AccuDiagnostics

As you may all remember, Google updated their business listing user interface about 3 months ago. Among some of the perks added to the interface, our AccuDiagnostics titles all turned lowercase, “accudiagnostics”, even though in our listing’s edit details section we clearly had it input as “AccuDiagnostics” with uppercase letters.

I wrote Google 2 times complaining about this, and stating that it looked very unprofessional, and about a week ago I found that they were again displaying correctly at last!

While checking out your listing you could also take this time to login to your google account and update your listing to include more coupons, details and video. If you have a happy customer, suggest to them that they could review your business via your business listing. Good reviews really help your listing position. This will be really important now more than ever because some of our competitors are knocking us out of the top 3 business listings for some searches just like we knocked them out when we came on board about a year ago with our optimized listings.

Within your business listing account you will also find a great interface that allows you to see the amount of times your business listing was displayed and what actions people took on your listing; whether they visited your site, asked for directions, or found out more about you.

Our business listings are SO important to your online success, so please take the time to monitor them. Also see the CAMPA TODAY blog post on creating your Bing business listing. Most of you are listed on Bing’s business listings, but your listing is lacking in details and a link to your website. Your competitors are busy taking these steps and you should be active in these areas aswell!

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on advertising to build an effective campaign. In fact, you can get great publicity that will drive customers to your door absolutely free of charge!

One of the best ways to do this is to attract press coverage. You don’t have to pay for advertising space to get written about in a newspaper or magazine, or on a website. All you have to do is interest the editor or webmaster in your story.
Today’s media is huge – and it’s hungry for news. If you present a publication with a ready-made story that will interest their target audience they will snap it up.

The way to do this is to write a press release, sometimes called a “news release”. Release writing isn’t rocket science, but there are a few important tips and tricks to remember:

* Make sure the release is dated, and has a contact name, address, phone number and email address. The contact should be a single, named individual.
* Start off with an attention-grabbing headline that announces a piece of specific news. “Atlanta Motorbike Store Launches New Line of Helmets” is a good headline; “Atlanta Motorbike Store Has Another Good Year” is not. Your release should announce something specific and out of the ordinary.
* Always include a quote. Store owner Mike Smith, 44, says, “we’re really pleased to be stocking X-Brand Helmets….” Quotes bring news stories to life and give them a human touch – you’ll look a long time before you find a professional media story without one.
* Make sure your spelling, grammar and punctuation are one hundred percent accurate. If they’re not, the professionals in your target media will lose respect for you and trash your release. If you didn’t get top grades in English, get a friend to check it over.

Once you’ve written your release you need to distribute it. Remember that to be successful a press release needs to be targeted at a precise market. If you’re releasing on the topic of your new range of motorbike helmets in Atlanta, you’d better make sure every bike magazine and local newspaper in Georgia gets a copy.

It’s quite acceptable to email press releases. Just make sure that the text is included in the body of the mail – most sensible internet users are a little suspicious of mail attachments received from strangers.

So your release is out, and it’s getting you some coverage. What other cost-free means can you use to build your business’s profile? Well, the obvious place is the internet.

One rule of advertising hasn’t changed since prehistoric times: nothing beats word-of-mouth. Ultimately the secret of getting free publicity is having a great product that people will talk about.

If you can get folks talking about you and your business, you’ve beaten every single Fortune 1000 company – they’ve spent millions on advertising and branding campaigns. If you’re smart, and if you’re persistent, you can achieve the same results without spending a single cent!

Questions? Comments?
Email Tammy Wood

BackGround Checks Save You Money

As a business owner, you probably know that your business’ most important assets are usually intangible. But it might surprise you to know the true costs of your most important “purchase”- a new employee. One estimate places the cost of hiring at up to a third of a person’s salary. Hiring the wrong employee can be even more expensive: some estimates place costs at up to twice an employee’s annual salary. Smart hiring decisions depend not just on cold, hard facts, but also on how well a prospect “fits” with your organization.

Though employee interviews, conversations with references, and trusted referrals are all very useful when it comes to hiring, sometimes they are not enough. In some cases, a professional background check might be necessary.

If you’re in an industry that requires advanced professional certifications or association memberships (medicine, accounting, law, engineering, etc.) or own a business where criminal background checks are mandatory (for example, the trucking industry, or positions where the employee will have contact with children, the elderly, or the disabled) you’ll probably need a more extensive check.

Many businesses choose to outsource this service, through organizations like Accudiagnostics. Though public records including bankruptcies, previous addresses, and home ownership information can be obtained for free, it is time consuming to find. Businesses that need specific information on a prospective employee often find that using a professional background screening service is the easiest way to find it. Employment screening companies offer service packages for every business need. You can even perform as search by state, by county, or request verification of specific information. Most employment background checks actually verify information an applicant has already provided.
You can use background service to verify or obtain the following information:

• Social Security numbers
• Criminal records
• Civil judgment records
• Driving records
• Credit reports
• Employment verification

The most basic background check is a Social Security number and address search. With this information, you can verify an applicant’s identity for a more thorough search (education records, etc). For the majority of searches, you must notify the prospective employee if you plan on using the above information for hiring decisions.

Whether you’re using a background check to verify employee qualifications or to check on the accuracy of claims included on an applicant’s resume, using a background check service can be one of the best ways to make sure you comply with federal laws and regulations that govern hiring discrimination. For more information about employee background checks, visit Accudiagnostics.com and schedule your appointment today.

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Information is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. AccuDiagnostics does not engage in the practice of medicine. The information provided should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Readers are urged to consult a licensed physician before starting or stopping any medical treatment. Any action by the reader in response to this information is at their discretion, and AccuDiagnostics can in no way be held liable for such action.