About Jeff

Hello everyone, right now I’m probably best known as the Executive Director of the International Association for Physicians in Aesthetic Medicine International Association for Physicians in Aesthetic Medicine (IAPAM). I am one of the founding members of the association, and have been diligently growing this organization for the last 3 years into the preeminent professional community for doctors in aesthetic medicine.

My previous professional experience is in financing cosmetic surgical centers and medical spas. Going back many years, I also worked for the Allianz Financial Group, the Fairmont Resort Hotels and Xerox (and in the mid-80’s I also worked for Club Med in the Bahamas). I’m a self-confessed foodie, so keep an eye out for my favorite places to eat, as I travel around the country.

I have a genuine passion for technology and the internet.

I’m constantly amazed how quickly technology and the Internet are developing.  I received my first PC in 1980, it was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (mine was the basic model with 4k of memory!).  Growing up as a military brat in small towns, you couldn’t buy any computer games, so I learned a computer language called BASIC, and started writing my own.  Needless to say computers and technology have always been part of my life.

Where does the Aesthetic industry experience come in? 

I’ve been working with dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and other physicians in opening medical spas since 2004. I’ve worked on projects from Newport Beach to Manhattan and everywhere in between. One of the competencies I fostered was to understand why some of these medspas were doing well, while others were not. From the date I accumulated and analyzed over the years, I had a clear picture of what was working and what wasn’t. In particular we saw a proliferation of medical spa franchises, licensing models, and spa turned medspa consultants charging doctors $35-100,000 to open up medispas. With the type of overhead required to operating one of these facilities, it was a recipe for disaster. In meeting with other thought leaders in the industry (thanks Cindy Graf!), we formalized our findings to come up with the industry best practices.  These best practices along with feedback from several physician thought leaders, resulted in the creation of the IAPAM and their signature event, the Aesthetic Medicine Symposium.

Over the years we accumulated a lot of content regarding the aesthetic medicine industry. Our key “leading marketing strategies” and “clinical content” is reserved for the members of the IAPAM. However, we decided to share the more mainstream industry information and consumer oriented news in a new web new portal called: Aesthetic Medicine News (www.AestheticMedicineNews.com). Here we have the lastest aesthetic medicine / medical spa news that is available daily through RSS feeds and Twitter, as well as a monthly newsletter that is now in its 4th year!

Ok, I guess you want to know where the New Media Marketing part comes in.

Over the years, I’ve always been interested in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) with Google. Which, just to keep us on our toes, is always changing and evolving. My interest has been to work with the current Google search criteria and create web content that will get high rankings in natural SEO (that’s the non-paid search results).

While I was developing a marketing program for the IAPAM, I was working with many of the traditional media outlets (i.e. direct mail postcards, print advertising, brochures). I also dabbled with PPC (pay per click) advertising on Yahoo and Google. After modifying our registration form to ask “where did you hear from us,” I soon realized the vast majority of our new members where coming from Google AdWords advertising.

I then decided to look into this format by doing Google on-line training, and picked up a great book by Howie Jacobson, “AdWords for Dummies.,”  From reading Howie’s book, and many other online resources, I was able to reduce our AdWords spending by 60% (not sure if Google would like to hear that!), and increase our memberships. I also use other Internet technologies like: live chat software, Twitter, article submission services and online press release services. As a side note, we found the ROI for direct mail and display ads in magazines uniquely disappointing.

Having said that, I must add that I think you need to incorporate other types of advertising (i.e. small magazine ad’s) to build your brand awareness. However, you need to be careful and clearly define how you are going to determine if those ads are successful (which is tough to do).

I’m a member of the ASAE (American Society of Association Executives). This is a great organization to join, and it’s beneficial to have peers with similar interests. My expertise is utilizing: technology, Internet Marketing, Web 3.0, the New Media, and Social Networking as tools to operate a successful association. I certainly enjoy networking with others in the other associations and in the internet marketing industry.

I’m also a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA).

You can read my articles and quotes in these magazines:

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Jeff’s Charities:

As an entrepreneur, I enjoy helping others. One of the most amazing charities I’ve come across is through an organization called Kiva. With this group, you lend “micro-loans” of $25 to help an entrepreneur in a developing country.  It’s just amazing the difference you can make in an entire family’s life by making a $25 loan. Of course, you can setup a portfolio of $25 loans, and help many entrepreneurs.

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