AlternativeHealthPractice.com

There are a lot of names for what we do in practice – alternative, holistic, complementary, integrative. But behind the labels, we all have one thing in common: we’re trying to help others. The catch, however, is that in order to find those people who need our help, most of us have to make some effort to market our services.

Sometimes, though, the very thing that makes many practitioners so good at what they do – their ability to connect with and be sensitive to others -  also makes them very, very uncomfortable with the idea of marketing. Behind many of the questions we get from practitioners is a common theme: I’m shy/introverted/timid/reserved. How can I  promote my practice?

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We had our annual Celebration of Health at the clinic a few weeks ago. It’s become a tradition for us - we invite patients and the general public, and spend an evening at the clinic enjoying some great food and drinks, and generally enjoying ourselves.

It was a great success, but this year I was trying to pay particular attention to why. Here are a few ways you can make the most of your next event.

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After the last post on collaborating with your colleagues to help your practice, I thought I'd share the ad we put together. This is a full page newspaper ad that we were able to buy for very little cash since we split it five ways.

If you're interested in giving your practice and profession a boost by doing something similar, here's a little more behind-the-scenes info on how the process worked.

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Recently, the naturopaths in Collingwood and surrounding area got together to discuss some joint marketing for Naturopathic Medicine Week. There are more practitioners here than ever (and many more coming soon), and this is something we’ve been wanting to do for years - to collect all our “competition” in one spot and chat.

Why, you ask? Because for us, competition really is good for business and patients. Here’s why turning your competitors into collaborators benefits everyone.

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We went through a multi-day strategic planning session last fall. In our case, that essentially meant Tara and I sequestered away in a cheap hideaway where we could focus on the big-picture of the business, and do some great hiking when we needed a break. It was three days very well spent.

 

 

One of the real advantages to this process was that we came out of it with a concrete, concise template for how to move forward when things get dicey. I’ve gone through the plan and pulled out the strategies that I feel are making the biggest difference during challenging times:

 

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We’re firm believers that there comes a time when finding success means you need to work less at some things, not more. It’s counter-intuitive, I know, but sometimes the most important things are.

Here’s are 6 reasons why cutting your hours might just take your practice to the next level.

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We’ve discussed scheduling problems in the past, pointing you to a few resources here and there, but we’ve never really provided a comprehensive approach for those scheduled appointments that go off the rails due to patients canceling, rescheduling, or simply not showing up at all.

Here are the exact strategies we’ve put in place over the last few years that have made a real difference. If you’ve got something that works in your practice, leave a comment and share it with us!

- Dan and Tara

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