We’ve all read about pet insurance and how insuring your pet is a good idea. I doubt a pet owner hasn’t experienced a pet emergency and found herself staring down a massive bill. But the argument for pet insurance goes beyond protecting yourself financially in a big emergency. Sometimes expenses pile up a bit at a time, and you find yourself paying out way more than you anticipated when you did your monthly budget. Here’s proof that this happens. In the past two months, I’ve dealt with two unexpected trips to my vet because of mysterious injuries to my little darlings. My dog, Doc, began limping one Saturday morning in late September. It was a noticeable limp, and after waffling on whether I should or shouldn’t, I decided to call the vet. Fortunately, they could see him that day, but it would incur an emergency visit fee. (I mention this not to complain about veterinary costs but to make you aware that this is how expenses add up.) When all was said and done, Doc’s visit totaled $99. Luckily for me, x-rays weren’t required. A few weeks later, I noticed my cat, Sunshine, sitting behind the couch. She was holding up her left front paw, and a small puddle of blood was beneath it. The paw looked a little swollen, too. “Oh boy,” I thought, “I don’t like the looks of this.” Soon I was on the phone scheduling an appointment to bring her to the vet that day. Sunshine got checked out, and again, fortunately, it wasn’t serious, but it cost me $145. My other kitty, Huey, went for his annual checkup two days ago. He requires a yearly diagnostic screening, and he’s also on maintenance meds. The final tally was $275. I spent several hundred dollars on my pets in two months when I only anticipated paying for Huey’s annual exam. Who knew? But that’s the nature of pet ownership; you don’t know what CATastrophe lurks around the bend, which is why insurance is a sensible idea. Pet insurance requires you to pay the vet up front and then submit a claim for reimbursement. For some, that requirement may be a burden, so another consideration is CareCredit, a credit card that allows you to pay interest-free over six months. (I used my CareCredit card to pay for Huey’s expensive but necessary dental cleaning a year ago.) Hoping you’ll avoid bad luck isn’t a plan. No one knows what surprises life holds, which extends to your pets. Pet insurance will give you the security of knowing that if the unthinkable happens to your pet, you’ll have the means to pay for the care he needs. What pet emergency have you faced? Feel free to share in a comment! If you want to grow your veterinary practice or animal health business by sharing helpful content or want to learn more about content marketing, contact me or call 508-277-4929.
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"When I saw his white blood cell count, I expected he'd have a fever or diarrhea." These were the words of my veterinarian when she told me Pan's white blood cell count was low. Looking at him, I didn't see a sick horse. His temperature, which I'd been monitoring for several days, was normal. Whenever my hand moved near my jacket pocket, his ears pricked in hopeful expectation that I'd slip him a treat. Nope, nothing outwardly wrong with this animal's health. Animal health is rampant with disease and illness, which gives an animal health copywriter (that would be me) lots of fodder to write about. All critters are afflicted, from pigs and chickens to beloved house pets. And just like in human medicine, veterinary medicine turns to diagnostics for answers. But what happens when the patient's behavior contradicts what the science reports? What do veterinarians do when the test results are abnormal but the animal seems fine? In Pan's case, he had a WBC (white blood cell) count that was low, as the results from his lab report below show. But contrary to what my vet said about fever or diarrhea, he displayed no symptoms indicative of the low count. He didn't act sick at all. We reran the test one week later, and the count, although still low, improved to 3.3. These results presented a dilemma. A horse with such a low count might have something brewing. Pan might be risky to admit to Tufts Large Animal Hospital for his upcoming dental surgery. After weighing all the facts – Pan's WBC test said something was wrong, but his demeanor spoke otherwise – my veterinarian had to consider the conflicting evidence and make a call. She decided that his lack of fever and otherwise healthy behavior took precedence over his white blood cell count. Luckily, Tufts agreed with her, and Pan's surgery went as scheduled. Unfortunately, this experience is not uncommon. Symptoms and test results in veterinary medicine don't always go hand in hand to align neatly with a diagnosis. Much to the dismay of veterinarians and owners. Scientific data always has a role in the veterinary diagnostic process, but it's never the be-all or end-all. Good vets listen to and observe their patients, knowing that sometimes the animal gives a better indication of what's going on in its body than the results of a lab test. If you're a veterinarian, you're probably busy caring for patients, so thanks for taking the time to read this! If you want to grow your veterinary practice or animal health business by sharing helpful content or want to learn more about content marketing, contact me or call 508-277-4929. Is writing a blog blah to you?
Is it something you consistently assign to the bottom of your to-do list? Hey, it’s OK not to like writing. But if you commit to blogging, you need to do it often because a blog’s value, such as growing and solidifying your client base or establishing yourself as an expert, comes from regular posts. But maybe you’ve too many other things to do – veterinarians out there, does that sound familiar? Another gripe with blogging is coming up with a steady stream of topics. That’s a sticking point for many and why so many blogs collect dust on websites. To come up with ideas, use your best resource – your clients. What are their concerns? What questions do they ask at appointments? On the flip side, what subjects do you feel are essential to your clients? What would you like to educate them about? Maybe you’d like to promote the benefits of pet insurance or the dangers of pet obesity. If your topics are broad, like these two examples, break them down into smaller components, which gives your blog more content. For example, you could divide pet obesity into the following: the importance of daily exercise for your obese pet, diets to help your pet lose weight, and diseases prone to overweight pets. You could probably split the topic of diseases into multiple posts. Don’t be afraid to dive into a topic; more details make the content more educational and valuable to the reader. Debates abound concerning the length of blog posts; at one time, experts believed short was best, but then that changed to preferring a longer format. Ultimately, what matters most is the information you’re sharing -- is it useful and relevant to your readers? Does it help them be better pet parents? If so, they’ll read your blog, whether 300 or 3000 words. Blogging can help build and grow your veterinary practice, especially if you’re consistent. If you’d like to learn more about blogging and how to create a first-rate blog, email me here or call me at 508-277-4929. Content -- you hear the term tossed around all the time. But what, exactly, is it? I describe content as an umbrella term for articles, videos, photos, or audio that you can access online. You can share content through your website, email, and various social media platforms. Podcasts are another popular way to share content. People love content, but not just any content, good content. And what makes content good? When the person who consumes it finds value. Sharing content is an easy and inexpensive way for a veterinary practice to increase business and build a loyal client base. Here’s an example: You email your clients an article about how to brush your pet’s teeth and the benefits of doing so. This content, if well-written, provides them with knowledge about caring for their pet's teeth and gums. (I call this edu-marketing content; you can learn more about that here.) That knowledge is valuable for those pet parents because it helps them better care for their pet’s dental health. Chances are there will be clients who have just had their pet’s teeth worked on -- cleaning and teeth removal is an expensive procedure. They’re likely looking for tips to avoid future costly dental care. And what about those owners who’ve been worrying about their pet’s stinky breath? The article may prompt them to schedule an appointment. And still, others will view you positively because you’ve demonstrated that you care and want the best for their fur babies. More appointments and nurtured goodwill for your veterinary practice. All achieved by sharing good content!
If you want to learn more about content and how it can help your veterinary practice or animal health business succeed, I'm happy to help; contact me here. I ghostwrote an article a while back.
It was an edu-marketing piece for swine veterinarians and producers. Luckily, my pre-writing preparation included an interview with a veterinarian, an expert who knew his stuff. I peppered him with questions, and he generously responded with clear, detailed answers. And as we talked, it slowly dawned on me that I was uncovering a content goldmine. (Amassing excellent content isn’t the only benefit of interviewing; read more about that here.) Later, as I read through the transcription of the interview, I thought, “Wow, this is solid, in-depth stuff.” But even with all that superb information, I knew I still had to weed. Weeding, as I like to call it, is a part of writing that often gets overlooked but is oh so crucial to creating a polished, coherent product. Weeding involves sifting and combing through research, notes, transcriptions, etc., and culling the essential points. For thorough weeding, the writer first has to step back and say, “Ok, the purpose of this article is (fill in the blank), and the audience it’s speaking to is (fill in the blank), and I’m limited to (blank) amount of words.” I might even type this statement at the top of my draft, so it’s always in view. Knowing what you need to convey crystallizes the valuable, pertinent details of your accumulated research data. And weeding is separate from outlining. Outlining is your roadmap; it guides you from start to finish on your writing journey. Any gardener knows that weeding is a tedious chore but well worth it because it beautifies a garden. Beautiful content probably isn’t your goal, but valuable content? Absolutely. So next time, remember to weed before you write. Don’t like to get your hands dirty? I don’t mind! Get in touch with me here. |
AuthorSuzanne Quigley - Copywriter Archives
December 2023
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