1. Testing: Much of marketing involves testing, which is a fancy word for trial and error. Try different marketing actions to see what produces the best ROI. What will work in one town may not work in another. A discounted new patient exam might produce a response or not. If it does not, perhaps a teeth whitening offer will. It's all about testing.

2. Practice name: Unless your name is well known and respected in your town, it's a bad marketing decision to use it for your practice's name. Instead you want a name that is memorable and clearly tells patients what type of practice you are (family, cosmetic, pediatric, ortho, emergency, etc). If you’re in a distinct part of town try to incorporate the area into the name, i.e., East End Family Dentistry.

3. Slow periods: Always market more when you’re practice is slow. If you know there are months you are historically slow, crank up your marketing efforts six weeks beforehand.

Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in the mid-1990s, Kevin went on to become Cambridge’s senior consultant and eventually CEO. Cambridge Dental Consultants is a full-service dental practice management company offering customized dental office manuals. Frustrated? High overhead? Schedule a chat with Kevin at