How to Retain Your Medical Group Staff

The U.S. economy is gaining traction. The overall unemployment rate is 5.3% — about half what it was in 2009/2010. But with the job outlook brighter than it’s been in years, you might worry about losing staff.

And you could be right to be concerned.

Employee Turnover Can Be Costly

Although the estimates vary by position and pay level, each lost employee costs a business about 6 to 9 months of salary. That means if you’re paying an employee $40,000 per year, it could cost $20,000 to $30,000 to replace them.

Another estimate is 150% of their base salary, the Society for Human Resource Management says, when you consider extra administrative work, loss of time and money invested in training, and the costs to find and train a new hire.

You should expect an occasional employee voluntary exit, but what happens when you start to notice a trend? This happened to an internal medicine practice faced with “sudden, mass employee turnover.” According to the MGMA, they lost 12 employees – about half their clinical staff – in just 4 months. First they had to figure out why. Then they asked remaining staff what they like about the practice, developed an employee retention plan, and aggressively began recruiting.

Employee Satisfaction Remains Critical

Offering competitive pay is one obvious way to keep staff. But there are many other ways to keep medical group employees happy.

Working to create ‘superstar’ employees is worthwhile, especially in this era of value-based care and online patient reviews. “Your employees can reach superstar status only if their lower-order needs are met: The paycheck is good and working conditions are fair,” Judy Bee, practice management consultant with Performance Practice Group in La Jolla, California, told Medical Economics.

 

She suggests rewarding staff in creative ways, including:

• Extra paid time off
• Gas and other gift cards
• Tuition assistance for dependent children

Another tip – don’t discuss financial challenges facing your practice in front of office staff. It could lead to worries and distraction over their job security, Bee says.

Morale and More

Whether a practice intentionally reduces staff size to offset declining revenue or experiences voluntary turnover, it’s important to acknowledge and reward staff who stay. It’s more than a morale issue. When employees leave, it usually means more work for everyone else, especially in the short-term. An increased workload can also impact employee satisfaction.

“Faced with this challenge, some staff go about their day racing from one task to another, feeling increasing stress as they try to accomplish multiple, often competing demands,” says Deborah Walker Keegan, PhD, a healthcare consultant for Medical Practice Dimensions and Woodcock & Walker Consulting.

“They feel they cannot get out from under the weight of the work and are not able to do their very best work. As a consequence, some staff members are seeking jobs that are more defined [and less chaotic].”

For this and other reasons, employee retention made the Medical Economic list of top 15 challenges facing physicians in 2015.

 

 

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Viral Marketing: 5 Tips to Maximize Reach & Impact

 

 

Every marketer aims to create a smashingly viral success with every campaign launch. We all want our content to reach each targeted demographic and persona. But how do we get maximum exposure for the campaigns that we launch? And what does it really mean to “go viral?”

The term viral is derived from biology. The idea is that content becomes so massively shared that it, in a sense, spreads like a virus across the web. Designing a marketing campaign that emulates this model is no easy task; there isn’t a rinse and repeat formula. In fact, this information is nearly impossible to predict. On the bright side, however, many viral marketing campaigns share similar attributes and touch points that assist in contributing to their massive online success.
Here are 5 tips to help boost your marketing campaign to “viral” status:

#1: A Clear and Concise Message
While it is true that some campaigns go viral purely by accident (or is it?), most efforts are carefully and thoughtfully planned out to ensure that the content invokes a response from viewers. Any materials that are produced should be meticulously planned with the campaign’s central message at its heart. The last thing your campaign needs is for the message to be misconstrued or lost on the audience. Bearing this in mind, you should always follow the next step too:

#2: Keep It Simple
The fact is, the more complicated your campaign reads, the greater the chances it will be ignored by the very folks you hope to woo. You must keep in mind that as attention spans continually drop due to sensory overload, people must be captured by your content within the first few seconds. If you fail to do this, your content will fail as well.

A great example of content that could be highly beneficial for your efforts would be a simple infographic or a short, yet captivating video. Once the audience has been reeled in, more in-depth information can be explored when they come directly to your site.

#3: Make it Visually Compelling
This could arguably be the most important aspect of a campaign going viral. Images are a massive component to any successful piece of content, let alone an entire campaign. Images have taken over the web, and video content is poised to do the same.

In almost every instance of things going viral, each has been visually appealing and compelling. Even if the majority of your message is text-based, irresistible images and videos are a must. But do be sure that the imagery being produced correlates with your brand and the message you wish to portray.
The whole purpose of a marketing campaign is to drive brand awareness and conversions, so be certain not to convolute this vital aspect. This type of mistake could compromise all of your previous efforts and stop your potential successes short. Images are vital and can make or break your entire campaign.

#4: Invoke Emotionality
No matter how inspiring or fascinating the information connected to your campaign may be, it is simply not enough. The fact is that every campaign that has ever gone viral has touched people in one way or another. Sometimes the content might be humorous, it could be sentimental, or even surprising. Whatever the case may be, emotions play a massive role in a piece of content’s level of share-ability.

For content to reach viral status it must grab the viewer on an emotional level; it has to tug at the heart strings. Play off of hopes, fears, dreams, and so forth and your campaign stands a much greater chance of being shared.

#5: Know Your Audience
It is hugely important to know who your audience is and what they truly desire if you want your campaign to make an impact. As you ponder the emotional aspects to tap into, also consider what triggers resonate with your demographic.

What does your audience seek to gain from you? Are they looking to be entertained, informed, or both? What kind of relevant information does your audience value most? If you can identify the attributes that impact these folks in the most dramatic way, your campaign will have the ability to reach those eyeballs you’re after in a much more effective fashion.

For a campaign to reach the pinnacle of viral prestige, it requires in-depth planning, determination, and an intimate understanding of what aspects of human nature must be tapped into.

Sure, your first attempt may not go viral, but persistence is key. Evaluate the results of your campaign to determine what features worked, which did not, and adjust the sails from there.
Research campaigns that have reached the level of success that you wish to attain and take notes on what really hit audiences the most. By learning how these campaigns went viral, and what audiences say about the associated materials, you too can develop a campaign that takes the world by storm.

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Five Innovative Ways To Monetize Your Website

 

 

Gone are the days when websites and blogs were predominantly treated as a means to share
knowledge and information. With the boom that online businesses have witnessed in recent years, the primary objective behind the creation of websites has deviated more toward making money online. The temptation of being your own boss and doing what you are passionate about is pretty difficult to resist. And when there’s the prospect of making a living out of your passion, only a handful could refrain from exploring the opportunity.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that every three out of four websites that are unveiled in the public domain today, are created with one exclusive objective — which is to make money online. Tech-savvy youngsters and aspiring webpreneurs are increasingly exploring the unchartered territory of online monetization instead of looking for a much safer career option.

There are several ways of making money in the realm of World Wide Web. While a few prefer to sell advertising slots on their websites and blogs, there are individuals who are more comfortable with affiliate marketing. Paid podcasts and webinars can also be excellent choices and eCommerce business is in the mix as well.

If you are interested in maximizing the earning potential of your website, then the widely used website monetization methods may not prove to be sufficient. You need to think out of the box and come up with innovative ideas. To help you in your bid to generate a steady flow of income from online sources, we are going to introduce you to five innovative monetization concepts which can effectively increase your online income.

1. Search Monetization
The concept of ‘search monetization’ may not have caught the imagination of webmasters yet, but it can be a very effective technique when it comes to monetizing a website. You do not have to do anything more than add a ‘On-Site Search Box’ to your website and, whenever a visitor uses this feature, your revenue will increase.

What Do You Need to Do?
First, you need to register with a monetization partner that offers this feature. You will be provided with a line of JavaScript-based code to integrate the search box on your website. You need to copy the code and place it at the desired position on your website.

How Does It Work?
It’s pretty similar to PPC advertisements. When a visitor enters a search term and clicks on the search button, relevant results would be displayed from existing entries available on your website. Besides the search results, the page will also have a few sponsored contextual advertisements, which is the source of income for the search service provider. You get rewarded every time a visitor makes a search request, irrespective of whether it generates any click on the sponsored advertisements.

2. Co-registration
Another relatively new monetization concept is co-registration — more popularly known as co-reg, which is nothing but offering a free value-add to your visitors. It is basically a lead generation technique with a slight twist. While traditionally webmasters generate leads for their own purpose, here you will be doing it on behalf of a third-party business.

What Do You Need to Do?
To make use of this monetization technique, all you need to do is to register with a trustworthy Co-Reg network and promote its ‘opt-in’ offers on your website. You may also get in touch with relevant companies in your niche for co-registration collaboration.

For example, if you have a travel related website, you can approach travel agents and tour operators with a co-registration proposal and convince them to join as a promotional partner. It’s a win-win situation for both. The travel company would get contact details of your visitors who are interested in tourism, while you get rewarded for introducing them to your partner company.

How Does It Work?
Visitors are presented with an option to register for a freebie. It can be a free newsletter or a discount deal or an app download request. For those visitors who would decide to opt-in (subscribe, register or download), you will receive a certain sum of money as reward.

3. On-Video and In-Image Ads
In-case you own a website with lots of images and videos, then this type of ad can add a new dimension to your earning potential, without disrupting the existing banner ads set-up. For showing an overlay of display advertisement on your images and video files for a specific duration, (usually five to 15 seconds), you get to earn a pretty high eCPM rate (Cost Per Impression) in the range of $3 – $5 for 1,000 raw impressions.

What Do You Need to Do?
Register with a reputed publisher network that offers In-Image and Pre-roll Video ads. Once your website is approved for ad serving, generate the required ad tags and paste the HTML/JS code on your website’s stylesheet.

How Does It Work?
You must have come across Pre-roll-Video ads on YouTube. It’s the same concept here as well. Your visitors would need to watch an advertisement for a few seconds before the actual video is displayed. As far as In-Image ads are concerned, an interstitial layer ad is shown to the visitors over the image.

4. Sponsored CAPTCHA
We all are aware of the effectiveness of CAPTCHA for preventing bots and other automated spamming tools from cluttering our websites. But wouldn’t it be great if the same concept was used for the dual purpose of preventing spam and earning money at the same time? That’s where Sponsored CAPTCHA comes in to the picture. Being a relatively new concept, there aren’t too many options at the moment, but the concept is slowly gaining momentum.

What Do You Need to Do?
Sign-up with a company that specializes in this type of advertisement. You will be provided with a link to download a plugin and install it on your website.

How Does It Work?
After installing the plugin, you can configure CAPTCHA on all the user input gateways such as the login, registration or comments form. Besides offering the CAPTCHA functionality, it will also incorporate ads on the applicable interface. You will be earning a revenue share on the displayed advertisements.

5. Sell Your Own services
Do you possess any exceptional professional skill that is always in demand? If yes, then why don’t you extend a helping hand to those who are in need of that specific skill? Businesses of all sizes are always on the lookout for exceptional talents and they wouldn’t hesitate to offer a deserved compensation if someone can help them to attract new customers.

It’s a fundamentally different concept when compared to the other four techniques discussed in this article. This idea is all about utilizing your website as a medium for earning money instead of monetizing your traffic.

What Do You Need to Do?
If you have a knack for writing quality content, then put up a banner on your website which says, “Wish your website could have such amazing content? Don’t just wish, make it happen. Hire me and impress your readers.”

Similarly, if you are good with designing, then you can promote digital design services via your website. You may offer a host of services including consultation, programming, photo editing, event organization, and whatever else you can possibly think of.

How Does It Work?
Readers, who are in need of a service that you are offering, can contact you directly with their proposals. If an offer sounds interesting, you can take up the work and earn a fair compensation for your efforts.

So are you up for the challenge? For maximizing your revenue, you need not have to re-invent the wheel — just start a blog, add quality content, build a loyal base of visitors and showcase your talent. Then put your thinking hat on and devise innovative ideas to make the most out of your website and traffic.

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How to Be Found on Google

 

Contrary to popular belief, getting your business listed at the top of Google Search results is no mystery. With more and more customers now turning to Google to find new products and companies, it is important to take ownership of this marketing channel and ensure your business is at the top of the search list.

We’ve had plenty of success helping our clients get found on Google. Based on that success, here are three key tips that you can apply in your own search marketing.

On-Page Optimization
On-page optimization is the way you tell Google what your business does. By optimizing pages with appropriate copy, content and keywords, you essentially tell Google what you do and what you sell.
 Here are three on-page optimizations to focus on:

1. Basic metadata: H1, H2, title and description tags need to accurately represent what your products, services and content are about.
2. Content themes: Be consistent throughout your website to describe what you offer. Create multiple pages for each product or service and make use of internal links to help users (and Google) navigate through your content.
3. User-friendly design: Google is paying close attention to the user experience. Make sure your website is responsive and works beautifully across all devices. Include important information at the top of the page and avoid overusing banners and pop-ups.

Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Google’s local listings are the blocks of business listings that link to Google business pages and Google map addresses. This is slightly different to regular organic listings in that Google shows the local block for geocentric search terms where the user is looking for a product or service in their area.
To optimize your business for local SEO, follow these steps:

1. Create and complete your Google My Businesspage.
2. Build links from other local businesses and relevant media sites or blogs.
3. Add your local address, phone number and business name to the footer of all website pages.
4. Ensure your business listings on third-party sites (e.g., Yellowpages.com.au and truelocal.com.au) are consistent and match your Google business listing.

Link Building
Link building is important because it gives your business credibility. By building links with other businesses and relevant publications or blogs, Google sees that you are trusted and recommended by these outlets.

Google has a reputation to uphold and doesn’t want to recommend untrustworthy sites. If no links are present on your page, Google will favor your competitors and you will get pushed back to page 10 of the search results.
How to build links from businesses and publications that matter:

1. Reach out to your existing business relationships and ask them to endorse your company on their partners or resources page;
2. 
Contact customer advocates and ask them to endorse your website;
3. Reach out to publications to ask them to link to or republish your blog articles and educational content.

Stop manipulating Google and start doing the stuff that works.
Too many business owners try to manipulate the search rankings. This is bad practice and will eventually result in penalties and tears. Moving forward, instead of feeling frustrated by Google, it is important to adapt and embrace the technology that delivers results the right way.

Follow the advice in this article and Google will reward you with higher search engine rankings, ensuring that your business is the first and only stop in a search.

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How Your Business Can Cut Costs without Losing Customers

 

 

According to a recent LinkedIn article, only half of all businesses survive five years. Even grimmer, only one-third survive 10 years. In the current economic climate, businesses are challenged with having to simultaneously cut costs while still retaining customers. Below explains four ways to cut costs without losing customers.

Reduce Marketing Costs
Marketing can consume financial resources without any tangible results. Therefore, base new marketing strategies on solid research and demographic data. A marketing project or campaign must be carefully executed with as few mistakes as possible. Social media has proven to be a cost effective solution for marketing needs. That is, businesses can encourage and manage customer driven marketing content through popular social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter. For example, any business can create an attractive Facebook homepage and engage customers online through establishing a community of faithful followers. The cheapest source of free advertising is passionate social media followers who contribute personalized content and publicly interact with the company online. In addition to this, social media reaches a broader audience at a fraction of the marketing costs.

Expand Online Presence
Cloud-based services offer companies the opportunity to virtually expand their business while saving money. Cloud based services offer excellent IT savings through reducing the costs associated with software, hardware, networking, maintenance and electricity. Cloud-based computing services, such as documentation and file storage, offer a convenient and centralized solution for employees. In addition to this, a newly designed website, which integrates with social media, is a great way to attract new customers and keep old ones. A website provides inexpensive solutions when it comes to self-serve customer service. For example, allowing customers to log in and check their product or service update will save money while providing an important service to customers.

Improve Operations Performance
The best ways to improve business efficiency and performance is through a quality management system (QMS). A QMS program focuses on implementing policies, procedures and processes with the goal of providing top-notch quality products and services. A QMS program involves specific procedures for documentation, work tasks, employee training and problem reporting. In addition to this, QMS programs involve regular audits to analyze and correct program deficiencies. They have been proven to reduce waste, eliminate redundancies and correct chronic problems. An efficient, standardized approach to work processes will improve overall operational performance. For example, manufacturers rely on QMS programs to ensure product consistency through regular product inspections and measurements. As a result, the customer will enjoy consistently higher quality products and services.

Business Process Management
Business Process Management software (BPMS) is an excellent way to understand and automate business processes. In fact, according to Forbes magazine, Wikipedia’s secret to success is using business-process modeling for its popular encyclopedia. That is, Wikipedia is based on the concept of being able to continually create text links for potential pages. Therefore, being able to automate processes will decrease costs and wasted time while increasing business efficiency. Even better, the concept of business process management is flexible and can be applied to almost any business field. From a customer’s perspective, the commercial transaction will simply be smoother. Studies have shown that companies that use business process management tools enjoy a 95 percent success rate with project implementation. In addition to this, 80 percent of companies surveyed rated BPM better than CRM, ERP and SCM. Business process management is an excellent tool for bushiness process standardization.

In conclusion, companies can cut costs through reducing marketing costs, expanding their online presence, improving operations performance and utilizing business process management tools.

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