How will blogs benefit a dental business?

#1 – as an alternative to “canned” printed newsletters.

Over the years I have probably received more paper newsletters from dentists than any other professionals. The problem with these newsletters is that most are written by someone else, contain "canned content" and are mass "published" by thousands of dentists with a minimal amount of original content. I have even received multiple copies of the same newsletter from multiple dentists.

Blogs are a more personalized form of communication and work best when written by knowledgeable people that enjoy sharing their knowledge. Blogs are the perfect communications medium for people that angst over writing a 900-word article but can sit down and effortlessly kick out a few paragraphs about something that they care about.

Blogs can be filled with information that you discover, information that might benefit your patients. Information that you create about your business, your community, the sports teams that you sponsor. Blogs can benefit your business by putting a more human face on your communications. Got personality? Get blogging.

 #2 – as a sponsorship opportunity

Every sports league that my kids have ever participated in has had at least one team sponsored by a dental practice. Why not increase the visibility of your investment by helping to broadcast the word about the team’s progress. The information could be entered into the blog by a proud parent or the assistant coach. I’ll bet that every family will visit the team blog every week of the season – and the name of your practice will be right there in big letters! Double the bang for your sponsorship bucks- be the first in your league to sponsor a team blog...better yet, sponsor a league blog and connect with every family in the league.

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Blogs are easy to create and manage but don’t think sales…think communications. Business blogs are about discovering new communications possibilities that principally benefit your customers.

If you are interested in being the first dentist in your town to blog your patients – the BlogAnswerMan is available on the phone (in paid 15-minute units) to answer your questions or help you plan your blogging success. Please send an email to phoneblog@bloganswerman.com.

Are you a dentist that is already blogging? I'd love to hear your success stories. Please drop me a note at john@johnlawlor.com.

John Lawlor – blogging from Boca Raton – 2003-03-05

keywords: dentists blogs, dental practice blog, business-blog, b-blog, event blog, sponsored blog,