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Monetizing, Scaling – Making Smart Choices Affects Your Advocacy Practice and Income

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An email this week comes from one of our APHA members, who I will call Bernice, who reminds me of how easy it is to lose sight of what is important to us when it comes to building our advocacy practices. Bernice is in the process of entering a business plan competition which, if she wins, will provide her with a $10,000 grant to help her grow her practice. Her concern is, that in order to win the money, she is going to have to write a business plan that’s about “going big.” From her email to me: “We have […]

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Health Advocacy Ethics – Conflict of Interest? Or Important Service?

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A recent conversation with a handful of knowledgeable people, people I respect a great deal, yielded two different outcomes – either a loud “yes, of course!!” or a loud “no, no way!” So I want to know what YOU think. As a prelude to the story – the question I will ask you at the end is: Should Gwen become Mrs. Smith’s healthcare proxy? Can she ETHICALLY make that shift? (We are not asking a legal question here ? only a question of ethics.) Mrs. Smith is 90 years old and until recently was quite healthy. She is alone; her

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Ripped from the Headlines…. a Warning for Health Advocates, Too

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A kidnapping and murder last weekend raises questions for all professionals who work one-on-one with strangers…. If it can happen to a real estate agent, it can happen to a health advocate, too. I’m referring to the headlines about Beverly Carter in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was a real estate agent who had gotten a call from a stranger to show a home she had listed for sale. And then she disappeared. Her body was found several days later in a shallow grave. See that second sentence? “She was a real estate agent who had gotten a call from a

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Cruel to Be Kind and Kind to be Cruel

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I received an email from a woman named Irma. She wants to become a health advocate, to assist people in her community who have Alzheimers. (Bless her for that.) But she was laid off from her job, and doesn’t have any money. She asked me if I would let her join Alliance of Professional Health Advocates for free so she could “learn how to do it.” Irma’s request was not the first I’ve received over the years. I am also asked to give people free copies of my books, and even loan or donate money to help them get started

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It’s Not Marketing. It’s Teaching.

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We’re in the final stages of putting together the Advanced Marketing Handbook (scheduled for release in early October 2014) – and as I was reviewing parts of it this week, I had a thought to share with you that may make your marketing a bit easier to digest. Here’s what I know (based on the dozens, maybe hundreds of conversations I have had with advocates over the past few years)… Most of you appreciate marketing on about the same level as nails on the chalkboard. (Oh dear, I digress, but do they even put chalkboards in classrooms anymore? !!) Yes,

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Chutzpah! Know When It Crosses the Line

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One of my favorite words: Chutzpah! Pronounced “hoots-pah.” A Yiddish word translated as “shameless audacity” or “supreme self-confidence,” as in (according to Merriam-Webster) “personal confidence or courage that allows someone to do or say things that may seem shocking to others.” …. and sometimes a trait required by the most effective of health and patient advocates. Do you have chutzpah? And more importantly, do you know how and when to use it? I ask this because I think there are appropriate times, and inappropriate times, when an advocate needs to showcase his or her chutzpah. Lately I have experienced both,

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Babbling Will Get You Nowhere

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Margaret needs help for her aging father who lives 600 miles away from her. She wants to find someone to accompany him to doctors appointments, someone who can review and organize his medical bills as they arrive, and someone who can discuss his medical needs on a three-way phone call (Dad, Margaret and an advocate) once each week. Dad is happy with the idea and is willing to pay for the service. The “perfect” client, right? Here’s how I know Margaret’s story: She sent an email to our “info” email address at AdvoConnection, asking for the best way to find

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