Resource Centers:(News, information, and tools to support your practice)
February 2010
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Web 2.0 and your chiropractic practice
By Laura Laing
If you think a Yellow Pages listing, postcard mailings, and health fair booths are the tickets to growing and sustaining your practice, you might want to think again.
But if the mere thought of diving into the ever-changing and growing virtual world of social media networks has you standing still, don’t panic — Web 2.0 is fairly simple, and we’ve got the skinny on where you have to be and how to get there.
Surveying the landscape
Ten years ago, a Web site was a must, but interactivity was largely limited to e-mail and online comment forms. But as the popularity of blogging and communities such as MySpace grew, users began to demand more personal connections on the Web.
In a relatively short period of time, the Internet became a platform — a framework on which computer applications can be run. Instead of users maintaining control of software at each computer, the Web became home to some of the most powerful applications developed.
At first, many of these innovations were relegated to leisure — Flickr attracted amateur photographers who wanted to share their photos with others, MySpace was the hot spot for teens and young adults to post their moods and share photos, and YouTube was home for funny home videos and bootlegged television shows.
Over time, business owners found ways to use many of these sites to their advantage, and more business-friendly sites were added. Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter became standard Web tools and networks for a new generation of users who grew up with Web 2.0.
“It’s like being time warped in a DeLorean back to 1985 and saying, ‘You have to have a fax machine,’” says counselor and coach Dwight Bain in Orlando, Fla. “At the end of the day, I look at technology as either a tool or a toy. It’s got to be a tool.”
Fact is, those who are finding ways to use Web 2.0 as a tool are not only seeing their businesses grow, but are also positioning themselves for the next evolution on the Internet — whatever that may be.
“This is the future,” Bain says. “They have to join the future, or they’re going to be left in the dust. Web 2.0 and social networks are now a part of life.”
And the relationships created in social media networks fit nicely in healthcare, says Ed Brennan, chief creative officer for advertising agency, Harrison, Liefer, Demarco in New York City.
“In healthcare, it’s always been about relationships,” he says. “A good thing about technology is that you can enhance relationships.”
And that’s what social media networking is all about.
Develop your hub
Web 2.0 is like a wagon wheel, and the blog is the hub. “The purpose of the blog is to put a human face on the practice and to showcase your experience,” says Rachna Jain. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., Jain’s company, The Mindshare Corporation, works with clients to create and implement social media network systems.
She recommends downloading a platform such as WordPress so you can design your blog to look like your practice’s existing Web site, which is crucial to keep consistent branding.
Patrick MacNamara has been advising and coaching chiropractors on social media networking for several years from his office in Conway, Ark. He notes two advantages to a blog: bumping up presence in search engines and positioning the writer as an expert.
“A blog is really search engine optimized,” he says. Search engines send out “bots” to scour the Web for new content. “If they find a site that is constantly updating content, that’ll get you on the first page of Google more quickly” — which equates to more visibility on Web’s No. 1 search engine.
But it’s not enough to simply post often. “Doctors really need to concentrate on providing true, valuable content,” MacNamara says. With so many providers demanding their attention, readers must trust the content and know it fills a need for them.
“Blog your passion,” says chiropractic student Brandon Harshe. “People will feel that passion.” Even before graduating, Harshe created The Atlas of Life, his blog about upper cervical chiropractic. And he’s garnered quite a following.
“My main goal with starting a blog was getting the word out there about upper cervical,” he says. “My blog has become a resource to people involved in doing upper cervical chiropractic and their patients.” He’s had inquiries from potential patients and has helped many people find doctors in their geographic area. “It’s something I didn’t expect to happen so early.”
While getting started requires quite a time commitment, regular feeding of the blog doesn’t have to be overwhelming. MacNamara recommends creating an editorial calendar. Content can be written by a doctor, a staff member, or even outsourced to a professional writer.
“If you want to just have an Internet presence, posting once a month is okay,” Harshe notes. “If you want to own the world, post every day.” Of course, for most, the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle — two to three times a week for a total of about two hours.
“The posts don’t have to be lengthy,” MacNamara notes. “They can be 300 to 400 words — as long as it’s valuable content.”
Get in the picture
“The blog needs to be the hub of the doctor’s online world,” MacNamara notes. “But they also need to be active in social media sites.” And one of the top Web sites in the world is YouTube.
“Video allows you to get in front of your community,” says Matthew Loop, DC, in Atlanta. “It’s like face-to-face interaction.”
Loop has been using YouTube as a marketing tool for several years, creating, editing, and uploading short videos on topics that appeal to a wide-variety of people. From “How to stop a headache naturally” to video patient testimonials, Loop has created dozens of clips that brand him as a go-to chiropractor.
With an inexpensive digital video camera and video editing software that comes with most computers, video production is increasingly simple to launch.
“People now get to meet you,” Brennan says. “It’s a very simple technology, and YouTube is a very easy place to collect videos.”
And it’s a great spot to drive traffic to a blog and Web site. “Videos don’t stay on your Web site,” Loop says. Google, Yahoo, and
Collect friends and connections
Stephen Mittler remembers using Facebook in college. So when he came aboard as marketing director for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), he was pleased to see the non-profit already had a Facebook page. With more than 800 friends, the foundation uses the daddy of all social media networking sites as a way to spread its message.
Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn are the most popular social media networks. “They’re so heavily trafficked with people, it’ll drive people to your blog,” MacNamara says.
Loop actually began on MySpace in 2005. Over time, he began experimenting, looking for ways to connect with local people. Using tags, he found 3,000 people within a five-mile radius of his office. “This was a lot of people I could communicate with and let them know who I am,” he says.
He took a chance and sent out friend requests to each of them. About 50 percent of them accepted his invitation to connect with him online. Then “it kind of snowballed,” he says.
“I started noticing one patient here and there,” he says. “Then at the peak, I was getting about eight [new patients] a month.”
The same process can work for Facebook and LinkedIn, and tags are the key. “They’re like the Dewey Decimal system of the online world,” Jain says. When content such as blog posts, social network media profiles, and videos is tagged with keywords, online search engines can find it more easily — and so can visitors.
The profile is also an important aspect of these sites. Branding should be consistent throughout all social media networking sites. “You need to be an authentic person,” MacNamara says. “People want to know you’re authentic. People want to know who you are.”
Tweet yourself
Twitter is not just for celebrities and young college students any more. Microblogging has taken hold among business owners, and many are reaping the benefits. With only 140 characters, a tweet can drive traffic to a blog, video, or traditional Web site.
Again, the value of the content is crucial. “Send out tweets that deal with health-related issues and solutions to health-related problems,” MacNamara says.
“Twitter is an Internet phenomenon,” Brennan says. “I struggle a bit with how to deliver these technologies to clients. The problem with Twitter is that you have to build a following.”
MacNamara strongly advises against using automatic follower programs, which can turn solid content into spam. A better idea is to promote Twitter accounts through traditional marketing, e-mails, and on a Web site. “Chiropractors should think small initially to promote their Twitter account. They’ll slowly start building prospects and followers in their own geographic area.”
Bring it all together
“The ultimate goal is to create conversations in different sites on different networks and try to bring them back to your site,” Jain says.
The key is to understand how each site works and to be strategic. When Loop started scoping out social networking sites, it was like groping around in the dark. “It’s much different now, but you can still overwhelm yourself,” he says.
Jain advises concentrating on three to five sites, adding them one at a time. “Think ahead of time what your limitations will be,” she says. “There’s nothing free about this. It’s about being willing to make an investment of time and money. But if you’re small and you’re willing to invest your resources, there are certain processes that you can run with a minimal time investment.”
Hybrid functions allow users to update multiple sites — Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress, for example — at one time, which also saves you time. “Even through a mobile phone, you can update all of your social media sites,” MacNamara says. Ping.fm allows users to post messages on all of their social networking accounts, while Posterous.com allows updates via e-mail.
Promotion of your sites is important, and more traditional forms of marketing can help. “You do need a bit of a mix of traditional marketing and new technology,” Brennan says. He suggests e-mail campaigns or newsletters sent to a carefully collected set of recipients, with a “Follow me on Twitter” or a “Find me on Facebook” link or message.
Loop and others point out one misconception about building social media networks — these connections don’t happen overnight. “People trickle in,” Loop says.
Jain agrees. “Some people approach social media as a quick-hit strategy,” she says. “It’s not going to be like pushing a button and getting 10,000 patients.”
The good and bad news is that these media are continually evolving. “People can find their own use for technology,” Brennan says. “The only thing that is true is that you can’t shove information down people’s throats.”
The bottom line? The Web is less like the Wild West these days, but there are still opportunities to shape social networks into new spaces that serve chiropractic practices and patients.
“A lot of people are on the computer an hour a day,” Loop says. “Social media networks maximize that time and those relationships.”
Laura Laing is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and editor. Although not a chiropractor, she contributes regularly to Chiropractic Economics. She can be reached through www.lauralaing.com.
Learn the lingo
Any new technology comes with a steep learning curve, and sometimes reading about Web 2.0 requires an advanced degree in jargon. Here’s a rundown of some of the most common terms.
Blog: An online journal frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.
Friending: Making online connections with other users via social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.
Microblogging: Sending brief posts via a microblogging Web site, such as Twitter.
Search engine optimization (SEO): Optimizing your Web site to get better rankings in search engines.
Social networking: Expanding your business or social contacts by making individual connections.
Syndication: Making information on a Web site available in a wide variety of places.
Tagging: Categorizing content by creating tags — simple, one-word descriptions that make your content easy to find.
Tweet: A 140-word message sent to followers via Twitter.com.
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