By and large, the holistic medicine community has been a little behind the times keeping up with technology. That’s a shame because holistic physicians are often missing out on opportunities to build their practices and reach potential patients who really want what they have to offer.

If you stay on top of the significant changes going on in the internet world, you can really benefit from staying ahead of the curve.

Over the past few months, there have been salient changes to the strategies of the big players. Businesses that have spent a lot of money of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will be likely horrified to learn that Google has changed its search algorithm and now places a lot less emphasis on the geeky word underpinnings of a website, and much more emphasis on the delivery of original, fresh content.

This is being referred to as a “Social Search”, “so, if you want to earn higher rankings with Google, you not only need to be serving up high-quality content, but also actively encouraging its sharing on the social networks.

Even by their own admission, Google has only touched 1% of the potential of this, so we see this as a trend likely to explode in the year to come. Now is the time to get your practice in a position to be dynamically relevant in the new era. Beyond Google, other players like GroupOn and Yelp are coming up with more and more ways to make it easy for patients to find your practice. So, herewith, is a list of best strategies to get your practice on the online map, and keep it there.

1. Deliver good health information to your patients and also to a wider audience: The information gap between what is truly healthy and how many people actually liveis so wide, just sharing information regularly with your patients will help significantly. Equally important is to share with the community at large. You want to be recognized as the go-to holistic health expert in your area. Such recognition is a major practice-builder.

Ask yourself:
· What information do you find yourself saying over and over?
· What niche of healthcare should you position yourself as an expert in?
· Why should people come to you? (Speak their language, not yours!)
· Who could help you deliver this content?

Key Tips:
· Deliver the content via various media (Blog, Facebook Business Page, e-newsletter, etc)
· Mix original content (written by you) with other high quality content from reliable sources.
· Get a team to help (either in house or outsource)

2. Make it easy for prospective patients to see “social proof” of your work

For over 100 years, practitioners of holistic medicine have relied on word of mouth and testimonials for practice growth. Don’t stop now! More and more, people want social proof, and the internet is making it easier and easier to display it! Testimonials will be there forever!

Key Tips:
· Set up your businesses on Yelp.com, Google Places (maps.google.com), Facebook Business Page, Healthgrades.com, etc
· Provide in-practice incentives for patients to give testimonials on those sites
· Make it easy for them to write glowing testimonials by providing structure (ie, “When I came to Dr.____, I had _____ and now I _____).

3. Stay on the cutting edge of innovation with GroupOn Now!

GroupOn has been around for just a few years, but it is growing exponentially. The original business model focused on giving users great deals on local services if enough of them bought in, to make the deal ‘live’. It has proved an extremely effective way of introducing new customers to businesses. This group buying system been replicated by hundreds of copy cats very quickly.

We’ve seen a few healthcare practices try the GroupOn model, not very successfully. But that’s not because it’s an inherently bad model. The practices that did not benefit much from ‘doing a Groupon’, either they ended up wasting time performing services at or below cost, or they did not have an effective rebooking system to secure repeat visits from new patients generated by the original offer. There are lessons to be learned here!

“GroupOn Now”, released in May 2011, is GroupOn’s next attempt to stay ahead of the curve. It offers a few features that should be much better suited to holistic medical clinics. It focuses on deals that are available ‘NOW’ and gives the business a lot more control over when and how the deal is offered. They offer deals in 4 categories that could be interesting to integrative clinics.

To take advantage of what “GroupOn Now” can provide,  start thinking about what patient services  you currently offer to support your core business. For example, could you create a special “Get Pampered” deal combining massage, facial, acupuncture, reiki, etc? Or how about a program centered around fitness (Yoga, pilates, personal training, etc)? Or a comprehensive “Take Care of Myself” visit that includes all of the above plus a more in-depth consultation?

There are here are a number of ways a GroupOn Now offer could be beneficial:
a. Attracting new customers to the clinic with familiar services (People willing to take the first step towards better health would be perfect candidates for becoming ongoing patients!)
b. Filling in slow times of the week (Inventory or occupancy management)
c. Using your overhead more effectively (Are you using your office space in the evenings and weekends?)

All of these changes could be the difference between a marginally successful practice and a local or international presence that empowers people to health at every level. The aperture for successful practice positioning is open right now, and every practitioner now has the tools to grab hold of their community and take their rightful place in true primary care.

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James Maskell is co-founder, with his wife, Rachel, of Revive Communication, a consulting company that helps practitioners to grow healthy, sustainable practices, regardless of demographic or economic environment. With their colleague, the Maskells have a combined 30+ years of experience in the health care industry, and would love to help you grow your practice. For more information, visit: www.revivecommunication.com.

James will be a featured speaker at Holsitic Primary Care’s 3rd Annual “Heal Thy Practice: Transforming Primary Care” conference in Long Beach, Ca, Nov. 4-6.