If you haven’t planned any marketing events during the last months, now is as good a time as any to get started!  Here are some special days during June and July as well as some monthly events that take place.  Simple suggestions to plan these events are at your fingertips, so I challenge you and your staff to take action!

June is…National Safety Month, Tennis month and Children’s Vision Month.

June 1…Dare Day

           5…World Environment Day

           6…Teacher’s Day

           11…National Hug Day

           15… Smile Power Day

           17…Eat Vegetables Day

           23…National Pink Day

           29 Camera Day

Since June is Children’s Vision Awareness Month, ask all patients to bring in old glasses and donate them to a charity, send a press release telling the community.

During the month of June, in honor of Teacher’s Day, contact schools and offer to speak on stress management or peak performance to teachers, offer complimentary massages if you have a therapist working with you in your practice, if not ask a local therapist to help you.

July is…National Blueberry Month, National Picnic Month and Recreation Month.

July 1…National Postal Worker Day

          3…Compliment Day

          11…Cheer Up the Lonely Day

          12… National Pecan Pie Day

          21…National Junk Food Day

          26…All or Nothing Day

          31…Parent’s Day

In honor of Pecan Pie Day, host a bake off in your office and ask patients to bring in their favorite recipe and baked pecan pie.  Have the staff and doctors judge and give out first, second and third place prizes!

In honor of Parent’s Day, offer all parents an opportunity to bring in a friend that is a parent and offer complimentary scans to educate others about their spines and chiropractic. Make it fun and allow patients that refer in others to enter a raffle and give away a healthy prize.  Ask a local health club for a membership for six months or a local restaurant to donate a gift certificate for a lunch and or dinner.

Want more?  Just ask!!

Last month one of my favorite chiropractors had 54 new patients.  Yes, that is 54 new patients that STARTED care!  Another chiropractor in a different part of the country had 43 new patients and another only had 30.  Don’t believe me?  Call me personally and I will give you their names and numbers-you can call them!  I often wonder why it is that some of you can’t seem to get even just a few new patients each and every month, consistently.  I also wonder what you are doing, or NOT doing that does or does NOT bring in new patients to your practice.

Let me ask you a few questions…but before you answer them, please think about them and answer honestly.

Do you have a yellow page ad?  Is it simply a listing or is it a big, costly ad?

Do you advertise in the local paper?

Do you have a coupon in a local community mailer?

Do you do telemarketing?

Do you have an outside company doing any marketing or advertising for you?

Are you involved with any networking groups, such as BNI, local chamber, toastmasters or rotary clubs?

Are you working out at a local health club or gym?

Are you sending initial reports to primary care physicians of your current patients?

Are you participating in any community events?  Health fairs?

Are you coaching any children on sports teams?

Do you actively meet with attorneys regarding work/car related accidents?

Do you speak at local businesses on health, wellness or safety topics?

Do you provide any workshops/lectures in your local schools for teachers, PTAs or career days for the children?

Do you speak at any local support groups or parenting clubs?

Do you set up meetings/lunches with other health care providers in your community?

Would you like me to ask more questions or do you understand where I am going with this???

In these economic times it is crucial to stay active.  Simply waiting for the doorbell to ring (hanging a sign outside of your office) will not bring new patients to you.  Others need to connect with you, see you, hear you and feel you to know that you exist.

If you are stuck, ask for help!  It is not ok to just wait around thinking things will change.  The definition of insanity is…doing the same things and expecting different results.  There are plenty of successful chiropractors that are willing to share ideas, success stories, challenges and strategies with you.  YOU have to seek them out.  YOU have to be a good leader to your team so that your team becomes little relationship building magnets to all of the people in your community.  YOU and your staff must carry the wellness message about chiropractic everywhere you go.

Now that January is just about gone, what did you do during the month to attract new patients into your practice?  What did you do to retain the patients that you already have and are you continually educating your patients and the people in your community?  It is an easy task to express gratitude each and every day for the referrals that you receive.  All gestures of appreciation are constant reminders that you not only appreciate referrals, but also encourage them.  Remember to always reward the behavior that you want from your patients.  They will appreciate it and continue to refer!

Keep in mind that you want to have a well-balanced marketing plan.  This means maintaining internal and external marketing events all year long.  Planning events quarterly makes it easier than planning the entire year all at once.  Keeping track of your events allows you to make distinctions about what worked and what may not have worked so that the following year will be even easier to plan.

February is…

International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month

American Heart Month

Give Kids a Smile Day-Feb. 1

Ground Hog Day-Feb.2

National Wear Red Day-Feb. 3

Hershey’s Chocolate founded Day-Feb. 9

Get a Different Name Day-Feb. 13

Valentine’s Day & National Donor Day-Feb. 14

National Gumdrop Day-Feb. 15

National PTA Founder’s Day & Random Acts of Kindness Day-Feb. 17

Love Your Pet Day-Feb. Feb. 21

Be Humble Day & World Thinking Day-Feb. 22

Quiet Day-Feb. 25

Suggestions for marketing in February…

In honor of Love Your Pet Day, ask patients to bring in their favorite picture of their pet and display them and give a doggie prize for the best picture.  Plan a pet day outside in a park or in the parking lot of your office!  Ask patients and friends to bring their pets and just make it a fun time.  This could get some press coverage if press releases are sent out, making your practice the most unique practice in town!

Combine Hershey’s Chocolate Founded Day with Valentine’s Day and give out Hershey Kisses to all patients or fill a jar of Hershey Kisses and ask patients to guess the number of chocolates in the jar during the week of Valentine’s Day. Give the jar filled with candy to the person that guessed the correct number or the closest number.

Prenatal Infection Prevention Month is in February.  A project sure to get more children and moms as new patients is to contact every moms club in your community, offer to do a workshop for moms on Raising Healthy Children.  Discuss ear infections, bedwetting, antibiotic use and abuse, healthy nervous system (chiropractic!) and building stronger immune systems.  This is a great presentation to do for teachers and PTAs as well.  Another related project is to contact pediatricians, midwives and obstetricians to expand your referral network of healthcare professionals in your community.

So, what action steps are you taking in this New Year to attract new patients into your practice?  Try some of these suggestions!  These are proven strategies that if done on a consistent basis will raise the energy level of your practice.  Who wouldn’t want to do that??????????

Say Goodbye to 2008 and Make 2009 EXTREMELY Divine!

It is hard to believe that another year is coming to an end…this is a perfect time to look back on your year and review your successes, challenges and plan your strategies for the new year that is just around the corner. In order to ensure that the coming year is filled with an abundance of successes it is necessary to plan your action steps now.

Firstly, consider all of the wonderful marketing efforts that worked during 2008.  Evaluate month by month both your internal, external events and promotions by looking back on your tracking system to see where you got most of your new patients and what was it that your existing patients most participated in.  This will give you a good start in planning ahead for 2009.  Remember it is most important to make sure that you have an excellent team, ready, willing and able to take on 2009!

Do you have a purpose statement for your practice?  Ask yourself two questions: 1) Who or what do you want to be and 2) What do you want to do?  Write down your thoughts and start to form phrases about who you are and what you want to accomplish within your practice.

Do you know your capacity?  How much water does an eight ounce glass hold?  Can you get nine ounces into an eight ounce glass?  The answer is “no” because eight ounces is all the eight ounce glass can hold!  Think of this in terms of growing your practice.  In order to exceed in your practice, you first must determine a way to increase your capacity, this will allow room for your practice to grow.

I have talked about this often in my articles and on my blog…do you yet know who your ideal patient is?  Discuss with your staff who your best patients are and why they are your best patients.  This will help identify your ideal patient and also help you to target market your ideal patients.

What are you participating in within your community?  How do you market yourself?  Are you consistently doing both internal and external marketing projects?  Are you consistently building your network of health care professionals?  Are you consistently gaining visibility in your community?  Have you considered hiring a part time Community Relations Director?

And lastly, are you a good communicator?  Do you own what you say about chiropractic?  Are you authentic, sincere and engaging?  Do your patients and others in the community consider you an expert at what you do?  And most of all do you have fun in your practice and in your life?  Believe it or not people can tell!

I will add to this blog some fun internal and external events that you and your team can add to your new 2009 calendar in the coming weeks. I will even add some step by step lessons so that implementing them can be simple.

It is a great idea to comment on this blog as to what you might like to see in the coming months so that I can give you what you want or need!  I encourage you to participate.  If you are not willing to participate how will you make 2009 extremely divine?

We have all experienced procrastination at some point in our lives. For some it is a frustrating habit that prevents us from achieving our goals and dreams, for others it comes and goes. Although there are many definitions of procrastination, they all seem to have one characteristic in common, rather a behavior or lack of behavior. Procrastination’s many definitions; to put off intentionally and habitually or the act of delaying or deferring an action to a later time. Procrastination causes frustration and one must overcome it to really make progress in one’s life. The things that hold us back the most are that which will free us the most. Procrastination causes stress, stress causes illness. Procrastination can be controlled…if you are willing to… manage your time, become more organized, get help, be committed and take action.

So, are you a procrastinator? What did you do to market your practice last month? How many external events did you do and what were they? How many new patients did you attract into your practice? What were the internal events that you did and did you solidify relationships with your existing patients? Did you join any new networking groups, meet any new health care professionals in your community or participate in any community events?

Well, did you?

It’s NEVER too late to take action!

October is the tenth month of the year and associated with the season Autumn. If your marketing has been lacking, there is still time before the year is over to end on a high note. Put on your creative hats and imagine, dream and PLAN!

October is…

• Chiropractic Month
• Talk About Prescriptions Month
• National Chili Month
• Magazine Month
• Energy Awareness Month
• Disability Employment Month
• Halloween Safety Month
• Pasta Month
• Physical Therapy Month
• Computer Learning Month
• Pizza Month
• Fire Prevention Month
• Vegetarian Month
• Healthy Lung Month
• Dessert Month

October 1 is…World Vegetarian Day
October 6 is…National Child Safety Day
October 10 is…World Egg Day
October 15 is…National Grouch Day
October 16 is…World Food Day & National Boss’s Day
October 22 is…World Nut Day
October 25 is…Make a Difference Day
October 31 is…Halloween

In honor of National Chili Month, host a Chili Cook-off at your office.
Ask patients and friends to join in the fun on a Saturday, after office hours and ask people to make their favorite chili recipee and bring it to the office for all to taste! Choose several patients/and or staff to be the judges and give out 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for the best chefs! You won’t believe the bonding that will take place with your patients, the energy that you will feel and the fun that will be had by all!

During the month of October in honor of National Prescription Month, why not educate patients on the harmful side effects of prescription medications by distributing a weekly news bulletin about these different medications. In the same bulletin talk about how proper diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep and a positive mental attitude can make a huge difference in each and every one of our lives.

Chiropractic marketing is about two factors; recruitment of new patients and retention of all patients. Chiropractic marketing is really about relationship building; building relationships with new people and solidifying relationships with existing patients. Good marketing is about the planning of internal and external events, the consistency of marketing the practice and producing results. These are the basics and if the practice has a good leader that sets by example (the doctor) and excellent team players then a marketing plan can be executed and maintained.

September is Classical Music Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, National Good Manners Month, Self Improvement Month, Fall Hat Month, Better Breakfast Month, Chicken Month, National Courtesy Month, Little League Month, National Piano Month, Healthy Aging Month, Sports Safety Month, Cholesterol Education Month, National Flower Week and National Dog Week.

September 4th is…National Newspaper Carrier Day & Fight Procrastination Day

September 6th is…Read a Book Day & Coffee Ice Cream Day

September 7th is…Grandparent’s Day & Neither Rain nor Snow Day

September 9th is…Teddy Bear Day & Hot Dog Day

September 11th is…Make Your Bed Day & World Trade Center Attack Day

September 13th is…National Peanut Day, Chocolate Day, Positive Thinking Day & Fortune Cookie Day

September 15th is…Make a Hat Day

September 21st is…International Peace Month, Miniature Golf Day & Women’s Friendship Day
September 27th is…Family Health & Fitness Day

September 28th is… Good Neighbor Day, World Heart Day & Strawberry Cream Pie Day

During the month of September in honor of Sports Safety Month host a workshop for all of the coaches at the local schools to educate coaches on the importance of sports safety as well as the prevention of sports injuries. Have a staff member make calls to the schools and get the names of the coaches, send a personalized letter inviting the coaches to a lunch and learn at your office or a local restaurant. Make sure to follow up with a phone call and make sure the scripting is correct.

In honor of Grandparents Day, invite all grandparents of patients to a workshop at your office on “Finding the Fountain of Youth”. During this workshop discuss how seniors can stay young and vital through proper nutrition, exercise, positive mental attitude and sleep. Place a press release in the local newspaper and invite seniors from within the community as a way to reach out and educate others.

Now is the time to plan for the fall, there is no better time to plan out your next three months of internal and external marketing. With all of these great suggestions, why not have a contest with your team and see who comes up with the best ideas for an event. Give that person a prize or a surprise. Remember rewarding the behavior that we want is a great way to set examples for both our teammates and our patients. It works, try it!

Be sure to check back for marketing tips for October…