After the often slower Summer season, Autumn is, traditionally, a season when acupuncture practitioners see the most patients in our clinics. Fall seasonal allergies, changeable weather with fluctuating temperatures, and exposure to more pathogens from school-aged children are all factors that can bring more people to our door.
How can you encourage and make the most of this trend?
1. Signage inside your clinic. Make sure you have some signs up on the wall or in plexiglass sign-holders telling your patients (or anyone who visits your clinic for any reason) that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be helpful care for seasonal allergies, sinusitis, pediatric earache and cough, cold and flu symptoms. Both herbal medicines and acupuncture can be helpful, but you can also advertise preventive, immune-boosting acupuncture treatments during this season.
2. Fall Acupuncture packages. Why not offer a package deal for 3-5 treatments over a 2-3 week period to help strengthen the immune system and relieve stress?
3. Waiting room displays. If you carry products like Cold Quell and CQ Jr, Lung Qi Jr., Moisten Dryness, Aller-Ease, Fragrant Passage, and Golden Qi, that support a return to balance for patients with some of the conditions listed above, why not create a little display with some of these products, including one of those signs to show people that you have formulas on hand that can help them as well as their children through some of the common ailments of Autumn?
4. Blog posts and YouTube videos on your website. Write articles or, better yet, create a very short YouTube video to post front and center on your website and/or on your YouTube channel (create one for free), to demonstrate an "Autumn" Qigong exercise, an "Autumn" Jook or Conjee recipe, an "Autumn" self-massage protocol, or explain an "Autumn" medicinal wine recipe? While sharing something useful at no charge, you get to demonstrate your knowledge and perhaps mention that package deal discussed in #1 above.
5. Articles in local newsletters. If your town has any large(ish) employers, I'll bet they have an in-house, online newsletter. Ask if you can post a health article twice a year or quarterly. The only thing you ask is to put a contact email or website URL at the end of the article. In this forum, you don't advertise yourself. You share something useful about how to stay healthy. Photos are great to use in this format.
6. Does your town have a Fall festival, Octoberfest, or other community event? How could you participate in these events: a booth or a float in the local parade sponsored by 5-10 local acupuncturists, joining a committee that has lots of other folks involved? However you get involved, this shows that you are a participant in and someone who cares about your community. Don't underestimate the power of this kind of volunteering.
7. Schedule a free talk at an upcoming PTA meeting. In our society, Mothers make most of their families' healthcare decisions. What better place to find lots of Moms that at a PTA meeting? Give a talk about managing children's earaches or coughs through Chinese medicine (once any serious infection has been ruled out by the child's PCP). We have to say that even if we wish they'd come to us first. This project is even easier if you know someone in your community who is a member of the PTA and can mention your name to the right person in the association.
So there are a few ideas for pumping up your practice during the Fall. Thanks for reading it. Good luck and stay healthy!
Next...Watch for my video presentation on treating the common cold with tuina, coming to the Blue Poppy YouTube channel next week!
How can you encourage and make the most of this trend?
1. Signage inside your clinic. Make sure you have some signs up on the wall or in plexiglass sign-holders telling your patients (or anyone who visits your clinic for any reason) that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be helpful care for seasonal allergies, sinusitis, pediatric earache and cough, cold and flu symptoms. Both herbal medicines and acupuncture can be helpful, but you can also advertise preventive, immune-boosting acupuncture treatments during this season.
2. Fall Acupuncture packages. Why not offer a package deal for 3-5 treatments over a 2-3 week period to help strengthen the immune system and relieve stress?
3. Waiting room displays. If you carry products like Cold Quell and CQ Jr, Lung Qi Jr., Moisten Dryness, Aller-Ease, Fragrant Passage, and Golden Qi, that support a return to balance for patients with some of the conditions listed above, why not create a little display with some of these products, including one of those signs to show people that you have formulas on hand that can help them as well as their children through some of the common ailments of Autumn?
4. Blog posts and YouTube videos on your website. Write articles or, better yet, create a very short YouTube video to post front and center on your website and/or on your YouTube channel (create one for free), to demonstrate an "Autumn" Qigong exercise, an "Autumn" Jook or Conjee recipe, an "Autumn" self-massage protocol, or explain an "Autumn" medicinal wine recipe? While sharing something useful at no charge, you get to demonstrate your knowledge and perhaps mention that package deal discussed in #1 above.
5. Articles in local newsletters. If your town has any large(ish) employers, I'll bet they have an in-house, online newsletter. Ask if you can post a health article twice a year or quarterly. The only thing you ask is to put a contact email or website URL at the end of the article. In this forum, you don't advertise yourself. You share something useful about how to stay healthy. Photos are great to use in this format.
6. Does your town have a Fall festival, Octoberfest, or other community event? How could you participate in these events: a booth or a float in the local parade sponsored by 5-10 local acupuncturists, joining a committee that has lots of other folks involved? However you get involved, this shows that you are a participant in and someone who cares about your community. Don't underestimate the power of this kind of volunteering.
7. Schedule a free talk at an upcoming PTA meeting. In our society, Mothers make most of their families' healthcare decisions. What better place to find lots of Moms that at a PTA meeting? Give a talk about managing children's earaches or coughs through Chinese medicine (once any serious infection has been ruled out by the child's PCP). We have to say that even if we wish they'd come to us first. This project is even easier if you know someone in your community who is a member of the PTA and can mention your name to the right person in the association.
So there are a few ideas for pumping up your practice during the Fall. Thanks for reading it. Good luck and stay healthy!
Next...Watch for my video presentation on treating the common cold with tuina, coming to the Blue Poppy YouTube channel next week!
