The Obvious

Sometimes I wonder...."Why is that Frisbee is getting bigger?"....and then it hits me.

Managing and growing your business is really not all that difficult, if you execute on these three basic core elements:

1. It is all about consistency - one brick at a time builds a wall.

2. It is about your internal team. Super Bowls are not won by B-Team players. Recruit, train, and motivate your team to focus on your customers.

3. Measure key elements of your business and continually benchmark these and seek to improve on these.

....and then it hits me.

Free Internet Marketing

In talking with you in the last month, the question of, “Is there a FREE way to drive traffic to our landing page?” has been raised several times.

As discussed previously, there are ways to drive traffic to your landing pages without spending a dime. With the exception of our Google Ad Words Campaigns, every task and tip your SEO team has suggested is to enable you to obtain low cost or FREE Internet Marketing.

Posting accurate directory listings in Google Business Listings, Super Page, Yellow Pages, and Merchant Circle is an effective way to direct customers to your landing pages. To test the accuracy of these postings, perform searches for your business to ensure all of the information is accurate. Also, posting free classified ads increases your traffic.

The data we are accumulating indicates that the most frequent searches and traffic directed to your landing pages are inquiring about DNA Testing. Make the most of these visits to your landing pages by increasing the frequency and quality of your DNA Ads. The frequency of DNA Conversions indicates that customers are looking for information on the details of your DNA and paternity testing offerings. Try posting ads with testing details such as cost, time frame, method of testing, and accuracy.

Intangibles

As we move toward the end of the year and the tempo of the business subsides, we reflect on what is really meaningful in life. Success in business and financial pursuits is important, but not the essential ingredient in finding joy and happiness.

Over the years, my attitude on this specific concept has been intellectually understood, but my appreciation for the essence of its meaning has matured over the years. While being able to provide for your family is critical, the importance of intangibles is immeasurably more important. These include family, health, faith and purpose.

May the holidays find that you are focusing not only on the tangible aspects of joy, but the intangible.

The next posting will be on December 29th and 30th, and then resume on January 5th.

Jury Duty Scam

Every once in a while, when trying to do the right thing, mistakes can be made. This is something that a young man I know was duped into. If you are not aware, or know others who might not be aware, of this type of data mining, it might be a good idea to share this information.

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below):

This is how this particular scam works. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo - your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including California, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado . This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here:

FBI Warns of Jury Scam

What is Heard?

Yesterday in the blog posting, we explored a “real life” workplace example of employee relations. I do not know if you read the cartoon strip “Doonesbury” or not, but here is a recent installment.

(Note: To view the cartoon in a larger view, click on the cartoon to increase its size)



What is said and what is heard are often two different things. I have always found that it is a good idea to do as much as possible to make sure that what is said is what you intended to communicate, because what is heard is often a lot different. What is remembered can also be dramatically different than what was said, especially since as time passes, memories often fade and become very selective.

Documentation is important in all aspects of business because it is rare that there is usually no attempt to misrepresent any situation, but because of miscommunication or poor communications, misunderstanding or misinterpretation can become a big issue.

Note: Remember, to view the cartoon in a larger view, click on the cartoon to increase its size.

Stay Close to Your Competition

In the next 1-2 years, we will see "mom and pop" locations struggle because of the economy. This is an opportune time to build relationships now, because in the future your competitors will turn to the competitors they know, like and trust to service their existing client base, when they exit their businesses.

If you do not have a relationship with your competitors, you need to consider meeting them and getting to know them. It is difficult to build the trust and confidence in a distress situation.

Key Concept: Keep your competitors close to you. Visit them. Build a relationship. There is virtually no downside in doing this.

Sharing

Doug Kimball has made several suggestions about the necessity for sharing information on marketing, competition, operational insights and clients each franchisee learns about in the field. I am sure everyone agrees that this can be a powerful concept, if everyone participates in sharing ideas and best practices. The trick is execution (as it always is).

In order to facilitate this, Doug initially suggested a voice mail system that all franchisees would call into and leave a message about an idea, a best practice, leads, competitors, etc. After researching this solution, it proved to be too costly.

Not giving up, Doug recently suggested that we use the forums on FranConnect. I think this is a great idea and fully support this concept.

FranConnect has the following forums: Training, Marketing, Product Support, DrugPak, Field Operations and Competition. If you want to participate with Doug in sharing ideas, everyone should go to FranConnect and register for notifications for postings on each of these forums. After each post to one of these forums, you will be notified by email of a new post.

If you have questions on this process on posting, please do not hesitate in giving John Lipp a call.

Targets

Jeff and Hastings in Sacramento landed a couple of new clients recently – a roofer and a solar installation company. Since we are entering the rainy season, Jeff suggests it might not be a bad idea to target these types of companies. Roofers have one of the highest workmen compensation rates and anything they can do to create a safer work environment has an impact on the bottom line.

Jeff and Carol are also working on what could turn out to be a whale client in the assisted living and nursing home market segment. See Eskaton Communities & Programs.

As I have said before, acquiring new clients is all about numbers. If you spend time in the office, you are not in front of potential clients and cannot win new business. Being in the office doing work, regardless of the seeming importance of that work – even if the things you are doing are an effort to obtain new clients – detracts from time in front of clients or in networking activities, and should be done before or after business hours. Business hours should be spent meeting, greeting, networking, selling and presenting. End of stump speech #1243.

Uniformity

Uniformity in franchising is a critical part of marketing. “Eat Fresh” is the positioning statement for Subway. The Golden Arches means McDonalds. All franchise systems require uniformity in order to gain a competitive edge over local competitors and to communicate oneness.

Try this. Go to Google Maps website and search “AccuDiagnostics CA”. The search produces five listings with different AccuDiagnostics logos displayed.

In order to maintain uniformity, please log into your Google account and update the first photo in your account (photos are displayed in order of uploading, i.e., the first uploaded photo is the one that is displayed on your listing) to the AccuDiagnostics Logo that has been provided. Upload as many pictures as you like, but set up the first picture as the AccuDiagnostics logo. This logo can be found on FranConnect/library/CAMPA-Western Region/Photos & Logos.

As you continually post to new directories and review existing directory listings, use the logo that has been provided.

DNA Search Data Proves Useful

SEO is an ongoing effort. There is no idle time. If you relax your efforts, the competition will rank higher than you.

In addition to the daily maintenance of your adwords account and SEO efforts, your SEO Team tracks and collects data to help enhance your performance.

Most recently, your SEO Team optimized your Landing Page content and data to reflect more in-depth information in regards to DNA Testing Services. SEO and AdWord results validate that DNA Testing is a highly searched term on the Internet. AccuDiagnostics receives a high volume of DNA testing search inquiries.

Since we know from our data that DNA is an active area of Internet search, it is important to keep your classified ad current. Be sure to include in the text of these ads, keywords relevant to DNA Testing such as: ancestry, infidelity, genealogy, and paternity. As always, be consistent with updating expired ads as well.

Regional CAMPA Meeting Planned

The first 2009 Regional CAMPA meeting is scheduled at the Sacramento Regional Training Center on January 17-18, 2009. The meeting will begin on January 17th at 10:30 am and end at 6:00 pm. Dinner will be at 7:15 pm.

and ending at 1:00 pm. All franchisees are invited, as well as Lab Techs. Lab Techs may attend the Saturday meeting and return home the evening of January 17th. The Sunday meeting is for franchisees only.

December’s CAMPA Conference Call is scheduled for Thursday, December 18th at 8:00 am. The call in information is 312-878-0202, Access Code 238-973-043, Audio Code 45#. The agenda for this meeting will be to discuss the CAMPA Regional Meeting topics. We have Bill Judge joining the meeting to discuss drug policies development, review, and the marketing of these services.

Other topics for consideration:

• DOT training program for the region
• DOT training venues, i.e., in person, webinars, conference calls, manuals, video, etc.
• Google AdWord campaign 2009 budget and program.
• Field Sales and Operations Support for 2009
• Audits for 2009 and implementation of procedures
• Leslie Allen presentation on DOT Auditing
• DrugPak training for 2009
• AccuDiagnostics.com Website review
• Practice Management
• Other topics

If you have questions prior to our conference call on December 17th at 8:00 am, please do not hesitate in giving me a call at 925-376-2900, x 201.

Securetec Drugwipes Found For Sale Online

Q: Every once in a while I do a competitive test to see what online sources are charging for drug testing products. Securetec Drugwipes were found on Ebay for $14.99 a test. Is this authorized by Securetec? --asked by Carol Hastings.

A: Sherry Diehl from Securetec replied: Yes, we are aware of this listing…it is unauthorized. An agency in Missouri had Drugwipes which were close to the expiration date. This firm decided to list them on eBay. They have been notified to remove the listing as we do not authorize any on-line sales of Drugwipe.

Q&A’s are posted on FranConnect/Support/FAQ/Products

Upcoming Audit

As we approach the end of the year, the first financial and procedural audit will be performed. You will be receiving a call from Cameron Shafie in the next week. He will provide you with a list of things that need to be done in order to prepare for the audit.

The audit has three purposes:

1. Verify the financial information and reconcile your books.

2. Assist you in properly closing the books at year end and prepare your financial information for submission to your CPA or Tax Accountant.

3. Accumulate data and information to prepare recommendations for standardizing the accounting and operational systems, in order to ensure that all locations are uniform in their operational procedures. Over time this will greatly increase our ability to benchmark and improve profitability.

The audit will begin in early January and should be completed by the end of January. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in giving me a call.

Circling Back Around

Doug Kimball has been calling on companies that he talked to several months ago and bringing information that he thought might be of interest to them. The strategy is to get in front of the decision makers again to re-emphasize our value proposition of “better, cheaper, faster”.

With several of these companies that he re-established contact, Doug has moved them to the next step, signed some and is close to signing others as clients. A catch phrase that has worked for Doug is: “What would your boss think if you could save 20%”. This grabs the attention of the person he is talking to – for obvious reasons.

Is it time you called back on some of the sales calls you have made in the last few months?

Downturns in the Economy Represents Opportunity

In every economic downturn, many businesses shrink, and some go out of business. While this may be grim news for some, a shakeout can spell opportunity for the survivors. For companies that are on top of their game and react quickly, economically challenging times make well managed companies stronger, and in the future, puts them in a much stronger position to compete and dominate.

Tactics that Spell Success

1. Look to gain market share by reacting quickly to better serve existing customers.
2. Selling is better than ever in a downturn. Potential customers who wouldn't have picked up the phone a year ago will hear you out and be open to competitive quotes. However, to capitalize on this – you need to spend time in the field selling. When the fish are biting, it is time to fish.
3. By knowing customers and offering the right product/service at the right price, and then promoting these differentiators in a down economy, is an opportunity to attract new business by bringing value to your clients.
4. Differentiation is more vital when the economy is soft. Offer value by bundling services. This may mean a small gross margin, but is well worth the effort.
5. Service counts extra during a downturn. By focusing on customer service to keep existing clients, you protect them against price poachers. This will put you in a position to up sell in more stable times in the future.
6. You have to make an impression with new customers. This starts with product knowledge and understanding the customer's needs.
7. Keep an eye on expenses and act sooner rather than later to manage costs.

Downturns are a part of economic cycles. The best way to weather a downturn is to form a realistic plan. While it's tempting to hope for improved economic conditions, "hope is not a strategy." Most importantly, do not get caught in the “black hole” of operations, because it is tempting to be pennywise and pound foolish and cut back too much, leaving the franchisee doing all of the “work work” of the business. Remember your job description: business development director. Remember….top line revenue solves almost any problem.

Staying focused on selling new customers and servicing existing ones is the key to prospering during a downturn.

DOT Training

Nearly three weeks ago, we began a process to provide a DOT program and to establish a format for ongoing training needs. The last discussion on this topic was a conference call discussing the contents of a DOT program, the need for a training process, and what should be included in this training. Our assignment was to provide each franchise location with a written list of items to be included in the DOT program which John Lipp subsequently sent to each of you. Once this list is returned by all locations, all of the items will be put into a summary list of training subjects and criteria will be developed for the ongoing training.

The next step is to decide on a training format and a training schedule.

We discussed a January Regional Training to be held on January 17-18th in Sacramento, in order to begin this training program, followed up with Webinars, if necessary. We need to know if this is something that everyone wants and will attend. We have a deadline for the scheduling of this meeting, because of travel schedules, by this Thursday, December 4th, at 5:00 pm. If you would like to have this type of training session on this date, please drop me an email with your thoughts at mstorm@accudiagnostics.com or give me a call at my office at 925-376-2900, x 201.

If these dates do not work, we can always schedule alternative dates. However, I have Mr. Judge scheduled for this time window and he may or may not be available at another time. We can also hold this training via Webinars, in which Mr. Judge would host.

SEO Tips Reviewed

Your SEO team is hard at work finding ways to improve your Internet Marketing Strategy on a daily basis. They provide you with instruction, direction, and facts to help you succeed. It is up to you to carry out these tasks to improve your business.

I’d like to review a few facts that have been previously shared with you:

-Posting ads on free classified sites does bring traffic to your site.

FACT – One location doubled their organic traffic by updating the same ads on the same site (Craigslist.org) repeatedly.

-Listing your business in Free Business Directories does bring traffic to your site.

FACT – Your competition that is ranking higher than you organically is listed in more Free Business Directories than you are listed in.

If your organic ranking is not optimized, you are missing business. If updating these listings yourself is difficult, consider training a family member, your lab tech, or paying someone to maintain your organic ranking.

Here are a few sites that your competition is listed on. If your business has not yet been listed here, you should take 20 minutes and do list on these sites:

Merchant Circle
Magic Yellow
Super Pages

Happy Thanksgiving

Often we get so caught up in building our businesses, that we forget what is most important in our lives - family, health, and faith. Over the next few days, as we stuff ourselves with turkey and all the fix'ins, let us all reflect on the bountiful blessings of life we are afforded in this country.

As the financial uncertainties have emerged in the last year, we can be truly grateful for living at a time and place that allows us the ability to take control of our destiny, which in turn enables us to provide for our families. This is truly the source of the greatness of the United States of America.

Have a happy and restful Thanksgiving with your families.

Call Source AdWord Display Test Results

Call Source AdWord Display Test Period:

Oct 8, 2008 - Nov 15, 2008

Pre-Testing Assumptions:

1. Replacing approximately 25 characters of precious service description space within our ads, with a call to action and a phone number, will be well worth the loss of space if it would call our customers to instant action.

2. People will place a call to your location simply by viewing your phone number in an AdWord Display Ad, thus saving you the cost of an actual click through.

Testing Method:

1. We have approximately 130 display ads in each account.
2. We ran a set of display ads without any phone numbers in the text for over a month.
3. Between 10/8/08 and 11/15/08, using a duplicate copy of display ads, we replaced some text in each ad with a call to action along with a tracked phone number entitled “AdWord Display Ads” in your call source reports.
4. If our theories were accurate, we would replace our AdWord display ads with our landing page tracking numbers in order to save on costs.

Example: Of course this is only one example out of 130 different display ads discussing every service you offer.

Non phone number ad
Pre-Employment Screening
Drug-Alcohol & Background Checks
Your Location or Ours! Lancaster
AccuDiagnostics.Local-Drug-Test.com

Tracking phone number replacing text
Pre-Employment Screening
Drug-Alcohol & Background Checks
Call Now. 661-902-0355 Lancaster
AccuDiagnostics.Local-Drug-Test.com

In our above example, our AdWord display ad has a call to action:“Call Now” plus a phone number “661-902-0355”. This method uses approximately 25 characters of service description space in each ad replacing “Your Location or Ours!”

Testing Period Activity:

Aug 31, 2008 - Oct 8, 2008
(38 days prior to AdWord display ad activation)

CallSource reports that our locations received
89 calls from landing page call tracking phone numbers

Oct 8, 2008 - Nov 15, 2008
(38 day period of AdWord display ads tracking phone numbers in all ads)

CallSource reports that our locations received
142 calls from landing page call tracking phone numbers
35 calls from AdWord display ads call tracking phone numbers

Testing Variables:

• We are not able to verify whether people call the phone number in an AdWord Display ad as well as clicking through on the ad, thus there is a cost for the click anyways.

• Click through rates were higher in the testing period because of increasing popularity of your organic as well as AdWord search results, thus we cannot compare data to months prior since overall traffic has increased.


Testing Results:

Over a period of 38 days, 35 people called franchise locations when prompted by an AdWord display ad. Keep in mind that there is not direct cost for these responses (no pay per click cost as there is in the Google AdWord program).

We can also validate that approximately 35 people actually searched for our keywords, saw our ads, and instantly called our locations. We are absolutely sure that all of these leads came from our AdWord campaigns, unlike landing pages that are both organic and cost per click leads.

We now have viable proof that supports our assumption:
Having a phone number in our AdWord display ads is worth the loss of the text explaining our service in our ads.


Conclusions:

1. With these results, we can predict our market behavior and adjust our methods of advertising.

2. Our customers are seeking their information online. Our customers are getting what they want when they want it. People love instant information. The trend “GET IT and GET IT NOW!” has proven to be a factual behavior in our market.

3. Our call to action alongside a phone number in each of your ads is a perfect example of accommodating your customer’s "wants" for instant information.

I am confident that if we continue to establish our online position and make sure our locations are readily available everywhere our customers are seeking, that we will eventually become an even greater influence in the Drug Testing world, and harvest the benefits accordingly while burying our competition over the long term!

Setting Up National/Regional Account Collections

Background: Jill Chioino is working with a national client. She will perform the billing, client services and management of the account. The account will require Quest Diagnostics collection services and a BAT. In order to properly structure the bid, Jill needed to know how to price the service to the client and what Quest will charge for collections.

Q: What does Quest charge for collections and how is the billing handled?

A: In general, if an AccuDiagnostics franchisee’s client uses a Quest facility and the client’s employee brings in a completed Chain of Custody form, Quest will bill the franchisee $10.00 for the collection. If the franchisee uses a Quest Preferred Collection Site and the client’s employee brings in a completed Chain of Custody form, Quest will bill the franchisee $15.00 for the collection.

This pricing information is used when a franchisee is setting up a national or regional account and handling the logistics of billing, customer service and setting up collection sites for the client. The franchisee will bill the client for whatever their agreement is for the collections and lab testing services. Quest will bill the franchisee $10.00 for collections at a Quest location, plus the cost of the lab drug test, or $15.00 for collections at a Preferred Collection Site, plus the cost of the lab drug test.

Example: Franchisee signs ABC Widget Company as a client. ABC has clients in CA, NV, UT and AZ. The franchisee uses Quest for collections and lab drug testing. Three collection sites are Quest locations and seven are Preferred Quest Collection sites that the client is directed to use for getting drug tests done.

When ABC’s employees bring in completed Quest Chain of Custody forms to any Quest location or Preferred Collection site to obtain a drug test, Quest will bill the franchisee $10.00 for using their facility, plus the cost of the lab drug test and $15.00 for using Preferred Collection Site collection, plus the cost of the lab drug test. When Quest is paid for collections from the franchisee, Quest pays the Preferred Collection Site for the collection services.

The Franchisee pays Quest or the Preferred Collection Site for the collection and Quest for the lab drug test. The Franchisee then bills the client whatever the negotiated price is for the collection services and the lab drug test.

The franchisee can also negotiate directly with a TPA or another AccuDiagnostics location for collections services.

What We Do

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." --Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher.

Sometimes simple statements have enormous insight and validity. This is one of those.

This axiom, if applied to any element of your business, infuses the seeds of success into your business. The ability to actually do this is another thing. It takes enormous discipline to implement an activity in order for it to become a habit. Habits are created by repetition. Repetition is enhanced by systems and processes.

In one of my previous blog postings, regarding keeping the Craigslist postings current, I recommended that you incorporate a process into your business daily operation for posting and reposting of classified ads to ensure that these classified ads are always current. This is just one of many of the items in your business that becomes a habit only when it is a part of an orderly process.

Your business will operate at a higher level of efficiency when you make the things which are critical to your success, a normal part of an internal operational process. Developing a process is not hard - to actually make it happen is difficult. Since there are just too many things going on in managing a business, things only get done when commitments are made on important things, a specific time frame is set, and then actually getting it done. Everyone understands the simple concepts of setting goals, making commitments, and effectively implementing them.

Just ask ten successful entrepreneurs, and each one will tell you that a major contributor to their success was setting a goal, making a commitment, and then consistently implementing the things that really mattered in their success – come hell or high water.

Access to Experts Scores Again

A few days ago, in discussions with several attorneys, Carol Hastings was asked about a recent court ruling in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Oregon regarding pre-employment testing of employees. Here is the question/concern that was raised:

Q: In a recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Lanier v. City of Woodburn (2008) 518 F.3d 1147, the Court placed significant limitations on a public employer’s ability to implement pre-employment drug testing.

This question/concern was presented to Bill Judge, our Attorney and expert for matter related to Drug Policy issues.

Read his reply on FranConnect/Support/FQA/Legal

Having the resources to quickly get answers and support on technical and legal issues is a significant competitive advantage that will create credibility and a stellar reputation over the long term.

PPC vs. Organic Search

Our Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising campaigns are very successful and are working as they are intended to work.

As you are aware, your SEO and Google AdWord Specialists track all activity on all of our landing pages. An interesting factoid that has emerged is searchers performing organic searches are possibly more valuable than those using the PPC method of search.

The average time a PPC customer stays on a landing page is approximately 30 seconds. An organic search customer remains on a landing page for over 60 seconds. This is valuable information, because it indicates that you need to continue your efforts on the posting of ads in the various classified websites in order to increase organic rankings, which will lead to more organic searches – which, as you know, do not cost us a thing.

DO THE MATH:

PPC = monthly budget of $xxx = 30 seconds average on landing page

Organic Search = monthly budget of $0 = 60 seconds on a landing page

Both of these strategies are important, but the accumulated data to date indicates that resources should be weighted to organic search.

Information/data is king.

Conversions

Conversions result from future customers submitting an inquiry form from your landing page, requesting information. Over the past months, your Google SEO and Ad Word Team have been tracking these conversions in order to get a better understanding of what type of information individuals and businesses are seeking.

Recent conversions indicate inquiries are seeking information on the types of drugs for which people are tested and the different testing methodologies. Another insight is that DNA testing inquiries are very specific to the paternity of children, and that price is the number one concern.

Knowing this information is very useful. For instance, an email template could be created to respond to paternity questions. This would not only ensure each conversion inquiry is receiving immediate attention (especially if you cannot reach the customer by phone), but also an email can address many of the issues that the person making the inquiry may not have considered or of which the person may not have been aware. Specific details can be included in an email to enhance selling points when there is a personal conversation.

A drug testing email template could highlight options and specific issues that will emphasize our service offerings. Anyone taking the time to submit an inquiry is looking for information in an expedient manner and has selected AccuDiagnostics in hopes we can cater to his/her needs.

Individuals and businesses submitting inquiries to us are likely submitting forms on other websites, too. Time is of the essence. Someone should be checking emails frequently and each office should have a plan in place to respond immediately to any inquiry. Make the most of your response in emails and phone follow-up calls, which will show future clients that you want and deserve their business.

Postcard Campaign Launched

The postcard mailing campaign was launched last week. The DOT postcard was mailed to all transportation SIC codes in Oceanside, Rancho Cucamonga/Fontana, Lancaster/Palmdale and Martinez areas. Sacramento elected to begin their mailing in 2009.

The mailing dates for the DOT mailing are: 11/6/08, 11/21/08, and 1/2/09. The delivery times vary, but are generally within two weeks.

The mailings for the balance of the mailing will be on 1/2/09, 1/30/09 and 2/27/09. A total of 6,000 postcards will be mailed in each mailing cycle and in each territory at ~2,000 per mailing.

To review the postcards that will be mailed, go to FranConnect/library/CAMPA .

Free Landing Page Traffic

Free Landing Page Traffic

Everyone with a website wants to know, “How do I get more traffic?” There are really only two answers to this question: either work for it or pay for it.

Working for your traffic includes posting classified ads on Craigslist and other free classified advertising venues, as well as updating these ads on a regular basis. Craigslist ads bring in a substantial number of visitors to our landing pages without a penny spent, other than the time to post the ads.

In a quick review of the fifteen possible ads that could be posted on Craigslist, there are only four ads currently posted. Each business is allowed to post three ads at a time. When ads are posted, there is an expiration date provided. It is a good idea to note the expiration date and then begin a routine of having a lab tech or someone else do this routine repost of your ads.

Our tracking of landing page traffic demonstrates that these ads are worth every minute of the time allocated towards keeping them current. In fact, there are very few things that you can do which is a better use of time, and if time is being spent to post one ad, you might as well post three at a time.

Coupons are another free way to increase traffic to your site. Coupons have a two-fold benefit. They will grab the attention of future customers, as well as increase site ranking in organic search, because search engine algorithms weight the use of a coupon in determining ranking.

Interesting Statistics

Every franchisee has an opportunity to educate their clients and the general public on the scope of drug abuse in our society. It is general knowledge that drug abuse is a huge problem and costly not only to society but to business as well. If you do not already know these statistics, you should memorize them and be able to share them when the opportunity arises:

-19% of eighth graders, 36% of tenth graders, and 47% of twelfth graders have used illegal drugs, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan

-74% of all drug users are employed

-1 in 6 has an addiction problem

-4x more likely to steal from employers

-3.6x more likely to be involved in work accidents

-3x more likely to use medical benefits

-5x more likely to file a Workers Compensation claim

-Absent from work 16x more often

-1 workplace drug user costs employers $11000 - $13000 a year

Incoming Call Source Logs

During the course of a typical work day, you and your lab techs are pushed and pulled in many different directions. Sometimes this creates the situation where it is hard to focus on seemingly insignificant details in your operation that actually can make a big difference in your sales revenue and in understanding the effectiveness of your marketing dollars. One of the most overlooked routine front line functions is how incoming phone calls are answered and logged (if at all).

Keeping a Call Source Log next to each office telephone is one of those simple things that will yield big results over the course of a year. In fact, I would venture to say that there are few things more important than knowing how incoming phone calls are handled and where these calls are coming from.

If, as a group, we are serious about differentiating ourselves from our competitors, it all starts with how each incoming call is answered. Each time the phone rings, it should be answered professionally and rarely forwarded to voice mail – the Call Source Report will tell you how many times calls are going to voice mail. After each call, the source of the call and other important information needs to be logged into the Call Source Log.

This process should not be time consuming and simply involves jotting down the phone number, the caller’s name, their company (if a B2B call), and a few notes about the call. You will find that this log will be invaluable in the future as you begin to analyze your marketing.

If you have not figured it out yet, you know how passionate I am about accumulating data. Just look at the data we are currently gathering in our Google marketing campaign. We WILL have the data to make informed business decisions in the future and will NOT be shooting in the dark. Success is always found in the details. Without the data, we will not have information to make smart decisions - which generally results in stupid decisions.

Not only will maintaining the Call Source Log data help provide each customer with better service (for follow up calls), it will differentiate our service level and set expectations with our new customers. You will also be able to reconcile the Call Source Log with your Call Source Report and track the calls you are receiving. This allows you to begin to understand which ads are working and what type of business you are receiving for the SEO and Ad Word campaign.

Although this may seem insignificant, this simple procedure will increase the effectiveness of your business and give you and your staff a much better feel for the sourcing of your business.

Our mission is to out-execute our competitors at EVERY level. We are well on our way to doing this. Our ability to crush our competitors in the future gets better as we execute on the little things. The Call Source Log is one killer application. I can tell you that your competitors are clueless in this area.

Getting Paid in Tough Economic Times

In economically challenging times, making sure that you get paid can make all the difference in your survival … or your demise. For businesses that are in the startup mode (i.e., in business less than 2 yrs), proper management of cash flow is essential. Since the key component of a Cash Flow Statement/Report is the incoming cash metric, it is important that adequate attention be given to all aspects of this key metric.

Early in my career, I became a franchisee in a retail-oriented franchise. Although I had a background in accounting and fully understood the importance of managing cash flow, I got distracted by the excitement of building the business.

To my credit, I correctly focused on sales, realizing that an aggressive sales and marketing posture was critical to success. I hired several sales people, something that had not been done in this business previously, since it was primarily a retail business. I was able to create a great amount of sales momentum. I was almost too successful in building top line sales.

Although I had a credit checking process established, it was not very sophisticated. I also had a procedure to track receivables in aggregate, but I did not have a procedure in place to monitor the rapid growth in receivables of my larger clients. I was just too focused on sales, which were exponentially growing, to take the necessary time to analyze the numbers closely. This is a classic entrepreneurial rookie mistake!

Someone can intellectually understand the importance of cash flow, and in my case as an accountant, understand and promote cash flow management, having designed cash flow reporting systems for others. However, until I had actually been swept up in the excitement of building a business, watched sales skyrocket, and spent a majority of my time focusing on expansion and all of the elements associated with the growth phenomenon, it was difficult to appreciate the importance of the cash flow metric. Clarity did not arrive until I got to the point when I was technically bankrupt - THEN the cash flow metric hit home! Turning on a dime, my new focus became fixing this problem.

Based on this experience, I have developed 5 essential tasks for more effective cash flow management, in an expansionary mode or during uncertain economic times:

1. Chose your customers carefully. It is better to not associate with companies that have a poor payment history or are unwilling to readily provide credit information and references. Under the best of circumstances, it is hard to find out if a company is hiding something, and if you are having a difficult time verifying information or something just does not seem right – walk away from these companies. You are better off without them. If they don’t have money or if they are having other difficulties, no matter how much they like you personally, they will not be able to pay their bills.

2. Find an excuse to call – any excuse. Being the “squeaky wheel” will keep you front and center. In uncertain economic times, he who is the squeakiest (in a nice way), is the first to get the grease.

3. Consider credit insurance. Credit insurance allows you to increase credit lines and protect yourself against unforeseen future events, by protecting your receivables against commercial risks which could result in non-payment of your invoices due to buyer insolvencies (e.g., bankruptcy) or protracted defaults (slow payment). Non-payment problems can be caused by fluctuations in demand, natural disasters, or general economic conditions in your customer's business. To find out more about credit insurance, go to Google and do a search for “Credit Insurance Policies”.

4. Turn your sales people into collection agents. Tie commissions and bonuses to on time accounts receivable payments vs. commission being paid at the time the sale closes.

5. If there is a problem, be the first on the scene to work with the client. Be creative on structuring a payment schedule. Bend over backwards to be proactive and to maintain a good working relationship. If you are a facilitator in working with your clients, you will be the first in line vs. being at the end of the line. Being proactive also cements the future relationship. This will keep competitors out when things turn around, even if the competitor offers lower pricing. The relationship is more important than saving a few bucks.

Fires

In many ways, a crisis is like a forest fire. If left unchecked, it can devastate thousands of acres, homes and lives. However, forest fires do have a beneficial effect in nature. Fires clear out old dead brush and decades of undergrowth, and set the stage for vibrant new growth in the future. Fires are Mother Nature’s way of giving rebirth to a forest.

Crisis in a business, if handled properly, can be a healthy thing. Bumps in the road can serve to focus an entrepreneur and propel him/her into action. If challenges are viewed as opportunities vs. disasters, these events can make a huge difference in the long term success of a business. In fact, these types of crises can be the difference between a home run and a single.

A number of years ago, as a CEO of an emerging franchise company, I had aggressively recruited an extraordinarily talented individual to join our management team. This individual, whom I will call Roger, was unique in our industry, and by far the best in the industry at what he did – training franchisees on the technical aspects of our business. After Roger joined our management team, over a period of just a few years, he had completely reoriented the company’s training program and cemented the company’s position as the leader in the industry.

Part of Roger’s job required extensive travel. Travel is difficult for anyone with a family. Roger had some family issues that were exacerbated by his frequent absences on company business. To Roger’s credit, he walked into my office one morning and said that he had to resign. I respected his decision, but when he walked out of the office, I sat there and looked out my window, wondering how in the heck I was going to replace Roger. In many ways Roger was irreplaceable. I was heartsick because he had done so much to make the company the industry leader.

Although the next few months were difficult after Roger left, the management team pulled together to bridge the gap. I moved quickly to fill the void and was able to recruit one of the more successful franchisees to fill Roger’s spot. This proved to be a critical addition to the team. The new Director of Operations and Training brought a different set of skills to the table and built upon what Roger had accomplished.

Roger moved on and chose a different career that was more conducive to his family situation. Roger’s replacement catapulted the company forward, increasing its domination in our market segment. What seemed like disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Without the “new Roger,” the company could not have gone to the next level.

Disasters come in many different forms: the loss of a key employee or a key client, a big proposal or a new competitor entering the market, a key employee embezzling funds, a fire at your office, a technology failure … and the list goes on and on. Whatever these bumps in the road are, there is a process to implement to insure that these disasters don’t derail the company.

5 Strategies to Convert a Disaster Into a Win:

1. Attitude. Don’t get depressed. Take a deep breath and get to work.

2. Vision. Don’t look back. Keep moving forward. Inaction or indecision is a killer.

3. Execution. Realize that execution is more important than having the perfect plan or strategy.

4. Mistakes. Accept that there will be setbacks and mistakes, but as long as you are taking two steps forward, then a step backwards from time to time is expected, and in some cases necessary, to keep you rooted in reality.

5. Drive. Never, never, never give up!

Q&A on Important DOT Regs Change

The Department of Transportation is making regulation changes in an effort to reduce the adulteration of urine specimens.

The regulations that were first announced this summer, were intended to take effect on November 1, 2008. However, on 10/31/2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit temporarily delayed the November 1st Direct Observation (DO) requirement for DOT return-to-duty and follow-up tests. This is an administrative stay until the Court completes its review on the matter. Therefore, DO for return-to-duty and follow-up testing will continue to be an employer option, rather than mandatory. This temporary stay is only regarding 49 CFR §40.67 (b).

You may view the complete Stay Order at Administrative Stay Order

DATIA will notify members when this stay is lifted.

When these regs become effective, for any company that is mandated to comply with DOT regulations, it is essential that they familiarize themselves with the following information. I have included an easy-to-understand question and answer document for you to review, located on. Go to FranConnect

Call Source Data

Call Data

Data from Call Source has been collected for nearly four months and we are beginning to see some trends:

• One such golden nugget is that Mondays and Thursdays have the highest number of calls. This means that you should staff accordingly.
• Another nugget is that through mid-October, there have been nearly 50% as many calls as there were for the preceding three months and October isn’t over yet. Call volume is increasing.
• I think it is easy to make the assumption that the increase in calls is a direct reflection of the emphasis that has been devoted to ad placement and directory submissions. It is also important to note that 89% of all calls came directly from landing pages. This means that traffic should be pushed to landing pages!
• Finally, 43% of all calls last less than 30 seconds, which implies that nearly half of all calls which are sent to voicemail, or do not get an immediate answer, hang up.

As our campaign continues, more relevant data will be collected and new treads may emerge.

Keep up the good work!

New Classified Site

As you recall, we are using the www.craigslist.org classified ad posting strategy. It works when franchisees keep their postings current. You need to repost these ads once or twice a week.

Our SEO Specialist has located another classified website to post key word ads on. This site is www.bajohn.com. When you visit this site you will see that there is not a lot of traffic on the site. Traffic is nice, but not all that important for our purposes, which is to secure a link to your landing page. Linking is EXTREMELY important. The more websites linking to your landing page, the higher you are going to rank organically. It is worth your time to post ads on these classified advertising websites.

I have posted the instructions on how to post on Bajohn.com in the FranConnect Library under CAMPA-Western Region/Google AdWord Info/bajohn posting ad.

This posting, along with the other classified ad postings, will increase your organic search results.

Customer Reviews

A great way to boost your search engine ranking is to post customer reviews and ratings. Most major directories provide a place for customers to write a review or post a rating for a business. It is a good idea to ask customers who have had a great experience with your business, to share their experience through posting a review.

Posted reviews from customers not only provide potential clients with insight on what type of great service you provid, but they also increase your SEO rankings. A great place to get reviews posted is on Google Maps.

Test this out. Do a search for: Shoe Stores, New York, NY (a competitive arena) on Google Maps. The first 28 pages of business listings on Google Maps are packed with business reviews. It is interesting to note that you have to scroll down through a couple hundred ads before a business without a review is listed. Obviously, locations without reviews are at the end of the listings which validates the concept that reviews help SEO rankings.

Please don’t have your employees rate your business, because search engines are much too smart for blatant abuse. It is best to obtain your reviews and ratings honestly.

Now when a client asks, “How can I thank you?” you know what your answer should be!

Be Everywhere

Another place for your business to be seen is in Google 411. Google provides a service called Google 411 to all businesses that have a Google Business Listing and other business. Customers simply call 1-800-GOOG-411 and give the city,state, and type of business that they want to find. Call-in customers are connected with the business of their choice.

This is just another reason to create a polished Google Business Listing. This feature creates one more avenue for you to reach your customers.

To ensure you have a quality Google Business Listing and are listed on Google’s 411 service, follow these steps:

*In order to get familiar with this service, try it out by dialing 1-800-466-4411 (1-800-GOOG-411) and ask for your business.

*Try multiple searches under different key words (Drug Testing, DNA, etc) and see if you are on the service. You should be listed under the most frequently searched and popular categories.

*Go to Google Maps and search for your business; make sure you are making the most of the options there.

*If you don't come up in the Google Business Listings or Google’s 411 service, you may wish to develop a strategy to get listed and ranked.

*Also, check out the Google Video about this video option at Google 411. Including a video on your website is an easy way to increase your ranking on Google’s Business Listing Service.

You need to take advantage of these free programs offered to you. Your competitors are!

FAQs

Q: Is it possible to create a knowledge bank for training, product knowledge, procedures and best practices?

A: In a prior life, I created such a resource for franchisees to use. The knowledge bank was rich in every aspect of managing and growing a franchise. Over three thousand different topics, procedures, training information and best practices were posted online for franchisees to use. This made tackling problems very easy.

In most cases, when a question came up, no new research had to be done, since someone else had already crossed that bridge. The path to solving these problems was already laid out and easy to follow. In the worst case scenario, a specific issue may be slightly different, and additional research had to be done. Generally, in these situations, there was ample information in the answer to cut the research time by 50%-80%. This tool was a competitive advantage.

Currently, in FranConnect under the Support Tab, you will find FAQs. I have been posting questions online for the month. Every time a question is raised on a particular topic that I feel is relevant for the group, I create a Q: Question and then a corresponding A: Answer and post it in the FAQ section of FranConnect. Currently there are ten categories:

1. Advertising: Ad Words
2. Advertising: Yellow Pages
3. Background Screening Services
4. CAMPA
5. DOT Testing
6. Drug Pak
7. Insurance
8. Legal Issues
9. Operations
10. Real Estate

There are currently 41 questions posted in these categories.

This is only a start.

Ideally, everyone in the system would submit questions and answers for posting. When someone has to do research on a specific topic, it usually does not take long to create a question and share how the issue was resolved and incorporate this information into the form of an FAQ outlining the resources used and the main issues to be aware of. Over time, the collaborative effort of the group will create an enormously powerful resource for everyone to draw upon. This is just one more tool we have as a group of like-minded entrepreneurs, working together to dominate the competition.

Networking Pays Off

ACCUDIAGNOSTICS SACRAMENTO HONORED BY THE ASIAN PACIFIC CHAMBER

Member of the Week: Carol & Jeff Hastings from AccuDiagnostics

AccuDiagnostics helps provide Drug-Free environments for Companies, Schools, and Government Agencies such as Sacramento's Police and Fire Departments. Their services include Same Day Drug, Alcohol, and Background Screening. Medical offerings include physicals, innoculations, and TB Tests. LiveScan service is also available.

The Chamber has helped us with introductions to key members of the Sacramento Government and business community that are helping us build our business. Their territories cover the range from Davis up to Nevada City.

Carol and Jeff also provide FREE seminars on Drug Abuse, its costs to employers, and how to implement a Drug-Free Workplace Policy. Many employers don't realize that:

• 75% of Drug Abusers are Full-Time Employees
• Employee Drug Abusers are involved in 50% of all Worker's Comp Claims
• They are 4 Times more likely to steal from their employers or co-workers
• Their medical claims are 300% higher
• They use 3 Times more Sick Day benefits
  

If you have questions about AccuDiagnostics, please call (916)739-1718.

PR and Networking is like small streams that feed tribuataries which eventually become the "Mississippi River" of business.

Great Job!

Following Up On Missed Calls

You are at your desk, on the phone with a client, when a customer walks in the front door. To make sure you’re not rude to the client you are talking to on the phone, you spin your chair around in the opposite direction and continue with your call. The customer in your lobby waits for a few minutes and then leaves. You just lost a future client because you ignored him or her.

Of course, you wouldn’t really turn your back on a customer who walked in the front door - would you? If you aren’t making it a practice to follow up with customer calls on your Call Source Reports, that is exactly what you are doing – ignoring them. A phone call is a red flag that someone is looking for help!

Every day you receive two Call Source Reports. You should make it a practice to follow up with each call on these reports. Creating and utilizing a tracking log is helpful in systematizing this process.

If you can’t make contact with a missed caller or you want to know what type of caller phoned in, you may wish to use these FREE reverse lookup tactics.

Perform a Google, MSN, or Yahoo Search on a phone number:

1. Select the number that you missed, right click on it, and copy it to your clipboard.

2. Go to Google and paste the number from your clipboard into Google’s search bar.

3. If the number appears in the results, you can usually get an idea if the number belongs to a residential or business customer who called your Call Source phone number. You may find the call was from a salesperson or other vendor who you can call back when you have time.

4. If no search results are found, try changing the way the number is displayed in the search bar. Try all of the following formats. Quotations bring up EXACT results.

“925-555-5555”, “(925) 555-5555”, (925) 555-5555, or 925-555-5555

Trying every possible combination may help, depending on how the number is listed on the Internet.

5. If the number is a business, you may decide to call them or make a personal sales call. Showing up in person goes a long way in proving that you want their business.

Each franchise location has two virtual phone numbers; one on the landing page and another in each Key Words AdWord description. We are tracking each of the types of calls – which is a subject for another time.

You have worked hard for those phone calls; don’t allow a lack of follow-up result in wasting these potential leads.

Copy Cats

As discussed on our last CAMPA conference call, our competitors are keeping an eye on us and, in fact, are copying our SEO strategy. As they say, “stealing your ideas is the best form of flattery.”

To review what one of our competitors did: Kylee figured out that posting on classified sites would improve SEO rankings. A suggestion was made for all franchisees to post an ad on www.craigslist.org in their areas and let the spiders find these ads, check it for relevance and begin to rank the key word. It works.

In her daily monitoring of the SEO results, Kylee found a classified site called www.oodle.com and suggest that the www.craigslist.org strategy be repeated with www.oodle.com. While monitoring the SEO activity for the week, she noticed a new organic listing and clicked on it thinking it was an ad posted on www.oodle.com by one of you. To her amazement it was a competitor’s ad and the franchisee had not posted an ad on www.oodle.com.

Now we have the situation where a competitor is out foxing us, at least on this single key word in organic search, by stealing an idea from us and using it effectively against us.

If you have NOT posted your www.craigslist.org or www.oodle.com ad for a couple of key words including drug testing, DNA testing, etc., you need to do it NOW or allow our competitors to grab business from us.

Linking

The brain of a newborn infant has over 100 billion neurons. This represents more brain cells than there are stars in the Milky Way. These brain cells grow and die in the first few decades, but the brain retains roughly the same number of cells. Without these cells, the brain is not a brain.

In the formative years of a child’s life, intelligence is formed by the number of connections or links between the cells. These links are called the synapses – synaptic connections.

The first fifteen years are critical for the development of the brain. From the first breath of an infant, these neurons send out thousands of signals which are trying to talk to each other. When there is communication between these synaptic connections, a link is formed.

By a child’s third birthday, about 15,000 links have been formed for EACH of the 100 billion neurons. During the next 5-10 years, the brain refines and focuses these connections on the most frequently used links. These strong synaptic connections increase in strength and the weaker ones wither away. This is very similar to our highway system. In essence, the stronger links become freeways. The least traveled links become country roads with weeds springing up through the cracks in the roads, and eventually these country roads disappear because there is no traffic.

In humans, links that receive continuous stimulation become the core of a person’s talents and strengths.

10 Reasons to Post an Ad

The goal is to have search engines rank AccuDiagnostics as the #1 site for any related key word search. To accomplish this you must saturate the Internet with information about all aspects of your business.

Posting ads on popular classified advertising websites is a quick and easy way to do this.

Using classified advertising websites has two objectives:

1. One obvious objective is for viewers of a classified advertising website to view the advertisements placed.
2. Even more importantly, search engine spiders crawl these advertisements and rank them. Ultimately your advertisements need to be posted on as many of these classified advertising websites as possible. The more your advertisements are crawled by the spiders, the higher the ranking will be on the search engines.
   
   Craigslist is by far the most popular classified advertising website. We have seen a lot of success with ads being posted on Craigslist. It is IMPORTANT to optimize your visibility and to continually repost your advertisements at once, or even twice a week. An easy way of doing this is to schedule postings on Mondays and Thursdays of each week.
   
   Another website we are seeing results from is Oodle.
   
   Here are your 10 reasons to post an ad on Oodle: google.com , military.com , lycos.com , washingtonpost.com , myspace.com , backpage.com , efind.com , newsondeals.com , thecorner.com, and a large number of other local classified listings.
   
   All of these websites are partners with Oodle. If an advertisement is posted on Oodle , other sites will pick up your postings and display these ads as if these were posted on their own websites.
   
   Use the templates provided to you and make sure you to keep your user IDs handy. Post multiple ads in different categories on each website and update, edit, and repost your ads routinely.
   
   If you haven’t updated your ads with the new landing page URL (as in this example: AccuDiagnostics Local Drug Testing of Martinez), now is a good time to get it done!

It Happens on the Front Lines.....

Sacramento, Jeff:

I love braggin’ on my ladies ...

Marie, our lab tech, opened 3 accounts in the past two days: two trucking companies and a healthcare staffing company. Sources were Yellow Pages, a prospect referral, and believe it or not, the online Datia directory (editorial note: most of our competitors are not Datia members).

Lancaster, Doug:

Doug is following a very specific regime of “Steady Eddie” day after day sales calls. Recently he had the following experience. Click on the link to listen to what Doug is doing to generate business:

Doug's Business Tips

What Competitors Will Say and Do

During a recent sales call, Jeff Hastings, the Sacramento franchisee, had a competitor tell a non-DOT prospective client that hair drug testing was not admissible in CA courts. To confirm that hair drug testing was indeed admissible in the court in CA, our Drug Policy Legal Council, Mr. Bill Judge, was summoned.

Here is his response via a recorded telephone conversation. Please follow this link to listen to this audio transcript: Hair Testing Response by Mr. Bill Judge

There is also a posted FAQ on our FranConnect Intranet at: Support/FAQ/Legal

As I have said before, it is nice to know that when you need technical information and support, that it is available.

Hijacked

Claim Your Google Local Business Listing Before Someone Else Does!

Imagine going to the Post Office to check your post office box, only to discover that all of your mail and receipts for the past few weeks have been forwarded to an unknown party. The Post Office informs you that there is no chance of getting your receipts back and if you want to start receiving your mail at your PO box once again, you need to go over to their new business center and fill out some forms to claim your box. Just notifying the Post Office that it was your box is not enough to protect it in the future. Due to normal delays in processing, it would be 2 weeks before you start receiving your mail & money again.

If you’re a small business with a local listing in one of the major search engines, you need to beware: the same scenario described above could happen to your local search result info if you’re not careful.

The apparent hijacking of a large number of independent florists in Google Maps several weeks back is just such a story. Google, in the role of Post Office, allowed someone to hijack listings in the Florist industry using the Community Edit feature.

For those of you unfamiliar with the incident, here is a brief recap. The technique, apparently in widespread use in the locksmith, pay day loan, and other industries, exploited weaknesses in Google’s Community Edit capability. In this newly reported case in the Florist industry, affiliate map-spammers targeted high ranking florists in major markets who had not claimed their business listings in the Local Business Center, which would enable them to benefit from existing business ranking and reviews.

The spammers, using these Community Edit tools, would change the phone number to another local number, change the location of the business slightly and then proceed to add a category, a new URL and ultimately change the name of the business. Apparently the small move in location convinced Google’s system that all subsequent changes were legitimate. The listing would retain the ranking and reviews of the original business, but redirect to a Canadian florist fulfillment house via the affiliate’s website. The listings displayed prominently in the Local 10 Pack on searches for florists in major markets across the U.S.

Here are some screen captures (from Real Florist) that illustrate the sequence of events:

Clearly every small business needs to claim its listing in Google’s Local Business Center to be sure that the information that is presented to the public is accurate. But as we have seen, not every small business is aware that they need to do this and even if they are, there is anecdotal evidence that they still can’t figure out how to do so. Clearly more has to be done, and responsibility for making sure that local business data is secure falls directly onto Google.

There have been a number of suggestions for Google on procedures and practices in getting user generated content. Certainly those or something similar needs to be implemented.

More importantly, Google needs to put the full weight of their commitment behind local searches. From the top down, Google needs to commit the resources and integrity to local searches that they deserve. We know that Google’s role in local has been critical in moving local marketing front and center with Universal search. Their efforts at providing deep local information via Google Earth and their Google Vote are impressive.

But as Google’s dominance of search transfers to local, there is an accompanying rise in their responsibility. They need to play in the local space like these businesses were their neighbors, not just pieces of data. The standard for success in local needs to move from relevance to truthfulness and when there is a mistake, there needs to be openness and speed in correcting it.

We are in the early days of local search and we are just getting a glimpse of its incredible power to influence. If we are to ever hope that it will be more than the snake oil salesman of the new millennium, than now is the time for Google to step up and guarantee that there is integrity and accuracy in the results.

Idea: Cooperative Marketing

You walk into the XYZ Corp. They are friendly and you request to see the HR Director; within a few minutes, you are ushered into her office. After a few pleasantries, you ask about their drug testing policy. She smiles and says, “Oh, that is handled out of our Southern CA office.”

Sound familiar?

In a discussion with Jill Chioino the other day, she had this idea.

Discover AccuDiagnostics - JC's Idea

I thought this was an interesting idea. I have added this to the CAMPA Conference Call scheduled for Thursday, October 16th, at 12:00 noon. The call information will be sent in a separate email.

How the World Finds You

You are going on a long trek through the mountains. Before you start on your trip, you stop at the ranger station and inform the rangers of your planned route and schedule. A few days later, your family reports you are missing. If you had not checked in with the ranger station, it could have taken days or perhaps even a week before the searchers would find you – if at all. But...you were prepared. You started out with a plan and followed it to increase the probability that you could be found. Your searchers were able to find you quickly because you had informed them where you were most likely to be located.

Right now your business is lost on the World Wide Web. Anyone looking for you can find you, but they will have to cover a lot of ground to do it – finding you is literally similar to looking for a needle in a haystack.

To make things simpler for those information seekers, you need to register with major search engines (or ranger stations, if you will) to make yourself easier to find. Registering with every search engine (such as: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and the Internet Yellow Pages) will make it a heck of a lot easier for your customers to find you.

Guerrilla Marketing

I was thinking about marketing, selling and promotions today. My thoughts were focused around my constant stump speech of “in the trenches marketing” vs. the “home run or big idea.” Both are essential to building successful businesses, but not everyone can come up with that one big idea every week. The “in the trenches” mantra is meant to focus on the “Steady Eddie” process of doing consistent sales and marketing activities on a day to day basis. The big idea will eventually show up.

Creativity is also essential. I came across this article in the WSJ online that I thought would be of interest to you: How To Launch A Successful Guerrilla Marketing Campaign


“Big ideas” and “Steady Eddie” are both effective. Put another way: “Big Ideas” accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.3 seconds, while “Steady Eddie” winds up from 0-60 mph in 22.3 seconds -- but the "Steady Eddies" usually win marathon races.

Never, Never Give Up

Here is an email I was copied on, from Jeff Hastings in Sacramento, sent to Scott Jenkins:

Scott:

Remember the staffing agency that is one block away from our lab?

They threw you out in March.
They threw me out in April.
They threw Roger out in May.
They threw Nick out in August.

Last Friday I met the manager at a Metro Chamber lunch.

Today Carol and I took her to lunch at a restaurant with utensils (not Mr. Pickle).

She is now our newest client.

Everybody who does drug testing is our client. Some just come to that realization more quickly than others.

Cheers!

Jeff Hastings

Three notable points to learn from this experience:

1. Never Give Up.
2. Meeting the same individual in a social environment makes all the difference.
3. Having the ability to get up each day and do it again pays dividends.

Good Job Jeff.

Call Source Reporting

Are your Call Source Reports one of your first priorities? If not, think about including this in your daily routine. Use your Call Source Reports as a market tool for future clients. If a potential customer has taken the time to call to inquire about your business, that customer needs to be your top priority.

Call Source Reports are not only a way for you to contact and follow up with customers; they are a way for you to gauge your internet popularity. How relevant are you? Are you putting enough information in the ads you are posting on Craigslist or Oogle, etc.? Are you consistently updating these ads and keeping them current? These simple things will keep your organic ranking high.

The Call Source Reports are showing a correlation between the number of calls received and your organic ranking. The higher a location ranks organically, the more calls they are receiving.

Use your Call Source Reports to provide a tool for follow-up and gauge your internet popularity. Again, locations that are posting ads and keeping these current are generating much more Call Source traffic than those that are not. By keeping up with the posting of ads and keeping these current, you can have customers contacting you instead of you hunting for them.

Weekly SEO Ranking Update

There are many elements that contribute to changes in organic rankings. These include:

1. Existing competitor activity
2. New entrants to the market
3. Change in search engine algorithms
4. Submissions by competitors of articles
5. Enhanced linking by other websites
6. Aging of websites
7. Greatly improved websites of competitors
8. Ebb and flow of search terms

There is one thing that is a fore gone conclusion in organic search ranking – nothing ever stays the same. It takes diligence in checking search terms, submission of articles, updating directory submissions, improving linking and looking for new ways to promote and link or landing page and website.

You SEO and AD Word specialists recently began working with AccuDiagnostics in Greenville to enhance their website and the number of pages they have for our locations in our region. Once there are some improvements on the infrastructure of the main website, we will see improvements in our ranking throughout our region. In the meantime, your SEO Specialist is working to monitor and improve your rankings.

This attached report displays the rise, fall, or steadiness for our landing page rankings this week as compared to the previous week. The postings on Craigslist and other directories do have an impact and do contribute to the success of the organic results.

To view the organic search summary, click on the following link:

http://www.discoveraccu.com/audio/seo-rank-100308.xls

Taking Risks

I read an article recently on Richard Branson, the flamboyant billionaire who has a knack for making money. In this article he addressed risk-taking.

Click to view the article or paste it in your browser:

http://www.discoveraccu.com/audio/risks.doc

The reason for sharing this article with you is for you to consider “risk taking” in the day to day management of your business. Let me clarify this statement.

Too often we get too focused on the donut vs. the hole and lose our entrepreneurial energy. I have a formula for how to create entrepreneurial energy:

R(s≠b)(P+E) = EE

EE = Entrepreneurial Energy
R = Risk
P = Planning
E = Execution
s = small risk
b = big risk

If small risks are taken in your business on a daily basis, Entrepreneurial Energy is created, is infectious, and is a key ingredient to building momentum in your business. Momentum builds confidence. Confidence is perceived in your demeanor and has a magical effect on people around you, including your potential clients. People and companies do business with people they like and trust and confidence builds trust.

Don’t worry about failing. You will fail with many of these small experiments. Don’t look back. Learn from them and move on - just like our billionaire friend, Mr. Branson.

Moral of the story: Taking small risks leads to growth in your business.

Multi-Location Bids

Q: I have a company that has offices throughout CA and several other states and they would like one drug testing company to service all their locations and have centralized billing services.

A: The process you would follow to quote this business is the following:

1. Go to the DATIA.ORG site and attempt to find a member TPA in the markets where testing is needed.

2. If there are no members of DATIA in these markets, go to the Internet and find companies that are in these areas.

3. You should talk to several companies to compare prices and services offered.

4. After making a selection of the companies that fit your needs and pricing, negotiate the terms of billing and payment.

5. Keep all records of your discussions with the various companies because you may need to revisit the competition at some time in the future.

6. In selling your services, be sure to emphasize the one-stop-shop concept and stress that you will manage their account vs. having each location deal with issues they do not understand.

This Q&A will be posted in Support/Q&A Section of FranConnect.

Job Fairs

Job Fairs

Jeff Hastings offers up the following suggestion.

Attending job fairs held by various organizations, from Monster.com to community groups, offers an opportunity to get in front of companies and learn about their drug testing policies.

This is an amazingly time-efficient way to:

1) Identify companies that are hiring
2) Qualify in terms of drug testers or not
3) Identify Drug Testing Decision Makers by getting a referral to them

Additionally, you can often gather other pertinent info like, who they use now, what type of testing they do, how much they are paying, etc.

Monster.com has a job fair coming up in November. here is a promo email text on this event:

Hilton Concord Hotel
1970 Diamond Blvd, Concord, CA 94520
Monday, November 3, 2008

Meet face-to-face with hundreds of talented and highly motivated job seekers from the San Francisco, San Jose and Walnut Creek area, all looking to connect with companies like yours.

This promo email was sent to potential exhibits. Check your local area for upcoming events.

When attending these job fairs as a guest vs. an exhibitor you need to be a bit discrete and not obnoxious when approaching decision makers.

Google Business Listings

Creating a Google Business Listing for each of your services is imperative. It is as important as listing your business in the Yellow Pages or a Telephone Directory. Not only does a Google Business Listing improve Organic Search results each listing includes a Google Map which increases your visibility. Google Business Listing allows Internet Savvy clients and uber-Internet users with smart phones to view information about your company right in the palm of their hand. Mobile surfing and Internet search is going to be increasingly important in the future.

When you are creating your Google Business Listing take your time and include all relevant information about your AccuDiagnostics Location and services. If you include photos or other images, give these images titles that are relevant to key words searches. Instead of using generic terms, use specific titles such as; AccuDiagnostics Lobby or AccuDiagnostics Drug Testing Facility.

Your listing is an opportunity to show and explain to future clients about your services. If a potential client is not interested in your ad, they simply move on. Whatever you are offering be sure to include this into a business listing. If you have a great facility, show it off in photos. If you have a promotional offer for free drug tests or take home tests for parents, create coupons for these offers. Customers only know what you tell them so tell them as much as you can!

For step by step instructions on how to place Google Business Listing, please go to the FranConnect Library/CAMPA Western Region/Google Ad Word Info/ Google Business Listing

From the Field

In recent discussions with Doug Kimball (Lancaster) and Jill Chioino (Martinez), they shared the following with me.

Jill: In the span of 3.5 hours, she made 11 sales calls on Tuesday of this week (her first day in the field). She landed one account for sure (background checks to start) and found two other possibilities - a staffing agency for drug tests and elder placement agency for background checks. Keep it up Jill. Don't allow operational issues drag you back into the operational black hole.

Doug: Doug signed up a new client. This was a HAVC company that is expanding. When I asked him the source of this client he said that he found this company while driving around calling on other prospects.

He also shared that he is doing Quest collections for an auto dealership. He made a sales call on the HR manager of the auto dealership and has an appointment to discuss moving from lab based testing to instant testing. His sales points were: quick turn around, background checks and a possible bundling of services for a more competitive price.

Field sales is all about numbers. The more sales calls that are made the more presentations can be booked which WILL result in more new clients. This is the eternal math of field sales.

To hear what happened on follow up calls by Jill and Doug paste the following links into your browser and listen to them outline how things are developing.

http://www.discoveraccu.com/audio/jc-1.wav

http:/www.discoveraccu.com/audio/kimball-1.wav


Congrats to Jill and Doug on their follow through and hard work in the field.

Final Proofs

Please review the final proofs of the 3-Post Card Mailing campaign by clicking on the link below.

Past into your brower:

www.discoveraccu.com/pc_mailing.pdf

The mailings begins on or before October 3rd. Each franchise location will have 2,000cards mailed in three separate mailing approximatley three weeks a part. The companies that will receive these cards are only those companies that are Select Company SIC codes (those companies that traditionally do drug testing - transportation, manufacturing, construction and staffing agencies).

It is important that each location source incoming calls from these cards when ANY incoming calls are received requesting information on drug testing. Call Source phone numbers are NOT being used because of the short duration of the campaign. Also, we want companies to keep your phone numbers and Call Source numbers are only temporary.

The cost of this campaign is being funded by the national advertising program (the post card design) and from ASAP and CAMPA funds.

Actual mailing dates will be sent to you when the proofs are finalized and the cards printed.

Martinez Now Open

Last week was the shake down week for the Jill and John's location in Martinez, CA. John Lipp, the Field Operations Director spent the last few days of the week in getting the final operational components ready. September 22nd was the offical first full operational day.

Upon my visit to their location, I was politely asked to submit to a drug test....which I passed.

Here are some pictures of their location.

The space is 670 sq ft, has two bathrooms, a reception area that will seat 8-10 people, a hair collection room, a two private offices (one for Jill and one for John) and a lab area. It is amazing what a well laid out space can accomodate in such as small footprint.

The address is:

AccuDiagnostics
3237 Alhambra Ave
Suite 3
Martinez, CA 94553
925-957-6870925-957-6872 - fax
925-202-8308 - Jill's Cell

We all wish Jill and John the best on their opening.

HR Professionals

Jeff and Carol Hastings attended the annual convention for SAHRA, The Sacramento Area Human Resources Association, on September 17th. They have joined the association and as members exhibited as a vendor at the convention. The following is a report on their experience.

There were about 30 exhibitors and ~200 HR attendees. The attendees are our target market. Most were HR managers from medium to large companies. Jeff and Carol collected business cards and learned about each contact’s drug testing practices and needs. This is a very efficient way to identify, qualify and profile target prospects.

The vendors also provided targets (staffing agencies) as well as “power partners” (employment law firms, HR consultants, and background screening companies).

The association has monthly educational lunches. Jeff is angling to speak at one.

Costs were:

Membership $125
Table at convention $400
Raffle prize $100
Total $625.

Result:
-19 Qualified prospects
-8 Qualified staffing agencies
-5 HR consulting firms
-2 Background check companies
-2 Employment law firms

There were no other drug testing firms exhibiting.

Collateral Material

As noted in a recent email from Tony Waters, there are collateral marketing pieces for specific vertical markets of Judicial, Private Investigators, Drug Courts and DSS.

These have posted on FranConnect. If they you would like to review these prior to ordering, go to the Library in FranConnect in the Sales and Marketing section.

If you would like to order any of these brochures, contact Tony Waters at twaters@accudiagnostics.com and provide him your address, phone number and email address and he will add this information to the brochures and send you ~200 of each brochure you order for use in your marketing and sales efforts. The price is $0.22 ea - $22.00 per 100. There are in full color/brochure stock paper. In most cases, orders can be shipped within 24-48 hours.

Drug Testing Policy Discussed

Attendees to the CAMPA Monthly Conference Call were able to listen to a in depth discussion on Drug Testing Policies from William Judge, an drug policy specialist and attorney, retained by AccuDiagnostics in Greenville.

Drug Testing Policy marketing and consulting was divided in three separate markets tiers of small business clients (2-25 employees), mid-level clients (26-250 employees) and large clients (+251 employees). It was suggested that in most cases template drug testing policy document can be used for the small business client after a detailed survey is completed. For mid-level businesses the involvement of Bill Judge is likely in most cases because there may need to be some customization of the drug testing policy. A completely customized drug testing policy is necessary for all large clientele, and in some cases mid-level clients, because of the complexity of their businesses, which may include union and government contracts, multi-locations and multi-state offices.

Consulting fees can be charged to these clients based on the level of complexity and implementation requirements. A 100% - 250% is easily justified over what Bill Judge or another attorney charges for the customization.

AccuDiagnostics has competitive advantage in providing consulting services for the development and installation of drug testing policies because of the expertise that is available to our system that is not generally available for our competition and certainly not from hospital, labs and clinics.

To review the survey and template drug testing policy go to FranConnect under CAMPA-Western Region/Drug Testing Policy.

Direct Mail Campaign Gearing Up

A direct mailing program targeting our key market segments is being finalized. Three separate postcards have been designed. These postcards will be mailed in three separate mailings of ~2,000 each in each franchise location to SIC codes of “select businesses” including employment agencies, manufacturing, construction and transportation companies. The mailings will be 3-4 weeks apart and will be processed automatically at our mailing house.

Please go to the following link to review the postcard and offer any final suggestions.

http://www.discoveraccu.com/postcard v1.pdf

The format and copy will be submitted on Friday, September 19, 2008 and mailed within 2-3 weeks.

Click Fraud

Click fraud is when a competitor systematically clicks on ads to generate pay per click expense. In order to preclude this type of fraud, Google analyzes what IP Addresses are searching key words, viewing and clicking on sponsored ads. If an IP address is observed visiting the same sponsored ads frequently by typing in key words, Google will flag your IP Address as having potential fraudulent or malicious intent and may turn off the sponsored ads to avoid competitor click through.

A Safe and Relevant Way to Preview Your Ads:

To preview your ads without adding to your impressions (helping our reports be as accurate as possible) or being flagged as an IP address with suspicious intent use Google’s Ad Preview Tool. This tool allows you to preview ads from within any target area using any keyword combination. Google will display ad results in real time without any restrictions.

Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/AdTargetingPreviewTool and type in Drug Testing (or any other key words) and (your location). A sponsored link should appear, if this key word is one that is currently active.

Now It Begins

Our Google AdWord campaign budget is designed to spend minimal amounts to learn what is working and not working and then to gradually increase the budget as our knowledge base increases. In order to increase the effectiveness of the AdWord campaign, we are focusing on our organic search. Each of these strategies will take time to become noticed and indexed by the Google algorithms. This will means there that the lead flow activity will increase over time.

Here is an email I received on one of the leads generated from the AdWord campaign.

W e got our first lead from the Landing Page. I will be visiting Produce Express tomorrow morning at 9:15AM. They have 60 employees, 45 of whom are truck drivers.

NOW we’re talking!

Jeff Hastings

More to come.

Google and Pharmacy-Related Content

Google has a list of keywords to flag in AdWord campaigns such as: Drug, Steroids, Meth, THC and others that they consider may relate to suspicion of illegal activities by the companies using these key words.

Because our AdWord campaign has so many keywords referring to the words Drug, Steroids and other Pharmacy related items, Google is required BY LAW to request a valid Pharmacy ID in order to allow your ads to be displayed. This procedure is to ensure that Google does not play a part in any fraudulent, questionable or illegal online drug sales.

Because of this policy most of our AdWord ads have been flagged for pharmacy related content. Google has a process that allows for exceptions to the drug related ruling. This process requires the submission of each key word or the display ads that have been flagged. A Google account representative reviews each request for exemption and after a review approves the ad if it meets the guidelines for the exemption.

So far, each of our key words and display ads have been reviewed and approved. However, this is a time consuming process and all of the key words and display ads have not been reviewed at this time. This means that some of the key words and display ads are not yet active because they are still waiting to be reviewed and approved.