Listen in or watch as host David Mandell sits down with medical marketing consultant Kristy LaGourgue and aesthetic nurse Rachel Varga to discuss branding and marketing lessons that all doctors can benefit from, whether they own their own practice or not.

David begins the discussion by asking Kristy and Rachel the most common mistakes medical practices make with marketing and how to avoid them. They then chat about the importance of marketing when offering new services or equipment or even bringing on new doctors.

The discussion then turns to branding – how an individual doctor can brand him/herself in the marketplace- which not only can be patient-focused, but also to other doctors, who are key referral sources –and even industry for further business opportunities.

Finally, Kristy and Rachel speak to the use of social media and how doctors should approach getting started in marketing efforts.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Takeaway #1: Having a Clear Marketing Strategy is More Effective Than Piecemeal Efforts.

Piecing together different marketing tactics without a clear strategy can lead to poor results. Kristy points out that one common mistake practitioners make is trying “a little bit of this, a little bit of that, hoping something's going to stick.” Instead, she suggests that it's crucial to understand how different marketing activities work together to drive steady patient flow.

Rachel supports this point, noting that practitioners often give up too soon or get in their own way due to imposter syndrome or feeling out of their comfort zone. She encourages practitioners to stick with their marketing efforts and to recognize the long-term benefits. “It's really getting also that validation and accolade from your colleagues in the space too, to then position you even further, which might open up the gates for different opportunities on boards and business development deals as well”.

In essence, being strategic and consistent about marketing activities, rather than trying different tactics in a piecemeal manner, can lead to better results and open up new opportunities for practitioners.

Takeaway #2: Diversifying Practice Offerings Can Lead to New Opportunities.

With the rapidly evolving field of medical technology and treatments, diversifying practice offerings can open up new opportunities for physicians. For instance, adding new technologies or treatments to a practice can attract different types of patients, or even create new revenue streams.

Rachel explains how one of her colleagues transformed his practice by incorporating group coaching and video training, thus creating a seven-figure business. She says, “So you just don't know what's possible until you start to go down this path.” She also mentions the increasing popularity of concierge medicine and biohacking, suggesting that practices that incorporate these elements are very appealing to buyers.

Diversifying practice offerings can, therefore, not only bring in new patients and revenue streams but also increase the practice's value in case of a potential buyout. This diversification, coupled with a strong online presence and marketing strategy, can significantly enhance a practice's success and growth.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!

Listen in to episode 5.10 as host David Mandell interviews Dr. Jude Pierre, internist, doctorpreneur, fellow podcaster and coach to young physicians.

Jude begins by sharing his background, including a brief description of his family's immigrant story as immigrants from Haiti who moved back to Haiti from New York City when Jude was eight years old, for a business opportunity for his father—beginning his entrepreneurship interests. This entrepreneurship continued in his residency, as he began moonlighting and early real estate investing.

The conversation shifts to the challenges Jude had starting a practice in Miami and why he chose to move to a more rural area outside of Tampa. He explains his success in “getting busy” but also gives some advice around getting too busy and work-life balance for physicians.

David and Jude then discuss Jude’s work as a content creator, through books and videos, as well as his work coaching young physicians. They discuss the type of help he provides other physicians through this content, as well as his "Independent Physicians Blueprint" podcast.

The podcast concludes with Jude giving some specific advice for young physicians.

Key Points

Dr. Jude Pierre's Background: Trained in internal medicine, he has been providing primary care since 2000 in South Florida and Tampa Bay metro area. Dr. Pierre actively mentors new physician graduates, helping them navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Apart from practicing medicine, Dr. Pierre is a podcast host and coach for physicians, sharing strategies to succeed both in medicine and entrepreneurship.

Diverse Upbringing: Raised in Haiti after being born in New York, Dr. Pierre attributes his entrepreneurial spirit to early exposure to his parents’ business ventures in Haiti. Residency and

Financial Challenges: During his residency, Dr. Pierre faced significant financial pressures, prompting him to moonlight and prioritize early debt repayment.

Real Estate Ventures: Dr. Pierre began investing in real estate during residency, starting with a condominium and later flipping properties, which sparked his interest in entrepreneurship.

Physician Practice Challenges: Early in his career, Dr. Pierre faced challenges establishing a private practice in Miami due to oversaturation of primary care providers.

Strategic Career Moves: Dr. Pierre moved to Spring Hill, near Tampa, for greater professional opportunities, noting that smaller markets can offer significant practice growth potential compared to larger urban areas.

Burnout Awareness: Dr. Pierre emphasizes the importance of work-life balance, sharing his experiences with burnout and the personal impact on relationships.

Coaching and Education: He launched a course, "Learn About Medicare Advantage (LAMA)," to educate physicians on managing patient populations and insurance dynamics effectively.

Independent Practice Advocacy: Dr. Pierre promotes independent practice models like concierge medicine and direct primary care as alternatives to corporate healthcare.

Risk Management in Rural Practice: He highlights the risks of being overwhelmed in underserved areas, urging physicians to set boundaries and prioritize manageable workloads.

Efficient Practice Management: Dr. Pierre coaches physicians on balancing patient care with payer relationships to optimize practice sustainability.

Podcast Rebranding: His podcast, initially "Practice Impossible," was rebranded to "Independent Physicians Blueprint" to align with his mission of empowering independent practitioners.

Advice to Physicians: Dr. Pierre advises doctors pursuing entrepreneurship to seek wise counsel and avoid taking on ventures alone, emphasizing the value of collaboration and specialized guidance.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!

Listen in as host David Mandell interviews financial advisor Jay Zigmont PhD, MFA, CFP®, the CEO of Childfree Wealth.

David begins that he had read’s Jay first book and was extremely interested in the topic—as he and his wife Sheila do not have children. He and Jay then discuss Jay’s background and how he came to direct his career around helping child-free clients.

Jay then shares some statistics from various studies about the prevalence of childfree people and how this demographic is growing rapidly. David and then dig into the various ways traditional financial planning misses the mark for childfree people—working backwards from estate planning to present day financial decisions. David makes the point that even folks with kids or grandkids can learn from tactics that childfree people use often.

Jay then provides to David and the audience a few resources that childfree people can utilize if they are interested and concludes with Jay emphasizing the importance of community.

Key Points:

• Childfree Wealth Defined: Childfree Wealth caters to individuals who do not have children by choice or circumstance, representing a significant and underserved demographic in financial planning.
  
  
• 25% of the U.S. Population is Child-Free: Research indicates that 25% of Americans are child-free or permanently childless, highlighting a large, often overlooked segment of the population.
  
  
• Lack of Representation in Financial Planning: Traditional financial planning is geared towards families with children, leaving child-free individuals with advice that doesn't align with their unique needs.
  
  
• Financial Impacts for Child-Free Individuals: Child-free people often focus less on wealth transfer to future generations and more on living fulfilling lives, with different priorities such as disability insurance, long-term care, and lifestyle investments.
  
  
• Higher Net Worth Among Child-Free People: Research from Pew shows that child-free individuals tend to have higher net worth, and gender pay gaps are significantly reduced within this group.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!

Listen as host David Mandell continues his conversation with dentist and coach Dr. Sue Keller.

Picking up where they left off at the end of Part I, David and Sue discuss the ongoing financial challenges of her specialty dental practice. Here, they tackle Sue’s difficult decision to file bankruptcy for the practice after more than 20 years -- and the legal, practical and emotional processes involved.

The discussion then turns to Sue’s transition after closing her practice – from working part-time for another dentist, serving patients as part of a non-profit and her eventual interest in, and transition to, coaching.

David and Sue conclude the conversation chatting about Sue’s role as a coach and how physicians and dentists could benefit from this type of advisor.

Key Points

• David discusses the stigma around bankruptcy in the medical and dental fields and how it can be a difficult but necessary decision.
  
  
• Dr. Sue opens up about the emotional attachment she had to her practice, likening it to one of her children, which made it hard to let go despite financial struggles.
  
  
• By 2018, Sue realized she was losing $7,000 per month despite working with coaches, accountants, and business consultants.
  
  
• She shares that her staff turnover and the irregular income of her practice contributed to her financial distress, comparing the ups and downs to a "gambling addiction."
  
  
• A business coach encouraged Dr. Sue to explore bankruptcy, which led her to interview multiple lawyers to understand her options.
  
  
• Sue highlights the emotional weight of separating her identity from the practice, realizing she wouldn't "die" if the practice failed.
  
  
• Once she accepted the need for bankruptcy, Dr. Sue moved quickly, closing the practice within a month and transitioning into part-time work at another practice.
  
  
• Working part-time at another dental practice, Sue found she earned more with less stress and more time for herself than she ever did in her own practice.
  
  
• The bankruptcy process took several years to resolve, but Dr. Sue managed to repay part of her debt and eventually moved on from the practice.
  
  
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sue worked with the Medical Reserve Corps, vaccinating as part of a team, which she found rewarding and different from the solo nature of running a practice.
  
  
• Dr. Sue transitioned into life coaching after discovering her love for helping people make positive life changes, drawing on her own experiences of resilience.
  
  
• She explains the distinction between coaching and therapy, emphasizing that coaching focuses on helping clients take steps toward future goals, rather than revisiting past traumas.
  
  
• Sue advocates for the importance of balance in life, urging professionals to reflect on whether their careers are enhancing or detracting from their overall well-being.
  
  
• She notes the value of mastermind groups and communities where professionals can openly share challenges and vulnerabilities without competition.
  
  
• The episode ends with Dr. Sue encouraging listeners to seek support, whether through coaching, therapy, or peer groups, as no one is truly alone in their struggles.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!

Listen in or watch as host David Mandell interviews dentist and coach Dr. Sue Keller. David begins with questions he asks all doctor guests to the program—about their initial interest in becoming a doctor, early career journey and more. Sue relates her personal experiences that lead her to dentistry and a shift from an interest in orthodontics to general dentistry.

Sue explains her initial venture into private practice, purchasing an existing practice from a burned-out dentist, and her initial attempts to grow the practice. She and David discuss her challenges in growing the practice, the positives and negatives to developing a niche practice, to moving the physical location and the difficulties of keeping good staff.

For the remainder of this first part of a two-part episode, Sue tells David about the challenges of keeping the practice afloat financially. In part two, they discuss Sue’s decision to file bankruptcy for the practice after more than 20 years and her career transition thereafter.

Insights:

• Sue shares her personal journey, mentioning her early interest in dentistry after having her first loose tooth at six years old.
  
  
• Sue had a positive childhood experience with her dentist, which fueled her desire to make dentistry comfortable for others.
  
  
• She discusses the transition in her career, starting her practice after a residency and eventually purchasing an existing practice from a burned-out dentist.
  
  
• In 1995, Sue took over a family practice and started building it up, noting challenges with old technology and financial constraints.
  
  
• She explains that her practice focused on treating anxious adult patients with oral sedation, creating a niche in an underserved area.
  
  
• She moved her practice in 2007, creating a comfortable environment in Northampton but encountered financial challenges in 2008 due to the financial crisis, including losing two-thirds of her patients after the move and facing difficulties hiring motivated staff, leading to constant turnover.
  
  
• Sue reflects on the decision to go fee-for-service and the financial pressures of taking insurance while striving to maintain high-quality care.
  
  
• Despite her advanced education, she struggled to implement complex treatments due to a lack of patients who could afford the care.
  
  
• Sue emphasizes the importance of utilizing specialists, even for bread-and-butter dentistry, to maintain quality and avoid complications.
  
  
• She outlines the ongoing financial struggles from 2008 to 2017, refinancing multiple times to stay afloat amid a tough market.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!

Listen in or watch as host David Mandell speaks with practice consultant Jessica Jones.

David begins asking about Jessica’s career and how she ended up working with medical and dental practices. Jessica then shares with David the pain points doctors typically have when they contact her—how they want to see their practices, and lives, improved.

Jessica then speaks to David about the importance of finding the doctor’s passions and how to align the practice with those passions, along with patient needs—potentially with a cash-based revenue element outside of insurance reimbursement. She then digs into the details around service offerings, equipment purchases, the importance of delegation and other key success factors her experiences has discovered are valuable—in cash-based practices or traditional ones.

Finally, Jessica stresses the importance of brainstorming and getting out of the daily grind to have perspective on what is working and what could be improved.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!

Listen in or watch as host David Mandell interviews Dr. Benjamin Ostrander, Chief Resident in Otolaryngology at the University of California San Diego.

David begins with questions he asks all physician guests to the program—about their initial interest in becoming a physician and in their particular area. Ben explains his family background in engineering, his initial degrees in engineering and bio engineering and his gravitation to medical school and surgery.

David and Ben then focus on the topic of innovation in general and specifically how medicine can learn from other industries—first discussing how the checklist concept came to medicine from aviation.

Ben shares some of his research on the science and art of hospitality and how these concepts could translate into medicine. David and Ben then jump into a number of potential ways medicine could benefit from lessons learned in hospitality—from patient experience to environmental factors to employee satisfaction.

Finally, Ben provides further resources for those interested in applying these concepts into their practice or hospital workplace.

Learn more, including additional show notes, links, and more, by visiting physicianswealthpodcast.com.

Click here to get your FREE copy of our latest book, Wealth Strategies for Today's Physician!