My daughter graduated this May from the University of Iowa. It is of course the worst time to be looking for a job in many decades so it is indeed an uphill battle for her. Good news though, she is a finalist for a “temp to perm” internship with a quirky and edgy marketing firm in Minneapolis.

Here’s where the practice building idea comes in. How do you think they are picking the intern? Head hunters? Resumes? Interviews? Well, yes they used all those tools to whittle the candidates down to three. How are they going to pick between the three? Facebook. That’s right they are using a very clever method to choose their intern while simultaneously building the number of fans for their Facebook page.

You really have to see it to appreciate the genius. First open Facebook and search for “Fast Horse Experience”. You will see the “Your Vote Count” icon prominently displayed. Click on the icon and you will see the candidates. Click on Stacy Rust and you will see the quirky video resume and poem my daughter put together to get the job at this unique firm. You will have the option to “like” the video which is in essence a vote for Stacy. (Before you think I am writing this solely to get votes for Stacy, I can tell you that is not my sole purpose, however, should you happen to vote for her I would of course be grateful).

Practice Building Lessons:

1.       Contests build excitement and can help motivate people to spread your message. Dr. Mitch Friedman has a “New Patient Referrer” contest. Whoever refers the most new patients over a period of time wins a 52 inch LDC screen TV. Very clever, very cool.

2.       Facebook can be a way to develop a relationship with your community. But unless people get on your page, what’s the use. A clever contest like this can drive a Facebook user to drive other users to your page. Once these new visitors are on your fan list, you can begin the process of courting them to become patients.

Here’s one specific strategy?

1.       Get a piece of lawn art. Something attention getting. Plant it in the most visible position in front of the office.

2.       Take a picture of the lawn art and put it on your practice Facebook page.

3.       Ask patients for suggestion on what to name the lawn art.

4.       Once you get a few suggestions announce that you can’t decide between the best suggestions so you decided to hold a contest.

5.       Inform the contest contestants that they are fighting for a prize. The prize can be anything, but iPads are hot right now.

6.       The contestants will drive people to your page hoping to get votes and ultimately win the prize.

Thanks for helping Stacy and good luck with your own contest strategy.