(This was first sent out in email - I’m reposting it here in response to a question)

Just got off the phone with an acupuncturist in Ithaca, New York. He was telling me he has two clinics, but wants to focus exclusively on marketing the Ithaca clinic, because that’s where he lives. (Probably the overhead of a second clinic isn’t very appealing either.)

He said there are 20 acupuncturists in Ithaca, a town of only 30,000 people. A new acupuncture college in the area just had its first graduating class, so there should be even more competition in the future. He’s doing quite well though - has been practicing for 11 years.

I told him about Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. Last time I checked, a quick search of yellowpages.ca showed 112 Vancouver acupuncturists advertising in the yellow pages. There are more in the surrounding area, and I think two or three Oriental medicine colleges located nearby.

There are a LOT of folks from Vancouver signed up for my marketing newsletter.

Out of all the places on earth, my guess is that Vancouver is the most “competitive” place to practice acupuncture by far. At the same time, I don’t think competition means that much. Some, but not anywhere near as much as you’d think.

There’s a couple reasons for this.

More competition means that more people will be educated about acupuncture. That means they’re more likely to accept it as a normal way of maintaining their health, and are far more likely to consider acupuncture.

And when it comes to your own patients, if you do a good job, you really don’t have much competition. It’s commonly said that people are 7 times more likely to do business with someone they already know. So if your patients are happy with you, it’s like other acupuncturists don’t exist!

This works for referrals too. If your patients recommend you, the referral “knows” you, if only slightly more than some stranger. So they’re more likely to visit you than anyone else.

This is a big reason why I believe so much in marketing to your own patients. Just because you already “sold” them on you once doesn’t mean you should ignore them in favor of new patients. Quite the opposite. It’s so much easier to sell them (and their friends).

Competition? Bah.

Education and relationships trump competition and advertising every time. Forget “How do I compete with doctors and other acupuncturists?” Instead ask, “What can I do to better educate my patients and improve my relationships with them?”

Answer that, and you’ll never have to worry about “competition.”