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.)
3 responses so far ↓
1 Amy Lu // Apr 16, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I believe that learning is never ending, and that you can learn even when you are older. As a result of this belief, I have taken and continue to take, many courses to further my education. For example, I am continuing my studies in the area of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with an eye to becoming a doctor in this field. I studied acupuncture at the International College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Vancouver, and graduated from this school. Other courses I have taken include Auricular Medicine, Hand & Foot Acupuncture and Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture. I am currently a licensed acupuncturist.
After years of hands-on experience with acupuncture, I have learned that it can successfully treat many different types of problems, such as upper/lower back pain, sciatica, tennis elbow, stiff neck, knee pain, headaches and migraines, depression, and insomnia issues. Personal successes have also supported my belief in this method of treatment.
My mom often had sore eyes, as well as pain in her arms and shoulders. Even though she visited doctors, they gave her only eye drops and painkillers, which didn’t help. She also tried massage, but the effects wore off after a couple of sessions. However, after acupuncture treatments, her eyes didn’t bother her anymore, nor did she have pain in her arms and shoulders. I am really thankful that I was able to help her.
My best friend injured her leg while stepping out of her car. She experienced pain, swelling and loss of blood. She couldn’t sleep at night. She asked me to give her an acupuncture treatment. Although she was in pain during the treatment, by the next day the swelling in her leg had gone down and the pain and problems with blood loss had also disappeared.
Acupuncture is not only a treatment for the aches and pains of our physical bodies, but also for our souls. I think the most important aspect of treating people is the “heart”. Each patient needs to be treated with sensitivity, as if he or she was your own relative.
Thanks!
Have a nice day!!
Amy
2 Jann Sumner // Apr 16, 2009 at 9:01 pm
I was lucky in my practice in that I had a lot of referrals right away. Besides being an acupuncturist, I am also a Doula (professional labour and birth support) and had been one for a few years before I even began my acupuncture education. I began my infertility/acupuncture practice even before I graduated. 2 of my very first patients were also nurses and they give great testimonials and referrals.
My advice to newbies is this.
1) Hang in there. Because this is a revolving door business to a great degree and also because of the economics of what people can and cannot afford, there will be ups and downs and you need to be patient and ride the down times out. There will be cycles and that’s a fact.
2) Don’t bite off more than you can chew with regards to rent and other overhead. Be sure that you can afford the space you are in. Landlords don’t care if you’ve had a bad few weeks or months, they want to get paid first. Being able to afford your rent when you are in a down cycle could be the difference between making and breaking your business.
3). Don’t be afraid to refer your patients to other modalities that could help them in their quest for wellness. If they need massage or chiropractic to enhance their treatments with you, refer them. Just be sure of 2 things. One, that you make it clear to your patients that you will be working with the other practitioner’s treatments (you want to hang on to your patients!) and two, that you work with other practitioners who not only won’t steal your patients but will also refer back. I’ve got a great network of practitioners and we refer back and forth often. Also, I’ve been complimented by my patients for having the sense to the refer them on when I see the need. Those people will generally stick with me long term because they trust that I can see when they need other treatments to help them. Believe me, this works.
4) If you find that your business is in a slump, look at what you can do to change it up and make it better. Giving in is giving up.
Hope this helps! Jann
3 Lisa Hanfileti, LAc // Apr 21, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Hi Burton,
Thank you for sharing the incredible story of Mason and Amy. It really shows the power and versatility of a website.
I would actually love to a see a website building course structured right into acupuncture practice management classes so that students graduate with their acupuncture degree AND a functioning website to market their unique services, knowledge, experience, and skills.
The truth is, all acupuncture students can be earning money through a properly constructed website (simply by providing information about Chinese medicine, herbs, acupuncture, qigong, tai chi meditation, etc., etc.,) before ever getting licensed and opening a practice!
Peace,
Lisa Hanfileti, LAc
Author, “Complementary and Alternative Marketing”
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