You may or may not have missed my presence here at Social Media DDS for the past few weeks.  Why have I been MIA?

I have been taking my own advice.

I have been balancing.

As many of you know, for the past year, I have been in the process of designing, creating, building and opening a new office for my dental business.  One month ago today, the new office finally opened.  During this past month, I have seen and helped orchestrate an amazing enhancement to our business model and I am loving this process.  Family Dental Care Park Ridge is fully integrating its website presence along with it’s presence on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.  Our previously weak integration on LinkedIn has been strengthened recently and our online activity is humming along at a nice pace.  And that’s where the balance comes in.

Sometimes, with all of the responsibilities involved in a rapidly growing business, plates are dropped.  The balance and precision involved in keeping all of life’s plates spinning at the same time is sometimes tedious.

And sometimes…something has to give.

And, for the past month, it has been my activity here at Social Media DDS.  For awhile, my energies will continue to be focused on my new office.  I am extremely pumped about it’s potential and the enthusiasm the office is generating.

And, here’s the really good news.  Everything that I believe in with regards to social media and the dental industry is being put to the test and the results are astounding.  My office is making connections via social media that are creating growth and potential.  One of my favorite social media stories involving the new office is that our new and unbelievably awesome hygienist “found” me via one of my Word of Mouth YouTube videos!  She loved what she saw and she took a chance and reached out to me and, well..the rest is history.  AND, my patients LOVE her.

So, while I may be concentrating on keeping the plates spinning at my new office and spending a little less time here at Social Media DDS temporarily, know that I am my word.  I am Social Media DDS personified at my new office…and it’s working!

What are the balancing acts in your life?  Are you able to keep your plates spinning?

If you have a garden, you know that you need to tend to it in order for it to stay healthy and alive. Gardens need nurturing and interaction.  If you plant the seeds in your garden, water it once and then walk away, you are setting yourself up for a garden that will ultimately die.

If you get a goldfish, you know that you need to feed it, change its water and tend to it’s needs in order for it to thrive.  If you get that goldfish, and feed it once and never clean it’s bowl of debris, your goldfish will not survive.

The same is true for our business websites.  Websites need to be tended to and nurtured in order to survive.  Our websites are viable “living” entities.  They represent your brand.  They represent what you do, why you are amazing and why people should trust you.  If you put up a website, tend to it once at it’s onset, it is unreasonable to think that it is going to survive without your involvement.  You might was well watch as it waits to die.

Take a look at some random dental websites online…not the big corporate dental sites…the everyday neighborhood dentist’s website.  Most of them are just sitting there…they look pretty but there is no life to them…most of them are just waiting to die.  And I am going to bet that most of these dentists did not intend for their website to die…they just didn’t know how to keep it alive.

Today more than ever before, we must stay in front of our patients, clients and customers view.  We need to constantly remind them why working with your business will be the best option for them.  And really, one of the easiest ways to do that is to make sure that your website does not look like it is waiting to die.  Create an interactive website.  Keep the content fresh and relevant.  Engage your audience. Make it fun to visit your website.

This past week, as I am preparing for the grand opening of my new dental office, I have been interviewing people for various staff positions.  It has been a fun and rewarding experience. One of the delightful women I interviewed said that she found me because she saw one of my dental videos on YouTube!  She loved what she saw and so she checked out my website.  She said that it was my website’s interactivity that made her realize that she wanted to work with me!   This experience made me realize that I am not just reaching out to patients and potential patients…I am affecting potential future business relationships.

My advice to my colleagues is to get your website on a content management system that is user friendly…preferably WordPress… so that, once the website is designed, tweaked and launched, you can be taught how to maintain your site and add content.  Create a “Dental Tips” page, create a “Fun Videos” page.  Ask your audience to get involved.  Start familiarizing yourself with SEO (search engine optimization) so that you can ultimately get your site on Google’s first page of results when your desired key words are searched.

I know that this sounds like work…it is.  But it isn’t difficult work and, with time, it will become second nature.  And may even become fun.  I love tweaking my websites!  But, more important, this “work” will enhance the value of your business.  Your website will become vibrant and the brand ambassador that you want it to be.  You owe it to your business to breathe life back into your website.

Is your website on life support?  When was the last time you looked at your website?

Yes…that was AWESOME in caps!

I’ve been on Google+ pretty much from the beginning.  It took me awhile to figure out how to best utilize the “circles” and to extract  value from Google+.  For me, Google+ was a more “sophisticated”, if you will, social media platform.  I could keep my connections grouped according to the way that was best for me.  For example, since one of my passions is photography,  I have created circles that relate to various photography specialties.  The possibilities are just endless.

And then, in November, Google+ introduced Google+ Pages…a place to feature your business.  And, in my opinion, a perfect place to showcase your dental practice.  Here are some of my favorite reasons as to why dentists should have a Google+ Page.

1. It’s GOOGLE for heaven’s sake.  The largest search engine in the world! If your business has a Google+ Page, the Google search engines are going to know and acknowledge that.
2. You will be able to integrate your Google+ Page with Google Places so that, again, the strongest search engine in the world will be directing people to your “place” of business.
3. You can link your website to your posts on Google+ Pages for increased visibility.  That means, each time you add content (posting on your blog, for instance) you can share that content on your Google+Page and link it to your website.
4. Google+ Pages are clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate.
5. With Google+ Pages, you can control who sees the things that you post.
6. Google+ Pages showcase photos beautifully so if you have photos of your business that you want to share, Google+ Pages is the place to do it.
7. It’s GOOGLE!!!

It’s super easy to create a Google+ Page for your business.  First you’ll have to create a personal Google+ profile.  You can do that by clicking here.  Once you are set up with your Google+ profile,  the ever-helpful Social Media Examiner has step by step easy instructions here to set up your Google+ Page for your business.  When you have got your Google+ Page up and running, trot on over to Google Places and make sure that your business profile is set up correctly and that you have “claimed” your business.  Now with Google+ Pages and Google Places synched up with the correct information about your oh-so-awesome dental business, you are way ahead of the crowd.

One last thing.  As I was catching up on blog reading today, I ran across this line that was so relevant to today’s post that it quickly became my favorite quote for the day.  I found it over at Gini’s place Spin Sucks where guest author Ken Mueller said, and I quote,

“While social media is not a cure-all, a strong social online presence (and this includes your website and blog) might be the most important thing in shaping your business for years to come.”

Moral of the story?

Get your dental practice a Google+ Page.  Start creating that strong social online presence.  Start thinking of your dental practice as a business…as a brand.  Promote it…make it stand out.  It’s your brand.  Make it work for you. Find out why Google+ Pages for dentists is simply AWESOME!

Are you using Google+ Pages for your business?  Are you finding value in Google+ Pages?

Disclaimer: Slightly off topic, but fun, just the same…

A funny thing happened on the way to clicking the “publish” button.  

Here’s the story.  The names have not been changed because no one is innocent enough to need protecting.

I read lots of blogs.  No, I mean it….LOTS of blogs.  In the beginning, I tried to be the dutiful blog commenter that we all try to be on every blog I visited.  I soon realized that unless I wanted to give up all of my hopes and aspirations in my career, I had to whittle my commenting frenzy down a bit.  But….I still read….LOTS of blogs.

It would seem intuitive that with all of the reading that I do each and every day, one of two things will happen. One…I will start to mix up my own thoughts, ideas and/or cleverness with those of the people that I am reading.  Or two…at some point, there has to be a saturation point reached where all of the thoughts, ideas and cleverness have already been addressed or shared in one way or another.  I mean, really….ideas for our blog posts have to be finite, right?  There has to be some sort of “it’s already been said” point that is reached.

Well, this weekend, I was working on another very clever if not genius blog post for Social Media DDS.  I keep a list of titles on my desktop sticky notes as they come to me.  Many moons ago, I was having one of “those” days where I felt that I was on a collision course with life.  You’ve probably experienced a day or two like that.  The phrase that came to me at that time was “When Worlds Collide”.  It rang true for that moment but my muse didn’t take me any further than the title.  So I let it sit on my StickyNotes and just simmer for awhile.

And I continued my voracious blog reading habit.  Stopping off at the likes of Lori Gosselin, Kaarina Dillabough, Bill Dorman, Melody Fletcher, TheJackB, Barbara Klein, Jeanne Hewell Chambers and Craig McBreen to name just a few.

So this past Sunday, I found myself suddenly re-loving “my” clever title of “When Worlds Collide”.  This time, my muse and I were on a roll.  The words flowed.  I even cleverly back linked  to a relevant post by Jack.  And the image that I got from Fotolia was perfect. Yea…this was going to be legend….wait for it….dary…. 

I scheduled the post to run on Tuesday morning, 7AM sharp. I had that sense of accomplishment that most of us get when we get a blog post written.  It’s off of our radar screen and we can get back to focus on that which lies before us.  Monday night I had the dubious pleasure of sitting in on a zoning meeting and, to prevent myself from dozing off, I occupied myself by reading some blogs.  I happened on Bill’s post for this week and glanced at his post from last week.  Now, mind you, I had actually read that post AND I had commented on it.  Guess what the title was….yup….When Worlds Collide.

Really?!?!?!?

And as if my subliminal title copying wasn’t enough, his more recent post for this week, Sucking Sand: When the Well Runs Dry had a back link to the exact same post by Jack that I used in my WWC post.

I panicked.  For a couple of reasons.  One, I had to quickly stop the scheduled publishing of my WWC post for the next morning. But two…has it come to this?  Are no ideas original anymore?  Have I so over-saturated my brain with the beautiful words and prose of so many dear blogger friends that I can no longer see the line that separates my words from theirs?

I shot a fast email over to oh-so-kind-and-understanding-Bill to share the weirdness of this story.   With typical Bill humor, he wanted to know if I was “in his head”?

But the bigger question is…

Have we reached the point where we are all in each other’s heads?

This is not the first time that this has happened to me…Lori Gosselin and I have had a couple of “I can read your mind” experiences with ideas for posts.

Have you experienced this?  What are your thoughts?

You are probably asking yourself right now,

“How in the world can I tell my dentist that she/he should be on Twitter?”

Trying to convince people who aren’t familiar with Twitter that it is a great tool for marketing businesses is like trying to convince a scientist that the moon is really made of green cheese.  There are two types of people out there….people who really “get” Twitter and people who don’t.

What should you tell your dentist that will convince them that they should be on Twitter?

•  It’s an amazing tool to get the word out about your business…your brand.
• It’s not just about YOUR followers….it’s about your FOLLOWERS followers…and so on and so on
• It’s an excellent medium for engaging.  By engaging on Twitter, your credibility increases exponentially
• Twitter is a great information tool. You can share relevant facts and tidbits that people will be glad to know.
• Twitter is a perfect way to create links to your website and Facebook Page
• You can search for and follow topics that are relevant to your business or even other tweeps in your industry
• Twitter allows you to connect with your patients or with potential patients

So, if being on Twitter is so magical, why isn’t every dentist out there on Twitter?

One reason may be because most dentists don’t know about the power of connecting on social media.  That is why you need to tell them about Twitter.  Another reason may be that, while Twitter does not cost money, it is by no means free in terms of time expenditure and some people are put off or intimidated by that commitment.

My suggestion to all people thinking about utilizing Twitter as part of their marketing strategy is to read Mark W. Schaefer’s book, The Tao of Twitter.  His book is full of valuable information, it is short and easy to read and, it is well written and should be, in my opinion, required reading for all those interested in using Twitter for their business.

The final piece of advice that I give to my fellow dentists is to “keep it real”.  Don’t start a Twitter account for your business and then flood it with automated tweets with no engagement.  Put the social into social media and engage with your followers.  It is amazing how quickly people start talking you up once you engage with them. Twitter doesn’t have to be a full time job…it just needs to be nurtured regularly so that your business…your brand…thrives.

You’re on Facebook right? Your favorite restaurant is probably on Facebook. Your favorite wine is probably on Facebook. Heavens, your favorite detergent is probably on Facebook.

So, why isn’t your dentist on Facebook?

You need to join me in my campaign to bring dentists into the 21st century.  You need to back me up in my efforts to show my fellow dentists that they are missing out by not utilizing Facebook’s amazing connection potential.

So, here’s what you have to do.

1. Find out if your dentist’s office is on Facebook and if not…
2. Let your dentist’s office know that you were looking and you noticed that they are not on Facebook.
3. Tell your dentist’s office how many Facebook friends you have who see exactly what Pages you follow and who trust your judgement.
4. Tell your dentist’s office that they can engage with potential patients on their Facebook Page
5. Tell your dentist’s office that they can create fun offers on their Facebook Page.
6. Tell your dentist that, if done right, managing a Facebook Page is fun and easy
7. Tell your dentist office that Facebook is free and that the only expenditure is time and that time can be well managed.

and finally,

8.  Tell your dentist about Social Media DDS if they need guidance in starting a Facebook Page and presence.

The world is becoming more and more social media savvy.  Potential patients are checking dentists out before making an appointment.  That means that it is almost imperative that dentists have an online presence.  The two easiest and quickest ways to do that are by having an active website and by having a Facebook Page.

So, tell your dentist why they should be on Facebook.  And tell them that you’ve just done them a huge favor!

If your dentist has questions, they can email me here.

Have you talked to your dentist about Facebook?  If your dentist does have a Facebook Page, do they use it well?

Well, okay, maybe four out of five dentists don’t recommend social media quite yet, but I’m sure working on making that statistic correct.

Why is the dental industry so slow to jump on the social media bandwagon?

 I believe it is a combination of tradition and uncertainty.

TRADITION: If we look at the history of how the medical and dental industries “marketed” their practices, we see that, until recently, they relied entirely on the kindness of patient referrals…word of mouth. There was a stigma attached to self promotion in the dental industry that has been hard to remove.  It’s time to remove that stigma.  It’s time to understand that when you have a service to offer people and you are good at what you do, you need to feel comfortable about promoting yourself and your service.  You owe it to your community, you owe it to your patients and you owe it to yourself.  Being an expert in a specific field is something worth sharing.  My friend Farnoosh Brock of Prolific Living recently dedicated a beautiful post to the brilliance of self promotion.  You can read it here.

UNCERTAINTY: I think as dentists, we sometimes get wrapped up in thinking about our “practice” and not looking at it as our “business”.  We forget that as business owners, we have created a brand and that brand needs to be promoted.  We put a great deal of energy into becoming dentists.  We put in years of time getting the education that enable us to become experts in our field and yet we hesitate when it comes to sharing with the interested public just what it is that we can offer to them. Dentists seem to be uncertain about how to go about utilizing tools like social media to promote their business without compromising their integrity.

So, how can that culture of tradition and uncertainty be changed?

• Start to view your practice as a business with a specific brand.  Look at yourself as a business owner.  It creates a new and exciting perspective.
• Create a vision for your business.  Who do you want to market to?  What makes your business different/better than all of the other similar dental businesses?
• Take a look at your website.  If you were an interested patient looking for a new dentist, would you go to your business based on what your website looks like?
• Familiarize yourself with some of the more prominent social media tools for businesses like Facebook Pages, Twitter and Google+ Business.  Consider starting an account for your business with one or more of these tools.
• Reach out to specialists in the field of social media and tap their brains to find out ways that you can integrate social media with your marketing strategy so that you can increase your visibility.

Working with dentists and dental professionals on social media marketing strategy is exactly what we do at Social Media DDS.  It is our mission to make the statement “four out of five dentists recommend social media” a truism.

If you want to meet with me to discuss how social media can be integrated into your dental business marketing strategy, Tungle me here or email me here.  I would be happy to talk to you about how we can make four out of five dentists recommend social media!

What are your experiences with dentists utilizing social media?  Do you think social media is an untapped resource for dentists?

When I was a little girl, my Grandpa seemed bigger than life to my siblings and myself.  He was almost a hero to us.  He was handsome and smart and well liked.  He had a voice that was big, deep and strong…a voice that commanded attention.  We had a wonderful Sunday afternoon ritual at our house.  Grandpa would come over for dinner. So, after church, the family would stay neat and clean in our Sunday best and Mom would make roast beef with potatoes and green beans.

And we would wait for Grandpa.

When Grandpa arrived, he would be all dressed up in a starched white shirt with gleaming cufflinks that peered out from under the sleeves of a well tailored sport coat.  Grandpa had perfectly coiffed white hair and a beautiful smile and he smelled clean…like fresh laundry.  His trousers sported a crease so sharp that you could practically cut your finger on it.  While Grandpa adored all of his grandchildren, he came from an era where children where seen and not heard…and we knew and respected that.  When Grandpa came over, no one spoke…we all listened.

One of Grandpa’s favorite ways to express affection to us kids was to hold us on his lap and tell us that he had a secret for us.  He’d then whisper into our eager ears, “crazy about you”.  He said it in such a way that it came out sounding like “crazy boutcha”.  The three of us children knew that each time we saw Grandpa, eventually Grandpa would tell us the secret he had for us…that he was “crazy boutcha”.

One weekday, our family of five was finishing dinner.  In those days, you didn’t fly from the dinner table when you were finished…you stayed and talked.  My little sister, who was a sweet and easy going toddler, jumped up onto our Dad’s welcoming lap and leaned up to his ear and whispered something.  He paused, and laughed a little and asked her to say that again.  Shyly, she said to my Dad “Crazy Butcher”.  We all giggled in our puzzlement.  Dad gently asked her, what do you mean by “Crazy Butcher”?  Knowing that she was facing giggles at her expense, in a very small voice she said, “that’s what Grandpa tells me…crazy butcher”  There was a look of knowing between my Mom and Dad as they, I am sure, suppressed smiles.  Dad quietly told my little sister that Grandpa was telling each of us that he was crazy ABOUT you….not crazy butcher.

One of the interesting things, to me, about this story is that my little sister was far too young to even begin to comprehend what the two words crazy butcher really meant.  She had no idea what a butcher was let alone a crazy one.  But…and here’s the interesting part…she picked up on the message’s meaning based on the way the message was transmitted.  Grandpa’s affectionate tone as he said those foreign sounding words to my sister WAS the message.  It didn’t matter that she didn’t know the difference between “crazy butcher” and “crazy about you”.  She just knew that it was something loving and wonderful and that she loved when Grandpa shared that message with her and she wanted to pass that loving message on to my Dad.

So, while content may be king, in our day to day communications with our patients and customers, sometimes how the message is delivered is just as important to achieve the desired outcome.  Sometimes your words may sound like “crazy butcher” to your customer or patients but if you’ve delivered “crazy butcher” in a way that says “crazy about you”, then you’ve achieved your outcome.

Have you had experiences where the content was confusing but the message was clear?  Is delivery an important aspect of your message?

Oh, and, by the way….Crazy Butcher…