THE MILLIONAIRE DENTIST PODCAST

EPISODE 7 TRANSCRIPTION

Announcer:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Millionaire Dentist Podcast, brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work. Now here's your host, Alan Berry.

Alan Berry:

Hey, welcome to another episode of The Millionaire Dentist Podcast. I'm your host, Alan Berry. And joining me is Michael Reynolds from SpinWeb. How are you doing today?

Michael Reynolds:

Feeling great. Good to be here again.

Alan Berry:

In case you didn't join us for our previous episode, we're in the middle of a three-part series on dentist websites and marketing, and how you should manage your digital presence. But Michael, just in case the listener didn't hear you on the first one, tell me a little bit about what you do.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah, sure. I own a digital agency called SpinWeb, we're on the web at spinweb.net. We've been in business 21 years and we do a lot of websites and marketing support for a lot of different types of organizations, but especially in healthcare, including some dental practices. So, good to be back.

Alan Berry:

Excellent. So on the last episode, I think we came to the conclusion that in 2017, it is pretty much needed that if you have a dentist practice, you need a website. Fair? Right? Did we come to that [crosstalk 00:01:14].

Michael Reynolds:

I think we mostly established that, yeah.

Alan Berry:

Okay. So, let's say that someone's listening right now and they haven't set up their dental practice online. I'm guessing the first thing they would need is a domain name. Can you tell us about what the domain name is and maybe how they go about getting a domain?

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah, sure. So we've actually had some conversations about this recently with clients and a lot of people are, they maybe looking at changing their domain name to a new one. Or in some cases, some [inaudible 00:01:38], cases like we talked about in the last segment, maybe they don't have a website yet. That's pretty rare these days, but it could happen. So, your domain name is your address on the internet. It's basically, if you look at the physical world, the postal service has a physical mailing address, and that's where they know to take your mail and which mailbox to put it in. So if people want to write you a letter, they address the envelope with your physical address and then the postal service routes it to the right place. So it's exact same concept on the internet. So if it's, lakeshoredental.com, that's probably the real site out there somewhere, hey, go check it out.

Michael Reynolds:

So if your site is called lakeshoredental.com or something, I just made that up, then the servers that control the internet basically, I'll keep it as simple in general and say that, they know that when you type that address into your web browser, they know to route your request to the server that controls that website, and then delivers that website to your web browser on your computer. That's really all it is. So your domain name is your address that you can just point people to. You typically want to have a .com. There are lots of suffixes. You can use .com, .net, .org, .us, .whatever. .Com is still the most popular. If you can get a .com, that's best. I would not do things like .biz. They just feel cheesy to me. So yeah, I get some kind of .com.

Michael Reynolds:

For a good domain name. You want to make sure you avoid dashes and things like that. Just get something straightforward and simple. Don't worry about keywords in the domain name, that doesn't really matter anymore. So a lot of people try to put things like indianapolisdentist.com or something. It doesn't really matter. It used to, but not so much anymore. Just make sure it's branded to the name of your practice, and keep it short and simple if you can.

Alan Berry:

Let's say the listener has a name in mind and now they want to go see if they can get it, where would they go?

Michael Reynolds:

The two that I recommend mostly are Google domains and godaddy.com. Godaddy.com is this massive company, they've advertised on TV. You've probably seen them in the Super Bowl commercials and whatever. I'm not a huge fan of their other products, but they do have a good domain name service. So if you just get your domain name at GoDaddy, I think you're good to go. I personally like Google domains better. They are newer, but they let you do private registration for free, which means you can block people from seeing the contact information of your business so that you're not going to get a bunch of spam or people finding you that way. So I like Google domains for that. And their interface is really nice and clean and simple. So either of those two, I'm good with. Those are my two favorite registrars.

Alan Berry:

What about pricing? Is there a pricing difference? And what's the ballpark pricing for a domain?

Michael Reynolds:

Oh, yeah. It's about $10 to $15 a year for a domain.

Alan Berry:

At both places?

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. I think Google domains is $12 a year. GoDaddy is a little cheaper, I think. But, domains are so inexpensive.

Alan Berry:

Yeah, but you bring up the thing about blocking your personal information. If you do, you can get that on GoDaddy, but you have to pay an extra fee. Is that right?

Michael Reynolds:

I believe you do. Yeah. A little bit.

Alan Berry:

Okay. Good information. So now I have a domain name. What's my next step?

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. Setting up the website. I'm guessing most of our listeners are going to already have a website. I'm going to go on a limb and say many of them are probably very, very old. Many are probably very, very new, but many are also, some older websites out there. Maybe if you don't even have one, so a spectrum there. But let's go ahead and talk to those who maybe don't have a website, or maybe have an older one that they're thinking about refreshing it. Because if you just redesigned your website last year, you probably are good to go. Although, some things here might help you.

Michael Reynolds:

So, in general there is a spectrum of ways you can get your website put together. I'm going to go from basically the almost free, do it yourself end of the spectrum. All the way up to professional agency services spectrum. And in between. I'm going to try not to show bias here, but this is all based on facts, so it should be pretty objective. The DIY route is, you can go to a service like Squarespace or Wix or Weebly. Wordpress.com, I don't recommend if you're truly DIY, because it's a little bit tougher to get in the weeds there. But Wix and Weebly and Squarespace and PageCloud, those are all DIY services. You can do it yourself. You basically sign up for an account, it's like $20 bucks a month usually or less. And you pick a template and you kind of fill in your stuff and you can put together a fairly straightforward website that is going to look okay for a pretty inexpensive starting point. That's the DIY option. Does that make sense?

Alan Berry:

Yeah. But, the listeners that are afraid of technology and are not really tech-savvy, even Squarespace can be a little bit of a complex matter.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. It can be.

Alan Berry:

And even if you are a tech-savvy, I just want them to understand, there is a learning curve . There's templates there and you can use them, but you do have to get the hang of it. It's going to take you a couple of weekends of sitting down and playing with it to understand it. So I suggest, if you have any friends or families that do these types of things, if maybe you can invite them over and maybe they could help guide you on that, that would really help.

Michael Reynolds:

The nephew who's good at computers?

Alan Berry:

Yeah, but don't take advantage of your nephew, pay him or her something of value.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah, pizza at least.

Alan Berry:

Yeah, well, at the very least, a pizza.

Michael Reynolds:

So yeah, the DIY options are good for some people. Like if you are a tinkerer and you have the time and the inclination to learn the system, just like you said, Alan, you can do it. I will say that those platforms are somewhat limited. You're not going to be able to make it look exactly like you want. It's not going to be as beautiful as a professional will do it. But, it can get the job done. Especially if you're just starting out, maybe a younger practice. Maybe it's a grey start, nothing wrong with that. At least you have a presence.

Alan Berry:

Yeah. So before you move on to maybe your next one, what would be the ballpark cost in doing, let's say a Squarespace. That's the one I hear the most is Squarespace. I don't know-

Michael Reynolds:

I think they're about $20 bucks a month. There's no setup. You just pick your templates and go with it. I'm pretty sure that's a pretty normal range for those services.

Alan Berry:

... And is that all inclusive?

Michael Reynolds:

Mm-hmm.

Alan Berry:

Does that include their hosting?

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. It's all-inclusive.

Alan Berry:

Are you protected against DOS attacks or any type of viruses?

Michael Reynolds:

That's a good question. The answer is always, you're never fully protected against viruses or denial of service attacks, which is where people hammer your website and try to bring it down. There is no foolproof system out there, but those systems are reasonably secure. Now, if you're doing HIPAA-compliant intake forms like we talked about in the last segment, you're going to want a third-party system for that, which we can get into offline if you have questions. Like Google Forms or, there's lots of third-party apps dentists are using now to plug in to it. But in general, hackers tend to target bigger targets than the average dental practice. So it's probably, I've I've yet to see a dental practice get hacked on any platform really. So, they're reasonably safe.

Michael Reynolds:

I'm not a big fan of WordPress because that is harder to secure a lot of times. I'm going to get a lot of flack for that because a lot of people love WordPress out there, I know. But, I'm not crazy about WordPress because it tends to be the biggest target for hackers, because 25% of the world's websites are hosted on WordPress, which is a good testament to its popularity, but also makes it a big, fat, shiny target. So if your website's on WordPress, you want to make sure it's really well-secured, or you might have someone come along and find the exploit that's exploit the month on WordPress, where they pop up all the time. So, something to think about.

Alan Berry:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that's a good point. So if I'm techie guy, and I got some extra time, and I don't want to spend a lot of money, I could go this route of a Squarespace or something similar to that. But let's say that either I'm not tech savvy, or I just don't have the time to deal with something like this. My schedule is already busy. What would be the options there?

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. I would add one more thing to that. One more reason would be, you want something a little more customized and aligned with your brand as well. So I'm assuming your dental practice has a great logo already. You've got the name, the logo already. If not, we can talk about that in a future episode maybe, but make sure you've got your logo good to go. Your logo ideally is beautiful and it represents your brand. What do you want to put that on? You can put that on a Squarespace site that's got a basic template and it's going to be okay, but it's probably not going to match the rest of the theme as well as you would like it to match. Now, whether that's important to you, that's another thing, but that's just kind of the reality.

Michael Reynolds:

Now, the other options are to get into the world of professional help. And you could have someone give you some professional design help with Wix or Weebly or Squarespace, and do some work on that platform. There are still a little tough for professional designers to get out of the box and they're stuck in a template. So, I am biased, obviously, being an agency owner, but this is still reality here. It really is sometimes worth it to pay a little more, get professional help. Whether it's an agency or even a freelancer who does this. But, a lot of times you can spend $5 to $10,000 and get a really beautiful website. There's like a one-time fee for that. And you've got a low monthly cost for the hosting and the maintenance. It's may sound like a lot of money to some people, but it's a worthy investment, especially one-time ... I'll say for a couple of years, because it's good to redesign every couple of years. But, it's an infrequent investment that can make a big difference in how you acquire your patients. So, I would say it's well worth it to at least consider working with a design firm.

Alan Berry:

Now, I'm going to play the other side of that card. I get what you're saying and I agree to some point of what you're saying. But I could also see where, let's say a dental practices is in somewhere rural. They have a customer base that's been the same for year after year after year. There's not much competition, and really they just need to get out some basic information on their website. In that particular situation where they're not trying to acquire more customers, they're pretty happy with where they're at, I think that maybe a Squarespace would be the right choice.

Michael Reynolds:

Oh, yeah.

Alan Berry:

Because, to spend $5-$10K on your customers that are the same ones over and over again and you're not looking to gain new clients, I just think that that might be a little bit overkill.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah, I would agree with that actually. If your practice is more in slow and steady mode, there's probably not a whole lot of reason to invest a huge amount of money in a new website to acquire new patients, because that's not really our goal. So I would agree with that completely.

Alan Berry:

But then back to your point, I would agree with you that if you're looking to get new customers and you're looking to grow your dental practice, then it's very important to bring in a professional. Not just because of the website, but what about the graphic, and the layout, and the look? Some of those websites that we talked about in a previous podcast, not looking so great, could have been because it was an owner/operator that did it and they don't have that eye. That's an important element to remember. The colors, the scheme, how everything's laid out.

Michael Reynolds:

Just because you are a great dentist, doesn't make you great at design.

Alan Berry:

Right.

Michael Reynolds:

Just like, you don't want me messing with people's teeth. So yeah, that's a great point. And also, to go along with that, you could also spend more. We have clients that spend $25,000 on their dental practice website. But those are the practices that are very unique and have a lot of investment in their own brand. So we have for example, a pediatric dental office that, their whole office is themed with a jungle and tropical and it's a really fun place. And they have a really strong brand because they've developed their practice to be very, very vibrant and fun. And everyone knows about them because of this stuff. And so their website is not going to be a $5,000 website, because that that'd be more of a basic kind of design. They want something really, really artistic. They want something really customized that reflects and extends their brand. And they are just always super-busy and super-booked out because, they have invested in their brand.

Michael Reynolds:

And some of that is their website. When people go to their website, they want to see, "Oh, this looks like a vibrant, fun practice that's different." Stands out among all the other pediatric dental practices. So, I would say the more unique your brand is, the more likely you are to be served better by a high-end, more expensive design. In the middle is probably great for a lot of people though. Kind of that $5,000, $10,000 price point where you're getting a nice, beautiful, standard, great-looking dental website that has the right tools. That's going to be great for most people. But the spectrum, again, you can go low or high, either into the spectrum as well. That's the middle of the bell curve though I would say.

Alan Berry:

So let me ask you this. You've sold me on that I want a professionally-designed website. What should I look for in a web designer?

Michael Reynolds:

Look for what they've done before. And if you like what they've done before, that's the best indicator. There's lots of other things you can look at. You can interview people and if you just like their personality, whatever, you want to make sure you like people you work with, so that's important. But, just look at what they've done. That's really the best thing. And if you look at your competitors, and this agency you're evaluating has done other websites, not just dental websites, but just business websites in general, and they look great and you feel like that is a professional job they've done, then that's your best indicator. It seems simple, no brainer, but that's how it works. That's what I would ...

Alan Berry:

It sounds like to me, web designs, like at a lot of other industries, you get what you pay for.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. That's a great way to say it. Yeah.

Alan Berry:

Do you think that there's a possibility that some people could find, hey, they've only got a thousand dollars to put into this website and maybe they want to grow it later, but is it okay to maybe not be able to spend the $5-$10K right now, but spend a lesser amount, knowing that down the road they're going to grow it?

Michael Reynolds:
Yeah. I'm sure you an

d your team at Four Quadrants would never advise someone to overextend their budget. So, absolutely. We want to be very careful with your money because, in the day here you got to make money. So yeah. So, if your finances dictate that you can budget a thousand dollars for a website. Yeah, look for a family member who's good at this and see if they'll give you a break and see if they'll do some design work on Squarespace and get something done. Something that looks decent is usually, I'll say usually with an asterisk, usually better than no website at all. I say usually, because I have seen some pretty horrible websites that actually seemed to hurt their image. That's usually the edge case though.

Michael Reynolds:

I encourage our listeners to think about investing in your website as an extension of your office. We see so many dental offices that have very expensive furniture. Very expensive plant life. And pictures on the wall. And they've taken great, great care to make their office environment very inviting, very beautiful, very pleasing, very soothing, very high-end looking. And then they spend a thousand dollars on their website that looks terrible, and it doesn't reflect what their practice really looks like. So it's important that you look at it with that eye and think of your website as an extension of the physical manifestation of your practice.

Alan Berry:

And to add to that point, I agree with you. But I think that dentist practices also have to look at, is this a value for them? Yes, it's a value to have a website, I agree with that 100%. But, how much do you invest in that website? You got to look at the numbers on that too, if it makes sense for your practice. Because it's not going to make sense for all practices.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah. Just like the couch in your office or the whatever, yeah. Same kind of thing. Maybe you don't invest in a fancy office right away. It's the same kind of concept.

Alan Berry:

Well, looking at the clock, looks like we've already ran out of time. I can't believe that went by really quick. Michael, thank you so much for coming by.

Michael Reynolds:

Thank you.

Alan Berry:

Again, this is podcast number two out of three in our series. And if you have any questions or just comments, please email us at podcast@4quadrant.com. I'll have the email in the show notes, so please send us a note if you have any questions. And until next time, thanks so much for listening.

Announcer:

That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. And thank you to you, the listener, for tuning in. The Millionaire Dentist Podcast is brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. To see if they might be a good fit for you and your practice, go on over to fourquadrantsadvisory.com and see why year after year, they retain over 95% of their clients. Thank you again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.