Just make this mistake:
There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs.
He put up signs on the highway, stood on the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog, mister?” People bought. He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade.
He finally got his son home from college to help him out. But then something happened. His son said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Reading the newspapers? “There’s a big depression. The European situation is terrible. The domestic situation is worse.”
The father thought, “My son’s been to college, he reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know.” He cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs.
His hot dog sales fell almost overnight. “You were right, son” the father said to the boy. “We certainly are in the middle of a great depression.”
Yes, we are in the middle of a recession, wherever you are. Yes, people are tightening their wallets. Or as Jann Sumner from Whitby, Ontario told me, “This economy is making people hunker down with their wallets firmly tucked between their knees!”
The same rules still apply though. Actually, because of the downturn, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to the rules.
Rule #1 - more money must come in than goes out.
Rule #2 - don’t break rule #1.
Most marketing breaks rule #1. You spend money and see no results. Too many acupuncturists have this problem - they try everything, and get few results.
What about marketing that pays for itself? What if t\it brings in more money than it costs? Think of it this way. If you could spend one dollar (or euro, pound, or baht) to buy two dollars, when should you stop?
Really think about that question. When would be a good time to stop spending a dollar to get two?
How about never?
This recession is NOT going to blow over anytime soon. In fact, it’s going to get much worse before it gets better. So paying extra attention to the rules will help give you a margin of safety. Personally, I think you can have your best year yet.
So what’s your plan to flourish? Not just get by - flourish?
Do you even have one yet?
There are many ways to buy dollars at a discount, or even free.
- Websites can let you buy about 12 dollars for each dollar spent. One month pays for the website, the rest of the year, free patients. (The special deal for Acupuncture Clinic Websites is almost over. I’ll be taking it down next Monday. We’re in the process of creating a new design similar to this one.)
- Improving your relationships and educating patients is free, or almost free. See Never Market Again for details.
- There are many free and cheap ways of promoting yourself outside of your clinic. Kevin Doherty’s Build Your Dream Practice will tell you how.
All three of these work together. Promoting your clinic on the web, promoting it inside the clinic itself, and doing outside promotions all build upon each other.
Despite the recession, I hope you make 2009 your best year yet!
1 response so far ↓
1 Kenton Sefcik // Dec 13, 2008 at 9:22 am
The economy might *seem* like it’s in shambles, but my numbers are up and keep going up. I don’t have flashing signs, a Yellow Pages ad or a fancy dancy marketing campaign - I just keep doing what I keep doing.
I believe that the best way to generate new clientelle is to take care of the ones I’ve got. Then they tell all their friends about me. It’s the cheapest form of advertising and then you don’t have to sell the person who’s been referred.
What ever you think about, you bring about. In my mind, I don’t believe that there really is a recession. I also don’t believe that if there’s a money-crunch going on that it’s really going to affect me and my business.
I LOVE what I do for a living and pour my heart and soul into it. And what do I get back? Money, clientelle, a chance to perform one of my favourite skills all day long, self-reflection, etc, etc.
When it comes to all this economical brainwashing: I keep my head down, my ass up and just get back to work.
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