Lights! Camera! Action! The Power of PR

Foreword

If you are tired of seeing doctors less qualified than you on TV, or in magazines and newspapers, then this book is for you. It will guide you through the media maze and teach you how to position your practice and prepare yourself for media attention. PR has become the most sought after, and cost effective, way to promote a medical practice. Cosmetic physicians and providers around the world are all clamoring for the same thing…. the elective patient. And media savvy doctors know that the best way to capture that elective patient is through appearances on TV, articles placed in newspapers or magazines, or broadcasted on the radio or internet.

In a business and marketing sense, that elective patient is called a customer. Cosmetic surgery is often referred to as “retail medicine.” Customers spend money on things they want to buy and cosmetic surgery has become one of the hottest commodities to have. Even when there is a downturn in the economy, cosmetic surgery still remains one of the most desired luxuries and many people are realizing that an investment in themselves will have a far better payoff than any other investment they could make. We all know that all the make-up and cosmetic products in the world are not going to make a woman feel good about herself if she doesn’t like the size of her nose, the size of her breasts, or the wrinkles around her eyes. Women are not the only ones spending money on cosmetic surgery procedures. Each year the statistics show that the number of men going under the knife, or looking to turn back the clock is growing exponentially, especially as it applies to job security, career advancement and a younger physique.

In the five years prior to the recent 2008-2009 drop due to economic constraints, cosmetic surgery procedures had grown over 500%, and there are now as many as 20,000+ physicians and surgeons in a widening variety of medical specialties offering invasive and non-invasive cosmetic treatments in the United States alone. This number does not include the growing numbers of medi-spas, day-spas and shop fronts that also offer some kind of anti-aging, age reversal, youth capturing treatment that is luring patients away from you.

So how do you keep up with this growing trend? How do you maintain your medical ethics while developing a competitive edge and a successful practice? How do you earn a decent living in this highly competitive field? This book will help you sort through the many intricacies that make up the world of PR (television, print, radio, and internet media), and teach you how you can use this elusive and powerful marketing tool to its best, giving you an added advantage over the competition.

Angela O’Mara