What’s the biggest problem facing business communications today? The overwhelming desire among many people to make things more complicated than they are, or need to be. But simple does not mean “dumb.” And clear does not mean “basic.” Use these four questions to help improve your skills as an effective communicator:

Big Question #1: “What are we trying to do?”

We¹ve all sat in meetings with people who drone on and on with jargon-laden “corporate speak.” Honestly, no matter how complicated something is, it’s not necessary to use a lot of fancy terms to talk about it. In fact, the simpler the better. If you can¹t sum up a marketing strategy or a corporate business plan in a concise sentence or two, there¹s trouble ahead…and not just because your colleagues’ eyes are glazing over with boredom and incomprehension.

Here¹s the problem: Few people ever ask “What are we trying to do?” because they don¹t want to admit they don¹t get it, and because the question itself sounds kind of dumb. But in reality, it’s often a very smart question. If you can¹t get a simple answer to this simple question there’s something inherently wrong with whatever it is that’s being considered.

So next time things aren’t completely clear, go ahead and ask “What are we trying to do?” And keep asking it until everyone reaches a point of clarity that lets them move on to the next step.

Big Question No. 2: “Who are we trying to reach?”

Always consider your audience. Every organization has an audience or multiple audiences that it’s trying to target. For example, internal audiences might include:

- Administrative staff
- Managers and supervisors
- Executives and top leadership

Communication to each of these groups should be tailored to what they need to know and what¹s most important to them. External audiences are the same way. You might have:

- Patients
- Providers
- Payers

Before you do anything, stop to consider exactly who needs to get your message, and what¹s the clearest and simplest way to get it to them?

Big Question No. 3: “What¹s the best way to get there?”

OK. So you know what you want to do, who you want to reach, and what each audience needs to know. Now what’s the best way to get there? There are so many channels of communication available to us these days – print, online, broadcast, face to face, social networking, etc. How does your target audience prefer to get its information? What¹s the most appropriate channel? What about using multiple channels?

We often see print publications with stories that should never be in print. Print is about explanation and context; it¹s not about timeliness. Online media is about speed, action and choice, so stories must be formatted so they can be read quickly. Give readers actions to take now. Allow them to choose if they want to read more. Face-to-face communication is best for things that are immediate and emotional. It¹s about conversation. Too many managers and executives hold meetings and then don¹t let anyone ask questions.

You get the picture.

Big Question No. 4: “Why should anyone care?”

The most important question of all, and one that is too infrequently asked: “Why should anyone care?” Perhaps we are afraid of what the answer might be. If you can¹t explain why people should care about your company, product, or service, then why bother promoting it? Once you can figure out why people should care about your message, you¹ll be much better able to formulate and communicate a compelling message.

Adapted from a workshop and webinar presented by journalist Jim Ylisela.

Visit us at Scott Public Relations for additional insight on related topics.

Medical Wiki’s
By Danielle Rice

In a medical wiki, authorship is limited to physicians who share knowledge about health, medicine and the body among other medical professionals and the general public. Currently, there are 70 active medical wikis on the web to cater to the growing number of people looking for health information and advice in real-time.

A medical wiki is managed and designed similar to any traditional wiki found on the web. A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to be an open, collaborative community website that enables anyone (anonymously) with access to create, add, remove or modify content.

It’s no wonder that medical wikis are growing in popularity. Many Americans are personally experiencing the impact of a shortage of primary care physicians, the usual resource for medical information. These physician-authored wikis also benefit the 47 million uninsured who lack access to care and who often seek medical advice from online news resources.

Most Americans are already online looking for health information. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, three-quarters of all Internet users look for health information online. In addition, 75 percent of online patients with a chronic problem reported that their last health search online affected their final decision on how to treat their illness or condition, according to another Pew Report, “The Engaged E-Patient Population.”

But these aren’t the only reasons medical wikis are becoming popular. Physicians are seeing medical wikis as a modern way to gain thought leadership and additional visibility in their area of expertise. Many physicians are seeing the value in providing their own medical research as a source of information for the general public through these medical wikis. For example, some medical wikis are now including links to the author’s bio and contact information with every physician article.

In addition, it is even possible that medical wikis may play a huge role in becoming the future of medical education, just as long as they maintain good editorial polices and reliable contributors. In fact, according to American Medical News, the medical wiki is the textbook of the future – providing and creating a more vibrant, accessible, up-to-date conversation and library of knowledge than can be found in a textbook or an established medical journal.

Since there are still some medical wikis that don’t require contributors to be credited medical professionals, other recent medical wikis have evolved into a social networking tool to include community discussion groups and message boards.

But how factual is this information online? Who decides which physician or healthcare expert is allowed to edit/add/contribute to the content online? Do these medial wikis create an online forum for experts, professionals and the general public to contribute and educate advanced healthcare knowledge and research?

For more information, check out “Medical wiki blends social networking with research”.

Visit us at Scott Public Relations for additional insight on related topics.

Getting the attention of your prospects and customers is a Herculean task in today’s world of 24/7 communication bombardment. In the new digital world, content is king and PR — by virtue of its ability to educate and inform — is the most versatile tactic to create and leverage content via multiple communication channels. AND get it read.

As proof, here’s how One Call Medical , the nation’s largest diagnostic radiology management company, did just that:

Scott Public Relations (SPR) had an opportunity to write a bylined article on a topic that was relatively new in the workers’ compensation sector: the skyrocketing cost of diagnostic radiology tests, and what solutions companies could employ to better manage these procedures to reduce costs and improve quality. SPR worked with One Call to write the article, negotiated with the online publication for the rights to distribute the article, and created an e-mail to One Call’s customers and prospects introducing the piece and inviting them to read it.

One Call’s goal was to reach a broad range of personnel within its client companies, which included third party administrators and insurance carriers. Their e-mail went out to more than 11,000 people. With the help of a special software program, we know that:

42% opened the e-mail (the industry average = 21.5%). The subject line clearly indicated the topic and the sender, One Call Medical.

10% read the teaser and navigated to the entire article (the industry average response = 3.6%).

Within one company, the article was forwarded 19 times. In another, 25 times. A third company forwarded the email 48 times, further extending the article’s reach and the number of impressions.

By providing relevant educational content, along with the added credibility of having been published in a respected industry publication, One Call Medical captured the attention of its very busy audience in numbers significantly above national averages.

We love these examples showing proof of theories! Let us know about and share your stories, too.

Visit us at Scott Public Relations for additional insight on related topics.

We first wrote about the new phenomenon of “twittering” several months ago. In that short time, twittering has continued to evolve as a significant new communication channel. With messages limited to 140 characters, senders are forced to be succinct and frequently update their tweet; for recipients, twittering offers a quick and easy means for staying connected and “in the know” regarding their favorite people and topics of interest.

Journalists are starting to use twitter to stay abreast of breaking news and to follow “threads” for particular companies and individuals. In the business world, HR departments have been among the “first movers” in using this new media for recruiting, and more and more companies are realizing that this is a novel way to alert important media about events and announcements.

How popular is Twitter? During the opening of Congress this past winter, CNN ran a story on how legislators were “tweeting” back to their home constituents as events unfolded at the Capitol building.

How are YOU using Twitter? Is it here to stay as a viable communication channel? Let us know your thoughts.

Visit us at Scott Public Relations for additional insight on related topics.

Conventional wisdom says that companies that strive for continuous improvement and outstanding service will see high customer loyalty and increased brand value. But according to “The Paradox of Excellence,” a book by David Mosby and Michael Weissman, the reverse may be true: superior performance is instead taken for granted and undervalued by the marketplace, leaving high performing firms vulnerable to loss of reputation and business if their service deviates from their consistent high standards.

The reality is that customers have come to expect superlative performance.

How can companies overcome this bizarre paradox to build and maintain high customer loyalty and brand value, even through the inevitable “glitches” that will occur in any business relationships?

Read the full article “The Paradox of Excellence:High Performance = Low Respect?” and visit us at Scott Public Relations for more insights.

How does one go about measuring the results of PR?

This is a question that has been asked since the dawn of the profession. The answers today are different from what they were even a few years ago.

Measuring the impact of public relations has never been a more critical issue. When the economy turns troubled, the traditional reaction of executives has been to rein in marketing and public relations activities. As budgets tighten up, every line item is under intensified scrutiny. Managers ask: Do we really need to do this? And what is our ROI that justifies the commitment of people and dollars in this endeavor?

As in previous economic downturns, executives are demanding that the value they are getting from their public relations programs be quantified. There’s more at stake in this quest that just preserving programs and jobs - a recent survey reveals the power of targeted communication to genuinely affect whether a business can survive and succeed through a down economic cycle.

Read the full article “Public Relations: Measuring ROI” and visit us at Scott Public Relations for more insights.

What could be more timely for today’s economic conditions?

Are you getting what you pay for with your marketing and PR program? Are the results worth the investment? More importantly, how can you measure the results of something like public relations, which by definition is designed to “influence” behavior?

Those are good questions. Today more than ever, they are questions that healthcare organizations are struggling to answer. Budgets are tight and demands are high. Most organizations do not have the resources or the staff to spend on any program that can’t specifically quantify its value. To accomplish that task and gather information to refine or adjust strategies, businesses and nonprofits alike must have a system to objectively measure the results of a PR program.

Read the full article How to Measure the Value of a PR Program and visit Scott Public Relations for more insights on public relations.

The crash of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 is just one of the latest examples showing how platforms such as Twitter are evolving beyond social messaging services into interactive news sources that corporate executives have to consider and monitor in their communications programs.

Almost immediately after Flight 1549 slid safely into the New York’s Hudson River, the first announcements of a plane crash appeared on Twitter. The first image of the crash, depicting evacuating passengers waiting on a wing, was posted by a passenger on a ferry boat hastily recruited to serve as a rescue vessel.

Within an hour, thousands of short messages relayed news and images of the event, re-posted links and updated news accounts, and shared toll-free numbers for information about passengers. Major news organizations were harvesting tips from the stream of Twitter messages as well as using it to provide updates and links to their coverage.

By the time the airline issued a statement on its Web site an hour after the event, the release was largely ignored by an audience already engaged in the Twitter coverage.

Although Twitter cannot be described as a mainstream service yet — varying estimates place its user base at about 2.5 million — it is reaching an Internet-savvy audience that feels a need to always feel connected.

Read the full article from author Dave Pelland “Twitter Helps Engage With Customers”

Baby Boomers -that 76 million-member generation that has shaped so much of American culture for the past 50 years-are a dominant force in healthcare. This is a generation, after all, that has defined consumerism, far outspending their parents or even the generations that have followed since. Boomers are modern day super-consumers who have grown up watching business change and grow to meet their every need, want and desire. They’re accustomed to wanting and getting the best. And there is no reason to believe this trend will change as they get older and become more active consumers of healthcare.

To read more of our take on understanding the baby boomers

Many healthcare organizations today rely on mass advertising and marketing campaigns to get their organization or message in front of a particular target audience. This technique may help to build name recognition and brand awareness, but also it involves a large degree of inefficiency and waste. For instance, this technique may generate interest, but some inquiries may actually be looking for a product or service your organization does not provide, wasting valuable time and resources.

To read more about referral marketing, HealthLeaders Referral Marketing