Okay, so you’re never going to get a text like that from your doctor. If you do, run and find a new doc.

But smart healthcare providers are catching on to interacting with their patients via smartphones (sans emoticons).

Modern medicine is just beginning to catch up to tech and figure out how SMS can be another tool to help patients. While the healthcare industry must adhere to additional electronic privacy rules along with standard anti-spam and proper marketing regulations that everyone else must follow, providers and their staff can still find smart ways to utilize texting.

Examples

• Appointment reminders. Instead of a card in the mail or a courtesy phone call, your provider’s office can send texts confirming an upcoming visit, or an automated text once a year for a check-up. Texts to doctors can also help them remember their own appointments.
• Seeking Advice. As long as the patient’s identity is protected, doctors can seek advice from other peers or specialists. Physician A’s texts can also get right through to Physician B, rather than going through the phone system and leaving a message, or sending an email that may get lost among the hundreds of others that doctors typically receive.
• Better adherence. A British study showed that patients who had regular text reminders from their providers were less likely to forget to take their medication or the wrong quantity. A group of 303 patients being treated for heart or blood pressure problems were divided into groups that received SMS notifications versus another group that didn’t. The texts were sent daily for the first two weeks, then every other day for two weeks, then weekly for five months. The study found that 25 percent of the “non-text” group didn’t complete the prescription, compared to 9 percent of the “text” group. This type of active texting could potentially lead to better prescription management — such as less waste, and better outcomes, i.e., if a patient doesn’t comply with a prescription or a recommended medical plan, they’ll increase the odds of suffering future problems like heart attacks.
• Better interaction with pharmacies. If a pharmacy has “just a little question for the doctor” it might take hours for the provider to receive a phone message but a quick text can lead to quick communication and a fast response.
• Provide accurate information. Doctors often discourage patients from research their problems online research and self diagnosing. So much of the information available on the Internet is questionable, wrong, and even dangerous. A study in the Journal of Medical internet Research showed that patients and doctors are both aware of some of the credibility concerns of certain sites, and suggests that improved communication between patient and provider can reduce anxiety and confusion. An SMS environment may not prove the best place to debate pros and cons of technical studies but a doctor or doctor’s office can text a patient reliable web links to accurate information — including the doctor’s website — and invite the patient to make an appointment for further discussion.
• Quick interactions. Many doctors and nurses would love nothing better than to spend more time with every patient but the reality of the current industry is that giving extra time for one patient means less time or delays for the next patient. Texting is a time-efficient way for a doctor and doctor’s staff to provide quick answers to patients with basic questions that may not necessitate an appointment.

Bottom Line

Texting can be a useful tool for physicians to communicate accurate information, maximize time management and improve patient relations.

Guest post by Sophorn Chhay, an inbound marketer specializing in attracting targeted visitors and generated sales qualified leads. Through Trumpia’s SMS and marketing automation solution he helps businesses and organizations communicate effectively with their customers or members. Trumpia is offering a free Mobile Marketing Success Kit so don’t forget to grab your free copy.

The post 6 Ways Texting Can Help With Modern Healthcare appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

The post Social Media to Land Writing Gigs & Make Money appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

 To learn more visit ASJA.org

The post American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA) Writers Panel on Thursday, April 24, 2014 appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

The post Social Media: Harvard Business Review Found Most Companies Use Social Media Inffectively and They Need Help appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

* * *

“Reasons to Re-Joyce” is an appealing essay written by Darin Strauss (Sunday Book Review, The New York Times, December 9, 2012). Not only did Strauss mock the hand-wringing world of whiners moaning about the death of literary fiction, he states, “The naysaying misses the fact that this has been a wildly good book year.” Oh, and by the way, you can trust Strauss has his finger on the right pulse — his most recent book, a memoir titled Half a Life, won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The title of this essay is a reference to Ulysses by James Joyce. Strauss claims the novel is still relevant and a strong influence on what he calls a recent slew of “legitimate masterpieces.” Strauss also makes an excellent point that many of the doom and gloom analyses of the so-called downturn in book sales is not based on actual numbers: “It would be one thing if the naysayers were talking about a crash dive of sales figures. Sales figures carry the inarguability of math.” Instead, he argues, the public is under a barrage of nothing more than negative uniformed opinions from glass half empty talking heads. So, rejoice writers and keep writing your books. Readers are still reading.

* * *

“A Strong Author Platform Translates into Book Sales” reports DBW (Digital Book Wire, December 6, 2012). This is an article promoting the Digital Book World Conference & Expo in New York that is taking place January 15–17, 2013. No doubt the recap will offer sound advice for and analyses of the current state of digital book sales. This conference offers trade publishers hard data on today’s and tomorrow’s book biz. The conference refers to itself as “the single largest gathering of senior-level digital publishing execs anywhere.” It promises attendees access to presidents, CEOs, editors, marketers, large and small publishers, agents, authors, booksellers, librarians and techies — in other words, everyone you need to know to manage your success in the digital publishing world. Topics will include the power of social media and how to determine your best strategy from a dizzying array of platforms including Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Pinterest and YouTube. Speakers will cover how to generate media buzz, how to use search engine optimization (SEO) to rise to higher heights in Google searches and the necessity of 365-day marketing strategies to measure the success of your efforts. So, if you are one of those writers who has been reluctant to spruce up your website or blog, and take the plunge into social media conversations on Twitter and Facebook, there is so much more you can be doing to create your own writing success. Run, don’t walk, to social media marketing.

The post Industry News for Writers in my ASJA Monthly Market Monitor Column appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

We Have Seen the Light

Sir Isaac Newton developed a theory of color based on studying how white light breaks into colors when viewed through a prism. The Ancient Egyptians used color for cures to ailments. Some of the earliest studies of light were by Aristotle who discovered that two colors, when mixed together, can form another color. Okay, so what does all of this have to do with web design? A lot.

Color and Website Design

Smart marketing takes color perceptions seriously.

White is seen as purity, the absence of color, sterile.

Black, though it can symbolize evil, also communications power and sophistication.

Blue is the favorite color for a large majority. It is also the considered the favorite of men.

Red is loud — it grabs attention, it conveys excitement, intensity, even anger, but it is also the color of love; just think of Valentine’s Day.

Pink varies — depending on the hue and shade (hot pink, pastel pink, fuchsia, etc.). Light pink is usually associated with love (hearts), innocence and sweetness (baby girls) so, depending on who you’re trying to attract to your website and services, it can be a good choice. A great example is the pink ribbon associated with fighting breast cancer. Pink can also be a very poor choice when you want to attract business clients and project an image of power and strength. Pink can look weak, childish and frilly which does the opposite of inspiring consumer confidence.

Green has a calming effect and relieves stress (nature). Of course depending on how it is used it can also convey power and money or jealousy.

Brown is another symbol of nature and tranquility (wood, soil) and can imply safety, security.

Purple may strike people as exotic, spiritual, or it can imply great wealth. I would be remiss if I didn’t caution designers that purple is a very slippery slope. It can come across as arty-fartsy and unprofessional, especially to corporate clients.

Yellow is cheery and positive like the sun but it also can be overwhelming and should only be used sparingly in web design.

Orange can work wonderfully as a highlight color. Keep in mind though that color combinations that include orange can evoke very different emotions. Orange and brown can convey sophistication, orange with red and yellow is great for websites to attract children, parents of young children and/or industries that provide services for elementary-school aged children. Orange with blue is another tricky combo. They are complementary colors and can look electric, as if they’re vibrating, which can be dizzying and make the text difficult to read. Orange and blue, if chosen correctly, can look strong and stylish.

The bottom line is this: when you choose a web designer it makes a huge difference if they have a strong background in the psychology of colors, eye tracking (see article “Eye Tracking: How the Eye Scans Your Web Pages“) and experience with search engine optimization (SEO), keywords, trending topics, and a strong understanding and success rate with social media accounts. At the very least they should understand that YouTube has become the second most popular search engine — Google, of course, is number one. For a website to look current and professional it must include icon links to, at the very least, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Pinterest is growing at a rapid rate in popularity. Depending on the crowd you want to attract, your website designer should consider all of the additional socialmedia options too, i.e., Reddit, Stumbleupon, Google+.

The post The Psychology of Color appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

In this first graph, the circle represents where the eye first goes and then it tracks the way the eye scans the rest of the page and the arrow is where the eye ends up last on their first view.

This graph from Google shows how the eye travels. The colors are “heat spots” — i.e. the most intense and darkest color in this image is where the eye is drawn to the fastest and has the strongest pull. The lightest shade of color represents the worst “real estate” of the page.

The next graph shows the visitor’s eye beginning at the top left of the page, then scanning across the top, where the navigation links are usually placed on websites then the eyes move down. This is basically the way an eye moves as you read a book: left to right, down, left to right, down, etc. The pattern looks like an “F.”

The bottom graph is the same pattern you would use when writing the letter “Z.”

The post Eye Tracking: How the Eye Scans Your Web Pages appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

The post Why Sex Assault Victims Are Going Public appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

The post No More Kvetching About Facebook Changes appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

Curation of Content
Curata is a web-based content curation tool that can help you streamline your online content marketing efforts. Now you can easily find, organize and share the best content for your blog. Curata helps you to achieve higher keyword ranking in the search engines and increase website traffic.

Location-based Social Media
The technology in mobile devices is more powerful and more affordable than ever. This combination of power and economy is contributing to an increase in mobile social activity. A large user base with geographic ties allows brands to target small, qualified groups of users with unique and relevant messaging.

LinkedIn
As search engines rely more on social signals, it is important to have an active presence in the channels that carry the most search engine weight. LinkedIn is one such channel, and can be a very effective tool for connecting with business consumers as well as getting yourself to rank higher in search engine results.

The post Social Media Trends for 2012 appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.