Using Social Media For Marketing
Posted on January 22, 2009 - Filed Under General, Marketing Sites
Well if you’re an acupuncturist and like many I know, you are going “What is social media and is it something else I need to learn?”
First social media include sites like Twitter or Facebook.
The sites allow you to get out there and talk about your business online. It creates links and can widen your reach to others. I have seen free ads for a Woman who is an acupuncturist in my local area on Facebook. All she did was create a page for her business. Because acupuncture is a keyword that shows up in my profile often, I get this site on my sidebar with the free ads.
Facebook is about social connection. It’s easy to reach friends and also patients and potential patients on there. It’s a way to get online word of mouth marketing.
Twitter works the same way. Twitter is a little different from Facebook. Different people are attracted to different ones. If you think you could spend some time on either of them, check them both out. For Facebook, the best thing you can do for your business is create a page for it and send it out to your current friends so that they can be fans. Friends of theirs will see this site as well.
Unless you choose to purchase advertising, this is all free. It doesn’t take too much time unless you find yourself attracted to all the little games Facebook has, or become addicted to twittering. Shouldn’t all marketing be free and not take a lot of time?
Marketing is Relationship
Posted on January 9, 2009 - Filed Under Marketing Sites
Jenn Givler said something very important in a free teleconference she had the other day. Frequently we worry about marketing because we think of marketing as selling someone something. She reminds me that marketing is about how our business forms relationships with others.
I think it’s a great way to rethink marketing because this removes many of the negative connotations about the word and practice. If we strive to have good relationships with our patients, with other practitioners and with people who can refer to us, then we are likely to be marketing successfully. Something to think about.
Should You Monetize Your Website
Posted on December 26, 2008 - Filed Under General
There are any number of ways you can create a website and a number of people out there to help you do it. I hope by now you know the importance of having a site.
My officemate and I are creating the website for our combined practice. I have one for me but she hasn’t had one. She’s a very thorough person and has been looking into what she should expect from a website. One thing she’s read about is putting google ads on her site to make money.
Yes, adding google may help her make money. If we get $5 to $10/year given the demographics of our area, I’d be thrilled. The payout at google is $100 if you get paid by check. That’s a pretty long wait for a payout.
Another potential issue with google is that you only make money if someone clicks on one of the ads and goes to a site advertised. This means that in some sense you are encouraging people to click away from your site and on to someone else’s. If you are selling your services, you have to ask yourself if this is really worth while.
There are other ways to monetize your site that are likely more practical for your readers, add more value to your potential clients and will actually net you more income. Jenn Givler over at Create a Thriving Business has really been working on this aspect of internet marketing for the small business clients she coaches. She has a number of products here and right now she’s having a sale! If monetizing your site is something you’ve been considering, I encourage you to check out what Jenn has available and contact her about more information.
What are your Oddest Questions
Posted on December 22, 2008 - Filed Under General
I’ve always been a funky question magnet. If there was a stupid question to be asked, I was the person who would get to answer it. I don’t mean stupid as in obvious. I mean stupid as in who THINKS of this and why do you think your vet would know? Such questions included how to get a trapped bird out of the chimney and did I think the bird would survive if the questioner went to her hair appointment first?
So it’s no surprise that I periodically get strange questions about acupuncture. While some of the questions are strange, the questions behind the questions are those we’ve wanted to answer for a long time. Can acupuncture help me? Are you enough like me to understand me?
Very often our focus on using our paradigm to explain things and then using brochures that include Buddah, Kwan Yin, bonsai tree and people doing yoga and tai chi can often put off those same people that we want to encourage to come into our practice. I want to make the people uncomfortable with those images comfortable with acupuncture.
I want to answer their questions. So what are your most wild acupuncture questions? I’ll try and answer them (or you can in the comments) on the main site of Quantum Lifestyles
A Network Success
Posted on December 3, 2008 - Filed Under General
I have several friends who use networking groups as part of their marketing. One says it’s not worth her time any longer because she doesn’t get referrals. The other wouldn’t market any other way. I was thinking about this the other day.
The first friend goes to events thinking she is going to tell everyone about her business. She’s frustrated because in these marketing groups she feels everyone is trying to sell her something. Honestly, they are. This is after all, a networking group.
The second friend doesn’t go looking for business, she goes looking for opportunities. She’s interested in the community and how she can help out. If someone needs a volunteer and it’s in her area of interest and expertise, she volunteers. She talks to people and finds out their needs. She’s an excellent referral source for a variety of people because she’s so plugged into what is going on in the community and she knows everyone. I laugh because so often I say that I work in the same building she does and it seems like EVERYONE knows what that means. They’ve all met her.
I think the important thing with the second person is that she isn’t looking for the marketing group to meet her business needs that day. She’s looking for where she can be of assistance. In that assistance she meets more people and her marketing becomes even more effective. She also has a lot of fun.
It’s helpful to consider if you are in a networking group that one way to make it work for you is to work for it. After all that’s the best way to make sure you stay visible. Also, choose projects that you really would like and enjoy. As people know who you are, your name gets known. You meet the people you need to meet because very often, those are the same people who are out and involved as well. They know a lot of people and can refer them to you. This does work.
Don’t think you are up to it? Maybe not at the networking group, but remember whatever interests you has the potential to work like this for you and your business. Just think of whatever you are doing not so much as marketing but as creating opportunities.
How Do You Approach Others?
Posted on November 25, 2008 - Filed Under General
I’ve been thinking about the way in which some practitioners market to me. There are those people who start talking to me and start asking me about what I do. They want to know what my ideal patient is. They want to know who I am best equipped to help. They want to know about my business. After learning about my business, then they approach me about how we can help each other.
Others approach simply by beginning to talk about what they do. They tell me about what type of person they want to reach and ask me to help them.
The first way, of course, is far more effective. The first way suggests an understanding of the other person’s business as well as the fact that the other person is going to want more business too. I think it’s important when marketing in groups or even in social situations to work on not just selling yourself but finding out who you are talking to. If appropriate, then you can sell yourself. Don’t try to be the perfect fit for everyone.
Long time no Write
Posted on November 10, 2008 - Filed Under General
Well it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything here. I’ve been more focused on several other aspects of life.
One is working on improving and marketing my cards at Qizi Cards. I really want that to fly but am not sure how to get that to take off. My goal is really to open up the language and images we use as acupuncturists to make acupuncture more accessible to people.
The second reason I haven’t done much is that there isn’t much online. I’m really not a marketer and I keep my eyes open for good articles that can be applied to marketing your alternative healthcare practice. Right now, everyone seems pretty quiet about they’re doing.
Finally, I was working the election. It was a great experience. It was also a great passive marketing strategy, though that’s not why I did it. I met a lot of interesting people who know a little about me and what I do. They also know that I care about the community that I live in. It’s very possible that some of them will end up showing up at the office when they have a need.
What About the Economy
Posted on October 6, 2008 - Filed Under Marketing Sites
Deepest Health has an interesting discussion topic for anyone who is concerned about the troubled economy. How will it affect you or not?
Check it out and share your thoughts!
New Holiday Cards
Posted on September 25, 2008 - Filed Under Marketing Tools
I’ve frequently perused Medical Arts Press and other sites that offer professional materials to healthcare providers. While chiropractors and dentists have their own special items, acupuncturists are usually left out.
Not any more. Check out Qi Zi Cards and Gifts. They even have a great acupuncture related Holiday Card. Using Zazzle as an online print company, you can easily personalize your cards and gifts.
Overcoming Self Sabotage
Posted on September 9, 2008 - Filed Under General
Recently a friend sent me a link to the Daily Om’s online course being run by Debbie Ford called Overcoming Self Sabotage. I love Debbie Ford because her message is about accepting our entire self–even the negative stuff. In this particular course Ford discusses those little things we do to sabotage ourself.
So why am I offering this on the Marketing Blog? I’m offering it because very often we think we have a marketing strategy but we don’t follow through. Or we plan to do something but we don’t really do it. Finally, often we just miss our goals by a small amount. In essence, we sabotage ourselves in these small matters. This course is works on recognizing those actions and working through the thought process behind them so we can find out what’s really going on. In that way we can be not only better marketers and more successful, but better practitioners for our patients.
keep looking »
