My Problem with Business Marketing

I figured out what my problem is. I’ve been debating how I want to show up online for my community and what feels the most natural to me. I’ve been more interested in showing the life I want to live, vs being very salesy and talking constantly about what I offer or my services. I know that is smart business sense, but I’ve been so resistant to it for years and there must be a reason why.

When I look at other NDs, MDs or ODs online, especially those is a more general or family practice, they aren’t really on here constantly asking patients to book in or giving a sales pitch because, frankly there is a doctor shortage and people need their care/ demand is high. They are more entertaining and educating a bit on basic health or just showing their own life (being content creators/ influencers as a side hustle). Versus! The coaches, personal trainers, nutritionists I see and the business coaches I constantly have ads for. The difference: the programs they sell. Most coaches have a set program or 1:1 they run people through with an end result: a goal or finish line. Even some naturopathic doctors that I see can clearly define an end goal: you get pregnant, you get your period back, you’re not bloated anymore, you lost the weight, your menopause symptoms calm down, etc. These are more tangible. It’s harder to see that your energy is improved (I even had a patient comment on that, especially if the stressors are still present). Unless I really niche into something like specific diseases to be known for, I don’t see NOT having an end result to what you do as a viable marketing strategy. The whole adage of what problem do you solve? It needs a clear and tangible answer (a SMART goal)

I’m realizing as a sports medicine naturopath, my service doesn’t really have a finish line, or not a set/ defined one. I guess my end goal is that there is no end… I’m here making sure you get to keep living the active lifestyle you want to live, with all the changes that come with it… but that’s not as easily marketable in a set timeline… if I wanted to be more marketable, I would need to create some sort of program with a tangible end result. Like your pain is gone, or your labs and functional screening test results improved (for athletes: stamina, relative strength, mobility, agility, power) – even for this one though, I should have a percentage range increase expected. And then after you get that result, maybe that’s when we can talk about there actually being no true finish line until you retire… or the finish line moves after you retire from sport… and enter into a whole new phase of the game which we call life…

Online, doctors show up by:

-          Entertaining with jokes

-          Educating with health tips you can do at home, or how to assess yourself (+ what to do about it)

-          Showing their own life, or what practices they implement for their own families

Problem I solve

-          I help you get rid of pain and regain your strength in 8 weeks without reliance on chronic pain meds

-          After that, I help you maintain your body so you can keep performing and retire on your terms

-          I help you maintain performance metrics while switching you to more holistic living practices

Now that I feel more clear about this, it makes more sense for how I should show up online - and how I want to show up online. Social media is meant to be fun, even if it is a part of my business. So let's make things feel fun again!

In Health and Wellness,

ND-B