Are you a chiropractor struggling with the same outdated marketing tactics that your practice management guru has shoved down your throat? Is the “economic crunch” causing your practice many financial problems? If you answered yes to these questions, you are in the same boat as a vast majority of the profession.

Times have changed dramatically over the last 3 years and so has the communication dynamic. The learners will adapt and prosper while the learned will suffer severe economic consequences because of dinosaur ways of thinking. If you are one who looks to stay on the cutting-edge of new marketing and technology then you take action and establish a presence on social networks like Myspace, YouTube, and Facebook.

For the past few years, I have been teaching chiropractors and other professionals how to leverage the power of social media and see massive, real benefits in their businesses. I am the author and creator of a system that has literally transformed the chiropractic profession and the way practitioners are marketing themselves.

Once word got out of my incredible success I had several well-known marketing consultants begging at my doorstep to tell them the strategies I was sharing with a select group of my fellow chiropractors. Some would even try to call from private numbers, but I would be able to deduce from their email or website that they were calling from consulting firms.

As I observed other chiropractors on these sites, I noticed that their first instinct was to spam other people with basic advertising. The problem with this, of course, is that people hate spam. Not only that but spamming is actually against the user agreement on most of these sites, and when you are caught, you’ll be booted off their network. The best thing to do is find a marketing mentor who is already skilled at navigating Web 2.0. Very few people do this, either because they already think they know it all, or because they really don’t understand how important it is.

The key to marketing in social networks comes down to credibility. If people perceive you as trustworthy, normal, and friendly you will be welcomed as a ‘friend’. If however, you attack your contacts with a traditional marketing campaign, you will fail miserably. You must be able to give your contacts and friends something of value. Serious thought needs to be put in to the design of your profile page, and the kind of information you place on it. To compete in Web 2.0 your pages must be interesting, informative, and most importantly-fun

Let me leave you with a couple simple tips about chiropractic marketing on Myspace. Never send a friend request without a polite message! This is Myspace 101 stuff that is very important since you want the person to know how you ran across their profile. Always include videos on your profile, as it makes people stay on your page for a longer period of time and holds interest. Now, I’m not talking of all chiropractic videos either. People want to know the real you, not just what your profession is!

This is going to be a new language for most doctors since we live in more technologically advanced times. You have a choice though. You can either take a year out of your schedule to learn everything you need to know about social media marketing or you can find a mentor who’s been there and done that. The latter will reduce your learning curve by about a year while the first one will cost you an arm and leg in money and mistakes.