How To Be Found Above The Noise On The WebAugust 24, 2011 Your knowledge, experience, and commitment to your practice and community are exceptional. But that does not mean you can ignore a few new laws of nature. One: The Web is the way communications are done, now and for the foreseeable future. Two: There are a bazillion people on the Web (both users and businesses) and your grand entry will not be greeted with the fanfare you deserve. Three: To market your practice you must rely on the Web. Four: It is hard to be found on the web. If you really want to grow your business, even in a horrible economy, learning findability on the Web helps connect you with new clients. The SEO Process The term “SEO,” or search engine optimization, is a process that optimizes your site’s content to allow search engines to easily find you. It adds focused key words and phrases to your site so that when a user types in appropriate key words—there you are, at no cost to you. The goal of any smart marketer is to gain Page 1 visibility in a search tool such as Google. Page 3 may not be bad out of …
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Verify Computer Backup For Best ResultsAugust 18, 2011 Most veterinarians are good about remembering to back up clients’ medical data, but critical steps are often missed. In-house backups are typically saved to CD, flash drive or internal and external hard drives, but information can be lost if these devices are damaged. “Veterinarians are good about backing up their daily client information, but many don’t verify that the information has saved properly,” says Ronald A. Detjen, president and CEO of ImproMed in Oshkosh, Wis. “It’s amazingly damaging to a practice when client data is lost. If they don’t have a secure offsite copy, they have to try to recreate the information.” Practice Backup Options According to John Bellos, technical support manager at Sneakers Software, Inc./DVMAX located in New York, three types of backup options are typical in veterinary practices. • On-server backup Backs up the current data to a local hard drive on the same computer. Good for: Quick access if the data file gets mangled by a power outage or a computer crash Bad for: Hard drive failures, fire or theft • Onsite backup, off-server storage device Good for: If main hard drive or computer …
Applications Of Therapeutic Laser In Everyday PracticeAugust 18, 2011 Advancements in technology provide practices with the versatility of laser therapy, which can relieve pain, reduce inflammation and increase microcirculation in tissues. Adding a therapeutic laser to the practice armamentarium provides an extremely effective and versatile modality that benefits many patients. Understanding and expanding the potential clinical applications within the practice is the key to providing the highest standard of care for your patients. Advanced engineering has allowed therapeutic lasers to accomplish relief of pain, a reduction of inflammation and an increase in the microcirculation within the tissues. The clinical outcome of this deep penetrating photobiomodulation is an accelerated healing time within the target tissues. Laser therapy, therefore, is a healing modality that can benefit a large and varied number of patients on a daily basis. Therapeutic Dosage Laser therapy can help pets in any number of ways. The World Association of Laser Therapy (2002) and a consensus of the literature have established that cells need 4 to 10 joules/cm2 to stimulate a positive photobiochemical response. Penetration through skin, hair, water and blood requires the right combination of power, wavelength and treatment time to achieve favorable clinical results. Superficial target …
The Purebred ParadoxJune 22, 2011 Here in the U.S., we have a purebred problem: People demand them—millions of them. So someone supplies them via a pet shop, airport, website, breeding kennel or living room near you. Casual backyard breeders, puppy millers, importers, upscale breed club breeders ... someone. But, as they say, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Herein lies the paradox: We all love dogs. We all want healthy, happy dogs. No responsible breeder wants to breed unhealthy dogs––this we know. • But it’s also true that no backyard breeder thinks that anything unhealthy will come of his or her ill-bred dogs’ union. No puppy miller or unscrupulous importer, even, wants to sell you a defective product. It’s bad for business. • Yet plenty of genetically ill-designed animals come from responsible breeders. Puppy millers breed dogs under woefully inadequate conditions. An increasingly alarming percentage of importers ship pups too young to be away from their mothers (much less travel). And the casual backyard breeder is still stuck on having her kids see the miracle of life happen, whatever the cost—or the death toll. • And the consumers? They’re willing to …
What Is An Animal And Why Should The Law Care?June 22, 2011 Arecent piece in the newly minted Journal of Animal Ethics suggests that the word “pet” is a derogatory term for the animals that we share our lives with. Whether this is the case—and I’m reasonably sure my dog Annie is not offended by the term, although she would probably prefer “princess”—a great deal of interest is being focused on our companion animals and the people who care for them. So while it might have been simple for Juliet, things are rarely that easy when it comes to the law. The law has many definitions for the word “animal.” Depending on the law in question, an animal might be a live (or dead) hamster, but not a rat, bird or mouse (the Federal Animal Welfare Act) or “every living creature except members of the human race” (the Minnesota Animal Cruelty statute). Books, Tables ... Dogs No matter which creatures fall into the legal definition of an animal, there is one thing they all have in common: They are all personal property under the law. That means that, in general, the legal rights a pet owner has in his pet are the same legal rights as he has …
Get Found On The Web With Dynamic ContentJune 22, 2011 In the June issue, I explained the importance of classic search engine optimization, or SEO, and gave you some tools to do the job for your website yourself. Now that you have accomplished the basic SEO and placed keywords and phrases in your home page content, you can now move on to new and more fun ways to drive traffic to your site. It is called dynamic marketing or content marketing. Ever since Google bought Blogger.com it has started giving higher rankings to sites with dynamic or ever-changing content. You should still set up basic “phone book marketing” such as Merchant Circle, Yelp and Google AdWords. These small-fee systems will definitely help to get you found. The real trick is to have fresh new content going onto your site at least three times a week. Google’s artificial intelligence “reads” this and sees it as active and engaged and will give you a higher ranking. Some experts say that if all you did was write a short new article about your subject several times a week and post it to your site, you would rank higher than sites with highly paid SEO techno-wizards on staff constantly …
Do You Know the Power of Paint?June 21, 2011Design renovations don’t have to cost a fortune. Although some veterinarians may long for a complete design overhaul of their practice, practical budgeting in a down economy typically allows only for basic upgrades. Designing on a budget, however, can still make a meaningful difference in client perception and workflow. Architects and designers recommend prioritizing cosmetic changes to waiting areas, exam rooms and the reception area, saying not to underestimate the power of a new coat of paint and other minimal-expense projects. “A new coat of paint can be a simple solution and many veterinarians do not use this option often enough,” says Mark Hafen, AIA, of Animal Arts in Boulder, Colo. “Shades of orange and lime green are some of the ‘in’ colors that really make a wall pop. Clients notice positive changes and it makes them feel better about their veterinary experience and bill.” If finances prevent a major overhaul or multiple changes at once, experts recommend that veterinarians tackle individual jobs that have the greatest effect on client comfort and perception first. “The logical areas to update are the areas clients will be exposed to most in the practice,” says Peter Hill Sr., president of HDA Architects in …
Trends In Mobile Veterinary ClinicsJune 9, 2011Follow Veterinary Practice News on Twitter at @vetpetnews. A tight economy can encourage practical changes in the way some equine practitioners travel, store medications and supplies, and organize their practices. Mobile clinic and insert manufacturers can help veterinarians make the most of their chassis-mounted or insert clinics, whether new or reconditioned inventory. Steve Sinnard says veterinarians are choosing more versatile trucks for their practice vehicles. He is executive vice president of mobile veterinary clinic manufacturer Bowie International of Lake City, Iowa. Bowie and Porta-Vet joined forces some time ago and the Porta-Vet units have been manufactured in Iowa for more than a year now. “Veterinarians tell us they want more storage space,” Sinnard says. “They are buying trucks with crew cabs and extended cabs, so they not only have their mobile clinic in the back, they have more room in the cab for larger equipment such as ultrasound or digital X-ray equipment. “Shock wave and laser therapy equipment seem to be growing in popularity,” Sinnard said. “A bulk storage compartment in an insert unit will easily accommodate specialized equipment.” Dennis Van Roekel, DVM, owner of Van Roekel & Associates, an equine practice in Alva, Fla., has a …
Mobile Vets Are Driven To SucceedJune 9, 2011 Affordability, practice requirements and revenue growth are important considerations when establishing a mobile veterinary clinic. Mobile clinics may be self-contained units, an insert or box, or chassis-mounted. They may provide just the basics—exam room, surgery area, standard equipment—or be colossal examples of today’s high-tech design, complete with the latest equipment. They roll along without overhead, property taxes or other real estate costs a brick-and-mortar clinic would require. Koni Wade, senior sales consultant for La Boit Inc. of Gahanna, Ohio, says each unit is customized with as much or as little equipment as a practitioner wants. “Of course,” she says, “the more options and upgrades you add, the higher the cost. For instance, more clients are putting digital X-ray in their clinics, which raises the complete cost by $40,000.” Without digital radiography, La Boit’s self-contained clinics usually are available for about $150,000. The base price starts at $104,495, with financing available and no down payment required, Wade says. “La Boit also provides working capital,” Wade says, “which is great for veterinarians just starting out and needing to keep as much of their cash in hand as possible to grow the business.” Satisfied Customer Seely …
Convenience-Based Services: Are They The Right Choice For Your Practice?May 23, 2011 When evaluating additional services as a means to generate revenue, it is important to look beyond veterinary medicine and take advantage of opportunities to meet the needs of pet owners in other ways. In today’s world, convenience is the name of the game, and finding new avenues of revenue that make your practice a “one stop shop“ for pet owners can be an excellent decision. While the obvious and immediate benefits include increased revenue and visits, it is the potential long-term client loyalty resulting from additional interaction with your practice that provides the greatest value. Below are some of the more common convenience-based services that many veterinary hospitals offer. It is important to remember, though, that every practice is unique, and not all options are a good fit or practical to implement. And for those of you who already offer some or all of these services, a bit of revitalization followed by a new marketing campaign can bring improved earning potential to an existing revenue stream. Luxury Boarding While the majority of clinics offer boarding of some sort, the current demand is for upscale facilities that cater to four-legged family members—“family” being the key word. …
