Welcome back! Today I’m excited to interview Dr. Ian Huang, chiropractor and acupuncturist in Chantilly, Virginia, about his marketing approach (which, among other things, focuses on SEO).
Dr. Huang graduated from New York Chiropractic College with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 2018 and his Master’s of Acupuncture degree from the Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine in 2019.
Since then, he’s been practicing alongside his father, Dr. Sen Huang, a Doctor of Chinese Medicine and PhD neurobiologist at Huang Wellness Center. In addition to treating patients, one of his main roles is marketing the practice for the two of them.
I’ve been looking forward to picking Dr. Huang’s brain for awhile, so let’s dive in!
How long have you been in practice?
I have been in practice for just about one year. However, my situation is a bit unique as I am taking over my fatherās practice. He has practiced acupuncture for 30+ years and was originally located in Washington D.C. When I joined, we decided to move the clinic to Chantilly, Virginia and essentially have me restart the clinic with his guidance and mentorship. So, I am opening a new clinic with the assistance and experience of my father.
What brought you to chiropractic and acupuncture? I seem to recall from previous conversations that you always planned to do both. Is that right?
I was always under the influence of Traditional Chinese Medicine in my household with my father being a licensed acupuncturist and my mother growing her herb garden. So, I slowly developed a passion for Traditional Chinese Medicine as I learned more about it.
When I was in college, I had wanted to pursue and career in both Acupuncture and Western Medicine by following the pre-med track. After taking the MCATs and applying to various medical schools, I suddenly felt that this path wasnāt right for me.
My friend was working as a front desk staff for a chiropractor and recommended that I look into that. I did some research and found that it was definitely something I could meld into acupuncture to treat patients holistically.
I found that NYCC had offered a dual program and I immediately signed up with the intention of obtaining an acupuncture as well as a chiropractic degree.
Do you have a specialty? What makes you passionate about it?
I donāt really have a specialty; however, I do enjoy treating orthopedic and pain conditions. I remember one of the first patients I ever had came in with severe knee/thigh pain and swelling. They came in forced by their significant other and did not really believe in acupuncture but were willing to try anything.
I was very nervous as it was my first time treating someone in such severe pain, but so badly wanted to get him out of pain. I treated him for one visit and scheduled a second appointment for the next week. When he came in for his second appointment, I noticed that it was him driving the car instead of his spouse and thought it weird, but just brushed the thought away.
When asking him about how he was feeling he told me that the pain and swelling decreased by over 50% and he could now move around a little more freely without experiencing pain.
It turned out this patient had an infection and required surgery, but they will forever be in my mind as an indicator of how powerful Acupuncture can be. It’s patients like these that make me feel like this profession is where I am meant to be and how I can change other peopleās lives for the better.
Amazing. I love how our very first patients always stick with us!
I noticed youāre currently teaching at the Virginia University of Integrated Medicine. What do you teach? Have you always wanted to teach?
At VUIM, I primarily teach Anatomy & Physiology, Acupuncture Point Location, and Orthopedic/Neurological examination courses. I actually never saw myself as a teacher, but after having many amazing mentors/teachers at FLSAOM I had a desire to give back to my profession in the form of providing new acupuncturists the best knowledge and experience I can offer.
You work alongside your father, Dr. Sen Huang, a Doctor of Chinese Medicine and PhD neurobiologist. What’s the business setup with your dad, if you donāt mind sharing?
In the beginning, my father and I both spent time in the clinic with me trying to spend more time in the clinic and going out for networking/marketing events. With the presence of COVID, we had to close for two months and my father is now staying at home and practicing social distancing while I’m seeing patients in the office.
So at the moment I am working on the clinical side of things as well as the business side, while my father provides his experience and knowledge to help me when needed.
Pros and cons of working with family? Suggestions for others doing the same?
Overall, my father and I have pretty similar personalities which allow us to better collaborate with each other. However, since he has already created a business from the ground up he has a lot of knowledge/experience he wants to share even though there are many different ways to go about doing certain things (for example, social media marketing).
So, with certain aspects we have differing opinions and can occasionally butt heads. Even with the occasional disagreements we both know that it’s me who will be taking the reins and him taking a step back. So we both try to understand each other the best we can.
As for recommending others to work with family, I would say think very carefully before committing to it because a work relationship is very different than a personal/family relationship.
Ideally, I think it would be better to separate family and work but it’s definitely possible to work with family. You just need to make sure that both parties understand exactly what they are getting themselves into and what the expectations are to avoid any misunderstandings.
Yes! Good communication and setting up expectations beforehand seems like it would be really key when working with family.
What’s practicing like right now in Virginia with COVID?
After closing for two months it was a bit slow getting back and running, but know Iām even busier than before. I’m still getting calls from new patients who want to schedule an appointment or interested in learning how acupuncture/chiropractic can help them. So, for me things are moving forward and Iām able to provide a safe and clean environment for my patients through safety protocols and arrangements.
You mentioned in a previous chat that you do all the marketing for Huang Wellness Center. What marketing approaches have worked in building the practice?
The main marketing approaches I use are social media posts, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work, Google My Business, and face-to-face marketing.
Face-to-face marketing was mostly done pre-COVID, but I would go to chamber of commerce meetings, Rotary Club, BNI meetings, and other networking events in my area.
I looked into FB/Yelp/Google ads but have not yet pulled the trigger on those.
Focusing on SEO makes so much sense right now. Digital marketing is our best option for the rest of 2020, it seems!
What kind of SEO work are you doing? This is something people are always looking to learn more about – boosting their Google rank.
I’m mainly adding keywords into the various pages of my website and am going to start working with an SEO expert soon to see what he can help with. I’m also working on my Google My Business page by posting weekly posts and adding pics to make sure that Google knows my page is active and can rank higher.
Where did you learn how to do SEO work (any particular website, class, online leader, etc.)?
I didn’t learn SEO work from any specific place, but just kind of did my own research and talked to a variety of people who worked in that field. In the beginning I was reading off of Moz.com and think they do a good job explaining certain aspects of SEO.
Yes! The Moz.com blog is great for learning about SEO strategies.
Is there one marketing method you would say worked best for you?
I would say my SEO work, holding free classes on various health topics, and word of mouth have been the best marketing strategies for me.
Any marketing ideas that fell flat?
Rotary clubs and BNI meetings were very welcoming, however, it did not seem to help my business too much. It is possible that I did not spend enough time with them (partially due to COVID) that I couldnāt establish myself within the group.
Any marketing suggestions for getting patients right now, during this strange time (all of 2020, ha)?
So far, I have been putting my efforts in constantly improving my SEO and getting my ranking up on Google so people can search for me easily.
I did partner up with a yoga instructor to hold a virtual yoga class for charity which garnered a bunch of participants, but I canāt say Iām seeing patients from that event.
For social media – are there particular kinds of posts that you create that seem to get a better response?
I’m not entirely sure how people are reacting to my posts since I haven’t had many patients that come to see me due to my social media posts. I feel like the posts I do are mainly resources for my existing patients to access as a large majority of my posts consist of exercises that I give to my patients.
How do you consistently come up with new content for social media? Where do your ideas come from?
My ideas stem from bouncing ideas off my friends and seeing what they are interested in learning more about. Otherwise, I try to pick topics that my patients can find useful.
Do you tend to get more patients from Facebook or Instagram? Do you tend to focus your efforts on one platform more than the other?
Like I said earlier, I don’t get many patients from my social media marketing. I noticed that many of my patients actually do not use social media actively, but I also recommend them to access some of my posts because they are showing exercises which benefit my patients. I use Facebook and Instagram equally as they are linked together, although, I am starting to play around more with IGTV.
Interesting! I wonder if you just need a little more “outreach” on social media, to get your accounts visible to new potential patients (as opposed to only current patients).
I love the graphics you create for your social media. What platform are you using to create/design them? Would you recommend it to others?
I use Canva to create my graphics. They are a free platform and provide all that I need at the moment, but you can pay for premium access which gives you more templates and graphics to play around with.
Do you have a business mentor or accountability partner?
I just recently developed a business mentor, but itās more of a casual relationship where I can always reach out with any questions I have and find time to discuss issues if need be. I do have fellow colleagues/entrepreneurs who try our best to encourage and bounce ideas off each other. I’m thinking about becoming part of a business coaching program; however, it is something I need to do more research into.
Best business advice you ever received?
Find out what you view as āsuccessfulā and the reason behind it.
When I first read this question, I thought it was easy to answer, but as I dug deeper and deeper I found that my original answer wasnāt my truth and that I’m still trying to find out my answer for this question. However, I believe that even though I do not currently have an answer, it is leading and guiding me along my path to success.
I definitely agree with that idea – I think it’s easy as entrepreneurs to get caught up in other people’s definitions of success, which doesn’t usually end up serving us as individuals. You’ve got to find what matters to you and build your business around that. As a friend of mine loves to say, “Do you, boo!” (š)
Lastly, a shoutout to our acupuncture student readers. What advice would you give to acupuncture students about starting their practices?
Value yourself and other people will value you.
YES. Love this. Know your worth, charge what you’re worth, and feel confident in the knowledge that acupuncture is a powerful medicine that helps people live better.
It takes time to develop this confidence as a student and practitioner (at least, it did for me), but it’s so important for both taking care of patients AND running a business.
Thanks so much for your time, Dr. Huang!
I feel really inspired to work on SEO, now that we’ve been discussing it.
If you’re looking for a quick primer on easy ways to boost your acupuncture clinic’s Google rank (aka, SEO), check out this article.
And you can contact/follow along with Dr. Huang here:
- Email: huangwellnesscenter@gmail.com
- Website: Huangclinic.com