james, Author at The McAnally Selling System

Dental Press Advertorial Leverage: One Hit, Years of Use

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

How can a dental practice turn a single piece of press into months of marketing? By repurposing it as news. The Avatar movie studio took a Time magazine review and turned chunks of the review into ads prefaced with large print declaring 'Time says.' That same play works for a dental practice that gets featured in a local publication. Excerpt the article. Run it as a paid ad with the newspaper's name prominent at the top. Add a headline like 'Local News Daily Discusses Dr. Smith's Implant Approach.' Most readers see something in print and treat it as news regardless of [...]

Dental Press Advertorial Leverage: One Hit, Years of Usejames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Practice News Creation Through Advertorials

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

How does a dental practice generate its own news when local media won't cover them? By creating an advertorial and paying to run it. Local newspapers will rarely cover routine dentistry, so most practices give up. The workaround is paid placement: hire a freelance writer to produce an article about a specific procedure or aspect of the practice, then buy the ad space and run it in interview-style format. Most papers will require an 'advertisement' disclaimer at the top. Most readers will not read the disclaimer carefully and will treat the content as news. The piece carries third-party credibility even though [...]

Dental Practice News Creation Through Advertorialsjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

The Four Dental Practice Pitches You Should Expect

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

What are the four conversation 'pitches' every dental practice should expect daily? Pain, time, insurance, and fee shock. These are the four topics that come up almost every day a dental practice is open. Patients ask about them on every initial phone call, in every consultation, in every case discussion. Yet most practices are surprised by these conversations each time they happen, as if they were unpredictable. Think of a baseball pitcher who has only four pitches to throw. If the batter knew which pitch was coming, batting averages would be astronomical. Your team can know each 'pitch' is coming. The [...]

The Four Dental Practice Pitches You Should Expectjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Why Dental Patient Fee Shock Happens Every Time

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Why don't dental patients know what major dentistry actually costs? Because nobody tells them. The real estate section of every paper publishes home prices. The new-car section publishes MSRPs. There is no equivalent for dentistry. Patients see fee information only when they arrive at a consultation, often after months of curiosity about cost. The result is 'fee shock' when the number appears: 'I didn't know it would cost that much,' or worse, 'You're ripping me off.' The fix is to introduce fees earlier and in writing, before the patient sits down in the chair. Mention fee ranges on the website. Discuss [...]

Why Dental Patient Fee Shock Happens Every Timejames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Fee Presentation Order: Law of Concessions

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

What is the law of concessions and how does it affect dental fee presentation? Robert Cialdini's law states that people are more likely to accept a request after a larger request is presented first. In dental fee presentation, this means presenting the most comprehensive (and most expensive) treatment option first, then stepping down to less comprehensive options. The patient anchors on the high number and the subsequent options feel reasonable by comparison. Presenting low to high produces the opposite effect: each higher number feels increasingly painful and the patient often picks the cheapest option even when it is wrong for their [...]

Dental Fee Presentation Order: Law of Concessionsjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Price Anchoring Strategy: What Luxury Retail Teaches

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

What can a dental practice learn from how luxury retailers price their products? Set a high anchor next to the products you actually want to sell. Coach famously placed $14,000 handbags next to $700 models. Without the $14,000 anchor, the $700 bag feels expensive. With it, the $700 bag feels like a steal. The same psychology applies in case presentation. Place your most comprehensive treatment option first as the anchor. The mid-range option that you most want most patients to pick suddenly feels reasonable rather than expensive. This is not manipulation when the comprehensive option is clinically appropriate. It is recognizing [...]

Dental Price Anchoring Strategy: What Luxury Retail Teachesjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Is Dental Ethical Fee Presentation High to Low?

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Is presenting dental fees in the wrong order an ethical issue? A case can be made that it is. The research is clear: presenting low to high produces worse outcomes for patients because they choose options below their clinical needs. Presenting high to low produces better outcomes because patients anchor on comprehensive care and step down only where genuinely necessary. A dentist who knows this research and continues to present low to high is, in effect, leveraging behavioral science against their own patients. The patients walk out with worse dentistry than they could have had. The dentist saves the discomfort of [...]

Is Dental Ethical Fee Presentation High to Low?james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Cross Professional Endorsements: Build a Network

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Should a dentist seek endorsements from local non-dental professionals? Yes. Patients trust other professionals to evaluate professional services even outside their own field. A local attorney, accountant, architect, or physician endorsing your dental work carries weight with prospective patients who themselves are professionals or who trust those categories. The reasoning patients apply is informal but consistent: 'If this lawyer trusts this dentist for their own family, that's a real signal.' Reach out to professionals you know personally. Offer to provide them a similar endorsement for their business. Mutual endorsements between professionals create a credibility network that no single endorsement can match. [...]

Dental Cross Professional Endorsements: Build a Networkjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Testimonial Specifics Power: Names, Ages, Jobs

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Why does using a patient's full name, age, and occupation strengthen their testimonial? Because specifics make the testimonial real and verifiable. 'John was happy with his implants' is vague enough that prospects discount it. 'Gary Gallow, 63, chiropractor on Whidbey Island, says he stopped having toothaches after thirty years and now sleeps better, eats better, and feels happier' is specific enough to feel like a real person. Specificity defeats the prospect's instinct to wave testimonials off as marketing copy. The full name, age, location, and occupation give the testimonial credibility because they could be verified. Patients are usually willing to share [...]

Dental Testimonial Specifics Power: Names, Ages, Jobsjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Dental Endorsement Display Placement Across Channels

james2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

Where should a dental practice display its third-party endorsements for maximum impact? Every patient touchpoint. Endorsements are not single-use. Once you have a colleague endorsement, a lab endorsement, or a press piece, the asset deserves placement in every place a prospect or patient will see it. Website. Shock-and-awe packets sent before consultation. Office walls and waiting room displays. Consultation room handouts. Operatory walls. Pre-treatment patient education materials. Each touchpoint is another opportunity for the same endorsement to compound credibility. Most practices use endorsements once on their website and consider the work done. The practices that compound conversion use the same endorsement [...]

Dental Endorsement Display Placement Across Channelsjames2026-05-14T00:00:00-04:00

About james