Billing Customers

I'm not a SEO dude (nor do I have the time to become one) for anything other than our own domains/websites.

But I had a thought today (once in awhile I have one) and now I'm curious... when you "SEO folk" charge your customers, are you typically doing it as a one-time shot, or is it an ongoing/recurring billing?

- Shawn

In my experience it varies. I personally require an up front one-time fee. Others will charge a monthly fee. Some do a bit of both. Horses for courses really. There are in fact about 3-4 payment models for SEO services. Some even charge a kind of ppc model (doorway domains). It all depends on the kind of back office you got. Mines non-existent hence a one off fee ;-)

Well the reason I was wondering, is our main product (within our business) is a system called "Optigold ISP" and it does the billing for Internet Service Providers (dialup, broadband, web hosts, etc.)

Does recurring billing (monthly, quarterly, annual, etc... you could even have someone on a 5 month, 11 day cycle if you wanted for whatever reason) with usage based charges and one-time fees on top of it.

It's way overkill for a SEO business (has online signup, web interface for customers/employees, does domain management, project management, controls servers, email trouble tickets, etc, etc...), and it's probably too expensive for a one-man SEO business (starts at $2,000)...

Also seems like SEO businesses are popular outside of the US... and Optigold is used by ISPs in 108 countries... you can send out invoices in many different languages on a per customer basis even...

But...... since it's 100% free (never expires and nothing disabled) for up to 100 customers, I was thinking it would be useful for an SEO business with less than 100 customers that did recurring billing as it's basis... Just a thought... {shrug} Not really trying to sell anything... was just one of those thoughts I had today... "This would work for a SEO business I think."

- Shawn

I guess for those doing monthly billing where its becoming a pain it would probably have value. Not sure if anyone would pay that kind of money for it though. Especially if only limited to 100 customers (in other words I wouldnt lol).

Agreed... it's free for up to 100 customers, then after that is costs money. (I'm like a crack dealer for ISPs... give them enough to get them addicted). hehee

But seriously, the main reason it's free for under 100 customers is because if you don't have 100 active customers, you couldn't afford it anyway... so it's free.

- Shawn

I could definately use that for the reason you suggest.

You say it's free?

Up to 100 customers, yes... it's free.

- Shawn

digitalpoint - you caught my attention regardless of whether free on not.

Any chance of you send me a brochure?

Yes I would like some information as well, on pricing plans and such.

Well, as I mentioned previously, it's probably way overkill for SEOs... just a thought I had... If you want info on Optigold (you can download the free 100 customer version, get pricing on the > 100 customer versions, etc.), you can find it here:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/products/isp/

- Shawn

I remember looking over this package a few months ago. Somehow it didn't strike me as something I would find useful and I went away thinking it was primarily for ISP's. You peaked my interest just now because you mentioned domain mgmt and web interface for customers. So, does this mean I would generate my domain renewal notices and collect payment online? Or, are you saying this can be used for monthly hosting invoices, monthly maintenance and SEO services, etc? I have outgrown my current method of doing everything manually and need to generate all my recurring invoicing in one easy process. Really, I need to just sit down and hammer out my own customized system but who has the time?


>(has online signup, web interface for customers/employees, does domain management, project management, controls servers, email trouble tickets, etc, etc...),

All of the above... handles recurring charges, one-time charges, billing (credit cards, ACH, etc.), web interface for customers to view the account, pay their bill with credit card, web interface for employees, etc, etc, etc...

If you do domain renewals, it could do that as well...

As I mentioned previously, it's probably overkill for a small one-man (or woman) SEO shop...

- Shawn

Dude I could seriously use that. You said it's $2,000 for the licensed version, right? How many users can you support then?

It's free for up to 100 customers (nothing disabled, never expiring). Beyond that, pricing breaks down to $1,000 + $1 per customer (all one-time fees).

So a 1,000 customer license + software would be $2,000. A 5,000 customer license + software would be $6,000, etc.

Includes upgrades for life, support, etc...

- Shawn

BillingOrchard sounds like a perfect fit for what you're looking to do (recurring billing, hourly and flat fee). It's only $14.95 per month for an unlimited number of clients, and we have a free trial to get you started.

http://www.billingorchard.com/freeTrial.cfm