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We talked with Sean Hamel about marketing a practice after purchasing it and now you're transitioning. Sean gives us a perspective that really breaks it down to basics. He talks very plainly about what should be done, what you can do, what you need to think about...etc.
Visit Art of Dental Marketing: www.artofdentalmarketing.com
Feel free to call or text him directly at 816.631.0954 - tell him you saw the show!
Email him: sean@artofdentalmarketing.com
You can also JOIN the FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/artofdentalmarketing
0:00 Intro Music
0:45 Episode Introduction
2:13 Sean Hamel
7:09 Biggest Challenges Marketing An Existing Practice
9:48 Taking Over A Google My Business Page
15:36 AI and CHAT GPT
19:16 Using Bing and Apple Maps
21:31 Grassroots Marketing
30:33 What Changes Need Done ASAP
36:03 Working w/ New Marketing Company
40:02 Finding Good Marketers to Work With
SHOW HOST INFO:
As a dental buyer representative, Michael Dinsio helps dentists buy dental practices step-by-step. With over a decade of experience and more than 500 dental transactions, Michael is a key opinion leader in the dental industry. This program helps walk dentists through the process of becoming a dental practice owner via dental practice acquisitions. If you would like a free consult with Michael or would like to work with Michael in the future visit his webpage. https://www.nxlevelconsultants.com/buyer-representation.html
DENTAL UNSCRIPTED HAS A WEBSITE ! ! !
Find all the content from SEASON 1: "Start Up Unscripted"... as well as SEASON 2: "Dental Acquisition Unscripted", it's all here in one spot here 👉 https://www.dentalunscripted.com
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#dentalsharkweek #marketingadentalpractice #buyingadentalpractice #marketing #dentalpodcast
Intro Music by D Fine Us on https://artlist.io/song/15785/howling-at-the-moon
This podcast covers from START to FINISH How to Acquire a Dental Practice. Michael Dinsio, founder of Next Level Consultants has literally seen hundreds of deals as a banker in the industry & he has personally consulted hundreds of dentists as a Buyers Representative. Michael talks with GUEST SPEAKERS about Due Diligence, Legal, Demographics, and more... He invites experts to the show to help you avoid those headaches and heartbreaks. So start at the TOP w/ Episode 01 and work your way through the transition process. We break it down step by step in a true #UNSCRIPTED and genuine way.
00:00
Oh yeah, here we go practice acquisition. There are pitfalls throughout the entire process.
00:25
Acquisition Unscripted, the truth when buying and selling at dental practice.
00:36
And now your host, Michael Dinsio. All right, all right, guys. Welcome, welcome back. Shark Week 2023. We are getting after it. I got a great speaker who I'll introduce here in a minute. But some of the things that we played around with today was the Google My Business page.
00:56
We talked a lot about how to tweak that, how to arm yourself for the best success in the transition. We talked a lot about grassroots ground marketing stuff, the stuff that is next level to just doing Facebook and the website and the SEO. So ground marketing's huge, gotta figure that out, gotta do that to get the growth on these deals. We also spent some time.
01:24
thinking about and talking about like maybe it doesn't make sense to switch services with the seller's websites and what they're doing. I think a lot of marketing companies are gonna sell you on stuff and you know the truth is is maybe just having a marketing company consult you about what's working what's not and don't disrupt that Google algorithm because it's working. So
01:51
finding partners that you trust that aren't just selling you is a cool concept. We get into a lot of great stuff. Stay with us through the end. But another great episode, let's roll right into it now. Again, shark week coming at you, dental acquisition unscripted. Let's go. All right, all right guys, welcome, welcome. Another episode of dental acquisition unscripted. And this is a week of sharks.
02:21
a week of sharks and I'm excited because one of my really good friends is on the program today and he's super knowledgeable. has a different twist in my mind of how he approaches marketing. I hope that you're getting a lot of great stuff this week and I think you're gonna hear from our next guest on kind of like a different play on marketing, not just like the traditional boring SEO stuff.
02:49
Sean's gonna bring it I know because it's his whole game So so Sean hey more and and and if I butchered the last name, sorry, sometimes I do that but with ADM He he is a legend and in and is a friend of our program. Sean welcome to the show my friend Thanks for having me man. I appreciate it. I wish you were wearing the shark suit, but it's okay. I know I know I only bust it out. I gotta be honest It's a little tighter this year than it was last year
03:18
That's a bummer, man. I know. I know. I'll wait until I start shrinking as an old man and then I'll fit back into it. But, um, Sean, give us, give us a little bit of you and your company, your flavor, Flav, and just kind of give us your two minute, like what's up from ADM. Yeah. So our original marketing, you and I've known each other for years. We're really different in the space. Uh, a lot of dental marketing is pretty, pretty,
03:47
I guess you could say scalable in terms of everybody kind of does the same thing. It's the same kind of website builds, the same SEO, things like that. When I started in dental marketing, I was kind of doing the same things that I learned in college and realized that they didn't really work. It's one of those things where with practice marketing, you've got the fear component of being a dentist and the fact that most people are fearful of visiting you.
04:11
And then you've got the fact that the doctor has an amazing skillset that has really no bearing on the buying decision for the end user. don't know clinically who's the best. They just know who they like more. And so we've had a lot of success doing story-based marketing and emotional-based marketing for dental practices. So that's what we do is we fold in elements of who the doctor is, the patient experience, all the things that people really are shopping for. And that's what we help the practices put a narrative around and then transmit out to their communities. And we see great results.
04:41
from it, just from the emotive and principles of persuasion and all the things that we lay into there to get the results we do. It works really, really well. So it's just a different approach, but it works really Principle of persuasion. That's a great book. POP, it is a great book. Is that Cialdini? It is Cialdini. It's a fantastic book. Wow. Are you impressed right now, Robert Cialdini?
05:06
What is that? What is it called? The seven principles, six principles of, what is that book? You're putting me on the spot. I it's just called Influence. Influence, okay. the book. But it's a great read for dentists because a lot of dentists, they don't realize, hey, people are scared of me. Hey, the alphabet soup after my name and this great bio of how smart I am is going to help people to come in. It's just...
05:30
Who do I like more? Who has the best experience? That's why referrals are so strong for dental practices is because you have that social proof. And so it's a different approach to marketing. I think it's long overdue, honestly, in terms of the stuff that's out there that's getting sold to doctors. That emotive piece is usually completely void because everybody's doing the same websites, SEO kind of stuff where they're just running these practices out kind of with the same keyword structure.
05:58
You know, the differentiator for the offices is the doctor. Like every practice is different because the doctor is different. And that's really what sells at the end of the day. I couldn't agree more. Like, of course, those things, those foundational pieces are you have to do them. It's just where the conversation starts. Whereas before it's like where the conversation started and ended. Now it's buyers are so much more sophisticated and they're more anxious than ever. And so you have to
06:27
knock those things out. okay, so because we're in the acquisition podcast, and by the way, a little plug again, I keep saying it, you're gonna hear me keep saying it, if you're all into the startup, get on the other podcast, that's Startup Unscripted, this podcast is acquisition specific. And so again, staying in the line of acquisition unscripted, we're talking about doctors buying practices and the woes and challenges
06:57
of transitioning over, right? You've got an old doc. We'll be lucky if they even have a solid website or if they even know what SEO is, right? So there's that. How do you get, I mean, it just seems a little bit overwhelming, Sean, when I sit here and think about like just the structure and the basics getting it onto modern day is hard. But then even taking it to the next level, not to play on words,
07:27
to even that the art of influence that we were just talking about. what are, I ask everybody the same question and everybody has their own answer, which is great. What are some of the biggest challenges in your mind for a buyer walking into that situation and facing this transition? And let's just have that be the first question of today. Yeah, I mean, there's obviously so many, I mean,
07:55
A lot of it is, it seems like every seller is different. Like some sellers are willing to really pass the torch and be involved. And some sellers are like, peace out, like, loose is like catch later. So, you know, getting a pulse on what the exiting doctor's willing to do. And then a lot of times the brokers have kind of a letter that they'll help craft that can go out to existing patients. That's always huge. Just that affirmation of the exiting doc. And I always like to make sure language is in there of like,
08:22
Hey, you know, chose this doctor to assume the practice or to take over the practice instead of saying, I sold the practice to this person. And a lot of times you have sellers do, they take a lot of things into account on choosing who they're going to sell to. So that's, that's one is just having that affirmation because attrition is bound to happen when you're switching things out and try not to rock the boat too much, you know, come in.
08:47
I mean, we run into issues where, like you said, I mean, we have practices that have been there for years and years and And I don't know who the Google business profile login is. I don't even know who made it or we have four of them or whatever. You make such a good point, Sean, because in your contract, folks, it says that they have to hand over all the passwords, but then nobody remembers unless you're my client. No one remembers the Google My Business password. That one is so important.
09:16
So actually let's talk about that because we haven't talked about that with anybody else. How do you hack that? And I don't think you can. When you run into the situation where we're having issues with Google, and I know you're one of the pioneers kings that focused early on with the Google My Business page. Oh my gosh, I'm getting excited over here. You even taught me at Next Level how to fine tune mine.
09:43
So little tips and tricks there on how to like kind of take that over if you're struggling to have the password or whatever you want to give in that department. Yeah, so obviously find the password, the login's huge. Just having the password is the Yeah, just having the password is huge. I mean, that's a big one. Hopefully it's on a sticky note or on the practice somewhere. But you know, Google's kind of, they always are evolving with rules and how they do things. And so, you sometimes if the,
10:13
If the doctor that's selling is staying on in any kind of capacity, you know, you can just kind of assume that, uh, G and B you can just kind of take it. Um, there's really no, so, you know, if you buy the practice, the name and everything's staying the same, et cetera, you're just kind of assuming ownership. There's a little bit of leeway there with Google. And if they'll let you just assume the business listing, cause the business isn't changing. Whereas if you're coming in and you're changing the name and you're revamping everything, you know, you've got to go through the whole process of getting that.
10:42
then closed and removed and then reestablishing the new Google business profile effectively there too. Can you just change the name though and acquire? you had the password, can't you just change it or no? That is not according to Google's guidelines. That's the answer I will give. Google would prefer you to not assume the GMB. But again, it's just one of those things where you can ask.
11:09
Google has a different answer for everything anymore. So it's just one of those things. Yeah. What do you do? What's your playbook? Let's imagine Google is not listening right now. Well, like with the playbook, would the playbook say, would the playbook transition hack be, get the Google My Business page, edit it and say, you know, used to be Dr. Smith, DDS, And now we're changing it to Happy Tooth.
11:37
Could you say Happy Tooth formally, Dr. Smith, DDS? could you? They don't have that kind of setup that I've seen. Typically, you have to go case by case, honestly. if, usually if the exiting doctor is staying on, that assumption process is a lot easier. The last thing you want to do is try to get around Google or outsmart Google, especially playing with your GMB. So it just kind of depends on the situation. And that's...
12:03
Probably the best advice, unfortunately, I could give unless somebody is asking specifically about a situation with factors to take into account. Just because it's something that you don't really want to play with because the ramifications can be harsh. So it's just one of those things. You know what's wild, buddy? I ran into a practice more recently and they had terrible marketing spend. They didn't really focus on that, which is normal for older practices.
12:32
The practice had over 200 Google reviews though. I will be honest, we coached that client for about eight, no, two years, now that think about it. And the best asset, the goodwill, the best asset, because the whole team left, which was awful. Of course, the dentist is gone, right? The Google My Business page was like the best asset we purchased because it threw off 20,
13:02
solid 20 new patients a month just because it had fantastic reviews and over 200. Everybody said Google reviews, Google, Google, Google reviews. So it was wild how that in itself carried so much clout. was definitely not on my radar. It was just a huge like cherry on top. So how is it? Is it that important? What's your philosophy? Anything that you can share?
13:32
in that department. That's awesome to hear. that's, you know, I kind of feel like a politician a little bit with the answer around this, but it is case by case. You know, it's one of those things that I don't like to mess with it if we don't have to, or you try to agitate it as little as you can. You know, there's two independent algorithms firing. So you've got the algorithm that gives you results in maps in real time. And then you've got like organic search going on. And then with the maps portion, that's where your reviews and things really factor in.
14:00
Excuse me. And so, you know, with the GMB, just to reiterate the point to listeners, it really depends on your situation and what the exiting doctor is doing, the name change, any of those kind of things. You have to really take those into account as you handle the GMB because unfortunately everything is different. And I've seen Google do all kinds of strange things with GMB. Like for instance, you can have
14:25
you know, two people side by side to get a poor Google review and you submit both to them. One of them gets removed. The other one doesn't just, you know, it just depends on who you get that day. And so, you know, that's why I've invested in the team that I have that are very, very trained in these aspects. And they'll actually go in and come up with the best course of action on the, you know, assumption of the new practice. But again, if, if the name change isn't happening and things, it's a lot easier. And if the exiting doctor is not leaving, you know, if you have a new
14:54
If you're Dr. Smith, you don't want all the reviews talking about how great Dr. Jones is, right? So it's just one of those things where it's just case by case. A lot of people don't put a lot of thought into it. A lot of people just kind of treat it like whatever. Um, so that is, it's definitely much more important, uh, in terms of the transitional assets, cause you can get a new website and all that stuff built with that GMB profile has typically a lot of years on it.
15:18
So if you can get access to it, then you can get Google to help you out It's it's one of those things that it's always best just to go by their policies and do what they want you to do With the assumption of the Google business. So we're spending so much time on Google I've heard some things from marketing people not this week, but just like for a while now last couple months with the chat GPS and the You know all of the AI stuff
15:46
I think we should talk a little bit about that this week. I'll give you the honor. I haven't asked anybody else this question, but like my opinion is that's too easy and usually too easy doesn't work. That's just common sense for me. Like I'm pretty sure Google smarter than that. Um, and I've heard some anti AI stuff's being developed or already in. Dude, I I'm way outside my zone right now, but all I know is that easy can't be the answer. So.
16:16
Can you give us a little play on this whole AI situation? Question one, question two is, do we need to start thinking about Bing, because we're spending so much time with Google, Bing, Safari, sorry, I'm missing some others. That's part two of that, so I know. Just take that out how you want it, that question.
16:41
You know, AI is helpful in certain instances. It's just one of those things where it's still technology. It doesn't have that human element. And dentistry is such a relationship business. know, AI is not going to necessarily know if it violates HIPAA. It's not going to know if it says something incorrect. I mean, that's been the biggest thing with it is you've got all this incorrect information that things are spouting off, right? And things that aren't actually factual or true. And so, I mean, if you can...
17:09
learn as it gets better to incorporate aspects, know, chat bots, things like that kind of stuff. Maybe I'm never a fan of automation and dentistry just because it's such a relational business. Like I'm still a handwritten cards kind of advice giver. Yeah. Just because that relationship is so important to people. seems like, it seems like, you know, I was reading something the other day, I'll to find the link and I'll send it to you. But it actually said, you know, that Gen Z is more responsive to traditional advertising than it is digital.
17:37
So it's kind of like a reversion back almost. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, it's interesting. I'll see if I can find the link. was, it was one of my morning rolling through my feeds kind of thing. If you find it, I'll put it below in the description. Yeah. Okay. So, you know, I think it's just, we'll have to see where it goes. I wouldn't put a lot of soccer faith into it right now, honestly, but that's just me in terms of, you know, maybe having it helps you craft social media posts or something. Other than that, I wouldn't, I wouldn't do a lot with it. Yeah.
18:07
And then the second question, did you want to move to the second question? Yeah, well, real, real quick, the chat GP stuff, like I feel like if you're writing a bunch of SEO, like a blog or newsletter or something like you can put in like, you know, invisible, what are the pros and cons of Invisalign for whatever, whatever, like, and you start using it for blog. I feel like Google probably, I mean, everybody's trying to come up with content and that's a way to come up with content.
18:35
I feel like they'll know if it's written by an AI. So I had read that Google was going to penalize it and then they came up with Bard and they like depenalized it. So who knows what they're going to do. It's the biggest thing I would say is, know, if you're having this thing spit out a bunch of content, it's just make sure it's right. Like it's got to be accurate. That's right. You know, that's right. That's that's the biggest thing. And that's these people that are getting in trouble. That's because they're writing incorrect things and not proofreading it and putting it out. Yeah.
19:04
So, Okay. All right. AI. There you go. Yeah, there you go. Part two, Bing. Do we need to talk about what's the other one? Duck, duck, goose with Apple maps, Bing and Apple maps are big. Well, that's it. Apple maps. Okay. So, so nobody's talking about that. Let's talk about that. What's what, do we need to do? What, what should your marketing company be talking about?
19:30
But just submit it. I mean, you just submit yourself to the directories. Just like you do on Google. Essentially, it's Apple and Google are always going to be fighting. They're always going to be competing. And the new Apple Maps is supposed to be pretty sweet. I have yet to really check it out because I use Google. are you saying that because you want to stay as a preferred partner? Is that why you're saying that? I'm not a preferred partner. Oh, yeah. It's just it's just one of those things where, you know, Google is going to make
19:58
Google is going to own the Android and Google and Apple's going to own Apple. And I think the end goal is to kind of push as much as they can, you know, push Google out and vice versa. Apple doesn't really play nice. It doesn't seem like with, with other companies and things. So, uh, just putting yourself in more plays. mean, it's like next door, you know, it's just one of those things where. Put a listing out there. You may as well, you have traffic on it. You've got people paying attention. You know, you may as well be where people are. Yeah. Yeah. So.
20:28
So what about Microsoft? Bing, is that important? Same thing, I guess, is all systems go, get it out All systems go, just get it out there, get yourself on all the major directories you can. Yeah, mean, that, okay, so that's great. Let's go back to kind of like the conversation that we were having right when we started the episode is like why Sean and art of dental marketing is different. So if you're looking at an acquisition,
20:58
Excuse me. And you always have to have a growth play like because of the attrition that you talked about earlier, like you're going to have attrition. So what's the offset of the attrition? And that is marketing growth. Right. So we've we've worked on a lot of startups before. I think of every acquisition as like getting a strategy for growth. What?
21:26
What are some nuggets that you can give to our listeners about like that might be untraditional? I think you shine the brightest when it comes to the untraditional conversation. Well, I appreciate that. Thanks. Well, I mean, I I just think there's a lot of people that do the SEO, the website, all the things. One of your strengths in my opinion is talking about the grassroots and just the different things that can get people more new patient flow. Yeah. A lot of it is, I mean,
21:56
You know, giving people your story and getting that, if you can get the exiting doctor to give you that passing of the torch kind of message to, uh, and just sharing who you are, hobbies, interests, things like that. You know, why did you choose the location you did? Why did you choose to become a dentist? Like those kinds of things that somebody's going to, going to want to know and existing patients like you're new. And so they're kind of apprehension cycle and they've got comfort with the practice and the team and things like that.
22:25
Unless it's a situation where like all the team members fail too, which happens, know, but, um, just leading with your story and giving people commonality, you know, if it's a place that you grew up, tell people that it's a, I grew up here and, know, I just wanted to come back and bring my skillset back home. And so that's what I did. Or if it's, know, I chose this practice to be close to my parents or whatever the reason is, just be honest with people about be be real, be genuine, connect, find a way to connect on a human level. Yeah. And the other.
22:55
I would say the main thing that we do too with our clients is just look at the Google map and use it to your benefit. You know, if there's, if there's a gym nearby, gyms are a good place to market dentistry because you have health focused people that care what they look like. Right. So great opportunity to reap some dental patients, schools and stuff like that. love, I love marketing in and around schools, geo targeting, because you've got, you know, pick up and drop off times, you know, you've got times that, know, you're going to have that mom demographic in that square.
23:23
churches and things like that. You've got service times where you're to have big groups of people together. You can go to your chamber of commerce website and you can see local events and farmers markets, community days, any kind of stuff like that. And just do the old school relationship stuff. You don't let communities show people who you are. Um, it doesn't have to be all gimmicks and you're a dentist. Like they understand you don't have to tell them what you're going to do to them. Just be yourself, you know, and, and, uh,
23:50
talk about patient experience, talk about why you chose the practice that you chose to purchase and what it is about the doctor that you admired and what you hope to continue or any of those kinds of messages will weigh heavily with the existing patients to stick around. So there's just, mean, that ground marketing piece, I think is one that's not really talked about enough because a lot of people just focus on Google and digital and marketing agencies.
24:19
tend to have this kind of set it and forget it approach where they just, kind of hook you up with the keywords that everybody gets and off you go. we'll send you a report. But you know, we've had really good success with getting our doctors motivated to get out in the community and then also just providing ideas to be creative. Like we don't execute, you know, we're not going to come to a farmer's market for you, but if we can find a park or, or, you know, a bridal show or we've done crazy stuff, like even like, you know, dog parks for a doctor that
24:48
that loved her dog. And so she went out to this huge gathering and gifted a pet photography session. Like that kind of stuff works and it's unique and, it's, uh, meeting people on their level, you know, they're not, it's not so scary to meet a dentist when it's just somebody that has a dog too, and you guys strike up a conversation. So there's relationships. No, look, I, you're, talking about it so easily. So, so simply that's cause it's, cause it's the things you think about all the time.
25:17
I don't think my clients, they don't have creativity a lot of times, or they're just set in their normal dental ways. And I think having these conversations about what's possible, like the dog park, the school things, we can talk about that here in a second, but it was making me think like acquisitions, real quick, folks, if you're listening to this podcast, it's because you're thinking about acquisition.
25:45
One of the pros of a startup is that you don't get so bogged down with taking over a company and having the weight and the stress of running a company the minute you close. Like everybody talks about the pros and cons of startup versus acquisition and everybody usually starts going more towards the acquisition because there's cashflow and it seems like it's gonna be so much easier. The truth is,
26:10
the day you close with your acquisition, the weight of the world is on your shoulders and it's scary as shit. And it just comes down on you and the hygienist is coming at you and you have a different concept on perio and the dental assistant needs a raise and it's just a lot of things. And so the last thing they're thinking about, Sean, is going to the farmer's market and setting up a booth and meeting people.
26:37
And usually about a year in, they start getting their feet wet and they're like, oh, we've lost some patients, probably should do some marketing now. And that's when it's kind of too late because you're like, you should have been doing it the whole time. so folks, like nothing wrong with treating your acquisition like a startup and doing some of these grassroots ground marketing things that Sean saw about. Sean.
27:05
What's your favorite? I struggle with gyms. You said gyms. Like what's the best way to approach a gym in your mind? I mean, you've done it a few times. It sounds like what, like what's some ways that you could approach a gym? I I struggle coaching my clients as a free whitening program. I mean, what's the best execution there on that? Yeah, that's one of those things where it's, is it like a family owned gym or is it like a corporate entity type thing? The family owned gyms obviously are much easier because you can just go in and talk to the owner.
27:34
We've done all kinds of stuff. mean, we've done things where we just did, you know, kind of like a campaign with like somebody that's in really good shape with their smiles, you know, not as good looking. And it's just, you know, all this work for a smile that doesn't cut it or something to that effect. know? a dude that shredded and then has it just a jacked up grill. Yeah, because you know that you're going to play on people's insecurities there. Yeah. And then we've also done things too where we had like the gym and then the smoothie shop across the street and the dental practice. all had it.
28:05
like some synergy with discounts and whatnot. And that's the thing too, for like busy doctors and in acquisition, a lot of times doctors get overwhelmed just thinking through this stuff. I always try to get clients to think about, when you're just living your life, so when you leave the practice and you and your husband, you and your wife, you and your girlfriend, whatever, you guys go to dinner or you guys have a favorite coffee shop or you go to, I don't know, like a,
28:33
CrossFit class or something of that effect like think about everything that you're already doing and how you could layer in Marketing and the stuff that you're already doing because rest of pros do with small businesses is huge, right? And so if you go into a local coffee shop and you take a picture of your coffee and you're just like hey my My favorite pick me up before busy day at the office and you tag that coffee shop Yeah, you know they're going to return the favor and hopefully hopefully share it back to their audience and so
29:01
It's as simple as just starting in what you're doing day to day already. Just document it a little bit. everybody has something unique in their neighborhood that they go do. I I've yet to meet somebody that doesn't. I find that when you approach those small businesses, you have to think outside yourself and you have to think about like them first. Like, hey, I think I can partner with you. think my patients would be interested in you.
29:31
Totally. Let me think about how my company, which I'm just getting started or I'm buying, can send you guys business. Let's think about this together. But you almost have to be unselfish and lead with a giving hand instead of asking and having your hand out. Just that's my approach on that matter. Yeah. Yeah. Just something as simple as, can I put some...
29:57
cards or flyers for the gym in our waiting room and will you leave some stuff on your counter for us? know, just simple as that. Yeah. Yeah. Right on. Well, um, back to the acquisitions, Sean, um, re really quickly, um, mechanically, uh, what, since we're talking about like older docs and, like the foundational things, I mean, we're, we're talking about like a lot of the fun creative things.
30:24
Let's go back to the boring foundational stuff real quick. Sorry. Sorry. Have to talk about it. So what are some of like the most common things buyers should kind of like pay attention to when maybe doing some due diligence on that website or that the foundational pieces? Because I, you know, let's just assume they're switching over to ADM. Okay. Uh, but
30:53
They're also like thinking, God, my hair's on fire. A hundred things going on. Like I just said, the weight of the world's coming down. Maybe that's not the first thing that they're thinking about. How do they know what's really bad that has to be changed like ASAP versus, you know, we could wait a year to make this decision. Like what are some things that you're seeing? I guess an easier way to ask. What are some things you're seeing that just are totally bad with the older docs? So usually
31:22
The Google business is one, the social media accounts, like being able to get access to those if they exist. They probably don't even exist. Right. They may, they may not. Maybe their cousin made it for them eight years ago or something they forgot. I don't know. It's, we've seen it all. But that's really important. Just making sure too, that you've got a plan of action with your agency. The site map's huge. know, that website, even if it's aesthetically ugly,
31:52
the map, the layout, the bones of that site is really important. So, you know, know a lot of people want to come in and they want to spend a bunch of money and have a really pretty website and that's great, but you've got to make sure too, you know, there's been a lot of SEO work being done organically just by the Google algorithms and things. And you want to make sure you don't have any missing pages. You want to make sure redirects are done appropriately. And, know, just because you have a really pretty website that costs a lot of money, it doesn't mean that it's any more valuable. So it's just,
32:20
It's one of those things, I mean, we have clients that come in and they're like, about this practice, the site's ranking really, really well. And we have to be really careful with the migration and how we do it. We've had clients where we, you know, we, we wait a little bit, you know, in terms of we just, we don't think it's advantageous for you to move right now kind of a thing. Yeah. But just make sure that your SEO company isn't just coming in because they're going to be thinking, wow, I to sell a website, SEO adverts, all this stuff, right? Yeah. That's. But make sure that they're doing the things that are in your best interests.
32:50
Part of what you're paying a marketer like me for is expertise to make decisions on your behalf, And you're a dentist. And so I'll make the decision for you on what I think you should do. I'll advise you. You have the ultimate say, but I'll tell you what I think we should do. So with the website, you have to treat it kind of with kid gloves a little bit. Make sure the site map's done. Make sure that everything is properly indexed, properly moved over.
33:16
make sure we don't have any missing pages, make sure if there's any glaring SEO issues that those get fixed. There's a lot of things like just embedding a Google map and putting your phone number and address in certain spots on the page that work in your benefit for just the way that the bots crawl. Those are quick things that you can go in an ugly website and fix really quick and they'll give you a little bit of a boost kind of a thing. But just, you know, a lot of transitioning doctors and startup doctors
33:44
They're just, you know, I need this really amazing, super expensive, beautiful website. And then they run into the problem. If they have this beautiful website, then nobody's coming to, because the SEO wasn't done properly, or there's missing elements, or God forbid that site map wasn't taken into account. And so now you've got missing pages and you're tanking, because in all of these years of this site indexing, there's a page or there's a blog that that doctor had that people were going to, and now they're clicking it and saying, hey, this page no longer exists.
34:12
It's not good. You've got to really be careful with this stuff. think that would be my main message is just treat everything with respect in terms of make sure that it's methodical and that you're doing, that your marketer's working on your behalf to do this stuff slowly, because the repercussions are harsh if you make mistakes. Folks, I feel like, I hope that's refreshing because Sean knows that we've been
34:42
dealing with a potential rebrand. And every time he asks me, A, it's frustrating because I don't want to. But we need to. And the reason I don't want to is because of what you just said. You have to respect the algorithm, respect the longevity, respect what's there even though it might be looking like trash. I couldn't agree more. Like, whip.
35:11
Quit doing things on your ego and start looking at things like a business. Yeah, sure, you go on your site, you bought a practice, you paid a million bucks for it, and you want it to reflect you, absolutely. But a bad business decision is changing things prematurely. Couldn't agree with, that's the message, right, Sean? That's the message that you're saying, right? Yeah, and don't make your website and stuff about you, make it about patients.
35:37
People know you're smart, know you're capable, they don't know if you're a better clinician than anybody else. A lot of times they don't know what the alphabet soup after your name means. They just want to know who they like, know and trust basically. And you have the benefit of having a built-in patient base that can immediately be like, oh, Dr. X is amazing. Like experience has never been better. You know, that kind of stuff where you can really hit the ground running. So the last question I'll ask, cause we're getting there is, and we can take as long as we need on it, but.
36:08
finishing up on this kind of topic is like you almost want a marketing company to consult you first before they start selling you on stuff. I, I, that is frustrating for, from a consultant's perspective where I'm advising clients and they're asking me all the questions they should be asking you, not me. I don't know. I don't know this crap, right? Crap quote unquote. And
36:37
Maybe the answer is, is, look, uh, I'd love to sell you a beautiful, sexy website. We can do it. Look at all these samples, but I respect the situation and I can help you with this for now. And let's slowly get into the new site, maybe in 12 months, but like, it's more of a consult of what's working and what's not. And can you take over old websites? I mean, how, how's that even work? Cause there's usually marketing firms on the other end.
37:06
Like let's say that the client wants to work with you Sean, but they don't want to work with the other marketing company. The other marketing company might be hosting or maybe it's independently hosting, whatever. Like how's that all work? Like how can they work with you if they just want to consult and do maybe just Facebook or something? Like how's that all work? As far as transitioning from an old site, we've gone through it all. mean, it's really dependent on the agency. Some agencies are great and they're like, sure, here's the credentials, know, take the site. Some agencies are...
37:36
Hey, it's five grand for you to take the site. Some agencies are, hey, you don't own the website, right? I mean, it's, we've gone through the gamut of things with it. That's awful. Yeah. But typically if they're willing to play ball and you just kind of assume the site, you know, you can give them the updates that need to be made in terms of names, hours, whatever. And that stuff can get done. Or if it's a thing where, you know, we'll pull the site over and we'll host it for a little bit and we'll use the time to build your new site.
38:05
but we're also effectively going through and making sure that we're not missing any steps. And it gives the doctor runway, right? It gives you time to be creative. gives you time to gather assets. gives you time. If you want us to come shoot video or you want to remodel or you want to change something before we come out, you know, it gives us time, but we're still making the phone ring. We're still having those existing patients, you know, they're seeing kind of this similar website to what they're used to. It doesn't really feel like we're rocking the boat too much.
38:32
we get through a recall cycle or two and you've gone through, you're getting a good feel of your patients, they're getting a good feel of you, then you can really start having more freedom to switch things up. In terms of SEO and AdWords, yeah, I we can hit the ground running with that stuff pretty quickly. With the website in particular, you know, if you want just some idea generation, things like that, because it is case by case, I mean, we do that for everybody we talk to on a, just kind of a
39:01
a basic level because everything we build here is custom to the practice, their location, who the doctor is, the kind of dentistry they want to do. We kind of have that preemptive, like here's what we would do in your situation. Yeah. With everybody that we talk to. It's not just the, here's package A, B or C pick one and we'll just throw you in the hopper with everybody else. Yeah. I, it kind of goes back to what you're saying being too political, but it's very true. It case by case situation is totally.
39:30
Like the, my golden roles is kind of like the longer the doctor seller was in command and the, the, the more established that seller and doctor is, um, it's almost like the more respect you give it. If someone's only owned it for five years, you probably okay to just like shake it up. It's going to be fine. But if someone, um, was with the practice for 40 years,
39:59
those patients have been there for at least 20, you know? And so like the minute you change something, just this sign on the door or a simple website, whatever, like that can freak people out, man. That can, yeah. Like would you, would you keep a website you thought was hideously ugly if it was number one on Google maps every time I would, you know what I mean? It's just, it's one of those things. And that's where finding the right partner, you got to find partners. And that's one thing I've always liked about you. Cause you and I are so similar on this.
40:28
You got to find people that will work with you that care about your best interests and not making money off of you. And that's really hard to do in dentistry. I mean, it's really hard to do in anything, but you need somebody you can trust to say, I wouldn't do a website yet. Or, I wouldn't, I wouldn't change this or, wouldn't touch this. Or, uh, I think, you know, your best bet is going to be, let's do this in 12 months or 18 months, or, um, I mean, any number of things, but that's, that's one thing about you. I've always liked is you kind of just tell people what's up.
40:57
and what's in their best interest. And it's something that we like to do too, just because like, know, at end of the day, making money and all, all gotta, you know, we all gotta eat and all that stuff. But it's one of those things too, where, you know, you can make a mistake and cause a practice years of trouble. That's not worth it, you know? The one time you can make a buck, it's just never worth it. It's just never worth it. But...
41:25
That's the integrity piece that I think it's key. Sean, I appreciate your difference to the market and your approach with the ground marketing and creativity. think that's something that this industry is missing is the creativity. I love looking at every unique patient, client, whatever, and just really thinking about them and first, right? Because I think that's
41:54
That's where the fun happens. So Sean, thanks for that buddy. Any last little tidbits, something you want to say or give I can put in the show notes or how to get a hold of you. How to get a hold of you. We're going to have all that below, but any, anything I'm missing other than you want to say or give. Yeah. Feel free to send me an email if you need anything. It's Sean, S E A N art of dental marketing, or you can always visit our website art of dental marketing.com. have.
42:23
the art dental marketing Facebook group that's, you know, it's really just doctors for the most part, but we just share updates and ways to look at things and changes and stuff like that. It's not, you know, it's not like a bunch of folks sharing like cat memes and stuff like that all the time, but it's just a place to kind of share ideas and get the word out on updates and things that are going on because things are ever changing all the time.
42:47
And you know, honestly, anybody that's working with you, I we always, you know, take care of them in any way we can. We've got some discounts on some different services and things that we offer. But just to give you a fair, you know, here's kind of an action plan of what I would recommend. You know, if you guys watch the show, just tell me that you saw the show and we'll gladly spend, you know, an hour or so with you just coming up with kind of a battle plan, looking at the Google map with you, checking out the Chamber of Commerce and stuff like that. That's where we get a lot of our ideas of things going on in the community.
43:16
And, you know, even if you just have some ideas, maybe listening where it's, Hey, I do go to the gym or Hey, I do, you know, I do have a photography class that I go to on Saturday or something. If you want some out of the box ideas on things like that too, that's what I like to do. You know, building websites and all is fun, but I like to do the creativity with the ground marketing. Like that's, that's my favorite thing to do. And, you know, it's funny, like, like dentistry is one of the only places, cause I worked in marketing before I got into this and
43:44
It's one of the only places where you come in and you have this vision for your company and you're like, hey, this is what I want to do. And marketing companies are like, that's cool, but we're going to put you in this little box right here. Anywhere else. Like, know, if you call it Pepsi calls an advertiser, they're not going to be like, hey, that's a great idea, but we're going to do this. Let's change the logo to green and yellow. Yeah, they're like, they're like, how can we build your vision? And I think it's it sucks for doctors because.
44:11
You spend all these years leading up to this. mean, how many nights you spend laying in bed staring at your ceiling, thinking about when you get to the point that this is your baby and it's your practice. And then you come in with this idea and the marketing company is like, we can't do that. No, we don't do that. It's it's crazy. I mean, it's absolutely crazy. Well, well, well said, buddy. I on point as always. Thank Sean, thanks for thanks for the time, folks. If you don't understand that give, it's a really big give.
44:41
called time. And Sean and I were just talking about how busy we were in a good way. And so if Sean's given you an hour of his time, take it because he's Mr. Ideas. And I appreciate that about him. So that that's a huge gift. I'll have contact below. If you're not watching it on YouTube, you need to wear a bunch of jokers just staring at each other, you should you should watch it. And yeah, Sean, thanks so much. Again, art of dental marketing, Sean.
45:09
Thanks for being on the program and thanks for being part of Shark Week. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm telling you, go find the Jackass episode. The guys from Jackass did a Shark Week episode. It's hilarious. Killer. It's absolutely hilarious. Well, I'm not going to act like the Jackass guys, but I might do some weird stuff to promote this week as I always do. So, Shark Week.
45:38
2023 is at you, Sean. Thanks for being a part of peace out brother. Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it.
45:54
hear from you. Interact with your host Michael Dinsio. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Comment and subscribe.