Medical Spa MD Listed As Top Medical Social Networking Site

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Medical Spa MD is at the top of the list of medical social networking sites in the lastest issue of cosmetic surgery times.

View the page here

It's nice to see that others are aware of the community here. It opens up a number of interesting opportunities.

We're currently in discussions with multiple compounding pharmacies, laser companies, technology providers, SEO and SEM service providers, and a few other categories sprinkled in.

In the relatively near future (ie when we select a provider and the technology in place) Medical Spa MD members will be able to order Botox or Restylane in bulk, get discounted services from selected provider that sell to med spas and cosmetic practices, and genearlly make bank.

If you're a service or technlogy provider that can provide benefits to Medical Spa MD Members, let us know.

If you haven't joined Medical Spa MD yet? Now's the time.

Paula D. Young RN joins Medical Spa MDs Editorial Staff

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Paula D. Young RNMedical Spa MD is proud to announce the addition of Paula D. Young RN to it's editorial board.

From the Medical Spa MD press release: It's a fantastic addition to Medical Spa MDs ability to provide expert viewpoints from a diverse group of expert medical providers and business people. Paulas experience will give Medical Spa MD voice for mid-level medical providers an an invaluable resource for the growing number of medical estheticians and laser techinics who are visiting Medical Spa MD to learn.

ABOUT Paula D. Young RN

Paula is the staff nurse and co-owner of Young Medical Spa in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania along with her husband Thomas E. Young, MD. Prior to establishing Young Medical Spa, Paula previously owned a Merle Norman Cosmetics national franchise, a full-service beauty salon and spa, and a chain of tanning salons. Most recently, Paula worked for Johnson & Johnson for over 10 years and held senior management positions in the medical and sales education, and customer relationship management departments. Her associations include:

  • Dermatology Nurses Association
  • American Academy of Medical Esthetic Professionals
  • Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
  • American Nurses Association
  • The Aesthetic Practice Association

Paula also holds a current license with the Cosmetology Board in the State of Pennsylvania. She has written for Medical Spa Report Magazine and authored a textbook on Advanced Aesthetic Practices.

You can read all of Paulas posts on Medical Spa MD here.

Subscribing to Medical Spa MDs Content via Email

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You can subscribe to any content on Medical Spa MD or MAPA and have it sent directly to your email, ensuring that you don't miss anything you're interested in.

Every time the thread or blog is updated you'll receive the content in your email automatically. That way, you'll be able to recieve the content you're interested in without the need to visit the site and see what's new. (Although that's a good idea from time to time so you can see if there's something new you're interested in.)

Make sure that you subscribe to the main blog so that you're aware of new updates to the site.

Here's the how to for subscribing as a member:

Subscribing To Individual Pages

(Blog, Archive, Library, etc.)

Members may subscribe to any content and have it delivered to them via email.

To subscribe to any page:

  1. Click on your name in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Click the Subscribe to Page Updates >

You will now receive updates to all the pages you subscribe to via email. You may subscribe to any page, comment thread or forum discussion.

 

Managing Your Page Subscriptions

To manage or remove a Subscription:

  1. Click on your name in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Click Edit Profile
  3. Click Subscriptions

New additions and sponsors of Medical Spa MD.

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There's been a tremendous amount of activity around the site lately and I want to make sure that Medical Spa MDs new sponsors, advertisers and partners are noticed.

The Medical Spa Classifieds Ads have really taken off with with a number of sales in it's first month of existence. If you're an individual (not a business) you're invited to list your your equipment for free there.

New Sponsor:

Medical Chat Live has joined the site as a sponsor and they're offering a substantial discount to their service for those physicians and clinics who would like to add live chat to their website and join throught the link on Medspa MD. While their regular pricing is a $100 setup fee and $50 a month, you can try it out through Medical Spa MD for just $9.95 for the first month and then $30 a month if you're satisfied with the service.

A new addition to the Medica Spa Directory

Cherry Hill Laser & Skin Care Center - NewJersey Dr. Jeffrey Epstein and Cherry Hill Laser are the most experienced providers of Cosmetic Skin Care Services in South Jersey. We have performed over 40,000 procedures and we have 14 Cosmetic Lasers. Dr. Epstein is also a prime mover behind the addition of the new Medical Aesthetic Practice Association area to the site.

MAPA - The Medical Aesthetic Practice Association

The MAPA area of Medical Spa MD has been fleshed out a little and now includes some fantastic information and the addition of live hosted chats to the site. Inside the MAPA area you'll find:

You'll also be able to see new posts to the MAPA area with the RECENT POSTS section of the navigation that will include new posts from throughtout the site.

MAPA member are some long-time supporters and are well know to regular members. We'll do our best to get this fledgling entity off the gound and provide pleanty of opportunity and exposure.

Thera are some other deals in the works with big players. If you'd like to have exposure on the site or offer benefits to our 200+ Members you can contact us via email, or apply to become a Select Partner.

I've also had a number of excellent phone conversations with a well know Laser and IPL supplier as well as trade show organizers, large web site networks, and technology companies. I'm hopeful that at least a few of these contacts and discussions will bear fruit and provide additional benefits for members.

Also, I wanted to make sure that Members who have recieved their first free downloads recognize the name Sendside since I'm using that to distribute that information. If you receive and invitation to join Sendside make sure you sign up and get a free account. It's currently the only way we're using to send that info.

Also of note: We're in the early stages of building out a consumer facing sister site to Medical Spa MD that will allow physicians to answer patient questions and provide a number of interesting features around capturing local patients. We'll be disclosing details of this to a number of docs and gathering feedback.

Medical Spa MD: 11,000 comments and growing.

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Medical Spa MD's forums are by far the most active physician community of any blog on cosmetic medicine.

In fact, there are more than 11,000 comments and and posts on topics from Palomar Medilux treatments to interesting facts about individual medical spa franchises.

It's this community of physicians that add such value to this site and I wanted to thank you all for contributing your insight and knowledge.

If you're new to Medical Spa MD I'd like to invite you to add your voice to the discussion.

Forums and discussions that are currently the most active:

Here are some forums that are new:

Discussions of posts:

What should Medical Spa MD become?

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mcgyverCan Medical Spa MD be turned into a marketing an purchasing co-operative?

Hmmm. I've been struggling with this for some time now. Certainly I get any number of emails from physicians each week. In most cases they're looking for information, but a growing number have been interested in some sort of 'banding together' as independents. Here's a good example from one of the discussion threads on this site:

"These laser companies and allergan and restylane have sucked the money out of the medspas are the only ones making any money, and yet they do a piss poor job of creating any new markets for there wonderful products. Everone's ads all look the same, they are too full of too much information about things that people don't care about. Medicis has been generous as to product samples, but I would much rather have clients calling me and asking for the product rather than spending an hour convincing them why they need it and that they won't look like that dancing with the stars actress lady or why they won't look frozen, or why they won't get burned.

It is late, I have insomnia, and I have been in this business for a long, long time. There are 900 members plus on this site. 900 times $300.00 monthly membership is $270,000 times 12 months is $3,240,000.00. Nice ad budget. They get the Seal, they referral links, marketing support, reps would be begging to give group discounts and deal on a large scale. No franchises, just The America Medspa Advisory Board:"

Read More

Searching Medical Spa MD: Find what you need to know.

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magnifyingglass Top Searches on Medspa MD: Posts & Comments

Perhaps the coolest thing I've added to Medical Spa MD in the last few months is the search function. (I use squarespace to run this site. Read my review of squarespace blogging software.) So, now you can find any post, article or comment that about or referencing whatever you're looking for.

To search for any posts, article, person, or comment on Medical Spa MD, input your query into the search box at the top of the navigation menu. Here are some of the top searches on Medspa MD.

Medispa MD: Questions about your medical spa?

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jwrn thinks some of the reactions to questions posed have been rude to which I reply:

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It may be rudeness your seeing. It may just as well be an intolerance for those taking positions on medical issues that are clearly wrong and/or illegal. If this is your fist stop in your due diligence and your question is 'how do I open a medical spa' or 'what laser should I buy' it's either answered on other portions of this site, or it's beyond the scope of a 'comment' to answer.

You should take the time and read the relevant  portions of this site.

Those who read and comment on this site are generally physicians who are often running retail medical practices. The fact that completely remedial questions and comments that display a complete ignorance of the moral, ethical, and legal status that comes with the practice of medicine receive short shrift should come as no surprise to anyone. It's frustrating to see the same basic questions posted over and over with the inevitable 'HELP!" thrown in for effect. If you're willing to make important business decisions based on the response you'll get to questions like that, you'll not be around long.

In fact, I've found the community to be remarkable tolerant and almost universally helpful if you're willing to make the slightest effort to ask an intelligent question.

If you'd actually like to take advantage of the considerable communal knowledge stored here... 

Ask an intelligent question that's not in all-caps, run spell-check, show a little respect for the people who you're asking to respond, and you'll receive helpful advice. When your asking for someone to take the time to share information with you, it's the least you can do.

Medspa MD: Subscribe to the comments.

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RSS_feed.gifWith more than 2600 comments on this blog and 10-15 more every day, the comments are probably more interesting than what I'm putting up. So, now you subscribe to all the comments on Medspa MD from their own RSS feed on the main page. (It's that 'comments' link over on the side.)

For those of you who aren't RSS aware yet.

If you're not using an RSS feed aggregator you should be giving it some serious thought.  

Medspa Equipment: Promote your laser & IPL listings.

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I'm trying to get all the kinks worked out over on the medical spa equipment classified board since some of you have emailed me that there have been problems listing. It should be resolved shortly. I've also gotten some positive feedback that some of the listings have already received serious inquires. Good. The purpose of that board is to buy and sell stuff. If you have something medical spa related that you'd like to sell I'd encourage you to list it. It's free, which is better than ebay, and the buyers are all pretty focused in this area.

If you'd like to go further in promoting your listings, you can become an affiliate of the board and link to it using this banner: 

View Medical Spa Equipment


by placing this banner code anywhere on your site:

<table width="430px" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2"><tr><td><a href="http://www.edgeio.com/?mpurl=MedicalSpa&mp_aff=950&mp_tgt=893"><img src="http://www.edgeio.com/imgsrv/getimg/0529077d9a0a7d589211c1984f963fe8631874_125_125" width="125" height="125"/></a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.edgeio.com/?mpurl=MedicalSpa&mp_aff=950&mp_tgt=893">View all listings on Medical Spa Equipment</a></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://medicalspa.edgeio.net/" target="_blank">Powered By Medical Spa MD</a></td></tr></table> 

or this text link: View all listings on Medical Spa Equipment

<a href="http://www.edgeio.com/?mpurl=MedicalSpa&mp_aff=950&mp_tgt=893">View all listings on Medical Spa Equipment</a>

Did I mention it's all free? 

Medspa MD: Contacting others by email.

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At some time you may want to ask a question of someone who has commented on this site.

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If the commenter has entered an email when they posted, you can use this site to send an email. The person contacted will receive an email from this site and can choose to reply or not. They (the person being contacted) will be able to see your email. You (the person sending the email) will not be able to see theirs. I've used this system to avoid troubles like spam bots scraping emails or personal attacks.

So to be clear, if you wish to be able to be contacted, just leave your email when you comment. Your email will never be made public but other will be able to contact you.

NOTE: Solicitations or complaints will be immediately removed and offenders will be blocked from accessing the site. If you're really bad you may elicit a post. Here's Medspa MD's spam and solicitation policy. 

To send an email through Medspa MD: 


  • Click on the name of the person you want to contact.

  • If they have entered an email: Click the 'Send Email' button.

That's it. It's completely at your own discretion as to whether you'd like to leave an email.

Remember: Be nice, or be gone. 

Medical Spa MD: Is this the premier medspa site on the web?

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Having been posting to this site for a couple of years now, I'm going to take a stab and declare that I think that this site is the best medical spa site on the web.

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I've been increasingly impressed with the community here and can only see it increasing in both quantity and quality. As an example I hold out this exchange where miss beauty questions 'this person LH'. The responses are thoughtful, semi-funny, and more importantly, educational. Dermadoc, Dermgal, MDmd, VexedMD, ChicagoMD, Dexter, Medpsa MD, SWMD, yada, yada, yada.... you get the idea. Even patients have added.

There are some other sites and certainly there are a number of other physician blogs (mostly plastic surgeons) who are in this area, but I think they're different. 

I'd hazard a guess that 80% of everyone who has signed up as a Medical Spa MD member is a doc. 10% seem to be midlevel providers and the rest identify themselves as something else. With 18,000 unique visitors a month, that's a lot of docs who are reading the site.

Of course there are others who think this blog is a blight and probably wouldn't lament my passing if I were hit by a truck crossing the street. Dermacare, Radiance, Sona, and the rest of the medspa franchises to be sure. I can't think of any individuals off the top of my head but that might just be wishful thinking.

I'll happily express my gratitude to the community here. Certainly I've learned from everyone and made more than one decision based on what I've read and learned. Thanks to everyone who shares.

Am I right? Is Medspa MD the best site in this area or do I have my thumb up my own ass?

Let's take a poll.

Thermage, Mesotherapy, Medical Marketing & whatever.

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Medical Spa MD is going to have some new content on Thermage, Mesotherapy, and building out clinics.

mailing_list_graphic.jpgI met Clint Canell, VP of Sales for Thermage, for lunch before but we're getting together again Friday to talk about Thermage posting content directly to Medical Spa MD. Clint informed me today that a number of his reps read this site, so I'll throw out a big hello to the Thermage sales guys in the trenches. I hope you guys follow my Thermage rep Chris Oordt's example.

I know that Thermage is less than happy with the company Clint refers to as the 'Brazilian Bandits' who are distributing some kind of little chip that allows you to reuse Thermage tips.

Clint told me that Themage has been resolute in tracking these guys around the world and I know that they pose something of a threat to the Thermage business model. I regularly get emails asking about refurbished Thermage tips so I know that there are at least some doctors using them.

I've also been exchanging emails with Robert P. Pitera, M.D.. Dr. Pitera is the President of the American Board of Mesotherapy and is on the Board of Directors to both the American Society of Mesotherapy and the American Journal of Mesotherapy. Dr. Pitera is interested in contributing to this site and whatever he says, it should be interesting. I know that many here are not proponents of Mesotherapy. (I'll add a disclaimer here that Surface does the fat dissolving form of Mesotherapy, Liposolve TM, but not the 'vitalift' or other such.) Perhaps mesotherapy has reached the tipping point. I know that at least competitors of Surface in Utah are practicing some form of meso.

There is also some big movement on the marketing front. Towards the end of May, members of Medical Spa MD will be able to utilize what I think is just-about-the-coolest-marketing-program-I've-ever-heard-of with the launch of the printing portal aimed directly at cosmetic medical practices. And the pricing is about 30-40% off of the online deep discount printers. Damn that will be cool. I've seen some screenshots and PDF's of the the site and materials and there's just not anything available like it.

I've also received the first of my skin typing spectrophotometers. I can't say it's the most elegant thing I've ever seen, especially compared to the Minolta model we've been using in the past. But then again, it's about $3000 less and works perfectly well, so I'll just live with the ugly looks. 

On a final note, If you haven't already signed up as a Medical Spa MD member, just do it. I'm only collecting emails and a small amount of demo info so you need not be worried about to much spamming.

Medical Spa MD: Spam & solicitation policies.

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I've been doing a lot of editing and deleting of posts lately so I thought I'd post again about what the policies of medspa MD are regarding solicitations and spam.

 

spam_skull.gifAny time you get a large like-minded group together you're going to be an attractive target for vendors who post back links to their site or pose as 'testimonials'  It's not hard to identify. There's a new comment that says something like, "Hey, I know of a great resource over at ___________.." So here's the deal.

If you're a vendor or have some type of service, please feel free to comment or post. If you'd like to submit an article you can do it from the link on the top right and I'll be happy to post any real, original article or post.

What you can't do is 'link bait' to your own site. Posts that are link-bait, spam, or solicitations will be removed. If the problem continues that ISP will be banned from accessing this site. 

This is really an attempt to minimize the editing role I have to play. I created an open forum for  free discussions. I didn't create a site where 'medical spa consultants and sales people' get to post spam.

Medical Spa MD: Subscribe to the 'comments' RSS feed.

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Medical Spa MD has some interesting discussions going on.

rss-icon-collection.gifIf you've been reading any of the 120 comments on the Dermacare Medspa and Carl Mudd post you've been witness to a slew of comments from Dermacare insiders, some of whom are less than enthusiastic about what's going on in Arizona.

You'll find the most commented on posts in the Medspa Top 10 here. 

Medspa MD has more than 1000 subscriber to the main RSS feed. But there's also a feed for comments that will allow you to keep track of what everyone on the site is saying. You can access both feeds below. (More about medspa MD's RSS feeds.) You can also subscribe to the main medspa feed by email. 

 

Medspa MD RSS feeds:

So if you're interested in more than just my prattling, subscribe to the comments feed as well. You never know what someone out there is going to say. And be sure to join Medical Spa MD while you're at it.

Join Medical Spa MD: Membership has its privileges?

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membership%20logo.jpgOk, here it is. After numerous emails and comments, I've bitten the bullet and created a Medical Spa MD Membership. I've had discussions with a technology and service providers as well as existing member who would like to be able to distribute information, offers, and the like to the readers of this site.

Medical Spa MD will receive periodic offers and the occasional update. I'm not exactly sure how much value will be derived by members buy, hey, it's 60 seconds and an email address. (You can always hit the spam filter later.)

Join Medical Spa MD.