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You looked at this blog because you needed new ideas to boost your practice and we said we had some brilliant free suggestions that could work instantly for you, right? Hold that thought.
In our last blog we shared some ways to grow your practice using words. But we’re not going to stop there. Oh no, because we always like to offer you more. Here are some more tips on how you can use a few words to do stuff that will help you attract clients’ old and new.

1. Hyperlinking (linking)
Are you creating links in your copy you use online? If your content is shared on another site with the hyperlink included it creates a powerful back link which helps your site be ranked by search engines.
If you use an acronym on your practice website, you could hyperlink it to your glossary, or include a link to a related article at the end of each article, keeping the visitor there a little longer so they are more likely to act and engage. Use it for your call to action to make that next step really easy. You can even hyperlink to an email with a prewritten subject header so people can contact you.

2. Be persuasive
Five of the most powerful words you can use online are: You, Free, Because, Instantly, New. Use those words in your narrative, in subject headers on emails (though be careful that Free doesn’t snag spam filters), and in headlines. There are lots of people out there putting their content online so you have to craft your message and think about including motivating words. You might want to check out our cheeky introductory paragraph again too.

3. Keep it positive
Although we have talked about using words to generate interest it’s also true that in this fast paced world people skim read all the time. That’s why images, really short snippets of video and sound bites have become so important.
One take home message is not to ramble on too much (oops breaks own rule) but the other is to think very carefully about how you want people to feel after reading it. If you want to frame your message in a very positive way to give people a feel-good factor, choose your words accordingly.
Look at these two examples:
A You might feel full of fear and trepidation about the dangers posed by the diseases your dog can get if it isn’t vaccinated and you would not be wrong.
B Vaccinating your dog gives you the comfort and reassurance that you are doing everything you can to protect his or her health.
For someone that perhaps already had worries about vaccination, skim reading sentence A means the words fear, trepidation, danger, disease and wrong will spring out – potentially reinforcing their concerns. The words that stand out on a skim read of sentence B are comfort, reassurance, protect and health.
Perhaps you are thinking in your own mind that people will only act if afraid. If that’s the case, test two different communications on different small groups of clients and measure how many respond from each group. Once you have a successful strategy that is the one you use ongoing. So, be sensitive to the language you use AND test and learn.

4. Be responsive by listening online
There are millions of voices all chattering away online so how do you know when they are talking about your practice? If you know what they are saying you can decide whether you want to respond or not, correct any misapprehensions or send thanks for kind comments and even share them on social media.
It’s always good to see things from your client’s point of view and conversations that take place away from your platforms (social media and websites etc) may even highlight a gap in your service provision, allowing you to take remedial action.
One way you can do this is to set up a Google Alert on your practice name. Just search for Google Alert and set up the parameters – it’s free (but not fully comprehensive).
Daily searches using a search engine are also good practice. On Facebook put the practice name in the search bar (clients don’t always tag the practice) daily and on Twitter do the same.
There are a variety of very good paid for tools if this is something you think you should expand. More people are on multiple social platforms currently and ultimately this would be the only reliable way to track across them all.

5. Use expressive writing as a technique to solve problems
It’s been identified that many problems are not sorted out just by talking to someone (although no doubt there are many advantages to sharing your problems and asking for support). Expressive writing has been advocated as a great way to solve problems – it relies on writing down what has happened and because we have all been trained to understand that stories have a beginning, middle and an end this narrative device often leads to a solution. So there you have it: one final way that you can use words for free to create a healthier, happier practice.

If you love words, why not write your own blog article to post on Vetpol? Just submit your entry to us here.