Mason McClellan and Amy Galvan are both acupuncture students who aren’t licensed yet. But they already have patients!

Mason is in partnership with his wife Sandra. Mason and Sandra set up their website months before, and share space with a chiropractor. On their first day of seeing patients, they saw one private patient and one that followed them from the school clinic. They sold a package so the day’s revenue was $880. Not bad for a first day! Congrats, you two!

Amy Galvan sent me some emails, that frankly, read as one big testimonial for my books.  So I’m slightly embarrassed to show you them.  But I’m impressed because I never thought of building your practice LONG before graduating from school…  So I’ll share some excerpts where she’s taking action in hopes they inspire other students:

My patients are so impressed with the relationships I am building with them that a good number of them have already told me they are following me into private practice upon graduation. They have only begun to tell me that since I have been implementing the ideas in your book. I will use Kevin Doherty’s book more once I am in private practice.

You know, most acupuncture school clinics are really clumsy. When it takes too long for new patients to schedule appointments and get paperwork mailed to them, etc, I have an advantage: I refer them to my website to contact me directly and download forms. My school does not even have this option on their website, although they approved me doing it on mine.

Making changes to the website is so easy! I was able to upload forms for new patients to download. Our school website does not even have this option on their website because they built their website with someone who charges for time and page editing, and it has been too much hassle. With their permission, I just uploaded the PDF files to my website myself. The school is linking to my website to direct new patients to get their forms on my website instead. That also will build my SEO rankings, I think!

My school is using my website as an example in the Practice Management class, and I haven’t even taken the class yet! They also said they’d like to copy some of my pages word for word onto their website because they’re that good. I told them I paid for the copy so they should, too, or else just use it as inspiration.

Probably 2 out of 3 graduating acupuncturists won’t be using their degree 5 years after graduation.  My guess is Amy, Mason and Sandra will be doing just fine, don’t you think?

Also, despite Amy’s experience, I definitely don’t recommend my book for brand new acupuncturists.  My recommendation for new acupuncturists is to start with Kevin Doherty’s Build Your Dream Practice.  It is more helpful when you’re starting out.  You can easily more than triple referrals using my methods, but that’s just not going to work without patients to get referrals from.

Do you have any suggestions for these two (and other beginning acupuncturists)?  Any stories to share?

(By the way, I only know about Mason and Amy because they took the initiative and asked me about a special deal for acupuncture students.  If you’re a student, we can help you get a running start on building your practice.  We’ll set you up with a site for just $10 a month until 3 months after graduation.  Contact me for a special signup link - this is NOT advertised.)

Unfortunately it’s really, really hard to compete with free.

If someone is used to not paying for medical care, or paying a small co-payment, they won’t change their habits.

They won’t pay.

I’ve heard from several practitioners about this.  The latest is Marcus Rhoden, L.Ac. who works in a pain clinic.  He said:

At the Pain Clinic people are so trained to get things paid for through Medicare and insurance that they will not even consider paying out of pocket. Seems to be an issue there, still trying to work it out but people scheduling and then not showing and not wanting to pay is kinda wearing on me. I don’t know how much longer I will try to keep that open.

He also said:

When seeing a client who is paying out of pocket they tend to listen very intently on every word that you say they also are far more likely to try at least once everything that you recommend to change their condition.  The patient who does not pay anything (mostly workers comp and medicare patients) tend to do about 25% of what you ask them to do.  They seem as a group far less motivated to change their lifestyles, and seem far less motivated to be proactive in their healthcare.

Don’t get me wrong some patients are great and will do whatever it takes to better their lives, but not all.

I also ran into this while investigating starting a community acupuncture clinic for AIDS patients.  The Chicago Department of Public Health is having severe funding cutbacks, so I thought providing acupuncture at a low cost would help fill in the gaps.

Boy, was I wrong.

I heard from Lisa Rohleder of http://www.workingclassacupuncture.org  told me: “When people are used to receiving any kind of public health services for free, it is extremely unlikely that they will pay anything for any medical service, period. They just don’t expect to do it. Nothing you do will sell them on it.”

I’m glad I didn’t find this out the hard way.  I wanted to point this out for anyone who is considering “competing with free.”  Competing with free actually IS possible, but it’s an uphill battle.  Not one I would want to fight.

I do have to wonder, what about the acupuncturists who practice in countries with socialized (government sponsored) medicine?  If acupuncture isn’t covered when everything else is, it seems like an uphill struggle.

Does anyone else have experience competing with free (or cheap)?  Any thoughts on this?

I’ll admit it. I can be very blunt. I have to work at diplomacy, instead of just saying what I have to say. Sometimes people appreciate directness, other times it can get me in trouble.

Today I think I’ll get in trouble. I might as well have fun with it, so here goes.

I don’t like most doctors much as a professional group. They mean well, but for such educated people, they’re surprisingly ignorant. Most of what they know and apply on a daily basis has been literally brainwashed into them by drug company reps.

You think I’m exaggerating, don’t you? I’m not, and I have proof.

That article shows exactly how doctors are manipulated - including brainwashing. You may be surprised to know that the Chinese are the best at brainwashing in the world. What they’ll do is subtly reinforce views by having someone write or explain something that they don’t believe in. The brainwashing technique in the article is that of the drug rep playing dumb and having a doctor explain research to them.

I’ve talked to a doctor about other parts of the article. The drug companies buy and aggregate prescription data from pharmacies so they actually know exactly how many prescriptions each doctor is writing, and for what brand.

If they don’t like the doctor’s prescribing habits, they can have a talk with them.

One doctor told me she finds it “creepy”, and “can’t believe this isn’t illegal.”

Doctors also are required to have ongoing education. Guess who provides the education for free? The drug companies, of course.

So why am I mentioning all this? Simply because Western medicine and the drug companies have a monopoly on the minds of the public. Health care is OWNED by Western medicine.

Even worse, the drug companies have a monopoly on the minds of doctors. Drugs are the only solution. I’ve talked to several doctors about this, and they’re not really happy with their ability to treat people.

Acupuncturists, on the other hand are universally happy with their ability to treat people. Even so, you as an acupuncturist, are nearly a nobody when it comes to health care. The public thinks of you as a last resort.

This is beyond retarded.

As an acupuncturist, you work with the human body’s self-healing abilities, which have been developed over millions of years of evolution (or by God, if that’s your belief). However, the public trusts doctors, and by proxy, drug companies more than their own self-healing abilities, and your ability to promote healing.

I keep on having discussions with acupuncturists and other health professionals about the need to put Western Medicine in perspective. Dan Clements over at AlternativeHealthPractice.com compares it to negative campaigning. It’s building yourself up at the expense of someone else.

I see how he could think that way. About 2/3rds of the acupuncturists I’ve talked to agree with him. They would prefer not to mention Western medicine at all.

But the fact is, there’s a huge downside to drug-based Western medicine, that few know about. Patients don’t really understand that all healing has to come from within – their body’s self-healing abilities. They don’t understand that most drugs only treat the symptoms and don’t cure anything. They also don’t understand that all drugs have side effects.

So when you talk to patients about healthcare, remember, you’re actually fighting a monopoly. You do need to be able to explain what true healing is, why your technology works even when modern drug technology doesn’t. (You do use technology to help people. Read the definition.) It also helps when you talk about Oriental medical concepts in a way that doesn’t alienate patients. I cover all this extensively in my book, with a lot more diplomacy.

I’ve been talking with Chris Kresser, who writes articles for his site, The Healthy Skeptic. He’s a very interesting guy. Completed the pre-med requirements, then actually talked to doctors about what it’s like to be one. What he heard horrified him so much that becoming an acupuncturist instead!

Chris has made some good points lately about how it’s not doctors that are the problem, it’s drugs and the drug companies.

Obviously, it won’t work to go around telling doctors they’ve been had. Or telling them they don’t really know what they’re doing how to help people heal. So what’s your approach to working with doctors? How do you educate them about yourself without being threatening?

Also, how do you fit yourself in your patient’s minds so they consider you as a viable alternative to Western Medicine? A first resort instead of a last resort? I have my own ideas outlined in my book, but there’s more than one way to do things.

Thoughts?

Lisa Hanfileti from Insights for Acupuncturists wrote Complementary & Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website. In it, she details how she made $11,168.81 in her first year online, working part time.

The best part is, it’s passive income. She’s setting up things once, but will be paid for them with almost no ongoing work. She provides a valuable service by sharing her expertise and recommending products/services that will help her website visitors.

[Read more →]

Lisa Hanfileti from Insights for Acupuncturists organized a teleseminar on websites for acupuncturists. The bottom line is, if you don’t have a website, you’re losing patients and money.

Period.

You can download the seminar mp3 here, or listen to it here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(Note - I’m not sure the player works. Let me know.) [Read more →]

Lisa Hanifileti is having a free teleseminar tomorrow night at 9:30 Eastern, 8:30 Central, 7:30 Mountain Time and 6:30pm Pacific Time. It will cover her new book, where she explains how she made $11,000 from her website in her first year online.

There will also be 5-6 website services presented, so if you’re considering setting up a website, you’ll be informed about your possible choices. As I’ve said before, many acupuncturists get between 2 and 5 new patients a month from their website. This is simply the best way to get patients with little effort or expense.

You can sign up for the call here.

The website presenters (in case you’re curious):

• Frank Prieto, New Acupuncture Patients
• Kevin Doherty, Build Your Dream Practice
• Jenn Givler Coaching
• Chinese Medicine Websites
• Lisa Hanifileti, Insights for Acupuncturists
• Burton Kent (that’s me!), Acupuncture Clinic Websites

Your greatest asset as an acupuncturist is your patient base.  I don’t care how many or how few patients you have.  You would be surprised at how many people tell me they have 3 patients.  Not 2, not 4 or 5, exactly three.  It doesn’t matter.

You need to focus just as much on patients you already have as on getting new patients.  Probably more.

A common rule of thumb is that an existing customer (patient) is 7x as likely to do business with you as a new patient.  That’s probably an underestimate when it comes to acupuncture.

Too many acupuncturists just don’t remind people they’re available to help. This causes the revolving door syndrome - you’re forced run in place.  You’re constantly working replace all the patients that are exiting your practice, instead of being an ongoing part of their health care.

Recently I was contacted by an acupuncturist that has been practicing for 30 years.  She’s had her own clinic for 25 years - a true pioneer.  She was concerned because in the last few months she’s seen a definite drop-off in patients.  She wanted to join my coaching program, hire me to train her receptionist, and help her with her website. She had good questions about reactivating patients, doing SEO for her website, etc.

Good questions, she knew where the leverage is.  She had done her homework.

However, she didn’t want to expand her practice. She just wants to make a comfortable living working a few days a week.

Even though she wanted to give me hundreds of dollars to tune up her marketing, I told her to hold off on that.  Save her money.  Just buy my book and apply it.  Because with a patient base spanning 25 years, I have no doubt she can simply reactivate her old patients and get referrals from new patients.  No need for marketing, advertising or even promoting her website.  At least not yet.

I’d actually be more worried about having too many patients.  That’s what I call a quality problem.

I regularly hear from acupuncturists who:

• Were worried about their practice surving before they read my book.
• Doubled their patient base within 6-8 months of reading it.
• Have a lot more fun with their practice - they know what to say, their patients like and understand them more, etc. etc.
• Feel energized and hopeful about their practice.

(If you’d like to read or leave a testimonial, please go here.  Like you, I really enjoy hearing when people have nice things to say.)

If you’re not properly taking care of your existing base of patients, your clinic IS leaking money and patients.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

So let me ask you - how are you making sure your past patients are still “active”?  How are you making sure that you’re taking care of your existing base of patients?  What do you still have left to do?

There’s a classic story where a bear charges two hikers in the woods. One puts on running shoes, while the other says, “Why are you doing that? You can’t outrun a bear!”

“I don’t have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you.”

In the last 2 months, I’ve been hearing from people interested in advertising so they’re the first choice among acupuncturists.  Or they want to promote their website to beat other sites.

If you’re doing this, you’re trying to outrun others. [Read more →]

I just talked to someone who says she specializes in Broadway dancers and fertility/women’s issues.  I had no idea.  Her website doesn’t show this, it came up by accident.  Her site just shows she used to be a dancer. 

If you want to specialize, you need to let people know.

From what I’ve seen, specializing is a very powerful way of getting new patients. Marketing without marketing, so to speak. There’s several reasons for this.  Some are obvious, some aren’t. [Read more →]

SEO is search engine optimization.  It’s important if you’re an acupuncturist and are hoping to get patient through your website.  You can read our series on SEO here:

• Part 1: Lies and Half Truths About Your Website
• Part 2: Keywords and Search Terms
• Part 3: On-Page Ranking Factors
• Part 4: Who Likes Your Website (Off-Page Ranking Factors)
  
• Part 5: Other Ranking Factors

This is the last installment of our SEO series.  So far we’ve talked about:

• Common SEO lies
• Keywords and Search Terms
• On-Page Ranking Factors
• Off-Page Ranking Factors

Today we’re going to talk about other factors that don’t show up on web pages themselves. [Read more →]

Testimonials are great. You can talk about yourself until you’re blue in the face, but just one good testimonial from a satisfied patient can make a bigger impression than anything you say yourself. If someone says something good that you’d like them to repeat, ASK them for a testimonial!

My book sales jumped by about 25% after I added a testimonials page. It’s just more believable when my readers talk about me. (By the way, if you’re a satisfied reader, please do leave a testimonial there. thanks!)

What surprises me is that in some areas testimonials are illegal. They used to be illegal in far more places, but the restrictions have been greatly eased. [Read more →]

This is part 4 in our series about SEO - Search Engine Optimization. SEO is essentially marketing your acupuncture website to the search engines, so they’ll let you rank better or even first in the search results.

Is Your Site Important?

The search engines want to know if your site is important, or if it belongs buried at the bottom of the search results.  The most reliable way of knowing this is looking at who links to it.

Think about it… If no one liked your site - if they didn’t find it important or relevant, they wouldn’t link to it, right?  Incoming links to your site is the number one way that Google and the other search engines have of determining if your site is important to the searcher.

A large number of links from other websites is a sure clue that your site is relevant and important.  However, there’s more to it than that. [Read more →]

I almost never have virus problems.  The only virus problem I’ve had in 5 years came after a hard drive crash when I forgot to reinstall an antivirus program.

I actually have TWO antivirus programs on my laptop right now.  And there was something that bypassed both of them.  It’s apparently caused by Adobe Acrobat Reader. It’s running javascript that allows a PDF to install a trojan horse program on your computer.

The fix is simple - I put together a 16 second video showing what option to deselect.  Simply start Adobe Reader, and watch this video to see how to deselect the problem setting.  OR simply:

[Read more →]

This just in from Lexie. She forwarded it from the Acupuncture Association of Colorado notices. The signup form for the group is here.

Hello again all AAC Members! I am sending all of you a copy of a letter that has been sent to all members of our national organization, the AAAOM. We have a unique opportunity to submit comments regarding AOM to the new administration, but only until Jan. 15th. Please read the attached message - I know it is long, but it is extremely important! Take action to whatever extent you can!

REFORMING U.S. HEALTHCARE: President Elect Barack Obama and Secretary Designate Tom Daschle, Department of Health and Human Services would like your opinion on how to reform the country’s healthcare system. [Read more →]