There were 17 total comments on “What Stops You?”, where I asked what stops you from marketing acupuncture. My favorite comment was from Therese:

It’s not that any one thing stops me - it’s the multitude of choices that has this staccato effect on my actions. Oh - my website must be perfect, but all these choices (including the name!). But - wait, what about my brochure? Should I do a general one, or something on a sub-specialty? No, I’ll work on writing articles for local papers, but which one to hone in on? Aaaah! Ok, I’ll do this mailing for the facial acupuncture . No, I’ll get names of doctors! No, the infertility clinics. How about some Pain management / sports centers. Wait, I never finished my website …. the brochure …. the docs .. the massage therapists ….

Where to put the focus? And underneath, I feel like this panicky chipmunk running around in every direction!

So true. If you try to do everything, you end up doing nothing. I have three comments that may help:

First: The best book* out there on time management is Do It Tomorrow by Mark Forster. Period.

It’s not well known, but should be.

Mark explains how we have a reactive mind (perfectly illustrated in the above comment), and a proactive mind. If you’re reacting, you’re not really thinking or using your time wisely. He explains many strategies for avoiding the panicky chipmunk problem.

For example, to-do lists are TERRIBLE the way most people do them. Mark explains how to create a to-do list that actually gets done. I can’t do justice to the book in this short space, but trust me, it’s good.

That’s why it’s a secret bonus for all coaching clients. It makes my job easier when clients can keep themselves organized and do what we talked about. (Do you think it’s fun working with panicky chipmunks?? )

Second: Another thing I see is that practitioners don’t start booking more than one patient per hour, until their schedule is already full. If you’re not doing an initial intake, there’s nothing wrong with booking multiple patients per hour. It’s not like you need to hold the needles in for them or anything like that. You’re perceived as a better clinician if you’ve got more patients in the office - people are funny that way.

So where possible, I recommend cutting back on your office hours, and seeing more patients per hour. You get paid for your expertise, and NOT your time.

Last: Figure out what’s going to give you the greatest results with the least effort. Ask yourself: What marketing can I do now that will reward me with the most patients from the least input?

Do that. I’ll discuss more on Friday exactly what does give the most patients for the least effort.

Therese wins a half hour consultation with me for her chipmunk comment. (Therese, Please send me your phone number via my contact form or via email, and let me know what time this Wednesday or next Wednesday afternoon will work.)

* Many people may have heard of David Allen’s Getting Things Done. Supposedly it’s the best book on time management out there. It’s not.

I first read it in 2001 when David Allen first published it. I also joined his email newsletter. At that time, he put out a monthly newsletter every 2-8 months. Every time he’d apologize for being late, but he’d still do it over and over again. Does this sound like a really organized person? He has good ideas, but they’re not complete.