How Poor Copyrighting Can Kill a Chiropractic Practice- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Copyrighting can be your best friend or your worst enemy. How you position and project yourself online, and offline, can literally make or break your practice. Today we are going to focus online. Unfortunately, many chiropractors get caught up in design rather than content. 

So what is copyrighting? Copyrighting is defined as, "writing copy for the purpose of advertising or marketing. The copy is meant to persuade someone to buy a product, or influence their beliefs".

The focus for many chiropractors when updating their website is design.  And I will not argue that good design not only solves problems, but certainly helps to position your practice. Here is typically process for most chiropractors. You type "chiropractic websites" into google and start checking out the results. Typically, you will find a company or two have website templates which resonate with you and you email them for a quote. They install and tweak the template, add the content, and viola (!), a new website is born. Does anyone see the potential pitfall with this scenario?

The problem is that the visual aspect was decided first, instead of the content. Content (i.e.- copy, copyrighting) is the most important aspect of your site. Its your message! Slick design with poor content does not serve your, or your potential patients, best interest. By focusing first on content you can then decide which visual representation best suits your message. 

Here are a few questions to consider:

1. When someone visits my website is the message clear? (what do I stand for? what can I help them with?)
2. Does my website design obscure or reinforce my copy/text?

Finally, we all know it can be tough to take a truly objective look at our own "stuff". If you are ready for a eye opening experience I suggest you visit Peek.  My friend TJ Mapes RIPT Apparel, recently turned me onto this service and I can't recommend it enough. It's a free service where you type in your website address and within a hour you will receive an email with a 5 minute video of someone interacting with your website. I can guarantee you will learn a few things; I certainly did! The bottom line is that the copy on your website is the most powerful tool you have to entice or repel patients whom are searching for your services. Choose wisely.

---

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

Building Your Tribe- by Beau Pierce of Circle of Docs

As a Doctor of Chiropractic we should always be looking for ways to grow our practice and make our personal brand synonymous with the words authority and trust.

One way to aide in accomplishing this is to have a great working relationship with other medical professionals. What was once generally perceived as an easy task of, “Just pick up the phone and call them” can turn quickly into a daunting situation. 

Here are strategies to help build your tribe of medical professionals in your local community.

1. Be a “Real” Person

If you want to reach other doctors, act like them. Simple right? Hardly

Contrary to perceived belief, medical doctors are living and breathing people. Yes, their ideas for how to best care for a patient may be slightly differing from ours, but at the core we are still all on the same team. 

A lot of people turn into robots when they get in front of other “doctors” and freeze up or become the “holier than thou” doctor.

Don’t be that guy or girl.

You can be different:

• Talk like a real person (even if it means breaking a few grammatical rules).
• Be accessible. Answer your phone when they call, respond back to emails promptly and send over detailed notes about the patients you share. 

Just don’t be someone you’re not. Be you and amazing stuff will happen.

2. Be Relevant

People don’t care about what matters to you; they care about what matters to them. If you want to attract more doctors, you need to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about how you can help them and their practice.

One thing I see Chiropractors do is immediately try to “talk shop” to the other doctor the day they meet them. 

Stop!  

They do not care. Why? 

Because the word “chiropractic” holds no relevancy in their minds… yet

Remember: MD’s are taught to find a problem, prescribe, and fix it.  Words like low back pain, neck pain, headache, etc are what these doctors associate with “chiropractic”. Be relevant in their terms and then let the conversation flow.  

Eventually you will be able to go into the history of Chiropractic, show them a presentation on chiropractic and channel your inner BJ Palmer, but not at first.

The first thing you should be doing is figuring out how to help them. Be their best marketer. Send them patients, answer any questions they toss your way and be a cheerleader for their practice.

Over- the top generosity is the best marketing you’ll ever do. Nothing builds an audience faster than freely giving without expectation

3. Create a Bond

In the words of former Navy Seal, Marcus Luttrell, “Bonds are created in times of Adversity”.  If you are working with another doctor by managing a case, use this “Adversity” to build a bond with that doctor and his/her staff. 

Perform!  

Do a great job caring for that patient and then follow up with that doctor. Forge that bond further by sending over your detailed notes and pick up the phone and have conversation about your care plan.  Show them that you are responsible for the patient and want to work with them further. 

4. Make them a Super Star

Everyone loves to see their name in “lights”.  Highlight the doctor. Write a blog post about them and their practice. Grab your iphone and do a quick interview with them on camera. Perhaps even create a page on your website for “affiliations” and put their practice logo and a snippet about them.  Make them a Super Star.

 When you make your practice about other people, they’ll make it about you.

---

Dr. Beau Pierce is the Founder of CircleofDocs, the online network for the Chiropractic Profession. His expertise in digital community building paired with his medical background has catapulted him to be a in demand speaker and lecturer. His Chiropractic practice is located in Santa Maria, California and where he resides with his wife and two children.

---

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

Beta Testing the New Orca Health SPINE DECIDE iPad app- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

In previous posts you have heard me praise the Spine Decide iPad as one of the top chiropractic related applications available for practicing chiropractors. A few months ago I was approached about beta testing an all-new, updated version of their application. I jumped at the chance!

Essentially, the Spine Decide application provides an unbelievable patient education interface and tool. I literally use it everyday in practice. The graphics/charts/pictures are the best quality I have ever seen in a healthcare application. Additionally, from directly in the application, you can email your patients specific information regarding their condition with a few very simple clicks.

Now, with their upcoming release, they have enhanced a ton of features and added even more benefit. Perhaps unbelievably, they have kept the interface clean and easy to use with literally zero learning curve.  The functional ability, elegance, and easy of use make this application the best chiropractic related tool available for your iPad. Check it out here and let me know what you think.

---

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

The Chiropractic Philanthropist Podcast - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Recently, I was invited to be a guest on The Chiropractic Philanothropsist Podcast.  Dr. Ed Osburn has been absolutely on fire with the podcast reaching over 40,000 downloads.

We touched on chiropractic history, marketing, interdisciplinary communication, and host of other chiropractic topics. To listen, simply click the link below.

---

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.

3 Essential Questions to Ask an MD- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Using the Socratic method during your MD Meetings is absolutely essential for success. The Socratic method is "based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas". In the context of an MD Meeting your goals are to gain insight and position your message.

There are 3 main questions that you should ask during your meeting. These questions will give you the information necessary to match your "message to the market".  When you message matches the market it creates a foundation necessary to fluidly build referral relationships. Let's take a look at the 3 questions.

1. Do they see patients with spine complaints in practice?

2. What specific complaints?

3. What are their current treatment protocols?

Believe it or not, the first question is often overlooked by most chiropractors! While most primary care physicians daily case load consists of 20-30% spinal complaints, there are some which do not see any spine patients. This could be due to a variety of reasons. For some, their partner physician may see all the spine patients.  Others may have an affiliation with a local spine group. In either case you can see why its important to first confirm that they see spine complaints in practice. 

Second, you will want to determine what complaints they are seeing practice. It will very likely be a broad range, similar to your practice. However, you will find that a substantial amount of docs will provide you additional information. It may be an increase in lumbar disc herniation because the snow birds are back in town. They may see a lot of cervicothoracic pain because they perform in-office trigger point injections. Any answer they give will provide you with additional insight to refine your message to their exact patient profile.

Finally, you will want to understand their current treatment protocols. We have found that 99% of the time medical doctors refer to physical therapy, other MD's, or treat in-house (meds) for spinal complaints. Thankfully, chiropractic has distinct advantages over all 3 of these choices. These advantageous are reviewed in detail in our free MD Meeting guide and my book, Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors. By understanding their current choices you will be in the best position to fine tune your message to the market.

As you can see, asking 3 simple questions can give you a plethora of information to accelerate your marketing and outreach. Efficiency, affordability, and elegance.

---

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor has assisted hundreds of chiropractors around the globe build interdisciplinary referral relationships.

Have you viewed our FREE Guides?  Download The MD Meeting and the 5 Secrets to MD Referrals today.