There are a lot of people in the advertising industry who hate this.

It’s the same as students who hate tests or athletes who don’t want to look at the scoreboard.

Some people don’t like the accountability of measured results. Many advertising types prefer to talk about vague terms such as “creativity” or “visual impact.” Bring up the subject of results and they often look like scared rabbits. Frankly, I love measured results. It can be tough on the ego at times. But it eliminates a lot of guesswork and helps assure that campaigns are effective. After all, marketing should be a bottom-line activity.

Recently, we conducted some tests using local Facebook ads and I’d like to share the results.

The technique we used is called “split testing.”

Split testing is a powerful strategy for increasing the effectiveness of advertising. Two versions of an ad are created. One half of your target group see one version of an ad, the other half sees the alternate version. By tracking the number of responses you can determine which ad is more effective. You then use the one that generates the best results in your future advertising. Split testing can help compare different selling appeals, prices, and just about any aspect of your product or service.

By using Google or Facebook ads, you can get results quickly and with a minimum amount of money being invested. In this case, the client was a dental practice looking to attract new patients. The service being offered was a teeth-whitening program.

TEST NUMBER ONE

For the first test, identical headlines and body copy were used. What was being tested was the image. In one, we focused on a close up of woman with an attractive smile. The second image was a close up of just a beautiful smile. Which do you think did a better job of attracting people who wanted to whiten their teeth? Here are the two options that were tested:

Result: The ad with the full face pulled 400% better than the ad with just the close-up of the smile.

TEST NUMBER TWO

The next test compared two different headlines. The first used the “A Whiter Smile For Summer” headline. The second used “Whiten Your Smile for $99.” Again, the only difference between the two ads was the headline. Which do you think got better results?

Results: The headline “Whiten Your Smile for $99″ pulled 53% better than the headline, “A Whiter Smile For Summer.” It appears that bringing the specific price up into the headline added a “deal” factor to the ad that made it more compelling. This then became our new winner and the ad to beat. (This is called “the control” in direct response advertising terms.)

TEST NUMBER THREE

For the next test, we compared an image of a pleasant older couple against our control. All other factors were kept the same. Would both a man and woman with great smiles generate more responses than a single woman?

Results: Again, the image with the smiling woman produced better results, yielding a 58% better response rate. At this point we decided we should give the smiling woman a name. We decided on “Melissa.” It was much easier than constantly saying “the pleasant, smiling, blonde woman.”

TEST NUMBER FOUR

Next, Melissa had to defend her top spot against an attractive younger woman. Again, the only difference was the image. All other factors were kept the same.

Results: The new woman did quite well, out pulling all of our other tested ads. However, she was unable to do better than Melissa. Melissa out pulled the challenger by 47%. So, as our “control” Melissa continues to run.

TESTING – THE KEY TO RESULTS

One thing that becomes crystal clear through testing is that different selling messages and images get different results. If you are not tracking your results and testing new appeals, you are not getting the best yield from your marketing.

By using tools such as Google Adwords or Facebook, it is possible to get tangible results in days. They are very fast tools for measuring the effectiveness of different ads. By building on what works best, you can enhance the results your marketing generates (like what Richard did here). The best way to know what works is to test and measure your results. If you haven’t done so already, make testing a key part of your marketing strategy.

The New York Times, a paper I usually have access to when I travel, said Zappos (a company which I LOVE by the way!) has been discovering the power of “real people” pitching shoes they like in online videos.

Here’s the news as it was written..

Zappos, owned by amazon.com, churned out 58,000 (yes you heard it right, 58,000) short videos in 2010 – most NOT featuring pro models, celebrities, made up people, instead it featured THEIR OWN employees, showing off the shoes, bags and clothing they like. Today 11 employees produce about 400 of these videos a day, in 5 mini studios inside the company’s warehouse. The typical employee going on camera is not made up TV ready by a make-up artist or wardrobe; she/he just jumps in from their work desk to the studio and presents.

Brilliant isn’t it!

While the use of video does boost sales for many items and real people videos outperform videos with professional models (except for very high end luxury items), the biggest benefit for Zappos is that there has been a reduction, sharp reduction, in the amount of merchandise refunds or exchanges.

Here is the lesson…

There are more ways to make money than just bumping up the price for your service or having other products to sell in your practice!

My suggestion…

Go purchase a flip camera (I travel with mine all the time) from the local gadget store, set up a little studio area – have fun with it – put some pictures as a back drop and let the people who use your services AND your employees record away. Point here…make them short – these are not 10 minute pieces. In fact 4 minute max they say is perfect!

You can always use the flip camera to do impromptu recordings as well. It doesn’t always have to be in the “studio”. These videos can then be sent via email to your practice members, they can be placed in your online newsletter all driving traffic to an area where they will see more!

As an example…

When I spoke at Sherman’s Lyceum this year, a chiropractor, Dr Chris, shared with me an innovative way to connect with new practice members. He said record a short video of yourself welcoming the new practice member to your practice, the team, and chiropractic and send it to them via email that day. This would replace the phone call. It is certainly a good marketing piece to test. But nothing is better than a multi-pronged approach to marketing so there will be times when you’ll want to have both, don’t throw out the baby with the bath water as they say!

If you would like assistance with innovative ideas for your marketing or assistance with tweaking a current one then please email Lotika, Client Concierge for Vital Practice Essentials on lotika@drsarahfarrant.com and we will send you the details on how to get your appointment scheduled.

We get given so many gifts don’t we? Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Anniversary’s, Mothers Day and Fathers Day, Kids Days, Family Days, but we too have so many more gifts that remain undelivered and hence unopened. These are the gifts inside of ourselves – our talent, our ability, our “reach”, our innate knowing – all there ripe for the opening.

There are, however, people who have accepted all their gifts – all opened, no more to come. They accepted the gift that life would always be “x” way and they are done, now living according to that gift they unwrapped and accepted.

And then there are others who continue to open a ready supply of gifts…their gifts… and in so doing they remove the wrap, shed layers and create an opportunity for their gift to shine; to be accepted not only by themselves but by others too. These people live according to progress and change and consistently allow an evolution in their life to take place. I am sure in your life you have met people who have said “Oh she is gifted, talented in “x” area” or “He is amazing, so talented and smart”

So what are your gifts? Do you know? I offer to you, that innately you know. The begging question is…are you prepared to ask the required questions to find out? And better yet are you prepared to trust in what you hear come back. Remember the Calumet Copper Mine and the man who listened, heard, trusted, took action and started digging? Well his life was changed forever; never to be what it was again. All because he unwrapped his gift of listening to himself and on that particular day he heard.

So what will your day be like TODAY or tomorrow?

Will you begin to live according to your innate knowing?

I suggest you unwrap yourself, layer by layer and create a new you. Use all of yourself to actualize your world and be guided by the voice inside to discover and utilize once and for all your unwrapped gifts.

If you would like assistance with peeling away your layers to access your gifts then please email Lotika, client concierge for Vital Practice Essentials on lotika@drsarahfarrant.com and we will send you the details on how to get your appointment scheduled! Don’t delay, ACT today!

There always appears to be a number of hats we wear either in life or in business. We make the choices according to what we love to do, read, interact with, teach, and share or what we lacked when growing up. In Edward de Bono’s book the Six Thinking Hats he outlined six different ways to think. In writing his book he has helped individuals think differently and stimulated group discussion. His approach provides an opportunity for groups of people to come together and think more effectively.

It has been many years since I read his book but over the past few months I have been doing some piecing together, research if you would like to call it that, well as “researchie” as a philosopher can get, of my own in relation to business being a reflection of our life.

In playing with the seven areas of life I came up with the following table which reflects the seven areas of our business and then more specifically the seven areas of practice. It shows how they so innately MAP together and mirror one another. I have written it purely so business people, like yourself, can see how connected our life is to our business. Oh, and I added some colour in for fun after being reminded of and inspired by Edward de Bono!

If you have any questions then please email them in. This is new and I am putting it together as more comes to light for me through reading, wondering and asking different questions!

Here are the seven (7) areas of life, business and practice and the corresponding colour…

Want to have a little fun with your team? Well here’s an exercise, which will enable your team meetings to come alive …

1. Print off this article
2. Take it to your next team meeting
3. Determine which person suits which hat
4. Some might have two!
5. Measure the size of the person’s head
6. Go and buy some coloured hats…one for each person!

The hats become like the talking hat in Harry Potter one! What fun! But…

If you really do, amongst the fun, look to see the benefit in what I have identified for you here as the seven areas of business and practice you will no doubt be making sure that your Vital MAP – your Master Action Plan (others call it a policies and procedures manual…boring!) covers all of these areas enabling your practice to be connected. Now as chiropractors don’t we love that!

If you would like assistance with instigating or updating your Vital MAP or making changes to your existing one then please email Lotika, client concierge for Vital Practice Essentials on lotika@drsarahfarrant.com and we will send you the details on how to get your appointment scheduled!

It was mother’s day just recently and I took a walk with my kids along our local beach (pictured here). It was a fabulous day, sun shining, water glistening and lots of people fishing. As I stood at the water’s edge watching our 3 kids chat to the fishermen it dawned on me that business success really is a horizon.

Let me explain…

Let’s say you and I are standing at the water’s edge of my local beach – the one on the right here – looking out to the horizon where the water appears to meet the sky. You say to me gee it would be fun to get in a boat and head for the horizon and I agree! We head off to rent a boat, in we hop and out we go…towards the horizon.

But one consistent thing keeps on happening…as we feel we’re getting closer the horizon, the horizon keeps moving further out!

Have you ever noticed this when you have been in a boat?

When you look to establish goals for yourself in your business more often than not you’ll look to the ideal, the future, the horizon for what you want. Yet what you find actually happening as you appear to be moving closer to the horizon is it keeps moving! As a result you end up constantly coming up with this deficient feeling and illusion that you haven’t got “there”…yet!

In fact, you never end up getting there because you’re not stopping to see what’s actually taking place and celebrating those achievements; celebrating what is ACTUALLY taking place. What you end up doing is comparing yourself against where you are currently, actually to where you want to be…the horizon…that can never be reached because the benchmark just keeps moving as you get closer to it. What a vicious cycle you create for yourself!

Participating in the equine experience at Miraval really was a fabulous way to receive some insights into how I was approaching my horizon.

When I began the second activity the horse and I started walking instantly and then all of a sudden he stopped, he wouldn’t budge. I was looking at the horse, he was looking at me (well I thought he was!), I gazed at the horizon, picked a point and started to walk, problem was, the horse didn’t! I called over the facilitator doing the equine experience with me and asked her what different questions I could ask myself as to why I was moving and then all of a sudden stopped.

She made one golden comment…Look at me here. I looked at her, and I started walking again with the horse. I asked her what was different and she answered you focused on something. I replied with a very certain I was focused!

However here was the very clear difference…

I was focused on the horizon, you know the one that keeps moving! I just wasn’t focused at all on the dirt, the grass, the shrubs, the small trees, the large trees all laid out in front of me before even getting to the horizon. I was focusing directly on the horizon which had me change my focal point as I was moving closer to it. My facilitator instead had me focus on a stable, non moving object – which was her – and it worked. I began moving again.

This whole understanding of the horizon was a great opportunity for me to see where I was focusing and not focusing on in my businesses. It is no doubt important to have a grand vision and hold the space for it, but equally as important are the steps to get there you know…the dirt, the grass, the shrubs and so forth. And being able to hold that focus for each step is important for your progress.

After the experience I took some time to reflect and wrote down one sentence to captivate what took place…

“Celebrate where you are rather than compare where you are.”

A simple statement that is rarely done. So for now stop and check where you are. Where is your focus right now – is it on the dirt, grass, shrub, small tree, large tree or the horizon? Are you ticking the box and moving forward or are you stopping to acknowledge; to celebrate? Take a moment to say “Look how far we’ve come” after all Walt Disney said to have three celebrations a week!

I hear you ask…what could be our next celebration? Well perhaps it’s an equine experience!

When was the last celebration you had in your practice? What did you do? Let us know on our blog so others can celebrate along with you as well as get some ideas too!

It is an interesting story and one that has you left saying “Are You Serious?”

Detroit mother Maryanne Godboldo faces multiple felony charges and was being held on $500,000 bond after a 10-hour standoff with a heavily armed police SWAT team. Godboldo was protecting her 13-year-old daughter from unnecessary medication ordered by the state.

Godboldo’s daughter was born with a defective foot that required amputation of her leg below the knee, which led to Maryanne becoming a stay-at-home mother after her birth, according to Health Impact News Daily.

Despite her health challenges, Arianna swam, sang, danced and played the piano. However, as the home schooled girl approached middle school age, she apparently wanted to start attending public school, and therefore had to “catch up” on immunizations the state insists are required under color of law.

According to her aunt, Penny Godboldo, the girl suffered an adverse reaction to the immunizations. “She began acting out of character, being irritated, having facial grimaces that have been associated with immunizations,” Penny told the Detroit News. Maryanne Godboldo sought help from the Children’s Center, an organization claiming to help families with at-risk children.

Godboldo told relatives the medications ordered by the doctor worsened symptoms, including behavioral problems. When Godboldo refused to give her child the prescribed medication, Child Protective Services (CPS) became involved. CPS obtained a warrant to remove the girl, but Maryanne reportedly refused to surrender the child to the state.

This situation is clearly showing, refusing to medicate your children with Big Pharma’s mind-altering drugs is now being treated as a felony crime.

Here are some additional facts as reported by Mike Adams…

• Maryanne Godboldo is an African American mother of a teenager daughter. She lives in Detroit.

• Child Protective Services (CPS) personnel attempted to kidnap Maryanne’s 13-year-old daughter. They accused her of not giving her child psychiatric medication prescribed by her doctor.

• Maryanne says the medication caused side effects in her daughter and made her condition worse, which is why she refused to give her daughter the medication.

• The medication was Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication approved to treat symptoms of schizophrenia is known for causing serious side effects such as abdominal pain, vomiting, aggression, anxiety, dizziness and lack of coordination. See a complete list of side effects of psychiatric medications from CCHR: (http://www.cchr.org)

• When Maryanne refused to let CPS take her daughter away, CPS personnel then called the police, who then broke down her front door and attempted to raid her home to kidnap her daughter by force.

• The police did NOT have a warrant or any court documents whatsoever granting them any right to enter Maryanne’s home, according to Godboldo’s attorneys.

• Police say that after they smashed in the front door, Maryanne opened fire on them.

• A SWAT team was then called in, carrying semiautomatic rifles and sniper gear. A 12-hour standoff ensued.

• Maryanne eventually surrendered to the SWAT team, and the state took her daughter to a psychiatric hospital

• Maryanne Godboldo now faces multiple felony charges: firing a weapon in a dwelling, felonious assault, resisting and obstructing an officer, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

• Community groups in Detroit are now rallying on behalf of the family there, shouting “Free Arianna”, her daughter.

What you are witnessing here with Maryanne Godboldo is the tyranny of the medical police state and Child Protective Services workers who are now front-line enforcers of Big Pharma’s deadly agenda to drug our children.

That this is happening is not just an assault on Maryann Godboldo, but an assault on our rights and freedoms as sovereign human beings. Do we not have the right to say NO to a medication we don’t want our children to take? Do we not have the right to protect our children? How did medication become something to be enforced with bullets and SWAT teams? And more importantly, how far will this go before it ends?

Thanks to Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com and Kurt Nimmo of Infowars.com for this ezine article.

P.S If you’re a chiropractor/health professional reading this then please support the people who are looking for a vital health professional in your area. To register you and your business click here

I was sharing with you I had watched a film called A Knights Tale. And if you haven’t watched it please go check it out from your local DVD shop or online DVD distributor. It is a fabulous movie and we can draw many parallels of William Thatcher’s journey from commoner to nobility with what is currently happening in chiropractic and the movement taking place. It is wonderful to be apart of.

What follows are insights from the movie and how they translate to you, your business, your practice members and the profession.

1. William Thatcher had a vision, he was clear he wanted to be a knight. He believed that he would be. How clear are you on your vision?




2. William Thatcher chose to do something different; to go against convention. It would appear that chiropractic is consistently doing this; going against what the majority say health is. Looking perhaps for acceptance from other professions and at times becoming the chamellion to fit in to a different model. William Thatcher didn’t care he stood true to himself.




3. William Thatcher stood on his dime and didn’t waiver. His belief was so strong, at no time did he wish to give up even when people were telling him he should. He stood tall and believed he would become a knight. He fought for his spot when others told him it couldn’t be done.




4. William Thatcher broke people’s illusions about becoming a knight. People saw only one way to get there. Just like chiropractic there are situations ripe for the taking in teaching people about health and where it comes from. William was masterful in identifying and grabbing the opportunity presented to him. Are you grabbing every opportunity to tell people about chiropractic and the truth about health?




5. William Thatcher spoke a specific language… it’s call a lance…hello! William and the rest of his tribe spoke a very specific language, the language of knight’s. Afterall if he was going to be a knight then he would have to take on all aspects of being a knight. It is the same in chiropractic. If we are choosing to be chiropractors then speaking our own unique language is imperative to the congruency of the message. Are you attuning to the chiropractic language or are you using words that cross three professions – medical, alternative and chiropractic – mixing the message and confusing the people?




6. William Thatcher was born to break the rules. So too is chiropractic, birthed to break the illusions and ruffle some feathers!

If you would like assistance with your language then contact Lotika, Client Concierge for Vital Practice Essentials for your FREE copy of “Building A Vital Vocab”

In my bricks and mortar business and in my online/speaking business I incorporate many different business models. I use the internet, the telephone and live speaking to invite people into my work and then my work is delivered through the internet, the telephone and live trainings.

And…it is the same with our practice.

We use teleclasses, drop in conference call times which are essentially designed around practice members coming to the call to have their questions about their health answered. So the call takes on a Q and A design. We also use internet resources and events.

Today however I want to focus on how I use the internet and the telephone. Stay tuned however for more on public presentations coming up in later articles.

Here are three ways I use the internet and the telephone to help new practice members and current practice members discover what we do and how it can benefit them.

Three Ways I Expand My Reach (and how you can too!)

1. Bi-monthly calls. We use the telephone to host conference calls for our practice members. This is a way we can touch hundreds of people from the comfort of our home. There’s no need to suit up and step out which saves you time and travel! We design these calls to go deeper into health. They can ask any question but questions must be submitted in advance and are answered on a first come first serve basis. We set aside 90 mins for these calls and reserve the right to end early given the number of questions. These calls are in addition to our monthly presentation series.
2. Live Presentations. We run live presentations as an event. We hire a local hall, make sure we have a lead up for marketing and invite practice members free. Practice members come to hear a guest speaker, myself, my husband or in the future our new associate! They are fabulous way to create an experience for your practice members which is what I am all about.
3. My ezine. Yes number threee is my ezine. I love my ezine which is the name for the online newsletter/magazine. It’s such a great way I can serve people, get my work out into the world, and have the right people, just like you, get ongoing benefit from my expertise. As you’ve noticed, it’s also a way for me to keep you informed of my latest products and programs and recommend other people whom I think you’d want to know about. I highly recommend using an ezine in your business. It’s a great marketing tool, an excellent way to contribute and a fantastic leveraging tool when you want to start promoting other people in your community and have them promote you! So start an online ezine. Just as an aside here. We are all in bricks and mortar businesses and direct mail stilll out performs email, there is no doubt about that. However it is a way to remain connected and have them, as I like to say “stick” to your practice.

So if you want to start building your business and reach more peopel, consider adopting those three tools. They’ve truly made all the difference for me!

Are you inspired to use the Internet and the telephone to build your business? Let us know on our blog.

I came across this piece of writing a while ago now, actually it was whilst I was going through Palmer and I recently found it again. It was written by a lady called Hunter Lovins who founded the Rocky Mountain Insitute in Colorado, USA. It is a story essentially about patch ups. It is my wish for you to share it with your practice members too.

Here is the writing by Hunter Lovins.

“In the early 1950’s, the World Health Organization was faced with the problem of malaria among the Dayak people in Borneo. They had an answer that was short, simple and wrong. Their plan was to spray DDT all over the place and kill the mosquitoes that carried malaria. The mosquito population declined, the incidence of malaria dropped, and the program was declared a success.

They discovered, however, that the roofs of the people’s houses were falling in on their heads. It seems that the DDT had poisoned wasps which fed off thatch eating caterpillars. Without the wasps, the caterpillars proliferated, they ate the thatch, and the roofs fell in.

The World Health Organization found it also had a worse problem because the DDT had built up in the food chain. It got into the insects, which were eaten by little lizard-like creatures called geckos, which were eaten by the cats. The cats died, the rats flourished, and the World Health Organization was faced with an outbreak of sylvatic plague and typhus. A situation the W.H.O. had, itself, created.

They were then obliged to parachute live cats into Borneo to try again to control the rat population.The lesson one should draw is that in many instances, our current problems are caused by prior solutions that were not thought out well enough. All things interact, often in ways we don’t understand. But at the same time, if we understand the interactions better, the solutions we come up with will go further than we might initially have thought. The solutions can then beget even more solutions”

Are you providing the opportunity for your practice members to see the longer term benefits of the chiropractic approach to health and life or are you and your team focused on the short term?

If we take a closer look at the nerve system – the body’s communicating system – we notice a series of intricate and well-designed wires leading in many different directions. To the untrained eye it would seem chaotic, but the body knows what to do every time, one hundred percent of the time, provided there is no interference. There are thousands upon thousands of nerves, all of which come together at the base of the skull to form the spinal cord. There are thirty-three pairs of nerves coming from the cord itself and each branches with other nerves in order to innervate all the cells, tissues, organs and systems of the body. This then creates one hundred percent coordinated function, which further enables the expression of health to take place. If we look closely at the cellular level we see twelve different nerve fibers innervating it. Remember, this is only at the cellular level. Furthermore, there is an average of 100,000 synaptic endings for every nerve fiber. There are, therefore, over 1.2 million nerve endings that are constantly hooking up in various intricate ways to innervate one cell. The body truly is ingenious in design and the more I learn about it the more I am humbled by the intelligence that runs it.

The spinal cord itself is an extremely delicate structure and therefore needs protection. The wisdom of the body decided to encase the most delicate structure of all in a moveable bony structure called the skull. The wisdom – the innate intelligence – didn’t stop at encasing just the brain but also realized the cord and initial part of the nerves needed protection, and so further developed the individual moveable bones (vertebra) of the spinal column.

Now that we know how intricate the system is, you probably have also figured out the importance of keeping the communication system free of interference so that proper functioning and expression of health can take place. Remember, nature needs no help, just no interference.

Your business and the growth of your business has a cap on it according to how vast your personal growth is and the steps you are taking to expand it. I mentioned two books I had recently devoured and emphasised that they have one thing in common – customer service.

I know you are probably going customer service I know all there is to know about that…you just make sure people are polite, humble and grateful whilst giving them what they want…right? Well not really. That certainly is part of it but not the big part of it. For me there is something alluring about being involved either creatively or via ownership in something where the sole purpose is to create an experience and an emotional journey for people. In previous Vital Communications articles I’ve mentioned for instance the Disney Experience and how there are vast differences between Disneyland and Disneyworld. Walt certainly built an experience that elicits an emotional journey for people at Disneyworld. But lets look at another example, an example that had this company create their own experience for people and not mechanistically go by what everyone else was doing.

When Southwest Airlines first started, they did not see their customer scope, their customer experience as limited to just existing airline travelers, which was at the time what all the other airlines where doing and continue to do. Instead, they chose to provide service to all the people who traveled by Greyhound bus or by train. They literally deisgned their business around this one focused difference, using smaller airport locations outside of major cities avoiding the standard “hub” approach of most major airlines. They also offered shorter flights at cheap prices and fun flights and made it easy for customers to change flights without paying huge penalties. And part of their service was to turn their planes around at airports as fast as possible. They succeed because they decide to play a different hand, different than all the other airlines are playing. It’s a great example isn’t it.

Customer service is not a department, it’s your entire company, your entire business. It infillrates everything and helps form your business experience. It just so happens your business experience is happening concurrently with your customer service experience and in the end shapes your company.

So here are some questions to answer about you and your team…

1. Are you creating an evolving company or a revolving company? Historically companies that get into trouble are the ones that cannot adapt to change and respond quickly enough. Can you respond?
2. Are you willing to make short term sacrifices (including revenue and profit) for long term gain whilst protecting your company culture and experience?
3. What is your company culture?
4. What is your company experience?
5. Are you trusting your employees to provide great customer service or are you mechanically telling them what to do, including providing scripts?
6. Are there customers who are rude to your employees? If so have you let those customers move on?
7. Are you letting your employees think out side of the box?
8. Are you allowing your employees to do whatever it takes to keep a client however unusual or bizzare the situation?

I had an experience just a day ago actually where American Airlines lost my luggage. I went to the baggage area and reported my suitcase lost and ran into a problem – I was leaving the next day to return home and they were saying I wouldn’t receive it in time. To cut a long story short they were unwilling, because of company policy restrictions, to do whatever it took to think outside of the box so I could leave as a satisfied AA client. I ended up telling them how to think outside of the box, do this first, call here next, ask this question. I was a little irritated lets say! Eventually I got my luggage back but only because I, the customer, persisted. Shouldn’t it be the other way, enabling the cusomter to be at ease with the situation AND having a company policy that empowers emplyees to do whatever it takes – however creative or bizzare – to keep the client. After all it costs more to get a new client that it does to keep an existing one!

Did you know thousands of people walked over the Calumet Copper Mine in Michigan without ever discovering it? Literally thousands of people. Then one day, just one man, on his own, got busy picking away at the earth and found it. Was he lucky? Well those in a mechanistic world would think so. But what he did that day over everybody else that had walked that same path was to stop and take ACTION. He listened to his inner voice, lifted his pick and started.

I wonder how many times you’ve stepped over opportunities because your will was paralysed, or you assumed you were unable, or you didn’t have the finances, or you spent too much time procrastinating about the procrastination. Is that you? Are you passing up your piece of the ACTION for a life of frustration, floundering and financial disasters?

The number one quality of a person in ACTION is ATTRACTION…the last 6 letters spell it out!

Simply put when we are in ACTION we are attractive. Doors open where we previously thought they were shut and people pop out of the “wood work” to assist us in keeping the momentum going. There is a general ease that starts to happen as the momentum is building. Leonardo Da Vinci sums it up well…

“It has long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to do things.”
- Leonardo Da Vinci

Here are just three tips to get you from INACTION to ACTION and all the way to ATTRACTION…

1) Make a choice. Life is not happening to you. You are the captain of your own ship; you get to set the sail.

2) Watch out for the mechanistic “What If’s” they certainly play with your mind and can keep you in a procrastinated state.

3) De-clutter your practice, business, study, house, bedroom and pantry cupboards. Stop carrying the extra burden around!

You know YOU ARE standing on your own Calumet Mine right now, without knowing it, without realizing it, in whatever position you are filling. Dig down and see what is under the surface of your position…you just might be surprised that your own mine exists!

The question is… Are you ready to take the ACTION to see?

Some people come into our practice with a plethora of “things” happening within their body. For those that do there is generally a theme to their conversation and it has to do with “genetics”. I wish I had a dollar for every time a person has said to me, “My mother/father is _________(fill in the gap)… it runs in my family”.

It has been my observation that people have been indoctrinated with the idea that they have no ability to change themselves. (See chapter ___ of The Vital Truth). They see themselves as victims unto their bodies and their circumstances. People are constantly told they are their parents and as a result live a life of medications. The only ones who benefit are the pharmaceutical companies that have another avenue through which to sell their products. Companies constantly advertise, “Take this to help reduce the symptoms of reflux, sinusitis, heart disease etc…” Companies have even introduced vaccines to accommodate for the possibility of something occurring in your body i.e. cervical cancer. “Let’s get it before it becomes a problem” is often the unsung motto.

Genes are activated by perceptual signals sent by the brain to the cells, tissues and organs. This is the latest in the research of biological consciousness by Dr. Bruce Lipton. Dr. Lipton, a renowned cell biologist, writes about the cell’s hereditary units called chromosomes. In every cell nucleus there are 46 chromosomes, 23 from the mother’s egg and 23 from the father’s sperm. At the core of each chromosome is a long thread of DNA that represents the genes. Surrounding the DNA strand is a protein coat. The only way a gene can be expressed is if the protein coat is removed. This protein coat is removed via the interaction with environmental signals provided via the nerve system in response to thoughts. If we truly believe the indoctrination that our genes rule us, we will create what we fear the most. What we put our minds to creates our reality! As Aristotle says, “We are we what we repeatedly do.” These indoctrinated thoughts then enable a self-fulfilling prophecy to be created.

If you’ve been following along with my blogs you would have read thus far about health expressions, health approaches, the power of your innate intelligence, what is health and where it comes from, can you see how ridiculous this sounds – putting something into the body from the outside to create health? Whole communities these days are being checked to see if they have a gene for this, that or the other disempowering people and keeping them a victim unto their own body. Remember from past blogs our innate knowing is not creating a health challenge in spite of us – we create it for the opportunity to do our life differently, to ask different questions.

There really are many ways to live your life but there are few that will contest that there are many ways to run your business. In fact there are true and tested ways that, if soundly followed, will enable you to establish a profitable business and contribute handsomely to the life of your dreams. But you have to be prepared to look inside – yourself and your business. And, there are many ways to do this. Just look at the number of books on the business shelves at Borders, Barnes and Noble and other such stores. But, there are business principles that I will share with you here that don’t cost the earth, in fact cost nothing, and by merely implementing them and following through with them will enable you to build a profitable business.

Here are seven points to have in place and remember all of these COST YOU NOTHING!

1) Begin preparing and planning for your business growth. Business planning isn’t a single event in the life of your business. It doesn’t matter what stage your business has reached in its growth cycle – whether it is growing as planned, is having problems, or even moving away from its core business – you must regularly revisit, review and refine all the processes involved in creating and carrying out your business plan. A business plan is the formal structure upon which to build your business. It enables you to:

• Document each stage of your businesses growth.

• Make periodic assessments of each area of your business.

• Make a smooth transition at each stage of growth.

2) Create a structure where each team member knows what area of the business they are responsible for. Agreements are made as to the process to be adopted and the timetable to complete the plan.

3) Know your business. What business are you really in? Lots of people say they are chiropractors and I get that I am one too. But let’s take this one step further. A mentor of mine said to me everyone is in the business of marketing! He would say chiropractors are marketers they are just marketing using the chiropractic message or the health message. So know your business and know what line of business you are in. It makes all the difference to become and remain the master of your ship.

4) Collect information and gather data. Your practice members or clients are of huge value to you. When you start to realize the cost of gaining a new client you will soon begin to realize the true value of the people you already have. Find out as much about them as you can – where do they predominately live, income level, disposable income level, number of children, employed or business owner, religion. All this data makes for great opportunities in the market place when you know who your ideal client is. This one is highlighted…KNOW YOUR IDEAL CLIENT!

5) Analyze your facts. Look at your businesses patterns. Just like we look for patterns and changes in people as they progress through care and create the opportunities to change their life so too do we do this in our business. Look for the patterns in the monthly reports you run so you can maximize your opportunities!

6) Plan your future.

• Create a Vision – where you want your business to be then

• Look at the Mission the steps to how the vision will be achieved.

• Next set the monthly Objectives for instance number of new practice members

• Create broad statements or Strategies as to how the objectives will be met.

7) Give ownership. Ensure your team members have a feeling of ownership. Consistently update and/or change the area of “ownership” as the positions on the team change and new people come into the business or existing members change positions.

To balance this all out I want you to also see what some of the pitfalls are and how these can lead to setting yourself up to fail:

• Your plans are always short term.

• You want to create a profitable business but you’re not prepared to DO WHATEVER it takes to get there.

• There is no inbuilt accountability for yourself or your team.

• Team members are not in the loop.

• There is no vision.

• You’re unable to read a report.

• You are blind to the weaknesses in your business.

• You don’t monitor, update or implement existing or new information.

• Your agreements are not implemented.

So I will pose this question to you again… “Are You Prepared To Look Inside Yourself, To Create A Business That Is Profitable So You Can Live The Life of Your Dreams? And are you willing to do what it takes to get there?

As I draw to the end of the year I ask myself… how wide was my reach this year? Did I do all that I could with all that I had and was given?

And what about you, do you think you did all that you could with what you had or were given? And if you did what got you there? Did you have a map or was life blindly taking you in a direction you wanted to go, satisfied with the landing place?

I’ve been reading a book lately called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, a fabulous book and an easy read. I do recommend it for a stocking stuffer! It reminds me of the pops up we have – you know the ones – “you’re no good, do you really want to do that or better yet the pop ups that have you sit procrastinating about your procrastination problem”. Yes I can see the smile on your face and the nodding of your head.

We all have these little pieces of resistance that pop up. And resistance is what Pressfield calls the fear that paralyses us like a kangaroo in headlights for either a short time or sometimes for the whole of our life time and prevents us from putting our blessing out to the world. One of the resistances he so eloquently reminds me of is on page 37 where he speaks of Socrates. He says Socarates demonstrated long ago that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. I wanted to share this piece this month given that 2011 is just around the corner and the question begs to be asked…How wide are you planning to reach?

This is “The Golden Book” on the right there. I took a picture of it when I found it knowing it was something I wanted to share with you all. Things like this are gems aren’t they? I remember doing the Dale Carnegie course back in the 80’s…obviously I knew at one level my life would unfold on a stage! This little book is 4 (small) pages, written in 1936, given to me by my dad and is straight to the point. I image business people carried it around in their hip pocket reminding them of the principles and sayings.

I’m going to share with you the points taken from “How To Win Friends And Influence People” as they are outlined exactly in Dale Carnegie’s “The Golden book”…enjoy.

Become a Friendlier Person

• Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
• Give honest, sincere appreciation.
• Arouse in the other person an eager want.
• Become genuinely interested in other people.
• Smile.
• Remember that a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Talk in terms of the other persons interests.
• Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.

Win People to Your Way of Thinking

• The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it (not sure if BJ would agree with this he always said “conflict clarifies!”).
• Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never tell a person he or she is wrong.
• If you are wrong, admit it quickly and empathically.
• Begin in a friendly way.
• Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately (ummm…the “yes yes” agreement!).
• Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
• Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
• Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view (we know trying is an illusion…you either do it or you don’t as my dad taught me!).
• Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
• Appeal to the nobler motives.
• Dramatize your ideas (I see chiropractors doing this!).
• Throw down a challenge (I can also see chiropractors doing this!).

Be a Leader

• Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
• Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
• Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
• Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
• Let the other person save face.
• Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
• Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
• Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
• Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Copyright© Dale Carnegie 1936

After a series of adjustments, Ben’s cranium started to balance itself. His neck movements started to become larger and overall the boy came alive. Sue and Mark took Ben back to the pediatrician. While Sue was sitting in the waiting room, she couldn’t help but notice another mother sitting there with her child who was already in a helmet. Sue found she couldn’t stop herself from sharing the information with the mother about her experience of regular adjustments and the impact it had made to Ben’s life and their own life in such a short time. Sue sat there sharing everything with this lady until the pediatrician came out to call the next patient. The pediatrician couldn’t help but also notice the changes in Ben’s cranium. He was astonished at the results in such a short period of time.

B.J. Palmer said “you never know how far reaching something you may think, say or do today that will affect the lives of millions tomorrow”. Sue affected the life of the lady in the waiting room by sharing her story and Chiropractic affected the lives of Sue, Mark, and Ben. Nature truly needs no help, just no interference.

Truth

• Nature needs no help, just no interference.
• Let’s not interfere with what is a natural process.
• Do you help the grass to grow? Do you help the sun to rise?
• Babies know what to do every time, all the time, in just the right sequence at just the right time in order to create limitless potential for themselves provided there is no interference.

Questions

• Are you or is somebody you know pregnant? If so, find a chiropractor in your area and begin creating the opportunity for your body and baby to function differently – physically, chemically, and emotionally. Give your child the best possible start to life.

I promised you there would be more on last week’s post this week and here it is…

After three weeks, the intricacies of the construction call for an overseeing system to govern the ongoing development. It is at this stage that we see the formation of the brain and the nerve system to help coordinate this development and shall do so for the rest of our lives, provided there is no interference. The nerve system controls all the functions of the cells, tissues, organs and systems of the body within the embryonic stage through to the adult stage in the physical lifetime. The nerve system is responsible for the homeostasis mechanism which, enables us to adapt to an ever-changing external environment based on our perceptions. Now, a system like this needs no help, just no interference!

The skeleton begins to form at around week five and six and is designed to do so until you are fully formed. Ever noticed that we all have two ears which are situated either side of our head? Or that our eyes are situated just under our forehead in the orbital cavity and below our eyebrows? What enables this to happen? The internal wisdom of the body – the innateness of design, if you will – creates this without us consciously thinking about it. At only eleven weeks all the system of the body are in working order with the muscles and nerves working together to create the first movements and the entire system fits into the size of our little finger. Ain’t that grand! Only five weeks later the baby is identifiable as a human being, with eyelids, ears, nose, mouth, fingernails, feet, and organs. All these are coordinated to enable growth and development under the watchful eye of the intelligence of life within, coupled with the governing system: the nerve system.

At around 18 weeks it is possible to clearly see the child sucking its thumb. We now know one of the benefits to this is the preparation for breast feeding upon birth. It also helps regulate the sacral occipital motion and the pumping of the cerebrospinal fluid around the body delivering nutrients to the nerve system and taking toxins away….and next week I shall add some more to the growth and life of the unborn child. Stay tuned to this blog post!

It’s interesting to note that the power that made your body has the ability to heal your body. Imagine the difference if everybody in the world adopted this knowledge and lived by it – wouldn’t the world’s diseased conditions and illness rates be very different? No longer would we be putting synthetic formulas or tablets into the body thinking that this would improve health. It is most harmful to our longevity on this planet.

I have chosen to be part of a profession, which has a philosophy that is a way of life; a philosophy that teaches that health is expressed from the inside out. Our ability to heal ourselves and express health is an innate knowing far greater than our educated minds. It also suggests we were born with a limitless potential to express health. Regaining, maintaining, growing and educating ourselves in health is our responsibility. Based on our knowledge and understanding, we make choices for ourselves which in turn create our reality. What is important is to respect the life and intelligence within our body and know how amazing it is.

For the sheer purpose of increasing our awareness and our of respect for the internal intelligence that keeps us functioning every day of our life, let me illustrate the intricate order of events that take place in the design of making who we are as the physical being.

Upon ejaculation, the sperm knows what to do – not just once, but time and time again. They swim and swim and swim, competing against each other for the right to penetrate the ovum wall. Provided there is no interference, the sperm find their way to the egg every time. Upon fertilization there is now ALL the necessary cells to form a human being. Remarkable. Proteins, DNA codes, organs and nerves are ready to work harmoniously together to form a human being, and provided there is no interference this shall be complete at the end of nine months.

Who are you listening to? Yourself or someone else?

When was the last time you sat down to reflect on the internal workings of the body. When was the last time you thought about your heart beating or your food being digested?

In fact some people never think about it…

I would like to share with you the wondrous internal workings of the body and the gift that it gives to you daily so in turn you will have more appreciation for the life it brings to you. My intention is to also increase your awareness around the many functions taking place and how your attitude, your level of gratitude and your physical, chemical and emotional selves can have an impact on its function and the ability to keep you healthy in all areas of your life.

As you read through these remarkable facts on your body, stop to integrate them into your daily life with thanks. Always remember your body is a regenerating, self healing, self regulating organism which is constantly adapting to its environment all of which is coordinated via your nervous system.

You were born to express health to its highest level and only YOU can make it happen…

What follows is just some of the bodies remarkable facts. Enjoy them, print them off and place them in your news letter for you practice members and clients.

• A nerve can send up to 1000 impulses per second.
• The brain operates on the same amount of electricity as a 10 watt light bulb.
• The adult brain has 14 billion nerve cells and weighs only 3 lbs (1.5kg).
• The human brain triples in size during the first few years of childhood.
• The longest nerve is located in the leg and extends from the large toe to the spinal column.
• The pineal gland, in the centre of the skull, tells the body the time of the day and the season of the year.
• The two halves of the brain control opposite sides of the body.
• Semi circular canals in the ear have small hairs (cilia) which detect movement and direction.
• Shiny white enamel on the teeth is the hardest material in the body.
• The average person eats 3 lbs (1.5kg) of food daily.
• Your mouth makes half a quart of saliva daily.
• Mammals have a growth factor in saliva which makes wounds heal faster.
• Dental plaque begins to develop within 6 hours of brushing.
• The heart beats over 100,000 times daily.
• The human heart may beat up to 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime.
• The size of your heart is equal to that of your fist.
• The normal adult has an average heart rate of 70-72 beats per minute for men and 78-82 beats for women.
• Blood outside the body clots in about six minutes.
• A sneeze creates a force of air moving nearly 100 mph (approximately 160km/hr).
• Humans breathe 20 times/minute over 10 million times a year and about 700 million in a lifetime.
• Only one fifth of air breathed is oxygen.
• The digestive system is a 30 foot (approximately 9.15m) long tube, open at both ends.
• The small intestine averages 21 feet (6.4m) long while the large intestine is only 5 feet (1.52m) long.
• Water molecules in the gut move at 1500 mph (just over 2,400km/hr).
• It takes 4-8 seconds for food to travel to the stomach.
• 94% of all the food digested is reclaimed by the small intestines.
• The colon is home to 100 trillion bacteria.
• The body’s bacteria could fill a soup can.
• Human feces are normally one quarter dead intestinal bacteria.
• There are about 62,000 miles (over 99,780km) of blood vessels in the body – two and a half times around the world.
• Red blood cells reproduce at a rate of 8 million per second.
• The largest vein is the inferior vena cava, which drains the entire lower half of the body.
• Fingerprints form 6-8 weeks before birth.
• 500 million dead skin cells fall off daily due to ordinary wear and tear.
• The skin is the largest organ of the body.

For additional remarkable facts on the magnificent you click here to order your copy of The Vital Truth.