3 Thinking Points for the Small Business Start-Up

Important considerations for most start-up businesses fall into these categories: philosophical, physical, and practical. The “3 Ps,” if you will. Taking time to analyze each “P” during the panning phase, prior to launching a business, will result in increased confidence, sharper direction, and solid goals for the entrepreneur.

Many people experience a seductive excitement about starting a new business, assuming an existing business, or purchasing additional locations. However, not all would-be entrepreneurs see their dreams through to fruition. Why? Let’s look at dentists.

Dentists are professionals with doctorate degrees who have invested significant time and money into their education. They are smart as a whip and know dentistry inside and out. Unfortunately, like a great number of entrepreneurs across various industries, dentists don’t know business, and business is an essential element in entrepreneurial success. While the idea of starting, or expanding, a dental practice is exciting, taking time to create a comprehensive business plan, not just to submit for a loan or seed money, but to set a course and define a purpose, will eliminate many potential storms along your journey toward success.

In this article, we’ll touch on the philosophical, physical, and practical considerations for a start-up business. First, however, think about whether you have what it takes to find success as an entrepreneur.

Dreamers vs. Doers

Many would-be entrepreneurs become overwhelmed thinking about the philosophical, physical, and/or practical aspects of starting a business. As a result, they either skip important considerations, saving them for a later date that never comes; become lodged in the mire and never move forward; or they give up their dream of owning a business and go to work for someone else. Wise entrepreneurs think their ideas all the way through before they begin the adventure of starting a new business. Wise entrepreneurs conduct the research and gather the data they need for a complete business plan, then press onward to achieve their dreams based on the information they’ve assembled and goals they’ve defined. They cement the foundation of their future in facts and logic, then allow their dreams to grow on reliable footing. Read More

Marketing Your Dental Practice in a Recession

At least his teeth look great.

According to a recent poll, 70% of Americans believe the economy is still in a recession. Dental practices nationwide report decreases in production, most notably in the number of new patients. Clients come to us with concerns about losing patients to rival practices, but dentistry in a recession isn’t always about competition among dentists. As patients tighten their purse strings, you’re far more likely to find yourself competing against rent, groceries, and debt. The solution? Internal marketing.

What Is Internal Marketing?

Internal marketing capitalizes on two of your most valuable assets, your staff and your current patients. Its main objectives are:

Retain existing patients
Increase per-patient value
Generate referrals

Basically, it’s your dental practice’s calm in the storm, a marketing function that focuses on aspects over which you have a good degree of control. You can’t change the economy, you can’t change minimum wage, and you can’t give every patient a job. What you can give them is information, kindness, value, and dental health solutions.

A Satisfied Patient Is a Loyal Patient

On what factors do consumers base their buying decisions? If we’re talking about tangible goods, the answer is usually price. Dentistry, on the other hand, is a service. A practice that caters primarily to insured patients cannot effectively compete on the basis of price alone. All things being equal, a patient with dental coverage will pay the same copay at your practice that he will at the office up the street. It’s up to your team to create a patient experience that goes above and beyond the typical dental experience. Consider developing your practice’s personal signature, something your patients can look forward to. For example, we have a client who offers scented neck wraps, and another who eases patients’ anxiety with guided imagery and chairside meditation. There’s little margin for error here, which explains why so many practices are now investing in staff development and training. The economy will improve, and your patients will know exactly who to call when the time comes.

Convert More Patients With Stellar Case Presentations

When money is tight, patients reassess their ideas of what constitutes an elective procedure. For a financially secure patient, preventive and restorative dentistry are non-negotiable. Unfortunately, stability isn’t par for the course these days. Dentists are finding that many patients think of preventive as the new elective. In other words, if it isn’t causing excruciating pain, it’s elective. Practices nationwide report a larger number of fix-it and single-tooth treatments, many for patients who disappear forever after—no checkups, no professional cleanings. Nothing.

Money talks, but value explains. During your case presentation, a cash-strapped patient will focus primarily on the price tag. It’s up to you to present the value of the proposed solution in terms of their health. Touch on the basics of the procedure, but spend more time communicating the nature of the problem and the benefits of the treatment. Because money matters are now the crux of many patients’ healthcare spending decisions, your patient will be more protective of his finances. If a patient perceives that you are selling a solution for a problem that he doesn’t really have, you can be certain that he won’t return under more favorable economic conditions.

Leverage Existing Patients’ Connections With Referral Programs

Referral programs are a win-win solution. Your practice wins by gaining direct access to prospective patients, who receive the recommendation from someone they already know and trust. Patients win because they get an opportunity to enjoy “something for nothing,” so to speak. Making recommendations to friends takes five seconds on social media, and social media analytics make building awareness, monitoring success, and measuring engagement a no-brainer. However, referral programs are not an option in some states, which forbid remuneration for soliciting referrals. Check with Jill or myself before implementing a program.

Example 1: Each time a patient refers someone to the practice, both patients’ names are entered into a drawing for gift cards, an electric toothbrush, complimentary teeth whitening, etc.

Example 2: For every X number of new patients referred, the referring patient receives a reward or credit toward future dental work.

As always, you are welcome to contact either myself or Jill with questions about program design and social media.

New patients are hard to come by these days, but things are looking up. Internal marketing presents incredible opportunities to grow your practice at a time when most are desperately marketing to patients

About the Author: Jill Nastasia, CEO and Director of Business Development, is unsure of which type of recession is worse, economic or gingival. To learn more about our dental marketing solutions, contact Jill at 972-781-8861, or email her at jill@moderndentalmarketing.com.

Dental Branding Gets Sensual

Before we dive in to today’s topic, I’d like you to spend a minute recalling one of your most cherished memories. Most people don’t necessarily recall every minute detail, but their memory as a whole encompasses multiple senses. For example, a memory of one particularly magical Christmas many years ago won’t be limited to a vision of gifts piled up next to a decorated tree. It’s more likely to include, say, the smell of cinnamon and pine intermingled with the flavor of cocoa and the sound of a Yule log crackling in the fireplace, or the feel of crisp wrapping paper ripped to shreds beneath your fingers.

It’s a full sensory experience, powerful enough to conjure up the same memory in all its intensity decades later, but why?

The Impact of Sensory Branding, or 2+2=5

Now, pretend you’re a patient instead of a dental professional. You don’t eat, sleep, and breathe dentistry, and you don’t relish the exquisite touch of latex gloves in the morning. When you think of your upcoming root canal treatment, you think of the stereotypical dental experience. In sensory terms, this breaks down into:

The sight of battered magazines dated 2010, strewn about in the waiting room
The high-pitched whirring sound of the dental drill
The touch of metal to sensitive teeth and the chill of subzero air conditioning
A taste of mint and blood mixed with a hint of rubber gloves
The smell of cleanliness (not so bad) and particles of one’s own tooth matter (beyond bad)

Although some of the sensory elements patients have come to expect cannot be addressed directly–gloves must be worn, equipment must be sterilized–you have creative license with others. If you can touch on even one of these negative sensory cues, you will have made the patient experience more distinctive and memorable than those of 95% of the dentist offices in the country. Is this not the heart and soul of branding?

Up the Ante With Sensory Cues

Jill and I love the unique touches that our clients employ to engage their patients’ senses. A few ideas that we’ve seen/heard/etc:

Visual

An artistic-minded dentist who covers the walls of his office with artwork. Even the ceiling above patients’ heads in the treatment area features artwork.
Chairside iPads and tablets loaded with popular movies
Well-maintained aquariums with colorful fish and plants

Auditory

Chairside iPods preloaded with classical music and relaxing sounds, such as ocean waves, rain, and singing birds
A pediatric dentist who lets children listen to Kidz Bop versions of their favorite pop songs
Another who uses guided imagery and meditation to soothe anxious patients in the chair

Tactile

A dentist who offers patients their choice of complimentary paraffin hand dip or scented neck wrap
A “dental spa” that provides foot massages during long procedures
Plush blankets and pillows for cold-natured patients
Cooling gel-filled eye masks to wear during treatment
A husband-and-wife dental team whose pet dog snuggles up to anxious pediatric patients (not even kidding)

Tasty

Waiting rooms stocked with complimentary hot teas, gourmet coffee, and bottled mineral water
Goodie bags containing toothpaste in nontraditional flavors, such as ginger, lavender, green tea, and blackberry
Giveaways of sugarless gum with xylitol

Olfactory

Aromatherapy
Dentists and hygienists who wear peppermint-scented gloves
New patient welcome kits that contain scented body products and candles

I’m not suggesting (or am I?) that your patients will come to view root planing and scaling with the same wide-eyed wonderment that they feel around Christmastime. I’m saying that if you create a more appealing, multi-sensory environment, you will create a positive association in patients’ minds that will improve relationships, encourage compliance, and generate word-of-mouth referrals.

How do YOU incorporate the five senses into the patient experience? Share your stories in a comment, or post to our Facebook Wall.

About Jill: As the CEO and Director of Business Development for MDPM Consulting, Jill Nastasia uses her years of experience in diverse industries to generate creative, effective solutions that are as unique as our clients. To connect with Jill, call or text her at 972-781-8861, or email her at jill@moderndentalmarketing.com.

When Patients Attack, Yelp! Edition

Looks like someone needs restorative dentistry

Remember the good old days when the average dissatisfied customer or patient only told nine or so people about an unpleasant experience? It seemed like a huge deal! Nine people? Today, social media has all but blown that number out of the water. If you’ve somehow angered a Yelper, you’ll be lucky if only nine hundred people read it. Online review sites are a mixed bag–incredible publicity in a hard-to-control, slightly terrifying forum. We’ve seen some dentists who hope that perhaps online reviews as a means of communication will just fall out of fashion with patient, never to be seen again.

Online Review Sites Are Here to Stay (Sorry)

The good folks at Software Advice recently shared research from their 2013 IndustryView study, which used Google Consumer Surveys to gain insights from 4,515 adult patients in the United States. A few things stand out:

Healthgrades is the most popular site for finding online reviews, although more patients trust Yelp!
When searching for a new provider, most patients begin by reading online reviews.
Patients who read online reviews are most interested in the accuracy of previous diagnoses, years of experience, and average wait times.

“She said WHAT on Yelp?!”

When you pour your heart and soul into your practice, even a single negative review amid dozens of favorable reviews can send you into a tailspin of disappointment, resentment, and even anger. In a world made increasingly transparent by social media, however, a response made in the heat of passion could spell disaster for the positive reputation you’ve worked so hard to cultivate. You need a plan of action for dealing with persnickety patient reviews. Again, I’m focusing on Yelp! reviews. The specifics for other online review sites, such as Healthgrades, Insider Pages, and Citysearch, may differ slightly.

Verify that the review does not violate the Yelp! content guidelines. For example, a review that relays secondhand information, constitutes harassment, or contains offensive language is in violation of the site’s rules.
Review the complaints made in the review to determine what action, if any, could have been taken by you or your staff to avoid the problem.
If possible, determine the identity of the patient who left the review. Reach out to the patient privately to discuss these concerns and, if necessary, explain what steps you have taken to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future. Absolutely DO NOT initiate this exchange in a public forum. HIPAA violation, anyone?
If you are unable to identify the patient, respond to the review publicly to express your regret that the patient did not have a positive experience. Invite the patient (again, no names) to contact you for further resolution.

Yelp does not allow businesses to remove unfavorable reviews, so unfortunately the complaint will still be visible to site visitors. However, the site does allow its users to edit reviews. This means that a patient who receives a satisfactory resolution to his or her problem will have the ability to update the unfavorable review even after many months.

About the author: Jill Nastasia, CEO and Director of Business Development for MDPM, began her career in the mortgage industry, but you shouldn’t hold it against her. It didn’t take long for Jill to discover that dental marketing is where it’s at, though, and she hasn’t looked back since. To connect with Jill, call her at 972-781-8861, or send an email to jill@moderndentalmarketing.com.

You Can Buy Followers, But You Can’t Buy Social Media Love

“Sure, I’ll Like you on Facebook…if the price is right.”

Everyone wants to be the “cool” dentist, the one who has hundreds of Likes and a string of followers to re-tweet their updates. You know that a strong social media presence will benefit your practice by increasing your visibility and generating word of mouth. The only problem? It’s been months since you created your Facebook page, but you still have only a handful of fans. Perhaps, you think, our lack of followers makes us seem uncool. You have two options to boost your social media presence. You can do it the right way, integrating social media and blogging into your current marketing strategy, or you can do it the Newt Gingrich way.

You Mean the Wrong Way?

Exactly. In 2011, the Gingrich PR machine decided that his paltry Twitter following was unworthy of a Presidential candidate. Instead of using social media to engage, entertain, and inform voters, someone took a shortcut and paid for nearly 1 million followers. Gingrich was left with egg on his face after a staff member alerted the press to the fact that 92% of his followers were dummy accounts-for-hire. These accounts, which you can purchase on dozens of websites, are typically generated en masse and lack user photos, valid email addresses, comments, and updates.

Is Padding Your Numbers Really That Bad?

Consider:

Social media analytics lose all functionality, because you can’t analyze an imaginary friend. You have no way to determine what works and what doesn’t.
The number of followers has negligible influence over whether a user will subscribe to your updates. More important are the quality, frequency, and variety of your content.
A large number of followers who don’t comment, share, Like, or post to your profile affects your rate of engagement, raising red flags in the eyes of legitimate social media users. The fact that someone “Likes” your page doesn’t automatically make it likeable.
It’s dishonest. Period.

Social media isn’t a numbers game. I admit that I feel a surge of pride each time MDPM gains a new fan (Hint, hint), but the value of social media stems from opportunities to build long-term relationships with current and would-be patients. Quantitative data, such as what you find in Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics, only goes so far.

About the Author: With her winsome personality and affinity for cat pictures, Jill Nastasia, CEO of MDPM Consulting, doesn’t have to worry about buying Facebook friends to look cool. Sometimes she gets tired of people offering to pay her to be their Facebook friend. She’s turned down Mark Zuckerberg at least 4 times now. That guy never gives up.

How to Use Your Facebook Personal/Professional Profile in Dental Marketing

A Livonia dentist who’s near and dear to my heart recently asked Jill how his business Facebook page could like or recommend another business, or photo, or person, or anything. Her answer was, options are very limited. You’ll have a lot more opportunity doing these things as a human, but as a professional. Here’s my advice for MDPM dental website clients – and any dentist who wants to make his mark on Facebook.

Don’t Let College Joe Ruin Joseph Q. Doe, DDS’ Reputation

I’ve seen both sides of the spectrum: dentists who like to post shirtless beach photos of themselves on Facebook, and those who think Facebook is the devil. Both profiles, and dentists who fall in between, need to create a human, or personal, Facebook page, dedicated exclusively to professional interactions. So, if you don’t have a Facebook profile, create one under your professional name. If you do have a profile you use for personal stuff, create another one dedicated to the professional you.

What to Post as a Professional

Relevance. That’s what it’s all about. You must relate to your professional connections on a personal level. That’s what social networking is – sharing information as a human, and participating in the lives and ideas of others. Do not use your professional Facebook profile for ads and special offers about your practice. Leave those posts for your business page. Instead, share some of your tasteful family photos, discuss community events, the school district’s success, and congratulate specific patients on promotions, new babies, marriages, and anniversaries. Be real, but be professional.

Step By Step

First, log out of Facebook. Read More

Social Networking Not Working for Your SEO Rankings?

When Hummingbird, Google’s last big algorithm update, rolled out in the last quarter of 2013, businesses that were doing social media right finally received some well-deserved credit. The problem is, most businesses don’t do it right, or don’t do it at all.

A Short History on SEO Fools

Since the inception of Facebook Business Pages, perhaps before then, many business owners and marketing professionals have tried to fool the system. Humans crave the get rich quick opportunity. Many people selected SEO companies based on their results, and those SEOs that successfully tricked the system were the leaders. Google’s reputation as a great source of relevant, high-quality, information was at stake as irrelevant content moved to page one of search results, and Google’s gurus had to find a way to filter out irrelevant or low-quality information.

A good example of Google’s quality issue can be seen in how the company dealt with duplicate content. Until Google became hardcore about ranking sites with duplicate content lower than those with original text, online marketers tried all kinds of quick-fixes, like keyword stuffing—adding pages of gibberish with keywords to a website—and stealing text from competitors (which is also copyright infringement). Another sneaky, now outlawed, practice was to place keywords on a website in the same color font as the background, so they weren’t visible to consumers, but search spiders saw the words as relevant for indexing and ranking a webpage.

These tactics became known as black hat tactics. Just like the bad guys in the old west, SEO villains who stole rankings from honest businesses with integrity-based SEO strategies were deemed “the bad guys.” We, “the good guys” are the white-hat cowboys, who stand for justice, honesty, and all things good and beautiful—even in our business dealings, when profits are on the line. Ultimately, the good guys win. Read More

3 Website Tests for 2014 SEO Success

Is Your Website Build to Be Found in 2014?

“Page one of Google” is a moving target with changing factors. Smart businessmen and women are looking at their 2013 numbers and expenses, trying to determine what to change for the coming year. What tactics will improve profitability, patient numbers or number of customers, and visibility? Of course, we all want to be on page one of Google, but for what keywords? A solid SEO strategy requires time and effort. It also requires looking at what Google considers important. In today’s blog post, I’ll give you three things Google considers high priority, and I’ll explain how to tell if you’re compliant, what these things really mean for your business, and what they mean to Google.

Compatibility with all screen sizes.

Two people. According to studies, one shops for services and products on his smartphone.

Is your website built to rank high in online search?

If you aren’t sure, test it out here: Responsive Site Tool.

What it means to your business: With half of your potential new patient base searching for your services online, you cannot afford to go another month without a responsive website design. MDPM Consulting builds all of our custom websites on a WordPress content management system, with completely responsive capabilities. Our designers actually build out the site design according to how it should look on desktops, tablets, and smartphones, prior to site development.
What it means to Google: When Google’s algorithm indexes your website’s code, it can determine whether your site is responsive. Those sites that are responsive get more credit in mobile search, because the site owners are providing Google’s search clients with what they need. Read More

Website Support Turn-Around Time

One of the most frustrating situations we hear about is when clients don’t see requested changes implemented on their website. Equally frustrating is when a site isn’t updated, and it slowly begins to not function properly across all devices. At MDPM, we don’t often hear these kinds of comments, because the procedures we follow are intended to streamline support, while maximizing website function.

What is Support?

After your website goes live on your domain, in addition to monitoring and making adjustments for search engine optimization, and also in addition to keeping the site live 24/7, you probably pay for “support.” The term “website support” refers to making changes to a site when they’re requested by the client. Support may involve adding a page to the website, removing old photos or adding new ones, or writing and posting biographical profiles for new employees. Support does not include changing design elements, like colors and fonts. It also doesn’t involve creating videos or new slideshows, or managing SEO. The latter tasks may involve an additional fee at the time service is rendered or a monthly fee, as is usually the case for SEO.

Why isn’t Design Included in Support?

A website is much different than a brochure. To edit the border and text area in a brochure, a designer simply clicks, adjusts, and voila! Done! On a website, the design and development process are very different. In fact, most designers are not great developers, and developers usually aren’t astute designers. The graphic designer, or artist, creates the look of a website in an art composition, long before the website is built. A program like Photoshop is often used for website design. During the design phase, the graphic designer can click and change all elements of the project. Once a client is pleased with the design, that artwork goes to a website developer, which you should think of as a website engineer. This skilled professional is more of a structural engineer – not an artist. Read More

Does Your Dental Website Wear Platform Shoes?

Websites age faster than cats. In fact, a three-year-old website can make potential patients believe that you’re still wearing a butterfly collar and platform shoes, and you believe lasers are science fiction. Every two years or so, dentists should budget for a website makeover. This means, every other year, you need to make sure that your marketing budget can accommodate website overhaul.

Trends in design, technological advances, and SEO changes can completely change in just 24 months, and to compete online, dentists must plan accordingly. The following list identifies 12 key reasons a dental website needs a makeover:

Your Site Looks Old – From color selection to layout, certain design elements can make a site look extremely dated. In turn, the image you’re sending to potential patients is that your office is dated – perhaps even your dentistry!
Your Site Contains Flash Files (instead of jQuery or HTML5) – Elements of motion look great on a website, and I suggest you use them. However, if your website has Flash files for motion, it needs to be rebuilt. Flash is bad for SEO and won’t render on any Apple device.
Text is Image-based, Not Live – When text is in images, Google and Bing can’t read it, therefore your website won’t get the SEO credit it should. The result is lower-than-desired rankings and traffic. Read More