However, as many doctors attempt to incorporate video marketing for plastic surgeons into their practices, they tend to be a little shy and resort to talking head type videos. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to show your practice and your procedures. People are very curious to learn what many cosmetic surgery procedures entail and will seek out those plastic surgeons who provide the best information. Use your video marketing wisely. Most people are not interested in images that involve scalpels and blood but other less invasive procedures are great ways to engage your audience and give them a sample of how you work with patients.

Below is an example of a BOTOX procedure in Leesburg Va, produced by SynaVista for Dr Phillip Chang. It is a great example of providing video that ventures past the traditional talking head video and really provides value to your potential customers.

Video transcript:

I’m Dr Phillip Chang at Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and Laser Center and this is Christina and we’re going to do a demonstration today on Botox. Right now we are going to try to treat some of the lines on her face that she doesn’t like. She’s obviously pretty but there are thing she doesn’t like which are the lines on her forehead. Christina raise your eyebrows. Those lines. Also her angry lines or the elevens or as she calls them her “Grrr” lines and then her crows feet lines which honestly she doesn’t have too much of but when she smiles you can see some of those lines right across here.So those are the three main areas that we do Botox for without any numbing. We can demonstrate that this really is a relatively painless procedure. So we’re going to do this area right across here. We will do it on both sides of the face.

Pixineers.com has become the leading app development company for these types of applications and  has seen more than 10,000 downloads of their iPhone apps.

Pixineers Founder and CEO Hisham Al-Shurafa said that his company has been contacted by physicians, optometrists and dentists all over the country asking for apps specifically for their markets and services. He cited examples for development such as, an app for a dentist could help patients visualize whitening procedures on their own teeth and maintain the on-going patient relationship via appointment reminders and dental care tips. Just released is an app for a bariatric surgeon, “Thin Me,” where patients can upload a photo and see what they would look like after obesity treatment surgery.

Physicians are finding that the apps are relatively inexpensive to develop and the cost is recouped quickly with the consultations generated and subsequent new patient business.

Pixineers apps include Dr. Philip Miller‘s Encyclopedia of Rhinoplasty and Cosmetic Plastic Surgery, the most comprehensive pocket encyclopedia of plastic surgery terms and before-and-after photos, along with visualization tools to help you really know what to expect from a procedure; Plastic Surgery Dr. 90210; Dr. Solomon’s Facial Plastic Surgery app; and Dr. Nassif’s Rhinoplasty and Cosmetic Surgery app from renowned Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Dr. Paul Nassif.

“Working with Hisham and his team at Pixineers has been a delight,” said Dr. Miller, who is based in New York City. “Professional, efficient and prompt, the Pixineers team delivered as described and surpassed my expectations. It was a pleasure to work with them and I recommend them highly.”

Developing the app is quick and affordable, according to Al-Shurafa. With Pixineers, doctors can develop iPhone apps at a fraction of the cost and can release an app in only two weeks, when it usually takes months.

“We are enabling medical professionals to develop their own apps in a very affordable way,” Al-Shurafa said. “These apps are a new trend in patient marketing and education. Now all the doctor’s information is easily accessible from the patient’s cell phone.”

The apps are definitely generating attention, and have in fact led to some positive publicity for many of the Pixineers doctors. Dr. Navin Singh, a Washington, D.C. plastic surgeon, had his app, ModYourBod, featured recently on the nationally syndicated show “The Doctors.” The app was featured as one of the “health trends for 2011.”

“We hope that when clients experience the transformative effects of an upper eyelift and fine wrinkle correction, it will put the sophistication and sparkle back into their eyes.”

Facial plastic surgeon, Adam Stein is pairing the services fosr an overall cosmetic treatment but in doing so reinforces the “annual ” nature of injectable treatments which dissipate over time and require additional treatments.
Plastic surgery used to be an exclusive service limited to the rich and famous. Not anymore. With free Botox/Dysport for a year as part of an upper eyelift at non-surgical pricing, plastic surgery is now a life-enhancement option for everyone.

Stein Plastic Surgery created its New Year’s special. “We developed the special based on feedback from our patients,” Stein explains. “People told us they wanted their eyes to get the bright and perky look that reflects the women they feel they are today and they wanted those fine wrinkles around the eyes to go away along with their eyelid overhang. But they wanted this at a price that was like their non surgical treatments. The special was designed to give them both and make the experience with it memorable and elegant.

“We hope that when people experience this comprehensive rejuvenation they will tell their friends and family how sophisticated, fun, and affordable the plastic surgery experience can really be,” says Stein.

The center can be reached at 919-261-7099. The center’s web site can be reached at: http://www.steinplasticsurgery.com

Goldsmith’s lawsuit alleges that doctors can only make a profit using Botox if they reuse the single-use vials that the drug comes in.

Read full story via ReviewJournal.com.

Read full story via azstarnet.com

The letter, addressed to Allergan Chief Executive David E.I. Pyott, states Aczone’s effectiveness is overstated and that risk factors associated with the drug are omitted from a print advertisement.

Read full story via bizjournals:.

The Ledge Pillow is a wonderfully soft wedge-type pillow made in the U.S.A. of hypoallergenic 100% pure polyurethane foam with a 1″ layer of the highest quality memory foam. It has slightly molded recesses to accomodate the breasts and a gentle incline to create the patented “ledge effect”. The Ledge Pillow should be positioned immediately below the breasts beneath the rib cage and torso. Always use a seperate pillow or cushion to support the head. The Ledge Pillow is strictly for comfort and should never be used during post surgical healing.

Read full story via  The Ledge Pillow.

When Petra Kalivodova, a 31-year-old nurse, was considering whether to renew her contract at a private health clinic here, special perks helped clinch the deal: free German lessons, five weeks of vacation, and a range of plastic-surgery options, including complimentary silicone-enhanced breasts.

“I would rather have plastic surgery than a free car,” said Ms. Kalivodova, who opted for cosmetic breast surgery that would normally cost €2,600, or about $3,500, as well as liposuction on her thighs and stomach. These were physical enhancements, she said, that she could not afford on her €1,000 a month salary.

Read full article via NYTimes.com.

This first post is somewhat reactionary in that I see a lot of clients wasting valuable marketing dollars on AdWords campaigns that cannot succeed.  So in the coming weeks I will post additional marketing tips for plastic surgeons and will strive to pull all these tips into a lucid plan of action for anyone attempting to market their practice.

Google AdWords for  Plastic Surgeons Part 1

I thought about calling this article ”where did my money go?” because of the many conversations I have had with people who have innocently launched a Google AdWords campaign on their own. There is a repetitive cycle of use that I see that is unfortunate and completely avoidable. It typically goes like this;  a business owner will set up an account, bid a huge number of keywords based on how they would search, set their daily limits and create a single generic ad. They kick off their campaign, watch their account burn through their limit everyday and don’t see any increase in business. They come away from the experience convinced AdWords doesn’t work. If you’ve been through this scenario, your not alone.

Google has done a great job of making their online advertising system user friendly. Anyone who is interested in learning it and devotes a little bit of time to it can use the system in a matter of hours. However, AdWords at it’s basic level, is just a tool for marketing. If you don’t have a plan, and you don’t understand how it’s supposed to work,  your AdWords campaign will fail. Just because I know how to use a hammer doesn’t mean I can build a house. You need a plan and a lot of other tools to get the job done.
Before you begin it is important to consider whether or not you should proceed. You really need to consider if you should devote the time and energy to learning and working an AdWords campaign yourself. It can benefit your business but the root question is should you take time away from doing your business to learn something that is not a part of your business? As you read this series of posts understand that all of these steps take time. That time will not be available to you to do the work that actually makes you money so it’s a balancing act. After you have an idea of what developing and managing a successful AdWords campaign entails, you should consider hiring a professional internet marketing firm. They can manage this process for you and they have the experience and resources to give you the desired outcome without draining all of your valuable time. So go in with your eyes wide open and consider the options before you proceed.

How Does AdWords Work?

AdWords is a powerful marketing tool that, at it’s basic level, allows you to bypass organic search results and buy the number one position when someone searches for your product or service. You bid on search phrases and are positioned based on the highest bidder. When someone clicks on your ad in the “pay per click” (PPC) section of a search engine results page (SERP) you pay based on what the next highest bidders number is. There are a number of other factors that come into play for exact positioning but essentially that is how the system is designed to work.
The advantage to this innovative approach to marketing are, instant results, tight geographic controls, and a wealth of data to determine the effectiveness of your campaign. You can target a specific geographic area, at a specific time of day, with very specific ads. This is an unprecedented level of control for advertising. Unfortunately this can lead people to believe that it’s a plug and play solution for their business. It can help but it requires a plan.

In the next installment of this series we will walk-through a campaign design and set-up.

Email marketing solutions provider Constant Contact ‘s senior vice president of global market development, Eric Groves, has suggested that as companies are forced to become more resourceful, the relatively inexpensive tactic of email marketing will come to the fore.

He said: ‘The challenging economic climate has caused businesses to pick their heads up and evaluate the effectiveness of all of their spend.’

Read full article via BCS.