If you have been a regular listener on my Savvy Dentist Podcast, you may know I have achieved the 200th episode mark. This episode is all about what I learned from my guests in my 4 years of podcasting and how I have managed to build an audience and have them return over and over again. The strategies I use to get my audience back are the same strategies you can use to keep your dental patients coming back through your door. We all want to connect with our patients in between visits. Your patient base is your audience. Anyone you are marketing to is your audience. So, delve into my 5 secret tips for building an audience. It doesn’t matter whether your building a podcast audience or a patient base – these secret tips will give you the edge and are rarely considered.
1. Consistency is Key
There is essentially nothing more important in business than being consistent in what you do. If you follow a certain routine one day and decide to quit it the next, your colleagues and team will feel muddled about your strategy. Can they really rely on someone who is not sure about their own game? Why would patients they come to you if they can’t trust the fact that you are there for them in their time of need? Managing time so that a proper system is created for you proving reliable is what will set you apart.
Same in the case of a podcast. You need to set up a time and date for your recordings. Build discipline and structure around your agenda. The podcast needs to be published weekly, so that the audience knows they have something to look forward to and they can depend on your presence. You will struggle at the newness of the task, but systemise and results will be apparent in a short period of time. Learn to create boundaries around your time. As Jim Ryan rightly said, “We all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret”. Opt for pain of discipline to avoid pain of regret.
2. Communication Creates Connections
This is the digital age. Everything is present in the form of written word or pictures. It is fantastic as it allows for far reaching messages. But it has led to certain restrictions. Communication, real talk, one-on-one chats are fast becoming a thing of the past, and this is what is pushing people away from each other. When it comes to business relationships, they can only be strengthened with communication. An email is good, but it is not enough. You need to develop empathy and connection with your patient and your audiences – which includes your potential patients.
What is even more important to understand is that communication is not just talking, it is the ability to connect. Making a connection means saying something relevant and that the audience may think about for a little while, or may jog a memory, or lead them to act on an idea or create interest or desire. So, make sure you are sending messages that will be understood the way you intend them. Aim not to inform but to connect with your audience. This is why it is necessary to choose words with care, so that they generate not just an impact, but also lead to influence. Hence the reason why your communication needs to create a connection.
3. Keep Your Word!
This is something that you need to learn early on. If you have committed to something, then be sure to follow up on it. If you promise something in your marketing make sure you deliver it. It is what develops trust and reliability among target audience and patients. When you keep your word, even when you aren’t absolutely sure about something, people who deal with you realise that your business is one they can depend on and is honourable, trustworthy.
4. Take the Plunge
There comes a point in time, where you just have to make the leap. You can’t continue to wait around and think this is not the right time, or I will begin when I have better equipment, or better ideas, or more money to invest in my marketing. If you feel that you can do something, even if it is simple, just get into it. Thinking of making a video that you think others can benefit from? Pick up your phone and make it. Want to start your own YouTube channel or podcast station? Get on your iPhone right now. Don’t worry about the quality of the video, or the lack of professionalism. There has to be a first time and this is yours! You never know when a video or audio may go viral.
5. Knowledge Leads to Impact
Many business people are under the impression that they know best. This is the beginning of their downfall. Knowledge is never perfect, nor complete. We are always in need of mind growth. And where can that come from? By connecting to people from various walks of life. You will be surprised by how much you learn when talking to different people who experience a life different to your own. Every time you question someone, they will leave you with some thoughts and ideas that you may never have come across before. So, it’s simple. Get to know your patients so you can connect with them better. Ask about their family, their kids school, their careers, their hobbies and habits.
This connection to others is what expands your thought process. You discover nuggets of information that you can use and lay out for others to ponder. Useful information, when gained, is always multiplied. And this is what your patients and audience will come to expect from you and will then anticipate each time they hear from you. They will know that you are the source they can count on. You can share a patient’s story with other’s. You may have a patient that climbed mountains in Nepal, or won an Olympic medal, or speaks 5 languages, or runs a charity, or is a specialist in something interesting or unusual. These are all stories – it’s all knowledge – that when shared with other patients – others in your audience – can create connection and impact, interest and audience loyalty.
Try to action my 5 secret tips for strengthening and growing your audience. You will be surprised by how well they work out for you and help you acquire a regular and loyal following.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready …. here are 4 ways I can help you grow your dental practice:
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
