Free Chiropractic Marketing Tools

It’s review time again!  For those of you who haven’t been following along, we often come across a Chiropractic related website, product, or service we want to rant or rave about.  It’s a great way to break the monotony around here while spreading the word about things that may (or may not) be of benefit to your Chiropractic practice. Today we’ll be looking at VistaPrint.com

My first experience with Vistaprint.com was while attending Palmer College of Chiropractic.  When we finally entered student clinic nearly everyone, including myself, got free business cards from Vistaprint to help us network and get patients.  Having a real business card as a student extern was one of the first times you begin to feel like an actual Chiropractor.

At the time of this writing you can still get 250 free business cards. You only pay for shipping and processing and for any upgrades you choose.  Although free business card customers are limited to choosing from about 42 free designs, there is surely something to fit your needs.  The cards are great quality and the only real downside is they feature the phrase “Free business cards at VistaPrint.com” or a similar phrase in small print on the back of the cards. These business cards are ideal for a Chiropractic practice starting out on a budget or even for use as appointment reminder cards.

Although the free business card end of VistaPrint.com hasn’t changed much, I am amazed to see how the site has expanded in the last 5 or 6 years. They now offer a huge range of products and services.

In addition to business cards the site offers anything you could imagine or desire in the world of office related stationary. You can design custom Chiropractic envelopes, labels, folders, brochures, pamphlets,  postcards, mailing labels, rubber stamps and much more.  Need custom business checks? They do that! Want to design a Visa credit card with your own design? You can do that too.

Vistaprint also offers professional signage solutions. From banners to magnetic car signs and window decals, they are a complete signage provider. You are sure to find something to fit your Chiropractic signage needs.  If one of their pre-made Chiropractic sign designs doesn’t suit your tastes then simply design and upload your own. This site puts you in control of designs with their very easy to use design interface.

The site also offers solutions for all of your Chiropractic practice promotional items.  Check out their coffee mugs, T-shirts, pens, keychains, luggage tags, mousepads, magnets, and much more.

That’s not all! VistaPrint.com also offers business marketing services such as email marketing, postcard and other direct marketing services, websites, online search profiles, and much more.  They are a one stop shop for your Chiropractic print and practice promotion needs.

I was surprised to see you can even purchase a toll free 800 telephone number through their site. You can sign up for a free 30 day trial and after that the base plan is only $9.99 a month with an annual commitment (or $14.99 if you choose to be billed monthly).  I know what you are thinking, but there are no setup fees either! I never realized obtaining a toll free 1-800 telephone number for a Chiropractic practice could be so easy and affordable.

I have been a VistaPrint.com customer for years and I still see something new on their site every time I visit to place an order. They offer quick turnaround, great prices, and high quality on their print pieces. As you can tell I dig VistaPrint. Afterall, any company that saved me money during Chiropractic college and still saves me money in practice holds a very special spot in my heart.

Here’s a lot of what I like, and the little I don’t:

What’s Hot

• Tons of Free Products: You can sample the quality of many products and try many services absolutely free for 30 days. I highly recommend you stop by and check out their free pens, free business cards, free website, free logo design service, and much more.

• Great Prices: The site offers pretty amazing prices and great promotions to save you even more of your hard earned cash. In fact they even offer a low price guarantee on their Postcards, Business Cards, Brochures, and Folders.

• Package Deals: Save even more by taking advantage of package deals on matching sets of business cards and related stationary. For instance you can save 50% with the mid level “Standard – Business Package Deal”.  This one is my favorite and truly an amazing deal if you ask me. For just $49.99 you get:

• Easy to Use Design Interface: Customizing one of the existing designs or making your own from scratch is easy, quick, and painless.  You can design your own Chiropractic logo, business cards, and matching stationary in minutes.

• Environmentally Friendly Company with Green Choices: Choose recycled materials for your print products and help protect our environment.

What’s Not

• Too Few Chiropractic Specific Designs: The ready to go Chiropractic designs on the site are a little bland and Chiropractors could really use more choices.  Since you can make changes or upload your own designs this is really only a minor issue.

• Pricey Upgrades: Glossy business card stock, premium 100-lb matte  paper, foil accents, or other upgrades can end up costing you a decent chunk of change, but this is true at any business card or print site.

• Distracting Lineup of Interesting Products: Once you start poking around the site you tend to get sidetracked and start browsing through cool products you never intended to buy!

As you can tell, there isn’t a lot to complain about with this site. I frequently recommend it to Chiropractic clients, friends, and colleagues. Don’t take my word for it. Head on over to their site and check out some of their free products. Through our affiliation with VistaPrint we can even hook you up with a discount on any paid order.  Simply click the link below to save big on your purchase!

As we’ve already discussed you need proper procedures and protocols in place to effectively obtain and use Chiropractic video patient testimonials.

One important type of form is a consent and release form. This is the form where patients give you permission, in writing, to use their testimonial in your Chiropractic practice marketing efforts. Taking two minutes to have your patients read and sign this form can save you all kinds of headaches later on.

We also recommend testimonial forms that you can hand to those patients who may be camera shy, too busy, or otherwise unable to appear on a video testimonial. Having an easy to complete form will allow these patients to provide their valued feedback on your Chiropractic practice.

As promised, I’d like to provide links to our free patient testimonial release/consent form templates. Feel free to download and share these free Chiropractic patient testimonial tips and patient testimonial form templates.

We’ve provided the forms in both pdf and editable Microsoft Word doc format. Don’t worry, there’s no email sign up, no catch. Just grab the free forms and go! You’ll need adobe’s free reader program or equivalent to access and view the pdf documents. You can download Adobe’s free Adobe Reader program here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/.

DOWNLOADS:

• You can download the free Chiropractic patient testimonial tips e-book here.

• To download the editable chiropractic patient testimonial release forms in Microsoft Word format Click Here.

• To get the patient testimonial forms in pdf format: Click Here

You can either click to open the documents or right click and select “Save as” to save the documents to your computer or other location.

10 Tips to Streamline Your Chiropractic Patient Testimonial Videos

Like any other aspect of your Chiropractic practice, you need to streamline your Video Chiropractic Patient Testimonial process. A video patient testimonial is a highly valuable marketing tool, but obtaining it shouldn’t disrupt patient flow and other activities within your practice. Let’s look at 10 easy ways we can make the process more efficient.

1. Delegate Responsibility: Decide who will be responsible for the patient testimonial process. It’s usually a good idea to have one or two people trained and educated on the entire process. These individuals should be the only ones filming the testimonials etc. Having specific individuals responsible for the process leads to consistency and efficiency. Having 2 individuals well versed in the process allows for life to continue on in the event a staff member is ill or otherwise absent from the practice.

2. Determine who will be approached: Not every patient is going to be a candidate for a video Chiropractic patient testimonial. The ideal candidate is a happy and long term member of your practice who’s been through the acute stage of care and has decided to stay with your practice for wellness or maintenance care. A patient with an outgoing personality is always a plus as well.

Be sure to sit down in a meeting with your staff and discuss the importance of knowing who to approach.

3. Determine WHEN to approach patients: Once you and your staff have defined the right type of patient to approach, you need to discuss when, and when not, to request a testimonial from them.

If a patient is going through personal tragedy (such as a death or divorce), experiencing an acute flare up of their condition, or just disputed a bill with your office then NOW is not a good time to be asking for a testimonial from them. Knowing WHEN to ask is probably just as important to know who to ask.

4. Keep records: Make a notation of which patients have already supplied, or declined to supply, a testimonial. It’s certainly acceptable to “try again” with a reluctant patient at a later point but don’t be too pushy. Repeatedly badgering reluctant patients or constantly asking patients who’ve already supplied a testimonial is going to offend and alienate your patients.

5. Come up with a script: You need a plan and direction for the entire patient testimonial process. One great way to do this is to develop scripts. These don’t necessarily have to be rigid scripts followed verbatim by staff. Simply give your staff an idea of how they should approach patients, a general idea of what to say, and plan out the ideal patient testimonial process. If you don’t like the idea of a “script” consider this an outline or guide for the entire process.

The most important aspect of your patient testimonial script is going to be how it guides the flow of tasks. Concern yourself less with telling staff what to say and more with guiding them on the order you’d like things performed. Your script should outline where patients are taken to complete testimonial release forms and how the patient is guided through the entire process.

6. Decide on a length: Decide on a desired length for each testimonial. In general one to two minutes is usually ample time for a patient to get their point across. Anything longer runs the risk of losing the attention of the audience. Of course you can vary your requirements as you see fit, but defining a soft cap on testimonial length can streamline the process and keep patients from rambling.

Determining a limit on the length of time required of the practice to obtain patient testimonials is another great way to keep things moving efficiently. In general the entire process shouldn’t take any more than 5 or 10 minutes. Let your staff know what you expect of them.

7. X marks the spot: If you’ve decided to set aside a dedicated location for your testimonials you can further expedite the process by marking where patients sit or stand, and where cameras and lighting should be placed. Taping an “X” on the spot you want the patient is a great way to speed up positioning and camera adjustments.

You can take further actions such as permanently mounting lighting in place or mounting a camera on a tripod and preventing it from being bumped out of position.

8. Be professional: While many practices have a very loose and fun atmosphere, you should maintain a great deal of professionalism in the video testimonial process. Maintaining this professionalism will help prevent staff from going “off track” with friendly and talkative patients and will result in higher quality testimonials.

9. Thank your patient!: Be sure to thank patients for taking time to provide their testimonial. Following up with a “thank you” post card in the mail is a great way to express your gratitude.

10. Practice: Although it seems a little weird, you need to practice the entire process a few times before approaching patients. Getting together with staff and going through a few dry runs is a great way to make sure everyone understands the process and procedures. Take a lunch hour one day and run through the process with some mock patients.

These are 10 simple tips to maximize the efficiency of your video Chiropractic patient testimonial process. You and your patients are very busy. Keeping the entire process running smoothly and quickly will keep your practice and your patients happy. It also increases the likelihood that other patients will participate once they see it is quick and painless.

Now that we’ve created your email list settings it’s time to add your email addresses.  Before we get started we need to discuss what email addresses you can use in your MailChimp list.  MailChimp has a great article explaining what you can and can’t use. You can read that list here and I would NOT begin my first Chiropractic email marketing campaign without reading it.  It’s required reading!

On the most basic level you may only use email addresses the owner has specifically  granted you permission to use.  If you’ve bought the email address, pulled it from a website, or otherwise found or paid for the email address you can NOT use it.  In fact, you probably can’t even use a patient’s email address if you they gave it you on your patient intake forms.

Why not?  More than likely you never specifically stated what you would be using their email address for, and more importantly you never asked for permission to use it.  If you did, you’re fine.  However, if the patient simply entered their email address in a space on your intake forms you can’t start sending email marketing without specifically obtaining permission to do so.  Don’t panic because there’s a solution. You simply need to get permission to use the email address.  This can be accomplished with our opt in forms we’ll create later, or even a permission form incorporated within your practice. More about all of that in a future post. For now let’s see how you can begin adding email addresses to your empty list.

One of the fastest ways to import email addresses is if you are lucky enough to already have them in a Microsoft Excel file or a comma separated or tab delimited .txt file. If you do, you can simply use the “import” function or just cut and paste the email addresses from Excel. The MailChimp.com import function allows you to import your existing email address list from sources above and also from places like Google Contacts, Eventbrite, Capsule, Highrise and other sites.

To use the import function simply log into your MailChimp account, select the “Lists” tab and then under your desired list simply click on the “import” link.

If you aren’t lucky enough to have an email list setup in one of the formats discussed already, you’ll have to manually enter your email addresses. It’s a little more time consuming if you have a lot of email addresses but there’s really not a way around it. To manually enter email addresses into your MailChimp list do the following. First log in to your MailChimp.com account and click on the “Lists” tab. Next, under your desired email list click on the “add people” link. You’ll then be taken to a screen to allow you enter an email address along with the option of entering the person’s first and last name. Notice the warning that you must have permission to use the person’s email address!

Since you’ll no doubt be acquiring email addresses manually via your practice intake forms and other sources, I recommend creating a database file if you have access to Excel or a similar program. If you don’t have Excel, OpenOffice.org might be a free alternative. If you have Microsoft Office, or something comparable to the Excel program, I highly recommend you create a simple file to store all your manually acquired email addresses.

A simple one column file to store the email address would be fine. You can also create a more complex file, simply create a separate column for each additional information field you would like to keep track of (One for patient first name, last name, address, phone number etc). This file would then be a database of your manually acquired email addresses. Provided you have specifically obtained permission to use these addresses, you would then simply import them or cut and paste the list into your MailChimp list on a regular basis.

One of the cool things about MailChimp is it will automatically catch any duplicate addresses and help you automatically clean your email address list when you import or add new email addresses!

There you have it! You can now begin building your chiropractic email marketing list. In our next post we’ll create our email newsletter opt-in forms. These forms are great because they’ll automatically add your new members who subscribe to your email newsletter using these forms! In the meantime start creating those lists and database files!

If you have a Chiropractic blog you are probably wondering how you can spread the word and get some traffic to it. One of the first things you will need to do is create a feed such as RSS or Atom Feed. If you aren’t sure what a feed is or don’t know how to get started with creating your own I recommend Google Feedburner. We’ll be covering this in a future blog post soon, but there is a great introductory article on Google entitled “Feed 101″. It will explain most of the basics and even show you how you can get started with creating your own feed. You can check that article out here.

Once you have your feed up and running you’ll need to promote it.  You can promote it by creating links on your website and blog to allow your readers an easy way to find and subscribe to your feed. Another must is submitting your feed to as many reputable and relevant feed directories as you can. Just as it sounds, a “feed directory” is a directory of RSS feeds or similar feeds that users can search to locate new blogs and sites that interest them. There are literally hundreds or thousands of feed directories so you’ll have to narrow your choices down. Doing a Google search for “RSS Feed Directories” or similar is a great place to get started. There are fee-based software programs that will submit to multiple RSS directories. Since our focus is on affordability, I recommend taking some time to submit manually to a dozen or so each day as you find time.  You can always spring for those paid programs later. I always prefer to test the waters with free options before dropping my hard earned cash on an overpriced program of questionable usefulness.

After you have an RSS or other feed, another great tool is a website known as Technorati.com. Technorati is a search engine type site that allows users to search blogs and  user generated media in real time. You’ll first want to create a Technorati account and profile. Once you’ve done that you can “claim” your blog and submit it to the Technorati directory.

The entire process if very simple. First, go to: http://www.tehnorati.com and look for the “Join” link near the upper right hand corner. Next, simply follow the steps to enter your name and basic account and profile information.  After creating your account you’ll want to scroll down and find something similar to “Start a Blog Claim” or “claim my blog”.  Here you’ll enter the URL (website address) of your blog. You’ll also have the option of creating a title and a basic blurb of information about your blog that will blog help people understand what your blog is all about. 

After you’ve opened your claim, Technorati will need to verify that you are in fact an owner or agent of the blog.   They do this by emailing a unique claim token, or code, for you to include somewhere in a post on your blog.  For instance, when I added the ChiropracticPR.com blog to Technorati our claim token code was: 2HBR6KDFT8VY . Once they see the claim token on your site you’ve verified that you have administrative rights to your blog and Technorati will be able to continue on with their approval process.

There you have it, just a few of the MANY ways to generate some awareness about, and traffic to, your Chiropractic related blog.  Although a little time consuming, there is nothing difficult about the process and anyone is capable of learning how to effectively promote their Chiropractic blog and website.  Stay persistent and break things down into manageable tasks.  Performing several tasks a day is better than doing nothing at all! As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Your new MailChimp email address list is setup to store a member’s first and last name, and email address by default.  If you want to store more information about your chiropractic email list members, such as their mailing address of phone number, you’ll need to add a data field to your list and create some additional merge tags. Don’t worry because MailChimp.com makes the entire process ridiculously simple.

If you aren’t already logged in, log in to your MailChimp account.  From your dashboard click on the “lists” tab. Next you’ll see all the lists you’ve created. Under the list you’d like to add fields for, place your mouse cursor over the link labeled “settings” next to a wrench icon. In the dropdown menu click on “fields and merge tags”.

You should now be at the screen below which will allow you to add data fields. You can choose to add fields to store patient addresses, phone numbers, images, dates, and more.

Click the “Add Field” button next to the green plus sign.  A list of choices will pop up.  Click the choice that corresponds to the type of field you want to add. For example the patient’s address or phone number. You should see your existing default fields (email address, last name, and first name) and then the new field you just added at the bottom.  Now click in the box that says “untitled” and change the name to a name the you will easily identify. If you just added a phone field type “Phone” etc.

The column labeled “Required?” and the last column dealing with merge tags effect things like your sign up forms you’ll create later.  If you wish to make a field required check the box next to that field.  A new subscriber will now be required to provide that information to successfully subscribe to your email list. For example, if you added a phone number field and checked the “Required?” box, everyone signing up to your email list using your MailChimp sign up form will now be required to provide a phone number to complete their sign up.

In the final column labeled: “Stick this tag in your content:” you can set up merge tags that will help automatically merge data into your content.  Don’t worry because it sounds more complicated than it is.  Basically merge tags are tags used to tell software where to automatically insert data from your email list.  Merge tags automatically store your new subscribers in your email list  and also can be used to automatically insert their name and other information into emails and other areas.

In the final column you can enter a name for the Merge Tag for the new field you just added.   This will come in handy when creating sign up forms and other content.  You can leave the default name like “MERGE3″ as is or create a more easily identifiable name such as PHONE or ADDRESS. This will be used later when we create your email list opt-in, or subscribe, forms.

That’s all there is to it! You can continue adding additional data fields or proceed if you’re satisfied.  Click here to go to Part 8: Adding your email addresses.

-Dr. James

*All screenshots above are from MailChimp.com and are used with permission.  MailChimp was created by The Rocket Science Group  © 2001-2010. All rights reserved.

We created your free MailChimp account in our last post.  Now let’s take a few minutes and create an email list.  Log in to your MailChimp account.  In  your dashboard area notice the “lists” tab.  Click the “lists” tab and then the “Create New List” button on the left hand side.  You’ll be taken to a screen to begin entering information for your list.

Start by entering a name for your list in the “list name” field.  This is basically just a name to help you identify this list if you create more than one list.  This name won’t appear in your emails.

Next, add a name for the “default from” name.  This is the name that will appear in the “From” portion of your email recipient’s email in-box. This doesn’t have to be an email address.  It can be “Doctor Smith”, or “Anytown Chiropractic”.

For the “default reply-to email” enter your email address you’d like the email reader to send any of their replies to.  If your reader clicks “reply” to reply to your message their email will be sent to the email address you provide here.  Keep in mind your reader will see this email address so use a business, professional, or non-private email address.

Next, you’ll choose a “default subject” for your emails.  The subject line is a brief overview your email recipient will see in their email in-box next to the “From” section.  The subject line often determines whether your email gets deleted, read, or marked as spam (junk mail), so choose carefully.  You can choose a unique subject line with every email you send but I recommend choosing a generic email subject line here.  If  you forget to change the subject line when you send your email this subject line appears as the default.  I recommend  something like “Mainstreet Chiropractic Newsletter” or similar.

In the next section you can enter a short message to include in your emails to remind your subscribers how they ended up on your mailing list.

You’ll then enter your Chiropractic practice information: Name, address, phone number etc.  This is pre-filled with the information you provided at sign up so you may not need to change anything.  Since this information will be listed at the bottom of each email you send, make sure it’s correct.

Check the next 2 boxes if you want to be notified via email when someone subscribes (using sign up forms we’ll create later) or unsubscribes from your email list. Click the final box to allow your subscribers to choose which format of email they’d like to receive.

Here’s a screenshot to help you visualize the entire process.  Click on the image to open a larger version in a new window:

Finally,  click the “save” button and you’ll be taken to a confirmation page asking you what you’d like to do next.

You’ve now created your first email list!  I know what you’re thinking. “This isn’t much of an email list!”  Think of this more as a database or email list template.  You’ve just created the framework to which we’ll add the actual email addresses and other information to.

Although we’re mainly concerned with email addresses, your MailChimp email address list can store other information about your patients and subscribers.  We simply have to tell it to do so.  By default your email list is set up with the ability to store each  subscriber’s’ email address, last name, and first name.  If you’d like your email list to store more information, such as mailing addresses and phone numbers, we need to add some data fields and create some merge tags.  We’ll cover that in part 7.  If you just want to start adding your email addresses, skip ahead to part 8 of this series.

-Dr. James

*All screenshots above are from MailChimp.com and are used with permission.  MailChimp was created by The Rocket Science Group  © 2001-2010. All rights reserved.

Now that I’ve told you how helpful MailChimp.com can be for your Chiropractic email marketing, let’s set up your account and first email marketing campaign.  Don’t worry because setting up your account is just as easy as everything else on the site.  With that in mind, let’s get started!

The first step is to go to MailChimp.com.  Click the “Signup Free” button in the top right corner.  You’ll be transferred to the first signup page. Enter your email address you wish to be contacted at, choose a username (spaces are not allowed), and a password of at least 6 characters.  Notice that at least one of the characters in your password must be a number or other special “non-letter” character.

Now simply click the “Create My Account” button. If all went correctly you’re brought to the “Thanks for signing up!” page.

Notice that you’ll be asked to check the email inbox of the email address you just listed in the sign up process.  This email contains a link that you must click to activate and confirm your MailChimp account.  If you have any issues with the link not working you might need to click a message in your email software to allow you to click the link.  Look for a something similar to “view all content and links”, “Enable links” or similar.  If all else fails, simply type or copy and paste the website address from the email into your internet web browser’s address bar.

This link will take you to a page asking you to verify you’re human.  This is to ensure your account isn’t an auto generated account completed by a spammer or other ill intentioned individual.  Simply type the words located in the captcha box and click the “Confirm Signup” box.  See the example screenshot below.  You’ll then be taken directly to the MailChimp.com sign in page.  Simply enter your username and password and click “Login”.

You’ll then be taken to the “Let’s get started” page.  This is where you begin setting up the details of your account.  This is done for setup and not something you’ll need to do every time you log in.  The process is all very self explanatory but we’ll run through the steps here quickly.

Enter your name (I recommend the Doctor of Chiropractic’s name here since he or she is ultimately the one responsible for all advertising), business address, and other pertinent account details here.  This information will be listed at the bottom of each email you send to comply with CAN-SPAM laws, so make sure you double check everything for accuracy.

Click the “Next” button and you’ll be asked to list your business name, website address if applicable, and to choose a category that best applies to your business.  I  personally use the “Medical, Dental and Healthcare”  category. MailChimp uses this information to show you how your email marketing efforts stand up to other email marketing in the same industry.

Next you’ll choose a “Security question” and answer.  You may be required to correctly answer your security question  to verify your identity if MailChimp notices something fishy with your account.  With that in mind keep the question something only you would know and also something you’ll easily remember.  For example, your Father’s middle name, mother’s maiden name etc.  Make a note of the exact spelling you use for your answer and keep the information, along with your MailChimp log in information, in a safe place.

At the bottom of the screen you are now asked to select which plan you want to start with.

If your list has less 500 email address and you’ll be sending less than 3000 monthly emails you can start with the “Forever Free” plan.  The only limitations of the Forever Free plan are a list size of less than 500, a maximum of 3,000 monthly sends, and a small “MailChimp” affiliate badge or logo be placed at the bottom of your emails. Paid plans remove the “MailChimp” badge and increase list size and monthly send limits.  Unless you have an immediate need to send to 500 or more email addresses, I’d start out with the free plan.  Simply click the green “Pick Plan” button under your choice.  Once you make your selection you’ll be transferred to your account’s main “Dashboard”.

The dashboard is where you’ll begin all of your MailChimp activities.  The first thing you’ll need to do is setup your new email list and then add or import the email addresses you’ll be sending to.  We’ll tackle these tasks in our next posts.  In the meantime you can take advantage of all the fantastic “how to” articles and instructional videos available for free from MailChimp.  Simply log into your account and scroll down toward the middle of the page and explore the “Learning Center” area of your dashboard.

This area is packed full of tutorials that can explain things better than ever could.

Gather up those email addresses because we’ll begin building your MailChimp email marketing list next time! Until then, keep spreading the word of Chiropractic!

-Dr. James

*All screenshots above are from MailChimp.com and are used with permission.  MailChimp was created by The Rocket Science Group  © 2001-2010. All rights reserved.

A few years ago I was like many D.C.s.   I knew I wanted to implement Chiropractic email newsletters and marketing.  After all, I had been obtaining email addresses and permission to use them on my patient intake forms for a long time. I was doing nothing with the information.  I also wanted to make sure it did it all legally and ethically.

So one afternoon I sat down to figure out exactly what was required of me.  I was quickly sickened when I read all I had to do to simply maintain avoid allegations of spam abuse.  Here I was with all these email addresses, patients interested in being contacted, and I had no time to deal with figuring out how to do it all.  Paying someone thousands of dollars to do it for me wasn’t an option either.

Then one day when searching the internet for a solution I stumbled across MailChimp.com.  After seeing I could try it out for free for an unlimited amount of time I decided it was worth a shot.  After spending a few minutes setting up my first chiropractic email marketing campaign I was hooked!  Let’s take a look at why I think the site is so amazing.

Here are just a few things MailChimp.com can help you do:

• Create and Manage your Chiropractic email marketing list.
  

Create your list with MailChimp.com.  The site will allow you to create as many lists of email addresses as you’d like.  You can manually type in your email addresses, import them from an existing excel or similar file, or even allow you to create your own custom branded online sign-up/opt in and unsubscribe forms that automatically add subscribers.  These forms can feature your own logos and color choices.

You can easily set up auto responders to work with your forms as well.

Another great feature is the fact that MailChimp.com pretty much manages all of your email list management functions on autopilot.  If someone unsubscribes they’re automatically removed from the list.  If an email address “bounces” or is otherwise found to be undeliverable the address is removed.  If an email address’s owner never opens your emails they’re eventually cleaned from the list.  All of this without your input and for free!  Of course you can change many settings as you see fit as well.

• Design attractive HTML Chiropractic email marketing campaigns.

If you have no idea what HTML is, have no fear.  It’s basically a form of coding to make websites and pretty emails.  Without it you have plain boring text only emails.  With it you can make amazingly beautiful and effective design layouts.  If you have no HTML knowledge it doesn’t matter, because MailChimp has tons of awesome and FREE templates to use.  If you know a little or a lot of HTML go nuts because they make it all ridiculously simple.  Even better they use HTML that actually works and actually gets delivered to your readers.  You can even preview it all and send test emails before you send the final product.

• Track your campaign and monitor its effectiveness.

MailChimp provides unbelieveable analytical reports to monitor the effectiveness of your chiropractic email marketing.  Find out if any email addresses bounced or where undeliverable, see who opened your newsletter, and even which links are getting clicked on.

• Archive your Chiropractic email marketing.

MailChimp creates a webpage version of every newsletter or Chiropractic Email marketing campaign you’ve sent.  Now you can save all of your email marketing for future reference and as is required of many states.

• Integrate your Chiropractic email marketing with Social Media sites like Twitter

Have MailChimp auto update social media sites when you publish your new newsletter!  This is a great way to generate new readers.

• Conduct Chiropractic email marketing that is free/affordable, ethical, and legal

The first time you set up your mailing list MailChimp guides you through setting up the information you need to include in your newsletter to comply with best practices and anti-spam regulations.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s available for FREE to the casual user with little computer knowledge!  If you are tech savvy there are many other tools that do things even I don’t fully understand.  Spring for one of the affordable paid services and who knows what you can achieve!

Yes I said FREE. Not a FREE 30 Day Trial. MailChimp.com offers a “Forever Free” pricing option.  Of course there’s a minor catch, you are limited to an email subscriber list size of 500 members with a limit of 3,000 email sends a month.  This would allow you to send 6 emails to 500 email addresses every month.  Obviously this free service is going to meet the needs of many Chiropractic practices for a while!

That’s the only catch to the free service.  I can tell you from experience if you ever outgrow the free service you’ll no doubt be so impressed you’ll have no problems paying stepping up to the next level which is only $15 a month.  If you have higher volume needs or want a “pay as you go” option they offer that as well.  So head on over to MailChimp.com today you’ll be glad you did.  With their forever free program you can take the site’s features through a test run as long as you like so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

In our next part of this series I’ll walk you through setting up your first Chiropractic email marketing campaign with MailChimp.com and point you to some other email marketing sites in the unlikely event you aren’t happy with MailChimp.  Until next time, thanks for reading!

-Dr. James

Last time we spent a few minutes exploring just a handful of  ideas to get you started with your Chiropractic email marketing.   It should be obvious that there is a great deal of potential there. In just a few minutes we discussed dozens of ways email marketing can be used to promote Chiropractic and your practice.  Now you’re probably wondering, if Chiropractic email marketing is so fantastic, why aren’t all Doctors of Chiropractic using it in their practice?

The obvious answers are the perceived level of difficulty, lack of knowledge and experience, and plain old lack of time.  Most Chiropractors simply don’t know how to do any of this on their own.  Even if they did, they lack the time it would normally require to set it all up effectively.

Most doctors know you can’t simply throw some plain text into an email program, call it a newsletter, and send it out expecting results.  An attractive HTML email with photos, images, and links to websites of interest are all vital.  Knowing how to design and code an html email correctly, make it attractive, and also ensure it is deliverable are simply not skills the average Chiropractor possesses.

Most streetwise chiropractor’s also know, as with any form of Chiropractic advertising,  you have to be careful about email marketing.  Anti-spam regulations have made legal email marketing a much more involved process than it was 5 or 10 years ago.   You must have permission to use a person’s email (and be able to prove it) to avoid accusations of spam and abuse.  In addition,  you must  manage and update email lists with subscribe and unsubscribe forms and options.  To comply with Chiropractic board requirements in many states you also have to maintain a written record of the advertising you sent.  That’s just the start of it!  It’s no wonder many Chiropractors shy away from email marketing  with the attitude that it’s beyond their capabilities.

What if there were a web-based program that made Chiropractic email marketing a breeze? What if it automated 95% of the process and made it all as simple as ordering something online? Imagine designing an attractive html email with no coding knowledge.  Imagine creating and managing email lists on the fly.  Try and visualize the value of a site that could create all of your email list sign up and unsubscribe forms with the click of a mouse button.  Imagine tracking the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns: seeing who opened it, which links were clicked and more. Well such a site does exist!   Now imagine if all of this was offered free of charge.  Well it is!

If you have a desire to enter the world of chiropractic email marketing then there is no better way to do it than with free help!  Let me introduce you to a little site called MailChimp.com.  Don’t let the funny name fool you, this site is no joke!  MailChimp is an amazing website to help you create and manage your own email marketing campaigns.  It has an amazingly simple WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) style interface to help you set up and design your Chiropractic email marketing.  Perhaps better than the dozens of hours it will save you is the fact that it’s absolutely free for lite and beginning users.  Not a free trial…FOREVER FREE as long as you manage a list of under 500 subscribers and send less than 3,000 emails a month!

If you can’t tell by now, I’m in love with it! I’ll briefly discuss how I came across MailChimp and what makes it so great in my next post.  After that I’ll even walk you through setting up your first email marketing campaign.  In the meantime, if you just can’t wait, head on over to MailChimp.com and check them out.  I’m off for a banana break!