Personal Branding

5 Myths About Personal Branding For Doctors

Doctors who avoid building a personal brand often do it because they believe one –or more– of the myths surrounding it.

Sep 8, 2022

Friendly female doctor sitting in front of laptop
Table of Contents
    Add a header to begin generating the table of contents

    All your years of training and clinical experience are worthless if patients can’t find you.

    Sure, you can always get whatever insurance or your employer schedule in for you but then you’re entirely at their mercy. They decide how much you make, your schedule and your vacation dates. Not quite the life you envisioned as a physician, is it?

    The solution is to build a personal brand, grow an audience and take matters into your own hands.

    For some reason though, doctors are hesitant to go down this path.

    In this essay, I’ll share the top 5 myths surrounding personal branding for doctors.

    Myth #1: Nobody cares about what you have to say

    Yes, patients don’t care about technicalities, jargon, big words, references and basically, boring stuff.

    But they care about their condition and how you can help them live healthier. Keep an inventory of questions patients ask you. In their words. And then answer them online, just like you would answer them in your office.

    Myth #2: You must to be on every platform

    No wonder physicians are overwhelmed by the idea of starting a personal brand!

    One platform is more than enough for most. And definitely all you should build on when you start out.

    Myth #3: You need to build a huge audience

    I have less than 5k followers on LinkedIn, less than 500 on Twitter yet I’m building relationships and have leveraged both of these audiences for new clients.

    On the other hand, I’ve worked with doctors who have built Instagram profiles with 50k+ followers and just can’t figure out how to leverage them. The way you nurture your audience is more important than its size.

    Myth #4: It takes too much time

    “I just don’t have time to do all this…” is a common reason I hear when I chat about this with my clients.

    But here’s the thing, it only takes too long if you don’t have a system. Having a system allows you to batch the pieces of the process, delegate some (if needed) and never start from a blank page. Other than these daily essays, I create my content for the week in about one hour every Sunday.

    Myth #5: Monetization means you have to “peddle products” a-la Dr. Oz

    Relax, you do not need to sell supplements, pills, devices or join an MLM to monetize your personal brand.

    You monetize by acquiring new patients for their practice, creating digital products, a coaching program, getting a book deal or speaking engagements, etc.

    Table of Contents
      Add a header to begin generating the table of contents

      Subscribe (for free) today

      Sign up for the newsletter that helps subject-matter experts build a business aligned with their life goals.

      Join 441+ other subject-matter experts