Marketing Methods

Acupuncture Marketing Methods

**NEW!!** Acupuncture Marketing Methods Update: Please read, "Complementary and Alternative Marketing: How to Attract New Patients, Market Your Practice, and Earn Passive Income With Your Acupuncture Website".

Acupuncture Marketing Analysis

More and more acupuncture marketing methods are becoming available. There are many good books, coaches, websites, seminars, and courses describing "how to fill your acupuncture practice". I encourage you to learn as much as you can from these resources.

However, I must confess that my goal in sharing the following marketing methods with you is slightly different than just "filling your practice".

I want you to have a Life.

I want you to be able to go on vacation, attend an out-of-state wedding, help your family through an illness, travel to a sacred land, take maternity or paternity leave, and do all the other things that make Life meaningful, without fear that if you are away from your practice (racking-up expenses), you will lose the only income that pays your bills. 

As a self-employed “Provider of Services” or a “Service Seller”, you must market your acupuncture practice with your future in mind. And that means generating multiple sources of income that do not depend entirely on you providing acupuncture services.

As I go through the following marketing methods, I want to encourage you to explore the types of marketing that will help you fill your practice andsupport future forms of passive income. 

One day the acupuncture profession will be so strong and acupuncturists in such high demand that we will all have great salaries with paid vacation time, sick leave, and retirement plans. Until then, market your practice with an eye on your future. 

Specific Ways to Market
Your Acupuncture Practice

These marketing methods are not a secret. They are the basic tools of any business. However, I will try to explain each acupuncture marketing technique in the context of value for you as an acupuncturist.

Wherever available I will lead you to free resources. Some things are worth spending money on. Any marketing tools you decide to use are your responsibility, so please investigate everything thoroughly.

Put your business on TV with Spot Runner

The essential foundation of all your marketing is your website. But not just any website. It must be written properly! It is so easy to get it right but 99% of acupuncturists writing acupuncture websites without understanding vital elements of website development. Please keep reading.

No matter what acupuncture marketing methods you choose to invest in, your website is the central core. If you are printing business cards and brochures, or running a newspaper ad, or broadcasting radio and television ads, you will benefit from having a well-written website to refer customers to for more detailed information. Even CNN does this! Once people go to your website, you have the opportunity to build a relationship with them.

There are endless types of marketing methods that you can apply once interested customers have entered your website. If they find quality information and appealing offers, they may decide to bookmark your page, subscribe to your RSS Feed, or seek out your acupuncture services.

Some of the most common and effective website marketing methods include offering a FREE e-zine, newsletter, or e-book. Simply have them provide their email address and an automatically generated newsletter appears in their inbox. 

This is an effective, ethical, trust-building tool to build an email list of customers who are interested enough in acupuncture to sign-up to receive information from you. The marketing methods you apply to this email list are limitless. This is the secret that successful web entrepreneurs are discovering every day.

As I already stated, all marketing methods (no matter where you choose to invest your time, money, and energy), are enhanced and magnified by your business website. You may think that your acupuncture business cardsor your listing in the Yellow Pages is more important. It is true that both of these are necessary acupuncture marketing tools, but what information are you going to include on your acupuncture business card and in your Yellow Pages listing? Your acupuncture business website!

Prospective customers are much more likely to call you after they have seen your professional website than after seeing just a name and number on a business card or in a phone book. 

However, do not create or hire someone to create a professional website just to have one. This is a critical error that many acupuncturists make. There are some very important and relatively simple ingredients to making your website become your most valuable marketing (and income generating) resource. Take some time to learn what these are and implement them. 

A well-written website accomplishes two important goals. First, it advertises you and your services 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. Second, it gets much needed expert information about acupuncture out there for the thousands of people doing "acupuncture" searches every month. But if your website cannot be found among the 56 million websites on the internet, what good is it? Your acupuncture website must be "optimized" for people AND for search engines (like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, etc.) to find you. Otherwise it is like hanging your beautiful business sign in a closet.

Even if you are not ready for a website, go ahead and read what a business website can provide to you in terms of marketing and revenue.

If you want your first marketing investment to be for business cards or a Yellow Pages Ad, I encourage you to hold off until you understand the importance of a website for your acupuncture practice. I sure wish someone had explained this to me before I printed my acupuncture business cards, brochures, and paid for my Yellow Pages listings. 

Website Marketing Strategies for Acupuncturists 

The Power of Direct Mail Marketing 

Design Your Acupuncture Business Cards 

Back to Acupuncture Marketing Basics 

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