BaldwinShops - Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Where are you located and who are you?
A. We are located in Fairhope, Alabama and are a very local, very small business.  BaldwinShops is an enterprise of MRE Software LLC.  You can visit the MRE website to find out much more about us.

Q. You say this is initially free.  What's the catch and what will it cost later?
A. There is no catch.  In order for the site to be of value to clients and users it has to grow to reasonable size with a minimum of 10 to 20 sites.  Until it becomes established we are simply not going to charge for sites.  Once it is established we may have to charge a small fee because we certainly can't operate it at a loss.  We would love to offer the site free using advertiser support from the Google ads on main pages but the revenue they will generate is unknown.  We are guessing that retaining a site on BaldwinShops will eventually be in the $10 to $25 per month range.  When it comes time to start charging,  (we don't know how long that will be) all clients will have the option to continue to use the service or opt out.  Nobody who signs up will be obligated in any way for time already used, all payments will apply to forward usage only.

Q. Will there be any advertisements placed on my page?
A. No.  Your page is YOUR advertisement for you to control.  There is some limited advertising on the main pages of the site but never will they appear on a client's page.  The Google advertisements in places like the news page provide a small amount of revenue to help offset the costs of maintenance and web hosting.  If you see an ad that interests you please check it out!

Q. What kind of sites are allowed?
A. We want Businesses of all kinds, Professionals, Clubs, Churches, and other legitimate organizations.  All client applications will be reviewed and approved before they are granted a page and all pages will be monitored for usage.  BaldwinShops is not for Jerry's Junior High School blog pages or for con-artists to sell imported Viagra.  We reserve the right to decline any request for a site at our discretion.  When you sign up for a site with us, your organization will be in the company of other local area organizations and not associated with low quality sites.

Q. My organization isn't in Baldwin County.  Can I participate?
A. We will review your application and if your site will benefit Baldwin County residents it will be considered for inclusion on BaldwinShops.  The goal of the site is of course to be a portal for a small region in and around the county.

Q. I sell insurance or real estate for a large national company, do I need a site?
A. Yes.  You can provide a photo, contact information, specialty areas, and other information to make yourself stand out from the crowd.  You can also use your page here to link the user to your area of the gigantic national website of the company you work for!

Q. I already have a website of my own, why list here?
A. BaldwinShops.is a community portal.  People come here to find local organizations and check out daily specials.  If you have a page here it makes you more likely to be found!  On your page at BaldwinShops you can provide a brief description of what you have to offer and provide a link to your own main website.  You get the added benefits of more search engine listings and higher rankings by having links, references, and clicks referenced to your site.

Q. Is this better than the yellow pages?
A. Ever want to change your ad in the phone book?  Here you can change it every day!

Q. I am not very technical, is this hard to do?
A. We are using an editor that is much simpler to use than most common word processors.  If you can type a letter, you can edit your page here.  Novice users can produce useful pages in minutes and advanced users can use the source mode of the editor to make pages as complex as they desire.  Our editing tips page contains information you might find useful and you may also try out the editor as a live demo.  See the green box to the right of this paragraph.

Q. Will you help me set up my page?
A. Yes.  Send us an email with your user name and information on what you need help with.  We can resize images (attach them to the message) and help you set up an initial page.  We want you to succeed!

Q. I didn't find the answer to my question.  What now?
A. Browse the site and you may find what you are looking for.  If not then send me an email and I will try to answer it for you.  Click here to send email.