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Frequently Asked Questions
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Domain Name
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Who will own the domain name of my city directory?
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Can I choose my own domain?
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How much does it cost for me to own the domain name?
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Do I need to purchase my own domain name?
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Does it matter where I register my domain name?
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Can I choose any domain name I want?
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Site Administration
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I do not know any HTML and am quite new to the Internet. Can I do this?
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Can I add more web pages so I can offer more content?
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Will I be able to work off line?
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Can I put information about other cities on my CityAmerica site?
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How much space will the program take up on my computer?
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Can I copy content and images from other CityAmerica sites?
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Would I be able to provide our own content as well as provide news and information from other sources through RSS feeds?
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How many different web site themes do I have to choose from?
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Can I customize the look of my site?
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Can I put affiliate ads on my site?
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Can I accept credit cards on my site?
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Who will create the ads for my customers?
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General Questions
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Am I limited to a certain number of advertiser's for my directory?
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If businesses can list their own company, will I have control over who lists their business in my directory?
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How long does it take to build my site after ordering?
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Will my directory be branded anywhere with your name?
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Can I own more than one city directory?
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Can I own a directory if my city is in Canada, England or Australia?
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How do I market this business? Do I contact businesses in person? Do you suggest thru e-mail? Do you suggest auto responders?
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How much do I charge for ad space?
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Do you have contracts that I can use with my customers, or do I have to come up with my own?
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What if my city is taken?
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How do I find out if my city is taken?
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Can I see some of your other clients sites?
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Can you share with me some of the ways I can market my local site?
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I am really interested, but want to think about it first. Can you hold my city for me?
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Do I need a business license?
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How many man hours can I expect to put into this business?
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Can I work this business off more than one computer?
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Do I get a discount if I want multiple cities?
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What forms of payment will you accept?
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Do I have to sign a contract?
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Do I have to live in the city that I want?
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Are there any other costs associated with my site?
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How much money can I really make?
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What kind of support do you offer?
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Is the site pre-populated with business directory listings or will I have to enter them myself?
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Can I check out a demo site before I sign up?
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Can you hold my city for me until I’m ready to sign up?
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What if years down the road I wish to sell my business?
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Hosting
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What does my hosting plan include?
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What if I need more space or data transfer? Can I upgrade?
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Can I host the site on my own server?
Answers:
Q: Who will own the domain name of my city directory?
A: CityAmerica will purchase and retain ownership of the domain name, unless you prefer to purchase this yourself. We will also take care of basic hosting costs for you!
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Q: Can I choose my own domain?
A: Yes! You can choose from any available domain name. Effective 4-1-2007 you may no longer register or use a domain name that has the name of a "county" in it or the word "county" (unless your city's name is the same as the name of your county). You are grandfathered in and will not be required to change your domain name if you registered it prior to 4-1-2007 and it includes your county name.
You can not chose a domain name that has the name of another city that you do not lease. Example: Your city is Rancho Bernardo California. You many not choose a domain name that has SanDiego in it.
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Q: How much does it cost for me to own the domain name?
A: Your domain name is included in your package at no additional charge. However, you are welcome to register it yourself. You can choose any domain name registrar you like (we recommend www.zazoos.com) and we will provide you the DNS settings to apply to your chosen domain name if you choose to purchase this yourself.
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Q: Do I need to purchase my own domain name?
A: You do not need to, but we do recommend it if you wish to retain ownership and have the WHOIS information reflect your company as the business owner instead of City America. BUT if you wish us to pick up this expense and you wish to not worry year after year about renewing it, we are happy to secure the domain name of your choice and renew it for your use. We can transfer ownership to you at anytime by your request.
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Q: Does it matter where I register my domain name?
A: No, you can choose any domain registrar you wish. We recommend www.Zazoos.com. If you register with them, the nameservers will already be set to work with our sites. If you register elsewhere, you will need to change the nameservers to point to our servers.
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Q: Can I choose any domain name I want?
A: Yes, as long as it does not include the name of another city that is not your secured market area. Also we prohibit using a county name unless it is the same as your secured market area or you have secured the rights to the entire county.
Also, you cannot use anything offensive or obscene in your domain name choice.
We recommend you include the name of your city in your domain name - as it will help your site in search engine ranking. We offer you many suggestions at sign up, but you can choose whatever you want.
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Q: I do not know any HTML and am quite new to the Internet. Can I do this?
A: With a little instruction any one can do this! With the NEW CityAmerica 2.0 WYSIWYG editor, you do not need to know any HTML to run these sites. It can be as easy as creating an email or using a word processing program on your computer.
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Q: Can I add more web pages so I can offer more content?
A: Absolutely! The website will be in your total control, you may feel free to add as many pages as you need* and place additional links to those pages any place you wish. With CityAmerica, you can add pages "on the fly". Add as many as you want and the navigation links are generated for you...Automatically!
*An internal limit of 3000 pages may apply.
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Q: Will I be able to work off line?
A: You will need to be online to do updates to your site. Everything is based on the server.
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Q: Can I put information about other cities on my CityAmerica site?
A: Yes! You may add pages and links to local attractions for informational purposes. You may NOT make your site to "appear" as though it were a site serving a city that you do not lease. Example: if you leased Rancho Bernardo, California, you could NOT call your site the SanDiegoCityGuide.com nor could you put on your site words like "San Diego's best directory". You could however put information on your Rancho Bernardo site about the San Diego Zoo etc.
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Q: How much space will the program take up on my computer?
A: This will not take any space on your computer. Nothing is loaded on your computer... It's all server based.
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Q: Can I copy content and images from other CityAmerica sites?
A: No, sorry. This would be a violation of copyright law. There are many free and low cost sources for images. We offer a marketing aids site with links to many of them.
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Q: Would I be able to provide our own content as well as provide news and information from other sources through RSS feeds?
A: Yes, you can create new pages and add whatever information on them you wish! Our
site does offer an RSS plugin which allows you to configure RSS feed from other
sources as well.
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Q: How many different web site themes do I have to choose from?
A: We have over 250 themes to select for your own look.
You can view a sample of our preset themes here:
http://www.cityamerica.com/pages/Theme
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Q: Can I customize the look of my site?
A: Yes, you can easily change font styles, colors, themes, logo image, and more easily. If you have HTML experience, as a courtesy, you are also given access to the all the themes HTML and CSS codes so you can tweak or changes anything you wish. Or even create your own look completely from scratch.
Don't know HTML? No problem! Our design department is happy to assist you in creating your own look for a small hourly fee. Contact us for details.
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Q: Can I put affiliate ads on my site?
A: Absolutely. This is easily done and we recommend it! This is a great way to add additional income from your city guide website.
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Q: Can I accept credit cards on my site?
A: Yes, you can accept credit cards for payments from your own clients. It is 100% automated for your convenience and you can choose from either (or both) online processor PayPal or 2Checkout.com. Signing up for PayPal is free! 2Checkout.com requires a small startup fee. See their website for details.
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Q: Who will create the ads for my customers?
A: Your customers can register, login and add their own business listings,
real estate, banners, classifieds etc easily all on their own or you can choose to place their ads for them. Simply complete a form online and use a 'browse button' to upload a
picture/logo. We even have an online banner creator that you or your
customer can use if they do not already have an ad image.
Our design department can also create ads for you or your clients for a low fee starting at just $10 per banner ad if you prefer to not do any design work yourself.
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Q: What does my hosting plan include?
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- 500 megs of disc space
- 10,000 megs of data transfer
- Email forwarding
- Create up to 150 POP Email Accounts
- Cpanel
- Webalizer / Awstats (Visitor statistics software)
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Q: What if I need more space or data transfer? Can I upgrade?
A: Yes, additional disc storage and bandwidth can be purchased easily and affordably if needed. You can learn more information about the cost of upgrades here:
http://cityamerica.com/pages/upgrades
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Q: Can I host the site on my own server?
A: The website must stay on our server. We use a quality, dedicated server designed specifically for our scripts. This ensures smooth performance and stability, and the website may not be moved, duplicated or reproduced in any way to any other server without our permission.
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Q: Am I limited to a certain number of advertiser's for my directory?
A: Your directory, coupons and classifieds sections will hold 1000's of listings! No need to worry about being limited!
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Q: If businesses can list their own company, will I have control over who lists their business in my directory?
A: Yes! Even though businesses can input their own company information, it will not be published to the website directory until after the administrator of the site (you) has approved it. This is the same for classified ads and just about any other visitor submitted content. You will maintain total control over submissions.
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Q: How long does it take to build my site after ordering?
A: Your site will be completed and released into your care 5 business days after we receive your order. Most of this waiting period is due to the typical 72 hour time from it will take for the nameservers on your new domain name to fully propagate. In most cases, you may have your site in less than 3 days.
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Q: Will my directory be branded anywhere with your name?
A: No, not at all.
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Q: Can I own more than one city directory?
A: Yes! You can operate as many sites as you like. You only pay the $130 setup fee for your 1st site. Additional sites - you will just pay the monthly payment per site. Contact us if you wish to add extra sites.
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Q: Can I own a directory if my city is in Canada, England or Australia?
A: Yes! We welcome any cities that use primarily English as their spoken language. However, our software is written for the US cities, so some features may not be available or compatible with your country. Please contact us for details.
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Q: How do I market this business? Do I contact businesses in person? Do you suggest thru e-mail? Do you suggest auto responders?
A: We offer a large variety of suggestions, marketing tools, etc on promoting your site in our Member's Area. You can also network with other CityAmerica members to learn from their success.
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Q: How much do I charge for ad space?
A: Ad space pricing can be anything you want. You are in full control over all prices and packages offered.
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Q: Do you have contracts that I can use with my customers, or do I have to come up with my own?
A: Since every site is individually owned and operated... Everyone has their own prices, terms etc. and they all make up their own forms. We do however have lots of samples on our Marketing Aids site that you are free to use.
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Q: What if my city is taken?
A: We only allow one site per city. If you really want to have a certain city, you can fill out our Waiting List form and we will contact you if it becomes available again:
http://cityamerica.com/pages/Waiting_List
This is for an inquiry only and in no way obligates you to purchase your requested city.
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Q: How do I find out if my city is taken?
A: Please visit http://cityamerica.com/pages/GetStarted to see if your area is available. Complete the short form and you will get an instant answer. There is no obligation to check your city.
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Q: Can I see some of your other clients sites?
A: It is our policy to not use our clients sites as a tool to promote our own
business. Our clients appreciate this and if you become a client you will also appreciate it. However, we do have permission from the sites seen on our testimonials
page to share their URL if you would like to see what our software is capable
of:
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Q: Can you share with me some of the ways I can market my local site?
A: The marketing strategies are covered in depth on our Sales and Marketing Manual
and in our Member's Area, which is exclusive to our members but full of great
ideas on how to market your site.
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Q: I am really interested, but want to think about it first. Can you hold my city for me?
A: Sorry, cities are offered on a first come, first serve basis.
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Q: Do I need a business license?
A: You may wish to check with the local authority about whether or not they require a business license, however many areas do not require a license for this type of business.
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Q: How many man hours can I expect to put into this business?
A: This is really up to you, but we believe if you can devote a minimum on 10 hours a week to updating and promoting your site you can be successful.
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Q: Can I work this business off more than one computer?
A: Everything that powers your site is online so you can work from any computer, anywhere, anytime. No software is installed to your computer - everything is 100% web-based.
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Q: Do I get a discount if I want multiple cities?
A: Yes, you only pay a set up fee on your first site. Additional cities with separate websites are just $49 per month per site. If you simply wish to expand your market area with additional cities/towns under the same website, they are just $29 per city/per month!
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Q: What forms of payment will you accept?
A: You can pay for your City America site through either PayPal or 2Checkout.com. You can use Visa, MasterCard or Discover or a direct debit from your PayPal account.
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Q: Do I have to sign a contract?
A: No, if you decide that City America is not for you, you can cancel anytime. Please remember, there are no refunds or partial refunds for unused time. If you wish to cancel, you need only let us know before your next installment is due.
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Q: Do I have to live in the city that I want?
A: No, you can live anywhere! We do recommend if you plan to sell
advertising that you live close enough to sell ads locally yourself or close enough to manage a sales team.
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Q: Are there any other costs associated with my site?
A: Your one time set up and monthly/quarterly/annual investments are all you pay to us.
You should plan on the costs of promoting or selling ads on your site which could include (but not limited to) costs for
printing fliers, business cards, other promotional materials etc.
*Your site also includes a set amount of disc storage and data transfer and if exceeded you may need to upgrade for a small fee to a larger plan to accommodate your traffic to your site. You can learn more about his here:
http://cityamerica.com/pages/upgrades
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Q: How much money can I really make?
A: This will depend upon you and your commitment to how much time you will invest in both content and marketing aspects of your site. We recommend a minimum of 5-10 hours per week to be successful. The more you put into it the more you will get out of it. You need to go
out and sell ads to make money as this is not an instant ATM but a real business that will require real effort.
Some members hire independent
contractors to sell for them and the members pay their sales people
straight commission. This works well for them since it only costs them money when it makes them money!
We do have members who have reported in excess of $10,000 monthly income.
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Q: What kind of support do you offer?
A: We are very proud of our support team. Most questions can be answered
in our very comprehensive online training guides. If you have a
technical problem, the online Help Desk is just a click away!
We also have a terrific area just for our members to network with one
another. Members share ideas, fliers they have created, marketing tips
and much more in our forum area and our marketing aides area.
Support Includes:
- Weekly Newsletters
- Weekly Sales Training calls
- One-On-One Phone Training
- 24 Hour Support HELP DESK
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- Success & Sales Training Manual
- Marketing Aids site
- Members Forum
- Members Chat room
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Q: Is the site pre-populated with business directory listings or will I have to enter them myself?
A: Yes (for US Cities only), if you wish to have this done for you at your site's initial construction free of charge, we can do it! This will help give your site's very first visitors information they may be looking for! The listings are very generic (name, 2-3 word description, address, phone). Then you can up sell these business owners to a paid listing at whatever cost you want that would include a detailed description, their logo and photos, website link, email contact, map to business, driving directions, and other great features.
The populating option of local businesses will include up to 5,000 businesses from your secured market area. Want more? Contact us and we will work something out.
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Q: Can I check out a demo site before I sign up?
A: Absolutely. Give it a test drive now
and see how easy it is on our demo site.
Click
here to login as an
administrator.
This link will open in a new
tab/window.
Username: admin
Password: demo Login Problems?
The demo automatically
resets every 2 hours so if you find the login isn't currently working,
please try again later or contact us. It is
possible another interested party has changed the password.
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Q: Can you hold my city for me until I’m ready to sign up?
A: Sorry, we cannot hold cities free of charge. But if you do wish to hold a particular city without a website, it is $29 per month per city/town (limit of 6 months). Contact us to have this arranged for you.
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Q: What if years down the road I wish to sell my business?
A: You can sell your established business and client base, domain name and other business assets
for whatever amount you feel it is worth. City America policy is the new owner
fully understand our terms of service and there being a monthly/quarterly/annual
payment for membership, software use and hosting if they wish to keep your site on our software.
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