Many chiropractors go to school and gain excellent technical knowledge of their science. They graduate and start their business under the misguided notion that they need only hang a sign on their door and clients will begin flocking to them. When business takes too long to pick up speed, or even worse begins to falter, these practitioners are unequipped to market themselves. Particularly in today’s digital world, chiropractors who are willing to learn the simple techniques of online marketing will find themselves pulling ahead of their competition at an astonishing rate.

Marketing has changed rapidly in the past few years. The biggest factor affecting the change has been the advent of Web 2.0 and social networking on the internet. You may have heard these terms used but were not sure what they mean, and perhaps you feel that you can just ignore this new trend. Marketing experts agree that the future of selling is on the internet. Unless you are willing to take on the social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook and YouTube you will continue to flounder in your business.

Only recently (3 years after I let the cat out of the bag), have many doctors begun inquiring about what we classify as fresh Web 2.0 / SEO marketing strategies. I was the first and only one in the chiropractic profession to bring social networks to public awareness, as I was getting massive amounts of new patients coming into my office from Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube.

I have had various marketing consultants try to grab my secrets, which I’ve shared with only a select group of my fellow chiropractors. These consultants have tried all manner and method of tricking me by calling from anonymous numbers or posing as potential clients. They wanted to capture and sell my ideas, and I was more interested in making my ideas come to life.

The amazing part of social networking sites is that they are completely free to join and use. Anyone can set up their own profile and begin making new contacts within minutes. However, many chiropractors make the mistake of joining these sites and sending out spam messages. Not only is this irritating to many members, but it will actually get you kicked off the network if you do it enough. Your hard work will be for nothing. If you’ve ever talked to someone who is sour about social networking as a marketing tool, they probably tried this method and failed miserably. The best way to avoid making mistakes like these is to work with an experienced mentor who has already achieved some level of success on social networking sites.

While the profession and 95% of chiropractors are playing catch-up, I’ve been on the cutting-edge discovering new, and even more powerful ways to leverage these Web 2.0 technologies to create a steady stream of new patients and multiple sources of income for me and my hundreds of students. Last month was a great example, as I made over $5,000 in one month from just one video that I posted on YouTube. With returns like this for minimal time investment, many are crippling themselves by not learning how to market the proper way with social media.

A couple tips that I can give you for marketing on MySpace include: 1. Never send a friend request to someone unless you first type a friendly message letting them know who you are and why you want to be their friend; and 2. Keep plenty of videos on your profile page. These can be about chiropractic, or even subjects that interest you personally such as sports, music, or movies. Part of the success of social networking involves expressing your own personality to your contacts.

This is going to be a new language for most doctors since we live in more technologically advanced times. You have a choice though. You can either take a year out of your schedule to learn everything you need to know about social media marketing or you can find a mentor who’s been there and done that. The latter will reduce your learning curve by about a year while the first one will cost you an arm and leg in money and mistakes.