Are you stuck wondering whether you need a virtual assistant or a full-blown marketing strategist? You’re not alone.
I sat down with Deanna Martin, founder of Patrona Virtual Solutions, who specializes in helping wellness providers build marketing systems that actually make sense and attract patients consistently.
Listen in as we explore the hiring opportunities you have, which is right for you, and how to approach your marketing plan!
In this episode:
- The difference between a VA, a marketing assistant, and a strategist.
- How collaboration-based marketing is a powerful secret weapon for brick-and-mortar businesses.
- Why authenticity and connection are your marketing superpowers.
Find It Quickly
00:34 – Meet Deanna Martin
01:04 – Understanding Marketing Roles: VA, Assistant, and Strategist
01:43 – Sponsor Message: Fair Wholesale
02:33 – Deanna’s Journey: From Teaching to Marketing Strategy
06:42 – The Importance of Authentic Marketing
11:42 – Clarifying Marketing Roles and Responsibilities
17:21 – Overcoming Hesitations with Virtual Assistance
19:09 – Sponsor Message: Fair Wholesale
19:45 – Core Marketing Foundations for Established Businesses
20:40 – The Importance of Branding and SOPs
20:51 – Identifying Your Dream Client
22:08 – Utilizing Project Management Tools
24:03 – Collaborating with Local Businesses
25:25 – Networking and Word of Mouth Strategies
28:13 – Balancing Digital and In-Person Marketing
29:04 – Networking Tips for Introverts
30:10 – The Value of Business Friendships
33:15 – Overcoming Marketing Rejections
34:46 – Defining Success and Work-Life Balance
36:02 – Where to Find and Connect with Deanna
Connect with Deanna
Website: patronavirtualsolutions.com
Instagram: instagram.com/patrona_vs
Task & Time Freebie: patronavirtualsolutions.myflodesk.com/tasktimeauditfreebie
🎙️ Listen to Episode #120: Hiring the Right Marketing Help for Your Acupuncture Practice with Deanna Martin
💚 This episode is sponsored by Faire Wholesale. 💚
Increase your average per patient income with beautiful retail products that are aligned with your values and your business—without the upfront risk. Faire makes it easy to get started with over 100,000 independent brands and low or no order minimums.
Even better? You get free returns for 60 days on the first order you place with any brand, so you can feel confident trying out new products online. Try new items in your clinic, and if something doesn’t sell, just send it back for a refund.
Plus, you can filter by your values—like AAPI-owned, Black-owned, organic, handmade, or not sold on Amazon.
Increase your income with curated retail offerings today. Click here to learn more about Faire.
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Transcript:
Michelle: Welcome to the Acupuncture Marketing School podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Grassic, 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.
Welcome back. Today I’m sitting down with Deanna Martin, owner of Patrona Virtual Solutions. Deanna helps wellness providers create marketing systems that bring in patients like email marketing plans, content strategy, and collaboration based marketing. So you don’t have to figure out what works all on your own.
And Deanna has a strong science background, so she’s especially good at helping providers translate clinical language into marketing that feels clear, authentic, and easy for patients to understand, which is something we’re going to cover today. So today we are discussing the difference between a virtual assistant, a marketing assistant.
And a marketing strategist and what each role actually does. How to create simple marketing systems so your strategy feels organized instead of chaotic. Why collaboration marketing works so well for brick and mortar clinics, both in person and digital Collaborations like Instagram, how to make marketing feel more authentic and less salesy by focusing on connection and trust and what foundations you should have in place before hiring, marketing support such as.
Branding target market, et cetera. I really hope you enjoy this conversation with Deanna. Today’s episode is sponsored by Fair Wholesale. Increase your average visit income with beautiful retail products that are aligned with your values and your business without the upfront risk. Fair makes it easy to get started with over a hundred thousand independent brands and low or no order minimum.
Even better. You get free returns for 60 days on the first order you place with any brand, so you can feel confident trying out new products. Try new items in your clinic and if something doesn’t sell, just send it back for a refund. Fair also offers 60 day payment terms with zero interest, so you can stock your shelves now and pay later.
Plus you can filter by your values like women owned, organic, handmade, or not sold on Amazon. The link is in the show notes. Go check out Fair to increase your income with curated retail offerings today. Hi, Deanna. How are you?
Deanna: Hello. I’m good. How are you doing?
Michelle: I’m doing well. Thank you so much for being here today.
I really appreciate it.
Deanna: Yeah, of course. Thank you. I’m excited. I’m excited to talk about what we’re gonna talk about today. Yes,
Michelle: yes, me too. Uh, before we get into it, uh, why don’t you introduce yourself to the audience?
Deanna: Yeah, so my name’s Deanna Martin. I am the owner of Patrona Virtual Solutions, and my job is I am a marketing strategist for healthcare providers, and that’s anything from anyone in the wellness space.
So I’ve worked with yoga therapists, nurse practitioners, providers in the holistic space. So it’s a pretty wide range, and my job is to help these providers who have been doing it for a while and really put. Sense into kind of like the mental post-it notes that they’ve been having with, I know I need to do email marketing.
Okay, I’ll get that later. Or I send out one email, but how do I not lose my mind? Because I’ve been doing social media, so it’s like we come up with systems, I make it seamless, have it all make sense, and put strategy together so that way they actually enjoy doing the marketing.
Michelle: Awesome. I love that so much.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: So I am curious, and I think you do both, but it sounds like you can just help someone come up with a strategy if they want.
Deanna: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: Or you can also create the strategy and implement for them.
Deanna: Yes.
Michelle: If that’s what they need. Gosh,
Deanna: yeah. So I actually started, so I’ve been doing this almost four years. And kind of, you know, let me go back a little bit.
I actually started, um, 14 years ago. I was a teacher, zero plans to become a teacher. My plan A was to be a pediatric physical therapist, and I didn’t need a plan B because my Plan A was going to work. I was sure of it
Michelle: always.
Deanna: Of course. Yeah. Um, my plan did not work and I cried for two days, did not know what to do.
My mother-in-law at the time was a principal. She’s like, I know you wanna work with kids. You know, we need special needs teachers. So I’m like, okay, I will do that for one year. Because, and it was for high school, I was like, I cannot imagine being a high school teacher. I’m gonna do it for one year and then I’m gonna reapply and I’m out.
And then that turned into a 14 year career. I loved it. Um, so I did special needs for about three years. They needed biology, so I shifted into teaching biology. I have a science background, so I majored in kinesiology. I have a master’s in public health. And then that merged into human anatomy, and I absolutely loved it.
So once I left teaching. I really missed it. I really missed nerding out on all the things science. And so I’m like, what can I do that’s going to allow me to be home with my babies and still do what it is that I love? And so I found the world of virtual assisting. So I did just kind like a little bit of admin things, you know, for just general business owners.
Um, I worked with a lot of science teachers who are also curriculum writers. I started doing that and noticed a pattern of everyone needing help with. Marketing. And so I realized where it was kind of a light bulb moment when I was a teacher, especially as a high school teacher from freshman and senior.
I essentially had to market to my students why this is important, you know? Yes. Why do they need to care about MI mitochondria? Let me explain why I was pitch. Every single day as a teacher.
Michelle: It’s so true. Oh my goodness. I never thought about that before.
Deanna: Yeah. So when I realized like, okay, now I just have to shift this and do it to a different audience, now I just have to do it to adults.
Um, so I’m really good at taking something that seems dry and. Figuring out why is it important for you? Why is it important for your everyday life? Um, and so once I, I realized and had that light bulb moment, I started doing those services and really just honed in working with providers because now I get to, I get to do both.
So I get to dip into the kinesiology, the public health space, and do the teaching that essentially I had done. And now I get to teach providers how to do that.
Michelle: Awesome. And I know from from stalking your website as I do with all of my guests.
Deanna: Thank you.
Michelle: Thank you. Yes. One of the questions that people will ask you is whether you can write their content, and I know that acupuncturists in particular are always worried about someone else writing their content because acupunc is so niche, et cetera, et cetera, but I think that.
It’s really unique that you have a health and a science background. Right. And I also noticed on your website that you are not. And this is something that I think people worry about with, uh, with virtual help of any kind. Like you’re not just publishing stuff without having it approved. Right. And so it’s, I’m sure it’s like this feedback loop where you are learning to write about specific topics in your client’s voice.
Like that’s the whole point, right? Mm-hmm. Is where it’s authentic to them and whatever their profession is.
Deanna: Yes. No, exactly. I have a client right now who, she’s a holistic. Nurse practitioner and I don’t know everything about that space. And so what. I always do whenever I start working with someone is, first off, I let them know.
This is depending on what you’re hiring. If you’re hiring for a virtual assistant, that’s a little bit different. That’s going to be something where these are repetitive things that you need. Maybe you write out the template for the blog. You need them to maybe clean it up. Post it. That’s a little bit different.
If you’re hiring a marketing strategist like me, I’m going to take what you already have. Maybe you have podcasts, maybe you have emails you’ve already sent out, maybe you have blogs that you’ve done. So I’m taking your knowledge already. We have our strategy calls. You know, we kind of brain dump together and so I take what I know, which is how to take your terminology.
Put it into language that actually connects with people that you want it to really resonate with. Because that’s another thing too, I noticed with providers as well, they don’t know the subject as well as I do. Well, that’s also kind of the, the funny thing with. Marketing is, you actually don’t want to put it in your language in a sense, you want to use little pieces, but you want to put it in a language where, what is my ideal client patient?
What are they actually searching for? You know, they’re not looking for the, they’re not googling the medical terminology. They’re just looking for sharp stomach pains, you know, or something like that. Yeah. So. You’re absolutely right. There’s a collaboration piece every single time all the way through. And then once I’ve written those pieces together, there’s always an approval.
I never, ever am gonna post something without getting the thumbs up ahead of time. Um, and that’s what I really love about strategy, and maybe it does go back into my teaching days, but it’s really a team effort. It’s not you just letting go and you don’t know what’s happening in the, in the background. I am walking you through it the whole time.
You’re giving me feedback, I’m giving you feedback, and it’s, it’s, it’s awesome once it really connects into that collaborative space.
Michelle: Yeah. And I, I did see on your website that you talk about how marketing is about connecting with people, which I love because I think that. Take some of the yucky scary feeling that people get about when they think about marketing.
It takes some of that away because you know, a lot of these brick and mortar business people are community members, right? Mm-hmm. And so it’s very important to them to feel like who they are is actually represented in their marketing. So they don’t wanna feel like the car salesman. No offense to car salesman.
I’m sure there’s some of them out there who are doing a great job.
Deanna: Yes.
Michelle: But like that. When you remind people that all you all we’re doing is building a connection, right? We’re building trust. I think that helps so much in getting people into the right mindset to to be visible, to be comfortable with that.
Deanna: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I also tell the people that I work with, imagine you’re just doing a one-on-one call, so you’re, you’re also kind of, you’re giving your personality on that end. You know, you kind of, you do a little small talk, maybe you share a tip with them. Maybe you talk about what you did over the weekend.
You’re just having those various. Seamless conversations and kind of, you know, sprinkling that into your marketing. ’cause that’s another thing too. I have a client who always says, I, I don’t wanna come off like I’m trying to be an influencer. You know, I don’t wanna come off that way. And I’m never one to push coming off a certain way.
It’s just, what are you comfortable with? And that’s exactly what we are gonna do. But you know, just really feel like the people, all of the people on the other end are dream clients who want to learn from you. And then. Just, you know, just approach it that way. It is awkward at first. I’m not gonna lie. It, it feels very awkward.
Uh, and even for me, sometimes I struggle and I start and I pause and it feels awkward. But, um, again, that’s the great thing about having a strategist on your team, having someone on your team is you can get those things out. You can get tips from it. Uh, we work it out. I even have strategy sessions where I’m like, okay, we’re gonna go ahead and do a story right now.
Let’s do it right now. I want you to hit record and we’ll just kind of do it that way. So it takes some of that pressure off.
Michelle: Yes. Yeah. And then once you’ve done it, once you realize it’s probably not as bad as you were imagining in your brain.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: Can we talk a little bit more to clarify for people the difference between the, a virtual assistant, um, like a marketing assistant and then a marketing strategist?
Deanna: Yes. So I’ve done all three, and I love talking about this topic because so many come to me saying, I need. X, Y, Z, but I only have budget for maybe what a VA would be. And nothing wrong with where someone is, you know, and maybe you’re just starting your practice, you’re starting your consulting business, or maybe your years in.
But it is really important just like you know, for you and for providers, someone has to respect, you know, your time, your expertise, and what your investment is. And that’s no different. You know, whether it’s a virtual assistant marketing, assistant marketing strategist. So a virtual assistant is probably gonna start off around now, I would say $30 an hour.
So maybe you might find 20 ish, but 20 ish to 30 an hour. And those are going to be assistants where you have, this is what you’re going to be doing. Um, but these are repetitive tasks where you’re like, okay, I’m tired of looking at my email. I need someone to go through it and clear out the junk. Maybe send me the things that are really urgent.
You want someone to maybe do the posting on social media for you. You know, write out your blogs. If you wanna make templates, something that’s really basic, you have everything for the most part, set up for them. And it’s just things that don’t need your brain power to do it. They don’t need your hand. But also on that piece, and this is something that I bump into a lot.
It does take, regardless of who you hire, it takes preparation on your end. And the only reason I’m saying that is because I do have people who I work with where they get a little frustrated on the onboarding and they’re like, well, I didn’t. I don’t have this, I don’t have this. And there’s no problem with that.
That’s why I give a good cushion for onboarding because we do need to have a couple things, whether it’s a couple SOPs. Simple Google Doc, but there is gonna be a little bit of setup for a virtual assistant. If we’re looking at a marketing assistant. Marketing’s a little bit different, so it’s someone who can do what a virtual assistant does, but they will be a little bit more on the strategy end here and there where they’re gonna give you a little bit more feedback.
Um, or maybe they’re gonna say, I am a. Assistant where I really focus on email marketing. So they will go ahead and do the scheduling for you, but they also kind of know how to really optimize email marketing. Maybe they do a little bit of the tech behind it. You know, you wanna start doing a lead magnet and you’re like, I just bought flow desks and I have no clue how to get this magnet.
That’s what a marketing assistant will do for you. And then a marketing strategist is going to say, okay. You are doing some social media, you’re not hearing anything from it. You’re posting, but it’s still crickets. You have maybe started a newsletter, maybe you haven’t, uh, you really wanna do a blog and you’re getting frustrated because these are all separate pieces.
So a strategist is gonna say, okay, let’s come up with a very succinct plan. We’re gonna collaborate together. I personally like to do it quarterly, ’cause month to month is just a hot mess express sometimes. So I like to do quarterly and it’s like, okay, for the next three months, this is really what we’re gonna hone on.
So maybe it’s going to be just talking about maybe how you started. So kind of giving what it’s like to work with you, given a little behind the scenes of your practice. You know, we’ll schedule out and really know when are certain posts going to be set, when our email’s gonna be written out, and. That is a much more of a collaborative piece and it’s really the strategist who’s coming in and saying, I’m gonna set up the strategy.
Tell me what you want, but I’m gonna set up the strategy for you and make sure everything is running smoothly. So that’s nice because it is a little bit more hands off on the provider’s end. Um, but obviously it’s going to be more of an, of an investment as you go from a virtual assistant marketing to a strategist.
Michelle: I was gonna say, it really sounds like there’s layers, right? Yeah. And at each stage there’s more expertise, because in my experience, as you said, a virtual assistant is really just completing tasks that you assign to them. Yes. And you have, everything is set up and arranged for them. They just have to log in and kind of do like check, check, check.
Exactly. And then they can let you know when it’s done.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: But a marketing, uh, assistant starts to become a specialist.
Deanna: Mm-hmm.
Michelle: Right. And you gave the example of email marketing, like, oh, okay, here’s how we can optimize this. And then a strategist, it sounds much bigger picture, which makes sense.
Deanna: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
I mean, especially if you have something where you’re like, you know what? I really wanna start offering, you know, this, um, this specific offer, or, you know, I really want to put together this workbook or something like that. Okay, well let’s take what we already have. I kind of do the strategy for that. How is that seamless?
We look at, um, you know, are there collaborators that can join in that can also spread the word on this. So it’s taking all of those moving parts. I even have a client where I do a lot of podcast pitching for her. So on top of all that, you know, things have been kind of, we’ve been working together a while and things are a little bit stagnant.
So it’s like, all right now, now is the time to kind of change it up. Don’t do it after a couple of weeks. You wanna give it at least three, four or five months. And now we’re gonna kind of weave in the podcast management. You know, or not podcasts, but showing up on podcasts. So that’s the beautiful thing about a strategist is we’re always looking very aerial, um, looking at all the pieces and seeing what we can kind of tweak when it’s appropriate, but still, again, working with you and knowing, you know, getting your feedback and you’re telling us what it is that you want, and our job is to get you there.
Michelle: Yeah. And I, I feel like a lot of people that I chat with are a little bit nervous to bring on a virtual person. Mm-hmm. They’re worried that it just isn’t. Going to be that smooth. Yeah. Or it’s just like, you know, they’re worried about a time zone difference or they’re worried about communication. Mm-hmm.
Like, will this person really understand me and my business? Yeah. And they’re worried about letting someone log into their accounts. And I, I mean, gosh, I’ve had a couple different kinds of virtual assistants mm-hmm. For both my practice and then for. My online school, acupuncture marketing school, and I, I mean, knock on wood, I don’t wanna jinx it, but I have found that, knock on it, hoer.
Yeah. Yeah. Right. Like there are secure ways that you can figure out how to share your password with someone. Mm-hmm. So that they can log to. Instagram or that they can log into your email? Yeah. I have a virtual assistant who logs into my, uh, the acupuncturist will know what this is, the N-C-C-A-O-M uh mm-hmm.
Account so that she can assign them their PDA credit certificates when they’ve taken their quiz.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: Right. So it’s sort of like. If there’s an activity that you don’t want to do or that you really need help with, there is a level of, um, like expertise from just a virtual assistant all the way up to strategists for someone out there who can help you.
And I mean, isn’t that the beauty of the internet, that like I know there’s somebody out there who. Perfect for what you need. Yeah. And who is passionate about, we’ll say,
Deanna: I know.
Michelle: Yeah. Email marketing, right? Like they cannot wait to dig into your email numbers and look at like your open rate, the things that bore you to death.
They’re like, let me at it. That’s let me help you. I love looking at that. I’m like, edit the month,
Deanna: please come sooner
Michelle: so I can take a look.
Deanna: Yes.
Michelle: Right? Like, oh, have we aggregated enough data? Let’s do it. Taking a quick break to remind you of today’s sponsor. Fair Wholesale. If you want to increase your clinic’s revenue without adding more appointments, fair makes it easy to stock beautiful retail products from over a hundred thousand independent brands with low or no order minimums.
You can also filter by values like women owned, black-owned, handmade, organic, and not sold on Amazon. Plus, fair offers free returns for 60 days on your first order with a brand. Optional 60 day payment terms so you can try products risk free and pay later. Check out the link in the show notes and get started with Fair today.
All right, let’s get back to this conversation with Deanna. Do you feel like when you are beginning to work with people, ’cause I know that you, you like working with, uh, businesses who’ve been established for a little while. Mm-hmm. Are there certain sort of like core marketing things that you need them to have already?
Like, uh, I guess maybe like some marketing foundations that are established.
Deanna: Yeah, so, and some of these are very simple, but you’d be surprised how many people really haven’t sat down and thought about a couple of these things. So one I would say is just kind of basic things like SOPs, first of all. Um, so do you have systems in place?
Nothing fancy. Like I have a lot too who are like, I cannot stand to learn another piece of tech. Then don’t just throw it in a Google Doc and even if it’s something like how do you post your blog? Just literally do step-by-step. So do you have something like that? It’s awesome if you have branding photos, you know, the branding colors, kind of all those things so that everything can be really fluid.
We want your brand, your marketing to be recognizable. But another thing that I would say is. Really knowing who is your dream patient and dream client, because to say women in menopause is. Insanely broad, you know, what are they actually struggling with? You know? Is there a like an even closer age group that we can get into?
If it is gut health, well what specifically with gut health is it constipation is, I mean there’s so much that you can get into and so it is getting really specific, which I know can be scary ’cause then a lot think. If I really niche down, that’s gonna take out this whole population. But then when you do that, you’re kind of just like speaking into the abyss, you know?
Right. So really knowing exactly who it is that you are talking to. Um, so that would be one and same thing, throw it into Google Doc and just put down who is your dream client, what do they struggle with? Um, again, age, you know, what shows do they like? I mean, you know, where do they live and what hobbies do they have?
And it sounds silly to think about that, but the reason that’s important is because it’s gonna make it easier to make that kind of content for them. Um, so yeah, I would definitely say having branding, photos, colors, SOPs, knowing who it is that you are talking to, and then even if you don’t have it set up, at least kind of do a little bit of homework and see.
You know, do I have a system where, um, it’s almost like a project management tool, something that you use to kind of keep projects, goals. Something in line where it’s like, okay, I have a goal of, you know, connecting with this person that I really look up to in business. Maybe it’s a local business. Put that into a Google sheet.
It’s maybe like. Market collabs, who are some dream people that you would like to work with? Um, another thing that you could do in a Google sheet is just putting down like, what are some keywords or what are some chief complaints that patients are always coming to you for? Jot those things down because once you do have a strategist, someone that you hire on, you are gonna make their life so much easier.
The provider is gonna have a much better experience, not feeling like, well, they keep asking me for this, and now I’m doing all this work. Doing a little bit of homework ahead of time is going to make marketing much easier.
Michelle: Yeah. And it, I mean, it sounds like those are all things that people really need, even if they are just doing their own marketing, right?
Yes. Like to have, ’cause I think a lot of people probably start out doing their own marketing before arrive with you. Yeah. And just thinking about how much easier it is when you have your specific branding colors and your fonts, and you have, as you said, your branding images, like everything. In one place.
Yep. Everything written down where it’s certain mm-hmm. And you’re not like searching for a, a color green that feels close to the color that you’re, I mean, like that really eats up a lot of it does mental energy. Mm-hmm. In addition to time. Right? Mm-hmm. And that makes all the tasks more work, right?
Absolutely. So just having everything clean and organized and established, I think is, is really helpful.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: So I, I’m so curious. Because I noticed on, I think it was your Instagram.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: This concept of like, part of what you can do for people is to help them kind of create collaborations with other local businesses, and I would love to hear your perspective o on why that is really helpful for people.
Deanna: Yes. Okay. So especially if someone has a brick and mortar doing, um, a strategy where you’re really focusing on your city, your town, wherever you are, and collaborating with local businesses, that’s going to be huge. Because what happens with Instagram is, let’s say that there’s, you know, someone who’s a photographer, maybe they’re photographers, you know, for.
Nurses, whatever it might be. And so if I were to do a collaboration with this photographer, I’m in Arizona, so if she’s also in Arizona, we do a collaboration on Instagram. What happens is that when we do that collaboration now, when she shares it. My account, you know, my face gets shown to her audience and now her account, what she does is going to be shown to my audience.
So it’s just another way to get more eyes onto your business. And then, not just that, but just the networking piece. I had this conversation with client literally yesterday, and it’s been crickets for a while, but. She’s been saying that her word of mouth has essentially run out. That was something that she was really depended on.
And I said, regardless if we’re doing social media, digital marketing, we’re doing email marketing, networking in person collaborations has must never, ever, ever stop. That is always gonna be ongoing. Um, because you wanna stay top of mind and you never know who knows who. And I love sharing this story with, uh, uh, my pelvic floor pt.
I had never met her. And I was actually at a coworking space that I was working at earlier this year, and there were business cards and for years I’ve been telling myself I am actually going to invest in a public four pt. I had the card and I just followed her on Instagram. She reached out and was like, Hey, let’s go in and chat.
You know, how did you get my card? And we gotten a call the next day and I invested in her coaching program. The next day. And had she not gone and do that workshop at the coworking space that I was at, that I did not even attend, had she not done that coworking event, left her card, I would not have found it.
And then eventually found her and started working with her. And I had never, before then, never seen her on Instagram. She had never come across my feed. So it’s really important to not just depend on. Doing the Instagram piece, but doing those collaborations because you just, you never know the domino effect that’s gonna happen from then.
Michelle: And so you’re referring to both in-person collaborations? Mm-hmm. Like classes or teaching or something like that? Yeah. As well as, I guess you could call it virtual collaborations or social media collaborations. Yeah, social media collaborations. Yep. You join each other on live or even like I’ve. I had really good results with just reaching out to other local businesses and saying like, I’ll like, I’ll share your business on my stories and tag you if you wanna do the same for me.
And it takes like five minutes less. Yeah, less than five minutes. Yeah, for sure. And usually they’re like, oh yeah, I’d love to do a trade. That sounds great. Yeah. And as you said, like now my business is in front of their audience. Mm-hmm. And they’re literally around the corner. These people who didn’t even know that my business exists and now they do.
Right.
Deanna: Exactly. And people, you’d be surprised, like people are willing to help and I mean, they have a business too. They wanna get their business out there and you are gonna get some where it’s crickets, you don’t hear anything. And some are like, uh, no, I’m okay. But there’s way more local businesses out there who are more than willing to share what it is that you do.
So yeah, you can tag people on Instagram and your stories, you can do collaborations that way. That’s just a really important piece to Yes, get more eyes and to. Really just also meet other people in the space too. Yeah, that’s a really valuable piece. So definitely if you’re brick and mortar, but even so, if you have online business, online practice, that’s still going to be just as valuable.
Michelle: I always like to think about my marketing, like not just the marketing that I teach my students, but also the marketing that I’m doing for my acupuncture practice as a combination of digital and in-person. And I agree. Like when you lean really heavily on one side where the other, it can start to feel imbalanced, right?
So trying to keep a balance and I also. You know, I, I think it’s a tragedy how many wellness professionals feel like a best kept secret in their own community. Mm-hmm. Right? They’re like, how is it that I can go to a coffee shop and, you know, I happen to have this conversation about my practice? And they’re like, wow, you’re around the corner.
I never knew you existed. And you’re like, I have been here for a decade. How do people still not know that I am here? And so for me, that makes me feel very motivated. To try to get out in the community and do in-person networking, even as an introvert, which I, I know it’s challenging. There are strategies to make it less painful, right?
Yes. To make it actually enjoyable. But I always think to myself, it is my responsibility to make sure that real life local people know my business exists. It’s nobody else’s responsibility but my own to do that work. And I just think that the in-person. Uh, activities tend to be the most memorable.
They’re high impact.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: And I mean, it’s sort of a trade, right? Like Yes. As an introvert, they are also, uh, they take a lot of energy.
Deanna: Yes.
Michelle: Right? And then I need a little recovery afterwards. Like I can do one per week max, and I know people who can do one per month max, and that’s fine. Yeah. Mm-hmm. But they’re also, as I said, they’re like high ROI for the energy that.
You’re putting into it. So gosh. Yeah. I do think that balance is incredibly important.
Deanna: Yeah, and you know what? Even if we’re not looking at the marketing piece, it’s just helpful to be able to talk to someone else. Maybe if you do go to a networking event, someone else who’s in business and just be able to talk about it sometimes.
Yeah. I mean, it can feel so lonely and you’re like, I don’t know what I’m doing. Like, is this even the right track or did I hire the right person? Well ask people. I mean, and that too, other people that are in the entrepreneurial space. They’re more than willing. They’re like, please learn from my mistakes.
You know? Mm-hmm. And vice versa. People want to have these conversations so that. Personally is one of the things that I absolutely love having as far as conversations, is just knowing it’s not just me. Okay, yeah. Like this person has been in business for 10 plus years and they’re still kind of struggling with something that I’m struggling with right now.
So it’s that reassurance. It builds more community. You have someone to kind of vent to, like, I’ve met so many people on Instagram, never met them in real life, and. Every once in a while it’s like, I’m gonna send you a voice memo. Lemme complain really quick. And it’s just nice to be able to have someone that you can do that with.
So yeah, on on both ends, marketing is great. And then also just keeping your sanity because this is not easy. No one said it was easy and it’s nice to have that.
Michelle: That’s, you know what, that’s one of the angles that I like if I’m gonna teach networking for introverts. Mm-hmm. That’s one of the angles that I teach it from.
It’s like. What? Forget about the hard sell, right? Like you’re not going there saying like, okay, I am gonna hand out 30 business cards and I need to get two new patients. Like that just isn’t really how it works.
Deanna: No.
Michelle: It’s about making business friends. Right? And so once you’ve gone a couple times, people will start to recognize you and you won’t have those awkward moments where you’re like, I’m standing here with a glass of wine in the corner by myself.
Yeah. Again, God, I wish someone would talk to me. Right? Yeah. And it’s just like. You, you become recognizable. You are making friends, and I love that you said, what am I doing? Yeah. As a small business owner, I feel like every time I connect with someone new and we have those conversations, the same thing comes up.
Like who? Put me in charge. Yeah. Like why? Like, oh my God, I’m making these decisions. Everyone has those, you know, you have moments where you’re confident and things are going well, and then you have moments where you’re like, wow. Yeah. Like, I really wish someone else would just come make these choices for me.
Deanna: Oh no, I get it.
Michelle: But everyone feels that way.
Deanna: Everyone feels that way, and that’s the tough thing about it. You’re going to have amazing months, maybe an amazing year, and then you’re gonna wanna burn it all down the next day and start over, and that’s just part of it. But that’s also the beautiful thing, like you said, with the internet, like there’s.
So many people that we can connect with. And that’s the awesome part, is that there’s people who wanna share their stories with you, who wanna listen to you, who wanna give you feedback and give you advice. So, yeah, no, I mean, take advantage if someone is willing to collaborate, like you said, just kind of shoot your shot, throw it out there, see if they’re, if they’re willing to, you know, do a coffee chat with you, do a collab with you, tag you, and that’s exactly how it starts.
And then it feels less icky. It feels less. Car salesy like you were saying, you know?
Michelle: Yeah. And I think the idea of shoot your shot is really important. I sometimes, I think of marketing as. I was like, I have to get through. I have to make my pitch, whatever it is, and I have to get through a certain number of no thank yous or non responses before I can get to a yes.
Right? So maybe I need six. No thank yous talking about acupuncture with new people. Before I get to someone who’s like, wow, that sounds like what I need. Yeah. And that’s the person that I want anyway. Right. So I just, in my mind, I’m like, okay, that person seems not interested. Like it’s not a big deal. And now I’m, I’m getting one step closer to a person and you know, it’s so
Deanna: true.
Michelle: Who is a great fit? Yes.
Deanna: It’s so true. I mean,
Michelle: so shoot your shot and if it’s a no.
Deanna: Legacy. Know. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, that’s someone that you know wasn’t gonna buy from you anyways. You know, maybe they don’t fully believe in what it is that you’re offering and that’s okay. Not everyone has to Yeah, they’re not ready.
Yeah, they’re not ready. And you just, you never know. So, um, even with. You know, when you are able to have that team, or even if you just connect with a strategist, let’s just say that you connect with a strategist, maybe you’re not able to hire them, but you’d be surprised, like even people will kind of go into my dms, like, Hey, can I pick your brain really quick?
Like, you know, and you’d be surprised how willing people are, you know, wanting to help you. And even something like that. Like, I’m getting all these nos, like is this normal? And so even just kind of having that to be able to bounce that off of someone is, is really helpful. Yeah.
Michelle: Well, thank you so much. I feel like you have given us so much to think about.
Um, I do have one more question for you. Yes. And that is, what is your definition of success?
Deanna: You know what? My day today is the definition of success. I took my kids to school, which when I was a teacher, my mornings. Were chaos times 10. I mean, because school for me started at 7 25. My kids had to be at the daycare before school at like six 30.
And so my day to today, I was able to drop off my kids chill morning. I did a little bit of work. I took my three-year-old to the library’s taking a nap right now while I’m doing this with you.
Michelle: Awesome.
Deanna: And just having slower days is my definition of rich. I am lying. There’s something else. A few months ago, I actually was finally able to invest in a house cleaner and I told my husband, oh my God, I made it.
I made it. I’m like,
Michelle: I have
Deanna: arrived. I have arrived. Yes, I feel like a real housewife of Orange County, like one of those ladies. I have made it. There’s no dollar amount that could give me that much happiness now. So having my slow mornings and just having the. Flexibility to be able to get help like that.
Yeah.
Michelle: Yes. And it sounds like spend time with your
Deanna: kids and spend time with babies. Yes. Yes, definitely.
Michelle: Well, thank you so much again. So where can everyone find you online? How can they get in touch with you if they wanna work with you? All the good
Deanna: things. Yeah, so my website is patrona virtual solutions.com.
I hang out on Instagram so you can find me at Patrona vs. And I will give you the link, but I do have a freebie. It’s a task and time audit. Because a lot of providers, even before diving in, they’re like, I don’t even know how much time, like, you know, what can they actually take off my plate? So I have this freebie I put together.
I’m super excited about it. You plug in what is it that you want to stop doing? How much time is it taking you? You can literally calculate how many hours a month you can outsource. Um, and the number is. I guarantee you’re gonna amaze you and, um, awesome. So, yeah, that I wanna go ahead and deliver, and then VIP days are something that I am also offering.
So I would love to work with you if, especially if you’re maybe in a position where you’re like, Hmm, I’m not quite ready to really hire someone full-time, then VIP day is for you because you have me working on whatever it is you need to get done that you’ve been sitting on for months or like a year, and I knock it out for you in one day.
Michelle: Amazing.
Deanna: Yeah.
Michelle: Awesome. And would you spell Patrona for us, just in case people are Googling while they’re
Deanna: listening? Yeah. P-A-T-R-O-N-A. Virtual solutions. And so my Instagram is P-A-T-R-O-N, ACORE vs.
Michelle: Alright. And we will put all that in the show notes. People can find everything easily including your freebie.
Deanna: Awesome.
Michelle: Thank you so much. Thank you again to Fair Wholesale for sponsoring today’s episode. Increase Your Clinic Revenue Without Adding more appointments. Find retail products that align with your values and your business on Fair Wholesale. You can check out Fair through the link in the show notes. As always, thank you for being here and I’ll talk to you soon.