Author: Dr. J

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Tips, Tools, Products, and Resources, Free Chiropractic Marketing Tools, Off Topic, Reviews

Vistaprint: Chiropractic Business Cards, Signs, Marketing and More!

by Dr. J on August 24, 2010 • 1 Comment

It’s review time again! For those of you who haven’t been following along, we often come across a Chiropractic related website, product, or service we want to rant or rave about. It’s a great way to break the monotony around here while spreading the word about things that may (or may not) be of benefit to your Chiropractic practice. Today we’ll be looking at VistaPrint.com

My first experience with Vistaprint.com was while attending Palmer College of Chiropractic. When we finally entered student clinic nearly everyone, including myself, got free business cards from Vistaprint to help us network and get patients. Having a real business card as a student extern was one of the first times you begin to feel like an actual Chiropractor.

At the time of this writing you can still get 250 free business cards. You only pay for shipping and processing and for any upgrades you choose. Although free business card customers are limited to choosing from about 42 free designs, there is surely something to fit your needs. The cards are great quality and the only real downside is they feature the phrase “Free business cards at VistaPrint.com” or a similar phrase in small print on the back of the cards. These business cards are ideal for a Chiropractic practice starting out on a budget or even for use as appointment reminder cards.

Although the free business card end of VistaPrint.com hasn’t changed much, I am amazed to see how the site has expanded in the last 5 or 6 years. They now offer a huge range of products and services.

In addition to business cards the site offers anything you could imagine or desire in the world of office related stationary. You can design custom Chiropractic envelopes, labels, folders, brochures, pamphlets, postcards, mailing labels, rubber stamps and much more. Need custom business checks? They do that! Want to design a Visa credit card with your own design? You can do that too.

Vistaprint also offers professional signage solutions. From banners to magnetic car signs and window decals, they are a complete signage provider. You are sure to find something to fit your Chiropractic signage needs. If one of their pre-made Chiropractic sign designs doesn’t suit your tastes then simply design and upload your own. This site puts you in control of designs with their very easy to use design interface.

The site also offers solutions for all of your Chiropractic practice promotional items. Check out their coffee mugs, T-shirts, pens, keychains, luggage tags, mousepads, magnets, and much more.

That’s not all! VistaPrint.com also offers business marketing services such as email marketing, postcard and other direct marketing services, websites, online search profiles, and much more. They are a one stop shop for your Chiropractic print and practice promotion needs.

I was surprised to see you can even purchase a toll free 800 telephone number through their site. You can sign up for a free 30 day trial and after that the base plan is only $9.99 a month with an annual commitment (or $14.99 if you choose to be billed monthly). I know what you are thinking, but there are no setup fees either! I never realized obtaining a toll free 1-800 telephone number for a Chiropractic practice could be so easy and affordable.

I have been a VistaPrint.com customer for years and I still see something new on their site every time I visit to place an order. They offer quick turnaround, great prices, and high quality on their print pieces. As you can tell I dig VistaPrint. Afterall, any company that saved me money during Chiropractic college and still saves me money in practice holds a very special spot in my heart.

Here’s a lot of what I like, and the little I don’t:

What’s Hot

Tons of Free Products: You can sample the quality of many products and try many services absolutely free for 30 days. I highly recommend you stop by and check out their free pens, free business cards, free website, free logo design service, and much more.

Great Prices: The site offers pretty amazing prices and great promotions to save you even more of your hard earned cash. In fact they even offer a low price guarantee on their Postcards, Business Cards, Brochures, and Folders.

Package Deals: Save even more by taking advantage of package deals on matching sets of business cards and related stationary. For instance you can save 50% with the mid level “Standard – Business Package Deal”. This one is my favorite and truly an amazing deal if you ask me. For just $49.99 you get:

500 Premium Business Cards

140 Return Address Labels

10 Letterhead

1 Car Door Magnet – Large

1 Large Stamp

1 Metal Business Card Holder

Easy to Use Design Interface: Customizing one of the existing designs or making your own from scratch is easy, quick, and painless. You can design your own Chiropractic logo, business cards, and matching stationary in minutes.

Environmentally Friendly Company with Green Choices: Choose recycled materials for your print products and help protect our environment.

What’s Not

Too Few Chiropractic Specific Designs: The ready to go Chiropractic designs on the site are a little bland and Chiropractors could really use more choices. Since you can make changes or upload your own designs this is really only a minor issue.

Pricey Upgrades: Glossy business card stock, premium 100-lb matte paper, foil accents, or other upgrades can end up costing you a decent chunk of change, but this is true at any business card or print site.

Distracting Lineup of Interesting Products: Once you start poking around the site you tend to get sidetracked and start browsing through cool products you never intended to buy!

As you can tell, there isn’t a lot to complain about with this site. I frequently recommend it to Chiropractic clients, friends, and colleagues. Don’t take my word for it. Head on over to their site and check out some of their free products. Through our affiliation with VistaPrint we can even hook you up with a discount on any paid order. Simply click the link below to save big on your purchase!

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing, Off Topic, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized

Chiropractic Social Media: The Dangers of Mixing Personal and Professional Life Online

by Dr. J on August 19, 2010 • 2 Comments

We need to ensure the message we communicate online as professionals stays PROFESSIONAL.

The other night I sent a tweet on Twitter inviting ChiropracticPR followers to read our new article on Ezinearticles.com. Unfortunately, in my rush I mistyped it “ezinearticels.com.” Granted, it’s not a huge mistake but it still doesn’t look so great coming from a site that offers Chiropractic article writing and other content creation services.

Although a minor typo is really nothing to lose sleep over, I still take it seriously. Whether or not we like it: our blog posts, facebook updates, tweets, and other contributions on the internet are all a direct reflection of us. This got me thinking about another very serious problem present in the world of social media and social networking: mixing personal life and business life.

Your accountant will tell you to not mix personal accounts and business accounts. The same advice could, and often SHOULD, be applied to the world of Chiropractic social media and internet marketing.

Many younger Doctors tend to mix their personal and professional life together on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Although this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it often is. I network and interact with hundreds to thousands of Chiropractors and other professionals on a daily basis via the internet. I am often shocked to see some of the posts I come across from professional accounts Doctors use to promote their practices and services.

Very frequently I come across inappropriate jokes, sexual innuendos, nasty remarks, bragging about the crazy party last night, openly bashing the medical professionals and . . . well . . . you get the idea. Now I’m no prude, but we all need to remember how public most of our internet and social media use actually is. The majority of the time everyone can see what we post and what others post about us.

We are all human. As Doctors of Chiropractic we may say, or sometimes do, things in our personal life we would never dream of saying or doing within our practice. Most of us would never dream of standing in the crowded reception area of our Chiropractic practice while using foul language or trading raunchy jokes with our buddies. Yet many of us do this very same thing on a daily basis on social media sites. Ethics and common sense should apply to the virtual world just as they would to real life.

The bottom line is there is a time and place for everything. We all need to realize when we post something online we are representing our professional identity and the Chiropractic profession as a whole. We should never jeopardize our professional reputation by posting questionable content online.

Mixing a little personal life in with your professional identity on the internet is not always a bad thing. Letting patients know a little about your family life and outside hobbies is a great way to establish trust and credibility. For instance, posting pictures of your children or the family pet, or a little information about that recent weekend family vacation are all perfectly acceptable and beneficial posts. The key is to spend a moment before you post and ask yourself what crosses the line.

Perhaps the most perplexing part of this whole dilemma for me is how easy it is to prevent the posting of unflattering content in the first place. If you wouldn’t want to stand up in a crowded theater, or in church on Sunday, and say it…don’t post it online! The easiest thing to do is use a little common sense and discretion. Like Thumper was always told, “If you can’t say something nice . . . don’t say nothing at all!”

The second easiest way to prevent things is to create separate social media accounts for your professional and personal lives. Keep your personal accounts private and only let your known friends and acquaintances read and follow your posts and updates.

One of the most wonderful aspects of social media and the internet is it let’s our personality show through. Things don’t always have to be stuffy and boring, but when we are representing ourselves in a professional capacity, we need to maintain a certain degree of professionalism. After all, would you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing, ChiropracticPR News and Updates, General, Off Topic, Random Thoughts

Common Chiropractic Myths and Misconceptions: We Need YOUR Input!

by Dr. J on August 17, 2010 • 2 Comments

Myths and falsehoods still surround the Chiropractic profession like a dark cloud. How many times have you heard something negative and totally off base about Chiropractic care? How much time do you spend in your practice fighting myths and uneducated inaccuracies regarding our wonderful profession?

Battling long held negative public opinions of Chiropractic can suck the energy and life out of any Chiropractic practice. Although the perception and acceptance of Chiropractic has improved dramatically over the last 50 years , we still have a long way to go. Just last week a new patient was astonished to learn that Chiropractic education consists of more than “a six or 8 week program”!

I wanted to make this post more of an open discussion rather than a simple blog post. We’re working on a new Chiropractic DVD and PowerPoint over at ChiropracticArt.com and our sister site ClinicallySignificantProductions.com.

Ok, that’s not entirely true. Basically we are reworking the VERY first PowerPoint presentation and DVD we ever made: the “Top 10 Chiropractic Myths”. This one has been in our archives for a few years now and it’s time to rework it and get it back out there to help you educate the public and clear up many common fallacies and misconceptions that cloud our profession.

Some of the common myths we plan to address are:

1. You have to go FOREVER.

2. Chiropractors are uneducated “quacks”

3. Chiropractors only “twist”, “snap”, “crack” and “pop” your back and neck.

4. Chiropractic is only for back pain

5. Chiropractic can hurt your neck or will cause a stroke.

6. Chiropractic is expensive.

7. Chiropractors don’t believe in medicine

8. Chiropractors are dishonest, unethical etc. “I know a guy who knew this guy who knows a Chiropractor who….”

9. You MUST have X-rays

10. Chiropractic is just for the old, the injured, etc.

11. ????? You TELL US!

These are just some of the common myths surrounding Chiropractic care. What other common misconceptions do you fight on a daily basis? What would you like to add? We want to make sure we represent the Chiropractic majority here so give us your thoughts and we might just include it in our next DVD and PowerPoint. If you REALLY do a good job and we use your idea we’ll even send a complementary copy of the presentation when it’s completed.

No worries! There is no sign up necessary and we don’t post your email address, so help us clear up common Chiropractic myths and leave your comments below.

What do you think? Leave your thoughts, ideas, and contributions in the comment section below!

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing, Chiropractic Tips, Tools, Products, and Resources, Free Chiropractic Marketing Tools

Free Chiropractic Patient Testimonial Form Templates

by Dr. J on August 12, 2010 • 4 Comments

As we’ve already discussed you need proper procedures and protocols in place to effectively obtain and use Chiropractic video patient testimonials.

One important type of form is a consent and release form. This is the form where patients give you permission, in writing, to use their testimonial in your Chiropractic practice marketing efforts. Taking two minutes to have your patients read and sign this form can save you all kinds of headaches later on.

We also recommend testimonial forms that you can hand to those patients who may be camera shy, too busy, or otherwise unable to appear on a video testimonial. Having an easy to complete form will allow these patients to provide their valued feedback on your Chiropractic practice.

As promised, I’d like to provide links to our free patient testimonial release/consent form templates. Feel free to download and share these free Chiropractic patient testimonial tips and patient testimonial form templates.

We’ve provided the forms in both pdf and editable Microsoft Word doc format. Don’t worry, there’s no email sign up, no catch. Just grab the free forms and go! You’ll need adobe’s free reader program or equivalent to access and view the pdf documents. You can download Adobe’s free Adobe Reader program here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

DOWNLOADS:

You can download the free Chiropractic patient testimonial tips e-book here.
To download the editable chiropractic patient testimonial release forms in Microsoft Word format Click Here.
To get the patient testimonial forms in pdf format: Click Here

You can either click to open the documents or right click and select “Save as” to save the documents to your computer or other location.

General, Off Topic, Random Thoughts

Make Each and Every Day Special

by Dr. J on August 8, 2010 • 1 Comment

Lately I’ve come to realize with our busy professional and personal lives we spend many days “just going through the motions.” With errands, tasks, and daily responsibilities we often spend our entire day just getting things done.

Yesterday I spent the entire day driving around with my son running errands and getting things done. I had to do some household shopping, make a trip to the library, do some shopping for my Chiropractic practice and a ton of other errands. Although it did allow me time to have some great conversations with my son, we still spent a lot of time rushing from spot to spot in order to get things on our list done.

At the end of the day we had time to watch a movie together, but all of the rushing around still left a hollow feeling. Any time spent together as a family is better than no time, but I still felt like the day was wasted getting minor things done. In the long run, these things we had to devote an entire day to don’t really matter all that much.

I reflected on this a lot this morning and I actually talked with my eight year old son about doing more to make each day special. It’s an idea I’ve tried to live by in the past, but it’s nothing I’ve openly discussed. It’s also something we can easily lose sight of.

The very same thing easily and often occurs within the confines of a chiropractic practice. We spend so much time focusing on procedures, and getting patients treated efficiently we often get lost running the through the motions. At the end of the day we may have met all of our deadlines and goals but what have accomplished beyond that? What have we done to improve ourselves, benefit our family, and support our community?

I’m not implying that daily errands and treating Chiropractic patients aren’t important and beneficial…but these are also our jobs. We should ask ourselves what we can do above and beyond these daily tasks to make each and every day special and meaningful.

Raising a young son as a single father I am beginning to realize just how short life really is. We need to seize the opportunity to make each and every day special and meaningful. Dedicating even 10 or 15 minutes out of each and every day to do something special for family, friends and community doesn’t seem all that difficult. It’s certainly a small price to pay to make the world a better place!

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing, Free Chiropractic Marketing Tools

Creating Chiropractic Social Proof: The Power of Video Testimonials (Part 4)

by Dr. J on August 3, 2010 • 2 Comments

10 Tips to Streamline Your Chiropractic Patient Testimonial Videos

Like any other aspect of your Chiropractic practice, you need to streamline your Video Chiropractic Patient Testimonial process. A video patient testimonial is a highly valuable marketing tool, but obtaining it shouldn’t disrupt patient flow and other activities within your practice. Let’s look at 10 easy ways we can make the process more efficient.

1. Delegate Responsibility: Decide who will be responsible for the patient testimonial process. It’s usually a good idea to have one or two people trained and educated on the entire process. These individuals should be the only ones filming the testimonials etc. Having specific individuals responsible for the process leads to consistency and efficiency. Having 2 individuals well versed in the process allows for life to continue on in the event a staff member is ill or otherwise absent from the practice.

2. Determine who will be approached: Not every patient is going to be a candidate for a video Chiropractic patient testimonial. The ideal candidate is a happy and long term member of your practice who’s been through the acute stage of care and has decided to stay with your practice for wellness or maintenance care. A patient with an outgoing personality is always a plus as well.

Be sure to sit down in a meeting with your staff and discuss the importance of knowing who to approach.

3. Determine WHEN to approach patients: Once you and your staff have defined the right type of patient to approach, you need to discuss when, and when not, to request a testimonial from them.

If a patient is going through personal tragedy (such as a death or divorce), experiencing an acute flare up of their condition, or just disputed a bill with your office then NOW is not a good time to be asking for a testimonial from them. Knowing WHEN to ask is probably just as important to know who to ask.

4. Keep records: Make a notation of which patients have already supplied, or declined to supply, a testimonial. It’s certainly acceptable to “try again” with a reluctant patient at a later point but don’t be too pushy. Repeatedly badgering reluctant patients or constantly asking patients who’ve already supplied a testimonial is going to offend and alienate your patients.

5. Come up with a script: You need a plan and direction for the entire patient testimonial process. One great way to do this is to develop scripts. These don’t necessarily have to be rigid scripts followed verbatim by staff. Simply give your staff an idea of how they should approach patients, a general idea of what to say, and plan out the ideal patient testimonial process. If you don’t like the idea of a “script” consider this an outline or guide for the entire process.

The most important aspect of your patient testimonial script is going to be how it guides the flow of tasks. Concern yourself less with telling staff what to say and more with guiding them on the order you’d like things performed. Your script should outline where patients are taken to complete testimonial release forms and how the patient is guided through the entire process.

6. Decide on a length: Decide on a desired length for each testimonial. In general one to two minutes is usually ample time for a patient to get their point across. Anything longer runs the risk of losing the attention of the audience. Of course you can vary your requirements as you see fit, but defining a soft cap on testimonial length can streamline the process and keep patients from rambling.

Determining a limit on the length of time required of the practice to obtain patient testimonials is another great way to keep things moving efficiently. In general the entire process shouldn’t take any more than 5 or 10 minutes. Let your staff know what you expect of them.

7. X marks the spot: If you’ve decided to set aside a dedicated location for your testimonials you can further expedite the process by marking where patients sit or stand, and where cameras and lighting should be placed. Taping an “X” on the spot you want the patient is a great way to speed up positioning and camera adjustments.

You can take further actions such as permanently mounting lighting in place or mounting a camera on a tripod and preventing it from being bumped out of position.

8. Be professional: While many practices have a very loose and fun atmosphere, you should maintain a great deal of professionalism in the video testimonial process. Maintaining this professionalism will help prevent staff from going “off track” with friendly and talkative patients and will result in higher quality testimonials.

9. Thank your patient!: Be sure to thank patients for taking time to provide their testimonial. Following up with a “thank you” post card in the mail is a great way to express your gratitude.

10. Practice: Although it seems a little weird, you need to practice the entire process a few times before approaching patients. Getting together with staff and going through a few dry runs is a great way to make sure everyone understands the process and procedures. Take a lunch hour one day and run through the process with some mock patients.

These are 10 simple tips to maximize the efficiency of your video Chiropractic patient testimonial process. You and your patients are very busy. Keeping the entire process running smoothly and quickly will keep your practice and your patients happy. It also increases the likelihood that other patients will participate once they see it is quick and painless.

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing, Chiropractic Tips, Tools, Products, and Resources

Creating Chiropractic Social Proof: The Power of Video Testimonials (Part 3)

by Dr. J on August 1, 2010 • 0 Comments

So now that we’ve covered the advantages and disadvantages of the Chiropractic video patient testimonial, let’s look at how you can get started.

What exactly do you need to get started?

1. A Digital Camcorder or Mini-Cam. You may have an older tape style camcorder that you can hook up to a computer, but it will not work as well. It will require more steps to convert the video, and the video quality will be pretty terrible compared to modern digital and HD quality.

Digital is definitely the way to go here. I highly recommend a HD (high definition) camcorder. If you can’t, or won’t, afford a full blown camcorder you can purchase one of the smaller mini or pocket camcorders which are now available in HD. I’d recommend at least 720p HD quality but 1080p is better yet. You can find one of these smaller mini camcorders at your local superstore, office store, electronics store, and dozens of sites all over the internet. You can easily find one in the $100-$150 range.

One great place to start your digital HD camcorder shopping is at Amazon.com. They are probably the most trusted online store and a great source for some good deals on a huge variety of products. Use the search box below to search for digital camcorders or anything else you’re interested in. Chances are they have it!

2. A Computer: You’re going to need to own, or at least have regular access to, a computer or laptop capable of handling some basic video editing tasks. You need the computer to access, edit, and upload the video files. Processing, transcoding, and working with video files can be a pretty resource hogging task, so I recommend a newer computer and not the 9 year old dust box in the basement!

Minimum computer requirements will vary greatly depending on just how crazy you want to be with your video editing. Newer Intel dual core processors, at least 160-250 GB of hard drive storage space, and 2.0 GB of memory are a decent starting point capable of handling the medium to basic video editing needs of the typical Chiropractor.

This is just my personal opinion, but I highly recommend HP brand computers. Every HP I’ve owned has been extremely reliable. I still have one that has seen heavy daily use for 8 years!

If you are looking to purchase a laptop for your video editing, I’d highly recommend Toshiba laptops. I’ve never owned anything else and have never had any issues. Check out some of their great deals currently available at the link below:

See the latest notebooks and limited time offers_1

3. Video Editing Software: Some sort of video editing software is recommend but not absolutely required. Many of the digital camcorders come with some sort of very basic software to allow you to clip or crop out portions of your clips and combine different clips. Many new computers also include free basic video editing software which may be enough for your needs. These may be all you need to get started if you don’t have the need or desire to make many custom edits to your videos.

Some of the more high quality third party video editing programs will allow you to add post production polishing touches like adding text over your video, adding background music and overlaying logos and other special effects.

4. A Clean, Attractive, and Well Lit Area for Filming. Many Chiropractors elect to dedicate a small room, or corner of a room, solely for the purposes of shooting patient testimonials. A sort of “mini studio” if you will. I think it is a great idea. Having your chiropractic video patient testimonials all shot in the same attractive area gives a sense of unity to your testimonials and looks very professional.

If you have a busy practice I highly recommend filming your video patient testimonials away from the action. Although you may be tempted to want to show how great your practice is, all of the foot traffic and patients performing active rehab exercises in the background is distracting. I’ve seen many great chiropractic video patient testimonials ruined by staff repeatedly walking in and out of frame, patients checking in and out, and other distractions.

It’s all a distracting mess that takes away from the happy patient telling the public about their success with your practice. Don’t let the procedures of your practice take away from the patient’s message. Besides, you can always shoot another video dedicated to showing all of your practice action in detail!

5. A Website:
Although a website isn’t an absolute necessity it gives a great place to post your videos, and more importantly, more information about you and your practice.

6. A Free YouTube Account: Hosting video on YouTube is free and a MUST. It’s simply the most popular video site and allows you to create your own channel to host your videos. It’s a site with millions of members and you need to be using it to promote your videos and your practice.

7. Other Free Social Media Accounts. Once videos are posted on YouTube and/or your website or blog you need to promote them. You can link to and spread the word about your videos on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and more. Many of these sites also allow you to post your videos there as well.

8. Procedures. Like any other part of your practice you need to come up with a general game plan for your Chiropractic video patient testimonials. Having a game plan for patient testimonials will make for higher quality and more efficient procedures.

9. Patient Permission. Many Doctors of Chiropractic overlook this. The fact is you should be getting written permission and a release form from patients. You need to be specifically getting permission to use their testimonials in your marketing. Asking them verbally isn’t enough. Some doctors choose to simply ask and get the release verbally on video at the beginning of the testimonial. While this is certainly better than not documenting the fact that you asked, I still recommend some sort of patient release form. We’ll be posting a free sample form template soon!

10. Time and Creativity. Like anything else worthwhile; filming, editing, uploading, and promoting Chiropractic patient testimonials takes time. You need to be willing to devote the time and effort to make your efforts successful.

11. A Written Alternative. While many of your patients are outgoing media hounds willing to jump at the chance of being on camera and potentially on TV or the internet, some are not. For a multitude of reasons many patients are camera shy and prefer to not give a video testimonial. Offer these patients a form to provide a written testimonial. A glowing written testimonial is better than none at all!

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing, Chiropractic Website Design

Creating Chiropractic Social Proof: The Power of Video Testimonials (Part 2)

by Dr. J on July 20, 2010 • 3 Comments

Without a doubt, the king of all Chiropractic patient testimonials is the video testimonial. Recording a short video testimonial from patients is more time consuming than other types of testimonials, but also usually creates the greatest results. Let’s take a closer look at some advantages and disadvantages of the video patient testimonial.

Disadvantages

Time consuming: It takes time to film, edit, and post video testimonials (especially when you are first learning how to do the entire process).

Expense: Video testimonials require you to invest in some equipment and computer software that you may not already have. This can make the initial expense more than other forms of testimonials.

Permanent and Not As Easy to Edit: Although they all mean well, patients aren’t familiar with the legal and ethical issues facing the modern Chiropractor. They also may be nervous when in front of a camera. As a result they may say or do things that aren’t in the best interests of your Chiropractic practice. Making minor corrections to a video testimonial is more difficult than text. With a text testimonial you can quickly make minor changes and indicate the changes you made. A video testimonial doesn’t afford this luxury. Editing the middle of a video testimonial may be difficult, may require cutting or cropping, or might even require completely re shooting the testimonial.

Difficulty: Although not extremely difficult, video testimonials require more effort and knowledge than a basic text or audio Chiropractic patient testimonial.

Patient Reluctance: Many patients are reluctant to appear on video and thus these patients are less likely to agree to a video testimonial. You may find less people willing to provide a video testimonial versus a text testimonial.

Advantages

Trust and Credibility: This is without a doubt the biggest advantage of the video patient testimonial. In fact it’s such a huge advantage it pretty much trumps all off the disadvantages we mentioned above! The social proof value of a video testimonial is much greater than that provided by a text testimonial. As a society we generally place more trust in something we can see and hear firsthand. There is simply no substitute to watching and hearing a person provide their personal account of something. Seeing a patient provide a glowing testimonial of Chiropractic care and your practice is truly priceless.

Validity: A video testimonial reduces the chances that you can be accused of falsifying or editing the actual content of patient testimonials.

Requires Less Time and Commitment from your Audience: Let’s face it, we have become an instant gratification society. The general public doesn’t like to read anymore than they have to, especially when it comes to things like advertising. The sad truth is many people will disregard text testimonials simply due to the fact that it requires their time and effort to read.

Versatility: The video Chiropractic testimonial is highly versatile. It can be used in a variety of different venues and media outlets. Video testimonials can be used on your Chiropractic website, chiropractic blog, in DVDs and other chiropractic marketing materials, in television commercials, on social media accounts and more. Video allows you to be much more creative than text.

Website Search Engine Optimization and Increased Site Traffic: Prospective patients and the general public aren’t the only ones who value video. Google and other internet search engines love it too! By regularly updating video to popular sites such as YouTube you can improve your Chiropractic website’s position in internet search results and drive visitors to your Chiropractic blog or website. Thanks to Dr. Jason Ulsrud over at RockStar-Chiro for pointing out I should indeed add this to the list of advantages!

These are just a few of the main advantages and disadvantages of the video Chiropractic patient testimonial. What are your thoughts? Do you have something you feel I left off of the list? Let me know by leaving a comment below. I’d be happy to add your input to our discussion and even provide you with the credit! Feel free to leave your comments and feedback in the comment section below.

In our next post we’ll begin taking a look at the actual process of the video testimonial along with tips on how to pull off some of the best Chiropractic video testimonials around!

Until then keep promoting yourselves and our profession!

-Dr. James

Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing

Creating Chiropractic Social Proof: The Power of Video Testimonials (Part 1)

by Dr. J on July 20, 2010 • 0 Comments

I’m often asked by Doctors of Chiropractic if I think patient testimonials are a good idea. Done properly, I think they are a wonderful idea and one of the best ways to build social proof in the world of Chiropractic marketing. In this series of articles we’ll be discussing Chiropractic patient testimonials, video testimonials, social proof, and more. I’ll also be providing some handy tips along the way on how to best accomplish all of this. I’ll even end by providing FREE downloadable permission and release forms to allow you to legally and ethically use your patient testimonials. So enough introduction, let’s get started!

Patient testimonials fit right into an area of Chiropractic internet marketing that has become a hot topic of late: Social Proof. Social proof is nothing new. It’s simply a new buzz word and spin applied to an age old concept. On the most basic level, social proof is little more than providing reviews ,testimonials, and other evidence to prove that your product or service is effective, accepted, and well liked.

Patient testimonials are obviously an ideal technique to build social proof. While print or text testimonials are effective, the best idea is always video. If you can’t or won’t work with video testimonials than you should try and at least use photos along with your testimonial. Most people tend to dismiss plain text testimonials as simply being made up. A photo of the individual along with their testimonial is a better idea since it puts a face with the text and helps to establish a little more credibility. The king of all Chiropractic patient testimonials is without a doubt, the video testimonial.

We have become a very visual society. We tend to place more trust in something we can see and hear for ourselves rather than simply reading. Video testimonials are probably one of the best ways a Doctor of Chiropractic can build social proof. Although they require more work than other types of testimonials, it is well worth the extra effort. We’ll take a look at some of the benefits and disadvantages of video testimonials in our next post.

Chiropractic email marketing, Chiropractic Internet Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Marketing and Advertising, Chiropractic Social Media Advertising and Marketing

Creating Chiropractic Marketing Success: Are you Proactive or Reactive?

by Dr. J on July 16, 2010 • 1 Comment

Are you running proactive or reactive Chiropractic internet marketing?

Chances are you’ve probably never even thought about it. Marketing is marketing right? Your attitude and approach to your Chiropractic marketing can have just as significant of an impact on it’s success as the marketing content itself.

Due to the daily time demands of a Chiropractic practice, many Doctors of Chiropractic simply run their marketing with a reactive approach. What the heck is reactive Chiropractic marketing? In the most simple terms it is when a Chiropractic marketing strategy simply reacts in response to changes. While reacting to changes in a market is an important aspect of any marketing program, it can’t be the sole foundation for your advertising efforts.

Don’t get me wrong, you definitely need to react to change. You need to analyze ROI and the effectiveness of your marketing. No one is telling you NOT to respond to change. The problem is most Chiropractors work exclusively in reactive marketing mindset. They develop tunnel vision and break things down to a black and white world consisting of one problem and one solution. This leads to marketing that is two steps behind and can be devastating to your Chiropractic success.

Let me give you some quick examples. Let’s say you run a newspaper ad. It runs for one or two weeks with minimal results. Due to the expense and the dismal results you pull the plug on your newspaper marketing because it “doesn’t work”.

Another example can be seen with the current state of our economy in America. All across the country times are tough and things are slow. Many practices are reacting to this by simply scaling back or eliminating much of their advertising to control costs.

While the above examples may seem like perfectly acceptable ways to react to a situation, they are not proactive solutions. In actuality they are simple responses made with little thought about the future of your Chiropractic success. At best they are short term solutions.

So what’s the difference between proactive and reactive Chiropractic marketing? As we discussed before, reactive marketing is simply taking a black and white approach to your advertising. You see a problem and pick an easy solution. This creates quick fixes and limited opportunity for growth. It’s patching a hole, slapping a band-aid on the situation, and waiting for success to find you.

Proactive Chiropractic marketing takes things to the next step. While it may be necessary to apply a short term fix, proactive Chiropractors are constantly thinking outside of the box. They are always looking for alternative solutions, ways to create opportunities, anticipating changes, and always thinking about the long term.

Proactive Chiropractic marketing avoids the easy knee jerk reaction to a situation. Rather than canceling that failing newspaper ad, the proactive Chiropractor is more likely to spend time making changes to it until they find what works. Instead of cutting back on their advertising budget during a slow economy, a proactive practice will stay the course or even increase their advertising budget. If current advertising isn’t creating the desired results, the proactive Chiropractic practice tries new and creative marketing techniques to create success.

Are you running proactive Chiropractic marketing? Or are you simply going with the flow and reacting to change after the fact? While reactive Chiropractic marketing may work in the here and now, it can actually be a barrier to your long term success . Now is the time to take a critical look at your Chiropractic marketing. Stop reacting and start creating the success you desire!