2008.12.24 02:18:35

John McDaniel

At the conclusion of most patient encounters I ask the question “is there anything else I can do for you?”  Recently a patient said “yes, make me feel like I am 14 years old again.”  We laughed and I didn’t think much of it again until later when I had an experience that in fact did make me feel like I was a kid all over again.  Do you want to feel like a kid again?  I can make you feel just like you are 14 years old again.  Really, I can.  In fact, it won’t even take all that much effort on your part.  Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to Facebook.com
2. Create a Facebook account and profile for yourself
3. Spend an hour or so finding friends out there from high school, college, optometry school, church, etc.
4. Spend a few more hours using the Facebook interface to interact with your friends

You’re welcome.  You say you want to feel even younger?  No problem.  Do the same 4 steps with MySpace.com.  Now you say you don’t want to feel like a 10 or a 14 year old anymore?  Well, you are rather demanding, but OK, no problem.  Go to LinkedIn.com and create a presence there.  You can just start calling me the time machine next time you see me (heck, that is better than what most people are calling me these days!)

Besides fully functioning fountains of youth, these tools (and others such as Twitter.com) are fast becoming the ways people interact on a daily basis.  If you don’t believe this or view it as a temporary fad you are wrong.  I know because I initially didn’t believe it and viewed it as a passing fad.  I was wrong too.  The web is more than powerful search engines and information overload these days.  The web has become the medium by which people interact beyond their daily, physical contact lives.  Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are just different vehicles for accessing this new paradigm of interpersonal communication.

For several months I was reading about the importance these web-based social networking tools were playing in business today.  The predictions for their future roles were even more grandiose than I could imagine.  I confess I was myopic to this.  It wasn’t until a couple of great bloggers (all optometrists) started to turn my wrong headedness.  The first was Justin Bazan, OD from New York.  I decided to see what a progressive young optometrist could do with a blog and how it might impact his business.  I went to the blog expecting to maintain my status quo opinion that it would be a nice add on with little tangible business impact.  Justin’s blog started to change my mind.  It changed others also as a few other ODs around the country were doing their own blogs.  Three of them jumped onto my radar.  Nate Bonilla-Warford, OD from Florida recognized the power of the format early on.  As did optometrists John Warren from Wisconsin and Dickson Chen from California.  I started to notice something rather powerful that I didn’t expect to find: the ability to positively collaborate and improve the business of optometry and the care of the patient with cohorts around the globe.  What was so powerful about the blog concept (that I had previously failed to appreciate) was that it allowed each practice/doctor to have a lasting, positive impact on their current and potential future patients in a way that allowed their unique personalities to shine.  The cost factor is impressive too as it is essentially just time.  If you’re reading this blog I am probably preaching to choir but consider starting one for your business or just for yourself.  It does take time but the rewards can be well worth it.  I’d recommend starting by looking at some of the optometrist blogs I mentioned above.

I don’t want to leave the impression that blogging, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn are the only facets of this new networking and marketing frontier.  But these are a great place to start.  Remember that these are the media used more and more for interpersonal interactions today.  Why should you care about how people interact?  You have to care because you need to be a participant in the conversation.  Watching these new phenomena from the sidelines is reactive and you should be proactive.  I am not saying that “nifty” Facebook profiles will double your patient load.  I am saying that it can only serve to help increase the demand for your services and goods.

When you get to Facebook look me up; I’d love to be your friend!  Now go clean your room before I tell your mother and get you grounded!  Ahhh, 14 was grand, wasn’t it?

Le Meas,

John G. McDaniel, OD, MLHR
President/Founder
Waugoo Consulting Group, LLC
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