Well some of you know me. I recently graduated as a doctor of chiropractic. I am now trying to open my own business and get patients into my clinic. I have been struggling for 3 months now at it. I have tried just about everything to get patients in the door. We have handed out thousands of fliers, sent out postcards, joined the chamber of commerce, put an ad on the radio in both english and spanish, gone to gyms, offered free massages, done a promotional offer, had a ribbon cutting, had two articles in the newspaper, yellow pages, and had 3 signs made. Out of all of that I have three patients total and haven't made a dime yet. I'm actually in the hole. I couldn't get a business loan right out of school after incurring $200,000 in student loans. I had a couple thousand dollars saved up to live on, but now that is down to $22.00 in my checking account and I have no idea what I am going to pay rent or bills with next month.

Anyway, looking for ideas to get people in the door. Anyone have anything good that they have used in the past that has worked for marketing?? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

First of all, congrats on graduating! Starting your own business so soon is a courageous move! It sounds like you've done a lot so far. What do your printed materials look like, ie brochures, signs, etc? Do you have business cards, a logo? Were these things done professionally? Maybe a website is something you may want too. A solid, professional identity can go a long way when promoting your business.

Pete is on the right track... you must have done all that marketing, but was it positive marketing?

How many/how big are your competitors?

Yeah, I have business cards and everything. Website is www.sheltonchiropractic.info. All of my stuff is very professional and I have taken a lot of time to develop and design my identity. It is now on everything that I do.

There are a lot of competitors around, but I have specialized the clinic to be sports medicine. I think this will help to get a niche. Everyone I talk to says that I am doing the right thing. It is just hard to wait it out when you don't now how you are going to provide for your family next month. Here are some of the graphics I have designed.

joint business card with optometrist

My business card

Shirt logo

Golf course tee sign

I'm not saying that this is why you don't have business, but your website is full of missing links. This is what it looks like on my end.

website.jpg

Andrew i dont get any broken links? :?

hmm :? I tried it on both of my browsers.

Maybe it is just me? idk.

Wow that is messed up. Looks fine from my end too.

The site seems broken on my browser too.

Getting customers is always the hard part, perhaps you should try something along the lines of offering a $25 credit for each referral a patient makes. If they refer a friend or family member, each party receives the credit. It may hurt at first, but if you're good at your job, word of mouth will be your best and cheapest way to obtain new clients.
Not big on the sporting scene, but perhaps trying something at a local high school, offering discounts to the athletes if they mention that the school, or even doing advertising though the school such as for every patient from the school, you will donate $x to the school?

x10000 it is the BEST way of advertisment