Hook Up! Branch Out! Burst Forth!

Pick up just about any chiropractor's New Year's Resolution list and you'll most likely find the declaration, "Double my practice" near the top. A new year naturally becomes a time to reassess what's working in our practices, what needs tweaking and what needs to go out with the rock-hard fruitcake. Inevitably, as we consider all of the steps required to double our practice, we arrive at the dreaded realization: We must physically remove ourselves from behind our adjusting tables and get out into the world to – gasp – network.

Yep, networking. For many docs, networking might as well be a four-letter word. It's the one activity that could take even the most social, outgoing person and turn them into an awkward, blundering wallflower in one mega-chamber luncheon. Being herded into a room full of strangers to showcase our goods via a 30-second elevator pitch is not the best path to solid, sustainable, long-term business relationships. How many genuine connections can you expect to gain from networking events that each person attends with the goal of advancing their own work or business goals?

Many doctors feel this type of networking devalues a chiropractor's services and minimizes our position as an integral player on a patient's health care team. But love it or hate it, we cannot ignore networking altogether, because, if done right in a uniquely creative way, it truly can be one of the best ways to double your practice in 2016. Here are some fresh twists on networking you may even find yourself looking forward to implementing this year.

Hook Up!

1. Attach Your Patients. Position your office as a place where people in the community come to congregate, socialize and grow. To establish lifetime relationships with our patients and encourage them to introduce us to their friends and family, connect your patients to each other in creative ways that make your office a "go-to" place; a destination for things other than just their treatment.

One of my favorite examples of this strategy is hosting a patient book club, encouraging patients, and their invited friends and family, to gather monthly at your office. As your office becomes a hub where patients and potential patients meet, mingle and network, new prospects get exposure to you and your office in a fun, social setting. As the book club grows, your network grows. Imagine the value your office adds to the community when it is viewed as a destination for not only their health care needs, but also for personal and professional growth well beyond your traditional services.

2. Align Your Referral Partners. Consider your referral partners, who also build their businesses based upon networking and word-of-mouth referrals. Create a mastermind group of like-minded referral partners who convene at your office to brainstorm on marketing and community outreach. This type of referral powwow keeps you in the forefront of your referral partners' minds, making it easier for them to introduce you to their expanding network. It also strengthens the referral bonds you have with each other, leading to growth for everyone involved. A win on all levels.

3. Associate Your Acquaintances. You can add exceptional value to your network and exponentially expand it by being a connector, bringing together people in your network who share similar values and interests. Create opportunities for others by introducing them to the right people. Connectors are willing to help and to reach out even if there is no obvious or immediate payback. Think long-term on this one; when you make a great business connection for someone else, by the Law of Reciprocity, they feel inclined to help you make great connections in return. As a matter of fact, they may even reciprocate with a gesture far more generous than your original good deed.

4. Align With Online Contacts. These days, millions of contacts are being made every day online; however, the depth of these relationships remains limited if you do not convert your online contacts into offline contacts. Combining online and offline networking strategies is a way to build and deepen more meaningful connections.

One of my clients, for example, belongs to a Facebook group of golfers, to which she has an affinity. She leveraged this affinity by inviting other members of the group to a local golf outing. By initiating this face-to-face connection, she was able to meet and network with other professionals through their mutual enjoyment of golf. It has proved to be one of her most successful networking strategies. Use affinity marketing to take your online connections offline and well beyond the fickle Web relationship.

Branch Out!

5. Expand Yourself. Now is the time to start crossing off items on your bucket list that you've always wanted to try – new skills, new hobbies, new clubs or new sports. By picking up a new activity, especially one that may involve other like-minded professionals, you can position yourself to get to know new people on a real level.

People in a relaxed, social setting are usually more open to conversation, which makes this the perfect opportunity to open up, ask questions, and build new relationships. Not only are you getting the opportunity to try something you've always wanted to do; you're also making deeper and more lasting connections. Who said referral partners can't be made while jumping out of a plane? Expand your social groups and you will expand your network.

6. Extend Yourself. Consider volunteering your time as a way to fill your heart and your contacts list at the same time. Volunteering puts you directly in touch with people who share the same values and passions – which can be a good foundation for working together or referring one another. Volunteer for an organization you really care about.

Have kids in school? A great growth strategy is to lend your professional expertise at your child's school on career night, when parents are also in attendance and can become patients and referral sources. Volunteering is always a win-win. You'll be making the world a better place while building your practice at the same time.

7. Enlist Yourself. Fund-raising for local causes and getting involved in the prosperity of your community allows you to mingle with often high-profile neighbors and attendees. For example, jumping in to assist in the fund-raising for the expansion of your local park puts you in contact with the people who are getting things done in your community in a big way. Seek out opportunities to assist in the success of your neighborhood and you will quickly find your network and your influence expanding.

Burst Forth!

8. Express Yourself. Turn that 30-second elevator speech you've been working on into a 20-minute presentation and get speaking! You can multiply your audience by thousands if you can become a speaker. Speaking in front of a local group is a terrific way to network and show off your expertise.

There are dozens of groups in your area that need speakers. In just 15 to 20 minutes, you'll have the opportunity to grab the attention of the entire room, increase your network and open up new opportunities.

9. Exhibit Yourself. Can't find an event where your target market would congregate? Create your own! If you want to flood your practice with children, rent out the local Jump Zone, invite the neighborhood families and create your own "leap & learn" event. Educate the kids (and their parents) about chiropractic while they enjoy an hour of jumping on your dollar.

Love to treat runners? Organize your own run that showcases you and your services. Or if pregnant women are your target market, partner up with a Lamaze coach to host classes and events to educate and network with your ideal patient. Remember: If you build it, they will come. Create memorable events that quickly enlarge your network.

10. Execute With Purpose. Whichever networking strategies you choose, don't just show up and wing it. Be prepared. Execute with purpose by identifying ahead of time who you want to meet and how you can help them succeed. Be genuine. It's not about what you can get out of the other person, but about learning their story so you can understand their greatest need and try to fill it. Follow up. Don't lose momentum and all of the benefits of immediate follow-up. Following up with a sincere gesture of appreciation is guaranteed to be memorable. And, last but not least, have fun! As you venture into new networking territory, remember this African proverb: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.