Marketing Tips for Doctors

Barbara Hales
  • 5.0 (18)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

This podcast is for you if you are a doctor, dentist, integrated health physician, chiropractor, or any other type of health provider. Learn how to free up your time, earn 5-star ratings, and learn marketing secrets that have been proven to work on this show with Barbara and her guests. As medical pros, you have to market yourself to be successful. Listen and hear more about how Barbara created her proven marketing system for her thriving private practice. Master the marketing techniques to attract ideal patients, develop a stronger rapport, grow your practice and boost your rankings!

  1. 5d ago

    We’ve Met Now What’s Next

    In this episode, Barbara discusses:   Why networking is really about what happens after the introduction—because relationships, not contacts, are where the real value lives. The simple “48-hour rule” and no-ask follow-ups that make you instantly stand out, since almost no oneactually does them.  How to treat every relationship like a bank account—making genuine deposits of value and kindness long before you ever ask for anything. Key Takeaways:  “Networking ends when the event is over. Relationships begin when the follow-up starts.” -Dr. Barbara Hales  Connect with Barbara Hales:   Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist TRANSCRIPT  Introduction: We’ve Met… Now What?  Dr. Barbara Hales 0:00  Hi, welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales. Today we’re talking about something that almost nobody teaches us—not in medical school, not in residency, not in business school, not even at most networking events. We’re talking about what happens after you’ve met someone. You attend a conference, you exchange business cards, you connect on LinkedIn, you have a wonderful conversation—and then nothing. Weeks pass, months pass, years pass, and the connection quietly disappears. That’s why today’s episode is called We’ve Met… Now What? Networking isn’t just what happens during the introduction. Networking is what happens after it. The introduction is simply the beginning of the story. The relationship is where the value lives. Today, I’m going to share practical follow-up strategies that work, but I also want to share three stories that taught me something important. People rarely remember your elevator pitch. They remember how you made them feel.    A Lost Badge and a Lesson in Kindness  Several years ago, I attended a healthcare conference. Like many conferences, there were hundreds of attendees. Everyone seemed to be collecting business cards like children collecting baseball cards. Near the end of the day, I noticed a woman standing alone near the registration desk. She looked frustrated. She had misplaced her conference badge and was worried because she needed it to attend an evening reception. I helped her retrace her steps. We searched a few meeting rooms. Eventually, we found it tucked under a chair. She was relieved. We chatted for maybe five minutes—nothing remarkable, no business discussion, no sales pitch, no strategic planning, just two people having a conversation. A year later, completely out of the blue, she reached out. Her organization was looking for someone with expertise in healthcare communications and patient engagement. She remembered me—not because I handed her a brochure, not because I gave her a perfect elevator pitch. She remembered me because I helped her during a stressful moment. That interaction led to introductions, opportunities, and relationships that lasted well beyond that conference. The lesson: people may forget what you said, but they rarely forget kindness.  A Contact Is Not a Relationship  Here’s a controversial statement: most networking doesn’t fail because people can’t meet others; it fails because they never follow up. Think about it. How many business cards have you collected over the years? How many LinkedIn connections do you have? How many names sit in your phone that you haven’t spoken to in years? A contact is not a relationship. A relationship requires attention, just like a garden. If you plant seeds and never water them, nothing grows.  The 48-Hour Rule  Here’s the 48-hour rule. One of the simplest things you can do is follow up within 48 hours. Send a message, keep it simple: “Great meeting you at the conference. I enjoyed our conversation. I’d love to stay connected.” That’s it. No sales pitch, no proposal, no immediate request. You’re simply continuing a conversation. Most people don’t do this, which means when you do, you immediately stand out.  The Handwritten Card  Years ago, a physician I met at an event sent me a handwritten Christmas card—not an email, not a newsletter, not a marketing piece, a simple handwritten card. Inside, he wrote, “Barbara, it was a pleasure meeting you this year. Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season.” That was it. No agenda, no hidden ask, no business proposition, just kindness. Over the years, we exchanged occasional notes. Sometimes months would pass, sometimes years, but every interaction was genuine. When someone later asked me if I knew a physician they should connect with, his name immediately came to mind—not because he marketed himself, not because he promoted himself, but because he stayed present, because he stayed human. The lesson: being memorable often has nothing to do with being impressive. It has everything to do with being thoughtful.  Relationships Are a Bank Account  I love thinking about relationships as a bank account. Every interaction is either a deposit or a withdrawal. Many professionals make a withdrawal immediately: Can you refer patients? Can you hire me? Can you introduce me? Can you buy my service? But they haven’t made any deposits yet. Successful relationship builders do the opposite. They make deposits first. They share an article, offer encouragement, congratulate someone on an accomplishment, make an introduction, and provide value without expecting immediate return. Eventually, trust accumulates, and trust is the currency that creates opportunities. People often tell me, “Barbara, I don’t want to bother people.”  Thoughtful Follow-Up Is Not Bothering  Dr. Barbara Hales 8:06  I understand that, but thoughtful follow-up does not bother someone. Nobody is annoyed by “Congratulations on your promotion,” “I saw your article and thought of you,” “Your recent presentation was excellent,” or “Hope you’re doing well.” That’s relationship-building, and relationship-building is never out of style.  Every Conversation Matters  Many years ago, I met a young student who was exploring a career in healthcare. We spoke briefly. I offered some encouragement and answered a few questions. That was it—nothing dramatic, no expectation of ever seeing that person again. Several years later, I received a message. The student had become a healthcare professional. In the message they wrote, “You probably don’t remember me, but years ago you took time to talk with me when I was trying to figure out my future. That conversation meant more than you know.” I sat there reading that message with tears in my eyes because I genuinely didn’t realize the impact that brief interaction had. We often underestimate the effect we have on people. A few encouraging words, a few minutes of attention, a little kindness—sometimes those moments stay with people for decades. The lesson: every conversation matters. You never know which connection will become meaningful, and you never know whose life you may influence simply by showing up as a decent human being.  Relationships Create Opportunities—Networking Just Creates Introductions  One of the biggest misconceptions about networking is that networking creates opportunities. I don’t think that’s true. Relationships create opportunities. Networking simply creates introductions. The opportunity comes later—often much later, sometimes years later. That’s why the goal isn’t to collect contacts. The goal is to build genuine relationships. After meeting someone, send a short note within 48 hours. Connect on LinkedIn and include a personal message. Share a useful article related to your conversation. Congratulate them when they achieve something. Introduce them to someone who may help them. Check in every few months. Remember birthdays or work anniversaries. Be genuinely curious about their success. Most of these take less than five minutes, yet almost nobody does them consistently.  Conclusion: Build Something Meaningful  As we wrap up today, I’d like to leave you with this thought. The most valuable relationships in my life did not begin with a transaction—they began with a conversation, a shared moment, a small act of kindness, a genuine interest in another person. So the next time you leave a conference, a networking event, a medical meeting, or even a chance encounter with someone interesting, don’t ask “How can this person help me?” Instead, ask, “How can I continue this relationship?” Because networking ends when the event is over, and relationships begin when the follow-up starts. And that’s the answer to today’s question: We’ve met… now what? Now you build something meaningful. Thank you for joining me on Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m Dr. Barbara Hales, the Medical Strategist. Until next time, keep building trust, keep building relationships, and keep making a difference.    The post We’ve Met Now What’s Next first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

    13 min

  2. Jun 3

    Why Busy Practices Stay Broke

    In this episode, Barbara discusses:  Why many successful-looking practices still struggle financially behind the scenes. ● How doctors canidentify the kinds of patients they truly want to serve. ● The hidden cost of attracting the wrong cases into a busy schedule.  Key Takeaways:  “A packed waiting room doesn’t mean a profitable practice — the real success comes from attracting the right patients and building the right referral relationships.”  — Dr. Barbara Hales Connect with Barbara Hales:   Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist     Profitable Practice vs Busy Practice    Dr. Barbara Hales 00:02  Hi, welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, and today we have Dr. David Romani with us. Welcome to the show.    Dr. David Romani 00:16  Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.    Dr. Barbara Hales 00:19  There’s a dirty secret in healthcare that nobody talks about: a packed waiting room does not mean a profitable practice. Dr. David Romansky spent over 25 years figuring out why, first as a clinic owner, then as the founder of Doctor Referral Institute. He works with healthcare practices across multiple specialties, helping them build referral systems that consistently bring in the right cases, not just more cases. Well, let’s get into it. Dr. David    Dr. David Romani 00:58  Sounds good. Thank you for the intro.    Dr. Barbara Hales 01:01  How is it that you decided upon doing this referral system? What got?    Dr. David Romani 01:11  Yeah, good question. So, actually, is in my own practice, so this is back early, probably know, probably 2530 years ago, we were working on getting into a publication that was pretty popular for our demographic that we were looking for, and we finally got into this big publication, was actually called Suburban Women, that went to probably about 80,000 women household in the area, who was a big target for our practice. So we ran the ad, and we’d met every week with our team, and I’d had working for me, and so the phone was ringing off the hook, and I asked my office manager, So how’s that new ad going? And she said, It’s going awful. I go, what do you mean, the phone’s ringing off the hook? She’s like, yes, we’ve had tons of phone calls, but we really only had two cases that are really what we want to see, not only cases that are appropriate, but also on the business side, the appropriate payer mixes.    Understanding Referral Relationships    Dr. Barbara Hales 03:20  Why do great doctors still struggle to grow even today? Despite the fact that there is supposedly a shortage of doctors,    Dr. David Romani 03:30  It’s education. It’s really what it is. It’s education of not only, I guess, from a doctor’s standpoint of it’s truly understanding the business side, because if you think about, as a provider, we’ve always been taught, you know, patients first, patient everything, which is exactly what we’re talking about. We want to make sure patients are being taken care of, but on the business side, we need to take a step back and look at our actual practice, right? Because if you think about the person who walks through the door as an owner of the practice, whether it is exactly the case you want to see, or if it’s something that maybe is not an appropriate fit for what you’re doing, either condition, pay, or mix. You’re the only one affected. Everybody else makes the same amount of money, right? Whether it’s the front desk, referral coordinators, office managers, assistants, or whatever else, everybody gets paid the same. You do not.    Dr. Barbara Hales 04:32  What do referring providers actually base their decisions on?    Dr. David Romani 04:37  Good question, and a lot of it has to do with people they know and people they can relate to, right? So, we do have some people who will say, you know, I do work on those relationships, and we show up, you know, every, you know, couple of times a year and bring something to them. Well, they see patients every week, right? And so every week they’re seeing people, so we want to make sure we’re staying on top of them and communicating with them.    Seeing the Right Patients    Dr. Barbara Hales 05:32  You’ve, you’ve talked about the busy trap. Why a full schedule doesn’t mean a profitable practice. What do you mean by that?    Dr. David Romani 05:42  Well, because if you think about it, I’ll give you a perfect example. We have a client who will retire in about six years. He said he wants to be able to retire in, and he says that right now in my practice, I have a waiting list of about 5 to 6 months or 5 to 6 weeks to get in to see me yet. If I actually looked at it, because one of the assignments I gave him said, Look at your practice and understand actually the demographics of it, and 35% of his practice is full of cases that are really not what he should be seeing, right? They’re not really the kinds of cases they want to see in their office.    Dr. Barbara Hales 06:42  I see. Well, you also talk about how your best referral sources aren’t sending you patients. That seems like a country contradiction. If they’re the best referral sources, how could they not be sending you patients?    Dr. David Romani 06:56  Because they don’t understand exactly who to send those cases to, right? So, this happens a lot, right? They may have the demographic that’s perfect for you, but you’ve not been there in front of them to educate them on exactly what you do.    Dr. Barbara Hales 07:32  I see. Well, how do you stop seeing the wrong patients?    Dr. David Romani 07:37  Well, and the biggest thing is going to be is that first thing again is understanding what you want to see, right, and not so much that, but really the demographic is finding out, okay, what are you good at, who has those cases, and then building and nurturing those relationships with those appropriate providers.    Dr. Barbara Hales 08:30  Well, don’t you have to see all the patients referred to you?    Dr. David Romani 08:35  Of course, you can’t go in and not tell people not to come into your practice, right? You can’t say that, but if you educate the referring providers again, of, hey, guess what, this is exactly the case I’m looking for.    Dr. Barbara Hales 08:55  And do you have a, you know, like you wash my back, wash yours in terms of you referring patients to them as well?    Dr. David Romani 09:04  No, we don’t. We don’t set that up as far as a reverse expectation for any of our clients.    Building a Referral System    Dr. Barbara Hales 09:38  Well, as is, you know, with your name implying Doctor Referral Institute, this is more beneficial for the patients themselves than for the physicians. How do you get your name out there so patients at. As well as doctors know who to come to.    Dr. David Romani 10:03  Yep, good question. Yeah, so for all the work we do, we deal directly with the doctors themselves. All of our clients are specialists, so think of anyone in the medical or dental industry. Does not matter who they are; if they can receive a referral, they can be a client of ours.    Dr. Barbara Hales 11:44  Okay, so you come into an area that you may not have been in before, as you are expanding, and you, you know, go to speak to the doctors. How do you get in, how do you get in the door?    Dr. David Romani 12:04  Great question. Yeah, and remember that’s the number one question I get from everybody. How do you get in the door? Right, we’ve been there before, because you think about even in my practice, yours, you know, the gatekeepers’ responsibility is to keep you out, right?    Dr. Barbara Hales 14:13  Well, that certainly makes sense. Do you, do you run webinars or any type of educational programs to attract prospective physicians.    Dr. David Romani 14:26  Yeah, so we do different, all kinds of different items for that. We do different things with us on social media, across different aspects, and in webinars. We also offer, for any of them, which is pretty powerful, is a free referral evaluation.    Dr. Barbara Hales 15:48  Well, that certainly sounds extremely helpful. So, are what about patients that can only go to certain providers based on their insurance participation, does that enter into your service as well?    Dr. David Romani 16:08  Absolutely, yeah, that’s part of the educational process, right?    Helping Doctors Grow Their Practice    Dr. Barbara Hales 16:37  I say, let’s say you are considering me as a client. Tell me, you know, like, tell me what your spiel would be that would make me just say, you know, I have to do this.    Dr. David Romani 17:09  Well, part of the difference is understanding that we’re not a marketing company that hasn’t been there, right? I’ve been in your shoes, right? As far as a provider goes to understand that nuance.    Dr. Barbara Hales 20:09  In getting to know all the doctors in a particular area. Can you help a physician who says, you know what, what service is lacking that by taking it, I would be unique, or what am I offering that is unique that nobody else is doing?    Dr. David Romani 20:30  Yeah, absolutely, yeah, we do look at that. So, we have, we have quite a bit of data as far as the market share goes, and we don’t have every provider in the country, but pretty

    25 min

  3. May 27

    Women, and the AI Revolution

    In this episode, Barbara discusses:  Why most business owners are using AI the wrong way — and how to shift from “tool usage” to AI-powered systems.  How Ronnie automated repetitive admin work and saved 10–15 hours every week.  Why identifying your biggest business pain point is the best place to start with AI.    Key Takeaways:  “AI should not replace the human connection in your practice — it should remove the repetitive work so doctors can spend more time building trust, relationships, and better patient care.” — Dr. Barbara Hales Connect with Barbara Hales:   Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPT (242) Introduction to AI for Business Owners  Dr. Barbara Hales 0:02  Hi, welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Doctor Barbara Hales, and today we have a special guest named Ronnie Toronto. She is the founder of One Woman. A woman shows a community how to help women business owners bring AI into their work strategically, in a language that feels like theirs. Her mission: no woman should have to figure AI out alone now. This is big, because you know every day you hear about AI doing new things, and every day there’s a new type of AI, whether it’s the three different divisions of Claude or Nano Banana or one of many, many AI types, and each one you know is known to do something better than any of the others, so you know it can get really confusing, especially if you want it to help you out in, in your business, you know, AI isn’t just Chat GPT anymore. Her method starts with the pain, not the tools. She does not ask a business owner which AI to buy; she asks which task is killing her this month, today. She walks us through how she built her own AI-run business and where any solo practitioner should actually start. Welcome to the show, Ronnie.    Ronnie Toronto 1:59  Hi, welcome, and thank you for the opportunity to be here with you and share about some of my work.  How Ronnie Got Started with AI   Dr. Barbara Hales 2:10  How did you get involved in AI to begin with?  Ronnie Toronto 2:15  Um, as I think, as like everyone else, I saw AI ads and AI all around the news and the platform at Instagram and Facebook, and like I felt left behind, and because like I knew a CGPT, but I didn’t know how really to use it, and everybody say like, oh, it’s the best thing, it’s it’s helped me in my business, so I just started to explore more and more, and read, and to take process, and I like surround myself with people that use AI as a victim and not only as a tool, and and then from that moment and on I realized that I can change my entire business with AI.    Life Before and After AI Automation    Dr. Barbara Hales 3:10  Tell us, what a week in your life looked like before AI, and what it looks like now.    Ronnie Toronto 3:18  So, before AI, I was doing all of the admin tasks, and all of all of the tests, actually alone, like I did everything manually, and if it’s to spend like between 10 to 15 hours a week on on building reports for clients, and and now I can actually say that, like, AI build me the same report, the exact same system, but even better to send to clients without me needing to operate a single file, like he can do everything for me, and it’s actually same between 10 to 15 hours a week, only for one task.  The First Task, Ronnie Automated  Dr. Barbara Hales 4:09  What was the very first task you handed over to AI, and what happened? Walk us through that, I    Ronnie Toronto 4:28  What was the first task that I gave to AI to do for me, because I thought it’s like taking a lot of time and a lot of effort, and to actually uploading the same, the same numbers through Google Sheets manually all day long take me a lot of time, and so I think that was my biggest pain point, and but I didn’t, I mean to say that I didn’t automate my. Our business, because I do believe in humanity, and I do believe that we need to do some stuff in the business, because in them the client chooses me because of who I am, and not because the AI can do it, and I chose four pain points to automate it, and there are 1000 in a business.    AI Morning Brief and Email Prioritization    Dr. Barbara Hales 5:25  You get something called a morning brief in your inbox every day. Tell us what it is, who built it, and how it changed your mornings.    Ronnie Toronto 5:42  Okay. I don’t know if a lot of people in the podcast know about what is it, but you can use clothes and clothes have a clothes and you have code a cloud code, so I’m using Power right now, and I build a skill like you have your own system that you teach her how to be new, so I build my co-work to do the same thing that I’m doing manually, so every morning when I wake up, Co-op already builds for me the priorities that I have on my email, like who is the most important to answer, who I can actually ignore, and so he, he built for me this, and that I can see what is the urgent stuff in my business, what I need to answer, and I don’t need to just go through 40 or 20 or even five emails anymore. It’s just in, and when I wake up and open the computer, it’s already building for me. It’s already showing me what I need to do next in the morning, without me having to start reading and exploring what was happening when I closed the computer last night.    Building an AI Stack Beyond ChatGPT    Dr. Barbara Hales 7:01  Most people think AI just means ChatGPT. What is actually in your AI stack, and what does each tool do for you?    Ronnie Toronto 7:16  And so I was starting to say that what I’m using isn’t a tool, and it’s not that I’m trying, like, to sell another product, but when you’re using AI at JGPT, you’re using one tool, like you pay $30 months for one tool, they do one thing, but the co-work that I’m using, the AI that I’m using right now, it’s a system that you pay, that you pay, you pay $20 but $20 a month, but you can have unlimited tool that, like, is built for you, and that you can operate with your entire business, and to reduce the amount of time that you spend on the same repetitive test, but is one tool that do every, like, it’s one tool, but inside with unlimited rule. Yeah, it’s magic. What is    Common AI Mistakes Business Owners Make    Dr. Barbara Hales 8:28  What is the biggest mistake you see business owners making with AI right now?    Ronnie Toronto 8:40  I think the biggest one is that people that business actually they are not replaced by AI but being separated by AI because again it’s easy to use JGP team to ask him the same question but in the end you need to build operation, you need to build AI that is like your team, and you need to ask yourself not how I’m using AI, it’s actually how AI helping me to replace my pain point to reduce my repetitive test, like how he’s walking without me needed to touch the computer, need to use or ask him over and over again the same question, because I’m not asking for my tool to build me report, he know the co-work, know to send an email to each client every Sunday, and every, and every month, actually, like it’s weekly, it’s daily, weekly, and monthly. He knows how to send the reports along without me needing to tell him, “Oh, you need to send reports. He knows how to open Google Sheets. How to build the same report that clients like to see and send it to the mail with the sentence that and summarize with text that the clients want and like to see. What is one    How to Avoid AI Overwhelm    Dr. Barbara Hales 10:17  What is the biggest thing that could save them from the mistakes that they’re making with AI,    Ronnie Toronto 10:30  I would say that they need to stop using it as a tool, they need to start exploring more than only chp and ask themselves what can help me to reduce the time that I’m spending or or even to eat, like I know it’s sometimes very nervous, like it’s become nervous like to just using Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn, and see the ads popping up with AI, and then become confused where to start, what to do. So just stop anything. What is your biggest pain point? And from that point on, explore what can help you replace this pain point with a tool with AI.    The Vision Behind One Woman Show    Dr. Barbara Hales 11:26  Tell us about the one-woman show that you have. I understand that’s a community.    Ronnie Toronto 11:33  Yes, so one more show is for women in business and a movement that turns women business owner from traditional operation using AI as a tool into AI powered operate with their team running in the background, and so it’s helping business women to see there is more, and like I was attending in a lecture a few months ago, and 90 90% of the people in the room were women, and most of them knew what is AI, but none of them know how to actually use it. So I realized that there is a gap on the market, and it’s important that business women out there will become one and actually understand how to speak with AI in more in a feminine language, language in a way that we can understand how to use it, and I didn’t find it, so I realized that if I didn’t find it, maybe I can open one and help other women out there to understand a bit more about AI and how to use it correctly,    What Happens Inside the One-Woman Show Community    Dr. Barbara Hales 12:46  So what happens inside the One Moment Show,    Ronnie Toronto 12:52  And so right now, I am trying to share as much informatio

    18 min

  4. May 22

    Scaling the Patient Experience

    In this episode, Dr. Corey Malnikof discusses:  Scaling from one clinic to 24 locations  Building a patient-focused clinic culture  Marketing strategies that work for doctors  AI, SEO, and social media marketing  Advice for growing a successful practice    Key Takeaways:    “Marketing works best when it comes from authenticity. If you truly love helping people, then marketing simply becomes sharing that passion with your community.” – Dr. Corey Malnikof    “Scaling a practice requires systems, leadership, and the willingness to step into uncertainty before growth happens.” – Dr. Corey Melnikov    “Doctors don’t always need bigger budgets to grow. Many of the best patient acquisition strategies are free and relationship-driven.” – Dr. Corey Malnikof Connect with Corey Malnikof Email: drcorey@palmercare.com Business: palmercaregroup.com Twitter: @palmercaregroup @coreymalnikof Connect with Barbara Hales:   Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPTION (241) Building a Patient-Focused Chiropractic Brand    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “Welcome to another episode of Marketing Tips for Doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales. Today, you’re in for a rare treat. We have Dr. Corey Malnikov here with us. He is the CEO of Palmer Care Group, a healthcare organization operating 24 chiropractic clinics across the whole United States. He is an entrepreneur, speaker, and leader known for building high performing teams, scalable systems, and world class patient experiences. Today we’re going to dive into what actually works when it comes to marketing for doctors, how to attract the right patients, grow your practice, and build something that truly scales. Welcome to the show.”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “Thank you for the introduction. Always fun to hear all of that in 111 share. Thank you.”    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “When you first started out, did you see patients at that time?”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “Yeah, no, I was a.. I’ve been in practice for 21 years. I saw patients probably up to about seven or eight years ago, I had about 10 clinics at the time, and so I was a full-time guy. I loved seeing patients that they literally had to kind of rip it out of my hands for me to stop, but I kept cutting back. I kept.. I went from full-time to Monday, Wednesdays, and then just Mondays, and then I think I got to the point where I had a patient laying down, I was listening to what my doctors were saying, I was listening to the front desk, I was thinking about the other clinics, and I just felt bad for not being there 100% for the patients, and so, yeah, it’s been probably seven eight years, and I’ve been running the clinics instead of in it, but is there a long time?”    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “What made your practice unique in compared to other chiropractic offices around? Did you have multiple streams of income? Where were there additional services that others didn’t provide? Were there products that you felt your patients could use? Like, what is it that made you different,”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “yeah. And I will say, you know, with 24 clinics, you know, when doctors are into different things, we do have all sorts of different techniques and instruments and things that we use on patients, but really, what makes us different is I always tried to create this atmosphere, you know, I was a big Starbucks junkie in the beginning, you know, and I was trying to open a practice, and you know, I thought I’d graduate, put a shingle up, you know, the Red Sea would part, patients would line up, I’d take care of them, and the reality, like most, most entrepreneurs find out, is you open up, and then you know nothing. So I studied a lot, I studied Amazon, I studied Nordstrom, I studied the Ritz, I studied Disney, and I studied Starbucks, and Starbucks talked about how Starbucks was meant to be the third home, right? You had home, you had work, and then Starbucks,”    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “but no, I thought no drive-through, right?”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “Right, exactly, no drive-thru, but I thought, you know, a chiropractic clinic, a wellness clinic, should be the third home, not Starbucks. And so I kind of wanted to create this atmosphere, and I was always really big into personal and professional development for my doctors, for my staff, and even for my patients. So we tried to build a place, and we always talked about when patients come into our place, if their anxiety is high, we’re going to lower their anxiety to peace, and if their energy is low, we’re going to bring their energy up. And so for us, it was all about the experience, the second you walked through the door, the way you were greeted, the way you were treated, the way your case was managed, and how we kind of had an impact on every aspect of your life, emotional, physical, chemical, and treatment. And so that was the goal, and for me, that’s what’s made us different. It’s just the culture and the place we created,”    Scaling From One Clinic to 24 Locations    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “that’s wonderful. Now, before you had your first offshoot, you must have been a little bit nervous about doing that. Would opening up another location divide my patients, or would I succeed? You know, walk me through that, and how, and how you did succeed.”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “Yeah, I had no intentions of having 24 clinics. I had every intention of opening one clinic and trying to make it as successful as humanly possible, being a big part of the community and making that who I was. The reality was I opened a clinic, didn’t know what I was doing, figured out what I was doing, and then very fast grew it. I had been renting a room while I was waiting for my clinic to get built with from another chiropractor, and when he kind of saw how fast I built it, he said, “You know, my friend is selling a practice, I’ll go buy it, I just need you, you can be 5050 partners, no money, and you just fix it, and so that second clinic. Was just kind of like I couldn’t do anything else in my current clinic. My wife was about to join me, so we couldn’t, we couldn’t fit any more patients there. So the second clinic was like literally completely unpredicted, but man, it was fun. You know, I got to drive down, I was about 45 minutes away, go to this clinic that was, you know, pretty much failing, and then take it from where it was and grow it up, and so, yes, it was scary, but I’ll tell you, the scarier step wasn’t that second one, because the first one was successful, the second one was just fixing, but I went from two clinics to four clinics in a blink, and the scary part of that was, you know, I had no money, and then I started to make a little bit of money. Then we got the second clinic, and then I started to make a little bit more money, and I got four clinics, and I have negative money. So that was where I learned about the scariness of expansion. You know, when you, when you want to expand and you want to scale, you just, you have to be willing to step into this world of fear, where you’re going to take a few steps backwards before you step forwards, and that’s kind of been not to go off subject, but that’s been the whole thing, right? I went from money to no money, and then from four clinics to 10 clinics, where I went way backwards, and then got caught up, and then from 10 clinics to 20 clinics, and every time we make a massive growth, now I have to expect that fear and expect that, and just be willing to make that jump and be prepared.”    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “What’s really interesting is, I think many people hearing your story would think, well, by the time you got to the second or third one, you had, you had it down, and it was just going to be gravy after that.”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “Yeah, yeah. No, you know, it changes, you know. Five clinics is you right? I can see patients full time and still have my fingers on everything, but it’s not me anymore, right? There has to be a C suite. There has to be an infrastructure that I built and pay for for people to run our systems and run our marketing and run our HR and to run our everything, so with every clinic you add, you are limiting your ability to accomplish the job that you would normally do, and now you have to replace yourself with somebody who is paid and trained by you, so it’s a learning curve, because none of us, you know, on this podcast, I think your listeners, the doctors, none of us are trained entrepreneurs, trained businessmen, trained business women, we just have to learn as we go and study as hard as we can, and all of it’s a learning curve, but it’s a fun ride if you take”    Dr. Barbara Hales:  “it, when you started realizing that other people would be taking over the roles that you once were actively doing. Did you feel bad about it, or were you just so excited that it didn’t matter?”    Dr. Corey Melnikov:  “No, no, you know, you don’t want to let go of those. You grip them, death grip those. Not only do you not want to give them up, but then you know you have to learn very quickly that you can’t micromanage, right? So, like, I’m going to allow you to do second interviews and decide if this person has the ability to do the job, and I have to be able to, like, not give my approval on every employee that gets hired, and that is a very difficult thing to do, so no, every step along the way, ever

    23 min

  5. May 13

    Can Doctors Survive This

    In this episode, Barbara discusses:  Why video creates deeper patient trust than traditional advertising and why trust is the real currency in medicine.  How simple, authentic smartphone videos outperform expensive, polished productions in attracting the right patients.  How familiarity bias makes patients feel like they already know you before the first appointment.  Key Takeaways:  “The future belongs to physicians who learn how to combine technology with humanity, not one or the other.” – Dr. Barbara Hales Connect with Barbara Hales:   Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahalesBooks: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPTION (240) Introduction: Can Doctors Survive This?    Dr. Barbara Hales 0:02  Hey, welcome to another episode of marketing tips for doctors. I’m your host. Dr. Barbara Hales, today, we’re talking about something that many physicians are quietly asking themselves right now: Can doctors survive this? And when I say this, I mean the exhaustion, the bureaucracy, the endless charting, the emotional depletion, the inbox overload, the pressure to see more patients in less time, and now, artificial intelligence entering medicine at lightning speed. Some doctors are excited about AI. Some are terrified of it, and many are simply too burnt out to even think about it. But today, I want to talk about AI differently, not as a threat, not as science fiction, but as a tool that may actually help restore some of the humanity medicine has been losing for years, because, let’s be honest, most physicians are not burned out because they stopped caring. They’re burnt out because they care deeply inside a system that often makes caring harder and harder to sustain. And I think that distinction matters. So today we’re going to talk honestly about physician burnout. What AI is actually doing right now, what concerns me, what gives me hope, and why the future may belong to physicians who combine humanity with technology instead of fearing one or the other.    The Real Problem: The Machinery of Medicine    Dr. Barbara Hales 3:24  The real problem, you know, when people outside medicine imagine physician burnout, they often assume doctors are exhausted because medicine itself is emotionally difficult. And yes, of course it is. We deliver bad news. We carry enormous responsibility. We witness suffering. But strangely enough, that’s usually not the part physicians complain about most. What many doctors are truly exhausted by is everything surrounding medicine, the machinery of medicine, the clicks, the forms, the documentation, the prior authorization, the inbox messages, and the constant interruption of human connection by administrative overload. I’ve heard physicians say I spend more time talking to my computer than my patients, and honestly, that’s heartbreaking, because medicine was never supposed to feel like data entry with a stethoscope.    I once spoke with a physician who told me something that stayed with me for a very long time. He said I realized one day that I barely look patients in the eyes anymore, not because he didn’t care, not because he was cold, but because he was trying to survive the pace, typing, clicking, documenting, trying not to fall Behind, trying not to drown, and he said the moment that really shook him happened when a patient stopped talking in the middle of a visit and finally said, Doctor, are you listening? That hit him hard because he was listening, but the patient couldn’t feel it. And honestly, I think that’s one of the great tragedies of modern medicine, not that doctors stopped caring, but that the system slowly began interfering with the visible expression of caring. The eye contact, the stillness, the presence, the humanity.    AI as a Tool to Replace Friction, Not Physicians    Now here’s where things get interesting, because the same technology many physicians fear may actually help restore some of what we lost and before anyone panics, no, I do not believe AI is replacing physicians, at least not good physicians, not thoughtful physicians, not emotionally intelligent physicians, not doctors capable of judgment, ethics, intuition, empathy and trust building, but AI is beginning to replace friction, and that matters Right now. AI is helping physicians with charting documentation. Note, generation, administrative tasks, patient education, marketing, scheduling, and communication. And if that sounds small, you haven’t been in medicine lately, this is all administrative work, because reducing just one hour of nightly charting can feel life changing to an exhausted position.    AI Scribes and the End of “Pajama Charting”    One of the most promising uses of AI in medicine is the AI scribe: instead of physicians spending hours typing notes and navigating electronic medical records, AI can now listen during patient visits and generate documentation in real time. That means doctors can maintain eye contact, focus on the patient instead of the screen, and often finish charting before they even leave the office. Miracle of miracles for many physicians, this could dramatically reduce the exhausting pajama charting that steals evenings, weekends, and personal time. AI isn’t replacing the physician’s judgment. It’s removing the administrative friction that has slowly drained energy and humanity from medical practice.    I recently heard about a physician who started using an AI documentation tool during patient visits. At first, she resisted it. She thought, I don’t want a robot in the exam room. Fair concern. But after a few weeks, she noticed something surprising. She was finishing notes before leaving the office for the first time in years. No more logging back in at 10 pm, no more pajama charting, no more sitting in bed, exhausted with a laptop, balanced on her knees, trying to finish documentation before midnight. And what struck me most was not what she said about productivity, but about her family. She said my children stopped asking me why I was always working. That’s not a technology story. That’s a humanity, a humanity story. And I think we need to start looking at AI through that lens. Not only can it replace us, but it can also help us reclaim our lives.    AI for Content Creation and Online Presence    Now, let’s talk about something many physicians know they should be doing, but often don’t have time for, content creation, patient education, social media, videos, blogs, newsletters, most doctors are already overwhelmed just trying to survive the work day. The idea of consistently posting online can feel impossible, but AI is beginning to change that, too. AI tools can now help physicians generate post ideas, create captions, organize educational content, and repurpose long videos into short. Clips, draft newsletters, and simplify medical information into patient-friendly language, and honestly, this matters more than many doctors realize, because patients today are searching online long before they ever schedule an appointment, and the physicians who communicate clearly online are often the physicians patients trust first.    AI-Enabled Patient Education and Teaching Videos    AI is also transforming patient education itself, with past educational videos often requiring expensive equipment, editors, designers, lighting scripts, and hours of production time. Now, AI can help physicians create teaching videos quickly and efficiently. Imagine a cardiologist creating a simple animated explanation of high blood pressure, a pediatrician generating a short video on fever management for anxious patients, or a gastroenterologist sending a post-procedure recovery video for patients to watch at home. These tools allow physicians to educate patients at scale while still maintaining their own voice and expertise, and better education often leads to better compliance, less confusion, less anxiety, and stronger patient Trust.    Let’s look at the patient who finally understood. I heard about a physician who kept running into the same problem. He would spend 15 or 20 minutes carefully explaining diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, and lifestyle changes to patients, and by the next visit, many still felt confused or overwhelmed, not because they weren’t intelligent, but because patients are often anxious during appointments. They forget details, they mishear, and they leave things emotionally overloaded. So this physician started experimenting with short AI-assisted educational videos. After each visit, patients would receive a brief, two or three-minute video explaining their condition in simple, easy-to-understand language; some included animations, and some reviewed medications. Others explained symptoms to watch out for or how lifestyle changes could improve outcomes. And something remarkable happened. Patients became more engaged, more compliant, and less anxious. Staff phone calls decreased because many common questions had already been answered. But what really struck him was when an elderly patient said, “Doctor, this is the first time I actually understood what’s happening in my body.” That was powerful because AI didn’t replace the physician in that story; it amplified the physician’s ability to educate, reassure, and connect.    Automated Patient Communication and Self-Scheduling    Another area where AI may significantly improve both efficiency and patient satisfaction is in automated. Patient communication, AI-powered chatbots can already answer many simple, repetitive questions that flood medical offices every day, such as office hours, refills, policies, ins

    20 min

  6. May 8

    Restoring Trust in Medicine

    In this episode, Barbara discusses:    How the podcast grew from frustration and concern about confusion, mistrust, and misinformation in healthcare  Why does authenticity, clear language, and hearing a doctor’s tone and compassion help rebuild trust  How patient education lowers fear and helps people ask better questions and participate in their care  How podcasting lets doctors reconnect with their purpose beyond rushed, transactional visits  How to approach conflicting health advice online without panic or blind trust  A success story where awareness from a podcast led to timely, life-saving heart disease treatment  A cautionary story showing how stopping medication based on online voices can cause serious harm  Why medical podcasts should promote critical thinking, not fear, and support partnership with doctors    Key Takeaways:  “Responsible medical podcasts don’t ask for blind belief; they give people the clarity and context to think critically and make wiser health decisions.”  Connect with Barbara Hales:    Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahales Books: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist TRANSCRIPTION (239)  Introduction & Why This Podcast Exists  [0:00:02] Dr. Barbara Hales  Welcome to another episode of marketing tips for doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales. We are going to discuss why medical podcasts matter more than ever. You know, one of the questions I get asked a lot is, ” Why did you even start a podcast? And honestly, the answer has very little to do with marketing. This podcast was born out of frustration, concern, and ultimately hope, because over the years, I noticed something happening in healthcare that became impossible to ignore. Patients had more access to information than ever before, but somehow, they were becoming more confused. Doctors were exhausted. Patients felt rushed. Trust was slipping, and meaningful communication in medicine was quietly disappearing. People were turning to the internet for answers about their health, and instead of clarity, they found fear, misinformation, extreme opinions, miracle cures, and influencers posing as medical experts. At the same time, many physicians had tremendous knowledge and experience, but no real platform to explain things calmly, clearly, and humanely, and I realized something very important: education has become part of healthcare itself. That’s where this podcast came from, not from ego, not from wanting attention, but from wanting to help people think more clearly about their health, because here’s the truth: most healthcare decisions are no longer made only in the exam room. They’re being influenced on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook groups, Google searches, and yes, podcasts, which means the quality of medical communication matters enormously now, and that’s why these conversations are important.     Authenticity, Trust & How Podcasts Connect  [0:03:00] Dr. Barbara Hales  People often ask why podcasts connect so deeply with audiences. And I think the answer is simple. People are starving for authenticity. They don’t want to be talked down to. They don’t want complicated medical jargon designed to impress other doctors, and they don’t want constant fear-based headlines screaming everything you’re doing is killing you. People want honesty. They want clarity. They want someone who can explain complicated things in a calm, intelligent, understandable way. And podcasts do something unique. They allow people to hear your tone, your compassion, your thoughtful process, and your humanity, which builds trust. Sometimes, patients feel like they already know a doctor after listening to several episodes; that connection matters because medicine works best when trust exists. How do podcasts help both doctors and patients? For patients, education reduces fear when they understand their conditions, medications, risk factors, options, and the reasoning behind medical decisions; they feel empowered instead of helpless. Educated patients ask better questions. They participate more actively in their care, and in many cases, outcomes improve. But podcasts also help doctors. And I think this is something people don’t talk about enough. Many physicians went into medicine because they genuinely wanted to help people. But modern medicine can become incredibly transactional, with 15-minute appointments, endless documentation, insurance battles, burnout, and teaching. Reconnects doctors to purpose. It reminds physicians that communication itself can be healing, and honestly, sometimes one thoughtful conversation can help more people than an entire week of rushed office visits when podcasts disagree, then what?     When Podcasts Disagree & How Patients Should Respond  [0:07:00] Dr. Barbara Hales  Well, here’s where things get interesting. Patients will often hear two podcasts with opposite opinions. One says, Never eat carbohydrates. Another says plant-based nutrition is the answer. One says, Take this supplement. Another says that the supplement is useless. So how is the average person supposed to know who’s right first? Don’t panic. Different opinions in medicine do not automatically mean someone is evil or incompetent. Medicine is not mathematics. It involves science, clinical judgment, individual differences, risk-versus-benefit decisions, and evolving research. Reasonable experts can disagree, but patients need a framework for evaluating what they hear. So what should patients do? First? Never make major health decisions based on one podcast episode. A podcast should educate you. It should not replace personalized medical care. Second, be cautious of people who sound certain about everything. Real medicine usually contains nuance. If someone says this works for everyone, doctors are hiding the truth, or this cures everything, that should raise concern. Good Medicine acknowledges limitations, exceptions, uncertainty, and individuality. The third look at motivation is the person educating you or selling fear, because fear has become a business model online, and frightened people click very quickly. Now, let me tell you a story that beautifully shows how Podcasts can actually help patients when handled thoughtfully.     Success Story: Awareness, Not Self‑Diagnosis  [0:11:00] Dr. Barbara Hales  A woman in her late 50s had been listening to several health podcasts to improve her overall wellness. One episode discussed early warning signs of heart disease in women, not dramatic movie style, symptoms, subtle ones, fatigue, shortness of breath, jaw discomfort, exercise intolerance, and she realized she had quietly been experiencing several of those symptoms for months now. Here’s the important part: she didn’t panic. She didn’t diagnose herself online. She didn’t start taking random supplements. Instead, she used the information intelligently. She scheduled an appointment with her physician and said I heard a discussion that made me wonder if I should get evaluated. Her doctor took it seriously. Testing eventually revealed significant coronary artery disease. She needed intervention, and afterward, she said something incredibly powerful. The podcast didn’t save my life because it gave me treatment. It saved my life because it gave me awareness. That’s exactly what responsible medical education should do, not replace doctors, not create fear, but encourage thoughtful action.     Cautionary Tale, Confidence vs. Credibility & The True Purpose  [0:15:00] Dr. Barbara Hales  But now let me tell you the other side: a younger woman became convinced by several online personalities that all prescription medications were toxic. One podcast after another reinforced the same message: natural healing, only doctors overprescribe. You don’t need medication. So, without consulting her physician, she abruptly stopped her blood pressure medication. She felt proud, at first, empowered, like she had taken control, but several weeks later, her blood pressure skyrocketed, she developed severe headaches, dizziness, and eventually ended up in the emergency room with dangerously elevated blood pressure. Thankfully, she recovered. Others who do that wind up stroking out. But afterward, she admitted. Something important, I confused confidence with credibility, and that sentence stuck with me because sounding confident online does not automatically mean someone is correct. What is the real purpose of medical podcasts? The best medical podcasts do not demand blind trust. They encourage critical thinking. A good podcast should help patients ask better questions, recognize misinformation, feel calmer, and become partners in their health care. The goal should never be, believe me, blindly. The goal should be to become informed enough to make wiser decisions. That’s a very different mission. So, if today’s conversation helped you see healthcare a little more clearly, share this episode with someone who may need it too, because informed patients and connected doctors create better medicine for everyone, and honestly, that’s exactly why this podcast exists. I’ll see you next time. This has been another episode of marketing tips for doctors with your host, Dr Barbara Hales. Till next time.  The post Restoring Trust in Medicine first appeared on The Medical Strategist.

    14 min

  7. Apr 30

    Attract Patients Forever

    In this episode, Dr. Barbara Hales interviews Bret Gregory, founder of DrTalks : Bret shares how his decade of running a marketing agency for doctors showed that virtual summits and podcasts are the strongest long-term patient-acquisition strategies, with summits often generating 20,000+ email leads and significant new-patient revenue. He recounts his entrepreneurial path, including selling a corporate wellness business after his brother’s terminal cancer diagnosis, attempting an eco-wellness community in Costa Rica, and learning online marketing to survive the 2008 downturn. Brett explains why doctors make in-demand podcast guests, how DrTalks helps doctors get booked for free using AI, and why nurturing an email list with a weekly newsletter is more valuable than social followers. Connect with Bret Gregory: sign in/up https://drtalks.com/ LinkedIn Bret Gregory Connect with Barbara Hales:  Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahales Books: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist   TRANSCRIPT. (238) Dr. Barbara Hales  00:02  Welcome to another episode of marketing tips for doctors. I’m your host, Dr. Barbara Hales, and today we have a very interesting person with us by the name of Bret. Gregory  Dr. Barbara Hales  00:19  Bret was giving that little pause there for excitement. What I wanted to tell you about him, which makes him so interesting, is that he is a healthcare investor and has invested in several health and wellness startups. So I’d like to say that over his 30-year career, he’s founded and built not one but four successful startups in the health and wellness sector, two of which empower doctors to build their brands and businesses through innovative approaches. His most recent one is called Doctor Talks. You can reach that through drtalks.com.  Bret Gregory  01:11  Thanks so much. Barbara, I really appreciate you having me, and it’s wonderful to have a physician who is helping other doctors. It’s really exciting for me to have a conversation with you. I founded drtalks.com about six years ago, right when the pandemic started. And prior to that, I had a marketing agency for doctors for about a decade. And that entire time, while we were helping doctors, we were doing all sorts of marketing strategies, lots of social media. We were doing campaigns, emails, webinars, you name it. And then what I noticed is, over that decade, the marketing that worked the best, the long-term marketing that worked the best for doctors was very consistently virtual summits and podcasts and putting on a virtual summit where one doctor might interview 20 or 30 other doctors, and then we would launch that summit virtually. And every time we did that, they would grow a 20,000-plus-patient email list and convert it into a million dollars in new-patient revenue per year. And the only thing was, it was very hard. Took a lot of work. It was a lot of effort. And the same thing with podcasts. Podcasts took, they took a while to get going, but once they got going, they ended up being some of the best long term marketing strategies for doctors. Well over that decade, I was wondering, how come no one has ever created an entire platform dedicated to this? It’s kind of like YouTube for doctors. And after asking myself that for over five years, I finally said, Well, you know what? I’ll create it. And so I went out, maxed out my credit cards, borrowed $50,000, hired a few employees overseas, found my first 10 customers, and we launched in March of 2020, right when the pandemic started. I didn’t know what was going to happen. No one did, of course, but it turned out helping doctors with their online businesses was perfect timing. The pandemic gave us a tailwind, and now, six years later, we’ve grown into the world’s largest streaming platform for integrative and functional medicine doctors who want to reach our 11 million patient web visitors. And so we’re really on a mission now to democratize the Creator economy for doctors. What that means is we want to help you, doctors, make money off your information. I believe that doctors have been squeezed from so many different places, and now it’s time for doctors to monetize, to be able to get paid for their information while they’re helping people with their knowledge. So that’s the mission of doctor talks.  Dr. Barbara Hales  04:04  That’s really great. But before we continue on this topic that you are clearly passionate about, what I would like to do is to turn the dial and go back to the beginning, because and you know other doctors and other you know, possible entrepreneurs here that you are an investor, that is something, I think, that you know, other than being envious, strike strikes the the question or fear in people. Well, isn’t it scary to start with something like that from the beginning, you know, and worry whether it’s going to fail and is going to lose all his money, or, you know, like, like, how that works. So take me back to the beginning and say, you know, most people would take the safe route. So, you know, they. Start a business, or they would, you know, work in a, you know, in a business that was either, you know, like, joint-vented with someone else. So let’s, let’s start from the beginning, because I know there are people here listening to this saying, like, what you know, like, how does this happen? So tell me how it happened. Like, why is it that you had all the confidence to, you know, be an investor and, you know, like, how that all came about?    Bret Gregory  05:33  Sure. Well, I started out as an entrepreneur. Very early in college. I started my first business, started a painting company, and then right out of college, I went into the Employee Benefits business, and I started my own company there, and that was from about 1996 to 2006 I did corporate wellness programs, and I also started a radio show at that time. And what I accidentally discovered is that by interviewing real prospective customers, I was interviewing CEOs of companies in San Diego and interviewing people who could refer us prospective customers, we ended up building a really significant business in the corporate wellness sector over a 10 year period, and that was my my first business, sadly, in 2006 my 34 year old brother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, stage four non small cell carcino carcinoma, and he ended up passing away nine months after that, And that just changed the trajectory of my life completely.  Bret Gregory  06:44  Thank you. I appreciate that. But I tore off my suit and tie. I sold my business. I had about $3 million I moved to Costa Rica. I purchased a 164-acre property to develop an eco-friendly wellness community that helps as many people as possible change their lifestyle habits and heal from within, to the best of their bodies’ abilities. Now, I’m not a doctor. I know nothing about I don’t pretend to be one. I do understand marketing and sales. That’s really where my experience lies, but I was really focused on helping as many people as I possibly could, and I wanted to use that as my brother’s legacy. Well, I went and purchased this great piece of property down in Costa Rica, right across the street from the beach, and a new hospital is under construction. Now it was a great time to sell my corporate wellness programs business, but it was a terrible time to invest in a speculative real estate development because we closed in 2007, right before the 2008 global financial crisis, and I was really worried. I thought I was going to go bankrupt. I very quickly learned online marketing. I learned how to build websites, drive traffic, build lead magnets, grow an email list, and in just about 12 months, we were able to do about $1.4 million in sales to customers we met on Facebook, and this was now in 2009 2010 it was just enough to avoid going bankrupt, but it wasn’t enough to raise the money that we needed to raise to develop a large eco friendly wellness community. So I had to put that project on hold, move back to San Diego, and that’s when I started. It was called “attract customers now,” where I helped doctors grow their practices. And I did that from 2010 to 2020, and that’s when I learned about the different techniques that can help doctors grow their practices and attract patients online.    Dr. Barbara Hales  08:54  Did you use that property for wellness retreats?  Bret Gregory  08:58  That was the goal. Unfortunately, we were never able to really recover from the global financial crisis, and that was the whole idea and goal. We wanted to build a wellness community for retreats. We just weren’t able to do it.  Dr. Barbara Hales  09:14  And that’s unfortunate, because it seems like such an absolutely beautiful place.  Bret Gregory  09:19  It is truly, truly beautiful. Feels very magical, feels very nurturing and healing, and that was the idea.    Dr. Barbara Hales  09:29  So I understand that one of the ways you recommend physicians, you know, become visible to their prospective patients is by putting out podcasts. Do you recommend they guest-podcast on other sites before considering creating their own?  Bret Gregory  09:51  Yeah, well, guesting on podcasts has become the hottest new way to attract patients online right now. Wow. And one thing: since I started drtalks.com about six years ago, I’ve worked with 1000s of doctors. There are probably 3000 doctors on the platform today. We’ve got lots and lots of Doctor-hosted podcasts, and I’ve coached. We’ve produced over 7500 podcast interviews on doctor talks. And one thing that I see ve

    33 min

  8. Apr 22

    Smartphone Videos Beat Ads

    In this episode, Barbara discusses:   In this episode, Dr. Barbara Hales breaks down why video is becoming the most powerful trust-building tool in modern medicine. While traditional advertising may create visibility, it often fails to build the one thing patients value most—trust.   Dr. Hales explains how simple, authentic videos recorded on a smartphone can outperform high-budget productions by creating a sense of familiarity and human connection. Patients aren’t just looking for credentials—they’re looking for a doctor they feel comfortable with before they even walk into the clinic.   You’ll also learn why perfection is actually hurting your visibility, how familiarity bias influences patient decisions, and how even camera-shy physicians can start building authority and attracting better patients with short, consistent videos.   If you’re a physician (or any professional) looking to grow your practice, build credibility, and connect with your audience on a deeper level—this episode is a must-listen.    Key Takeaways:    “Stop chasing perfection and start showing up. Patients don’t need a cinematic ad—they need a real doctor speaking clearly and calmly on camera.” -Dr. Barbara Hales    Connect with Barbara Hales:  Twitter: @DrBarbaraHales Facebook: facebook.com/theMedicalStrategist Business Website: TheMedicalStrategist.com Email: info@TheMedicalStrategist.com  YouTube:@barbarahales LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/barbarahales Books: Content Copy Made Easy 14 Tactics to Triple Sales Power to the Patient: The Medical Strategist     TRANSCRIPT (237)   Introduction: The Power of Video for Doctors    Dr. Barbara Hales 0:02  Welcome to another episode of marketing tips for doctors. I’m your host, Dr Barbara Hales, today, we are going to talk about why doctors should speak on camera. Let me start with a question: if you needed surgery tomorrow and had to choose between two surgeons, one had a beautiful website and glossy ads; the other had a simple website but dozens of short videos where you could see them explaining things calmly, intelligently, and clearly. Which doctor would you trust? Most people choose the second one, not because the ads were bad, but because video creates trust, and trust is the real currency in medicine. Today, we’re going to talk about something many physicians avoid speaking on camera, and here’s the truth: you do not need a studio, you do not need expensive equipment. You do not need to become an influencer. What you need is something far more powerful. You need to let patients see who you are, because when patients feel like they already know you, they walk into the office trusting you, and that changes everything. Today, I’ll show you why video builds trust faster than ads, why authenticity beats production quality, why doctors who speak on camera attract better patients, and how to start doing this, even if you hate being on camera, and along the way, I’ll share a few stories, because this shift is happening everywhere in medicine right now. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Patients don’t trust the medical system the way they used to, not because physicians are less competent, but because the system feels impersonal. Patients feel like numbers. Appointments are rushed, and doctors are overworked. Everything feels transactional, so patients go online looking for answers, and when they do, they’re looking for a human being, and They’re not looking for a brochure, not a marketing campaign, just a real person, someone who explains things clearly, someone who seems thoughtful, someone who actually cares.    The Trust Gap in Modern Medicine  Dr. Barbara Hales 3:24  Video does that instantly: when a patient watches you speak for two minutes, they subconsciously evaluate things like, “Does this doctor seem calm?” Do they explain things well? Do they seem rushed? Do they seem arrogant? Do they seem compassionate, and do they make a decision, not consciously, but emotionally? I once worked with two cardiologists in the same city, both excellent physicians, both highly trained, both board-certified. Dr. A had a massive marketing budget, Billboards, radio ads, and print ads. Dr. B did something simple. He started recording two-minute educational videos, nothing fancy, just his smartphone, talking about time. Topics like what chest pain actually feels like, when to worry about palpitations, and what a stress test really means. Within a year, patients were walking into his office saying something fascinating. I feel like I already know you think about that before the first appointment even started, the relationship already had trust, and that trust started with a video on his iPhone. If your physician is listening to this and thinking, I probably should be doing this. You’re right, and here’s the simplest place to start. Record one short video answering a question patients ask every day. That’s it, not perfect, just helpful, because education builds trust faster than advertising ever will. Why video works so perfectly, so powerfully, you think video communicates things that text never can: your tone, your pacing, your expressions, your calmness. Patients don’t just hear information; they experience your presence. And presence is powerful. There’s also something else happening psychologically. When patients repeatedly watch your videos, they experience a phenomenon called familiarity bias. The Brain prefers what feels familiar, which means when patients finally meet you in person, you already feel like the safe choice, and that’s incredibly powerful in medicine. I worked with a dermatologist who absolutely hated being on camera. She told me I went to medical school, not broadcasting School, which is fair, but she agreed to try something simple, one video per week, two minutes. That’s it. The first few were awkward. She was stiff. She looked nervous. But something interesting happened. Patients loved them. Why? Because she was authentic. Six months later, her new patient visits increased significantly, but the bigger change was this. Patients arrived educated. They already understood basic concepts. The visits became more efficient, with better conversations and better relationships, and she later told me something funny. I still hate being on camera, but I love what it does.     Case Studies: Video vs. Traditional Marketing  Many doctors delay video because they think it needs to look perfect, studio, lighting, professional editing, expensive equipment, but the truth is almost the opposite. Patients trust authenticity more than polish. In fact, overly produced content can feel like advertising, and patients are skeptical of advertising, but a doctor speaking calmly in their office that feels real, that feels human, and patients trust humans. An orthopedic surgeon once hired a production company. This was the $40,000 video that didn’t work. They created a beautiful promotional video, drone shots, cinematic music, and perfect lighting. It cost nearly $40,000, think of that. They spent $40,000 on these videos, and it looked amazing, but it didn’t move the needle. Why? Because it felt like marketing. Later, he started recording simple, one-minute educational clips, just explaining common injuries. ACL, tears, shoulder pain, and knee arthritis. Those videos started getting shared by patients, and suddenly, new patients were saying, I saw your video explaining knee pain. Not the $40,000 production, it was the 62nd explanation, because education builds trust. Advertising rarely does something interesting happen.     Why Video Works: Presence, Familiarity, and Psychology    When doctors start speaking publicly, they begin clarifying their thinking. Teaching forces clarity. Explaining medicine simply is a skill, and when physicians develop that skill, their authority increases. Patients see them as leaders. Colleagues see them as experts. Opportunities appear. Speaking leads to visibility. Visibility leads to authority. Authority leads to opportunity, and it often starts with something incredibly simple, a two-minute video. An internist started making short videos during COVID. He simply explained complex medical topics calmly, no drama, no politics, just clarity. People share them because they feel trustworthy. Within two years, he had a national following. He was invited to conferences, media interviews, and educational panels, and none of that was the goal. The goal was simply to help patients better understand medicine, but clarity and credibility have a way of spreading.    Overcoming Fear and Perfectionism on Camera    If you’re a physician considering this, here’s the good news. It’s much easier than you think. Start with simple topics that patients ask about every day. Examples: What causes fatigue? When should you worry about chest pain? What does high cholesterol actually mean? Keep videos short. One idea per video. Two Minutes is perfect. You don’t need perfection. You need sincerity and consistency; one video per week is enough, because over a year, that becomes 52 moments of trust.    Practical Tips for Physicians    If you are a physician who wants to build trust with patients, start speaking, not because you want to become famous, but because patients need doctors who explain things clearly. And if you’d like more ideas like this on how physicians can grow their practices, communicate better with patients and build more sustainable careers. Be sure to subscribe to marketing tips for doctors. And if you know a colleague who’s struggling with practice growth or patient engagement, share this episode with them, because sometimes one small idea, like recording a simple video, can completely change how a practice grows. Thanks for listening till next time.  The post Smartphone Videos Beat Ads first appear

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About

This podcast is for you if you are a doctor, dentist, integrated health physician, chiropractor, or any other type of health provider. Learn how to free up your time, earn 5-star ratings, and learn marketing secrets that have been proven to work on this show with Barbara and her guests. As medical pros, you have to market yourself to be successful. Listen and hear more about how Barbara created her proven marketing system for her thriving private practice. Master the marketing techniques to attract ideal patients, develop a stronger rapport, grow your practice and boost your rankings!

Information

  • Creator
    Barbara Hales
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    230
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Barbara Hales
  • Show Website
    Marketing Tips for Doctors