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Marketing
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Marketing
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Written by Deborah Tukua
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Wednesday, 29 February 2012 16:54 |
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C hances are you learned early on in your practice how effective patient referrals and testimonials are in bringing new chiropractic patients into your office. Marketing reports state that 90% of people believe and are influenced by the recommendations of people they know. 70% of people act on comments and reviews they read online. The evidence is clear; consumers do listen to the personal experiences and recommendations of others. It’s no wonder Amazon and other companies pester us for review comments after we’ve made a purchase online. If it didn’t have a positive marketing impact, they wouldn’t bother.
 Are your patients spreading the word of wellness inside and outside your office? How are you capturing those heart-felt endorsements and utilizing them to resound again and again? Like a concert hall with great acoustics, you can make your patients’ voices resonate the beautiful message of wellness with chiropractic care to the community you serve.
How Patient Testimonials Fuel a Cash Practice
In this economy, running a successful 100% cash practice in a big city with so much competition is no small feat. Dr. Stephanie Maj explains how she runs a successful cash practice in Chicago. “In a cash practice, relationships are the fuel that propels growth. People pay out of their pocket because they know they are in a place they can heal. How do they know that? Patient referrals attract people to our clinic. This is a big reason why the use of testimonials is so important. It teaches patients how to tell their chiropractic story. I practice in a large city with constant streams of advertising trying to capture consumers. People want to have some idea they can trust their choices. Again, testimonials help assure a new patient that they are in the right place. It educates both new and existing patients to other conditions we help people with in our office, especially non-musculoskeletal issues such as pregnancy and pediatrics.”
Catching and Releasing Patient Testimonials In-Office
Dr. Stephanie Maj told us how vital patient testimonials are in running her cash chiropractic practice in Chicago. So, I asked her to further explain how she captures and utilizes them. Her effective, practical methods follow.
Patient of the Month- “We ask one of our ideal patients to be our patient of the month. That person’s photo and patient testimonial is hung in the reception room and announced in our newsletter.”
Testimonial Wall and Contest- “We have a wall of patient testimonials hung in our examination room, for new patients to read while waiting for the doctor. Twice a year we have a contest where we ask patients to write testimonials. We put them up in the office. All the patients get to vote on them; the winner gets a prize and we get people reading about how great we are and we also get a fresh crop of testimonials to use.”
(Dr. Maj has been in practice as a DC for more than 15 years. She is the author of the book You Can Be Well and owner of Community Chiropractic, Inc. in Chicago. In addition to having 2 full-time DCs on staff, the practice offers specialties in pregnancy and pediatric, massage, acupuncture, orthotics, weight loss and nutrition and yes, it all runs on a cash basis.)
Catching and Releasing Patient Testimonials: in Binders, on Video, Power Point, and Live Presentations
 The waiting room is the ideal place to put patient testimonials to work in a variety of ways.
Keep patient testimonial forms on hand for grateful patients to write their story or comments and return to your staff. Place testimonials in page protectors and compile in a binder for new patients to pick up and read. Or, post on a bulletin board.
Videos are a wonderfully quick way to convey chiropractic success! Turn off the TV and use that large screen to advance your practice. Record patient testimonials and play the videos in the waiting room. In addition to showing these in your office, post patient testimonial videos or links to your website, Facebook page and Twitter. If you aren’t video savvy, contact the nearest college to solicit student assistance with your filming projects.
In the following testimonial video, an actual patient tells her remarkable account of going from wheelchair to skates in a week, after receiving chiropractic care from Dr. Frank Kaden, of Kaden Chiropractic in Hermosa Beach, CA. This video clearly demonstrates the potential patient testimonials can have in influencing others to seek chiropractic care. Watch Dr. Kaden’s video to inspire you to start recording your own. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1284410116941.
Power Point Presentations are yet another way to utilize the big screen as a chiropractic tool. Type patient testimonials and compose a PowerPoint presentation. Display in the waiting room, for everyone to watch.
Live Testimonials. If you offer community classes, screenings, or in-office workshops, invite a patient to give a brief, live testimonial to the collective group of prospective new patients, telling how chiropractic has improved his or her health and quality of life.
In this article, we’ve looked primarily at utilizing patient testimonials within the office environment. However, testimonials can greatly assist in marketing your chiropractic business outside the office as well. We’ll share those methods in a future issue. In the meantime, stay tuned and start collecting patient testimonials. If you’ve found innovative ways to use patient testimonials in marketing, I’d love to read your ideas.
Deborah Tukua is an author, natural health and chiropractic writer, and owner of Chiropractors’ Write Hand, a service specializing in aligning DCs with weekly, healthy-living posts for Facebook and other social media platforms, www.chiropractorswritehand.com. Deborah may also be contacted at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or www.facebook.com/Chiropractorswritehand
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Marketing
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Written by Joe Kellogg
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Wednesday, 29 February 2012 14:56 |
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S ocial media has taken over our lives. A company website used to be enough to increase awareness, build a customer base, and deliver your message- those days are long gone. With social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ available today, it would be a tragedy not to take advantage of this seemingly unconventional method of marketing. Customers today want to be able to connect with you in a variety of ways, to see you’re active across multiple platforms, and get real reviews of your services from friends and other social media users. The chiropractic business is no exception. Choosing to implement social media marketing will give your business the edge it needs to compete in a generation of “friends, followers, and circles.” Five easy steps your Chiropractic business can take to improve its social media marketing will make it so that you can start reaping the benefits social marketing can offer today.
Step 1: Setup & customize Facebook
 Setting up and customizing a Facebook page for your chiropractic business is incredibly simple, and it’s a great way to interact with your patients. Facebook is all about “friends” and “Likes.” As a business, you want Facebook users to “like” your page, which allows you to communicate with them directly. Information you post on your page is relayed to those people who have Liked you, and thus an easy information exchange occurs. Your presence within the Facebook community expands further because users who have already Liked your page can easily share information about your business with all of their Facebook friends.
Facebook is a versatile tool for businesses because of the ease with which multiple layers of Facebook can be created. Multiple layers refers to additional information beyond the normal details of your business, such as address, hours, services offers, etc. Fan-gating and the integration of a shopping page are two examples of added Facebook layers. Fan-gating refers to the practice of allowing certain information, often promotions, to be visible only to users who have Liked your page. This encourages more Likes for your page, while simultaneously creating interest in your business. It is also important to ensure your Facebook and website to have a consistent theme/design and overall message. This creates a sense of unity for your customer base and adds a degree of professionalism to your Facebook account. Be sure all of your information across the various social media platforms, including your website, is consistent.
Step 2: Setup & customize Twitter
 Twitter is another social media platform that has become incredibly popular in the past few years. Setting up a Twitter account is even more simplistic than setting up your Facebook account. The difference between these two platforms is the way you share information. When using Twitter, you are quickly sharing small snippets of information with your followers multiple times per day. These small snippets are due to the restrictions of the Twitter platform, which allow you only 140 characters to relay your message. It is possible to Tweet- the term used to describe a post on Twitter-as many times per day as you desire. With Twitter, you want to accumulate followers, just as you want to increase Likes on Facebook. To make your Twitter page stand out, it is important to have a custom themed background. This should be similar to the theme used for your website and other social media platforms. Be sure to include your standard business information, including phone number, website, and email address.
Step 3: Setup & customize Google+
 Google+ is a newer social media platform that is already “making waves in the industry.” . Google+ is based on the accumulation of “friends,” similar to Facebook; however you can then group friends into Circles which control what information you share with certain people. Google +1 is a feature available on Google, similar to the Facebook Like button that allows customers to give you their seal of approval. You want to increase the number of +1 clicks you get to expand your business’ presence on this platform. The likeness between these two platforms allows Google+ to be as competitive as Facebook, making it an important social media platform for your chiropractic business. As with all other social media platforms, it is important to customize your Google+ account and include your business’ standard information.
Step 4: Auto post to Facebook and Twitter from blog
 If your business has a blog, and it should, link your blog to your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that every time you publish a new blog post, it will automatically be added to your Facebook and Twitter pages. This is a quick and easy way to increase connectivity between your social media outlets.
Step 5: Add social media links and Google+ to website
 After you have set up all of your social media accounts, it is important to add links to these accounts on your company website. It is always important to show customers that you have a following on social media sites, are responsive to your followers, and care about being involved in their lives. The key to successful social media marketing is having a strong presence on a variety of platforms, keeping your information updated, and constantly interacting with your followers.
Joseph Kellogg is the CEO of Chiropractic Marketing 360, a web design and internet marketing firm geared towards helping chiropractic businesses grow. Mr. Kellogg has been in the business marketing world for over 27 years and is a co-founder of Madwire Media, a finalist for Colorado’s Business of the Year 2011 award. 855-773-8169
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.chiropracticmarketing360.com
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Marketing
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Written by David Singer, D.C.
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Sunday, 25 September 2011 22:33 |
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W e all recognize the importance of good patient adjusting skills, but if there was one skill that could fill your practice with high quality new patients it would be public speaking. I believe anyone can double their practice and earn a minimum of $2000 more per week by doing lectures in their office and in their community.
Most people do not realize how many groups, clubs, churches, small businesses and large businesses in their communities are available to lecture at.
The keys to a successful lecture are:
 1. Introducing yourself as an authority on a topic. For example, you could say “I consider myself an authority on (stress, arthritis, fibromyalgia, low back pain, or whatever the topic is) because of the number of people I have helped with this problem and amount of study I have done.” The main idea is to introduce yourself as an authority.
2. The second thing you must do at a lecture is survey the audience to find out their symptoms and problems so they recognize they do have problems and need your help.
3. Then you deliver your talk on the topic, explaining how you can help their problems with your methods.
4. Finally, you need to end the talk by inviting them to come to your clinic to see if you can help them.
There is a lot of controversy about what is legal regarding signing up new patients for a free service. When I lecture, I invite the audience free of charge to come and meet with me so I can get to know them and they can get to know me and the methods I use. I suggest not offering free examinations but rather a chance to get to know each other. If they feel you could help them, they will want speak with you at your office.
An entire book could be written on how to schedule and conduct lectures. This article is an introduction to a subject that has helped more chiropractors get more new patients than any other method.
Dr. Singer, chosen 3 times as Chiropractor of the Year by our profession, has appeared twice on the Inc 500 and has trained 1000 chiropractors per year for 30 of his 40 years in practice. For further information call 1-800-326-1797.
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Marketing
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Written by Chris Plueger
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Sunday, 25 September 2011 21:49 |
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T hese days it seems like every business wants to be #1 on Google! Being at the top of Google, along with other search engines like Bing or Yahoo is definitely an important part of competing with other businesses and directing people to your website and ultimately your practice; however, there are more and more creative ways of doing this outside of just focusing on your ranking for “chiropractor in your city” or a basic phrase like that.
SEO (search engine optimization) used to be the “golden ticket” for getting more traffic to your website. Placing high in search engines was the most popular way to drive more business online. This is still an important part of web marketing, but smart business owners are starting to expand into other aspects of the web and are finding that they can generate higher numbers of patients when they spread their marketing among several types of sites, not just focusing on that Google ranking! There are additional ways to build an online audience that should not be overlooked. You will gain even more new patients by being seen on a variety of websites.
Go Social!
People are spending a large majority of their time online on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You may be surprised how many people are looking to these sources for health information. They trust people they know, and therefore look to their friends or colleagues to make recommendations when seeking a practitioner. Any time a patient comments about you through social networking, it’s like a silent recommendation for your services to everyone your patient is connected to. This is the best way to get referrals without putting pressure on your patients!
Find More New Patients (and Help Them Find You!) on Facebook
Facebook has quickly become one of the fastest growing online marketing tools for businesses. There are over 750 million active users on facebook. On average, each user connects to 130 friends. Facebook is a great resource for keeping up your small business brand. It’s important to stay in character and to stay in business mode while spreading information about your practice.
Even on facebook, it is important to make sure to continue to brand your business. Send a clear message with every status update, photo upload, and conversation piece about your practice. For example, a client of ChiroMatrix happens to be in the field of treating auto injury patients, and a lot of patients are living with chronic pain resulting from auto injuries. This doctor should seek to join conversations around these topics, spreading their overall brand message by suggesting information from their website and blog to join conversations on chiropractic care for pain management.
Spend time seeking out relevant conversations that are already happening. Look for conversations relating to chiropractic care and symptoms you treat by doing searches with keywords. For example, for our auto injury doctor mentioned above we searched keywords ‘auto injury,’ ‘pain management,’ (and more) to listen to and join conversations that people are already having about these conditions.
Be consistent! Facebook, as with any other social media platform, is all about consistency. So you only have an hour a week to spend on Facebook? Spread that hour out throughout the entire week. Just 10 minutes every day will help more than one hour in one day. You have to be available to your Facebook fans and you have to be able to monitor your brand. If someone leaves a comment or asks a question, you need to be able to answer those or respond. Even 10 minutes, at the end of your day, every day, will make a small but crucial difference over time.
Tweet Your Way to More New Patients
As a business, you can use Twitter to quickly share information, gather market intelligence and insights, and build relationships with existing and potential patients who care about your industry and practice. When using Twitter to promote your practice, it’s important to use twitter strategically so that you’re not wasting your time.
If you’re following a lot of people, it can be hard to keep track of who’s who and to make sure you see updates from the people that count. Organizing people into lists (both public and private) can help you keep tabs on what’s important to you. Examples of strategically useful lists could be: clients, prospects, people you’ve met in real life at networking events, bloggers you want to connect with, etc. This will make it easier for you to manage and develop your relationships with these people.
On Twitter, anyone can read, write and share brief messages limited to 140 characters. These messages, or “tweets,” are public and available to anyone interested in them. Twitter users subscribe to your messages by following your account. Followers receive every one of your messages in their timeline, a feed of all the accounts they have subscribed to.
When you combine messages that are quick to write, easy to read, public, opt-in, and accessible anywhere, you have a powerful, real-time way of communicating with potential and existing clients. Twitter will help you build relationships, promote your office events and services, and educate your patients. Often, there is already a conversation about your industry happening on Twitter.
Promote Your Practice with YouTube Videos
 Using YouTube to promote your practice is a great way to make a personal connection with potential new patients. YouTube isn’t just a video sharing site; it’s a social networking site as well. You can create a “channel” on YouTube to broadcast a profile of your practice, show patients delivering testimonials or promote a special rate or service you offer. Whether you run a large or small practice, you can use YouTube to promote your service. Any business can upload videos on YouTube for others to view. The trick is determining the right kind of video to upload, and then finding a way to profit from YouTube viewership.
A lot of doctors make the mistake of just uploading their videos without proper optimization. To ensure that your video is found through search engines, or searches on YouTube, you will want to create keyword rich titles and descriptions of your video that can link directly to your website.
Office introduction videos are also becoming very popular to give your site a more welcoming and personal feel. If you do not want to create a video on your own, many web marketing companies offer an on-site video service that can work with you from concept to completion. Once the video is created they will set up processes to promote the video by uploading it to your website, YouTube, review sites and directory sites. The websites that show and house your video will have a direct link to your website where interested viewers can learn more about you and your practice.
Generate More Positive Reviews
Consumer reviews are accessible to a huge number of readers online, and thus this electronic word of mouth can have a profound effect on your practice. The key to managing your reputation through review sites is to proactively take control of what is being written about you. Ask your patients to review your practice and leave positive comments. By creating an online environment that makes it simple for your patients to review your service, you can increase the number of positive reviews. When one of your patients has expressed to you their appreciation for your service, you can direct them to a page on your website that makes it easy for them to link to popular review sites and write a positive review.
A website that combines cutting edge technology with chiropractic and wellness resources is a very smart investment. If you follow the tips in this article, you will find that people will be able to find you from many different pathways on the web. Now is the time to take advantage of all the avenues available online to market your practice today and well into the future.
Chris Plueger is Director of Sales for ChiroMatrix.
ChiroMatrix is a full-service Web Marketing company specializing in online strategies for Chiropractors. Service includes: Website design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Networking, Optimized Press Releases, Directory Listings and morel. For more information visit www.ChiroMatrix.com or call 1-800-462-8749.
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Marketing
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Written by Eric Kaplan D.C.
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Sunday, 25 September 2011 20:18 |
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We all have dreams... some grand... some small. Please take a moment to dream a bit... to imagine the life of your dreams.
 One day I will go...
One day I want to...
One day I will stop...
One day I will have...
One day I will learn...
One day I want to earn...
One day I will play more...
One day I will visit
One day my office will...
Marketing is as much a state of mind as it is an ad, a program, a commercial or a concept. Marketing starts with a strong belief in chiropractic and one self. It is a commitment to change the world one spine at a time. Dr.James Parker had his WOC formula. It meant Whip, Out, Card. At his seminars he would challenge you to give out ten cards per day. Are you willing to educate the public, to face possible rejection?
What do you want in practice? What price are you willing to pay? I have told my son Jason now at Parker College, “The road to success is always under construction". No where is it written that life is easy, that being a chiropractor is easy. Who said that just because you got a degree that life should be easy. It is good to dream, important to set goals, but action takes commitment. Make a commitment to make today a great day, a day to act, dreaming is for nighttime, setting records, reaching your goals is for today. The best time in life is now. There is one thing I will promise you about life, you will not get out of it alive. So lets make today special.
Turn Your Dreams Into Goals
The more clearly and precisely you describe your dreams -- turning them into clear targets -- the easier it is to focus on the means for their attainment.
These specific milestones then become your most vivid, powerful and inspiring goals, because they're in direct alignment with what you value most. Larry Markson taught me over twenty years ago to write down my goals. Mark Victor Hansen said in regard to goals, “Goal setters are goal getters” set it and you won’t forget it. Marketing starts with a belief that chiropractic chose you, as you chose chiropractic. If your goal is to help, to heal, then start dreaming of how you can change the world "one spine at a time"
stay committed to it. Make a goal to get 10 new patients next week, imagine yourself talking about chiropractic to every person you meet, then "WOC" them.
I once read,
 "If dreams are born from imagination, then goals are born from a promise. Knowing this, set your goals with great care because when you set them, you are promising yourself exactly what you expect to get out of your life."
Now it may not be easy, it may be frustrating, but this form of marketing is free. I studied all the programs , implemented the majority of them. At Concierge Coaches we have over 30 new patient programs and they all work. The "secret" is not in the program, but the mindset of the doctor implementing it. Today lets keep it simple, lets keep it easy , lets "WOC" ourselves to success. No it won't be easy, adversity and conflict is a part of life, who knows that better then me. When you come to a roadblock, just take the detour.
You CAN live your dreams IF you remain focused on the TREASURE... not the TROUBLE
The key to personal marketing is setting goals. Make a plan, then set a goal to complete it. Giving out ten cards per day is a plan, now set the goal, then complete it.
Remember, the difference between a dream and a goal is a date. Goals are "Absolute Will-Be's" and "By When's", when you become 100% personally responsible for making them come true.
There's nothing more critical to your long-term marketing, regardless of the plan or program than setting specific goals and then holding yourself accountable for each and every one of them.
If dreams are born from your imagination, then goals are born from promise and preparation. Knowing this, set your goals with care because when you set them, you are promising yourself exactly what you expect to get out of your life. Prepare for Today and One day you will have what you want.
You have the POWER to build your practice by making your dreams real, by taking 5 simple steps:
Step 1: Imagine your One day dreams.
Step 2: Turn your dreams into goals.
Step 3: Turn your goals into plans.
Step 4: Prepare for the future
Step 5: Commit to improvement TODAY.
Part of having SMART goals is making them TANGIBLE. Be realistic. If you are averaging 100 patient visits per week, don’t make your immediate goal 500 per week. Set a goal for 150 patient visits per week. If you are still a student start now. Set a goal for 1 new patient per week while in clinic. This is an achievable goal. The great thing about Chiropractic is everyone needs it. Not someday, not One Day but TODAY. Once you reach your goal celebrate your victory and then set another goal. I teach all my clients to set goals. As a consultant I push my clients not only to set goals, but to achieve them. If you read this article and enjoyed it then take a moment now to enter a few of your most cherished dreams and goals.
This is the first step towards making them real...
Dr. Eric S. Kaplan, a former President COO of a NASAQ traded public company, which included Nutrisystem, Currently he is CEO of Concierge Coaches, Inc., www.conciergecoaches.com, a comprehensive coaching firm with a successful, documented history of assisting doctors create profitable practices nationwide, providing over 30 New Patient marketing Programs. Teaching doctors nationally how to develop a successful business in the health care industry of today. . Dr. Kaplan is the best selling author of Dying to be Young, and Lifestyle of the Fit and Famous and Co-developer and President of Discforce and Palm Beach Massage Centers, www.pbmassage.info, the next Generation Chiropractic Practices, massage and Spinal decompression For more information on coaching or spinal decompression, call 1-561-626-3004.
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