Community and Participation For Greater Success

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

I could have categorized this post in Rants & Raves or Marketing but I figured I’d just go with Thoughts since I’m thinking about this and writing as I go. I love participating with others to build greater community. I love doing it off-line, I love doing it online, and I love intertwining the two in ways that effectively bring people together.

To those engaged in building community know it doesn’t come easy. If you’ve ever tried to organize a local 10K, a city marathon, an industry conference, a new seminar series, a blog that attracts a lot of visitors, or any other number of activities that requires getting groups of people together, you know the going can be tough. But it’s oftentimes worthwhile, and if you really want to see something succeed, you’ve got to stick to your guns and keep moving forward, but you won’t do it alone.There is an art, science and philosophy of building community. Many people go about it differently, but there are multiple factors that come into play when seeking success. I’d like to share a modified version of a typical e-mail I receive on a daily basis, along with my input below.

Hi Michael – it’s Chiropractor Smith from My Business That Markets to Chiropractors, Health Professionals, Patients (or multiple others). Long time no see or chat… I trust you are well. I wanted to see if you had any ideas on how I might be able to utilize Planet Chiropractic to get the word out about My Business as an opportunity for those seeking Ways to Give Me Money (such as a turnkey high volume cash practice solution). Please let me know if you have any ideas and/or opportunities that you think might assist in spreading the word.

Have a great day,
Chiropractor Smith

I don’t mind getting e-mails like this, don’t get me wrong there, I think they’re an important part beginning the process of engaging oneself in the community. What I find interesting is that I’ve responded to similar e-mails for nearly 10 years now, and I pretty much see the same patterns from those that had contacted me.

Are there opportunities? You bet there are. In a situation like this I’d recommend doing a few things. If your goal is particularly building awareness of yourself, your chiropractic office, or your brand on Planet Chiropractic, I would take some time to find out what the site is all about.

There are classified ads, and while you won’t see it by sitting on the page, thousands view those classifieds each day. I’d suggest browsing through the categories to see if there’s something there that may be of value to you. If you’re going to participate, likely by posting ads, it is asked that you don’t be an abuser (posting multiple duplicate classifieds, filling every post with keyword links to your website) and use the system responsibly. All advertisements go through an administration process and you’re pretty much wasting your time when trying to game the system. Read up on classified related blog posts and learn more about how you can participate.

If your hosting a seminar or conference, you can post all of your information to the seminar pages (same rules of engagement apply) just like hundreds of those hosting chiropractic conferences have before you. The seminar and events section doesn’t get as much traffic as the classifieds, but it’s a great tool for those putting on conferences, especially since chiropractors are actively searching the database every day, looking for events to attend.

Read the news and get an idea as to where this web site is coming from. There are nearly 9 years of news archives, so there’s literally thousands of articles you could scan through. Don’t bother e-mailing with some sort of advertorial, as it will quickly get deleted and your e-mail address will get added to a ban list after multiple attempts. That also goes for those requesting paid keyword rich links to their chiropractic websites. We don’t do paid links.

News submission is open to anyone, as long as your topic is newsworthy. If you’re going to submit something it is suggested you think about the community (the thousands of readers of planet chiropractic news) rather than yourself. I know that can be hard to do, but you’ll gain much more by not trying to get. Nearly 100 authors have participated in creating content for the site over the years, and very few are advertorial in nature. I’m biased when it comes to chiropractic schools and organizations, as I feel profession gains by distributing their news and releases.

So get engaged in the community and be consistent with your actions. Whether you’re hoping to see your chiropractic office listed amongst local chiropractors, your business mentioned in the news, your school receiving lots of positive reviews, your practice being sold in the classifieds, or your seminar being featured, it all begins with you.

Remember, by giving of yourself, you’ll get more in return.