Weird. To me they all sound the same.Originally Posted by AngeHamm
Weird. To me they all sound the same.
As Drk mentioned search engines look at links and text, by obscuring the name so it is human readable but not bot searchable Drk makes sure that a large internet forum of eyecare professionals which give heavy weight to optical sites doesn't get an arbitrary boost in their rankings. Much of that talk here and elsewhere contribute to the growth of sites like WP.
Every generation shops different, if a goal is to provide eyecare to a specific generation rather then swimming against the current provide services and products that entice that segment of the population. If millennial's have tats on their neck it doesn't mean you go out and get tatted on your neck, but a simple solution might be a company policy change that allows tasteful tats to be visible. In my culture tattoo's are a sign of masculinity and earrings a sign of femininity I have had tattoo's since I was 14, but had a earring once and my mother ripped it out of my ear. I love change, make it all the time. It's stagnation and complacency I fear the most.
http://www.opticians.cc
Creator of the industries 1st HTML5 Browser based tracer software.
Creator of the industries 1st Mac tracer software.
Creator of the industries 1st Linux tracer software.
A nice post.
My point is that we shouldn't pander and slobber over the "hot demographic" because...it's stupid.
Remember when "boomers" were "all that"? Now it's "millenials". Tomorrow it will be who knows what. And both constructs are stupid because there's no such thing as a "millenial" or a "boomer". That's just some marketing/pop-psychology dumbass who is charging you out the ying-yang for stuff you don't even need to hear. Greedy people are easily taken advantage of, though.
And the next time some marketing "guru" or "practice management expert" or "mega-trends" book hawker says something useful will be the first.
Actually, the terms refer to a generalized sociological grouping of people born in certain eras. These groups have certain characteristics that set them apart from folks born in other generations. It isn't pop-psychology or a marketing scheme at all.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definit...ial-generation
Generations are generally exposed to the same influences across the board. If I said, "Where's the beef?" a certain generation is going to respond their kids might have heard it but were too young to understand it.
Unfortunately the newer generations are exposed to a broader media outlet; the internet, so determining the influences in their life is going to be much more difficult going into the future. TV and Radio were simple mediums that were easier to decipher, national broadcasting helped to identify trends in influence which helped.
The internet can be very similar to TV and Radio except the user has more control over where they land, long ago in the mosaic days of the web, your browser shipped with certain addresses or you dialed into BBS's direct and found resources by sharing with others. Search engines now reign supreme collecting data and sites, offering an easy to navigate gateway into the media. To decipher influences, you choose the current search leader and look up search trends, this will help identify influences that the market has been exposed to.
To take it a step further, you can do a search and see who's positioned at the top, if you see a common trend towards a site then you may want to mirror their topics but make them relevant towards your industry. You can often link from those sites comments to your site and increase rankings if they have not modified their no-follow policy in their commenting system. In office, I use conversation that is relevant as well, it's similar to small talk read from a newspaper, TV news, or the radio. I use examples that relate as well, comparing products to a model T may have worked in great grand daddy's day, but you may want to compare to a Ford F-150 in your neck of the woods Drk, if I was still living in DC I would compare to an Audi, BMW, or Benz.
Google: http://www.google.com/trends/topcharts
Bing: http://www.bing.com/trends/us/ (Microsoft is paying many school systems to restrict google products and expose the next generation to bing, so get used to "binging it", not "googling it")
SEO - Optimization absolutely must include the mobile and tablet market first since most of the US accesses the internet through connected devices. That's good because, the largest market is composed of Android devices which default to google.
Last edited by MakeOptics; 03-31-2015 at 02:22 PM.
http://www.opticians.cc
Creator of the industries 1st HTML5 Browser based tracer software.
Creator of the industries 1st Mac tracer software.
Creator of the industries 1st Linux tracer software.
Thanks guys.
I still find it useless crap.
What group are you guys a member of? What Pavlovian bells set you atwitter?
How does getting your health care matter because of your particular point in history? Are there such things as "WWII-era" cataracts vs. "Happy Days" lens opacification?
Are there "ink-friendly indie-rock" high index lenses vs. "classic rock-listener" thinner and lighter lenses (get higher dude)?
Sure, frame styles come and go. Big whoop.
Otherwise, other than goofy marketing that is 100% arbitrary, there ain't much human changin' goin' on.
At one week shy of 60, I'm firmly in the Baby Boomer crowd, however, I get along well with GenX/Y not so much with Millennials (but that's more me not wanting to put up with some of their carp). On FaceBook and the other forums I frequent, I can always tell a Millennial from anyone else by their "I haven't got time to read a book, just tell me what I want to know...RIGHT NOW!".
Millennials do not see eyeglasses as "health care". They just don't. They see it as a commodity like groceries and stereos. "Health care" is going to see a doctor and getting medicine to solve a medical issue, they do not make the mental connection between a prescription for a pill versus a prescription for a pair of glasses. "Hey, I can get it cheaper on the internet" is the cry of the Millennial.
Yeah, but that's not a "generational thing" as much as a "I'm a 20-30 something thing". Don't you think that by the time they're "boomer age" they're going to realize they can't get their visual needs met without a skilled practitioner? Surely they'll be the same as the late-great WWII generation when they get to retirement age. What does that have to do with IOLs or glaucoma meds or sunglasses or contact lenses?
Hey, I'm only 52, but in my 25 years of practice I can't say that generational change has meant anything at all. Sure, we all now have i-phones, but that's conflating technology with "generations". Sure we have the latest and greatest technology, but isn't that for all ages?
The 20-somethings are Millennials...they grew up with this technology, we didn't.
My guess is that they will continue to shop around for the lowest-cost eye surgeons for a given procedure. They can already find sunglasses and contacts online, so that's not really an issue. Yeah, glaucoma meds would be difficult LOL, unless they find a supplier in Canada who is will to ship over the border like they do with the 'little blue pill' ;-)
I believe we are in for some scary times ahead, dealing with their entitlement attitude...
Well, young fella, I guess that you are not old enough to remember the pre IOL days when a really good cataract outcome was one which induced less than 2D of corneal astigmatism. The state of the art surgical procedure was the Kellman Open Sky procedure and with a 180 degree incision, no phaco and a postop Rx in the 13D neighborhood. Cataract used to be a Major surgical procedure and did represent a change in the life style of the patient.
Great. What does that have to do with fundamentally changing the way we do business? That is, why would we sell out our professional role? Why do we say "Heck, showroom me"? "Heck, I'll give away my services"? "Heck, I'll troubleshoot someone else's mess"? "Heck, let's do away with that 'regulated health care' stuff"?
Your example seems to show that PROFESSIONALS are responsible for the advances. I'll wave the flag, here. Who has done more for optics in the past five years? Warpy, or Darryl Meister (RIP)? Who has done more for frame technology? Silhouette, or Warpy? Who has done more for vision care delivery? An optician, or a smart phone?
I said patients haven't changed, cataracts haven't changed. You're not following. The old methods were equally good or bad on any age patient, and there is no "new generation" of cataract patient. That's marketing baloney. "Oh, today's patient doesn't want to wear glasses after cataract surgery". Well, did yesterday's? They simply didn't have that option.
I am in constant contact with kids that age, and they're just the same as when I was their age. Whoop-de-do they have little glowing phones to look at all the darn time. I think the disconnect with reality is actually a bad thing.
(As I argue this in cyberspace...)
People need to get past this "progressivist" mindset...newer better. Get on board. Adapt or go extinct. Whatever. A steak is still a steak, and a beach is still a beach, and wine is just wine, and a dorky 24 year old is still a dorky 24 year old.
I wonder where they got it?
Well the option was a PMMA lens and 95% of the MD's and OD's had to refer them out. Neither of the two professions had the time and skill to fit them so we did not encourage their use. That situation improved with fenestrated lenses and RPG's and of course the introduction of the soft lens in1971meant that any boob could fit them.
Yesterdays aphakic patient had the choice of a +13D bifocal lens or a PMMA contact, not to mention the problems of the monocular aphakia. Today the aphakic patient picks up a pair of readers at Walmart on the way home from surgery.
Yah - patients have changed.
We don't need a prescription from a doctor to buy a toothbrush.
Nothing unethical here. More like the definition of high ethics.
Most will. Most will also add nuance and tongue-and-cheek to their lexicon, and will be able to discuss complex issues without pounding their fists on the table.
I don't see a threat to opticianry from e-commerce due to the personalized nature of ophthalmic optics.
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. - Richard P. Feynman
Experience is the hardest teacher. She gives the test before the lesson.
Question: Why do consumers buy prescription eyewear online?
I found an optical website that deals with all these issues, there is a sample:
QUESTION: WHY DO CONSUMERS BUY PRESCRIPTION EYEWEAR ONLINE?
ANSWER: BRICK AND MORTAR DISPENSARIES ARE NOT SERVING THEIR NEEDS.
"Merchandising is a necessary and important service, however all too often the health care component of the Optician-Patient equation becomes secondary to the act of selling. In too many cases over zealous sales goals override our mission of providing vision health care, whereby the personalized, custom fitting of eyewear gets only minor consideration, if any. This reality is clearly demonstrated by the unfortunate and steady number of unhappy Patients and the subsequent loss of their revenue and referrals to the Internet."
"Opticianry is ultimately defined by how well the eyewear makes contact with the Patient, not by the number of customers served.
Many optical outlets are 'ready-to-wear' stores where
eyewear merchants sell 'one-size-fits-all' merchandise,
and where numbers of sales and customers is paramount
This environment has prostituted the practice of Opticianry."
"Optical dispensaries are healthcare facilities where Opticians practice
Three Dimensional Dispensing, the Discovery, Design, and Delivery of
prescription eyewear, and where the Patient's needs always comes first."
More and more prescription eyewear is being purchased from online providers because consumers can no longer find real differences between services in brick and mortar dispensaries and Web-based providers. Therefore consumers have no compelling reason not to purchase online. Opticians can get their groove back only by serving the Consumer with, a) the in-depth lifestyle interview; b) Optician-assisted frame-lens design and selection; c) handcrafted, hands on the Patient delivery of eyewear; and d) free lifetime adjustment and minor repair services. None of these services are available online.
See all of it: --------------> http://www.harisingh.com/OpticianryToday.htm
Good post, Chris. I agree with all of that.
Here's why people buy glasses online:
"They're cheap".
(You owe me a $100 consulting fee and a thank you for not taking up all your time with wordiness.)
Many here don't like having to buy from only 'whole' packages of cable programs/channels they feel they'll rarely watch or use. They want to pay less for just what they want. But they can't, because cable providers are pretty much a monopoly.
The public has felt the same about eyewear. And the Internet and the release laws of our government have effectively ended the industry's control of the Rx.
In a nutshell.
B
^^+1000^^
As always, Barry, dead on the money.
False arguments in that nutshell:
"I JUST WANT THE BASICS"
What? "Pay for just what they want"? As in, patients only want to buy certain aspects of glasses, but not all aspects of glasses? How about a frame and two lenses? How much less can they purchase, a single lens and half a frame? If they don't want "add-on" channels they don't get them.
Is it price selection? Do they want 2 pair for $69? Heck, I'll give you one of a thousand Sunday newspaper coupons.
"I DON'T HAVE CHOICE"
What? There's a monopoly of eye wear providers? There's a million. How many cable providers? Few. That's a ludicrous analogy.
"I DON'T LIKE THE INDUSTRY CONTROL"
What? People are irked that they have to have a prescription for glasses? How would the glasses work without a prescription? Dartboard method?
What? How do release laws end the "industry's control of the Rx"? They've been able to get their Rx since for almost 50 years. Are we really going over what happened in the 60's? They've all retired! "Customers" can buy as many glasses as they want, wherever they want. Where's the industry control, and where's the loss of industry control? What a huge straw man argument.
THE INTERNET
YES! The internet has made it completely easy to get glasses without any input from any doctor or optician and no regulating authority gives a hoot. It's a do-it-yourself project. Hope it works for you. Enjoy completely deregulated health care. Get back to me and tell me how that works out for you, if I'm still around.
But I think the same can be said of anything, everything, that you get on the internet from drugs to porn to shoes to whatever. It's the wild west. I don't particularly suscribe to the theory that a.) something was broken, and b.) now it's fixed. That's crazy talk.
THE TRUTH
I think the background music I'm hearing on this site is that a.) glasses are like suitcases, b.) you shouldn't need a prescription for a suitcase, and c.) anyone can be a suitcase salesperson. The optician is a salesperson.
Much to the contrary, I think people want professionals to do the job right. They want professionals they trust. They want choice. All things that the current system provides.
Now, sure, there are those unwise people who just don't give a hoot about anything but the total price, and they're willing to cut any corner they can, even to their own detriment. Those are your internet people. I've seen them. You can grovel for them all you want.
Last edited by drk; 04-01-2015 at 06:16 PM.
I'm going after the eyeglass wearers that give a hoot. That's the sweet spot and where I want to be despite one posters gloom and doom predictions of Armageddon if we don't start to engage the do-it-yourselfers.
Regards,
Golfnorth
I hope this isn't viewed as insulting, but the site you quoted looks like it was designed by anyone but a millennial, more than likely someone in their 50's+ judgint by the poor use of animations and stock photography. The site is not very mobile friendly which means most millennial's aren't even going to bother to read it, the site is designed for the baby boomer generation and will probably ring true to most older opticians, personally I find it hard to read sites like that, I prefer content to be presented uniformly with a simple UI.
Mellenial's appreciate craftsmanship, especially olde world craftsmanship. Look to the maker movement and lumbersexuals. (I know lumbersexuals, LOL) You'll find the hipster of old sporting a thick well groomed beard with a $80 flannel, but it's still the same individual, mellenial women tend to look for a rugged quality in men and men tend toward DIY again reinforcing the traditional male role. The frames that sell well tend to be older style with chunky zyl and great quality. If you're not showing them how they are made and the quality in craftsmanship then you're missing out. The close is showing the tech in office, edgers or I should say (CNC - Cutters) are so familiar to this generation that it's a stamp of approval. If your cutting by hand they're cutting and running, they know a computer will cut more accurate so show them.
http://www.opticians.cc
Creator of the industries 1st HTML5 Browser based tracer software.
Creator of the industries 1st Mac tracer software.
Creator of the industries 1st Linux tracer software.
As a young millennial beginning his journey in the optical world, threads like these really make me think about whether I'm making a poor decision studying to become an OD. I wonder whether glasses will lose all medical value in the future; whether people will neglect the medical aspect of vision and render us obsolete. Every time I have come to the same conclusion: there IS a future for me as an OD.
The medical treatment of visual defects and ocular pathology will not disappear. Although the consumer mindset and market may be changing, people come to us based on a MEDICAL need to do so. As opticians we try and provide the best service we can, but not everyone sees this clearly (pardon the pun), and will jump online for a better price next time. This should not and does not diminish the underlying medical nature of the very products we are selling and the service we are providing! Yes, we will need to change with the changing times but we do not have to lose our core values along the way.
I apologise if this all seems naive, I don't carry any of the experience you all do.
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