10X Your Next Seminar Using This Instagram Hack

At Rockstock in Huntington Beach, one of the big things that I noticed was that it seemed like everyone knew everyone. But, there are many events and seminars that feel a bit lonely. It can make you feel like your in a silo. But, I want to tell you that you can use Instagram to connect with other docs that are close by to you and make connections, so you're not feeling alone or siloed at the events and seminars you attend.

And the easiest way to do it is when you take out your phone, go to Instagram. Then search by "places." And when you search by locations you can tag precisely where you're hanging out. So recently I was at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington. I can tag that location and Instagram will give me a list of everybody that's posted (in chronological order) and tagged the Hyatt Regency. So I was able to find a bunch of other docs that were posting pictures from Rockstock. And then I can comment on the photos, shoot them a direct message, follow them, etc. If you go to a unique event and you don't know anybody there whatsoever you can just hop on Instagram. 

Especially if it's an event that has a couple of hundred chiropractors- you'll notice that quite a few start to post pictures. People are engaged. People are pulling out their phones and taking photos of slides, and many of them are then putting those on Facebook or Instagram. 

So I just want to give that quick tip for you. If you're at a seminar or a conference, and it feels like you don't know anybody,  Instagram can make it a lot easier to connect with like-minded docs and make a few friends in the process. 

The 10 Best Chiropractic Website Tips

Our chiropractic website tips are here to make your website stand-out and attract more new patients. 

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Click Here to Download a PDF Version of These Tips!

1) Consistent Blogging- content is KING

At this point EVERY chiropractic website should contain an active blog.  On the internet (and with search engines), content is KING.  Keeping an up-to-date blog filled with relevant content is absolutely essential to having a website that is working for you and your practice. I recommend updating your blog at least 2x month with a medium length piece of content.

2) Be Smart With Your Web Address- use the right keywords so people can find you on Google

Your URL, or web address, is a surprisingly overlooked component of your SEO. The best URL’s are brief and contain your business name. Think apple.com or facebook.com. In other words, you want to avoid anything that resembles www.JonesFamilyChiropracticandRehab.com/home-1-2-4-gck Keep it simple and as easy to remember as possible!

3) CTA- have a CLEAR call to action or next step for your visitor

Have you noticed anything when you visit Google, Yelp, and many of the other most popular website in the world. How many actions can you take a google.com? One! There is one clear call to action. When someone arrives at your website, make the ONE action you want them to take very apparent. Pro-tip- “wellness awaits you” is not a compelling call to action. 

4) Practice Information- this may sound obvious, but make sure your phone/address/email are easily accessible

If someone goes to your website on their smartphone are they able to press a button and call your office immediately? If not, you may be missing out on a tremendous amount of new patients. You would be shocked at how many chiropractic websites don't have this simple functionality. 

5) Email Opt-In- build an on-going list of potential new patients with a pop-up box or welcome mat

You have probably heard of “funnels” or email sequences. But before you start turning prospects into patients with these tools you need something…their email! Be sure to have a solid email collection tool on your website such as sumo.com 

Click Here to Download a PDF Version of These Tips!

6) Install Google analytics- as Nike says, “Just Do It”

You can only improve what you measure. Google analytics is completely free and gives all of the statistics you need to refine and improve your website. It’s simply the best free tool available to check the performance of your website. 

7) Load a Facebook Pixel- essential for re-targeting and having high converting FB ads

A facebook pixel is an invisible piece of code on your website that you can use to improve the response of your ads. And if you are spending any money on ads, you want them to work! To learn more about re-targeting click here. 

8) Mobile Friendly- over 50% of people will view on their phones, make sure it’s looking good

Duh. Is your website look great on an tablet or smartphone? Or is half the content hanging off the side of the screen? If your website isn't mobile responsive, then you are losing a ton of traffic and may even be being penalized by Google in the search engine rankings. 

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9) Social Media Account- link your social account to your website and vice-versa

Don’t forget to link your social media accounts to your website. If someone visits your website they should easily be able to check out your presence on social media. This will help build your audience and establish rapport. 

10) Speed- check your speed using a tool like Google PageSpeed. This helps with SEO

For many potential patients your chiropractic website is their first contact to your brand. Simply having a website is no longer enough. But, having a great website does not require $1,000 per month or your own web developer. 

There you have it. Ten of best steps you can take to ensure your website stands out front the crowd and attracts more new patients. 

Click Here to Download a PDF Version of These Tips!

Maintenance Chiropractic: Does the research support it or vilify it?

Maintenance chiropractic care: does the research support it or does the research vilify it? That is our topic of the day. And right off the bat, I would love to know if you prescribe or recommend maintenance care in your practice?

Maintenance chiropractic care has been around a long time, and there's always been, in my opinion, some questions regarding the criteria for it. Does it help people or does it not? And to date, there has been very scant research that looked at it in any capacity whatsoever.

But we were very fortunate in the year 2011 SPINE, the esteemed top-tier research journal, took a look at maintenance care.

So SPINE published a fascinating paper. The paper is titled "Does maintained spinal manipulation therapy for chronic nonspecific low back pain result in better long-term outcome." Again I'll say that one more time in 2011s SPINE put out a research paper titled "Does maintained spinal manipulation therapy for chronic nonspecific low back pain result in better long-term outcome".

I'm going to read a couple of quotes from the study that I believe to be very important and start to tell the story. The researchers found "nonspecific low back pain represents about 85 percent of low back pain patients seen in a primary care center and about 10 percent will go on to develop chronic disabling low back pain". So they just kind of setting the stage. 

We know historically, through The Evidence Based Chiropractor, 30% of a primary care doctors daily volume of patients are a spine or musculoskeletal patient. What they're saying is nonspecific low back pain represents about 85 percent of those individuals. What they're also saying is about 10 percent will go on to develop chronic disabling low back pain chronic pain over three months of course. 

Now the researchers also touch on something else that has chiropractors I think we could find very interesting. The researchers also found  "the postulated modes of action of manipulation include disruption of articular adhesions, improvement of trunk mobility, relaxation of hypertonic muscle by sudden stretching, the release of entrapped synovial folds, attenuation of Alph motor neuron activity, and enhancement of proprioceptive behavior and the release of beta-endorphins." This gets down to the mechanism of action on a chiropractic adjustment.

The third quote that I want to bring up from this paper is compelling. The researchers found "as patients did benefit from the maintenance treatments we believe that periodic patient visits permit proper evaluation, detection, and early treatment of an emerging problem, thus preventing future episodes of low back pain." 

Let me say that one more time. The researchers at SPINE concluded, "as patients did benefit from the maintenance treatments we believe that periodic patient visits permit proper evaluation, detection, and early treatment of an emerging problem thus preventing future episodes of low back pain." 

I'll tell you I've practiced in multiple multi-disciplinary clinics where I've interacted with orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, physiatrist's you name it, day in and day out. And one thing that I will say is that over the last ten years I've noticed that, from a surgical perspective, a lot of the docs do have an understanding that spine related complaints are a result of long-term deterioration and degenerative changes with microtrauma throughout an extended period of time. 

Many times when people end up in the surgery realm or in the interventional realm they have degenerative processes and changes that have taken a long long time to get there. And what I have seen and found over the last 10 years is that MD's and DO's are more open than ever to the fact that these are ongoing processes. So if you, as a chiropractor, are doing the right thing to encourage the person to stay active and to increase segmental mobility. You know they're going to continue to live on planet Earth, gravity is going to continue to take its toll. But when you can do some things periodically to help that patient stay as active as possible, that's a huge win. 

At The Evidence Based Chiropractor, a lot of what we focus on is the research and building relationships with other healthcare providers from a relationship standpoint. No surgeon is excited to "go back in" on a patient with repeat surgeries. There is a law of diminishing returns with surgery. That is an understatement. So it's an essential for us, as chiropractors, to be able to articulate what the research has showcased regarding maintenance care. Now that doesn't mean you see the person one time every day for the rest of their lives. Don't get me wrong. Everybody is different. 

Think about 90% of people experiencing spine pain in their life, that's significant. And 10% of those individuals potentially going on to develop chronic disabling pain that often results in surgery. Well, its reassuring to know chiropractic care has the potential to break that cycle. 

Does maintained spinal manipulation therapy for chronic nonspecific low back pain result in better long-term outcome?

The Ultimate Chiropractic Marketing Success Secrets Revealed

Marketing a chiropractic practice can be tough. I mean, real tough (think parallel parking in Manhattan). 

It’s difficult to get all the marketing strategies, all the different marketing approaches, and all the experts insights without spending countless hours visiting dozens of websites.  

Also, depending on your practice type (family, sports, rehab) and philosophy (yes, please or no, thank you) you can end up struggling to implement changes. 

A classic case of paralysis by analysis. 

Well…

What if you had the best influencers, from all sides of chiropractic, come together and tell you their top strategies for growth?

I have good news for you. It’s here.

I bribed, pleaded, and blackmailed (ok, I didn’t blackmail anyone) the top minds of chiropractic marketing to offer insight into their strategies for chiropractic success. By calling in a few favors and twisting a few arms, I was able to wrangle up Beau Pierce, Jerry Kennedy, Matthew Loop, Laurence Tham, Bobby Maybee, Tristan Schaub, and Erik Brower. 

So I did what any reasonable man would do, I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

No one was harmed during the making of this blog post, although we came pretty close (ask Tristan about it sometime).

So without further adieu; here is the Ultimate Chiropractic Marketing Success Secrets Revealed. 

What is the biggest misconception that chiropractors have about utilizing social media? 

“The biggest misconception about social media is that it takes a lot of time. If done in a certain way, the doctor can create systems which feed the office traffic and new patient referrals for years to come. Unlike a postcard drop where you may reap the benefits one time only. Slow but steady always wins the race. Consistency moves mountains. The goal is to get one system in place, automate it the best way possible, then stack another layer onto the marketing machine. And YES, the doctor needs to put some time in. No one that's ever become a wealthy industry influencer online outsourced their entire social media outreach. That's the cold hard truth. You are your brand. Your voice is unique and needs to be heard if you want to build a loyal following that knows, likes, and trusts you”, says Matthew Loop, expert social media marketer and author of Social Media Made Me Rich. 

Also focusing on the SOCIAL aspect is key. Beau Pierce, the founder of Circle of Docs, told me, “Many doctors think of social media as a glorified bullhorn and nothing more than a chance to "show off."  Once they fully grasp the true understanding of Why you should use social media and the ability to build a community of people who are looking for your knowledge, then they rally behind it.”

Tristan Schaub, of ChiroSushi and the ChiroSushiSummit, kept it real by saying, “Chiropractors think that all they need to share is “ChiroContent”. Chiropractic is about Life. Social Media is now Life. Chiro's need to realize that their social media should emphasize the social part of social media and get creative with their content on a consistent basis.”

What is the best framework to market your practice without “selling”? 

“Marketing without selling depends 100% on communication skills and relationships.  Every part of your marketing has to communicate a specific and targeted idea or feeling.  The ideas must be conveyed in a way that tells patients what their implied benefit is when using your services.  When you bring people to your practice that way, then you can focus on goal based, functional planning in cooperation with the patient.  They will come in with a certain expectation that your marketing hopefully set for them (hopefully).  Then you frame their experience around those expectations and specific personalized goals.  When you make those goals measurable, and you manage expectations and work to build relationships, you can easily market without selling.”, Bobby Maybee- founder and admin of the Forward Thinking Chiropractic Alliance

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Exclusive Success Tips from Laurence Tham of Drive Your Practice

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If you want to market without selling, you have to be in the community building/relationship building business. It's a different mindset. You have to start implementing cost-effective tools and systems that are designed to provide value and stay in touch over the long haul. 

Newsletters are a great example. Sending emails to people doesn't cost much, and when done correctly, it can be a great relationship builder. The same can be said for written newsletters. It's a bit old-school to send someone something in the mail. It also costs more than doing things online, but printed newsletters are an excellent way to stay in touch with your existing patients. If nothing else, use them to stay in touch with your VIPs. Your most valuable patients are worth the extra effort. 

“Social media can also be used as a community/relationship builder. It's more difficult to do that it used to be because social media has become a very noisy place. But there is still potential there if done correctly. Unfortunately, most chiropractors don't have a social media strategy that makes any sense, so they are just wasting time.” Jerry Kennedy, Black Sheep 

“The best way for a chiropractor to amplify their message and establish authority is to master the art of Facebook outreach along with social proof marketing. With Facebook, you can flip a switch and target your ideal prospective patient, build your name quickly, hit critical mass in your local community, and create a surge of new patient referrals each month. Some of these strategies are free while others can be implemented on a shoestring budget. On the social proof side of things, review platforms like Google and Yelp can influence opinion instantly. People buy chiropractors like they buy books on Amazon. The first thing the prospective patient does is look at what others are saying about you. If you have dozens of reviews, you look like the obvious logical choice. If you don't have any patient feedback, you don't look review worthy.”- Matthew Loop

What is the greatest challenge in building an audience online?  

“Staying consistent with the audience you have while opening up your strategies to welcome new followers and not alienating the latter”.- Tristan Schaub 

Remember, you don't need to always jump to the next online fad. “The greatest challenge that chiropractors have when building an audience online is knowing where to start. It's easy to get overwhelmed with social media and think you need a new tool or course every week. That's not the case, though. Certain foundational principles have worked for years and continue to be effective. Start with one platform like Facebook and implement one practice growth strategy. Then, as you and your staff get comfortable, you can always layer more on top. Don't get preoccupied with Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, or Pinterest yet. Follow one course of action until successful. Stay away from the shiny objects until you're seeing a steady flow of new patients”.- Matthew Loop

Also, keep in mind the story of the tortoise and the hare. It rings true online. “Consistency.  Flat out.  When you start out, you post all the time, write articles, etc.  but once the glimmer and shine of that new website start to fade, you must force yourself to stay consistent.  My best advice to create a calendar and rhythm.  Schedule out what you are going to post and then do it.  Stay consistent. If you want to write one article a week and do a podcast, then stick to that schedule... force yourself to commit and then over deliver with your content”.  - Beau Pierce 

So there you have it, the best frameworks, action items, challenges to building your online presence, and growing your practice from the top minds in chiropractic. 

To not only survive, but thrive, in the modern healthcare era, we all should be building our audiences and expertise. 

But you don't need to reinvent the wheel. By using a tried and true framework, you can make the process efficient. Then, by knowing where others have struggled, you can avoid those missteps and grow at a faster rate. 

So you made it to the end of the article. Now it’s time to go cause a ruckus. 

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Special Bonus: Check out Erik Brower from Amped in this exclusive video interview! 

Chiropractic is 98% BS- A Response to Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan recently came out with a very very viral and popular podcast and video where he said 98 percent of Chiropractic is BS. Well, I am a chiropractor. I run The Evidence Based Chiropractor which is focused on chiropractic research; as well as working hand in hand every day with Johns Hopkins trained neurosurgeons and more. 

So, I wanted to create a short video for Joe and everyone else out there showcasing where he was right, where he might be wrong, and a few other tip so the next time that he visits a chiropractor he can have a better experience. I think that he had a lot of great points, he just was a little bit misguided. 

Some things that Joe was correct on is that for many medical doctors they don't focus on preventative maintenance of the spine. They're not talking about yoga, they're not talking about proper spinal hygiene, they're not talking about ergonomics and sitting up straight and really strengthening those core muscles around the spine. Joe is 100 percent correct that typically medical doctors don't talk about that. Now ironically, chiropractors are the best health care professionals to talk about exactly those topics. 

So if you are into CrossFit if you are into staying active later in your years; if you want to have the highest quality of life; proper spinal hygiene, flexibility, and taking care of your spine under gravity is unbelievably important. But again, ironically, during Joe's 98 percent of Chiropractic is BS rant, he failed to mention that chiropractors are the best health care professionals to give advice directly on those topics. 

Also Joe was correct that when a disk bulges or herniates, it can create a situation where that disk presses up against a nerve as it travels out of the spine column. This can result in nerve compression. If that happens in the neck it can cause pain, numbness, tingling, and more down into the shoulders arms and hands. Now if that compression, that disc pressing on the nerve, happens in a low back, it can cause pain, numbness, tingling symptoms down into the buttocks and into the legs. 

But again, rather ironically, Chiropractic has been universally promoted and stood behind as the primary treatment option, the first treatment option, that you should explore if you are suffering from a bulge or herniated disc. Groups like the American College of Physicians the American Pain Society, prestigious research journals such as Spine Journal, European Spine Journal and more have all made recommendations that chiropractic care, chiropractic adjustments, are one of the primary options that you seek if you happen to be suffering from a bulge or a herniated disc. 

Now obviously Joe did not have the best experience with his chiropractor. And it's not fair of me to comment specifically on his case because I don't have his medical records in front of me. But there are a few items that I think he can learn, as well as you, that can help you have the best experience the next time you visit a chiropractor. Number one is communication is key. 

Joe said he was treated for over a year and then I got the MRI and there was a bulging disc. He said he knew he had it the whole time. Now if you've been treated for more than six or eight weeks without improvement, if you have muscle atrophy, if you have worsening nerve pain, then absolutely an MRI may be indicated to be able to get a better look at the pathology or the problem that's causing that pain. 

But remember even after that MRI comes back with a bulged or a herniated disc quite often your best first line of defense that the research proves out time and time again is starting your care in a chiropractic office. So if you have any questions about this please comment below. I would love to hear back what you have to say. 

I would also love it if Joe eventually saw this video I would love to have a chat with him and see where I can provide value for him and more education regarding where chiropractic starts where chiropractic stops and what the current data says regarding the usage of chiropractic care. I hope you have a great day and I'll talk to you.