HATE to Write? How to Produce Healthcare Blog Content Anyway

Very few of us enjoy writing. That image above is how most of us feel about writing: we hate to write! In fact,most physicians loathe writing, especially after taking so many notes for so many years. But even those of us who enjoy writing simply don’t have the time! You have patients to see; EMR charts to complete; pre-authorizations to worry about; patients to call back; and oh yes, a family to spend time with; and there’s that pesky eating and sleeping thing.

And yet…you KNOW that your healthcare website must have content that answers your patients’ (and future patients’) questions. Content that can be found. Content that helps develop a lasting relationship with those future patients. How can you do that, even if you HATE to write?

CONTENT AUDIT

Start with what you already have.

Perform a “Content Audit.” Go through you clinic and collect all of the content that you are currently giving your patients when they are in clinic…pre-op guides; post-op guides; diet guides; exercise guides; medication guides; brochures; pamphlets; anatomic charts; growth charts; etc. You have those items because they provide value to your patients. Therefore, they will also provide value to your future patients. That is content that should be on your website, ideally in the form of an article, but at the very least as a down-loadable pdf file just as it is.

My motto: if it’s content that answers a patient’s question, it’s content that belongs on your practice website.

EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

We’re ALL Educators

EVERY clinician is a teacher at their core. And every one of us has given an educational talk to a patient, or a patient’s family…we’re teachers. Many of us have given educational talks at our community center; or our church; or the local Rotary or Lion’s Club…you get the idea.

“Slides”

You have “Slide-Decks” of those talks. Sure, those “slides” are electronic, in PowerPoint or Keynote or Prezi or some other electronic software. That makes them even easier to upload to your blog. Go review those presentations and get that content onto your website.

How to Use That Content?

Many options…

• Record the slide show for a SlideShare presentation, upload it to SlideShare, and display it onto your blog.
  Writing involved: none.
• Or simply transfer the text from your slides over to you word-processing program, edit it, flesh it out…turn it into an article of 300-500 words that answers your patients’ questions.
  Writing involved: minimal.
• Go to Fiverr or 99Designs and pay someone a small fee to turn your presentation into an infographic on a topic that is important to your patients.
  Writing involved: none.
• Use screen-capture software to make a video while you go through your presentation on your computer; record the voice-over; put it together and you have a great video that answers patients’ questions for YouTube. Take a look at Howard Luks’ YouTube Channel as a great example.
  Writing involved: none.
• Or simply provide the audio as a podcast – see Russ&Randy.com as an example.
  Writing involved: none.

So, even if you HATE to write, you have several options to get great content onto your healthcare blog.

CURATING CONTENT

Content from Others

Consider “curating” content from others. Really, it’s okay. Copyright laws state that you can embed portions of someone else’s content on your blog. Best practice dictates that you place that content in context – for example, cite some recent research article in your area of expertise, include a portion of their article, and tell your readers why it is significant. That is, comment on it.

The very best application of curating content is to compile a review article on the latest lab-tests for diagnosing an ailment; or the very latest ways to manage a particular ailment; or the latest news about an ailment. Add quotes from those recent articles and provide a brief synopsis of each.

Finally write a brief summary. As an expert in this area, you will be providing your patients (and remember, your future patients) with trustworthy, accurate information that helps answer their health questions. Curating and summarizing recent health news is an easy way to build content on your own blog.

Credit the Source

If you use this method, be certain to link out to the original source websites for every quote! For two reasons: (1) it’s the right thing to do; and (2) Google cares that you’re linking out to other quality websites – it affects your SEO.

Russ&Randy Podcast

Healthcare’s Rx for Web & Social:
The ONLY Podcast BY physicians FOR physicians!

On our Russ&Randy Podcast, Dr. Randall Wong and I (Dr. Russell Faust) provide “Tips-in-10” – practical tips on healthcare brand strategy and marketing your clinical practice, in less than 10 minutes. Come check out our FREE Podcast on iTunes!

Here’s our chat about this topic (how to produce blog content even if you hate to write) on the Russ&Randy Podcast:

How Do YOU Do It?

There are other approaches to producing content that will get you found, even if you hate to write. What have you found to help? What methods have you tried? If you hate to write but continue to produce content for your healthcare website, how do you do it? Please leave a comment and share.