Hey, chiropractors. We're ready for another Modern Chiropractic Marketing Show with Dr. Kevin Christie, where we discuss the latest in marketing strategies, contact marketing, direct response marketing, and business development with some of the leading experts in the industry.
Kevin: Alright. Welcome to another episode of the Modern Chiropractic Marketing Show. This is your host, Dr. Kevin Christie, and today, I have an interview with a chiropractic student and his name is Grant Elliot and again, he is a tri 9 student, I believe, and he's done something that's been pretty impressive. He's grown a very large Instagram audience, even before he's graduated, and he's going to be able to leverage that and take that to wherever he ends up after he graduates and have a built-in audience and really hit the ground running, and he also dives into how he's going to monetize it outside of just getting patients. So, I really like this episode because we hammered a lot of good information on content and marketing, and how it's.. he's just leveraging Instagram to get really good content out there. [0:01:09.7]
We break that down because I think a lot of times we think of Facebook or Instagram as really just something if we start doing, no matter what we do, it's going to be great for us. And then it ends up not being good. We end up blaming Instagram or blaming Facebook as not working, but really what's happened is you've put the cart before the horse and you just didn't have good, consistent, creative content that filled a need. So we dive into that. I got a lot out of it. I know you will. He brings a lot of energy and so, it's a nice episode, and I think you'll get some good tips to how you could potentially grow your Instagram or at least apply the principles that we talk about to some other platforms and just really getting clear on getting a content marketing strategy. So I hope you do enjoy that. Before we dive into it, I do want to mention that we had a guest blog from Dr. Corey Campbell of Motion Palpation Institute. [0:02:08.5]
He's the Vice President, and he wrote a blog called The Evolution of The Modern Day Chiropractor, and we have been getting a lot of good feedback on that. So check out our website, ModernChiropracticMarketing.com and you can just go to the blog section, and it's the newest one that was released on July 2. So check that out, and it's just really good information and I highly recommend checking out MPI, Motion Palpation Institute, and some of the upcoming live courses they have as well as some of the online courses. If you want to be a good hands-on evaluator, assessments, and the adjustment, there's just nothing better than MPI. So, check them out. Next, I hope you come and visit me as I speak with the fine John Morrison out of Canada and we're going to dive into marketing at Forward 2019, which is in St. Louis, Missouri, September 20-22, and you can go to ForwardThinkingChiro.com to get your tickets. I highly recommend you going. [0:03:09.0]
It's going to be a blast. Even, you know, the content you're going to get is great from people. There's some great speakers. You can check out that list. The camaraderie and the energy there is great. You're going to connect with people like me that will be speaking but we're not there just to be on stage and then leave. A lot of us are going to be there the three days, right, and we're going to be open. You're going to be able to come and chat with us - if you have questions. If you, personally, if you see me, come up and say hello and ask a question. I'm going to make the time to really try to help as many people out as I can, and I know the other speakers are going to do the same thing. So, it'll be fun. It'll be a lot of good times there. There always is. There's also, if you're a student or a young doc, there's going to be a job fair there, a preceptor fair. That's how I found my current associate. He, I found him as a preceptor at Forward KC last year, and that turned into an associateship. [0:04:06.0]
So, check it out - ForwardThinkingChiro.com and without further ado, here is my interview with Grant Elliot. Alright. Welcome to the show, Grant. I really appreciate your time. Before we dive into the Instagram world and the things that you are doing, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Grant: Yeah. So, my name's Grant Elliot. I'm still currently a chiropractic student. Although I'm living in South Tampa, living my best life under the palm trees, I am technically a student at Logan University, which is in St. Louis, or at least a suburb of St. Louis, and I'm a trimester 9 student of 10 trimesters. So, I'm on the last leg. I can see the finish line in the distance and yeah, just hanging out in Florida now, man. It's been great.
Kevin: So let me ask you a question. Are you on a preceptor right now from Logan?
Grant: So yeah - so the last three trimesters or clinical rotations. So, technically, it's called a preceptor once you're tri 10, but it's the same thing. I'm doing my rotation out here. I'm at a local clinic close to Tampa. [0:05:09.7]
Kevin: Yeah, that's what I did. I went to Logan as well, a little bit before you, 2002, 2005, 2006, graduated December of 2005 and I did a preceptor down in Florida as well. So…
Grant: Nice.
Kevin: Yeah. It's a good way. It's a good way of getting out there and learning.
Grant: Oh, yeah.
Kevin: Where are you from originally?
Grant: So I'm originally from central Indiana. It's a city just north of Indianapolis called Carmel, Indiana.
Kevin: Yeah.
Grant: So I was there, you know my whole life until undergrad. I went to Ball State for undergrad, if anyone has heard of that, and then moved to St. Louis for grad school, obviously.
Kevin: I'm familiar with that area. I go to the NFL combine each year.
Grant: Oh - yeah, yeah.
Kevin: And then actually, a gentleman who is a trainer that I first got started with, all the NFL stuff back in 2007-2009, he actually graduated from Ball State and he had a lot of good things to stay about their program there. Yeah. So. [0:06:03.4]
Grant: That's awesome.
Kevin: So you and I first met over at Jeff Langmaid's event, and I kind of…
Grant: Yeah.
Kevin: … you know, I did a little hour, guest presentation, and you were there, and we started catching up a little bit about Instagram and you're… just a couple of things that really intrigued me was the following that you have developed on Instagram as a student and how you're able to really leverage that getting out of school. So, just tell us a little bit about what you've got going on with Instagram.
Grant: Yeah. So, a little bit of history: I've actually always enjoyed making videos of some kind in my past. I'll say my first passion is actually skateboarding. I was a little middle school skate rat with my buddies all day, and I was the filmer. So I bought a video camera and I, you know, Torrented and downloaded a free editing system and I was making all these skate videos. And then, you know, once I stopped that and I went to college, hadn’t picked it up in a while, and then just around, just kind of, just a year ago actually, I started getting a lot of questions from family, friends, people I met at the gym, whatever about like, "Hey, you know - I know you're in chiro school. [0:07:13.1]
I know you're studying this stuff. Like what about this and what about this. And like, how should I move better," or whatever. So I was like, "Hey, you know what? Like, I used to make videos. I enjoy doing it. I'm just going to start doing that again, just with a different topic. So, at first it started with just iphone videos and I just made a few posts that I thought was really important information so that I could just send it to people. And then I kind of started doing it a little bit more - went from like once a month to maybe like, you know, once a week and then I started listening to more podcasts and I kind of realized - hey, you know what - content is obviously everything right now and it's going to be even more so the future, and I enjoy doing this. I'm just going to really make a commitment and start making Instagram videos and see what I can do with that. [0:08:04.1]
So, I just bought a little cheap like $30 microphone to plug into my phone, started making more videos in the gym, started getting good feedback on it, and I was like, this is an amazing way to grow myself, to learn how to speak better, how to reach people better, how to build credibility, and I basically saw, you know, I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with this, but I know at this point that a good social media and content platform can drive any business, no matter what it is. And you can reach more people and help more people at the same time. So it's an absolute win-win.
Kevin: Yeah, I…
Grant: So I just rolled with it.
Kevin: …yeah, for sure. And you know, it's one of those things I talk a lot about as far as what the, what I consider the roadmap, and a big mistake a lot of people make is they focus on the distribution channel or the vehicle of getting the content out there, which say is Instagram, not to say you shouldn't do that, but they think that's going to be the end-all, be-all - "I'm going to get on Instagram and all of sudden, I'm going to have this huge following." [0:09:05.8]
Grant: Yeah, I wish.
Kevin: Yeah, yeah. What you've been doing is actually just leveraging Instagram and obviously, certain tactics and strategies we will discuss, but you've been layering on very consistent, creative content so you got, it seemed like you have gotten real clear on that, and you've done a good job of providing value and then just leveraging the distribution through Instagram to grow your audience. Would you say that's how you've done it so far?
Grant: Oh, 100%, yeah. So, basically I picked my main platform, my main funnel, so to speak, and I was like, hey, you know what? I'm enjoying doing the Instagram stuff, so I'm going to make this my #1. And then as I'm now, I'm to the point where I can actually start funneling that other places, and I'm really excited about that, now I'm just taking everyone from Instagram and distributing them to my other channels and other options and you know… So basically, I just picked, like okay, do I want to do it all on YouTube and funnel through that, or do I want to do all Instagram and funnel through that? So, 100%, I'm to the point now where I'm using Instagram heavily to build these other areas and build something greater. [0:10:12.4]
Kevin: So this is a good teaching moment for our audience a little bit, and I want to see what you're doing on that. I, you know, we talk a lot about you want to build your owned property - o-w-n-e-d - and you don’t want to be only on rented land. So, are you saying that you're potentially trying to get people from Instagram onto maybe your website, which you own, or an email list, which you own. Is that what you're trying to do?
Grant: 100%.
Kevin: Good.
Grant: Absolutely. And I know we talked about that too. So, like just around a couple of months ago, it kind of dawned on me. I was like, oh crap, like if Instagram, for some reason, eliminates tomorrow, I'm done.
Kevin: Um-hm.
Grant: So I started growing emails lists. We're currently developing a website. And I'm going to be funneling everyone to that so then I can be in control of my audience. [0:11:03.7]
And Instagram is obviously going to be the main platform, but, yeah, I realized very quickly that I need to develop a way to own my audience so that I can control it, instead of someone else.
Kevin: Yeah, and it's kind of like if I go back, I remember in 2011, 2012, I've got a lot, I got like over 3100 Facebook business page likes and people were like, "Oh, how did you get that many?" I was like, "Well, I've been doing it for a long time." But back then, I could post something on the business page and everybody would see it. And obviously, Facebook changed their parameters and so the organic reach is almost zero, so you just spend - right now, Instagram is pretty good, or really good, and it's not costing a lot, but you know, you never know. Facebook does own it and so, and I've read recently that the same guy that's running Instagram who works for Facebook, is the guy who used to run Facebook business page and he's the one that switched a lot of the information, or the way it works. So, I wouldn't be surprised, like yeah, it could start to get expensive to reach, you know, even if you have a large audience. [0:12:03.2]
So you're preparing well, which is great, and that's one of the things that I hope our audience gets - is that it's okay to build on rented properties like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, things of that nature, but just make sure you're doing a good job of getting them into your owned properties.
Grant: Yeah, absolutely.
Kevin: Cool. I wanted to just kind of discuss, and one of the things that stood out to me when we met in person was that you are a student and you've developed an audience, and now, you're actually going to be taking that with you and you've got - if I'm still correct - you've got a job lined up after school?
Grant: So, I have a couple of options. I definitely have opportunities.
Kevin: Yeah.
Grant: It's just - what I'm going to do.
Kevin: Would you say that this audience that you've built has given you more opportunities?
Grant: Oh, my god!
Kevin: That's what I want to touch on.
Grant: Oh, oh yeah, without a doubt. It's, I mean, it's just a, it's a huge portfolio. Right? Like, I don’t have to, you know, of course you're going to meet up and you're going to get a feel for each other, but literally, like everyone I've ever contacted, I just attach my social media info - instant credibility. [0:13:10.6]
Like, I no longer have to convince them that I actually know something, you know - I swear I know how to work hard. They can look at what I've done with content, and they already know - "Okay, he knows something. He knows how to work hard. Like, he could be a good person to, you know, meet with."
Kevin: Yeah, and like, as a practice owner myself, and I've been everything - I've been an associate. I've been a partner. I've been an owner and I kind of get it, what's happening, is now you could graduate from school and you could go to someone like me that owns a practice and open that up and say, "Look. This is what I've got." And you could decide, you know, this is your personal preference; I'm just using examples. But, you could say you know, I want to work for someone because I need to learn still some of the business side of things, maybe want to get a little more clinical experience, but at least now, I can negotiate with that business owner, maybe a higher… let's just say a better compensation package. [0:14:08.6]
Grant: It's leverage.
Kevin: Yeah, it's leverage. So you've got that option, which is a great option. You've also got the option of where you could say to yourself, you know what - I'm going to just use this audience and open up my own practice. I feel ready to do it, and now, you would have a lot more confidence in doing it, probably a much quicker catapult to a successful practice.
Grant: Oh, yeah.
Kevin: So, it's definitely something. I know we’ve got a lot of students that listen to this podcast. We have got a lot of younger doctors. And that's why I wanted to bring you on, because you're doing exceptional work, but it's also a unique situation, where you're still a student and you've actually got a larger audience than the vast majority of practicing chiropractors out there. So it's definitely giving you options.
Grant: Yeah. And to piggyback on something you said, if I had absolutely no content and no following and no audience at all, I would feel, you know, I'm a confident person. I know how to work hard. But I would feel legitimately, like nervous and scared for when graduation comes and you know, everyone is afraid of, okay, well, like, is everything going to go okay? [0:15:07.5]
Is the business going to fail? Am I ready to open my own? And like, I would be so nervous, but because I have all this support, essentially is how I'm going to describe it, I am way more confident that, hey, you know what - whatever route I end up taking, or whatever route I end up having to do, whether it's on my own or not, I am way more confident that it is going to be successful because of what I've built up to this point. So, I couldn’t be more happy that I've taken the time to build this, while I'm in school, before I have even graduated.
Kevin: Absolutely. So, what's your audience on Instagram at now, roughly?
Grant: So, I believe I'm at 88.3 thousand.
Kevin: Yeah, that's…
Grant: Yeah. I…
Kevin: …that's exceptional.
Grant: I should, and that's with one year. I actually started making more serious videos almost exactly one year ago. So I've almost reached 100,000 in one year. I think I'll hit 100,000 in around a month or a month and a half.
Kevin: Yeah. And if we were talking a couple of years from now, it'll be even more substantial, and it just…
Grant: I hope so. [0:16:01.8]
Kevin: Yeah. It's just the momentum is there. So you'll be at hundreds of thousands of followers. And I remember having Jacob Hardin on my podcast.
Grant: Oh, yeah.
Kevin: Yeah. And he's pretty high up there. And he gets these weird situations where he'll get a new patient from a follower that's in a different state but has a family member or a friend in his location and they refer them to him. So he gets these new patients from ways that you couldn’t even imagine 10 years ago.
Grant: Yeah - exactly. I've had people from like California and New York, even other countries, who have reached out to me and have asked me, "Hey, where's your office at? I don’t trust people in my area and I want to see you." And I'm like, well, I'm actually not practicing yet, but I'm flattered, you know. It's crazy, like people, like want to come see you because they see you, they trust you, they feel a bond with you. It's amazing.
Kevin: Yeah. And so let me ask you a question. Do you plan on - I know we talked about getting some of these people into an email and a website and stuff like that - when you practice and all that, do you still plan on being very active in Facebook and YouTube and Google and all that stuff? [0:17:15.6]
Or are you going to just really hammer Instagram and go from there? What are your thoughts on that?
Grant: My thoughts are to basically not let up at all with the social media stuff because it's gotten me this far, and it's only going to boost my practice exponentially. So I do not plan on cutting back on media at all. Eventually outsourcing a little bit and having some other people to help me with it. Otherwise, I think I'd be sleeping about an hour and a half a night if I did that.
Kevin: Yeah. If I could make a recommendation, and I know you probably know, but a lot of times I'm also speaking to the audience listening - is that you know, with what you're doing on Instagram, you would probably would use some kind of service like, you know, to where it could be scheduled, someone else could schedule it and cross platform it for you, and do all that. Maybe shoot some longer videos and put that on YouTube and cross platform it. [0:18:09.9]
Grant: Oh, yeah.
Kevin: That is, have someone do it for you.
Grant: Yeah. My plan is for everything you just said, to be within, hopefully within a year from that.
Kevin: Good. Perfect.
Grant: That's my goal, at least.
Kevin: Alright. Cool. So, yeah - what's the name of your Instagram page?
Grant: It's called Rehab Fix. And the initial plan with those words was like, okay, well I do a lot of rehab, so like, I was trying to look up like movement stuff or like empowerment stuff, and I was thinking like, a phrase like, hey you know, every day your body should, you should get your fix of movement or whatever - like get your fix like addiction, so I was like rehab fix - get your daily fix. That kind of thing. So that's how I came up with it. But, once again, I knew that Instagram was going to be my primary platform, so I was looking specifically for names that would look good on Instagram, because I didn't want some huge, long tag. I wanted something short and concise that people could read and get instantly because Instagram is so fast. So I actually used Instagram to determine the kind of name I wanted to go for as well. [0:19:12.3]
Kevin: Okay. Now, feed or stories - what are you doing more of in Instagram or are you doing both or what's working in that regard?
Grant: Yeah, so. Feed for sure. Stories, I think, help people get more of a personal touch with you. So I try, I try to post story as much as I can. I mean, I'm at least posting, you know, three times a day on that, but like personal stories and those things, I think that those will help build a personal bond. Surely the views are just a fraction of what your feed gets, but for me, I'm posting on both of them every single day. Yeah.
Kevin: Perfect. Yeah, and that's a key ingredient, obviously - humanizing yourself is just gigantic, especially as a doctor; it goes a long way. I say that sometimes, like you want to humanize yourself, and people don’t get it. But it's just showing that you're a regular person. Right? And it's not all science speak and health speak - it's really just showcasing you and you as a person, which is great. [0:20:12.7]
Grant: Yeah.
Kevin: There's a book called Epic Content Marketing by Joe Puilizzi, and he talks about the six steps, or the six principles, of epic content marketing. And one is, and you're doing all these, which is what I want to highlight as well. As important as Instagram is, what you're really achieving is just really good content and one is you're filling a need. So there's no doubt about that. Be consistent, which you're doing. The third one is be human, which we just talked about. And so you're using stories to be human and you're using the feed to kind of give them a lot of the value. Is that correct?
Grant: That's absolutely correct. Yeah.
Kevin: Good. The next one is having a point of view. No doubt you're having a point of view and you kind of just mentioned that as far as what you're doing with Rehab Fix. Avoid sales speak, and lastly, be best of breed. And I would definitely say you're best of breed in what you're doing. So, you're essentially following that epic content, the principles, and again, just using Instagram to just blow it out of the water. [0:21:15.9]
Grant: Well, it's good to know that I'm doing that right because I never read that book.
Kevin: No, I know, and that's what's sometimes funny is like, you know, there's a lot of the theory and the principles and all these different, the schooling of it, but sometimes just inherently, you hit it and it shows and it reveals itself, and it's not like you sat down and read this like marketing book to do it. You just kind of intuitively realized what you needed to do and saw the potential on Instagram. So, kudos to you. And do you have any other overall strategy of Instagram that you're doing that you could break down a little bit for us?
Grant: Yeah. So there's some like smaller, nitty-gritty things that we might not necessarily need to get into, but…
Kevin: Yeah, sure.
Grant: … big picture things are obviously the consistency. [0:22:02.5]
You brought that up. And initially, when I was trying to, okay, I'm going to start making more, you know, legitimate videos, I was like, okay, there's just no way I can post any more than twice a week. You know, for some people, like it depends on the platform - right - so for like YouTube, you know, two or three times a week, that's kind of plenty, and maybe similar platforms as well. But for Instagram, Instagram is very fast, very fast. People want new things all the time, and so I realized that. And I was like, okay, two to three times a week on Instagram is not going to work, and the second I started posting at least five to six days a week, my engagement literally doubled or tripled, and I was like, okay - this is what I need to do. And a lot of people out there listening might have this thought because I got asked this all the time when I was at school - people were like, Hey, Grant - like, why are you posting so much. Like, people are going to get sick of it, or you're putting out too much content - no one is going to come see you because they're going to think they have all of the answers, and you're just, you're just giving away everything that you would ever do, and that's just not - none of that is true. [0:23:11.1]
The more, especially on Instagram, more content the better. Because not everyone who follows you is going to see it every single day. Right? I post every single day; recently, I've actually been skipping Sundays because I want a day of rest. But, you know, I post basically every single day, but I guarantee you, only maybe, well based on my views, about a fourth of my followers actually see each video, on average. So if they're, you know, only checking their feed every, you know, two or three days or whatever, they're only seeing - my video better be posted that day so that they can see it. So consistency is absolutely huge, and even if you feel like, you know, oh, this picture or this infograph or this video, it wasn't like oh, it wasn’t great, it wasn’t like polished, it wasn’t perfect - who cares. If there's any value to it at all, freaking post it and get it out there. [0:24:01.5]
Because it's going to basically keep your channel like alive. It's going to keep you in the minds of people. It's going to keep bumping up everything. So, you got to, you got to post every single day. And kind of a piggyback off that is just overall engaging. So, if you make a post, but then you're not responding to any comments, you're not responding to any DMs, you're not engaging with anyone, not only on your page, but on other pages too, that's going to hurt you as well. Because let's think about this - you're a new doctor or a new student or whatever - you're trying to build a following. Well, if you're not finding everyone in your niche, so like for me, rehab stuff, right. So I found all the biggest, most popular rehab accounts that I agreed with what they were doing, and I turned on my post notifications. So every single time they made a post, I was one of the first comments, and you don’t like say, hey everyone, come look at my page, because you're going to deleted and that's annoying - don’t do that. You just say, hey, great video, thanks for sharing. Or hey, I really like this movement -I also do this, or this variation and I find it gets great results - something positive. [0:25:05.7]
Something that's going to promote movement overall or promote them, but everyone that goes to that post, they're going to see your name. They're going to see you consistently. They're going to start going to your page. They're going to see you have similar content, similar niche, and they're going to start following you. So people - you have to be willing to give a lot at the beginning. So you got to comment on other people's pages. You got to respond to comments. You got to get your name out there as much as you possibly can, and that is the most important thing, and you know, that's not some magic strategy or anything - it's just putting in the time, really.
Kevin: And that really helped grow the audience?
Grant: Oh, my… oh, absolutely.
Kevin: Okay.
Grant: Absolutely. Yep. That is - if there was one thing I could advise, it would be posting every day, responding to every comment, and posting/commenting on every other big account's channel that you wish to emulate because you have got to get your name out there. Those are the things you got to do. [0:26:01.4]
Kevin: Are you doing any type of documenting experiences? I mean, obviously, you might be able to do this more when you're in private practice. But just documenting some treatment of patients or evaluations of patients, just kind of documenting?
Grant: So I was thinking about this the other day. No. I haven’t. And I wish I had because I could turn those into kind of testimonials or videos or anything like that. I have a couple of people in mind, but I was like - oh, my gosh, I got to film something with them to launch this when I graduate and stuff or before then, depending on what it was. But yeah, I was thinking about that the other day. I was like - oh, my gosh, I wish had some, like before and after videos.
Kevin: Or maybe like, I don't know if it would be a good idea for that to be some of your stories, maybe, you know? That has potential. Like I know we're even sometimes one of the patients come in that have, we have got a couple of influencer on Instagram and they've shot stories while they're in our office, so obviously they shot the story on their Instagram and tagged us in there and that was good. But we also have done some stories reverse. So maybe that's an idea as well. Right? [0:27:05.3]
Grant: Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I need to start doing that. I guess I just, I never thought about asking people … because like, you know, I've not graduated yet. I feel like it maybe would be intrusive to ask, but I should probably just start asking people, like, hey, you want to be on a video.
Kevin: How about engagement? How do you … like, okay, you get an audience of whatever - maybe it's 5000 - again, I think, I like to preface it, I don’t like to, you know, downplay what chiropractors can do, but I don’t want them to also feel like they are not doing a good job on Instagram if they don’t have 80,000 people. So like, let's say they've got 5000 or 10,000 or whatever they've got in their community - what are some strategies to keep their audience engaged?
Grant: On that particular platform?
Kevin: Yeah.
Grant: To keep them engaged, I mean, I would probably just think a general summary of what we have discussed at this point. I mean, consistency, certainly in their community, tagging …[0:28:02.0]
Kevin: Okay.
Grant: … the location, local gyms that they go to, local facilities that they go to that are related to either their services or health in any way.
Kevin: Yep.
Grant: So that people in that area can actually see those. Yeah, like I said, responding to comments, anything like that to kind of…
Kevin: How about hashtag strategy?
Grant: So, hashtags, here's what I've found - there's no golden ticket with hashtags, but it certainly is worth putting in the effort. So with any average video that I post, usually around I think 15%, sometimes 20%, of the views will come from hashtags. And I mean, if that's a 50,000-view video, then I mean, that's, I mean, that starts to become a significant number of views, a significant number of reach. So whenever I talk to people about the specifics, I always say, you know, don’t spend 20 minutes or an hour trying to come up with the absolute best hashtags because there's all this like hashtag research and stuff, and I say, from my experience doing this every single day for the last year, there's no magic pill, so to speak, with hashtags. But certainly, put in at least 10 minutes, find the right ones, use all 30 of them; don’t just use 5 and call it a day if you're trying to build. Use as many of them as you can. Use the right ones and get local locations in there too. [0:29:19.7]
Kevin: Perfect. Now the other thing I want to talk about with engagement, and I wanted to highlight is, I have met you in person, I now see you on video, I've seen your videos on Instagram. I hear the audio. You're a dynamic personality. You've got good energy to you, just naturally, even when I met you in person. So obviously, not everybody has that inherently, but that does go a long way for video engagement. What are your thoughts on that? I know it's just kind of who you are, which is great, but what are your thoughts on that aspect of things?
Grant: So I mean, ultimately, you have to do whatever you're comfortable with and you got to be who you are. Right? Here's what I will say - so, you're right - I'm kind of a high energy, off the wall kind of guy sometimes. Especially when I'm filming, for sure, I kind of like click into a zone. [0:30:06.8]
So when I've talked with people about this, you know, I won't tell them, hey, sorry, you have got to pretend to be someone who you're not. I've never told people that, but I have, you know, said, hey, you know what, like, I understand you're a really chill person or like whatever, but if your goal is to build an audience and build a platform, then you need to look at what is the most effective for building this. And often, the most effective strategy is not being super chill, talking slow or doing whatever you're doing. So, you might have to embellish a little bit. So you don’t have to be crazy, like me or like other people, but you know, let's pick up the voice a little bit, let's talk a little bit, you know, faster maybe. Make a few jokes here and there and just try to be overall entertaining, appears someone that someone would want to hang out with or someone that someone would want to learn from. So yeah, I mean, you just got to think, this is, at the end of the day, this is entertainment. It doesn’t matter how good the information is, unfortunately, when you're growing, it comes down to value and entertainment. So you got to have a good combination of the two. [0:31:04.7]
Kevin: Yeah, and this is true. Like for myself, I'm definitely more of a laidback person through my general day. When I do public speaking or I get on video, I definitely try to double my energy and sometimes even double my energy is not enough and sometimes you've got to triple it, depending on how chill you are. But that's definitely a strategy. And you just got to look at it this way - you don’t need to change who you are, but there is a form of acting in it, and so, doubling your energy and looking into the camera and really having some of that is something you can improve on, and you can work on. And so, I highly recommend that if you're getting on video, even if you're not necessarily a chill person, but you're not super dynamic and high, high energy, and you're kind of middle of the road, you probably still are going to have to double your energy a little bit on video.
Grant: A little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I would say. I mean, there's some crazy stunts you see out there that people do at the beginning of videos to attract traffic, but it works. It works, though, you know. Like people want to see action and you got to slip in the value with it, but yeah, you got to amp it up, that's for sure. [0:32:09.4]
Kevin: Perfect. Any other thoughts on Instagram or anything that we can really take from this?
Grant: I would just say, for anyone out there, a student or not, maybe even, maybe even somebody who isn't even a student yet, maybe they're getting ready to enroll in whatever profession it is - it doesn’t even matter what profession - when Dr. Jeff Langmaid came out and spoke in St. Louis, he made the comment, "You should have started making content, you know, two weeks ago." And I'm going to say that exact same thing. As long as you're not trying to talk about things that are above and beyond and over your head and things that you actually are confident in, that you know are right, for the most part, and that it's good information, you got to start making content as soon as possible because it just compounds and compounds and compounds. And then, when you get halfway through school or at the end of school or maybe 3 to 5 years into practice, you're going to be so happy with the amount of effort that you put in before. [0:33:04.6]
So it is never too early to start making content. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have some super expensive camera or some amazing lighting system. If you have a phone, start putting information out there. Not only is it going to help people, it's going to improve healthcare, it's going to build your brand, your personal brand as well. It is only going to pay off in dividends. So, do not be intimated. You just got to start shooting and just start posting. And it's as easy as that.
Kevin: Perfect. Do you do any pre-planning at all for your content for the week or for the day or how do you do that?
Grant: So, it's kind of a stressful way, kind of unorganized. What I do is like, I'll think of ideas randomly, but I also, when I'm at the gym, I'll just look around and I'll see what some people are doing - either wrong or something they could improve on - and right then and there, I have this tab of notes in my phone, and I'll write down basically what I want the title of the video to be and what the key things I'm going to show them are. So by the time… we shoot around every 2 or 3 weeks. [0:34:02.0]
Kevin: Yeah.
Grant: Every time 2 or 3 weeks comes around, I'll have a note in my phone that has around, you know, like 20 or 25 ideas, and then I just go through each one, one by one, film it, and then just check it off as I'm going. That's essentially how I'm doing those.
Kevin: So, you're batching.
Grant: Sure, yeah. I guess so.
Kevin: It's a good thing…
Grant: Oh, I see what you're saying - yeah, yeah, yeah. Doing them in bulk and sprinkling them out. Yeah.
Kevin: Yeah. I think a mistake people make is they're kind of reactive in their content creation. It's like, I got to shoot a video, and then I got to shoot another video, and then I got to shoot another…ugghhhh… next day. Yeah, you plan it out - you just get it done and then you have it all ready in the hopper, distribute it. Then you realize, okay, I've got to have another filming day, and get it done.
Grant: Absolutely. Yeah. My goal is to film no more than once every three weeks.
Kevin: Perfect.
Grant: So that's why I try to film 20 videos every single time I film because gosh, yeah… people. … yeah… really take that advice. Film a lot of stuff at once. Don’t feel like you have to film every day. That's crazy.
Kevin: Yeah. I try to do that with the podcast as well. I mean, I don’t do a ton in one day, but I try to batch and get like over a couple week, two to three week period of time, get like six or seven episodes in so I don’t have to keep on reacting to getting episodes. So. [0:35:13.1]
Grant: Yeah. That'd be crazy stressful.
Kevin: Perfect. Well, hey, you know, I really appreciate the information. If our audience can reach out to you, what's the best way?
Grant: So, the best way to reach out to me is through my Instagram, obviously. I do check every single message. I respond to every message. It's just called Rehab Fix, exactly how it sounds. I do have a Facebook and YouTube. Those are really kind of secondary platforms. I'm not crazy active on those, and then I'm not exactly sure when this is going to launch, this podcast, but I will have my website up very soon called TheRehabFix.com and we'll be posting blogs. We'll actually have a program on there for sale as well.
Kevin: Yeah, tell us about that. Because that was the other thing I wanted to touch on. Obviously, you got an audience that you're going to be able to develop a patient base out of, but you're also going to monetize it in a different way; is that correct? [0:36:00.4]
Grant: Absolutely. Yes. So I realized probably four months ago or something. I didn't even have a website, so I hit like, I hit like 60,000 followers and I was like oh, my gosh - I don’t even have a website yet. This is crazy. So I got a website built, and obviously, I'm not licensed yet, so I don’t… I just want to make that very clear. I don’t talk about pain. I don’t talk about conditions. I don’t diagnose. I'm not doing any of that stuff. I do have my CSCS license, so I strictly talk about movement, or you know, moving better or functioning better, those things. So, essentially what I'm doing is I'm taking my Instagram audience that I've spent the last year building and as soon as I launch this website, I will be funneling everyone to the website through Instagram ads, Instagram posts, Facebook posts, Facebook ads, all of those things. And this website is basically the hub for all the blogs that I'll be writing, which is a different form of content, that I can't do that because I don’t have a website yet, so it's going to be a new form of content to draw people to it and to boost the website. And then I am creating a low back program that is specifically focused on moving better and functioning better and it's going to be subscription based, cheaper than a gym membership, and I will be able to funnel anyone who asks me questions about low back stuff, specifically, towards that. [0:37:14.5]
So, I'm going really in-depth on it, filming for like probably 20 or 30 hours to get all that done, and that's how I'm going to begin generating, you know, income revenue before I even graduate. So, I'm pushing this really, really hard right now.
Kevin: That's awesome, man. Good stuff. You know, obviously, you made mention if you're a student, there's definitely some limitations on what you can talk about, but then it'll be fun for you once you do get your license; that'll open up a whole other level of content that you can dive into.
Grant: I can start using all the catchy words like impingement and disc herniation. I can't say any of that stuff right now, it's awwww man, it's tough. It's so tough.
Kevin: You get there. Well you know what? I really appreciate your time. I know that you and I will cross paths again. I appreciate you bringing some great information, and I'm excited for you, and I'm excited for any students who are out there that are hearing this and can take some of this information and just realize that they can start getting ahead of the game and really bring a lot to the table when they do graduate. [0:38:12.7]
Grant: Yeah, absolutely. And thank you so much for having me on, and being able to talk with me and I'm very, very grateful for the great docs I've met along my journey in chiropractic school, to be able to have these resources and build this community that has supported me so much, and is willing to help me out. So, I really appreciate your time.
Kevin: Absolutely. Thank you.
Grant: Absolutely, man. Have a good day.
Kevin: Before you go - this is Kevin, again. I want to invite you to our new website, ModernChiropracticMarketing.com. It's the same URL as before, but we completely revamped it. We have got a really well developed blog on there now where we have got guest contributors and myself putting blogs on there, at least a couple of times a month and good information. We have got the podcast on there with the links to download it, but also each show now has very well developed show notes, links, and the transcript in it, so you can get all that information there if there's anything you heard on the episode. [0:39:09.2]
It's all found right into there. So we have got a nice podcast section for it. And then also, you'll see on the homepage, we have got some other ways you can get the content from us. Obviously, there's the podcast. I really encourage you to subscribe. There's also, you can request to join the free Facebook group that is also called The Modern Chiropractic Marketing Group, and that is free, and request to join. You do have to be a chiropractor, just a couple of questions you'll answer, but a lot of good information there. So, we'd love to have you inside there. Next, we have the Chiropractic Success Academy, which you can enroll in many parts of the year. You have to join a wait list, and then we open it up; the next time it's being opened is in October of 2019, and so if you're hearing this now, just join the wait list. We'd love to have you inside there. And then lastly, there is some one-on-one coaching, which we're calling the MCM Mastery and that's because I am helping you master the principles of what we discuss in the podcast, the Facebook group, and giving you a clear path to implementing this in your practice, and ultimately, optimizing it and automating it and making your practice predictable as far as cash flow, and so there will also be a lot of business coaching and accountability. [0:40:23.6]
Presently, that is filled. I have a limited amount of people I can help out and I want to make sure that when I am helping out chiropractors one-on-one, I can give them my full attention, so I had to cap it at a certain number. But feel free to fill out the form, request. Spots do open up and so you can ask me and I'd love to have you, if there is a spot there. So check that out. And I hope you find this website, and especially the content aspect of it that we develop, very useful for you. My goal always is to provide you with as much free information as possible and then we can take it from there. If you need the dots to be connected a little bit more, that's why we have the Chiropractic Success Academy and the MCM Mastery. Talk to you next episode.
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