How to Get Your First 1K Instagram Followers- Chiropractic Edition

Instagram- a great place for pictures of food and selfies or a great place for business?

As a chiropractor, it's a GREAT place for business and building an audience of people who know, trust, and like you.

Today we're going to break down five things you can do starting today to get your first 1,000 followers on Instagram. We all know to be an influencer you need to be on Instagram. There are over a billion active users! So regardless of what demographic your targeting of your specific healthcare niche, Instagram is a place where you should be to build, connect, and ultimately grow your brand.

And there are five things that you can start implementing right now to get on your journey to that first 1,000 followers.

1. Consistency Wins

The first step is to post consistently. Consistency wins the game whether you are posting once a day, or even if you only have the time twice per week. Staying consistent with your post is a great way to start expanding your brand and expanding your message on Instagram.

2. Tagging People and Places

Your second step is to tag people and places. If you stop by a healthy restaurant; tag that restaurant! If you're hanging out with a colleague, be sure to tag that person! Tagging others can accomplish a couple of different things. First, if you tag a specific business or place it "geo-targets" your location which means people searching for that business or place will be able to see your post — more opportunities for exposure= more followers. So tagging the places you visit is crucial.

It not only helps people find you through research, but it is much more likely that those businesses are going to share your post/content across their platform which will further amplify your message and get more new eyes on your channel, your content, and your profile. So be sure to tag people and tag places.

3. Collaborations

Collaborations with influencers can really explode your follower count. Search out the popular people in your community and reach out for a collaboration. Perhaps it's a post that both you appear in. Maybe it's a story, or it could be just sharing content back and forth. And remember micro-influencers matter. You probably won't be collaborating with Jay-Z or Beyonce anytime soon- so but that doesn't mean it isn't worth it. Micro influencers in your community 5,000-20,000 followers will be happy to do collaborations with you because they are also trying to grow their audience and profile. So find collaborators do collaborative stories and host to help expand your message.

4. Engage With Others Content

Number four engage with other people's content. The more engaged you are on the platform, the more likely it is that people are going to notice you, recognize you, and follow your profile. So engage with other people's content. One way to do this is to find five hashtags that are relevant to your industry and add a comment onto the top 10 posts with that hashtag each day. Once you do that for 30 days, I can guarantee you boost your follower count and be "known" in that circle of influence.

You will become somebody that everybody recognizes by name, and in turn, you will have people coming back to your profile following you and engaging with your content. So take five to 10 minutes at the beginning or end of each day, search up you hashtags that are relevant to your business, your industry, your circle of influence comment and engage on that content.

5. Hashtags

Number 5 is hashtags. Hashtags are not dead; they are a great way to search out relevant content that you can contribute on and also for other people to find the content that you are putting out. So one best practice that I've seen lately is to create the first comment on your post and load it will up to 30 individual hashtags. You don't need to do 30 every single time, but if you choose appropriate hashtags, it helps amplify your message people will see your content and again more people will follow you.

Those five steps will help you get as quickly as possible to 1000 Instagram followers. It's how I've done it. It's how thousands of other people have done it. When you get started on Instagram, it can seem daunting to get the first 50 or first 100 but if you follow these five steps- post consistently, tag people and places, do collaborations with other influencers, engage with other people's content, and use hashtags; you will be well on your way, and you will be smashing a thousand Instagram followers before you know it.

Chiropractic Postcards- Are They Worth It?

Sending postcards may seem a bit old-school, but you shouldn't underestimate their effectiveness at driving new patients and re-activations.

Today we'll break down the three important types of postcards that you need for your chiropractic practice. Typically I talk a lot about social media and online marketing (because it's SUPER important) because it's the best way you can grow your practice quickly. But there is something to be said for the physical nature of mailing a postcard. And there are three postcard types I would recommend starting immediately which all have an extremely high return on investment.

Chiropractic Happy Birthday Postcards

So postcard type number one is the good old fashioned "Happy Birthday" postcard. We all know getting physical mail carries way more perceived importance than just an email. Think about it yourself. When it's your birthday, you open up the mailbox you'll see a card there. It makes you feel good! You should, of course also send a happy birthday email to your patient but sending a physical postcard at somebody's birthday has that little bit extra pizazz. It's a little bit special, it's a little bit over the top, and I think it delivers a very high return on investment through goodwill and caring.

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Chiropractic Reactivation Postcard Set

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The second type of postcard you should be sending is a re-activation postcard. The goal of this postcard is to engage with your past patients, let them know you've been thinking about them and that you care.

Over time you will have an inactive patients list in the hundreds, if not thousands. Sending a physical postcard and reminder of your practice thorugh direct mail is a compelling way to stimulate re-activations. Incidentally, you should also be sending these reminders consistently through email, but mixing in a physical postcard every few months is a great way to deepen your relationship and add another touch point.

A reminder that you exist is an excellent opportunity for your in-active patients to pick up the phone and call your office. How many patients leave your practice happy and healthy? Probably more than 90%. So think about it, you have a plethora of "fans' of your practice out there in your community. Don't hesitate to remind them with a physical postcard that you are part of their healthcare team and you are ready to help when they need you.

Chiropractic Holiday Postcard Set

$15.00

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The third type of postcard you should consider is a holiday card. Around the New Year is a great time to send a physical piece of mail to your patients and let them know you are thinking of them. Pro-tip- the timing of your holiday card can vary. If you are looking for a boost in the new year, then it may be beneficial to wait until after the 1st to send. If you are looking for a little practice uptick before the close of the year (and as your patients are looking at their deductibles) then sending the holiday card towards the beginning of December may be a better idea. It's up to you!

These three postcards will give you touch point practically every quarter with your patients.

I'd encourage you to explore sending postcards in 2019. Test it. See what kind of return on investment you can get. I think you'll be happily surprised with the results.

Chiropractic Salary: How much money can you make as a chiropractor?

In this article we will look at the good, the bad, the ugly and even one avenue you may not have thought of that has been shown to generate up to 10% MORE revenue for your practice.

When we talk about chiropractic salaries, it's important to keep in mind that over 70% of the chiropractic profession are "sole proprietors." So it's not an actual salary that is taken. Most chiropractors take home whatever money is left after expenses. This equation is (top line revenue- expenses = take home pay) That take-home pay is what many chiropractors call their salary, even though by textbook definition it might not be an actual salary.

Chiropractic salaries- how much can you expect to make if you are a doc?

Total Revenue - Total Expenses = Most Chiropractors Take Home Pay (aka- salary)

So what does all that jargon mean?

Well, number one it says if you are not taking an actual salary. Think of an accountant at a grocery store. Their salary may be $65,000 per year, paid every two weeks. This amount stays the same every two weeks, regardless of if they took a vacation, or if the company made or lost money over those two weeks. A salary is defined as a fixed amount of pay over a certain amount of time.

So, you can probably already start to see that for many chiropractors there can be fluctuation. If you are taking home the amount of between the top line revenue and expenses, it can be variable from year to year, month to month, or even week to week. So unlike our accountant with a fixed salary in a corporation that might be $65,000 with a two percent raise each year; as a chiropractor to have the opportunity to make a lot more money OR a lot less money. So understanding the salary for many chiropractors is continually changing is critical to know as we start to look at the numbers.

via GIPHY

Now let's start at the bottom of the barrel. What the research has shown is that the bottom 10% of a chiropractor's salary is around $30,000 per year. Not exactly a good return on investment for eight years of schooling and upwards of $200,000 in debt.

So that is important to keep in mind with your planning. As a new chiropractor, it's unlikely you are going to be out purchasing your first sports car when you start your practice. As a new doc, unless you are bringing a big audience, a unique skill set, or you have found a fantastic opportunity, the starting point for your salary is often going to be quite low. The good news is that chiropractic salaries tend to rise the longer you are in practice. So while the first few years can be very tough, often there is light at the end of the tunnel!

As we get up towards the middle of the curve, we see two different sets of numbers emerge. Chiropractic Economics runs an annual, and the self-reported median salary is right around $100,000. However, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics pegs the middle closer to $80,000.

So the question is when self-reporting are a lot of chiropractors inflating their salaries? Or is it maybe just an incomplete data set?

Either way, it seems as though $80,000-100,000 is a good median point for a chiropractic income or salary. Now interestingly, as I mentioned earlier the data shows that salaries tend to increase as time goes on. So the longer you are around your community, the more that you have built a brand, and the more past patients you've seen, the more money you will statistically make.

via GIPHY

At the highest end, there is not a salary cap. In many cities, there are practices where the chiropractic owner can take home over $1,000,000 per year. Typically these practices have incorporated associate doctors across multiple locations that help grow the revenue.

And finally, the data has shown retail services can increase your top line revenue by 10% or more. This could consist of DME (durable medical equipment), nutritional supplements, pillows, and more.

More recently this type of "retail" has expanded into group coaching, clinic-gym hybrids, cross-fit classes, and other services. These new service lines have the opportunity to sit in the perfect sweet spot- lucrative for the provider and extremely beneficial for the patients.

So there you have it. Feel free to comment down below with any questions that you may have!

The Top 3 Blog Post Topics to Skyrocket Your Website Traffic

You may already know that blogging can drive massive traffic to your website and help more future patients find your office by improving your search engine optimization.

But while most chiropractors realize they should be blogging, far too many don't know where to start.

Does that sound familiar?

If so, you are in the right place, because in this article you will discover the three key categories and topics that will help you produce hundreds of future blogs!

The Top Chiropractic Blog Post Ideas

1- Create LISTS

Creating lists is a great way to start blogging, or to pump up your blog because they are relatively easy to execute and provide tremendous value for the people in your audience. You may choose to start with a list of healthy snacks. It's always nice to feature your favorite local healthy restaurants. Or maybe you even put together a list of your recommended stretches and exercises.

There are hundreds if not thousands of different ways you can go with it. The list's also tend to perform very well because the headlines typically grab attention. By putting together a variety of blogs around lists, you can provide a nice quick way for people to see your subject matter expertise.

Also, since they are easy to read, it's more likely the audience will "digest" the material, implement, and take action steps. So lists are an easy way to start blogging — an easy way to start posting that could have a tremendous impact.

Get "The Top 5 Researched Benefits of Chiropractic" Blog Post Here!

2- How-to Blogs

How-to videos blogs and videos are fantastic for many of the same reasons as lists. They provide immense value for the people in your audience. The other great thing about how-to blogs is the extra juice you will get from Google with search engine optimization. Many people start their search by typing "how-to...". So if you have a blog post that answers the question of "how to...", it becomes MUCH more likely that Google (and all of the other search engines) will push you to the top.

How-To Blogs Take Advantage of Google AutoFill and Drive More Traffic to Your Website

As the search engines push you to the top, it can disproportionately affect your website traffic. Studies have indicated the top 5 search results get over 75% of the total traffic, so moving even one position can make a HUGE difference on terms that are searched frequently.

More traffic means more people will visit your website and more people will begin to understand your unique healthcare message which will inevitably result in an increase of new patients into your practice. So "how to" blogs are fantastic. You can go to thousands of different directions; these are an excellent way to start putting out blog content quickly and efficiently while also helping your search engine optimization.

3- Weekly Health Tips

And finally, the third content category is weekly health tips. This is a huge focus of what we do at The Smart Chiropractor and have seen tremendous success. When you can provide health information, health education, and health entertainment every week, it's a tremendous value-add to the people in your audience. It's also great for audience building.

Evaluating research updates and explaining why it matters to your audience (the life impact) is one powerful way to go. You could also feature a healthy exercise that you have found helps your patients with low back complaints.

There are a million different ways you can go with weekly health tips, but the bottom line is that they are a great way to establish cadence and consistency with your brand and practice. Putting out consistent content is crucial. And when you can do it in a way that adds education, information, and entertainment to someone's day- well know you have a piece that ready to be shared!

Get a FREE "Research That Matters" Blog Post!

You'll notice a common theme between all of these categories. They all focus on the other person. They focus on your community, your audience. So take a moment to understand what are you after. Who is the ideal person that you'd want to see in your practice?

Then ask yourself what the primary issues or problems that those individuals are dealing with are.

Then break it down one step farther and ask:

Visual Representation of Your Web Traffic After Following These Tips

• How can I teach them something that benefits with a how-to blog/video?

• What's the list that they might be interested in that will make their life better and or more comfortable?

• And what is a weekly health tip that will tie it all together?

Focus on providing content that will help make their day and life better.

When you're putting out blog content on your website and social media channels it can help position you as that expert. It will help you become a healthcare leader in your community.

If you have any questions or you want to run any topics by me, leave them down in the comments below. I'll be happy to chip in and help you get on the right path to improve your SEO, ramp up your content production and getting more people into your practice!

How to Create an Iconic Chiropractic Logo

Designing a chiropractic logo can be challenging! You probably spent more time in the clinic than at the museum of modern design. This article is intended to simplify the process for you. I'll help you discover the three key design elements that will help make your chiropractic logo stand out and make a lasting impression.

Also, we'll look at some examples of what not to do when creating a logo that will represent your business for years to come.

Logo design got me like…

Creating a chiropractic logo for your practice that can stand the test of time and perhaps even last your entire career isn't easy. So we're going to go through the three key things that you need to keep in mind as you go through that process to make sure you get the result you desire.

Now whether you are a new doc just starting out or maybe a doc who's getting ready to rebrand your practice, deciding on a logo can be one of the most intense times in anyone's practice. You want to make the right decision. You want to make sure it's going to be something that you can be proud of, and that's it's not going to look dated and drab in a few years. This is so important because the branding and logo of your practice are going to be on every piece of marketing material that you get out to the people in your community. That's why it's so important to do it right the first time!

There are three key things that you can keep in mind as you go through your process to make sure you get a fantastic logo that will make you proud.

1- Clean Design

Number one is looking out for clean design. Ever notice how the suits Frank Sintra wore in the 1950's look just as sharp today. It's all about clean design. He wasn't wearing a frilly Seinfeld-esque pirate shirt. It was clean and straightforward. So make sure that your logo is not too intricate.

This is a common problem I see with a ton of chiropractic clinics.

Especially when you want to incorporate a spine when you get small, and that image gets smaller, and you try to get it into the top of a paper, or you try to get it very small on a shirt. It just becomes a blurry mess. Keep in mind that cleaner design enables your logo to be seen very quickly and very easily if you think of some of the biggest companies that you know Nike has the check or the swoosh. McDonald's is the M. Google is the G. There is a clean aesthetic design where it does not get messy. It does not get blurry regardless of how it is utilized a clean design is number one.

2- Breaking Apart Image and Text

Number two is making sure that you can break apart the image and the text. So a lot of times you might have a brand name for your practice and then a small icon. Be sure that you can break those apart. Depending upon how you want to utilize your logo- if the logo is too tall or too wide you can become jammed into a sloppy final product. But when you can take the little icon and maybe move the words to the left move the words to the right or keep it centered and balanced, you have the opportunity to utilize your exact branding your logo your icon on all your merchandise and marketing materials without having to compromise on aesthetics.

When we're talking about logo and branding it's all about aesthetics; so make sure that you can break up the words and the little image or icon so you can utilize it with all of your marketing channels.

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Clean design.

Please don’t do it.

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3- Get the VIBE right

Number three make sure that your logo and branding match the aesthetic of your clinic. If you have a clean, modern practice, make sure that that logo is clean and contemporary. This simplifies the process and friction for consumers or future patients. Consequently, if you have a rustic office don't hesitate to go rustic with your logo. There are still ways to make that look beautiful. But keep in mind that the branding and the colors of your logo should very much mirror what people are going to see and experience when they come into your practice. When they receive something via e-mail, go in for a visit, or check out your website, everything should be unified. That is what establishes branding. It is the unification of your aesthetics and messaging.

Photoshop…or did this happen in real life?

BONUS TIP- Got to keep them separated!

Whether your logo designed was sourced from Fiverr or if it's an independent designer, make sure that you get one copy without the background. I've seen too many practices where they have a nice beautiful logo, and it's just on white. And they're trying to use it on something that's not white like a shirt, and they end up with a white square on a dark shirt with a logo on top. There are plenty of programs where you can strip the background cleanly and efficiently, but while you're at it, ask your graphic designer.

Creating a logo, and branding are a few of the most important things that you can do as you establish your practice and also as you grow and evolve. But keep in mind clean design wins the day. These quick tips will get you 99 percent of the way there!

I'd love to see your logo, and I'm happy to provide any feedback as well. Drop them down in the comments below. I'll take a look, and I'll answer any questions that you may have.

And remember, "great design is devine" - (me)