Should I put prices on my website?

Business has dried up, I have not had a single job since last Friday and the money situation is getting very bleak now.

I was thinking of putting some sample prices on my website so customers know what to expect, but my mum thinks it will put people off.

I personaly think people are put off by not having any prices on it.

The first series of leaflets had a £30 PC Health Check offer on, I got quite a lot of jobs from this though not for the health check just general spyware removal etc.

I must have got about 2000 leaflets out in the last couple of weeks with very little response.

 

I think if keen pricing is one of your selling points, and especially if they are fixed prices for specific jobs then yes I'd say publish your prices.

We do publish our service prices (hourly rates, etc,) but not our product prices as we dont want our direct competitors to know what we charge.

 

My mum thinks if I am too cheap it will put people off, I completly agree with that, but I from what I can tell I charge at the higher end at £20 an hour anyway, some people can do it for £10 but they have no insurance etc and are not really running a business. I provide top notch customer service and that needs to be reflected in my charges.

I just can't work out why I was fairly busy a month ago but now it is dead.

 

My mum thinks if I am too cheap it will put people off

Business has dried up

It can't be any worse can it than it is with no business.
Get your prices advertised, get them cheap, get established, get a reputation, get a full order book then worry about putting yer prices up!

 

i'd start offering prices as opposed to hourly rates.

 

Definitely good advice. Nicely presented website will help cheap prices look good value rather than cheapskate. Also dont necessarily sell yourself as a one person organisation. You dont have to lie in order to appear bigger.

Testamonials are well worth accruing too.

By quoting fixed prices and sufficiently detailing what you'll do for that price your potential customers will feel more confident to email/call you.

 

Have done thanks. http://www.m21technology.co.uk/index.php

I am thinking of adding a glossary to it as well.

In the mean time I cannot afford to carry on so I am having to get a part time job and do the business part time. I am not being at all picky so hopefully I can get some part time work.

 

I'd say putting them on the site as examples is a good idea.

If people are looking for someone, they'll probably select from a few who do show their prices rather than phoning around trying to get the best offer.

 

I'd go with the advice here, but definitely on the side of "a typical job like such and such will cost so and so" rather than an hourly rate. The punters won't know how long a typical job might take, so will be none the wiser if you just did that.

When selecting your typical jobs, make sure you choose the kind of typical job, which doesn't usually get complicated - straightforward things that you have a good idea what the typical time spent is going to be.

Hope this helps

Oy ... too late, I see you've already done it

 

Ian

Getting a part time job is a great idea until the work rolls in again which i am sure it will.

I have just had a peek at your web web site, perhaps you could tell me how you operate, is it items delivered to Chorlton, or do you operate a home / office service too?

I ask cos i have a small one man band operation myself and i use three PCs of various ages that do need occasional FETTLING. I am not a million miles away from Manchester, but perhaps just far enough away to make it a hinderance to be dropping items in Chorlton.

Andy

 

One thing I am getting much better at now is quotes, when I first started out I was under estimating the time. For example I allowed two hours for a hard drive format job, it ended up taking four because the client could not remember his email passwords etc.

Hopefully this and a Repairs from £25 addition to my leaflet may get the phone ringing again.

 

I am mobile i.e on the clients premises and I have public liability insurance to cover commercial and home premises. All the jobs have come from Chorlton and Didsbury so far, I can't seem to get any response from Stetford or Urmston.

Where I travel to really depends on the job, if it is just a £15 which requires just restarting a router then I couldn't really travel far but if it is more than one PC it probably would be worth while.

 

Just wanted to say though that I Like the website btw. though the way you've written about yourself in the third person in the "about us" section, comes across a bit odd. At one point reading as though it were an obit and perhaps you were dead.

Try writing it as "We" rather than "Ian" and write about what you can do and what your values are - Offering good value, friendly helpful customer service, etc. rather than your qualifications. I don't imagine people give two hoots whether you got a 1st, 2.1 or 2.2, though I could be wrong. and make sure its in the present tense

"About us" is an opportunity to sell - take that opportunity.

 

Yeah thanks, I need to make sure people know I am qualified though though, if I am going into peoples houses taking their PCs apart. That is why I mention my degree.

Also I think dressing smart also inspires a lot of confidence.

 

Nice site I'd say follow the advice given here.

 

Well I didn't necessarily mean you didn't need to mention it, but I do think the whole section needs some work.

Really, its where you can sell yourself and the values of your company. And it needs to be written as though its coming from you ... not someone else writing about you. And it needs to havre passion, y'know.

Here's an example from my own site (not the about us section, but the home page, we don't have one).

"We specialise in vinyl, we only DO vinyl, its what we love and know. If you need to ask a question or need advice, If you are new to vinyl, returning to it or if you are unsure as to what you need, please don't hesitate to ask - its our pleasure to help"

I'm not saying this is a stunning example of copy writing (in fact the grammar's a bit iffy and could do with a bit of a touch up), but what its not is "Needles & Spins are an online shop selling ..." etc. as if it were written about us by someone else.

It comes from us (and remember its always we and us, not me and I and it says what we are about and I hope shows that we actually care about what we do.

I mean this as constructive criticism you know, not a as a pop. I hope things pick up ... just erememebr they will, every business goes through slow patches.

Now what have you done to optimise the site for search engines?

 

Will people with a broken computer be able to search for you on the web? A lot of people only have one computer.

 

Seconded. They probably don't even care what your qualifications are.

From the "about us" section it's more or less obvious that you're a one man band so, as UA suggested, try and re-write it in terms of "we".

Michael.

PS: does anyone else think the W3C "check" logos are soooo 1995? I use those validator links on sites but I've never included their horrible buttons/logos.

 

I think in fact know that in Urmston there's a little computer shop doing much what you offer, I don't know about Stretford.

 

There is in Didsbury but a lot of people don't want the hastle of putting their PC in the boot.

In some situations it always a lot better to work with the client as well.

That applies to pretty much any business though

I shall re-word the about us section. It is a tough call because I need to sound big without telling fibs. I can't say I have staff when I don't etc although using the term 'we' is not really pushing it because there are other people involved.