123 - Dr Jim McDannald The 5 Elements of An Online Presence

Dr Jim McDannald has practised podiatry in both the United States and Canada and gradually shifted careers from podiatry to online marketing over a number of years. This led to digital roles at Rio in 2016 with the Canadian Olympic Track & Field team and fitness technology company, Polar.

After talking with a few colleagues frustrated by bad experiences with digital marketing agencies, he combined his two areas of expertise to start Podiatry Growth.

Now, he helps podiatrists understand their online opportunities and provides digital marketing services.

On this episode we discuss: 

• His transition into online marketing
• Colleagues frustrated with large digital agencies who do not understand podiatry.
• Having a digital marketing plan and knowing your ROI
• not going with the online-flow because everyone else is doing it. 

"You need to measure what you're doing, know what’s going on, and have a baseline of knowledge so online marketing is not a complete blind spot".

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who are you?
• Who are you treating?
• What type of practice do you want?
• What type of patients do you like? 
• What do you want to do most? 

After asking good questions, you may find that offline marketing is a better option for your business. 

5 Elements of An Online Presence

1. FOUNDATION: You need a strong foundation. It used to be your clinic location, but now it’s your website. Social media is good, but you don't own the content, you need to Pay to Play. After your website, it's important to set up your profile on Google My Business. 
2. SEARCH: Both paid and organic forms of search are important. Your goal is to have the best page for the particular topic potential patients are searching for, and you want to keep them on your page as long as possible. Adding a video keeps them on your page longer. 
3. REPUTATION: It's important to understand that information about you, and your podiatry business is not just on your website and on your Google My Business page, it’s also on other platforms, so you need to monitor these, especially Google Reviews. 
4. COMMUNICATION: Your database of your patients is an untapped educational goldmine. Use educational newsletters to explain the benefits of your practice to your patients. Share information about yourself, your community, it humanises you. Use emails. 
5. PROMOTION: It’s a form of advertising, but it's important to do the first four elements. You’ve got to get in front of your ideal patient, and Facebook ads are an easy way of targeting them. In your ads, use photos of you treating your ideal patient. It’s about positioning yourself in that space/area/market as the go-to podiatrist. Use photos, videos, content about that subject on your website and other places. 

When you're first starting out in business, you may be doing a lot of shoe-leather marketing, but as you get busier and run out of time, online marketing methods may be more helpful. 

Final Tip

Don’t try and do everything yourself, get help from others, like a business advisor or coach; you will progress much faster. You need to find a group or groups of people where you can continually learn.

If you have any questions about this episode, please send me an email at [email protected], or you can connect with Dr Jim McDannald at [email protected].

This episode was sponsored by PODIUM and to learn more CLICK HERE. 

My Next Event - Podiatry MarketingWorkshop 2021 

Over the past thirty-plus years, I have opened, sold, relocate and taken over more than 20 podiatry businesses, so when it comes to marketing a podiatry business successfully, I know what works, and what's a waste of time and money.

During this 4-hour workshop, I will explain, step-by-step, how I took a small podiatry business with one consultation room from $0 to $402,000 in the first 12-months. 

With this information, you will have a competitive advantage over your competitors. 

For more detail, please visit my EVENTS PAGE.

If you want to learn more about my next 12-Week Podiatry Business Reboot or join the Podiatry Business Owners Club on Facebook, please follow the links.       

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