As general practitioners many Naturopathic Doctors are afraid to focus their marketing.
Facing Your Fear of Focusing on One Target with Five Ones (Niching)
If you’ve been on any of my webinars or training sessions you know I talk a lot about Focusing Your Marketing with the Five Ones strategy. When I learned this strategy first from a coach that I admire and respect, I could see the power in what he was saying, but having been a general business coach for over 20 years I had the same fears many NDs have when I talk about it … “how do I go from working with “Small Business Owners” in general to just one industry” … it’s tough to get your mindset right to make the transition.
Five Ones is all about picking one type of patient to focus your marketing on, picking one problem, providing one solution and one irresistible offer/campaign to get people started.
Many Naturopathic Doctors struggle with this concept because until now they’ve been marketing and practicing as general practitioners helping, or trying to help everyone.
The problem with trying to market to everyone is that no one feels like you are talking to them. So when I suggest focusing with the Five Ones to develop a niche market, they often agree in theory but immediately freeze with fear when they suddenly realize that by asking them to focus, they think I’m also asking them to stop providing service to everyone else. That is not the case.
If you can relate, this article will help. Before you can embrace the concept of Five Ones or one niche or one target, you have to first get over your fear of Focusing.
These are the five most common reasons why Naturopathic Doctors don’t focus their marketing, and why it’s time to overcome these fears if you want to scale your practice.
Myth/Fear #1: “I’ll miss out on all the other potential patients”
Let’s for a minute say that is true, it’s not – but let’s, for the sake of this conversation, say it is true.
If you have your practice to the point where it is fully booked out with great patients that you love to work with, they love to work with you, you are providing excellent natural health solutions to the market you serve and you are 100% confident in the solution you provide because you are an expert in this area of health … do you still worry about the other patients you are not reaching? My guess is no!
If you go out to an event where there are 100 families and you introduce yourself as a naturopathic doctor … people will most likely politely say, “oh great, nice to meet you” and move on with the conversation. If instead you say “I’m a doctor who specializes in helping women overcome menopause symptoms, balance their hormones and reduce or eliminate hot flashes using natural medicine” … my guess is all or at least 90% of the women over 40 in the group will immediately turn to you! You’ll have their full undivided attention for the evening!
You may lose the potential opportunity with the men and the children in the group … but you will gain 80-90% of the niche your picked.
Myth/Fear #2: “I don’t know which target or health problem is the best one to pick”
The second reason Naturopathic Doctors tell me they can’t focus is because they don’t know which market or problem is going to be the “best one” to pick.
“If I pick the wrong one then I’ll look bad if I change it later”
I totally understand that thinking, however I also know this: There is no “best one”. I’m not suggesting that you immediately stop serving or marketing to your other patients … all I’m saying is that for your next marketing campaign, you focus on one target, one problem, one solution and one offer and see how it goes.
If you like that niche, that market, you can then decide to keep it running and gradually focus your entire practice on that market and that problem … or you can also decide to add another “Five Ones” campaign on another aspect of health and target a second niche… and a third etc.
It’s a marketing campaign not a lifelong commitment.
Myth/Fear #3: “I’ll miss the variety”
Helping all types of patients with all types of health issues can be exciting and fun, and it keeps you sharp … no argument here.
A lot of general practitioners are scared that working with one type of patient and helping with one problem will become boring and monotonous.
The truth is, if you have one particular type of patient, helping them with one specific issue, you will become so knowledgeable in that area of health and discover a depth of knowledge in that area that you become an expert in that aspect of health … often so much so that other practitioners start referring their patients to you for more in depth help with that issue.
You start to be invited to speak at conferences on that issue, you are invited to write articles on that topic, you may even decide to become a published author on the issue.
The reality is the variety of health issues does not go away! Yes the reason people come to you is focused on one health issue but the variety of ways to design a care plan for each different patient’s needs keeps it exciting and fun. Also remember, you may have patients coming to you for,let’s say, hormone issues, but then they become your patient and come to you with their weight issues, their digestive issues … all their other health issues, you are their doctor after all!
Eight years ago when I finally got out of my own way on this “focus” concept and decided to go from “general business coach” to only coaching Naturopathic Doctors, my coaching practice has grown exponentially, I love what I’m doing and have hundreds of NDs who are experiencing massive growth and success because of the strategies I share with them … now that’s rewarding far beyond the money!
If focusing your marketing on one target brings up fears in your mind … think them through. If you could fill your practice with patients who love how you are helping them and you don’t have to spend hours every week researching and charting new health issues every week … would that be better or worse than your current situation?
Imagine the group programs you could create, imagine the webinar programs you could develop and sell, and imagine the number of people you could confidently help!
If you’ve been resisting focusing on one target, I encourage you to give it a try!
Check out our upcoming Two Day Naturopathic Doctor Marketing Intensive Online event – Click here to learn more.
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