So what if the big practices in town can afford full page newspaper ads, flashy billboard and radio advertisements and fancy direct mail promotions. They may be able to out spend you in every marketing arena that money can buy, but you can wage an effective battle in marketing arenas that money can't buy.

If you put in the time, energy, and your imagination, you can gain the same marketing leverage that many of your competitors get by putting up mega-bucks. By using a low cost, power-packed arsenal of marketing communication weapons, you can actually out-market your competition.

Here are twelve (12) low cost, sure fire ways to out-market the hottest of the marketing "hot shots" while boosting your practice's bottom line and patient base. Suffice it to say that these twelve are merely a sampling ... and there are scores of inexpensive but powerful marketing techniques at your disposal.

1. TAG LINE ... in a few well chosen words a tag line defines your practice philosophy, identity or prime benefits. Every small business should have one. Think about tag lines you hear every day that meet this criteria:

   General Electric: "We Bring Good Things to Life."

   Maytag: "The Dependability People."

   Now let's take some examples in the dental field:

   LABORATORIES:

   "Your Partner in Mastering New Technologies."
   "We Take Your Practice of Dentistry as Seriously as You Do."

   MANUFACTURERS:

   "Meeting the Needs of Today's Dental Professional."
   "We Strive for Perfection in Everything We Do for You."

   Now what about dental practices?

   "We Want to Make You Smile."
   "We Cater to Cowards."
   "Every Dental Service for Children and Adults."

   Once you come up with a snappy and appropriate tag line, consistently and prominently display it on all of your promotional material ... business cards, stationery, flyers, newsletters, advertisements, invitations... anything that leaves your office.

2. BUSINESS CARDS ... Ideally, your business cards should do more than convey your name, address, and phone number. They should be mini advertisements. You can list your hours of practice, names of associates, dental specialties performed, insurances which are accepted, a photo of you and your dental health care team, etc.

3. COOPERATIVE ADVERTISING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES ... If you have a solid reputation in the community, local businesses would probably welcome the opportunity to tie-in with your practice: All you have to do is ask. For example, patients who open checking accounts at a particular bank could receive a free prophy or cosmetic dentistry consultation. Identifying which businesses to approach depends on knowing who your patient's are by gathering information on where they live, their profession, the credit cards they use, their hobbies, if they are married, or single, etc.

4. WELCOME WAGON ... If your practice is located in or near an office park, roll out the welcome wagon for new tenants. Whenever a new company moves into an office park adjacent to you or office building, send over something snappy which will not only get your office remembered, but will help market your practice e.g., a welcome basket with coffees, teas, cookies, a tee-shirt with your practice logo, brochure, invitation for a free consultation, and of course a welcome letter signed by you and your dental health team members. You will find that such a gift basket will cost you in the range of approximately $70.00 dollars ... and since this is personalized, you will get much better response from it than an ad in the local newspaper or the yellow pages simply because it's personal.

5. PUBLIC RELATIONS ... Nothing beats free publicity, but you won't get any if you wait for the media to knock on your door. Instead learn to write a press release and keep local newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations updated on what's happening in your practice and the latest advances in dentistry. What you're trying to do is establish yourself as a recognized expert in the dental health field so that when a newsworthy story involving let's say, implants arrives on the scene, you are the person they call for a professional opinion ... so the publication can write about the benefits of a procedure for the patient public. What better way to get free publicity? Remember, the media may also interview someone from a large dental clinic, but that's even better for you because the media is putting you on the same level as the big corporate practices in town.

6. PHONE MESSAGES ... All the rage today is commercial messages on-hold. The principle is simple enough... just call one of the many companies that produce these message tapes. They will write the script for your tapes based on the topics you give them. Make sure the tapes focus on the services you provide, your practice hours, the benefits of various types of dental procedures, e.g., implants, cosmetic veneers, etc. Once your script is approved, they'll help you decide what type of music to play in the background and produce the finished CD or tape for you. Patients will constantly be reminded of your services while they are briefly on-hold, which will stimulate inquiries about your practice. You'll be surprised how inexpensive and easy it is to get this type of promotion done.

7. SEMINARS AND LECTURES ... Delivering seminars and lectures serves two purposes. Educational programs help establish you as an authority in the community, and they serve as a springboard to patient services. This is a perfect mechanism to disseminate information to the community and your patient base about the latest advances in dentistry such as implants, cosmetic dentistry and TMJ disorders. But don't discount other subjects which are very important to your patient base e.g., stress management, the need for proper diet and exercise, etc. (subject matter such as this makes for a perfect alliance with local businesses).

8. APARTMENT BUILDINGS ... The next time an apartment building or condominium complex goes up in your area, talk with the developer or real estate agent about offering a free prophy or cosmetic dentistry consultation to all their new tenants. Once you've established an arrangement with the developer or real estate agent, it's just a simple matter of printing up a special offer flyer or pamphlet which is included in every new tenants' information packet.

9. POINT OF INTEREST DISPLAYS / FREE COUPONS ... Point of interest displays and corresponding tear off coupons placed in businesses that your patient's frequent... deliver a high impact at a low cost. Of course, you must offer something to these potential patients to take the coupon ... fill it out, and put it back into the box attached to the point of interest display. Such displays can be placed in video stores, banks, restaurants, dry cleaners, etc. However, it may be difficult to measure the success of these take one coupons or fill-ins which are returned to you on a weekly basis, since you can't be sure if people are actually reading your information or just using the coupons for scrap paper. One good way to track whether potential patients are utilizing this information is to have your receptionist ask new patients how and where they heard of the practice. That should give you a good idea of whether your coupons or "take ones" are working.

10. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ... The more you are with the community, the higher your profits will be in the long run. By community involvement we mean joining local organizations, attending charity events, conducting workshops, making monetary contributions, speaking to various groups, and disseminating information about maintaining good oral health wherever and whenever possible. You may end up doing a lot of things for free, but it comes back to benefit you and your practice in the long run.

11. HEALTH FAIRS ... Compared to other forms of generating leads, health fairs are one of the most cost effective, if you find the right one. Even trade shows for different industries may be a cost effective way to find new patients. For example, maybe there is an auto show or a boat show or even a flower show in your area that generates a lot of traffic. Rent a booth at the show and offer once again a free consultation within a specified period of time (such as a 30 day time limit on the consultation). Chances are, your competitors won't think of being there and you will receive the benefits of your progressive thinking.

12. NEWSPAPER COLUMNS ... Capitalize on the popularity of current health and fitness trends by offering to write a weekly or monthly column on dental health care as part of a total health/fitness regimen for a local publication. Don't ask for money, only for a mention of your name and the name of the practice and phone number. Who knows, you may discover that one of your patients publishes the local newspaper!

When you begin to employ these marketing communication techniques, keep in mind what marketing professionals always say: A marketing message must penetrate a prospects mind a total of nine times before that individual actually becomes a patient/customer. For every three times you expose the prospect to your marketing message, it gets missed or ignored two of those times. So you have to put out the word about your practice a total of twenty-seven times in order to make those nine all important impressions! What is the bottom line? Develop a marketing strategy and stick with it.

A large number of small businesses run their marketing for a few weeks or even a few months, then stand back so not to be stampeded by their new customers. However nothing happens. So they change their marketing. Again nothing happens ... the more you change your marketing the more nothing will happen. The key to success is twofold:

1. Don't get discouraged ... the national average for response to direct mail & advertising is half of one percent (0.5%)! That means it's going to take some time to develop a constant flow of new patients to build your practice.

2. Repetition & Consistency ... once you establish your marketing image, theme, tag line, etc. stick with it. Push your marketing message on all fronts for a minimum of eighteen months before you consider changing some aspect of the program.

Eventually, you'll believe in the power of good marketing and your practice will substantially increase its revenues and patient census!