Upper Cervical Pie
July 6, 2009 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical Marketing
There are two kinds of people in the world:
- Those who think the ‘pie’ is only so big, and if you have a piece then that’s a piece that they don’t have, and so their goal is take as many pieces as they possibly can before the ‘pie’ is all gone.
- Those who think the size of the ‘pie’ has unlimited potential, and actually has more pieces than any one person could ever handle in a lifetime.
Those with the second attitude are always the most truly successful in life, business and otherwise.
For too long, much of chiropractic, and especially upper cervical chiropractic has been wrought with those of the first kinds of people, and this has really crippled our ability to make the difference in the world that we are capable of accomplishing.
Thankfully, things seem to be changing.
It seems that upper cervical as a whole is experiencing more & more solidarity as time goes by.
And this is good for our profession, for our niche, and ultimately for our patients, both existing and potential.
The internet is an invaluable platform for facilitating this movement.
Every day, I see more and more upper cervical related blog entries, news pieces, tweets & etc.
I’m writing this as an encouragement to all upper cervical doctors to just publish yourself.
Everything you put on the web that is related in some way to upper cervical chiropractic, whether it’s a blog entry, a website, a tweet on twitter, a Facebook profile, a video to YouTube, an article on eZine Articles, a slide show on Slide Share… whatever, it adds to the ongoing conversation and benefits us all.
Let’s keep this going and see just how big the ‘pie’ can be.
Dr. Shawn Dill | Upper Cervical Interview
June 25, 2009 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical Interviews
Dr. Shawn Dill is a 1995 graduate of Logan College of Chiropractic. For eight years Dr. Dill practiced in the country of Costa Rica, where along with establishing what many consider to be the largest upper cervical practice in the world, he also authored the law that regulates the practice of chiropractic in Costa Rica.
Since returning to the United States Dr. Dill has become a noted authority in Upper Cervical Specific. He is the co-founder of The Specific Chiropractic Center, which now operates multiple Knee Chest Upper Cervical Specific clinics, and the “That Something” Coaching Program, along with its annual seminar, called “Synapse”.
He is a full time member of the faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, serving as the Director of the Institute for Advanced Care in Chiropractic. He is a highly sought as a speaker, making numerous international appearances each year.
In this interview we discuss:
- How he became a chiropractor
- How he got introduced to upper cervical
- How he went from failure to success in his first clinic in Costa Rica
- How to market yourself using the power of the internet
- What makes his “That Something” coaching program unique
And much more.
This is one of the meatiest interviews I’ve done, and you should really listen to it more than once, and take notes.
[podcast]http://www.uppercervicaldocs.com/Audio/dillpart1.mp3[/podcast]
[podcast]http://www.uppercervicaldocs.com/Audio/dillpart2.mp3[/podcast]
3 Sure-Fire Strategies to Prevent the Swine Flu & Upper Cervical
April 29, 2009 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical in the News
I’m posting this article because I found it very interesting, particularly because an upper cervical study was used as a reference.
The article doesn’t mention upper cervical chiropractic outright, and you have to search for the fine print in the references section, but it’s there.
Most interesting of all however, is the comments section.
Dr. Wegmann, from a layman’s point of view is very provocative with this article.
Make sure you read the comments.
From The Huffington Post 3 Sure-Fire Strategies to Prevent the Swine Flu.
Dr. Brandon Harshe | Upper Cervical Interview
April 1, 2009 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical Interviews
Brandon is about to graduate from Parker in Texas, and I wanted to interview him because of his presence on the internet, particularly at his website http://theatlasoflife.com where he posts news, opinions and interviews of prominent upper cervical doctors and patients.
I didn’t even realize that he was still a student until rather recently which is a testament to how a presence on the web lends a kind of authority to you.
The internet can be an incredibly powerful tool to spread the message of upper cervical chiropractic care, and Brandon is doing a temendous job of doing just that.
The internet allows you to have your own publishing house, radio station, or television station, for very little cost, and it is being utilized more and more frequently as peoples first choice for information, and your patients and prospective patients are going to the internet to get information on upper cervical.
Chances are, if you aren’t posting relevant information on the web, people like Brandon are supplying your patients and prospective patients information about what upper cervical is, and how it can help them.
Little did I know how interesting Brandon’s journey has been. In this interview we discuss:
- How he chose to become a chiropractor
- How he was first exposed to upper cervical chiropractic
- How he dropped out of chiropractic school with no plans of ever returning
- How a vivid dream lead to him re-enrolling
- Why he decided to start his website
And much more.
Brandon has a bright future ahead of him, and I hope you enjoy this interview.
Download Brandon Harshe Interview
5 Fun Ways To Get More Patients From The Web
March 26, 2009 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical Marketing
Last week, I gave a presentation to the local chamber of commerce on how the web can be utilized to get more contacts (and business) from the web, without spending an extra dime, even if you don’t have a website.
It was a huge hit, so I conformed the presentation to fit you, the upper cervical doctor because I thought you might like to learn how you can get more patients from the web using the same ideas.
It’s called 5 Fun Ways To Get More Patients From The Web and you can see and hear the presentation by going to SlideShare, or just watch it below.
These are some fun ways to use the web, that work better if you have a website to send patients to, but still work to get more patients even if you don’t have a website (I explain it all in the slide presentation).
I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think, and if there’s anything I can help you with, just let me know.
Integrating Your Upper Cervical Message Into All of Your Marketing
February 10, 2009 by drhambrick
Filed under Principle #2: USP integration
Once you have an effective marketing message, or unique selling proposition, (USP) you must integrate that USP into any and every media that leaves your hands, or the hands of your employees. It is how you get the message about what you do out into the real world where patients and prospective patients see what makes you different.
This is very simple and straightforward, but essential to properly branding your practice.
With People
The first place you must integrate your USP is with all of the people in your practice. You, your employees, and anyone who represents what you do must understand what your practice’s USP is, and be able to project it to patients and prospective patients.
Your receptionist must be able to demonstrate your USP when they answer the phone. As an example, let’s use the USP I used in my practice. The phone rings, and the receptionist says: “Thank you for calling Hambrick Chiropractic, where we’re providing relief without any popping twisting turning or cracking.”
Now I know that sounds corny, and we never answered the phone that way, but you get the idea.
The important point is to make sure that all of your employees knows exactly why you’re in practice, and why a prospect should choose to do business with you versus any and all other chiropractors in your area.
With Literature
If your practice has promotional literature, such as brochures, information packets, etc. then you must have your USP prominently displayed and exposed on all of it. Of course, it must look natural, and not forced, and if your USP doesn’t naturally fit into your current literature, then you should revamp it. Websites would also fall into this category. And if you don’t have any literature… why not? If no one else in your industry is producing literature, then that’s all the more reason why you should.
With Business Cards
How many business cards have you been given in your life? Now how many of those have you kept? Now how many of those have you referenced more than once?
Business cards are a necessary evil. Everyone expects you to have one, and expects you to give them one, and those that have them love to pass them around like confetti hoping that one lands in the right hands and translates into business for them.
The truth is, your card is probably never going to be used, and if it is, it will probably only be used once and then filed away and forgotten about. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Business cards could potentially be valuable real estate for your marketing message. Your USP should be the first thing that stands out on your business card. That’s what is going to make people remember your card, there-by remembering you, and file it way for whenever they have use for whatever specific need your practice meets.
On a side note, your business cards should be used as a direct response device that collects leads for you by offering free information, or sending people to a website that will catch their information so you can then market directly to them.
That in my opinion is the most valuable use of a business card, but that’s for another time.
With Ads
Every ad that your clinic produces should prominently display your USP. It should be the focus of your ad. It should be the reason the ad exists… to spread the reason why people should do business with your company vs. any and all other options available to them.
A huge mistake that most practices make is creating an ad where there practice name and phone number is the headline. This is known as “institutional advertising” and is a notorious waste of advertising dollars. Institutional advertising never catches anyone’s eye unless they already know all about the company.
You must use expensive ad space to broadcast your USP. This is especially true for YellowPage ads. An ad is merely a printed form of a sales rep, and a sales rep would never call on someone and merely just say the business name and phone number in a loud voice without actually selling the prospect on becoming a client/customer/patient.
With Business Paperwork
This includes letter head, business forms, invoices, work-orders, even notepads that are used to write notes that might go home with your upper cervical patients. Waste no space, if there is some sort of paperwork that will leave your office, then find a way to integrate your USP into that paperwork. It doesn’t need to look awkward, but can easily and organically be integrated into the most business-like of papers.
On Hold Message
If you have an on-hold service that just plays music, then you are wasting valuable advertising space that could be explaining to everyone on hold why they should be doing business with you. This is very easy and cheap to do if you already have this system in place. You can have your USP professionally recorded, or record it in your own voice.
With Web Site
Your web site is merely another medium of communication with your patients and prospective patients, and your web site must convey your USP. Any emails as well should also have your USP integrated into them in some fashion.
There’s no point in having a compelling marketing message that differentiates you from all of the other practitioners in your area, if you aren’t broadcasting that message and making it clear and obvious why you’re different. Integrating your USP is a step that can not be skipped.
Upper Cervical To Utilize CT Imaging
December 19, 2008 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical in the News
Years ago, when I was practicing in Sarasota, FL, I came in contact with a neuromuscular dentist who was showing me around his office.
These dentists are specialists who are focused on cosmetics, but their work has much farther reaching capabilities in that their patients often see relief of migraines and breathing problems… all by changing the way the teeth come together.
Most of these dentists are trained at the Las Vegas Institute, and at one time, they were encouraged to seek out upper cervical doctors because it was determined that getting the atlas corrected greatly complemented the neuromuscular dental work they were performing on their patients.
So anyway, this dentist was showing me his office, and he showed me an amazing piece of equipment.
It was a Mini CT scanner that took up about 6 square feet of office space, had a chin rest, and head clamps.
One press of a button, and you get a full 3D image of the patients head and cervical area.
The pictures were unbelievable, and the software looked very similar to the upper cervical analyzing software that was just coming out for digital xray.
I couldn’t believe that upper cervical doctors weren’t all over this, but no upper cervical doctor I talked to had heard anything about it.
I tried to get doctors and even a well known upper cervical imaging rep interested in this instrument, but no one seemed to care.
Well then, this week, Dr. Tom Forest’s weekly email had this blurb from Dr. Ray Drury of the Upper Cervical Health Centers:
The talk was great. We had three M.D. get up and say things in favor of UC that I never thought I would witness in my life time. One said that “As medical doctors they are excellent at giving a patient a diagnosis but maybe they weren’t so good at getting their patients well. That UC seems to do a better job of helping patients get well and that they need to embrace this “new” technology and work with the UC docs in order to help more people.” The head MD told the story of an MD in the 1880’s that stood up against his own profession and pointed out a mistake that was commonly made by MD’s in the delivery of babies that caused the babies and often the mothers to die. He was ridiculed by his profession, his license taken away and he was committed to an insane asylum where he later died. He said this cannot happen again. He acknowledged that this was like declaring war on his own profession. But, if the patient’s better interest was the most important, then they have to acknowledge that UC is better at helping people get well of a wide variety of conditions than medicine. He also stated that Dr. Drury had taught him things about the body and the nerve system that he did not know. Such as the body could heal itself naturally as long as the brain stem and the nerve system was clear of interference. Pretty incredible coming from a highly decorated MD.
He and I are partnering up to open the first UCHC of Italy in Rome. It should be open in February. We are going to use the seated 3-D CAT scan on our patients and he wants to start with an MS research project. This research project will start in San Marino and we’ll continue it in the Rome office. His name along with another MD and the UC docs participating in the study will be on the study. He expects this to be published in medical journals all over the Europe (maybe in the US as well.) He is also a board member of the most prestigious medical school in Europe. All pretty unbelievable stuff!
Finally, it looks like upper cervical care is entering a new frontier.
I hope to interview Dr. Drury soon and ask him about the CT scan.
The i CAT mini CT scan
If you’d like more info on the Mini CATs you can check out these two websites:
http://www.xorantech.com/ContentHtml/miniCAT.php
http://www.conebeam.com/?q=cbct-clinician/manufacturers
Principle 1: Developing an Easily Understood, Differentiating Message (U.S.P.)
December 8, 2008 by drhambrick
Filed under Principle #1: USP, Upper Cervical Marketing
What is a U.S.P. & why is it important
If you don’t know why you’re in practice, then your patients certainly don’t know, and if they
don’t know, then they are just going to go with their cheapest option.
Advertising that you’re the cheapest is not really a good idea because someone can always go
lower, no matter how low you go.
A Unique Selling Proposition is essential for an upper cervical practice so that it knows exactly
why people should do business with them.
A Unique Selling Proposition, or U.S.P. is a statement, in 90 words or less, that answers the
question: “Why should I do business with you versus any and every other option available to
me… including doing nothing.”
It is your “elevator speech.” If you’re ever in an elevator, and someone asks you what you do,
it’s the speech you give them.
When you can answer this question in a succinct manner, then you have your practice’s U.S.P.
This is vitally important and is the foundation for all of your communication efforts with your
patients.
If you can’t succinctly state why you’re different, and why your patients should choose you as
their doctor, then you won’t be able to tell your patients succinctly why you’re different and
why they should choose you as their doctor.
If you can’t tell your patients, then they won’t be able to tell anyone else why you’re different,
and why other people they’re trying to refer should choose you as their doctor.
Don’t discount this step. This seems simple and straightforward, and it is. A USP is a very
simple thing, but simplicity of object does not mean that it is easy to develop.
In Depth Interview With Dr. Tom Forest
December 3, 2008 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical Interviews
Below is an interview I did with Dr. Tom Forest.
Dr. Forest is a 1974 graduate of Palmer College, and has been a practicing upper cervical doctor for over 30 years.
When he was still a young doctor, he was introduced to the Blair technique, and is now a certified instructor.
He has spoken at Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa, and Life University in Marietta, GA.
He is the son of a chiropractor, and has two brothers who are upper cervical chiropractors.
Dr. Forest was also featured in the upper cervical documentary film, The Power of Upper Cervical.
In this interview he discusses:
- The history of the Blair technique
- The importance of unification of the upper cervical techniques
- What it takes to be “On Purpose”
This was a fun interview, it’s about 70 minutes long, divided into two parts.
Please enjoy.
[podcast]http://www.uppercervicaldocs.com/Audio/forestpart1.mp3[/podcast]
Download Dr. Tom Forest part 1
[podcast]http://www.uppercervicaldocs.com/Audio/forestpart2.mp3[/podcast]
Download Dr. Tom Forest part 2
In Depth Interview With Dr. Larry Allen
December 3, 2008 by drhambrick
Filed under Upper Cervical Interviews
Below is an interview with retired upper cervical chiropractor Dr. Larry Allen.
Dr. Allen is 89 years old, and an upper cervical living legend.
At 12 years of age Dr. Allen had an accident that left him paralyzed for almost 2 and a half years.
He was literally found by Dr. John Grostic, who adjusted his atlas, and within seconds he had feeling in his legs, and in a short while had enough strength to walk.
He decided right then that he wanted to become a chiropractor, and he went to Palmer, and graduated at 18 years of age.
In this interview, Dr. Allen shares with me:
- His early days growing up in Michigan.
- His paralysis and experience with Dr. Grostic.
- His experience with BJ Palmer.
- Some truly miraculous cases he was involved in.
- Stories of presenting chiropractic to the United Nations.
- The story of the origin of his industrial pre-screening program.
- And he Even shares how he was The Original Culligan Man’s chiropractor.
Dr. Allen is truly a treasure, who has lived a lot of upper cervical chiropractic history, and I really enjoyed talking with him.
This interview is in two part, and is around 80 minutes long.
I hope you enjoy it.
[podcast]http://www.uppercervicaldocs.com/Audio/larryallenpart1.mp3[/podcast]
Download Dr. Larry Allen part 1
[podcast]http://www.uppercervicaldocs.com/Audio/larryallenpart2.mp3[/podcast]
Download Dr. Larry Allen part 2
