Chiropractors are always looking for newer and more innovative ways to expand their practice with explosive growth. Learn how to help people improve their health by using self promotion on radio, TV, health screenings, community events, etc.
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Transcript:
Dr. Tabor: Hello, and welcome everyone. I’m Dr. Tabor Smith, and on behalf of Genesis Chiropractic Software, I have a very special guest, Dr. Nathalie Beauchamp. I’m excited to interview her today, she’s got some great value to bring to you. Dr. Nathalie, how are you?
Dr. Nathalie: I’m great, thank you. I had to take my jacket off. It was steaming in my room.
Dr. Tabor: Nice. Well, it must be summer in Canada. You’re in Canada, right?
Dr. Nathalie: Yes, I’m in Ottawa. So I’m not going to complain about the heat. We have frozen all winter, basically.
Dr. Tabor: Very nice. I’m down in Houston, Texas, and right now we’re just getting pounded by rain like crazy. But anyway, it’s been good, I digress. Tell the audience a little bit about yourself, Dr. Nathalie. Who you are, what do you love, what are you passionate about?
Dr. Nathalie: Oh, boy. Where to start. So if I start with my chiropractic journey, to make a long story short, but people may know from my accent I’m French Canadian. So my parents brought me to a chiropractor when I was 14. It was a half hour from us, because I’m from a small town, and he only spoke English, and we only spoke French. So we just lie down on the table, got adjusted, went home. We didn’t really know what this guy was doing, but he was fixing everybody. From my uncle’s shoulder to my aunt’s constipation. We were driving by the truckload, and I’m not kidding.
So I thought, “You know what? This guy’s got a pretty cool job.” And I looked at his diploma, it was a school from the States, and you know, being French Canadian from a small community, I’m like, “Okay, well there’s no way I can go to school in the States, and I don’t speak English.” So, I kind of put that in the back of my mind. Then, fast forward to my last year at Ottawa U., find out that there is a school in Canada, in Toronto at the time. So I applied, and then the rest is history. I don’t suggest to anybody to go and study in a different language than what you know. It was quite the experience. But now, I’m obviously fully bilingual. And I’m in the East end of Ottawa, which is partly French, so I get to practice in both French and English. So that’s great.
And what makes me really passionate about chiropractic is I really did not know what I got myself into, to be honest. I just had this experience in my childhood of a cool profession. But it’s when you start adjusting people, and you’re like, “Holy crap, this stuff is powerful.” So, I’m just saying that, I get goosebumps just saying it. So I’ve been in practice for 19 years now, and I still get as excited being in the office and seeing the changes that the chiropractors that are on the calls see with their patients.
So I’m passionate about educating people. To me, if I don’t do a good job at educating, it’s not just my patients that are affected, but other patients at other chiropractors. So I take what I do very seriously from that front. To me, I make it my personal mission that the people that step foot in my office understand chiropractic and embrace the chiropractic lifestyle. And I think if we all do that, to each their own, we do it in different ways. But if we don’t tell people about the benefits of chiropractic care, not just the neck pain, the back pain. I do have that in my practice as well, but we need to let them know about what chiropractic is all about.
So that’s a long answer.
Dr. Tabor: Well, I like that answer. I absolutely agree with you on that 100%. I think this is going to be very relevant to our audience, in that you discovered that you have a message that you wanted to share with the world. And in your case, you even had a bigger obstacle to overcome, it seems, than a lot of chiropractors out there in the language barrier that you broke through as well. So with this passion and with this message that you wanted to get to the world, how do you do that? What were some of the best ways to get your message out that you’ve discovered over the last 19 years of being in practice?
Dr. Nathalie: Yeah, it’s funny how things happen, but obviously, not to say that I was afraid of public speaking, but you would have told me at the age of 18, “Nathalie, you’re going to be in front of a group of thousands of people, on radio or on TV. Tens of thousands of people.” I said, “Are you kidding me? I don’t speak the language.” But I’ve always been one to push myself. I’m like, “You know what? The best way to learn is just to jump in and figure things out.” And sometimes, I would screw up, and I would be better the next time. That kind of thing.
So I guess when I started the practice, we were right beside the shopping mall. I remember my partner at the time, we used to go to the mall to do screenings, every single weekend for probably two years. This is pretty much how I built my practice. I’d work on Saturday morning, and then just go to the mall next door and do some screenings. And then obviously the practice grew, and I started going to events, health fairs and things like that. I remember one day, what really triggered it for me, is I was beside a clinic that did Botox injections. In between that and a drug store. I’m like, “Wow. This is not my definition of health.” So I said, “Well, let’s start something in my community.”
So I started the Expo, which is now the Ottawa Health and Wellness Expo. We are on our tenth year this year. And it started small, probably two-, three-hundred people, but the last few years we’d have over 2000 people. And I make the rules, so the slogan, I used to be a Creating Wellness Center, so I kind of took the slogan from, “Be fit. Eat right. Think well. And go green.” So we added a green component to it. So vendors need to qualify within those four categories. No drugs are allowed, or not any promotion of it. So I can pick and choose who’s there. So starting that really gave me a lot of exposure, because you do media, you do radio, and so forth. And you start talking with the producers, and you’re like, “Hey, you know, I can come on the show and talk a bit more about this and that.”
And then I also wrote a book. So in 2009, again, not having really gone to school how to learn to write in English, decided to put together a book. It’s called Wellness on the Go. And that again was a great way to get the message out. So I would say to other chiropractors, “If I can write a book, and not speaking the language, any person can.” And it’s called Wellness on the Go. The chapters are nice and short, for people to you know, “What about soy? What about vitamins?” They’re the questions, basically, our patients are asking us all the time. I said, “You know what? I’m tired of repeating myself, let’s just put it in a book.”
So that, too, gave me a really good platform to go on television. And I’d discuss topics in the book. So I guess I went at it a bit more from a health expert point-of-view, but always intertwining chiropractic story and so forth. One comment that I get all the time, and it makes me mad, but I understand where it’s coming from, “Oh Nathalie, you’re not just a chiropractor.” And my first thought is, “What’s wrong with just being a chiropractor?” But that’s how I feel, but the public doesn’t understand what we do. So, to me if we can connect with them on the level they’re at, and then show them what other part they might be missing, then that’s really the connection.
So I guess the Expo, I do women’s events as well, I do a run. I’m always organizing things in the community. I used to sit on the Chamber of Commerce board. I now sit on a different board, the business of my area. So I guess the way to get the message out is really to get out there.
Dr. Tabor: What you’re sharing is powerful. It sounds like you’ve found a way to take what you do and what you know, and then provide a huge value to the people in your community. You’ve found several different ways to do that. Events, TV, radio. So would you suggest that chiropractors out there in their community, would you suggest they try to start a health fair, an event, or get on the radio or TV?
Dr. Nathalie: Well, yeah, I’m glad you asked. So let’s break it down. So an event is not an easy thing to do, but it’s also connecting with your sphere of influence. And the best people to connect with are the people where, we have a yoga studio not far, we have a local gym right next door to me. So these people that go there are health-minded, so they’re my target audience. So why not pair up with those? So yeah, I would strongly suggest, and you don’t have to go as big as I’ve done it, real big, just because I’ve put a lot of energy into it. Or you can keep it small.
And as for radio, like just today to give you an example, I was live on the radio at 7:20, talking to you now, and tonight I have a TV segment of 10 minutes at 8:00. So it’s a busy media day. It doesn’t always fall all on the same day like this, thankfully. So I guess for the chiropractors that are interested, first of all figure out which medium you’d like to do, is it radio, is it TV? They’re very different. It was first for me to do radio, actually, and now it’s my own radio show every Saturday for 30 minutes.
And it’s awesome because it’s a radio station that’s for French Canadian people. And they’re giving me free choice of what I want to talk about. So I bring in two guests every week, they’re my sphere of influence people. And I can pretty much talk about everything that I want to talk about, which is awesome. But again, I didn’t build those relationships in the blink of an eye. The producer of the radio show does TV with me on occasion, and so forth.
So it’s just the more you get out there, the more you show the media that you’re knowledgeable, and you’ve got a bit of a different angle on things, and they can reach out to you to get more information on different health topics. They’re looking for content, right? So if you have something to say and something to talk about, they’ll be very pleased with that.
Dr. Tabor: I think that’s phenomenal, and I think that a lot of chiropractors, in a way, whether it’s in the back of their mind, or wherever it is, they want to do more of that type of thing. We want to be at events. I know myself, I’ve wanted to create a large health event, like you said, you get to kind of filter what is in your event. Where you’re not going to have a hospital there promoting medication. So I think that’s awesome, if we can be the seed that starts something like that to grow. And I think more chiropractors, they might need some direction in where to start. Do you help chiropractors to do these types of events, or . . . ?
Dr. Nathalie: Yeah, I’ve been asked throughout the years, and I don’t mind at all. But if people go to our website, it’s a bit of a long URL, but it’s OttawaHealthandWellnessExpo.com, you’ll see what the Expo is all about. So, OttawaHealthandWellnessExpo.com, and “and” is A-N-D. People can look at what we’ve done throughout the years, and the layers, and so forth. But yeah, I’d be more than happy to coach doctors if they want to.
Like I said, you have to be patient. I could have given up a long time ago, and you’re going to remember when I started knocking on doors of vendors, “Hey, do you want to come to my expo?” “How many people are you expecting?” “I have no idea.” And then inviting people, “How many vendors are you going to have?” “I have no idea.”
And as a driver and somebody that likes numbers, it was hard for me at first. And even every year, one year it was freezing rain because I do mine in January because I find it’s not too busy in town, and people are in the New Year-mindset kind of resolution to take better care of their health. So it’s not an easy thing to do, but it is really, really valuable to position yourself as a leader in your community, and that you’re also giving back to the community. I’d say I kind of have two passions. One is health, and that’s probably the biggest one, but the other one is entrepreneur-ship.
And a lot of companies, they don’t have a storefront, they don’t have a platform, so there’s great organic little companies, and all of that stuff. So we have a beekeeper that’s making honey in our community, and he’s been at my Expo for ten years. Well, it’s giving him a platform to promote his honey. So I love the fact that I’m also helping other people in the health and wellness industry that have a passion that might, you know, it’s different than mine. But I’m giving them a vehicle for that. So that part is awesome as well.
Dr. Tabor: That is awesome and I think that’s a great tip. If you’re going to set up an event, January is a perfect time for a wellness event. Do you just do one a year or do you recommend . . . ?
Dr. Nathalie: Yeah, I do. One a year is plenty, I mean you could do two. I do a women’s event instead in September or October, so a bit of a different angle. That day it’s nine to five, I do kind of a tent-talk format. So I have about eight women in our community sharing their story and so forth. So it’s a bit of a different angle. It’s obviously focusing on health as well, but more a presentation format as well.
Dr. Tabor: And I think that’s a great idea as well, because it seems like the mom in the family, a lot of times, is the decision-maker as far as health goes. I know in my office, the mom starts care and then everybody else in the family, they don’t have a choice. Mom is making them come in and get chiropractic care.
Dr. Nathalie: Yeah, you’ve figured that out very well. That’s for sure. The other thing, too, to get the message out there, is to create content. I have been faithfully blogging for six years. Faithfully, I mean people can go on our blog, you’ll see we don’t miss a beat. So again, if you’re creating content for people to read, you’re going to be more found than your average social media like Facebook or Twitter. And then media will start noticing you, they’ll start commenting on your blogs, you can share. So I think it’s important that you create content.
I have a lot of friends, “Oh, Nathalie, it’s a lot of work.” Yeah, it’s a lot of work, but how are you going to send your message out there if you don’t create your content? And it needs to be original content. I don’t really agree with repurposed content. Google crawlers and spiders see that it’s not unique. You’re not just writing for Google, but why not leverage the two? And what I’ve started doing is I’ve got a lot of people on my team that have specific expertise, so I get them to blog, and we kind of merge it together so I don’t always have to write a blog. Because I write weekly blogs for the clinic, and those ones are really focused on symptoms and keywords for SEO purpose. But I also have my Dr. Nathalie website, where I blog more on overall lifestyle and so forth.
So you got to find your niche, and then really get it out there. Get your message out there and then use platforms like Hootsuite or something like that to preprogram things. But then have somebody on your team to interact with people in your community and repost their stuff. And just really creating that engagement because if another business is congruent with yours, why not share each other’s feed and information and so forth. It just benefits everyone.
Dr. Tabor: Well, I think that’s obviously one amazing quality you have that I’m noticing is, and maybe it’s the entrepreneur in you, but you have an amazing skill to not only give value but to package it. And I think you have to package it. We have a huge value to give. We are chiropractors. If you are a chiropractor out there, you have a value to give to people, but there’s got to be ways that you package that value. Like in the form of a blog, in the form of a book, in the form of creating an event for your community. And you’re able to give that to somebody, and they say, “Thank you. That helped me. That improved my life. And I want to find out more on how you can help my family improve our lives more.”
And I think that’s where you probably get a lot of new patients coming in your office, that they just discover you through one way or another. Whether it’s the event you hold, or whether they find benefit in your blog. Those type of different things. I’m sure you get a lot of business through that.
Dr. Nathalie: Yeah, thank you for reminding me of that, actually. Blogs are hugely important, but videos as well. So what I’ve done throughout the years, is I’ve created a lot of systems for the office. So we can educate people to bring them in the office, but once they’re in the office, I use the platform Infusionsoft, and it’s amazing what you can do with this in terms of educational campaign. So when people sign on the care plan, they’re put in a campaign. So I’ve got a video on what type of bed to choose, what type of pillows. Just creating value for them because these are the questions our patients are asking themselves anyway. And I know that those videos get sent to friends and family, and so forth, because they’re really useful.
So when you create content, see how you can repurpose. If you do a blog on mattresses, where else can you leverage it to make sure that other people benefit from it? Or if it’s a video, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. I’ve done some more fancy video and sometimes not. I just slap on my camera and just go and edit a little bit and then just put it out there. So I think sometimes its just a matter of even putting a calendar on there, say, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” And one thing that I know that you’ve used in your office . . . my entrepreneurial streak sometimes is an asset and sometimes it’s a detriment. Because I see something, and it’s like, “Oh no, I can do this better. Or there’s nothing created so let’s create one.”
So a couple of years ago, I created AboutRealHealth.com, which is a website for patient’s testimonial. My idea was that if people Googled “Headaches,” they would end up on a video of one of our patient’s with headaches. So we’ve got probably 150 videos on there of testimonials and chiropractic education and things like that with about 20, 25 doctors that are on board. It’s a slow process, but I’m just building it slowly. But that being said, in the office, I was using a topic of the week. So now we created 52 weeks, it’s so easy it’s not even funny, educational system. It’s on auto-pilot, my staff knows what needs to be done, the PowerPoint goes up, the handout is already done, the posters. So every week, we’ve created a system of education. Sometimes it’s chiropractic-more-related topic, sometimes it’s a little bit more general health and so forth. And on the back of the handout we’ve put a new patient exam or something like that.
So patients sometimes stay sitting in the hot seat to finish watching the slide show. Because I was using Dr. Jennifer [Honor] PowerPoints. They were so great because I didn’t have time to create all my content. So Dr. Jenn and I paired up and created those 52 weeks. And as of now, we’ve created a full year of it. So it’s even available for purchase if you are interested. They can go on the AboutRealHealth.com site.
So again, out of need, I created that for my practice, because I need it. But I’m like, “Okay, well let’s share that with other chiropractors,” because if I have this same issue that I don’t like what’s out there right now because it doesn’t reflect, necessarily, my values on health and wellness. Again, don’t like something? Create it. So I didn’t like the Expo I went to, I created one. I didn’t like the PowerPoint I was getting, created my own with Dr. Jenn. So stuff like that, create what fits you. Create, and then by doing this you’re giving value.
Dr. Tabor: Well, that’s awesome. Well, Dr. Nathalie, I love your style. And that’s huge value that you’re giving to us as well. So I want to encourage everybody to check out AboutRealHealth. I’ve personally seen that information and used it in my office, and it’s great. So let’s go ahead and wind down by giving our audience the information that they need to contact you, or stay in touch with you. What’s the best website to send them to? Is it AboutRealHealth.com? Go ahead and let us know, Dr. Nathalie.
Dr. Nathalie: Yeah, it’s funny when I make a list of my websites, I just go, “Oh my gosh.” You realize how busy you are with the amount of website that you have. So I guess the best one, I mean there’s no best one to be honest with you. But my name being French sometimes, it’s harder to spell, but DrNathalieBeauchamp.com. So D-R-N-A-T-H-A-L-I-E. Beauchamp is B-E-A-U-C-H-A-M-P.com. Or my clinic website, which is SanteChiropractic.com. Sante is the French word for health. And it’s spelled S-A-N-T-E. SanteChiropractic.com. and just go on my website, my website’s [inaudible 00:23:50] and AboutRealHealth.com, the Expo website.
I also have another site called TheHealthyPreneur.com, if you want to find out more about my coaching aspect. So I mean, just go and play, especially with the clinic sites and the Expo site. And see how I’m doing things. You might grab some ideas, like “Oh, jeez, I didn’t think about that.” I’m constantly taking online courses with some of the gurus out there because I want to wrap my head around what’s available. I’m doing the advanced Infusionsoft training right now, so I understand the capability of the software so I can think bigger for my business and create a system.
Dr. Tabor: That’s awesome. Thank you so much. And we’re going to have all of those links. You’ll find them either below this video, if you’re watching from our GenesisChiropracticSoftware.com blog, or I’ll have it in the show notes from our podcast. So thank you so much, Dr. Nathalie, for being with us today. I really appreciate you bringing all of this. And I got to tell you, it was just extremely motivational to hear that you’re doing all of this. Keep up the great work.
Dr. Nathalie: Thank you, Dr. Tabor. And thank you for doing this. I love to hear from other chiropractors as well. Because sometimes you might just grab this piece of gold that you’re going to take and just run with and change your community.
Dr. Tabor: That’s right. Awesome. Well, have a great day and we will talk to you soon.
Dr. Nathalie: Thank you.
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