CEObrief eLetter for Chiropreneurs Shared by: Lawton_Howell@mail.vresp.com Welcome to this week's edition of the CEObrief eLetter, the only newsletter dedicated to Chiropreneurs who want to build a business and not just grow a practice! In this edition of the CEObrief eLetter, we will continue the series on Masterful Marketing for Chiropreneurs and provide you with a worksheet for generating AWARENESS with Strangers, Prospex and Patients. This worksheet will help you identify the best alternatives for your Give2Get Marketing Plan. In addition, you will discover some new and different ideas for building your business and not just growing a practice. So, sit back, relax and get ready to work ON your business! Generating Awareness Last week we covered how to test the elements of your Give2Get Marketing Plan. In this issue of the CEObrief eLetter, we will provide you with a checklist based worksheet for identifying specific tactics that you can use to generate AWARENESS with Strangers, Prospex and Patients. Here's your Give2Get marketing checklist for generating AWARENESS with: 1. List of Strangers Because of their high-expense and lack of a compelling Offer and Call to Action, traditional paid media Awareness activities generate very few Prospex or New Patients. However, the following types of Awareness marketing can be extremely inexpensive and can easily lead to Prospex generation opportunities. Check all that you can apply to your Give2Get Marketing Plan: * Give Luncheon Talks * Give Keynote Address * Join Civic Groups * Serve on Committees * Volunteer Services * Donate Products or Services * Hold a Contest * Trade Show Workshops * Magnetic Car Signs * Business/Vehicle Signage * Sponsor a Youth Group * Media Interviews * Offer Expertise to Media * Offer a Scholarship * Write a Column * Appear on Talk Shows * Post on Bulletin Boards * Lead Internet Forum * Charity Causes * Uniform Identification * Host an Open House * Other 2. List of Prospex Keep in continuous communication with your List of Prospex. Take every opportunity to be of service to them with helpful information. Let them know you consider them to be important to your business, and would appreciate the chance to serve them. * Free Report * Free Articles * Free Audio Cassette or CD * Free Video Cassette or DVD * Free Info-Pak * Free Media Kit * Free Newsletter * Free Computer Disk * Free Service/Product Guide * Free Service/Product Book * Free Capability Sheets * Free Fax on Demand * Free Trial * Free Coupons * Invitation to Luncheon * Invitation to Celebration * Note of Congratulations * Thank You Gifts * Other 3. List of Patients Keep in continuous communications with your List of Patients. Take very opportunity to be of service to them with helpful information. Let them know that you consider them to be important to your business, and appreciate the chance to serve them. This is all about building relationships with your Patients. * Free Reports * Free Articles * Free Audio Cassette or CD * Free Video Cassette or DVD * Free Info-Pak * Free Media Kit * Free Newsletter * Free Computer Disk * Free Service/Product Guide * Free Service/Product Book * Free Capability Sheets * Free Fax on Demand * Free Trial * Free Coupons * Invitation to Luncheon * Invitation to Celebration * Note of Congratulations * Thank You Gifts * Other This worksheet is to stimulate your thinking...brainstorm with your T.E.A.M. to develop avenues of communicating to your List of Strangers, Prospex and Patients. Next week, we will expand your Give2Get Marketing Plan with additional worksheets that will help you identify your best Strangers, Prospex and Patients! Lawton W. Howell, Sr. Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 ceo@wellnessone.net P.S. One of the best turn-key marketing plans ever develop for Chiropreneurs is the CEO Ultimate 100 Patient Marketing System. You can increase your current New Patient Production by 500 or more when you discover how to turn the titans in your marketplace, i.e., the Mayor, city council, board of supervisors, Chief of Police, Fire Chief, board of education, business leaders, city, county, state and national politicians, into Ultimate Patients for your brand of chiropractic. Using this turn-key, step-by-step marketing system you can become the brand of choice for the movers and shakers in your marketplace using psychological marketing triggers to motivate the top 100 Titans in your marketplace to refer patients, even if they are not a patient. This system unique, powerful marketing system includes: 1. Detailed how-to instructions to implement and execute this system. 2. Eight professionally crafted letters needed for the system. 3. Six article reprints with copyright authorization to reproduce. And, when you order on or before February 1, 2005, you will receive THREE BONUS Reports worth $29.00 FREE! 1. The CEO Fraction-of-the-Action Plan - $10.00 Value (Click To Learn More) 2. The The Media Portfolio as a Marketing Tool - $7.00 Value (Click To Learn More) 3. The CEO Marketing Planner System - $12.00 Value (Click To Learn More) Note: Your order to subject to approval due to territory protection provided to WellnessOne branded sites. Your payment will be promptly refunded if we are unable to provide the usage license. However, the bonus reports are yours to keep with your compliments even we cannot provide you with the license for The CEO Ultimate 100 Patient Marketing System. Once your order is completed you will have instant access to download the Three Bonus reports. If your order is approved, you will be emailed a link to download The CEO Ultimate 100 Patient Marketing System directly. You agree that if we grant the license to you for The CEO Ultimate 100 Patient Marketing System that it may not be modified, re-sold, licensed, offered as a bonus or auctioned without the prior written consent from ChiroMarketing Corporation. Your license fee includes permission to use the material for your personal use at the designated address on your order. What Donald Trump Can Teach You About Direct Marketing I never thought of Donald Trump as a direct marketer. In fact, from what little I had seen, he seemed largely ignorant of the principles of DM. For instance, on the first season of "The Apprentice," the two teams had to come up with an ad campaign for a company that made corporate jets. The planes (complete with flight crew) would be available to clients who wanted to fly in private jets but did not have the budget to buy their own. In particular, Trump praised one team's campaign, which featured slick color photos of various parts of the jet shot at angles that made them look like phallic symbols. "Idiot!" I complained to my wife, who was watching the show with me. "The ads should have offered a Membership Card entitling the recipient to take his first 30 minutes of any flight FREE!" (That's how we direct marketers think. Offer, offer, offer.) But an episode in the second season of "The Apprentice" was much more encouraging in its demonstration of direct-response principles. This time, the two teams had the task of putting together and running, for one evening only, a bridal shop in NYC. The contest was simple. Whichever team had the highest gross sales for the evening would be the winner. Team A printed huge stacks of pink fliers inviting people to their bridal sale. They distributed these fliers by handing them out at Penn Station as morning commuters got off the trains. Trump correctly questioned the wisdom of Team A's marketing strategy. He asked, "How many people are thinking about getting married when they're on their way to work in the morning?" Team B took a more targeted approach. They rented an e-list of thousands of women who were planning to get married and e-mailed them an invitation to their sale. I think you can guess the result. Team A had only a handful of customers in their shop, sold only two dresses, and grossed around $1,000. Team B had customers lining up on the sidewalk to get into the store, as if it were an exclusive Manhattan nightclub. They sold 26 dresses for gross revenues of more than $12,000, outselling Team "B" more than 12 to 1. The project manager of Team A was fired by Trump that night. The lesson for direct marketers is clear: The list is all-important. In this case, Team B knew that everyone on their list was planning to get married. Team A, by comparison, handed out their invitations to anyone and everyone who happened to be at Penn Station that morning. How many of those people had any interest in getting married? Was it one out of a hundred? Or maybe one out of a thousand? The "list" used by Team A had maybe 90% to 99% "wasted circulation." In other words, most of their ads went to the wrong people: those not interested in buying their product. The list used by Team B had maybe 1% or as little as 0% wasted circulation. Because virtually everyone on that list had indicated a planned wedding. And the result? B outpulled A by approximately 12 to 1 . . . a differential that is not uncommon in actual direct-marketing tests. Using the best mailing list vs. the worst mailing list can increase your response rate by 1,000% or more. That makes testing different mailing lists perhaps the best marketing investment you can make this year. You can use direct marketing to reach New Residents, List of Prospex and of course your List of Patients. One of the most often overlooked opportunities is Marketing Alliances, where you send a letter to your alliance List of Customers and the alliance sends a letter to your List of Patients. The third- party implied endorsement is powerful and for the cost of a letter, envelope and stamp, you can get a very nice R.O.I. The cost for direct marketing is often considered to high to be useful, but, the results are often better than with any other form of marketing available. At WellnessOne, we use direct marketing which can be post cards, letters or even dimensional packages! KEY: Always plan on hitting your direct marketing list SIX times, one per week! Spaced repetition to the right list will maximize your results! Jon Poulson Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 poulson@wellnessone.net P.S. Looking to build your business with word-of-mouth marketing as the core of your plan? Well, for the best WOM program developed for Chiropreneurs, click the link below! Do you need to enhance your Referral-based marketing? Well, consider this: If you are not getting three or more referrals from your patients, each and every year, then this is must read for you. Using the techniques in this guide, developed by the marketing gurus at WellnessOne Corporation, you can create a stream of referrals that can double, triple or even quadruple your business! Over the past seven years, WellnessOne has audited hundreds of offices and discovered that the average office gets less than one referral from each patient! This report is for chiropractic entrepreneurs who would like to build their business and not just grow a practice using referral-centric marketing strategies and tactics. This 67-page report is a step-by-step guide for implementing the ultimate word- of-mouth marketing system in your business. One element for maximizing referrals to your brand of chiropractic is understanding the five levels of the referral marketing pyramid: Suspex, Prospex, Patient, Client and Zealot. Each of these levels are examined in detail enabling you to build your business by understanding each level, and what you can do to enhance the results from each. Most practitioners focus on the Patient level, but, that can impact your overall results. You must understand and have a marketing plan for each level. Along with this guide, you will receive 100 ideas that you can use to brainstorm optimum tactics for getting three or more referrals from each of your patients each year. Just click the link below for more information or to order the CEO Word-of-Mouth Marketing System. You can download this plan immediately online 24/7! Speaking of "The Apprentice" . . . Last week marked the beginning of a new season . . . and this time, there's a twist. This season features "Book Smart vs. Street Smart" teams. Nine college-educated men and women are competing against a team of nine entrepreneurs with no formal education. Here at WellnessOne, we're going to be watching the show throughout the season, and discussing each episode. Did you see last week's program? Did the right person get fired? What would you have done differently if YOU were Trump -- or one of the competitors? If you gained some insight on how to use lessons from The Apprentice, let us hear from you! Send your thoughts to: ceo@wellnessone.net How to Write a Good Thank-You Note You can judge the success of parenting well before the children are old enough to get into Harvard or the local penitentiary. Well-raised kids write prompt, thoughtful thank-you notes. Some are better than others. A good thank-you note has the following characteristics: * It is on stationery, not scrap paper. * It's handwritten, not typewritten. * It mentions the present or reason by name. * It says something specific about it. * It includes the words "thank you." Here's a good example: Dear Uncle M and Aunt K, Thank you so much for the talking watch. It is so cool. I also love the color pink. I can't wait to wear it at school. I got a lot of things this Christmas that I could have guessed, but when I saw the box, I had no idea what it was. I also love the box that the watch came in. I miss you guys a lot and I hope we can see you soon. Sincerely, V The note doesn't have to be very long. In fact, it can be as short as two sentences. Like this one: Dear Uncle M and Aunt K, Thank you so much for the very warm and very fuzzy scarf. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. Love, E Or how about this three-sentence wonder: Dear Uncle M and Aunt K, Muchas gracias for the gift. Too bad it doesn't fit. But thank you for thinking of me. J In this case, a little parental editing might have helped -- but the child gets an A+ for sincerity. Good thank-you notes demonstrate characteristics we all want our children to have -- thoughtfulness, consideration, and gratitude. They also reflect well on the parents. Which brings me to the point of today's message: Manners matter. In fact, good manners are essential to a civil society. There is a philosophical stupidity that is rampant today -- a theory that what a person is can be different from what he does. "Yes, he abuses his employees, neglects his children, and cheats his partners, but deep down inside he's really a nice guy." Wrong. How you act is what you are. It is certainly possible for a generally reprehensible person to have moments of goodness, but that doesn't make him essentially good. You can claim to be essentially good when your natural instinct is to do and be good, not to do so only when you are down and out or have a rare transcendent moment. If you want to be a good parent, you have to believe that the behavior of your children matters. And if you believe that, you must teach them -- no, train them -- to be mannerly. Writing good thank-you notes is a great way to start. By the way, everything I've said about manners and my specific recommendations about writing thank-you notes applies to adults too. If you want to be thought of as a considerate, thoughtful businessperson -- someone capable of giving and receiving gratitude --you should develop the habit of writing effective, personal thank- you notes. If you are not writing personal notes to Patients, friends and colleagues now, you are missing an opportunity to strengthen important relationships. Personal notes to people you don't know, but admire, are good for network building. I try to write at least one personal note each week. Sometimes, it's to tell someone how much I appreciate their work. Sometimes, it's a thank you. When you first begin this as a habit, you will be astonished at the reaction you'll get. People will be shocked and often touched. The effect of personal, handwritten notes will only become stronger as e-mail correspondence becomes more common. Get some nice thank you note cards and matching envelopes with your logo embossed on the cover and your return address printed on the flap and begin saying.... THANK YOU! It will change your life. Promise. Rozlynne Rush, D.C. Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 rush@wellnessone.net P.S. Thank you notes are an important part of your marketing plan, but, if you really want to jump-start your marketing, click the link below to order: Total Marketplace Domination for Chiropractic Entrepreneurs [CM.BK.Domina] $25.00 In this ebook, author Lawton W. Howell, Sr., identifies the six marketing strategies that most practitioners commonly overlook and how to not only understand them, but how to implement tactics to adopt each one so that you can totally dominate your marketplace. Strategy 1: You must have a marketing plan. A Six Step Plan that you can do in one day! Strategy 2: You must differentiate Yourself from the Competition. How to create your extraordinary value statement. Strategy 3; Implement a systematic word-of-mouth marketing system. How to capture referrals from patients and from other centers of influences. Strategy 4: Communicate and market to your current patients. How to increase your Patient Visit Average by getting patients to return for more services. Strategy 5: Make money with OPC. How to create marketing alliances that will drive new patients to your office. Strategy 6: You are in the business of marketing your brand of chiropractic. How to become a master of marketing. You should read this ebook if you wake every morning raring to build your business and not just grow a practice. Implement and execute each of these strategies and you can double, triple or even quadruple your business in the next 12 months and totally dominate your marketplace. Click the link below for more information or to order....you can download this eBook immediately! TODAY'S ACTION PLAN Did you write thank-you notes for all the Christmas gifts you received? I'm not talking about those that were given in person. Expressing enthusiastic appreciation when you open a gift in front of the person who gave it to you is sufficient. But what about those that were sent to you? Your note doesn't have to be long -- but it does have to be thoughtful and sincere . . . and prompt. It's too late now to write thank-yous for gifts you received a month ago. But make a promise to yourself that from now on -- birthday, Christmas, whatever -- you'll do it immediately. And while you are at it, make it a point to assign yourself the task of writing at least one business-building note a week. How to Use Solid Testimonials to Strengthen Your Marketing There's no denying it: People love to get an unbiased opinion of a product or service before they buy it. Your T.E.A.M. can talk till they're blue in the face, and not get the same results as Patient saying "I love Dr. Smith." In addition, testimonials boost your credibility faster than almost any other method . . . when used correctly. Faced with a pile of rambling, unedited testimonials from Patients, you need to take the time to narrow them down to the strongest ones. Here's what to look for and do: 1. The best testimonials tend to be very specific -- citing the exact condition and outcome, i.e., I was unable to play golf until I discovered chiropractic. 2. Each quote should focus on just one benefit. Too many will dilute the impact. 3. Though you will need to edit these quotes, make sure you don't over-edit. You want to maintain the believable, conversational tone the Patient used. Add to this believability by including full names and addresses when possible -- or maybe even the Patient's picture. If you just use initial, then it is less believable. 4. Once edited, try to sprinkle the quotes throughout your marketing communication. Long lists of testimonials tend to get skipped over. WellnessOne created a unique and different testimonial MARCOM. If you would like to see a sample, just click the link below. It's FREE. When you click the link, we will automatically download an Adobe PDF file that you can open and view in Adobe Acrobat. 2005 HUMAN RESOURCES NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS ****************************************************** ********************* This article is the second in a series where we'll cover my recommended 2005 Chiropreneur New Year Resolutions regarding how you lead the humans in your business, including ourselves, the Chiropreneurs. From the time of the first interview to the day they leave your employ, there are dozens of issues that all Chiropreneurs face in managing the humans who work with you. There are many human resources activities that could be addressed here, but the ones to follow are those that I think could use a little extra emphasis. Resolution One: I resolve to provide more training for my T.E.A.M. Players, especially in areas like: * Salesmanship Perhaps the most egregious errors Chiropreneurs perpetrate on themselves is sending someone they have anointed as a T.E.A.M. Player into the marketplace unarmed. If you think selling is more art than science, more talking than technical, then I'm probably talking about you. I'm not concerned about technique and pricing strategy; you'll do a good job of training in that area. But in the 21st century, selling is more about problem solving than your brand of chiropractic. Chiropreneurs rarely have a competitive advantage through services or pricing. Your most effective tool is building relationships with your Patients that make your brand of chiropractic the place to go for spinal solutions. Make sure your T.E.a.M. is armed with professional sales training, especially in what motivates those humans we call Patients. Train your Players to build relationships with your Patients - EVERYTHING else is a commodity. * Leadership There will always be more hats to wear in your business than heads to put them on. To a much greater degree than in big business, employees of small businesses have to be able to perform tasks in a number of areas on any given day. Obviously, performance requires technical skill, which training you no doubt provide. But how would you like to see the performance of your business take a quantum leap? You can do it if your people become leaders. Among other things, employee leaders take initiative, assume ownership of their assignments, and work as T.E.A.M. Players. If you want T.E.A.M. leaders, you must do three things: 1) Hire people who are capable of being leaders. Everyone isn't. There are personality tests available that can help you find people who can become leaders. Visit www.chiromarketing.net for the one used by the WellnessOne National Alliance members. 2) Provide formal leadership training, which is often available through a local college or university, or the chamber of commerce. 3) Do your part by delegating the responsibility AND the authority. And when your people fail while making an honest effort to perform, don't ask them why they did it, but rather what did we learn? * Organization A chiropractic business cannot afford to be unorganized. Incrementally speaking, wasted motion and resources are no more expensive for a small business than a big one, but they do put a small business in more jeopardy of failure. Look at your operational systems to see if they're creating disorganization. If so, change them. Then get organization training for those individuals who need it, which might well include you. * Technology For years, business has been defined by number of employees. In the future, more emphasis will be placed on performance instead of the T.E.A.M. What has changed this definition? Technology. Historically, when Henry Ford or Harriet the wholesaler wanted to grow their businesses, they hired more people. Today, if you want to grow your business, it's more likely that you add technology first, then people. But technology is an ineffective lever without properly trained technicians. Basic training in the technology your business uses will deliver increased production. But if you want to taste some of that performance gravy, maintain a continuous and advanced technology training program. * Teamwork If you have one Player you have a T.E.A.M. Any questions? Teamwork is not intuitive. Without a clear understanding of how individuals work within a T.E.A.M., and how teams work together to accomplish corporate goals, ego, competition, and other human characteristics can create damaging impediments to effective teamwork. Back to my "too many hats, too few heads" analogy, small businesses cannot afford the inefficiency of poor teamwork. That's why teamwork cannot be left to chance. Even people who generally get along with others aren't always good at teamwork. Individuals need to be trained in how to work on a team, and teams need to be trained on how to work with other teams. Find and deliver teamwork training to your organization. Effective teamwork in a small business creates more profits, more fun, and is a thing of beauty. Resolution Two: I resolve to praise more in public, and criticize more constructively in private. Praising a worthy Player is an excellent motivational practice. Praise in front of others makes it more valuable for the recipient, identifies your standard for praise, motivates others, and demonstrates your willingness to recognize performance excellence. Praise well-placed and well-done can help you keep a Player who is being courted by competitor, even when more money is offered. Few things are more counterproductive than reprimanding your Player in front of others. Such behavior demotivates the recipient, makes others uncomfortable, and makes the Chiropreneur look unprofessional and small. Since EVERYONE is capable of falling short of expectations, redemption may be the most powerful concept in Leadership. Constructive criticism, which presumes redemption, only works if it is given quietly, privately, and sincerely. Resolution Three: I resolve to assume the attitude that the fastest way for me and my brand of chiropractic to be successful is if I focus more on helping my T.E.A.M. to be successful in each of their assignments. The most successful Leaders in the 21st Century will be those who subordinate their ego and the need for immediate personal gratification to that of their people. Business ownership is a game where everyone wins when the Chiropreneur comes in second by making sure that T.E.A.M. Players find success first. And all of that T.E.A.M. success ultimately aggregates for, and accrues to, the Chiropreneur of the business. Resolution Four: I resolve to upgrade key Player positions, so that I have the very best heads upon which to put the many hats we have to wear. Every Player in your business must be versatile, competent, and have a good attitude. If you have Players who don't fit this profile, your ability to compete in the 21st century will be diminished. Identify the keepers, praise them, equip them, train them, and pay them well. Get rid of everybody else. At WellnessOne we coach our Members to Hire Cheerleaders and Fire Sourpusses! Resolution Five: I resolve to be a more competitive employer to prospective and current employees by focusing on ways my company can add value to their professional development. Chiropreneurs MUST employ good people. And regardless of whether the unemployment rate is zero or 10%, good people are ALWAYS in demand. The best way to make sure you hire and keep valuable employees is by making sure your company is a GREAT place to work. How do you do that? I'm going to make this one short and sweet: Do all the things identified in this article and you will have good people standing in line at your door with resumes in hand. By the way, that same line blocks the door so that the good people you have won't leave. Resolution Six: I resolve to be a better listener. Now that you've hired smart, professional, and competent people, don't forget to listen to what they have to say. Write this on a rock - Thinking of yourself as the boss of those who work with you in your business is outdated and unproductive. Instead, think of yourself as the steward of their success. If you make sure your behavior, the work environment, and assignments are conducive to your employees' success, ultimately you will be the big winner. Lawton W. Howell, Sr. Call me toll free at 877 WELNES1 ceo@wellnessone.net P.S. Human Resource tools used by the WellnessOne National Alliance Program are available online Thank you for subscribing to the CEObrief eLetter. We hope that you gained some ideas, concepts, strategies and tactics that you can use to build your business and not just grow a practice. Let us know how we can help! Your CEObrief T.E.A.M. Call us toll free at 877 WELNES1 ceo@wellnessone.net P.S. Why not share the CEObrief eLetter with a colleague? Just click the link below! Lawton W. Howell, Sr. Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer WellnessOne Corporation 3960 Howard Hughes Parkway, 5th Floor Las Vegas, NV 89109-5988 Toll Free Voice & Fax: 877 WELNES1 ceo@wellnessone.net www.chiroelite.com www.wellnessone.net www.ceotrax.net www.ceopracticetrax.com www.milliondollarpractices.com www.chiromarketing.net Effective & Lasting Ideas Toward Excellence for building a business, not just growing a practice. Copyright WellnessOne Corporation 2005