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.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, November 24, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, November 17, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, November 14, 2008
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.
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.
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