How to market your health & wellness practice (and still feel like yourself)

Marketing doesn’t always come naturally — especially in healthcare. It can feel overwhelming, confusing, or like something you’re “supposed” to know how to do. But what if marketing didn’t have to feel like marketing at all?

In this episode of Radio Front Desk, host Denzil Ford shares highlights from a live panel recorded at a recent Jane retreat. Five practitioners from across North America — a chiropractor, a psychotherapist, a trauma psychologist, and two physiotherapists — joined ⁠Jane⁠ for a rich, candid conversation about marketing that feels human.

Together, they explored what it looks like to show up authentically and meaningfully in their communities.

What You’ll Learn

• Why “word of mouth” still works for clinics — and how to create experiences that spark it
• How to build long-term practitioner referral relationships that last
• Why your personality (and preferences) matter when choosing your clinic marketing approach
• Simple, scrappy ways to build trust through your clinic’s social media

Our Panelists

• ⁠Roxanne Francis⁠ – Psychotherapist and public speaker
• ⁠Amanda Buduris⁠ – Clinical psychologist and trauma therapist
• ⁠Emma Jack⁠ – Physiotherapist and owner of Press Play Physio
• ⁠Josh Satterlee⁠ – Chiropractor and educator
• ⁠Roni Glassman⁠ – Physiotherapist and movement specialist

Enjoyed this episode?

Here are a few ways to stay in the loop:

📱 Subscribe on⁠ Spotify⁠ or⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

📷 Follow us on Instagram ⁠@frontdeskbyjane⁠ for behind-the-scenes moments and updates

Radio Front Desk is Brought to You by Jane

The practitioners in this episode reminded us that great marketing isn’t about being loud — it’s about being present. 

That’s what inspired⁠ Jane’s new AI Scribe⁠ — a charting assistant designed to help you stay present in the moments that matter most. With AI Scribe, Jane securely listens during your session and generates a first draft of your chart note, so you can stay focused on care, not catching up on paperwork.

⁠Learn more about AI Scribe⁠

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional medical, legal, or financial advice.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast host or its affiliates.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back to Radio Front Desk by Jane Up.
I'm your host, denzel Ford.
Today we're talking about aword that makes a lot of us
tense up a little Marketing.
Not because it's bad, butbecause it can feel like
something you're supposed toknow how to do without ever
being taught, and in a world ofalgorithms, email funnels and
15-second videos, it's easy towonder if you're doing it wrong

(00:29):
or if you even want to do it atall.
So what does it look like tomarket your practice in a way
that feels honest?
What if it didn't feel likemarketing at all, but more like
showing up?
At a recent Jane Company retreat, we invited five of our
customers practitioners fromacross North America, to join us
for a live panel discussion onthis very topic.

(00:51):
A chiropractor, apsychotherapist, a trauma
psychologist and twophysiotherapists All at
different stages of the business, all with very different voices
.
What they shared wasn't a listof marketing strategies.
They were stories.
All with very different voices.
What they shared wasn't a listof marketing strategies.
They were stories.
Stories about trust, creativityand doing things their own way.
Here's Amit Jack, aphysiotherapist and business

(01:14):
coach, on delivering a memorableclient experience.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
If every single time I delivered an out-of-the-park
client experience, word of mouthjust traveled like wildfire.
And so thinking about thoselittle ways to just surprise and
delight, like you guys talkabout, and really make it an
experience right, people arecoming to us often in really

(01:43):
vulnerable places during areally hard time in their life,
and I just really put so muchthought and attention into how
can I make this something thatpeople share, that people return
to.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
For Emma, that meant finding small, meaningful ways
to make her clinic feel joyfuleven before patients walk
through the door.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
I made really custom parking signs in my parking lot
that said something likereserved for the stellar clients
of Press Play Physio or can bebribed by chocolate.
And so everybody, when theyfirst came to my clinic, they
would take a picture of thatsign and share it on Instagram
of like how funny is this?
Right, I wasn't talking aboutpeople being towed at their
expense Little treats along theway.

(02:30):
I have little enamel pins madefor graduation day when people
were done and people like putthem on their backpacks and wore
them proudly.
There's little things that youcan do to make the client
experience amazing, and I thinkeven more in this day and age.
People are looking for anexperience.
They're looking to be a part ofsomething, a community, and if

(02:51):
you can put your energy andattention on that, I don't think
it takes a lot of.
You know the google ads or the,the sort of hard marketing
tactics, because your patientsbecome sort of your disciples.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
The focus here was more on creating a sense of
belonging than a marketingstrategy.
For chiropractor Josh Satterley, relationship building is about
quality not quantity.
He focuses in on building superstrong professional
relationships that turn intoreferral engines and those power
his business.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
I were recommending to a young therapist, what I
would do is focus on keyreferral relationships that will
be faucets that never stopdripping patients out.
So as a chiropractor, I work inthe world of ow.
Like people say, ow, we gethired, and so it could be.
You know, it may be somebodylike an orthopedic surgeon who

(03:44):
has patients that don't needtheir services and so they're
saying I need another place tosend them.
It could be a coach.
Or I remember early on we had agolf coach and a triathlete
coach that were coaching peoplethat were trying to go for
performances and they aredeveloping nagging owls and so
we take care of those, and sothose are really good sources
and so we take care of those,and so those are really good
sources.

(04:04):
If you're lucky enough to have areally strong relationship with
a general practitioner, forexample, I mean I have friends
that have less than 10relationships with general
practitioners and it completelyfills their schedule, just
because they're always gettingtwo or three or four patients
every week referred over.
So the last piece of advice Iwould say is build that
relationship and then work hardand making it as easy as

(04:26):
possible for that office to sendyou patients.
I think sometimes we build areally great relationship with,
like dr emma, but we forget it'snot really dr emma who's
sending the person over.
She's telling her front deskstaff send them to cairo.
Make it easy on that person andhonor that person, because they
often get forgotten in theworld of healthcare.
Bring them treats, but alsolike, if it's like, hey, you can

(04:48):
send me an email, you can callour office, whatever is easiest
for you, and they may reply withWell, the doctor wants us to
fax things over, and just smileand say, right on, we use fax as
well.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
And if networking feels like a lot, you're not
alone.
Amanda Buduras is a traumapsychologist and a
self-described introvert.
When she started her practice,she skipped the coffee chats and
focused on building somethingbehind the scenes practice she
skipped the coffee chats andfocused on building something
behind the scenes.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
I'm an introvert.
I get overwhelmed by lots ofsocial exposure very easily, and
so when I was starting mypractice, I really doubled down
on.
I'm going to build a reallynice website.
I'm going to self-teach myselfsearch engine optimization.
So for me, like doubling downthat early in my practice has
helped it to build up so well inthe past three years that every
single client who comes to mefinds me from Google and I've

(05:48):
never spent a single cent on aGoogle ad.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Amanda's strategy wasn't loud, but it was
consistent and it worked.
Your marketing should matchyour energy and your audience.
It doesn't have to beeverything, it just has to be
yours.
For psychotherapist RoxanneFrancis, showing up meant
opening up.
She started using Instagram toshare generously and
consistently.

Speaker 5 (06:12):
So, during the pandemic, when all anyone could
do is look at their phone, Istarted showing up a lot, and
what I did was I provided value.
I started to talk to parentsabout their children, who are
struggling with anxiety.
Are they struggling to sleep?
Are your kids suddenly wettingthe bed again?
Right, what do I do when mykids don't know what to do about

(06:35):
this pandemic?
Relationships are falling apart, and in between clients I would
, in between online clients,powered by Jane, I would hop on
my phone and just sharesomething in my stories or pop
something up on my feed,providing value.
And a lot of people were not myclients then, but what started

(06:58):
to happen was I was providing somuch value so often that I
became what I like to call theobvious choice.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Over time.
People didn't just follow her.
They remembered her, theyreferred her and they trusted
her.

Speaker 5 (07:11):
So when someone's cousin needed a therapist,
they're like, oh, I don'tremember her name, but let me
look up her handle.
And I started getting a lot ofclients that way, through word
of mouth.
How did you hear about me?
Well, such and such saw you onInstagram.
How did you hear about me?
Such and such saw your stories.
And you were talking about thisand we were talking about that,
and so it.
It's kind of like a referralprocess.

(07:31):
It's like a mishmash betweenreferral and marketing, right.
And so I was so personable withthe information and gave it so
freely that people began tothink well, if I can get this
knowledge just off of 15 secondsoff a story, I wonder what a
whole session would be like.
And so I started to grow thatway, and once I became more
established in that way, then Icould spend more dollars on the

(07:54):
actual marketing.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
And if Instagram's not your thing, no problem,
there's always the old schoolapproach.
Physical therapist RonnieGlassman built her practice the
classic way, by showing up inperson.

Speaker 6 (08:08):
I think the most impactful ways that I've
marketed myself and my businesshave been literally going in
door to door to the providersthat I want to have a connection
with and fostering thatrelationship, and going once and
then going again, and not justshowing my face a couple of
times, but showing that I'm aprovider that they can trust and
making it fun for them Even now.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
Ronnie carved that time to connect on purpose.

Speaker 6 (08:34):
I talk about the ideal client that I'm trying to
see, so that way they know whoto send to me.
I talk about how it's alwaysone-on-one physical therapy.
I explain my space and kind ofmy why for behind, why I got
started in my own business inthe first place and often I'll
offer them to come by and see it, maybe get a treatment on me or

(08:56):
whatever.
It is something to get them inthe door to see what I'm all
about.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
Marketing doesn't have to feel overwhelming or
performative or pushy.
Done right, it's just you.
Be thoughtful, be visible, makeit easier for the right people
to find their way to you.
Big thanks to Roxanne, amanda,josh, emma and Ronnie for
sharing their time and ideas,and thanks to you for spending a

(09:21):
little of your day with us.
Take care of yourselves andeach other Until next time.