Member FAQ
- What do I get if I join AcesCircle?
AcesCircle is designed to maximize your referrals at the economical price to ensure a high return on investment. For your membership you will get all of the following:
- Exclusive or semi-exclusive listing on the AcesCircle website for their service or business category
- Full page ad that appears when users click on your category
- Website linked to several other sites such as AcesRentals.com, the leading resource for residential rentals and property management in the Conejo Valley, OchsRealty.com, and the Google Local Business Directory
- Referrals from Ochs Realty and Ochs Management for services related to their hundreds of annual residential sales and leasing transactions and huge client referral database
- Cross referrals from over 150 other members
- AcesCircle business cards widely distributed to drive customers to the AcesCircle website and to the members
- Opportunities for free membership months through our referral and barter programs
- Additional networking opportunities with other members and clients
- How much does membership cost and how do I pay?
The cost is $95 per month to be the exclusive Featured Service Provider for a category or $35 per month to be one of three semi-exclusive Featured Service Providers for a category. Payment is made by monthly charges to your credit card.
- How do I become a member?
For real estate related categories, your category must be available, you must meet the criteria below, and you must agree to our fees and terms:
- At least 5 years of experience in your field
- At least 1 year of business in our local area
- Current professional licenses, if applicable
- Positive references
For other categories non-real estate related:
- Be a local business or service
- At least 1 year of business in our local area
- Current professional licenses, if applicable
- What can I do if my category is taken?
We can put you on the waiting list for your preferred category and contact you if a Featured Service Provider slot opens up. We also may be able to work with you to put you in another category, create a new category, or put you in another region. (ex: Simi Valley/Moorpark)
- If I don’t find a category that describes my business, can you add a category for my business?
In most cases yes, simply call or email us.
- How and when will I get referrals?
Access to referrals begins immediately up on acceptance of your membership. Ochs Realty and Ochs Management refer their huge database of clients exclusively to our AcesCircle members. In addition, the 150+ AcesCircle members are strongly encouraged to refer exclusively to one another. Finally, new clients will come your way directly by virtue of visits to the AcesCircle website as well as our OchsRealty.com and AcesRentals.com websites. Although our members typically are highly satisfied, we cannot guarantee a particular number of referrals within a particular time.
- Why is referral marketing so much better than cold calling and advertising?
The highest and best use of your time is to meet clients and close deals, not to sit on the phone dialing for dollars. It is aggravating, irritating, and requires you to do it for the rest of your life or your leads will stop. Advertising also requires a non-stop effort (in this case in the form of spending money). If you stop, so do the prospects. In either case, the quality of a lead from a referral is much higher than that of a “cold prospect."
- Does AcesCircle require me to spend a lot of time networking/selling my service?
No. Referrals come automatically to members. Of course a little networking/selling on your own never hurts!
- How often do I need to update my listing on the AcesCircle website?
You may update as often as necessary. Just provide us with the content and we do the rest. Most members update 1 or more times a year.
- Why should I pay to be a member with you instead of other advertising, promotion options?
Ideally, you would do both. But unlike other options like the yellow pages, newspaper, online ads, etc. we offer an exclusive provider position and a network of 150+ service provider partners who can refer business to you.
- Why would a consumer go to AcesCircle and search for a professional?
The fact is consumers do not want to flip through hundreds of pages of professionals in a phone book just to randomly pick a name. Consumers only want a list of a few professionals that are local and trusted, which is just what AcesCircle provides.
- How is AcesCircle different from smaller “traditional” networking groups?
The problem with “traditional” networking groups is that once you have gone there for a few months, you have met the 20-40 people exhausted the leads you will get. Unfortunately, you must still go to the weekly meetings and pay the expensive dues.
- I am a member of a local chamber of commerce. Why should I join?
The chamber is a great place to meet people, involve yourself with community issues, and interact with others along the way. Joining AcesCircle gives you additional benefits of a business directory, business network and optimized web page all in one.
