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Hey everybody, this is Dr. Mike Wining. Welcome to another edition of Bootstrap MD, the podcast for physician and healthcare entrepreneurs. This is for physicians who want more income, want more freedom, want more impact.

I'm a 20-plus year physician entrepreneur and today I'm going to share something that I really nerd out about and that is marketing. We're going to talk about building funnels. Specifically, funnels that can help you attract more patients to your practice. Now, if you're someone who has their own cash-based practice and you're looking to fill your schedule without having to hire an expensive marketing agency, then this episode is for you.

And even if you don't have your own practice or maybe you have a business, you can apply the same principles that we share with you to help you attract more customers and clients to your business. Just substitute the word patients for customers on here. And what we're going to learn is how to set up a simple organic funnel that brings patients on autopilot. You don't need to spend money, expensive money on paid ads.

I'm going to walk you through it step by step. So, grab your favorite notebook and your favorite beverage. So, let's dive in. And I want to cover it in seven easy-to-understand steps.

So, what is a funnel actually? What do you actually mean by that? The simple definition of a funnel is it's just a journey. It's a journey that you're building a relationship from someone who is a complete stranger to them becoming your patient.

And some common misconceptions that doctors often hear when they hear the word funnel, they think it's complicated technology, complicated marketing. It isn't that at all. It's really pretty simple. It's just building a path.

It's a building a relationship-building journey. And there are three steps and I encourage you to write this down. The first step is awareness. Awareness that you actually have a business, that you actually exist.

And so, awareness can come in various forms on the internet through Instagram, through Facebook, maybe through a friend referral, maybe they find you searching on Google. That's the first stage. The second stage is engagement. Now that they find out who you are, you give them some type of value.

It could be a downloadable PDF, could be a recorded webinar, it could be a quiz about that medical condition on there. Because what the goal of this is, you want to establish your practice or yourself as the expert where you have that prospect is thinking, "Wow, this person really knows their stuff. They really are an expert on this." Then the third stage is conversion, that they're able to take the next step.

So, they said, "Hey, I want to find out more." That's where they schedule a visit, they book a call with you. That's the third stage, awareness, engagement, and conversion. The big problem that I see with people who create funnels is they just skip straight to conversion. They say, "Okay, I have a website, you can book it now." But there's no trust built and it's all about trust.

In medicine, trust is everything. They don't know you yet, so they don't trust you yet. So, the solution to that is my building organic funnel which nurtures the prospect to build that trust before you actually book that appointment, before you actually make that sale. You want to give a chance for people to know who you are, establish yourself as the expert and so that they can learn from you.

And it shows that you care about just helping them. You're just helping a fellow human out there. Your job is not to fill your whole schedule. You're just wanting to have some information that could be a beneficial to you and then they can do whatever you want with that information.

But the goal eventually is to have that conversion. Is the goal is to have them book that appointment with you. So, a funnel, bottom line, it's just a trust-building journey. It's not complicated.

It's just a human connecting another human through this funnel. It's the same way that you would build any relationship in real life. You're probably not going to marry someone on the first date that you met that gal at the bar, right? You've got to build that trust, you've got to take them on some dates, they've got to say that you're actually someone that who's worth spending time with and that's when eventually you form an ultimate relationship with.

So, that's step one, understanding what a funnel is all about. Step two is start with an offer. And it ideally, it's just one offer, not 10. One offer, one irresistible offer.

And this is another mistake that I see clinics make is they try to do 10 different offers at the same time. What happens? The confused mind will never buy. You're going to lose them on here.

And it's a common mistake is they try to market every single thing. So, like in my practice, we have hormones, we have weight loss, we have aesthetics. If I sold all of them at at the same time, it'll be overwhelming. It'll be like going to Cheesecake Factory with that 100-page menu they have on here.

They're going to say, "This is too much." and then they're going to leave. So, when you're deciding on an offer, you have to think about what is this most single service that I want patients to know more about what I do. What single service do I want more patients for? And it could be like, do you love that service?

Is it something that you love? Do you get the best results? Is it something that you want to be known for? You want to focus on a specific offer.

So, for example, I have an offer out there focuses on optimization hormones for middle-aged females. That is one specific offer. I might not have another offer that does weight loss for busy CEOs, busy professionals. I might have aesthetic treatments for a certain demographic.

But it could be postpartum women. Again, a very focused and specific offer. And I know what you're saying is like, "Mike, I have all these different offers. Why can't I do them all?" You're not limiting, you're just focusing your attention on that.

Now, once they're a patient, then you can offer them the different type of services on there. But if you need to just get them in the door, just focus on creating one clear offer on here. And a simple example to help you create your offer is you can create a formula. And the formula that is who plus the problem plus the transformation.

Who plus the problem plus the transformation. So, one example could be I help men, that's the who, over 40 regain energy, lose stubborn fat, and feel like themselves again. I help men over 40 regain energy, lose stubborn fat, and feel like themselves again. That's the transformation on there.

I help busy professional women lose weight without restrictive diets or hours in the gym. I help men optimize testosterone naturally to build muscle, boost libido, and feel like they're 25 again. Now, why does that work? Because you're being very specific.

You're not just saying I do hormone therapy or I'm a functional medicine doctor. You tell them who it's for and what transformation do they hope to get. It's all about transformation on here. Then, one tip is when you find out your offer, you put it in everything, your Instagram, your Facebook, an email signature, on top of your website, any touchpoint you have.

So, one action step that you could take is decide on creating your one-line offer today. You want to keep it short, you want to keep it patient-centered, you want to focus on transformation, not the treatment, and you want to be consistent everywhere. Because when you're consistent, you're going to provide clarity. And this is actually the more specific, it's often easier to create content.

This is when your message becomes clear and the right patients start finding you. Now, step three is creating the value magnet. Now, I say value magnet because when I say lead magnet, which I've used, some people think it's too salesy. So, let's focus on value magnet.

What can you do to attract new patients by providing more value? You're focusing on helping them first, selling them second. So, what is This could be something that you're going to give away for free. You'll be able to capture their attention, their email.

You want to start building that relationship. You're building a touchpoint and this is the first chance to actually prove that your expertise. Now, I know what you're saying is like, "I don't have time to create fancy ebook or course on there." Goodness, you don't have to. You could create it in an hour or an afternoon.

So, I did recently did a webinar focusing on female hormone optimization. I recorded it, did a video about 30 minutes. Probably take me around two or three hours to actually do it. It can be a recorded webinar, it could be a free guide, it can be a quiz that you can do.

So, like, "What is your real age?" or "What's causing your fatigue?" You can create engaging and fun personalized results on each quiz on here. It could be a short video training on here. My webinar I think was 25 minutes, but it could be 5 to 10 minutes. You could focus on, you know, an example, but why do diets fail after you turn 40?

The three mistakes men make boosting testosterone. It doesn't have to be fancy. You can use your iPhone, just record it. One of my simple tests to create content is what are the most common questions you get again and again and again?

Record that and then upload it to YouTube and you're done. And then guess what? You already completed it. Another one that people like are creating completing like checklists.

The ultimate pre-appointment checklist, what to bring before your first weight loss visit. Super simple, super helpful. Keep it short, keep it actionable, keep it specific to problems that your offer solves. And you want to give them that quick win.

You want to give them that quick win. That's what the value magnet is all about. Giving them a quick win helps you right now, even if they never become a patient, helps build trust. Number two, it positions you as an expert, it shows that you know your stuff.

It demonstrates that you have the authority. And number three is, before you give a value, that you got to get something in return and that's usually contact information. We recommend capturing your email for follow-up and this is where the magic happens because sure, you'll give them that PDF on seven ways to lose weight easily after age of 40. You give them that document, that PDF, but then you've also got their email address.

What that allows you to do is allows you to create multiple touchpoints. They say the average touchpoint that people decides before they actually deciding to buy is usually seven to nine times. So, you do follow-up emails. Again, these are things you can create content, you can use something like Canva to create a PDF.

You can quizzes, you can use something like Typeform to do it. You need to have an email list like Mailchimp or ConvertKit. Again, you can also send sequences that email sequences out there over the period of a week. And again, I'm not a technical person, but I just able to figure it out.

You can have this up and running in an afternoon or even private VA to do this for you as well. Okay? So, get out your value magnet. Step four is you want to now build that trust loop.

So, building that trust loop means you're going to create short, consistent, authentic communication. This is where people often drop the ball is like, okay, I created this guide, I give it to them, and then they never follow up. You need to make sure you follow up and you can do what's called an auto responder where they follow up over they sign up on day zero, day one they get another email, day two they get another email, day three they get another email.

And the thing is, people again need that multiple touch points, seven to nine touch points before they're ready to buy. Again, and it could be a simple email sequence like this. Number one, here's your guide. They get the guide, they get it goes out immediately after the download.

You're delivering the value that they promised. You give them the link to the guide or to the video or whatever you're doing. And then you're going to include your story. This is going to be really important, too.

It's not about the guide, they want to know like who created the guide. Why did you do this? Why did you get into this work? They let them see the person behind the doctor on there.

It personalizes it, it makes it authentic, it builds that connection. Okay? And then email two, they get the guide, email two two days later when they get something about where you teach them something they didn't know. So, share a key insight, build a myth about that particular treatment or condition on here.

Maybe include a case study or testimonial, the truth about X on here. So, for example, we have one with the hormones and then we talk about the problem is low testosterone, but maybe it's due to chronic inflammation or poor sleep quality or thyroid dysfunction on here. And then they give them an example. So, what am I doing?

And I'm educating and teaching and doctors are amazing teachers on here. It providing again reinforces more value. You can give them some information that they can take home so they can better understand the problem. And that's one of the goals is that you understand the problem better than anyone else can.

That's what you want to establish on here. Then you get a third email. It's like, oh, this might go into inviting them to like, hey, you know, thank you for downloading guide. If this resonate with you, if you're tired of being tired on here, and you're ready to feel better, you know, set up a consult, a visit, schedule book an appointment on here.

Keep it low pressure on here. So, that is the fourth step is just a simple three email sequence. You could probably write it in an hour, have ChatGPT help you. You set it up on your email platform.

Now it runs on autopilot. But don't stop there. After three emails, you could be sending them weekly emails forever. Continue with tips, continue with stories, continue with case studies.

You want to stay in the in inbox so it's top of mind on here. Some strategies that I want to share with you is I like to write it like I'm talking to a friend or I'm writing it I'm talking to my mom on here. It's very conversational. You don't want to sound a textbook.

You want to sound human. Keep emails short and to the point on here. That was step four. Step five is adding the conversion path.

So, step five is important, make it ridiculously easy to book. Trust is great, but if they can't figure out how to schedule or book the appointment, you're going to lose them. And then I and you might think this is this is common sense, but I've seen it so many times. Give them one clear call to action, not five different options, not call us or email us or fill out the form.

Just give them one. Book your consultation here by clicking on this link. And that's what you give on there. Sure, they can go to the website, they can call if they don't want to call, but I found that if I book or they call on there, it makes it very difficult.

If you're doing like a telemedicine, maybe that's booked to your your Calendly link, which integrates to your own Google calendar. Don't make it fancy, don't doesn't need to be complicated. Just make it easy to say yes on here. Okay.

So, step number six, you want to promote it organically. So, how do you get people into this funnel? How do you drive traffic without ads? The good news is you don't need a massive following, you don't need to go viral, you just need consistent visibility in front of the right people.

So, a practice can thrive with just 50 engaged followers. Focus on quality over quantity. And it's important, don't do everything. You know, you don't need to be on TikTok and Instagram and LinkedIn and Facebook.

Maybe just focus on two or three. Where is most your audience? My audience is mostly on Facebook and Instagram, and that's what we focus on on here. So, what could you share?

You could share bite-size educational posts. You could share five myths about therapy, the real reason why you're tired all the time, what your doctor isn't telling you about your thyroid. The formula is keep it simple, keep it valuable. And every time that you shared information, guess what?

It leads to your value magnet. Every post ends with, hey, want to learn more, download my free guide to this link. Use the 80/20 rule. I'm sure you've heard about this.

80% education and value, 20% promotion. Don't make every post about booking. You want to teach, you want to inspire, you want to educate, and then occasionally invite them to the next step. So, that is some strategies on that.

And then finally, the step seven is measure and refine. So, the main point if you're not tracking, you've no idea what's working. And the good news you don't have to follow a million metrics on here. You don't need fancy analytics, you don't need to be a data scientist.

You can really just track three numbers. Number one is, how many leads did I generate per week? It could also be how many times did they download uh my value magnet? How many joined my email list?

How many inquiries did we get? If it's low, then that means I need to focus on specific strategies. I need to promote more consistently or maybe I need to change my value magnet, maybe it wasn't compelling enough. So, that's the first one.

How many leads am I getting per week? Number two, how many bookings did I schedule? How many got on the calendar for a discovery call or consultation? If it's low, my emails aren't compelling or my booking process is too much friction or my call to action isn't clear.

And then number three is, how many people who booked became paying patients? If it's low, then I need there's something wrong with my sales process or maybe my offer wasn't aligned with what they actually need or maybe my pricing was was off. Again, very simple, leads, booking, and conversions. Track that every week.

Leads, booking, conversion, right? Maybe week one you get five leads, two bookings, one conversion. Week two, you're getting eight leads, three bookings, two conversion. You want to see that you're growing, that you're improving.

And then again, what I like about it is if you just follow those three metrics, you know where that area is broken. You don't have to fix everything at once, you focus on that specific area. If you got lots of leads, but no bookings, maybe your emails aren't compelling enough, maybe you're not sending enough emails, maybe your call to action wasn't clear. Maybe your booking process is broken.

If you're not enough leads, you're not promoting your value magnet more consistently. You need to post on socials more often. You need to engage more in Facebook groups. Maybe you need to improve your SEO for Google searches.

One problem at a time, one improvement at a time on here. So, to recap, I know that was a lot of information. This might be something where you're going to have to look on again. First, number one is understand your funnel.

It really is a customer journey, understanding the steps of awareness, engagement, and conversion. Step two, start with just one offer. Be very clear on a single service. Create a one-line offer.

Communicate that you offer transformation. Number three, create that value magnet. Give them something helpful for free, allowing you to capture their name and email address. It positions you as an expert.

Step four, you build that trust loop, you build that three email sequence. Give them valuable, authentic communication. Maybe give them ongoing weekly content either through a newsletter or some other tips and advice that you give them them on a regular basis. Step five, add that conversion path.

Make it easy to book. Create one clear call to action. Remove all friction from them actually booking an appointment. Step six, promote organically.

Go through social media, Facebook groups, Google business profile we never chance to talk about, but include include a value magnet there. Email signatures, focus on building partnerships, creating long-form content. Step seven, measure and refine. Track those three numbers I talked about, leads, booking, and conversion.

Improve one thing at a time. So, here's what you don't need. You don't need to get a $5,000 ad budget. You don't need a marketing team.

You don't need to be on every platform. What you do need is create a system that builds trust and a system that invites action. Start small, but just work on one thing this week. Let's maybe this week you're going to work on your value magnet.

Maybe next week you build on that three email sequence. Make sure check your booking link on another week on here. Stay consistent. Build that momentum.

And you're going to start getting more patients than you know what to do with. So, I hope you found that useful. Those are my seven steps for building that patient value magnet. If you found this to be useful, please share this podcast with other doctors or other practice owners who might benefit from it.

I really appreciate it. And if you like the podcast, feel free to give us a five-star review. I love doing this. The podcast grows organically.

We don't have a big advertising budget for it. And I love to share with people who would actually benefit from this information. As entrepreneurs, you can have your ups and downs. Do something a little each day to get you closer to your goals and keep moving forward.