New patients are all around you, all you have to do is communicate with them. This can mean stopping a person in the check-out line who's in obvious pain and explaining how you can help, to going out into the community and delivering lectures on topics of major interest to people. Both are successful ways to market your practice and educate others about chiropractic and what it can do to improve their lives.

Your community faces a variety of health problems and many people are willing to learn about new ways to address these problems. You are in a unique position to present a natural solution to them, one that doesn't require unnecessary drugs and can bring about long-lasting results.

When you consider that more than 26 million Americans will experience lower back pain at least once in their life, and that low back pain is the leading cause of disability in Americans under the age of 45 (source: The American Pain Foundation -- www.painfoundation.org), you can safely assume that many people will be interested in attending a workshop to not only find out how they can reduce their risk of back injury but also how to naturally handle back problems and injuries.

Now that you have the topic for your workshop, where do you hold it? How do you ensure people will show up? How do you actually sign those people up as new patients?

First, you should try to book your lecture outside of your practice. More people are likely to attend if you hold your workshop in such places as libraries, coffee shops, recreational centers or community buildings -- they'll feel less pressure. Other successful locations are adult evening school classes and assisted living facilities.

You need to let people know you are offering this free community seminar. You can start by browsing through your newspaper. Find the community calendar of events, for a list of every local support group. This will not only give you the names of each group, but also a better idea of the activities each group schedules. Or, visit your local library and ask for a copy of the directory of groups and organizations in your town. In Florida, that directory is called the "Florida Recreation and Organization Guide" (FROG.) All you need to do is contact each group and set up a workshop that's appropriate for their needs.

Another successful, yet inexpensive way to market your lectures is a flyer campaign. Create flyers to promote your workshop and have your C.A.s spend an afternoon delivering them to doorways of homes and taping them to windows of local stores.

Your flyer should include the name of your workshop, a picture of you, the guest speaker, and the benefits of attending this workshop. For instance, if you host a Fibromyalgia workshop, create a flyer that asks, "Do you lack energy? Do you ache all over? Attend this lecture and learn the natural solution to eliminating these problems."

Don't assume just because you have your audience, that you automatically have a room full of instant patients -- no matter how dynamite your delivery was. You have to know how to close them, how to sell them that you and chiropractic are the right choice for them.

The close should go something like this:

"I'd like to end this workshop by giving you a gift. That gift is the opportunity for you to come into our clinic for the most comprehensive health check-up you have ever had. The normal cost of this examination is $200, but tonight I am inviting you to come in for only $25 -- which will cover any and all tests that are needed to determine if I can help you..."

Then you should explain your purpose (to help as many people as possible through chiropractic care) and in order to achieve your purpose, you want to give them the opportunity to come in, without finances burdening them, to determine what chiropractic care can do for them. (NOTE: Some state laws prohibit offering a free examination. Check with your state association before making such an offer.)

Because these people attended a lecture about a particular health issue, they have already recognized they have a problem that needs to be addressed. Therefore, explain that their condition is only going to get worse if they continue to ignore it, and how getting rid of their problem will enable them to lead a happier and healthier life. Assure them you won't waste their time or money, that if you can't help them, you will tell them so and refer them to another doctor who can. Just state that they have nothing to lose, that this is simply a chance for them to help themselves and to get better.

Utilizing your position in the community will enable you to not only educate people about the major health issues that we are facing today -- such as obesity, stress, fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc. -- but it also gives you the opportunity to educate your community and broaden their understanding of what Chiropractic can do, so that they can see, first-hand, what it can do to personally improve their lives.