“You don’t always need to talk with experts;sometimes the consumer, who just might be a friend or an acquaintance, is your best consultant.”
Blake Mycoskie
This is more apparent now than it has ever been. As a practicing clinician for over 10 years, the patient’s/consumer’s/acquaintance’s input mattered, but it played a small role in how I would change. Not to belittle the advice, but I was getting great outcomes in patient care and was just making great strides clinically over the past decade. My patients had little to offer in terms of things to change.
Fast forward to now and I am a clinic director taking on the same struggles that other new businesses face. Not many new patients are walking through the door. I will always be my biggest critic, but at this point, the words of wisdom given to me by patients and family members is worth gold.
“You have no visibility from the street.”
“No one knows that you are here.”
“You need to get out more to the older communities.”
“You should advertise in the local newspaper.”
“You should give more talks to churches.”
“You should go to neighborhood associations and speak”
All of these are great pieces of advice. Some are more doable than others because advertising takes money. Fortunately, since I have time on my hands, I am reaching out to different organizations for speaking opportunities.
Listen to your ideal client because they know how to reach more people like him/her.