Measure Twice, Cut Once

That’s a great old saying about being prudent. And, if you boil it down, it is one of the core principles of Dog Star Media’s marketing philosophies. Almost everyone will tell you that they measure their marketing results. But in a vast majority of those cases, that measurement invites and is built on human error.

So, why not measure twice... that second time being with a technology that verifies for a fact what the metrics are for real. And, once you know what is really happening, you can make one clearcut decision on how to adjust or proceed with your marketing and sales strategies.

Dog Star Media offers some basic, inexpensive and yet invaluable strategies for this sort of measurement. These measuring tools should be at the heart of decision-making, replacing the guesswork and inaccuracy that happens when you use imprecise evaluators, such as opinions. Here are three measurement tools you cannot live without if you are going to do this right.

1) Tracking Telephone Number
This basic tool is the most inexpensive item we offer but it is by far the most important. At a cost of $40/month, a tracking telephone number will tell you exactly the results you are getting from a particular media placement. The unique number is placed in only one location and calls are routed to your main number, recording all the details of the call. This includes the option to record the calls for training and review purposes. Clients who use tracking telephone numbers waste fewer marketing dollars and understand their results better.

2) Competition Ranking Report for SEO.
This new DSM offering is only $100/month and offers head-to-head competitive information about your web site’s organic rankings versus your direct competition. SEO is one of the most necessary and misunderstood services out there. Nearly all business owners feel at least a little out of control about their SEO because they do not understand the techniques to accomplish better rankings. And, the fact that results are heavily influenced by market response and competition does not help. We believe the key to understanding the value of your SEO is understanding how your site stacks up against your main competitors on specific terms. Our Competition Ranking Report specifically delivers that information. Do you need to be a Dog Star Media SEO client to get a report? No. This report can evaluate anyone’s SEO efforts independently. This is a great way to begin understanding where you really stand on searches as they relate to your direct competition.

3) Google Analytics
Sure, Google Analytics is a free service but is it installed on your site and are you using the information it gathers? Many hosts still offer server stats, which are not the same as measuring the user experience. Google Analytics breaks down the user experience in fine detail and it is easy to use with important information easily accessible. For instance, the most important measurement in the last year has related to the measurement of mobile device use on web sites. Google Analytics identified not only the gross volume of mobile visits, but it breaks down the number of visits by which device is being used and compares the user experience on mobile to the general user experience on the site. This has illustrated very clearly for our clients the need for mobile web sites. Now, with the emergence of the iPad as a more popular method of accessing the Internet, it is showing clients the need to add an iPad-specific mobile site.

So, if you are ready to try a tracking telephone number, subscribe to a Competition Ranking Report or look at your Google Analytics to determine the need for such augmentations as a mobile web site or an iPad mobile site, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com for more information. These are all very inexpensive tools that can cause you to have remarkable efficiency in your marketing by eliminating human error.

Competition Ranking Report

Dog Star Media is offering a new wrinkle in our SEO service that we think will be great for keeping clients focused on what is important in SEO. Our new Competition Rankings Reports take your website and the keywords we are tracking and put you side by side with competitors you designate. So, you will be able to see how you are organically ranking against the competition on each keyword. This will take away the perception that always clouds the SEO issue where you feel like your competitor is everywhere. It will reduce the battle online to the facts.

On these reports, you will see a comparison on the overall visibility score, your visibility based on your most efficient keywords, and your best keywords against their best keywords. You will also see a breakdown of every keyword and your rank verses your competitor, with the number of spots you are either ahead or behind. This information will put you head to head against your competition on all of your keywords. This specific knowledge can make a huge difference in focusing your head-to-head SEO efforts against specific competitors.

And, this new layer of information, accountability, and reporting is affordable. To track one competitor, the monthly cost is $100/month and to track additional competitors is $50/month each.

If you are interested in knowing how your competitors are doing and you would like to begin receiving Competition Ranking Reports, please contact me at donald@dogstarmedia.com for more information.

The iPad2... Wow!

Earlier today Apple made a big splash with their press conference introducing the iPad2. And, it will be here sooner than you think. On March 11, the new iPad ships and it is going to be a HUGE seller.

See the highlights of the press conference by clicking here:

Available on wi-fi on both Verizon and AT&T, this device is going to push a lot of people onto tablets. With improved graphics, weight and depth, this iPad is built for graphical communication when you consider the front and back facing cameras.

The price will be the same, meaning there is no objection to upgrade and take your FaceTime communications online. This sets the stage for a massive move toward iPads.

Now is the time to get your web site iPad ready. As we previously noted in my blog a few weeks ago, there is a difference between a smart phone mobile site and an iPad mobile site. Until now, the percentage of use with iPads has not necessitated an additional investment in an iPad specific site for most of our clients. However, we have watched iPad specific traffic grow over the past few months and on March 11, this is going to get a major kickstart.

Dog Star Media offers an iPad specific mobile site for $650. If you are interested in making the best first impression when you are found on an iPad, now is the time to get ahead of the wave. Because it is coming. Please contact me today at donald@dogstarmedia.com if you want a smart phone mobile site and an iPad mobile site.

First Trend of 2011

We are eight weeks into 2011 and a trend is already emerging among our core client base: aesthetic web site redesign. We are not out of February yet and an increasing number of clients and prospective clients are calling in asking for new or aesthetically improved web sites.

This is not unexpected. It is still part of the Recession cycle. When things began to dry up, there was a large groundshift toward more code-based, all-business, all-call to action web sites. Aesthetics were sacrificed for more productivity. Image was de-prioritized for functionality. And, this move was completely understandable as businesses needed to squeeze as much out of every possible lead.

But, now that things have stabilized and begun to noticeably improve, it appears to be time to return to a high-end aesthetic for cosmetic surgeons, cosmetic dentists and medical spas. This is not to say there is a mass return to sites that will not optimize well. When clients ask what we recommend for a more highly aesthetic look, we still recommend a very optimizable, HTML-based site. To improve the aesthetic, we direct clients to focus on an upgraded look overall, improved graphics and an enhanced look and feel.

Dog Star Media is a custom web site designer, which makes us an excellent choice to design an improved aesthetic. Our process allows the client to be as hands-on as possible in directing the design process if they so choose. And, since most of our design clients decide to use our SEO services, we make sure that they have a site that is going to be successful in a keyword-based approach to SEO.

Are you among those who are ready to lose a more business-like look and ready to get back to a more aesthetically pleasing web site? After all, it is frequently your first impression on new patients and customers. If so, please contact me at donald@dogstarmedia.com to discuss how Dog Star Media can help you with your redesign.

iPad2... and the next wave

By now you have seen the buzz about the iPad2. I think the big news is the built-in camera. It is a great set up for using FaceTime on the iPad2 and that is where the big splash is going to be.

Available only on iPhones, FaceTime is great. It’s the feature where iPhone users can videoconference over local wi-fi on the iPhone. The only issue is that we are so used to using our iPhones like phones that FaceTime is really an after thought for many users. However, when you add it to the iPad... BOOM! It’s going to be big!

That is because there are no phone features on the iPad. The only way to communicate on it will be FaceTime and this will usher in a whole new way of expecting to communicate with others on the same platform. I am not making too much of a bold prediction by stating here that iPad sales and use are going to boom. And, soon, you will be seeing FaceTime everywhere.

So what does this mean for you and your web site? It means that there will be more iPads and more iPads using subscription data plans. This means that more iPads will be in use more often. Currently, if you have a mobile web site, it shows up and plays on a iPad. However, iPad use has been so low that we have not developed an iPad specific template that shows your mobile site at full size and scope on an iPad. There was just no justification for the added expense when it comes to mobile sites. Now the landscape is changing and the Dog Star Media mobile site strategy is flexing with it.

We are now offering iPad upgrades to your mobile site for $650. This specialized layout will take your mobile site and expand it to present full size on an iPad. With this addition your mobile site will make the best impression on the newest technology as it makes a bigger footprint on the marketplace. Our mobile site upgrades go on sale next week and you will be hearing more about the iPad2 as it rolls out later this spring.

If you want a mobile site for your practice and

Are you Two-Thousand and Late?

I saw a web site the other day that looked like it had been designed in the 90s. This made me think about how far web marketing and, really, small business marketing in general had come in the last 10 years. And, since we are starting 2011, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure you were up to date on some must-have’s, so you are not “two-thousand and late.” Here are three must-have’s for online marketing in this day and age.

1) Aesthetics
Once the Recession took hold, everyone with Flash web sites made a sharp turn to SEO-friendly HTML-based sites. Yes, this often improves rankings and it is definitely easier to optimize, but just because you go with HTML, it doesn’t mean you have to lose your aesthetics. Rich media has its place in HTML-based sites, you just need to know how to do it. Flash modules, excellent design and the proper use of video can make your highly optimizable HTML-based web site compete visually. You just have to know how to make it all work together.

2) Track everything
Google has made it ridiculously easy to track the user experience with the so-well-organized Google Analytics. Server stats are for chumps. They track bots and are not focused on the user experience. Google Analytics helps you understand what is happening on your site by detailing the users’ experience and displaying it in a way that makes sense.

And, if you are not tracking incoming phone calls with tracking numbers, you are well behind the curve. There is no reason why an inexpensive tool like tracking numbers should not be providing key information about incoming calls. Every year, I have clients who wind up making major changes in their operations based on what they learn from tracking numbers. As I like to say, the only reason to not use this low-cost ($40/month) tool is that you just don’t want to know what is going on.

Side note about tracking: anyone can do it but only those that check the reporting get the benefits. When you track web stats or calls, you must make it a regular activity to read the reports. One or two time each month is all it takes to really know what it going on.

3) Database Marketing
There are lots of buzz words for marketing with a database: Vertical Marketing, One-to-One Marketing, Drip Marketing... it all comes down to using a database of contacts and how to approach that database. The tools change but the principles are the same. You know a certain amount about each contact and, based on what you know, you make more and more refined offers. Now that most businesses are out of the panic that has gripped the economy for the past few years, it is time to look “big picture” again. That is why Dog Star Media is making the One-to-One Marketing concept of Lifetime Value a theme for this year.

Lifetime Value is a concept that helps you see the value of a customer beyond the current purchase they are making. Lifetime Value helps you project the value of a great client if the relationship is fully developed. Using Lifetime Value as an evaluator, you change your approach to communications, how you look at customers or patients and how you put yourself in position long-term to receive their full lifetime value. This approach helps you build the core base of your business.

If you are not using a database for marketing, you are definitely at the back of the class. There is too much easy-to-use technology for using databases to market for this to remain out of your plan. And, a good way to motivate yourself is knowing that if you are not keeping track of your contacts, someone else will. It is too easy for your contacts also to wind up in a competitor’s database.

If after reading this, you decide you are Two-Thousand and Late on one or all of these topics, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com. We would be more than pleased to help bring you up to date in these and other areas if needed.

National Tracking Number Day

On February 1 each year, all Dog Star Media tracking numbers come up for renewal. One payment of $480 secures a number for a year with unlimited use and free toll-free service if that is the sort of number the client wants. Since it all happens on one day, it makes me realize how important they are as I associate certain numbers with certain stories throughout the year.

We have one client that is struggling to keep a start up in business. Their tracking numbers are their lifeline as every call counts. Not only do they use the tracking numbers to evaluate the effectiveness of the media they are buying, but by recording the calls, they are able to shore up what had become critical issues at the point of first contact: when a prospective patient calls in. By recording and monitoring the calls, then using them for training purposes, the chances increase of turning a tire-kicker into a consult.

We have one client who was in need of a new web site. They were going from an old all-Flash site to a more SEO-friendly HTML/Flash site which we designed. The client had a problem leaving behind the higher aesthetics of the all-Flash site. That is until along with web stats, the phone calls increased coming in from the web site. That was the first real evidence that the new site was more productive.


We had one client whose use of the recording feature on the tracking numbers showed that most of his calls were going to voice mail. He changed his call answering protocol and now prospective patients engage in more conversations where most were hanging up due to message length.

We have had clients evaluate media buys with tracking numbers, use tracking number results to renegotiate media contracts, make decisions how and where to spend their money and, most of all, eliminate human error in collecting this information.

And, there are more stories from last year and from years past about how the foresight to use tracking numbers made all the difference.

I am frequently asked what is the difference between using a tracking number and simply asking people where they found you. Here are some basic answers:

1) You can only ask the people you talk to. Tracking numbers show evidence and details about the calls you miss.

2) Human error is full of just that... error. Using technology to track details paints a true and realistic picture of what is really happening. The technology creates the difference between assuming and knowing, between opinion and fact.

3) The tracking number is objective. One part of human error is paying attention. You have to factor in that the person may not know or really care about giving you the answer. The tracking technology has the objective of identifying facts.

Tracking numbers work out to an average of $40/month no additional fees. They record the details of every call, answered or not. They tell you what is working and when. And, using this inexpensive tracking technology strengthens every other part of your marketing efforts. It is simply the most important tool we have to sharpen marketing and sales efforts. If you are interested in trying a tracking number on your web site or in your media, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com.