Are your students loathe to practice as much as they should? OK, you can stop laughing and pick yourself up off the floor now. I know it wasn’t the brightest question.
But I asked it to make a point, of course. Haven’t you been guilty of that misbehavior? I personally am a lifetime repeat offender. As adults we all know intellectually that if you don’t practice something, you don’t get better. We tell our students and ourselves this until the bile rises in our throat threatening an embarrassing episode. So why do we keep putting it off?
In the darkest recesses of your psyche a nagging whisper gives you the answer. It’s not fun. And in this day and age nobody wants to do anything that’s not FUN!
Now while I am not an advocate of the ‘everything should be entertaining’ school of thought, it is also true that practicing vies for your student’s miniscule attention span. Practicing is going head to head against the latest video game.
To compete with that there needs to be some pretty excellent mind candy. The very best flavor on the market seems to be success. Generally if you are good at something you like doing it over and over.
In order for you or your student to feel like he’s being successful he has to pass a number of observable milestones. According to studies this is one of the attractions to the ubiquitous computer games. Let’s face it, it doesn’t take long to see some progress on the computer. Most of us know that allure of almost getting to the next level of the game.
To capitalize on that same feeling our students need to have small enough goals to feel great pretty often. Not only that but they need to be able to look back and really experience how far they have come in the short practice times of a few weeks.
And you know what? There are ways to plug into this type of feel good. And a great bonus is that the student will do most of the work to set it up and get himself there.
Here is the trick. No, I am not going to quote any of the success gurus you regularly see on TV. Well OK, I really am, but you know they do have some good things to say and this is one they all seem to agree on.
Goal setting. And I mean setting it down on paper every week in the same little log book. Make up several menus to give your students a few ideas. Initially they will choose the things they want to accomplish. As they become more proficient many goals will become self evident, and they can come up with them alone. Your input will be necessary as they don’t know what they don’t know, but be aware of the fact that a major part of the process is that the student must participate in setting the goals, otherwise it is just more homework.
The goals need to be in several categories. Daily, weekly, monthly, for the term, for the year, for several years. Once a system is put in place and there is some small amount of class time devoted to it every week then the thrill of achievement will be built in. The pleasure loving student will begin to find practice can be fun because they can check off items and see success written into the book a mere few weeks after starting. The amount that can be accomplished with this miniscule discipline is amazing. The book fills up and your young musicians are impressed with their industrial strength production levels.
The trick is to put the system in place and then work with it for several months. A session at the end of the month where students get to share what they have accomplished does wonders for everyone’s feel good quotient and spurs more goals and more success.
Try it. You and your students will all be much better off for the experience.
Suzie Hammond is a teacher turned writer and factotum for: www.musicalcompositions.net
There you may purchase and download sheet music for concert bands, choirs,chamber ensembles,jazz groups. See it,hear it,download it, rehearse it. FREE Newsletter and FREE Special Report written by Carl Hammond Phd. a 35 year international music veteran.
Well written interesting music for your groups to play right now via download. Score pages, MP3s to help you decide suitability.
Some of the greatest advancements in modern music are credited to an artist who died over 40 years ago, yet only lived to be 33Sam Cooke. Unlike many artists who have come and gone, Cooke’s silky voice, dashing smile, and laundry list of hit records have managed to withstand the test of time. And so have his many memorable achievements.
After six years as the reigning voice in gospel music, Cooke burst onto the pop scene with the 1957 release of his million-selling single, You Send Me. The song’s innovative blend of Gospel, Pop, and R&B earned him the title of “The Man Who Invented Soul” and stayed on the charts an amazing 26 weeks, rising to #1 in both the Pop and R&B markets. The next single he’d release, I’ll Come Running Back to You, soared to #1 on the R&B charts as well. Cooke would eventually chart an amazing 34 Top 40 R&B hits over his eight year pop career, with most like You Send Me and I’ll Come Running Back to You written by Sam himself. Cooke also wrote and recorded such classics as Chain Gang, Only Sixteen, Cupid, Wonderful World, Having a Party and A Change is Gonna Come, and was among the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Sam Cooke is remembered as a pioneer both socially and musically. In addition to being an accomplished singer, songwriter and producer, he was remembered as the first artist to take a political stand and refuse to sing to segregated audiences.
He also recognized the politics of the music industry early in his career. At a time when record labels often left even the most talented and successful artist broke and penniless, Sam Cooke was one of the first artists, black or white, to buck the system and demand ownership of his career. He signed an unprecedented deal with RCA in 1960 after coming to the agreement they let him retain control of the copyrights to his music.
From a business aspect, Sam Cooke was one of the first artists to capitalize on the crossover appeal of popular music by intentionally recording songs that targeted both the black and white markets. He was the first African-American artist to own a record label, and he established his own management company and music publishing company as well. Even more remarkable, he did all of these things before his 34th birthday.
Sam Cooke adopted his winning attitude from his strict but loving father, the late Rev. Charles Cook, Sr., who taught his children to never give less than their best effort and stressed the importance of family unity. Cooke was driven by this determination to excel implanted in him at an early age, and in Sam’s eyes, family took a back seat to no one. “My mother and father were both family oriented, and they instilled in us ‘all for one and one for all’,” Sam’s youngest sister Agnes remembers. “We were a very tight, close-knit family. If you had a problem with one of us, you had a problem with all of us.”
“There was a tremendous amount of love and closeness in the Cook family,” Sam’s ex-sister-in-law Phyllis Cook observed. “Sam, as well as all of the Cook children, came from a strong man and strong woman that instilled that kind of love. It wasn’t just Sam that sang, (all of the kids) did, but because he pursued it further, they all supported him. Whatever he needed, they were there for support.”
The general public knew Sam Cooke as a singer, songwriter, and producer whose musical style has often been imitated but never equaled. But before the Soul superstar ever set foot on a stage, the template of his success was molded in a household filled with love, respect, and the spirit of religiona side of Sam Cooke few of his fans knew existed.
Erik Greene is the grandson of Sam’s oldest sister, Mary. “Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family’s Perspective” can be ordered through www.ourunclesam.com or by calling (888) 232-4444 toll-free in the USA and Canada.
Erik Greene is a Financial Advisor by trade who lives in Chicago’s South Suburbs with his wife, Augustine. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, traveling, and attending local sporting events (Go White Sox!).
With new technological improvements such as digital Telly, High-Def Television, Freesat & home cinema audio, if you’re current TV set is older than 5 years old, then right now a fantastic time to buy a new TV. Although, as technology changes roughly almost on a weekly basis, obtaining a new TV device can easily be extraordinary difficult & bewildering.
This TV guide strives to help to explain all the most modern technology that will guarantee to take your telly enjoyment to a brilliant new level.
Hi Def Television: Maybe one of the most noteworthy development to the world of the television since the creation of colour technology, Hi-Definition (HD) television brings detail, clarity & colour, with pictures normally 4xs as crisp as many traditional television devices. To see the advantages of High Def programmes you must possess a HD Ready television. Sky & Freesat have already started to put on air hi-definition TV programmes therefore you can now get pleasure from an assortment of your much-loved programmes, movies and sporting occasions with astounding realistic images.
Built In Digital Tuner: A TV with built in digital tuner (generally referred to as idTV) lets you lay your hands on all free to air digital stations, including: E4, BBC3, Sky News & to name a few without the demand for a separate set-top box.
Freesat: A new digital satellite television service provided through joint venture between the BBC and ITV, giving you free Hi-Def TV programmes at no added charge. Freesat has no weekly contract, no members fee, but instead just one solitary price for the TV, satellite dish and installation. Also because Freesat is transmitted via satellite, its obtainable to more or less each and every house in the UK. Freesat telly is at present only available with Panasonic TVs.
LCD or Plasma: Though LCD and Plasma TVs operate in different ways, the advantages of both are awfully similar. Nevertheless, it’s imperative to keep in mind that when picking between a Plasma or LCD TV, it is in truth only a question of size. LCD is at its optimal performance up to and including thirty-two inches, while Plasma tellies offer optimal performance at 37″ and bigger. For that reason, if you are wanting to purchase a small flat panel television, then LCD provides the far superior performance, in contrast if you call for1 a bigger screen size, Plasma is considerably the best choice. John Lewis sells Cheap TVs from top brands such as Sony and Panasonic.
In conclusion, its essential to keep in mind when getting the correct television for you, to consider your available budget, your screening distance, the style you desire & if it is to be an LCD or Plasma telly.
Most consumers prefer products that have worked well for them, never mind that there are several brand names out there that can do much more. How they decide to stick with a brand is both a conscious and unconscious behavior. Some factors hinge on the brand name itself or how a company introduces, maintains or reinvents a brand name.
Brand preference and loyalty is a herculean task for any startup or established company. Public relations, marketing strategies, and advertisements may be just means of fusing the product into the market but these are also important methods to gain brand recognition. If done correctly, a new brand name will quickly gain recognition and of course, will be favored by the target market than other recently released brands. Consumers typically want to buy something known over a name that they haven’t heard of.
When people recognize a brand name, it is likely that the brand name has already either positively or negatively impacted the consumers. At this point consumers will give out feedbacks and comments, which is a good thing for companies. Feedbacks are the companies’ yardstick on how their products are doing in the market and where they need to make improvements.
Though brand preference does not equate to brand loyalty, it is at this stage where people will have established a preference for a product over another. However, competition at this stage is tight. Creating an army of loyal consumers entails that companies spend to improve their brand and introduce new lines, while maintaining good standing with their consumers.
Brand loyalty happens when consumers pick a brand name again and again, regardless of unpleasant experiences in the past. There are lots of things a company must do to achieve this kind of trust from the consumers. One of the effective ways to maintain loyalty is to provide the consumers services and/or benefits they cannot get from other brand names.
Read Manta’s profile on Cemex California.
A conversation with Gilberto Perez, President of Cemex California.
Read more about Cemex California at the Brand Managing website.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Austin, Texas–February 13, 2006–DownSiid hails from Killeen, Texas. They have built a solid reputation for producing a high-energy crossbreed of rock, hip-hop, and soul on their exciting new album The Evolution of Ghetto Rock.
The Evolution of Ghetto Rock features the smokin’ tracks “Ballin’,” their new single, “Texas Get Up” and “Grab Tha Cash.” DownSiid’s sound is reminiscent of one the progenitors of a similar rock fusion, Living Colour. Lead singer String has a powerful presence while delivering the bands true to life lyrical content while Alex “Da Boi” Fuentes (bass and screams), DJ AkirA MC (turntables and a mic), Rich Burgos (drums), and Jarrod “Junebug” Cook (guitar), comprise a formidable layer of sounds and energy for the lead singer to get across their message to the people.
Texas is just the beginning and now with the dynamite new album The Evolution of Ghetto Rock to promote, Downsiid will tour throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida. In March, the boys will showcase their talent during the prestigious Triple Bi-Pass Music Festival.
The broad based appeal of DownSiid will surely be their most valuable tool in the months to come. They are reaching listeners in many age groups and have a cross over ability that few bands can offer. With elements of rock, soul, and hip-hop at their disposal, the sky is the limit for opportunities to reach thousands of listeners worldwide searching for fresh new sounds that you can only find with independent musicians.
Their magnetic appeal and strong hold on today’s music listeners is sure to ignite a nationwide sweep and garner many new listeners.
Peter Massey-Manager
2200 Speidel
Pflugerville, TX 78660
Tel: 512-252-8943
Cell: 512-751-8363
Website
PR Created and Distributed By MuzikReviews.com For Stretch The Skies
This festive cheesecake is pretty in pink and perfect for Christmas or Valentine’s Day.
Crust
1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
Filling
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
cup cold water
2 (8-oz.) containers soft cream cheese
cup sugar
cup milk
cup crushed peppermint candy
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
2 (1.45-oz). milk chocolate candy bars, finely chopped
Toppings
whipped cream
crushed peppermint candy
chocolate shavings
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.
Soften gelatin in water; stir over low heat until dissolved. Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Gradually add gelatin, milk and peppermint candy, mixing until blended.
chill until firm.
Garnish with additional whipped cream combined with crushed peppermint candy and shaved chocolate.
About the Author
© Donna Monday
Brownies, Cheesecake, Fudge and more . . .
http://www.best-brownie-recipes.com/Cheesecake_besteasyrecipe.html
After you have washed your face with a chemical free soap, use an applicator to dip into Scotty’s face cream or you favorite face cream. Place the cream on your face and spread it all around. Massage the cream into your face gently so the skin absorbs the oils in this cream.
These oils will seal the pores and hold the natural moisture of the skin and enhance the curing effects of the cream
You can use the cream 2-3 times a day. It is best to use it after you have cleaned your face in the morning and right before you go to bed. You can also use it during noontime.
You can use Scotty’s’ cream under your makeup or over your makeup. It will work either way. However, it will work better on a clean face.
You will notice that when you apply the cream it will tingle in areas without sores and may sting in areas of open sores. This will pass and as it does it should reduce the itchiness of any sores.
Scotty’s cream has allantoin, which will help to clear acne sores. The oils, vitamin A and E, and minerals in Scotty’s will help to feed, rebuild, and rejuvenate your skin. The minerals also help to neutralize the toxic acids that have contaminated and inflamed pores on your face.
During cleansing and fasting, more acid waste may come out of your pores. This is why Scotty’s cream will help you to reduce the inflammation and spread your acne.
Tree Tea Oil
To make Scotty’s cream or your own cream even more powerful, you can add 5-10 drops of pure tree tea oil to a two-ounce container. You can experiment with the amount to add. You may want to add more drops to provide more tea tree oil for your face. But, do not use more than 15 drops.
Tree tea oil has been found to be effective in various skin disorders. It acts as an antiseptic, antifungal, and antibacterial. This oil helps to bring oxygen to the skin cell, which kills bacteria and fungus and helps to repair damaged skin caused by acne.
Borage Oil
There is one more thing that you can add to Scotty’s face cream or your favorite acne cream that will boost its acne clearing power. This is borage oil. Borage oil contains EPA and DHA, which helps to control excessive hormones that cause the over production of sebum.
It is the adrenal glands that produce streams of androgens during puberty. These large quantities of androgens help to activate bone growth and assist in bringing forth sexual maturity.
A side effect of these androgens is the release of excess oil from the oil glands near the hair follicle. This excess gives rise to
black heads
white heads
pimples
cysts
So here’s what you can do to make your face cream even more effective,
Mix one or two capsules of Borage oil into your cream
Do this by cutting the tip off of the Borage oil softgel and squeeze the oil into the cream
There is a new form of EPA and DHA that is available in a product called Neptune Krill Oil (NKO)
Neptune Krill Oil (NKO)
NKO is the new EPA and DHA product, which maybe better to use than Borage Oil. NKO has the omega-3, EPA and DHA in the phospholipid form, which is easier for your cells to absorb compared with Borage oil. Borage oil contains the omega-3, EPA, and DHA in triglyceride form, which is more difficult for cells to absorb.
One other good property of NKO is that is does not have to be refrigerated like Borage. It can be kept in a cool place in your cabinets. However, it does cost more than Borage oil.
Word of Caution: As with all creams and oils, if you get any rash or skin reactions when using them, discontinue their use.
Use a good face cream to help clear your acne. You can boost the power of this cream by adding tree tea oil and borage or NKO oil.
Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He is the author of Constipation, Acne, Hemorrhoid, and Fatty Acid ebooks. He writes a newsletter call “natural-remedies-thatwork.com.” More acne hints and information on his acne e-book can be found at: http://www.acne-remedies.for–you.info
Too often choosing the right track from a music
library is like hacking your way through overgrown
jungle with no map and no sense of direction. It’s
a time-intensive, hit-or-miss process that requires
listening to multitudes of the wrong selections.
After a while your brain becomes numb and everything
blends together and sounds the same. To further
complicate things, you’re often searching for music
right at the project deadline so there is pressure
to find tracks fast.
The fastest way to find the right soundtrack for your
work is to first identify the underlying feeling -
the emotional thrust - of your production.
Many project creators only think about what
STYLE of music they want (i.e. rock, Techno).
A better way to proceed is to look for music based
on the emotional character of your work. When you know
your project’s emotional themes, you will cut an
incredible amount of time from your search.
DISTILL YOUR PROJECT DOWN TO ITS EMOTIONAL BASE.
This is what film composers do. After meeting with
the director to discuss the film’s meaning and
concept, the composer immerses him/herself into the
film and begins to investigate its emotional
essence.
You can do the same thing. Here is a simple
exercise to try with your own work.
See yourself in each scene as an eyewitness
to what is happening
Become emotionally open to the events that occur.
Freewrite your reactions. (Freewriting is writing
that’s done quickly without any self-editing - you
just want to get your ideas on paper in a way that
you’ll remember)
After the production is over, take your
freewriting and look for 1-5 keyword phrases that best
describe the emotion(s) of what you’ve experienced.
This technique will work just as well for a 15
second Flash animation as an hour-length video
documentary. In each case you want to understand
the emotion at the heart of your project so you can
choose music that elevates your viewer’s experience.
Here’s an example of the process…
Let’s say you’re giving a 2 hour talk on “Better
Time Management” and you want some background music
to use in your PowerPoint at the beginning, end, and
during the break.
You do the exercise above and here is a sample of
your freewriting…
—————————————–
…better time management = organization,
productivity, structure…getting things done
a sense of being in control,- order - stress free
living, flow, mind like water…
—————————————–
To derive your emotional keywords from this, look at
the benefits of features like productivity and
organization.
Benefit of productivity - accomplishment
Getting things done - satisfaction, freedom,
liberation
Organization/Order - peace, harmony, well-being
Now begin searching the music libraries listening
for music that highlights feelings of satisfaction,
freedom, that gives a sense of peace, harmony,
accomplishment.
Remember, you’re still not locked into any specific
musical style, you’re searching for music that will
adequately speak to the emotional content of your
work.
On the UniqueTracks web site we have sorted every
track in our library by its corresponding emotional
keywords. If you need a track to underscore the
feeling of “satisfaction” or “peace”, all you have
to do is click a link and you’ll be presented with a
listing of all the tracks in our library that
correspond to those feelings.
Click this link to try it yourself -
Once you know the feeling you are looking for,
finding the right track becomes much easier because
through the process of drilling down to the
emotional core of your work you have already
filtered out most of the music choices that don’t
apply. You have narrowed your search, created a
map, and a way to avoid getting lost in the
production music jungle
John Bickerton is Creative Director for the UniqueTracks Production Music Library.
He writes the monthly e-newsletter “Underscore - Secrets of Successful
Soundtracks”, published by UnqiueTracks. Click to subscribe http:// http://
http://www.uniquetracks.com/Newsletter.htm
HAMMERED DULCIMER: AN AMERICAN TRADITION
A Little About Hammered Dulcimers
The hammered dulcimer in America is a traditional stringed instrument that been in revival over the last 30 years. It can now be heard in contemporary music, seen at folk festivals, and bought over the Internet. For those new to the instrument, it is typically trapezoidal in shape with many strings running over two long bridges, the treble bridge and the bass bridge. The instrument is mostly played with two small, wooden hammers that are used to strike the strings.
Someone once used the following poetic phrase to describe the magical sound of the hammered dulcimer:
“At once the flutter of Angel’s wings and the crashing of symbols.”
Indeed, the hammered dulcimer is a curious and ungainly combination of subtlety and brashness, of the outrageous and the sublime, of beautiful lines and an awkward shape. Yet, as a solo instrument, its emotive range is such that a hammered dulcimer can be played in celebration at a wedding and in sorrow at a funeral. It revels in the square dance and is somber in the dirge. Like its younger cousin, the piano, it can find a place in a choir-filled sanctuary, the modern recording studio, and the small, quiet parlor of a home. In short, as a musical instrument it is delightfully flexible and interestingly complex.
The dulcimer can also be played in a variety of ways: it can be gently plucked with the fingers, crudely dampened with duct tape, played with hammers that ring brightly or that soften the blow in bell-like tones.
A Little About Dulcimer Players
Dulcimer players themselves are sometimes an odd lot. As the world chases the newest fad in music, and pushes to the next extreme, dulcimer players sometimes look over their shoulders. They look for the value in a rich and deep tradition of a music that always tells a story - often with outrageous humor and a twinkle in the eye. In a sense, theirs is a path, in the words of folk musicians Aileen and Elkin Thomas, for those who can’t walk straight, else why would they veer into a retro-culture of a century and more ago.
The dulcimer player is almost always a communal person because the dulcimer is such a communal instrument. And because the dulcimer is not usually amplified, it draws people unto itself, into a close circle of raucous and entertaining melody.
The dulcimer player celebrates that time in our American history, and in our world, when, from here at least, things looked simpler and happier and slower. While the dulcimer plays, things are even so.
The act of playing a dulcimer is a solid, experiential link to a time when people made their own, well, just about everything. The dulcimer enjoyed a good part of its history not as a factory instrument, but as an instrument crafted by the musician. The hands that played it made it.
Today, during its revival, the hammered dulcimer is still handcrafted around the country by a variety of luthiers; but it is also being manufactured by companies intent on making it lighter, smaller and more portable.
Hammered vs. Mountain
In America two instruments are called “dulcimer”: the hammered dulcimer and the mountain dulcimer. They are two completely different instruments, but often found and played in the same circles. The hammered dulcimer, as previously stated, is trapezoidal with many strings, and is played with small, wooden “hammers.” The mountain dulcimer is small, often hour-glass or tear-drop shaped, has four fretted strings, and is usually played on one’s lap by strumming somewhat like a guitar.
The hammered dulcimer has a long tradition in American history. Here are some little-known but interesting facts about it.
Hammered Dulcimer Trivia
* The earliest record of a hammered dulcimer in America is from May 23, 1717 in Medford, Mass. where it was played in the home of the Rev. Aaron Porter, a graduate of Harvard College.
* Alexander Hamilton (not the statesman), playing the cello, accompanied the hammered dulcimer on November 21, 1752 at The Tuesday Club in Annapolis, MD.
* The first professional hammered dulcimer player (unnamed) mentioned in American history was promoted by one Richard Brickell in 1752 in New York.
* The word “dulcimer” was often spelled dulcimore, dulcemer, dolsemor.
* The oldest hammered dulcimer now existing in America may only date to 1800, and was probably made in Seneca, New York.
* Sometime in the 1830s or ’40s, hammered dulcimer-maker Richard Vernon of Stokes County, North Carolina once shipped 75 dulcimers to New Orleans on a flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Early American hammered dulcimers were often rectangular.
* The earliest recorded value of a hammered dulcimer (1844) may have only been $1.00! It was part of the estate of one William Moon, Madison County, Alabama.
* The tuning pins of early hammered dulcimers were hand-forged.
* The first instruction book for the hammered dulcimer was published in 1848 by C. Haight under the title Complete System for the Dulcimer.
* In the Great Lakes Region the hammered dulcimer was sometimes called the “lumberjack’s piano”!
* Montgomery Ward, in his 1894-1895 catalog, sold hammered dulcimers. Sears and Roebuck followed in 1897 and sold them for $24.90!
* Early hammered dulcimer soundboards were often made of common woods like pine or hemlock. Today they are usually made of Redwood, Western Red Cedar, Mahogany, or Sitka Spruce.
* Common configurations for 19-century hammered dulcimers were 9/0, 10/7, 11/6, 11/7, 12/3, and 12/11. (The left number indicates the number of treble courses; the right number indicates the number of bass courses. A “course” is a set of one or more strings tuned to the same note on the musical scale.)
* 19th-century hammers typically had whalebone shafts.
* Among the earliest recording of any variety of American vernacular music is that of the hammered dulcimer! Performed by Roy Gibson at the Edison studio in 1910.
* A hammered dulcimer was part of Henry Ford’s orchestra in 1925!
If you have any questions about this wonderful musical instrument, please feel free to contact me at my Web site.
There’s help on the way for doctors in the form of new web sites have been launched with the purpose of providing physician-to-physician mentoring in specific medical fields.
Medical spas have exploded over the last few years, fueled by technology companies eager to keep their head above water in increasingly competitive environment, and the burgeoning work load of physicians who see medical spas as an easy sell to their existing patient base. Adding a lucrative medical spa to their existing practice seems like a no-brainer for doctors from plastic surgeons and dermatologists, to dentists and family practice doctors.
Unfortunately, many of these doctors have been sold on an illusion. Laser and IPL companies routinely downplay the level of competition and level of business acumen needed to compete in this field and already overworked physicians end up with another headache and a pile of invoices.
But some help might be on the way for theses doctors in the form of web sites that offer information and mentoring from other physicians and business savvy medical spa owners.
The frontrunner of these sites is Medical Spas Online (www.medspa.squarespace.com) a blog site for physicians interested or involved in non-surgical cosmetic and anti-aging medicine. Started by Jeff Barson, Managing Partner of Surface Medical Spas and the Editor in Chief, Medical Spas Online embraced a concept radically different from other publishers who see the Web simply as a way to put up their business site.
In contrast, Medical Spas Online, from the start, was designed to be a micro-site that had a single focus: a place where visitors could quickly find useful content that focuses exclusively on non-surgical cosmetic and anti-aging medicine and the business platforms used to deliver these services. The content is provided from physicians and businesses already in the market who know what they’re doing and what’s important and relevant to their field.
Medical Spas Online’s primary target audience was and is American clinicians in the non-surgical/cosmetic/anti-aging arena: a decision made prior to launch. Medical Spas Online understood the information needs of these healthcare professionals from their own experience. But significantly — and controversially - Medical Spas Online was also designed to be open to anyone who wanted information. Physicians, consumers, or any combination thereof could register and have full access to the site, whether they lived in Portland, Maine, or Prague.
In addition to the normal laundry list of treatment information, physicians can find articles and postings on topics from interviewing staff, financing and growth, common mistakes, to which IPL to choose and what kinds of marketing works. There’s also ongoing conversations about insider information like “black market” Thermage tips and PDT delivery modalities. (Very useful if you need to know what that stuff is.)
Most of this information is not available anywhere else with the level of detail that MSO can provide.
“We took cues from what our own needs and experiences have been,” says Barson. “We decided that we would provide freely available, practical, clinical and business info about non-surgical cosmetic and anti-aging medicine to physicians and patients and leave general content to other sites. We’re dedicated to making a resource for physicians and patients who wanted the most current information on the revolution taking place in non-surgical cosmetic and anti-aging medicine. Telomere clipping, Pointe Lift, personal DNA testing, IPL, RF and lasers, Liposolve Mesotherapy, Bio-Identical Hormone Balancing… there’s a lot.”
Medical Spas Online also wanted to take advantage of the web’s ability to connect. Physicians rarely have the chance to converse or learn form other doctors who are not their immediate area of competition by posting questions and answers on topics specific to this field. Physicians can mentor and learn from other physicians in a way that eliminates the business competition threats. And patients can interact with physicians in a safe environment that removes the pressure that patients usually feel when interacting with doctors.
Their open-door strategy is in contrast to other sites who exclusively solicit consumers or physicians as a sales tool or are supported by advertisers who can exert influence.
Medical Spas Online welcomes everyone interested in professional-level medical information for both commercial and philosophic reasons.
“We liked the idea that consumers and non-MDs could finally get the same information their doctors read,” says Barson.
As it turned out, and in contrast to the conventional wisdom, many doctors liked that, too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Medical Spas Online is a not-for-profit online community dedicated to the newest advances in non-surgical cosmetic and anti-aging medicine and the business platforms used to deliver these services. Medical Spas Online is headquartered in Park City, Utah. Information is available online at www.medspa.squarespace.com
