Good Investment?

Matt writes to ask: What do you think of investing $10,000 to a company called americanwebsitesolutions.com in order for them to set up a web site for us to sell prescription drugs? They say they use banners and things to draw people to our newly created web site. In turn we make a percentage of the sales. They boast we could make the money back in 3 months. They want us

just to charge it to a credit card. Have you heard of this being successful?

Disclaimer




The answer below is my personal opinion only based on the information I was able to develop about the company mentioned and my own personal experiences on the Internet. If someone has had actual experience with this company, or if the company themselves would like to rebut my reasoning and conclusions, I welcome correction and would gladly publish it in this blog. I also want to make it clear that while researching this I found a number of legitimate web design companies with similar names to this one, so please be sure you are clear on the name of the company you are dealing with.

At first glance, American Website Solutions business website actually looks fairly up and up. However, on further research I found this:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/213/RipOff0213808.htm

Which is a “rip off report” made against them.

Searching the Whois database I was able to get a company name and address in Phoenix, AZ. The Better Business Bureau did not immediately have a report on them, but I have requested one. When it arrives, I will edit to add their information.

I have reservations for several reasons.

One - they do not have links to websites they have created. Most legitimate web design companies are proud of sites they have designed and would have links to them to show what kind of work they do.

Two - the type of do-it-yourself websites they promote on their website are available free, as far as the webpage templates themselves, through various other services.

Three - some of the services they offer are (in my opinion) bogus. They are either useless, or can be done for far less. (i.e. - domain registration is $13 with my registrar - not a $30 value, submission to search engines is free and easily done by hand and the major search engines do not accept automated submissions, hosting is available at a far lower cost - I pay $20 a month for ALL my websites combined, etc. all small things but each one adds to my suspicions)

Four - In their own FAQ pages there is this entry:

Who do I call for service and support?

All our web sites include customer support to help answer any question you might have about your web site and the manager console. For technical support contact us at :

They do not give a email, phone, or any other contact for support.

As far as using banners and other things to draw traffic to your site - in one thing they are correct - 78% (or more) people find websites through search engines. Banner advertising is about the least effective online advertising method and usually costs far more than the results justify. Appropriate SEO (Search engine optimization) of your website is the best way to draw traffic, along with appropriate linking strategies. Given the way the “do it yourself” websites are built on their website, they leave a lot to be desired for SEO. And - in the rip off report part of the complaint is that the customer was told - after paying for his site - that promotion would be his responsibility.

My understanding is that you are not currently a pharmaceutical company seeking to add a website to an existing business - so American Website Solutions is offering to use your name (and money) to create a business as a drop shipper for another company that produces the drugs? There are good precedents for this, many top eBay sellers are actually selling for drop shippers and I do know other webmasters who have created websites purely to sell for drop shippers - but then why do they need to involve you at all?

In conclusion, at this point I find them a little suspicious. That is a lot of money to send to someone who is even a little iffy. I would advise against it.

JMHO

Summer