There’s no doubt that you can lose money using these online coupon programs (as has been well documented in the dining industry), but if you read the coupon program’s fine print, understand your goals, calculate your ‘ break even price point’ and plan accordingly, I believe you can make these programs work for your acupuncture practice.

Here are my recommendations to any practitioner who is thinking about using Groupon, Living Social, or any online coupon company.  Understand and plan on ways to optimize:

(1) Front end income
(2) Back end income ** VERY IMPORTANT!
(3) Costs (including time)

(1) Front end income
Front end income is what you get from your coupon sales. When you see service based businesses using Groupon to sell over 1000 coupons at $50 a pop (like a local glass blowing teacher did), it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the “$50,000 payday” and think you’ve found the answer to all your prayers.  But if that’s all you see, you could be one of the many business owners who lose money on these deals. So please, pay attention! If we examine an acupuncturist who courageously tried out the Groupon program to sell a $30 coupon for a 45 minute session we can see that $30 x 109 purchases (last I checked) = $3,270. Half goes to Groupon so that leaves $1,635 in front end income. That’s only about $15 per person for 45 minutes of treatment, which stinks! BUT WAIT…  here’s what you also have to factor in:

• 15-30% of people who buy the coupon never redeem it before it expires. That free money. Don’t count on it, but just know that it’s there.
• For an acupuncturist who does not have a full schedule and ALL s/he has is TIME, this is a great way to get exposure, create buzz, and generate profit (see back end income below) without laying out any cash.

(2) Back end income
This is the key to generating profits! You need a plan in place to upsell these coupon-purchasing customers. What I like about Mary Ann’s Groupon is she included in her sale an “Individual Wellness Plan”. This is clearly aimed at getting these initial buyers back through her doors for a series of treatments.  Even if just 10% of her initial 109 people scheduled 6 treatments as part of her “Individual Wellness Plan” (at her normal rate of $80) that’s 10 (people) x 6 (visits) x $80 = $4,800. Now we’re talkin! Acupuncturists MUST learn how to turn these qualified customers into repeat patients (who refer new patients) in order to make significant long term income. If you add in sales of herbs, oils, books etc., that backend revenue per coupon-paying customer increases. For those of us who understand (and teach) online marketing, the backend income can also significantly increase by offering products like digital products or online wellness coaching and creating automated email campaigns to keep customers interested and coming back. In other words, this is a great way to build a list of qualified customers for future service or product sales.

(3) Costs
The big thing acupuncturists need to watch here is time. (Costs for needles and other office supplies is usually minimal.)  The cash infusion from the front end income can help take care of working expenses and pay for upsell items (sold when they receive their session).  But time is something that is limited and scheduling must be planned so that full paying patient slots are not taken up by $15 slots. I would recommend dedicating 2-3 days a week just to the Groupon people and get them all scheduled and treated within 3 – 6 months. Personally I think a year is too long to ‘wrap up’ the coupon customers. This may mean working days that you don’t usually work until everyone gets their coupon redeemed.

So before we dismiss Groupons and other social online coupon programs for acupuncture practitioners, I think it’s important do some research (read other business’ deals), think things through, test it out on a small scale then take the lessons learned to larger and larger scales so you can minimize your risk and maximize your potential for generating profits. That’s why I congratulate Mary Ann for having the courage to TRY something new, generate buzz and build her business.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this (or any other acupuncture marketing) topic.  Chime in below!

Peace,

Lisa Hanfileti, LAc
Insights-For-Acupuncturists.com

Honestly, at first I was reluctant to embrace him because I wondered if he was one of those ‘slick’ salesmen.  (Which I now see was a reflection of my own discomfort with marketing and not a true picture of him.)

Nonetheless, as I studied him and his materials I was cautious but remained open minded.  After all, I wanted my acupuncture practice to succeed and I needed to learn everything I could to ensure that would happen.

What I learned about Michael Port is that he is nothing like my initial (erroneous) perception!  He is authentic and very passionate about providing business training to the service-based business community.

He recently created an innovative online small business coaching program that I think is perfect for the acupuncture community.  He shows you the fastest and most effective ways to book yourself solid and then build a business that runs without you.  Listen, I hate to say it but if you are struggling to run your business and you have not developed systems to automate your marketing and referrals, then you are always going to struggle to make it.  It’s just a fact.

Michael Port’s new program is called Booked Solid University and he offers everything you need to know about building your business in one extraordinary e-learning environment.

I know e-learning can take a little getting used to, but for acupuncturists who are no longer in their college environment, it is the next best thing.  The structure is the same, in that you have regular class times to meet and you have a community of virtual classmates to interact with.  I think the reason many acupuncturists fail in business is because they do not have a disciplined schedule for learning marketing and implementing what they learn.

Booked Solid University keeps you on task and accountable so you are always putting into action what you learn in a sequential, logical manner (just like acupuncture college).

Here’s what’s amazing. You get all of his courses and programs under one roof for just a few dollars a day. His program includes an Entrepreneur’s Mastery Program and Booked Solid Electives that show you exactly how to:

• Get clients with ease and integrity.
• Improve focus on what’s most important.
• Increase free time and improve your lifestyle.
• Maximize wealth and influence.

And, better yet, right now he’s offering a 50% DISCOUNT to the next few people who enroll. It was for the next 50 people but I know those spots are getting nabbed faster than you can say Booked Solid, so there can’t be many left.

I heard he created Booked Solid U because he was sick of all the other so called “gurus” charging ridiculous fees for business education. He just doesn’t think you should pay a lot to learn how to get booked solid. Now, that’s a good man. That’s the right thing to do.

I’ve read every word about the coaching program on his website and it is the most comprehensive, breakthrough interactive, go-at-your-own pace, self-guided, online education community, offering easy-to-use, yet advanced educational technology for the small business owner. Seriously, I know which specific coaching programs are available to acupuncturists and this is one of the best for those of us who are planning a lengthy and successful career in the acupuncture profession.

The ribbon has been cut and the doors flung open to Booked Solid University. I recommend you rush out and grab one of the 50% OFF spots while they still last. Just imagine what your business could look like in one short year from now.

Please do not be one of the (all too many) acupuncturists who will look back and WISH they had taken advantage of this opportunity.

Check it out now:
http://www.insights-for-acupuncturists.com/bookedsolid-coaching

Lisa Hanfileti, LAc
Insights-For-Acupuncturists.com

Acupuncture Business Blog??

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is, Can I use a WordPress blog for my business website?

It’s an understandable question given that I write about how acupuncturists, or any self-employed business owner, can benefit from Site Build It’s affordable website building software.  (Especially since they announced their new “Recession Buster” special of $29.99 per month.)

But WordPress is FREE blogging software, so why have I not specifically recommended it to acupuncturists to use as their business website?  It’s a fair question!   I mean, if you are on a budget (and you should be!) who wouldn’t want a free Internet marketing platform for their business?

Unless… there’s a catch.

Is there a catch?

Okay, so what’s the catch?!

All right, hang on.  I promise to answer your questions and put you at ease so that you can make a very informed decision.  I really want you to understand what’s at stake here and why you definitely do NOT want to jump into a blog without understanding one very crucial piece of the “free” WordPress blog puzzle.

Let me explain a little bit about how I know so much about WordPress.

Ever since I wrote the book, “Complementary and Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Generate Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website”, acupuncturists have been asking me if the easy marketing methods I describe can be applied to a WordPress blog.

I use and promote web building software by Site Build It, mostly because you get incredible training in marketing at the same time that you learn how to create a website.  And since most acupuncturists never receive any training in marketing from their acupuncture college, this education can be a practice saving benefit.  (It was for me!)

But I also understand that Site Build It’s step-by-step website building program is not for everyone. Let’s face it, it’s a lot of work to develop a business plan and learn marketing at the same time that you are creating a website. I know that you want to be an acupuncturist, not a web designer. I get it!

Which is why I personally investigated other methods of acupuncture business website creation, including the free WordPress blogs that are so attractive. (Hey, in case you haven’t noticed, you are reading this article on my WordPress blog!  But it is also connect to my Site Build It website, Insights-For-Acupuncturists.com for a very good reason.  But that’s another story.)

So What’s the Deal With WordPress?

Here’s the deal with WordPress. (Drumroll!)

YES! you can absolutely apply my marketing strategies and passive income generation to a WordPress blog, BUT here’s the catch:  BE SURE TO PAY FOR YOUR OWN HOSTING.

Do NOT use the free WordPress blog available through wordpress.COM where they give you a domain name.

Instead use the free WordPress blog available through wordpress.ORG and purchase your own domain name.

The reason is because since WordPress is hosting the site and absorbing those (minimal) costs, they actually own your domain name and the ‘real estate’ on which your material resides. They can pull down your business blog any time they want for any reason they want. This is true of any free blogging sites, such as those by GoDaddy, Google, Yahoo, and the thousands of other companies offering free blogs and websites.

If WordPress decides they do not like your content or subject matter they can simply delete your entire blog. POOF! It’s gone!  Although WordPress has not censored any acupuncturists to my knowledge, they have removed other blogs from other businesses without any warning or explanation. And they have every right to do it because they are paying for the hosting!

This is the equivalent of you renting an apartment and the landlord changing the terms of your lease. Landlords hold all the cards and you have to comply or move out. Sure, you can take your furniture, but where are you going to put it? You need your own web “real estate” and domain name to ensure that you are in control of your business.

Instead of using wordpress.com, go ahead and get a wordpress blog through wordpress.org (which is still free) and pay for the hosting yourself.

I use and recommend the “Baby Plan” through Hostgator, which you can look at here:

• http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/best-hosting

Just click on ‘Web Hosting’ and select the ‘Baby’. You can also start with the ‘Hatchling’ and upgrade to Baby when you are doing more income generation and need some of the features that will facilitate that.

The Baby plan costs $7.95 a month and it is well worth it to own your blog, which means you own your business. Plus Hostgator gives you unlimited hosting so you can get a bunch of other WordPress blogs (through wordpress.org for free) and host them through Hostgator without any additional costs. That’s what I do! Here are some of the other WordPress blogs I have hosted through Hostgator:

• http://blog.alternative-medicine-works.com/
• http://blog.principlesforparents.com/
• http://blog.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/

You may notice that they all look similar, but that’s just because I like this particular ‘theme’ (design).  There are lots of affordable designs to choose from or you can use the free themes provided by WordPress. (Check out a large selection of functional WordPress themes by Brian Gardner.)

3 Awesome WordPress Resources to Help You Set Up Your Acupuncture Business Blog

Here are 3 awesome WordPress Resources to help you get started.

You may need a little help with the initial set up of your acupuncture business blog (which is why I recommend the easy to follow video tutorials, below). If you have a geeky friend who can help you, this is the time to ask for it. (I LOVE my geeky friends!) Just be sure that you learn how to create your own posts so you can add content. In other words, do not turn everything over to your geeky friends unless they are going to teach you how to use the blog yourself.

#1 WordPress Resource: Burton Kent’s Acupuncture Clinic Websites. Burton Kent, author of, Never Market Again, has a company that builds acupuncture websites for practitioners using WordPress. He sets them up using all the practical applications that are important for a functional business website. Plus he has added some incredible features that are specific to acupuncturists and solo-based providers.

However, Burton makes it very clear that he is not a fan of generating passive income through your acupuncture site. It’s not that he is against it, but he’s not sure it is worth your time. I, on the other hand, believe that passive income generation through your blog is so easy that it is a no brainer! So setting up your income generation is something you need to do on your own (which I recommend anyway and it’s why I have #2 WordPress Resource below).

Burton Ken’ts set-up fees are very reasonable and you will not find better support for acupuncturists.

You can learn more about his website packages here:

http://www.insights-for-acupuncturists.com/burtons-webspecial

Please let Burton know that I referred you!

================================

#2 WordPress Resource: Step-by-step WordPress Tutorials. I HIGHLY recommend these WordPress training tutorials because they are:

1. Easy to understand
2. Affordable
3. Focus on how to maximize your income generation through your website

If you are using Burton Kent’s website package these are the perfect tutorials to help you set up your methods of passive income generation with easy-to-use ‘plugins’ and instructions.

Learn more about Step-by-step WordPress training here:

http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/wordpress-step-by-step

This guy really knows his stuff and he over-delivers with helpful tips. The video instructions are clear. If you plan on incorporating a way to generate income through your blog, then these training tutorials are a must.

================================

#3 WordPress Resource: Educational marketing with your blog. Another option is a service provided by Charles Heflin, who is a WordPress guru and traffic generation genius. If you like the look of moving graphics and are willing to pay extra for the set up, then check him out.

His personal philosophy is geared towards supporting businesses that create quality content and his services are especially appropriate if you are a practitioner who really wants to advance your practice through educational marketing using article writing, video posts, and social media connections like Facebook and Twitter, and bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit etc. This is a great way to elicit interaction and develop a strong socially driven following. You can get started from the gitgo with a powerful WordPress site for your clinical practice that is perfect for monetization and attracting the right patients, customers, and visitors to you.

Learn more about Charles Heflin’s WordPress set up services here:

http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/wordpress-services

This WordPress package comes with many extra bells and whistles to help you with traffic generation and instructions on how to continue to develop your site. I am currently using his Content Syndication services and I can tell you firsthand that they are POWERFUL!

Learn more about Content Syndication here:

http://www.empoweredbusinessentrepreneurs.com/synnd

All three of these WordPress resources can be used individually or combined, so do not limit yourself to just one.

If you have any questions feel free to Speak Your Mind in the box below and I will be happy to provide answers.

Your success matters to me!

Lisa Hanfileti, LAc
Insights-For-Acupuncturists.com

List Building and Database Management Ebook

What does list building and database management have to do with using your business website to generate new patients, clients, and customers? The answer in a word is, EVERYTHING!

Years ago, when I was just starting my acupuncturist career I was only focused on providing quality care to my patients and nothing else.  I can tell you firsthand that the last thing on my mind was something as boring and seemingly unrelated to patient care as “website lists” and “databases”.  Yuk!

What I did not realize back then that I know now is that learning a few simple things about building a list through my business website is the key to providing quality care to my current patients, as well as to potential new patients, clients and customers.

And — get this — even providing care to (and earning money from) people who never even walk through my acupuncture clinic doors!

Building a list through your website can change your entire acupuncture practice and generate significant passive income.

But how?  In order to understand how important building a list is and how it can be utilized to bring additional revenue into your business, let’s start with the basics.

What is a “List”?

If you read my last blog post on Website Design Elements For Acupuncturists then you learned the importance of having specific places on your website that entice interaction with your website visitor.   These can be as simple as a place to subscribe to your newsletter or opt-in to receive a free report about Chinese herbs, acupuncture, or any healing method you have special knowledge about.

You create your list by exchanging something of value (e.g. your newsletter or special report) for your web visitors name and email address.  Once you receive their name and email address, they become a member of your “List”.  There, that’s not so hard!

Here is the significance of your List.  By subscribing to YOUR information they are telling you that they are interested in:

• YOU – as an expert and a practitioner
• CHINESE MEDICINE – and all the other topics in your newsletter or report
• HEALING – for themselves and perhaps even others
• PARTICIPATING IN THEIR HEALTH CARE – they are actively searching for solutions.

When someone joins your list through your website they are telling you that they want more information from you and may even want to become your new patient!  In business terms, they are very qualified “leads” or “prospects” for you to follow up with and offer more information about the services you provide.

List Building is Easy... and Essential.

Your list is the equivalent of having patients lined up at your acupuncture clinic door.  Honestly, the people on your list are even more qualified (and by ‘more qualified’, I mean more likely to become your patient or purchase your products) than someone who found you in the Yellow Pages.

Why?  Because people do not give up their email addresses easily.  To give you their contact information, they must have likely scrutinized the information on your website and educated themselves about you before making the decision to trade their email address for your expert information.

What is List (or Database) Management?

Your list of interested subscribers and potential patients is only as good as your management of  — or relationship with — those people.  You must follow up on a consistent basis to continue to develop your relationship with them.

There are many easy, effective, safe, and legal methods of maintaining contact with the people on your list.  I go over the best methods for acupuncturists and include the best time-saving tools in my video and ebook bonus series included with my ebook,

“Complementary and Alternative Marketing:  How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website” – CLICK HERE

I can only sit and wonder how much income I lost by not starting to build my list earlier!  I was in practice for over 7 years before I started learning how to build relationships with my website.  Now it is one of the easiest and most economical ways to attract new patients and even earn significant income from people who never walk through my doors.  (I will cover more on that in my next post on Affiliate income.)

Please do not make the same mistakes I did. By learning some very simple steps and using affordable tools you can use your acupuncture website to create a virtual line of patients standing outside your clinic doors!

Click Here to read more about my book and the bonus video recordings here.

Your success matters to me.

Peace,

Lisa Hanfileti, LAc

Insights-for-Acupuncturists.com

P.S. Look for my next post on, “Affiliate Marketing With Your Acupuncture Website”.  Once you understand the power of affiliate marketing your whole life will change!  I show you exactly how you can begin earning money TODAY (even without a website) using affiliate marketing techniques.  What you learn in this webinar is your key to earning passive income through your acupuncture website for the rest of your acupuncture career and beyond.

How to Attract More Patients With Your Acupuncture Website - 44 page Ebook

Not all websites are created equal. If you want your acupuncture website to bring more new patients through your doors then you have to pay attention to some key design elements.

Research shows that you have about 3 seconds to get the attention of your website visitor (e.g. potential patient) before they make a decision to click off your website or click deeper into your website.

What makes someone want to stay on your website?

It all starts with the design of your website.  That is, how it looks to your visitor.

In the same way that you might go out of your way to put your patients at ease the first time they arrive at your acupuncture clinic, you want to make your website visitors feel comfortable when they land on your web pages.

You can create a feeling of ‘comfort’ for people who visit your website by using design elements that help your visitor stay oriented on the page.

These include using:

• Colors that are not too bright or too dark. Often times a dark background with white lettering is difficult to read and will cause your visitor to strain.  Stay away from black and dark purple backgrounds with white lettering.  It might look good to you and appeal to your sense of creativity, but (I hate to break the news to you),  your website isn’t about YOU.  It is about making your visitor feel comfortable and that means making the design EASY for your potential new patient to read more about you.
• Fonts that are clean and clear. Although it is tempting to use cursive writing and fun fonts on your website, stick with the standard fonts (e.g. Arial, Times New Roman, Tahoma, and  Garamond) and colors that appear clear.  Do not use too much bright red or bold lettering, saving that only for the things that you want to emphasize.  Also, do not center all of your text the way you might find writing in a greeting card. Although it might look good to you, your visitor may have a different type of computer screen or web browser that chops the text up at odd intervals and looks messy.  Play it safe and keep your text justified to the left.
• Your  opt-in box is located “Above the Fold”. Each page of your website has a very valuable section referred to as  the area “above the fold”.  This is everything you see on a webpage before you scroll down and it is the very first thing your visitor sees when they land on your site.  You want to use this precious real estate by giving your potential patients a way to interact with you.  This can be accomplished with an opt-in box for a newsletter, free report, ebook, or any other subscription or download that you can send them in exchange for their name and email address.  This is a crucial step in the process of establishing contact with your website visitors.  (More on this in Bonus Webinar 2, see below.)

Of course, there are many other web design elements that are important for you to include (and avoid!) in order to attract new patients to your acupuncture clinic.

Acupuncture Website Design Elements

These are just a few of the design elements that I explain in detail in my web class video recording and companion 44-page ebook on “Website Design Elements:  What You Absolutely Need and What You Can Do Without”.

Here is a complete list of the Bonus recordings that are included with your purchase of my ebook, Complementary and Alternative Marketing:  How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website.

Bonus Webinar #1: “Website Design Elements: What You Absolutely Need and What You Can Do Without”

What the heck are the most important features of a website?  I will give you a list of “dos” and “dont’s” for your website so that you learn how to use these design elements to bring new patients through your doors.

Bonus Webinar #2: “The Secret to Online Income, Part 1: List Building and Database Management”

There is a lot of misunderstanding about what a “List” or “Database” is and how you should use the information in a responsible way. I give you important facts and show you some powerful online tools to automate the management of your database in a responsible, legal, and ethical way.

Bonus Webinar #3: “The Secret to Online Income, Part 2: Affiliate Marketing With Your Acupuncture Website”

Once you understand the power of affiliate marketing your whole life will change! I show you exactly how you can begin earning money TODAY (even without a website) using affiliate marketing techniques. What you learn in this webinar is your key to earning passive income though your acupuncture website for the rest of your acupuncture career and beyond.

Bonus Webinar #4: “Relationship Marketing Tools to Build Your Acupuncture Practice & Online Income”

Building relationships is the key to referral marketing. I show you some easy ways to build lasting rapport with your patients, customers, and even other professionals. Using tools that automate the communication process and leverage your time to help you stay in consistent contact with your patients is crucial to your overall marketing success.

Click Here to get started with these webinars today.

Your success matters to me!

Lisa Hanfileti, LAc

My Free Acupuncture Business Plan Details How We Secured Funds to Build the Acupuncture Practice of Our Dreams

When I wrote my Acupuncture Business Plan there were not any “templates” out there for me to follow, so it was a ton of work.  I would love to save you some of the struggle I went through by giving you my actual Acupuncture Business Plan that I used to secure a business loan in 2005.

But there’s a catch.

This business plan has some of my actual financial data and market research. And I do not want it floating around the Internet willy nilly.

I only want those acupuncturists who are serious about their business to get a hold of it. That is why I decided to make my Acupuncture Business Plan free, but only to those who purchase my ebook, “Complementary and Alternative Marketing”.

Go to www.ComplementaryAndAlternativeMarketing.com to learn more.

Ever since I posted on my Insights-For-Acupuncturists Blog that I wrote a real business plan in 2005 to secure a bank loan, I have been inundated with requests asking where to go to get ahold of my plan.

The truth is, I have already made my acupuncture business plan available to a select few, simply because I needed to see if it was going to be helpful to students, graduates, and other acupuncturists.  Well… I got my answer!

So in response to your requests and feedback, let me explain where I am coming from and what I am willing to do…

You probably already noticed that about HALF of the “10 Big Mistakes I Made Opening My Acupuncture Practice” could have been avoided if I had written a business plan.  It has been frustrating to have had to learn how to run a business the hard way.  I would love to save you the frustration, not to mention wasted money and time, that I experienced.

Also, it concerns me that I have heard from experienced acupuncturists that they too have made these exact same mistakes!  It is time to put an end to these common errors and change the way we go about setting up our acupuncture practices.

So I have decided to do something that no one has ever done before…

I am releasing my actual acupuncture business plan that my husband and I wrote to secure funds from our bank and through the Small Business Administration (SBA) to purchase, what has become, the acupuncture clinic of our dreams.  What’s more is…

I want to give you my acupuncture business plan absolutely free!  But hold on… there IS a catch.  (Read on.)

This is a 35-page document that includes our:

• Executive Summary
• Acupuncture Industry Analysis
• Acupuncture Market Research
• Acupuncture Market Statistics
• Financial Projections
• Risk Analysis
• And all the other key components of a properly written acupuncture business plan.

Plus I added a detailed Introduction and Epilogue to give you an insider’s view of how we actually wrote the plan.

This is really a very valuable document and I think I am going to sell it at some point. But right now, for a limited time, I have decided to include it as a Special Unadvertised Bonus with every purchase of my ebook, “Complementary and Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Build Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website”.

Learn more about “Complementary and Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Build Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website” here:

http://www.insights-for-acupuncturists.com/cam-ebook-halfspecial

Offering you my free acupuncture business plan is definitely a way togive you incentive to invest in my Complementary and Alternative Marketing ebook, because I KNOW that this ebook can save you time and money and give you incredible insight into how you can build and grow your acupuncture practice better, faster, and stronger than 90% of the current practicing profession!  So it’s my way of giving you an irresistible deal so that you take advantage of information that can save your acupuncture practice.

Lisa, How Do I get Your Acupuncture Business Plan?

It’s simple.  All you have to do is purchase my ebook and my Acupuncture Business Plan is yours for FREE. It is delivered right along with the other 6  free bonus videos and ebooks.  To learn more, click on the link below:

Get my free acupuncture business plan when you purchase,
“Complementary and Alternative Marketing”

Your success matters to me!

Lisa Hanfileti, LAc

Carefully Plan Your Acupuncture Business

I wish I had understood the importance of writing a well thought out acupuncture business plan for my Chinese medicine practice when I opened my clinic in 2000.  It would have saved me a great deal of frustration, not to mention time and MONEY.

But when I graduated from acupuncture school I was not focused on business, marketing, or any of those mundane elements of commerce.  I wanted to BE an acupuncturist.  That’s it! I was finally free of classes, exams, and supervisors.  I was ready to start healing people and that’s really all I wanted to do.

Believing your only requirement for success is being a great acupuncturist and providing fantastic services to your patients is a huge mistake.  Remaining focused on improving your acupuncture skills at the exclusion of learning basic business principles is one of the “10 Big Mistakes I Made Opening My Acupuncture Practice”.  (Both the ebook and video are available for free download at www.Lisas10BigMistakes.com.)

For better or worse, in 2005 I was forced to write a real acupuncture business plan in order to get a bank loan.  My husband and I had a grand vision of purchasing our own clinic rather than continuing to lease expensive office space.  With help from a fantastic volunteer at our local SBA (Small Business Administration) we were able to put together a formal acupuncture business plan, complete with acupuncture market research and financial projections for our acupuncture practice.

I am not going to tell you it was a fun or easy thing to do.  It was hard work and took months of meetings with our SBA volunteer and hours of writing and re-writing.  Nonetheless, throughout the entire process, my husband and I kept saying to each other, “why didn’t we do this sooner?!”.

We learned SO MUCH by going through all the different business planning stages and realized that if only we had taken the time to plan out our acupuncture business when we opened our clinic, we would have avoided countless struggles.

It was clear that we had made some very poor business decisions, simply because we did not go through the process of planning out our acupuncture business.

This is one of the reasons I have decided to make our actual acupuncture business plan available to other acupuncturists, students, and new graduates.  I wish I had a plan like this to use as a reference when I graduated from acupuncture school.  I hope you read this plan BEFORE you make some of the crucial decisions about your practice!

After all, this business plan resulted in us securing a bank loan and a SBA loan (two loans) to purchase and build the acupuncture clinic of our dreams.  In fact, we ended with an acupuncture clinic attached to our home, which is ironic since this was NOT even included as a possibility in the formal business plan that we wrote!  To me, this shows that going through the steps of planning out your acupuncture business is more important than what ends up on paper.

The one area that our acupuncture business plan really lacks is in the marketing plan.  We were not at all Internet savvy at the time of writing our plan and therefore we did not include any information about marketing our acupuncture practice with a website and other powerful Internet resources.  If you are writing a business plan today for your acupuncture practice, you must include Internet tools and resources as an integral part of your acupuncture marketing plan.  If you are not sure how to do this, please read my book, “Complementary and Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website” available at www.ComplementaryAndAlternativeMarketing.com.

I am counting on you to take these resources and use them to build a successful acupuncture practice, because the world needs more acupuncturists!

Tough Economic Times

As difficult as the economy is right now, the time has never been better for those who are experts in natural health and wellness to share their expert knowledge and provide their skilled services to help people enjoy health and longevity. Just read Paul Zane Pilzner’s, “The New Wellness Revolution” and you will learn that “the next trillion dollar industry” is not technology, but rather health information, products, and services.

As an acupuncturist and knowledgeable practitioner of Oriental medicine, you have the ability to take advantage of this demand. However, you must position yourself in such a way that others regard you, your education, and your skills as credible and worthy of their attention.

The millions of people that are searching the Internet every day for help with chronic symptoms and debilitating diseases are desperate for natural alternatives and an approach that is comprehensive.

All acupuncturists have an obligation (in my humble opinion) to get the word out that Chinese medicine is effective! The easiest way to accomplish this is by creating a website for your acupuncture clinic.

For the introverted practitioner who does not see him or herself standing in front of crowds giving talks and “selling” their services, or joining different businesses networking groups, a website is a perfect solution.

Andrea Iwi'ula and Lisa Hanfileti, Bastyr University March 4, 2009

The tool of course, is their acupuncture clinic website. But not just any website. As I say over and over in my consultations, seminars, and Complementary and Alternative Marketing ebook, you must have a properly constructed website.

Don’t worry… all that means is you need a few features within your website that are noticed by the search engines (like Google, Yahoo, Ask, and Live). And you need some key components that attract the right kind of people to your website so you can fill your practice and develop your site as a resource for passive income.

I explain in great detail how you can accomplish this in my new ebook, “Complementary and Alternative Marketing”. You can read more about the ebook and why I wrote it HERE.

I want all acupuncturists to know, even in these challenging economic times, there is hope!

Complementary & Alternative Marketing by Lisa Hanfileti, LAc

“Complementary and Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website” is finally available! You are invited to take a look at the first ebook to help current and future acupuncturists market their services using the incredible power of the Internet.  Don’t worry, I break everything down into simple steps and I include training live webinars (and recorded tutorials) with the book.

I have been intensely researching the benefits of acupuncture website marketing for the past year. I was forced into learning more about business and marketing (you can read my story here) and was led into the wild world of Internet marketing. It is a scary world unless you have access to a knowledgeable and ethical guide.

Fortunately for me, I found several resources that showed me how to market myself and my business on the web. The reason I was drawn to these particular resources is because before all else, establishing trust, honesty, and integrity are emphasized as the priority in their marketing. So if you are looking to build a website for your acupuncture practice (and you SHOULD BE!) or if you want to improve the function of your current website, then you have several very good choices.

1. Read my new book! Seriously, it tells you everything about “the how and why” of using a website to market your acupuncture services. But I also talk about the flawed acupuncture marketing model that we are all “taught”. If you are working on your business cards or brochures before you map out a business plan then you know what I am talking about. And if you are ignoring, avoiding, or confused about a website, then you need to find a way to start learning how to use a website for your business.
2. Look at the following website packages. These are all awesome website packages offered by people who care about the success of acupuncturists. However there are pros and cons to each package. You have to look at what your goals and abilities are in order to determine which one is right for YOU. For instance, the website package I love and use is perfect for the do-it-yourself-er who wants to be hands-on and learn how to maximize the marketing potential of their acupuncture website, including using it to earn multiple streams of income. But if you are a “hands-off” kind of person and loathe the thought of learning about website basics, this web package is not the right match for you. (But then you definitely NEED to read my book!)
   

These are the best website packages for acupuncturists.

• SiteBuildIt!
  
• Create A Thriving Business
  
• Acupuncture Clinic Websites
  
• NewACUPatient$ & AcuMarketDOMINATION Insider’s Club
  
• Dream Practice Web Package
  
• Chinese Medicine Websites
  

Let me know what you think!

Acupuncture College Graduate

I had a few classes on “Practice Management” and I listened intently to a successful acupuncturist give great information about how to get all the paperwork together to run a practice. I do not ever remember anyone suggesting writing a business plan. Maybe there was a recommendation, but if there was, I totally missed it!

Acupuncture college is overwhelming as it is, so when it was time to graduate I was not thinking about taking on a whole new career as a business entrepreneur. So I just kind of ‘fudged’ my way through and tried to do what I thought everyone else was doing. Since I didn’t know the difference between what was good or bad for building a business … I THOUGHT I was doing everything right!

And I am worried that you are out there trying to start your acupuncture practice thinking that you are doing everything right too.

Of course this is also complicated by the fact that you just want to focus on being an awesome healer instead of marketing your acupuncture business. I know… because that’s how I felt too. (In fact, this is MISTAKE #4 that I talk about in “10 Big Mistakes I Made Opening My Acupuncture Practice & What You Can Do To Avoid Them”.)

I do not want you to repeat the same mistakes I made, so please stay open-minded and look for information and resources to help you with your practice. If you are actively looking for help, start with your acupuncture school to see of they have any resources to help new graduates set up their businesses.

The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) started a Professional Development Center to meet the growing needs of acupuncturists starting out in business. This has been a tremendous resource for graduates. I have no doubt that OCOM’s commitment to helping students understand the practical aspects of acupuncture marketing will help new graduates build successful practices.

I am curious other acupuncture colleges? Do you feel like your school is preparing you to be a successful business entrepreneur? Are you ready to learn those skills? If your college offered serious training in starting a small business, would you eagerly attend them? Or are you too overwhelmed with learning herbs, acupuncture treatments, and all the other aspects of Chinese medicine?

Wherever you are in your training and mindset, I hope you know that it’s never too late to ask for help. Look at many of the online resources listed in the “Blogroll” on this site as well as the resources listed on those websites. We are here to help you succeed!

Best Regards,
Lisa Hanfileti, LAc