Show Notes
To clarify, if you are in a metroplex, most people are only going to travel about 5 miles to visit your location. If you live in a rural area, you may get a little bit more, but there aren’t anyways to become a dentist virtually, that we know of, YET. This episode is perfect for that dentist that is just starting out or the one trying to stay ahead of the curve in technology so new dentists don’t pass them up.
- Focus on community engagement
Join your local chamber of commerce, networking group, and local club like a rotary or Lions.
- Content creation
Find a way to put out content to help your audience, the more frequent the better. Whether it’s a blog, podcast, video, etc. If you can work up to doing all of the above, that would be ideal. Don’t worry, your competition isn’t doing much, you know it’s true because right now you probably aren’t doing much either.
- Sponsorships
Sponsor local events or charities, but the trick here is to sponsor areas that you actually care about. Throwing money at something isn’t always going to work, find something you are passionate about and that will inadvertently do much better.
- Digital + offline advertising
Put gasoline behind your fire. If what you are doing is working, put advertising spend behind it. Do not go to this step first, if you don’t have good content then adding more money behind it won’t help you long-term. Collect email addresses + mailing addresses and stay in touch with your contacts at least once per week.
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Transcript
Christian [00:00:00] Hey what's going on today. We got to talk about how to become a subject matter expert for dentistry in your area. We're actually covering four steps and sort of walking you through. I don't think we put it in order, but we actually have them in order and we walk through different things in different stages of becoming a subject matter expert in your area. Check it out. This is the Marketing Natives providing actionable ways to grow, improve and.
Aaron [00:00:35] Hey, guys. So before we jump in, we want to clarify a few things that we're talking about a dentist, a dentist dentist and dentist. Those are local business owners, which means that even if you live in a rural area, people are going to travel maybe 5, 10 miles max, maybe 15 if you're like a really good dentist or you if you live in a rural town of like five people are like one hundred people, then yeah, people may travel far. However, the vast majority of you, even if you live in a metroplex, most of your customers are going to travel five miles, max. So because of that, these tips are focused on getting people and being a subject matter expert in your community, which is about five to 10 mile radius in your town or even your side of town, depending on how big of a location you are in.
Aaron / Christian [00:01:22] Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. Oh, yeah, for sure. Right. You're not going to drive to a dentist who lives 15 miles away regularly anyway.
Aaron [00:01:32] Maybe he's gonna give you a great deal on, you know, some implants or you're going to get a new crown or something. But it's not like every six months you're gonna go drive 20 miles.
Christian [00:01:41] And I think that I mean, we kind of looked at it ourselves the same way. Instead of having these huge dreams of becoming like a Gary Vaynerchuck or whatever, like nationwide, you know, type of.
Christian [00:01:59] Influence, I guess, in sort of hunting down more into the local people and local scene and things like that, and I think one of the things that has helped us a lot is focusing on community engagement and there should be number one. Yeah, and it is number one. Number one. So for us, I mean, joining in the local chamber of Commerce, starting out networking groups, local clubs, Toastmasters, things like that, rotary lions are all things that just help you get noticed by local people. Local people have a lot of power within communities and cities and towns.
Christian [00:02:38] And that's what you want. You want to create those relationships with people in those towns, cities, towns, neighborhoods, whatever. And create the sense of community and you being part of the community. We started. I mean, we talked about this a lot, but we started being content in networking groups before.
Christian [00:02:59] Did we have a name?
Aaron [00:03:01] We did not have a name. No, I started going. I think even before we moved here. So I got invited in. And then like you went to your first networking group in January of 2016. Now was going from October of 2015, which we didn't even have a BitBranding was not a name until November.
Christian [00:03:16] Right. So. So, yeah, it was it was a lot of networking, just meeting people, creating relationships before you even have a name or anything like that. So and that has helped us tremendously within our local area on being these subject matter experts.
Christian [00:03:36] Even back then, we the way we talked and the way the way that we presented ourselves maybe wasn't even the best or we didn't look like experts at all. We just keep kind of going at it and talking relevant things and saying things and people test those things that you're saying and it works for them. And that's where you just start to to become this expert. I'm putting air quotes out here in your in your industry.
Aaron [00:04:01] Yeah. And I think along with that, there's something that we did not cover was also the fact that those who stay around the longest. So with this community engagement, we may or may not talk about a little bit later. Let me do a check to make sure. No, we don't. Is that if you continue to show up and in these communities or in these local chambers and events and you show up to those things and you just continue to show you your show your face, like even if somebody doesn't necessarily know who you are before they're still think there's still you're still top of mind, I guess, is what I'm trying to get at.
Aaron [00:04:39] So by being part of that, it's still getting your face out there regardless. And at the beginning of your business time is, you know, a little bit more it's a little bit easier to have than it is money at that point. So a little bit cheaper than advertising. All right. No dos. Here we have content creation. And we talked about this in a previous episode about how content creation is so important. And I think that that's also something that we did well at the beginning, was create content. And it was not necessarily good. Probably would be very cringeworthy to go watch and watch it back afterwards. But we did create content from the very beginning and we didn't even know we were talking about in the sense that we knew what we're talking about. But, you know, the day of or whatever was more like, hey, we just want we know we want to talk about this. We don't know why we want to, but we're just getting better on video. And we didn't know why we're doing it, but we're just putting out a ton of content. And it did get us more comfortable on video. And I think it did help us with launching TipForTip, which is something that's on now. And I think without TipForTip, we probably wouldn't have launched this podcast because we wouldn't have been have been as comfortable. So just going out there and creating content and we have so much kind of content there now with a blog and a podcast and our videos show and then just our regular content on Facebook and Instagram that people are constantly telling me, wow, you guys put out a lot of content. And that's actually a good thing, because if somebody is looking at us, even if they don't consume all of our content, I feel like they still are like, oh, I read I saw this one to TipForTip, you know, one month. And then the next month I listen to your podcast and then I read your emails. I'm on parts of your email. And then, you know, two months later, I saw a tweet that you guys did. And then I saw your Instagram post last week. And that's what made me decide to actually work with you guys, because I was like, hey, look, if I'm on, I if I need help or we hit that one point. Finally, where are we? You know, triggered something. And I was like, yeah, I need to contact these guys. So it's just I feel like it's more at bats, basically.
Christian [00:06:44] I think you're saying when it comes to content creation is to not just focus on one place, but have these multiple touch points if you want to be viewed as a subject matter expert. I think people value more the fact that your. Now, a lot of content in it to me, this is a truth, is that we sort of repeat ourselves over and over and over constant just tweaking it and saying it differently. Different formats, different places. And I've noticed Gary Vaynerchuck. He does the same thing. He pumps a lot of content. But if you really, truly listen to his message, it's almost always the same thing. You know, with a little cross words here and there.
Aaron [00:07:23] One thing that helps with the consistency of our brand, too, because we changed what we said all of the time as a core, then it would be really wishy washy and people don't really gravitate towards that. So I think that is you know, I think that is a plus side for you. Who's trying to be a subject matter expert?
Christian [00:07:40] Yes. I just creating a lot of content and then having multiple touch points. So it just kind of seems like you're everywhere.
Aaron [00:07:46] Yeah, I think Neil Patel coined it as I go. It's called Omni Present, which is omnipresent. Yeah.
Aaron [00:07:51] Which, you know, as a dentist, you could create a lot of videos, a lot of video content. And I think there is a content creation strategy that Garyvee put out a while ago, and then we've shared it before. But basically, you know, you could do a video and then take screenshots of that video to make images for like Instagram and then re strip that audio to turn it into a podcast. So it's not like you have to create all this other content. It's like you can do one longer piece of content and use that over and over again, which we're not really using this podcast or the like people we interview with. We're not using that to our full extent. We do it on Facebook and Instagram, but we don't strip it and put it into, you know, other stuff either, which we probably should. But you don't have to recreate the wheel every time you can do one long piece of content and then just break it up. All right, guys, this is your favorite part of the episode. And if this if you're new, too, about to be your new favorite part this week, we tell you guys a little bit about BitBranding. For those of you who have never listened before, we're based in Allen, Texas, where a digital marketing agency, Christian I started this back in 2015 ish 2016 early around that era. So I've been around a few years. We help local business owners and those who are looking to sell online products. And if you are one of those businesses who do does not have a Web site, maybe you're listening to this and you're like, dang, I'm about to start my new dentist practice or hey, I'm part of this group or I hired a dentist Website building company and I don't really own my Website. And I pay thirty five dollars a month and I have to pay or two hundred dollars a month and had to pay it every month for the rest of my life. If you're one of those people, contact us immediately at 5, 5, 5. I'm just going to go anywhere on social media, at BitBranding or hello at BitBranding dot co and or just go to our Website. But Branco, reach out to us. We'll give you a quote. Christian just created this awesome calculator. We can even. I don't know if we'll be on our Website or anything yet, but you can reach out to us. We'll send you the calculator and you can fill that out and just get a quote that way. You know, you had to talk to us. You can just put in what kind of website that you want and you can actually get a price for that for that Web site. But the last thing you want to do is lease a Web site. What we do is we build a Website and then afterwards we hand the keys over to you. You own it. If you don't like us afterwards, that rarely happens. But if you don't like us afterwards or you want to breakup, you can take the Website with us or with you. But if you continue, if you stop paying with another company, then you don't have a Website anymore. And we've actually experienced this firsthand. So I know what it is like to get into that group. And this is becoming a very long end. But if you need help with your Website and you are a dentist or in a similar field and you're renting your Website, make sure to go to a BitBranding dot co or follow us. Reach out to us on social media, at BitBranding.
Christian [00:10:55] And we're back. Number three sponsorships. Yeah, the first one was computer engagement.
Christian [00:11:01] So getting involved, the community sort of organically like that. But this next one is, you know, sponsorship. So either sponsoring and local events, charities getting behind something where you become let people know you.
Christian [00:11:19] I guess for I don't know, you know, helping dogs right at home. Right. So you're the dentist that helps dogs get homes.
Aaron [00:11:32] So that's their favorite dentist since the dog is homeless.
Christian [00:11:37] Yeah. So is this like it's a way for, you know, for you to again, just trying to make you connect with more people? Right. So as long as you're sort of backing up some sort of, you know, cause or you have a motto or goal, you know, that you're trying to help something beyond just yourselves and your patients, people get behind that. And I don't know if this is what you're kind of going with, but in my mind, that's what, you know, subject matter expert.
Christian [00:12:09] You know, it's about, you know, trying to get yourself in front of a lot more eyeballs and doing something like that. By definition, does that, you know, getting behind some sort of cost or goal? And people do like to sort of see some of these things into into fruition as well. So I'm talking about goals like, for example, like you like running and stuff like that. Like how many people have you told you, you know, so awesome. Like, I want to follow you and your journey.
Christian [00:12:40] You know, I'm kind of deviating from the sponsorship ethic here aspect, but I think it is important and it does, you know, just bring more people and you're just kind of become a more wholesome, you know, subject matter experts, not just about this, this, this, this, this. It's about this other big goal that you have.
Aaron [00:12:58] Right. And I think there's two parts to that, too. It's like one of it could be selfishly like it feels good to help other people. And if you've never helped somebody else and you shouldn't do that, and then, you know, we're talking about and if you have you know what we're talking about already. But the other part of it is that you have to be passionate about what you're sponsoring. Like you just you're going to there like question saying, you know, it's going out there to get in front of eyeballs like, yes, that's going to happen. But people can see right through that. So it better it would be better for you to sponsor, like Christian said, the dogs, because you're really passionate about like adopting animals and get in front of 300 people and eventually over time, maybe that makes sense for you versus saying like, hey, I want to sponsor a raise for, you know, the Allen School District or your school district. But you really don't care about that nearly as much as the dogs. But you're going to be in front of 5000 people versus 300. I think at the end of the day, in a in a net net game that the going the dog out and what you're passionate about is going to is going to win nine times out of 10 versus trying to go to the crowd that has the most amount of people because there's so many other places to do sponsorship. But if you're not really passionate about it, you just put money behind it. It's not really going to work. So doing sponsorships should be really sort out. I mean, don't just write a check. There should be a little bit more involvement with it for you to really, truly be successful. And for you to be that subject matter expert and get your name out there for show.
Christian / Aaron [00:14:26] All right. Last thing we have here is the gasoline, right? Gasoline. So digital and on offline advertising. And yeah, they realize it. But yeah, we put it in order. So the last one here is putting gasoline on your already existing fire.
Aaron [00:14:44] So if you're a dentist and you've been doing really well, you say you've been part of the local Chamber of Commerce, you're part of the Lions Club. You've been creating videos every week. You've been doing sponsorships at the local, you know, a wall or something like that. And then you start to run like Facebook or Instagram or YouTube ads. Now, it seems like you're like everywhere. You know, it's like, hey, that's that guy who helped out over it. A wall or oh, hey, is that hey, that's that guy that told me that the charcoal cleaning doesn't actually work or hey, that's that guy that helped me, you know, figure out how to use a toothpick out of a fishing line or whatever. And. Now, you've stood out to that person and now you may get a new customer because you've put more fire or more gasoline on the fire to reach more people. And what's good about a local business is, you know, depending on the size of your business here, at least for us and Allen, you know, a five mile radius, you can reach two hundred thousand people depending on how much money you have. You'll probably reach to all of those. Two hundred thousand people with advertising. It's not going to be super expensive for you to do that. You're not trying to reach millions of people. So it's a really good idea for you to do that. And then the next big part of this digital plus offline advertising, at least what I was trying to say is and I don't think we do this too much, but we're trying to offline advertisement. Yeah. Like getting in magazines I don't think makes sense for us.
Christian [00:16:13] But billboards. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's like five thousand dollars like a week. Have you heard of that blip. Blip. It's billboards. But what you can do it with the ease of online advertising. Right. So you just kind of order it as you would order a Facebook ad. It says all digital is all digital.
Aaron [00:16:34] Okay. I mean, that maybe makes sense. I think I talked to you about doing offline advertising outside of like independent members, like four hundred dollars a month. And we'd have our been a BitBranding right there, which I think we have a local impact in our hometown community. So it makes sense. Plus, it'd be pretty cool to go drive home and see that our billboard on out there and it was yeah, it was super inexpensive, which we should probably revisit that again. It's maybe an investment, but not I'll find him. It could be offline advertising like the I don't know, like putting your name in a magazine that, you know, may work. But what I'm thinking about it is using digital to collect e-mail addresses and addresses and sending people things in the mail. So a lot of people send these little chatzky things that are basically a bunch of junk and hurt the environment. And, you know, nobody really likes that stuff. Chatkiss That's what I call it. That's like a oh, hey, this is a paper bag clip thing and oh, here's my pencil and here's my whistle. And here's this little Band-Aid holder, like all this stuff that nobody really wants or anything like that and ends up in the trash and there's been thousands of dollars. So instead of doing that, you could get an email addresses and addresses and actually send gifts to people who sign up. Trust me, you're not gonna get thousands of people. You may get a couple of hundred. It'll still be cheaper, but it might. Hey, Christian, you signed up and I'm gonna send you dental floss or toothpaste in the mail that's branded for me. Like, hey, free toothpaste. Heck, yeah, I like why would I not sure. Mail me some toothpaste. My favorite is Toms or my favorite is Colgate or whatever. And it's you know, they mail it to me. OK, sweet. So every time that you go and brush your teeth, I didn't make this about my head. It's a good idea. But every time I go brush my teeth, I see your brand, which is that's pretty good marketing if you don't use that. It's going to become a dentist and use it. But that's what I mean by that, like the offline advertising kind of thing.
Christian [00:18:32] Got it. Yes, that makes sense. So no billboards?
Aaron [00:18:36] No. I mean, you could but that. That's. I mean, if your rules like Kansas then. Yeah. Have you're like metroplex like Dallas. Probably not.
Christian [00:18:49] Yeah. I really do want to look into that bleep thing.
Aaron [00:18:51] But I we'll look at bleep after this. Well you guys see some bleep. And then you go listen to this podcast afterwards. You'll know why.
Christian [00:19:00] All right. So there you have it. Four ways on how to become a subject matter expert for your industry in your local area. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to like and subscribe. If you're on Apple podcast, if you're not still, make sure that you subscribe or like or join or I don't know what other sort of verbiage any of the other podcast apps have out there. But make sure to also either don't find us on Instagram and let us know how we're doing on the podcast or send us a DM’s like hey, I came from your podcast. You guys are doing awesome and let us know what you want to your next. We would love to create content that you guys will listen to and we'll actually put into practice. So if you actually put some of this stuff into practice, we also would like to know about these things.
Christian [00:19:48] You can just hit us up on on Twitter or Instagram at BitBranding. All right. See you guys next week.
