Keystone Pathogens of the Human Mouth

AIM Marketing Blogroll, Coaching, Continuing Education, Webinars

The presentation’s full title is: Keystone Pathogens of the Human Mouth: The Critical Need for Saliva Testing as was delivered by Dr. Tom Nabors.

From 1970 until 2006 Tom managed a family dentistry practice with special interest in oral microbiology and immunology. He was the first Dentist to use Phase-Contrast Microscopy and DNA lab reports as a Diagnostic and Treatment Model. He began teaching the value of DNA-PCR testing in 2003 to Oral Health professionals, and continues teaching to this day.

In 2008 Tom founded Oral DNA Labs, The first U.S.-approved clinical laboratory using saliva testing for oral infection including periodontal pathogens, genetic variations, HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, and systemic inflammation. He served as its chief oral systemic scientist & dental officer. It was the first U.S.-based clinical laboratory for both dentists and physicians.

Dr. Nabors has spent over 40 years researching and developing a clearer understanding between a medical grade definition of periodontal infection, and how these infections are directly related to chronic systemic diseases. He has many firsts to his credit, as well as several scientific awards and honors. He is a nationally recognized authority on the use of DNA-PCR as a critical component in both oral and general health & disease issues, and is why we are so excited to have him joining us again today.

Attendees are entitled to apply to receive 1.5 hours of PACE-approved continuing education credit. To apply for C.E. click here.

Questions that were asked and answered following the presentation included:

Why not test ALL Patients?
How many dentists nationwide are already using saliva testing? Is the trend increasing?
Do you assist with the interpretation of test results?
Are you only using SRP as your main therapeutic treatment?
Do you advise that we consult our patients around the specifics of oral pathogens and systemic disease, or simply perform the test and share the results and tx?
Do you make a distinction between Induce and Cause?
Is FN moderate or high risk? What led it to be added to The List?
What is the AAP’s position on the use of saliva testing?
When you state need to validate/measure, how soon after TX should one be tested?

To view the webcast, CLICK HERE.

Get Your Life Back!

AIM Marketing Blogroll, Coaching, Continuing Education, Dental Practice Management, Webinars

The complete title of Dr. Bill Kimball’s talk is Get Your Life Back! Let your practice be the lever that restores balance in all you do.

Bill is co-founder of The Build Up Group, president of Kimball Consulting, Inc., Founding Partner of Integrity Practice Sales, and Lead Wine Educator at Find the Right Wine!

Attendee at this webcast: discovered blind spots most dentists suffer from, learned details about 7 proven systems that save time and increase profits, discovered how to slow down and produce more, gained confidence in becoming insurance free, learned 3 key traits needed to ensure a cohesive team, created a plan to increase the enjoyment of dentistry, quality of care, and take-home income, discussed strategies to take more time off & reach goals each month, and most important, saw real examples of dentists achieving all of the above!

Questions that were asked and answered included:

What do you think are the most important systems of the 7 you presented?
What would be the next step for someone interested in joining your Build-up Group?
Could you tell me a little more about your team-building wine retreat?
Do you offer the wine retreats as a standalone service?
Going out of network with insurance sounds great, but how can you be sure it won’t cause all of your insurance patients to look for another dentist?
What were those 2 books you mentioned by Greg McKeown? Any other books we should be reading?
Did you really take 6 weeks off per year and pay your team?? So what’s the longest vacation you’ve taken?
You mentioned adjusting fees has no downside but what about what economists call elasticity of demand, that is, the fact that as price goes up demand goes down?
When do you recommend the Patient pay for treatment?

To view the webcast click here.

Former Dental CPA Delivers The Goods, Again!

AIM Marketing Blogroll, Coaching, Continuing Education, Dental Practice Management, Webinars

Raymond ‘Rick’ Willeford’s encore webcast titled: Discover Revenue Opportunities and Plug Profit Leaks represented a deeper dive into the world of dental practice finance, and received rave reviews from Practice Perfection attendees.

Willeford, who holds an MBA and CPA, was a practicing dental accountant for 40 years. He has been an avid writer on dental practice finance for Dental Economics, and is an internationally sought-after speaker. After he sold his CPA practice, he immediately dusted off his Electrical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech to develop DentaMetrix – a professional grade data extraction and dental practice finance dashboard program for consultants, DSOs, experienced practice administrators, and of course, dentists. The combination of his knowledge of leading-edge technologies, his deep dental business experience, and his understanding of the practice management side of dentistry, give him a unique perspective to enhance revenues and plug profit leaks in a practice.

Attendees of the presentation: learned why NET new patients is key; find out how much you are leaving on the table with PPOs – and what to do about it; distinguished between being ‘busy’ and ‘productive’ with Production Per Visit, and were exposed to several interesting measures of how well you are managing your practice’s back door.

Willeford demonstrated how to use Key Performance Indicators to unlock the secrets in your practice operations and patient management. We walk through a “Profit Leaks Analysis” to learn how to use KPIs proactively – and learn about some vital KPIs you have not seen before. For most solo practices the analysis reveals from $700,000 to $1,000,000 in potential profit leaks!

Questions answered during the Event included: clarifying the difference between Gross, Posted
and Net Production, why Production per Patient Visit is a better figure for comparing productivity with colleagues rather than just Production Per Day or even Per Doctor, the reason for such a wide range of Case Acceptance figures between practices, especially if measured by dollars, and why, if a doctor’s schedule is always full, he/she might they still need practice management and marketing.

A comparison between various dental practice data analysis systems was also presented.

View The Entire Webcast Here

How to Drop PPO Plans From Your Dental Practice

AIM Marketing Dental Practice Management, General

Whether you are a new practitioner or are well along your dental practice lifecycle, if you’re currently working with one or more PPO plans, and are looking forward to the day when you will become 100% fee for service, congratulations!

The First Step to Successfully Resign from PPO Plans

Committing to a date by which you will be PPO-free is the first essential step. The next step is creating and practicing a verbal and written patient communications plan. The final step is sharing that plan with your patients as you notify the plans of your decision.

You already know that the key to communicating persuasively is demonstrating to the listener why, how, and when he or she will benefit from the proposed change.

Your decision to drop a PPO plan may have a financial element to it, but the reality is you are also making that choice to free you up to practice dentistry in a way that is consistent with your Standard of Care; to act in your patients’ best interests.

This is the KEY POINT you need to convey to your patients. Explain to them that your decision is about being able to deliver the best care possible by being free to collaborate with them in deciding what is in their best interests.

I repeat. To successfully communicate your decision in a way that is accepted by patients, you need to carefully craft, practice, and deliver a written and verbal Patient Communication Plan.

A sample letter to your Patients

The letter you craft about dropping your PPO plan might look something like this:

Dear Patient,

We are writing to inform you of a change in our insurance network here at Practice Name.

As of DATE, YEAR, our status with XYZ PPO will change. Although we will still accept XYZ PPO, we will no longer be what is termed an in-network provider.

This decision has come as a result of our desire to put your care ahead of XYZ’s philosophy concerning patient care. Regrettably, things have changed to the degree where I am considered a “vendor” to them and not a doctor. Consequently, as an in-network doctor, I am forced to treat you, my valued patient, according to their rules, rather than according to your needs, or even how you would want to be treated.

To be clear, we still accept XYZ PPO and are happy to have you continue to keep you as our patient. The change on your end is that you may be subject to slightly different rates for your portion of care.

We have researched this carefully in arriving at our decision and are confident any additional financial responsibility is small compared to the freedom and significantly increased benefits this change affords you, our valued patient.

To help you navigate this change, we are happy to perform a complimentary benefits check for you to demonstrate the effect this change in network status will have.

If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We appreciate you entrusting us with your healthcare needs and look forward to continuing to help you for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Practice Name

What to say to patients when dropping your PPO plan

In your verbal communications with patients, you want to underscore how your decision will benefit them, so be sure to explain clearly that your decision is based on being able to restore the ability to prescribe optimal care without interference from an outside entity, whose interest is maximizing their profit, not delivering optimal treatment.

Start with a statement like:

“Patient Name, I wanted to make you aware of a change in our working relationship with XYZ Plan. Our decision is based on the fact that their interest has become so misaligned with yours that we can no longer be what is termed an in-network provider. While, in many cases, there is no financial impact, in others there may be, but rest assured that, in every case, we will explore the most conservative treatment option while remaining committed to prevention to avoid expense and discomfort.”

If you offer an in-house dental plan, now is a great time to present, or remind your patient, about it.

This is also a good time to convey to your patients all the extra lengths you went to, without reimbursement, to ensure their safety and comfort during the Covid Outbreak, and any other ‘extras’ you offer your patients that further demonstrate your commitment to their health and wellbeing.

Retain your dental PPO patients with good communication

Be sure to communicate with patients during their re-care visit preceding the planned change, then send written and emailed letters confirming the change. In this way, you minimize any ‘surprises,’ which makes it far simpler to manage the change.

As with everything else, practice makes perfect. Share your proposed letter with your Team and family members, then ask them how the letter makes them feel. You’re going for descriptors like trusting, cared for, heard, understood, and appreciated. Next, perform role plays with your team to give them plenty of opportunities to rehearse communications with real patients.

By establishing a date for ending PPO plan dependence, crafting your verbal and written patient communication plan, then practicing that plan, your shift from PPO to fee for service dentistry will be a smooth one. The ‘secret’ is to get started!

Dental Cash Flow For Dummies Receives Rave Reviews

AIM Marketing Latest News, Practice Perfection

Rick Willeford, MBA, CPA/CFP asks: Why is it your CPA says your practice made a profit last year but your bank account says otherwise? Does it take months before he or she can even tell you that?”

Rick Willeford, CPA/CFP

This webcast helped put attendees back in control by unlocking the power to chart their practice’s destiny.

Rick was a Dental CPA for 40 years. He has been an avid writer for Dental Economics, and is an internationally sought-out speaker. After he sold his CPA practice, he immediately dusted off his Electrical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech to develop DentaMetrix – a professional grade data extraction and dashb

Why is it your CPA says your practice made a profit last year but your bank account says otherwise? Does it take months before he or she can even tell you that?”

This webcast helped put attendees back in control by unlocking the power to chart their practice’s destiny.

oard program for consultants, DSOs, experienced practice administrators, and of course, dentists. The combination of his knowledge of cutting-edge technologies, his deep dental business experience and his understanding of the practice management side of dentistry give him a unique perspective to enhance revenues and plug profit leaks in a practice.

Attendees: learned why most traditional financial statements are not ideal for running a dental practice; came to understand the difference between Cash Flow and Profit; unlocked the Secret Powers hidden in their practice’s financial reports; and turned their accounting software into a dental practice management dynamo.

The event ran ninety minutes and may be viewed HERE

Dentistry Is A Team Sport! Empower your Team to be Champion Performers

AIM Marketing Blogroll, Coaching, Continuing Education, Dental Practice Management, Dental Team Coaching

Clinical and technical skills are critical to your success in dentistry. Equally important to your clinical outcomes and bottom line, however, are behavior skills – the way your dental team interacts among themselves, and with current and prospective patients.

While we cannot always predict what interactions will arise, you can influence your team to adapt and respond in new, and more effective, ways.

World Series-winning pitcher Jim Mecir, and professional speaker, facilitator and applied improviser Ellen Schnur demonstrated how to empower everyone on your team to: Foster a culture that makes everyone feel safe and respected, Deal more effectively with difficult people, Become more aware of their impact on others, Listen like they want to be heard, Adapt to uncertainty and change, Develop greater resiliency, and Learn about conflict transformation.

How a team behaves together matters much more than we realize. Sharpening behavior skills (some call them soft skills) not only boosts morale and affects customer satisfaction, it will affect your bottom line.

“Yes, And…” It truly does take the whole team, starting with the leader… you! That’s right you. Each of us should expect to assume a leadership role at some point in their work with others.

Skills and mindsets these exercises help develop include: Teamwork, Trust, Resilience, Flexibility, Adaptability, Listening, Collaboration,
Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Motivation, Empathy, Compassion, Social Skills, Conflict Management, Constructive Feedback, Clarify,
& Non-Verbal Communication.

The webcast allowed attendees to experience how to be better team players, even when things get tough, and discussed how it
all relates directly back to their jobs, their patients, and their life.

Communication and EQ skills are tough to learn just from a book or a lecture.

It’s all about the experience!

ACCESS THE WEBCAST HERE

How dental SEO services can grow your practice.

AIM Marketing Dentistry Marketing, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tips, Medical Marketing, SEO

Dental SEO services can improve your website’s search engine ranking, increase traffic, and bring more new patients through your doors. A dental SEO strategy is the best approach to growing your practice by ensuring a steady flow of new dental patients.

What is dental search engine optimization (SEO)?

Dental SEO is the process of making a dental practice’s website appear higher in search engine result pages without having to pay for ads to achieve this.

According to recent research, 53%* of traffic to any website comes from organic search. For your specific location, it might be even more.

The more visitors to your site, the greater the chances you have of convincing someone to book an appointment.

As a result, it is essential to ensure people know where to find you when looking for dental services. The result is higher quality leads (the patients you’re interested in most) and a better conversion rate.

Why should dentists invest in dental SEO services?

Most people looking for a dentist are looking for the best dentist in their area, meaning the words they use to search for you have what is termed “local intent.” A localized online presence is vital because it attracts potential patients in your local area to your dental practice.

Most people who search for a dentist use either “dentist near me” or “(location) dentist.” This is referred to as explicit local keywords since the searcher includes the local intent as part of the search.

But let’s say someone just types in the word “dentist” into Google. Given the type of keyword, Google will most likely assume you are looking for a dentist in your area. This is known as an implicit local keyword.

Potential patients searching online for a dentist will rarely click past the top local search results. Overall, 25% of people click on the first Google search result. By comparison, the tenth result is an average of 2.5%.**

Connecting with Local Patients

Success means connecting your practice location to those searching for a dentist first.

Many dental practices are under the mistaken belief that they must target a larger geographic area before moving on to smaller areas. In theory, it sounds good – by targeting the larger community first, you’ll have more leads. However, it would be best if you did the opposite. That’s because you could end up expending resources getting in front of people who live or work too far from your practice to consider a visit.

With local SEO, your goal is to reach out to the people who live and work closest to you. If you can connect with them first, they won’t have a reason to look elsewhere.

There’s a reason most people click on one of Google’s top five suggested results. Right or wrong, they believe the dentists who show up at the top of the list are better than those who don’t.

Google thinks so, too.

The higher you rank in searches for your services, the more likely potential patients will trust you enough to click through to your website. The more people who visit your site, the more Google counts your site as trustworthy and credible and will, therefore, continue to push your site to the top results.

Success breeds success.

How Dental Practices Rank in Local Searches

To improve your website’s local SEO, you need to fine-tune your online presence by creating an accurate, complete, and verifiable Google Business Profile. Include a detailed description of each treatment and service offered, including your dental practice name and address.

You can select your primary business category and up to 5 secondary categories. Content relevant to your practice categories should be represented throughout your website. If your dental practices are in different locations, create a separate page for each one. Include relevant geo-targeted keywords in your list of keywords.

What’s a keyword, you ask? Answering this question will also demonstrate how successful practices using dental SEO services dominate the local search results and become even more successful in the process.

Start with Relevant Keywords

Keyword research is one of the most effective ways to improve your website’s ability to attract patients.

Dentists must be familiar with the terms prospective patients use when searching for dental services online. By researching the specific words patients are typing into Google, you can get an idea of what dental treatments and procedures they are searching for.

Finding new and relevant dental-related keywords can be done in various ways. Below are some of the most helpful keyword research methods.

When you start typing into a Google search bar, Google’s Autocomplete feature automatically completes the query for you. Google’s algorithm actually predicts your next search, which can help steer your search to connect you with the most relevant results.

Google’s Search Console measures your website’s search performance. It shows how many pages your site has, how well they’re ranked, and how often people click through to view them. You can integrate Google Search Console (GSC) with SEMRush, KeyWordTool.io, or Ahrefs to get all the stats in one spot and better understand and learn from your competitors’ performance.

Google Trends is a tool that helps researchers study the popularity of searches and topics over time. For dental practices, the tool is used to stay up to date with current dental-related keywords.

Some of the most popular trending searches include: dentists open on Saturdays, 24-hour service, dentists who accept Medicaid, dentists for children, teeth whitening procedures, and even DIY dental products.

With your newly acquired keyword list, dental SEO should be easy, right?

Yes and No.

Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when employing your keyword strategy:

Don’t use the same keywords everywhere, from the title and alt tag to the webpage text, the meta description, and the URL address.
Don’t use too many different keywords on one page. Three should be the maximum.
To improve your site’s search engine rankings, develop content that uses semantically-related keywords.
Balance is important. It is best to choose a broad enough keyword or phrase to deliver a healthy search traffic volume, but sufficiently narrow to capture traffic that’s relevant to you.

Claim Your Local ‘Google Business Profile’ Listing

The first step to dominating search engine results is to claim your Google Business Profile. In many cases, dental practices get more traffic to their GBP listing than to their actual website!

The Google Business Profile is a free online tool from Google that helps you increase your business’ visibility on local searches. Your GBP listing appears on Google Search and Google maps.

It’s easy to set up your listing.

First, complete your business profile. Google will use everything you share to help you rank in search results. The more you complete, the better your chances at ranking in more results.

Optimize Your Website for Local Searches

First impressions count. You can’t just create a generic website for a large dental marketing company by copying the site from hundreds of others. Dentists often overlook that websites are meant to be engaging, interactive, and valuable. The actual content of your website is crucial to converting website visits into conversions (phone calls and web form completions). Conversions are the step preceding a new dental patient appointment.

Again, your website’s primary purpose is to drive prospective patients to your practice via phone call, web form completion, or online appointment.

Dental SEO helps your dental practice rank in the Google Local Pack, Google Finder, and Google Maps. The above shows an example of the Google Local Pack, which is the most desired position for driving local traffic to your business.

Your website is your full-time salesperson at work 24 hours a day for your practice. Set it for success by investing the appropriate time and resources into your new website.

You can create a website yourself for only a few hundred dollars. However, it probably won’t attract much attention and convert better than one that is professionally designed, built, and managed.

A professionally designed dental website created by an agency that understands the dental industry and SEO will provide you with the best results. A well-designed dental website can be a great marketing tool for dentists, provided the website has these features:

Clean, mobile-friendly web designs
Simple, clear to understand navigation
An informative blog with content about your services
A team page with photos of the dentists, hygienists, and office staff.
Prominent contact info and location page (including an embedded map)
Reviews and testimonials
A video or photo tour of your offices
Fast load time (see below)
Technical SEO (see below)

You should expect to earn back any upfront costs you incur in building an optimized website in relatively short order. As noted, your website is ‘open for business’ at any time of the day or night, helping you attract new patients even when the practice is closed. As long as you’re marketing your website effectively, you should be able to recoup the cost.

Consider developing a website where patients can schedule appointments online. Ensure your contact information (including email address) is readily available, and be sure to provide multiple ways for prospective patients to get in touch with you.

Technical Dental SEO

Just as important as the content of your website is what happens behind the scenes. Technical SEO for dental sites looks at a website’s technical aspects to ensure everything is working correctly. This aspect of search optimization is often misunderstood or not fully understood by people who don’t work in online marketing. Left unattended, you risk placing your dental website at a distinct disadvantage vis a vis your competitors.

One of the most important parts of dental SEO effectiveness is website speed. As of June 2021, Google now considers the website’s speed essential when ranking sites, especially its mobile version.

Your website needs to be fast enough for anyone to use it on any desktop, tablet, or mobile device. Technical SEO is one of the most important aspects of dental SEO services. The most common reasons for slow site speed are unoptimized images, videos, or multiple snippets of JavaScript, all trying to load at once. If you optimize these areas of your website for performance, you can expect your site to load faster.

Your website must also be mobile-friendly. More than half your web traffic probably comes from mobile devices. Your website must function equally well on mobile devices as it would on desktop computers.

Good technical dental SEO services ensure your website loads correctly and function well on a mobile device. Nowadays, search engines penalize websites that don’t have an excellent mobile version.

Create content that is informative and interesting.

Content is a primary ranking factor used by Google, helping your dental practice rise above the competition. Content includes blogs, social media, news, reports, guides, newsletters, webcasts, podcasts, and more.

Your content must communicate your dental practice personality effectively, and reinforce the critical attributes of Expertise, Authority, and Trust (EAT). Engaging content, backed up by effective keywords, will help increase your website traffic. It will also help extend the time visitors stay on your site, known as dwell time SEO.

Consider how what you have to say, or your areas of expertise, is related to what your present and potential patients are looking for based on current search patterns. This focus will allow you to create tailored posts for the patients you target. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. Carefully consider what you want your message to be, and the platforms where you want to deliver your messages. Infographics are effective at grabbing people’s attention. They’re also helpful in informing people about your business.

Blogging is one way of sharing your dental practice’s messages. A successful blog aims to answer patient questions. Doing this consistently will establish your website’s authority as a reliable source of dental and oral health-related information. Adding colorful visuals to your posts is an effective way to improve their quality and engagement. A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about your practice and what you can expect from particular dental treatments can be a great way to enhance your patient relationships.

Get More Reviews from Existing Patients

Reviews are essential for SEO because Google’s algorithm relies on them to rank websites.

More importantly, a review provides social proof, which people often use when unsure about a course of action or a decision. Personal recommendations are important when choosing dentists and dental treatment. According to a recent survey, 79 percent of consumers say they trust reviews as much as they trust recommendations from friends or family.***

Getting positive reviews for your dental office is easy when you include an online review request feature. Several services exist that provide this function to simplify dental review management. The system invites patients by texting or emailing them to leave a review. You can also encourage reviews by posting a QR code at the front desk, adding a review request at the bottom of your monthly (electronic) newsletter, including a short survey with a link to your review site, etc.

It’s not enough to simply ask patients to post a review. You must make it simple and convenient for them to do so, especially when they are predisposed to doing so (like when they just saw their beautiful new smile in your mirror). Happy patients are only too glad to share their positive experiences with your practice.

Once your Google Business Profile is accepted, it will automatically appear in a GBP listing whenever someone searches for “dentist” or “local dentist,” displaying important information, along with patient review scores.

It’s also a good idea to have a Yelp profile to help increase traffic to the site. Facebook reviews are helpful as well. Patients need to go to the review tab and write their recommendations.

Finally, include a few hand-picked patient reviews on your website or create a page dedicated to patient reviews.

Off-Page Dental SEO Services

Off-page dental SEO involves things that don’t appear on your website. An example is backlinks – links from other websites to your website.

The more websites that include links to your site, the more authoritative your site appears to search engines. As a result, you begin to rank better than your competitors.

But backlinking is not strictly about numbers. A reasonable number of high-quality backlinks is preferable to a high quantity of low low-quality ones. You want to be associated with other high-quality websites. While your competitors are unlikely to link back to you, local business organizations, health care association/membership websites, and blogs are often good places to find them. If you write a blog post or get featured in a news story, you can usually link to your site from the publication’s online version.

Most likely, you will get most of your links from websites ending with.com. However, it’s worth the extra effort to identify websites that end with .org, .edu, or .gov. These websites are generally regarded as more authoritative and will, therefore, help your site rank higher than relying on .com website backlinks alone.

Building backlinks is an ongoing process, so begin by building a nice, healthy list by linking to your dental practice over time. Caveat: never “buy” links or artificially create backlinks. Google levies harsh penalties for websites that employ such so-called “black hat” techniques.

What’s the return on investment from dental SEO services?

To calculate the ROI of an SEO strategy, you simply complete the following formula:
ROI = Return – Investment
Investment

Return is calculated by multiplying the number of new patients acquired times the average patient lifetime value (APLV). The Investment is simply the cost of deploying your SEO tactic.

Let’s say you’ve calculated your APLV as being $7500.

Now that we’ve established an SEO strategy, your site is delivering five new patients per month. We can calculate those five patients as representing $37,500. At a rate of 5 new patients a month for a year, you’ll add approximately $450,000 in additional revenue just from SEO. If your annual budget for SEO is, say, $12,000, using the above formula, your ROI is 3650%.

SEO is a Key Strategy to Growing Your Dental Practice

Ranking prominently in local searches is key to operating a successful dental practice. Whether you do it yourself, or hire a dental marketing agency to assist, a strategy leveraging dental SEO services can help your dental practice increase organic traffic and attract more patients online.

By pushing your dental practice’s listing higher in search engine results, you drive more traffic to your site which in turn means more new patients through the door.

* BrightEdge Channel Report, 2019
** Sistrix Study, 2020
*** Local Consumer Review Survey 2022

Improve Dental Website Rankings While Creating Practice Ambassadors

AIM Marketing Coaching, Dental Practice Management, Dentistry Marketing, Latest News

Dental Patient Testimonial Videos Are One Key That Opens The Door To More New Dental Patients.

Most dentists and dental team members instinctively understand and appreciate the value of video in general, and dental videos in particular, to help grow their practice.

If you want to improve dental website rankings, the following is a succinct explanation of why dental patient testimonial videos offer such power and potential, and how to ensure a steady stream of testimonial videos for your dental practice.

Step 1. Meet with your Team and confirm their ‘buy in’ of the importance of securing patient testimonial videos.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth a million! Explain to your Team that dental testimonial videos help engage website visitors far more than mere text can. It not only provides the web surging public with social proof to bolster their decision to call your practice. Video keeps website visitors on your site longer, which is a key determinant of the User Experience (UX) and accordingly, Google’s algorithm for calculating your dental website’s domain authority.

Step 2. Agree on the best place to shoot your video.

Be sure to consider:

Lighting – Is the patient being washed out by too much light, or are they hard to see owing to too little light?
Camera Angle – Eye level is usually best. Too high of a camera angle can make the patient appear small, while too low an angle makes them look supersized.
Background – Be sure your background does not detract or distract.
Ideally, it will be ‘non-clinical.’ Your consultation area is preferable to a chairside view.
Sound quality/acoustics – Surprisingly, it is more often the case that a video is unusable because of audio, rather than video, issues. To ensure high fidelity audio consider procuring a wired lapel microphone

Step 3. Arrange Role Plays using your video camera.

Take turns being the patient. Practice makes perfect. Spend time allowing
each team member to be the patient as well as the director.

Step 4. Consider who would be great video candidates

During your huddle, discuss which patients would be great to have as part
of your online presence. Consider geography, demographics, and
delivered treatment. Strive to diversify your video portfolio as doing so will
pay big search engine ranking dividends

Step 5. Prep The Patient

When scheduling/confirming the appointment, ask the patient if he/she
would “…mind saying a few words on camera about your experience as our
patient.” Expect some initial resistance until you’ve mastere4d your
approach/verbiage.

Step 6. Schedule extra time for the shoot to ensure it is not forgotten.

If the patient will be numbed up, consider doing the video prior to
the procedure. It’s a GREAT IDEA to add a new procedure code (e.g.
Video) into your Practice Management System so you can actually schedule
the time for this ‘procedure’ 5-10 minutes is all you’ll need!

Step 7. Practice ‘directing’ the patient.

Questions to have them ponder prior to, then deliver during the video are:
-Who are you?
-How long have you been a patient?
-What do you LOVE about being a patient?
-Why will others enjoy being a patient here?

Step 8. Offer a gift to the patient for doing the video.

It’s worth it because doing so makes them ‘part of the show’ which, in turn,
makes them a Practice Ambassador.

Step 9. Upload your video to YouTube.

Be sure to correctly optimize by Titling, Tagging, and Describing it correctly,
then posting it to your website, social media, etc.

Be sure to have patients sign a Video Release giving the practice explicit authorization to use their likeness in your promotional materials.

A Dental Patient Testimonial VIdeo is one of THE most effective Dental Marketing tactics because, once you and your Team master the protocol, it becomes as second nature as performing a hygiene check.

For more information call 312-455-9488 or email Info@AIMDentalMarketing.com

AIM President Hosts Expert On Getting Dentists Payments From Uncle Sam

AIM Marketing Coaching, Practice Perfection, Uncategorized

On November 18th, AIM Dental Marketing’s president and CEO Daniel A. ‘Danny’ Bobrow hosted Kathryn Devereaux for her presentation entitled:

The IRS Has Your Money – You Need Only Ask For It! Two little known, but totally legal, ways to receive up to $500,000 from Uncle Sam!

Most dentists are unaware they may legally receive large cash payments by completing a simple qualifying application.

Kathy Devereaux has worked with dentists nationwide since the R&D and Employee Retention Credit rebate programs were codified into law in 2017. Since then, Kathy has helped dentists nationwide receive from $50,000 to $570,000 in cash from the Federal Government. Her work within and outside of dentistry will result in payouts of over $400 million in 2021 alone!

Her emphasis on dentistry began when it became obvious dentists needed an advocate to show how their current hiring and training practices could be leveraged into cash payments from the Federal Government.

Working with dentists in the “IRS credits arena” Kathy has helped practices from coast to coast grow by providing them with unexpected, but welcome, working capital.

Attendees learned: the many myths surrounding the program concerning eligibility and qualification; the simple steps to apply for cash payments from the IRS; and how to repeat the process each and every year you are in practice.

The webcast ran for around one hour. While attendees were in listen-only mode, they were invited to submit questions or comments. Questions asked included:

Why hasn’t my CPA told me about this all these years?
Can I only do it for one year?
What if I have a partner in my practice?
Do I have to pay my CPA to do anything?
What if I don’t’ get any money back?
Why can’t you do this and send it in when my CPA sends in my regular tax filing?
Do I have to pay taxes on this money?
Does this increase my chances of being audited?
Does investing in various dental marketing strategies qualify for the R&D Credit?

To view the webcast CLICK HERE

What you don’t know CAN hurt you! Cybersecurity: The Master Lock for Your Dental Practice!

AIM Marketing Coaching, Practice Perfection, Webinars

AIM Dental Marketing president Daniel A. ‘Danny’ Bobrow sat down with Dr. Lorne Lavine aka The Digital Dentist to share with attendees a topic of growing importance to dental practice owners everywhere: cybersecurity.

Dr. Lavine has over 30 years invested in the dental and dental technology fields. He is a Certified Network and Computer Repair Technician, and a HIPAA-Certified Security Professional. He has extensive hands-on experience with most practice management and image management software, digital and intraoral cameras, computers, networks, and digital radiography systems.

Lorne writes for many well-known industry publications and lectures across the country. He is the regular Technology Columnist for Dental Products Report, and the former technology consultant for the Indian Health Service.

Attendees at this event left with a deeper understanding of what ransomware is and what it does. THey learned the statistics on how ransomware has affected the dental industry, mastered new technologies for dealing with ransomware, learned how HIPAA affects all of this, and help attendees develop their own “treatment plan” to protect and secure their practices’ critical data, both patient and financial.

The following questions were asked and answered during the Event:

Are dentists really at risk for this?
My IT guy installed antivirus software and says I’m protected, is he wrong?
How much should a practice budget for IT and cybersecurity?
Can I handle this on my own?
What questions should I be asking my IT provider?
How do you address a breach/ransomware attack once it occurs?
Do you unbundle?
What has the trend been in terms of breaches?
What specifically is your company doing to prevent breaches of the kind practices in WI, Seattle, Dallas, etc. experienced?
If our data is not in the cloud, does that lessen the exposure to ransomware?
Can we ask for handouts for this course, like a copy of the questions to declare a breach?
Can you elaborate on what constitutes a REAL risk assessment?
Are there any compliance differences for Canada-based practices?
Can your clients really rely on your service to notify them of a breach or ransomware attack?
My head is reeling. Nervous as hell. I will call you. Or e-mail. Need to calm down first. Great webinar, otherwise.

To view the complete Event Click Here

The Nation's Most Experienced Full-Service Dental Marketing Agency