Professional flyers
Posted By: Patti on 2006-05-09
In Reply to: Don't do it... - Dolo
I do flyers and they are very "professional" and so what if they offer a free car wash. I found that most office managers just want to "look" to see what it offers and I feel opening a letter is sometimes takes "too much time" while at a flyer they can just turn over and read immediately what it is about. Again, I think whether letter or flyers if you are at the right place at the right time, you can nab an account. And yes, have gotten several accounts that way and one has been with me for 18 years. So probably either works, I just prefer the flyer. But remember just like selling a house, it takes time and you have to put it out there to several hundred to get a bite. And once I get a bite I then go in and talk to them taking cookies or something. Also when I am looking for a new account I do several mailings about 6 - 10 weeks apart so I stay fresh in everyone's mind. I also inform my present docs and their gals and offer a small bonus to anyone that helps me land a new account I am sure that everyone has their way of soliciting for new accounts and it has worked for them and so they feel it is "the only way to go" but whatever route you take you have to get out there, be visible and that means to a lot of people as with that also you get word of mouth between offices.
Good luck.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
Flyers
Patti,
I am an IC with a desire to go on my own with local doctors. Would you mind sharing with me the kind of things you put on your flyer. Also, how do you go about getting the information from them about what kind of system they use. They usually have one don't they? I am a little familiar with dial in since I worked for a small MTSO on that kind of system, but I only know how it worked from my end. Do you find a lot of offices still use tapes and do most want printed copies of the reports?
Thanks for any information.
I sent out flyers...sm
I also bought a minicassette transcription machine. I live in a podunk little area where there are practitioners who still use the ol' tapes, so I thought that it would pay for itself when I received calls. It did. I sent the flyers a few months back and have received calls back from two clinics. One clinic was all online and had software for me to use to get in their computer. The other was tapes.
The Independent Medical Transcriptionist is a good place to get ideas. I would have liked a little less sensationalism in it (and I totally could have done without the Glamour Shots), but it's a pretty good place to start. The technology now is a bit more sophisticated than what they describe from their copyright date of 2002, but some ideas are timeless.
Good luck! 
Examples of flyers
I am looking for examples of flyers to in the physican's boxes at the hospital for medical transcriptionist services. Does anyone know where I could find some good examples....or does anyone have something they would like to share with me (from someone that is not very creative making flyers/resumes). If you have something you wouldn't mind sharing you can email me at norma_OK@yahoo.com. Thanks for the help.
Flyers/Brochures
Do what the rest of us have done if you want to design your own, buy the paper, write out what you want to say about your service, find a logo, business name, figure out how to put the two together and design your brochure. Or you can find a company that will design one for you when you supply all this information and pay them anywhere from $100 to $1000 depending on how fancy you want it to be. I put a lot of sweat, blood and tears into mine and I have been asked several times for copies and samples and guess after somone in the area used parts of it in their brochure after I have shared it, I just don't share anymore. If someone gets one through my mailings, that is different but I just don't mail off copies to others to "share" with due to the above fact. But they aren't hard to do, just takes time. And yes mine works as I have always signed on a new account when I do a mass mailing. But again, it reflects me and my company as yours should reflect you. Good luck, you can do it. Just start and it comes to you.
Patti
brochures/letters/flyers
Okay --everyone let me have it. I don't feel I am better than anyone but several of you have asked for me to E-mail you my brochure/flyer/letter that I use when contacting doctors and I am having a hard time doing so. It took me a long time to do the research, many hours/days and weeks designing my simple brochure that reflects me and my business and I guess I am scared that someone will scan it and just replace my name with yours and it took me a long time to do it. So am I wrong? I basically just have a logo, state what services I provide, price and what experience I have but it has worked for me. I don't like ignoring those of you who have asked but I am having trouble sending it to you. I have no problems offering any of you support, advice, tips on what I do but have trouble meeting this request and not thinking that any of you would simply duplicate it and guess it wouldn't be that big a deal so am I really a horrible person?
brochures/letters/flyers
No you are not a horrible person - and having owned my own Transcription Service for 15 yrs until my husband passed away 12 yrs ago....I WOULDN'T SHARE my hard work either!!
I think it is extremely kind of you to offer support, advice and tips. I can't fathom asking for another persons/business brochure, it is just not right and personally I think it shows lack of respect for you.
My two-cents...
cold calling/flyers/brochures
I have gotten several accounts that have been with me for years but I do a random flyer/brochure and then let them contact me. If they do, after I go in, I go back with cookies and reel them in. Seriously has worked for three accounts that have been with me from 4 to 15 years. Good accounts too.
Does anybody have any sample intro letters or flyers
they'd be willing to share? I'm just looking for something that you found effective when picking up your own accounts. I have a database of potential clients ready to go, but my flyer looks a bit cheesy. Thank you.
Flyers Fan too! Gotta cheer for the Steelers though! nm
x
anyone know where to find samples of flyers to start your own business?
I want to make my own and would like to look at how a few are formatted. Thx.
Business cards, flyers, brochures, intro letters (sm)
network, network, network, persistence and lots of luck.
Read The Independent Medical Transcriptionist by Donna Avila-Weil .... worth it's weight in gold!
Professional
You sound like a "professional" with an attitude. Maybe you had better seek some therapy or meditation. What ever happened to "judge not, lest ye be judged" and treating others like you would like to be treated? Like I said before, maybe it was just an honest mistake. Apparently he has some degree of professionalism to have been approached by two different doctors. Take a look at his work before you pass judgement.
Professional
No, this isn't religion 101, it is LIFE 101. If you treat everyone you know the way you treat most of the people on this board, I would expect that you will be losing your professional position, as well, real soon. My error rate is quite fine, thank you, but I do have the heart to forgive others "their" mistakes, too. Maybe you need to find another place to work for. MQ does not seem to be agreeing with you. You also have too much time to be responding to job boards. I wonder how much work you get done in a day. HMMMM???? The truth of your anger was in your last post...."maybe you are one of those recruiters that will hire just about anyone, including illiterate people, TO TAKE MORE OR OUR JOBS AWAY." your insecurity is showing. Don't take it out on innocent people. Deal with your own issues first. Good luck to you. Life is tough. Suck it up.
HERE'S HOW A PROFESSIONAL WOULD DO IT ..
OLD TIMEY MT eh?!! Here's how a professional would have written the ad:
Seeking a well-seasoned medical transcripitonist with a vast fund of medical knowledge, and who has experience with computers, transcription software, FTP, expanders, and reference software for the transcription industry. Seeking an individual comfortable with computer technology and willing to learn our proprietary software.
...that's it, that's all she needed to post. If that person was professional, the first rule is to state what you are looking for, NOT what you don't want. Be clear and specific, not make negative statements because it only reflects on the person writing the ad and the company. Shame, shame.
professional
This is major. Seek a professiong, I live in the South and still see Blue Hairs and Pink Hairs. How it comes out depends on the texture of your hair, your base color and many other factors. That's why its costs. I would be leary of anyone who did it under $125.00
As a professional...
I expect the same courtesy I give. The doctors want clear, easy to understand reports; I want clear, easy to understand dictation. I don't care if it is ESL or English or poor communicator in general: if you want someone to type what you say, say it clearly. I think it would be unprofessional to accept substandard quality; that's part of what has gotten this profession into the jam that we're in as it is.
non-professional?
What?! We look non-professional just because we work at home? Ridiculous! Professional depends on the person, not the location. And you mentioned doctors working at home... Most docs in the past worked at home and they were very professional. And have you not seen Cosby? ha Professional is an attitude, a person's demeanor, not a location. Who wants to work in an office with all the politics and garbage when there is a perfectly good, honest, respectable, AND PROFESSIONAL option to work at home? I have been in business over 15 years AT HOME and have never had anyone tell me I was unprofessional. I think it is very honorable and a blessing from God to be able to be with my kids, and I support anyone trying to do the same.
Not very professional to
transcribe a report on somebody you know personally. Would you want one of your family members or friends to look at your medical records, especially if there were things you wanted kept private? I am shocked that any MT would do this and call themselves a professional. There may not be a law, I don't know, but it would certainly make a valid lawsuit if it ever came out and rightfully so.
You say you are being professional
But then you are saying you will do it on the side like a hobby for extra cash. What's the difference? You are talking out of both sides of your mouth.
Yes I have kids and I am no less of a professional than you and I do a good job. No I couldn't take my kids to work, so I telecommuted for the hospital 3 days a week. My kids are school age. I've been doing this for 19 years. So don't tell me that it's not professional to work from your home.
But, there was a lady with a sick bird and the boss let her bring it in and kept in her office so she could feed it! HA! No kids, but birds were allowed. Well, there was one girl that was allowed to have her kid there while she worked, but she wasn't an MT, she was a secretary.
Now you see why I left to come home to my safe haven where I am making almost twice as much as I did at the hospital. No, this will never be my side gig. This is my main professional career and I'm darned good at it and I'm glad to help sick people and professionals in the healthcare industry document medical records. I'm not afraid to research anything and don't care how long it takes either. I'll get the answer! And no, I have no desire to be QA because I'm an MT and that's what I'll be God Willing and the creek don't rise!
I think you should MYOB also. If she is a professional,
she is simply doing her job without getting personally involved in the particulars and as long as she is doing it on her own time and using her own equipment, then I do not see a problem.
dream on, Ms. Professional...sm
profession is defined as, "a
calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic
preparation." Hardly MT work.
You are so right! So professional its totally
unbelievable. If I weren't living it, I would never believe it.
Why XP-Professional version?
Just wondering why companies require us to have XP-Pro now instead of home edition?
Very professional. Love it!
You just made my day!!! 
Why not consult with a professional on this?
You seem to have a lot of questions that would be better answered by a professional. Of course, that wouldn't be free, so maybe that's the rub.
better yet, imagine a MT who is professional!?
x
Either Professional or Medical v9.5 nm
.
I would never use a professional suffix unless it was a PhD.
I have my two-year associate's for transcription, CPhT from pharmacy certification, a bachelor's degree and am almost done with a master's degree. It's pretentious and silly to use any of them.
what Professional Writing is.....sm
It's writing for the business world, as opposed to "creative" writing such as fiction novels or poetry.
My classes are focused on things like science writing, technical writing, newspaper/magazine, financial writing, speech writing... So if I wanted to stay in healthcare, I could look for a job writing for a health magazine, or maybe writind/editing textbooks.
It also prepares me for jobs in marketing, copywriting, public relations, human resources (somebody has to compose that employee manual), etc. Every industry needs good communicators, and I've always had a knack for writing, plus I really enjoy it.
Define professional
Do you mean somebody that does a report accurately, with proper attention to detail, creating a report that serves as a helpful adjunct to patient care? Guess what, cupcake? Locking someone in a chamber of solitude does not guarantee that. Since we became predominantly home employees, the only way to judge our work is based on the finished product, and if you're good, you can do that anywhere.
Really need some professional advice
I am looking to talk to somebody that has been in the MT business for years and really need to know the "real deal" of this industry. I have been MT'ing for almost 4 years now and feel like I am not getting anywhere. I am not someone who needs to make 100K a year, but like most looking to make enough money to be able to have the essentials in life and be able to by my kids what they need with a little left over for savings. I have worked in both ends of the spectrum as far as being an employee versus IC, both of which have pros and cons.
Schools say that this is still one of the "fastest" growing industries and the need for MT's is still great, well, my question is where is the work and where is the decent pay. I am at my wits end. I have been looking into going back to college for cardiac cath tech, but unfortunately, my husband does not understand the nature of this business and before I jump ship was wondering if I am "missing" something.
Any advice would be helpful. 
What if you don't have professional references?
Hi all! I just applied for a job and the questionnaire asks for professional references. I don't have any.  Working at home, I only had contact with immediate supervisors, and all the coworkers know each other only via chat forums. How does one handle the professional references issue? TIA.
Professional Liability INsurance?
Does anyone have this through AAMT? If so, how much did you pay for it? If not, are there other options out there? I'm looking into errors and omissions and I read about this, and think it would probably be just what I am looking for, but I am curious about the price before I pay for an AAMT membership! Thanks.
He is a professional couch potato..nm
nm
(continued) - you need to speak to a professional
to make sure it's done properly and there are no surprises later!
Good luck!
This gave me my laugh for the day! :) Professional??
s
Windows XP Professional & Word
Searching Word help section I see where it is possible to email directly from Word and also encrypt the document. If anyone does this, I could use some direction in doing it.
Thank you. bw
I have to disagree, verbatim is not professional
and this is supposed to be a profession and yes that means you have to edit a little bit to make it a professional appearing document. Verbatim = garbage.
It's time to get professional kiddo....sm
I transcribed for a psychiatric facility, was their only MT, did all their work in a 24 TAT. They would call constantly from the insurance dept, wanting me to do a STAT report on a certain patient so they could get insurance clearance for payment. This went on for several weeks until they were taking advantage of the situation. I couldn't just stop and look through 17 doctors' dictation, 8 counselors, and several social workers to get the report. I told the administrator if they wanted STAT work, there would be an extra charge for that as well as fax time.... I delivered their work printed out every day, same time, and they had the nerve to ask me to chart it on the floors.... so I said, that would be an extra charge for my time spent doing that.. the administrator acted as if that was my job. Medical Records was horribly ran, the people in insurance dept and administration didn't have a clue about transcription and TAT, just wanted it when they wanted it. So, I billed them for all the extras and the STAT requests came to almost a halt. After two years, the administrator thought he could get it done cheaper, so he went with an outside company up north at 5 cpl (gross line). One month later, they didn't have reports back....there was no such thing as STAT work, and when medical records called them looking for reports, all they would get was an answering machine...would call back 3 to 4 days later. It was a mess. So, administrator wanted me back. By then, I had moved on soooo far. He actualy had the medical records director ask me if I could clear reports still on their system and then pick up about 50 tapes to do, because they were so far behind. I told her no thanks, she gave him the message, and he called me, wanting to know what the big deal was, why I couldn't accept THEIR offer. When I told him the offers were made by me, offer to do work for xxxx amount of dollars, STATs extra, charting much extra, but that my plate was full, couldn't take them back. He called back offering to pay even more than I had previously set forth, but I wasn't getting into that mess again!!!
Get your services straightened out, details of what you will do and for what charge, and stick to it.
Plan B sounds more professional.
I think offering a price over the phone before really finding out what she needs might scare her off. By detailing all of your services (i.e. courier, stats, printing, corrections), she'll be able to take that into consideration when deciding if she wants to hire you. I think it also looks more professional.
and keep it professional and keep a cool head (sm)
I KNOW it's hard in this type of a situation, but your attitude towards your former employer can reflect to your prospective employer in what you say (and don't say) and your tone of voice over the phone.
Hang in there! :)
Would a doctor be considered professional if
saw patients at home so they could stay home with their kids? No. The original post in this thread listed several things that make MTs look unprofessional. Working at home with kids is another one, whether you like it or not.
Meant professional writer. Know what HIM is. Sorry. nm
X
what about a brochure? brochuremaker.com is really easy and looks professional sm
also, there are lots and lots of samples on the other mt board you can even print for free
The post was meant for Professional MT newbies
We agree and thank you for your comment. It really was not necessary and somewhat unprofessional in my opinion. It certainly does not further the cause of professional MT operators/Entrepenurs.
Someone once said "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions..."
Professional escort - money is good.
I would select that category. If it said "provider" i would not, but professional, yes. nm
x
Hostile and negative or Professional and courteous?
I read a post here where someone wrote they thought the medical field today was hostile and negative. I agree with her because I've been working independently at home for clinics over seven years now and have found this to be the case. I wonder why that is? The doctors and their staff always seem that way, no matter how good a job you do. Guess I get a little tired of feeling like a second class citizen and no matter what I do, it's not enough or appreciated.
Spoken like a true healthcare professional.
Be diplomatic and professional. Sent a written request
again asking to see a copy of the report so you can see where it was QA'd so you can make a notation of it so it will not happen again. If they don't respond, I'd forget about it, unless it happened again.
Every MT who is a professional is worth their weight in gold.
Lately, there has been a lot of grumbling on these boards about new versus older MT, less experience, more experience, this, that and the other. The best and most accurate statement I have heard was from a hospital MT director when she told us (those who were students all of the way up to those who were there to retirement) that ALL of her medical transcriptionists, were worth their weight in GOLD.
Each step of the way most of us, or at least those who consider themselves professional,and who act in accordance of being a professional (Professional in my mind are those who remember patient care while striving for the line count, those who appreciate the importance of our job as we serve others, while we bring home the bacon) act as professionals and our nature will not change When new we may appear eager and more flexible, but as we grow in the business and gain years of experience we as professionals must daily recognize the value of staying flexible while we are challenged with more difficult work than those less experienced. Just as diamonds in the rough smooth out and have a different kind of worth, so do new MTs and more experienced MTs have different worth.
What is important is that together they both contribute to a diamond mine of great value to those who they serve (the MTSO, the hospital, finally and most importantly the patient).
I say that we boost each other up instead of putting each other down. I say one bad apple does not spoil the bunch. And to the boss like mine I had and other MTSO owners who agree with that statement, I say keep your team's self-esteem growing by a thank you for a good job every now and then. To the MT, please appreciate your boss and MTSO if they show you the respect you deserve and when times are tough and tempers flare realize that a difficult situation has not changed your professionalism or your value, and that tomorrow is another day.
Bravo to the professionals who remember why they came to this career to begin with, what it was like,and appreciate young and old. Bravo to the supervisors and MTSOs who do not kick the legs out from under themselves by forgetting to appreciate and treat with respect the MTs who hold them up.
Merry Christmas to my friends here who have cheered me this holiday season. I think no matter who you are or where you are at in your career, if you remember all your blessings when times are difficult or when they are fantastic, when you remain your professional "self", you will indeed continue to shine in this New Year. Thanks for listening. Peace and prosperity this 2008!
|
