How to Communicate Your Powerful Personal Brand:
A step-by-step self-study guide for nurse practitioners
A step-by-step self-study guide for nurse practitioners
Module 2 – Preparing Your Written Plan
You will prepare a written plan to communicate your powerful personal brand to patients, workmates, the public, other healthcare professionals, managers/administrators, and current/future employers.
CLICK HERE to download cost-free question and exercise response sheets in printable PDF.
You will prepare a written plan to communicate your powerful personal brand to patients, workmates, the public, other healthcare professionals, managers/administrators, and current/future employers.
CLICK HERE to download cost-free question and exercise response sheets in printable PDF.
"The secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in mind."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American essayist (Civil Disobedience), poet, philosopher, and author known for his book Walden.
Question 45: How do the words of Henry David Thoreau regarding the secret of achievement relate to your preparation of a written plan to communicate your powerful nurse practitioner brand?
Question 46: How does (or how will) your brand differ from those of nurse practitioners who have similar educational backgrounds and practice environments?
Question 47: What features of your current or anticipated nurse practitioner brand would you want to communicate to the public and to patients?
Question 48: What features of your current or anticipated nurse practitioner brand would you want to communicate to current/future employers?
Suggestions – Actions to Avoid, Behaviors to Modify:
Arriving Late to Work
If you frequently arrive late to work, your workmates will perceive that your brand is less than powerful (even if they frequently arrive late to work). So, if tardy arrivals is a problem, attempt to determine the root cause(s) – which may include staying up too late the previous evening, not getting up early enough for whatever reason, and/or lack of an organized morning routine.
Keeping Patients Waiting
Even if you do not control how appointments are scheduled at your practice location, a patient will not appreciate having a 9:00 AM appointment and being called to an exam room at 10:30 AM. Whatever you can do to maintain your appointment schedule, do it. If you fall behind, ask a clerical staff member to tell your patients when they are likely to be seen.
Patient: “I spend most of my morning in the waiting room when I go to the clinic to see my nurse practitioner. If I’m not going to be seen until 11, why do they give me a 10 o’clock appointment? She is really disorganized – or perhaps she just doesn’t care about my time.”
Is your employer or the individual who makes appointments scheduling insufficient time for you to see your patients?
Is paperwork and computer entry preventing you from attending to the next patient?
Are you spending too much time conversing with patients about matters not related to their health issues (while your other patients are waiting)?
Could one or more of your job tasks be performed by lesser-trained staff members?
“Catching Up” after Closing or at Home
If you “frequently” remain at work after closing to “catch up” on paperwork and computer entries, there may be system problems that should be addressed by your employer. However, if other nurse practitioners with whom you work and who have a similar workload do not remain after hours, then you may have a time management issue that you should address.
Workmate: “She’s a terrific nurse practitioner who everyone appreciates. But she frequently stays after closing to catch up on her work.”
Not Following Through on Promises
If you want your patients to perceive that you have a powerful nurse practitioner brand, always do what you tell them you are going to do – including making sure that prescriptions are issued to their pharmacies, results of laboratory tests are reported to them via phone or portal, and x-rays are scheduled.
Question 49: How will you ensure that follow up occurs when you depend on other staff members to accomplish tasks?
Question 50: What are some other behaviors or actions that would potentially cause patients to perceive that you have a brand that is less than powerful?
Question 51: What are some other behaviors that would potentially cause your workmates to perceive that you have a brand that is less than powerful?
For Your Consideration – Not Necessarily Right or Wrong:
Your “Professional” First Name
Some individuals consider diminutive names to be less powerful than the names from which they are derived. Consider Jimmy versus James and Peg versus Margaret. Ditto nicknames and initials (primarily among males), e.g., Bubba, Junior, and PJ.
Your Photo
Do you want your photo made in casual street dress, scrubs, a white coat, or something else? Maybe you need a variety of photos available for different potential purposes.
How You Dress
Your employer may have a dress code to which you more than likely will adhere. Consider that the aspects of that code represent the minimum acceptable standard for dress. If you always dress at a somewhat higher standard you will never be the “least dressed” individual at a meeting or event. You will stand out from the crowd. You will differentiate yourself from others.
"We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.”
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American lecturer, self-improvement course developer, and author of How to Win Friends and Influence People.
1 – Create Your Personal Card
Business cards and personal (nurse practitioner) cards were discussed and illustrated in Module 1.)
The features of your nurse practitioner brand that you communicate via your personal card are likely to be the same brand features that communicate via other printed items.
Exercise 1: Sketch your personal card so that it communicates nurse practitioner brand features that include but may not be limited to who you are, what you do, how you help people, and how you prefer to be contacted.
Distribute Your Personal Card:
Questions 52, 53, 54, 55: To which of the following individuals would you hesitate to give your personal card and what would be your reason(s) for hesitating?
- salesperson who is assisting you at an automobile dealership
- physician who is providing care to you for the first time
- plumber who has repaired a leaking faucet in your kitchen
- server at a restaurant that you are visiting for the first time
Questions 56, 57: What would be the pros and cons of having your cell phone number on your nurse practitioner card?
Questions 58, 59: What would be the pros and cons of having your photograph on your nurse practitioner card?
2 – Create Your Name Badge
Ideally – at just a glance and from an arbitrary distance of 4 feet the individuals who view your name badge should appreciate who you are (your name and some of your credentials), what you do, and how you help people. However, because of space limitations, it is not always possible to achieve this ideal.
Some organizations may enforce a standard name badge format that may not be highly readable due to superfluous information (such as the organization’s name) or because the name badge is small in size (hence, a small and unreadable font).
Other organizations may provide a laminated photo identification card that is worn in place of a name badge. They may be difficult to read due to information clutter and small fonts. And badges may inadvertently (or intentionally) flip backwards.
For your consideration – If you are provided with a photo ID badge, could you also wear a readable name badge that communicates your powerful nurse practitioner brand? Such a name badge – devoid of the name of the organization with which you are affiliated – could be worn when you are not at your practice site.
Following are five illustrations (Exhibits 5 – 9) of engraved name badges that could be obtained via an internet vendor or office supply store.
Exhibit 5
Exhibit 6
Exhibit 7
Exhibit 8
Exhibit 9
Questions 60, 61: Relative to the other four name badge illustrations, what are the pros and cons of the name badge in Exhibit 5?
Questions 62, 63: Relative to the other four name badge illustrations, what are the pros and cons of the name badge in Exhibit 6?
Questions 64, 65: Relative to the other four name badge illustrations, what are the pros and cons of the name badge in Exhibit 7?
Questions 66, 67: Relative to the other four name badge illustrations, what are the pros and cons of the name badge in Exhibit 8?
Questions 68, 69: Relative to the other four name badge illustrations, what are the pros and cons of the name badge in Exhibit 9?
Exercise 2: Sketch your name badge to communicate who you are and what you do.
Wear Your Name Badge:
People notice name badges – especially when they view them “out of place” – at a location other than one’s workplace. Your name badge can serve as an especially effective tool when combined with other approaches to communicating your nurse practitioner brand. Consider wearing your easy-to-read name badge when you are:
- shopping for groceries, an automobile, hardware items, etc.
- visiting your bank or financial institution
- making presentations to consumers or other health professionals
- attending meetings of any type – health-related or otherwise
- receiving personal services such as hair care and nail care, or visiting your veterinarian with your pet
- calling on other healthcare professionals, sales representatives of healthcare supplies, administrators of schools
Consider that – over a period of one or two years – hundreds of individuals may become cognizant of who you are and what you do because they viewed your name badge.
3 – Create Your Biographical Sketch
Exhibit 10
You can use your biographical sketch in a variety of ways – from attaching it to an email (digital format) to providing to the coordinator of a group to which you will make a presentation (digital and/or printed format). Consider your biographical sketch to be an expanded nurse practitioner card that may be written in first person or third person.
There is no right or wrong way to format a biographical sketch. Exhibit 10 illustrates the biographical sketch (meaning brief) that was written in third person for Audrey Harris.
Question 70: What features of Audrey Harris’ biographical sketch do you like?
Question 71: What features of Audrey Harris’ biographical sketch do you dislike?
Exercise 3: Prepare a biographical sketch that communicates where you are in your career now or where you will be in the future (the nurse practitioner brand that you intend to create).
4 – Create Your Door Sign
Assume that your name – along with the names of other health care providers – will appear on the facility entry/exit door where you practice.
Exercise 4: One of the names posted on the entry/exit door in the facility where you practice is “Phyllis Jennings, MD, FAAFP – Family Practice.” Sketch your name and any other information you would like on that door.
5 – Create Your Email Signature
Because the organization with which you are affiliated is likely to have standards and restrictions for sending and receiving email messages, we will consider only your personal email communications from your personal email in this section.
With your personal email account is a cost-free feature that allows you to insert an email signature that will appear with every email you send and to which you respond. The information in your email signature may be as simple as your name and title – or may resemble your nurse practitioner card or biographical sketch.
Every email service provider (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) has a slightly different way to insert an email signature – typically through email settings. If you do not know how to insert an email signature with your email account, you are likely to find an instructional video on YouTube or step-by-step instructions via an internet search.
Exercise 5: Identify and list the steps required to insert your email signature in your personal email account.
Exercise 6: If you were to prepare an email signature, list the information items that you would exhibit. (Note: Your email signature may be identical to your nurse practitioner card or your biographical sketch.)
6 – Create Your Email Contact List
Assume that you occasionally identify a “gem” of information in the health literature that is specific to your expertise and that you would like to share with others.
Your circle of influence may include friends, neighbors, workmates, colleagues, members of your faith organization, and members of your HOA. It may include your plumber, your lawyer, the individual who helps you with your laptop computer, and the waitstaff at the restaurant you visited last night. Virtually everyone you contact can become part of your circle of influence. To reach these individuals periodically and disseminate your health messages it is ideal for you to have the email addresses of these individuals.
When people in your circle of influence receive your health-related messages and view your email signature they will be reminded of who you are, what you do, and how you help people – fortifying their perceptions of your nurse practitioner brand.
Suggestions:
- Restrict your messages to no more than three short paragraphs.
- Include an internet-accessible reference preceded with, “For additional information go to: (URL)”
- End each message with: “This message does not constitute medical advice.”
- Send no more than one health message every two months to stay “in touch” and not overwhelm individuals with your emails.
- You may be able to simplify your “email life” by establishing a second email account to use exclusively with your contact list. Select an email address name that may be recognized by the individuals on your contact list. For example: YourNameNPinCity@service.com NPforHealthYourName@service.com
- Avoid numbers that are meaningful only to you (e.g., Raymond060297), and underscores (e.g., YourName_NP). Use only alphanumeric characters.
Does creating and maintaining an email contact list require your time commitment? Yes. Are most other nurse practitioners likely to create contact lists and disseminate health messages via email? Probably not. But you are different from other nurse practitioners. You have a powerful personal brand. You stand out from the crowd.
(It is assumed that you know how to prepare an email contact list. If you need help, query a YouTube video or perform an internet search relative to your email provider.)
When you meet individuals in your community ask if you can add them to your email contact list. During your conversation casually say . . .
“A few times each year I find some exciting information related to health, and I enjoy sharing that information with others. May I add you to my email contact list?” [Individual responds, “YES.”]
“Terrific. [Provide the individual with a pen and your personal card.] Please print your name and email address on the back of my card.” [Individual returns pen and card.]
“Thank you! And please take one of my cards with you.” [Give the individual a personal card.]
Because you always state the reason for your request, you have received express permission to send email messages.
Chances are you have more than 100 individuals in your email send/receive history. You can add them to your health message distribution list because you have implied permission to contact them based on an existing relationship. Then, if you add just one new contact per day for one year you will have more than 450 email contacts who will be receiving your health messages (two years more than 800 contacts, etc.).
Exercise 7: Review your personal email account and estimate the number of individuals you could add to a list to receive your health messages.
Questions 72,73: What are the pros and cons of asking the patients in your practice if they would like to be added to your email contact list to receive your health messages?
Exercise 8: Prepare a brief health message that is related to your area of expertise, that would have broad appeal to consumers and other health professionals, and that is based on an authoritative source or sources.
7 – Send “Personal” Email Messages
With an email contact that is growing daily you have opportunity to select individuals from your list and send highly-personal email messages that are not related to health:
“Congratulations on the . . .”
“I regret the passing of your . . .”
“Hi (name). Wishing Happy Holidays for you and your loved ones! I hope that you have a healthy and prosperous New Year.”
“Good Morning (name). I hope you have a Happy Birthday and a terrific day!”
“Mr. (name). Thank you for stopping by the clinic. Please let me know if I can be of further service to you or any of your friends or family members.”
8 – Call on Health Professionals and Health Product Vendors
It is likely that pharmaceutical company and/or medical supply company representatives visit you and the individuals in your practice to introduce new products, reinforce the availability and use of existing products, and for other reasons. In the marketing parlance this has been referred to as “detailing” – because the company representative presents specific details regarding one or two products or services.
Consider calling on physicians, podiatrists, optometrists, pharmacists, staff members of your health department, and emergency medical technicians (fire stations) to:
- Introduce yourself (who you are, what you do, how you help people) – enhancing the potential for improving future communications and strengthening your brand.
- Introduce yourself to support staff members (who you are, what you do, how you help people) – thus enhancing the potential for strengthening your brand.
- Establish and/or reinforce patient referral patterns.
- Identify ways to mutually improve patient care in your community.
Suggestions for calling on other health professionals and vendors:
- Make an appointment and arrive on time or early.
- Dress as you would in your practice, and wear your name badge.
- Take and distribute your personal cards and your practice business cards – depending on circumstances.
- Don’t attempt to provide too much information during one visit.
- Obtain email addresses.
- Say thank you to health professionals and support staff members you contact.
- Send a thank you message (or messages) via email.
- Follow up on any promises that you make.
Make an appointment via phone:
“Hi this is _________________. I am a nurse practitioner associated with _______________ and specializing in _______________.
I would like to stop by and introduce myself to _________________ and become acquainted. When would be a good time next week?”
Exercise 9: Assume that you plan to call on a group of three physicians whose practice focuses on a specialty other than your specialty. There is the potential for you to refer patients to the group, and for physicians in the group to refer patients to your practice. What three points will you make during your discussion?
Exercise 10: Assume that you plan to call on the pharmacist owner in an independent community pharmacy. There is the potential for you to refer patients to the pharmacists for products and services, and for the pharmacist to refer patients to your practice. What three points will you make during your discussion?
Exercise 11: Assume that you plan to call on the sales staff of a vendor of wheelchairs and other mobility devices, oxygen, hospital beds, ostomy supplies, catheters, and respiratory equipment. (The business owner and sales staff are not licensed health professionals.) There is the potential for you to refer patients to the vendor for products, and for the sales staff to refer patients to your practice. What three points will you make during your discussion?
9 – “Teach” Students in Local Schools
Based on your education and experiences providing health care services, you have important health information to share with individuals in your community. And there is no better place to begin than with students in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools located in your community.
Consider creating a one-time presentation or a series of presentations that could be made on a subject of interest to you.
Suggestions:
- Make an appointment to have a brief meeting with an appropriate administrative staff member at a local school.
- During the meeting explain that you have an important health message that you are willing to share with students in specific grades.
- Provide the staff member with a printed presentation outline, the anticipated duration of your presentation with time for questions from students.
- Ask the individual with whom you are meeting, “Is this the kind of health information that you think would be appropriate for your students?” “Is this the kind of health message you think would be welcomed by some of your teachers?”
- Explain that you will send an email to the staff member during the next day or two, and request that the email and its attachment be forwarded to all relevant teachers.
- The email attachment should contain your name, credentials, name of the practice with which you are associated, contact information, topic title, presentation outline, duration of presentation with/without questions, and your preferred availability (days of the weeks and times of day).
- Avoid ANY topic that ANY parent might consider controversial or offensive (e.g., immunizations or reproductive health).
- Ensure that the content of your presentation is appropriate for the age of your audience.
- Identify an intriguing title for your presentation – e.g., Seven Common Cold Myths rather than The Common Cold.
Exercise 12: Identify a presentation title and 4 to 6 points that you would like to make for students in one of the following categories: early elementary, late elementary, middle school, or high school.
10 – Make Presentations to Local Groups and Organizations
Consumer groups (e.g., travel clubs), health advocacy groups (e.g., local chapter of a diabetes association), and health professional groups (e.g., local association of podiatrists) often invite guest speakers to make brief presentations at scheduled meetings. Getting yourself in front of just about any group and discussing a topic of interest to you should strengthen your nurse practitioner brand. And you can invite attendees to “join” your email contact list to receive your timely health information.
You can let people know that you may be available to speak on a topic of your choice via a supplemental personal card that you create for that purpose. You would distribute this card only to individuals who you think would be likely to connect you with the program coordinator for a consumer, health advocacy, or health professional group/organization.
Exhibit 11
Or you can indicate your availability to speak to groups and organizations on the reverse side of your personal card with inexpensive one-color printing.
Exercise 13: Sketch the content for the reverse side of your nurse practitioner card to let people know that you are available to speak on two or more specific topics.
Exercise 14: State the title of a 20-minute consumer-oriented presentation and three points that you will make.
Exercise 15: You are preparing a 20-minute presentation for physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners on a topic related to your area of expertise. State the title of your presentation and three points that you will make.
11 – Connect with Local Television News Producers
It is likely that your community is served by three or more network stations, and that each station provides local news programs – perhaps 30 minutes in the early morning, 30 minutes in the afternoon, and 30 minutes in the late evening. News producers fill those segments with content – often at “the last minute” due to the nature of news.
You can assist one or more of the news producers by letting them know you are available via phone, Zoom®, or at your practice site in person to provide educated views on specific health-related topics.
Once a news producer becomes familiar with you and understands your areas of expertise, you may be called on again and again to provide a few seconds or a few minutes of content.
Suggestions:
- Contact your local television stations by phone and request the names and contact information (phone numbers, email address) for the individuals who produce the various news programs (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening). There may be one news producer.
- Send the producer at each station an email with your name and cell phone number. Provide your biographical sketch and express your desire to provide your views on specific health topics.
- In a few days attempt to reach the producer by phone (may be difficult to reach) and restate your desire to provide your views on specific health topics.
- When a topic of interest to you is “in the news” or about to break, immediately contact the producer via email and provide your views – your educated opinions. Include your biographical sketch with your email.
- Ask if you can “drop by the station” and introduce yourself. When you visit the producer, leave your personal card and ask if he or she would like to be added to your email contact list to receive your timely health information.
Exercise 16: Contact two television stations in your community by phone. Introduce yourself to the telephone attendant and request the names and titles of the individuals who produce the morning, afternoon, and late evening news programs.
Ask the telephone attendant how you could reach the individual or individuals with a “news story.” (For purposes of completing this exercise, it will not be necessary for you to contact the television news producer.)
12 – Participate in Local Health Advocacy Organizations
Exercise 17: Identify two consumer-oriented health advocacy organizations in your community (or the community in which you intend to practice) in which you should become involved based on your education, your specialty, and your interests.
13 – Participate in State and National Professional Organizations
Exercise 18: List three state and/or national professional organizations of nurse practitioners and/or health professionals in which you should become involved based on your education, your specialty, and your interests.
14 – Coordinate a Support or Special Health Interest Group
You have or will have both interest and expertise in at least one specific area of health. Consumers may have interest in that same area of health, but they often will lack expertise. For many health issues support groups and/or special health interest groups already exist (e.g., diabetes, autism, alcoholism, drug abuse). There may be opportunity to establish and coordinate support/interest groups for other health issues in your community.
And there likely will always be opportunity to assemble groups that have interest in smoking cessation and/or weight management.
These groups can “meet” with as few as 3 or 4 individuals and as seldom as once each month at a facility, via a conference call, or via computer using an ultraconvenient and cost-free voice/video service such as Zoom®.
Exercise 19: Identify two support and/or special health interest groups that you might have interest in establishing and coordinating based on your education, specialty, and personal interests.
15 – Create a Personal Website
A personal website is a valuable personal branding tool because you can refer individuals to your website to learn more about you and your brand. Just about anyone who is computer literate can construct a rudimentary personal website.
Although you can obtain and maintain your website at little or no cost, a free or low cost website is likely to include the domain name of the website service provider and advertisements for services and products that you do not want on your website (may be viewed by viewers as your endorsement).
If you want a website with your own domain name you will pay about $20.00 for the name and a recurring charge to the website service provider. (Consider beginning at the minimum service level, which is lowest in cost.)
Suggestions:
- Attempt to obtain a domain name that has relatively few characters and contains words that relate to your specific brand.
- Unlike passwords, upper and lower case are irrelevant in domain names. That said, when you promote your website in printed materials you use a combination of upper/lower case letters, bold, nonbold, and colored fonts to enhance the readability of your domain name (e.g., NursePractitionerBranding.com rather than nursepractitionerbranding.com).
- Attempt to obtain a dot.com (.com) domain rather than dot.org, dot.net, dot.us, or any other. (There will be plenty of the latter available – but try not to use one of them.) Avoid hyphens and underscores in your domain name because of the potential for confusion. Avoid using a zero (0) where it might be confused with the letter O, or vice versa. And avoid including a string of numbers that have meaning to you but to no one else – e.g., CynthiaBCNP57385.com
- Complete and “perfect” a single page (your homepage) that tells “the story of you” – who you are, what you do, how you help people, and how you can be contacted. Why did you become a nurse practitioner? Why did you select your specialty? In what ways have you helped people? (Don’t use their names.) Do you have other interests? Do you have a spouse? children? pets?
- Include relevant photos of yourself and – with permission – others who may be involved with you and your brand. (People prefer to view photos with brief written descriptions as opposed to reading multiple sentences and paragraphs.)
- After you are satisfied with your homepage, consider adding an additional page or pages that might include a contact form, information on specific health issues, and links to authoritative websites that relate to your area of expertise.
- When you make a presentation (or attend a meeting or do anything else related to your nurse practitioner brand), get photos and highlight your participation in that event in your website – preferably near the top of your homepage.
- If you get stuck, contact your local high school, and ask an office staff member if a teacher or staff member is involved in website design. Contact that individual and ask for the recommendation of an exemplary student who has website design experience and who might like to make a few dollars.
Exercise 20: Consider one or more potential domain names for your website. Google “weebly domain search” (this is NOT a weebly endorsement). Enter potential domain names. Enter names until you find one that is available as a dot.com (.com).
Exercise 21: You are likely to have viewed hundreds (maybe thousands) of websites. Therefore, you should have a good idea of the content of a typical homepage. Make a list of items to place on your homepage, including headings, photos, and graphics.
16 – Your Ideas for Communicating Your Powerful Brand
The actions cited in this guide were selected because they are free of cost or relatively low in cost.
Chances are you are using or considering other options for communicating your brand – including social media. Good! This guide was intended to get you started on your personal branding journey.
Exercise 22: List and expound on two ways not cited in this guide in which you could communicate your nurse practitioner brand.
"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.
Nurse Practitioner Branding . . .
BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE OF A KIND!
Version 1.0 Copyright ©2020 Quentin Srnka