TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Our Experience for Your Use
This website was created created and co-founded by us – Sarah Breymeier and Ann Dosen.
Both of us have spent nearly ten years in the podiatry industry, attending dozens upon dozens of podiatric meetings and trade shows.
Therefore, we want to put our experience to good use!
Below are some helpful “tricks of the trade” from us to you… enjoy!
GOOD ADVICE – PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
No matter if you work in the podiatric profession as physician, vendor, or meeting organizer/planner, utilizing the tips and resources supplied below will serve you well!
Increase your Productivity and Without Getting Overwhelmed.
I read this book cover to cover in just a couple of days. It’s been a few years since I read it, but it always stands out as one that I recommend to anyone that wants to continue to achieve. Whether you own a small business (like a podiatry practice or a device company), it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things you should be doing.
The Slight Edge provides practical/doable advice to help you set your goals and break down the activities that must take place to achieve those goals – step by step. By doing a little bit every single day, you will see big changes over time. There’s no need to do everything in one day, one week, one month, or even one year.
Do one action item every single day and the result will show itself!
-SARAH
Every day I listen to at least one podcast episode while I’m driving or working out to give me inspiration for the day. There are days when I wake up and don’t want to do a single thing other than catch up on episodes of Outlander, but after listening to one of these podcasts, I know I can take over the world! No matter what your daily life brings you, every single person on the planet will get something out of listening to these individuals.
John Maxwell Leadership Podcast – a weekly podcast from the leadership authority John Maxwell. This podcast focuses on the principles, practices, and process of becoming a transformational leader. Even if leadership is not one of your primary goals, the principles translate to any project or position you are in. I always come away with new motivation or a fresh outlook on a current project. Each episode comes with a downloadable resource to work through.
Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield – Amy Porterfield is considered the GIANT in the online marketing space. She is so inspiring to listen to. Her episodes include expert interviews, mini execution plans, and secrets from her product and service launches; all tied together by her mission to make each episode as actionable and profitable as possible. Every episode I listen to of hers gets me thinking about the next big thing I want us to tackle. Her advice is tangible and for real life.
Rise Podcast with Rachel Hollis – hosted by the best-selling author of “Girl, Wash Your Face”, this podcast is a series of conversations with business powerhouses and personal development leaders where each episode provides listeners with tactical, valuable takeaways.
-ANN
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Tips for DPMs
CHECK OUT OUR LIBRARY OF DPM DOWNLOADS – CLICK HERE!
If You’ve Been Wanting to Explore Pediatrics… The Time is Now
If you know me, you know I love practices that go all in to niche markets. While I would love to go deeper into how to find your niche, what I really wanted to point out this month is that there seems to be a massive trend toward pediatric scientific content. In fact, after going through a quick CALENDAR OF EVENTS review, I noticed that there are three upcoming meetings specializing in this unique patient demographic. They are: Saturday, October 7 ACPM PRESENTS... Updates in Pediatrics & Geriatrics: Practical Pearls Saturday, October 14 Stepping Up the Game: Expert Insights on Adolescent [...]
Managing Post-Meeting Stress
This month Ann and I took 3 days out of the "normal work week" for the APMA National Conference in Nashville; and I've come up with a new catchphrase... Be Gone For 3 Days and Be Behind for 3 Weeks! (OK, not the best catchphrase on the books) But the struggle is real and I am sure many of you feel it when you are out of the office for any reason. Once you put a "wrench" in your daily routine, it takes a while to get everything back on track; especially when your schedule was already maxed out. [...]
Reflect On Your Meeting Mentality
If you scroll down and check out my Vendor Tip, you'll gain some insight into my sentiment for the podiatry profession and meetings. As I was reflecting on the 12 years I've been working in this profession, one thing became very clear to me. While most of my time in the last decade has been sitting at my desk and staring at a computer screen, it's the time I have spent at meetings that has truly made the biggest impact on my career. Nearly every single individual I work closely with is the direct result of a connection made at [...]
Find Your Perfect Referral Partner
If you've been a "Tricks of the Trade" fan for a while, you've probably read some of my previous blogs regarding niche. If you want a quick frame of reference, here's one from September, 2019: INVEST IN YOUR PASSION I've had several discussions with DPMs about the possibilities of creating a niche practice, as well as the pros and cons. Obviously it can be scary to ditch the "kitchen sink" of foot and ankle care to focus on one type of patient / patient condition. However, if this is something you're thinking about - or are already implementing - find [...]
CLINICAL CORNER WITH DR. RICHIE
Richie Brace® or Custom Foot Orthotic for Adult Acquired Flatfoot? Clinicians often debate whether the initial treatment of the Adult Acquired Flatfoot (AAF) should start with custom foot orthotic therapy or should proceed directly with a custom Richie Brace®. While foot orthoses can be effective in the early stages of AAF, they become less effective when key ligaments in the midfoot have ruptured including the spring ligament. A quick and easy test to detect rupture of the midfoot ligaments is the “single foot heel rise” test. If a patient has difficulty or inability to perform a heel raise with full [...]
Prepare for Your Vendor Experience
We always preach planning for your upcoming meetings in an effort to help you maximize your experience. It's been two whole years since we first created our "My Meeting Exhibit Hall Plan" DPM Download. So, this is a helpful reminder to utilize this tool (and our other downloads) to prepare your experience beyond CME... and into the exhibit hall where you will find the corporate partners to elevate your practice. It's important to remember just how important the industry's exhibitors are for your continuing education. Exhibitors are investing thousands of dollars to make you aware of their products and services at [...]
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Ideas for Meeting Planners
ARTICLES WORTH SHARING; MANAGING YOUR SPEAKERS
There cannot be any argument which debates that your faculty members are the most critical aspect of your meeting. The educational content is THE PRODUCT your organization provides (at least at the time of the specific event). If your faculty is not delivering top-quality content, your reputation is at risk. I highly doubt members of your scientific/education committees are not working to recruit the leading experts of the profession, as well as anyone who is uncovering novel research and methods. Once you've got great content, though, there are additional areas of speaker management that are imperative to either protect your [...]
ARTICLES WORTH SHARING; ATTRACTING YOUNG PHYSICIANS
One meeting challenge that never seems to change: difficulty attracting young physicians. Over a year ago, we shared some insight from surveys collected from young DPMs with the following summary: Young physicians are drawn to conferences that have engaging speakers. My recommendation – when you are creating promotional materials (especially via email and on your website) highlight your faculty and emphasize their expertise. Also, avoid choosing the same faculty members every single conference. Get some new blood on your podium! Young physicians are seeking educational content that they can use immediately – practical applications! Hands-on experiences are also ideal. Young [...]
BUSTING YOUR BUDGET, AXE HIGH-COST, LOW-VALUE EXPENSES
Two things we know to be true... nobody is getting any younger and running meetings is not getting any cheaper. This is a massive issue that plagues meetings year after year and it always seems that the simple fix is to increase fees - primarily on the exhibitor side. I believe, very strongly, that these vendor fee increases have to stop. Exhibitors are getting more and more frustrated with rising costs, especially when foot traffic in the hall is not increasing at the same rate. The cost per lead is getting too high to be able to achieve ROI. Below [...]
AT FIRST GLANCE, INCREASE YOUR VENDOR EMAIL READERSHIP
I can't tell you how many times I have spoken to meeting planners who are surprised that exhibitors didn't take advantage of certain sponsorship offerings, or that they are unaware of specifics regarding schedules, etc. I also can't tell you how many times I've heard exhibitors admit that they don't read the emails that come from meeting organizers. I have to admit that in the past, after I had registered to exhibit at a meeting, there were a lot of emails from the meeting organizers I didn't read either. When you have exhibitors who attend your meeting year after year, [...]
Seminar Sites: Who’s Bringing It?
I'm not going to waste any time talking about the importance of a polished website - we all know this. We also all know that when you get a new website, it's great... and it doesn't take long for it to become a mess! Trust me - Ann and I know this pain with our own website(s). As time goes by and you have a completely new set of "things" within your organization that didn't exist when you initially launched, it's hard to keep it clean. Or, it may not be set up to highlight those new, awesome features [...]
Two Brains, One Meeting: Getting It Done as a Team
Many of you know that Ann & Sarah come as a package deal, and while we may give the outward appearance that we are always 100% in sync with one another, there are several differences in the way that we work. I thought about writing this post after she and I were analyzing our Sponsor Advertising Calendar we have in a shared Google Drive. She had worked diligently to ensure it was clear which sponsors were advertising in which month's newsletter.... and I could understand it, but my eyes didn't like it.... so I changed it.... and I think [...]