How to get new hosting clients.......

[bubba]

I have searched this site and have not found a lot of posts about ways that we resellers get our new clients. So here goes......

Quite frankly I don't think I have ever had much success harvesting clients directly off the web using my website.

99% of my clients have come thru me making a website for them. The reason I am starting this thread is because I am really tired of making websites but find the hosting part of the business fun with the benifit of an annunity.

I would like to hear of any other ways you go about building the hosting business as I would like to continue to do this.

b

[cambodia]

oh i'm on the way you are ..
i do design and bring him/her to buy my hosting and some is my friend ( local ppl )

i wanna try WWW client too but problem is payment while my country not well known bank by us

but i will read your advise i might try it one day with 2checkout.com

[Brangwyn]

Target a particular market and structure your webhosting to attract folks from that area. For instance I've been working with Snitz forums for several years as a mod developer and help moderator at the forum and I saw a need for folks who wanted to host a small forum but didn't really want to pay a lot of money for one so I initially targeted these people with a fairly small plan at a pretty low price, once we started getting customers word of mouth provided most of the other clients and now I'm providing hosting sites for a whole range of different folks.

One thing I'd stress too is look after your customers really really well and they'll help do the selling for you. Good, honest & efficient customer service is key, exceed your customers expectations and they'll tell other people about you.

Originally Posted by Brangwyn

One thing I'd stress too is look after your customers really really well and they'll help do the selling for you. Good, honest & efficient customer service is key, exceed your customers expectations and they'll tell other people about you.

From my experience, this can't be stressed enough. Personally (and over the past three years, many clients have told me the same thing) I would rather pay a little more for a product or service that comes with accessible, responsive service & support. You'd be surprised how many people, upset about a problem or outage, are suddenly pleasant when you pick up the phone on the first ring

[mresell]

As much as I agree with what Brangwyn and Johnk said.
I depends on the business and how you want it to grow.
Word of mouth is great, but it is rare that you can build a business w/o some marketing or advertising. Internet related business are unique in the word-of-mouth because of the nature of the internet, but that is also a double edge sword. But Targeting is important.

[DVHost]

It is just my opinion but targeting a specific audience is akin to whitewashing a fence especially on the Internet. The one thing I have learned is that people want the most for the least, solid service, and well supported hosting. They will play musical hosting providers until they find just that.

I spent some money on advertising in my first year only to realize it would have been better spent on anything but. The truth of the matter is, if you are going to pay for advertising, do it right, do it big if you can. You can not expect to throw a few hundred dollars at it and turn a profit.

The web hosting industry is saturated with web hosting providers large and small. All things considered, my target market is anyone with a need to host a website and a valid functioning credit card. Barring fraudulent transactions, adult websites and large corporations. I fish in the open ocean, rivers, lakes and streams.

Don't expect anyone here to point you to there fishing holes. Take each response and collectively assemble your own viewpoint; then get out there and get customers. Do whatever it takes.

But whatever you do, be responsible! Don't SPAM and stay away from pop-up advertising. We are web hosting providers and must set the standards.

[Brangwyn]

Targeting a specific audience will start getting customers in though, once you've got some happy satisfied customer references then you broaden your horizons ... bit like trying to whitewash a fence in one brushstroke, you'll might get some of the fence painted, but you won't have really done a good job of it.

I'm finding it interesting how many of my customers are now starting to upgrade their plans up from the originally targeted smaller plans to larger (more profitable for me ones) becuase they want to move more business my way.

[admin]

Originally Posted by Brangwyn

Snitz forums for several years as a mod developer and help moderator at the forum

Oh but don't want to be a mod here.. I see how it is.. LoL

[Brian]

I would agree that targeting is the first thing you need to do.

A good alternative to traditional advertising is strategic partnering with another business that targets the same audience, or at least has that audience in their customer base as well.

For instance, suppose you wanted to sell low cost personal hosting in large volumes. Try partnering with one or a select few local PC stores, offering their customers that buy a PC a free month (or 2, or 3) of hosting.

Some stores will jump for this opportunity as it will increase the value of the PC, and at no cost to them. You on the other hand will pay a little (floating a free month), and will probably get some continuing subscribers.

The point here is you could spend $1000 in advertising, and get a very low ROI. But you could spend that $1000 instead by a trickle amount every so often, and have a high probability that your service will get discovered (plus, you can ride on their advertising dollar too). After that, then it is back to the odds game if you get a continuing subscriber... but at least you are guaranteed to get leads.

[Brangwyn]

Originally Posted by admin

Oh but don't want to be a mod here.. I see how it is.. LoL

don't believe I've ever been asked to be a mod here

[jmbeach]

yeah Brad, I'm surprised you haven't asked the know-it-all to help mod this forum.

He may as well be on payroll in my opinion, but then again, it's pretty obvious the help Brangwyn has given over the many many months... here, here!

[cambodia]

look like brangwyn is our star in here . he look famous and look very helpful to me and other as well ...

[mresell]

Partnering is very good. Marketing can mean many things other than just advertising. While you have to be careful w/ advertising. I never market my services based on price. A price point is important, but not where I market from. Not what I want from a service...so not where I aim. There are alot of those people out there tho. I have been advertising for yrs...w/o big grandeous ads and they always turn a profit. If they don't do too well I cancel them. Targeting is absolutely critical in marketing. It is the only way to address needs. That doesn't mean you might not make changes along the way tho.

[bubba]

Originally Posted by Brian

I would agree that targeting is the first thing you need to do.

A good alternative to traditional advertising is strategic partnering with another business that targets the same audience, or at least has that audience in their customer base as well.

For instance, suppose you wanted to sell low cost personal hosting in large volumes. Try partnering with one or a select few local PC stores, offering their customers that buy a PC a free month (or 2, or 3) of hosting.

Some stores will jump for this opportunity as it will increase the value of the PC, and at no cost to them. You on the other hand will pay a little (floating a free month), and will probably get some continuing subscribers.

The point here is you could spend $1000 in advertising, and get a very low ROI. But you could spend that $1000 instead by a trickle amount every so often, and have a high probability that your service will get discovered (plus, you can ride on their advertising dollar too). After that, then it is back to the odds game if you get a continuing subscriber... but at least you are guaranteed to get leads.

Wow! This seems like a good idea. Have you an example of any ad copy that you have given to the stores to promote this? I have someone in mind and he is an independent pc sales/repair. I'm sure he would like this concept.

[mresell]

Originally Posted by bubba

Wow! This seems like a good idea. Have you an example of any ad copy that you have given to the stores to promote this? I have someone in mind and he is an independent pc sales/repair. I'm sure he would like this concept.

This is a good idea, but you have to be careful who you partner with. I suggest a contract or something in writing. You can have people gain info from you and drop you. Hate to sound paranoid...just be selective in who and how you deal. I have had a few people over the yrs that were incredibly underhanded.