Hosting companies and reps, step inside
 

I've been in the industry for a few months now, and i think i see myself as more of a "services" person - or as somebody aptly said on some site, "the technician that makes an entrepeneurs dreams actually happen". Hence, i don't really think i'm cutting it in the sales area of adult (i've only really had one sale in the past few months - pretty poor from what i hear the general rate is), and so a few nights ago i had the idea of setting up as a hosting company.

Now, before you start potentially getting ready to lash a potential competitor, i was just wondering how difficult running a hosting company actually is? Don't get me wrong - i'm not expecting it to be the equivalent of "welcome, here's a server, now fuck off", but i'm just wondering if any of you could maybe post your experiences or stories of how you got started out and how much work is involved in keeping clients happy.

If you really wanted to do it, I would suggest finding a specific niche to work with. A lot of the hosts around here have a primary market of adult sites. We know the needs of adult sites and cater to those specific needs.

Setup a reseller account (I can help you with that), find a niche that you want to penetrate, find what there specific needs are, cater to those needs, then market to your niche.

And by niche I'm not talking about anal and gangbangs. I'm talking about local businesses, maybe musicians, maybe sports teams, maybe video game clubs, etc.

http://home.teleport.com/~rasputin/I...isButthead.jpg

He said anal...haha

I'd resell someone else ( as I do now ) and just collect the cash money without the major headaches of running a hosting operation....

Hosting is not as simple as you think. There is a VERY significant capital investment one has to make to just get the items in place just to pull it off.... THEN have support, billing, and all the other resources that make up a hosting firm.

Without a few million to blow ... I'd say resell

You can start by running cpanel servers and stuff, for general hosting.
Then as sly said you attack a single target, it's easier to play with the marketing like that.
You would be surprised of how fast you grow if your services are good.
Then you can expand and dominate the webs :)

Without prying too much, can i just ask who you resell? If you don't want to say publically, i'd really appreciate it if you could hit me up on ICQ.

Nicely said :thumbsup

There are very few "real" hosting companies here that own and operate their own DC (and we all know who they are), rest are resellers.

Don?t get me wrong reselling is another way to make money in the hosting business and it's a great place to be or to start...

Thanks for all the advice so far - it is greatly appreciated.

My only major point of confusion is when you say "resell" do you mean actually purchase dedicated server(s) and reselling space via an admin panel like Plesk or WHM, or just using the affiliate programs that most hosting companies seem to have?

If you wanted to start a hosting company then yes you would need to purchase space from a hosting company. Most companies have reseller packages.

Thanks for clarifying, and apologies if i come across as a noob - it's been a bad year.

Both, In fact we host some hosting companies inside our facilities, they have fully managed servers, then they sell cpanel accounts or even servers with their prices. When something goes wrong they ask us to fix and everyone is happy.
And affiliate sales too, it works pretty much as the adult programs :)

Don't be a fool and go out and spend thousands in equipment and colocation fees. You're already in big red and little profit if any unless you have a friend thats willing to host with you and help kick things off.

Get a VPS/reseller package somewhere and start by asking people you know if they would be interested in hosting with you.

Just like anything find a niche and chat with alot of people. Get to know people and get people to like your services.

Reseller Accounts are good & Cpanel Servers are good as well. Check out www.whmautopilot.com to get a great billing/setup software that can be used with Cpanel (even WHM Reseller Accounts).

Then go from there!

Good Luck!

Jim

My main advise is to focus locally in the beginning. We actually moved to LA from Santa Babara in the beginning so we could have a local presence and the difference in sales is probably why we have been able to afford to grow so fast.

So try a reseller plan then put up some fliers! There is probably a couple hundred clients available right now that you get to use your hosting locally.

But as far as going full blown with colo and staff, it's not as easy as it used to be. Prices are lower and people only expect the best now.

Do you live in LA I think we are hiring right now and the right performer can get into profit share and stock in the company.

http://www.dwhs.com

Afraid i live in the UK and am soon going to university, but thanks very much for the job offer.

I especially like that flier idea, and i've already got some mainstream clients who i've only ever referred to mainstream hosts, so i could hopefully get them onside (it'd be beneficial for both of us i suppose, as i wouldn't have to act as the intemediary between my client and the hosting company).

Thanks again to all who have contributed. :)

We have both mainstream and adult clients, but starting a hosting company is hard. Trust me I know. I have had three companies so far. My current is the only one that is really doing well. Looking forward to seeing you grow however, and if you want to get started in the biz let me know. I will help you out for a % of your sales. Or just to offer some friendly advice.

Good luck!