“The difference I see for acupuncturists is that most of them would really prefer to just treat patients and not have to worry at all about marketing. ”

Isn’t it true that most acupuncturist just don’t like to deal with the business aspect period? I can see some acupuncturist running an effective clinic without a secretary, but as said earlier it requires efficiency, business efficiency which most acupuncturists do not really have or study in.

Thanks for the post and love to read more in the future!

Introverts can turn their successful practitioner skills into successful marketing skills. With our depth of thought we can leverage it toward creativity that will work for us.

Patricia Weber
Business Coach for Introverts

Yes, make it work for you, make it work for them. Start by asking WHY it’s so “alternative”. For start, you may spend time with the patient where an MD may not; you may prescribe a treatment that at worst does nothing and at best does just what an MD would do- with no risk of side effects; you may have a warm setting where an MD might only have cold sterility.

These are all good examples of how we can make the word “alternative” work for all of us, especially the patient.

Alas, just as often, what alternative means to many would-be patients is “kinda weird”, foreign, new agey and in many cases “quacks”.

This isn’t especially surprising because most people have grown up believing in the western system. What is often very disheartening is that I see many, MANY colleagues embracing the aspect of alternative for themselves and ONLY themselves.

What do I mean? Many flock to alternative medicine, for better or worse, not because they see it so much as an excellent healing modality, but because it IS ALTERNATIVE. And so you will have the funky artist, the poly monogomous swinger, the burning man crowd, skatboarding rastafarian hippy musician, the person with tatoos all over their body, the one who comes from a commune but will live in an Ashram after graduating…

Need I go on?

Is there anything wrong with any of this? NO!!!!!! Your life is your life, thank GOD it’s your life. And we get it: you are funky, you are alternative, you are ever so hip…your parents would be ASTOUNDED to see you didn’t become a minister at the church and instead decided to become a lesbian and experiment with girls while studying “the devils” acupuncture. Power to you for you and your own life.

But here’s the reality of this kind of alternative: NO ONE CARES!!!

That is correct. Joe-Knee-Problem does not care about your art, your lifestyle or your commune. Not until you can demonstrate to him you can solve his knee problem. How is he going to know that if you spend your time flaunting your personal life in a profession that is all about helping people? He is not.

Some may think this is being harsh. That depends. If you’re seriously into putting the best foot forward in alternative medicine, if you’re really about the patient (not you), if you really understand this, then I’m probably not being harsh enough.

In business (heck, in volunteering, in LIFE) no one cares about you. They care about you only after you can show what can be done for them. Maybe in the world at large that sounds a little cold. But in our profession? It’s just as well.

No one cares about you, because you’re in the business of caring for them. And so, while we may be stuck at the moment with the term “alternative”, let’s make it work for us. YES, alternative to side effects, YES, alternative to overpriced wasteful medicine, YES to warmth, care and compassion. Why? Because that’s about them, not you.

If you are not going to move and grow or find ways to push yourself you will fail in business of any kind, period.

The marketplace does not care if you are tired, demanded upon, or anything else. In fact it is dependant upon you dropping out if you truly do not want to make this happen. It’s that simple in the end.

Mental martial arts is overcoming your comfort zone AND retaining who you are and growing. That’s why it’s couched in the form of martial arts. It’s strength, yes, it’s hard. Sorry.

I have found that the businesses you work with and the networking groups you are involved with would love to attend an open house to meet more potential clients for themselves. For example, our dog groomer came to our summer bbq with her logo on her t-shirt and just mingled and generated good conversation and buzz about her small business too. A win-win situation as long as you don’t make it like a tradeshow. Clients will read right through that.

Absolutely. I think scaling back your hours can be particularly important when you bring on an associate – it shifts patients to them more quickly.

Thanks for the insights into the synergies of multiple practitioners!

Thanks, Lisa!