In my experience in working with drug addiction treatment centers one of the best ways to generate new business is through the internet. What the Internet requires is content. The users want quality content. The families seeking addiction treatment do research, a lot of it. The more high quality information that you can put on your website the more likely it will be found.

The problem for many addiction treatment centers is that their Certified Mental Health Professional’s or addiction treatment counselors find themselves too busy too either write or talk about their craft. The treatment centers that have C.M.H.P.’s who write and are willing to be in videos can have a significant advantage with their marketing if they are willing to publish this information on their websites. As a matter of fact if I owned a treatment center I would make it mandatory for every CMHP or addiction treatment counselor to write at least 1 article per week and publish at least 1 video per week for the website.

If you customers are passionate about your content they will share it. If they share it you get links. If you get other websites and social media sites linking to you, Google likes this. If Google likes this then they will push up your SEO rankings. If this happens you will see more traffic on your website. If you see more traffic on your website you will get more phone calls. If you get more phone calls you will see more business in your addiction treatment center. If this happens you don’t have to pay as much money to addiction treatment marketing consultants to help you with your SEO and lead generation.

Once you get a system down for publishing this type of content it is like brushing your teeth once per day, it is no big deal. Not only will Google like this but your customers will like it even more. I often hear that customers say “you’re that guy in the videos!” And when you say “yes” it is like an instant creditably connection, which is TRUST, which is what brings in customers in every business. You already know what their problems are but they don’t know you, unless they have met you on the website videos.

What does this mean for drug rehabs with huge sites that are “over optimized?” It means that they could be endangered. It is critical that you do have websites that are structured well and optimized well. It is “my” (Jim Peake’s) belief that treatment centers need a “family of websites” that each bring their own niche focus to the table. Think of it like the Kennedy compound on Cape Cod. You want several “homes” in the same neighborhood so that when folks come by they are sure to stop in.

In doing this, many drug addiction treatment centers find it difficult to build let alone manage a half dozen or a dozen websites. My team at Addiction-Rep has come out with a customized packaged website development service strictly for the drug rehab centers. This new service/product is called Recovery Websites. We can crank these sites out in less than 30 days and amke them look beautiful at very competitive rates. We can also port over your existing addiction treatment center website to our platform, which is a managed WordPress platform. We can also fill them with meaningful and relevant content that does get noticed in the social media world.

These new websites are set up for running Pay Per Click Advertising as well as Search Engine Optimization for businesses seeking alcoholics and drug addicts. The overarching key is the tracking will be set up for you so that you know where you are spending your money and you know what is working and not working so your results will be optimal.

Trust is king. Trust is the single biggest converting factor for any business seeking to gain new clients. There are many components that go into establishing and developing trust. Some of these components are tangible like testimonials and client lists along with industry accreditations and awards. Some of the components are “intangible” such as branding and identity.

Branding and Identity for Treatment Centers

As far as branding is concerned it often takes a back seat not only for treatment centers but for other businesses as well. Probably the reason is it is very hard to measure and quantify. However it is the type of thing that if the brand is well done you know it and it emanates trust. You can tell there is a lot of thought and energy behind it. The quality brand logo and identity has consistency across multiple media such as a computer screen or a billboard.

Hire Branding Professionals vs. Logo Designers

In my experience I think it is all about “you get what you pay for.” When we start a business we might only plan on opening a single treatment center but over time it could grow to multiple different businesses and it could grow past just the treatment business into a sober living and detox business or maybe all 3 under the same roof but expressed as different products within the master brand. If there is potential for this to happen it would make a lot of sense to hire a treatment center branding and identity team that has experience in building master brand strategies.

Logo designers are a dime a dozen and many designers can provide high quality logo designs but really have little experience in branding and identity as well as brand extension. That said, a really great treatment center branding and identity team will do the detailed research that is exhaustive in coming up with the logo and identity. Often times this can take upwards of 4-6 weeks of research. The beauty of this is that in the long run it will pay off for you, especially as your business expands.

A well thought out brand and identity creates trust. It has been said that if the Coca-Cola Company went out of business tomorrow their brand and identity would still be worth over a billion dollars sitting on someone’s iMac. The idea is they could just resurrect the brand and the company would take off again. The point here is that there is so much trust in “the brand” that people would naturally want to align themselves with it.

If you have any questions on what it takes to build a brand or would like costs call Jim Peake @ 781-990-8844 or click on the button below.

Addiction treatment centers must become as good at business development marketing and lead generation as they are at drug and alcohol addiction treatment. As of March 2012 the competitive landscape has attracted outside investors into the addiction treatment space so much so that gaining qualified leads that have insurance money or cash money is becoming more and more difficult. Business development marketing for treatment centers is mostly some sort of referral marketing. We can get referrals from several different sources but for this brief article let’s just focus on three of them:

1) On ground business development marketers
2) Business development and direct marketing to the trade (other treatment centers)
3) E-mail Business Development Marketing to treatment center alumni and prospects

All three of these business development efforts can be highly successful. The key to all of them is setting up a “system” for each and then tracking each. In a perfect world all three systems will be producing results and admissions for you. The best way to track the different treatment referral or business development systems is to track each inquiry and rank it either 1-10 or good call, admission, has insurance etc. By doing this you will be able get insights on what is working best for you.

On Ground Business Development Marketers

These can be folks who are either independent contractors or employees of your treatment center. You will find that they range in skill and in results. A lot of times treatment centers will take an internal employee and “put them on the road” so to speak. This can be extremely effective if they have already worked for the center and are motivated and outgoing. The good ones are really hard to hang on to because once they become successful it seems that everyone knows about them.

These on ground marketers have relationships with the clergy, hospitals, psychologists, psychiatrists and to other treatment centers. Typically when they refer a client it is already an admission. This is the difference between business development and marketing. The challenge here is managing people as well as the expenses.

Business Development and Direct Marketing to the Trade or other Treatment Centers

If you are already reading this you are probably familiar with the treatment center industry. You already know it is small and tight knit. As time goes on and we change companies we get to know a lot of people. Knowing a lot of people in this space there is a level of trust over time and if someone moves to a treatment center for women and used to work for a center for adolescents chances are there is still a relationship in place where the adolescent center can begin referring women to this “new treatment center” for women.

Over time these relationships can become very fruitful. At the same time there are a lot of networking events in the addiction treatment space and trade shows. These events are great opportunities to forge new and lasting partnerships as well as cement old ones. I think the key to keeping these relationships in tact is to develop a direct marketing system where they are contacted at least once per month by the business development person and possibly an automated e-mail and or personalized postcard program.

E-mail Business Development Marketing to Treatment Center Alumni and Prospects

E-mail marketing is probably the least utilized business development asset available. There are two groups that need to be targeted on a regular basis:

1) Past Customers – Treatment Center Alumni
2) Prospects – People who have visited your site and not bought

The reason why e-mail is so powerful is because you can set it and forget it. It is truly a “system” that if used correctly will pay dividends. Most small business marketing coaches will tell you that developing a list and segmenting that list are one of the two most powerful things any business can do to help grow your business. The other is to do PR really well because it will give you the biggest reach for the least amount of money.

Past addiction treatment clients (alumni) can become referral machines because they used to travel in circles where they probably still know a lot of people who are using. Prospects are another great resource because you have already made a conscious effort to attract them to your business chances are if they don’t need you today they will need you in the future. So a timely e-mail on a monthly basis might be just the reminder for the next call to turn into an admission.

If you have other business development ways that have worked for you please share them with us or feel free to call Jim Peake if you have any questions @ 781-990-8844 or click the button below.

By Mike Loverde, Nationally Recognized Drug and Alcohol Interventionist

By the time our phone rings at Family First Intervention most situations and families are at the end of their rope but thankfully still alive. This is largely because family and friends downplay the severity of the addiction and situation or they may not feel they have the right to say something for fear of anger or backlash, and the all too common thought that the addiction is either a phase or it will correct itself. If the family or friends think they they should do something, then they probably should.

As people, we can see someone in the street getting beat up, but only a small handful will do something about it while the large majority will not because of fear. They may think that it is not as bad as it looks, or most importantly that the attacker will stop on his own or someone else will fix it or come to the rescue besides them.

Over time addicts and alcoholics, at an early stage of alcohol and drug addiction, start to teach people certain behaviors so that we do nothing and ten years later you’re a junkie living in a crack house in the Harrison district on the west side of Chicago. My mother always thought that I would find that right job or meet that right woman and all of my problems would be over.

Waiting for addiction to correct itself or fade away on its own is never a safe or healthy option. The person may get mad at you for doing an alcohol or drug intervention but that is only their inner fear of you disrupting their solution which is drugs or alcohol. All too often people base the severity of an addiction based on legal issues, employment, living situation, etc. If the problem is recognizable and has many concerned than it is probably time to intervene with a professional. The professional intervention counselor can and will be there not only guide everyone through the process but to take away the anger and fear that that person may otherwise have toward family and friends.

Intervention is about giving someone a gift and allowing them to see what they are doing when they cannot. People sat back and watched Michael Jackson die and now Whitney Houston. It is not that anybody wanted this; it is just that they didn’t feel it was their place to do something or that it might not do any good. Even if people did try and it was not the outcome they wanted, they still would have had closure that they did everything they could to stop it. How many people do you think wish they would have said or done something now for Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston? Don’t wait for them to get better on their own, because who cares if they get mad at you; they have to be alive to do that.

Call us at Family First Intervention if you think you know someone who might need some help we can be reached at 877-728-1122 or on our website http://familyfirstintervention.com

Addiction Treatment Marketing Technique Using Twitter

If you want more traffic to your Twitter ID and to your web site this is a handy little addiction treatment marketing technique I use all the time. Make sure you insert your keyphrase into the post if it is not already in there. You will see that if you do a search on Twitter you will see Alcohol Addiction in the search results posts. What this will do is make your post more visible to the users on Twitter.

When more people who are searching on Alcohol Addiction they are more likely to find your post, when this happens it also creates an opportunity for the user to click on one of the two links in your Twitter profile and go back to your site. While this might seem like minutia if you do it often with your core body of keyphrases you use in PPC and SEO chances are they will click back to your addiction treatment center website, then of course you have the possibility of getting a phone call from someone whom you can help.

I have my opinions on it but I’d much rather hear your opinions on how to get this scourge under control. At the same time we have the prescription drug industry running a muck and I wonder if that is a coincidence or by design? There is an interesting article by the Cato Institute that I share below in the video.

I’m on the receiving end of the phone calls helping treatment centers market to addicts and helping addicts find the right fit for themselves with their addiction. There is really nothing more painful than a parent who calls seeking help for their son or daughter and we’ve had a few who have 2 kids on IV drugs who need treatment simultaneously. This destruction of families seems needless to me if there are others who seem to be making progress towards a better result with treating addiction by legalizing drugs.

While many other industries are contracting and exporting jobs overseas this is an industry that appears to headed towards double digit growth for the long haul for better or worse. The good news is that there will be many more substance abuse counselors to help people with addiction, the bad news is that there is still an increased demand for addiction counselors. The other piece of bad news is that it appears that demand will outstrip supply for people who want help kicking their addictions.

Substance Abuse Counseling Double Digit Growth Rates

In order to seek addiction treatment it is best to have cash or insurance. If you don’t have money then you need to use words like Medicaid, State funded or Government funded addiction treatment programs in your searches. (Do NOT use FREE DRUG REHAB, you will be wasting your time). Addiction treatment is not cheap. Professionally trained people are required along with room and board if you are going to enter a residential treatment facility.

There are state funded treatment facilities of which I do not have a lot of experience. Some do take Medicare and Medicaid and the best way to find them is to go call the 800# on your Medicaid or Medicare card and ask them how to find an approved treatment center.

This web page is designed to assist the user or the family member to better help them in searching on the web for a specific type of treatment center that will fit their needs either residential or outpatient drug or alcohol addiction treatment.

Since I live in Massachusetts we will use Massachusetts as an example in several of our geo-targeted searches. Your results will be better if you are able to put in a state or a city when doing your searches. I know for a fact that there are several drug rehab centers in Malibu California and Delray Beach Florida so in a perfect world we will find the Google places pages with the local search results for treatment centers in these specific towns or cities.

The more keywords you put in your search string the more likely you will find a better result in exactly what you are looking for.

Residential drug rehab facilities in Massachusetts
Residential addiction treatment programs that take aetna insurance in Massachusetts
Residential addiction treatment programs that take aetna insurance in Malibu California
Residential addiction treatment programs that take aetna insurance in Delray Beach Florida
outpatient addiction treatment programs that take aetna insurance in Massachusetts
outpatient addiction treatment programs that take aetna insurance in California

If you are broke and have no money then try this:

Call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 800-662-4357

Or Try

state funded drug rehab facilities in Massachusetts

If you have Medicare or Medicaid you need to call them and ask them where you can get assistance. Look on the back of your card and call the 800#.

Medicaid funded drug rehab facilities in Massachusetts
Medicare state drug rehab facilities in Massachusetts

Using the following keywords will really help you

Treatment Centers
Treatment Programs
Treatment Facilities
Drug Rehabs
Drug Treatment Programs
Drug Treatment Facilities