Back in January, my team held one of our Bootcamp events. These events are a chance for PT owners to get together and learn some of the best practices for direct access marketing.
Today I want to share three of my biggest takeaways from our Bootcamp in Orlando. Since this was the first Breakthrough event in 2019 the theme was focused on making this year your best year ever.
Even if you weren’t able to attend, hopefully these takeaways can help you make some improvements in your practice this year.

Vision
World Champion wrestler (and my high school wresting coach) Wade Schalles was the keynote speaker in Orlando, and he delivered a great presentation on goal setting and building a vision.
The words “vision” and “goal” are often interchangeable, but I believe there is a different between the two.
Goals are specific targets whereas a vision is your inspiration and your reason why. For example, someone could have a vision of living a healthy, active lifestyle so that they can spend more time with their family and enjoy the chance to watch their grandchildren grow up. Then a goal for making that vision a reality would be something like exercising 3x every week for a set amount of time.
In other words, your goals should all be tied to a larger, more inspiring vision.
There are a lot of books/articles/videos/etc about goals but building a vision is a bit more mysterious of a topic which is why I found Wade’s speech so impactful.
My biggest takeaway was to really take time and work out an actual vision for what I want my life (both personally and professionally) to be. If your vision is too small, you’ll quickly run out of motivation.
On the other hand, if your vision is too big AND you don’t have a plan to make it real, then you can easily get depressed because it feels like you have no control.
Having a “vision” might sound a bit too new age-y, but Wade’s talk was a great reminder that it’s a necessity for long-term success.
Beyond Direct Access Marketing
Back when Breakthrough first started, our focus was more or less on proving that direct access marketing worked and showing other owners how to do it.
That’s still a big component of what we do, but our focus has also evolved over the years.
At Bootcamp, we always ask for feedback on what owners want to learn next. Over time, the response has shifted from marketing to more next-level business topics like personnel and financial management.
Which makes sense. Once you’ve got marketing down, it’s time to move on to optimizing other impactful areas of your business.
So that’s what we’re working on for our next Bootcamp. There will still be training on the best practices for direct access marketing, but we’re also adding sessions on hiring, incentivizing staff, and motivating a high-performing team.
Learning From the Community
Our grand vision at Breakthrough is to “flip the pyramid” and make PT the first option for people in pain.

This is a complete “flip” from the way things are today where PT is often on of the last options after medications, injections, and surgery.
It’s easy to see why this vision would excite PTs, but at Bootcamp we always have a diverse group of people who gather together to support this cause.
This includes our members, their staff, the Breakthrough staff, and even our event partners and sponsors.

Next Bootcamp
Our next Bootcamp is scheduled for April 5 – 7 in Phoenix, AZ.
As mentioned, we’re going to cover direct access marketing and personnel management at this event.
If you’re interested in learning more about the event, visit the page below to secure your seat.