A not-for-profit organization needs the right marketing
Why do “do-gooders” sometimes fail to do well? If you are involved in a not-for-profit organization, a local charity, church organization, a 501c3 or other service organization, good intensions alone are not enough to fulfill your mission. Not-for-profits may not have the same business aims that commercial enterprises have, but they surely have the same marketing problems. The principals and rules that apply to professional practices, service providers and for-profit businesses also apply to non-profit organizations.
It is not enough to merely have a webpage or a cheap web design. The page must be an integrated part of the non-profit’s branding strategy, mobile device friendly and there must be good web design with adequate search engine optimization services. Axiom knows that not-for-profit organizations like churches, charities, NGOs or social services operate on limited budgets. Often, there is not room in those budgets for an on-staff web professional to provide a SEO strategy or professional SEO services like SEO link building. But without those services, the non-profit is at a significant disadvantage.
Potential volunteers and contributors, as well as the people who need your services, will be less likely to locate or even be aware of your organization. Today, the ‘net,’ the ‘web’ and mobile marketing are the keys to a non-profit’s success, just as they are for giant companies. Take a look at this webpage designed by Axiom to highlight the Halifax Humane Society’s contribution to the East Central Florida community, then click on INTERNET MARKETING FOR NON-PROFITS to see how Axiom Administrative Services can help your non-profit.
Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves. Our non-profit marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s not-for-profit services page by clicking this LINK or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
A ‘Trial Balloon’
Medical practice is always striving to improve patient care. New drugs, therapies and medical devices come onto the market each year, requiring good doctors to constantly study and update themselves. Medical practice in a bariatric clinic or in the field of weight loss surgery is no exception.
The gastric balloon (or ‘intragastric balloon’) is the most recent addition to treatment options for patients who struggle with weight loss issues. Technically, the gastric balloon is a “non-surgical” treatment; it does not involve making incisions of any size, although the procedure is performed while the patient is under a mild anesthetic.
The gastric balloon is attached to a thin tube (a catheter) which the doctor uses to guide the device down the throat and into the stomach. Next an instrument called an endoscope is used to allow the physician to watch carefully as the balloon is filled with saline solution. The procedure itself usually takes less than an hour and, because it involved the use of some anesthetic, is followed by a closely monitored recovery period of about two hours. After the recovery period, most patients return home that day.
Using a new approach, the gastric balloon attempts to accomplish what the lap band procedure intended: to reduce the amount of food the stomach can hold without surgically altering the digestive tract. Patients feel full sooner, eat less and lose weight as a result. Studies indicate that as much as 30% of excess body weight may be lost in six months. Like the gastric lap band, it is reversible. In fact, the normal course is to remove the balloon after six months or less. Removal involves no surgical incisions; it is done using an endoscope. Following balloon removal, the stomach will return to its normal ability to hold food.
The most reliable estimates are that about 2.7% of the 216,000 total bariatric surgery procedures done in 2016 were balloons. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery tracks this statistic, even though the balloon is not technically bariatric surgery. It is a medical procedure intended to produce the same outcome: loss of excess weight.
Patients should know that, by itself, the gastric balloon will not cause weight loss. While the balloon is inserted, the person will feel full after eating less, giving them a grace period in which to alter their eating habits without feeling the hunger pangs and cravings that can wreck diets. However, this benefit is temporary, as the balloon tends to deteriorate over time and must be removed. The six month loss of excess weight (up to 30%) is small compared to the 60 to 80% of excess weight loss expected from a gastric bypass. To a person who carries 100 pounds of excess weight, this translates to a 30 to 50 pound difference.
Right now, medical insurance companies are not routinely covering the balloon procedure, which costs an average of $8100 in the United States. Insurance carriers are waiting to see if the balloon procedure produces long term medical cost savings, and how they compare to gastric sleeve or gastric bypass surgery. Both the gastric sleeve and the gastric bypass have demonstrated a long-term reduction of medical expenses as well as a lowered risk from obesity-related disease.
In a nutshell, here are some important things to understand if you are considering the gastric balloon as a weight loss option. The gastric balloon-
- Is a relatively low risk, safe outpatient procedure.
- May result in shedding up to 30% of excess weight, but this is less than expected with gastric sleeve or gastric bypass surgery.
- Gives the patient a grace period in which to learn good eating habits without feeling hunger or cravings.
- Is a reversible procedure that does not permanently alter the digestive tract? However, this means that the amount of food the stomach can hold returns to normal after balloon removal.
- The long-term outcomes are not yet in. We do not know yet how the results of gastric balloons will affect diseases like diabetes and other weight related medical problems.
- The bottom line cost of the balloon is lower than for weight loss surgeries like gastric sleeve surgery or the gastric bypass. However, the cost of bariatric surgery is frequently covered by medical insurance, while the balloon is not.
Both the balloon and weight loss surgery procedures like the gastric sleeve or gastric bypass may be medically appropriate options for some patients. Only a careful evaluation by qualified professionals can determine which is best for a given patient. If you have any question about the areas included in general surgery, especially bariatric surgery, please contact our office. You may use Contact Dr Birkedal or phone us at (386) 231-3530. Our offices, located in Daytona, New Smyrna and Palm Coast are all part of the Florida Hospital Network.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all from Axiom Administrative Services.What is ‘Net Neutrality?’
Recently, you may have heard or read about an issue called “Net Neutrality.” This is one of those political or policy issues that can directly affect web designers, as well as the small business and professional people who use the internet for business purposes. That means just about all of them.
Net Neutrality is (or was) a set of regulations enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that required internet service providers (ISPs) to give equal treatment to all traffic going to or from any user. Internet service providers were not permitted to give or sell faster transmission service to websites or content producers that could afford to pay higher rates. This had been the policy under both the Bush and the Obama administrations; it meant that Joe’s Hardware Store was guaranteed internet access equal to that enjoyed by Lowes Home Improvement or Home Depot.
In December, the FCC approved a plan to end the Net Neutrality protections. Theoretically, this means that ISPs like Verizon or AT&T could give preferential treatment to big dollar customers. It is important to understand that no such thing has happened as yet and ISPs claim that they have no plans to do so. Free market economists claim that we will all be better off if ISPs are free to give whatever treatment they want to users. If the end user does not like it, they are free to go to another provider.
They point out that, more and more, the internet is a highway for services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or traditional broadcast networks like CBS to stream entertainment. This live or on-demand streaming is estimated to consume 80% or more of the internet’s data capacity in just a few years. ISPs claim that the added income from premium users will help them build the added capacity they are going to need. Public interest groups, consumer rights organizations and some internet giants like Google are opposed to doing away with Net Neutrality.
There are some arguments on both sides. Right now there is a movement in Congress to reverse the FCC ruling by law, making Net Neutrality a legal requirement, not simply a regulatory rule as it was before December. For internet marketers, there is nothing to be done now except to make your feelings known to your representatives in Congress. This possibility also means that the services of an internet marketing agency like Axiom are more important than ever. Whether Net Neutrality is restored by law or not, the day when cheap web design could do the job has passed.
If your professional practice or small business is struggling to find digital marketing solutions or branding strategies that work, it is time to call Axiom. Your business or non-profit requires more than a cheap web design and an amateur branding strategy. More than an internet marketing agency, Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and SEO techniques needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves. Axiom can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services pageor call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines
Did you know that you can get a copy of the “secret” Quality Evaluator Guidelines used by Google? This information manual was kept from the public for years until Google decided that it was in its own best interest to release it. Presumably, this will help web designers conform better to Google guidelines and give an open source of information about what Google considers to be the best practices of webpage design and content creation.
All you need do is to use your browser and enter the query, “Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines – Google.” This will direct you to a 160-page PDF document that Google’s human evaluators study. Of course, much of Google’s ranking system is based on non-human, automated algorithms that check things like sitemaps, page titles or meta tags. Still, reading the document (if you have time for 160 pages) will give some insight into Google’s page ranking system, especially some “Don’t Do This” warnings.
One of the important factors considered is the page’s uniqueness and originality. Copying or “scraping” content from another website will lower the ranking of a webpage. Here is a quote lifted from Google’s July 27, 2017 General Guidelines –
“7.4.5 Copied Main Content – Every page needs MC (Main Content). One way to create MC with no time, effort, or expertise is to copy it from another source. Why does the page exist? What value does the page have for users? Why should users look at the page with copied content instead of the original source?”
Obviously original, useful content helps your page ranking. All of this is fine to know, but if you are a busy professional, service provider or business owner, you probably do not have time to read a 160-page quality assessment manual or to create quality material for your website. Axiom can give you professional help on both counts.
Your professional practice or small business deserves more than cheap web design, and the low search engine rankings that come with it. Axiom is more than an internet marketing agency. Axiom Administrative Services has the professional skill and small business SEO skills needed to get your web presence the ranking it deserves.
Turn to Axiom Administrative Services if you are struggling to find branding strategies or digital marketing solutions that work, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques that get results, or a logo design service that makes your business stand out. Our business marketing team can combine traditional marketing tools like direct mail advertising with local SEO services to build your branding strategy. Please visit Axiom’s small business services page by clicking this LINK or call Axiom at 800-888-6348.
