Good Advisers Are Worth Their Weight in Gold

Most successful business people will acknowledge that their business success is due in no small way, to the help they received from a selected group of people known as "business advisers".

It is impossible for a business owner to know everything about everything, and it is a mistake to think that they can do everything on their own. At some time or another every business owner will need to consult these people for business advice or assistance.
Don’t do it all yourself. 
The requirements of commerce, the strategies involved in business, and the expertise required in many areas of business, mean that most people are unlikely to have all the specialised skills necessary to run their business efficiently and profitably.
Any type of arrogant thinking is a recipe for failure, stress and burnout.

We hear too often from our clients "Oh... I can do that myself or have an intern write the marketing materials to save some money." Think again. 100% of the time our clients come back humbled, having wasted precious time not getting the job done right or done at all. Or even worse, they started paying tid bit fees to to get stuff done without an overall strategy or plan on what to do and when and how to do it.

As a business owner you simply will not have the time or energy to do everything yourself and if you are a one-man business or one-woman business, the stress will be more evident if you have no-one else to discuss business issues with. In any event, it is unwise to try to do everything alone or in isolation when there are people available who have the expertise and the skills to help in your business - the business adviser.



Find and build your team
. Your team of advisers will generally be made up of an accountant, a lawyer, a bank manager, an insurance consultant, and a finance broker. In addition, make sure that you have a marketing & PR specialist on bord, somebody that helps you create or re-define your company, your branding your image and how to communicate what you have to offer.

Advisers can make a huge difference to the smooth running of your business. Always look for professional advisers who are business oriented, rather than professionally oriented. 

Most lawyers and accountants, for example, are experienced in their field, but they also need to offer advice regarding the law and accounting as it directly relates to business. It's not enough to simply get a professional adviser. You need to seek the services of a person who knows something about business. Your Marketing & PR Specialist should not only create ads or write a press release: he should consult you on your branding and image, research your market and get you in touch with your target group via a selected array of Marketing and PR tools

Too many people think there is a special mystique attached to the members of professions such as lawyers or accountants and they believe that any professional adviser will do a good job. WRONG!

The fact is, while some advisers have specialist knowledge, their competence to apply that knowledge may be questionable. 

Make a point not to seek an adviser simply because they happen to be handy to your business. Seek someone who has competency in their field, relating to business even if they have offices on the other side of town.

Conclusion: Outsource, be the CEO of your company and work on your business, not 'in' your business. Focus on what you do best and leave the rest to the experts.

Source:StartRunGrow 2006



© 2006 Copyright StartRunGrow

Do Dentists Need A Website?

Patients will migrate to dentists who 'seem' to be popular. You don't believe us? Well, image is everything nowadays. Even as a dentists. Conclusion: Dentists need to spend their Marketing budget more wisely, and get into more marketing activities at the same time. But which ones? More advertising in which magazines? More direct mail campaigns in which zip codes? Do I need a dental website or a relaunch of my old website? How do I convert the 'curious' patient into the 'visiting and paying' patient? etc.etc. So many questions, so many answers?

No, there are not that many answers. Just analyze the marketing activities that work: Direct mail campaigns are still very successful, ads in regional magazines are certainly no waste of money, too, and a 'good' website definitely drives new patients to your practice. But what is a 'good' website? !

Your website is a vitally important part of a comprehensive marketing plan. It is a great way to build and improve your image, find new patients, educate your patients and provide information for individuals who have received one of your printed marketing pieces. So, what is a 'successful' website? Not just a good ‘looking’ one! A 'successful' good website is the sum of many factors, including customer-friendly navigation, attractive design, the right keywords, interesting content, technical matters etc.

The Internet has changed the way people communicate and interact with each other. It has changed the way businesses communicate with current and potential clients, also for businesses like dental or medical practices. What amazes us most is that after 20 years of computers and 10 years of Internet, we still find dentists, who don’t even own a computer or have access to the Internet in their practice. If you want to build an image around you, attract sophisticated and paying patients, retain employees and obtain patient referrals, and you do not use the internet, you will have a very hard time to catch up with all the hungry, internet savyy dentists pushing into the market every day.

Did you know that 52% of people who see an online video ad go to a website, visit a physical location, or buy something." This amazing statistic is from the Frames of Reference Study in 2007 by the Online Publishers Association. How would you like to increase your patients by a whopping 52%?

There is so much new patient potential out there, but a nice looking website is just not enough. Keep in mind: No Traffic - No Demand - No Patients! As a dentist you not only need a website, you need an internet presence which converts the 'curious' into 'patients": Find it. Like it. Buy it!

Some quick advise about web design: Do not try to build your website yourself! Ask a professional web designer and content writer to build a high ranked website. In any case, they should offer not only an easy-to-use content management system (i.e. typo 3), but also affordable SEO services (i.e. reverse keyword searches). Avoid pay-per-click campaigns - your competitors love to push your budget to the limit by clicking on your ad - and/or other paid Google ads at the beginning. Instead, go for the right keywords and test your web site for at least 3 months. Implement a video and some other funky stuff (i.e. educational games for kids). Remember, the more often you change the content in your website, the higher you get ranked. When you see positive results, you can go with paid ad campaigns, but keep in mind: your patients do not look for ads, they look for advise!