Get Noticed - 5 things you must know about marketing your dental lab (print work)

Despite claims that all marketing is headed for the web, printed marketing materials can be crucial to your small dental lab business. Brochures, business cards and other printed materials can help you stick in a prospective customer’s mind in a way that a website may not. After all, it’s easier to keep a business card than it is to keep track of a business website. The importance of your printed marketing materials means that you need to make sure that they’re high quality. In some cases, that can mean paying extra to get the best printing — but if you know the facts about getting your marketing materials printed, you can often find better deals with better printers.

However, knowing what’s important when it comes to using a printer can be rather tricky, especially if you’ve never had anything printed before. In order for you to understand what’s involved with the printing process, here are 5 facts you need to know.

5 Must-Know Facts about Printing
1.Design is an add-on: No matter what printer you work with, you’ll find that his or her primary business is definitely not design. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find a printer with a good design staff, but the cost of the design work will almost always be more than you can arrange through an individual designer. If your preferred printer recommends a designer or two, it’s fine to check them out — but you’ll often find a better price by looking for a designer on your own. The only drawback with bringing in your own designer is that you must make sure that your designer gets the printer’s specs. An experienced graphic designer can tell you exactly what specifications he or she needs to complete your project.

2.Not all printers are created equal: Different printers offer different specialties. Online printing solutions, for instance, offer good quality service on relatively simple projects. If you need a business card — and you already have the design — you can get them printed up with high quality and low expense by going online. But those same printers just can’t offer as good a solution on anything even a little out of the ordinary. In those circumstances, you’ll be better off with a printer you can describe your needs to in person.

3.Paper makes all the difference: While the weight or brightness of a paper may not seem important, it can make a huge difference in how your marketing materials turn out. You have to know throughout the planning, designing and printing portions of the process just what paper you are going to use — a change in materials at any point can change both your budget and just what your designer and printer need to do to guarantee a quality product. Printers are very aware of this fact, and a good printer will walk you through your paper options if you ask.

4.Go local and make a deal: If budget is a concern whenever you’re thinking about a new marketing project, it’s important to build a close relationship with a local printer. Small print shops have more flexibility to make deals. If, for instance, you’re willing to work with the paper the printer has on hand, it can make a major difference to your budget. It is important, however, to keep in mind that paper costs are on the rise, reducing just how much of a bargain you can make.

5.Consistency is crucial: No matter how many copies of a particular marketing piece you’re printing up today, you’re probably going to have to go back for another batch at some point. Business cards are a good example — you’ll probably be using the same business card design for quite a while, and you want each printing of your business card to look the same. That means going back to the same printer whenever you can. If you want to make sure your business cards match your brochure (and it’s definitely worthwhile to do so), you’ll also want to be able to go back to your designer.
With these facts in hand, you can set out to find a printer capable of completing your project — within your budget. As you work through a few printing projects, you’ll find that you’ll pick up more information about printing and what kinds of materials you can use to market your business. But you’ll also find yourself coming back to these simple facts time and again.

If all of this information seems like too much to process, you could hire someone trusted to do it all for you.

Kastle Mills is empowering dental lab owners across Canada

HEY - DID she get your attention? Yes - Print works!

It's that esy to get your message across - I just did to you right?
Make that happen with some new dentists!

Thanks to smallfuel.com (BLOG worth checking for ideas)
3Shape D700, D800, 3Shape 2012 software, 3Shape communicate

3 Traits that will make you a more successful dental lab owner and entrepreneur

good advice can come when you least expect it — like when you're getting your hair cut.

Joan*, the hairstylist giving me a trim, mused aloud about what she was planning to do with her career. Cutting hair was just one part of her livelihood; she was also a professional caregiver as well as the owner of a rig that her husband operated. But her husband was about to retire from the road, and now they were wondering, "What next?"

Over the course of our brief conversation, in no more than the time it took Joan to cut my hair, I picked up on three attributes of her success that are helpful for any entrepreneur:

Practical. Listening to her brainstorm reminded me that successful entrepreneurs know how to keep their feet on the ground. First, they get inspired through personal observation, developing ideas from needs they see in the world around them. Second, they develop a concrete plan. They may work the plan, changing it as they go, but always with an eye towards getting a good return.

Purposeful. People with a practical outlook seek opportunities that add value, as opposed to opportunities that just seem "cool." (It's easy to forget this distinction, especially in well-established organizations.) Their focus is offering products and services that customers need and will pay for. For instance, Joan's second job as a caregiver: that's a service for which there is always a need.

Impatient. Sure, patience is a virtue in some cases. But for an entrepreneur, so is impatience. Joan is eager to make things happen so that she can continue to earn a good living. When it comes time for her husband to leave the trucking business, she will be ready with another venture. Her gumption and ambition make her impatient for success, and that drive increases her chances of getting there.

There's one final trait that successful entrepreneurs share: They realize that inspiration is useless without perspiration. During my 15 minutes in Joan's chair, we talked about three different industries she's involved in — personal service, health care, and transportation. People who work for themselves have to rely on their own get-up-and-go.

People like Joan enjoy working for themselves because it affords a level of independence. With hiring still sluggish at large firms, I suspect we will encounter many more such entrepreneurs. The future of our economy may indeed depend upon such folks, whether they are running a company that cuts hair, or running a company that makes microprocessors.

People who can think and plan ahead, are comfortable with uncertainty, and have the discipline to work hard are an asset to any country — and we ought to find ways to invest in them.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/05/three_traits_of_successful_ent.html

TRIOSBrochure.pdf

Welcome to the new world of second generation intraoral scanners 3Shape Trios

Coming this year to a dentist near you!

TRIOSBrochure.pdf

Sirona CEREC intraoral scanners and Sirona InLab® scanners to be modeled with 3Shape's Dental SystemTMdesign software.

Kastle Mills is Empowering Dental Lab Owners across Canada!

Do you have an Iphone or Blackberry? Scan the barcode for the link!


Direct from head office (3Shape A/S)
Kastle Mills is pleased to announce the following
3Shape A/S, global leader in 3D scanners and CAD/CAM software solutions, announces the official release of a new interface solution that enables scans from Sirona CEREC intraoral scanners and Sirona InLab® scanners to be modeled with 3Shape's Dental SystemTMdesign software.

Kastle Mills (translator) what this means to you?
If your dentist partner has a Cerec Intraoral or Sirona InLab enabled with 3D V3.86 they can send impression scans or (dental lab) model scans to your 3Shape (Kastle Mills is ready and will enable your 3Shape with the 9.6 update with a new dme). Once received you can right click to advanced import scan and import the ".3se" file into your order and then start designing. Use your unlimited range of advanced 3Shape indications and functions coupled with cutting edge anatomical design libraries and then export. The 3Shape will automatically generate CAM to the material selected in your order form creating the correct file format to send for that product!

Yesterday the dentist was closed – now you can show them your world - A 3Shape World!
Couple this with the new 2012 3Shape dentist communicate and you will open up a whole new way of communicating that has never been experienced before! real time!

Another note
I am asked by potential 3Shape buyers daily - why should my dental lab purchase a 3Shape scanner?

A simple answer defined
3Shape is now the number 1# selling open scanning solution worldwide. The largest most relevant technology companies in the world are signing up with 3Shape to further enhance the open work flow. It provides our customers with a clear advantage in expanding their business opportunities. Now with a new Sirona Cerec interface this will allow scans from Sirona scanners to be designed using 3Shape(s) Dental System™
As Canada’s Premier 3Shape Sales and Service centre this is a huge competitive advantage for our 3Shape customers. – and this is just the start!

Press Release
Copenhagen, May 2011 - 3Shape A/S, global leader in 3D scanners and CAD/CAM software solutions, announces the official release of a new interface solution that enables scans from Sirona CEREC intraoral scanners and Sirona InLab® scanners to be modeled with 3Shape's Dental SystemTM design software.
Expanding possibilities for labs and dentists
Laboratories using 3Shape Dental SystemTM can now add to the range of their services for dentists and other labs, significantly increasing the scope of their business and growing their customer base.

Dentists using the Sirona CEREC intraoral scanner can send their digital impressions to the large install base of laboratories with 3Shape's Dental SystemTM, significantly expanding their clinic's CAD/CAM possibilities and the range of their restoration indication options.

Broadening equipment flexibility
Last year, 3Shape and Sirona released a corresponding interface that enabled 3Shape scans to be designed in Sirona InLab® software and this new solution completes the circle. Labs with both Sirona and 3Shape systems can now bring all of their CAD/CAM scanners and software together, utilizing their equipment optimally in relation to indications , manufacturing and work flow productivity.

Flemming Thorup, CEO at 3Shape says: "This is the next step of an important dental industry agreement that teams together the systems of two leading technology powers of CAD/CAM dentistry. We recognize the high value and large install base of Sirona's scanning solutions and this new interface with 3Shape's design software will benefit both dentists and labs worldwide," concludes Flemming Thorup.

Complete case information transfer
As before, dentists send their Sirona CEREC Intraoral scans to the lab's InLab® system via the CEREC Connect portal. The lab can export both CEREC scans or InLab® scans from their InLab® system using a new dedicated ".3se" file format, designed to be loaded directly into Dental SystemTM for fast and efficient design. Transferred data provides all case information including the model data of preparation and antagonist, the patient's data, case relevant tooth-numbers and the requested type of restoration (crown, bridge, etc.)

The solution requires an enabling of the interface module in the 3Shape as well as the Sirona software. Users who wish to benefit from this opportunity should contact the supplier who provided their specific system for explicit information about availability of the interfaces for their system and how to obtain the correct software modules. The new Sirona-3Shape interface is an add-on module to Dental SystemTM 2010 and works with version 2.6.9.6 or above. Full functionality with Sirona scanners will be provided with inLab® 3D V3.86 available from May 2011.

http://www.3shape.com/newsandpressreleases/sirona-scanners-in-3shape-dental-system.aspx

This 3Shape Press Release will be passed on to Dentists across Canada - Press Release (digital)
Kastle
Kastle Mills is Canada's Premier 3Shape Sales and Service Centre
North America's only Stocking Parts and 3Shape Scanner Centre - purchase yours today! 0 down lease to own
Your 3Shape Certified training and repair facility right here in Canada

Disclaimer
Kastle Mills is not a dental lab, we are Canada's leading dental technology and manufacturing centre.