I hope you had a great weekend.  Congrats to the Saints and Colts,
who both advanced to the Super Bowl yesterday in a couple of
great games.  My “dogs” (Carolina Panthers) have been out of the
hunt all season, so I’m just anticipating a Super match-up.

I’ve got a few things for you this morning:

1. Last week’s Google webinar with Certified Google Adwords Specialist
Kelly Muldoon was very well attended, and the content she shared
was superb.  This is admittedly “dry” material, but Kelly did her
best to make it understandable and useful for those who want to
be on the first page of Google within days.

For those of you who didn’t make it, or if you want to view the
webinar again, we’ll have it posted online this week for you.  I’ll
let you know when it’s ready. (This webinar was open to non-members)

Kelly has been running my Google Adwords campaigns for about 5 years
now, and Google is my #1 external source of new patients!  She also
operates Adwords campaigns for a limited number dentists on an
“area exclusive” basis (one dentist per market area).  Her fees are
extremely reasonable, and the results she gets have been my best ROI
of any marketing I’ve ever done.

If you want more new patients from Google, you need to watch the
webinar when it gets posted.

2. On Friday I had my monthly Dental Insiders Alliance “Members
Only” 1-on-1 consult calls…and they were UBER-productive!  If
you’re not familiar with this, each month I make time available
for DIA members to spend 25 minutes with me on the phone.  Key
team members are welcome too.  During each call we cover the doctor’s
chosen topics, overcoming problems and finding solutions.

Each of these calls results in at least one big “breakthrough” for
the participating doctor.  I’ve always felt that this benefits is
perhaps the most valuable for the members who take advantage of it.

If you want to become a member and take advantage of my “Patient
Attraction Collection” offer, which is being pulled off the table
on January 30th, go to:
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction

3. DIA members, be on the lookout for another email from me
today outlining this Wednesday night’s “Executive Insider”
teleseminar.  As usual you can attend live, and you’ll also
get a complete digital CD recording of the event.

4. Last but not least, I want to make sure you really went through
the 3-part series I posted the week before last about “doing things
differently” to get better results and growth for your practice in
2010.  If you haven’t already, go back and dig in to that material.
Share it with your team, and spend one complete team meeting PER
part…brainstorming about what you can do differently in your
practice this year.  Then get to implementing and make things
happen!

You and your team can overcome the challenges you’ll be facing
this year and beyond.  All it takes is “different” thinking and
action!

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction

This is your LAST CHANCE to register…here’s a copy of the message
below in case you missed it.  If you’ve already read it and you just
want to register, click this link:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/598202515

Would you like more new patients…now?  I can’t think of many
doctors that would say no to that!  Well, tonight
at 8:30pm EST (7:30pm CST; 6:30pm MST; 5:30pm PST) I’m
hosting a webinar that can help to deliver new patients to your
office within days.

I’ll be interviewing Certified Google Adwords Specialist
Kelly Muldoon, as she reveals how you can get more new
patients that are searching for specific targeted procedures
faster than you think!

The latest market research shows that Google now controls
79% of ALL internet search traffic.  Despite the competitive
pushes made by Yahoo, Bing, and others, Google is still the
800-pound gorilla.  Solve the Google puzzle and you’ll get
more traffic to your website than you can handle.

That said, Google’s tricky algorithms and protocols dictate
that you must know what you’re doing in order to be successful.
Otherwise you could lose money fast.  But you’ll lose MORE
if you don’t take advantage of what Google has to offer!
That’s why I’ve had Kelly Muldoon handling my Google
marketing for 5 years.

During this webinar Kelly will not only cover what you need
to know to successfully market your practice through Google…
we both will also review the most important steps that must occur
AFTER people click on your Google listing for them to actually
end up sitting in your dental chair.  This is critical information!

Join us on Wednesday, January 20th at 8:30pm EST.
You’ll be glad you did!

Space is limited!  Here’s the link to REGISTER NOW:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/598202515

We’ll “see” you then.

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance

Would you like more new patients…now?  I can’t think of many
doctors that would say no to that!  Well, on this Wednesday night
at 8:30pm EST (7:30pm CST; 6:30pm MST; 5:30pm PST) I’m
hosting a webinar that can help to deliver new patients to your
office within days.

I’ll be interviewing Certified Google Adwords Specialist
Kelly Muldoon, as she reveals how you can get more new
patients that are searching for specific targeted procedures
faster than you think!

The latest market research shows that Google now controls
79% of ALL internet search traffic.  Despite the competitive
pushes made by Yahoo, Bing, and others, Google is still the
800-pound gorilla.  Solve the Google puzzle and you’ll get
more traffic to your website than you can handle.

That said, Google’s tricky algorithms and protocols dictate
that you must know what you’re doing in order to be successful.
Otherwise you could lose money fast.  But you’ll lose MORE
if you don’t take advantage of what Google has to offer!
That’s why I’ve had Kelly Muldoon handling my Google
marketing for 5 years.

During this webinar Kelly will not only cover what you need
to know to successfully market your practice through Google…
we both will also review the most important steps that must occur
AFTER people click on your Google listing for them to actually
end up sitting in your dental chair.  This is critical information!

Join us on Wednesday, January 20th at 8:30pm EST.
You’ll be glad you did!

Space is limited!  Here’s the link to REGISTER NOW:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/598202515

We’ll “see” you then.

All my best,
Chris

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance

Hey,

Thought I’d say “hey” this time.  I hope you had a great weekend.

Today I’m going to cover the third of three phenomenal pieces of
advice from marketing and business building legend Dan Kennedy.
This series is designed to help you weather the current economic
conditions with confidence at the very least, and generate a
truckload of more moolah.

Just as I did with Strategy #1 (sell something different) and
Strategy #2 (sell to someone different), I’ll directly tie-in
Dan’s suggestions with how you can apply them to the business of
dentistry, and more specifically your practice.  (If you missed
the last two messages, go to www.DentalInsiders.com/diablog
to find them so you can get caught up.)

Remember, what worked well “then” with regard to “successful sales”
in your practice most likely is either working less, or not at
all “now”.  Spending is down, and people are being much more cautious
with their discretionary income.  To achieve better results than
you got last year, you’re gonna have to make some changes…but
you’re a nimble small business.  You’ve got a great team to help
you carry out the necessary steps, so go for it!

Strategy #3: “Sell DIFFERENTLY”

This concept is a “big whammy”, because it forces you to rethink
your current systems and processes, looking for ways to improve
and grow.

How exactly do your “sales systems” work?  What’s working and
what’s not working?  Where are the holes that allow patients to
slip through the cracks?

How can you alter your processes to increase your conversion
rates…from prospect to new patient…from new patient to
fully committed, long-term referring patient…from “not right
now” to “when can we start”?  That’s what I’m talking about.

Example #1: Although I do a fair amount of external marketing,
it’s not all done the way you may think.  For the past year I’ve
had a part-time “Public Relations Coordinator”, who is actually
also a patient.  She visits the offices of many physicians,
professionals, and other small businesses here in Charlotte.

Her goal of course is to drive more referrals to my practice
through the development of stronger relationships with these
other businesses.  By identifying how we can help their patients
and clients, we’ve become a “trusted resource” for many of them.
As a reciprocal gesture, we also look for opportunities to refer
TO them as well.

We’re “selling” the practice to these businesses differently
than we have before, and differently than anyone else!

Example #2: Several months ago I was noticing that more of my
patients were commenting that they “can’t afford to” move
forward with treatment (at this time).  In most practices, and
during most times, there could be a whole host of reasons why…
and very few actually have anything to do with money!  But
although we’re certainly not immune to problems in our treatment
acceptance protocols, I really felt that “affordability” was
the true issue here (for obvious reasons).

So I had my team simply alter the ORDER of financial options
they present to each patient.  Instead of presenting the whole
fee first, they began with the lowest possible monthly payment
(Springstone, Chase Health Advance, DocPay, etc).  Then they
presented higher payment amounts for shorter terms, and
ultimately the entire case fee, with prepayment savings of course.

The result: an almost immediate increase in acceptance by our
patients!  Once they understood that they could make affordable
payments, they were more open to the full fee, and even payment
in full in advance.  The gradual “step up” in payment options
has been working better for us lately than opening the financial
arrangements with the full fee and going down from there.

Again, what can you do DIFFERENTLY to get better results?  This
is perhaps the most difficult strategy to implement, because
it requires accurate, objective, unemotional thinking and analysis
of your practice systems.  However, when you do arrive at the
right changes, they can make a BIG difference!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Dental Insiders Alliance Members, please NOTE: your NEW
copy of Dental Insider Secrets newsletter is now posted at the
member’s website for your convenience!  You’ll be getting the
physical copy mailed to you within about 10 days, but you can
download and print it now if you wish.  Enjoy!

PPS: If you’re not a DIA member, but you’d like to “kick the
tires” a bit, you should take advantage of my “Patient Attraction
Collection” offer, which includes a bunch of great content on CD’s
as well as 2 ~FREE~ months of Preferred Membership.  This offer
is being pulled within a couple weeks, so you may want to jump
on this now.  Go to www.DentalInsiders.com/patientattraction
for all the details!

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance
www.DentalInsiders.com

Today, the 2nd of 3 BIG ways to adapt to this economic climate.

Yesterday I covered the first of these brilliant strategies,
“sell (or offer) something different”.  The concepts were
first presented to me by marketing and business building icon
Dan Kennedy.  If you remember, I mentioned that, with regard to
growing your business, what may have worked well in the boom of
2003-2008 is likely either significantly less effective or
completely ineffective now.  Bottom line is you’ve got to do
things differently to propel your business forward when things
are tougher.

Here’s Strategy #2:  “Sell to someone DIFFERENT”

This idea can be broken down a few ways.  First, let’s look at
the obvious thought of finding more new patients.  But let’s
also take it a step further and find new patients in NEW places.

To paraphrase Captain Kirk (loosely): “to go where you’ve never
gone before.”  What have you done and where have you gone to find
your current pool of patients?  OK, now ask yourself where ELSE
you can go to find more new patients?

If you’ve marketed to certain areas of town, try new areas.
For your unique niche services, you can certainly test the
expansion of your marketing reach.  Proximity to the dentist is
NOT as important to most people as it used to be…they just
want to be in the right office with the right dentist and team.

If you belong to local civic groups or organizations, join new
ones.  Reach out to new groups of people and establish new
connections.  Those new circles of associations, if nurtured,
will bear fruit in the form of new patients.

If you’ve focused on getting referrals from your patients, have
you considered getting referrals from other businesses?  Other
professionals?  Other physicians?  Granted, this takes time and
effort…but hey, I never said it would all be laid out for you
on a silver platter!  And EFFORT is what will be the difference
between those practices that excel and those that struggle in
this economic climate.  You gotta go get it!

What are the characteristics of your “ideal” patients?  You need
to know the answer to this.  Grab 30-50 charts of your best
patients and look for similarities in them all.  Then ask
yourself where people like that are…and go there.

Stemming off yesterday’s post…when you offer new services, you
open yourself up to an entirely new patient pool.  These too
are “someone different”.

Using the information and clues above, compile a list of potential
new sources of more new patients.  Then do what it takes to
attract and convert them into your practice.  Enjoy!

All my best,
Chris

PS: Here’s a clue for Monday: the 3rd strategy involves the HOW!

Dr. Chris Bowman
Dental Insiders Alliance