Services

Insight Solutions service small to medium size businesses that either don't have their own data processing staff. We also help businesses who want to get into internet marketing but don't have the expertise to do this kind of work. We can can do the whole job for you or just provide consulting on the portions that you are not able to handle. We have performed the following services for our clients:

Web site requirements analysis
Most businesses that are new to the internet know very little about what it takes to create a web site that will meet the needs of their business. Our consultants can guide you through this process and help you decide exactly what you need on your web site. 

Consultation on domain registration
Many companies new to the internet make the mistake of signing up for a web hosting company who registers their domain name for them. Then they discover that it the web hosting company has complete control of all aspects of the domain registration information. If they grow dissatisfied with their hosting company, it can be very difficult to move to a new web hosting company. Our consultants will help you avoid this problem by recommending an approach that will leave you in complete control of you domain registration information. We can also help you pick a domain name. This can be challenging since many of the good domain names are already taken. 

Web site server selection
There are hundreds or thousands of companies that provide web site hosting services. The prices range from free to several hundred dollars per year. Many companies offer essentially the same service at widely differing prices. We've heard horror stories of people paying a one time fee of $500 for a web site with one page on it. We can help you pick a company with reliable servers that will meet your needs at an affordable price. 

Web site development and administration
All of the material on your web site has to be prepared by someone. If your company has never authored a web site, it can be a bewildering process just trying to figure out where to start. We can help you select a web authoring tool that the people in your company can use to build the web site. We can also help you design an overall layout for the web site. We can also teach your people how to publish the web pages to the web site. You may also need some help configuring email account (setting them up, creating auto-responders to answer your customers questions, setting up auto-forwarding of email messages, etc.). You may want to store sensitive material on your site. We can help you secure the information so that people who should not have access won't be able to see this information. You may also need help in setting up feature on your web site like discussion lists, support forums, mailing lists, etc. We can help with all of these needs.

Merchant account provider selection
If  you want to sell products on the internet, we strongly suggest you get a merchant account so you can accept credit cards. Selecting a merchant account and payment gateway (which allows credit car processing over the internet) can be very confusing. There are hundreds of companies reselling this service. We can help guide you through this confusing landscape.

Shopping cart selection, installation and customization
If  you want to sell products on the internet, you will probably also need shopping cart software. This software allows you customers to purchase multiple products and pay for the order with one payment. There are a large number of shopping cart packages available ranging in price from free to hundreds of dollars. So picking one that works with your web hosting environment, merchant account, and payment gateway while still meeting your needs can be very confusing. We can help you select the right product to meet your needs.

Custom web software development
For most web site, the web pages can be developed by anyone who knows how to use a PC based word processor. There are a variety of web authoring tools available. But some companies will need some custom development work done in a language like PHP or Perl. For example, if you wanted to collect certain information from your customers you might need some need some custom development to insure that the form was filled out properly. Without this kind of programming, there will be no quality control on the data you customers enter which can cause significant effort once you bring the data into the computers in your company., You may also have a a database that you want to give your customers controlled access to. 

Integrate the web site with back office processes
You may find that you need to get information off your web site and bring it into the computers in your company. For example, you may be collecting information about your customers or orders that you want to bring into the database you have in your company. These kinds of need can require custom development work on the web server and/or the computer in your company. If you're not familiar with these kinds of requirements, it can be a daunting problem. We can help you solve these needs.

Consultation on bulk email marketing techniques
Many companies have found bulk email marketing to be both affordable and very cost effective. But there are a lot of thinks to know about this kind of advertising. For example, you will have to decide if you will use an opt-in email lists (can be very expensive) or untargeted bulk email. If you have a product with broad appeal, untargeted bulk email may be the least expensive approach. One of our customers used untargeted bulk email and found that this is the least expensive means of advertising available. This customer found that it cost them less than 6/100th of a cent per piece they emailed and they added thousands of customers. Our consultants can discuss this topic with you. If you choose untargeted bulk email, we can help you avoid some of the pitfalls that you might otherwise stumble into.

Custom PC software development
Some small to medium size businesses have the need to do custom software development but they don't have a need for a full time programmer. We can help with these kinds of projects. Our consultants can help clarify your requirements, and recommend the least expensive approach to meet your needs. You may find that you needs can be met with an off the shelf product. If custom development is needed, we can do that work for you as well.