--- title: 'How to Influence and Expand your Practice' type: 'lesson' url: 'https://doc.social/courses/becoming-a-digital-opinion-leader/how-to-influence-and-expand-your-practice' course: 'Becoming a Digital Opinion Leader' course_url: 'https://doc.social/courses/becoming-a-digital-opinion-leader' position: '2 of 3' author: 'Leanne Levitt, BA (Hons) Business Management (Leadership practice) Year 3' transcript: 'yes' --- # How to Influence and Expand your Practice ## Summary _This lesson is a recording without a written summary._ ## Transcript 1,199 words · 10 min · automatically transcribed (aws-transcribe) and not checked by a person; it may contain errors, particularly in names, drugs and dosages. The recording is the source. [0:01] Welcome back to the 3rd course in the series of gaining that competitive advantage as a DOL. But how do we gain that influence and also how do we expand your practice? We're gonna find out. I have examples of your colleagues out there expanding their reach as a digital opinion leader. [0:25] Let's talk about creating an influence, and this presentation on digital opinion leaders would not be complete unless I actually had people, your colleagues, surgeons, doctors out there creating an influence online. The first example I've got is Doctor Sharan, who recently conducted an Awake spine surgery course. So we had an audience where his practice is based. [0:55] In New York, as well as virtual reality headsets so they can transport to a digital world, which provides an international audience. His courses are also featured online on the docsocial site. So check out those. And [1:16] I'm very fortunate to have attended a metaverse event. So I'm not sure if any of you have heard about the metaverse. It has been featured recently on the cover of Time magazine. And I attended a talk by actually Mr. Metaverse. He's one of the top 30 metaverse speakers, and he was kind enough to [1:42] Give his. [1:44] Um, take on the virtual world, and he provided a quote and he said that this will impact the world on a larger scale than the internet. So the figures he provided for me was that the market size would increase to 800 billion by 2024 and $13 trillion by 2030. [2:12] This is astounding, but I think if you are asked or invited to anything new like metaverse meetings, which you can attend with the use of an avatar, you should definitely be open-minded to it. And I could see that there could be doctors, surgeons, lounges, meetings and presentations in the metaverse. [2:41] Not too in the not too distant future. [2:45] And then we've got another leader online on Instagram, Jennifer Harris nutrition. We're actually launching a Business for surgeons YouTube channel together, plus a performance nutrition for surgeons lecture. So check that out. [3:06] Two more examples. We've got the neurosurgeons on YouTube. There are two neurosurgeons from Scotland. One of them is Doctor Draz, and he and his colleague launched a YouTube channel. And they didn't think that anyone would watch it, and they've got thousands of views. But [3:29] They provided me or Doctor Drez provided me with some advice. And then he says, yes, it may be scary and a bit nerve-wracking starting out, but just keep going. And just think of what your friends and family are going to say and get their opinion, opinion on board and then just go for it. And then we have Sarcoma Strong. [3:58] I'm an ambassador for Sarcoma Strong. Check out their online shop. And actually, just with Professor DiCaprio, he keeps up to date with me regularly. So he maintains that Business relationship on a regular basis. And then I said that I was going to Turkey on a holiday. So he sent [4:22] One of his sarcoma Strong tops for me to be photographed in Turkey, and he sent it from New York to Switzerland. And then I put it on my LinkedIn and as well as Business for surgeons Instagram. So that is the power of the digital network. [4:43] Let's talk about expanding your practice. Have a look at Doctor Sharon's LinkedIn profile. Uh, he has a very successful practice in New Jersey, New York, and keeps up to date regularly with the world of Surgery and with Business related topics. But you need to think about increasing your exposure, raising your profile, and this follows through to expanding your practice. [5:13] So you would want to attract patients to your practice. So it would be beneficial and advantageous to create a referral structure. [5:25] And you could also promote yourself online with a seminar or a virtual blog to increase that reach, but also provide education and awareness for your patients and their conditions, surgeries or anything medical related. [5:46] Another great piece of advice would be to enlighten existing patients, clients, and your network with up to-date topics and asking Other physicians to share them. [6:01] Now, I'm very grateful that Omar Khatib has provided me with another quote. [6:09] Have a look at his LinkedIn profile. He's very active on there. [6:13] He said that the physician side hustle economy has taken off since 2020. So the most popular medical side gigs are medical consulting, expert witness, M moonlighting. [6:30] And speaking engagements. This is according to Medscape side gigs. And have a look, they did an article on this. [6:40] They estimated that each month, a physician would spend 16 hours working on their side gig. [6:55] So how to gain consistency going forward. It's all very well posting here and there, but that's not gonna gain you consistency. You need to be posting on a regular basis, commenting and liking and sharing as we have talked about. [7:12] I would say that as long as patient care is your first priority, then you cannot go wrong. [7:18] Another important aspect is having confidence in your abilities and your knowledge of what content you are putting out there, because at the end of the day you are the professional and you have in-depth understanding Research. [7:34] And study into your subject and specialty. [7:40] And [7:42] You must enjoy what you do. So enjoy the journey. And remember to nurture those Business relationships. So check in with people. Yes, and find out what they're doing, what they're getting up to, and you could be surprised what comes out of those Business relationships, like with Dr. Drez who [8:05] with another neurosurgeon started his own YouTube channel. And I asked him for a bit of advice and he gave me more than I bargained for. So he he's given me more than I needed. But [8:21] It was amazing because he also said that you'll be surprised by people who are very supportive. So he wrote extra for the slide, which I'm very grateful for. And he just said pieces of advice going forward, which [8:36] With being a digital opinion leader, this opens you up to massive networking opportunities, and the response to your content will be unexpected in a good way like he has found out, found out. But the bottom line is to keep going. [8:56] We have come to the last slide of the series and of the last course. And what I would give to you to take from these courses out into the digital world is that why do you do what you do? So I would just revert back to that, and as long as you do it with passion, energy, determination, commitment, and being brave, putting yourself out there. [9:24] That will gain you competitive advantage and success in the digital world and as a leader. [9:35] Thank you very much for watching. Thank you to my contributors, and thank you to my course director, Doctor Sharan, for his input. And please let us know any future courses. We would love to hear your feedback or any Other ideas, because at the end of the day, this is education for you. Thank you. Goodbye. ## In this course - [Previous: The Role of a Digital Opinion Leader](https://doc.social/llms/courses/becoming-a-digital-opinion-leader/the-role-of-a-digital-opinion-leader.md) - [Next: Online Strategy for a Digital Opinion Leader](https://doc.social/llms/courses/becoming-a-digital-opinion-leader/online-strategy-for-a-digital-opinion-leader.md) - [All lessons: Becoming a Digital Opinion Leader](https://doc.social/llms/courses/becoming-a-digital-opinion-leader.md)