The type of marketing you do varies depending on the condition and circumstances of your business. If you are just beginning a practice, you must spend a large percentage of your time and budget on marketing, especially direct response marketing. If you have built up your business, the focus of your marketing can be more on retaining your patients, creating alliances, and world-class customer service and outcomes.

I don’t recall a single doctor telling me they wanted to be chained to their practice so they could never leave it. Nearly every doctor I’ve worked with wanted a business that was not entirely dependent upon their daily production or constant supervision. Michael Gerber (The E-Myth) wrote about the system-driven business. I talk about a Goal Driven Practice. In every case, the objective is the same: The business should not depend on the personality of the owner.

Positioning is a marketing concept that means borrowing meaning from things people already trust, admire, or desire—and letting that meaning transfer to your service.

He had his son focus on the phrase “green and clean.” Not rules or steps, but an image. A purpose. Over time, once his son truly understood that the end in mind was green and clean, he could do the job on his own. The lesson is simple: when the goal and purpose are clear, performance follows.

Below is a sample coupon you can use or modify to suit your situation. Wishing you, too, a healthy start to your New Year -- in business and in life!