Many business advisers speak of building your business through word-of-mouth, but just to have you do that with me health care practice?

As it turns out it's not that difficult. Here are seven principles that we can use in our own practices.

1. Build support. When were starting out we can use our friends family members and colleagues to talk better business with their friends and acquaintances. This begins to get the word out.



2. Network. This concept really is important, as no one really builds a business alone. Consider getting involved in your local Nurse Practitioner organization, community organizations which address health care issues, colleges and universities in your area, as well as your local and regional business associations, Chambers of Commerce, and local nonprofit agencies such as Walk for the Cure.



3. Your current clients. In our office we have cards and brochures available for patients to share. We are often asked if we are accepting new patients and if they can refer people to us. Whenever I see a new person I often find that they were referred to us by a current patient.



4. Become the expert in your community. There are often ample opportunities for you to share your knowledge and expertise. Consider speaking at senior centers, the local Rotary club, offer to do a lecture at a local college, or get involved with the local health fair. In addition, consider approaching your local newspaper and find out about writing a health column.



5. Keep in contact with your clients. While many of our patients will come in to us for routine follow-up, especially if they have chronic health issues, there are many that will only come in maybe a few times a year when they get ill. It may not occur to them to keep up with routine health screenings for example. There are many ways that you can keep in touch with your clients. Consider mailing postcards, phone calls to remind them to obtain their flu vaccine, or even an e-mail newsletter.



6. Send business away. All of us are used to referring our clients to specialists. But how many of us refer to other Nurse Practitioners? Built up a network of nurse practitioner colleagues that you can refer to when you need a specialist, or when you need closure practice to new patients. Perhaps someone is moving to a new area and you need to make a referral. This is where networking comes in really handy.



7. Be excellent at what you do. Take the time to really listen and show you care. This is probably the most important principle of all. If your clients and patients are happy they will send people your way. If they are unhappy everyone, and I do mean everyone, will hear about it. There is great truth to the phrase that bad news travels fast.