ATLANTA (Sept. 15, 2014)—One of the hottest topics in HME right now is "How Can Providers Diversify Their Business?" Experts believe that providers should consider a potential marketing approach even before choosing a product or service to add to their lineups.

Asking the right series of questions is at the core of most successful marketing plans. Even the most basic questions—Who? What? Where? When? Why? Wow?—can unlock insights into positioning a product to integrate with the existing business.

On Tues., Oct. 21, 2014, Anna McDevitt, president of Laboratory Marketing, will present an in-depth program at Medtrade entitled “Adding a Product Line to Your Existing Business.” McDevitt knows that new product lines often live and die by marketing, whether it's a foray into retail, adding additional services or simply expanding upon what you already offer. Successful product integration needs support from the right market research, internal training, a solid launch plan and appropriate brand positioning. While this can seem like a monumental task, thoughtful planning ahead of time can help make implementation a much smoother process.

“This topic is important because post-acute health care is becoming increasingly competitive,” says McDevitt. “Thinking about how a product will be marketed—internally and externally—can help providers stay ahead of potential problems plus find unique competitive advantages.”

McDevitt believes providers should attend her presentation because it outlines an approach to developing a complete marketing strategy for adding a product line. The content is based in common sense, rather than marketing buzzwords, and presents simple, scalable solutions that can be applied to any type of provider. Visit medtrade.com to resister and for information on sessions, events and pricing.