2011 will be a great year for physical therapists in private practice if they go beyond their usual ways of marketing and advertising. When I say “Usual Ways” I’m referring to relying on yellow page ads, newspaper ads, radio advertising and other traditional means of marketing. These mediums are slowly becoming less effective in reaching the audience you want to target. Hopefully in 2010 you were able to avoid some of the physical therapy marketing mistakes that could have prevented you from seeing healthy profits last year in your business.

Moving forward into 2011 as my reader, I don’t want you to become one dimensional in your marketing efforts. An example would be to heavily rely on physician referral marketing as your only marketing strategy. What if the physician that refers to you one day decides to refer to another clinic? Do you have other marketing streams in place you can tap into? Hopefully you see where I am going with this and stick around to see where I want to take you.

In 2010 many physical therapy private practice owners have discovered new ways of marketing to potential patients using the internet. Some have obtained new patient referrals through their website using effective search engine optimization strategies that I teach on this blog. Others have done it using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. One thing is certain is that using the internet as a way to obtain new patients and clients for your private practice will be something you cannot ignore moving forward into 2011.

How you market your physical therapy private practice in 2011 will determine the outcome of your future revenues and your overall profits. So below I have a few marketing predictions I feel will emerge in 2011 and that can position your physical therapy practice to receive some healthy profits in the future.

1. Mobile Marketing – Statistics have shown more people own a mobile phone than they do computers. People use their mobile phones as location devices, to receive text messages, search for local services in their area, and much more. What better way to get in front of your audience then through the device they use everyday! As a private practice owner you can send appointment reminders via text message, mobile coupons for cash based services, and create a mobile version of your website for those seeking out your services locally. This is only scratching the surface! There are a lot of things you can do with mobile devices in terms of marketing that can really help impact the growth of your private practice. More to come on this hot topic in future blog posts!

2. Online Reviews – More users are looking to online review sites like Google Places and Yelp to read what other patients have to say about their physical therapist. This is why it’s important to get your patients to write raving reviews about the PT services you offer. Good reviews written by your current patients will help build immediate trust between you and that potential patient who’s searching for a physical therapist. When a potential patient sees that other patients you’ve helped were very happy with the services you provided, they’ll trust that you can help them too.

3. Better Website Content – It is important that your website have quality content that provides the right information for your patients and to the public. Providing resourceful articles and informative videos helps potential website visitors view you as a trusted source of information and an expert in your field. The information you provide on your website could be a major pivotal point for a local website visitor to pick up the phone and call your office for an appointment.

4. Local Marketing – Optimizing your website for local keyword search terms will be vital to how people find you online. For instance, if your practice focuses on pediatrics and you are based in Marietta Georgia, then you want to make sure your website is optimized for the keyword phrase “Pediatric Physical Therapist in Marietta Georgia”. Placing your website in the local online directories also increases your visibility to the local community about your services.

5. Ebook Style Newsletters and Exercises Sheets – If you haven’t noticed, the sales of the Barnes and Noble Nook Reader and Amazon Kindle were a hot seller this past Christmas. This is a strong indication that users will soon choose these devices to consume books, magazines, and web content. I see plenty of opportunity here for you, the private practice practitioner, to create content like newsletters or exercise sheets for your patients to be viewed on these devices. Why not go with them when they are on the move? Creating content for them to use in these “on the go” devices is a great way to brand your physical therapy practice and stay in front of your existing patients that use your services. You will also get a lot of cool points for being on the cutting edge of technology.

6. Better Strategic Use of Social Media – Social Media is probably one of the best free marketing and advertising tools online you can use to promote your physical therapy services. It is the most simplest and cost effective way to introduce your services to a mass market without squashing your marketing budget for the year. Strategic use of sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter can really help you to reach out to more people and spread the word about your physical therapy services. Just keep in mind it takes time to see a return from using social media. Most of your time will be spent building relationships and providing value to your existing patients and those who inquire about your services. If you view it more as a communication tool vs a sales tool then you will have better expectations about the time spent using it and the returns it can provide to your private practice in the future.

Those are my marketing predictions for 2011. I will expand more on some of these topics in future blog posts. If you have any predictions of your own or want to share what your physical therapy business will be doing different this year, please share your comments below. Would love to hear from you!

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• Why Online Reviews Matter For Your Physical Therapy Practice
• Improve Your Online Physical Therapy Marketing By Understanding Basic Keyword Research?
• Top 5 Physical Therapy Marketing Mistakes To Avoid In 2010
• 6 Reasons Why Your Physical Therapy Business Should Be In Google’s Local Business Search Directory
• The Advantages Of Listing Your Physical Therapy Practice With Online Business Directories

Are you still using the Yellow Pages to promote your physical therapy clinic or private practice? It is a known fact that physical therapy clinics and private practices have been listing their services in the Yellow Pages business directory for decades now. But very few people use the Yellow Pages these days. Now everyone Googles the things they are looking for or need. So it is safe to say now the majority of search for services take place online. That’s why in previous blog posts I have stressed the importance of creating an online presence for your physical therapy business.

Having an online presence and listing your physical therapy business in online directories should be considered part of your physical therapy marketing strategy. It is a natural movement to a medium that is more relevant today and what majority of people are using.

I will outline some of my top reasons why you should list your physical therapy business in an online directory:

1. Exposure on search engines: Most people use Google to search for services and very often if you are searching for something local, Google shows the local listings as part of the results ( see image example on left ). If you list on Google Places, then your listings will be shown if Google thinks they are relevant to what the user is searching. I took Google’s example, but this will work with any search engine. Listing your services in a business directory increases your chances of putting yourself in front of potential patient referrals or clients for your PT practice.

2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefits: Listing on directories gives you valuable links back to your business and increases your online presence. This will help boost your website search engine rankings. There is also a greater chance of your business appearing on search engine result pages because most online directories are viewed as high authority sites in the eyes of the search engines.

3. Inexpensive: Listing on online business directories is quite inexpensive and in some cases it is absolutely free. So there is every reason to get your business listed in these directories today. There are not to many free advertising mediums that can offer a good return like online business listings. Can you think of any?

4. User reviews: There are a few directories that let users review your business based on their experiences with you. This can be a really great asset for someone who has built a good reputation and has people willing to write reviews for them. I know when I am searching for a service and come across a few business listings, I look at the reviews to see what feedback people have left. It has a tremendous impact on deciding whether or not to use the service I am reviewing.

So when you create a listing, you want to get a few people to write reviews for you. In time you will have a number of reviews for your physical therapy business for users to look through. If you have several reviews on your business listing it naturally attracts people to your listing because it shows social proof of others experience with your physical therapy clinic or private practice.


Now that I’ve told you some benefits of listing on a online business directory, let me list some you can get started creating your physical therapy business listing with today.

1. Google Places
2. Yahoo Local
3. Bing Local
4. Yelp
5. Yellow Pages
6. City Search
7. Ask City Business Listings

I don’t want to overwhelm you, so I’ll leave you with just 7 top directories. There are many more that you can take advantage of once you are done listing your business in the ones above.

So my advice would be to devote an hour or two a day to create a listing for your physical therapy practice or clinic. Then you can reap the benefits of your business listing for a long time to come.

If you have some thoughts or suggestions on online business listings that have worked well for you, please share them with the rest of the readers here in the comments below.

If you found this post helpful in any way, please help me to re-tweet to your Twitter followers or share with your friends and colleaues on Facebook. Many thanks!Similar Posts:

• 6 Reasons Why Your Physical Therapy Business Should Be In Google’s Local Business Search Directory
• Why Online Reviews Matter For Your Physical Therapy Practice
• My Physical Therapy Marketing Predictions For 2011
• Improve Your Online Physical Therapy Marketing By Understanding Basic Keyword Research?
• 5 Tips To Drive Traffic To Your Physical Therapy Website

Local search is one of the least talked about features of Google but it is one that is gaining popularity very rapidly.

Local search is catching on because search engines are getting very good in recognizing when people are searching for something locally. In most cases these local business listings are shown on top of the other search results. Do a search for “physical therapy rehab and (put your zip code)” and see for yourself which are the search results that Google will serve you on the front page. Is your physical therapy business listed there? If not keep reading on!

Local search is also catching on because of its ease of use, large number of results served, a Google map of the local listing being searched and the ability to read reviews about that local listing.

Do you remember the last time you opened up the Yellow Pages to look for a local business? Most people will tell you they are using phone books in their home as step stools to get into hard to reach areas. Everyone is using Google for search. This is a known fact. People are looking for all types of services online from haircuts to auto mechanics and of course physical therapists.

It is in your best interest to have a Google Business listing for your physical therapy business so that you appear on top when people search for such services. If done correctly, this can mean a large number of potential patient referrals, clients or customers without ever having to pay the typical cost associated with using traditional advertising .



Let me take you through six powerful benefits of listing your physical therapy business on Google’s local business search listings:

1. People are searching for your physical therapy business online: This is so basic it goes without saying but I need to say it anyway. A large percentage of searches on Google pertain to local search and out of these searches a good number of them can translate into new referrals, clients or customers for your business . If you are not present on Google’s local business search listings, you are missing out on a lot of new patient referrals, clients and customers. Think about that.

2. Results are near the top of the page: Study after study of search engine users show that they scan a triangular area which includes the area of the first result and then gradually diminishes as you go down the page. Most people never go beyond the first half of the first page. Putting your business listing into Google’s local business directory ensures that your listing will show up in the area where people have the maximum chance of noticing it.

3. Easier than getting on the first page of Google: In most cases getting a business listed in the directory and appearing on the first page for a local business search term is easier than paying high fees to an SEO consultant to have your website appear on the first page for a general search term. When you have your listing listed through Google’s local business search directory you still enjoy the benefit of a large number of views without having to go through the struggle of getting on the first page for your website and paying high fees to an SEO consultant to do it.





1. Google Provides A Map Of Your Business Location: Google will show a map of your business location to web users and even provide them with directions to get to your doorstep. Now that’s powerful! Your front office secretary can focus on coding and billing while Google handles the directions to potential new patient referrals and clients.

2. Google’s local search Listing is free: You don’t have to pay anything to get listed in Google’s business listing. There is absolutely no investment involved and the listing is working for you 24hrs a day all year long. This is a no brainer for anyone with a tight marketing budget.

3. Reach a large number of potential referrals or clients locally: The best part about this is people who engage in local search obviously have a need that has to be met. So when someone calls your physical therapy business through a Google business listing , there is a high chance that person contacting you needs your service and is ready to come through your door almost immediately.

If you take action on including your physical therapy business into Google’s local business search listings, you will enjoy the benefits of getting targeted local patient referrals and potential clients. Most importantly you will have done this simple inclusion of your physical therapy business into Google’s listings at no cost to you. This is a great marketing strategy for your physical therapy business and something you should consider doing soon.Similar Posts:

• The Advantages Of Listing Your Physical Therapy Practice With Online Business Directories
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• 5 Tips To Drive Traffic To Your Physical Therapy Website

If you didn’t know already Facebook is one of the top social networks in the world. They average over half a million new members joining every single day and currently have over 400 million members. Those numbers are amazing! That is enough members to populate a country the size of the United States don’t you think? Imagine the connections that are being made on a daily basis.

Facebook has helped many people reunite with family members, old friends, colleagues, and even business associates. What’s even more interesting is that very few physical therapist are not taking advantage of Facebook’s popularity to grow their physical therapy businesses. Well that is going to change because I’m here to share with you the benefits of having a Facebook Fan page and the steps you need to do to create one today. Let me break down some interesting statistics for you about the average Facebook user:

• Currently there are more than 400 million active users.
• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day.
• The average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook.
• More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each week.
• More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook.
• More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day. ( That is a lot of fans!)
• Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month. (One of those pages could be yours.)
• Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans. (Some of those fans could be yours.)

These Facebook statistics should not be ignored. Facebook offers many ways for your physical therapy business to interact with your local online community and the best way to do it is by creating a Facebook Fan page. I will take you step by step on how to create a Facebook Fan page for your physical therapy business but first let me highlight the benefits of having one:

1. Explain You’re Business: People join your fan page because they want to know more about your physical therapy business. This is the place where you can highlight what your company is about and how it can serve them. Do this by posting quality content articles on your fan page wall that is relevant to your physical therapy business. Add photos of your staff and place of business for fans to see. Post the expertise level of your staff in specialized areas of physical therapy. Send out informative and funny physical therapy videos so fans can connect with you more. Most importantly hold discussions on your fan page to engage in conversation with your fan members.

2. Announce Events And Updates To Your Fans: One of the greatest features of fan pages is you can send updates or announce events whenever you have something planned. For example, if you are having a learning event at your clinic or announcing a new product soon to be released then you can announce it on your fan page. It is a great way of building a list of interested users for your product or potential referrals for your private practice.

3. Interaction: When your fan page reaches a critical mass of fans you will find that they are interacting with each other and giving you great feedback and word of mouth advertising. This is invaluable and although it takes a little time to build, once done it is the greatest asset you can have.

Now that you know the benefits of creating a Facebook Fan page let us look at the step by step tutorial below to create your own.

1. Visit the Facebook Fan page website and select “Create Page” http://www.facebook.com/pages/

2. Enter your business category and the name of your fan page.

3. Enter your Facebook Account Information. If you don’t have an account you will need to create a new one.

4. Congratulations! Your Facebook Fan page is created. Now it’s time to customize it.

5. Start entering information about your physical therapy business to share with your fans.

That’s about it folks. Real simple steps to create your own Facebook Fan page. If you would like more in depth training on creating and promoting your Facebook Fan page, you can enroll in the PT Marketing Academy. We have live online workshops that show you how to create and promote your Facebook Fan page for your physical therapy business. Please leave your comments below if you have any questions about this tutorial. Re-tweets on Twitter and social bookmarking are always appreciated.

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• 6 Reasons Why Your Physical Therapy Business Should Be In Google’s Local Business Search Directory
• Improve Your Online Physical Therapy Marketing By Understanding Basic Keyword Research?
• 5 Tips To Drive Traffic To Your Physical Therapy Website
• My Physical Therapy Marketing Predictions For 2011

For physical therapists, just as for most business owners, physical therapy marketing is a necessary tool if a business is to prosper. The overall goal, of course, is to increase the number of clients / patient referrals you have and to magnify the amount of revenue coming in. Good marketing is about being proactively aware of the mistakes you could make, then taking steps to avoid those mistakes. Below are five significant marketing mistakes physical therapists will want to avoid making if 2010 is to be a profitable year.

1. Not having a "Target Audience" – As a physical therapist, not defining your target audience is a very big mistake. You can’t possibly expect to reach everyone, so you should really research which specific types of people can benefit the most from your particular services, products, and CEU courses.You’ll also want to target those who need the services you specialize in, as well as those who are close enough geographically to come to wherever your physical therapy practice or facility is located.
   
   
2. Not knowing what your prospective clients / patient needs are – Once you’ve found your target audience, you’ll need to do some further research to determine what they need if they’re to live a full life, what their main concerns are, what they’re expecting from the treatment they receive, and where they usually go to receive treatment.Once you find out this information, you’ll have a better understanding of the types of marketing strategies you should use to make them aware that you’re the physical therapist who will best meet those needs for them.
   
   
3. Not giving your business it’s own "personality" – You need to create a certain personality, or identity for your business. In the marketing field, this is called “building your brand.” Build it up and then stick to it. You’ll want to decide on your business’s personality before putting yourself in ads or on business cards because people will start associating your “brand” with you.Things to consider in this "branding" process are:- What you specialize in – The equipment you have available – Where you’re located – Your history and accomplishments – Who your staff is and what training they have – Your mission and vision for your physical therapy practice Add a little personality to your business by thinking of what you truly enjoy doing or what treatments in particular you feel very strongly about. Put all these things together to form your business’s personality. A "This is who we are" profile, if you will.
   
   
4. Not "Getting yourself out there”- By “getting yourself out there” I mean physically getting yourself in front of people who can help bring in new business for you, but also getting your name “out there” on the internet as well.The internet is fast becoming the main way people find information they need – from a good ice cream shop to the best physical therapist in their area. If you don’t have a well designed website that draws people to you and lets them know you’re the physical therapist they should rely on, your business will suffer greatly. And once you’ve built your website and it’s live on the internet, there are all kinds of online marketing strategies you can use to bring in new business.Also, don’t be afraid or ashamed to tell everyone you know, both friends and business associates, about what you do. Use phone calls, business cards, and emails to draw attention to your practice because you never know who you might be talking to that is either sending a new client your way or becomes your client themselves.
   
   
5. Not building your social contacts – Going right along with “not getting yourself out there,” is not building your social contacts to include other professionals who might be able to send new clients your way. This could be physicians, social workers, attorneys, etc. So, try to expand your contact list to include other professionals in addtion to doctors in the areas where you do business. This will work out well because if these professionals get to know you, and see the high quality of services you offer, they’ll most likely refer their patients or potential clients to you.
   
   

These five marketing mistakes should definitely be avoided in 2010 if you want your physical therapy practice to thrive this year. If you’ve been making any of these mistakes, don’t worry as all five are easily fixed. Make a list of ways you can stop making the mistake this year and set a goal for yourself so you can feel good when that mistake is no longer hindering your marketing efforts. If you have made any of these mistakes in the past, please comment below and tell us what were the things you did to correct them. We would love to hear your thoughts!

Similar Posts:

• My Physical Therapy Marketing Predictions For 2011
• 6 Reasons Why Your Physical Therapy Business Should Be In Google’s Local Business Search Directory
• The Advantages Of Listing Your Physical Therapy Practice With Online Business Directories
• The Benefits Of A Facebook Fan Page For Your Physical Therapy Business And How To Create One