Thursday, August 19, 2010

7 Reasons Why Doctors Should Blog

Blogs have emerged to be the best tool for media presence, especially for Doctors. Doctors can generate various advantages by blogging. 

International Reach
Right from your desk you can reach international audience just by blogging, may be once a week. You can blog about a case, a preventive strategy, common myths or just about yourself. Check this blog on dentistry for a sample: Discovering Dentistry.

Build Trust And Reputation
A doctor's hard work and intellectual skills remain confined to the OT, conferences and journals. By blogging about your cases you can have an online showcase for your patients. This will help build trust and enhance your reputation.

Creates Medico-Tourism Opportunity
Since the blogs have no geographical limits, they are bound to enhance your chances to get patients from abroad. Put your appointment and contact details in the sidebar along with the modes of payment. If your cases have build a sufficient trust, chances are bright that tomorrow you get an appointment call from abroad (Superbug theory is baseless). Good blogs get noticed by technorati or other blog ranking engines. A sample of good technorati authority is here.

Live Testimonials
Satisfied patients can write comments on your blog post and it will serve as testimonial for your excellent skills and services in your field. Of course you can choose which comment to display.

Roll Out Your Own Journal
Why not be an Editor and have an online journal / magazine of your own. You can do it alone or if you have a group of like minded docs you can form a great blog. Many blogging platforms allow multiple authors for the same blog e.g. blogger, posterous etc.

Lead A Social Cause
Blogs are a perfect tool for creating awareness and leading a social cause. Suppose you are a cardiologist and want to promote "healthy habits for heart" or you are  a dentist and want to lead an "anti tobacco campaign" then blogs are best. You want publish your camps, lectures, daily counseling in parks or any other activity related to your social campaign, then go blog, go!

Some Extra Earnings
Last but not the least, you can earn some cash depending on the popularity of the blog. Since doctors blogs are niche blogs, the payments are highly rewarding. Companies related to medicine and medical technology are dying to have a proper spot to display their ads. There are various ways of monetizing your blog. You can go for Pay per click, pay per thousand impression, Display ads etc.

If you tried earlier and found it difficult to get started, here is the easiest way to do it. Just read How To Create A Blog In 5 Seconds Flat ? 
If you have a blog just let me know in the comments below. If you have tried it but there was some hindrance then also write it down here. Let me try if, I may be able to help you out.

Watch Out Next Week
Why Doctors Will Find Posterous As The Easiest Blog Service ?