[SAM CARLVALHO] Welcome to the Marketing a Practice podcast with me, Sam Carvalho, where you’ll discover everything you need to know about marketing and branding your business. To find out more about how I can help you brand new business visit www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design. Doctors who want to become nationally recognized media experts work with Lisa Simone Richards to grow both their personal brand their practices. Her clients become sought-after regularly featured experts in the media and build award-winning practices, magnetically attracting their perfect clients. In just a matter of months, sometimes even weeks, Lisa’s clients build their expert authority status getting featured on Forbes, CNBC, Fox, Inc., MSN, Yahoo, and hundreds of other media, major media outlets. When she’s not at work, you can find her playing in the kitchen, still perfecting Beef Wellington, petting all the dogs in the park and watching way too many fashion styling videos on YouTube. Hi Lisa, thanks so much for joining us today. [LISA SIMONE RICHARDS] Oh my gosh, it’s going to be so fun to have this conversation and share with your listeners how they can get some more exposure. [SAM CARLVALHO] So quickly before we get started, how many times have you tried Beef Wellington? [LISA SIMONE] I think we’ve made it at least four times now. The last time didn’t get much better because we’re trying to really improve the lattice pattern and make a really nice decoration with the crust. I’m just not a pace for chef, so we’re going to keep working at it. [SAM CARLVALHO] That’s straightaway, caught my eye because my husband I have, I think, tried three times and we can just never get it right. I don’t think we ever tried tight enough and then everything just falls apart and yes, but it’s my husband’s favorite, so we will also stick at it. [LISA SIMONE] It’s funny, I really feel like I should try it in a restaurant because I think I recall only having had the one we’ve made at home and we’re okay at it but I’m curious what I’ll think of it when I see how a professional does it [SAM CARLVALHO] Yes, my mom is really good at it, thank goodness. That’s where we get a good one every now and then. [LISA SIMONE] That’s so nice. [SAM CARLVALHO] Awesome. So Lisa, can you share with us a bit about your story and how you got to where you’re now? [LISA SIMONE] Yes, somehow, I knew I’d always end up in communications and I can think back to even a very specific photo of me as maybe like a three-year-old sitting in the snow holding a phone in my hands. But really, I got introduced into PR back in 2002. If you remember 2002, this is when Sex and the City was in its heyday, Samantha Jones, one of the main four characters had a PR agency and she was all things like fashion and beauty and all these cool restaurants. I was like that, I think that’s what I want to do for a career, so I ended up getting started in fashion and beauty. I worked in an agency for a few years where we had multimillion dollar international clients, like knowing that there are a lot of medical practitioners listening to this, we worked with GlaxoSmithKline, [inaudible] and then some mainstream consumer brands like Crayola, Virgin Mobile and Staples. It was so fun to be able to get major media coverage for those companies and see what it did for their brands. But I also was aware that independent business owners didn’t have 10 grand a month on a 12-month retainer to work with an agency like the one that I used to be at. So back in 2015, I actually started my own independent business working with smaller business owners, giving them access to the same publicity secrets that all of these huge companies did. I thought my start with doctors who ended up turning into regularly featured experts on tv, they got a monthly comment in magazine, they started, they built an award-winning practice that’s one best chiropractor in Toronto probably for at least four or five years in a row now. I was like, let’s do more of this and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. [SAM CARLVALHO] Okay, awesome. So you specialized specifically for doctors, right? [LISA SIMONE] I’m just shifting back into the health market specifically. It’s funny to see how your career evolved. I started off with health, fitness and wellness, I moved into the online coaching space and now we’re coming back to health and wellness again. [SAM CARLVALHO] Okay, awesome. Lisa, if the audience wants to have a healthy media mix, what does that entail and why is it important? [LISA SIMONE] What a healthy media mix is about is thinking about like where are my clients paying attention and how are they consuming information? Even think about your own consumption practices because we have to remember that like our consumers are just like us? So when I say a healthy media mix, what I mean by that is people have their preferred way of consuming content. Maybe they want to read it, maybe they want to listen to it or maybe they prefer to watch it. So it’s important that as a business owner, you’re showing up in all three ways, written contact, written content, sorry, audio content and video content so that no matter how your ideal client likes to consume information, you are showing up in that way. It’s funny, we started off talking about food on this interview. Another recipe my husband and I like to make is a Thai red curry and we only do it maybe every other month or so, so I can’t remember it off the top of my head. I always turn on the YouTube video, I play it, I follow what the lady does, I pause and that’s how I make the recipe. For him, he’s like, I can’t stand listening to this lady anymore. We’ve seen this video at least eight times. Is there a blog post about it? I think it’s so important, remember that at the end of the day we still want the same dinner. We just have different ways of getting there and that’s really important with our clients as well. So make sure that they’re able to read about you, hear you, and see you. Not only are you making sure that you get in front of people in the way that they like to consume content, but everyone Google something before they buy it. So how useful is it that before something comes into your practice or they’re considering coming to see you, that they Google you, see you in multiple different places and have that immediate reaction of, oh, okay, this person’s showing up here, here and here. They must know their stuff and there’s that enhanced level of confidence to come and work with you now. [SAM CARLVALHO] I know we’ve spoken about this on the podcast before, but, because I know for some audience members that can sound quite overwhelming that now they must appear on multiple media channels, but I think what’s nice about that is repurposing content. We’ve spoken about this before, but creating a 10-minute video, or even five-minute video breaking that up for social media, transcribing it into a blog post, so it’s essentially you’ve spent maybe an hour creating a piece of content, but then you’re able to publish it on multiple platforms. [LISA SIMONE] Yes, and I think there’s even an opportunity for me to make a distinction here because one of the things I like to be really clear in the distinction is between content and visibility. So what you’re talking about creating one video, let’s say and splicing into three different forms of content, that’s content that appears on your platforms. So you can put that on your LinkedIn, your Instagram, your website but with that content we have to keep in mind it’s only reaching as many people who are already in our ecosystem. It reaches our existing followers and we know that the algorithm isn’t putting it in front of them. So what I want to make the distinction with is visibility, so what I love to help people do is get in front of new leads. I think time and time again we’re seeing people market to the same 500, 1000, 2000 followers over and over again and wondering why they’re not seeing an increase in sales. What I want people to do is to reach new people, so how could you maybe instead of writing a blog post for your own site, for example, can you write a guest blog post for somebody else’s site? Instead of recording your own podcast episode, can you get on somebody else’s podcast like this to get in front of a new audience? It’s the same amount of effort and output, you’re just doing it in front of new people. Or if you were going to, let’s say do a video on your Instagram or go live on Facebook or LinkedIn, how about going live with somebody else on their page in their group so now you’re getting exposure to new people? There’s a difference between the content that we create that nurtures people who already follow us versus visibility that gets us in front of new people. [BRIGHTER VISION] When you’re in private practice, it can be tough to find the time to even review your marketing efforts, let alone to make improvements where needed. Whether you are a seasoned clinician with an existing website in need of a refresh or a new therapist building a website for the first time, Brighter Vision is the perfect solution. By first understanding your practice and what makes it unique, Brighter Vision’s team of developers are then able to create you a beautiful website that will attract your ideal clients and get them to contact you. Better yet, they also provide unlimited tech support to make sure it’s always up-to-date and professional search engine optimization to make sure you rank high in online searches, all at no additional cost. But best of all, we’ve worked with them to create special offer just for the Marketing a Practice listeners. Get your first three months of website service completely free. To take advantage of this amazing deal, head to brightervision.com/joe. Again, that’s brightervision.com/joe. [SAM CARLVALHO] That’s really good. It’s a really good distinction. Lisa, can you share with us what are more than 10 ways to get free exposure that can position our audience as an expert or authority in their field? [LISA SIMONE] Yes, absolutely. We can keep playing off of these three different layers of visibility in this healthy media mix. So again, just like you were saying, let’s not super overwhelm people. You don’t have to do all 10 of them, but as you’re listening to this list, think to yourself, okay, where do my strengths lie, What am I good at and where am I comfortable and I can get started there and then you can grow to other platforms. So let’s break it down. We started talking about written content, and this is pretty easy to do, especially if you’re new to putting yourself out there, you’re not too sure about doing it and you want to build that confidence. If you’re, let’s say like writing a guest blog post, like I mentioned, you have the opportunity to write it, to put it away and come back to it to ask somebody else for their feedback to edit it. There’s an opportunity for that inter-perfectionist to win. So when we’re talking about written content, that could be doing a guest blog post on someone else’s site, that could be writing an article for another website like medium.com or the Huffington Post or alternatively it could be being interviewed by a journalist or a writer who’s going to ask you some questions and then they’ll actually write the piece, but your quotes will be included in there. Those are three different ways to show up in written content. You could do a guest blog post, write for another site, or be interviewed. That’s three there. We’re going to make sure we cross 10. Moving up, the next way to get visible is to be heard. You’ve done the writing thing, you’ve built that confidence, you’re working on your messaging that perfectionist is winning. Next level up is letting people hear your voice and connect with you. That could be being a guest on someone else’s podcast. Again, we want to reach new people, not just get in front of our own ecosystem. That could be getting on a platform like Clubhouse where you’re moderating or co-hosting a room with somebody else for more exposure. Or if you have a bricks and mortar practice, I know radio’s not that sexy anymore, but guess what, if you rely on foot traffic to come in and actually that’s how you make money, getting on your local radio station is another great way to get in front of the right people as well. We’re at six different ways now. Finally, as we continue to move up, what I like to call the ladder of publicity, we started at the bottom with written content, we moved up to audio content, at the very top of that visibility ladder is, you guessed it, video content. This is where people get to really build a connection with you. They get to hear your voice, see you, get a sense of your energy and if they like you or not. Some great ways to get visible could be again, if you’re in that local market, I love getting my clients on a morning show in their local city. That is a, when you think about it, typically with a morning breakfast television type show they’re on from six to nine, maybe even five to nine in the morning, five days a week. That’s anywhere between 15 and 20 hours of content that a handful of producers has to produce every single week. So they’re actually really excited when someone comes in with a good pitch that they can use for a segment. So getting on local television is a great idea. You could go live in somebody else’s Facebook group, you could go on Instagram live with somebody, thank goodness we have our own publishing platforms now. But again, I want you to get on other people’s platforms so that you’re growing your reach. What else could we be doing? We could be going live on LinkedIn. There we’ve already come up with over 10 ideas of how we can reach new people. [SAM CARLVALHO] Amazing. You got through that a lot quicker than I thought. I mean already when I saw over 10 I was like, oh goodness let’s settle in here. But that’s awesome the way that you’ve broken it down and just made it so simple for the audience to grasp and as you say figure out where they fit in on that letter. [LISA SIMONE] Yes, I’m willing to bet that anyone listening to this show has already successfully had a conversation in their lives. Doing a podcast is a great way to just have a conversation with somebody else. It takes a lot of the pressure off. It’s a great way to really develop your messaging and to feel strong and confident in what you’re saying. Then you can graduate to being seen, you can graduate to being on television. Personally, I have only child syndrome, so I love to get on a stage, whether it’s live or virtual and be like, hey everybody, drop your phones and pay attention to me. Now that could be terrifying for some people. So it’s really about knowing yourself and how you shine and how you really deliver good messaging so that you can get exposure in the ways that are really going to suit you the best and physician you the best. [SAM CARLVALHO] Absolutely. Lisa, you’ve obviously given already so much content and so much value for the audience, but what are the ABCs of visibility? So you speak about awareness, buzz and credibility and how can the audience use these to support their business goals? [LISA SIMONE] When it comes to visibility and publicity, the first thing I want to know from a client is what is the purpose of getting visibility? Just getting featured in Forbes, to be Forbes is cool, but is there a business decision behind why you’re doing this or is it just for vanity metrics? If someone says to me, nope, it’s for vanity metrics, I read self magazine growing up and I just love to see my name in there. Fantastic. Once I know that, then we can work on a plan. But any time before I work with somebody, I want to know if they’re working on what of the ABCs they’re working on building. You shared it earlier, awareness, buzz and credibility. So let me break down each of the three of those. When it comes to awareness, this is when you want to get in front of people who have the potential to hire you essentially. You want to get in front of new patients, new clients and when you’re reaching this an audience, we have to remember, okay, there might be certain places I like to consume content from, but that’s not necessarily where my ideal client is paying attention. For a lot of doctors, they’re probably paying attention to scientific journals and publications within the industry and guess what, our patients aren’t reading medical journals. That’s boring to them. Maybe it’s really changing your messaging to get on a local morning show that they might not be, that they might be watching. Actually, I often think about when I worked with a ton of gym and fitness studio owners, they would come to me and say, Lisa, I work with women who are just going to the gym for the first time and I would love to get featured in muscle and fitness and oxygen and body building. I’m like, hey, guess what, websites and magazines, people who’ve never been to the gym before are not reading. They’re not reading hardcore body building magazines. So getting in there is not going to get you in front of your ideal client. You don’t read like Cosmo or Self or Pop Sugar, but that’s where your person’s hanging out and that’s where you need to be seen. That’s what awareness stands for, getting in front of the people who have the power to hire us. We have to remember, it may not be where we pay attention, but it’s where they’re getting their info. B stands for buzz. Now a lot of the time I’m working with people who maybe are releasing a new book or they might be opening a course or a workshop. This can be true for a number of people in the medical practitioner field as well. When you have a book coming out, for example, people can’t just hear about it once and you think you’re going to become a New York Times bestseller, we know that it takes multiple touchpoints for someone to take action. So if you have a book coming out, does that mean the month leading up to your book launch, you want to be on 15, 20 different podcasts, you want to be on two television shows, you want to be writing guest blog posts for articles. You might just want to dedicate a month before that launch to make sure you’re showing up everywhere and building buzz so that by the time you go live you actually have an audience of people to put this in front of because they’ve heard about it so many times they’re like, okay, let me pay attention to this. It’s like when you think about a movie coming out, you don’t just hear about it once. There are posters and billboards and radio interviews and entertainment tonight and one of the actors probably gotten a new relationship or broke up with somebody, just with coincidental timing so that you’re hearing it all over the place and when it comes to deciding on the movie or like maybe I’ll go see that. That’s Buzz. We had awareness, buzz, and finally C stands for credibility. Now credibility is when you are looking to have your name mentioned in the same sentence as the peers who you follow, the people that you look up to. This is less about getting in front of your ideal client but actually really building your personal brand and your positioning. Maybe that’s speaking at conferences of the same people whose courses you’ve bought. Maybe it’s getting featured in a medical journal so that you have that credible as seen on logo for your site or for medical publications to establish yourself. We know with credibility that’s not necessarily going to turn into dollar signs tomorrow, but it is going to shift the way that your personal brand is perceived. [SAM CARLVALHO] So good. I feel like that is such a great all-round way of viewing it and implementing it and achieving it well, so that’s really great. Thanks so much for all the value that you’ve provided and we’ll definitely have all of this in the show notes. Lisa, I believe that you have something free to share with that audience. Can you speak a bit into that as well? [LISA SIMONE] Yes, if there’s one thing I can pat myself on the back for that I’m really good at, I’m a rockstar at turning people into recurring guest experts on television. My clients go on and they talk about the latest in Covid or the latest in healthcare or what happened after Halloween and how to keep your teeth clean. My clients don’t pay to get on television. They sometimes get paid for their segments. I have one client who’s done over 60 segments since 2019 and she never had been on TV before working with me. For doctors who want to start being that person who gets asked to come on the news and talk about the latest in healthcare news, if you had to publicityfordoctors.com, you can download for free my Doctor’s Guide to Getting On TV where I’m going to share with you five steps to take to be able to actually secure yourself a spot on a morning television show and broadcast your brilliance to the right people and shift the way you’re perceived. Again, if you had to www.publicityfordoctors.com, that’s where for free you can download the Doctor’s Guide to Getting on TV. [SAM CARLVALHO] Awesome. We’ll definitely have that link included in the show notes as well. Lisa, what’s the best way for people to get in touch with you? [LISA SIMONE] You know what, I’m going to hang out a lot more on LinkedIn now, so anytime somebody wants to find me, I brand myself as Lisa Simone Richards because there are a lot of Lisa Richards out there, but there’s only one Lisa Sloane Richards. You can just search me on LinkedIn and add me there. [SAM CARLVALHO] Awesome. We always end off with if every private practice owner in the world were listening right now, what would you want them to know? [LISA SIMONE] Oh my gosh, the one thing I would want them to know is if you’ve just spent 20 minutes listening to this conversation don’t just write down a bunch of notes and say that you got some good ideas. The one thing I want you to know is to pick the thing that lands with you. Is it the written visibility? Is it the audio? Is it the actual visual pick? Which one of these three focus areas you’re going to get started with because there’s nothing worse than investing 20 minutes and listening to something and being like, that was great, but not doing anything with it. So pick your one and take action on it [SAM CARLVALHO] And go do it. Awesome. Lisa, you’ve been an incredible guest. Thanks so much for being on the Marketing a Practice podcast. [SAM CARLVALHO] Thank you for having me. [SAM CARLVALHO] Thanks again to Brighter Vision for sponsoring this episode. To get your first three months of website service completely free, head on over to brightervision.com/joe. Thanks for listening to the Marketing a Practice podcast. If you need help with branding your business, whether it be a new logo, rebrand, or you simply want some print flyer designed head on over to www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design. Finally, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on iTunes if you like what you’ve heard. Talk to you soon. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.