DentalTown Book Review By: Thomas Giacobbi, DDS

When the going gets tough, everyone is marketing. That bit of insight may not fit on your back bumper, but I think it qualifies as a sign of the times. Our Irish pastor would likely describe marketing in dentistry as “both a blessing and a curse.” Marketing can bless us with many new patients, but we curse the fact that this task will be added to a growing list of responsibilities outside our operatories. College and dental school taught me very little about marketing.

Jay Leno asked a member of his audience where he worked, and the man responded “in a supermarket,” and Leno quipped, “Oh, so you’re in marketing.” My first marketing experience was in high school; I worked as a cashier in a supermarket. In college I developed a deeper under-standing of this important science; marketing was the major that consisted of many group projects and lots of free time. Two years ago, I discovered Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson, and I finally understood why this subject is an important aspect of my continued success.

Marketing is a fascinating subject when you learn to appreciate its efficacy. For example, the first corporate name uttered by my 18-month-old son was McDonald’s. He had only been to the restaurant a few times, and suddenly he can spot one a mile away. Golden Arches, Happy Meals, children’s play areas…that’s marketing. McDonald’s makes the conscious decision to focus on children for two basic reasons: 1. They must bring parents with them to buy the food, and 2. Children are the future of their business.

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Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets For Making Big Profits From Your Small Business 388-pgs By: Jay Conrad Levinson $10.40 (www.Amazon.com)

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Fill in the blanks: 1._______ Mouse, 2._______ Cola, 3. L.L. _______. If you answered Mighty, RC and Cool J, please buy a television set. The rest of us wrote Mickey, Coca and Bean. Each one of the three ‘correct’ answers is a company that is most often the first one named in its category and this is due in a large part to successful marketing. Furthermore, they have large marketing departments filled with money and creative people, and we do not.

Large companies use marketing to grow their business because it works, and we should be open to using marketing in our practices. Guerrilla Marketing takes the concepts used by large companies and adapts them to small businesses. Rather than a large marketing budget, “the primary investments in Guerilla Marketing are time, energy and imagination.”

This book is just one of many written by Jay Conrad Levinson, president of Guerrilla Marketing International, and I think you will find it is a very effective tutor. There are two types of dentists that will read this book. Dr. Nevermarket thinks that marketing equals advertising and would never dirty his professional image by engaging in this craft. Dr. Nevermarket, if you read this book, you will find that you are marketing yourself and your practice every day in subtle ways. This book may help you to pay better attention to those details. On the other hand, Dr. Goodbusiness, recognizes the importance of an organized and diverse approach to marketing, and he will read this book, apply many of the concepts and grow his practice exponentially.

This book qualifies as a small business classic on par with The E-Myth, and I hope you will take the time to read it, refine your marketing efforts and prevent the spread of ‘cheesy’ advertising in dentistry. Rating: 0000 Rated on a scale of one to five stars, five being the highest.

The 60-Second Summary
I. The Guerrilla Approach to Marketing–Updated- The introduction gives a detailed definition of Guerrilla Marketing and why it is different from marketing at large corporations with big budgets. Develop a plan and budget, then measure your results.

II. Mini-Media Marketing–Discussion of marketing opportunities ignored by the ‘titans’: circulars, brochures, yellow pages, eye-to-eye contact with prospects, etc.

III. Maxi-Media Marketing–Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, outdoor advertising and direct-mail. You may have no intention of engaging in half of these markets, but the discussion is still worthwhile. Key concepts are repeated and you may adjust your current marketing in this area after reading his examples.

IV. Nonmedia Marketing–Advertising specialties, free seminars, public exhibits, miscellaneous marketing tools, public relations and professional marketing are explored in this section. This is the catch all for topics that did not fit in the first three sections of the book

V. Launching Your Guerilla Marketing Attack–The time has come to launch your attack, and the author shares his views on the use of psychology and how to win battles.

E-mail Tom at tgiacobbi@todaysdental.com