Interview with John Zeigler, Au.D., VP Marketing, AuDNet

Topic: www.NowiHear.com, and AuDNet's Use of Video in Promoting Audiology on the Internet

Carolyn Smaka: Hello everyone, this is Carolyn Smaka from AudiologyOnline and I'm speaking today with Dr. John Zeigler from AuDNet. Welcome, John!

Dr. John Zeigler:: Welcome! How are you?

Smaka: Just fine, and how are you doing today?

Zeigler:: I'm doing just great, and it's great to be here.

Smaka: I'm really excited to talk to you today about AuDNet's use of video in marketing audiology and promoting audiology to consumers. So let me ask you, why video?

Zeigler:: Well, Google has recently become an Internet video leader and video is becoming the fastest growing area on the Internet. In our profession, internet video is a way to market our AuDNet member's audiology practices and we can do that through YouTube. AuDNet has set up a website, www.NowiHear.com, with a structured YouTube portal inside that protects the consumer from extraneous "youtube" activities. Our national network of audiologists can promote their practices through this centralized channel. Consumers, large carrier officials, consumer groups, and really anyone, can go to www.NowiHear.com and understand the whole scope of practice of audiology. They can then see videos of what AuDNet audiologists do and appreciate the education, experiences and credentials and then go to individual practices and actually see videos of AuDNet members in the AuDNet Member Video Gallery located on the front page. This allows the whole process of searching audiology through Google Video or AOL Video and finding an AuDNet practice.

By the way, today if you go to Google videos, and search 'audiologist', you will already find AuDNet has three videos right on the first page. Since AuDNet is the largest network of audiologists doing videos, our members will enjoy very high placement in the search engines.

Smaka: That's impressive. What will I find if I click on those results?

Zeigler:: You will be able to play the videos and it will auto-link from www.NowiHear.com. You will learn all about audiology in general and see AuDNet audiologists as they perform their specialty processes in their offices. As a member of AuDNet, you can create videos and we will place your materials there, so that consumers can find you and see you performing your procedures that you specialize in your particular office.

The whole concept is like this. I have a sister and we're very close. We're also very close in age, and when we were growing up, she was always trying to set me up with blind dates. A good recommendation, like that of my sister, is really invaluable, but let's face it, blind dates can be difficult. In our profession, we work so hard to build our practices and create good word of mouth and generate referrals, which is still the best way to build a solid practice. However, in the future, especially with $4.00 gasoline and the kind of hectic busy schedules that we're all confronted with, the use of video is going to be extremely important. Video enables consumers the ability to actually visualize you and your practice, and to "meet you" through the video, rather than have a blind date. Cultivating those recommendations is terrifically important, but imagine the enhancement when the consumer sees a video of you at your best! As an AuDNet audiologist, with the www.NowiHear.com website, you can in fact encourage those recommendations as well as gain new potential consumers who are just searching the Internet.

That way when you send somebody your business card or brochure with www.NowiHear.com on it, they can go find out exactly who you are. Moreover, you can, in a video, explain where you are, your phone number, how to contact you, and display in sound, in movement, and in color all of the things that you do in your practice that makes you unique. In addition, I believe that our profession, audiology, is extremely unique, and yet, we're having a big identity crisis. That is because we have not been promoted in any way by our industry. We have been over-blended as "hearing healthcare practitioners", rather than as uniquely positioning ourselves as audiologists, for a myriad number of reasons. It is a terrible price to pay for convenience or a few immediate dollars in revenue to lose one's professional identity.

Smaka: John, you've talked about how video can be a lead generator for new patients. Can you use these videos as well with existing patients?

Zeigler:: Yes, absolutely. For example, if a patient were to come into my practice and I needed that person to prepare for a VNG/ENG examination, in terms of not to eat in the morning, what to expect during the testing, etc., I could give them a link to a video on my YouTube portal that describes all this. As another example, I could have videos for existing patients or their families depicting a hearing aid orientation and training class or how to clean a hearing aid, how to put a hearing aid on, how to change the battery, how to keep the hearing aid functioning correctly, and those types of things. These educational video documentaries can be anywhere from 2 - 5 minutes long, and can be an extremely important additional resource for your existing patients. You would simply give your patient a link, or perhaps the son or daughter, and simply by typing that link into the computer, they would be able to see that video. On the other hand, you can simply send the link to someone via email - the person just receives the email, clicks on the link, and it takes them right to your video.

Smaka: I think I mentioned to you my mother had an ENG recently, and she was very nervous about it, even though I had explained the process to her several times. If she could have seen a video of an actual exam, I'm sure it would have lessened her anxiety.

How can these videos be used with pediatric patients, or with their parents?

Zeigler:: Well, there again, many times parents are nervous about what their child will be put through during audiological testing - whether it is in the soundbooth or an ABR procedure. Showing the procedure, for example, conditioned play audiometry, in a video would be an extremely stress-relieving situation for parents. In addition, you could explain and demonstrate in a video tips for the parents that you have learned for your experience as an audiologist that will help the testing process. For example, asking parents to bring a familiar object such as a teddy bear or blanket, not to feed the child a lot of sugar in the morning, things like that, are ways in which these videos are being used by AuDNet audiologists who see a pediatric population.

Smaka: What does the use of this portal cost an AuDNet member?

Zeigler:: What is really cool about this, is that the whole setup is free. It does not cost anything to join AuDNet and AuDNet members get to use the whole website for free. Being inside the portal, which also protects the member from people making comments about their videos, as you will see in other YouTube environments, is very important. That is why we need www.NowiHear.com and a national network to dominate Internet searches. The www.NowiHear.com shell gives both audiologists and their patients' privacy without the extraneous distractions of a myriad of other YouTube type materials.

Another thing I think is so important about these videos is that they can be embedded, in other documents, power point presentations, etc. and it is possible to have an unlimited number of them. There's no limit to the use of this process for any audiology setting from a private practice to a university clinic. On the Video Gallery page inside of NowiHear, you will have your own listing and your own library of videos that can be searched for your content. That allows you to be able to grow out your educational videos and promotional videos and have as many of them as you would like. And then those can be embedded so that you can actually send the video, or place them on a computer or laptop and view them at anytime, even without an Internet connection. They can be used for example, at outreach events like a talk at a nursing home, or at a health fair, or lectures or really just about anywhere else that your business engages in the community. You could simply hook your laptop up to a projector and play your videos so that they can be seen at the event.

Smaka: It sounds like AuDNet has really done all the work and as an AuDNet member, the process would be really simple to get started. What exactly would be the process?

Zeigler:: We have experimented with different products and just about any Sony, Canon or Kodak digital camera will have a dial on the back that says movie. We are finding that you're best off if you have an SD card inside that gives you at least 1 GB of storage capacity and this cost about $20.00 if the camera does not come with a card already in it. You can also buy 2 and 4 GB cards to lengthen the recording time. Anyone can shoot these including your spouse or receptionist - it really only involves holding the camera. You do not need special lighting. Our research shows that YouTube type videos are best if they do not look professional. I know that sounds a little contrary to what you would think, but the spontaneous shooting of the videos actually enhances the believability factor. You want the warm "this is me" kind of a feeling coming through on the video and we have found that if you over-analyze it, if you try to stage a production, it is really counter-productive. So this is very inexpensive and easy to do. You can have a digital camera sitting on your desk, and if a moment comes when you are about to do a procedure or process that you think would help either educate your patients or promote your practice and sheds some good light on your efforts, you can document it. That is why they are called "YouTube" documentaries. They're also easy to put up. As an AudNet audiologist member, you simply send them in to us and we'll edit them for you and make sure that any of the rough edges are out and then we'll post them for you.

Smaka: It sounds so simple, and I'm sure AuDNet provides support to members who may be nervous about shooting their first video.

Zeigler:: Sure. I'm always available and I spend a lot of time on the phone supporting our members for all kinds of business and management needs. We do not think that it's best to have somebody professional come in and shoot your videos. It's best if you actually do them and look at them yourself. If you send me material, I'll edit out any booboos or anything you want, but the issue is to make it actually warm, sincere and spontaneous.

Smaka: It's easy to see how this is good for consumers. How do you see AuDNet's use of video impacting the audiology profession?

Zeigler:: Well, I have an Au.D., built a multi-million dollar practice getting lots of experience in good and bad economic times and I have been a past chair of my state licensure board. I've always advocated for consumers. Therefore, my first position is what is good for the consumer is good for audiology. I think it is most important for audiologists to be uniquely identified to the consumer. When you earn an education as an audiologist, you are choosing a career - you are not selling hearing aids because real estate is selling slowly or the tech bubble burst. You have chosen to serve hearing impaired people as a formally trained professional. Therefore, the turnover rate for licensees is much, much lower and consumer complaint rates are lower. The second thing is audiologists, I believe, need an identity. Therefore, what is good for the consumer is that they see an individual who is well trained;who has more experience and who is generally oriented towards diagnostics;audiologists have an NPI number;audiologists are billing Medicare;audiologists do a real diagnostic test. Now, other people would disagree with me and I want to make it clear that I understand and respect every position;I do feel however, that you can have an Au.D. and the best equipment in the world, but if the hearing test is free, it's not diagnostic, it's a sales presentation. So, I have strong beliefs about what's good for consumers. Patients need a good diagnostic work-up that is not motivated by the need to sell something to cover costs. Cost shifting hearing tests into a hearing aid sales price is a "No - No' if you are going to be a professional. AuDNet is designed to help audiologists to be true professionals.

Then comes the whole idea of using video to establish credentials and to help the consumer identify you on an individual basis. Consumers are very confused, because the way the industry has promoted hearing care has been by product and price. Credentials are hard to promote if only a portion of your network's providers have the more advanced license and formal audiology credential. I believe that seeing it, hearing it, and watching a video is the way to get a consumer to find a unique identity for audiologists and demand audiology care. So, I think it's good for the consumer in that the audiology services are identified. Consumers have a right to know the credentials of the individual from whom they are receiving care.

Secondly, I think it's good for the profession because that process does help reduce the fear that the consumer brings into your office. If they're confident of your credentials, if they're confident about your experiences, if they've seen you doing procedures through your videos, you will find much more cooperative patients who will do what you tell them to do for the sake of their hearing as opposed to trying to tell you what to do based on monetary considerations or possible misinformation. So, videos are a truth finder to consumers... "seeing is believing".

I think that any audiologist who can get a good set of videos out there about who they are and what they are doing will certainly educate consumers. AuDNet feels that the best consumer is an educated consumer.

Smaka: We know from learning research that many people learn better when instruction is multi-modality. Therefore it makes sense that seeing and hearing a video and possibly reading captions can make for better retention of patient information and for a more motivated patient.

Zeigler:: I want to go along with that Dr. Smaka. You know, Google spent 1.6 billion dollars for YouTube and the reason is exactly what you just said. The process of learning is much better when its multi-modality and it's in a video format as compared to having to read page after page after page of the text that's in the typical website.

The one comment I'd like to make is that channeling through www.NowiHear.com and a national network of audiologists is absolutely the foundation upon which this idea is built. In real estate, it is location, location, location;in Internet marketing, it is redundancy, redundancy, redundancy. www.NowiHear.com brings you a concentration that cannot be matched in any other way! All the other networks have lower credentials and are not 100% licensed audiologists. AuDNet is unique and I hope audiologists catch on to the importance of that factor.

Any marketing expert will tell you that you can best get consumers to act with direct mail, newspaper advertising, business cards, office brochures and the marketing that you do, if you include a way for the consumer to know that your services are uniquely superior to your competitions. You have to be the best of breed! That's what AuDNet is doing, forming the "Best of Breed" network all over the USA. AuDNet is branding audiology care as best of breed care for hearing loss. That is why a national network is so important. If you have a network, you can become a known brand to consumers, large carriers and consumer groups across the United States. That's how consumers visualize you and understand who you are and why you are different and a superior choice. It's so important to us that we focus on audiology care. There's no manufacturers mentioned on the www.NowiHear.com AuDNet website. It is not a sales tool for a particular brand of hearing aid. It is designed to promote hearing care through audiology care. Consumers are getting this message by way of a simple link or website location that they go to in order to find this wealth of information. Therefore, AuDNet is going directly to consumers with NowiHear. And we also have on that website, by the way, a click to talk. Consumers can actually just click on a button, put in their telephone number, and we actually call them back and walk them through the website, explaining the credentials and the experience and education of an audiologist as well as give them a location of a local AuDNet member. Secondly, consumers can dial 1-877-NOWIHEAR. This vanity phone number matches the website URL and when dialed, rings right in the local participating AuDNet member's office. It's like the FTD florist model! This marketing model gives you a direct connection to your office by the consumer in any audiology setting. It is efficient, no maintenance and best of all the web site content is absolutely FREE! In fact, it only costs 30 dollars to have the phone company make the phone ring directly in your office for your zip codes. Go ahead try it;go to www.NowiHear.com and click on "AuDNet Members Video Gallery" see the videos and call 1-877-NowiHear and see if the zip codes in your area are available.

Smaka: Where has www.NowiHear.com as well AuDNet been featured, as a result of your extensive marketing and promotion?

Zeigler:: Dr. Kathy Foltner has been working with a wonderful California PR firm and has done an excellent job with several PR releases. In this way, we have touched over 20,000 major distribution channels that have in turn reached over 250,000 targeted consumers through blogs, social media sites, on-line newspapers, message boards, and news feeds in our target industry arena. Over the past two months, we've seen a significant increase in referrals from our website traffic, and we expect that traffic to grow as our PR efforts continue. We have been seen on CNBC, Google News, Ask Jeeves, Topex, Reuters, Yahoo, MSNBC, and there are a lot of folks that now are coming back to us, like WMAQ-TV in Chicago. They did a presentation about the iPod and Kathy was contacted.

If you type in the word 'audiologist' under Google video, today you will find AuDNet there in three separate videos on the very first page. By the way, that search process is going to be enhanced more and more and more as video becomes a larger portion of the Internet. We want to get it to where if the terms 'hearing aid' or 'hearing loss' or any other term that tracks around audiology and what we do, we want AuDNet to show up on that front page. Now, to do that, especially for textual pages as search engines are designed right now, we have a lot of work in front of us. I do not want to make anybody think that that work is not hard to do;it will take many new members and a lot of content to get there without having to pay for sponsorship. Moreover, it is our goal to be a low overhead network. Therefore, the concept is to get our marketing process out there in a guerilla fashion and simply over-whelm everyone else with volume to get the first pages. If every AuDNet member simply put "What's an audiologist? Visit www.NowiHear.com in their marketing materials it would be the largest promotion for audiology care ever to happen in our industry and basically by simply unifying our efforts, it would be free to all the individual audiologists to participate.

Smaka: During our interview I went to Google Video and typed in "audiologist" and I see AuDNet coming up quite a few times on the first page, including the number one spot. Congratulations on all the work you've done.

Zeigler:: Well, you know our members are so busy seeing patients, being audiologists;they just do not have time during the day to pay attention to these kinds of things. I was an audiologist for 30 years and built a large practice and I understand that. This process is something that cannot be done individually. I have talked to many audiologists and they are trying so hard to educate the consumers in their community about their efforts to earn their degrees and their credentials and experiences and working so hard to provide the best services. And it's so hard to do. If you join a national group that promotes that cause, it provides you with a much stronger voice and so many more ways of exploiting that uniqueness. Therefore, that is why AuDNet exists and that is why AuDNet is 100% licensed audiologists.

Smaka: Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you about this. I hope we can follow up with you later this year and see how your use of video and www.NowiHear.com has evolved.

Zeigler:: Well thank you so very much. I really appreciate it Dr. Smaka.

-------

Dr. John Zeigler: can be contacted at 1-877-283-6383 or by email at jZeigler@aud-net.com.
Readers can view AuDNet member's videos by visiting: AuDNet Member Video Gallery



AuDNet is a national network of licensed audiologists and Doctors of Audiology who are "THE Hearing Experts." AuDNet Audiologists and Doctors of Audiology are an elite group of highly trained, educated, licensed, and experienced professionals who specialize in audiology care and rehabilitation including hearing aids. Although AuDNet audiologists can diagnose all ages, the growing aging demographic means millions more of Americans must understand who is best qualified to solve problems associated with hearing loss. To learn more about AuDNet visit www.aud-net.com or call 1-800-308-7290.