by Honora Wolfe

First I want to say something heretical in the world of marketing. I don’t think you HAVE to have a website at all. When do you not need a website? First, if you have no knowledge of how to work with and manipulate your own site (add and subtract stuff on your own) and don’t have time or inclination to learn and/or don’t have the funds to hire someone who can implement all your ideas and requests for working on it promptly and correctly, then perhaps it’s a zero sum gain. A neglected website is a sad thing (and believe me when I say a website is never "done"). A poorly functioning one just frustrates your visitors (I know this from hard-learned lessons with our own website). Second, if you live in small town America instead of highly urban America, I think there are better ways of marketing to your potential patients. Third, if you may want a website eventually, but don’t have the time to figure out all the things that need to be figured out in order to do it well and successfully, there are other ways to market yourself on the internet that are cheaper and perhaps less work...at least for now. Better to do no website than a sloppy, poorly conceived and designed one or one that no one will visit. In that case, the money and time are both wasted. So.....

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1. You can still blog or have a strong internet presence by other means. If you go to websites like blogger, blogspot, Squidoo, or even Facebook and Twitter, you can maintain an internet presence and tell the world all about yourself and your services and what you think about almost any subject. There are also tons of other blogs on every subject related to health and disease that you can imagine. You can write or comment on a dozen of these per day, offering yourself as an information source for anyone who wants to contact you.

Some may say this is risky and you will set yourself up for all sorts of spam. So create a free Gmail or Yahoo email address specifically for these communications only so that they can be monitored, filtered, or deleted as appropriate. These types of email accounts can be added, subtracted, and changed in a heartbeat if necessary. And, when you post blogs and comments on other people’s blogs, you can link your Twitter followers to your posts or your Facebook friends to your posts. If you are a good writer, this type of activity…say one hour per day while you are building your practice…could be enough of an internet presence for the present time. You can always tell people who have specific issues how to contact you on Facebook or by email and you never know where your next patient is coming from.

2. You can still market by email. There are tons of local and national email marketing services to allow you to do any type of mass email communications without having a website. These services vary widely in price depending upon the number of people you are sending to and the number of emails you are planning per month. I would suggest an opt-in email newsletter to all your patients, anyone who signs up at public talks that you do, or anyone who contacts you via your blogs, blog comments, Facebook page contacts, or other friends.

This type of thing should be short with one main article or major piece of “did you know” type information that might contain related live links, plus a monthly “special offer” such as: “Boost your immunity with an autumn tune-up! Next Friday our clinic will have an Acupuncture Happy Hour with $15 Immune-Boost Treatments in our Community Room and 10% off on Cold Quell capsules. Keep one bottle at work and one in your home medicine chest to stop colds and flu from getting you down this winter! RSVP to 303-444-4444. We hope to see you there. Free herb samples and information available to first time visitors, so bring your friends.” You might also list any classes you are teaching or lectures you are giving during the month. You can also put links to interesting articles, research, YouTube videos, anything you like that is fun, interesting, or informative in your newsletter. Most of these email services have a tips page to help you create a better and more-likely-to-be-read newsletter.

You may also want to be able to email required forms to patients so they can fill them out in advance of their appointment. That is another good use of regular email, but that does not require a website either.

3. You can create face-to-face time with potential friends and clients by using MeetUp.com. Set a regular “Meet Up” date at your favorite local coffee shop on a Saturday morning or your preferred time. Invite people to come and talk about any subject your feel competent to discuss (health care in general, chronic pain management, a specific condition you prefer to treat, longevity practices and Chinese medicine, you name it). You can pick the time, duration, location and various other parameters (like whether people have to RSVP or not) from the MeetUp preferences menus. This is a great way to meet old regulars or potential new clients and friends. If you are comfortable meeting people and are a good conversationalist, this is a good way to market your services.

4. You can still do all sorts of traditional marketing. It is my contention that even if you do have a website or do some type of internet and online marketing, it does not necessarily mean you won’t need to be out in your community being a participant and player. I think the basic rule for ALL types of marketing efforts is that people like to buy products and services from people they like. Any and all marketing starts there. Being a volunteer and participant in your community (whatever that word means for you) is still the best and most effective thing you can do. So coach a kids soccer team, play in a co-rec softball league, work on the local July 4th parade committee, help with planting a community garden or a community clean-up effort, write free articles for various local small publications and newsletters, work on various committees and projects at your church or your children’s school, do a free local TV or radio show….anything that puts you in regular contact with lots of people. That’s as good or better than a website in many cases.

You will read on many newsletters and blogs that you MUST have a website and you SHOULD pay for Google Adwords or sell ad space on your site, or have automated appointment software, etc. ad nauseum. Yes, that type of marketing is great if you have the time, resources, money, connections, knowledge, and inclination…I do a lot of it myself, so I won’t say they are wrong. But if not, you need not be convinced that you are a hopeless Luddite or that you cannot build a practice. There are lots of great options for marketing (just go back and read my archived blogs for about a bazzilion ideas). There are about as many options for marketing as there are options for being a good practitioner.