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!
Switch Up Your Schedule Strategically
Many of the tips we provide discuss taking time to plan and to choose your meetings with serious consideration (vs. copying/pasting what you did the year before). Well, I challenge you to do it again! There was a tip I provided all the way back in September of 2019 that encouraged DPMs to "invest in your passion"; meaning choose meetings that align with your practice goals and niche (if you have one). Click here to go back in time and check it out. As you consider the meetings you select for 2023, take time to reflect on the meetings you [...]
Monthly Quick Poll – Feedback from Young Physicians
This year, one of the most common threads in our conversations with both exhibitors and meeting planners is that they don't know how to reach young physicians. Well, we wanted to do our best to help with a young physician survey that we posted on our website the entire year. Here's what we found out... EXHIBITORS: Young physicians find cash and gift cards the most valuable when it comes to floor/door prizes. So find a creative way to incorporate your brand into this type of giveaway. Need some help? Join our next Exhibitor Mastermind Session! We discuss these types of [...]
How to Conquer Imposter Syndrome
Earlier this year I wrote an article about experiencing imposter syndrome. If you missed it, you can check it out by clicking here. The article was great, if I do say so myself (and I do!); however, it lacked a solution to overcoming this inevitable feeling. Now that I am on the other side of all the projects that had me spiraling into an imposter syndrome black hole, I was reflecting on how I came through it and if there was a secret that I could pass along. The good news is, I did find a particular action to be [...]
Knowing the Worth of Your Vendor Relationships
Sarah Breymeier When it comes to browsing the exhibit hall, we have always encouraged you to take at least a couple of laps even if you're not looking for anything specific. Nothing changes there, but that doesn't mean you have to necessarily be on the lookout to replace your current vendors. Sure, if someone has been consistently dropping the ball, it may be time to find something that works better for you. If the skies are not sunny and bright with one of your suppliers, however, use the time available in the exhibit hall to visit their booth and give [...]
Making Meetings Social
Sarah Breymeier I recently did a presentation for the American College of Podiatric Medicine regarding you can utilize social media channels like Facebook and LinkedIn to advance your career. One of the hardest parts about keeping up with social media is creating new, original content on a consistent basis. One of my recommendations was to make sure you take as many notes and pictures at meetings as you possibly can because if you didn't notice... you're immersed in an environment that is spewing out excuses for you to post on social media. When you begin posting more on social media [...]
Room Blocks
Ann Dosen Have you ever wondered why conferences ask you to book in the room block at the conference hotel? When a conference is held at a hotel, their contract is mostly based around the number of rooms they will book for the event - that's how the hotel makes their money. Conference planners have to pay for any rooms in the block that are unsold, resulting in unexpected out-of-pocket costs for the organization. Guess what that means? Higher registration costs for you. Help keep prices from increasing by staying at the host hotel and booking in the room block. [...]
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Ideas for Meeting Planners
The #1 Leading Cause of Disgruntled Exhibitors
I know we have said this before but we are saying it again because it is, by far, the #1 leading cause of disgruntled exhibitors. No, it’s not the food (although that’s important!). Please, I beg of you, do not inflate your attendee numbers by adding staff and speakers to the attendee list. It leads to “negative nancy” conversations on the show floor. If your exhibitors arrive at a conference expecting to see a lecture hall and exhibit hall filled with 600+ attendees but they only see about 200, they are going to be upset. Not because there are only [...]
Rewarding Your Champions
Sarah Breymeier If you've gotten this far, you've likely noticed that the theme for this month's tips is customer loyalty. I don't think I've ever seen a more critical time where this comes into play for meetings. I hate beating a dead horse, but I'll say it again - the game has changed. Exhibit halls are getting harder to fill, costs keep going up and vendors are getting more frustrated with the lack of ROI. It's not a great recipe for exhibit hall glory. While the entire industry is still adjusting to all the new elements that have been created [...]
Elevate Your Meeting Marketing with our Favorite Creative Resources
In August we hosted our 2nd PodiatryExpo. This event was jam-packed with tips and tricks for DPMs to "Find Their Path and Implement Their Vision." Plus, one of the most exciting areas of content that we created was called the "No Experience Marketing Workshop". This was a collection of presentation to help DPMs see new ways they can get make a marketing impact without having any formal graphic design or video editing training. What does this mean for you? Well, we know that there are several meetings that are short-staffed. Finding a team of marketing professionals to make your advertisements [...]
What Are You Competing For?
Spill It Sarah... Let's chat about competition. We've been taught that the word "competition" is closely related to "enemy" or "foe." Then there are the inspirational quotes like, "you are your only competition," or "our competitors bring out the best in us." So as I continue, we can keep these concepts in mind. Having exhibited at, worked with, or just listening over the last several years, we often notice that some meetings feel they are in competition with other meetings. It always semi-confuses me because if the goal is continuing education for physicians, how can that create competition? To [...]
Your “Go-To” Planner for Podiatry Meetings
Sarah Breymeier Organizing a meeting from start to finish is a task that many would simply not be cut out to do - IT. IS. TOUGH. I'm not going to belabor all of the tasks that must be diligently fulfilled (you already know what they are), but what I do want to emphasize is the importance of delegating one of the most important line items (writing and issuing your meeting site RFP) to someone you can trust. Recently Ann and I have had the pleasure of working with Alisa Peters. She came recommended to us by Dana Rigdon from ASPS [...]
The Exhibitors Have Spoken
Over the last several weeks, we have had several focus groups with our industry's vendors/exhibitors in our Experienced Exhibitor Mastermind. So much useful information came to the forefront that will allow us to share with meeting planners and organizers to make events more "fruitful" for all parties. MEETING PLANNERS - here are just a few of the gems that were taken from these sessions that meeting planners should consider. Survey your attendees on their registration sheet to determine what types of products and services they are interested in so you can provide them more details on the exhibitors that meet [...]