July 10, 2018
One of the challenges of owning a chiropractic practice is marketing. More specifically, building a dynamic marketing strategy that attracts and maintains a loyal patient base. The challenge exists for several reasons: Industry specific AHPRA and CAA regulations that can seem frustratingly complicated and somewhat restrictive. Fast-paced digital landscape that seems to demand your focus across all channels – your website, social media, emails and Google. Understanding what areas of marketing will get you the best return for your marketing efforts and convert patient leads into your care. So what are the best and most effective marketing strategies to attract […]
April 13, 2017
“We are losing our ‘listening’,” says sound and communication expert, author Julian Treasure [1]. “The world is now so noisy, with this cacophony going on visually and auditorily, it’s just hard to listen; it’s tiring to listen. Many people take refuge in headphones, but they turn big, public spaces… shared soundscapes, into millions of tiny, little personal sound bubbles. In this scenario, nobody’s listening to anybody.” In a busy world, full of noise and clutter, it’s a valid concern. If we are losing the ability to be present and intentional in the way we listen, what is slipping through the […]
November 24, 2016
Dr. Don MacDonald, chiropractor and Spinal Research advocate, has released his first book. Upon its release in July, The Underdog Curse reached international best-seller status, attaining top rankings in Amazon’s stress management, happiness, personal health, personal development and self-esteem categories in the US and a number of other countries. The Underdog Curse takes a critical look at the personality traits that propel us to our first victories, but reveals how those same traits can hold us back from true and lasting success. When it comes to the plight of the underdog, most of us would have to admit carrying a […]
October 25, 2016
Marvin Oka is a renowned international management consultant and recognised world leader in the field of behavioural modeling. Yet when you sit down to talk with him, you don’t feel like you are sitting with a hard-nosed leadership guru, but rather with an expert and philosopher who cares deeply for the chiropractic profession. Today, we are talking about wellness languaging – how the words we use to frame our message are far more important than we think. In his travels, Oka often asks the question of chiropractors, “How many of you talk now with your clients or with people who […]
October 6, 2016
Story at a Glance. Listening is one of the most important skills you can learn. It’s why hostage negotiators do it first. Active listening, the art of actually listening deeply with the aim to fully understand the other requires more than simply just hearing. Practiced it will deepen your connection to other people and help you develop empathy and understanding bringing with it a more connected loving experience with those around you. We’ve all been there, either in a conversation that’s boring the pants off you, or a conversation that’s so exciting you can’t wait for the other person to […]
September 15, 2016
Story at a Glance. There are three types of tears. Psychic tears, the ones we use when we cry, have an inbuilt painkiller. Tears also release the chemical build-up of stress and toxins related to stress. It’s not just for babies, we all do it. Some of us do it more than others, some of us stay strong and refuse to do it unless under formidable circumstances. Women do it more than men, on average 50 times a year, compared to the stalwart male who on average only cries 10 times a year. Children do it when they don’t get […]
July 21, 2016
Did you have to sing the alphabet song to learn it? Or perhaps recite the times tables out loud. These tasks were commonly met with more than a few eye-rolls, but it turns out the teachers were on to something. A study recently published in the Journal of Consciousness and Cognition revealed that the simple act of repeating something to someone else can help you remember it. Memory loss has been treated as a part of aging for quite some time. But now we know that neural plasticity can offset this. Various strategies like exercise and sleep have been known […]
June 30, 2016
Part 3: Influence literature series As thoroughly evolved humans with fully functioning prefrontal cortexes, we like to think we are in control of our decisions. We like to believe that, even when it comes to the minutiae of life, we’re thinking things through and coming to our own conclusions. Behavioral economist and researcher Dan Ariely has something to say about that though. Many factors, several of them subconscious, play into our financial, medical and purchasing decisions. In fact, he calls the human race ‘predictably irrational [1].’ Upon first reading that term, you might think ‘gee thanks.’ In truth, Ariely’s research […]
June 21, 2016
What does a new customer do when there is no standard measurement of quality for the service they are looking into? When there is no 18 carat or 24 carat chiropractic, no rating for the quality of a personal trainer, or no five star scale on a restaurants door? When it comes to such conundrums, most of us are like the rest of us. We look for the socials cues that tell us whether or not this place or practitioner is trustworthy. These social cues can either make or break a first impression and lead a person to conclusions as […]
June 8, 2016
Part 1: The Influence Literature Series “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place,” said George Bernard Shaw. He wasn’t wrong either. The art of effective communication is something that takes time, practice and research. For the chiropractic profession, it’s a pursuit that seems to be becoming increasingly important in the information age. Chiropractor Martin Harvey has spent a lot of time looking into the art of influence, and believes much wisdom can be gleaned from what he calls the influence literature: the combined wisdom of behavioral economists, psychologists, and marketing specialists applied to […]
May 24, 2016
“People don’t buy what you do. People buy why you do it.” This is the statement that lies at the heart of Simon Sinek’s groundbreaking book “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action,” and his Ted Talk on the same topic. Both works are grounded in Sinek’s analyses of great leaders and commercial successes. In a world that seems flooded with messages of ‘buy this, buy that,’ Sinek provides a refreshing how-to guide on cutting through the noise. In 2006, Sinek made a discovery that profoundly changed his worldview: there was a pattern in the communication […]
May 12, 2016
Story at-a-glance First impressions matter. Health practitioners often don’t have a lot of time to spend getting to know a patient. If we don’t know how they best communicate and undestand, information can be lost. There are four main personality types. Understanding them can help us ensure key health messages hit home. Personality types can be masked under stress, but understanding core needs can help us discover what truly makes a person tick. Personalities: we all have them. They all vary. Some we click with, and some we don’t. As health practitioners, the art of communicating effectively with all of […]
May 5, 2016
Story at-a-glance Social media and the internet is making it increasingly easy to access information, both good and bad. This is one reason why it’s more important than ever to pair quality chiropractic research with strong communication skills. Research is helping us understand the underlying mechanisms of chiropractic, so that we can confidently say why and how it works. Communicating these findings, and empowering chiropractors to do the same, is a key focus of newly established Haavik Research. On the day we first sent the Spinal Research blog live, we ran a piece on “Communicating Beyond Pain” with Brandi MacDonald. […]
February 18, 2016
It’s been ten years since the first edition of Well Adjusted Babies (by Dr. Jennifer Barham-Floreani*) hit the shelves. This decade has seen a paradigm shift in the way parents consume information, and choose to nurture the little lives they have been entrusted with. “It’s an exciting time for chiropractic.” says Jennifer, who is enthusiastic about the increasing amount and research around chiropractic and holistic wellness. “What we offer is so unique in its ability to work holistically, to strengthen and rebalance health.” The previous generation may have grown up consuming food additives, gluten, and dairy without so much as […]
January 19, 2016
“When I get sick, I’ll go to the doctor. When I have a bad back, I’ll head to the chiropractor.” How many times have you heard it said? This ill-fitting cliché around what a chiropractor does is something we battle when taking our message and the power of our adjustment to the world. We aren’t about ‘cracking’ backs. We’re about empowering wellness, changing the structure and function of the brain, and enabling the body to heal itself. We know that. Unfortunately, it can seem like the world is stuck in a sickness-centred paradigm and doesn’t quite ‘get’ us. We offer […]