Network F.A.Q.

For our readers...

• How do I use the Natural Handyman Network?
• What is the Network's relationship to the listed craftsmen?
• Do you recommend any of the contractors in your directory or offer any guarantees or warranties for the work done by them?
• How can I tell which contractor is the best one for the job?

For small home repair professionals...

• Okay, NH... give me one good reason to sign up!
• How do I add my business to the Network?
• Can you please explain your payment, cancellation and refund policies?
• Will you accept anyone as a member? If not, what is your refusal policy?
• How many listings can I place on the network for my business?
• What are the rules regarding postings by franchises?
• How do I modify a listing in the network?
• How do delete a listing from the network?
• I forgot my password. Can I still logon?
• Are the usernames case-sensitive?
• What should I put in the "Business Description" box?
• Can I put HTML tags in the "Business Description" box?
• I don't have an Internet "home page" for my business. Is it really important to have one?
• Why didn't my business' listing show up in a search?
• What are your policies concerning postings on the Network?

For our readers...

Click on Find A Handyman in the left menu and you will be taken to our search page. Choose a city and state or zip code to locate a handyman in your area and click Search the Network. Sorry... this is for U.S. handymen and women only!

If your search is successful, a list of handymen will appear with some basic business information.  For more complete information on any listing, click More Details.

What is the Network's relationship to the listed craftsmen?

We do not have any business relationship with the listed contractors. We do not oversee their business practices, choose their jobs or advise them. They are all professionals who are quite capable of doing that themselves! We are simply an intermediary to try to help you find the help you need!

The Natural Handyman Network was started as a way to help bring people in need of small home repair services together with the right repair person. It is difficult to locate many of the best small contractors because they have limited ad budgets and sometimes get overshadowed by "the big guy's" advertising. We hope to make it easier for you to find the right tradesmen for your needs.

Do you recommend any of the contractors in your directory or offer any guarantees or warranties for the work done by them?

We are an independent service offering information only. We have no control or interest in the businesses of our listed small contractors so we cannot guarantee or warranty their work.
 

How can I tell which contractor is the best one for the job?

That is the eternal question! We have a couple of informative articles at our sister website, THE NATURAL HANDYMAN. Click HERE to view "Hiring A Contractor" or HERE to view "Hiring A Handyman".
 

For small home repair professionals...

First and foremost, there is no cost to you or to your future clients for this service.  There is no obligation for you to mention or promote our site. 

Actually, I can give you a over three million reasons... that's about how many page views we had on our two sites last year! On the Natural Handyman Network itself, we had from 3000 - 4000 searches a month through our contractor base. That adds up to a lot of interested people... why shouldn't you get into the action? Of course, the response you get will be somewhat dependent on the Internet-savvy of your customer base. But as more and more people go online to find services such as yours, your business will increasingly benefit from a listing with us.

Our "mother ship",  THE NATURAL HANDYMAN at http://www.naturalhandyman.com, consistently appears in more top-ten web searches for "handyman" than just about any other site! Go ahead... try Google, Yahoo any other free search engine.  Scores of our individual articles also appear in top-ten searches.

A little "up-front" honesty... THE NATURAL HANDYMAN is a family operation. We don't depend on the largesse of any deep-pocket investors to stay afloat as so many other large sites. So you won't be reading about our closing our doors any time soon... we will be around for a long, long time!!
 

How do I add my handyman business to the Network?

(Note:  We only search within the United States.  If you are a Canadian business don't apply unless you do business within the U.S.)

From the menu, click Join The Network or click HERE. Tall men in dark suits will take you to a hot, stuffy little room with glaring krypton lamps. You will be "gently convinced" to sign up... immediately! Just kidding. Actually the form is simple, and in two shakes of a handyman's hammer you will be a proud member of the Network!

If your initial request is approved, we will send you an email with further instructions.
 

Can you please explain your payment, cancellation and refund policies?

Currently, we are allowing free memberships for any qualified handyman or woman.  A few years ago we did charge a one-time fee for a listing, but discontinued it to encourage more handymen and women to join.  We do not anticipate charging for this service in the near future. 

If we ever begin charging for new listings, your listing will remain free as long as you have had continuous membership.  In other words, if you remove your listing and then try to sign up again, there may be a charge for rejoining.

Will you accept anyone as a member? If not, what is your refusal policy?

Any handyman or handywoman whose primary place of business is located in the United States may apply for membership in our network.  We will also accept small building contractors, electricians, plumbers or other tradesmen who do a significant amount of handyman-type work. 

We do not allow postings for specialty services unless the contractor is primarily a handyman.  Since visitors search our listings for handymen, you're wasting your time posting any other service!  Also, if we discover a listing that does not conform to our rules, your listing will be deleted without notice.  Our ball, our rules!  We may begin directories for other contractors such as electricians, plumbers, etc.  If so, it will be announced on our site and in our newsletter.

We also do not allow listings which are solely for the purpose of selling a product.  Such listings will also be removed from our network without notice... with one exception.  If a listed handyman wishes to inform visitors that he is an installer or representative for a certain product, he may include this information in his listing as part of the services offered provided handyman work is his primary business.

We reserve the right to refuse membership to anyone at our sole discretion for any reason.
 

How many listings can I place on the network?

We allow ONE listing per business. You may include your business in multiple cities and states if you like through the Member Listing Page.

Abuse of our system will result in ALL OF YOUR LISTINGS being removed from the network without notice! We're heartless, but fair.

If you are a franchisee or owner of a group of franchises, read the next item.
 

What are the rules regarding postings by franchises?

Each franchise location is considered to be a separate business for the purposes of membership in the Network. Consequently each franchise location must join the network separately.

However, if one franchisee's handyman business covers multiple towns, he only need to purchase one listing.
 

How do I modify a listing in the network?

The basic instructions are below, with more detailed instructions on the actual page.

1) Click on Update Your Listing in the left menu. You will be miraculously transported to the Network Member Logon page. Bookmark this page for quick access next time you visit!

2) Enter your username and password and click on the Logon To The Network button.

3) You will be at the Member Listing Page. The instructions are quite thorough so you should be able to set up your listing without a problem.  If you need help, send a detailed question to network2@naturalhandyman.com.

4) When you are done, be sure to save your listing by clicking on the Update My Listing button at the bottom of the page.  If you leave the page without saving, your changes may be lost. 

5) Once you have saved, you will be returned to the same Update My Listing Page.  If you scroll to the bottom, you can click Display My Listing to view the changes you have made. 

Tip from NH...

"Personally, I prefer to open two browser windows when working with a listing.  Here's how I do it. 

1) Open the Member Listing Page in one window. 
2) Open a second window and also open the same Member Listing Page. 
3) In the second window, click Display My Listing at the bottom of the page. 
4) Now, you can view the changes made after you save by just switching windows and clicking on the "refresh" button on your browser to view the latest version of your listing."
 

How do I delete my listing from the network?

Log in to your Member Listing Page and click on Delete My Listing at the bottom of the page.

BE CAREFUL... DELETING YOUR LISTING IS PERMANENT!  We may have a backup of your listing, but there is no guarantee we can recover it.

I forgot my password. Can I still logon?

Your username and password are very valuable.  If you lose your password we cannot restore it.  Because of the encryption in our network, we can't even see it!  Talk about high security!

However, all is not lost.  We can delete your password and recreate your account with your original username.  If you have forgotten your password or username, send us an email at network2@naturalhandyman.com.  Include your username if possible and/or other information to aid us in locating your account.

To further enhance security, we will only send information to your listed email address.

Because no one's perfect (especially us), we will make the change for you at no charge for the occasional goof.

Are the usernames and passwords case-sensitive?

You bet they are! If you selected the username "Joe", you must be sure to type in "Joe" when logging on in the future; "joe" or "JOE" will not work. Really, they won't. Ask Joe.
 

What should I put in my Business Description?

This is where you describe your business... the types of work you do, your specialties and unusual habits (just kidding on that last one). Mentioning that you are licensed or registered and/or insured is always a plus. You can mention your rates, though this is probably better left to be discussed after "first contact" with the client. You could say "reasonably priced" or "cheap", though it makes you sound more like a used car dealership than a home repair professional!

Remember that visitors will get their first impression of you from your ad.  Keep it short, keep it sweet and carefully proofread for errors!  The best way is to write your description with a word processor with spell-checking.  When you're done, save it and then "cut-and-paste" your information into the business description box on your listing page.
 

Can I put HTML tags with the text in the Business Description box?

Yes you can, but there are a few oddities you will have to contend with. 

1) If you try to use very large graphics, you could mess up the format of the page... even make it unreadable!

2) If you would like to add a graphic or text link at the end of your descriptive text, you can use standard html tags like so:

Graphic:

<img align="center" border="0" src="http://www.website.com/graphicname.gif">

Link:

<a href="http://www.website.com">Website</a>

3)  If you would like to add a graphic or text link within your descriptive text, you must use HTML for the entire entry.  Format the page in a HTML editing program first and then copy the HTML to the Customize Your Listing Box.

Sorry, but we do not offer support or customization of HTML code for members.  There are innumerable books on this subject.  Never fear... if the formatting of your description or your listing page becomes hopelessly messed up, take a breath, delete all the text in to description box and start over.  No harm, no foul.

I don't have a home page for my business. Is it really important for me to have one?

It is not absolutely vital to have a home page and many small businesses still don't. However, a home page does allow you extra space to "sell" yourself and your business. Some craftsmen display pictures of projects they have done. Others list references from satisfied clients. The extra space allows you to more fully explain who you are and why someone would want to start a long term business relationship with you.

So is a home page absolutely essential? NO! Is it a useful tool? YES!

Most Internet service providers (ISP's) offer free web space with their accounts which is the easiest and least expensive way to get your website online.

At this time, you cannot link from another website to your listing on our website.  However, if we add this feature you'll learn about it in our newsletter.
 

Why didn't my business listing show up in a search?

Our Member Listing Page allows you to fully customize searches based on any city, state or zip code.

On your Member Listing Page, there is a section called Search Fields. Within this section, there are three text fields labeled City Search, State Search and Zip Code Search. These are the only fields in the form that are used when a visitor searches for your business.  Therefore, if you leave out any cities, states or zip codes that you work in, they will NOT be included in visitor searches.

Within these fields, you must enter ALL the cities, states and zip codes in which you do business, each word separated by a space.  No punctuation should be used! 

Cities or States with multiple-word names, such as South Dakota, need no special treatment or punctuation, just be sure to leave a space between the end of one city or state name and the next.

IMPORTANT:  Be sure to include the same information you entered in the Primary Business Information field in the search fields, too, unless you don't want that city, state or zip code included in visitor searches!
 

What are your policies concerning postings on the Network?

In return for posting your business listing, you agree that it is in compliance with our guidelines listed below. We do not wish to censor or police the listings being posted here nor do we have the time to monitor every posting. In order to prevent abuses by a few people and to keep the Network comfortable and appropriate for our readership (which includes people of all ages, races, religions, and nationalities), we reserve the right to remove any listings in violation of our guidelines that are brought to our attention. Therefore, all listings that are in violation of our guidelines are subject to being removed immediately and without prior notice.

By posting a listing here, you agree to the following statement:

I agree that I will be solely responsible for the content of any listing that I post under this program and that I will indemnify the Natural Handyman Network and hold it harmless for any losses or damages to myself or to others that may result directly or indirectly from any listings that I post here.

• I agree that I will not abuse the Network to the detriment of other members by posting multiple ads for the same business in the same town.
• No foul or otherwise inappropriate language will be tolerated. The Network checks for foul language and will strip it from posts, but if you try to get around this, your listing is subject to being removed immediately and without warning.
• No racist, hateful, or otherwise offensive comments will be tolerated.
• No listing promoting activities that would be illegal under state laws, the United States of America, or of the state or country of domicile of the person posting the listing shall be allowed.
• Any listing using a "home page" link to take our readers to an inappropriate website... one that violates any of our guidelines... will be removed immediately and without warning.
• Any listing that appears to be merely a test posting, a joke or otherwise insincere or non-serious is subject to removal. This includes any listing that does not meet our criteria of a small home repair professional... a home repair or maintenance business that, as part of its business, accepts small jobs.
• The Natural Handyman Network reserves the ultimate discretion as to which listings, if any, are in violation of these guidelines.
• Any listing that is removed from the Network for violation of any of these rules may, at our sole discretion, be banned from the Network forever.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These policies may be updated from time to time for the benefit of the membership or if we discover an unanticipated abuse of our system.

Thank you. We hope that these guidelines will make the Natural Handyman Network more enjoyable and useful for everyone.

Jerry Alonzy, Webmaster
THE NATURAL HANDYMAN

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