Many people who start a business believe in the concept of “if you build it, they will come.” That is total garbage and very far from the truth. Just because you start a business, does not mean people will just magically show up at the door ready to hand you their hard earned cash. This business is very important to you, but to the rest of the world, it is unknown. You need to get out of your head and enter reality.

You must market the living hell out of your business to drive traffic through the door. When you start your first business, you need to begin marketing it at least 2-4 weeks before opening. The only way you will be known in your region is to advertise your brand and business.

The way you do this is by budgeting a significant portion of your money to marketing. This should be your number one expense. It is how you will generate revenue. Do not believe otherwise.

Here is an excerpt from the upcoming book The Elite Nurse Practitioner Model. I discuss how marketing should be your biggest business expense:

The number one expense in your practice should be marketing. Marketing is the number one function of your business. Marketing your clinic is what brings people in the door. Without marketing, you will be unknown unless your practice is in a high traffic location. Marketing = Revenue. Most businesses fail because they did not adequately market their service or product. The same goes with medical practices. Do not think that you are excluded from this basic principle because it is a medical practice. Practices start and fail just as often as other businesses.

Therefore, MARKET MARKET MARKET! It will be worth the time and money.

TIP: Utilize multiple avenues of marketing. Do not just settle on one form of marketing. You always need to have at least 6 different marketing channels going at any given time. The more marketing avenues you use, the more patients you will have. From my personal experience, Facebook and Google Ads are a good bang for your buck. Other effective avenues can include local advertisements within your niche market populations areas of interest. With my men’s health clinic for example, these men are in a higher socioeconomic class, therefore they frequent more expensive restaurants and many play golf. I have small ads strategically placed in these restaurants and at golf courses. Some of my ads are placed above urinals at these restaurants. What better place to see an ad about low testosterone then above a urinal?! These ads pay for themselves 10-fold! Be smart with what marketing avenues you use. Marketing can be very expensive and if not done properly could result in thousands of wasted dollars.

Spend more on marketing then you do on your rent. It should not be other way around. If you are spending $2,000 a month on rent, you have to expensive of a location for a part time practice. Try to keep your rent less than $1,000 a month. I would advise trying to find a location in the $500-$1000 range.

In terms of marketing expenses, aim on spending around $1,000-$2,000 monthly on multiple marketing avenues. It will pay for itself very quickly and begin generating income in your business within months. 

Once your business is out of the startup phase after 3-6 months, you can cut back on your marketing budget. But you must always have a marketing budget in place. Your businesses or practices brand must always be out in the community. Sometimes it takes a customer to see your advertisement a dozen times before pulling the trigger. Therefore, it is vital you are always marketing. It will be one of your biggest expenses, but it is the one expense outside of anything else that generates new patients, customers and revenue.

The business that has a high marketing budget will have high revenue. You can sell total junk yet stay in business because of high sales that resulted from marketing. The same goes with a medical practice. You can have high wait times, provide inferior care, and have horrible bed side manner but through marketing you will stay in business. I obviously do not recommend doing this, but you get my point!

Now imagine if you provide amazing care, have short wait times, and deliver results to your patients while having a healthy marketing budget. You would be very successful. Word of mouth is one of the best forms of marketing and it is free. Couple that with billboards, radio ads, niche advertisements, etc. and you would be unstoppable.

You need to focus on the services and products you will provide, but you need to devote more energy into your marketing plan! If you do not, you will have a very steep uphill battle. If you do though, your side practice will flourish beyond belief.

The Elite Nurse Practitioner Model book is now available! I go over each principle of the model in detail. In addition, there is a wealth of additional information and advice such as the above excerpt throughout its content. If you read and implement The Elite Nurse Practitioner Model, you will be able to create a successful side practice that will set you down the path to personal and financial freedom.