Everyday I’m inundated with the latest ideas on how to use Facebook and Twitter to grow a small business. From building snazzy landing pages within Facebook to growing Twitter followers automatically over night, the amount of information on how to use these services is overwhelming.
But, if you’re like me, you need to step away from the fire hydrant every once in awhile to gain a fresh perspective and to keep first things first.
Furthermore, as shared in a previous post, one way I stay on track is by remembering that social media sites are tools to be used whereas blogs and websites are assets to be owned and grown.
To put it differently, if you have a tool-focused strategy (i.e., using Facebook exclusively) then you don’t really have a strategy at all. That’s why I stress the importance of making your chiropractic blog the center of all your online activities.
You see platforms come and go. Remember when Netscape Navigator was the only competitive browser on the net that competed with Internet Explorer? Fast forward to just a few years ago — remember when MySpace dominated social media?
My point is this: Don’t get so dependent on certain social media networks that you fail to take care of your place, aka your chiropractic blog, in this ever-expanding Internet world. By being cognizant of change and adapting accordingly, you’ll be able to go with the flow without sacrificing your brand for someone else’s.
So remember that social media networks will rise and fall like stock traded on the NASDAQ. But, by nurturing your chiropractic blog and seeing it as a true asset, you can capitalize on its power and build a thriving community of raving fans that want what you’re selling.
Question: Are you building a community around your chiropractic blog? If so, what ways do you share your story? Can readers sense your passion or do they leave wondering what you’re all about?
Let us know in the {comments} section below.
About Dr. Patrick MacNamara
Totally agree. If you are creating and sharing content, you need to have your own platform where you can retain ownership for yourself. If you create new ideas on facebook, or if you upload a picture or video. They own it.
I hope Google Maps/Places doesn’t shut down…
Yeah, that’d be devastating. But, considering where Google stands financially right now, I don’t think we have to worry about that for quite some time.
This is reminiscent of the days before the internet and social marketing, where the only networking you did was through friends, co-workers and business contacts.
You would attend functions such as dinners, luncheons or cocktail parties called mixers. You would often over hear people asking each other; “what line of work are you in?” or “what do you do for a living?”
Usually a business card or two would be exchanged with a possible lunch scheduled if the the businesses were compatible. If you did nothing for a living…your card would be blank if you had a card at all.
Your blog is now the mixer as you write about your business and products. The social media platforms, facebook and twitter, are the new business cards.
There are still networking group meetings where businesses joined together to connect and expand within their community, but usually these are only on a local scale, where as blogs and articles along with social media are global.
Well put, Dr. Beck!
One of the things I’ve mentioned both on Next Generation Chiropractor and within BloggingChiros is the Internet’s ability for chiropractors to reach not only their local community but the masses for chiropractic.
Furthermore, their services don’t always have to be through a chiropractic adjustment. There are many ways they can impact the overall health of people simply by providing topnotch education on the value of seeing a chiropractor.
Nevertheless, chiropractic blogs need to be the center of chiropractors’ Internet marketing strategy so that they can capitalize on the many opportunities awaiting them online.