A professional practice is like any small business in a way, and yet it is very different in many other regards.
Marketing a private professional practice is a little more difficult, as the firm needs to remain on a professional level at all time; still the key to all marketing is to get the word out and doing it with finesse and style without advertising and huge expenditures can be done.
If you own a professional practice and you are interested in growing your company and marketing your professional practice in a professional way, perhaps you will allow me to recommend a certain book to you: "Do-it-Yourself Marketing for the Professional Practice" by Laura Sachs - 1986.
This guide helps professional practices organize their marketing efforts, with down-to-Earth advice, and allow them to realistically analyze their current situation.
There are chapters on promotion, advertising, soft selling, community based public relations and all sorts of marketing tips that are worthy of note.
It is amazing that so many professionals have many degrees and are superb practitioners, but they make lousy business people and they make huge mistakes in running their professional practices and well, they make not so good marketers, salespeople or PR types.
Marketing your Professional Practice is paramount to winning in business, personally, I have never read such a wonderful niche marketing book in my entire business career.
I very much recommend this book.
Laura Sachs has some excellent advice for those who are serious in marketing their professional practice; see a sample of her work: http://www.
soundpractice.
net/article.
cfm?id=28 .