Episode #83 on the Acupuncture Marketing School Podcast: Finding Your Unique Path - Sustainable Success with Melissa Longo

This week I’m talking with Melissa Longo, a multi-passionate chiropractor with 22 years of experience and a business coach who helps wellness entrepreneurs build sustainable practices, have fun while they do it, and avoid burnout.

In this episode, we talk about:

  • Knowing yourself to build a business that’s meaningful and sustainable to you
  • Letting go of other people’s definitions of success
  • What marketing is working for Melissa right now in her practice
  • How she rebuilt her practice after separating from her partner
  • Melissa’s podcasting tips after launching 5 podcasts
  • Thinking about content creation as a library of your knowledge, a resource for your current and potential patients
  • And more

I hope you enjoy this episode with Melissa!

Show Notes:

🎙️ Listen to Episode #83: Finding Your Unique Path: Sustainable Success with Melissa Longo

💙 Today’s episode is sponsored by Jane, a clinic management software and EMR.

Your evenings and weekends should be spent with loved ones, not chasing down your patients and clients for payment. That’s why Jane has designed a secure payment solution that helps reduce the amount of time you spend manually following up with patients.

Patients can save their credit card details and insurance policy information securely through your intake form, which can then be conveniently processed after your time together.

And, if they’ve got an outstanding balance, you can send a payment request email or SMS that allows your patients to pay off their balance online from the comfort of their homes.

To see how Jane can help you reclaim your after-work hours, click here to book a personalized demo. Or, if you’re ready to get started, you can use the code ACUSCHOOL1MO at the time of sign-up for a 1-month grace period applied to your new account.

Subscribe to the Acupuncture Marketing School podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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Transcript:

[MICHELLE GRASEK] (00:00):

Welcome to the Acupuncture Marketing School Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Grasek, and I’m here to help you get visible in your community, take marketing action with confidence and get more patients in your practice and more money in your pocket every week. We both know you’re a talented, passionate acupuncturist and that acupuncture has the power to change lives. So let’s dive right into this episode and talk about how you can reach more patients.

(00:33):

Hi there. Welcome back. This week I’m talking with Melissa Longo, a multi-passionate chiropractor and business coach. In this fun episode, we talk about the importance of knowing yourself in order to build a business that’s meaningful and sustainable to you, and letting go of other people’s definitions of success, what marketing is working for Melissa right now, and her practice, how she rebuilt her practice after separating from her partner, Melissa’s podcasting tips after launching five podcasts, thinking about content creation as a library of your knowledge, a resource for your current and potential patients, and much more. I really hope you enjoy this episode with Melissa.

[JANE.APP] (01:15):

Today’s episode is sponsored by Jane, a clinic management software and EMR. Your evenings and weekends should be spent with loved ones not chasing down your patients for payment. That’s why Jane has designed a secure payment solution that helps reduce the amount of time you spend manually following up with patients. Patients can save their credit card details and insurance policy information securely through your intake form, which can then be conveniently processed after your time together. And if they’ve got an outstanding balance, you can send a payment request via email or text that allows your patients to pay off their balance online from the comfort of their home. To see how Jane can help you reclaim your after-work hours, head to the show notes to book a personalized demo. If you’re ready to get started with Jane, you can use the code, [ACUSCHOOL1MO] at the time of sign up for a one-month grace period, apply to your new account and I’ll put the code and the link in the show notes as always to make it easy for you.

[MICHELLE] (02:14):

Alright, without further ado, let’s get into this episode with Melissa. Hi, Melissa. How are you?

[MELISSA LONGO] (02:21):

I’m doing great. How are you, Michelle?

[MICHELLE] (02:23):

I am great today. I am so excited you’re here with me. Thank you so much for spending time with us today. I would love to give you a second to introduce yourself.

[MELISSA] (02:33):

Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. As I was saying in our pre-chat, I love the chance to talk about life and business with other healthcare professionals, so I appreciate meeting you in our conversation today. What am I doing now? First and foremost, I’m a family health care chiropractor. I specialize in pediatrics and prenatal care, so I see lots of families. I see people of all ages. I’ve been in clinical practice for 22 years. I love it more as time goes on. In addition to that, for the last eight years I’ve been podcasting, which turned into working with healthcare professionals on business strategy in a consulting, mentoring, coaching role. I’ve worked for other companies and coaching healthcare professionals. I’ve done some media work, some television work. I also currently have a small boutique production company where we’re helping other entrepreneurs get mostly podcasting out into the world as well. First and foremost, I’m a mom. My sons are now 18 and 22 and the why behind everything that I do as well as just try to live a healthy life and live the life that I recommend to the people in my practice as well as my coaching clients.

[MICHELLE] (03:37):

Amazing. That’s a lot of things.

[MELISSA] (03:39):

Yeah. Well, I think that it’s, one of my favorite words this year has been, and we can be all the things, especially when it comes into practice and working with people. Sometimes people are frustrated maybe because of their pain or their results, but they’re also hopeful. I’m like, okay, those two feelings can coexist. And I think it’s same thing in life. Like we can be all these things. We can be podcasters and clinicians and business owners and moms and wives and all these things. We’re complex beings. I don’t think we should define ourselves in just one way.

[MICHELLE] (04:13):

Agreed. I spoke to a grief therapist a long time ago, and she always would emphasize how you can be two opposing emotions at the same time. You can feel dreadfully sad, but then also relieved, or you could be heartbroken, but also find joy. And she loved to talk about how that’s not really a comfortable concept in our culture. We’re very black and white, but when you think about the complexity of being human, it’s possible. It’s happening all the time, every day.

[MELISSA] (04:49):

Yeah. It’s not black and white. Yeah, lots of shades in between.

[MICHELLE] (04:54):

Yes. And it’s nice to be multi-passionate. I do think a lot of the acupuncturists that I work with have all of these different interests. And I don’t know what it is about the way that we’re taught to think about our careers, but it’s sort of like specialize in one thing and do this until you retire. If you retire you are an acupuncturist. That’s your primary definition of yourself, when really, I think people can have as you’re describing, like lots of branches, lots of interests. They could specialize in one thing for five years and then specialize in something else for a decade. It’s really like following your energy, which can bring a very fulfilling life.

[MELISSA] (05:35):

That’s what I say. I think it’s more about evolving and knowing who you are. If you were the person that loves babies and kids, and maybe that should be your thing, and that’s never going to change. But my interest in pediatrics hasn’t changed, but the conversations I’m having are different now that I’ve raised boys through school age and teenage years and now, I have women who are menopausal and perimenopausal. I think if you’re open to evolving and excited about the story of your own life and see your life as a journey and not just like, I’m going to get to here, then you stay open. But then again, some people are really great when they have a really specific population that they serve and if they know themselves. So I think maybe that’s the lesson here. It’s like, just know who you are and be open to the possibilities of all that you are, but it’s also completely okay if you want to focus on sports or internal medicine or whatever and that is your thing.

[MICHELLE] (06:27):

Yes. And what a fun idea of being open to the journey of your life. It makes me think of, I wish I could remember what movie this is from, whatever you choose to do, just have strong protagonist energy. You are your own protagonist. I love that idea.

[MELISSA] (06:45):

I think just to add to that, so many people get caught up with trying to be someone that they’re not and living being the protagonist in someone else’s story. And I think that’s one of the fastest ways to really live an unhappy life, and sometimes even burnout and deal with depression, anxiety, overwhelm, the things that no healthcare professional wants. And if you’re being true to who you are and what you need at different stages of your life, I think you’ll find more joy and success in doing that.

[MICHELLE] (07:12):

So you coach a lot of healthcare providers. I am curious if you have tips that you give them for work-life balance. Are there things that you feel like common pitfalls in addition to the one that you just mentioned, like saying yes to the shoulds and living someone else’s life that can easily cause burnout, but yeah, any suggestions you have or common pitfalls that you see?

[MELISSA] (07:42):

It’s simple, but not easy. Healthcare professionals, theoretically no health. And we give advice to our, our patients and the people in our practices. But it can be really hard to, when you’re balancing, especially the years, if you have a young family and partnerships and extended family, it can be hard to prioritize your health depending on what stage your business is in. So I think that’s the first thing I always recommend people look at. Like, okay, well, what season is your business in? Are you in a growth phase where you’re really hustling because this is really important for your family’s livelihood and for your joy and it’s just what’s necessary? So if you’re in a season of growth, then you have to still make priorities. Because if you are trying to grow and your vitality is not there, you’re fatigued all the time. Your energy’s low, your skin doesn’t look good. You’re gaining, like, if you’re not able to perform, that’s going to be a detriment. But then there’s times when if you’re not in a growth phase of your business, and you can, I don’t want to say coast, but things are steady, you can pick up an energy towards other things.

(08:42):

I guess what I’m saying is I don’t really see things as always being balanced. I think that all these facets of our life need attention consistently. Our family, our relationships need attention. Our personal health needs attention. Our businesses need attention. But for me, when you know why it’s all important to you and pick out the pieces that give time and attention to all the things that matter to you, aside we talked about, and, you’re not just a clinician. Well, if you’re not just a clinician, then you need to be giving time and energy to the other things that you are. If you are, I’m Melissa, a woman, which means I really want to stay healthy, not just for my practice and my career, because I actually want to live a really exciting, fun, big life. And to do that, I need mobility, I need strength, I need internal health. And so for me, when I always go back to the why, and I know I’m taking this in a roundabout way, but I think that’s really what it comes down to from when, practitioners, it can be really hard to prioritize themselves sometimes and give themselves the feedback or the recommendations they would give to their patients. But when they have someone objectively that just is nudging them and reminding them you only need to hit burnout or exhaustion or apathy once in your life to know that you don’t want to go there again.

[MICHELLE] (09:53):

Yeah.

[MELISSA] (09:53):

And that happened to me. And that’s why I changed my business model. I changed to something so that I could make sure that I move my body every day. I get outside in nature as much as I can. I’m prioritizing rest. Again when I’m not in a growth season, if I’m in a season of I’m hustling right now to make certain things happen, and there’s just a lot of things coming my way, then I’m going to triage what I can give my health attention to. So if that means I’m not going to miss my sleep, I’m going to make sure I’m eating really well, I’m going to make sure I’m still socializing. Like, sometimes you have to pick out those pieces and give attention to what you can. In a perfect world, we’re doing all those things all the time. But life is a little bit more exciting than that and doesn’t always give us the opportunity.

(10:34):

So I think, to answer your question the struggling point sometimes for people is just not making their own personal health a priority and making their business a priority or their kids. But we can’t be martyrs to any of those things. If we’re not taking care of ourselves, we can’t get to anyone else. And that’s sort of been the hallmark for me around the why I do everything that I do, is how I want to show up for the people around me. And if I’m not in good physical health, then that affects everything I do. It affects all my relationships. It affects my business. And so again, it’s a simple thing to say and do. It’s not always easy to implement. And there’s some days that some things get priority more than others, but it’s an ongoing balancing act, will say.

[MICHELLE] (11:19):

So is that something that you are typically helping people with, identifying like what phase their business is in and prioritizing, like, okay, you’re in this phase, here are the things that are important to you, and then here’s some action steps, that kind of thing?

[MELISSA] (11:35):

It’s one of the things, yeah. When I have my clients look at their goals, we look at their goals in seven different categories. So this is maybe what makes me a little bit different with people is because I want my clients to be whole healthy, happy people. And when I have a client say to me, I’m so much happier since I’ve been working with you, that means more to me than someone saying my practice has tripled in the last three months or something. So when we go look at goals, yeah, we look at growth, we look at finances, we look at things in your practice, but we look at lifestyle. And I also look at health and relationships as well, like in this goal setting thing that I do with my clients every quarter. So we look at, I mean, I think we’re always wanting to be growing, but there’s times when we’re ready for some peak growth and times when we really should just stay in a state of momentum. And to me, those are two different things. I don’t think, and this sometimes isn’t what everyone wants to hear, but I don’t think we’re always in a growth phase, or we should be. And someone just has a baby or loses a loved one, or is going through a divorce. Like if your practice is also growing at that time, it can be great financially, but you also may have people commit to your practice that you can’t really connect with or sustain, and they’re not going to have the experience that someone else would have down the road. Or you might not have the, even the systems that the team or the infrastructure in place to give those people the care and the attention that you may. And so sometimes there’s higher attrition, and I’ve seen that happen in lots of people’s practices.

(12:55):

So I think when it comes to looking at growth, we need to always be planting seeds and laying foundations for what you can be doing to make sure that your practices going to stay consistent and go through periods of growth. And then there’s times when you can plan to grow, maybe you’re going to do a big event or a big promotion, or you’re bringing on some new technique or diagnostics in your practice. There’s times for that. But you have to make sure that this is time for growth, because if it’s not the time for growth, then it can absolutely overwhelm the doctors and the team and cause some things that you have to unwind afterwards.

[MICHELLE] (13:26):

I really like the idea of thinking of marketing and practice growth as building, like planting seeds consistently, as you were saying, so that if you hit a difficult time and you maybe sort of need to hit the brakes, everything is still doing its job in the background. But it becomes less of an effort. Your referrals remain solid even if you don’t have time for active marketing. I think that something always comes up at some point, like you have to take care of elderly parents or, you mentioned like you might have a baby or someone could pass away, but that’s just life. That is going to happen at some point. So setting up those really strong systems. 1% better every day, just 1% every day than when the time comes and you need to dial back, those systems will be there to support you.

[MELISSA] (14:17):

Yeah. And I’m an old school soul. I mean, I’m a kid of the ’80s. I’m 50. So marketing back then, 20 years ago in practice was very much just doing good work for good people. And we didn’t have Instagram reels and all the stuff that you can use to market your practice. It was literally just getting out and talking to people as much as we could and doing good work in our practices. And to be honest, Michelle, that’s still the hallmark of my practice, is creating content and trying to share information with people and doing good work. You go through phases where you try different marketing strategies, but that has never failed. And to get to that point in your practice where you’re referral driven is really a dreamy for most people.

[MICHELLE] (15:00):

Yes, I was going to say that is the dream.

[MELISSA] (15:04):

Yeah. And that comes with consistency and planting seeds. And when I talk about planting seeds, a lot of it is just, again, how are you showing up every day? So maybe you didn’t do a reel on Instagram in the last month, but you’re just showing up with positivity and good clinical care. And people feel that and see that in your practice and they’re getting results so next thing they’re telling their friends and loved ones. And they’re going to easily leave you a review on Google if you ask them because they’re really happy with how they’re feeling. So then you get the SEO, like there’s layers to it, but I think the foundations, if you’re just consistently showing up and doing good work, and honestly also staying engaged. This came up with, I have a membership group for women in chiropractic, and we were talking about growth last week. And two of the ladies said, one woman had just suffered a wrist injury and she’s re-growing her practice and I said, “So what are you doing these days?” And it was, “Just learning, being engaged, being excited about being in the practice.” That energy is always palpable for people. It sounds woo woo and mystical, but people feel that and when you’re showing up in your best way and consistently and giving good recommendations, and again, good clinical care, you get results and that creates a fire that people are attracted to.

[MICHELLE] (16:11):

Yeah. I always feel like enthusiasm is contagious. Whether people are absorbing it consciously or unconsciously. it’s there.

[MELISSA] (16:19):

Yeah.

[MICHELLE] (16:20):

I was going to ask you if you had to do any marketing for your practice currently, it sounds like it’s mostly referral based at this point, because did you say 25 years in practice? Is that…

[MELISSA] (16:32):

22, yep.

[MICHELLE] (16:32):

22.

[MELISSA] (16:32):

Pretty close. But I also had to go through a rebuild because when I first went to practice, it was with my ex-husband. And we were, he was a chiro as well, so we were business partners. Our marriage ended 10 years into that and so then I was single mom with a 3- and 7-year-old and starting to practice all over again after taking a good year. I was still in the practice with my energy and my heart and soul, but I wasn’t really taking on new patients and adjusting or anything. And so I had to, now we were separating, o I had to rebuild all over again. And at that point in time it made the most sense for the people that I had in my practice to transition to my ex-husband because they had already been under his care. So I really was starting over with two little kids, trying to adult, doing all the things that you go through when you go through divorce. So I really relied on content marketing at that point. That was 12 years ago now. But for me, I think why I love content marketing and just creating value and teaching people things is because it’s what I could do when I was first growing my practice again. I could do it when my kids are at school. I could throw a video on YouTube, record it really, I still leave those videos up on the YouTube channel because I think they’re entertaining and they show the history a little bit.

[MICHELLE] (17:46):

Yeah.

[MELISSA] (17:47):

But I remember putting a camera up and walking around and they were so rough, but people can feel my interest and my passion for the work that I was doing. And then I could pick up my kids from school and that video’s still there. So I right now my practice marketing is minimal, yes, because I do, I’m very referral based at this point in my career, which is amazing. But there are definitely things that I try to do consistently, getting myself in the community. I’m really less interested. And I don’t know if it’s a shift that I’m observing or it’s just me, but I’m feeling less interested in social media, feel like it’s such a game to play. And you would know more than I would do about this Michelle, and can address this question, but I feel someone, said in a podcast I listened to recently, he’s taking his whole business off Instagram. And he said, it feels like an unhealthy relationship where you’re creating great content and then whenever you ask people to buy something from you, then they can filter your content. Or they don’t want you to leave this app or you don’t have control over who actually sees this great content you’re creating because of the algorithms are changing and all of that stuff.

(18:54):

So I like it, but I’m not into it as much as I used to be. And yeah, I think I’m getting, we’re getting way off topic here, but to answer your question about marketing, what I’m doing right now is definitely still just trying to show up and do good work for good people, be present in my community. We’ve got different things, like in my gym, I’ve got postcards that offer their members to come in for 25% off their initial visit. I do the same thing, the midwives and with anytime I can get in front of a group of people to share, whether it’s a group of five people or a hundred, I’m happy to share anything about health and wellness. Podcasts, videos I’ve done, I had a television show on healthy living in my community for a number of years as well, so that….

[MICHELLE] (19:32):

Fun.

[MELISSA] (19:33):

Yeah, it was really fun. And again, it was one of those things where I was just putting the energy. It was a volunteer thing. I wasn’t even getting discount on my cable services or anything. It was completely for fun and for joy and information. And I could definitely tell you there was a few people that came in to my practice because they saw me on the show, but really, very, very few. But the idea behind me consistently being in my community, talking about health and wellness, that energy, like we were talking about before I was engaged. It forced me to keep learning new things. Like you, I was interviewing different healthcare professionals in my community.

[MICHELLE] (20:09):

Oh, cool.

[MELISSA] (20:10):

And sharing, “Okay, here’s how naturopathic doctor can help you. Here’s why you should buy meat from the local butcher. Here’s why you should join the running club and get out and be with people and run.” That energy is contagious. And so it indirectly built my practice. So I think that’s still who I am and what I like to do the most rather than anything really, I don’t want to say gimmicky.

[MICHELLE] (20:31):

I think I am witnessing and experiencing that same shift with social media. I always really loved Instagram when it was for static photos. How would I describe it? I love Instagram at this point for watching videos of other people’s pets. That brings me a ton of joy. But I would agree with your colleague that you mentioned who said you can spend a lot of time creating a reel, and the algorithm has changed so much that maybe 12 people will see it. And so the feedback that I’m getting from my marketing students and my marketing clients is if they love it, if they love video production and they love teaching and they love the platform, then they just take it and run. But for the people who are sort of like, this feels like a chore, we have this discussion about do you feel like social media is worth the time and the energy that you’re putting in to learn it? Because if you’re super passionate, the learning part is as fun as you realize you’re getting better at it and it’s effective, blah, blah, blah. But if you’re not really enjoying the learning process and it’s taking you an hour to create an a 92-second reel, and then hardly anyone engages with it, that’s tough to swallow. And I always want to like tag, who’s the person in charge of Instagram, Adam Mossier. I always want to tag him and just be like, “Can you fix it, make it go back to the way it was.”

[MELISSA] (22:02):

Yeah. I agree with all those sentiments. Popping a quick photo up there is great, but now having to create video, like if I wanted to create beautiful videos like that, honestly, I would hire a team. And I don’t want to do that right now. So it seems like, but some people are really proficient at it and they have a ton of fun with it.

[MICHELLE] (22:20):

Yes.

[MELISSA] (22:21):

And those, if it’s you, it’s just, it’s not me.

[MICHELLE] (22:23):

And I do think I never want to discourage people from any marketing avenue because I love encouraging people to experiment, try all these different marketing things, give them a couple months each, and then you can decide what do I like, what do I hate? What’s working and what isn’t? And then pick the intersection of what’s something you mostly enjoy can definitely tolerate and is actually bringing you new patients and then double down on that effort. For some people that is, still Instagram, it’s working well, they enjoy it, and for other people then we start talking about what are the other ways of just getting visible in your community that you don’t hate and that are working.

[MELISSA] (23:06):

On one of my podcasts, I just did a show on marketing and how to market your way. And we talked about all the different types of marketing and I echo a lot of your sentiments, but I also don’t think that all types of marketing are for everyone. I don’t think everyone should do video and I don’t think everyone should do podcasts and I don’t think, just know who you are. I can talk to a fly on the wall. I’m so conversational. It’s just part of my personality and it’s how I’ve always been. I’m very social. So for me to be interviewing people and talking, and I guess, because I’ve done media, I fumbled through a lot of it 10 years ago, but I’m comfortable in front of a camera and I’m comfortable having a conversation. But we’ve all listened to shows that were very boring to listen to. Or the people seem really, really uncomfortable and amazing for trying, but I wonder sometimes if those people again were just doing it because they were, someone told them, if you want to grow your practice, you got to do videos. You got to do podcast. And it’s really not their jam. And that doesn’t translate the customer either. It doesn’t show up as, it doesn’t build connection. And essentially while you’re doing any content is to try to create authority, trust, connection with people so that they like you before they book a consultation or an appointment. So I think it’s important to know all the types of marketing and be brave and dip your toes in new things, but also be real about who you are and what you’re capable of. I’m sure you share that with your clients as well.

[MICHELLE] (24:25):

Yeah, absolutely. I’ll often give the example, I am an introvert and I talk about it on this podcast all the time and introversion to extroversion is a spectrum and there are areas where I’m much less introverted. So I have been doing public speaking for various different jobs that I’ve had for, I would say maybe like the past decade. And I feel like it’s almost like a quirk of my introverted character that as long as I can really practice, then can get on stage and give a presentation to like a hundred people. But I don’t know, I don’t think that’s typical for introverts. But I also feel like if I had never tried then I never would have known that, because I just would have gone along with what society says introverts are capable of and introverts are good at and interested in. But I had like this tiny kernel that was like, you could probably start out by talking to like five people. That’s why I’m always telling people, maybe try something outside your comfort zone because it could turn out to be something that’s very energizing and you would never know it if you just did what you were expected to do.

[MELISSA] (25:46):

Yeah, and I couldn’t agree more. And I like what you said as well about measuring your success after a few months. And it’s not just for me, measuring any marketing tactic isn’t just the numbers. Like yeah, let’s actually look at what’s working. I said I do these postcards for my gym. Well, not two people have come in with those. So I don’t think those are really working, but is it giving me exposure? Sure. But, so I think you need to measure your actual return on the investment, but I think one of the things to measure is your joy or your level of stress. If it’s stressful for you to create a podcast or to do anything, if you’re not into the emailing your patients, then maybe it’s, those are the things to measure as well, rather than just the return, like, is it successful?

[MICHELLE] (26:28):

Yeah, for sure. And I also tell people, if the thought of public speaking as the best example makes you want to throw up, you already know it’s probably not a good fit for you. You don’t have to experiment with things that just the thought of it makes you feel wretched. I knew I had a little kernel of interest about public speaking and so I just followed that energy. But there are some people, it’s just like a hard no. I’m like, okay, fine, then we know that’s already the truth for you. Maybe we can experiment with other things.

[MELISSA] (27:00):

Well, it also comes back down to, we talked about not really identifying a target niche niche. But if you know who you ideally want to work with, then where are you going to go connect with those people? If your people are, if they’re golfers, and maybe you should try to go to the golf course and connect with them there. There are ways to think about who do you want to work with and how do you connect with those people. And I think it’s, again, also important to look at, well, where are you with your growth right now? How much do you need to grow? Because if you don’t really need to grow and you’re happy with where you’re at, then maybe you don’t need to do the marketing things you think you’re supposed to do because someone told you. So it’s always taking a step back every quarter and looking at, okay, where exactly am I at here? Should I try something just for fun to get my message out there? This is what’s really working, let’s keep doing it. Or everything is working great, let’s keep planting some seeds so that three months from now we still have new people coming in. But you have to look at all these things sometimes and think, “Okay, well, these are the things that you’re supposed to do in business, but what does my business need right now?”

[MICHELLE] (27:58):

Right. I have to shift gears because I am so curious about your podcasts, because you’ve had many podcasts, or several at least.

[MELISSA] (28:08):

Yes, yes.

[MICHELLE] (28:08):

Okay, did you originally have a podcast that was meant for patients as opposed to being aimed at other business owners?

[MELISSA] (28:20):

Yes. My first podcast was for moms. It was called Everyday Rockstar Moms because I love the medium of podcasting and I was having the same conversation in my practice with so many women, women who were just sharing with me their concerns about their kids, their fatigue, and I’m giving probably like many practitioners, a lot of the same recommendations or advice or hugs and reassurance. I’m like, “You know what, you all have this, like if you all knew, if you all saw what I saw and also how great your family’s doing compared to other kids in this world.” Anyway, so I thought let’s just start having conversations with moms. So that was my first show. And I interviewed moms just of all types, moms that went back to work, moms that were staying at home, moms that were having a nanny, moms that were dealing with postpartum moms that travel, everyone.

(29:08):

And then after about six months of that, I realized that where my heart really was, was working with women in my profession, chiropractic. And again, this was seven years ago. So at that point in time I felt like a lot of the voices in podcasting were not representative of what moms and women in practice at that point in time and likely still are dealing with. Because I was a single mom and listening to all these men share their ideas was not realistic for me as a mom who was trying to grow my practice with kids around. I needed to have a different conversation and I realized a lot of my girlfriends who were clinicians were also having the same conversation. So we were having these conversations together. So then I decided to launch another show that was for Women in Chiropractic and that was, so it just evolved. That was the second show, was called Rockstar Doctor Moms. And there’s a whole reason for that name, but we don’t have to talk about that.

(29:59):

So then I went through that show for a year and that built a whole community of people, led me down the path of then mentoring and coaching people, but after 80 shows of that, I also was getting itchy to try something new and to keep evolving. And I wanted to start having conversations with more men on the show and even couples, people who are working together and were partners. So the show evolved and it became Rockstar Doctor Life after 80 shows, and it went on for another four years. We wrapped that show at 180 episodes and I had really, really incredible conversations with lots of practitioners of all types of disciplines. They’re all chiropractors, majority of them, but they all had different practice styles and different things that they were doing and it was really, really fascinating for me. And I think while I was doing that show, I launched another show, and that was Workplace Hustle Heal and that show was for entrepreneurs in healthcare. That was a spinoff. The reason I did that show was because I was coaching so many people at that point in time and feeling, again, I’m having the same conversations and thinking if I’m having the same conversation, maybe other people would want to benefit.

(31:05):

So I actually built that show as a resource for my clients as well, so that I could have a place to say, okay, on our coaching call today, we don’t have time to really dive into why you need to really think about who you ideally want to work with or why you need to write a little bit better copy or, so it became a resource for me to use with my clients and it was open to everyone else to listen to as well. And that show ran for a few seasons. And then I did have one for my practice. I have a podcast for my clinical practice. So that’s the one that you’re talking about, or the one that, it didn’t start that way. It started as a heart mission just to talk to other moms and it just, yeah, I realized it was a medium that I liked. It was good for me. I was able to do it. Now, I always said this, I always hired production. I’ve never been interested in learning. I still do some of the production stuff with my shows, like the behind-the-scenes tech stuff, but most of it I do not do. I have it produced by other people so I can just focus on the content. But I just found it was something that really, it inspired me, it worked for me.

(32:05):

There was times when I was frustrated with maybe things in practice or just not in a growth phase or wanting to grow and things weren’t working or maybe dealing with things with my kids and I would have a guest on the show who would inspire me or give me some advice about something. And it definitely, one of those, again, in direct ways to grow your practice and yourself, it evolved into that. And quite proud of all the podcasts I’ve done. The one just wrapping up production right now is for all healthcare professionals called Adjuster Practice. And on that show yeah, I’ve interviewed chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage acupuncturists, there’s some monologues sprinkled in there, a variety of people.

[MICHELLE] (32:48):

Amazing. Do you recommend to certain clients, the ones who seem like a good fit for podcasting, that they start a podcast to grow their patient base? Or is it more indirect and it helps them grow a sense of authority in the community by having a podcast and maybe doesn’t sound referrals?

[MELISSA] (33:10):

I think it can be both of them. I mean, I think in any podcast, again, if you’re comfortable and it’s something you want to try, I think don’t ever underestimate the volume of work that is involved.

[MICHELLE] (33:18):

Agreed.

[MELISSA] (33:19):

To do a podcast. When one of my shows is running every week, it was a lot of production, and it was fun. And again, like you said earlier in our conversation, when you’re excited about something, it doesn’t matter. Like I was up and ready to go. I was happy to do it. But there’s a lot of post-production, there’s a lot of planning that has to happen. So make sure you have the time to really give to it and make sure you have an accurate plan and what the purpose of your show is. I mean, if you look at the podcasting stats, a lot of them stop after 10 episodes. So have a plan, have a have an idea of what you want to do so that you can somewhat be successful. Don’t just run with it and go. A lot of people buy all their equipment and they never use it.

[MICHELLE] (33:59):

Oh yeah.

[MELISSA] (34:00):

So I think if there were going to be some do’s and don’ts, it would definitely be having a plan and stick with it and be consistent and don’t expect it to be something that’s going to bring you new growth overnight. What you just said is absolutely the reasons to do a podcast for your clinical practice is to have the conversations to add to your clinical care that you don’t have the time to do over and over again in your practice. To extend the dialogue to build, again, community, authority, all of those reasons. You can certainly put a call-to-action in here, come book a consultation with me. Or if you’re a listener of the show, you get a discount. You can do things to market it that way. But I think the higher value of doing a podcast is that it’s such a warm medium for people to connect with someone’s voice and it’s an asset to your clinical care.

(34:44):

Like if people listen to my podcast or the practice, in a recent episode was about things to expect with recovery, how to really measure your recovery. Well, again, it’s a conversation I have over and over and over again. So if I can sit down and have it for 15 minutes with a microphone, and then tell people to listen to it, I don’t always have those 15 minutes in clinical care. So it’s an asset. I can give people conversations about fasting, about exercise, about food, about the things that I want them to be doing to enhance their results and live a healthier life when I don’t have the time. So they can simplify your workflow. So I think it’s absolutely what you said, it’s a great medium if it’s right for you, if you’ve got the time, if you’ve maybe got a team to help you produce it. And it can be really impressive for people. I mean, people are impressive you have people that have a podcast. It’s credibility, authority, likability, those are all really big wins for your practice.

[MICHELLE] (35:36):

Yeah. It’s funny you say that because I feel like people are so impressed that I have a podcast and I’m always like, if you could see me wearing my nice shirt with my pajama pants and the cats are under my desk, it’s like very low-key. I don’t know why people are like, oh, your podcasts are so glamorous. I’m like my pajamas are pretty glamorous.

[MELISSA] (36:00):

Well, truthfully, that’s why I loved the medium of podcasting, having done television where you’ve got to have the lights and the look and the makeup and everything’s got to be all done? And then it’s such a production where in podcasting, yeah, I could be barefoot with my hair in a messy band and have a conversation with a guest and we’re done. There’s none of the drama around making it all look really perfect.

[MICHELLE] (36:25):

Yeah. And sometimes people will ask me like, what’s more effective YouTube or podcasting? And usually I’ll say to them, do you feel comfortable just turning your camera on with no prep or do you enjoy getting camera ready? Because if it’s a no, then podcasting all the way. You just turn the mic on.

[MELISSA] (36:46):

Yeah. And I think it also depends of your production and, again, knowing who you are. I’ve jumped back into doing some videos again on YouTube with some surprising positive results.

[MICHELLE] (36:56):

Awesome.

[MELISSA] (36:57):

I just did them because I wanted to create some content for the practice and some of them have gotten some traction

[MICHELLE] (37:06):

It’s a nice experiment, it sounds like it’s working.

[MELISSA] (37:09):

Yeah. Again, it just comes down from me to heart, like, what am I doing this for? If I can add to people’s experience and help them live a healthier life, they’re 100% going to get better results from chiropractic adjustments, but they’re also going to feel better. And I really want them to understand how to approach their health differently, more than anything else. That’s, again, not a conversation I can have. We all say great things sometimes one-on-one with people and you wish you could record yourself. So if you gave yourself the time and space to actually put your thoughts down and record something, you could have this little library of content that you can use for years to come. It’s no different than writing a great blog post or something in email. And it’s also content you can absolutely repurpose. I always recommend that clients if they can create one piece of marketing every month, like a content piece, then pull out whatever you want from that and use it. Use it to talk in your practice. Use it for video content. Use it on Instagram. Use it all kinds of space, but don’t overwhelm yourself with having to create so much content. Just pick one thing and see how far you can stretch it.

[MICHELLE] (38:09):

I feel like repurposing content is the best/maybe only way to stay sane in the digital world. Like if you wrote something beautiful five years ago, please repackage it in as many formats as you can think of. And it doesn’t matter if it’s older.

[MELISSA] (38:27):

Yeah, and [crosstalk] the past you’re like, geez, that was pretty good.

[MICHELLE] (38:30):

Yeah.

[MELISSA] (38:31):

And let’s be honest, I mean, sure, research is always changing and if we’re doing our diligence as clinicians, we want to be up to date with new research and continuing education of course. But there’s some basics that never change. It never changes how to encourage people to walk or to make healthy food choices, or why meditation might be good for their health. There’s some foundational things that you can spice them up if you want, every year, but the core of it is going to be the same. And we forget how little people know, the average person knows compared to us about health. And they still need us to lead them every day.

[MICHELLE] (39:03):

I think it’s so smart to think about a podcast as like a reservoir for the things that you’re repeating to patients over and over again, because I think you’re right that, so we have great conversations in person in clinic, but the time can be limited and it’s hard to coach someone to make a huge change in their life in the time that you might have together with them. But then if they have the opportunity to digest those really big concepts and bite size portions throughout the rest of their week or month, I think that can make a huge change for people. Instead of being like, here’s six things to do to change your, like live your best life. When you’re with them together you can just refer them to your podcast and then they can go through it at a pace that makes sense to them and then they can make one change at a time or however the structure is. But I never ever thought of a podcast from that perspective. It’s like a reservoir of knowledge and like bite-size chunks.

[MELISSA] (40:06):

Yeah, it can also be a really great way to collaborate with other professionals in your community. I mean, I refer consistently to acupuncturists, to massage therapists, to osteos, to physicians. And if I can have those conversations with people, which I have done in the past, it also bridges the relationship and it bridges the opportunity for people to see, like, we all have a different take on things and you need to figure out what’s right for you. Do I believe that everyone should have a chiropractor? Absolutely. But depending on where you’re at with your health and your finances, maybe at this point in time, this is better than this for you. And just even the possibility, there’s things that I don’t do as a chiropractor that other people do, so you can add to your results if you combine this. So I think it’s a great way to also collaborate and build again, depending on what someone’s practice style is, to build what other relationships in your community and cross promote. And that whole side of it pays dividends tremendously.

[MICHELLE] (41:01):

Yes. Absolutely. Well, I just have a couple more questions for you. One is, I saw on Instagram that you have a lending library at your practice. And I know an acupuncturist out in Boulder who does this, and I just think it’s the most fun thing ever. I’m so curious what inspired you to? So it looks like a wall of books. It’s pretty substantial.

[MELISSA] (41:24):

Yeah, it’s beautiful. I mean, what inspired it is I love books. Again, I’m an old soul in that I love to learn with a tangible book in front of me. I’m always learning and reading new things. And so I have a lot of books and I’m also familiar with lots of different authors and stuff, and for me, sometimes I know what’s in the book and maybe I haven’t finished it, but I know it’s a resource for X, Y, and Z. So I had these books, I’m like, why wouldn’t I lend people these books if they wanted them? And I had the space and so we built a beautiful, the one that you saw is in the reception sort of area. There’s a whole wall of books, there’s different sections. There’s family care, there’s environmental friendliness, there’s motivation, there’s general health and wellbeing. Then in my adjusting room, there’s another bookshelf, there’s a few of them in the practice, but some of them I don’t lend out as much because they’re my personal copies. But I just love that people can be inspired to learn.

(42:19):

Again, it goes to the content. Like there’s things that I don’t have the knowledge or the depth with. I don’t want to talk to women about which foods to support their perimenopausal journey. I know it, but I don’t have the time in my practice day to day. So I can say, “Hey, go read this book and let me know what you think and we can talk about it.” “Here if you’ve read this book, then maybe this particular naturopathic doctor is going to be right for you in town.” Or it just gives them in information to take more control of their health. And also let’s be honest, sometimes people need to hear the same information from someone else. We can tell them the same content for years and years and years, and suddenly someone else says it in a different tone or with a different message and it connects with them. It clicks differently. I’m all about knowledge in my practice. I want people to be informed and aware of their health. I want them to turn to me as a trusted healthcare provider, but I want them to make informed and educated decisions from themselves. So the lending library is just one piece of it, the podcast, the videos, all that stuff, but people do appreciate it.

[MICHELLE] (43:19):

I’m so curious, do they actually bring the books back?

[MELISSA] (43:23):

Mostly.

[MICHELLE] (43:23):

Do they?

[MELISSA] (43:24):

Yes, mostly there’s, and actually I lend them out to the kids too, because, the bottom shelf of that book is all these different, and some of these were my son’s books, other books I’ve just found from secondhand stores. So it’s not something that has to actually spend thousands and thousands of dollars on this. You can easily pick them up at thrift stores. Or people will donate books at times as well. I also really want the kids reading books because so many times kids these days are not They’re in front of a screen and anything that I can do in my practice to get them experiencing play and interaction and objects and that curiosity is what I’m going to be doing more. So the kids can borrow the books as well. And sometimes they come back in worse shape but that’s why I said the ones that are really important to me, they don’t get lent out.

[MICHELLE] (44:11):

Got you.

[MELISSA] (44:11):

They’re in the private library, will say, but yeah, they come back and I give people some grace around. It’s a couple of weeks at a time or their next visit, whenever that’s going to be. And I may have lost some books over the years, but I think in general, people are very respectful.

[MICHELLE] (44:28):

Yeah. I ask because I am that awful person who borrows a friend’s book and they won’t get it back for like three years. I have one friend, and I don’t know what my deal is, it will be right there on the shelf, be right there, and I just won’t think about taking it. I have one friend who lent me a group of books and then I brought her back someone else’s book. She’s like, “That book you brought me was great. Where did that come from?” I was like, “Didn’t you give that to me last year?” She’s like, “I’ve never seen that book in my life.” I was like, “Okay.”

[MELISSA] (45:00):

I think it’s also just a bit of me and the whole non-attachment to things idea. Like if someone takes a book and they borrow it, truthfully, a lot of those books in the library, they’re there as resources for me as well. If it’s something that’s near and dear to my heart, it’s not going to get lent out to someone.

[MICHELLE] (45:13):

Fair. Yeah.

[MELISSA] (45:14):

But otherwise if someone takes it and it doesn’t come back, alright, there’ll be another book. So I’m personally not that person, like, I’m not attached to objects and things like that. If it passes on, it ends up on a park bench and someone else picks it up, then this book is having its own little journey.

[MICHELLE] (45:30):

I like that.

[MELISSA] (45:31):

That’s okay with me.

[MICHELLE] (45:33):

Yeah. I love that perspective. So my last question for you that I ask all my guests is, what is your definition of success?

[MELISSA] (45:44):

Well, I ask my guests that question too.

[MICHELLE] (45:46):

Oh, fun.

[MELISSA] (45:48):

I think it’s an individual pursuit of what matters to you and the actions. Success to me is having freedom and health and resources to live the life that matters to me. So that means, yes, I want a certain income so that I can afford the quality of food that I have and some travel and these things. But I really want to have good relationships and connections with my sons, with my loved ones, with my partner. I want really good health. So for me, success is, I don’t have a succinct definition, but I will definitely say that I don’t measure it in only one facet. It’s how I’m showing up in the world as a human and how I’m taking care of myself and having the freedom to do so.

[MICHELLE] (46:33):

Well, thank you so much for being here with us today. I really appreciate it.

[MELISSA] (46:38):

I love it. It was a great conversation. Thanks for having me.

[MICHELLE] (46:41):

Where can people connect with you online? How can they get in touch with you, follow you?

[MELISSA] (46:47):

Probably the best one-stop-shop is if you just go to drmelissalongo.com. That directs you to anything you need to find about me, whether it’s working together. There’s a whole site we have for healthcare professionals that’s called Rockstar Doctor Life. But you’ll get there if you go to drmelissalongo.com. I am on Instagram begrudgingly, but it’s just at Dr. Melissa Longo DC. I’m happy to chat with people if they, DMs, emails, anything like that. I’m open to.

[MICHELLE] (47:17):

Perfect. So we will put those links in the show notes. And then for anyone listening, your last name is spelled L-O-N-G-O, right?

[MELISSA] (47:24):

Yes.

[MICHELLE] (47:24):

Drmelissalongo.com.

[MELISSA] (47:24):

Yes.

[MICHELLE] (47:24):

Okay.

(47:27):

Perfect. Well, thank you again.

[MELISSA] (47:29):

Thanks Michelle. Have a great day.

[MICHELLE] (47:35):

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