Prospect Genius

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If you’ve ever felt like you’re paying way too much for services or products (whether it’s a phone line, email, or website) you’re not alone. We hear this all the time from small business owners. It’s hard to know if you’re getting fleeced when it’s difficult to establish what an average price even looks like. So, let’s break down what you should expect to pay for some essential business tools, so you don’t get stuck paying more than you need to.

Disclaimer: We have no affiliation with any of these companies so we’re not getting paid to plug anyone here. This is just our own experiences and opinions formed over the last 20 years of operating in this industry. 

Second Phone Lines: Keep It Simple (and Affordable)

Many business owners are hesitant to use second phone lines or tracking numbers provided by marketing companies, and for good reason. Too often, companies have held these numbers hostage after service cancellation, refusing to release them. This leaves business owners stuck without access to a number they relied on for customers, causing frustration and lost calls.

You have a few options to avoid this problem:

1. Get your own second line and tell the marketer to use that number. This way, you (and only you) have control of it. Just be aware this means the marketer’s reporting won’t work since they won’t have access to the number’s data. It also means your marketer cannot make proactive decisions because they won’t have the data to work with. This is a big downside to this option…

2. Get your own second line, then port that number into your marketing company’s system. This makes it clear the number is your property, but still allows their reporting and other systems to function properly. You can get the new number from dozens of different places, including your cell carrier.

3. Simply recognize (and call out if needed) that having control of your phone number is the law, not an option. The FCC has ruled that if the number rings directly to you, it’s yours to port away whenever you want. Any company disallowing this is likely breaking the law, and you can easily get them in hot water with the federal government. The mere threat of this almost always results in the number going exactly where you want it to go.

At Prospect Genius, we include clear terms of service to protect your right to take your number with you. This isn’t just good business, it’s federal law.

So, where do you turn for this second line, and how much does it cost? Here are a few options to consider:

• Sideline: This app lets you add a second phone number to your existing smartphone. It even supports team access for calls and texts. Expect to pay about $10 a month.
• Google Voice: Free and easy for basic calls and texts on a second line, but not packed with features. Good if you want a budget-friendly option without fancy extras.
• CallTrax: This is what we recommend for clients. It integrates with reporting and has strong spam call blocking. Price? Around $25 a month.
• RingCentral: A big name in VoIP with a slick app and lots of enterprise features, also about $25 a month.

A quick note about second lines included with marketing services:
Many businesses are hesitant to use metered phone numbers provided as part of their marketing packages. They’ve been burned before by companies refusing to release the number after canceling the service. Even though tracking your marketing with a dedicated number is super helpful, losing control of that line can cause real headaches.

At Prospect Genius, we include clear language in our terms of service giving you the right to take your number with you when you leave. This isn’t just good business practice, it’s the law.

Phone Number Portability in the U.S.
We’re not lawyers, and this is not legal advice, but, thanks to FCC regulations, you generally have the right to port (take) your phone number to a new provider if:

• The number is active and rings directly to you.
• The new provider serves the same geographic area (for landlines).
• You initiate the port before terminating your current service.

Exceptions:
Numbers tied to shared systems like business PBX setups or some VoIP services may not be portable. Always check with your provider to be sure.

A company trying to hold onto a number, against your will, isn’t just bad customer service, it’s likely breaking FCC rules and the law. So, always demand control over your phone numbers. Remember, you are legally allowed to port that number away, and you can often port number IN for use with your new marketing project so keep that in mind as well.

Email: Don’t Use companyName@gmail.com Anymore

Still rocking a companyname@gmail.com email? That looks outdated and unprofessional. You can get an email address with your own domain (like bob@bobsplumbing.com) using services like ForwardEmail.net. Plans run from $0 up to $10/mo, but $3/mo is enough for most businesses.

Bonus: You can still use Gmail’s interface, so no need to change your daily routine. Setting it all up takes a small amount of effort, but if it feels beyond your comfort zone, we do offer the EmailMask service to do exactly this.

Google Business Profiles: It’s Yours and It’s Free, But Getting Help Isn’t

First and foremost, your Google Business Profile (GBP) is yours to claim and manage, and setting it up is completely free. Google doesn’t charge anything to create or own your profile on their platform.

That said, it’s totally reasonable for someone to charge you a fee to do the work for you. Think of it like hiring an accountant to do your taxes: filing taxes yourself is free, but if you want expert help, you pay for their time and know-how.

Services like our Google Business Profile Optimization are exactly that. We don’t charge for the GBP itself, but we do charge for our expertise and the time it takes to optimize your profile for better visibility and customer engagement.

If you’re signing up for a service like this, just be clear on what you’re paying for. Unfortunately, there are plenty of scams that try to make you think Google is charging fees directly, but it’s really about paying for the service and expertise, not the profile itself.

Google Ads Management: Transparency Is Key

The prices and structures of Google Ads management services vary widely, and it’s easy to get scammed if you’re not careful. The best practice? Your management company should bill you separately from Google’s ad spend. This way, you know exactly how much goes toward ads and how much goes toward the management fee.

How much should you pay? Usually, 15% to 25% of your ad budget. If you’re spending $500 a month, expect to pay around 25% for management. If your budget looks more like $10,000/mo you should expect to get a rater closer to about 15%-20%.

Website Design: Invest Wisely

Website prices depend on size and features. Small business sites usually cost between $500 and $5,000. Cheaper sites often lack important SEO and content optimization, so if you go cheap, you might pay more later in lost leads.

Think of your website as the foundation of your home. If you build it well, you’ll never have to worry. If you cheap out, you’re going to regret it every time you try to renovate the house above it. Things that should be cheap and easy, suddenly become expensive and difficult, all because you kicked your technical debt down the road.

Domain Registration: Don’t Cheap Out

Domains cost about $10 per year. That’s less than a dollar a month. Some try to save a buck by using cheap registrars but end up paying hundreds later to fix problems.

We like PorkBun for domains, but we avoid companies like GoDaddy, Turbify, 1&1, Tucows, and BlueHost because they either lack critical features, or we’ve had too many issues with them over the years.

Similar to the phone line issue, domain names are something you NEED to make sure you control. You can register them for multiple years at a time, making this a near-zero maintenance issue. On the other hand, when you lose control of it, you are in a world of hurt because getting it back an be time-consuming, expensive, and sometimes even impossible. Don’t let all your years of built-up equity suddenly get flushed down the drain when you need to completely start over with a new domain.

Hosting: Don’t Let Your Website Crawl

There are many hosting options, but opting for cheap, shared hosting can slow your site to a crawl. Slow sites frustrate visitors and hurt your Google rankings.

Especially if you use WordPress, spend a little more on faster hosting. It’ll save you money in the long run because your web designer won’t waste hours waiting on slow load times, and you’ll keep both your site visitors and Google happy.

Bottom Line: Knowing what you should pay can save you serious headaches and money. If you’re unsure or want a hand setting things up, we’re here to help with advice, tools, and services tailored for small businesses.

Let’s be real for a second.
You tried out something with “AI” slapped on the label… maybe it was clunky, confusing, or just plain didn’t work. So now you’ve decided AI is all hype and you’re done with it. Forever. End of story.

But hold on. That logic’s about as solid as saying, “I bought a blue Jeep once and it broke down, so I’ll never drive another blue car ever again.” Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, right?

AI isn’t one thing. It’s dozens of things. Hundreds, even.
What most folks don’t realize is that “AI” isn’t just one app or one tool. It’s a whole category of technology. There’s machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, LLMs (like ChatGPT), recommendation engines, and more. They all do different jobs, in different ways, for different industries.

Saying all AI is bad because of one bad experience is like swearing off restaurants forever because you got food poisoning once. Sure, that one place sucked. But you still need to eat.

You’re already using AI, even if you don’t know it.
Think AI is some far-off, futuristic thing? It’s already in your truck, your phone, your bank app, your email spam filter, and your GPS. It decides which posts you see on Facebook, which ads follow you around online, and even which route your map app suggests when traffic piles up.

Whether you love it or hate it, AI is already baked into your day. And we’re just getting started.

Soon, AI will be in every home. Seriously.
This isn’t sci-fi. We’re on the doorstep of having voice-powered AI assistants in every home, scheduling appointments, answering questions, handling chores. It won’t be long before we’re talking to robots like Rosie from The Jetsons, and they’re talking back with real answers.

You can refuse to use AI, but your customers won’t.
Look, nobody’s saying you have to become some tech wizard overnight. But here’s what matters: your customers are using AI. They’re asking their phones who to call when the pipes burst or the AC goes out. They’re talking to Alexa, Google Assistant, and who knows what else.

And if those tools don’t know your business exists, guess what? You’re invisible.

You don’t have to love AI. But you do have to show up.
There’s a difference between using AI to run your business and just making sure AI tools know you’re out there. That means having a strong online presence, accurate business listings, and content that helps search engines (and AI tools) understand what you do and where you do it.

Because if someone asks Siri for an electrician in their area and Siri’s never heard of you, you’re not getting that call. Simple as that.

Adapt or get left behind.
It’s tough. We get it. Change is uncomfortable. But this isn’t some tech fad that’ll blow over. AI is the new electricity… it’s going to be in everything. And businesses that get ahead of it will win. The ones that don’t? Well… they’ll be watching their competitors run away with their customers.

So before you write off AI entirely, ask yourself: am I mad at the technology, or just frustrated that I haven’t seen it work yet? Because the reality is, AI can work for you. And your business? It needs to be found.