I handle my own successful Adwords campaign for my small UK-based business. Today I received a call from these guys offering to improve ROI, and a follow up email, pasted below. Smart website with the Google Pro logo but it doesn't say anything new. I believe I have things pretty well sussed myself. Just posted for info really. Any comments anyone? <Quote> Hi ---, After noticing your Adword on Google and following a conversation with --- today, I would like to introduce my company www.topposition.co.uk and our services. We are a ppc management company and I believe we may have the tools and expertise to help maximise the return on investment you see from your campaign. As you know the opportunities with a Google adword account are endless, and when managed correctly it can provide you with very promising results. We manage your account with a mixture of science, creativity and vision. You will receive a daily managed site to encourage a better position so as to be recognised against the competition in a continuous proactive way. As a testament to our service we have many customers happy and comfortable to give us direct dial numbers in which they are happy to testify of our effectiveness for them, nothing is better than hearing it from the horses mouth! I am happy to send some on to you upon your request. You can also find customer testimonials on our website. The work that we do is aimed to ensure you a good position or reduced spend of up to 40% monthly, or even a combination of the two. Each month a report will be sent to and discussed with you so that we can review the satisfaction on both sides. We charge a flat rate fee which is based on your monthly Google spend, this would be paid upfront and cover the work we will do on your account for the next 30 days. We use this period as a trial for both ourselves and for you, to ensure that both parties are happy with the quality of results. If after this period you have seen significant increase in the return on your investment and would like to continue with our management, we would enter into a 90 day contract. Hopefully this gives you a clearer understanding of the way we operate. I would love to talk to you further about how we may be able to assist your business; your specific requirements and what you hope to achieve from your advertising campaign. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to phone or email me, otherwise I look forward to speaking with you in the near future to see if we can have a look at your account and make any recommendations. Yours Truly, Naomi Taplin Sales Executive Top Position 0870 443645 4 +34 952 763 296 naomi@topposition.co.uk www.topposition.co.uk </Quote>
That site is way too "Template Monster" outsourced. I hate to say it but they aren't offering anything new, and their site seems like it can use some help itself. So with that, if you are already successful, drop it in the delete box
I got lured in to a 30 day free trial with this so called agency. They set up a new adwords account for me which I did not have access to, I was told this way I could go back to my original account after the trial with no changes. After 2 weeks, from the reports Topposition gave me, I noticed that I was paying more for my click charges, not less. In doubt I asked for a report from Google. With no surprise Topposition could not give this to me as this was their 'company’s policy'. Smelling a rat I cancelled my trial and added the same key words to Google that topposition were using. To my suspicion I was getting the same results for exactly 30% less. Now you don't need to be a scientist to work out what is going on here. I call it a 21st century con. Please to those out there that use this agency - BEWARE
But the idea behind an agency is to have your account managed by a professional - is perfect normal that it will collect some % from your traffic - they are not supposed to work for free.
That's fair enough, but they were going to charge me a monthly maintenance fee of 10% ASWELL. As far as I was told that was their management fee for looking after the account, they failed to let me know that they were also charging me 30% on top of each click, which meant that 40% of my business advertising costs went to topposition, and not the 10% which was originally quoted !!!
I think the key here is that agencies should be open and transparent with their costs and associated management fees. I would be very worried if an agency could not provide you with a search engine report due to 'company policy'.
I have had some experience of these guy's... A year ot so ago and they were good... but then left them for a few months, and when i came back to them a member of staff had left (the one that handled my account)... The manager said i owed no money on my account (i asked him to check) and we started again with the campaigns. After a few weeks they wanted to charge me for some old bills!!! - even though i didn't have any! Then they said they would look at it, and they realised they were charging me twice for some reason... and they dropped it. Next i decided that the adwords wasn't working out as the costs were very high (i think they were making on the clicks, point is they weren't supposed to, they were supposed to charge a monthly fee only)... I was left owing them just over £200, but then they contacted me asking for over £600 - the rest they said were for consultancy fees!!! - i had not consulted them about anything! So now i have to argue with them about this!!! My advice... steer clear of them!
Hmmm now they have threatened to take me to court for £600, when my last bill (no service since) was for just over £200 !!! I have responded and will update here.... up to you guy's but from my experience and as the question was asked above i would avoid them like the plague!
Ha! i have just realised that even though i canceled with them months ago, they carried on charging me the monthly service charge right up until August! If they try to take me to court i have skype chat and emails confirming everything... Dodgy bunch these in my opinion mate!
At the end of the day, if you're being given a free 30 day trial and happy to have that company work for free on your behalf, why are you surpised when they wont give you a report when you cancel so you can then go and do the same thing yourself? I have heard lots of good things about this agency, saw them speak at an exhibition last year and then spoke to them after and they were all very knowedlegable and helpful despite my small budget i went away with lots of tips.
Hmmm okay, but why when the guy worked it out were the clicks 30% extra through topposition? Also, How do you explain them billing me for a couple of hundred quid then threatening to take me to court for over 600 euro's... and charging me still for an account i asked to be closed months before??? - Only one post? you are not from topposition by any chance??? - I did tell them that their were complaints on forums about them... a couple of days later sum1 new posts in their defence??? Hmmmm Lol!
Yep, i did notice that... thats what i thought odd. This thread was way down in the pages... so odd you joined and then trawled though the pages to find this thread and post, then nothing... It may just be my suspicious mind, but that fact coupled with the fact i told topposition in email a few days ago about complaints about them in forums and waited to see what happened... Still, everyone is welcome to an opinion. In mine they are rip-off merchants, they charge you a set amount each month (in my case) and in the other guy's case seemingly (it cant be proved as they wont release the google report) charge extra on top of clicks... then in my case they carry on charging me for a few months after i quit their adds... they charge me maintenance for adds that are not running ... how does that work??? Also in my opinion, they got a lot worse when a member of their staff left them and started up on her own. The guy that managed my account i have no problems with... he was sound and quoted the correct amount as owing... then they tried to bill me for lots more... Still... If they give good advice at a conference thats okay then... best trust them everyone... i wonder if the advice was anything that you cant find in this forum? - Sorry but when a couple of DP members with some history, a bit of rep and some itrader here complain and a few days after the company in question are told about it someone joins the forum and posts on the thread that is a few pages down listings and only about the company i find it a bit odd...
Just out of interest, how is it possible to charge 30% on top of the click? I've got a MCC account but haven't seen how this would be possible......
Guys, I guess these chaps are targeting ppl whose id's are starting with the word mike as in Mikey and mikeid22 . I guess your right mikeid22, sexysaab maybe from topposition - at least it looks like.
Because it creates an atmosphere of mistrust. All of my customers have complete and total access to their Adwords accounts and get their reports directly from Google, not from me. I let them ask questions and I give them answers and maintain a policy of total openess at all times. I don't try to keep my customers by hiding things from them, I keep them by being good at what I do and making their lives easier. Regardless of the circumstances, if any 'management' company won't give you at least 'read only' access to your campaign I'd smell a rat. This is really no different from any other product or service - car maintenance, plumbing, etc. Imagine having your car serviced then the garage refusing to tell you what they've done or reveal the prices of parts/labour. It doesn't matter that you might go away and do it yourself, it's about being honest and open. Jon
I think you have a healthy attitude mate, and probably happy customers. I think openness and honesty are important in business.
Yep, and what is really out of order is that they threaten to take me to court, then try to charge my card, then ignore my emails! - if the money i owe is the amount they say then why will they not respond to my emails asking them why they are still charging me for something I cancelled??? Grrrrr... If they wont even talk to me then what can i do??? !!!! Hmmmmmm - shame DP doesn't show IP address's ... we may be able to see if that member was based in either London or Spain (they are mainly in spain, but with london offices... unless that is a skype geo number blag type thingy!