Many chiropractors go to school and gain excellent technical knowledge of their science. They graduate and start their business under the misguided notion that they need only hang a sign on their door and clients will begin flocking to them. When business takes too long to pick up speed, or even worse begins to falter, these practitioners are unequipped to market themselves. Particularly in today’s digital world, chiropractors who are willing to learn the simple techniques of online marketing will find themselves pulling ahead of their competition at an astonishing rate.
Marketing has changed rapidly in the past few years. The biggest factor affecting the change has been the advent of Web 2.0 and social networking on the internet. You may have heard these terms used but were not sure what they mean, and perhaps you feel that you can just ignore this new trend. Marketing experts agree that the future of selling is on the internet. Unless you are willing to take on the social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook and YouTube you will continue to flounder in your business.
Only recently (3 years after I let the cat out of the bag), have many doctors begun inquiring about what we classify as fresh Web 2.0 / SEO marketing strategies. I was the first and only one in the chiropractic profession to bring social networks to public awareness, as I was getting massive amounts of new patients coming into my office from Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube.
The very first time I logged on to a social networking site, I was convinced that there had to be a way to make this amazing tool work for me in my practice. I spent countless hours working out methods for generating new contacts and increasing my business online-and I found success!
During my research I observed how other chiropractors were approaching online marketing. They immediately signed up for their own profile and began spamming other members with their advertisements. Not only will this get you kicked off the website (since it is against the user agreement), but most people hate spam and the result will be the exact opposite of what you intended when you sent it in the first place. The only real way to make the most of these sites is to find a mentor; someone who has been there before and knows how to navigate the waters of Web 2.0.
The majority of people are finally starting to get an inkling of the importance of Web 2.0 marketing. However, I have the advantage of several years of established education-much of which is from trial and error-and have seen a great deal of personal success because of my efforts. For example, I was able to generate $5,000 last month alone from a single YouTube video. Anyone who is not interested in learning more about social networking as a marketing tool is simply not interested in making more money.
Let me leave you with a couple simple tips about chiropractic marketing on Myspace. Never send a friend request without a polite message! This is Myspace 101 stuff that is very important since you want the person to know how you ran across their profile. Always include videos on your profile, as it makes people stay on your page for a longer period of time and holds interest. Now, I’m not talking of all chiropractic videos either. People want to know the real you, not just what your profession is!
This is going to be a new language for most doctors since we live in more technologically advanced times. You have a choice though. You can either take a year out of your schedule to learn everything you need to know about social media marketing or you can find a mentor who’s been there and done that. The latter will reduce your learning curve by about a year while the first one will cost you an arm and leg in money and mistakes.
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