Private Physical Therapy Practice + Affiliate Marketing

Declining Insurance Reimbursment

Are you a private physical therapy practice owner looking for ways to increase cash flow without having to: increase the number of patients you see, over burden your therapist, and reduce the quality of your treatments?  I know it is a struggle to be in private practice right now. I opened my business 10 years ago and have navigated declining reimbursement each year that I have been in business. The struggle is real and many clinics are closing and filing banckruptcy unless they think outside the box and increase cash flow.

Afilliate Marketing vs. Advertising.

If you have a website then you have an avenue for affiliate marketing or selling add space. Advertising is usually a one time price per month, but affiliate links can provide greater opportunity for earning commission as your client shops. You already have your clients purchase items related to their therapy from e-commerce stores on a regular basis. You simply become an affiliate for them and then provide opporturnity for your clients to use your site to purchase their items. You then earn a commission when an item is purchased. There is no increased cost to your client. You are providing a secure portal for them to purchase needed items for their physical therapy.  The greatest part is you don’t have to worry about collecting money or providing customer service. The client is taken directly to a trusted merchant to make their purchase. The client trust that they are going to a reputable site because you get your links directly from the merchant.

Rules of Affiliate Marketing

There are rules with affiliate marketing that you have to follow per the FTC. You have to provide disclaimers and let people know that you will earn a commission if they use your links to make a purchase. You also have to understand each merchant’s rules for using their logo and trademark information. You can NEVER spam clients in e-mails to provide links, but you can provide links to subscriber e-mail list. Each merchant is different and has their own rules.

What Merchants use Affiliate Marketers

You can become an affiliate marketer for just about any category that is related to physical therapy and there are no upfront cost.  You can be an affiliate marketer for AMAZON, iTunes, Walmart, courses involving physical therapy, and the list goes on. If you don’t want to have to go to each merchant and ask to be an affiliate for them you can join an affiliate site like ShareAsale and pick from a list of merchants. You have to apply to each merchant and be accepted, but the ShareAsale site is very easy to navigate. Creating links to add to your website, social media post, and subscribed e-mails is easy. You can even create a product page for your website. The alternative is to become an e-commerce merchant and sale products, but then you have to provide customer service. It is not a bad option and provides a good way to increase your cash flow. Unfortunately insurance reimbursement makes it difficult to give the clients what they need and provide for your employees as well, but there are other ways to increase your cash flow. As with anything, there is a learning curve and you have to create the opportunity for your links to be used. Disclaimer: there are links in this post that will result in a commission if you choose to sign up for affiliate marketing. Take a closer look at ShareAsale to see if affiliate marketing is a right fit for your practice. They will provide you more infomation and assist you in getting started.