I asked “What Stops You?” from marketing your acupuncture and oriental medicine clinic, and have been following up on the initial comments. Here are the previous articles in the series that we’re finishing today:

1. What Stops You? (with 17 comments)
2. What Stops You? Part 2 (on confidence)
3. Time Management (What Stops You? part 3)

Two hangups seem to stop many practitioners from actually doing any marketing.

First, most people don’t like to blow their own horn. Chapter 2 of Never Market Again covers this. If you don’t already own it, you can download two free chapters here. I’ve never met an acupuncturist that likes to brag. It just doesn’t fit the personality of people that go into this profession.

However, you can “brag” without being a braggart. I’ve been reading two books lately that discuss how. I just started Brag! - The Art Of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It by Peggy Klaus. So far, Peggy suggests getting really good at telling interesting stories about yourself. I’m also re-reading Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. Both suggest using stories to educate and persuade. The human brain seems wired to remember stories.

One good story that you probably have is how you got involved with acupuncture. One practitioner I talked to a couple weeks ago got involved with acupuncture because of her dog! Great Danes have a genetic tendency to have seizures. When her dog was implanted with gold beads (the size of the ball in a ballpoint pen), the seizures stopped for good.

Isn’t that an interesting story that offers proof acupuncture works? Drama? Human interest? I bet if she put that story in her brochure, people would remember her. Most of the time when I read articles about acupuncturists in the news, the “getting started” story is there. Reporters KNOW stories sell.

The other kind of story you should get good at telling is stories about how you helped patients. Just a short story allows you to educate patients about what acupuncture can do. Even a story about what you didn’t do allows you to educate patients. A practitioner told me about a pregnant woman who he was supposed induce in the afternoon. He was looking forward to it. She called in the morning to cancel - you can guess why.

Telling stories like this gets your patients thinking about people with similar conditions. It allows them to repeat your story. Stories sell. People appreciate a story - it’s a good way to brag without bragging.

The second thing that stops many people is an aversion to the unknown, the uncomfortable, or the unfamiliar. My book is pretty clear about what to do, and the results to expect. Unlike advertising and other money pits, you know what you’re getting into.

But knowledge doesn’t equal experience. Knowledge is no substitute for experience - it’s only a starting point.

One thing I practically BEG people to do is ask for referrals. I explain in the book how to ask in such a way that your patients will like you even MORE. You can improve your relationship with your patients by asking.

I can’t tell you how many practitioners that email me who are obviously resistant to this. It’s simply a fear of the unknown. What’s the worst that could happen? Really - think this through. What is the worst that could happen? And how likely is it to happen?

It’s not bad. You’re not going to offend them if you do it the way I recommend - so the worst that could happen is they won’t be interested. And the lack of interest simply isn’t very likely.

It’s no big deal.

But it seems that way. The payoff is huge, though. Every practitioner who has emailed me about asking for referrals has been HAPPY about it. And they usually seem a little surprised. I don’t know why.

It reminds me of taking my son Brady to a water park every year at Thanksgiving. Every year he doesn’t want to go down - he’s terrified. Every year I push him down. And every year he’s at the bottom waiting for me - “Daddy! That was FUN!”

After that, I have to tell him “STOP RUNNING!” He ends up almost bouncing like Tigger - he can’t wait to do it again. He’s turning 8 next Thursday, and I’ve been giving him that first push since he was 3.

I do offer coaching if you need your push down the “waterslide.” Getting more patients could be fun, you know. Marketing doesn’t have to feel like “marketing” or selling or tooting your horn. That’s the reason I named the book Never Market Again.

That doesn’t mean it’s not unknown and unfamiliar, and therefore uncomfortable. If you’re one of those practitioners that’s avoiding the unknown and the unfamiliar, I hope you’ll push through it. It’s easier than you think to successfully market yourself, and the reward is the life you want.