Looking Beyond the Headlines Can Improve Your Recognition

Here we are, rounding the corner into 2021, heaving a sigh of relief that 2020 is behind us, and contemplating how we can improve our outcomes – in particular our business outcomes – in this new year.

I have a suggestion for you that can help you achieve that!

My suggestion begins with the fact that most of us take at least a glance at the headlines every day. Some of us more news-junkie types take more than a brief glance. So if keeping up with the news is something we’re already doing every day anyway, why not put that time to even better use than just keeping us informed?

It’s actually quite simple: Look beyond the story in front of you and ask yourself what you can do with the information. Then implement your answer.

Here’s an example:

This headline popped up in my newsfeed a few weeks ago: Hospital Bills For Uninsured COVID-19 Patients Are Covered, But No One Tells Them

I read the story (actually listened to the 3-minute podcast, too) – and then took a few minutes to think of possibilities for how I can use this information. I came up with several:

1. I know more than one dozen people who have been sick with COVID, including two family members. I have several friends who have had family members who were hospitalized with COVID, too.

I can reach out to each of them to be sure they aren’t dealing with bills they shouldn’t have to deal with, citing this article, and asking if there’s some way I can find them help (an advocate, of course!)
I can add this headline and link to my email newsletter to share with clients and potential clients, with an additional note that I can help them seek answers if they need assistance.

2. I know this is a great headline for our local news. Broadcast TV, local newspapers, and others – this is excellent information for them to share, too. And even if they have shared the information previously, they might want to share it again.

I can create some of my own talking points about this information – things I’d like the media to know about families dealing with COVID-related medical bills.
I can then reach out to my (previously groomed) media connections and suggest this story hook. I’ll also suggest they interview me about it.

3. I can blog about this information – linking to this original NPR story, and probably others, too. Then, of course, I can promote my blog post through my newsletter.

There are probably other things I can do, too – but you get the picture. At least one, and possibly more of my efforts will be rewarded. And, if I do the media contacts, and the blogging, they will have legs far beyond the immediacy of the initial contact. That sort of headline is bound to bring me at least one new client, if not more.

Now It’s Your Turn

You can do this same thing with any health or healthcare related story you find, especially if its an article that speaks to your niche of clients. Medicare articles are always of interest to seniors. Disease-related stories are always of interest to clients and potential clients who might have that disease (or fear an eventual diagnosis) – in particular cancer, or diabetes, or of course, even COVID. People who have unaffordable medical bills will be interested in anything you can find about paying for them, and so forth.

So – this being early January – why not make yourself a resolution to begin using those headlines to your advantage, and your clients’ and prospective clients’ advantage too?

And while you are at it, share some good headlines with the rest of us (below) – and tell us how you might use them!

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