FAQ
What is PR (Public Relations) and do I need it for my business?
As a small business owner, you are besieged by marketing *experts* who tell you
how to spend money doing flyers, ads, coupons, and other money draining ideas.
Most of this advertising has no procedure for tracing its efficiency. Like most
small business owners, you don’t have an overall marketing plan so you spend
money using the shotgun method, hoping one of the forms of advertising brings in
the customers.
We take the time to learn about your unique business, what constitutes your
client base, the size of your budget, and the time frame for results. We help
you get free INK and AIR, and build a relationship with your clients and
community. By building a relationship, your repeat sales go up, your reputation
goes up in the community and your client referrals increase. This results in
steadily increasing sales and clientele.We hope these answers help you! If you don't
find the answer you're looking for, please contact us!
How do I make money on my web site instead of just spend money?
- Well, you could buy the latest spamming software from an internet
marketing guru, then load your website with less than reputable deals
with pop ups, making your company website amateurish and cheap while
totally ruining your online reputation.
OR, we can tweak your website for greater search engine ratings, revamp it for more content (most sites always need more content) and then pick from a group of affiliates that are related to your business area, placing them on your site in a refined and unobtrusive manner.
And of course, by increasing your search engine ratings, and getting more people to the site, you will increase sales, the ultimate way to make money on your site.
Do you wonder where the traffic is for your site?
Well if you never set up your site on the search engines, no one knows your are on the web. Did you place your web address on all your hard copy ads, stationary, newsletter, business cards? Then you need to reach those online who are looking for your business. By doing a Search Engine Optimizing and getting placement in the top 10 search engines, you will start to see the traffic. We even do reports to show you where your traffic is coming from and which pages people are viewing.
What is a Merchant Account and do I need one?
When companies process credit cards, they usually partner with a company
that handles the credit card processing. This company, the Merchant Account
Provider, is the link between the small business and the credit card
companies. When doing business online, it is helpful to have a Merchant
Account with a company who works with the shopping cart software you decide
to use. When signing up for a Merchant Account, depending on which company
you decide to use, there can be a few various fees, including a one time
setup fee($95-$795)*, a software fee (from free to $900)*, a monthly minimum
charge($20-$35)*, discount rate (or percentage of total sales for month
(average 2.99%)*, and a per transaction charge (20¢-50¢)*, and a myriad of
other various fees that they may or may not charge depending on the company.
If you are planning on processing a high volume of credit cards, and you
want your clients to have the ease of online processing, then a Merchant
Account may be best for your business.
Another choice that many small businesses have chosen is a low cost solution
like PayPal. With PayPal, there is no setup fee, or monthly fee. The
discount rate (or percentage of total sales for month) is 2.2% and the per
transaction fee is 30¢ **. The customer of a small business has to sign up
as a PayPal member, but their credit card information stays secure.
Some small businesses choose to process their customers credit cards
offline, rather than automatically online. This does delay the processing
time for the order, and it creates an issue of security. However, it can be
a cost-effective option for a company that does not process many credit
cards from their web site, and already has credit card processing for their
offline business. Small businesses must be sure to keep their clients'
credit card and other private information secure from hackers and others. It
is NOT recommended to e-mail such personal information.
We at Net Media Consultants have found several ways to keep our clients'
customers privacy secure. We will be happy to discuss these options with you
to help in make the E-Commerce decision.
* Based on numbers from comparison chart on Aerohost. com
**(as of July 2002, according to PayPal).
