Dr. Marilyn Calvo, Encino, CA, sites AACD Accreditation & Consistent Marketing as contributing to the success of her practice What are your newsletter goals? The 1st goal for my newsletter is to brand my practice as the place to go for dentistry. The 2nd goal? Attract new patients and drive prospective patients to my web site. How does PNP facilitate your program, helping you achieve goals? My practice, web site, and quality of dentistry are high-end, so the newsletter must be also. The 2nd and 3rd pages of my newsletter have great content that supports my ability to customize pages 1 and 4, satisfying my target. I relinquished control over every aspect of the newsletter process, relying on my Account Manager and PNP writers to professionally convey my specific messages in my “voice.” What attracts the most attention? It takes repetition to capture the right people. Newsletters displayed in the practice are picked up – patients like the personalized articles highlighting my actual patients’ before-&-after photos. The personal level to which I take my newsletter is very important – it’s about me and what I can do. It’s not generic. In my next edition, I’ll announce that I have been asked to participate in 7 episodes of Ten Years Younger on The Learning Channel (TLC). Any practice advice or marketing tips? To have effective marketing, you must perform the dentistry you say you can. Before-&-after images are very important. I’ve been diligent in taking them and posting them on my web site. This leads to more cases and opportunities. Your best business decision? I started my career 30 years ago as a family dentist. My location wasn’t conducive to cosmetic dentistry, so I moved to where people had resources and wanted and sought the elective work that I wanted to do. If you offer great work, you must have a great facility in a great location. Most successful products? Minimally invasive dentistry, contemporary adhesive dentistry, all-ceramic crowns, veneers, porcelain, smile design. What is essential in a dental practice? People. Being a leader with a vision and a written plan of where you want to take your practice. Having a team to help get you there – you can’t do it alone. Any mistakes you could help readers avoid? The biggest mistake I made was delaying AACD accreditation because I thought it was too difficult. Once I put my mind to it, I ended up achieving it in 3 years. Only 300 dentists in the world are accredited, and you may think those people are exceptional. They are … and you can be too. I am not a superstar: I am goal oriented. This can change your life as it has mine. Even if you only have the 5 perfect cases that allow you to pass, you have 5 perfect cases! How do you generate your “magic” number of new patients/month? I don’t want 50 new patients/month. My goal is to attract quality people through the newsletter to offer them comprehensive dentistry. With comprehensive dentistry, I can live with fewer patients. Any overall comments? The turning point in my professional life was when I started on the cosmetic-dentistry path. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. It increased my self-esteem and self-confidence. My patients can feel my confidence when I show photos of my own work. If you claim to be a cosmetic dentist, you should be the best you can be by getting accredited by the AACD. About the recession… My numbers don’t reflect it. I always spend a certain percentage of my budget to market. I fully believe that no matter the economy, you must always market to attract the type of patient you are passionate about.