Every doctor has a certain "comfort" level of what he or she is willing to do in order to get new patients. Some D.C.s have difficulty talking one-on-one with people, while others confidently deliver lectures to audiences of 40 or more. Whatever your level of comfort, you need to break out of just doing what's comfortable. Once you step out of your comfort zone, your practice will expand.

Start by promoting your practice within your community. Perhaps the idea of going out into your community makes you uncomfortable. The key is taking it one step at a time. Begin by simply walking out of your practice and going to a neighboring company to introduce yourself.

It can be a person working a mom-and-pop store, a bank a grocery store, a gas station. It doesn't really matter who the neighbor is, just so long as you haven't been there before. Let them know who you are, that you are a chiropractor, and invite them to come and see you some time over the next few days so that they can find out about what you do. Make that first step and build from there.

Set goals. Choose how many people you will go out and meet each week and get that number of new patients. Introduce yourself to community leaders, organizations, charities and other groups. Tell them about your practice and invite them to your office to find out for themselves what chiropractic can do.

Once you've mastered these steps, it's not over. You can't just sit back and rely on your practice to build itself. You have to take action and keep the momentum going! Challenge yourself to expand even further by implementing these five "action steps" into your practice:

1. Commit to bringing more children into your practice. Set aside a day for "Children's Day" or "Family Day" when you invite your patients to either bring in a child or a family member for a comprehensive evaluation and exam.

You can invite the local police department to fingerprint children after they've had their exam, as an added incentive for parents to bring their children in. Host this event only once a year and on a day when you're usually not open, limiting the number of appointments to 10.

2. Schedule a "Testimonial Day." Set aside one day to ask patients who are doing well (and feeling good on they day they come in) to explain how chiropractic has helped them. Effective testimonials should tell how long the patients have had the problem, how many doctors they've seen, what drugs failed them, how severe their suffering was, how long it took before they noticed results from chiropractic -- and why they would refer others to begin chiropractic care at your office.

Take photos and get written releases authorizing you to use their pictures and testimonials for marketing purposes. Display them in the hallway of your practice, place copies in books for new patients to read in the adjusting rooms, and have your patients mail testimonials to their family and friends, with an invitation to your practice and a gift certificate for a free examination.

3. Host a "Children's Gift of Health Day." On the day of this event, each child who comes in will be asked to help you choose a person to give a gift to. Have the children close their eyes and point to a name on a random page of the phone book. You will send the selected people a letter and gift certificate for a free exam.

The letter should be similar to: "You've been randomly selected by a child in my office to receive the gift of natural health care. In a random selection process in our office, your name was selected out of thousands of people to receive this gift -- a comprehensive examination, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, worth up to $150."

Three days later, place follow up calls. Remind the individuals why you are calling, how they won and schedule them to collect their gift. One-third of the people will become your new patients!

4. Offer in-office workshops. Workshops not only educate patients about chiropractic, but also generate new patients and referrals. Tell your patients it's a hands-on workshop, so they need to bring a partner. Teach them how to check for trigger points on each other and then deliver a lecture about a current health concern or educate them about chiropractic.

At the end of the workshop, pass out index cards and have them write the name of someone they think chiropractic could help. Also, ask them to list their business, company or organizational affiliations with whom you might share the chiropractic message. This information will be used in step 5.

5. Book outside lectures. Use the information given to you at the end of your in-office workshops to book lectures. Ask your patients and guests if the group or business they listed would be interested in having you teach the stress-reduction workshop, as a free service to the community.

Call each of the organizations, tell them who referred them to you, and that you'd like to present a workshop, free of charge, that will reduce employee absenteeism, Workers Compensation claims, and make the business a healthier and happier work environment.

You'll be more eager to do these procedures the more frequently you utilize them, and you'll feel more confident in doing so. Don't decide right now what you're comfortable with, then fail to do even one. Instead, focus on one and proceed one step at a time. That way, your practice will double, you'll feel happier and more secure, and more people will be under chiropractic care.

Your number of new patients depends on the amount of people who know you're out there, who know and trust you. Success is in the palm of your hand. It's up to you to take the steps you need to expand.

(Dr. David Singer is the CEO of David Singer Enterprises [www.davidsinger.org] 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.)