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
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

web networking | marketing | blog | internet | marketing media

2008.11.25 23:26:44

John McDaniel

Having done a bit of writing for the professional optometric press I’ve learned a few things about myself.  First and foremost, I have learned that writing is not a core strength of mine.  Writing takes a lot of time and effort on my part.  Conversations, lectures, and presentations are easier for me.  For years I have wished there was a medium where the ease of conversation could blend with the permanence of publication.  I think I have found such a medium – blogging. 

Commensurate with the launching of Waugoo Consulting Group’s new website (www. Waugoo.com) I have decided to start an official blog (official blog?  I think that is an oxymoron, but I digress).  Here is what I hope to accomplish with this blog:

1. I want to have fun doing it – if I don’t find this interesting it will not be interesting for anyone else
2. Share bits of the Waugoo knowledge base that can be used by most readers on their own
3. Entertain you, the reader, enough that you come back for more
4. Consolidate my opinions on the most commonly asked questions
5. Promote Waugoo Consulting Group’s services by demonstrating our philosophy and approach in bite size samples
   

I, ultimately, will be the one responsible for selecting the topics covered in this format.  If I don’t find a topic interesting, anything I might have to say about it will likewise be less than interesting.  That said, I am always searching for intriguing issues to address in blogs, articles, and presentations.  I am hoping that you, the reader, will become an active participant by sharing what topics you’d like to see discussed.  I am asking, for the first of what will likely be many times, for your ideas, questions, comments, and consternation's. 

Finally, I’d like to add a note about the level of decorum and formality of the blog.  There will be little of either.  I fully expect to commit errors in spelling, grammar, and most definitely in over generalization.  The spelling and grammatical errors will be due to the aforementioned weakness in writing.  The over generalization error comes from inevitability of medium and purpose.  Every management suggestion you’ve heard has one significant caveat: it may not apply to your idiosyncratic situation.  The same holds true for anything I might say on this blog.  What may apply to most situations may not apply to your situation.  I should also add that my naturally sarcastic and irreverent style can’t be changed; it is what it is.  Sometimes this style doesn’t come across very well in written form.  This is probably another testament to my lack of writing skill.  If unsure of my intent or meaning please at least assume the words are intended sarcasm or irreverence or even better ask me.  We all appreciate a second chance to explain our thoughts from time to time.

Le meas,

John McDaniel, OD, MLHR
President/Founder
Waugoo Consulting Group, LLC
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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