Tips on How to Market Your Dental Practice Effectively
Be Human
One of my passions is collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia. And one of my favorite pieces is a 1947 Coca-Cola 10-foot tall sign that came from a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Raton, New Mexico. It had been there for 50 plus years and it was just in the right place where the sun couldn’t fade it out and it was semi-protected to preserve it for all this time.
I finally got somewhere big enough to permanently display it in my new shop and we enjoy sharing it now. It’s made up of a two- piece panel and it’s so large and it’s really hard to manage. You can understand why my husband is so happy to have it up on display… and out of storage.
Coke collecting goes back to my family ties and my grandfather who had a gas station in the 50's and the 60's in the same town where I practiced. There was always a lot of Coca-Cola merchandise around and it was a common part of the gas station industry scene at that time.
That memory became part of our family and reminds us our lives ‘back then.’ It also is an emotional connection to my grandfather and that is why I’m so connected to Coca Cola.
I share that story with you now because it is something very personal to me. It is a piece of who I am.
My Coke passion was also very important to my patients and I didn’t really recognize that in the beginning.
One day someone brought me a piece of Coca-Cola memorabilia to my practice that reminded them of my grandfather as a gift to me. I put it on as a display in the office and it really helped in many ways. I started collecting it more, displaying it in the office, and then more and more people started bringing me Coke ‘stuff.’
But the biggest benefit was it was a conversational piece and an opening for us to connect on a more personal level.
Even though they might not have the same passions as me, I was no longer that person who was just a dentist, but I had a personal life and I was human. Just like what I'm sharing with you about my passion in collecting.
It increased my “Know-Like-Trust” factor with them and it increased my practice!!!
Use your biggest asset. The best thing you have to the market is YOU and you should be sharing it with the world because there's nobody out there who is better at being you. I’m not talking about your training, skills and talents as a dentist, but rather, YOU as a person.
Share Your Passion
Share your passion; share what's important to you.
I share my family with you all the time; I’ve told you I'm a mom. But did you know I collect the Coca-Cola stuff?
No, because I didn't tell you until now.
If you're a passionate golfer, if you’re a collector, if you like a Pinterest, if you do woodwork, share it with your patients, all of them.
Share it in a newsletter; share it in an ezine or on your blog if you feel like it, just like how I’m sharing it with you.
Share the charitable institutions that you work with and how that relate back to your passion. Display your passions in your office. Don’t be afraid to say what you stand for. If you like collecting car and you restore them …great!
Let people know that, because you’re a human being and that’s what’s wonderful about you… being you.
Market Yourself
So, market the most important thing you have, market yourself.