I’ll interrupt the flow of posts about a relational method for learning Chinese herbs to mention a great opportunity for all kinds of natural medicine practitioners. In particular, I’d like to call out to those of you who are starting or running your own business, be that a clinic, a company selling products or even a blog or website geared towards natural medicine practitioners or students.
I know that in the world of Chinese medicine, solid business education can be hard to come by. Perhaps our schools mean well, perhaps it’s an unforgivable oversight. Regardless, many of us graduate not knowing how in the heck we’re going to pay back our student loans, make a living, and generally do the work in the world that we have been trained to do.
As most of you know, I am interning with Mark Silver, founder of Heart of Business. His methods and view are unconventional, which is probably what first attracted me to his work. But, that’s not what’s kept me sticking around. To be entirely honest, I’ve gone through various stages with the work that Heart of Business does. At first, I was attracted. Then, I stepped back a bit – wondered if maybe the guy wasn’t a little crazy, a little too New Age. But I kept coming back, intrigued. Since becoming an intern, I’ve had the opportunity to go more in depth with the teachings by taking courses. More importantly, since graduating, I’ve been able to put the teachings and techniques into practice!
At this point, I’m a huge believer in what Heart of Business teaches. Mark may still be a little crazy ;). But, through my conversations with other business owners who have implemented his teaching and through my own experiences, I can tell you that what he offers is pure gold. Sitting where I am now, I’m just not sure what I would be doing from a marketing perspective if I hadn’t had the good fortune to find his website. I don’t know whether the clinic would feel so in resonance with my deepest beliefs. I don’t know whether I would feel so excited about my life in business.
Here are just a few of the important benefits I’ve observed in my continued interaction with Mark’s teachings.
- Direction and focus : I’ve never been a person who lacks for ideas. However, with this business I did find myself a little mystified about exactly what I wanted. It took a lot of soul searching, talking to working acupuncturists and meetings with my partner to get a sense for what would work for us. We did a lot of work before I graduated. However, upon graduating, I found that quite a few pieces were still out of place. What those pieces were, and how I came to put it all together, is hopefully going to be the subject of an e-book or online course sometimes soon. Simply – I found that many of the details were unclear, particularly concerning who, exactly, we were going to serve and how, exactly, we were going to reach them. That’s when Mark’s material came in. He has an uncanny ability to give you just enough information to help you figure out what you are REALLY doing in your business, and how best to get it moving. I am particularly indebted to his instruction when it comes to the Three Journeys of Marketing ™ – a clear and powerful methodology to help you organize your thoughts about marketing and make your marketing efforts MUCH more effective. It’s really quite amazing stuff.
- A sense of resonance and consistency : As you might know from a simple perusal of the Heart of Business website, Mark’s passion is to help small business owners who really want to be successful, financially, in their businesses without selling their souls. So many of us feel like business is a dirty thing, to be avoided or outsourced and only begrudgingly accepted as necessary when things get desperate. I don’t think this is true, I never have, but I’ve had a hard time figuring out how to build a profitable clinic without violating my most basic principles. Heart of Business to the rescue. The simple exercises that Mark takes you through to help you get in touch with your business at the deepest level really help to separate the wheat from the chaff – focusing you on what’s truly important and helping you bring your business into alignment with that. Amazingly, bringing your business into resonance with your principles is actually good for your profit margins! :D
- Ideas for expansion : One of the less tangible benefits of Mark’s work on my personal process has been the immense number of ideas I’ve had as a result of his teaching. In one of his products about the sales process, The Sacred Moment, he discusses the creation of a real offer – not just acupuncture or Chinese herb appointments, but total packages that help your patients in a variety of ways. This has taken my thinking in all kinds of directions I never would have reached without the material. I’ve come now to think – how can I make this offer even better? What else could I offer to my patients as they seek to nourish themselves? It’s not only a powerful process, but an enjoyable one – a creative one!
- Patients responding : Perhaps the most important “bottom line” is the reaction of my patients. To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to put all of this into action. Still, it’s amazing what a strong reaction I’ve had in the few places I have applied it. When I write to old contacts who wanted to be patients using the syntax and offers I’ve developed through working with Mark, I’m blown away at the sincerity and intensity of their responses. People who never seemed interested in what I do before are suddenly asking probing questions, interested in learning more.
I hope to report back to Deepest Health readers as I implement more techniques and see the results. I have no doubt that I will continue to achieve greater heights of alignment, purpose, and business success as I move forward with Heart of Business as my primary guide.
Why am I telling you all of this?
Heart of Business has a new course opening up! It’s called the Heart of Business Momentum telecourse and seems just PERFECT for those of you just getting started on your business journey. That being said, it will also be of considerable benefit to folks who are already in business – trying desperately to figure out why things aren’t working better! Here’s a description from the Heart of Business website:
“What I’m Hoping For You By the End of the Six Weeks
- An understanding of the big picture, so you know what might already be working in your business, even if clients aren’t showing up, and what pieces you need to put in place.
- Implement at least one nitty gritty thing each class, so that you have a minimum of what’s needed to make your business start to work well.
- An open-heartedness about business, so you’re excited and inspired to learn and grow, rather than just forcing yourself to do it because you have it.
- Clear next steps for yourself, whether it’s a program with us, or someone else, or a whole bunch of do-it-yourself, that you know where you need to focus next, and have that clarity to work on it.”
You can go to the Heart of Business Momentum Telecourse page to learn more about the program, including course content, logistical details and cost. I’m excited it’s a telecourse, and not an in-person event, because that means my far-flung Deepest Health readers can also reap the benefits! The course starts September 29, and will run for 6 weeks. By clicking on that link and checking it out, if you make a purchase, I will get a kickback from Heart of Business. So, not only do you get incredible information from a real business guru, you also help to support Deepest Health so I can continue giving you great content! What a deal!
If you’re still not sure about the course, here’s another offer. Mark is running a free telecourse companion to the larger class. You can read about all the details on the free teleclass page at the Heart of Business website. It will be running on September 8 at 1pm, Pacific Time, and will be of great value regardless of whether you decide to sign up for the full course afterwards.
If you have any questions for me, or want to come discuss your experiences in this course – go ahead and start a discussion in the comments. I’ll be sure to get back to everyone promptly.
Tags: Learning, mark silver, Portland, professional-development, Business
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Eric,
I really like Mark’s stuff too. I’m thinking of doing the course – if I do I’ll sign up through you.
However I’m in Australia and the calls are meant to be live I think – I’d be deep asleep.
Evan
I strongly encourage people to check out what Mark has to offer if you are unsure of yourself in anway when it comes to the business side of things. This is a perfect model for those of us in business for ourselves and in the field of natural medicine. I studied business in my undergrad, and what a waist of time and money. Very little of the corporate business model applies to a small business owner, especially in natural medicine. I learned more useful stuff taking one class with Mark and reading his book than I did in fours years of business undergrad classes.
Hey Evan,
I think it could still be worth your while. The calls are recorded, as far as I know, and released shortly after the class concludes – then they can be downloaded. Being in the class would assure that you could submit questions that were answered in the next call, etc… it might be worth shooting him an email to ask what he thinks. I don’t know if they will be releasing this course as a homestudy after – but it’s possible. Still, if it were me, I would like to have the opportunity to interact with him, get in on questions, in real time.
Anyway – thanks for your comment!
Eric
Hi, this is very nice article, i am very much interested in knowing some skills that are being offored. there are times when i think its important to know what is right response. for example our hospital is practicing in a low income area. so most of time we tend to give people free help and time. although it has given us alot of praise and appriciation but somedays it just feels like a very thankless job. but other days there is such a good feeling of being able to make the difference. thanks
I’m so touched, Eric! Wow! I’m so glad that what we’re doing resonates so strongly with you- and believe me, you’ve been a gift from the Divine in helping us here.
Evan- I get it! And don’t worry about the time difference. The calls will be recorded, and available for download within hours after the class concludes- so as soon as you wake up, you can download and listen- although you may want to get breakfast first. :)
Plus, because we’ll be asking you to turn in check-ins each week, that’s where you’ll be able to ask questions, and get them answered in written form in a pdf I distribute to the class each week. So, you’ll still get feedback and response.
I hope that helps to support you in joining us.
Thanks again for all of your kind words everyone. Please feel free to ask any questions you have. And please help spread the word- I would be delighted if many natural medicine practitioners were able to access these teachings and get the medicine out to the people who need it most.
Eric,
Dude, if you we’re only offering it with no kickback I’d have bought in quickly. Now I gotta go check it all out. I’ve read your blog for two years now and appreciate your journey….if you had just said ~ “this is just for all of you” ~ Did Mark S. teach you that? However, I intend to listen to the Sept. 8 call because the other articles on your site are so soundly beneficial. Sorry ~ this is obviously a first journey response.
Hey Ken,
Thanks for your comment. It’s pretty standard practice for bloggers to offer products in this way, and I’ve been doing it since the beginning of my career. Most of the time, it’s obvious (as with Adsense Ads) and sometimes less so. When it is a big purchase decision, as Mark’s course is, I like to make it clear that I am providing the link as an affiliate, which is what I did.
This is one way I can help to cover my costs. I work more than part-time to write quality articles to this blog, not to mention doing the rest of the work involved (back-end work, promotion, networking, answering comments). The blog also has costs associated with hosting, paid design and so on. I have always hoped to make it a profitable enterprise, and will continue to find ways to monetize my content so I can continue to write! I hope you understand this.
I’d be interested to hear more from you on this. What bothers you about my getting a kickback for referring someone to a great product?
Eric
Hi Eric!
Darn, I just refreshed my RSS feeds today. Missed the preview teleclass. Questions for you Eric, is this a coaching type of business? I read some of the homepage and I agree, it does sound kind of new-agey. Does it teach you how to reach out to patients that need our help? Also, I have licensing exams at the end of Sept and Nov. GASP, haha. Does the program need to be finished six weeks after Sept 29th?
Cheers!
Katrina
Hey Katrina,
Well, note that the class isn’t just for natural medicine practitioners – but for everyone who has a small business. So, there won’t be any particular teachings that say, “Hey, as a natural medicine practitioner, this is how to reach out to patients.” But, all of Mark’s teachings are fantastic for those of us in the natural medicine professions because they’re really about coming into resonance with the essence of what we do and then effectively communicating that essence, with heart and presence, to our potential patients. I can tell you that implementing his teachings has already brought patients in my door, and has increased the efficacy of my treatments (an unintended effect on his part, and unexpected on mine).
I believe his teachings are the business class we have all been waiting for.
Also – licensing already?! Seems like it was just yesterday that you were getting started, eh? Well, with all of Mark’s courses, the deal is the same. There are live calls with the teaching and questions/discussion, and then those live calls are offered as audio, along with a PDF listing some common questions and the teaching/assignments in text form. It usually comes out rather quickly after the call. The last course I was in, we were encouraged to submit “homework” which was our reflections on the teachings, which Mark got to in future PDF documents.
So, the answer is yes and no. You don’t “have” to get through the teachings in any period of time. Once you buy the course, you can just download the audio and PDFs and go through them at your leisure. However, if you can participate to the degree of at least listening to the recording within a couple of days, you will be able to submit your questions and thoughts about them.
The course I just went through, the Heart of Money, was offered this way. I was able to make some calls, but not others. Those I missed, I learned a tremendous amount from. Those I made, I was able to be a more active contributor.
Regardless, the teachings are very important and, I think, very worth the time – especially for someone about to graduate!
Eric
Great info Eric! Thanks. I will read through the site more and then make my decision. If I do sign up, I will sign up through you.
And yes, time certainly does fly. I have completed the acupuncture part of my diploma. The next two years will focus mainly on herbs. Lovely, lovely herbs. Congratulations on the start of your practice and the new teaching position. Fantastic! I’m sure your students will benefit immensely from your creativity and dedication to Chinese medicine. Bravo!
im a new business owner working in the field natural holisitc beauty treatments and agree it is hard promoting the benefits, but as you mention its all about the client reaction which speaks volumes!
I’m glad to see a post like this on here. There are an awful lot of business – not just alternative health related – that could help a lot of people, but can’t only because the owners/operators never got down simple business practices.
I don’t know Mark, but I’m glad he’s helping folks get the other (non-Chinese medicine) skills they need to succeed.
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