I want to share a few chiropractic practice management tips that should really help you avoid being a victim of the economic downturn.  Many chiropractors are struggling to make it in private practice, mainly because they are missing the right foundation that will enable them to succeed.

By far and away, the most important focus of your chiropractic marketing efforts should be on positioning yourself as an expert.  Think of it this way:  If you’re dong what 90% of the other chiropractors are doing to market their services, you’ll get the same results as they do–mediocre at best.

You absolutely have to learn to get creative in the way you package your services and attract patients to your practice.  Here are 3 things you can do right away to quickly and effectively establish an aura of expertise that makes people attracted to your work:

1.  Develop your creative faculties– spend 10 minutes every day in silence, simply asking for a new creative impulse to arise within you.  You can do this in relation to any problem you’re facing in your business or it can be a way of pushing the edge of innovation in your work.  Many thought leaders and geniuses claim that they a basic meditation such as this every day.  The idea here is that your creative genius is born out of a place of inner stillness.

2.  Create an information product for your practice– Consider writing a special report or e-book for your practice and using it for both online and offline marketing.  You can also offer a free audio recording, which for some people is even easier to create.  You can take a basic topic like 3 All-Natural Ways to Optimal Health and offer your info product to current patients, on your website, and at various networking events.

3.  Shoot a video informercial of your practice– This is a fantastic way to authentically sell your services.  Video is a great way to position yourself as an expert in your industry.  You can add a video to your website and you can upload videos to websites like Youtube which is a great way to come up high on organic search engines.  This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a 90 second overview of who you are, how you help people, and what kinds of approaches you utilize.  People respond very well to the medium of video, especially for service-based professionals.

What other ways can you get creative with your practice and position yourself as an expert?  This is where marketing becomes fun!  Not to mention that these are crucial steps to take for transcending the economic struggle that so many chiropractors are enduring.  Creativity is one of the secret keys to a lucrative private practice; always remember that if your practice is slower than you want it to be.

I invite you to go to http://www.ConsciousChiropracticBusiness.com and download my free conscious chiropractor starter kit that is full of excellent practice development and marketing tips.

Kevin Doherty is a licensed business development consultant to chiropractors who want to build private practices with integrity and awareness. He is the author of The Purpose Principle, Build Your Dream Practice, Online Mastery for Holistic Pracitioners, and is co-creator of the Practice Evolution Success Kit.

David and Kristin Morelli, creators and hosts of the very popular radio show Everything Is Energy, are hosting a free teleclass on April 22nd called a Quantum Leap in Your Wealth.  If you fee like you have money blocks that are holding you back in your business and life, this should be a worthwhile event to participate in.

You can register for this teleclass by clicking here. Enjoy!

Kevin Doherty

I’ve noticed that many of the coaching clients I have been starting out with lately still have an ‘old school’ understanding of marketing.  This means that they still buy into the approach that you should just run typical display ads or throw up a website that says something to the effect of:  ‘I’m great, take my word for it, and call me now to start paying me for what I offer.’

Now, this used to work–mainly because it was the only way to go about marketing.  This traditional marketing style is a big reason why so many service-based business owners HATE marketing; it feels like a hard/cheesy/inauthentic selling approach.  Conscious business owners don’t want to have to convince someone to do business with them.  They don’t want to force people to see the value in what they offer.  In fact, they don’t want to have to sell at all.

With the development of the web 2.0 world, there is indeed very good news for the entrepreneur who hates selling–you no longer have to!  No longer is it acceptable to try and sell before you have conveyed value.  In this day and age, the average consumer is aware of how much buying power they have.  They want you to offer them something first, something that requires no risk or commitment on their part, before they will pay for your product or service.

This is exactly what the web 2.0 world is about and why marketing has undergone a quiet revolution over the past year or two.  In this day and age, it’s all about getting people to interact and engage with you first.  It’s about establishing a connection before you sell anything.

If you’re a reluctant marketer, this should come as very good news.  You see, now you can offer value-based information as your main marketing strategy.  This can be done on your website by offering a free special report, e-course, or audio message to your web viewers.

Now, because so many business owners are stuck in their view of traditional marketing, the majority still don’t have an opt in form on their website to collect contact information in exchange for useful information.  (Hint:  this is critical to a successful website)

This simple feature of your website is oen of the defining factors of the web 2.0 world.  it’s all about the exchange between you and your audience.  Now, what this does is it builds credibilty, trust, and rapport.  People feel like they know you before they ever even speak with you. Your audience will decide that they want to do business with you because your information sells itself.  It’s a natural and effortless process.  Doesn’t that sound nice?

If you’re serious about creating a strong online presence, make sure you have an opt in form on your website and something valuable you can offer people for free.  If you set this up correctly, you’ll find that your marketing just got a whole lot easier.

Kevin Doherty