Why should entrepreneurial physicians bother with Google Alerts?

Google offers an amazing array of tools for physicians who make the most of the Internet to market and promote their practices or business.  I haven't exploited most of them to anywhere near their fullest potential.

However, one tool I have been using for some time is the Google Alerts tool (right after I'm done using the Google Keyword Tool).

Here's how Google Alerts help my business.

• to keep a "finger on the pulse" of my industry (healthcare and physicians, and in particular medical practice, physician entrepreneurs and physicians in business)
• to get ideas for blog posts, my newsletters and articles
• to comment on other people's blogs as a way to build community, get someone interested in my blog, and get a back link to excite the search engines about The Entrepreneurial MD and Physicians Website Secrets 
• to find resources, tools and even job postings that I can forward to my clients who might get benefit
• to see what competitors exist out there and what they are up to

This all adds up to

1. positioning - the perception you intentioanlly create for your target market (for example, as an Expert in something)
2. reputation management -- put a Google Alert watch on your name or that of your company or business!
3. solid organic search engine optimization
4. becoming a Trusted Advisor to your patients or clients (if, for example, you wanted to track the latest developments with a new piece of medical device technology, or an unfolding drama with a significant medication side effect)

The secret to a successful Google Alerts campaign is to know the keywords and keyword phrases you want to track. And these should represent the way potential customers would think of you, not how you would describe yourself or your interests.

There's a new tool in town (at least it's new to me!) that is proving to add value to my Google watches. AlertRank not only forwards my Google Alerts to me but scores their "importance" in terms of how useful it would be for me to get a backlink from the site, be a part of the Internet "Buzz" or manage my reputation online.

This tool works by having all your Google Alerts forwarded to your unique AlertRank email, whereupon they promptly disappear into the AlertRank black box and emerge, sorted and ranked by importance (often with accompanying reasons for this ranking) in your Inbox.

Give it a try - it's worth it!