yongkailoon Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Hi all, I've recently started a small scale web hosting business (not even a month old yet) and it would be great to hear from all of you about your experience when it first started. I'm currently on a reseller plan as a start and will be moving on to something bigger like a dedicated server once the sales starts picking up. How was it for your web hosting business when it first started off? Was the sales really slow? It is tough for me although I'm not in the business for very long, but I still feel that being a small company fighting with the other big boys in the industry, it is very difficult. This question may be subjective but how long did it take before sales got faster for you? So how did you get your web hosting company noticed in the first place? What are my other alternatives to advertising since I would like to start small first and don't wish to splash out on paid advertisements? Your feedback is very much appreciated! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laszlof Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 When you're small and just starting out, local advertising is your best friend. A lot of people like to deal locally, and you can use that to get the edge on already established hosts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yongkailoon Posted August 27, 2010 Author Share Posted August 27, 2010 Don't think so I'll be investing in advertising for the time being, maybe a year later first. So what other options do I have? Are there any good web hosting classifieds out there? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laszlof Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 Local advertising doesn't need to cost much. You can do a mailing to local businesses for a fairly low cost. Also look into trade shows, social networking, and even just handing out business cards and such. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyhosting Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 you can alway try listing plans of know auctions sites (like ebay) and then their WHT as long as you dont offer unlimited or unmetered space/bandwidth 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yongkailoon Posted August 27, 2010 Author Share Posted August 27, 2010 Thanks for the tips! By the way, out of curiosity, do people look for web hosting providers in auction sites? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyhosting Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 a lot of hosting providers use ebay, its a good way of offering discounted hosting or cheap hosting to get your foot in the door as to speak and them all important first clients 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDDHosting Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I would suggest buying that dedicated server very shortly so that you can offer reseller web hosting. Offering an all in one package for reseller clients is a great way forward - Don't forget to include free WHMCS! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyhosting Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I would suggest buying that dedicated server very shortly so that you can offer reseller web hosting. A VPS would do the same job and a cheaper option at the start, then moving to a dedicated server when clients start rolling in. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abby0880 Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I really am not sure what this business will bring me. For those of you who are into this business, are you really earning from this? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzlyware Josh Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 I started hosting sites when I was 15/16... (18 now) I had a Personal plan with 1&1 (Awful company!) and I just had add on domains and sold it... Dont think I was aloud to do that, but it worked out very profitable. I then realised they were no good... moved to my friends dedicated server, (Which he lied about, it was only a VPS he had... he didnt pay his bill... and boom goes the dynamite) Had 14 days to shift over to my own VPS, with EUKHost... Excellent company! I then moved to a dedicated server around 6 months ago... It's going good, but I wish sales would pick up! Good luck, branding is the most important thing i think... Skin your WHMCS to your main site... otherwise you won't see much happening... Good luck! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abby0880 Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 I started hosting sites when I was 15/16... (18 now) I had a Personal plan with 1&1 (Awful company!) and I just had add on domains and sold it... Dont think I was aloud to do that, but it worked out very profitable. I then realised they were no good... moved to my friends dedicated server, (Which he lied about, it was only a VPS he had... he didnt pay his bill... and boom goes the dynamite) Had 14 days to shift over to my own VPS, with EUKHost... Excellent company! I then moved to a dedicated server around 6 months ago... It's going good, but I wish sales would pick up! Good luck, branding is the most important thing i think... Skin your WHMCS to your main site... otherwise you won't see much happening... Good luck! Thanks bdigitalstudios! free pokies 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rslyon Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 The problem is there are so many small web hosting companies now the market is flooded. Provide your clients with great support and they will spread the word for you ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyhosting Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 on top of that you have that many so called hosts on auctions sites offering hosting at 50p /99p a month or even 99p a year ( i seen these advertised) which does not help us genuine hard working hosts 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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