Blog - Page 33 of 55 - Dr Jesse Green

Last week, I shared with you the first seven entrepreneurial lessons for dental practice owners…

The lessons are based on my experiences during my own journey and are combined with the business insights of my podcast guest, dental entrepreneur and practice ownership consultant Dr Nauvneel Kashyap.

Here are lessons 8 to 13…

#8 of 13 Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Apply focus in the right direction!

Identify where and when you need to focus your energy and time. And before focusing on the little things that make a difference, get the bigger things operating smoothly.

We’re all familiar with the 80:20 rule, but I look at a 64:4 ratio… To do this, consider what the vital few things are that need your focus, time and energy.

Ultimately, these may be things that are going to give the biggest return on effort and on investment. Or the tasks you love doing so that you do them damn well.

It also helps to have those around you focus on the aspects of your business where you do not apply deep focus. Not every aspect of the practice needs your focus, the focus of team members can be just as critical.

Consider how and what you are spending time on, what you are missing, and where you are wasting time. Develop a set of rules for your own game, and stick to them, and then you’ll find your sweet spot.

#9 of 13 Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Progress is exponential!

I would often get impatient because I wasn’t achieving certain results in certain time-frames, or I’d be knocked off course because I’d have a set-back.

I’ve learnt set-backs are normal in life, and business is not a linear journey.

Progress starts off with getting the foundations in place; then there’s acceleration, and finally you can own and dominate a marketplace.

A sensible thing to do as your practice grows is to manage cash flow upfront and early on. Then if you do go through that period of slow and incremental growth, you will have enough cash reserves to get through and you can hold strong.

#10 of 13 Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Build and strengthen your ‘moat’!!

Dr Nauv makes reference to a metaphorical moat around his ‘castle’; building a ‘moat’ protects your business and makes it difficult for competitors to run up to the castle and hammer down the doors.

So, the question is…Do you have a moat around your practice?

The ‘moat’ acts as a protective ring. It may be in the form of exceptional patient service by a happy caring team, or a culture of taking more time to chat and develop deeper relationships with patients, or offering a state of the art, caring and considerate environment for all patients including kids. Find your moat! Find what stands you apart from any neighbouring practices…

Learn to re-adjust and refocus this ‘moat’ to suit you at different times, so you can also enjoy your successes, and not be focused on defensive gameplay.

#11 of 13 Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Love your customers!

Without customers, there is no business! Our customers are critical to our success. Their opinions matter much more than some of the other stuff we find ourselves focusing on. One example is advances in technology.

And as dentists we can get caught up in the gizmos and gadgets and sometimes forget our work focuses on solving real problems for real people.

Dr Nauv agrees that falling in love with processes and systems instead of responding to patients’ feedback can be hugely detrimental to a business.

Empathy and problem solving are attributes of a brilliant dental entrepreneur.

#12 of 13 Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Build your Resilience!

Resilience comes from our own personal experiences and learning from our own mistakes. Embrace those failures, errors and mishaps. Think them through, find the lessons to be learned and let them build your level of resilience.

Dentists tend to be perfectionists. We are often A-Type personalities who strive and strive and strive. Then when things don’t go perfectly to plan we struggle with the backlash; the rejection.

One of the things I’ve observed is that perfectionism has served me well in some elements of my life, but it’s also been a huge factor in slowing me down in other parts of my life.

You don’t have to be perfect. You can build resilience each and every time you have a set-back. Simply ask yourself… What can I learn here; how can it make me stronger?

#13 of 13 Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Surround yourself with great people!

The greatest challenge facing dental practice owners is the recruitment and ongoing management of their team.

An entrepreneur needs a great team – hire people who might be better at certain things than you are!

Dr Nauv no longer bases his recruitment decisions on competency alone. Instead his focus is on three things; attitudes, ability to take feedback and people who aim to lift up the whole team.

Hire on the basis of transferable skills, recruiting characters that fit within the ethos of your practice. Skills can be taught are not necessarily the things that a dental practice owner should focus on when recruiting the ideal team for their business.

I also have a hiring process; it’s called Performance Culture Matrix; it’s about being a good fit attitudinally – based on A players, B players, and C and D players.

In my book, I write about my experience being a C player and about the lessons I’ve learnt from that time; (‘RETENTION! How to Plug the #1 Profit Leak in Your Dental Practice’ is available on Amazon.)

One of my mentors has this great saying, ‘you get what you tolerate’.

And so, I’ve learnt that effective hiring is about getting the right culture fit.

I teach about culture in relation to leadership and team building in the next Practice Max workshop; click here to find out more. I’d love to see you there.

Final Words on Entrepreneurial Lessons:

Be sure to listen to both parts of my podcasts with Dr Nauvneel Kashyap, and also check out last week’s blog post with the first seven entrepreneurial lessons.

And of course, I hope these lessons are helpful for you and your dental practice.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready …. here are 4 ways I can help you grow your dental practice:

Grab a free chapter from my book “Retention – How to Plug the #1 Profit Leak in Your Dental Practice”

The book is the definitive guide to patient retention and how to use internal marketing to grow your practice – Click Here

Join the Savvy Dentist community and connect with dentists who are scaling their practice too

It’s our Facebook group where clever dentists learn to become commercially smart so that they have more patients, more profit and less stress. – Click Here

Attend a Practice Max Intensive live event

Our 2 day immersive events provide access to the latest entrepreneurial thinking and actionable strategies to drive your practice forward. You’ll leave with a game plan to take your results to the next level. If you’d like to join us, just send me a message with the word “Event and I’ll get you all the details! – Click here

Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take your profit from 6 figures to 7 figures …. just send me a message with the word “Private”… tell me a little about your practice and what you would like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details! – Click here

Welcome to the second part of my two part interview with Dr Nauv Kashyap. In this episode, we continue our conversation on 13 key entrepreneurial principles to become a great dental practice owner. No more being an employee in your own business.

Since 2010, Dr Nauv Kashyap has been helping dentists transition into ownership with some excellent results. Many dentists have relied on him to provide expert guidance as they take on the challenges of ownership.

Dr Nauv Kashyap bought his first practice in 2008 with approx $400K a year turnover and 2,500 patients. He has started a further ten dental practices and has also sold practices. He continues to find opportunities for successful startups and takeovers even through a saturated dental market.

Grab your pen and paper because in this episode, we discuss:

1:52 The power on focusing on the things that really matter
5:33 Unlocking the power of Nauv’s decision making tree to make better decisions
9:55 Why progress is not linear (and why you should embrace that)
17:17 The power of celebrating your wins
24:35 The importance of loving your patient more than your product
31:01 How to build up resilience
34:57 The keys to hiring the best staff (and it’s not all about competency)

Find out more about Dr Nauv Kashyap

http://www.practiceownership.com.au

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When I started out, entrepreneurial tendencies were frowned upon. Being a dental entrepreneur or dental-preneur as I used to refer to it in my articles, was considered dodgy, or a sign of carelessness towards patients.

Instead of running from this label, I fully embraced it; and I remember standing tall and responding to the negativity.

I’d say, “Absolutely, I am an entrepreneur and that’s a good thing because an entrepreneur creates value, they’re adaptable, they’re nimble.”

I’ve learnt many lessons on my entrepreneurial dental journey, and I’m still learning.

But most of my lessons were a result of pure instinct and trial and error. I didn’t have the lessons of others to follow.

I had an in-depth conversation on a recent podcast with practice ownership consultant Dr Nauvneel Kashyap. We combined our experiences and knowledge of starting practices and moving from operator to owner, and came up with some hot key lessons to share with you.

I’ve put these lessons into a two-part series: Part 1 which I am sharing here this week exposes 7 Key entrepreneurial lessons for dental practice owners…

Entrepreneurial Lesson #1:

Always remember the bigger picture!

Some practice owners don’t have the courage to close their client books; or to reduce their days to focus on the business of the practice; or have some down time; as a result, they find themselves staying on the tools for too long, just because they’re earning good money and they’re in control.

Don’t be a victim of your own success. You need to step back before you reach burnout. There needs to be a transition point where ultimately you have to take your foot off first base and make the dash to second base.

Have a clear picture of what success looks like for you from the beginning. Then understand the activities you need to do to get there: Start with that process firmly in mind.

Be mindful of any limiting believes which can stall your vision such as ‘I’m not a business owner’ or ‘I’m not someone who cares about the business side of dentistry’.

Always remember the bigger picture, but there’s no sense in having the end goal in mind if your day-to-day actions don’t support that.

Entrepreneurial Lesson #2:

It’s OK to make mistakes. Get back up and move on!

Sometimes we make mistakes, and we fail to meet expectations but that’s life.

Sometimes there is no lesson to learn… We don’t always have to look for a lesson, but we do have to know how to accept and manage failure.

One of the things that someone taught me years ago is that we’ve got a windscreen and we’ve got a rear-view mirror.

And when it comes to mistakes, keep it proportionate… Move on from it!

Identify and manage the risk, the probability and the cost of that risk and consider… ‘What are the mitigating things I can put in place to try and tip the odds in my favour or to reduce the cost of the worst-case scenario or to enhance my degree of control of that situation?’

Entrepreneurial Lesson #3:

Manage your energy!

Entrepreneurs know how to manage their energy and don’t just focus on managing time.

Whilst it’s important to ensure your appointment book is well structured, remember that running a business requires effort and energy; managing these finite personal resources is critical.

Listen to your body. Assess your biorhythm and note down at what points of the day you are most productive so that you can do the important tasks during these times.

Remember that energy is a finite resource so use it wisely.

Furthermore, you must understand that not everything that’s urgent is important.

Entrepreneurial Lesson #4:

Look after yourself!

Part of the responsibility of building a business is to make sure we look after ourselves so that we can be at our best.

Ultimately, when we commit to an enterprise, we commit to others. We commit to providing healthcare to our patients and employment and associated opportunities for our team.

The responsibility is a heavy one, so aim to block off time so you can look after yourself.

Find the thing that helps you cope with pressure and be your best.

Entrepreneurial Lesson #5:

Be curious. Be open to trying new things!

Most people deal with evolution rather than revolution and it’s often the case of incremental change after incremental change.

Be curious and question the accepted norms.

Entrepreneurs don’t necessarily believe that the status quo has to remain thus. Try something new, explore new trends, look for new opportunities.

Entrepreneurial Lesson #6:

Get comfortable with delegating!

Entrepreneurs need delegation to be second nature.

You need to be comfortable that something may not get done as well as you can do it yourself.

You can put measures in place to help others deliver to your standard and expectations, such as training team members, putting systems in place, implementing processes and policies will support others to deliver results in the way you want them delivered.

Not enough time equals not enough team, therefore understand what things add value to the business that are uniquely within your skill-set, and for those other tasks either look to delegate them, automate them, or eliminate them all together.

Periodically, I like to write up a list of the tasks I would like to do more of, the tasks I would like to do less of, and the tasks I would like to stop doing altogether.

This makes a perfect list of what needs to be delegated and what tasks can stay with me!

Entrepreneurial Lesson #7:

Good habits are good for us!

We often consider habits to be negative, but some good habits are fundamental to our success.

Dr Nauv describes one of his best habits as trying to do the very best he can in every task he does, and he also likes to only take on tasks where he knows he has the skills to succeed.

One of my good habits is having structure and routine in my life. I find it grounding and comforting. My habits include putting routine into my day which may be a shower, followed by a coffee, followed by ten minutes of thinking time and mentally preparing for my day ahead.

And after I take my girls to school I may listen to a podcast or audio book in the car… this positive routine gets my day off on a good foot.

For Entrepreneurial Lessons #8 to #13…

Return to my blog next week for the next six lessons for dental entrepreneurs.

And remember to listen to part 1 of the two-part podcast on the subject of entrepreneurial lessons with Dr Nauv Kashyap.

In this episode, I’m joined by multi-practice owner and good friend Dr Nauv Kashyap. We discuss what we think are some key entrepreneurial principles to become a great dental practice owner. No more being an employee in your own business. We share our tips and insights for how to transition into true business ownership.

In this episode, we discuss:

4:22 Why the growth of the business can never outstrip the business owner
6:30 Why it’s important to start with your end goal in mind
12:05 Keys to managing your risks and responding to failure
18:20 Why managing your energy is more important than managing your time
23:22 Why looking after your hearth and well being is key to entrepreneurial success
26:23 The main reasons you should question the status quo and look for opportunities
32:37 How successful entrepreneurs delegate (and how to relinquish control)

Find out more about Dr Nauv Kashyap

http://www.practiceownership.com.au

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Everybody wants to bring their A game to work, but dentists are prone to burnout!

When I was at university I had the mindset that I either did something perfectly or it was wrong.

A-Type personalities are competitive, controlling, high-functioning, have a sense of urgency, feel time poor, as well as having perfection as their standard…

Are you also doing a mental checklist when reading this? Yes! Yes. Tick, tick, tick…

Because I certainly relate to these traits.

As does my recent podcast guest; sports psychologist and mindfulness coach John Shackleton.

John says, “-Those are the five top internal causes of stress in people, and yet funnily enough those are five of the six or seven categories that the corporate world is recruiting on, and any entrepreneur will say that’s exactly what’s made them successful, and yet they’re the causes of internal stress.”

And whilst I’m becoming more aware that it’s not necessarily the best way to be all of the time, my chat with John was a reminder just how much Type A Behaviour Patterns (TABP) lead to burnout.

Read on for five ways to ensure you succeed without hitting burnout…

Reason 1 – Distorted Concept of Control:

One of my mentors often says, “Jesse, your business growth is inversely proportioned to your need for control.”

We often believe we control more than we do, however we do not control the weather or the traffic or even some of our own actions.

#1 Way to Succeed without a Burnout:

Don’t let ‘being in control’ control you.

Letting go of the idea that you can fix everything is liberating and in turn can lower stress levels.

Clarity is more productive in business than control.

With clarity, you can plan and know that good preparation includes understanding that things change.

And change is something we cannot control.

Reason 2 – Obsess about Success:

Once upon a time, peak performance would have been all about achieving more, doing more, and having more.

But the definitions of ‘peak performance’ and ‘success’ have certainly changed.

External success and internal success are different things.

When I had my first dental practice, it looked wildly successful to the outsider, but internally I was unhappy and unfulfilled.

True Success doesn’t lead to negative feelings.

#2 Way to Succeed without a Burnout:

Type-A people often consider success to be fulfilling all areas at once.

Setting and achieving goals are important for the success of your dental business, but not at the cost of your health.

If we look at success as having to constantly achieve higher, we set ourselves up for failure, so, define what success is for you and pace your goalsetting.

Reason 3 – Persistence of Perfectionism

Perfection can hinder us in achieving work goals and prevent us from having more meaning or happiness.

Most Type A Personalities have the view that no one can do it as well as they can.

Delegation is almost a dirty word.

There’s this natural tendency to hold on.

#3 Way to Succeed without a Burnout:

We need to let go of perfectionism and take that step to delegate.

Some people consider this a spiritual acceptance – John certainly does.

And it’s this acceptance that is key in understanding that as much as we’d like to think we can do everything, it’s not feasible and if we try it’s likely we’ll lead to burnout.

Furthermore, a practice is best run as a team sport not a solo one, and choosing the right team members in the first place will make it easier to let go…

(My next event in June is all about leadership and recruiting and training the right team for your practice’s peak performance).

Reason 4 – Taking Time:

Ultimately having financial freedom leads to freedom in other areas of our lives, and it’s clear that time is more valuable than ever before.

I coach dentists every day on how to gain more profit, achieve more time, and as a result experience less stress.

We take time, we lose time, we kill time… but do we make time for ourselves so we can avoid burnout?

#4 Way to Succeed without a Burnout:

A-type people cram as much in their schedule as possible.

Be mindful how you use your time and spend some time in the present doing the things you enjoy, the sport that makes you feel alive and with the people you love.

Make time for your existing patients and for your staff… because they give you their time.

Using time efficiently is important.

Make time to collect your thoughts and to rediscover who you are and what it is you want.

John Shackleton says he meditates while he drives and that you can be mindful anywhere and anytime, and that it’s good to read about meditation so you can include it in your daily schedule.

Reason 5 – Competing to be a Champion:

I believe in goalsetting, but there are ways to do this without compromising other elements of your life.

It’s also important to understanding your competitors but not to focus on them.

#5 Way to Succeed without a Burnout:

You need to set clear goals for your practice, and for your personal life too that are small but significant, such as making sure you attend your child’s school event.

One of my daughter’s is a competing gymnast and I’m there to support her, especially because I want to ensure she maintains her identity outside of her role as an athlete.

And this is important for dentists too, because you’re more than just the work you do.

Remember who you are outside of the arena and be aware of your competitors, but don’t be consumed by competition.

Final Note:

Ultimately, work is just one part of life, and a big part for fellow A Type Personalities, but burnout in life can lead to burnout in business, so balance is a better path for future success.

Remember to listen to the podcast with John Shackleton for more on his interesting journey and for practical advice on meditation.

Dentists are often “A-type” personalities, which means we’re often striving for perfection and constantly “on the go”. In this episode, I’m joined by mindfulness expert and former sports psychologist John Shackleton to share his insights and wisdom on using mindfulness in your business to improve relationships, time management and much more.

John Shackleton has a background in sports psychology and has coached world champions and Olympic medalists. John became a professional coach in his 20s, training international level swimmers and triathletes. In his quest to improve performance, he turned to sports psychology to help his athletes achieve at their absolute best.

Over the next 20 years, his training company grew to become the largest of it’s type in Europe. The company had a group of specialist trainers working with blue chip clients such as Hewlett Packard, Coca Cola and Pfizer.

In his late 40s, John sold his interest in his UK companies and emigrated to New Zealand. There, he set up on his own speaking and coaching business and quickly established himself as one of Australasia’s top motivational speakers. For the last 15 years, he has been delivering conference keynotes and training workshops throughout Australia, New Zealand and Asia on performance subjects such as motivation strategies, self belief and goal setting etc.

In this episode, we discuss:

2:30 John’s journey from athlete to sports psychologist
7:18 Achieving peak performance without the stress
8:45 Understanding what is and isn’t in your sphere of control (and why that matters)
16:18 How to ensure your mental wellbeing isn’t tied to “success” or “failure”
20:19 How the definition of “peak performance” needs to chance
23:35 How mindfulness lets you unlock more peace and time
26:30 What mindfulness is and how to harness it
29:46 How mindfulness improves staff and patient relationships in a business
37:58 Being values driven and mindful in your business
40:30 Tips for those who struggle with mindfulness
43:05 Practical things you can do to bring more mindfulness into your business

Find out more about John Shackleton

www.johnshack.com

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I like to remind my clients that people are not born leaders. And that great leadership skills are learned – which is the good news, but how do we know what makes a great leader?

And for those of us already leading, how do we avoid getting stuck in the rut of managing instead of leading our team?

We don’t always have the answers do we!

But luckily, I ask the right people, including inspirational author and creative thinker, Gary Bertwistle.

We discussed the secrets behind true leadership success on my recent podcast, and whilst numbers are important you may be surprised to discover that the best leaders don’t just focus on the financials.

Here are the top seven secrets to being the best possible leader, as well as some salient and useful action points to help get you started on your journey to true leadership.

Secret 1:

Great leaders create their own path:

Being creative may challenge us on our disciplined path, but it also encourages us to design our own lives.

The majority view doesn’t always have to rule. In other words, dare to be creative!

If you know where you’re at and you know where you want to be, then you know how you can lead your team with vision and purpose.

#1 ACTION POINT:

Make the time to pause and reflect on your leadership style. Are you just doing what you think a leader should do? Are you just going with the flow of what other leaders are doing?

Because it may simply be a case of having to rejig a few small things that you do now.

Secret 2:

The best leaders hold onto their mojo (Gary Bertwistle writes about this in his books).

I have always associated the term ‘mojo’ with Austin Powers, but it’s something that successful leaders have, and something you can have too.

#2 ACTION POINT:

Get ‘unstuck’ and unlock what you really want, so you can be pumped with energy when you lead others. First of all, ask yourself some key questions: What do I want? Where am I taking my practice? Don’t just focus on the numbers. Think about what you are creating: What does it look like? What does it feel like? What are people saying?

Secret 3:

Top leaders know their dream! Do you know yours?

Leaders need to have clarity about their personal dreams, that is why it’s good to know what your perfect day looks like.

Great leaders need to create a dream for their team: People at the practice want purpose, they want to know why they come to work.

#3 ACTION POINT:

Map out your dream, and not just the finances, market share and so on.

Because revenue comes when you are being of service and can fix problems better than the next practice, therefore map out – draw or write down your personal dreams and your dreams for the practice.

Secret 4:

Good leaders have good intentions and good outcomes.

Leadership requires effort. Good leaders put effort into what they do because they are grateful for what they already have. Furthermore, great leaders know what’s important and they prioritise the workload before the day starts.

#4 ACTION POINT:

Use your journal in a way that suits you… Journaling is a brilliant business tool for leaders but it won’t do the work for you – you’ve got to do the push-ups!

Write a list that you look at before you go to sleep and set your intention for the following day, include the hard stuff and the stuff that makes you happy.

Secret 5:

Great leaders cut out comparison and competition.

Doing your best doesn’t mean judging your outcomes by what others in your field are doing.

It is capability that matters.

Again, ask yourself some key questions like, what am I capable of and how do I identify success in the practice? How do I measure my own personal success?

When defining what success is for you, include all elements that make your life better.

Success is not measured on the sunny days, but on the dark days when you still have to get it all done.

#5 ACTION POINT:

Let go of what your competitors are doing!

Leadership is about the whole team and the bigger picture.

You know I am a fan of sporting analogies…

But I loved Gary’s reference to swimming… During the podcast interview, he said that if you make it to the starting line, and if you’ve done the work then you’ve nothing to be nervous about.

Secret 6:

Successful leaders hold themselves accountable.

If you’re a leader – you need to deliver! Thus hold yourself to the standards you expect.

Game recognises game… we need to hold ourselves accountable and only then can we expect it from other people.

#6 ACTION POINT:

Great leaders have the wonderful ability to separate situations and to shake stuff off. It is for this reason, you must step over the threshold into the practice and put other things aside and stay focused on work and on leading.

Be fully present in everything you do.

Secret 7:

Great leaders know that courage and confidence are interchangeable.

That is why you must have the courage to be honest and have the confidence to be creative.

Leader-growth Secrets to leadership success

#7 ACTION POINT:

Step outside your comfort zone and as a result you’ll gain grit and resilience in your style as a leader.

When you have the courage to do something small and then keep doing it, you build confidence, and gain more courage to try new stuff too.

Growth exists just outside of our comfort zone: Have the courage to take action!

Final note of being the best leader possible…

Finally, remember the difference between taking great notes and getting stuff done is in the implementation.

Take great notes from this blog post; but take action on those great notes!

I recommend you listen to the full ‘epic’ podcast for more of Gary’s wisdom and insights, and for other interviews with inspirational people click here: The Savvy Dentist Podcast

Get true Leadership traction – join us at our June Practice Max Intensive event: Build and Lead a High Performance Team.

Leadership is key to having a successful dental practice, and it’s one of the reasons why the next Practice Max intensive two-day workshop is all about this very subject…

For further information and to register for this inspiring event, click here: Build and Lead a High Performance Team.

In this episode, I’m joined by Gary Bertwistle who shares his insights on how to get your mojo back. When we work in our practices day in and day out, it’s easy to get stuck in the grind and not operate at our best.

Gary has always had a passion for innovation and creativity. His career has spanned the retail, music and radio industries. Gary’s drive comes from having people and organisations think differently to generate new ways of doing things.

As a thought leader in innovation and creativity, Gary has helped companies of all sizes, in all industries and categories, to look at how they currently do things and address what needs to change in order for them to think differently and maximise the ideas that currently exist within the business, with the view to making the company more successful. He is often called when companies or individuals lose their mojo.

In this episode, we discuss:

5:57 How to get regain your mojo to lead your practice to greatness
9:45 Why businesses lose their mojo (and how to get it back)
10:40 Why metrics and revenue alone won’t drive you to success (but what will)
13:30 How intention can drive you through each day
17:21 Why you should use a journal
20:55 What practices lead to a fulfilled life
25:71 What stops us from living a fulfilled life and how to overcome that
27:37 The “game recognises game” concept and why it’s essential for leaders
29:54 What the qualities of a good leader are and how you can become one
33:06 The secret to never being nervous

Find out more about Gary Bertwistle

https://www.garybertwistle.com/

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It seems dental SEO can no longer afford to be thrown in the ‘too hard’ basket.

Dentists who want to grow and scale their dental practice are becoming SEO savvy. No longer content just to engage an SEO expert, they’re also building their own dental SEO muscle.

Whether it’s through experience (sometime painful) or necessity (who doesn’t want new patients?), they’re deciding SEO is part of dental business marketing.

I certainly don’t claim I’m fully in the know. After all, SEO is a constantly moving feast. However, here’s what I’ve learned. With dental SEO, you need to know enough.

How much is enough? Well, enough to know whether your SEO is working. In many ways, you need to know enough not to be dangerous.

If you feel like you’ve been walking in the dental SEO darkness, take these five savvy tips on board.

Let’s shine the light on what you need to know.

#1 Give Yourself More Credit For What You Know

Right. So, this is not an invitation to pat yourself on the back and think I know it all.

But here’s what I’ve noticed about dentists. We tend to not give ourselves credit for what we do know about our market. And yes, this applies dental SEO.

A lot of us say I don’t know what SEO is relevant for my dental business. My response? Take five minutes and think about the questions you’re asked – and answer – every single day. Don’t underestimate the importance and power of your responses to those questions. Therein lie the seeds of excellent SEO keywords, content and strategy.

We have a tendency to think SEO is somehow ‘out there’. Separate to our business. For someone else to do. Something on which we’ll take advice. This is only true to a point. If we’re working with an SEO-consultant, it’s our job to come to the party too.

Approaching dental SEO this way increases the chances your it is more deliberately relevant for your would-be patients and business.

#2 Devise a Dental SEO Plan

You might do this on your own, or you might engage someone to help you, but whatever you decide, be sure there’s a plan to back it up.

The plan does not need to be complex, detailed or foolproof. But it does need to consider:

Your objective. (What are you hoping to get out of your SEO investment?)

The analysis. (Have you looked at comparative websites? What content are they creating?)

The tools. (Is Google AdWords your best bet? Are there other tools you should engage?)

Your business needs. (Is your SEO plan relevant for your business and its location?)

Like every plan, one specifically for dental SEO will need periodic reviews and revisions. Once devised, it’s not a hard line in concrete that’s never revisited. Rather, based on results, changes and improvements will need to be made.

#3 Invest in Dental SEO Equity

Don’t be confused. I’m not saying go invest in a business that does dental SEO. I am saying build your own dental SEO equity.

You do that by creating on-page SEO with your own business website – where the SEO equity of your business resides. In simple terms, that’s your website content, business brand messaging, the website’s coding, the topics you cover, and questions you answer.

Essential to get right before and after your website’s development, finessing the on-page SEO is an ongoing task that forms part of your dental SEO plan.

#4 Shine a Light on Keywords

Here’s an SEO truth: keywords are important.

Some people adopt the field of dreams approach when it comes to their website. Build it and they’ll come, they think. But a sound dental SEO strategy is more robust than this.

In the pre-build stage, when you’re developing content, SEO is a factor that should be considered. Balanced with the authentic messaging and story of you and your business, keywords can be integrated as part of a consolidated approach.

In my mind, I see it as a VELscope for keywords.

If you don’t shine a light on what your website needs to do, it’s hard to know what the website will look like, or how it should perform.

#5 Answer These 3 Important Questions

Justin Morgan, the Dental Marketing Guy, believes there are three important questions every website needs to answer as quickly and easily as possible.

What is this website about?

What can I do here?

Why should I do it?

Answers to these questions are the foundation of your SEO.

The key thing is, these questions need to be answered through the lens of someone who’s never met you. It’s important you don’t answer them, or that anyone who knows and trusts you doesn’t answer them.

Here’s why.

On Fancy Dental’s website home page, there’s a picture of something totally irrelevant to the people they want to attract. Maybe it’s the latest piece of equipment they’ve invested in. This is backed up a vanilla statement like, We’re your caring dentist.

To top it off, there’s nothing on Fancy Dental’s website that gives me confidence I can trust them enough. It doesn’t make me want to ring and book an appointment. No video, no pictures of the team, or appropriate before and after shots that establish authority and trust. No blog that adds value and gives the gift of information.

Will the right words, images and explanations convert immediately? Or even on the patient’s first visit? Perhaps not. But done well, they do open the door to building a relationship. Why? Because you’ve taken the time to devise a dental SEO plan that’s tailored to attract and serve your ideal patient.

Final Words…

Dental SEO is not an add-on or buzzword. It’s an integral part of any dental business marketing strategy. For the best success, take time to learn enough about what works for you. You’ll be glad you made the investment when your website visitors connect and convert.

I’m joined by Justin Morgan to share how you can grow your practice using SEO.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can be a mystery. But on this episode, Justin helpfully breaks it down into simple, practical advice that you can start implementing today.

Justin Morgan is the founder of Dental Marketing Guy. Dental Marketing Guy is brand that offers SEO services to dentists and provides a place for people of different circles within the dental community to share information, learn tools for business growth and connect with other successful dental professionals.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

4:30 Why dentists benefit a great deal from SEO
6:25 The value of having a marketer with specific industry experience
7:00 How SEO fits into a well rounded marketing plan for your dental practice
9:00 Great content for your dental practice website
11:00 How to know if SEO will be beneficial for your practice
13:15 How to harness both on-page and off-page SEO
19:24 The 3 questions every website needs to answer to be a great website
27.54 Simple ways to encourage backlinks
39:07 Do you need to be on Bing and Yahoo
And more!

Find out more about Justin Morgan

https://dentalmarketingguy.com

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