Recently, I had a neuropathy ad sent to me, which I’ve shown below. The doctor was not happy about the return on investment. The only numbers I have are that he got 3 new patients, so it is difficult to know if that is a good ROI or not (to figure ROI we need to know the ad cost and the total amount the 3 patients paid for care).

Now, this is one of the best performing advertisements in my Ultimate Chiropractic Ads package. I get so much feedback from this neuropathy ad, I’ve had doctors beg me to write more that are similar to it. So before I saw the ad, I was very curious as to why it didn’t work.

Can you give the reason this ad didn’t bring in more new patients? (Not the blurriness, as I did that for copyright reasons.)

There’s actually more than 1 problem here. Be sure to keep in mind most neuropathy patients are over 60, and a slight majority are female.

One of the terms used in video marketing is the word “viral”, which essentially means it’s being passed around to multiple people very quickly.

Now you may be wondering what’s the point of making a video that goes viral around the country (or world) when your patients are within 10 miles of your practice?

A couple of a reasons actually.  First, the more people who see it on youtube, the more likely someone in your area will see it. Also you can have the ability of telling people in your practice about it, and if it’s truly good they will show others. In addition, you can put a link to your website on the Youtube page, and if your video get’s lots of view, that will be a very important link.

So how do you get your chiropractic marketing video to go viral?

Simple, do something unique. The problem with most chiropractor’s website videos is that they are just plain boring. A guy in a white coat lecturing me on what he does is not very interesting to watch.

You don’t need a huge budget or a film crew to make a good video. Start with a good idea. Let me show you some examples to get your creative juices flowing.

Here’s a video that really speaks to the conversation going on in the heads of their potential customers:

This next one was an international sensation that Roger Ebert called “The Greatest Music Video Ever Made.” You can see how it’s very catchy and makes people want to watch it.

In this last one, the company gets an awareness message across in a unique way. And people will want to share it so their friends can be amazed too.

Need more ideas. Click here to see 100 of the best viral videos in 2011. But let me warn you, there is a reason they went viral, so you may end up spending hours watching all of these!

One last note: if you want to see some chiropractic viral videos that are done for you at a very low cost, check out the Get to Know Chiropractic videos.

Coaching seminars and popular books teach that if I just think about money the right way — focus really hard on it — then it will just show up in my lap tomorrow! (Try this and tell me if it worked for you.)

In chiropractic school, I was often told to “do the right thing and the money will come.” The idea here was that if you pursue money, you could be doing the wrong thing (instead of the right thing.)

I did the right thing (helping sick people get well) for a couple of years when I started out, yet that didn’t seem to be enough pay the bills. Was there something more? (Yes, see full story here.)

Some people say that “money is the root of all evil, after all the Bible says so.” Actually the Bible says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).

You see it’s loving money more than anything else that makes money an idol. People who love money will treat others badly. They will become immoral and unethical because the ends (more money) justify the means.

But money is just paper and coins. It doesn’t have a mind of it’s own. Even the value it holds is what a government or a person gives it.

True, money is necessary in our world. And can be used for good. Financial guru Dave Ramsey, in Total Money Makeover, says:

It is the duty of the good people to get wealth to keep it from the bad people, because the good people will do good with it. If we all abandon money because some misguided souls view it as evil, then the only ones with the money will be the pornographer, the drug dealer, or the pimp. Simply enough?

So money is just a tool. A tool that can be used for good or evil. Accumulation of it can be seen as the end goal of a person’s life, where he or she is essentially worshiping it as a god. Or it can be a tool to bless others, feed and clothe your family, help your neighbor, educate your children, etc.

Maybe that is what J. Paul Getty meant when he said, “Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells.” If we just pile it up like Scrooge, are we actually using it for it’s intended purpose?

This leaves us with the big question about money. The question most coaches, consultants, and secret books don’t want to talk about.

Where does the money really come from? Your patients? The tooth fairy? God? Your bank? The universe? The government? A money tree?

Tell me what you think below in the comments?

What is the most cost effective way (cost effective table) that you recommend to implement this into the practice? Also, could you tell me about your decompression marketing? Thanks

Today I want to continue this discussion of the decompression niche by looking at the second part of the question, namely how should you market your table.

As I said before, the issue of which table to buy and how you’re going to market it are not separable. They should go together, or you’ll just end up with an expensive piece of equipment collecting dust in your office.

One of the biggest problems I see with doctors who have a decompression table in their office a complete lack of marketing. There should be someone on it getting treated every 15-20 minutes from the time you open until you close the doors at night.

Now let’s look at how to do that.

1. Print Ads

I know, I know, everyone predicted that print ads went the way of the dinosaur 5 years ago. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., etc. are the only that that matters now.

But back in the real world, newspaper ads are kickin’ butt at bringing in new patients for decomp doctors. One of my Decompression Marketing Elite clients this past fall got so many new patients over a 2-3 month period he had to buy a second table, and paid for it with cash!

How can this be if print advertising is dead?

Do we have to know the exact reason? It’s working now, that’s what counts. Maybe its that less people are running ads, so your ads will stand out easier. Maybe its because the mostly likely candidate for treatment on your table is between the ages of 40-65 and those are the people reading the newspaper.

Another quality marketing strategy of decompression marketing that’s often missed is ‘sub-niching’ the market. You see, the spinal decompression market is a niche within chiropractic.

But there are different kinds of problems people present within your practice. Some have back pain, others sciatica, others have numbness or muscle atrophy, some neck pain, other headaches. All of these are sub-niches in that they break up the overall niche.

Why is this important?

Because once you realize each of these patient groups are speaking a different language, it allows for you to focus your marketing on each group. To get an idea of how I’ve done that and see some example ads click here to watch a webinar where I explained it in greater detail.

2. Internet marketing

Once you’ve got print ads running, get your internet marketing streamline and working at full speed. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking that internet marketing is all you need, as if it will replace all other kinds of marketing. This is a huge mistake I see. Chiropractors fall for all the hype on the internet, put all their eggs in one basket with online marketing, and wake up a few months later wondering where the new patients are.

Marketing your practice online is not the be all end all, magic pill of marketing. While Dr. A spends 5 hours a week on Facebook trying to get a new patient, Dr. B down the street runs an ad and get 17 new ones at a case fee of $2500.

So now that we’ve dealt with the hype, let’s look at what’s working online.

The best thing you can do is take a few well written ads and make them landing pages on your website. Also, well-scripted videos of you explaining the benefits of decompression treatments are a big hit. Plus you can never have enough patient testimonials, including testimonial videos.

You should have the regulars too, like a regularly updated blog, contact info and maps, and Facebook, Twitter, Google + Pinterest and other links. This is all done very easily using WordPress and all the plugins. For example, at the top of this post you’ll see all 4 buttons you should click to like this article.

Just remember, print ads are the big rushes of new patients each month and internet marketing is the slow, steady stream. You want both. Marketing is not an “either/or” fallacy but instead a “both/and” truth.

3. Referrals

This one should be obvious. If you just got a table, it’s likely you’ve got a constant flow of chiropractic patients who could easily be converted to decompression patients as well. You should also send out regular emails and newsletters to your patient base reminding them of this helpful equipment you have acquired. Visit BNI groups, chambers of commerce, and other places where you can speak on the effectiveness of this service.

Most of you can get a lot more referrals than you realize. Other patients can refer decompression patients in like crazy, but you might have to remind them to do so.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to market your decomp services, check out my Decompression Marketing Elite program. I just added a new component which makes it the best deal we’ve ever put together.

A Personal Ad Placement Expert Working For You to Handle Everything

The day you join Decompression Marketing Elite, you’ll get your own personal ad agency working for you to place the ads and negotiate rock bottom advertising prices with the newspaper.

You’ll get a tested marketing expert who’s helped chiropractors save thousands in ad prices and brought in more qualified new patients just by handling your ad placement. In 2010 alone she helped bring in over 300 new patients for just one chiropractic office using only newspaper ads.

Here’s what you’ll get each month with this component…

• Contact the local newspaper to speak to the ad rep.
•  Negotiate a huge savings for your ads (some doctors have saved hundreds of dollars per ad!)
• Strategically Choose the Best Ads to Run (based on real past results)
• Add Local Condition-Specific Testimonials from your practice
• Proof Your Ad for Accuracy and Submit it for publication

As you can see, it’s like having a person marketing assistant working closely with you.

Carol Ann Smith, the marketing expert providing this service, normally gets $150 per month for placing an ad, but you’ll get it completely FREE as a client.

Find out more here:

www.DecompressionMarketingElite.com

As I was watching the video below, I wondered how useful this will be for health care offices to quickly pull up patient files. Is this something you could see running your office software, or does it seem too far fetched to be of any practical use?

What is the most cost effective way (cost effective table) that you recommend to implement this into the practice? Also, could you tell me about your decompression marketing? Thanks

I commend this doctor not just for his questions, but especially how he is thinking through a marketing strategy before getting his table. Too many doctors buy expensive equipment without any idea how they will market this new service to prospective patients.

In today’s post I want to answer the first question, and in the next article we’ll take up the issue of marketing. But remember, these two are inseparable. So don’t just read this article about which table to buy and then neglect returning for the advice on how to actually get people on it.

Spinal decompression treatments are becoming very popular with patients. More and more of the aging population is seeking to prevent low back surgery for herniated discs and painful sciatica.

If you don’t have a table yet, you may be thinking you’ve missed the wave and now it’s moved on to some other type of niche product. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Now is absolutely the best time to get into decompression. Why?

Because competition in the market has brought the price of decompression tables way down. There is no need to pay $120,000 for a decompression table anymore (unless you just enjoy sending a mortgage type payment to the bank every week!) Just about everyone realizes you can get the very same function out of a table for $10k or $15k. Also, there are many used tables out there now which bring the price even further down.

So what table do I recommend? I prefer one of two types of tables. (And neither of them give me any type of kickback for mentioning them.)

These are just tables that I have either used or been treated on.

1. Chattanooga Triton DTS (cost approx. $10,500)

The DTS was the first decompression table I bought when I first got into the decompression niche in 2007. This table is super comfortable to lay on and the padding feels really good.

One advantage is that the newer DTS model has a cool looking computer interface with touch screen functions. Many of these older models have been refurbished and sell for around $3000-4000.

A major problem I always had with the DTS table was that patients were always slipping and sliding around. Even if the belt was so tight it restricted their breathing, the patient would slip. Which meant you had to turn the pounds of pull way up to get the desired effect. But the new model claims to have a new belting system that “allows a patient to be wrapped and set-up in under one minute”, so I assume they fixed this problem.

2. KDT (Jay Kennedy) Neural-Flex Decompression (costs around $11,500)

This is the newest decompression company and it’s becoming very popular in chiropractic offices. (I currently get treated on this table at least once a month for my L5 disc problems, along with my weekly adjustments.)

Developed by Dr. Jay Kennedy after years of teaching his seminars on how to use decompression treatments, this table is very nice. It seems to take a lot less force to get the same effect you would have had on the DTS. Part of the reason may be that this table really holds you in place and there is almost no slippage.

The vibration feature can be very helpful. I don’t think it’s recommended for the lower back, but I tried it a few times and it is intense to say the least. KDT has the best decompression belt strap on the market in my opinion. This thing gets snug and will not slip if attached properly. One of the negatives of the KDT table is that it seems very stiff when compared to the DTS, which means it’s not as comfortable to lie prone.

KDT also has a basic decompression table for $8,995 which does not have all the features of the neural-flex.

Both of these tables come with a cervical attachment that I highly recommend, as you’ll find almost as many cervical patients to help as you will lower back. It’s just that cervical disc problems usually present with other symptoms first: headaches, neck pain, etc.

There’s quite a few dealers who sell both the above recommendations as used tables, along with ebay and your local chiropractic college classified ads. Here’s one popular site that has a few used tables:

http://www.bryanne.com/usedequipmentdtstraction.htm

The tables will usually come with some marketing, or an “endorsement” to use a specific marketing company. I don’t really recommend you spend much money using the marketing material they send you. I’ll cover why in the next blog post, but it’s not just because I have decompression marketing material myself. It’s actually a fundamental principle of marketing that’s usually missing which causes their marketing to fail.

Questions about decompression? Post them below. If you have a table, tell us which one you like the most.

Current research shows that 80% of Americans use the internet on a regular basis.

That means 8 out of every 10 people in your community are getting online to look for things to buy, socialize on networking sites, email friends, conduct business, look for local businesses (like you!) and dozens of other things.

I would like to help you a bit with one major factor in getting more new patients. If you’ll answer a short 6 question survey about how you use the internet in your practice, I’ll give you…

A free, downloadable 9 page report on The Quickest Way to Get New Patients with Google Adwords

…which includes step-by-step instructions on how to setup your account for longterm results, a couple of my best ads, and over 50 my favorite keywords.

The survey will only take you a couple of minutes and then you’ll be able to immediately download the free report.

Click Here to Take the Short Survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TSSDHLC

There is no single “magic phrase” to open the referral floodgate, but there are 3 crippling fears keep MDs from referring patients for chiropractic care. These are not pie in the sky theories, but rather secrets I’ve learned from marketing to over 300 medical providers in my area as well as working with doctors all over the country.

1. Fear #1: You’ll steal their patient
Regardless of what variety of conditions you treat in your practice, when working with MDs your emphasis must be that you’re a specialist in conservative musculoskeletal care and will not try and usurp their role as the patient’s primary care provider (PCP).

I always make sure to tell other doctors that we do not function as PCPs, but that we find patients are best served when their chiropractor and medical physicians are all communicating together. This gives them the comfort that you won’t try and undermine their treatment of the patient. We expect professional respect and courtesy from MD and this goes both ways, even when you may disagree with a particular element of their management plan.

As a matter of fact it’s a good business (and social) practice to go out of your way to tell the patient what a great doctor they have and what good hands they’re in. Odds are this compliment will make it back to the referring physician, and that’s always a good thing!

2. Fear #2: They don’t really understand what chiropractors do
Most MDs seem to view chiropractic in the same light as many chiropractors do acupuncture. They believe that there is validity to the treatment, but they don’t know a lot about how it actually works.

This fear is easily conquered by ongoing education to provide familiarity with chiropractic, our level of expertise in treating musculoskeletal conditions, and the latest peer-reviewed research. For all of my PI Marketing Elite doctors we recommend one print, one electronic (e-mail) and one live contact a month. We provide cutting-edge MD newsletters and e-newsletters 100% “done for you” to make this process automatic.

3. Fear #3: Their patient will get a 6 month long treatment plan on their first visit to your office
I’m not going to debate the pros and cons of recommending long courses of care with cash pre-payment, but I do want to point out that if you want to receive medical referrals MDs cringe at the idea of a 6 month long treatment plan given on the first visit.

I explain that in my office we do a trial course of care, typically lasting anywhere from 2-4 weeks, depending on the patient’s condition. At the end of the trial we reassess the patient and if they’re making progress we start spacing out the time between visits and giving them home exercises to do.

This type of approach fits the paradigm they’re used to working within when they refer to a physical therapist, so in their minds you then become a viable option for referrals.

By preemptively dealing with these three common fears you’ll unlock an untapped goldmine of referrals, and help countless patients find relief with chiropractic care. I’ve seen it work first-hand in my own practice, and you can replicate this success in your office!

Dr. Jonathan Walker is president of PI Marketing Elite, and a full-time practicing chiropractor. MD marketing is a key area addressed in the marketing modules of PI Marketing Elite, and we provide you with turnkey tools, scripts, and strategies to use in your practice. Log onto www.newpimarketing.com or call Dr. Walker directly at 904-616-1284.

I frequently get this type of email message…

“Hi Doc. I just ran one of your ads. We got 20 calls and 11 came in for the exam. How can we get better results from the ads?

Unfortunately, this is a huge problem in chiropractic offices (or any health practitioner for that matter!)

The problem here isn’t the ad. After all, it intitiated 20 new patients calls! But to have only 55% of those calling in show up for the first visit is ridiculous.

But you want to know the scary part? This is happening in almost every office around the world.

Your office may not be as bad as the example quoted above, but as you know even one lost new patient is worth thousands of dollars to your clinic.

How many new patients are you missing out on just from bad calls.

Here are a few current numbers on this issue reported in our industry:

• 98% of all new patients call on the phone first to schedule.
• 50% of all lost patients are caused by poor patient handling at the front desk.
• 79% of all advertising is wasted on leads that don’t convert to new patients

Click here to watch this free webinar.

Most chiropractors are only touching the tip of the iceberg. The list is almost endless of tactics to use: email marketing, PPC ads, blogging, mobile apps, Facebook pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google SEO, etc., etc.

In every country around the world more people are using the web every day. Check out this short video showing just a few stats: