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Marketing is identifying the needs of the community and seeing that the practice’s professional and personal services meet those needs. Some of us tend to think that as newbies we should not become involved with marketing because it is frequently misunderstood and is often equated with media advertising. In reality, all of us market ourselves and our practice in one way or another every day of our lives. The location and appearance of your office is marketing. The way you and your staff dress is marketing. The quality of care and the level of service you provide is marketing. Thus, marketing is everything you do to attract customers and keep them coming back to you for their needs. Your major goal in marketing is to equate quality and success with your own abilities—no more, no less. In other words, try to develop congruity between what you promise in your marketing efforts and your ability to deliver on that promise.

Marketing your business can be divided into two parts: first, internal marketing, which refers to everything you do to inform your existing customers about you and your practice; and second, external marketing, which notifies people outside your practice as to who and where you are, and the specific care you provide.

Both internal and external marketing can actually be beneficial and less costly than media advertising. One of the reasons you might feel that you want to advertise your practice is peer pressure. If five out of six people are advertising, can you build or maintain a successful business without doing the same? The answer is, yes! In fact, you can create a more elite image by not advertising, which can indicate to the public that you do not find it necessary to advertise. Often, the people you want as customers are those who feel that discount coupons imply discount quality and, since “you get what you pay for,” they will look elsewhere for quality business.

External marketing is not inexpensive. We are beginning to see more highly visible entrepreneurs using all the promotional skills used by some gourmet restaurants, superior hotels, and other highly competitive businesses. You should also consider the quality of customers you will attract when your message is aimed at the price-conscious segment of the market. The customer who is looking only for price can frequently cost you and your practice more than any gain you might realize. The type of marketing you choose should be related to the type of identity you wish to market. Assuming you wish to practice the best of some services, you must be careful of both the content and methods you choose to market your practice.

Naturally, you need customer to be able to practice. However, you also need the type of customer who will both accept and appreciate your services. The fact that you place an advertisement in one or more media outlets will signify to certain customers that you need to advertise. They may well be turned off by this form of marketing and turn to another practice which they perceive does not need to advertise, assuming that it may be better, when the opposite may in fact be true.