The secret to getting your practice to expand is having continuous new patient procedures that you can do year in, year out, for every year you practice. And, a good idea when you are planning your marketing activities, is to capture the momentum of particular seasons or the holiday spirit, and to use these opportunities to promote your practice through seasonal marketing!

Seasonal marketing will enable you to reach a wide range of people, helping you to get as many people under care as possible. And, because many people have no idea what chiropractic is or how it works, the holidays are a great opportunity to invite people into your office to find out if chiropractic can help them -- to show them an alternative to their life of medication, side effects, and surgeries.

Such marketing plans are successful because people don't know about what D.C.s do, or the benefits of chiropractic and have limited knowledge of what it could do to improve their health beyond the scope of spinal problems. Keeping this in mind, and the fact that the media and medical profession won't help spread our message, it is up to you to educate your friends, family and community about chiropractic.

With the holidays soon upon us, it's time to start planning now.

First, you have to make the decision to do something you normally wouldn't do, then do it. Remember, if you don't have a plan, you are only planning to fail. And, the only way to get new patients is to plan to do things to get them to come in.

Take out your calendars and make note of the following seasonal marketing ideas:

*** Thanksgiving. Help your local food pantry raise food to donate to needy families for the Thanksgiving holiday. Set up a table near the doorway of a local grocery store. As people come in, ask them to donate food. On their way out, customers will drop the donations into carts. Thank them and tell them you have a gift for them. Hand them a flyer that contains a gift certificate. Ask for their name and number so that you can call and tell them how to use the certificate (for a complimentary exam.)

*** Christmas. This is the most successful marketing season! You can offer your patients gift certificates to give to their loved ones as Christmas gifts. The gift would be a complimentary examination to find out if chiropractic can help them with their health problems. You can also make a game out of it for your patients, offering a reward for the patient who hands out the most certificates and gets the most people to come in for an exam.

*** New Years. "Start the Year Healthy" campaign! This recall system involves calling all your inactive patients and inviting them to "feel good for the new year." Invite them in during the months of January and February to return to care at no charge.

*** Valentine's Day. Launch a "Have a Heart" campaign. Successful events have included letting the local ASPCA (an organization that protects animals) set up a traveling adoption agency outside your practice. This will generate free TV, radio and newspaper coverage, will draw people to your clinic to see and adopt the animals, which will ultimately give you the opportunity to generate new patients for your clinic. Another successful idea is having patients donate money to the "Have a Heart" campaign. You will match the amount of money donated by your patients and the proceeds will be given to a needy family.

*** Mother's Day/Father's Day. Host activities to encourage your patients to invite their mother and father in for a complimentary exam. Tell your patients you are offering a special gift -- the mothers/fathers of all patients who come in that week will be eligible for a complete exam at no charge. Extend this to grandmothers, grandfathers, etc.

*** Fourth of July. Host a patient appreciation day and celebrate both at once. Hold a celebration barbecue, inviting patients and their guests to attend. Each guest your patients bring will get a free exam during the party and then signed up to come back into the office for a consultation or to begin care.

Seasonal marketing opportunities are endless. And they aren't limited to the holidays listed above. On holidays when the office is closed, such as Labor Day or Memorial Day, you can still hold an event to get people in for care.

You are in a wonderful profession that gives you the greatest opportunity -- the chance to help change the lives of many people. It's up to you whether you contribute to this effort.

Start now. Dedicate this month to helping more people than you ever have before. Schedule an event and make it happen. Whenever an opportunity arises, talk about chiropractic and spread the message.

(Dr. David Singer is the CEO of David Singer Enterprises, a company offering an honest and ethical approach to building a practice through one-on-one consulting programs, products and practice expansion seminars. If you'd like to receive "The Purpose Fax Newsletter," Dr. Singer's free fax info letter containing practice-building tips and health research, call 800/326-1797, ext 227. Leave your name, address, phone number and fax number to receive a copy approximately every six weeks. You must have a dedicated fax line, as this fax newsletter is sent automatically via computer.)