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Navigating Dental Marketing and AI with Josh Scott from Studio 8e8
10 Plays5 hours ago
About the Guest:
Josh Scott is the CEO and owner of Studio 8e8, known as dentistry's story-driven growth agency. Over the past 13 years, Josh has transformed what began as a hobby into one of the top dental marketing agencies in the United States. Originating from a seminary education, his journey into dental marketing was accidental, yet he has developed a passion for helping dental practices grow through creative and performance-driven marketing strategies.
Episode Summary:
In this engaging episode of "Beyond Graduation," hosts Dr. Savanah Craig and Dr. Ronnetta Sartor welcome Josh Scott, CEO of Studio 8e8, a leading dental marketing agency. Josh shares his unique journey from a seminary to the world of dental marketing, illustrating how a passion for storytelling and creativity has driven his agency to success. This episode unravels the layers of how dental marketing has evolved, especially with the integration of digital tools and AI, while addressing the leadership aspects crucial in guiding a team of creatives.
Throughout the episode, Josh delves into the intricacies of dental marketing today, spotlighting the importance of personal branding for dentists and the dynamic landscape shifts brought about by AI technology. He reflects on the importance of trusting marketing professionals and allowing dentists to focus on their expertise while leveraging creative marketing to scale their practices. The discussion also touches on the evolution of digital marketing from simplistic brochure-like websites to interactive and AI-driven strategies, offering insights into future trends in the dental industry.
Key Takeaways:
- Find Trustworthy Marketing Partners: Dentists should seek trusted professionals for their marketing needs to focus on their expertise while letting marketing experts guide their growth strategies.
- Personal Branding is Essential: Building a personal brand begins even in dental school and can open doors to opportunities beyond the dental chair.
- AI's Revolutionary Impact: AI is perceptibly transforming search and content, potentially altering how patients find dentists by focusing more on interest-driven content like videos and reels.
- Leadership in Creative Teams: Successful leadership involves fostering an environment of psychological safety where creative teams can excel without fear.
- Marrying Art and Performance: Combining creativity with proven results-driven approaches is essential for effective dental marketing strategies.
Connect with Us:
- Savanah Craig, DDS: @savanahcraigdds
- Ronnetta Sartor, DMD: @dr_sartor
- FutureDentists Beyond Graduation: @futuredentistsbeyondgraduation
- FutureDentists: @futuredentists
- Studio 8e8: @studio8e8 and https://s8e8.com/
- IgniteDDS and IgniteDDS Coaching: @ignitedds and www.ignitedds.com
Tune in to listen to the full conversation and explore the insightful perspectives that Josh Scott brings to dental marketing and leadership. Stay connected for more episodes that bring you closer to mastering your career beyond graduation.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
I had this conversation with my my business partner
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:02
Speaker
and I said, if we have to Started my own business and we could do anything. We have to work a little bit harder to get out there. I think people buy from people. This is a trust business.
00:00:13
Speaker
Psychological safety was the number one factor in companies growing this fast. ADEC's Smart Start program offers first-time practice owners their deepest discounts on equipment and furniture for two years, plus other savings and complimentary services. Ask your ADEC rep for details and start smart with ADEC.
00:00:32
Speaker
Join Drs. Savannah Craig and Renetta Sartor as we navigate life beyond graduation.
Studio 88: From Hobby to Leading Agency
00:00:38
Speaker
Real conversations about forging our own paths in our early years in our careers.
00:00:43
Speaker
There's a reason it's called practicing dentistry. All right, welcome back to another episode of Beyond Graduation. I'm Savannah Craig and with me as always... Renetta Sartor. So another exciting episode with a very special guest. So we have Josh Scott from Studio 88 with us today. Josh, thanks for being here. And if you could give the the listeners a little intro about yourself, we would appreciate it.
00:01:07
Speaker
oh yeah, for sure. Thanks so much for having me on, guys. It's, gosh, beautiful Saturday morning. Got coffee, just talking to great people. So great way to start the weekend. Yeah, my name's Josh. I am the CEO owner Studio 88. We call ourselves Dentistry's Story Driven Growth Agency.
00:01:26
Speaker
And i've been in it for, this is actually starting our 13th year. So it's been a minute for sure. And something that honestly started as a hobby and then kind of grew into a boutique business. And so now we're one of the top agencies in the country. it's It's been a fun ride for sure.
00:01:43
Speaker
Awesome.
Josh's Path from Seminary to Dental Marketing
00:01:44
Speaker
So Josh, tell us how you got into dental marketing. Yeah. I fell into dentistry by accident, really. Some people that know me know but my background is i actually went to seminary ah right out of high school. So that was, yeah. And, you know, which is normally normally the path into dentistry, right? You go to go to seminary first.
00:02:05
Speaker
So I tell people from from ministry to dentistry, that's how I got here. But felt fell in love with the space. I worked with a practice management group for for over a decade and helped them Build their CE events, became their marketing director, eventually started coaching and consulting clients, dentists on marketing and fell in love with it. And so some point went out, did my own thing and just decided, yeah, Savannah, we had this like moment where i started my own business and we could do anything. I didn't have to just be dentistry.
00:02:37
Speaker
But at the same time, after that decade of being in it, I was like, man, loved the space. I love the people.
Balancing Art and Technology in Marketing
00:02:43
Speaker
You're coming alongside business owners that are trying to like build their dream. And that's just such a fulfilling place the be of service and and just great conservative people overall. Good. What what surprised you about the dental field? Because we are a unique group of humans. And to to sort of niche down into into dental marketing, i I would imagine there were people in your in your sphere that were like, what the heck are you doing? oh yeah. I mean, still to this day, it's like, you know, we've got a little bit better of a reputation. But i remember trying to hire people.
00:03:19
Speaker
back then. And they we'd sit down with them and and they're like, so this is dental marketing. And I'm like, yes, just hold on to that for a second. Let me, let me walk you through everything. You know, even to this day, I'm not sure my dad actually even really accurately knows like what I do. yeah um So no, I think it was just like, there's some commonality there where a lot of dentists have a, an artistic side to them and being a ah creative, I've got that same thing. Our team does. And I think at one point I,
00:03:48
Speaker
I had this conversation with my my business partner and I said, if we have to take what we do and lower it for dentistry, for it to be accepted, like the creative, if we've got to like take some steps back to bring something to market that dentistry is like, oh, okay, this fits us better. was like, I don't know that I want to do that long-term, but if we can take dentistry and elevate it with the artistic creative side and tell a better story,
00:04:14
Speaker
that that interests me a ton. And so that's what we've been able to do. And i think some of is just marrying some of that like artistic, and even that technician side of of dentistry. I just appreciate that so much. That's awesome. So it kind of leads into our next question ah a whole lot. So it's probably a loaded question for you because we probably don't know a whole lot about it. But what do you wish us dentists knew about dental marketing?
Trust in Marketing Professionals
00:04:40
Speaker
this is I actually don't get asked this very much, but it's so fantastic. You know, the very first thing that came to mind is that.
00:04:49
Speaker
Letting, like finding somebody that you trust and letting them do the job. I think the clients that tend to, we get into relationships, if there is tension in a relationship with us, with a client, it's usually like, I'll tell you the truth. a Thursday, so two days ago, i get an email from a client and I just happened to be really involved with this client kind of for this season.
00:05:14
Speaker
And we had just launched a digital ad campaign on Google. He sends me an email and says, I made an appointment with a Google rep. They walked me through all these optimizations of the campaign and madete and said all these things should have been done. And so he he goes, I made all these changes. I'm wondering why your team missed them.
00:05:33
Speaker
And so i immediately, I see this email, my heart sinks. And it's not because my team missed it. It's because that Google... person is a salesperson and they are trying to get him to spend more money. And so these are optimizations that broaden that campaign with lots of clicks, but those clicks do not convert. They're not ideal like prospects or leads coming in.
00:05:56
Speaker
So I like, I had a cell phone, so I left the audio message so he could kind of hear my voice and then my tone of, hey, you were on with the salesperson. They are trying to get you to spend more money. You need to go back and undo these things.
00:06:09
Speaker
And so I think when you can be in a relationship with somebody where you can let them, know, I'm not going to be all up in the middle of your crown prep. Like, I'm just not like, I don't know those things. You know, if you say, if you're telling me like, this is how I'm doing it, this is what you need. I'm like, great, man. I trust you. That's, that's what you're trained for.
00:06:25
Speaker
So I think a little bit of that in the relationship is always something where i'm like, you know Let us do it. We know what we're doing. we've I've been doing this for 12 years. I know more than that Google rep actually does. I was on the phone with you. Yeah. Why – this might also be a loaded question, but why do why do dentists
Why Do Dentists Want Control?
00:06:43
Speaker
do that? Why do we want to wear all of the hats when we don't have to?
00:06:47
Speaker
Any insight on this? You've been you've been yeah in our sphere for a long time. Yeah, i think I think there's two things. I think there's an external an internal. So the external is, I would be really honest and say, for the whole on the whole, dental marketing has been really bad. And there's a few of us out there that are trying to change that. But the normal dental marketing company, and this is just the truth, man, they want to put you in some type of monthly recurring service, 500 bucks month, 1500 bucks a month, fifteen hundred bucks a month whatever it is They want to provide this one size fits all service that they can automate and get done quick. And then they want to leave it alone.
00:07:22
Speaker
And they're betting on you being that client for three years, five years, 10 years with just like, well, I think it's working. I'm paying for SEO, like whatever it is. And and so it's kind of like shroud of mystery. And let's just do the minimum viable work to to keep this going.
00:07:39
Speaker
So that is a huge thing in dentistry. i Almost every client that comes to us now, I've been to study clubs, 10 people, I'm like, how many of you have been burned by a dental marketing company? And eight of them put their hands up. So it's very, very common.
00:07:51
Speaker
That's the external factor. The internal factor is I think we all want to have a handle on every part of our business. and And marketing and sales are like they're an engine of a business. And so I think getting in and being able to understand it you know I would say dentists like value control.
00:08:08
Speaker
you guys are dealing with really small spaces, microns, millimeters, and and there's that perfectionism that comes along with it. And so I think when all of a sudden you're like, well, what's going on with my marketing? And you have that minute. It's almost like you put your loops on to look at the marketing and you're like, what what is going on? I've got to understand all this. And it kind of gets, it's, it's a big deal, you know? Absolutely.
Evolution of Dental Marketing
00:08:28
Speaker
With with that idea, how how has marketing and the dental landscape changed in these last 10 years? Because I think Renetta and I joke all the time, like, wow, to be a dentist in the 80s and just like put a shingle up that says, I fix teeth and nobody questions you and no everybody does exactly what you tell them. But now we have to work a little bit harder to get out there. Yeah.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's been it. 1970, to 1977, marketing in dentistry was actually illegal. You couldn't do it. All you could do is put up your sign. Yeah, I mean, it was actually like a federal law.
00:09:09
Speaker
and And back then, because it was healthcare, it was like, why would you, if you're a healthcare physician you know or a practitioner trying to serve the public, why would you need to market yourself? People will come to you when they have that need.
00:09:20
Speaker
So that got overturned. It was 77, 76, somewhere around there. It could be off by a year. But at that point, like marketing got real weird through the 80s because you still had this generation that was dealing with that mindset.
00:09:31
Speaker
of it was almost like marketing equals bad dentist. Marketing equals why would you have to solicit patients? And so then you get into this like eighty s yellow page. kind of period where you know you could be at a study club. And i I know this because I've heard stories. I wasn't in dental marketing in the 80s.
00:09:49
Speaker
But you could be at a study club and if you were going to throw shade at another dentist, you would just be like, oh that guy, he's got a full page, yellow page ad. And it just meant like he's sleazy. He's trying to like manipulate patients, you know, like like the whole thing. So we we went from that into really like 90s, early 2000s with the advent of digital. And now we start dealing with really the first generation that was like, okay, marketing might not be so bad.
00:10:17
Speaker
And what would I do with that? And so you've got websites that came around and obviously the the switch into digital and Google listings and all that stuff. I would say that, you know, rev one of websites was pretty brochure, pretty static, pretty just like, let's just get information online. I don't even think the beginning stages, people know what to do with a website. They're just like, I think I need one. So now where we've seen that evolve and we've gone through like ah another revolution of websites and digital, it's matured a ton.
00:10:44
Speaker
And then like right now, what we're seeing is the whole, I mean, gosh, just shift in AI and
AI's Role and Potential in Dental Marketing
00:10:49
Speaker
where that's going to go. And we're at the very beginning stages of that. But generationally now, I think we've left that 70s law behind to where, I mean, the last 10 years, students coming out of school, it's like, why wouldn't I market? They're going to the banks like, hey, I need at least like 30,000 or 50,000 or whatever that is to invest in marketing and and capital.
00:11:09
Speaker
So i think it's been a real big shift in a couple of generations. But you kind of brought up two things that have been on my mind. And so I'm going to I'm going to shoot two questions at you and then you answer them however you want.
00:11:22
Speaker
okay The first is a in dentistry and in marketing. and what do you see in terms of the opportunities available to us because of it? And the next one because you kind of mentioned it just then, is about marketing yourself as a dentist, say from even when you're in dental school, because at one point it was, you know, not looked at in a good way to market, but now it's almost like Before you even a practice owner, it's nice for you to have your brain already built. So those are my two questions that super easy ones.
00:12:00
Speaker
I know. I know. Let let me hit the the second one first, because you're 100 percent right. The evolution of marketing wasn't hasn't just gone to the practice. It's actually gone a step further into.
00:12:11
Speaker
the personal brand space. And i'm I'm a big proponent of it. ah People don't realize when we started Studio 88, we actually didn't even have a website for three years of starting the company. We we actually started JoshuaScott.com and I just launched my social profile.
00:12:28
Speaker
And back then we kind of looked at it almost more of like a hobby and a boutique business. So I knew enough people in dentistry. i was like, I'm going to leverage my social media account. I'm going to leverage my own website because I think people buy from people. This is a trust business.
00:12:42
Speaker
And so we were three years in the Studio 88 before we even built our own website. And i'd be on yeah I'd be on a call with with people and and they would say, so you build websites? I'm like, yes, but you don't have a website.
00:12:56
Speaker
Yes, that's right. And it was kind of, I don't know, back then it kind of felt like a ah flex, you know, honestly, like, yeah, I don't have a website to show you, but if you know if you trust me, like let's go.
00:13:06
Speaker
um and It's not the best way to do business, but back then, we were that's just how we went with it. so But i think I think starting with a personal brand in school, even building that brand apart from dentistry, you know i I post stuff on, I'm a level three sommelier with wine, so I post stuff around
The Power of Personal Branding for Dentists
00:13:23
Speaker
around that. i have a I love sneakers, so I've got a sneaker collection. I post those things. I go to CrossFit to work out. So I make sure I even have hobbies and personal stuff, my family in there, because I just think people connect with it better.
00:13:36
Speaker
So I would say, yeah, that's that's a big thing. I encourage it. Who is coaching for? is your schedule a nightmare? Or is there no one on your schedule? Are you working through lunch and you don't want to be? Are you staying late? is your accounts receivable unbelievable?
00:13:54
Speaker
Do you even know what your accounts receivable is? If you said yes to any of these questions, Ignite DDS coaching might be for you. Be sure to mention that you heard it here on Beyond Graduation and you'll get a free consultation with the Ignite team. DM us for more info.
00:14:11
Speaker
Same time, I know a lot of dentists are private and they're kind of like, I do not want to be on social media at all. And I get that and respect that. You just got to funnel that energy and that attention over to the practice. So. So piggybacking off of that before you move on to the AI question, how how do we build that brand? Because I think there's this balance, right, where patients want to feel like they know you, but they also really don't want to know a lot about you because they still want to see you as their doctor. And and I think it can be...
00:14:42
Speaker
very, very unique to to navigate that. And I feel for me, when I was in dental school, like dental student influencer pages were very, very new. And so i started one and and it was kind of like a shame thing for ah a while of like, who cares? and like, I don't know. I'm just seeing what happens. And then obviously cool stuff like this came out of it, where now we so We both spoke at an ASDA conference and I came home and I had DMs from all of these dental student pages and i was like, wow, it has changed so much. So how how do you help a dentist build a brand? Because there's got to be this professional piece, but also this like authenticity yeah piece and like walk that line.
00:15:26
Speaker
No, you're you're right. And I think probably the mindset I shifted was back when I started Studio 88 2014. I just decided my social platforms work. going to be business first is probably it's probably the right way to say it. Like, I'm going to use them for, this is a professional platform for me.
00:15:45
Speaker
yeah Now, I look at it like I am a very integrated, whole human. So i don't I don't have these hangups with like, well, I can only post business stuff and I have to have a separate account for personal. on it I'm just like, I'm an integrated person, man. My business, my life, my family, it's all one. It's all one channel for me. So I don't have a problem posting that stuff. But you're right, there there are some lines there with personal. I have very clear rules. like I don't get into any politics on my channel at all. um i I knew that early on, like I served so many clients with so many different opinions out of respect for all that. Like I'm not going to use it to polarize, you know, so there are definitely, I think some things you have to figure out and and draw the line.
00:16:26
Speaker
But Savannah, I think you like a good really good point there is, does it, does it impact your patient base and your community? Yes, absolutely. You're going to get a following there. But I think more than that is it, it develops opportunities out away from the chair.
00:16:40
Speaker
And if you have no aspiration for that, fine. Like there's no judgment. But if you're like, man, I would love to podcast and speak and get to know people and go to conferences and network. There is not a better tool to help you build that than your social media platform. And patients are looking because the other day i didn't even tell you this, Savannah, but just chatting with a patient and patient turns to me and she's like, you podcast? Yeah.
00:17:05
Speaker
I had this too. I don't know if we're getting pushed. Yeah, I don't know. It's getting on the For You page, but I had the same thing last week. But then like awkwardly, because, you know, you never know where it's going, where the conversation is going. So I was like, yeah, I do. And she was like, that's so cool.
00:17:22
Speaker
Yeah. And and and I just never would have thought. No, and and you'll realize like, because because we run in into clients and they go, hey, my social media platform is more for other dentists. Like I have, you know, 40,000 dentists following me. It's not so much for my patient base. But what patients, the narrative that they create in that is,
00:17:38
Speaker
oh my gosh, my dentist is well-known across the country. My dentist teaches other dentists. My dentist has a pod. It's all those things of it it builds credibility, professional credibility, regardless of how silly that is. Like, oh, you must be a good dentist because you have a podcast.
00:17:55
Speaker
that We know that that is not true at all, but that is a narrative. that's It's a signal and that's what patients tell themselves. that's ah That's a really interesting point because I think I would have always thought it was the opposite. that They'd be like, oh, my dentist thinks they're so cool. But that's a really good point of like we do see social media as this – I don't know, authority, if that's the right word for better or for worse. But listen, anybody can buy a mic and start a podcast. let us Let us tell you. All right. Now you got to answer the AI question, the the harder one.
AI's Impact on Search and Social Media
00:18:26
Speaker
Yeah. Gosh, AI is, I would say it's a lot of fun right now. i'm I'm using it a ton. Our team is using it internally, mostly not to do the marketing, but to help. we're We're actually leveraging a ton for just efficiencies in our processes. I gave every team a challenge this year to find 20% inefficiency within your team. And a lot of that's around AI, like what what processes and steps can we eliminate? But but what I would say is I'm i'm actually speaking on on this in a couple of weeks in Chicago and i put my first AI marketing presentation together. um
00:18:59
Speaker
I've worked with our head of search. We're actually taking some AI search products to market that we're going to launch at that event. So I think we've we've really invested a lot into it. We've studied a lot of it. But the the big picture I would give your audience is we've already seen this progression happen with digital. When digital came through and disrupted everything, the first thing it really disrupted was content.
00:19:22
Speaker
If you think of digital cameras, all of a sudden, instead of now physical film and taking it to get developed, we all had these digital cameras and we're just snapping photos. We had a, back then it was like a Flickr account or these things where we were like putting, like what do we do with all these photos now that we have them?
00:19:38
Speaker
And that then disrupted really the search space is what happened next. So Google comes along, it disrupts the yellow pages. Once search gets disrupted, now we've got eyeballs on a whole new platform that disrupts digital ads.
00:19:56
Speaker
So now that we've got Google and Google's like, hey, we got to make some money, let's put ads up. This is where everybody has attention. Then they became the biggest ads platform in the country. And then that type of attention and buying power and money tends to shape social media of like, okay, how are we sharing all these pieces?
00:20:13
Speaker
and so if we walk through ai as the same progression like we know it's already disrupted content llms even ai photography video the stuff we're producing whether it's a document i mean i feel like people are producing documents and more thought pieces at a higher articles at a higher level photos are are definitely getting there you you got some strange stuff still happening videos i would say they're man they're not quite but i mean give it a year it's going to be crazy what So we we already saw it disrupt that. What we're seeing it now is disrupt search. I mean, ChatGPT and Gemini and some of these these platforms are really starting to gain some traction. Although I think the last stat I heard is there's still less than 20% of traffic. Once AI gets the majority of searches happening, there's going to be a whole different ads platform. So who knows what that's going to look like. And then I think at some point, probably the next five years, I think social media is really going to change.
00:21:02
Speaker
The AI algorithms are are using that way more to pull information from for searches. And so I actually think social media is going to take on more importance with dental practices here in the next five to 10 years. We're already seeing clients go, oh, we need we need at least like four posts a week because AI is like pulling from this now, right? And it's like, yep. And even even videos, like, I mean, a lot of the content, I mean, reels and TikToks, like that type of format is huge, playing a huge factor in AI searches.
00:21:30
Speaker
So now not even like, so the practices who were like, so have been sleeping on social media, just even posting photos, I'm like, that's fine. But really now we're talking about how are you producing reels and TikTok, like small short form video, even YouTube shorts. Like that's that's Google's platform. Gemini is going to pull their return so information from YouTube shorts. Like that's all their ecosphere. So they will absolutely make sure that's a huge factor.
00:21:57
Speaker
So the practices are like, man, we're not even posting photos well. I'm like, well, this is where technology leaps over you because that's almost like baseline. Now we've got to talk about short form video content.
00:22:09
Speaker
So you're saying like, for example, when you search dentist near me and you know, your first searches are my office because we love Mike, but he's a, he's a ah SEO guy.
Future of AI in Dental Marketing
00:22:24
Speaker
it won't be the websites that show up anymore. It will be reels at some point. Is that how that would look?
00:22:30
Speaker
So what I would argue is I would back up and say people aren't going to search like that anymore. If if they are searching dentists near me, it's probably still a traditional Google search in a Google browser.
00:22:41
Speaker
What I think is going to happen is they're going to be on AI and be like, hey, I'm looking for a dentist. They could be within 10 to 12 miles from me, but but my son has some some issues and I want to make sure – my son is autistic and I want to make sure that this pediatric doctor has experience with autism.
00:22:58
Speaker
So you're going to talk to AI models like that because we know they understand nuance. so you're And we do this already. We're starting to mess with them. Like, if I say something like this, what do they give me back? And if I can really dump what's in my head in there. So then all of a sudden, yeah, you get this reel that pops up. And it's a female pediatric dentist that's talking about how they treat autistic patients. And all a sudden that parent's like,
00:23:22
Speaker
okay, that's they're 15 miles away. so that's going be a 45 minute drive for me to get out there, but I'm sold because they answered my question. so I think it's going to work like that. Some of it's happening already, Savannah, because probably right before Christmas, because we've been playing, I've been playing around with using our editor that we have here for my practice.
00:23:42
Speaker
And he's been creating shorts for me using some AI stuff, but In December, we had a patient and we always asked him, you know, how'd you find us? And they went on chat GPT and said, Dennis near dennisnare me that helps with emergencies. And they said we popped up as number one.
00:24:01
Speaker
And we were just trying to figure out how, but I think it's pulling from, it's smart enough now to kind of pull from everywhere you are on social media, like Josh was saying.
00:24:12
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and and the thing is, too, like you know we call this social media. I really think one of the next big evolutions that's with that, really a better term for it is interest media. And what I mean by that is if if you've opened up Instagram recently, you know, like it used to be your friends.
00:24:28
Speaker
in chronological order, right? And you could just scroll through them and be like, oh, that was yesterday with them. And now I'm like, I don't even see my friends as much anymore. It's serving me the things I'm interested in.
00:24:39
Speaker
um and And this was what happened with TikTok. This was what was revolutionary with them and their algorithm was they were the ones that first ones that departed from that is we are going to recommend stuff to to you and show it to you because we at the end of the day, they they think it keeps you on the platform longer.
00:24:54
Speaker
So, so now like what, so if you think about that from the other side of it, these algorithms are trying to find quality content to match their audience and bring them together.
00:25:06
Speaker
So like I put out a lot of business leadership stuff, a lot of marketing ownership. I do, i probably have two reels, TikToks a week that go out. And I know like, I'm like, well, if I put out really great business ownership content,
00:25:20
Speaker
Those platforms are going to go who's looking for that? and then they're going to start showing me to a whole new audience. So there's actually like these platforms, if you think about they're actually actively trying to market for you. You just have to put out good content. So yeah, if every week you're putting out something that talks about emergencies and how like we treat emergencies and we're geared for that and we built the office that way, and because... I had this experience when I was a child and the dentist stepped into my life and impacted me. like and you just You're producing content like that all the time. As soon as somebody looking for emergencies, that algorithm is like, oh oh, this dentist talks about it all the time and they match them up.
00:25:53
Speaker
That's crazy. I feel like I'm still like a boomer over here on Google. Holy cow. Yeah, that's what's happening. One of the things. Go ahead, Savannah. No, you go ahead. I'm just mind blown over here. i was going to say one of the things that Savannah and I have always admire admired about you is your love for your team and your love for business and helping leaders. become better leaders. Can you speak more to your passion for that?
Leadership Philosophy: Team Over Clients
00:26:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:23
Speaker
I am. At the end of the day, we've got what drives me. Like I love, I love, love, love dentistry. I'm super thankful we're in the space. What drives me as a person, my why, my personal fulfillment is leading a team of creatives. I tell them sometimes I'm like, we just happen to be running dentistry through that, but we probably could have run anything through that, but we decided that was going to be our focus.
00:26:47
Speaker
But so on the outside, it's like we we want to be the best in the country at dental marketing. That's really like our flag in the ground is we feel like we're the top agency. We're out to prove that, take that, be that.
00:27:02
Speaker
Internally, what drives all of us is, man, we get to work with a highly talented team of creatives. And I love that aspect of it. i think I think that's actually what I'm really, really good at at the end of the day is knowing how to create an environment where creatives feel safe and where they can do their best work.
00:27:18
Speaker
A lot of times we forget the act of creativity is probably one of the most important acts of courage that we get to bring to the world every day, every week. And it's a little bit of like, I see this different.
00:27:32
Speaker
and so I'm to bring that to the world and and then see how it's received. you know and And it takes a lot of courage to be able to do that. It takes a a safe environment. We talk a lot about psychological safety.
00:27:43
Speaker
There was a big study that Amazon or i'm sorry Google did. i think it was 2001 when they were watching all the tech companies really explode. And Google went in to study them as a Project Aristotle. And they said, why are tech companies scaling at such a high rate? Like, we've never seen this before.
00:27:59
Speaker
Like, what's the secret? What's the factor? And I think they were going to come out with something like innovation or because you you're watching tech and software just all of a sudden explode in the early two thousand s And what the study found was Google came out of it and they said psychological safety was the number one factor in companies growing this fast. And I think at the end of the day, it's just that people want to feel like they're safe. They want to feel like there's other high performing people around them and they want to do their best work. And so whether that's a 50 year old on the team or whether that's a, you know, we, we, every now then hire somebody that's
00:28:34
Speaker
They're 19 or 20 and we're at like a social happy hour. I'm like, oh, wait, you you can't drink, can you? Like, hold on for a second. So whether they're 19, 20 or, I think that's just at the end of the day, what people want from their professional space. So we're passionate about it.
00:28:49
Speaker
speak Speak a little more to – I think dentists have – we have a creative side to us. There is a lot of artistry in dentistry, but I think we are very more right-brained than perhaps the the team that you work with on a regular basis. How do you marry those two worlds and and you guys produce really high-level – successful campaigns for your clients who are very different than the team who's creating those. So how do you balance that world and protect your team and create that psychological safety, but also meet the expectations of your clients? Yeah, gosh, that's a really good question. on one side of it, I will tell you, i value my team. This will be a controversial take, but I value my team more than more than our clients. I do. I think a happy team equals happy clients. I don't think it's the other way around. I don't think you strive to do everything to make your clients happy and then your team becomes happy. It just never works like that.
00:29:46
Speaker
And even that kind of old adage of the customer's always right, it's just not the case in our company. And you will find an incredibly empathetic, compassionate team that will bend over backwards for our clients. But at some point, it's we expect that relationship to be mutual.
00:30:04
Speaker
And so two months ago, I fired a client. It doesn't happen a ton, but every now and then I just have to make a call and go, hey. And usually it's after... The team has tried multiple times. Our directors have tried multiple times. I even get in and try. and then at some point I'm just like, Hey, I told you we cannot exist like this. Trust goes both ways.
00:30:23
Speaker
And so wish you the best man. Go find, you know, we'll release you from any obligations. Go. I hope you go find an um amazing marketing team for you, but it's not going to be us. So when you do that, your team really, really responds to it.
00:30:35
Speaker
and And whenever that happens, I always have people, teammates that message me behind the scenes and they're just like, hey, thanks for having my back. I appreciate it. I gave it my all. And I'm like no, no, i I know you did. At some point, there's a line and and they cross it. So that's kind of like a short answer to it. The longer answer is we really try to, think you were talking about right brain, left brain, but... We have a really creative team, but we also really insist on performance.
00:30:59
Speaker
And so I think i one of the things that makes us unique in dentistry, there's really not another agency like this, is we started as a creative agency, but then we build out all the services, meaning CO, social media, digital ads.
00:31:12
Speaker
And my theory is when you can have really great storytelling creative that connects with patients and you can have really great performance services behind it that are pushing it for engagement,
00:31:24
Speaker
That's when you can create predictable growth as a practice. If all you have is the right brain or the creative, you might connect with people, but not enough are seeing it. And if all you're doing is pushing SEO and and ads, but there's no connection point, people aren't going to stick with that either. So it's really the combination of that right brain, left brain, creative and performance coming together is kind of what makes us unique. Can you speak more to like your your leadership journey? Because Renetta and I are are self-help book junkies, ah podcast junkies, all the things about trying to be better leaders, better people. And and I saw your reel the other day about this, firing this client. And it really spoke to me because i do believe in protecting my team and
00:32:14
Speaker
We're not always the best fit for a patient. And it it took me a while to get there because, you know, you need to make money and all of those things. So what is your leadership journey look like? How have you gotten to to this point as a leader, as a business owner?
00:32:30
Speaker
what What resources and and things would you recommend? Yeah, gosh, lots lots of books you can see here with my bookshelf. if If you're seeing a book, it's it's been read for sure. I have my like up next pile over here, but I read a lot and a lot of it's business, a lot of it's leadership.
00:32:45
Speaker
Leadership is a weird journey, man, because I don't know. can look back at some points now and go like, oh, I think that was really a turning point for me, the mentality of becoming a leader.
00:32:57
Speaker
But I don't know that you, there's never this like finish line that you cross or this checkpoint or this door you open or somebody gives you a certificate. Now you're a leader. Good job.
00:33:08
Speaker
There's nothing concrete like that. It's it's an evolution. And and i think so much of it is really, it's not as technical. It's an evolution of, and and the building of the soft skills and the empathy and the diplomacy and the apologizing and the the confidence and the strength and and things that we don't think about from developing a professional skill set. But the the people who have worked on those typically tend to rise to the top as leaders.
00:33:38
Speaker
I'll tell you right now, my main, every year or every so often it's, I get challenged because as our company grows, my it demands different things of me as a leader. And so you have these transitions where you're like, oh, this season's different. Like what, what skillset do I need to get through this? And a couple of things right now on top of mind for me is i've kind of have this whole concept of peace through strength.
00:34:00
Speaker
And I think strong leaders really bring peace to their organizations, to their environments. There was a couple of things last year i let kind of get away from me. and And when I look back, it was really because in my head, i was like, i don't know that I have the energy to have that conversation. i don't know. It'll probably be fine. Like, is it really that big of a deal? You're telling yourself this in in your head.
00:34:24
Speaker
and And then we had a couple of things, you know, it's like you see the smoke, but you man, I don't have it me to deal with this. But then four months later, all of a sudden there's a fire and you're like, oh crap. Like I just, if I would have had, you know, if I would have been strong and had that conversation, we probably wouldn't be in this situation. And at the end of the day, as a leader, you have to take responsibility for it. And so that's been really top of mind for me this year is even, I've got another tough conversation coming up, but it's just built some resilience in me of, you know,
00:34:53
Speaker
Kindness is clarity. Go start having these conversations. Be clear because it's actually very kind to the person on the other end. But be strong because that brings that peace and stability to the whole team.
00:35:05
Speaker
This has been something that has come up in in many conversations with Renetta and I and other podcast guests, this this clear and kind thing. So it's it's yeah it's in everybody's ether right now.
00:35:18
Speaker
Yeah. And like, i don't know, being being kind or being clear, being strong, it doesn't mean you have to be a jerk and it doesn't mean you have to run over people and you don't have to have the attitude of like, hey, this is my way or the highway. This is my organization. Step outside and see whose name is on the wall. Like it's not those types of conversations. yeah You can be clear and be strong in a way where, at the i mean, the end of the day, I'm like, man, I care for every single team member. Like I want you here.
00:35:44
Speaker
But you got to want to be here to me pulling you is never going to work. So I think we have to realize that goes both ways and it's mutual. And I want them to feel my care and and compassion for them. But at the same time, I want them to know I had this thing with our team. where i'm like, Studio 88 is the client.
00:36:03
Speaker
And so even when we're dealing with team members, it's kind of like, okay, what's the best decision for the client? Because it might be the best decision for the team member, but it might be destructive for the company.
00:36:13
Speaker
And so how do we actually look at that through that filter of, and I try to do that with the team too. I'm like, I know you want to go part-time and still keep this title and do these things. I don't know that the company is going to be able to move forward with a part-time person in that position.
00:36:29
Speaker
And so like, I love you, but like, if that's your decision, like it may not be the the right fit. And so being able to filter that way is is a huge skill set. Yeah. That's, that's super, super different to think of the business as its own entity. And it almost, does it create kind of a separation emotionally, you know, to to tell, yeah.
00:36:50
Speaker
Yeah. I think so. think that's you do Because you're looking at it more subjective. Yeah. I would say you're probably looking at, yeah, you're pulling back and it's giving you more of a bird's eye view. And so think tools like that in business are really helpful because when you're in it and the emotion and you're like, okay, this team member has been with us for six years and she's earned the right to be here. So am I going to let her go part-time? But if you can go...
00:37:16
Speaker
but what's best for the practice? like Are we going to be able to make the moves that we need to or grow the way we want to? And and maybe it's yes, but also maybe it's it's no. And so have to come back and have those conversations. Do you have like a top three leadership books that you think everyone should read?
00:37:35
Speaker
but young fight You can cheat. You can look behind you. I know. i um I've got my kind my my go-tos over here. our Our executive team just read through Good to Great again, or read it for the first time as a team, but it was my second time reading it. That book, I think, is from like 95 or 2000 or something like that. Super, super good book, though. we are We're in the middle of this kind of building some things. We felt like we had a really good agency, but how do we become great? How do we actually go to like the top agency in the country? And that book's been So, so good.
00:38:07
Speaker
Traction is a good one. i don't know if you've read that. it's the It's the EOS system, entrepreneurial operating system. It kind of gives you a baseline for running a business with a lot of leadership in it. I'm trying to just see what else is over there.
00:38:21
Speaker
Those are two really, two really good ones that I can see. you for joining us for this episode of Beyond Graduation. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to share it with a friend.
00:38:32
Speaker
Connect with us on social media at Savannah Craig DBS and at Dr. Underscore And remember, you are not alone on this journey. ADEC certified pre-owned equipment is a sustainable, affordable choice that makes genuine ADEC equipment available to every doctor. Each package is sold on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you see one you like, contact your dealer. For more information, go to www.adec.com backslash findadealer. Thank you for listening to Beyond Graduation brought to you by Ignite DDS and Future Dentists. This episode was sponsored by Ignite DDS Coaching.
00:39:11
Speaker
We build self-determined futures. For more information, please reach out to the Ignite DDS team.