ALTERNATIVE HEALTH
TO SAVE OUR VETERANS
You want your Alternative Health & Fitness Website/Sales Strategy to make you profitable but also a hero to the community. Are you a hero?
I’m Michael Morrow and I am veteran who knows how to talk to other vets.
Sometimes companies are more blinded by their image and can’t see who they need to help. You could be making huge profits and be honored as one who is helping his country by adopting a potential new market rather than playing to stereotypes.
What new market?
Saluted and Then Forgotten
They are the men and women who served our country both during war and peacetime. Many were subject to chemicals, explosions, and mental trauma that changed their lives forever. How do we recgonize them…
By saluting them on Veterans Day, then getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Who is in Greater Need of Your Product?
Your Alternative Health & Fitness Business has a mission…
Deliver remedies and programs that work for those with medical needs and maintain their health. Who has more than their share of medical needs? Visit a Veterans Hospital, medical center, or homeless shelter.
You’ve got men and women living with man made diseases, irreversible injuries and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. They need your help.
Who is In The Way?
The Government has been working on passing legislation to include Holistic Medicine and other Alternative Treatments:
- R. 4887: Expanding Care Act (to expand the research and education on and delivery of complementary and alternative medicine to veterans)
- H.R. 2251: Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act
- The VA even offers to have veterans seek alternative treatment for certain conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (va.gov – US Department of Veterans Affairs)
If it’s not the government in their way, who is it?
A Fractured Culture
There is a secret subconscious mindset, that isn’t so secret.
Civilians (not just in America) don’t want to face the horrors of those who come back from war. That’s what makes vets forgotten.
There were the veterans of the Vietnam War. The protestors called them baby killers, until they saw how some suffered disfigurement and Agent Orange poisoning. They then shrank away in embarrassment.
The supporters when they see the sick or maimed veteran, thank them for their service, turn and walk away. You’re coming to grips with your own mortality. It’s only natural.
Stereotypes
Veterans have their stereotypes of non-veterans too. They’re not one of them. They relate to each other and active military. Why is that – they have something in common? Take a look at some civilian questions and comments to veterans…
Diversitylink in July, 2017 gave a list of “9 Things Not to Say to Veterans.” Among them were:
- Thank you for your service, but I don’t think we should have been there in the first place.
- Do you have PTSD?
- What’s the worse thing that happened to you over there?
- Have you ever killed anyone?
- Were you raped?
Is it any wonder why veterans hang out with other veterans or worse – isolate themselves? But they really want to be treated like anybody else. How can that happen? It starts with those who are willing to help them.
Suicides
Veterans do seek a better solution but there seems to be almost none for PTSD. It is the #1 cause of veteran suicide according to Department of Veterans Affairs, reported by Veterans Today in 2013.
Another report in 2013 was released by the VA on a study covering from 1999 to 2010 that found 22 veterans a day took their own life. In a September 2017 report it was found that 65% of suicides were among veterans ages 50 and older.
A majority of these vets were in municipalities but many of them were in isolation.
Talk Like a Vet
I’m a veteran, a cancer survivor and someone who supports Alternative Health & Fitness. My web copywriting service targets the veteran market for Alternative Health & Fitness. It’s about time!
I’ve roomed with a Vietnam Vet when I was in the Navy. I’ve worked with returning home Vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. I have friends who are vets from wars going back to World War II.
I know how they are and how to gain their trust. You have to talk like one of them. I am one of them. My question is, do you know what to say to them? Do you know how to win them over? You can and it’s very simple.
Let them know they belong. That’s all they want.
The Strategy
Communicating with Veterans on their level. They honored you with their service. It’s time to honor them with yours. This strategy is threefold:
- Talking to them as if they were family (not putting them on a pedestal)
- Letting them know you want your product to help them
- Letting them know you are interested in their result because you care
Now you are relating to a veteran. Funny thing about veterans, they are loyal – even as customers.
How it Works
An article by University of Texas Mental Health Researcher Elisa Borah confirmed that Military Veteran Peer Networks are an important resource. Care by civilians improved when trained in military culture (The Conversation – May 29, 2016).
Both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama approved programs that increased peer programs and exceeded their goals in helping veterans. The role of peers has shown a positive impact in transitioning homeless veterans into housing.
Veterans charged in misdemeanors and arraigned in Veteran Treatment Courts receive invaluable support from veteran peers throughout their probation:
- substance abuse counseling
- transportation around town
- finding employment
Peer in Action
(Department of Veteran Affairs – August 29, 2017)
Veteran Alexandria Gries tried to take her own life eight times in one year while serving as a soldier in the 4th Infantry Division in 2008. She lost a couple of very close friends in battle. It didn’t get any better when she came back.
She knew she was home when she became a peer support specialist in Fresno, CA. “My job is to build trust so they too will seek help from the VA. Helping my fellow Veterans at the VA has made me whole again.”
Is Your Business Ready to Become a Peer?
You can reach out to them with your products/services. Your business can be their hero, like they are yours.
Need a freelance copywriter?
I’m a freelance copywriter specializing in the health & fitness market. My time is limited to only so many clients. What are your priorities?
- Looking for good storytelling in your health & fitness marketing?
- Are you attracting prospects by engaging with them in your writing?
- Want to raise your conversion rate on opt-ins and sales?
- Are you happy with where your business is presently?
I am looking for new clients at this time but only handle so many. You will get my best work. Act now by going to my contact page and entering your information…
before my schedule is booked.
