Want to know what everyone is doing?

I have been getting this question a lot lately. For some reason, everyone wants to know what everyone else is doing. Well, here is the answer.

Right now, I am seeing a lot of yellow pages and print advertising canceled or not being renewed. Part of this is a trend coming from my coaching and retainer clients. I regularly recommend using tracking telephone numbers on print ads so that it is easy to see the direct response activity that comes from print ads. In the year end evaluations, many of my clients were surprised at the huge difference between calls being generated from their web sites as opposed to their print ads. I was not surprised but they often need to see it in black and white. Normally large mass media expenses are not justified. They feel good but Internet-based marketing is much more productive. This has led to a huge run in Pay Per Click campaigns in our clients recently.

These new bolstered Pay Per Click campaigns work really well with our low-cost Keyword SEO program. This is becoming a model that we are seeing over and over both in cosmetic dentistry and surgery. I have always recommended some sort of pay per click but, even today I was informed that the Pay Per Click campaigns we were running were so targeted and effective that they were beginning to impact some clients’ organic optimization. This has to do with relevant traffic being driven specifically to our client sites. Bottom line here, our approach is augmented even further through a stronger Pay Per Click campaign. This is also a trend we are seeing.

Finally, we have had a run recently on new, upgraded designs in web sites. In the next 2-3 weeks, we will be debuting some new web sites for cosmetic surgeons. I would definitely put these projects into the “high-end” category. Yes, we are getting a lot of requests for web sites for this time of year. People are re-tooling their web strategies, adding video and trying to distance themselves from those who are sitting and waiting. That is the third trend we are seeing: new, updated web designs.

So, when you go back to work after the new year turns, what is at the top of your agenda. Please let me know what we can do to help. Just email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com. And, happy new year to all.

Web Sites and New Partnership

I am happy to announce that Dog Star Media has been selected as one of handful of media design companies to participate in a new pilot program with a top national pay-per-click company. We will be offering web design, video and other creative services. Details will be released in the near future. It’s a pretty big honor and I am fairly certain that the reason we were chosen was because of our excellent media design for high-end small businesses such as cosmetic surgeons and cosmetic dentists.

As I was preparing online materials for their RFP interface, I came across this video which illustrates your options for web design. It is worth watching, even if you have seen it already.

I thought it was a good reminder for all of you how you can be more competitive on the web. Now more than ever, prospective patients are going to your web site. If it gives a bad impression, it is just as bad as

1) Not taking their call when they call you.
2) Treating them poorly in your reception room or in your practice.
3) Ignoring their requests for more information.
4) Giving them the impression that you have enough business and do not care whether or not they become your patient.

Hard facts but true. These are first impressions you never want to make in person. Why would you want to make a bad first impression on the web? A web site that is lacking undercuts everything you are doing in marketing your practice. If you need it and you need a break in paying for it now, let me know. I will work with you. The worst thing you can do right now is to not have a great design or be working toward making your site more compelling. It is expected on the web by now.

Optimized Site with New Design by Dog Star Media

Way to upgrade your web strategy! Congratulations to Mark Weiser, DDS with the launch of his newly designed, highly optimized new web sites.

You can see them at SantaBarbaraDDS.com and Boutique-Dental.com.

Dr. Weiser gets it. From a design point of view, these sites are graphically very good, offer plenty of video with lots of topics (the tour video is a Dog Star Media production), the Cosmetic Channel and plenty of content.

And, the sites were re-written with search engine optimization in mind. Basically, everything was done in the revision of these sites that makes them truly competitive on the web. Plus, with two different web sites, similar content is reused and repackaged for specific audiences.

This is a mature and complete Internet strategy. If you were wondering what you should be doing to be the most competitive these days, look at this site and take notes. And, to expedite it, feel free to email me. Much of what you see here came from my consultations with Dr. Weiser. If you have any questions about how to make your site more active and more competitive, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com.

See... it works

Before Thanksgiving, I visited with one of my coaching clients, Charlie Morgan, a cosmetic dentist in Frisco. I recommend to my coaching clients some basics. One of those basics is email marketing, a staple of Circle of Influence Marketing. My formula is simple. Write a blog and email market it out to your patient database on email.

I gave him a few tips on content and he used my blog as a guideline. The email marketing engine he purchased costs less than $30/month. He wrote a blog on biocompatibility in dentistry and emailed it out. Shortly afterward, he had a new $3000 case reply from the email.

I have seen this work many times but never so quickly. That is certainly not guaranteed but it does show that efforts are rewarded. Let’s break down what happened.

Charlie used one of my Circle of Influence strategies, meaning he offered access to himself and his opinions to people who already trust him. This increases the odds of the effort working by a factor of 10X. It is easier to upgrade or sell new services when a relationship already exists.

Second, he took the initiative, choosing a measurable, easy to use and technologically superior media to reach out with a minimum of cost.

Third, he focused his message on the email. There was one idea, one easy link to click. In other words it was not confusing. Just good marketing, message wise.

Fourth, he factored out luck by being active. You also do this by being consistent and smart about your message and targets. In other words follow your coaching.

If you are not using this Circle of Influence strategy, you are leaving opportunity on the table. Even in tight times, business is out there. You need to be smart about how you find it. We talk about what it takes to compete in a tough economy. This is a must. Working your Circle of Influence is vital. And, what is worse, if you are not doing it, you are leaving the door open for a competitor to gain an advantage with YOUR Circle of Influence. You could be playing offense and defense at the same time with this simple strategy.

This is exactly the sort of thing we focus upon in my coaching program. Want to know how to do this and other techniques that can help you market more smartly? Finally ready to put in a marketing infrastructure? My coaching program is only $300/month. Why not call me to enroll? Just email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com if you want to discuss it?