OM in the news this week. Check it out!
Real-life tips from Pacific College Alumna and Founder/President of Pink Image Breast Thermography Clinic Wendy Sellens, LAc
Welcome back to our Building a Practice on a Budget Series! This week we want to help you market smart. You can spend A LOT of money on advertising, but wouldn’t you rather spend less and be more strategic, so as to get the most bang for your buck? How to inform your community is the challenge, so let us help!
1.
Location
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Yes, I mentioned this in the first week of this series, but it really is crucial. At My Pink Image, we chose to spend a little more in rent for location so we wouldn’t have to spend money advertising. Here are some pointers for your location:
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Our clinic doors literally open to a Farmers Market every Sunday. Spend a little more in rent for perks like this to be close to your type of clientele.
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We opened our clinic in 2009, smack dab in the middle of a recession. What to do?! We decided to celebrate our first month of business by offering free acupuncture treatments to show the community what we could offer! This was very successful. We were actually surprised at the results. We more than doubled rent our first month and never looked back.
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Our clinic is located on a boutique street that offers business owners and employees a 10% discount, which we honor. Give locals and/or military a discount as well. Since we keep our overhead low, we pass the savings on to our patients and they keep coming back!
2.
Sell products.
We sell everything our patient would need to be healthy. Why have them spend their money at another store? For example, we privately labeled an all organic, petro-chemical free, bath and body product line for the entire family.
3.
Referrals.
Referrals are going to be your bread and butter marketing. We have a deal for every patient who refers a friend: they receive one free acupuncture treatment. This is great for patients who love deals. We have a couple patients who haven’t paid for acupuncture in months because they refer so many new patients to us.
Also, remember that getting better sells! We have the reputation of being “honest” physicians. If we decide during the consult that we need to refer out, we won’t charge. If the patient only needs one or two treatments we discharge them. Patients love honesty and saving money, and they WILL refer back to you because they trust you.
4.
Pick your patients.
We are a “cash only” business. We do not accept insurance. We believe when people pay cash they make the effort to get better. They expect results with cash and we get them results. Being cash only, we keep our prices affordable and educate our patients on the importance of three treatments a week. When patients pay cash they expect results and with affordable prices coupled with several treatments in a couple weeks they get results! Worker’s comp and insurance patients tend to have a different attitude; since they are not “paying” many patients may not be as invested in their results.
5.
Give your patients homework.
We inform them that they can do “homework,” which will increase their health or they can skip their homework and pay us to take care of them. What do you think most choose? We educate all of our patients on their particular health issue and require them to make lifestyle changes. Patients love homework, if it saves them money.
This concludes our Building a Practice on a Budget Series. We hope you gained some helpful tips for your practice! Visit Wendy at
www.MyPinkImage.com
.
OM in the news this week. Check it out!
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Kate Middleton Could Use Acupuncture to Induce Labor
- from Hello Magazine. She wouldn’t be the first celebrity to use acupuncture during pregnancy. Kate Winslet, Natalie Portman and Mariah Carey reportedly all used acupuncture to relieve stress and help with their general wellbeing while expecting.
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Facial Features are Windows to Your Insides
- from Northern Star. Curious about facial reading? Check out what your facial features could be saying about your health.
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Do You Use Alternative Medicine?
- from EmpowHer. It’s no secret that Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) is on the rise; see which of these therapies you’ve tried!
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Ginger Can Help Relieve Morning Sickness
- from The Pike County Courier. Ginger is used in Chinese medicine, and a study recently published in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine shows that ginger is able to combat the problem.
Try this delicious lentil soup to cure nausea!
Nausea may be common but that doesn’t make it any easier to handle. No matter the root of your nausea, be it the flu, chronic stomach issues, or even a hangover, this nourishing lentil recipe can relieve your discomfort.
Lentils are easy on your digestion and are packed with fiber. Since ancient times, Chinese medicine practitioners have used ginger to settle the stomach and decrease inflammation. It’s also refreshing and flavorful. This hearty soup uses both ginger and lentils to nip your nausea in the bud.
This soup only requires 5 minutes of prep time (which comes in handy when you don’t feel like standing for long!). Chop the following ingredients, combine all into your crockpot, and cook on “high” for 4 hours.
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Beef stock (use veggie broth if you’d prefer the vegetarian version)
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3 tablespoons chopped ginger
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1 can diced tomatoes
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1.5 cup chopped carrots
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1.5 cup chopped celery
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2 chopped garlic cloves
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4 chopped green onions
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1 cup dried lentils
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1 can kidney beans
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4 bay leaves for flavor (remove after cooking and before eating)
Add after soup is cooked and right before serving:
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¼ cup chopped fresh oregano
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¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Enjoy!
OM in the news this week. Check it out!
Like Chinese medicine, aromatherapy has been around for thousands of years. Ancient cultures from all over the world have used various forms of aromatherapy ranging from the burning of incense to utilizing the extracted oils from various plants, herbs and flowers. These ancestors used aromatherapy because they understood the healing properties of essential oils and the aromas that come from them.
Generally, aromatherapy can be applied in three ways: Direct application to the skin, inhalation and internal consumption. In all three scenarios the properties of the essential oils, which constitute “aromatherapy”, travel through the body and eventually go to the brain where they have both physiological and psychological effects.
We can also look at aromatherapy from a TCM point of view. Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia) and Grapefruit (Citrus Paradisi), two very common essential oils used in aromatherapy, can serve as good examples. Lavender is spicy and sweet, has a cooling nature and affects the Lung, Liver and Pericardium. Two of the major functions of lavender are to promote the smooth flow of Liver qi and calm the shen. Grapefruit is spicy and bitter, has a slightly warming nature and affects the Lung, Stomach and Gallbladder. Major functions of grapefruit include regulating the flow of Liver qi and breaking up qi, food and phlegm stagnation. With their positive influence on qi, just using these two essential oils would be a good start to incorporating aromatherapy into your practice.
Here’s how to use aromatherapy:
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DIFFUSERS: Diffuse essential oils in your waiting/reception areas and/or treatment rooms. You can buy special plug-in diffusers designed to slowly release essential oils based on your desired strength (i.e. from light to heavy scent). You can also use a small tea-light oil/scented wax burner that does virtually the same thing without the need of electricity or batteries.
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ACUPUNCTURE POINTS: You can place drops of essential oils onto acupuncture points prior to needling or in lieu of needling. If you chose this technique, it is extremely important that you dilute certain essential oils before doing so as some oils can burn the skin. Lavender is an example of an essential oil that is safe to place on the skin directly.
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SPACE SPRAY: You can make an aromatherapy spray by placing drops of essential oils into a bottle (preferably dark colored glass) filled with spring water. Similar to making an herbal formula, you can chose one essential oil or create a blend based the individual make up of each essential oil and the desired therapeutic outcome. For a one ounce bottle, eight to ten drops of essential oils is sufficient. You can spray over the patient during treatment or between patients in the treatment room.
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EYE PILLOW: Many eye pillows come infused with aromatherapy. However, if you do not possess one of these, you can easily make one by lightly spraying essential oils onto a folded Kleenex tissue and placing the Kleenex tissue onto the eyes of your patient. Instructions on making an aromatherapy spray are given above.
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COTTON BALL: Place a few drops of an essential oil or essential oil blend onto a cotton ball and place it on the patient’s chest, near the face, during a face-up treatment. This way the patient is able to receive the aromatherapy while they are having an acupuncture treatment. If they are face down, place the cotton ball on a chair under their nose so they can receive the aroma. When the treatment is over, you can give them the patient the cotton ball to take with them, directing them to continue smelling it throughout the day. You can also give a cotton ball to patients that become extremely relaxed from a treatment and feel “out of it”. Saturate a cotton ball with a few drops of an uplifting essential oil like grapefruit and have them inhale a few times before leaving your office and have them take the cotton ball home with them so they are alert as they drive away and go about their day.
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MASSAGE: Add drops of essential oils into your massage oil and apply to specific channels of the body or even to the UB channel where we find the back shu points. For eight ounces of massage oil, ten to fifteen drops of essential oils is sufficient. This method is preferred over inhalation for patients that have sinus problems or impaired olfactory systems which may inhibit the processing of inhaled aromas.
These six methods are just a few ways in which you can incorporate aromatherapy into your practice. With hundreds of essential oils, each having their own properties and specific actions on the body, the application of aromatherapy is almost endless!
