When you are faced with adversity, you should adapt to survive.  This is a natural law that also applies to business.  “Thinking outside the box” is necessary in order to adapt.  You don’t want to do the same thing and expect a different result– that’s one of the definitions of insanity.

So if you find that your chiropractic business is in a recession of its own, adapt to the times and find a way to make up for the lost revenue.  One of the best ways to do this is to reconfigure your office, or transform it, into a multidisciplinary center that offers chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, and cosmetic services.

Remember the phrase, “Do you want fries with that shake?”  That’s the famous line McDonalds instructed their employees to say to customers.  That one question probably resulted in millions of dollars of added sales.  Well, that’s the idea I’m getting at.

I recommend that you start by adding Endermologie cellulite reduction treatment to your clinic.  It can be a “business within a business.”  Cellulite is to women as male pattern baldness is to men:  it’s not acceptable and they really want to do something about it.  Women in this recession are plunking down $6,000 or more in cash to plastic surgeons for liposuction surgery– why not cash in yourself in this lucrative market?

I have an Endermologie business in my clinic that brings in more money than chiropractic in some months.  I love it because it is cash based (NO SOAP notes, insurance  billing, paperwork!) and pre-paid plans are easy to sell.  Cash is GOOD.

Pretty soon I will be revealing all my secrets in an upcoming product, The Chiropractor’s Endermologie Business Starter Kit.  It will reveal, step by step, how I was able to seamlessly integrate Endermologie into my chiropractic office and realized profit the VERY FIRST MONTH.  It will cover every single detail involved in getting an Endermologie business up and running:  the logistics, staffing, training, technique, scripts, fee schedule, advertising and marketing, and more!   You should be able to duplicate my method and get the same or better results in your clinic.

If you’re not offering boutique services in your chiropractic office, you are leaving a lot of money on the table.  Make sure to opt into my list to get notified when the product is released.

The reason why I think it is so great is that it is dummy-proof, and it doesn’t require mini DV tape or a video capture card.  You press this fat red button to record; press it to stop.  Then, you stick it in your computer’s USB port (it has a little USB arm that extends out).  A software automatically installs, and you see your video on your computer!  Then, you upload it to your YT channel by typing in your YT log in.  That’s it!  Awesome tool for chiropractors; make sure to check this thing out.

Use this to QUICKLY and EASILY make videos to promote your practice:

• A nice “Welcome to Our Office” auto-email video (people like watching them, trust me!)
• A mini-commercial of your clinic’s offerings:  chiropractic, massage, laser, etc.
• An ergonomics instruction video:  how to set up your workstation, how to lift properly
• PATIENT VIDEO TESTIMONIALS that you can embed into your website (great social proof!)
• And More!

Well, a new guide from a prominent internet marketer has come out that guides you, step by step on how to increase your chances of getting one of those prime spots.  It is well written, and has screen shots of each step so you can’t flub it up.  It contains some stealth advice that you most likely haven’t thought of, to increase the chance of claiming one of the seven spots.  Get there, and you’ve basically got free internet advertising!

I will send a copy of this Free Guide to Google Local Listings (.pdf file) to anyone who posts a comment below.  Don’t just post one sentence, mention what you hope to accomplish with this guide, and what steps you have taken to generate more internet traffic to your site.  If you find this post late, still post your comment.  If you don’t get the report, contact me via the Contact form, link at the top of this page.

Image via Wikipedia

Many chiropractors are discovering the power of YouTube to market their practices.  Do you know that YouTube gets over a billion views a day?  That’s a lot of people!  Google purchased YT a couple of years back and made yet another bunch of 20-somethings billionaires overnight.  However, Google only recently started making money/turning a profit from their purchase.  Do you know why Google spent $billions on a site that wasn’t making any money?  Because they knew that the value in YT was the internet TRAFFIC it was generating- tens of thousands of hits per day at the time.  It was only a matter of time before Google figured out how to “monetize” this traffic.

Anyways, YT will only get more popular as more interesting videos are submitted from all over the world.  You can really find some good stuff there, especially How To videos (I taught myself how to properly sod my back yard by researching YouTube videos on the subject).  Lately I’ve been watching music videos of popular bands during my high school and college years (pretty good way to feed your nostalgia).

What you should do is sign up for YouTube.  You will have your own “Channel” and will have a web page for your channel that you can link to from your website.  You can even upload a custom background for your YT channel page.  This is good for brand recognition.  Make videos of chiropractic, such as:

• Exercise videos
• Posture videos
• Ergonomics videos
• Chiropractic theory (spine and nerve) videos
• Your clinic promo video
• Anything else you can think of relating to the promotion of your clinic

You can place your website’s URL in a text box that appears during your video’s playback, that the visitor can see.  You can also put a live link in the video description that shows underneath the video.  This can go to your website or even online appointment software.

If you are an absolute newbie on video making, don’t fret.  You can learn it in an afternoon.  Most computers sold these days come with video editing software and hardware already installed.  Just connect your camcorder to your computer’s video capture card; download your footage and edit it using the software, then output it to a video; save to your desktop.  Then it’s a matter of logging onto YouTube, selecting your video and uploading it to the site.  If your video is good, it will get some decent traffic.  Plus, it makes you look more professional.

Dr. Dan

When the patient books an appointment, Genbook gets their email, puts them on your calendar (blocking out that availability), sends you email notification that the appointment was made, and sends the patient an email reminder of her appointment a day in advance!  Now that’s using technology to cut overhead and streamline your business, the core principle of chiropractirescueplan.com.  (If you want to find out more ways to do this, check out my ebook Guerilla Chiropractic).

The only drawback is that it does not interface with your billing software (at least for now).  I have Chiro8000 and have to post charges separately at the end of the day, going off of my Genbook calendar.  But for me, it’s worth the extra hassle.

The paid version has extra features like accepting credit cards, storing patient data, allowing patients to write testimonials for you, and more.  But trust me, the free version will work for most chiropractic offices.  Offices having multiple providers can opt for the Premium paid version, which runs $39.95 per month.  This allows the patients to choose among the providers/services on your appointment scheduling webpage.

Give it a try; this one’s a winner!  And if you absolutely love Genbook after seeing how much time, money and hassles it saves you, I’d appreciate a small donation for the tip

Dr. Dan

Image via Wikipedia

Wow, a little tinkering and I found out how to get texted whenever someone makes an appointment via a web form or designated email address.  This can come in handy if you are running a low overhead practice and have minimal staff to answer the phones.  You can be at Starbucks around the corner of your office during a lull in your schedule, and get texted if someone books an appointment.

(Note:  this method works if you have a domain-based email address where you have a hosting account; for example, drsmith@mainstreetchiro.com) and use an email client like MS Outlook where you have total control.)

Here’s what you do.  Let’s say your chiropractic website domain is mainstreetchiro.com.

1.  Create an email account “appointments@mainstreetchiro.com.”  You’ll do this through your web hosting panel.  Set it up in your Outlook.  Send a test message to it and from it to make sure it works.

2.  Next, you’ll need to have online scheduling capability, or have an online form whose URL you give to your patients.  You can get a form builder like Freedback.com, which is a dummy-proof web-based form builder that you can customize yourself (name, date, appointment time and date, etc.).  You set the form to send all form data submissions to appointments@mainstreetchiro.com.

Alternatively, you can use Genbook’s online scheduling service (FREE!).  When you enter your clinic settings in Genbook, set it so that all notifications go appointments@mainstreetchiro.com.

3.  Find out from your cell phone carrier your cell phone email address.  The format is different based on the carrier.  For example, Verizon cell phones have emails in the form (your cell phone#)@vtext.com.

4.  Go back to your web hosting admin panel.  There should be an icon labeled “forwarding” or “email forwarding.”  Click it, and find appointments@mainstreetchiro.com.  Set this email to forward to your cell phone email.  Now, whenever your online appointment forms send form submission data to your email, you will be texted the info as well!  Make sure to set your text tone loud so you don’t miss any appointments.

Now, don’t you feel like a techie now?

Of course, you can also instruct your patients to send appointment requests by emailing you at appointments@mainstreetchiro.com.  It’s not a good way to have new patients contact you for an appointment, though; use a form.

The  above technique follows the Guerilla Chiropractic principles of using technology to lower your overhead, and it’s a good one.

Dr. Dan

Facebook is a very good way to promote your chiropractic clinic.  The social media site boasts the following stats:

Facebook is ideal for promoting one’s business (the right way) because it is done in a social setting, and everyone is being themselves.  You basically sign up, and as soon as you do, FB suggests friends for you (they have an algorithm that can find people who you already know).  It’s really weird, maybe a little creepy, but most people just accept it.  This feature actually is quite helpful, because all you need to do is click the friend request button of those who were suggested to you.  When they accept your request, you start to see their posts on your homepage.  Of course, you can search for your friends and acquaintances using a search box, to see if they are on FB, but it takes much longer.

What makes FB powerful is the Like button.  If you make a post, and one of your FB friends who has 500 Facebook friends clicks the Like button next to your post, all 500 of those friends will see your link on their homepage!  If you are familiar with Twitter, this is the equivalent of a “retweet.”  Now, imagine if 20 of your friends clicked the Like button, and each has an average of 200 friends– that’s 4,000 exposures of your post in an instant.  The trick is to get people to Like your post.  It could be something inspirational related to chiropractic, with of course, the URL to your website.

Facebook is all about being social.  But instead of facing people in person, it is done virtually, over the internet.  But the social rules are basically the same– engage, and be courteous.  When your friends feel comfortable with your posts (you need to stay active), you can start pushing some commercial intent.  But make sure to provide interesting, non-commercial posts/recommendations most of the time.

One of the pitfalls of marketing is that there is so much out there in terms of products and services that it can be an expensive ordeal, buying them and testing them to see if they work.  Well, the products listed on this page are the creme de la creme– the most reliable, dependable products I own that deliver as advertised.  And, I have bought tons of stuff before, much of them a waste of money.  You won’t be disappointed with these.

Well, news is out that Google is going to add more features to its local business search.  According to CNET:

Google is rebranding its Google Maps listing service for local businesses as it continues to try to organize–as well as sell ads against–a seemingly inexhaustible supply of local search results.

Google’s Local Business Center will henceforth be known as Google Places, the search giant plans to announce late Monday. All in all, it’s mostly just a name change, although Google plans to roll out a few new features for local merchants that have claimed their “place page” on Google Maps.

One of these features is having little yellow notepads that pop up that have a couple of lines about your business, instead of the red pushpin graphic.

If your clinic is not listed in a local search for your business (just enter “chiropractors” in the search box, and see if your clinic is listed– Google knows your computer’s physical location and will display seven-ten local chiropractors next to a regional map of your area), there is a service that offers a guarantee that they can get your clinic listed there.  Check it out; just one new patient referred by your local listing can pay for a year of this service.

Good Luck!