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SPINE-TINGLING ACTION WITH THE ANIMAL CRACKER
any one of the simple but necessary tasks of animal husbandry. There are channels entirely dedicated to sheep shearing, hoofcare and farriering (that is a real word), guinea pig grooming – even removing parasites from the local beach life. Many of these tend toward the ‘oddly satisfying’ genre, where the simple physical completion of a task produces temporary anxiety relief in the typical 21st-century stress-case. One wonders if there isn’t some ancient instinct at work, telling us that if we can finish milking the cows or get one more load of hay perfectly baled, then everything will be alright in the end. THE ANIMAL CRACKER Doug Willen had been an actor before retraining as a chiropractor. He started his practice in Atlanta, then moved back to his native New York. “I was a really great craftsman, but never a great marketer,” says Willen. “I just thought, if I love my patients
enough, they’ll come back – which is not the greatest business model, but it served me many years.” Over those years, Willen developed a tremendously respected New York practice, but still found that he was only just making ends meet. One day, his daughter had ‘the conversation’ with him – and told him to get on social media. “I was like: I don’t have time for that. It’s BS. I will never do that. I don’t even have time to make a living here.” But she continued the pestering, suggesting her dad offer a behind- the-scenes glimpse into his practice. Eventually, Willen gave in and started the channel House of Chiro in April 2019, which gave people an intimate look at his chiropractic work. “I decided to go all in. From the day I started, I didn’t miss posting a video for eight months – every single day. I would come in on a Saturday and shoot 20 videos, and soon we were way ahead. I did the same with my Instagram feed.” Willen also attended events like the Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego, soaking up everything he could. “I went to every lecture I could on Instagram and YouTube,” Willen continues. “It wasn’t like I learned how to do the technical specifics of setting up a channel, but I learned what I needed to go back home and study. I made a big list of stuff and started looking on YouTube at tutorials on things like how to do a good job of posting, or how long a teaser should be, or how to split test. I hacked my way through Adobe Premiere Pro
SEEN AND HERD Animals of all shapes and sizes feature on Willen’s channel
I DECIDED TO GO ALL IN. FROM THE DAY I STARTED, I DIDN’T MISS POSTING A VIDEO FOR EIGHT MONTHS – EVERY SINGLE DAY
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