Dr. Tea  0:01  
Practicing medicine without insurance is possible. Imagine a private practice where you get to see your best patients every day, providing medical services you truly enjoy, all without the hassle of insurance. My name is Dr. Tea Nguyen, and I'm a recovering specialist who was completely burned out from insurance based medicine. I pivoted into direct care, where patients pay me directly for my medical services, and have never looked back. If you're a private practice owner or planning to become one who's looking to be free of the grind of insurance and you're craving it, simplicity, efficiency and connection with patients, you are in the right place. This podcast will help you map out your exit plan and uncover the mindset needed to thrive in today's economy. Welcome to the Direct Care Podcast For Specialists. 

Dr. Tea  0:53  
I was invited to speak on how to be on social media as a doctor because someone out there thought I was good enough to guide their audience. So here goes. What comes up for me immediately when I was invited again to a different event about social media, this would be my third or fourth talk. But what comes up for me immediately is that I feel like I'm not the content expert, but I did build my practice with it, so I'll share with you what I've got. The truth is, I don't think I've created any viral host, and there's toxicity to that belief where social media makes us feel like anything we do is not good enough. So imagine this having five people come up to you today who said the stuff that you've produced out there helped a loved one get the medical care that they needed. Now, would you feel that those five people is simply not good enough, because you are aiming to reach a million people? You see how crazy this can get when you let it get to your head in that way, and social media has the ability to spread like wildfire, as far as how many people can see your post. And with that comes a little bit of competition amongst each other, where you're seeing somebody who has been at it for a long time garner a million views, and then suddenly we feel not good enough. And I want to just make it really clear that anytime you can influence even one person to do the right thing, to get the medical care that they needed, it matters to that one person. So don't be tempted to chase this big viral number and feel like all the work you've done was not good enough. That's simply not true. And you can see on my account, I'm mostly on Instagram and a little bit on Tiktok, and I don't have millions and millions of you. I just have enough. And if I can help you, have enough in your practice, then this podcast would have been worth it to produce for me. 

Dr. Tea  3:06  
So the goal of social media is to bring awareness to people who need you. And I don't know if you know this, but a lot of people don't know which doctors to go for, for what they rely on their general practitioner to do those referrals. And so oftentimes patients aren't sure where they're supposed to go, or they rely on their GP, who also may have limited knowledge as well. We don't know the situation that they're in, but you know what you know. And so it's your job, it's your duty as a community service member to educate those who might need you who would not otherwise know that they do need you. So the intent of social media, as far as I see, it, is not to attract random people, although that will happen, but it's to intentionally show up and create messages that will resonate with the people that you are trying to help. Those people are out there and they don't know you exist, and the only way for them to know you exist is if you put yourself out there. And how we used to do this was we would open our business have a sign that we're accepting new patients, and call it good, right this day and age, there's just way too much competition for that. So if you really want to stand out in your private practice or in your personal branding, even if you're employed, but you want to be known as the expert of your specialty, social media is a really great way to do it. It's totally free. You just have to invest with your time. And also, the byproduct of being on social media is being able to connect or reconnect with people who you might have known in the past, or colleagues, like for myself, colleagues are seeing the work that I do, and they reach out to me and ask me to speak for their audience, for example, and there's been an abundance of other opportunities that I would have. Never had if I didn't put myself out there. So my intention with social media was to educate in a way that felt most authentic to me. Realize that I'm talking about what makes it work for me. I'm not trying to show up as somebody else because somebody else has already been taken. I want to do stuff that is fun for me, and it feels good to me too. So I'm not dancing, I'm not being cute in my videos. I'm not wearing anything revealing, and I'm okay with that. My intention is my own. It's to educate and to make sure people understand the value that podiatrists have and help them connect with the doctors that they might need. So when I find a creator that I really like, I might follow them, pick up some stuff that they're doing, adopt it for myself, and I myself and constantly evolving too in the way that I show up. And I've had doctors who knew me from like 10 years ago, and they've seen like, the beginning stages of me being in public or out there in front of a screen or on a video, and they're like, You have changed so much. You have definitely improved the way that you speak, the cadence that you speak at all the things. And I find that to be such a huge compliment, because it took me time and a lot of practice to finally feel good about how I show up and how I speak. And so I was only able to get here by starting so starting with what I had, which was my boys, and what I knew, which was my medical education, and over time, I got better and better and better. I was able to understand how patients received information, how when I spoke medical talk, it really lost a lot of people's attention, because I was now speaking to patients or potential patients, not necessarily other doctors. And I think sometimes we can be stuck kind of in this silo of speaking amongst other doctors, that we kind of lose touch in the way we speak to the public. So this is really great exercise to be on social media and to speak in a way where they can understand and know that we are trying to connect with them, and that's incredibly valuable to connect so you don't have to be an expert to get started, you just have to start, which is how you eventually become an expert. Isn't it funny how we often think that we have to be so good before we start? But the reality is the work you have to do the thing to be good. So anyway, if you want to attract patients using social media, which is free, by the way. As of today, as of this recording, I would recommend that you read a book or listen to the book called hook point by Brendan Kane. There are many, many books out there. This is just one that I recently read that helps you understand how to capture people's attention in the first three seconds. Am I good at that? No, but it's a good starting point for you to kind of understand how it's totally different when you're on social media, when you start to produce educational content, compared to when you create slides for a conference. 

Dr. Tea  8:13  
For instance, I remember when I was trying to create these educational slides for a YouTube video, and the engagement totally flopped because I only knew how to create slides from what I used to do, like in residency or fellowship, and I wasn't even good at creating these lectures. But we did it because that was part of the process. And I did the same thing using YouTube, but I realized that the only people who really watched my video throughout were people who already knew me, so they were my loyal patients, and I had already gained their trust, and I was trying to capture more attention. But because I did not know the art of YouTube, I did not know how to capture people's attention that way on that platform, it really showed in my numbers. So in order to be online, you have to learn how to first capture their attention, especially people who don't know you, and then provide valuable content. So just to be clear, I am not on YouTube that much. I'm not good at YouTube, not an expert at all, but I do suggest that you look at the content there by other doctors and decide if that's something you want to master. There is a craft to it. There's got to be good lighting, you've got to have a good microphone, you need to have good content. It needs to be edited well, and just overall, be an excellent presentation for it to really show up on the search function when people are using YouTube to ask their question, people are using YouTube second to Google to look for answers to their questions. So I think it's a good place to be. I'm not there. I've learned from experts on how to do it, and it's just mentally. Too much for me. So just footnote that I'm not on YouTube, but I do think you should invest in YouTube yourself. Why? Because YouTube offers long form and the people who stay on long form content tends to be the best kind of patient, because they are really investing and learning about the thing that they're having a problem with, versus short form, which are Instagram Tik Tok, where the clips are short, maybe a minute or less, and it's not really going to engage people all that much, and most of the time, people are just kind of scrolling through, waiting to get that dopamine hit, to find something to stop at. So long form is for very invested people, which is YouTube, which is why it's a good place to be. And then short form is a place where you can start practicing being on YouTube, because you don't have to have a full setup to educate. Educating could be as little as a post or one minute video, which is what I typically do so depending on the platform that you're on. Different spaces require different setups. But without going to all the details, where do you actually start to be on social media if you're not there already, or if you're there but you're not intentionally using it to your advantage? Here's what you can do in five steps. Number one, choose one platform that you already use and study the people who are on it, other creators, other doctors, other educators, and see what they're doing that has garnered your attention and maybe adopt some of their tips and tricks too. Number two, decide what you want to talk about. I personally suggest to be informative, educational or tackle misinformation. For example, you can keep it light that way. You're not scaring people to death. Back in the day, marketing strategies did include scaring people to death, and these days, you kind of want to be a little bit more subtle and be more informative, because people will gravitate to that a lot better compared to somebody who is chronically feeling late they're gonna die. That's just not the kind of material that I think is worth producing, because then you just end up being a fear monger, and that's kind of old school to be honest. And I don't want to be that type of person. So number three, use language in the patient's voice. So for instance, people don't come to me saying, I have purulence. What is purulence? You want to be so concise and easy to follow, so that they don't find an excuse to leave your page. So if you want to say something, think about it in the patient's point of view. Do you have pus coming out of your nail? It could be an ingrown toenail. So the language that I choose to speak is so simple an eighth grader can understand, even though my audience isn't intended to be anyone younger than 18, right? But the idea is people's minds, they don't want to be confused. They want to be entertained, and they want easy, consumable information. So using the patient's voice, words that they would use is to your advantage. We're no longer speaking from physician to physician, unless that's your intention with your social media. So if you are trying to talk to other medical professionals, like if you're going to be on LinkedIn, for example, then yes, it would make sense to use medical language. But if you're going to be on social media to attract patients, speak in their voice, this brings me to number four, which is deciding who you are speaking to. For me, I'm speaking directly to the patient. If I happen to get other doctors, that's really awesome, but my intent in social media is to educate people who don't have a medical background and maybe they don't know what science to look for when it comes to their foot health. And if your intent is to connect with other doctors and make sure that you're in a place where they are. So LinkedIn is a good example where it's business to business or doctor to doctor who could become your patient. And that's kind of how I see LinkedIn. For example, when I'm on LinkedIn, I'm talking about direct care, I'm talking about how physicians can improve their practice and so on. So that tone is going to be very different from when I'm on Tik Tok, educating the general consumer about foot health. So just decide who you're speaking to, because that's going to help you decide where you'll be and which platform you'll be on, so that this eventually all makes sense down the road. And then lastly, number five, you can use different programs to guide the topics you want to talk about. So you can go to answerthepublic.com and see what people are asking on Google when they type stuff in, what are the most common questions that are being typed in, and then use that as a prompt for your video. There are many. 

Dr. Tea  14:59  
Any other tools out there? That's just one of them that will get you started. So I talked about things that you should be doing, and now let's talk about the few things to not do. Number one, never make fun of patients or give off the energy that you are judging them or going to make them feel unsafe to see you, I do see doctors who are making fun of interactions they might have had with the patient, maybe even talking them down. And I really despise that, because patients come to us in their most vulnerable state, they don't want to share their private information. They absolutely do not want to be judged for their situation. That is why so many people resist seeing the doctor. It's already a terrible place for them to be and to feel like they are going to be judged or be made fun of because they simply did not know is really not cool. So I make it a priority to ensure that what I talk about online is not going to make them feel unsafe. That's all there is to it. I do know doctors that do that. They use humor as a way to attract viewers. If it works for them, it works for them, but for me, I certainly will not be doing that, and I do not advocate doing that. You never want the patient to feel unsafe in your care at their most vulnerable state. That's just a personal policy that I have. The second thing that you should not be doing is releasing any private patient information. I have been pulled into a legal case where a doctor did use online medium to violate HIPAA, basically because the person gave a negative review, and the doctor threatened this and that it was a whole ordeal, and it happens more than once, so

Dr. Tea  16:50  
don't admit to anything about the patient. Don't show images X rays that might have their personal information, you know. Just be very mindful about what you're releasing online, because once it goes online, it really never gets deleted. So be mindful about that. If you happen to release patient information, whether it be their face, their name, something like that, your location, where you did the surgery, you absolutely need to have their consent. So make sure you get consent for the patient. You may even need to get consent from the facility you're at. I worked at a facility who had a strict policy where we could not pull out our phone and take photos with an unauthorized phone. So be mindful about where your place of work is and what restrictions they might have, but in your own personal time, totally different story. Also be mindful of the people who are within the shot. So whether they're speaking or they're like in the background, if they don't have your consent to be on social media, please do the courtesy of removing that and trying again. And then lastly, don't waste your time responding to ridiculous people, aka the trolls that exist online, who are the keyboard warriors who have all the things to say but will never say it to you in person. Don't waste your time responding to those ridiculous posts, comments, bots, whatever they are. Preserve your time for the people who actually need to hear your message. 

Dr. Tea  18:19  
So this was the process that I did, and the more that I showed up in front of my camera, the better I got, or at least the less uncomfortable I looked. And I'm totally okay with it. I'm still not perfect. I don't try to be perfect because, because, to be honest, when patients show up to my office, I want them to see me as how I am online too. I want there to be congruency in what I say online and what they hear in person. So for me, it's really important that I show up exactly how I am. Maybe I do some minor tweaks, maybe I show up a little bit nicer, but I don't really go all out at all. Now, I know there's going to be some objections to doctors showing up online. And one of them is exactly that, thinking that you have to do your hair, your makeup, your nails, press your shirt, you don't have to do all of that, look presentable, look as if you were to show up in your office, right? Professional enough and be good with that. Other people might be saying, I'm not ready, or they're gonna wait until they're ready. Honestly, you'll never be ready, and you gotta be okay with that. You just gotta do the work. Do the work. Get used to it. Show up messy. Don't make the excuse that you have to be perfect, that you have to be this or that, that you have to wait till you're ready. None of that is true. You just gotta show up and do the work so that you can eventually get better at it. And then some doctors struggle with reading the script. And the thing is, if you read the script and it looks like you read the script, it will not attract people. It's not engaging at all. It looks boring. So don't. Do that. But over time, if you practice with the script, like a teleprompter, for example, and it starts to look more natural, and you need it for guidance, then definitely use it. But realize that takes practice too to not look like you're reading the teleprompter. So don't let those things hold you back. They're just minor things that can be improved on. Start with what you have. Work with what you have. You don't even need a microphone if you wanted a microphone, because you want more clarity in your speech right now, what I'm using as I'm recording this podcast is a wireless microphone connected by Bluetooth, and I don't think it was more than $100 I'm trying to find the brand name, and it's not showing me on this box, but you can just find anything that connects to your phone and start recording anything is better than no microphone, and that's kind of good enough. So realize that social media is a free marketing space with great potential. If you really commit, and we're consistent with it, you are investing with your time, but that gives you better connection with real people compared to like, a static ad, you know, like one of those ads you might put in a newspaper or Google ad, you don't really get to answer questions on the spot. How cool is it for a person to ask their question and they get an answer by an expert? Now, mind you, you can't diagnose or treat online, right? We don't want to do that. We are just being very clear that we can educate and we can speak broadly about things. And if there are specific questions that come up, you can invite them into your practice to become a patient. 

Dr. Tea  21:27  
Social media has surprised me in so many ways. One of them was that when people finally met me in person, in real life, they would say things like, I feel like I know you because I've been watching you, and that was a really good feeling, because sometimes, you know, I produce all this content, and I never really get a feedback. Even on a podcast, I never really know if it's resonating with anybody. I'm literally having a monolog here talking to myself, but when I get that feedback, it's like, oh, okay, yeah, that was totally worth it. And then I just keep doing the work, because eventually it'll come right back in a positive way. And I really like that. I like those little surprises that come back around. And I've also made some really great connections because of social media. So yes, there's going to be some drawbacks. Some of them include things like feeling exposed to criticism, and that's the thing. If you can't tolerate the heat, don't be in the kitchen. Whatever that phrase is, right? There's something to consider. The loudest booze will come from the cheapest seat, meaning the people who are doing less than you will always have more to say. So this is the art of focusing on what's important. What's important is that you, as the expert, have the knowledge to correct misinformation, and people will benefit from that. So yes, you're going to be exposed to criticism, but so what, what you have to say is so much more meaningful. The other drawbacks, it's going to be awkward. Yeah, you're not good at it now, but you will over time. And I don't even feel like I'm good or I'm great at social media, but I show up anyway. I just do the work. It's just my duty to do the thing to make sure that the right people get the right message. People feel like they're not good enough when they do this. Well, you haven't done it long enough. That's the simple truth. There are people with less doing real damage with misinformation, so do what you will with that information. For me, that inspired me enough to show up, because I do know things, and it's important that people have the correct information. 

Dr. Tea  23:32  
So that's why I show up. With all of this, you will, over time, gain the confidence and the skill to market yourself, which is essential for running your business. When doctors reach out to me and they say they want to start their business, I always ask them how comfortable they are with marketing themselves, and oftentimes it's they say things like, not so good. Never had the practice, and so on. And so guess what? Here's your chance. This is your invitation to start today, to start now, the more you do, the more you post, the more you craft your message, the more you try different things, the better you will get eventually. And most important of all, the more you're on social media, the more you realize you don't actually have to respond to all of the criticisms and all of the distractions. And you get a thicker skin. You start to realize the value of being online and the value of staying focused. So do the work. Focus on what makes it fun for you, and you will see the rewards walk through your door all overnight. Success was an accumulation of consistent practice for many, many years. So just start now. You can be great later. If you decide to be on social media, please do tag me @drteapodiatry, and I would love to be your number one fan. Thanks so much for listening. I'll catch you next time. Take care. 

Dr. Tea  24:53  
If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a review and share it with a friend so more doctors can learn about direct care. Let's keep the conversation going on LinkedIn so we can help more doctors escape insurance and thrive in private practice. Thanks for listening. I'll talk with you next time take care. Bye.