FAQ

Q: Why Snoring Isn't Sexy rather than something about sleep apnea or hating CPAP? I need sleep apnea patients, not snoring patients.

A: Marketing a health-related issue to the public is a tough sell. Anti-smoking capaigns have taken 25+ years to begin to make an impact with the public. Even with some effectiveness of public health campaigns about the dangers of smoking more and more young people are beginning to start smoking again.

On the other hand, dentistry's marketing of white straight teeth caused an almost overnight phenomenon. Suddenly dentists were featured on TV shows like Extreme Makeover and the public demanded more and more cosmetic services. Cosmetic dentistry has become one of the hottest practice builders in the history of the profession. Practice web sites abound with pictures of smiling people of every generation showing off their bright smiles.

What's the difference between marketing health and marketing cosmetics? In a word - sex. Sexiness sells.

Snoring Isn't Sexy was started as a way to introduce a health concept in terms of esthetics. If you think about it, cosmetic dentistry has contributed to the dental health of our patients in many ways. Bright smiles mandate healthy periodontium, replacement of missing teeth, fresh breath and on and on.

Appealing both to our patient's vanity and ability to make and keep social relationships, Snoring Isn't Sexy has the potential to become as much of a practice builder (for qualified doctors) as is cosmetic dentistry. The potential to attract snoring patients, including patients who hate their CPAP because it certainly isn't sexy, whose snoring may be a precursor to or an indicator of obstructive sleep apnea not only builds a practice but also performs a necessary public health service.

Q: What's the concept behind the marketing at Snoring Isn't Sexy?

A: Snoring Isn't Sexy depends on a marketing technique we call Collaborative Social Marketing™

Briefly, Collaborative Social Marketing includes the combined marketing effort of a group for the benefit of the individuals comprising that group. This marketing is only possible because of the global connectivity provided by the World Wide Web. True social marketing in the early decades of the 21st century involves a collaborative effort of multiple individuals - it is, in fact, synergistic marketing.

In the field of dental sleep medicine - the need is great, the market potential is huge and growing but the public is largely unaware of the service. Synergistic marketing harnesses the power of collaborative marketing efforts from multiple practices. While not a franchise in any sense of the word, members of a synergistic marketing effort sustain all the benefits of a franchise with none of the obvious disadvantages.

Q: What's your track record in producing new patients for me?

A: Depends. In some locations, patient flow has been excellent, in others fewer patients respond.

Snoring Isn't Sexy keeps its fees low intentionally so that you can supplement what we do for you with marketing in your local area. We provide all the tools you need to promote your practice - web site, search engine marketing, radio commercials, toll-free phone numbers, internal marketing aids, brochures, posters, ability to encourage physician support but we cannot be in every location. We provide the tools for you but you've got to help.

Q: How will my sign-on fee and my monthly payments be used?

A: Snoring Isn't Sexy is totally member supported. We do not depend on venture capitalists for money and are beholden to no commercial entity. And we would like to keep it that way.

To continue to provide services, we need your financial support in the form of membership and monthly fees. We have kept these fees as low as possible but we need funds to promote your practice. Recently we have developed several toll-free pohone numbers and some radio commercials that are available as part of your membership.

Q: How will my Snoring Isn't Sexy web site differ from my regular practice web site?

A: In several ways -

Your practice web sites no doubt includes all the services you provide including cosmetic and restorative treatment. Most patients with a medical problem don't want to find their way through an all-inclusive site to get information on their medical condition. The Snoring Isn't Sexy web sites are dedicated to sleep-breathing disorders making it much more efficient for patients to find the information they need.

The Snoring Isn't Sexy web sites will be preloaded with information but will be interactive. Both you and your patients will be able to interact with the site. Your patients will be able to contact you and request an appointment and be able to see the latest sleep news. You will be able to access most pages of the site with a simple editor from a control panel that will allow you to update the text and images as the need arises.

In addition, you will be able to chose from a series of informative fact sheets that will be customized with your name and contact information that your patients can download directly from your site. You will be able to chose which oral appliances you wish to display. In addition, there will be an interactive office news section where you can add current information for your patients. And more enhancements as time goes by.

Q: Why do I need both a practice web site and a Snoring Isn't Sexy Web site?

A: We've listed a bunch of reasons above but there is one more. Each Snoring Isn't Sexy web site will contain a link to your practice web site. As you know, one of the major issues in getting good placement in search engine return pages is that of incoming relevant links.

Q: What can I do to help?

A: In the future, we may be asking you, the experts in dental sleep medicine, to contribute information for the site but, for now, we just ask for your trust and your support.

Together we can make a difference and build our practices in the process.

If you have any questions about this service that I did not answer here, please drop me an email with your question and I'll be happy to try to answer it for you.

Thanks

Dr. Larry Barsh