The wall was approaching at a frightening velocity. As I slammed on the brakes the seatbelt pulled tight, compressing my chest. The entire seat folded in around me, locking my body into place.
“Nice man, you just pulled 1.75 G’s braking” exclaimed the coach next to me.
We were on the drag strip at the Porsche Experience Centre in Atlanta, putting the 911 through its paces. Man, that car can move!
He also asked if I was a professional race car driver and told me I’d just raced the cleanest line he’d ever seen from a guest at the centre. Who knows, maybe he says that to everyone, but I’ll take it!
I’ve just spent the weekend attending Dr. Matthew Loop’s Social Media Revenue Summit. When you combine great speakers, killer content, awesome people and really fast cars all into one event, you’re onto a winner!
Even the venue itself was cool… the Porsche Centre was the Avengers headquarters in the Marvel Movies.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring the concept that Health = Adaptability
I know I promised today would be a deep dive into how to maximise your BDNF levels, but I’m going to be honest… hotel lobbies, airport lounges and aeroplanes are not the ideal venues for clearly explaining complex neurophysiology.
(I’m sitting in the United lounge as I write this…)
If you were hanging out for the BDNF info don’t worry… I’ve been researching all week and I’ve got some great stuff coming. But after this weekend there’s something I want to share first.
Because although I just attended a social media conference, there was one clear insight that came up again and again throughout the weekend…
The more technology driven our world becomes, the more valuable genuine human connection becomes.
Here are my 3 key takeaways from the event:
Insight #1: Nothing Beats Your Personal Story
Dr. Matt Loop has been teaching social media marketing for a long time. I think I first bought one of his trainings in the early-to-mid 2000’s. Over that time the internet and social media platforms have evolved dramatically.
But when it comes to marketing, psychology and human behaviour, the underlying principles remain the same. Humans still want to connect with other humans. Our brains are wired to respond to stories. And we want to do business with people we know, like and trust.
Matt was describing how early on he discovered that a simple, truthful, heartfelt personal story was one of the most powerful things you could possibly share on social media to attract new patients. And throughout all the technology changes since, that remains true to this day.
A family photo. A true story. No offer or call to action. Just a post sharing who you really are and why you do what you do. You can start your post with…
“The reason I’m so passionate about what I do is…”
Matt described how that single post (with some strategic advertising money behind it to boost its visibility) could book out an office for months… both 20 years ago and still today.
This one was challenging for me for a long time… I remember when I was studying chiropractic it seemed like almost everyone either came from a chiropractic family, or had personally experienced a chiropractic miracle that changed their life.
I had neither… I’d never even seen a chiropractor when I began my studies. My path into this profession was through rock climbing, yoga and a fascination with exploring what the body was really capable of.
But after losing my Dad earlier this year, I’ve realised something.
I do have a chiropractic story to tell.
We nearly lost Dad 21 years ago.
We didn’t… and I believe chiropractic played a huge part in that. He got to know his grandsons… and that’s a story worth telling.
Whatever your story is, whether it’s yours, your family’s or your patient’s… tell it.Your community needs to hear it. People want their doctor to be a real human being.
Insight #2: If you’re not leveraging AI in your practice, you’re falling behind… but there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way.
Like many of us, I’m deeply conflicted about how AI is impacting our world right now. It’s incredibly exciting, incredibly frightening and completely overwhelming all at the same time. Depending on who you listen to, it’s about to usher in a golden age or the end of humanity as we know it… both seem equally plausible.
One of the most balanced views I’ve heard yet came from Nate Kennedy this weekend. Nate has built and sold 6 companies, and has most recently built his newsletter business to over 4 million subscribers… so he knows a thing or two about business.
He has now reduced his newsletter business from 10 employees down to 2… his AI agents take care of everything else. I was fortunate enough to have dinner with him the other night and pick his brain on how he accomplished that.
What I learned was pretty exciting. Now don’t get me wrong- this is not about replacing humans with machines. I love my team. It’s about freeing them up to focus on the most important aspects of their jobs… creating relationships and incredible experiences for our patients. All the routine stuff can be automated.
Things like answering calls after hours, responding to people who click on our ads within seconds, managing our stock levels, reactivation emails…
I guarantee there are things in your world that are taking up your time and bandwidth right now (and your team’s) that could be automated. Which would free up energy to focus on the things that really matter… like building and maintaining human connections.
I’ve contracted Nate and his team to replicate what he’s created within my own business… I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. And whether I think it’s something that may help you too.
However, there was something that Nate was very clear on. There are some things that you should never hand off to AI.
What this boils down to is your personal interactions. AI is amazing. But it can’t replicate a genuine human connection. Your voice. Your heart. Your authentic lived experience. In an increasingly digital, virtual world… there’s nothing that can replace the real you. So lean into that. Be you… and share yourself freely.
Insight #3: Physical Connection Matters More Than Ever
This one was very clear throughout the weekend. Almost every speaker mentioned it. The handshakes. The hugs. The high-fives. The meals we shared, despite feeling slightly sick from the G forces we experienced racing each other round the track.
As humans we’re wired for connection. Physical interaction.
Our nervous system has no idea what a zoom meeting actually is.
We’re designed to touch, feel, smell, experience.
And in-person events really tap into that. There’s something special about being together, in the same space, at the same time, paying attention to the same thing.It creates a group flow experience that screens simply can’t replicate.
It also refines who’s in the room. In a post-covid world, many people can’t be bothered to travel for physical events. Others are too busy. Some just don’t care.
What that boils down to is that the people in the room right now are the ones who actually made the effort. That makes it a pretty special group of people. And it means that every conversation you have actually matters. Chances are, you’re probably going to learn something.
Even as I sit here writing to you (now I’m in another United lounge, this time in San Francisco) I’m receiving messages and texts with ideas and opportunities from people I connected with over the weekend.
I read an article the other day claiming that the idea “your network equals your net worth” is dead… the internet and social media have removed the gatekeepers and levelled the playing field.
While I understand the argument, I respectfully disagree.
Even Dr. Matt, the chiropractic guru of social media, repeatedly mentioned the value of genuine community and masterminds. The whole weekend was a reflection of that. He’d attracted a great group of people to his event. Every interaction I had was valuable, both personally and professionally. Hearing people’s stories, swapping adjustments, racing cars… all of it was real.
Which brings me to a very special invitation…
How would you like me to personally train your team?
Next month I’ll be back in the US… sometimes feels like I’ve hardly left before I’m back again!
Attending events here is always great… but it’s also hard. Hard on my body, hard on my family and hard on my budget (I try not to do the Aussie dollar math every time I pay for something in USD!)
So next year I’m planning to drastically reduce my travel schedule. But I have one last hurrah this year. I’ll be attending the UAC event in Boston on the 11th of September and teaching at the National Nutrition Conference in Florida on the 25th of September. I’m also thinking of attending a TRP event the following weekend.
Those events are just too close together for me to fly all the way back to Australia in between, so…
Announcing the FOOT-BRAIN CONNECTION ROAD TRIP, USA
Between Boston and Florida this September, I’m opening up a handful of days to personally visit Better Balance Orthotics clinics.
Here’s the deal:
If you can get 4 or 5 local chiropractors together, I’ll come to you.
I’ll personally train you, your associates and your team in:
- The clinical BBO assessment system.
- The specific treatment techniques I’ve developed to enhance the Foot-Brain Connection.
- How to consistently help even the trickiest cases.
- How to demonstrate changes your patients can easily feel and understand.
- How to communicate the growing science without sounding salesy.
- How to systematically integrate BBO into your patient journey.
- How our best clinics turn BBO into a powerful practice growth opportunity.
Video training is great. Zoom sessions are great. But there’s something uniquely powerful about getting your hands on someone, giving immediate physical feedback, even just sharing a meal and a genuine conversation…
That simply can’t be replicated digitally.
Human beings evolved in small tribes, intimately, physically connected. And there’s something in us that still deeply craves that connection.
This is my chance to share everything I’ve wanted to but not quite been able to do over zoom or a phone call. It’s your chance for your team and associates to fully buy in to what you’re creating by using the foot-brain connection to enhance everything else you’re doing in your office.
This isn’t just theoretical- after a zoom training I did the other day one clinic went from prescribing 3 pairs of orthotics a month to 8 in the next 2 days. And that was just a zoom training!
Here’s what Dr. Scotty told me afterwards…
“Andrew gave our doctors the talking points and education about the orthotics to feel confident recommending them to our patients. The results speak for themselves, we went from recommending Better Balance Orthotics 3 times a month to prescribing 8 in two days.
I’m very happy with the new found certainty that my doctors have and their ability to communicate how Better Balance Orthotics is a great way for our patients to protect their investment in chiropractic care.”
That’s pretty cool… but my experience is that when we physically connect it creates a much larger result (and it’s way more fun!)
I’m only going to be able to do a handful of these.
If you’d like your clinic to be one of them, reply ROAD TRIP and tell me:
1/ Your City
2/ Your Clinic
3/ Roughly how many chiropractors you think you could get in the room.
I’d love to create some win-win experiences for you, your patients and the other docs in your area. And I’m willing to drive, or even fly, to make it happen. As a bonus, I get to see more of the States in the process.
That’s all I’ve got for today- time to go jump on my flight for the final leg home. Hopefully I’ll catch some zzz’s on the trip- something I’m generally terrible at when I’m flying.
One of the things I do love about flying though is airport bookshops… they always seem to have more cool books than my local stores. Unfortunately, that can make for overweight luggage… United wanted to charge me an extra $200 overweight fee for all the books I bought on this trip!
Here’s my haul…
I’d love to hear what you’re reading and what’s informing your world view right now… SEND ME AN EMAIL and let me know.
