DIY or Hire It Out For Your Clinic Marketing

<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>00:51</time>
<p>You're listening to Podiatry Marketing, conversations on building a successful podiatry practice with Tyson Franklin and Jim McDannald.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>01:00</time>
<p>Hi. I'm Tyson Franklin, and welcome to this week's episode of Podiatry Marketing. With me, as usual, is my cohost and good friend, Big Jim Mac. How you doing today, Jim?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>01:10</time>
<p>Doing well, Tyson. How about yourself? I yeah. No. I got some Tim Tams in a in a conference recently and back on back on the Tim Tam train.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>01:21</time>
<p>So people may not know what those are, but you I'm sure you can explain.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>01:24</time>
<p>Oh, they're Australia's best chocolate biscuit. And were they made in Australia or they making them over there an inferior quality?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>01:32</time>
<p>I think they do make them somewhere in North America.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>01:35</time>
<p>Oh, yeah. They're they're crap then. There there was</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>01:37</time>
<p>an Australian based orthotics company at the meeting. So I think they brought Alright. Over from from Australia.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>01:44</time>
<p>Oh, so how was that conference anyway?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>01:45</time>
<p>It was great. It was the American Academy Podiatry Sports Medicine, and it's a meeting I go to whenever it happens because I was this it was a great place when I was a student, a resident, and now as a you know, a marketing professional. I really enjoy heading over there and meeting up with everybody. I think you might have seen some photos of I did. Me and some of the folks out at dinner.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>02:05</time>
<p>So, yeah.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>02:06</time>
<p>I did. Did you care was Peter Wichnead that one or he wasn't?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>02:09</time>
<p>No. Rob Cananello, Jay Spector, Paul Langer. Yeah. And some some other folks. So yeah, it was a it was a great time there in Arizona.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>02:18</time>
<p>Dry and hot, but still a great time.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>02:19</time>
<p>I made a comment that said, 50% of people at this table have been on the podcast, of my podcast.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>02:26</time>
<p>Absolutely.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>02:27</time>
<p>So what are we talking about today?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>02:29</time>
<p>Yeah. So we're at the time where podiatrists or residents are getting ready to graduate. Graduate, maybe people are thinking about either starting their own practice and the question always comes up, is it better to DIY or hire out marketing for your clinic? So that's really the topic we're gonna jump into today.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>02:47</time>
<p>It's a good topic because it is well a lot of people they feel like they want to do it all themselves. But I think when it's come when you're first seeing a business, there are lot of other things you've gotta make sure you're doing right. And and maybe getting help is the best idea.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>03:01</time>
<p>Yeah. I think it's one of those things where I think a lot of younger podiatrists, especially that are super familiar with social media and kind of being digital natives, you know, everyone kind of thinks that they have a general sense of the type of marketing they should do. And some people do have the background maybe or the skills, but it's one of those things where, is it worth spending, like, Saturday mornings wrestling with Google Ads, you know, depending on where you're at? Or is it something where, you know, did you consider an agency proposal, you know, wondering kinda whether or not you're, you know, whether you're the right stage or not. So the decision usually gets made up kind of like kind of gut feel, which isn't usually the best.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>03:37</time>
<p>So what we're gonna go over today is you know, helping practices kind of decide whether you know, what things can be kind of DIY ed out of kind of having time and frugality versus you know, when is the time to maybe consider working with somebody.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>03:51</time>
<p>Okay. Well, let's get into it then. Where where does this all start? What's the first thing?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>03:54</time>
<p>Yeah. I would say the first step is really kinda like what can you actually afford to spend on marketing. Right? And how do you determine that? So before you decide to DIY or hire help, the real question isn't you know, what does marketing cost?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>04:06</time>
<p>It's what can your practice actually afford? The two numbers are gonna tell you that. First, what's a patient kind of visit worth to you currently on average? You know, getting a general sense of, like, on average, what is a how much revenue are you gonna gather per visit? You know, maybe per procedure, kind of whatever you're doing with these patients.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>04:25</time>
<p>Like, what is that number at right now? And second, you know, where is your practice right now as far as monthly revenue? Maybe you're three months in or six months in. Understanding what your current schedule capacity is. You know, is there a kind of fee for service?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>04:38</time>
<p>Mhmm. You know, are you at the point where you're, you know, at 20,000 a month, $40,000 a month of revenue? Are you getting close to, like, you know, 70 or 80? Where are you at in that in that stage? Because most agency proposals are gonna get rejected or, you know, marketing proposal get rejected because people see it as a cost or they're not quite ready for it.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>04:57</time>
<p>So, you know, trying to determine kind of where you're at on in your stage as far as ramping up your practice can give you a better sense when you know some of those numbers, and you're feeling kind of you have a general sense of that. Are you ready to spend five or 10% of revenue to kind of hopefully get a three to five x return on that investment.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>05:16</time>
<p>Yeah. And that that first thing you said though about the the value per patient is such a good number because if your value per patient is really low, then you don't have as much to actually spend on marketing. But that's why you need to keep looking at that that figure because your per patient value should constantly be going up. The more services you can actually offer to different patients, and therefore, more of a percentage you can put back in your marketing.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>05:40</time>
<p>No. Absolutely. Just understanding where those numbers are and kinda have when you track those numbers, you can kinda make better decisions as far as, you know, what direction your practice is heading. Are you, you know, trending in the right ways? Obviously, day to day things can be a little tricky, but from week to week or month to month, kinda catching those trends when it comes to patient revenue and your monthly revenue overall as a practice are two really important things to track.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>06:03</time>
<p>Because we've talked about most established practices can sub can can support somewhere between three to 7% of gross revenue for marketing. And really, you know, if you're especially you're trying to be an active growth phase, you know, it's time to get seen and be visible now. Obviously, that should, you know, scale as as you go up. But like, you know, if you wanna be seen for the those right fit patients, you've gotta find some way to be visible.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>06:31</time>
<p>With my clinic, we used to always yeah. It's between eight to 10%. Used to put back into marketing. But that was looking at all my marketing. That was everything from maintain my website to everything we were doing.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>06:43</time>
<p>So it was probably closer to 10%. We just used to say every month, we take 10 of our revenue, and we put it to a separate section bank account, and that's what we'd always put towards marketing. Sometimes some months we'd spend a little bit more, other months wouldn't spend quite as much, but on average it was about 10%. And I didn't have a problem with it. I just knew that was part of my budget.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>07:04</time>
<p>And I think it's it's good to run those numbers before you even get on a call with a with a marketing consultant or agent. Right? No. Knowing those numbers, you can go into that call or discussion to understand, like, is it gonna take, you know, five, ten, 15 patients to basically, like, recoup that that return on investment? Mhmm.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>07:23</time>
<p>So puts you in a much stronger bargaining position and just a better understanding so you feel like you have some numbers to base things off of. Because when we're kinda like grabbing at straws or just saying, oh, like, $1,500, that sounds expensive. But if you're doing shockwave therapy or you're doing a lot of ingrown toenails orthotics in the practice, maybe that's only like, you know, six to 10 patients for that month, and then the rest is kind of gravy potentially if you are being consistent with your marketing. So I think that's knowing those numbers going into any kind of negotiation or just a call with somebody in marketing, it can be a great way to kinda help frame that conversation.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>07:59</time>
<p>Yeah. And we did exactly the same thing. And like I said, if you're only spending $1,500, if you get two orthotic patients, it's covered. So using the orthotic economy, you only need to get two extra orthotic patients from that investment to make it worthwhile just to get your money back, and you're going to always get more than that.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>08:16</time>
<p>Absolutely. That's that's a very great point. And that kinda leads in the next one here is that, you know, we talk a lot about, you know, when you have more time than money, maybe that's, you know, when you're getting started off, that's a great time to start, you know, doing your own or DIY time. But to be honest, know, I think people need to ask themselves, do they have the skills or they have a general interest in learning? Because time and interest are not the same thing.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>08:38</time>
<p>Plenty of podiatrists tell themselves they'll DIY marketing because, you know, they have a slow Tuesday afternoon or, you know, six months later, the website's either half built or not built in a way that is sustainable or really kind of brings in ideal patients. So skills can be learned, but interest can't be faked. And the honest test is, you know, when you picture spending a Saturday morning, you know, writing a patient newsletter or learning how to set up Google Ads conversion tracking, do you feel curious, or does it feel like you're kind of resentful and you just you know you have to do it, but it's not something you really enjoy. So if you're resentful, no amount of free time will serve you because the work, you know, will get kind of half done at best. So it's really important to ask yourself a question like that.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>09:21</time>
<p>Yeah. And I think I think it's an honest question to ask because you are. If you're sitting there and you're resenting having to do whatever it is you're doing with your marketing, it's not gonna be as good as it could be. Compared to when you're doing something you're really enjoying, it's it's completely different.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>09:35</time>
<p>No. For sure. And maybe it's you you enjoy going out to meet people, maybe you enjoy networking. You don't like just being cramped up and like sitting at a computer and trying to figure out all these digital things. That's totally understandable.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>09:45</time>
<p>But find the areas that have you either have a genuine interest in or you think you can do well. Focus on those things and the things you can't do well, that's maybe time to consider outsourcing that to somebody else.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>09:57</time>
<p>And this is what you do, Jim?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>09:59</time>
<p>It is what I do for sure. Yeah. So like I'm always here to help educate my my colleagues about what their options and opportunities are, but yeah I definitely provide you know, both the planning, the strategy, and then kind of done for you services in this realm.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>10:12</time>
<p>Yeah. But it's like you said too, there might be certain aspects of your market you really enjoy. Like if you really like being out there like I used to love going into other surgeries meeting the doctors there or talking to physios and chiropractors or doing an in house training with them. I really, really enjoyed that, and I never would have outsourced that. But there were some other aspects of the market, you know, some things that didn't really enjoy too much that I would get some help with.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>10:36</time>
<p>No. Absolutely. And I think there's a huge component of like face to face and being seen and being known by people in your local community, and that's really tough to outsource.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>10:44</time>
<p>Mhmm.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>10:44</time>
<p>I think, you know, after a period of time, sometimes people hire like a, you know, a person that goes around and, like, throws lunches for people. But I think at least initially, if you're new to a community or you're just new into practice, nothing really beats getting out and seeing people face to face. So, you know, if you like that boot leather or that kind of kind of real world marketing, that that's tough to, like, quote, unquote, fake it. I think if you don't like doing digital, it's a lot easier to outsource, though. But I think it kinda leads into the next topic, and that's, you know, what should you never touch even when you have time?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>11:15</time>
<p>You know, some marketing tasks are perfectly fine to DIY. You know, posting practice photos on like your Google business profile on your website, maybe making blog posts, asking happy patients for reviews, replying to comments in a HIPAA compliant fashion, you should be able to do that just fine. But there's also mistakes that you can make that can be invisible to to someone that doesn't have an experience. So, you know, where's that second category in your Google Business Profile? Is that helping or hurting that?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>11:41</time>
<p>There's also you know, you can spend thousands of dollars or lose thousands of dollars on things like technical SEO, ad targeting and bid strategy, migrating a website from one hosting provider to another, things like schema markup, Google Business Profile recovery after suspension. The the rule of thumb is that DIY where is kind of the worst case scenario is that you this post gets, like, four likes and then outsource to an expert. The one of the worst case scenario is something like dropping three to five for ranking spots in Google Ads or or, you know, within Google Google ranking. So important to know, you know, what is when you're over your head. Definitely lots of good resources online for some of those things, but, you know, definitely, if you don't have time to put effort into educating yourself about the technicalities of things like SEO or schema markup, it's important that those things you don't necessarily know what they are, what you see are hugely important for the visibility of a practice.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>12:37</time>
<p>Can you explain a little bit more about migrating a website? If you've got a current which I'm migrating to a new one.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>12:44</time>
<p>Yeah. Absolutely. I think what happens a lot of times is that either, know, people like they have their website done by either a marketing company or a builder, and what they do generally is they go out and get a a really inexpensive maybe $5.10, $15 a month posting plan. Mhmm. So basically, is like a server where all the files of your web website live.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>13:06</time>
<p>And so, like, a lot of people in The US will use kind of GoDaddy as kinda like Oh, yeah. The cut rate or the lowest provider of this, which, like, may be okay for just getting started out. But, like, if you leave that marketing provider or that website builder who's, like, billing you for hosting, then your website needs to go somewhere. I use a company called WP Engine to basically and I usually recommend that the clinics I work with, they own their hosting so they don't have to they decide to move on from me or move on from other people. They're not having to bounce and move and migrate their website from one host to another host.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>13:40</time>
<p>Yeah. But I find WP Engine is pretty great because it has automatic backups and has a lot of software that helps accelerate the kind of loading of a website to make sure it can rank as well as it can in Google and such. So, yeah, it can be a bit of a complicated process. I think one of the benefits of WP Engine as well, it's a pretty simple way to migrate a one website from one host to WP Engine, but it is something that requires some technical ability when it comes to setting it up and make sure that the domain is pointing to the website, and you and make sure it's secure as well. Things like SSL code, and that kind of stuff to to make sure that, you know, it's it's not gonna get hacked or or any problems are gonna arise.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>14:23</time>
<p>Yeah. And that's one thing. Like, I've never set up my own websites. I've just never done it. Once the website's set up for me, I love looking after it.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>14:31</time>
<p>I love adding all the content. I'm on there all the time, changing things, bugging things up, getting it fixed up for me again. I really enjoy doing that. But from the start of actually doing the website, no. I've never really wanted to touch it.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>14:44</time>
<p>Because I know there's other people that can just do such a better job than what I can.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>14:48</time>
<p>Yeah. And sometimes there's like hidden things. Right? Another example of that is within Google Ads. There's kinda like the easy Google lets you pay them money and they just kind of run ads kind of wildly.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>14:57</time>
<p>Yeah. And it's not always based on for like a medical practice. You're gonna get these like notifications that like this is not allowed in medical advertising and you're gonna be concerned that, oh, no. Like, am I gonna get my account shut down, or what's gonna happen? But there's actually, like, a separate way to do Google Ads.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>15:14</time>
<p>It's kind of the quote, unquote pro version where you can have a lot more control and finite control over where the ads are going, you know, where they're showing up, making sure they're being compliant for medical advertising. And that's something that if you if you just go on to Google Ads and sign up for account for some search advertising, it's not always clear that, you know, how to set it up or how to set it up in the the best way to not only obviously save money and make sure that are effective, but also not run afoul of Google and their guidelines.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>15:42</time>
<p>Okay. And what if if you do outsource though? If you do choose to outsource, probably really important that they actually understand podiatry.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>15:49</time>
<p>Yeah. I I think it can make it easy a lot easier in a lot of different ways. There's a real difference between a generalist agency and someone who actually understands podiatry. You know, a generalist agency will hand you content maybe written by ChatGPT or Claude, you know, about foot doctor services that are kind of very vague, low converting. Maybe they're not kind of at that level of, you know, kind of patient voice or in ways that patients would understand on a podiatrist's website.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>16:14</time>
<p>You know, someone who works with podiatry clinics knows that a heel patient you know, the difference between a heel patient, a sports injury patient, a diabetic foot care patient, all these patients are gonna search differently and look up different terms. So they're gonna behave differently, and you have to con they're gonna kinda convert at different rates. So, you know, whenever you get on any kind of call with a a consultant or an agency, ask, you know, how many podiatry practices are they currently working with? Mhmm. You know, what's their average cost per patient that they're seeing?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>16:42</time>
<p>And can they show you, you know, an example of a website they built for podiatrists? And that will give you a lot of helpful information to make sure that you're working with someone that knows your profession and that you feel comfortable with moving forward with.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>16:54</time>
<p>No. No. I just think there was an email. I only received it today, and I had a bit of a chuckle. And the person says, oh, I see you you do podcasting, and you already have someone editing your show.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>17:06</time>
<p>Yeah. But it was me. They said, but for only $27 an episode and they gave me a list of all these things that they could do for me. Only $27 per episode. Everything But they had listed down for me, I went, what are gonna do is just take that, put it into chat, push a button, and then give me what I could I'm thinking, no thought is really going into what you're doing.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>17:26</time>
<p>It's such a generic thing that you are actually proposing to me. And I think a lot of podiatrists fall into that trap where they they just have the wrong person doing stuff for them, and they're they're not getting value for money, and the person who's doing it does not understand what we do or or how we should be talking to our patients.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>17:44</time>
<p>No. Absolutely. I think there's definitely some red flags there, right, when you're talking to those folks. It's like vague answers about results, you know, no podiatry, you know, examples or case studies. They don't really under you know, you can ask them a few podiatry questions, and they may not understand the difference between kind of, you know, heel pain versus Achilles pain, you know, posterior heel pain versus plantar fasciitis.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>18:04</time>
<p>They'll have no clue. So, you know, you're gonna have to write all that content yourself, for example, because they're probably not, gonna be dialed in in the way that you want to. You know, sometimes they're gonna you know, just the way that they they contract, you know, are they gonna stick with you? Is it just a build and go away situation? So it's really really important.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>18:23</time>
<p>And the biggest kind of bonus tell that someone is not maybe the right fit for you is that if they come to you and like, oh, we're the website guy, or we're the SEO guy, or we're the ads guy. We'll we'll do everything for you</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>18:35</time>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>18:36</time>
<p>At a at a price that seems like too good to be true. Because generally, it's gonna be too good to be true. And you don't at this level of practice, when you're in a private practice, you don't wanna have this kinda like this catch all agency necessarily because what's more important than even the delivery of the services, the strategy behind the services. What You are you trying to accomplish? And if they're jumping to tell you that they do everything right away, they've already jumped past that most important component, and that's developing understanding who you are, talking with you, and then seeing what you actually need.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>19:08</time>
<p>Because in my experience, not every podiatry clinic needs the exact same deliverables at the end of the day, or they don't have the same exact strategy. I mean, there's definitely categories of some people want more sports medicine, some people want more diabetics, but, you know, what location are you in? Who's your competition? There's so much that goes into this that you really have to be aware and be, you know, a little skeptical of people that are like, oh yeah, I can do everything for you before asking you those more strategic questions or feel like they're gonna be a true partner with you.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>19:37</time>
<p>Yeah. There was somebody posted something in a group a couple of days ago, and they said, I'm looking I'm looking for one company that can do this, this, that. And they named all these different things, and I went and I just go and I sent a a private message that I don't think that's what you should be doing. Trying to find one person that can do all these different things. They might do them all, but they're probably not gonna do them all very well.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>20:01</time>
<p>Or or they're doing them all for, like, automotive, HVAC</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>20:04</time>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>20:05</time>
<p>Used car used car dealerships. They're like, oh, we do it all for everybody. Right? So, like, I mean, I think it's one thing if you're dialed into a specific niche. But, like, yeah, if they're trying to do all things to all people, that's a huge red flag.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>20:17</time>
<p>Yeah. And that's why even when it comes to business coaching, I do business coaching for podiatrists. That's all I do. I don't do it for physios. I don't do it for chiropractors.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>20:25</time>
<p>Even though business is business, and there's a lot of things that we do, translate them really easily. But I wanna help podiatrists because when I help podiatrists, it helps podiatry, it helps profession. So I don't want to branch out. But I know there's some coaches, they work with every single profession. And they've got this we have we've this one Facebook ad.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>20:45</time>
<p>It'll give you a 150,000 patients next year. And it works in every single profession. We just just go to post it and walk away, and you're gonna have all this extra money coming in. It's not that simple.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>20:56</time>
<p>There you go. Sounds like the the secret sauce there, Tyson. Don't why hearing about that.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>21:00</time>
<p>I don't know why we should just stop doing what we're doing, and just do an just promote these other places. So anyway, what's next, Jim?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>21:09</time>
<p>Yeah. So wrapping it up, I think the the one of the most important things is how do you how we know if this is working for you. Right?</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>21:14</time>
<p>Yeah. That's probably a good idea.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>21:15</time>
<p>The number that yeah. So you gotta you gotta measure things. Right? And and that number the number that matters is new patients per month and kinda cost per new patient.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>21:25</time>
<p>That's it.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>21:25</time>
<p>You know, not impressions, not social media rankings, not the number of followers, not website visits. Now whether you're DIYing or paying agency, you need to have kind of a one you know, have a monthly scorecard with the numbers that actually move your practice forward. You know, you need to get some reporting, whether it be either a monthly or quarterly, that show the amount of, you know some people just get these like, oh, you have so many clicks or so many impressions. That's not not helpful. You need to be able to see how much this marketing is driving patients to your practice, and what kind of increase in revenue are you seeing after working with these folks.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>21:58</time>
<p>So Mhmm. New patient calls, how many new patients were seen. These are all analytics and measurements that things you should be measuring to make sure that you're moving in the right direction with whoever you decide to work with.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>22:10</time>
<p>Yeah. I do get frustrated when I will see people in the group, they'll be talking, and they'll say, oh, we use this agency. Yeah. I got 250 likes last month. Yeah.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>22:19</time>
<p>Who cares? Like you said, I would rather have five new patients than 250 likes that don't actually come in as patients. So it's yeah. Some people just it's one of the vanity metrics. They they like all the vanity of that looks like it's it's successful, but bottom line, it's new patients.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>22:36</time>
<p>It's revenue. That it's that's what matters.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>22:38</time>
<p>Yeah. Sometimes it's like that that that quote. Like, it's lies, damn lies, and statistics. You know? It's like kind of it's one of those things where people can kind of I wouldn't say fudge the numbers, but they can show you things that maybe aren't relevant to your actual practice growth.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>22:52</time>
<p>So knowing what those things are, you know, like I said, you know, having kind of a a system where you're you're gathering the number of new patients, you know, what the sources that are coming from, know, you what's working. Sometimes it takes time for these things to ramp up. So I'm not saying that, like, after month one, you should see, like, this massive inflow and, like, you know, you're on the gravy train with biscuit wheels. That's not gonna happen. But, like, you have to realize that there is a buildup period as those are these things, and hopefully, three, six months.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>23:17</time>
<p>And then after a year of working somewhere, you're gonna see things trending in that right direction. But you definitely need to be in contact with these folks and, you know, like, have clear measurables and goals with them and have these, you know, quarterly meetings where you can develop strategies to make sure things are heading in the right way.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>23:34</time>
<p>Yeah. And it's also consistency that if you're gonna work with someone, just play in a budget that you're going to do this whether it's six, twelve months at least. Like you said, before you actually start seeing the results, it's no different you go to the gym, you go for one month in a year a year and then and then you take a month off and then you go for month and then take a month and then take three months off and then do it again. That inconsistency, you don't get the results that you're basically chasing. With what you do, with what I do with coaching, I've had people that have approached me, are super keen and fired up to get working on certain things.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>24:06</time>
<p>Two months later, they go, I just need a break. And you go, yeah. Okay. Have a break. And you know they're not coming back Because they just once that once they have that break or someone pop back and they'll be back again for another month or so, and then they disappear again.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>24:20</time>
<p>You're you're not getting the consistency that you need. You gotta be consistent.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>24:24</time>
<p>Absolutely. I think, know, to kind of to recap today, you know, you really wanna match your marketing spend to your practice reality. Mhmm. People need to be honest about whether you, you know, want to do this work yourselves. You know, stay away from that kind of high risk DIY tasks.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>24:39</time>
<p>If you hire, you know, hire someone who understands podiatry specifically and measure new patients and not vanity metrics. So this week, I really recommend people run three numbers. You know, value per patient visit Yep. Currently monthly revenue, and how full is your schedule actually is right now. And the realistic marketing budget, you know, whether you're DIY or hiring somebody out kind of falls out with, you know, where those three numbers are currently.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>25:04</time>
<p>I think that is a fantastic action step too. Well, those three things. Those those three things I would say, if you're gonna measure something, only measure what's gonna that you can actually use to make decisions on. I saw a program recently in the way at this dashboard and all these different things you can actually measure in the clinic. And I was looking at it online, and I'm looking through all these things I can measure, and I'm thinking 80% of this stuff is just rubbish.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>25:29</time>
<p>It's not important. Or if you were measuring that, if I was working somewhere and that's what they were measuring on me, like my efficiency number, I'd be dirty on them because there might be a lot of things. You might be doing things with patients, but you might be spending a certain amount of time doing other stuff for the practice that doesn't equate in revenue for that number of hours. So, yeah, I think just measure what's important and what's what you can make decisions on, make your business better.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>25:54</time>
<p>No. That's a great way to kinda summarize for sure. And I would say, you know, if people found this this episode helpful, you know, obviously, you know, maybe you can use these these things in your practice, but maybe there's a younger podiatrist who's getting started. Maybe somebody who's graduating for residency and open their own clinic. Share that with that colleague or that that resident fresh out of their program, and hopefully, it can be of use for them, and they can benefit from some things that Tyson and I shared today.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>26:20</time>
<p>Okay. Big Jim. That was fantastic.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>26:22</time>
<p>Yeah. Was a fun one, Tyson.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>26:24</time>
<p>Okay. Any hints on what you're talking about next week?</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>26:27</time>
<p>No hints. No hints. No no no no hooking people in at the end of this episode.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>26:33</time>
<p>Okay. Okay, Jim. I look forward to talking again next week.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>26:36</time>
<p>Sounds great, man.</p>
<cite>Tyson E. Franklin:</cite>
<time>26:37</time>
<p>Okay. See you. Bye now.</p>
<cite>Jim McDannald, DPM:</cite>
<time>26:39</time>
<p>Thanks for listening to Podiatry Marketing with Tyson Franklin and Jim McDaniel. Subscribe and learn more at podiatry Marketing. That's the website address, podiatry.marketing.</p>