then I decided to become a neuromarketing instructor. And yeah, that’s how I connected brain AI from the past, from my studies to real life. And yeah, during a conversation with my wife, it became clear that neuro marketing lacks humanity. You learn a lot when you do. Don’t get me wrong, neuro marketing works perfectly. It gives two-digit growth easily. It targets the human brain. So, you could say it’s human, yes, but the people attending the workshops were learning things to implement for their companies, not for themselves. So that’s why I say, okay, something’s missing here. So, I’m going to create something which is called the ethical persuader, which is about you learn first, how you get from people the decisions you want, why you help them make the decision they need, which is ethical, by the way, and then you can implement it in your everyday life, in your business, wherever. So that’s how the whole thing started.   Chapter 3: Happy Brains and The Power of a Smile [0:07:26] Dr. Barbara Hales: And how are you associated with happy brains? [0:07:31] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: But happy brains, that’s my brand. So, what’s driving me? My, why is that? I want people to smile, you know, to be happy. Because when you smile, a good, natural smile, you know, with a little Duchenne wrinkle here and so on, your brain gets a shot off, end of it. So, it’s a free drug, you get happy. And the more drugs you get, the more you smile. And even when I smile, I can make you smile, and even if you don’t physically smile, there is a theory of mirror neurons: when I smile, the smile neurons in your brain are triggered, so you also get a shot of endorphin. So, if I smile, you smile, and we make other people smile. It may become a better world for our children. So that’s how Happy Brains was born.   Chapter 4: Ethical Persuasion Beyond Marketing [0:08:16] Dr. Barbara Hales: Your marketing system is what your workshops and your training are about, correct or not. [0:08:24] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: it’s more than it’s more than marketing; ethical persuasion can be used everywhere, from leadership to marketing to sales, even to your personal life. [0:08:33] Dr. Barbara Hales: And I would agree with you that a person who is unhappy in their personal life is not really going to be very persuasive about anything else that they have to provide. So that would be your first step, getting people to be happy. [0:08:54] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: That’s what I try to do in my trainings and in my workshops, is to see the first smile when suddenly the light bulb goes on and say, Wow, yeah, now I understand my stupid decisions, because, yes, the primal brain is not smart. You know the I could say, the USP, the unique selling proposition of the primal brain is, it’s better to be stupid and alive than smart and dead. So those decisions, I mean, the primal brain is a very old thing. Our whole brain stopped evolving 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, so we are still running, especially that brain, the decision maker, processes that come from the cave age. We have changed the world around us because we are Homo sapiens. We are conscious of being conscious and so on. We have the super big rational brain that no other species on Earth has. That’s why we think we are rational beasts, when in fact we are not. We are facing more than 200 cognitive biases that drive our decisions; we could make them rationally. Decisions. There’s just one problem. Is the rational brain 200 times, excuse me, 200 times slower than the primal brain? So, we make a primal decision, and we rationalize it afterwards.   Chapter 5: Emotions and Human Decision-Making   [0:10:16] Dr. Barbara Hales: Well, that makes a lot of sense, and I imagine a lot of decisions are also made with the heart first and then rationalized [0:10:25] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: If you talk about the heart as emotions. Yes, it was demonstrated in 1995 by a guy named Antonio Damasio that you cannot decide without emotions. In fact, you need an emotional variation. You need to take them from one emotional state to the next emotional state to trigger the decision process. So, a lot of people get it wrong. They think that if I scare you or if I make you happy, you will make a decision. No, you’re just memorizing, but you don’t make the decision. So, you need to really create those two emotional variation states and get a variation. So that’s what we call the heart. You know, [0:11:04] Dr. Barbara Hales: When you are training your clients to be persuasive, how, how is it that you do that, you know, do you have certain qualities or properties that you try to elicit in them?   Chapter 6: The “You Language” and Lasting Change   [0:11:24] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Well, the first thing I do is show them how their brain works. So every training starts with a few experiments. So, I don’t hurt anyone. I don’t open the brain bucket and scoop out the slice. Nope. We do some very simple experiences, and people see that, in fact, their brain is lying to them. Our brain is lying to us. So, I mean you, for example, when you go into a freshly painted room, okay, it smells like paint after two or three minutes, what happens? It’s normal, smelling like paint, right? But the paint is still there. The paint molecules are still in the air. But your primal brain, the decision maker, cannot process too much information, so it just filters out information, the smell of the paint. There is no contrast. It filters it out. So, for example, for your audience, if they always repeat the same message. You know, there is no contrast. Or if they adjust an MD among other MDs, there is no contrast; they will be invisible, completely forgotten. If you become a doctor, who, I don’t know, makes you one, one meter taller or three feet taller. I’m the only one doing that. That’s contrast. Then I will keep you in mind. Then I will maybe take those 11 seconds to keep you in my mind. [0:12:54] Dr. Barbara Hales: After people come to you for the initial training, do they continue onward, so that their life continues to be happy and evolve into conquering any stress and problems that arise? [0:13:16] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: That’s where it’s become interesting, and that’s why I added coaching to everything I do, because, in fact, the human brain being the human brain, it hates change. So, during the trainings, for example, online training workshops and so on, people are super happy and excited, and 48 hours later, they are back to their old selves. So, I had business owners tell me, “Thomas, I mean, your training is great.” My people enjoy it, but 48 hours later, they still keep making the same mistakes. So we have added coaching to keep people accountable and to really use the techniques and the tools I provide them with, and that’s when you start seeing results, because it’s a 180 degree switch in the way you work, in the way you talk with people, you persuade people and so on stuff one so, for example, one simple thing that your audience can implement right now is use something I call the you language. That primal brain is a survival tool. It cares about one and only one person on Earth, and it screams at you. That’s why it stays here. Make me great. So don’t talk about you. I couldn’t care less about you. Talk about me. Make me great. So, of course, when you have a long relationship, you can talk about yourself, no problem. But at the beginning, when you want new clients, when you want something new to happen. It’s your language. Your emails and phone calls have to be in your language. Extremely complex to implement that, because you want to talk about yourself, because you have that same primal brain that cares about yourself. So that’s a tough one, but it works when you do. It. It works absolutely. [0:15:02] Dr. Barbara Hales: That’s why, on your about page, when you’re when you’re when you could present information that instead of saying, like, I graduated here, I did this, that it is much more effective if you take that page to just say, I help this problem that you may have. I have a solution to that problem you may have. Because, you know, at the end of the day, that’s what they’re really interested in, [0:15:34] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Yeah, in fact, you should not even do it like that. It’s not that I have you. You have this problem, and you need this so that you feel better because you, you, you, and then watch here, there is a solution for you. I say the same thing you do, but I don’t talk about myself. It’s like, if you have maybe for, for, for your, for your, I know what’s the name in English for, for, for the for a doctor’s office, but if you have a website for that, that’s a little exercise that everyone in the audience can do is look at your website and look at how many times you are talking about yourself and how many times you talk about them. I’m pretty sure it starts with Home, About Me. You provide the services. I am a doctor. I am doing this. I have graduated I and don’t worry, 95% of people have the same problem on their website. That’s one of my favorite moments during a training. I just use one website as an example. And yeah, [0:16:42] Dr. Barbara Hales: Well, now it’s going to go to your website to see what you mean, and I probably will too, but your suggestions instantly, you know, turn things around. And you know, it’s easy to see how more enticing, you know, writing it that way would be, [0:17:02] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Yeah, and you will see it’s, it’s a mindset to have. It’s, you can’t say the same thing in your language as in the I language. It’s just written the other way around, absolutely. Chapter 7: Accessing Training & Final Advice [0:17:17] Dr. Barbara Hales: So, regardless of where in the world a person is, presuming they either speak French or English. Can the training be completed entirely through Google Meet, Zoom, or another video platform? [0:17:33] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: I’m starting this week with a new client. We do it fully online, [0:17:37] Dr. Barbara Hales: And it’s once a week. For how long? [0:17:41] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: It depends in terms of coaching. So well, you can do the online training that’s at your own rate, and then the coaching. It’s either once per week, or we start with once per week, then go biweekly. Depending on how long we go for, it can be 90 days, 180 days, or 1 year, depending on how far you want to dive into ethical persuasion and making people Great. [0:18:04] Dr. Barbara Hales: And how would they access that training program with you? What would they go to online? [0:18:12] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Well, they go to my website, which is happy, Dash brains.com, and there you can select whatever you want, or even get in touch with me. Have a strategy call. It’s a free call, of course. So, we assess the problem and look at some pointers for moving forward. [0:18:30] Dr. Barbara Hales: Your Make Me Great is a book that you’ve authored, correct? [0:18:35] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Yeah, it’s the name of the system, [0:18:38] Dr. Barbara Hales: five-step systems. That is also the name of a book that. [0:18:41] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: You wrote? Yes, the book is also called Make Me Great. [0:18:44] Dr. Barbara Hales: and a person can access through Amazon, [0:18:49] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Amazon or my website. [0:18:51] Dr. Barbara Hales: Okay, very good. So, at this point, could you give the audience two tips that they could implement right away? And, you know, making them visible in 11 seconds. And also, just elevating them as professionals, [0:19:13] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Yeah, well, I already gave you the first one, which is the U language. Use the U language, try it now. Well, you know, when you try to be seen out there, use your language. Focus on what drives the decision in your audience’s brains: subconscious frustration. That’s the longer talk. It’s very human. It has nothing to do with a quick example, maybe not a good example, when it comes to me because I have no hair, but you have lovely hair. So, if I sell you a shampoo, the usual rational way would be to say, with that shampoo, bah, bah, you are going to have blonde hair that is going to fly in the wind, right? But you don’t buy shampoo for that. You buy to clean your hair, but you also want to be seen. For example. For example, maybe you want people to talk to you. So, I would say next time you go to a party, they will all look at you. They will all want to talk to you because of your hair. I’m not talking about my product, my shampoo, and so on, but doing something completely different. So that’s what you have to target. What drives a decision in the brain, and how does it use your language? That’s the first one. The second one is to use a very tough one, too. It’s called Silent listening. You know, most people say you should do active listening. You listen, write down, and so on, and try to interact. I’m pushing it further. I use silent listening. That means it has to be silent up there. You may say, “Okay, Thomas, I was on vacation,” and then your brain goes, “Oh, I have to tell her about my own vacation.” Oh, that was pretty cool, because I will tell her about when the kids went swimming and so on. The sea was so blue. And I’m no longer listening to you, because, again, my brain wants to focus on me and wants to be great, but I have to listen to you. So, you have to learn to silence that thing up there. So that’s the second technique, [0:21:05] Dr. Barbara Hales: And that’s such good advice, because so few people can do that. You know, silence is, you know, a very difficult thing to achieve, and a lot of people are very uncomfortable with silence. They feel that they have to fill it up.[0:21:20] Dr. Thomas Trautmann: Yeah, exactly. Well, in fact, it’s a very important tool. [0:21:26] Dr. Barbara Hales: Well, I’ve really enjoyed our session today, as I’m sure our listeners have, and I encourage you all to go into the show notes so that you can reach Dr Thomas Trautmann, because he’s definitely worth pursuing. He’s a really interesting, professional and really interesting guy. Thank you. Thank you for being with us today. This has been another episode of marketing tips for doctors with your hosts, Dr Barbara Hales and Dr. Trautmann. Thank you. Thank you, and till next time.  The post Unforgettable in 11 seconds first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

In this episode, Barbara discusses:   The importance of shifting to relationship-based, personalized patient care over transactional models. How patient-centric messaging and empathetic communication foster trust and drive practice growth. Using tailored, purposeful content strategies aligned with patient needs and online behaviors. Personal branding for doctors as a foundation of trust and connection, built through consistent, authentic engagement and storytelling. The rise of the “AI patient”: leveraging AI tools to meet modern demands for speed, personalization, and proactive care. Encouragement for doctors to make small but impactful changes—such as trying one AI tool or sharing a personal story—to elevate patient experience and strengthen marketing.   Key Takeaways: ” AI is the new stethoscope and the. New receptionist, the new assistant, the new educator. Start with one AI upgrade, whether it’s scheduling triage reminders or content; small improvements change the patient experience dramatically. Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with one question to carry through your week. What is the one change, big or small, I can make this month that will help my patients feel more cared for, more understood, or more supported? Because, in the end, marketing isn’t about algorithms or branding or automation, it’s about people, and people remember how you made them feel.”   Connect with Barbara Hales:   Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPTION (225) Chapter 1: The Five Marketing Shifts Doctors Must Make in 2025 [0:00:03] Dr. Barbara Hales: Welcome back to marketing tips for doctors, the place where medicine meets messaging and patient care meets practical strategy. I’m Dr Barbara Hales, your host and medical strategist. Today we’re diving into three big topics every doctor needs to understand in 2025 the five marketing shifts happening right now, how one doctor can become a powerful, trusted brand and what I call the AI patient, because expectations aren’t what they used to be along the way, I’ll share six heartwarming stories, three real case studies, and some clear steps you can take today to elevate your practice. So grab your coffee, settle in, and let’s make your marketing work for you instead of draining your time or energy. The first section is the five marketing shifts doctors must make in 2025. Most practices still operate like patients are passing through a turnstile, but today’s patients expect a relationship, familiarity, personal touch, and continuity. A cardiologist I worked with had a patient named Jim who had been in and out of the ER for years with atrial fibrillation. Every visit, he saw a different doctor, a different nurse, and never once felt known. The cardiologist finally implemented a relationship, first Follow Up program, handwritten notes after procedures, three-day check-ins, and a dedicated teaching nurse. Jim told the doctor, “This is the first time I’ve felt like a person, not a problem.” And guess what? His compliance improved, his outcomes improved, and he sent six new patients within three months. Marketing is simply the act of treating people like they matter. Content that starts with we provide, or we offer is ignored. Patients want to hear. What can you help me solve? How will I feel under your care, and why should I trust you as a pediatrician? A pediatrician began rewriting her website with the parent in mind. Instead of providing well-child visits, she said, we help you raise confident, healthy children, and we’re with you every step of the way. Parents would stop her in the hallway and say that line made me switch practices. Marketing works when people feel understood. Posting Happy Friday is not marketing. Posting with purpose, that’s marketing. An orthopedic practice in Chicago changed just one thing. They created a content calendar tied to patient search behavior, knee pain, Mondays, hip replacement, Wednesdays, and spine care Fridays. Within six months, website traffic grew 312% 312% but more importantly, appointment requests shot up because patients said I found exactly the question I was Googling on your page. Patients don’t want medical jargon. They want reassurance and action steps, practices that win in 2025 aren’t marketing. Sometimes they operate as brands consistently, authentically, and compassionately. If you want to make marketing easier in 2025, start with one thing, choose one shift and implement it this week, small steps create big momentum.   Chapter 2: How One Doctor Becomes a Trusted Brand A doctor’s brand isn’t their logo, colors, or tagline. How one doctor becomes a brand patients trust a doctor’s is a feeling people get when they interact with you. Patients aren’t evaluating procedures. They’re evaluating you. Trust comes first. A family medical doctor named Hannah had a patient, Maria, who was. Terrified after a breast abnormality was found. After the biopsy came back benign, Maria told her Thank you for sitting with me while I cried. That moment was my decision maker. I knew I’d never switch doctors after that; the brand wasn’t Dr Hanna’s degree; it was her humanity. A dermatologist, Dr Patel, started placing a small sign in each room, You are safe. Your concerns are real. We are here to help patients. Took photos of it, shared it online. Called it the empathy clinic, one tiny message created an entire brand identity. Your story is your differentiator. No one has your background, your why, your mission, or your personality. Patients want to know why you became a doctor, why you chose your specialty, what you care about, besides medicine, show up consistently. Branding is not a single act. It’s a rhythm. A gastroenterologist who hated social media agreed to just one weekly video, 60 60-second shot on iPhone, answering one real patient question. After 10 weeks, his new patient said the same thing. I feel like I already know you. Branding is familiarity. Familiarity builds trust, and trust leads to appointments. Pick one part of your story and share it this week on your website, on social media, or in your waiting room. It’s not self-promotion, it’s a connection,   Chapter 3: The AI Patient: What Modern Consumers Expect from Healthcare The AI patient: what modern consumers expect from health care. Today’s patients live in a world of 24/7, grocery delivery, instant flight changes, and hyper-personalized Netflix recommendations; they expect the same from health care, even if we’re not set up that way. Patients want speed and predictability. AI-enhanced scheduling, fast replies, and smart triage make patients feel supported. A mother of a four-year-old had a sudden rash scare at 10 pm, and she used the AI-powered triage chatbot. Within minutes, she received guidance, photos to upload, and the reassurance to come in first thing in the morning. She later wrote, You made me feel like I wasn’t alone at 10 pm, that is priceless. This is the new patient expectation. An elderly patient who struggled with technology used an AI voice assistant connected to the clinic’s system. He called to refill his medications, and the AI system said, I can help you with that. Let’s take it one step at a time. He told the staff the next morning that the robot was nicer to me than my grandson. AI isn’t replacing compassion, it’s extending it. AI can tailor follow-ups, reminders, education, lifestyle, guidance, and pre- and post op instructions based on conditions and history. It delivers what the modern patient craves. You understand me, a large multi-specialty practice implemented AI-driven appointment reminders customized by patient type. Bariatric patients received meal prep reminders. Diabetics received foot care prompts. Cardio patients received medication alerts, no generic messaging, everything. Personalized result, a 28% drop in no shows, this is the AI patient error. AI won’t replace doctors. Doctors who use AI will replace doctors who don’t. Patients don’t want robots. They want doctors who embrace tools that help them feel more informed, more secure, more connected, and more cared for.   Chapter 4: Implementing AI and Small Steps for Big Impact / Conclusion [0:09:56] Dr. Barbara Hales: AI is the new stethoscope and the. New receptionist, the new assistant, the new educator. Start with one AI upgrade, whether it’s scheduling triage reminders or content; small improvements change the patient experience dramatically. Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with one question to carry through your week. What is the one change, big or small, I can make this month that will help my patients feel more cared for, more understood, or more supported? Because, in the end, marketing isn’t about algorithms or branding or automation, it’s about people, and people remember how you made them feel. Thank you for joining me today. If this episode inspired you, helped you, or gave you the push you needed, share it with another doctor who could benefit. And if you want support implementing any of these strategies, from AI tools to brand storytelling to patient experience upgrades, you know where to find me. I’m Dr Barbara Hales, the medical strategist. Go to medicalstrategist.com, forward slash contact until next time, keep connecting, keep caring, and keep showing up for your patients and yourself.The post Marketing Shifts for Doctors first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

In this episode, Barbara discusses:   How social media is reshaping medical communication, physician learning, and patient trust Why doctors benefit from online visibility without needing to “perform” How digital platforms create modern medical networking communities How ethical marketing helps physicians communicate clearly and build credibility A roadmap for doctors to begin showing up authentically online   Key Takeaways: “Social media isn’t making doctors performers. It’s making them participants in a global conversation where credibility, education and connection now happen digitally. When physicians show up online with clarity and authenticity, they elevate not only their practice but the entire profession.” Connect with Barbara Hales: Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Show Website: MarketingTipsForDoctors.com Email: Barbara@TheMedicalStrategist.com YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahales Books: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPTION (223) Introduction & Announcement Dr. Barbara Hales: Bob, welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, and today we are discussing where medicine meets meaning and strategy meets soul. Today’s episode is called How Social Media Is Changing Medicine, Doctors, Marketing, and Meaning. We’re talking about something redefining the health care landscape, not new drugs or devices, but digital connection. Nearly 70 percent of healthcare professionals now use social media for networking, education, or patient engagement, but only about 14 percent of doctors maintain a public Instagram presence. Most doctors aren’t online to perform. They’re there to participate, stay relevant, and stay connected. The Pace of Medical Change Dr. Barbara Hales: Medical knowledge used to double every 50 years; now it doubles roughly every 73 days. Staying current is survival. Doctors turn to digital platforms to keep up. They join Facebook groups, follow journals on X, use LinkedIn for networking, and even Instagram for education. Social media is now a digital faculty lounge, fast, global, and unfiltered, and it’s changing how physicians learn, share, and lead. Digital Credibility Dr. Barbara Hales: A white coat and diploma were once enough to establish credibility. Now credibility is digital. Patients Google symptoms, check reviews, and scan social feeds. When they see a doctor who communicates clearly online and educates instead of advertises, trust begins before the appointment. A cardiologist explaining chest pain in 30 seconds or a pediatrician posting a simple vaccine chart isn’t just posting content. It’s care delivered digitally. This is where marketing meets meaning. From Authority to Accessibility Dr. Barbara Hales: For decades, medicine lived behind clinic doors. Now patients expect clarity and access. When doctors create educational content online, they’re not selling out. They’re showing up. A dermatologist sharing skin protection tips, an endocrinologist debunking diet myths, or an ER physician walking through CPR steps is public service. When physicians share what they know, they raise the collective health IQ. Medical education online is here to stay, and it’s redefining what it means to practice medicine. Networking in a Digital World Dr. Barbara Hales: Physicians often overlook networking, but it’s part of being a lifelong learner. Platforms like LinkedIn and Threads have become new medical meetups. Communities like Med Twitter, Women in Medicine, and healthcare leadership groups aren’t vanity hashtags. They’re digital think tanks. They connect physicians across specialties and generations. Visibility online amplifies the physician’s voice, which is essential because when doctors stay silent, misinformation fills the gap. The Role of Ethical Marketing Dr. Barbara Hales: Marketing can feel uncomfortable for doctors, but ethical healthcare marketing is simply clear communication with purpose. Medicine diagnoses and treats. Marketing explains and connects. Together they form a bridge between care and clarity. Doctors don’t need a viral campaign; they need a consistent message rooted in trust, empathy, and expertise. That is a digital health strategy. A Roadmap for Doctors Dr. Barbara Hales: Start with clarity. Define your purpose. Do you want to educate, advocate, or inspire? Choose your platform. Instagram for visual storytelling, LinkedIn for insights, YouTube for long-form education, TikTok for quick awareness. Show up consistently. Authentic beats perfect every time. Engage thoughtfully and build community. Physician branding is about voice and values. You are your brand, and your credibility is your currency. Closing Dr. Barbara Hales: Medicine has always been about connection. That conversation now lives on podcasts, posts, and platforms. When doctors use social media well to teach, listen, and uplift, they grow their practices and grow medicine itself. When physicians share what they know and connect with authenticity, everyone benefits. So, here’s my invitation to every doctor listening. Don’t fear the feed. Shape it. Your voice has value, and someone needs to hear it. I’m Dr. Barbara Hales, and this has been another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. Until next time.  The post How Social Media changes Medicine first appeared on The Medical Strategist.