Copyright 2006 Kelly Robbins
Think about this question clearly for a minute. What business are you in? Are you in the chiropractic business? The holistic health business? The healthcare business? The helping people be happy business? The copywriting business?
I bet most of you answered something similar to this. But I want to challenge your assumptions. Are you really in the holistic health business? Am I really in the copywriting business? I know I work hard to be the best copywriter and marketer I can be, and I'm sure you do too. But is that going to pay my bills every month? Being the best is great, but if nobody knows about me, what good does that do anybody - especially all the people I can help? So again, am I in the copywriting business?
No I am not.
I am in the business of marketing copywriting services. Of marketing marketing services. I may be the best marketer on the planet, but nobody is going to know about it and I'm not going to help anyone's business grow if they don't know about me and how I can help them. You are in the business of marketing whatever it is you do. You are in the business of marketing your reiki services. Not the reiki business.
I once worked on a web site for a group of doctors. It was a very large group and I interviewed about ten of the top doctors in the organization. One of them told me something that I never forgot. He said he works with hundreds of doctors and some (not all) of the doctors that the people/patients love - the doc's that get a lot of referrals - are not necessarily the best doctors in the community.
These doctors are popular because they are active members of the community and they are well liked. He said that some of the very best doctors are not necessarily the busiest doctors because patients don't like them. They are more introverted, don't market or get involved in the community, and because of their demeanor are not recognized as being a great doctor.
That truth can apply to any industry. I bet you even know some people like that (not you of course). The point is that you need to market yourself and your organization no matter what it is you do. It is important to be good at what you do, absolutely. But there may be a lot of mediocre chiropractors or nutritionist out there helping more clients and making more money simply because they spend more time marketing themselves.
You are in the business of marketing. Period.
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Author of Healthcare Copywriting Secrets Revealed and The Healthcare Copywriters Toolkit, Kelly Robbins is a healthcare copywriter and marketing coach/consultant. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection (
http://www.healthcaremarketingconnection.com), a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, "5 critical things you must know when writing for the healthcare industry" — info@KellyRobbinsLLC.com or 303-460-0285.
