Small Business Social Media Management with a KISS

I read an article on Mashable today that listed over 30 different social media sites. There are a bazillion more out there. If you’ve heard about smart phone advertising, social networking by location, and other crazy technical stuff you don’t understand, the words “social networking” can seem scary or overwhelming. Problem is, EVERYONE has jumped on the bandwagon. When any business succeeds to unprecedented levels like Facebook has, every Tom, Dick, and Harriet wants a piece of the pie…or even better, their own pie.

Here’s the deal:

  • As a small business owner, you need social networking as a part of your Internet marketing plan.
  • As a small business owner, you do not need ALL FORMS of social networking. That would be a gross waste of time and energy.
  • As a small business owner, you have NO TIME for anything social! If you did, golf would come way before Facebook.
  • As a small business owner, I understand and empathize.

Let’s apply the KISS philosophy (keep it simple, silly). Read More

The Secret to Patient/Customer Loyalty & Excellent Word-of-Mouth Referrals

We have three main grocery stores in my town. One is super cheap, and I have to admit, I shop there. It’s the American Way. Another is staffed by teenagers who are more interested in texting than bagging. As a shopper in this store, I’m a guinea pig for workers in training. And I’m paying for this privilege? No thank you.

The third grocery store is amazing…so it’s the store I prefer and recommend. Prices are higher, sure. But being greeted with a smile and, “Can I help you?” is priceless. If I can’t find what I’m looking for, an employee reads the confusion on my face and rushes over to help. He actually walks me to the product I need—never points or gives me directions. I love Tom Thumb in Trophy Club, Texas. Those fine folks could write a book on excellent customer service.

One of my favorite quotes is from Einstein. He said something like Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Logic tells us that the reverse is true. Good sense is doing the same thing over and over if you want the same results.

I decided to analyze why I like Tom Thumb. My main appreciation is for the employees. As a somewhat intelligent businesswoman, I should apply these points to my own business. I’m no Einstein, but I figure that mimicking the customer service that I appreciate will foster the same loyalty in my clients that I feel for my favorite grocery store.

Fact: Word of mouth advertising has the best return on investment of any marketing.

Fact: Seventy percent of Internet users believe the testimonials
they read online. It’s modern word of mouth.

Fact: If you get good reviews on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp!, Google, etc.,
you’ll benefit not only from readers of those reviews, but also from search engines loving the backlinks to your website.

So what’s the secret to rave reviews, loyal customers, and excellent customer service? Read More

Today’s Guest Blog: Hire the Best Person and Train for Dental Success

This blog was provided by Warschaw Learning Institute and written by Elaine Dickson. Let me know what you think!

Dr. Bill Sasser, a periodontist in Charleston, South Carolina puts it very simply.  “I don’t base my employee’s salary on the position, but on the person.  A good employee is worth everything, and a bad one is worth nothing.”  In dentistry as in many other businesses, all employees are not “created equal”.  Just because someone has more “experience” does not necessarily make them a better candidate than another person who has not worked in the field.

Limiting your hiring process by recruiting only those who have worked in dentistry can be very hazardous to practice growth, because you may not get what you are paying for.  Just because someone interviews well and has worked in a position for awhile, does not always mean they have been successful.  This depends on the person, and it’s the right combination of attitude, character traits, experience and personality that makes a truly valuable employee.  Experience is only one piece of the puzzle, and the question you must ask yourself is “what type of experience?”  Sometimes experience translates into bad habits that can encumber your progress and actually cause your practice to digress.

People make all the difference.  What good does it do to spend thousands of dollars on continuing education and implement practice management systems designed to insure effectiveness, when you do not have the right people to carry these systems out?   As a dentist/practice owner it is not humanly possible for you to perform chairside and oversee all of the administrative or even clinical systems of your practice at the same time. Read More

Common Questions about Modern Dental Practice Marketing

We’re often asked if we’ll do projects for businesses outside of dentistry. The answer is: Heck Yes! Take a peek at our portfolio, and you’ll see that half of MDPM’s clients aren’t dentists at all.

While we specialize in dental content because of our experience in the industry, our clients’ businesses range from home improvement to medical consulting to property management to religious instruction. Yeah, that’s a pretty wide range of clients. Few companies offer what MDPM does, and even fewer offer similar services for such a great price.

We’ve been asked if we host websites. The answer is no. We use the trusted resources available on the internet. WordPress, which we use for our blog websites, is free source software. Anyone can use it at no cost. WordPress offers 100 design templates, great add-ons (widgets), multiple pages, and customizable features. In addition, with WordPress, we can provide our clients with visitation statistics, as well as a free smart phone version of their blog. MDPM blogs are hosted with WordPress, as well.

Some folks want to know the difference between a blog and a custom website. This article explains the answer in detail. Check it out.

Why we recommend new blogs. To keep your costs low, and to take advantage of WordPress’ search engine optimization benefits, we prefer to create new blog websites for our clients, rather than just provide content for an existing blog. This allows us the freedom to do what we believe is best for your practice’s Internet marketing strategy. We’re in control of the blog’s success. We’ll purchase a good domain name, set up the blog website with a blog on the main page, and add other pages to describe your practice, team, and services. We always recommend that our clients keep their main website if they have one. A blog is great for SEO, but it is not a showcase site. It’s a workhorse. We’ll recommend that your blog’s visitors go to your main website for more detailed information about your office.

Will MDPM write blog content for my existing blog? Yes! We can’t promise that you’ll receive the same SEO benefits if we provide content for an existing blog. If your current blog is not on WordPress, and we provide content to your web company, they have to do some backend work to ensure the blog is indexed properly on search engines. In addition, if we only provide you with blog content, you’ll miss out on the extra promotional efforts we provide with the Extreme Internet Presence Package.

What else do we offer besides blogs? A lot. Visit our services page for more info. In short, we offer full-service Internet marketing, as well as community marketing. Branding, logo design, event planning and management, press releases, social networking, team training, and more…  You might also want to complete our free assessment while you’re here. It will help you, us, or a consultant analyze your current and past marketing program.

Blog Commenting… What’s the Point?

It’s a great question. At first glance, commenting on a blog post seems kinda like throwing your two cents into a conversation where you don’t know the players. If you aren’t the type of guy or gal to butt into a conversation you weren’t invited to, you probably don’t post comments. In addition to feeling uninvited, commenting on a blog is a risk. You’re putting your name out there with your opinion…and what if you find out later that your opinion was wrong? If you throw in your two cents, will you have to eat your words?

Stop feeling scared or weird about posting comments. As long as you post kind responses, useful information, and gentle opinions, it’ll be fine. Never rant, berate, belittle, or fudge the truth.

If you follow the golden rule, commenting on dentistry or community-focused blogs is great—no SUPERB—for business. Here’s why:

  1. The comment can link back to your website
  2. The comment gets your name in front of people (great for publicity)
  3. The more comments you have out in cyberspace, the greater the SEO benefits
  4. Commenting can lead to mutually beneficial relationships (with patients, doctors, or industry professionals)
  5. When you post comments, people often reciprocate by posting comments on your blog… which looks great to visitors

“Well, that’s all fine and good,” you say, “but where do I find dental or community-focused blogs to comment on?”

Another great question. Here’s a great answer:

  1. WordPress.com
  2. Blogged.com
  3. DentalHeroes.com
  4. On your Facebook Fan page
  5. US.LoadedWeb.com

That should be enough to keep you busy for a while!

And if your next thought is, “Time, woman! I have no time!” then I’m glad you’re here. I’m also not offended that you referred to me as “woman.” I take it as a compliment. My dental copywriters and I would be happy to post comments on your behalf if you have an MDPM website blog. We’ll also setup and maintain the comments on your blog, as well as your Facebook account and local listings. It’s a sweet deal. We do it all. Read More

Free Report: How to Make Facebook Work for Your Dental Practice

August 10, 2010 (Dallas, Tx): Dentists and dental office administrators can establish and maintain a successful Facebook Fan (Business) Page by following the advice in “How to Make Facebook Work for Your Dental Practice.” The no-cost report features practical tips that are easy to understand and follow. Three essential components of an effective plan for social networking are included.

Click Here to Download
How to Make Facebook Work for Your Dental Practice

Read More

Facebook & Social Networking Tips for Dentists

  • The Facebook movie, The Social Network, will be in theaters this October.
  • America Has Talent is doing a show on the best of YouTube.
  • Tosh.0 has almost 1.5 million Facebook fans.
  • Half of all Americans use Facebook.

Listen, Doc, I don’t want to bring you down, but if you don’t see that social networking is deeply embedded in our culture; if you think it’s a fad that you’ve chosen to avoid; if you will not leverage social networking to market your dental practice…you are putting big steel walls around your practice’s potential growth.

And, thing is, just having a Facebook page won’t do the job.

On the Modern Dental Practice Marketing fan page this week, I’m sharing daily tips and insight about social networking and social marketing. I’m not sharing the tips on the MDPM Dentists page because I want to draw people to the fan page. Why? Read More

The Dentist’s Weekend Warrior Marketing Tip

Here is a marketing idea you can implement by 10:00 Monday morning.  It is virtually free, and would only take about an hour of your time to set up.

The only catch is you have to act NOW!

As every new school year begins, local communities hold school supply drives.   A great way to get exposure for your practice, while serving your community, is to take part in the collection of these supplies.

Here are the 5 simple steps:

1) Call your local family services office or other charity and ask if they are doing a school supply drive.  Let them know you want to collect items for them at your office.  Regardless of how many collection spots they have or how close the first day of school is, they will gladly accept your help.  Ask them to email blast their donors that you are a designated collection spot.

2) Make a flyer to hang up in your office and email it to your patients. The local organization may already have a template.

3) Email your database of patients, post on FB, Twitter and on your Blog. Be sure to encourage others to pass the word along to their friends. If you are in a multi-tenant building, hang your flyers in the hallways and restrooms if possible.

4) Get a cardboard box to collect the donations. You can have your kids or your staff  decorate it for you. Somewhere near the box, have some of your business cards/marketing material available so donors are encouraged to learn more about your practice.

5) At the end of the drive, deliver the supplies. Make it a fun outing for your office, and take a camera along. When the drive is over, send out a big THANK YOU to everyone via email, FB, Twitter and your Blog.  You can also include a photo of yourself and your staff delivering the supplies.

Be sure to share any success stories with us at info@moderndentalmarketing.com. We would love to share your results with our readers.  Pictures are welcome as well!

Writing a Dental Practice Mission Statement & Tag Line

I sell blogs. You sell dental services. Who do we sell to? People. Who pays us? People. Who do our services help? People.

We should never, ever forget that business is about the people, and people want excellent service for their hard-earned dollars. From the initial phone call to the proactive follow-up to the warm personal welcome to the unparalleled treatment in your office, every patient who experiences your dental practice should be chomping at the bit to share the story with all of their neighbors and friends.

Think about what you do that makes your practice different than the one down the road.

When I used to interview dentists before writing content for their websites, I would always ask, “What sets your practice apart from all the rest?”

The answer, ironically, was the same—all the time!

Dentists said, after some thought and hesitation, “You know, it’s our personalized service and wonderful team; it’s the real one-on-one that we give the patients that makes us different.” Read More

Dentists, Websites, Blogs, and RSS Feeds

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Technology is not as intimidating as wild animals, and neither is dental marketing. On the contrary, with a good safari guide, you’ll  enjoy the hunt and the trophies.

Today I want to talk with you about RSS feeds. You’ve probably seen that little orange icon and wondered, What’s that orange thing?

It’s the RSS icon.

What the heck is an RSS icon, and why should a dentist care? Let me explain.

  • RSS stands for really simple syndication.
  • An RSS feed provides an alert when new content is added to a blog or website.
  • Anyone can add an RSS feed to their Yahoo, Google, or other homepage, or they can bookmark the feed for quick access.
  • To subscribe to an RSS feed for a blog or website you like, look for the orange icon, click it, and follow the instructions.

Pretty simple, huh?

Let’s take it a step further. After all, you have a doctorate degree. You like learning! Read More