Their Ad Agency Calls it "More Billable Minutes Dot Com"

www.FindMoreMinutes.Com

No, it's not a new wireless plan. It's a social network, stupid.

The ad agency had their fingers on the societal pulse: word on the street is that everyone's doing "Web 2.0".

The VP of Marketing says "We need to be on this social networking thing. All the kids are doing it"

Let's build a social network - a MySpace about health. Sounds like a good idea. A couple hundred thousand dollars later and we have www.findmoreminutes.com along with an expensive TV advertising campaign.

Hmmmm. One year later something doesn't look quite right. No one is posting or socializing. The thing just sits their like a big matzah ball.

Maybe people do want to socialize online and even talk about health - but maybe they don't want their HMO to be the place around which they gather to do it. Do people really want to sign up and talk about health with their insurance company moderating?

Healthcare marketers need to realize that for the vast majority of people, health is not a major focus of their time and interest. Most people don't think about a healthcare provider unless they or someone close to them, is currently experiencing a health issue. It's not top of mind until it's top of mind.

What EVERYONE should by now also realize is that people don't have room for SO FREAKIN' MANY social networks. Aren't we all getting a little tired of keeping up our profiles, contacts, networks and invitations to all these different websites? And the big successful ones that already exist have enormous traction already - so creating a whole new, general-audience network is a pretty difficult (translation: impossible) task - one that even big media and technology companies have failed to do successfully. What makes us think bigcityhospital.com or regionalHMO.com can succeed at it where they can't?

A niche around specific topics could possibly work - like MS, Ovarian Cancer, Organic Food, etc. So if you have a (truly) world-class MS program - maybe.

Another approach would be to try and work within existing social networks. Get your providers on LinkedIn working their referral network, maybe set up a support group in Facebook, blogs for doctors, social workers, patients. There are many ways to approach social networking that probably make a lot more sense than trying to create your own, new, expensive, social network.

Here's a free tip: fire your ad agency and use the money you saved to empower your patients and caregivers with Web 2.0 tools. And with the leftover cash, get your VP to pay for your trip to the Web 2.0 convention in Tahiti.