Picture your shockwave machine sitting in the corner, gathering dust. Every day you glance at it, hoping the next patient will ask about it — but they never do. That’s where most chiropractors are stuck, waiting for word-of-mouth to magically fill their schedules.

They hold off until frustration hits — another month of payments, another patient lost to a competitor — before thinking seriously about marketing. Instead of seizing control, they drift, hoping insurance changes or luck will turn things around, while time (and revenue) slip away.

Desperate for a fix, they try random tactics — a generic $99 ad course, a one-off postcard mailer, or copying what another clinic does online. But it’s just another mirage — more wasted money and no booked patients.

They bounce from strategy to strategy, chasing shiny objects: Google ads one month, Facebook “boosted posts” the next, a local coupon deal after that. Weeks and months go by, but the machine still sits idle.

Meanwhile, they get nickel-and-dimed by tactics that don’t scale — a handful of consults here, one or two patients there — not nearly enough to cover costs or drive real growth.

The result? Stress mounts, revenue stagnates, and shockwave becomes a source of regret instead of opportunity. This is the old way: a frustrating cycle of guesswork and gimmicks that keeps your machine underutilized and your practice stuck.