EPISODE 7 - From Hospital Dietitian to LinkedIn Luminary with Lina Breik
Lina Breik: [00:00:00] The amount of information she's taught me around how to manage my money, how to detach from admin services and, and delegate to another person. And I know what I'm saying sounds like things that. You can pick up in a blog post, but they're not. You need accountability.
Chris Hughes: Welcome to How to Build a Profitable Nutrition Business.
If you love nutrition and you love helping people and you want to be in the game long enough to keep doing that, then this is the podcast for you. Let's get into it.
Lina Breik is the founding leader at Tube Dietitian. She's an advanced accredited practicing dietician with over a decade of clinical nutrition hospital experience across multiple hospitals in Victoria, Australia. Lina's current focus is to bridge the gap between hospital and home care for adults that live with home feeding tubes.
Lina's approach towards home tube feeding involves a humanized perspective that emphasizes the social and emotional aspects of nutrition through a tube. Her dedication [00:01:00] to this cause is evident in her ongoing pursuit of a PhD that investigates the challenges and experiences of adults living with feeding tubes.
Lina is a published author of a book called Your Tube, a guide to nutrition through a feeding tube that's sold on Amazon. It's an empowering guide for adults who live with a feeding tube. I'm super excited to be talking to Lina today for a number of reasons. One is that she's got probably the most niche nutrition business that I have come across.
Two, because she's someone that's transitioned out of that hospital space to develop a successful private practice. And three, because their content on LinkedIn is addictive. It's as if I've known Lina for a long time, but today's the first time we've ever spoken person. Let's get into it. Welcome back to How to Build a Profitable Nutrition Business today.
I'm really excited to be interviewing Lina Breik. So Lina, for anyone that is in the LinkedIn space will certainly be, you'll be familiar with. I feel like I know Lina yet today is the first time I've spoken to her in person. So Lina is the [00:02:00] true dietitian. She's the go to expert for parental and adult feeds.
Following her on LinkedIn is an actual pleasure and I have a small confession to make. The reason I'm on LinkedIn every day is to now see what Lina has posted. . Her content is so original and entertaining that literally, I'm just looking for what Lina's talked about that, and so despite being the first time I've talked to her, I do feel like we're long time friends.
Welcome, Lina. Thanks for coming on.
Lina Breik: Oh, thanks so much for having me, Chris. You know, that content, sometimes it's just, yeah, my breakfast dish and it gets like the highest amount of engagement. It's ridiculous. It's crazy to see people. It's awesome.
Chris Hughes: They do. So true. I, I put a post out where I think, Oh, this is going to borrow was the best post I've ever done.
And then there's crickets and you put something else out and all of a sudden there's likes and comments and like, Oh God. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Linaena, so tell me, so there's a few things I'd [00:03:00] love to talk to you about today, but particularly of importance to me is your transition from hospital dietitian, which is where a lot of dietitians land into that private practice space, which is where you kind of transition into now.
Before we get to that, if you could just introduce yourself to the listeners for a little bit of a background on your, all your professional background and just where you've the journey that you've taken to get where you are today.
Lina Breik: Yeah, awesome. Thank you. So I'm an advanced APD and I've been work. I graduated in 2010 now.
So what is that? 14 years ago? Wait, is that 14 years ago? Yeah, it's 14 years ago. My first job was as a clinical dietitian that I got a year out of graduating. So resilience is key. He and I worked in Shepparton, so rural Victoria as a clinical dietician, and that was my first foot into the door. And from there I just kept going from hospital position to hospital position, and I, I climbed up the ranks.
And then my latest role was as the [00:04:00] manager of Eastern Health, which is an organization in Victoria, a team of about 35 to 40 dieticians. So I did that for six months. That was my last role before having my son and deciding. To not go back to the hospital world. So, yeah, so it's been. Four years now that I have been out of the hospital scene.
I loved working as a clinical dietitian at Houghton hospital. It obviously gave me so much in terms of understanding people and different personalities and clients and different dietetic areas. So I worked from anywhere from. Diabetes outpatient clinics to gestational diabetes, to ICU nutrition, to surgical wards, to renal nutrition.
And it was great, but I made the call to open tube dietician pretty much the month COVID hit. And you [00:05:00] know, no, but you know what it was, it was actually good timing. I'll tell you why in the hospitals were just in chaos lockdown mode when COVID hit, and that was March, 2020. And we very much were needed to focus on people who are sick in hospital.
So those outpatients, so those clients who lived at home, similar to those who are from tube fed, for example. We couldn't really get to them because we were so under the pump in the hospitals. So I thought one weekend I said to my husband, I'm going to open a web, I'm going to start to open a website and I'm going to tell all my hospital dietitian friends that I can see the home tube fed adults on my weekends and my weeknights.
And they can focus in hospital on the hospital clients, which was pretty much what the, what we were meant to do when we were, when COVID hit. And that's why it was [00:06:00] actually perfect timing for my business because any client who was sent home with a feeding tube, the hospital would say, sorry, we can't follow you because we are so inundated in here, but there's someone who's offering the service privately.
And so it actually worked really well. And I was doing it for the first. year of tube dietitian. I was doing it alongside a full time hospital job. So weeknights and week and my Saturdays.
Chris Hughes: Wow.
Lina Breik: Yeah. It was not.
Chris Hughes: Sorry. Is this when you were managing the 30 team of 35 at the same time? So that's when
Lina Breik: I was doing the, yeah, COVID and all of this.
And at the same time I had my business running. I didn't have a child back then. So that probably.
Chris Hughes: Yeah.
Lina Breik: But I then, you know, it was really tough, but I could see that there was an opportunity that I could not miss. And all I spent to start my business back then was a 300 bucks to create my own website on Squarespace, [00:07:00] um, which I've since moved from, but that's what I use.
Obviously an ABN number and Medicare number. I worked through, I went through the NDIS registration process and what they need, what NDIS needs to call you a credible. Service provider. And yeah, it was pretty much just go from there. It wasn't profitable for that first year at all, because I'm obviously doing it alongside a full time job.
I didn't have, I had zero time for LinkedIn and social media marketing. I had. zero time for a business coach or to think about that sort of stuff. Yeah. So it's not until I left my hospital job and I started to really focus on tube dietitian that it's, it now became profitable.
Chris Hughes: So what drove you to that then?
So if that first year you've, you found it wasn't profitable, Like what was your thinking to go? I do see the potential here. Like, [00:08:00] I'm going to go. So I
Lina Breik: just kept getting the referrals and I was like, this is crazy. I thought that home tube fed clients. Traditionally need to be looked after in a hospital and coming from 12 years of hospital experience.
That's also what I had thought as well. So I was like, this is, let me open this because I obviously have a handful of clients that I can definitely follow up with. The hospital's now shutting down. But then it just kept, I just kept getting the referrals from the hospitals. Hey, can you also take this person?
Hey, can you also home visit this person on Wednesday night? Can you, and the potential, I definitely saw the potential as I kept going on for that first year alongside my hospital work. And then once I went on that leave, And I had about at the time I had about like 17 clients under tube dietitian, which is actually a lot because with people who are home tube fed, once you've got them, you've got them for life.
So they don't come and go [00:09:00] once you've got a client under your books, you pretty much got them for their life, which is honestly a massive blessing to get to know people at that intimate level. But that's another discussion, but yeah. And then, so then when I went on that leave, I had 17 clients and I hired a contractor of really.
valuable colleague of mine that I loved. And I said to her, can you just look after my clients for three months, four months while I have this baby? And then I'll be back on board. And she did that for me. And then when I came back, I had the time for social media. I had the time to drive around and meet private surgeons and private gastroenterologists and tell them about tube dietician.
And now it's just. Exploded to a hundred clients. Yeah. And so now where I, I just, I've just. Yeah. Released my hospital jobs. I'm not going back to it. I've resigned and this is it. Tube dietitian is it for now.
Chris Hughes: So just, I'm just trying to calculate numbers in my head and I don't need to know what you [00:10:00] charge or anything to that effect, but like what sort of hours or frequency would you be seeing these clients?
Lina Breik: So, anybody with a feeding tube, and I say this to any other dietitians who look after people with feeding tubes, especially those under the NDIS scheme, we need at least 10 to 20 hours a year dedicated to dietetics with those clients. So the super medically complex ones, 20 hours a year, because. I get phone calls, join care team meetings.
Can you come out for an emergency nutrition review? I get, can you write an emergency report on why NDIS? There's lots of, for the complex clients, there's a lot. So 20 hours, and please don't undersell yourself when an NDIS plan manager tells you, how many hours do you need? If it's a home to fed clients, it should be between 10 to 20 hours.
Some of them are super stable and they have such brilliant support networks at home. 10 hours a year of [00:11:00] dietetics is enough, but some are super complex and live in disability care homes with several carers. And they need that more. They need that TLC a little bit more. And those would be the 20 hour, 20 hours a year clients in terms of frequency of reviewing, probably.
Every two to three months we see our client, the same client, and every client gets two home visits a year and the rest is actually virtual and it works really well. And I find obviously home visits drain someone's NDIS funding and they're not always necessary for us as dieticians to go out to people's homes.
The subjective global assessment, which is our tool to diagnose malnutrition, should be done once every six months.
Chris Hughes: So
Lina Breik: we don't need to physically touch and probe and see someone every single month or every single two months. Tube feeding can be sorted out virtually in a video [00:12:00] consultation and then full blown malnutrition assessments can be done.
At the beginning of the year and towards the end of the year. And that's, that's worked well for us. I've even got some clients that tell me don't even come over. Can we not do a home visit? I've got to change all my appointments. Can we just do this on Zoom? So there's actually some clients that actually prefer the virtual consults.
Chris Hughes: I find, I was talking to another dietician about this the other week, actually, and they've got a successful online business and they were doing a mix of in clinic and online and then they went full online because there was so many benefits to it. But basically clients were less likely to fail to attend because it's, there's no excuse about getting in the car.
They've just got to turn the computer on, put their phone on, so it's that convenience of it. And there's not too many things that we as dieticians need to do in person.
Lina Breik: Yeah, not at all. Yes. I I'm a massive advocate for us, especially for my client group for us to pick and probe at the muscle sites [00:13:00] and the subcutaneous fat sites to assess the degree of malnutrition, but that does not need to be done monthly six to 12.
Chris Hughes: Um,
Lina Breik: so, so really, and in terms of feeding tube care, like the care of the actual feeding tube as a dietician, We should not be doing that unless you are credentialed and to be credentialed to do that, you've got to be linked to a big hospital network.
Chris Hughes: Is that right?
Lina Breik: Yeah.
Chris Hughes: Yeah, I wasn't aware of it. I've never done it myself, but I wasn't aware of the credentialing.
Yeah, that's right. No, there
Lina Breik: is. There's a formal credentialing, which dietitians can actually be credentialed to remove and insert feeding tubes.
Chris Hughes: Yeah. But you
Lina Breik: need to be linked in to a big organization that you've got a doctor at arm's length away. Oh. and got that insurance protection as a private practitioner.
I would never delve into that aspect as a dietitian unless I've got a nursing degree, which I don't unfortunately. So [00:14:00] really in terms of tube care as a private dietitian, you can link them to a nursing service that does the tube care
Chris Hughes: and there's
Lina Breik: heaps out there.
Chris Hughes: And that would would've been a big part of your growth was your networking.
So you were saying that you had more time to connect with private gastroenterologists and the, I imagine the nursing Yes. Organizations. Yeah. So you've just, before we, we come on live, you were telling me something pretty cool that I feel like you've been hiding from me in our LinkedIn life, but I've may, maybe I've just missed the post.
But you
Lina Breik: feel
Chris Hughes: betrayed. I feel betrayed. You're living in Singapore.
Lina Breik: Yeah. Yeah. So I've been living in Singapore for two years now, or just a little bit under cause my husband's work moved here July, 2022. And it's a two year contract. So we're making the move back to Melbourne this year, second half of this year.
But yes, doing, moving to Singapore really forced me to think about business. I am no longer [00:15:00] on the ground in Melbourne. So how do I make my business? It's manageable for someone external to just come in and understand the processes without me
Chris Hughes: sitting
Lina Breik: with, sitting down with them. Like the business has to be, what's a fun, fancy word for it.
I don't know. Business has to be
Chris Hughes: systemized.
Lina Breik: Yeah. It's systemized, optimized to the extent that someone, a contractor dietitian can jump in and I can tell her, these are the seven home visits I need you to do today. And here's the clinical notes. And so I really had to think about all that nitty gritty stuff while being in Singapore here around that business management, even things like financial management.
I don't understand GST. I don't understand sole trade of this company and what difference that makes for my tax. So I, and what living in Singapore does to my tax as well [00:16:00] while operating a business in Australia. So I've had to get an accountant on board to teach me how What my legal responsibilities are from that financial perspective.
Yeah. It's been a massive learning curve. That's yeah. That's shocked me,
Chris Hughes: but learning curve, you're enjoying that by the sound of it. Like you
Lina Breik: absolutely. So because I've got that 12 years of clinical experience in enteral nutrition through my hospital work, I've been fortunate enough to really be able to get them to the business.
side of tube dietitian, because I know the clinical stuff with my eyes closed. I can understand, I can imagine it would be so much harder to all our brilliant new grads out there that are trying to open a business and also solidify their clinical skills. So understanding the business and the clinical, that's a massive challenge.
So if you're someone in that situation, please Reach out to a business coach.
Chris Hughes: Yeah. I agree. I do. [00:17:00] I, I think the universities are doing a lot better now, but obviously when we went through the university was certainly very hospital centric, I posted it on LinkedIn the other day, but yeah, they're certainly coming on board with a lot more of that sort of business skills and certainly social media because it's such a big part of our space.
But I certainly relate to what you're saying, because that first part of your career, where you're just trying to absorb as much clinical information as you can, the business information just evolves at a rapid rate now, like trying to keep up with it is, it's awesome, but it's challenging. Yeah. Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Alex Hulmosy, but Alex Hulmosy is a personal trainer.
Yeah. Yeah. Millionaire billionaire probably by now, but one of his famous quotes is the riches are in the niches. You're yeah. I don't know of any other tube dieticians out there that would I
Lina Breik: be right? Yeah. It's extremely niche that I'm only choosing to focus on this client group [00:18:00] a it's my passion. I love them.
It's my PhD topic. So I'm literally living and breathing, feeding tube nutrition care.
Chris Hughes: Yeah.
Lina Breik: And. It's my passion. It's my expertise. It's my comfort zone and my husband. I remember when I, yeah, when I was doing my Squarespace website back in the four years ago, he was like, do you really only focus on tube feeding?
Like, dieticians can do so much. He's not a dietician, but he's like, and I said to him, no, I, this is my comfort zone. And it's, yeah, I don't, if you gave me someone with celiac, newly diagnosed celiac disease, I'd know nothing. I freak out. And you gave me someone with type one diabetes, no way. I'd be like, I don't know what, if they've got a feeding tube, I can deal with it without a thing.
Chris Hughes: So wait until celiac disease deteriorates to the point where they might need a tube. Oh,
Lina Breik: I
Chris Hughes: know. I'm
Lina Breik: sorry. Hopefully that'll never happen to us. If it does, a feeding [00:19:00] tube isn't really not the end of the world. It's actually, I, One of my clients is a marathon runner with a feeding tube. One of them's an international speaker with a feeding tube.
One's a professor with a feeding tube. Feeding tubes are not the end of the world, but that's another
Chris Hughes: discussion. Just on that, just quickly, that's what I love about your content is you normalize it for people. And me as a dietitian who was scared of the whole thing, like you just, you make it sound so normal and people just get it live.
So carry on. I just wanted to add that about your approach. It's fantastic.
Lina Breik: And that's it, Chris. One of the other services I do give, I do provide for tube dietitians. I've done a lot over the last four years. It's actually running live training sessions for community based dietitians to take on home tube fed clients.
So I don't do one on one formalized Training to introduce that as a service and I'm working on it now, but I have been offering home enteral nutrition, live training sessions for [00:20:00] community dietitians and also NDIS carers and support carers. And I love doing them live because I get to really meet the groups of community based dietitians and hear their worries.
And a lot of them say they're scared of feeding tubes. And this is exactly my point. Don't be, it's just a plastic esophagus. It's exactly what we've all got. It's just a plastic esophagus outside of the body. And I really want to empower. If you're a community dietitian that is, has your new, has a very, has your very first home tube for client, please don't be scared.
It's so easy. Reach out to me or do the dietitians Australia. Home enteral nutrition online course, I developed it alongside two other colleagues and nurse and another dietitian and we developed it for a reason. It's aimed at removing the fear from feeding tubes.
Chris Hughes: You can
Lina Breik: do it.
Chris Hughes: That [00:21:00] would have been an amazing service when we had our business because they don't come up enough for you to become clinical skilled at it.
But like having that, that sound board, yeah, that's right. You've also written a book. Now, the thing I love about this, it's called your tube and then you, it's targeted at adults. Am I correct? Yeah. Yeah. The thing I love about this is that. I love it. You're not writing that book to become an Amazon bestseller, you know, because again, maybe the richest super niche.
Yeah. But, but the thing I love about that is you've written a book. Cause it's really about helping your clients. It's, it's, yeah. And so you and I talked on LinkedIn about this as I've actually written a book myself and like friends that would joke about me about, is it going to be a bestseller? And it's actually not about that.
It's about Having an extension of your console, being able to help because you can't give them everything there and then a book is great for the people that like books. It's that [00:22:00] self paced that they can learn. So I love that. Tell me about that process. Was that an effort?
Lina Breik: That was longer than it took to grow a child.
So 11 months, not nine months. So it's definitely longer than human gestational periods. So it started off with, I'm going to create PDFs, PDF infographics, and put them on my website that look pretty because all current. Home tube feeding information looks so clinical and with IV pulse and gloves, and I just want home tube feeding information to not look so clinical.
And then when I was creating these PDFs, I'm like, why don't I just put them all in a booklet? And then I'm like a booklet. Booklets are A4. I don't know. I was like, they're not portable. Why don't I make it into a teeny a five portable book with a, a cover. So the, the person, the [00:23:00] artist behind the cover of my book is actually a tube fed artist herself.
She lives in Queensland. Oh. And she's awesome. And she's got brilliant art and, and is so passionate about mixing medicine and art together. So she drew the cover for me and I was like, A book is something. People trust it's our trusted companion when we travel, when we sit at the beach, when we're sitting outside on our balcony, human.
And that's what home tube feeding is. It's human. It's putting the home in feeding tubes. And so if you read my book, it pretty much, you're going to feel like I'm, it's me talking. And I remember when I got it professionally edited, I said to the copy editor, please don't change the vibe. It's a chaotic vibe, but I want it to sound like me.
I think it matters. People sense that genuinity and they sense that authenticity. So yes, it took 11 months to write. I got my husband to proofread it. And then Melanie Dimmitt, who's. A brilliant journalist and copywriter and a mother of a tube fed child. And she's amazing. [00:24:00] Check her out. She does a lot of work in the tubie world.
And then I also got it professionally. Copy righted and typeset and all that sort of stuff. A lot of work went into it and it's really the bottom line is literally one of the sections is do you want a button tube or a dangler? And what does that mean? A button, it's not going to get stuck into things as you're moving around, um, because it looks like a button on your abdomen.
The catch is you're going to need an extension tube. So you're going to have to carry an extra tube around with you to attach to it for your mealtimes. But if you get a dangler, you won't have to pay for that extension tube. And there's a belt you can wear to tuck it in, or you can tuck it in your pocket.
That's literally the stuff that's in the book. And so many people have said to me, I don't know I can get a button. I'd love a button for my tube to be less visible for me to be able to swim. I didn't even, I didn't know that I had that option.
Chris Hughes: But you do. Have you had much take up at hospitals and with doctors at [00:25:00] the book?
Like when did you release it?
Lina Breik: So I released it November last year. What are we now? We're in May. So I had to release it November last year. I've had community health centers that are linked to hospital to community health centers. Say to me, can we just purchase 30 copies for our clients that go home and feeding tubes?
Both are not actually based in Victoria. So they're based in Australia, but not in Victoria. So it's pretty cool to see that it's gotten out there a little bit. Further, I've had lots of dietitians, community dietitians purchase copies for them and their teams. As you say, community private practice dietitians don't always see home tube fed clients.
So sometimes reading consumer information. It really does take out the fear.
Chris Hughes: I agree with that, yeah.
Lina Breik: Yeah, and yeah, so it's mainly been community centres and private practice dieticians. Hospital dieticians know this stuff. Some of them have bought a few copies to give to their clients going home. But I really also want to get into the universities.
I want the [00:26:00] universities to also embrace material like this to teach their students about other ways you can support clients. It's not all online information sheets. There's books that dietitians like you and I have written. Aimed at the clients that I think, yeah, need a lot more attraction.
Chris Hughes: Yeah, I agree.
I actually, I put together a little bit of a, an online course cause weight loss was our sort of area of chronic disease and I put together some simple modules to understand and then new grads that would work for us. I've got them to go through that just because it was. Explained simply like, and if you can understand that, then you can start to educate and do it.
And it's stuff that they know. Obviously at uni you cram so much in and then it's on the job training. So yeah, I think that's a great idea for the universities to get on board. I know that we do have some university lecturers that listen to this who may, may be.
Lina Breik: Hello.
Chris Hughes: I won't mention their [00:27:00] name, but anyway, I'll certainly be dropping the link to that particular.
Now tell me, sorry, we've taken a sidetrack because there's so many things we could talk about, but the business side of it, okay, what are the key things? Okay, let's come up with maybe three key things that have grown your business that you put down as the key drivers that have seen the growth. Now, now a side note to that is I think Lina Breik is actually one of the big drivers.
I think your personality is quite, you know, a lot of people that obviously. Have worked with you for a long time, would have a fair amount of trust in you, no doubt. But what are the other drivers that someone else starting out could replicate, you think, that would drive the business, drive their business?
Lina Breik: I would definitely say speaking. Look, let's face it. The only person that's going to talk about your amazing achievements is your mum, but your mum's not on social media. So you need to do it yourself. Okay, so my message to [00:28:00] anybody starting out, even if it's not You don't have the client success stories yet.
You don't have the big, I don't know, fancy clinic yet. Talk about your passions, talk about your thoughts, be authentic and say, this is how I would approach someone who's come to me after years of not having successful weight loss management, for example, and this is, and post your thoughts. People buy from people refer to people.
So build your personal brand. I know this is the 2024 thing, personal branding, but it is so important in nutrition and dietetics. And I believe it's the reason our profession is dietitians. We're not up there in the nutrition world. We're not the experts that people think of when they think of nutrition.
And I think that's our fault. We're so used to being backseat drivers. We're so used to being. Ask for permission and we're very polite. I
Chris Hughes: agree [00:29:00] with that so wholeheartedly because we like the whole testimonial thing is a topical area for dieticians and I do agree that You know, we shouldn't do testimonials, but it's the most powerful form of marketing is proof, like community proof.
Um, and yet as a registered profession, we're not allowed to do it. And I talked to so many dietitians who say, I wish we could just do it. And like, it's another debate in itself, but I think it makes us a little bit apprehensive in the social media space. We're not wanting to breach the guidelines, and we're not wanting to be seen as too salesy because, yeah.
That was actually a question I was thinking of before for you was how do you, well, I'm thinking of my own background, like as a health professional, we're typically not good at charging for the services that we've given away in the hospital, or there's that whole mentorship required to promote yourself and charge for that service.
Yeah. So, yeah, no, I totally agree.
Lina Breik: And so, [00:30:00] yeah, I still struggle with that sometimes till now because, yes, after 12 years of working, slaving for the government public hospitals, where, yeah, our raises, the rate, the salary raises you get in those settings are like 3 percent every three years or something ridiculous like that.
So, yes, we're very much not used to saying I am worth it. But the catch is anybody, no one's going to know about your thoughts, your passions, your expertise, what online course you've just done to further your skills, what dietitian you've just networked with at a conference that's changed your perspective on client care.
These sorts of stories build your brand. They strengthen who you are. And therefore people start to trust you more. I, if I've got an eating disorder referral, I'm I definitely don't take them on because I'm scared of eating disorders. And I honestly look for dietitians on LinkedIn who talk about eating disorders and I suss them out.
I click on their website and I see [00:31:00] how clean does your website look? What are you thinking on your LinkedIn posts? Are you patient focused, person focused? Are you, Organized. I, yeah, and these are the things I look for and then I email them and I say, Hey, I've got a referral for you. Or when I get pediatric referrals, I do the same thing.
I look for dietitians who are, who have a clean website, who are active on social media and are passionate and I refer to them. You need to start speaking. Not about yourself, just about your passions, about your expertise, about, yeah, who your network, what kind of effort are you putting in to really level up your skills and your service to the clients that will potentially be referred to you?
I have recently bought an online Cause by Justin Welsh. He's not a dietitian. He's an American dude in the tech world, but he's got an online course called the linked in the content operating system for 99 us dollars. [00:32:00] Where he taught me in 22 lessons. How to write LinkedIn posts and not sound salesy. And that's how I structure a lot of my content based on his work.
Chris Hughes: They are also unique. Your posts because
Lina Breik: he taught me how to not sound salesy, but to actually just sound human. And share. So then there's actually a system to it. I promise. And you can learn it. Anyone can learn it.
Chris Hughes: Right. I like to look into that. We've got to just go that
Lina Breik: extra
Chris Hughes: break.
Lina Breik: No, so I learned how to systemize my posting in my personal branding and tell people what I can do for the clients.
They refer me to through that sort of structure through Justin's structure. It might not work.
Chris Hughes: Do you batch all your posts? Do you do a lot of your content in batches and then schedule? Yeah,
Lina Breik: so I've got a system where I, it's in my calendar where on a Monday, he calls it, you know, you've got a [00:33:00] system. Your post says educate me, emphasize with me, communicate with me.
So, and so I've got like a Monday, I'm going to put up an education. On Tuesday, I'm going to put up a personal story to incite empathy and let them know who I am. On Wednesday, I'm going to do a contrarian story. So. Where a dietitian might think I can't take a feeding tube or someone who's tube fed because I'm not credentialed by a hospital.
Actually, that's not true. And then this is so you'll see some that some of my posts have particular systems to them. And I learned those systems from him. So the internet is so powerful. Anything you want to learn is out there. So if you're struggling with marketing your business, Look into what others have done in the non health world and take, do some courses and spend some time and learn how to write, to incite inspiration and influence, and therefore draw people to your business.
A lot [00:34:00] of my, it's probably easy, a little bit easier for my niche. Cause a lot of my clients are really on LinkedIn because they're dietitians that refer their people to me. I am not, I'm not appealing to the actual, like some consumers, with a feeding tube are on LinkedIn, and I've been contacted by them, but a lot of my referral sources is dietitians and doctors.
Chris Hughes: Yeah. Yeah.
Lina Breik: So that makes it a bit easier for me because you're talking to
Chris Hughes: your people.
Lina Breik: Yeah.
Chris Hughes: Yeah.
Lina Breik: Probably the other thing that's really grown My business is having a monthly, having a product that people can rely on. So I've got a monthly newsletter. That's obviously free. It's called pump. And every month I it's lands in your inbox with three takeaway messages about home tube feeding three.
That's it. Cause that's how my brain thinks it's in threes. And I've been doing it for 26 months cause we've just released our 26th issue [00:35:00] and it's and people I've got 823 subscribers. That's, that's a ridiculous amount for a teeny niche and I've got a 50 percent open rate, which means and in terms of the click rate, a 10.
7 click rate, which is also pretty higher than average for the health industry,
Chris Hughes: but that's huge, isn't it? Because just to you pull me up from wrong, the open rate can be, can be misleading because some of the email clients. Yeah. Outlook or whatever may open it to assess it. It's the click, it's the click rate that matters.
It's the click
Lina Breik: rate that matters.
Chris Hughes: Yeah. Yeah. And so I've got a
Lina Breik: 10. 7 click rate when the average in the healthcare world is around two to 4%.
Chris Hughes: So. Can you track how much business is coming from that? Like, is it, is there a way of knowing, like other people telling you? You
Lina Breik: know what? I [00:36:00] know that dietician, there's, I know that dieticians are signing up to pump.
And I know that I'm getting referrals from these dietitians. So through pump, I'm building a relationship with my subscribers. I'm building trust. I'm telling them that every month I'm going to be here and every month I'm going to, I'm going to teach you something I've learned about home tube feeding.
You're I'm building trust. I'm building credibility. I'm building relationships. Some of them email me back and go, Oh my God, love this story. that you've posted. So I do get feedback and obviously the click rate percentage gives me good indication that people are clicking the links I put in my newsletter and they're interested.
That means I'm meeting their standard. So I think having some kind of a product, you're giving your people for free. A product of value really keeps them coming and keeps that flow into your business, whether it's [00:37:00] a podcast like you, that's a brilliant product. And I've thought of that before. A podcast is a product.
A newsletter is a product. What else is a product? An online magazine that you want to release quarterly like Dietitian Connection does.
Chris Hughes: Recipe ebook is what we've Oh,
Lina Breik: re .
Chris Hughes: Oh, I'm giving a recipe, a plug for meals. We've just created a recipe ebook that clients can generate themselves, so,
Lina Breik: yeah.
Chris Hughes: Yeah. So for
Lina Breik: free.
Yeah. So that's awesome. Yeah. So having a free service, you've gotta figure out what your niche wants, having a free service. You know what? I've just had a blind deaf tube feeder from the USA. Her name is Jennifer Hawkins. She emailed me through a Google search, found my website, and she said, can you write a blog post about me?
Because I want to tell people about the struggles I have as a deaf person. Blind tube feeder. And I just released that yesterday in my newsletter and in my blog [00:38:00] posts. And I was just in goosebumps when I read her stories. You're going to love it. Please jump on my blog posts and read about Jennifer Hawkins.
But you know what she said to me, Chris? She said to me, I told her, have you subscribed to my newsletter? Cause I'm going to release your story. And she said, no, I haven't. Is your newsletter, does it have alt text? Is it friendly for the blind and I, and you know what, I'm ashamed to say, no, it doesn't have alt text for the pictures I've got there.
And so next month I'm going to make sure I change to pump to actually include that sort of, that sort of flexibility of alt text for people who are deaf blind.
Chris Hughes: Yeah, that's, it's really important. Sorry, Lina, just to touch on that. Obviously, for people who are vision impaired, but the algorithm also. We'll push your content further if you've got that alt text as well.
Yeah, it's a great idea. And it's something that quite often I overlook if I'm in a rush getting something up as well, but yeah.
Lina Breik: Yeah. So it's interesting, but [00:39:00] the bottom line is I know Pump is getting out there cause it's landing on people's Google pages. It's on my website, but the stories I'm putting on are either people's stories or sorry, my blog page as well is linked to my newsletter.
So a lot of my blog posts then go into the newsletter. So it's all interconnected, but I know that they're getting noticed through the click rate through emails. I'm getting ideas for improvement feedback, and that's really built. My brand and getting dietitians to refer their clients to me and getting clients referring themselves to me.
So give a free product. Think of a product you're really good at. I would not be good at podcasts like you. I think I'd be stressing every podcast, but a newsletter I can do to think of a product you're good at that will take minimal effort from your end because you're passionate about it and offer it for free to draw your referrals in.
Chris Hughes: Yeah, I love that. That's great advice. All right. Well, I'm sorry, Lina, [00:40:00] we can cut this bit out. Yeah. Anything more you want to say about what grew your business? Otherwise, because what I'll do here is just ask you like three key lessons to finish off with, and then we can talk about like the 3, 000 at a conference kind of thing.
Lina Breik: I reckon the only other thing I want to hone in on is a
Chris Hughes: business coach. But with that, let's do that. Let's do that. Okay. So, are there any other main factors that you think really help blow up your business or you see that are really helping to grow to get where you want to be?
Lina Breik: Yeah, the other thing I would say, so yes, social media, marketing, thinking of a product you give for free to your referrers, and number three, a business coach.
Yes. Some are super expensive and some are reasonable. Think about if you're a new graduate or a seasoned clinician like I am, I do believe getting a business coach. Early, it took me three and a half [00:41:00] years and I regret that I think a business coach, now that I'm doing, I'm working with a business coach monthly.
Oh, my gosh, it's just incredible. The amount of information she's taught me around how to manage my money, how to detach from admin services and delegate to another person. And I know what I'm saying sounds like things that. You can pick up in a blog post, but then not you need accountability. You need someone that you can refer back to every month and go, okay, so I kind of got derailed and you need some, you need that accountability buddy, just like you would in a fitness program, you do it, you need it in business as well.
Now my business coach is not a dietitian. But if you're a new graduate, I would recommend signing up with a dietitian who's also got a business coach under their belt. If you're a seasoned clinician, you could probably, for me, I found that I'm benefiting quite a bit from a non dietitian business coach.
[00:42:00] But yes, please do not underestimate the power of someone completely fresh eyed looking into your idea. Um, your website, your, the way you handle your money and you had to do it differently.
Chris Hughes: I agree with that. Like a hundred percent. Like anything in our business that, that sort of shifted us in a positive direction come from being in a business program or a business coach, because I think when you look at the cold face, you can't think outside the box.
And if someone's looking at it through a different lens and particularly, like you said, having, having a, a non dietitian, given that you've got the years of clinical experience, having a non dietitian can just give you ideas that. I think as dietitians, we're probably, we pigeonhole ourselves a little bit.
Yeah. Like we don't want to think out of the box in case we stick our head up too far, if you know what I mean. Yeah. Whereas, yeah, some fresh ideas where someone will throw at you and go, why don't you do this? Yeah. Like it's, it's such an important facet of our life. Our [00:43:00] business is where we spend a third of our life.
It generates our income, gives us a lifestyle we want. Yet so many of us, This was me previously. So many of us wouldn't invest in an expert in the area. Yeah. Anything else that we go to university to learn, we got a doctor to seek expertise, but why wouldn't you do it with a business coach? It is the best investment we've ever made hands down.
So I'm glad you said that. That's great.
Lina Breik: Yeah. I'm really finding that it's elevating my thinking. It might not be throwing, might not be bringing in 50 new clients and blah, blah, blah, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for someone to elevate. My thinking, because that's,
Chris Hughes: yeah, we get away to a business conference three to four times a year as part of a business group.
We've been in there for 8 years and it's the thinking like my head goes away from the conference overwhelmed. There's no way in hell I could actually, we could implement everything that we've just learned about conference. It's impossible, but it's the thinking. It's the time out of the business that you [00:44:00] would never spend thinking about your business.
Yeah, absolutely. You're paying for the thinking. I love that. Yeah. SeLina, just to close off, I've got, if you can, three of your biggest learnings. Okay. So if you're talking to someone just starting out in the nutrition space today, what are the three pearls of wisdom you could share with them that mistakes that you've made or things that you would do differently that you could share with them that would help them moving forward?
Lina Breik: Yeah, number one, I'd probably say invest in a clinical in a clinics management software. So that's like an electronic medical record where all your patient information goes into. I've been using the first three years of TD. I've been using Google workspace and it's HIPAA approved and all that legal stuff is fine.
But it's, it was a bunch of folders per patient and then PDFs and an Excel spreadsheet. And that just has stopped [00:45:00] working for me three years in and it is not sustainable. So I've now, I'm going, I'm paying the monthly fee and I've got a clinic management software. That can generate a graph for me of my client's age in like a button.
It can pull out information on when was the last time I saw X, Y, Z person. It can do all this stuff, which is so valuable to understanding how I can do things better. Having everything in PDF folders is not sustainable and not a way to be able to assess the efficiency of your business. So yes, I'm looking forward to the next four years where I'll be able to do that with my clinic management software.
Probably the second thing I would say is, we've already honed in on, get a business coach. Within the first six months of starting, like I know not everyone will have the money for that. Especially if you're a new graduate wanting to start your own gig. Set yourself a goal that within the first six to twelve months of starting your private practice, you're going to invest [00:46:00] in a business coach.
I promise you it will be highly valuable long term. for that. And probably the third thing I would say is I learned this the hard way. Think about where you're putting your money. So think of your business money as your business money, not your personal money. So get a new bank account for your business and think really hard before you invest in things that are short term.
Like, for example, I very early on in my business, I spent 3k On a marketing opportunity, which I reckon three, those three K could have gone to three months of business coaching, and that would have done me a hell a lot more than the three K opportunity to sponsor a marketing event. So, yeah, just early on, really think about investing in your thinking and your knowledge.
Um, yeah, that's, those are probably my three things.
Chris Hughes: I [00:47:00] love that. I love that. Yeah. So investing in your knowledge, knowing in money, getting a business coach and some clinical software. Pearls of wisdom, Lina, I could talk to you forever. Our relationship will have to continue on LinkedIn for now though, because we've been talking for a while.
So thank you so much. For giving up your valuable time, Lynn, and maybe one of those dietitians out there that need to tap into your resources soon enough, there will be a consultancy service coming, but there's the PD training and everything that you offer. Yeah. How can people get in touch with you outside of LinkedIn or would you just prefer LinkedIn if we put that in our show notes for, for listens?
Lina Breik: Yeah, LinkedIn is good, but also just TubeDietitian. com and you've got my email there and my number there. You can call me directly or just email me, but yeah, I'm very happy to be contacted on LinkedIn because I like to suss out who's contacting me as well. So your LinkedIn profile, keep it top shape because the world now cares.
When I get approached by, [00:48:00] when I get approached by students to come and do placement, like at the moment, I've got two private practice students doing placement with me. They're actually out on home visits with one of my dietitians as we speak, but I look at their profile. If I get approached by a student, I jump on LinkedIn and I look at their profile and I see how much do they care about themselves because the way you treat others and the way you treat yourself translates to the way you treat others.
So if you elevate, think positively, are organized for yourself, then that's how you will treat others. So, yes, LinkedIn is a great hub. I love it. And I'm a massive advocates advocate to getting dietitians on there. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Hughes: I agree. I think it's a, it's a great platform. And I think it's certainly like in that professional space.
It's great to get to know your fellow colleagues. Yeah. A hundred percent agree there. And also I'll, I'll throw in there. We'll put in the ability for people to subscribe to pump. [00:49:00]
Lina Breik: Yes, I'll send that to you now. Yeah, I'll send you the
Chris Hughes: book. Fantastic. Alright, I appreciate the time, Lina. Thank you very much.
Thanks
Lina Breik: so much for your time, Chris. Thank you.
Chris Hughes: Do you find this podcast valuable? There may be other nutrition professionals out there will also. If you like, share and subscribe, it's going to help other nutrition professionals make an impact on the world, just like you. Thanks.
