Givin' it away....

[attachment 122 oneyearanniversarypartywithlineofstars.doc]

Brooklyn Community Acupuncture
one year anniversary party
Come celebrate our first year
with free acupuncture,
mini-massages, live music
and refreshments
Saturday, October 20th
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
1212 SE Powell 503.233.4341
www.brooklyncommunityacupuncture.com

Yup, We are having a party. And there's going to be lots of FREE acupuncture happening!!! Parties are fun for us as well as great for energizing our clinic. (Although slightly sore lower backs at the end of the day…) We have found that lots of people who might normally never try acupuncture---come.

And so recently when I heard another more experienced acupuncturist tell someone that giving a free treatment has no value to that person and they don't really benefit from the experience without paying for it, I had to disagree. That's the standard party line taught in practice management classes…

Of course we want to get paid, but first we gotta get patients in to see us. I understand that giving away a treatment in the non-community acupuncture world is more challenging because that one person plays a bigger role in the revenue stream. The rules are different in that model. That was another big reason I chose not to play there.

I can think of a patient that we sent a gift certificate to when we heard that his mother died. It was something we could simply offer and knew it was something he would appreciate. What better way to build community? Many of our patients come to see us after getting a gift certificate through us or another patient we have asked to give it to someone who they think would appreciate it. Community building happens…

Most of all I think it’s easy for us to forget that the majority of people still don't understand acupuncture. It's some strange voodoo act or people are too afraid to try it because needles are scary and supposed to hurt. The iconography that we take for granted on a daily basis as acupuncturists is still not widely understood. Community acupuncture can bridge that gap and make acupuncture more widely accepted and ingrained in our culture.

Maybe if we just call it increasing market share acupuncture the practice management classes might apply the concepts?

So I say, give it away...because it comes back to you ten fold...AND IF YOU'RE IN PORTLAND, COME TO OUR PARTY!!!