Building a Thriving Practice--Part X

Advertising: Become an AUTHORity

Hi Everyone,

This article is about one of our silliest psychological quirks. The advertising industry has been using it prolifically for decades and you can use it too--in very ethical ways--to become an authority in the eyes of your clientele and community.

The whole idea behind our previous discussion on writing a newsletter was to generate favorable name recognition. People with favorable name recognition are given special status in society, including being trusted "authorities" on just about anything. Why else would a golfer like Arnold Palmer be hired to sell you motor oil and Michael Jordan, a basketball player, be hired to sell you shoes, telephone services, hot dogs, men's underwear and batteries?

This "authority thing" is a real kick and has to be among the silliest phenomena in our psychological makeup. It is the real world version of the Pied Piper wherein we blindly follow others who appear to have the "truth." We do this not only for celebrities but for presumed experts as well. For example, one of the prevalent ads during my youth said....

"Three out of four doctors smoke Camels."

How's that for a truly stupid statement! Nonetheless, it was a highly successful ad. You see, if all those doctors smoke that nauseous stuff, I'd better do it too. After all, doctors know what's right. They are authorities.

There are some very ethical ways to promote our worthwhile healing efforts using this "follow the leader" propensity of ours. But first, let me explore the propensity itself and some of the logic behind it. The core reason is that we are so inundated with choices in industrialized society that we welcome short cuts to our decision making. Ideally, if we were going to build a new home, we would study architecture, civil engineering, building materials, plumbing, etc. to make an informed decision on each and every feature of our new abode. However, there's not enough time to do all that AND....

meticulously study all there is to know about nutrition so we can eat properly AND....

read up on all the latest thoughts about relationships and parenting so we can do that important part of our life well AND....

study every word processor and spreadsheet program out there so that we can choose the right one for our needs....AND, AND, AND.....

The fact of the matter is that we rarely do any of these detailed investigations. We almost always rely on "experts" or "trusted" sources for our decisions. We would much rather have the 23 year old store clerk tell us which word processor to buy than study all the alternatives. Further, we are perfectly willing to accept the opinion of a celebrity as to which brand of beer to drink or which style of bra to buy. In fact, we MUST do this or go nuts with all the decisions before us. It's a human thing. It's a form of emotional survival.

So, all this being said, what is the message here? It's simple. If you want people to treat you as an authority and thus follow your lead, refer business to you and give you extra space when you walk down the sidewalk, you must (drum roll) BECOME AN AUTHORITY.

Ok. Ok. I know you're not a famous athlete or celebrity (yet) so how are you going to get the respect you deserve? Where do you start? Well, you don't need to be an athlete or celebrity to become an authority in the perception of others. What you need to do is....

WRITE SOMETHING!! Put your professional procedures on paper and then circulate them in the form of a report, book, manual, newsletter, etc.

There is something magic about the written word. If something is written, it is given extra weight and whoever wrote it (you) becomes an authority. It's that short cut decision thing again. Look at the word "authority" for a minute. Take it apart and notice that the word AUTHOR occupies center stage in it. See...the word is spelled AUTHORity.

Now it would be nice if you wrote a 300 page book and publishers from all over the world begged you to make it available to the masses. If this happened you would, of course, become an instant authority (and celebrity) and would have to hire employees just to help schedule your appearances.

Nice thought.

However, none of this is necessary to establish yourself as an authority. You need only write up a 20 or 30 page book about your procedures (EFT or its cousins, for example) and distribute it in easy-to-do ways that I will describe in a moment. It doesn't have to be a long book. Short, to the point, books are well received and appreciated. However, you will need to spend the time to write it well. Include actual case histories (you can disguise identities, of course) and develop your ideas in a compelling manner. Give your book an engaging title like....

• Emotional Freedom Techniques (ahem!)
• The Path to Personal Peace
• Why Most Psychotherapy Doesn't Work
• The Emotional Version of Acupuncture
  (Except we don't use needles)
• How to Banish Nightmares or Bad Memories or The Fear of Public Speaking or...or...or...
  (Works Impressively at Least 50% of the Time)

Your book should cost less than $1 to attractively produce at your local copy shop (you can get it done more professionally after you've had feedback and rewritten parts of it). Then, when you have it ready, START GIVING IT AWAY. Give it to your clients. Flip through it with them. Point out important sections. Assuming your book is engagingly written, you will take an instant step up the authority ladder in the eyes of your client.

Then schedule talks at your local Rotary and other service clubs to talk about your book. Hand out free copies. People are more likely to read your book when received this way. After all, they personally met the author--an authority on the subject.

Go to your local bookstores and tell them they can sell the book for $3 and keep all the profits for themselves. All you ask is that a supply of your books be maintained near the cash register for customers to see. Do a similar thing with restaurants.

Include a copy of the book with your newsletter (you ARE writing a newsletter, aren't you? It's another way to be an AUTHORity). Contact other newsletter writers and offer to give them a supply of your books for free so they can send them out as a free gift to their subscribers. Assuming your book is a good one, this becomes an offer the other newsletter writers can't refuse.

Go on the internet to various discussion lists and newsgroups and offer to send people a free book. Send it electronically. That way it costs nothing. Spend time writing about the book and its important features on these various e-sites. That's even more writing and thus more AUTHORity.

Do your own web site and include a complete copy of your book on that site. Let anyone download it for free. Again, this costs nothing to do. No printing. No binding. No postage. Ask for their email address. Add them to your newsletter or start another newsletter.

And what about the costs for those books you print and then give away? How much will that amount to? You may spend a few hundred dollars getting this project going and maybe some more money after that. If your book is well accepted, you may want to write a sequel or a series of concise books which will further your status as an AUTHORity. That will cost money, too. But what's the alternative? Would you rather continue doing business as a non-AUTHORity? That's expensive--very expensive. It is far more expensive than the cost for some starter books. Maybe you've noticed that.

So, why aren't you typing already?

Hugs, Gary

P.S. And, just in case you are one of those marvelous people blessed with a mission, what better way to move the world than to be an AUTHORity with a favorably recognized name?

Return to Building a Private Practice--Main Menu