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.

Check it out and share your thoughts!

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.

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.

These questions won’t be questions that most acupuncturists have about acupuncture–these are the crazy questions that tend to make us laugh. However, I’ve come to see in these questions the great need that we have as practitioners to really let the world know what it is we do–in language our own communities can understand.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about acupuncture in the World. Even in an area that has three major acupuncture colleges, I get really odd questions. I am sure many other people do as well. I know that acupuncture can help more people than it does. Many potential patients are put off by the pagodas and Kuan Yin and Buddha statues that decorate offices. They are worried about the new age music. Some venture in, hoping to be welcomed. Some find the right practitioner and are welcomed. Others leave thinking that they can’t accept the strangeness of why the practitioner works.

I want to make those people who are uncomfortable with other cultures comfortable with acupuncture. One way to do that is to make it more accessible to everyone. I want to address those really odd questions with compassion and understanding.

I believe behind those really off the wall questions, the real question being asked is

Are you enough like me to be able to help me?

I want to work to find a way for more acupuncturists to be able to answer that question a resounding YES

I actually liked her ebook, which is saying something coming from me. I hate having to pay a lot of money for something I either have to read on my computer screen or else spend even more to go and print out! Jenn did something that I think of as an excellent idea. She has short sections of work book type questions in several sections. As I am reading online, if I want to do them, I can print out a page or two to do the work.

I realized as I read that and told her how much I liked that, that this workbook style of ebook is not very prevalent and yet it is such an excellent idea.

Jenn has written a lovely marketing ebook and it’s well priced at only $10. Click here to view more details

I am very comfortable promoting another acupuncturist that I really respect. By working in her office, I end up creating an overflow of patients in her office. I get to treat her overflow, and thus build my practice. It’s a win win situation for both of us.

Sometimes I think we work too hard to minimize our weaknesses, rather than allowing them to be a strength. Perhaps we all need to think more about our weaknesses and ways that we turn them to our advantage.

One thing I discovered is that although my first 10 months of my first year in business was pretty spectacular (one week I had 14 patients on the books, although I had several cancellations), other parts of my life came into play and my practice slowed. Additionally my office mates had things happen and our office energy became rather stagnant.

As my practice slowed, I turned to myself to see what I was putting out there. I realized I wasn’t very happy in my current office. At my previous office, if I had a break between patients I had other people around. This allowed me to bounce questions about diagnosis off the other acupuncturist or even take a break and talk to our receptionist about her baby. Longer breaks meant I could go into my office and input my bookkeeping information or balance the checkbook. I could even write up new marketing materials if things were really slow.

Considering what I really wanted in my acupuncture practice, I realized the best way to achieve my goals was to downsize. I’ve managed to find another person who needs an acupuncturist one day a week in her office and I will work as an associate. I will be able to bring existing patients and then see her overflow. I don’t have to do any billing. I don’t have rent which means what I make I take home (well except for taxes). Still this feels really good.

I’m also focused on building a “vacation relief” acupuncture business. I’ve put that out there and gotten some really good feedback. I haven’t even started advertising but I’ve gotten a new client from word of mouth. It’s not a big “contract” but considering I don’t even have contract paperwork yet, I think it’s a move in the right direction for me.

Why did I decide to do vacation coverage? As I sat bemoaning the failure of my business I started looking at what I liked and didn’t like about being in business for myself. I really really hate marketing and trying to find a niche. In fact, I don’t really want a niche but am not sure how to make myself stand out. Vacation relief work allows me to focus on a very small group of people that I can market to–other acupuncturists in my area. Additionally, I love to be of service. I’m a helper rather than a leader and this allows me to help other acupuncturists. I can help them lead by allowing them some stress free time off.

Finally, this allows me to practice acupuncture without the hassles of taking insurance. While I like hiking in the summer I LOVE skiing in the winter. I figure most people take their vacations in the summer so that will leave me far more time to do exactly what I love. I also have more flexibility on my hours as I don’t have to be married to my business in the way I feel tied to it now. Hopefully by being available to local practitioners they can feel some of the same relief because they can count on me if they need to take time off.

I’m becoming comfortable with this level of service. I’ve noticed that when we discuss our businesses, those of us who have smaller practices tend to think of ourselves as “less successful”. I know it was hard for me to give up the idea that a successful practice meant I was busy three or four days a week and booked solid from patients I, myself, had generated.

I see practitioners who are jealous of the success of other practitioners because they are busier. Rather than looking at themselves and what they are willing to do (or not do) to build a practice, they get bitter and feel like a failure. I think we each need to explore our relationship with our business. There will always be people for whom any business is just that perfect fit, allowing “everything” to fall into place and seem effortless. This is true of acupuncturists as well. The rest of us need to find our fit within our chosen area.

I don’t think anyone need be jealous of the success of another. While I’d love to be as well known and have as busy of a practice as Lisa Rohleder, I also know I have too many other interests that would have to be given up for me to work at that level. When would I ski? When would I blog? When could I sit down and write the stuff that I love writing for my other websites? When would I take photos? When would I design cards and websites? When would I just get to sit and read a good book that I really wanted to finish? As I look at those other things that are important in my life, I realize I don’t need or want to be as busy as Lisa. It may mean that I need to find other ways of bringing in some income but it frees me from that need to “compete”.

As a disclaimer, I don’t know Lisa Rohleder! I know she’s very busy and I’m familiar with her Working Class Acpuncture. I know her as an online presence. I’m using her not because I believe she has a one sided life that’s all about acupuncture, but because I’ve read her book that talks about her path to Working Class Acupuncture. I think she has a wide variety of interests and her life reflects that. Her practice and writing reflects who she is and what her strengths are.

Offering a small practice that is as much of a service to another practitioner and also offering a service to practitioners who need time off is a reflection of who I am and what my strengths are.

Next time you are tempted to be jealous of the success of another practitioner, really sit down and see if having what they have suits you. What would you have to give up to have that? Are you willing to do it? If so, go for it and see what wonderful things happen. If not, then consider those other things just as important and make your peace with not being ‘that’ busy.

We talk about value added services and offering a perceived value in what we do. Do we look at those value added services when we look for marketing items for our practice or do we purchase the least expensive thing?

The most useful marketing is always getting referrals from your patients. I’ve found that I need to keep focused on some sort of marketing exercise or I loose focus and don’t get any referrals. What works here and what worked in Vancouver are very different.

Vancouver was a place with many businesses that allowed me to drop off some brochures. I spent more on brochures there. Here there are few places to offer brochure information but we do have a small local paper that actually gets read by people who are looking for the kinds of services I offer. I spend more on newspaper advertising here.

I also need to know how to market to my target clients. If my target clients have macular degeneration and my brochures have small fonts with lots of text and my website is not compliant for the visually impaired, I’ll loose a lot of potential referrals. I don’t have to spend more money necessarily, but I do need to understand how to spend it wisely.

I need to know how my marketing materials present to the world. Do they make your core clients comfortable? If you are marketing to Fortune 500 employees, you probably shouldn’t use the free business card designs at Vista Print.

You also need to know what types of marketing items you are comfortable with and what items you will use. Brochures that sit in your storage area are not a wise investment. I have never had computer paper call me for an acupuncture appointment.

As you sit down and consider all these things, set up a realistic budget. Shop online to see what’s available and at what price. As you consider your clinic, consider where you can cut corners (maybe you don’t see a lot of business people and most of your clients think your Vistaprint cards are so pretty they hang them on the fridge) and where you need to spend a bit more. This is different for everyone. It’s important to understand your priorities and the priorities of those you want to have seek you out as a practitioner and spend accordingly.

I hope you all made it!