Rehab News

The America in Rehab Blog

Welcome to the America in Rehab blog. In this section of our addiction treatment marketing website, you’ll find the latest in rehab industry news as well as expert insight, primarily authored by America in Rehab founder Jim Peake, who has more than 20 years of experience marketing on behalf of addiction treatment centers nationwide.

If there’s a technological or treatment advancement in the rehab industry, we’ll be here to break it down and offer analysis. We’ll also cover techniques and strategies that can help your treatment center better engage online visitors and capture admissions. Be sure to never miss a new post on America in Rehab by bookmarking this page or following our social media profiles.

Business Development Marketing for Drug Addiction Treatment Centers

Business Development Marketing for Drug Addiction Treatment Centers

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.

When Do You Do a Drug or Alcohol Intervention?

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When Do You Do a Drug or Alcohol Intervention?

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

Alcohol Addiction – Addiction Treatment Marketing Technique

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.

Treatment of Substance Abuse – a different approach

Why does it seem when the USA declares “War on This……or War on That…..whatever this or that is always seems to grow out of control….take for instance illegal drugs. It seems we have been fighting this war for decades now and it seems like it keeps growing and destroying lives. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all agree that this is not working and that there might be a better approach to get results? One such country is doing that and it is Portugal. Less drug usage, less crime etc. So if it is working over there why wouldn’t we try it over here in the USA?

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.

Addiction Treatment Industry Growth Rate

According the the Bureau of Labor and Statistics they are projecting a 21% growth rate over the next 10 years 2008 – 2018 for the hiring of new substance abuse counselors for drug addiction, alcohol addiction, gambling addiction as well as eating disorders. Only mental health counselors eclipses this growth rate over the same 10 year span at 24%.

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.