reseller questions [newbie]

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Posted by ramir3z, 04-24-2012, 03:04 PM
Hi, I want advice from people that know about how to get clients to buy hosting from you. Currently i have a shared account on hostgator and i started a website for webhosting in my country Romania. I want to buy the smallest reseller account on hostgator, but dont have enough money only to pay for 2 months for this reseller account. So i am asking you guys how can i promote my website (webhosting website) in my country Romania. I already did add the site to some romanian directorys and optimized my pages. Where do i start finding clients in my country? regards, ramirez
Posted by PlotHost-Max, 04-24-2012, 03:16 PM
Advertise in local forums. Add your site to local web directories.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-24-2012, 03:26 PM
Ok, but first should i advertise it, then buy a reseller account right?
Posted by sameev29, 04-24-2012, 04:35 PM
It would be very good if you collect the cost of 1 year or at least 6 month of that reseller package. 1 year will give you some time but if you only have the cost of six months you will have to first and foremost get a decent number of clients from whom you can pay for your package and make sure they stay with you by providing a good service. After this you will have time to think of strategy and advertising and modifying the packages etc. If you don't know much or little about reseller subjects like WHM,WHMCS,Private labeling etc,try to get familiar with them first before purchasing the package.Believe me it do you a lot of good in the long run.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-24-2012, 04:40 PM
I was thinking of buying 1 year reseller account, in this time i can manage and find customers for it and get some profit. Is this a good idea?
Posted by sameev29, 04-24-2012, 04:50 PM
Yes if you have the cost of 1 year it's okay.But before starting get familiar with the software,reseller's control panel,customization,advertising.It will save you a lot of time and tension. Best of luck with your hosting venture.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-24-2012, 04:54 PM
Ok, thanks guys for your answers, i will get back to this thread if i have more questions. This is the forum i was looking for, lol!!
Posted by danferserviziweb, 04-24-2012, 05:58 PM
ramir3z if your're just starting and not have much money to spend I suggest to pay the reseller monthly, this cost a little more but save you if the server not perform good and you must buy another package from other hosting company for work (I have buy 4 different reseller account in 2011/2012 and still looking wich can handle my customer, and the plan payd annualy are money lost if the server not work well)
Posted by JiffyJ, 04-24-2012, 07:21 PM
But how do you guys attract clients? Do you offer optional services along with the hosting so that your reseller business becomes a one-stop solution, and then seek out buyers interested in your services, designs, etc...? Seems like a tough market to crack, and I know many others are tough as well, but this one seems like it would be especially tough.
Posted by danferserviziweb, 04-24-2012, 07:32 PM
For me hosting is only a service for my customer. I offer ready made e-commerce solutions (with many price packages) or fully customized e-commerce and company websites. For this I have low price reseller hosting and even VPS and dedicated server (managed), so I can offer for every website the right "power" for best results. I put starting up e-commerce or small website on reseller plan and when the website grow as access or cpu/ram required I move it to more powerfull shared hosting (server shared only for max 40/60 websites) or to semidedicated hosting (5 website for server) of full dedicated server (with raid10, ssd, or everything customer need/want) so have price that can go from 5€/month up to 350€/month. Make only webhosting as business can be hard if you not have high budget to put on it as it's full of small reseller hosting around. Or you give some "additional" thing for make customer choose you (can be dedicated support, direct telephone support, webdesign, website management, etc) or you have realy realy good, stable and fast server (so you can ask higher costs) or you'll be forced to go to the lowest price hosting battle (and this can't give money for live if you not have realy big number on it) This obv only my direct experience have gone from be a tech wich managed small hosting company server (near 15 years ago) to be a freelance with my own company tryng a lot of model of work and still searching for the one wich bring me millions of $$$ without work more than 1 hour every day
Posted by JiffyJ, 04-24-2012, 09:13 PM
Thanks for the answer. Sounds like you have things set up good for this type of business.
Posted by ModelWebHost, 04-24-2012, 09:47 PM
In the beginning I suggest you to advertise locally. You can put the ads on local forums, link exchange and even advertisement in news papers. After local advertisement, you will get some clients and now chain of clients will start working.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 02:13 AM
But first should i buy the reseller account or should i advertise my site first?
Posted by Jutt, 04-25-2012, 02:36 AM
If you advertise first, and some one click on your ads, where he ll go? A Blank Page? First thing is to buy a reseller account, then advertising is a good idea!
Posted by net, 04-25-2012, 02:40 AM
It's called a scam if you advertise without a product.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 02:41 AM
True but i only have money for 2-3 months of reseller hosting, maybe more if i sell some sites. But still advertising is neeed to be done in the first place i belive then buying a reseller account. Traffic first - Site is Ready - Then buy Reseller account. I belive this is a good business plan.
Posted by net, 04-25-2012, 02:46 AM
No, it is never be a good plan. You can't even advertise here in WHT if you do not have a site where you offer the hosting. If you do not have the money to support your business up to 2 years, better don't go into hosting business.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 02:49 AM
Thanks for your opinion. Still searching for a good business model. I have $100 to pay the "aluminium" reseller account, but i am affraid that in 2-3 months i will not have any client.
Posted by Jutt, 04-25-2012, 02:51 AM
If you a small budget so why not start with a small reseller then upgrade? Start with a small reseller, then advertise on local forums/sites, advertise on wht, be active on social sites like twitter/facebook.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 02:57 AM
I know i can advertise here at WHT and social sites, but i just wonder will the site is in romanian language who will understand here at WHT. Another option that i have in mind, to buy the smallest reseller account for 1 year, then i will have time to advertise it more on social sites, local forums, blog and maybe open a web design site. What about this option?
Posted by Jutt, 04-25-2012, 03:01 AM
If you want to work on national level (Romania) Only, then you must concentrate on local market, local forums and local sites only. Advertise as much as you can. And if you have plan to run a web designing company too, that would a plus point for your hosting business too.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 03:02 AM
How about my opinion on buying 1 year reseller hosting, will that work right?
Posted by Jutt, 04-25-2012, 03:11 AM
That would a nice idea, you can focus on yours sales/business rather than worrying about paying each month.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 03:12 AM
I think thats what will i do, buy 1 year then focus on traffic and advertising in local forums, twitter and so on. here is the site, take look and if you are kind leave a review: http://mrhost.ro/
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 08:14 AM
Can someone suggest me a good reseller program from a good site? hostgator doesn't seem to match my criteria. And its a bit expencive in comparssion with others.
Posted by Jutt, 04-25-2012, 08:37 AM
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=130
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 08:39 AM
Thank you^^
Posted by gotlivechat, 04-25-2012, 08:43 AM
Ramirez, due to the global level of competition in the hosting space your best bet would be to focus on your local community/area. Try reaching out to area businesses and individuals and see if you can offer them cheaper (but great!) hosting than what they currently are paying.
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 08:44 AM
Thats what i am focusing on, currently need to decide what to buy and from where to buy a reseller account and for how much time 6/12 months? then ill advertise it and do seo. Any tips?
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 03:21 PM
I bought a reseller account from eleven2, they are awesome. But i need help setting up the packages, can someone help me. I only want 4 hosting packages. The reseller account has 200GB Storage Space and 2,000GB Monthly Bandwidth. Please help me. You can also check out previous hosting packages at my site: mrhost.ro.
Posted by danferserviziweb, 04-25-2012, 05:42 PM
hope you'll have luck with them ... where did you buy the server UK or USA or where?
Posted by ramir3z, 04-25-2012, 05:44 PM
Its from the UK.
Posted by danferserviziweb, 04-25-2012, 05:58 PM
same as mine ... hope it's not xray, for me it's working so unstable that I had to buy another reseller plan from other company
Posted by Foxy Commerce, 04-26-2012, 12:25 PM
I', a bit concerned that you havnt done your research and it looks like you dont know what is involved in running a web hosting business. Do you have the neccercery skills to quickly answer support tickets and fix issues? If no you could loose clients quickly. Also what happens if you have three clients or more but cant afford to pay for your hosting? What billing software are you going to use etc? I am just concerned that you dont have the neccercery skills or time to put into running a hosting business. For example I spend around 16 hours a day online and answer support tickets within ten minutes of them coming in usually, hosting is not going to make you much if anything in the 1st year or two so it would be a good idea to be able to fund it in some way for at least 2-3 years until it does become profitable. I'm not trying to put a downer on your idea but just want to make sure you know what is involved in finding clients and running the business on a day to day basis. Even I havnt had a single day off from my business in the last 2 years and I was even answering and taking calls on Christmas day.
Posted by ramir3z, 05-02-2012, 01:25 PM
Thanks for your opinion and point. I am currently looking for clients from my country, i managed to set everything up, just like the other hosts. Hopefully with a little seo and luck i will manage to get some clients. I will be online 12 hours / day so i will answer all the support tickets, or hire someone to do it. Thanks again guys for your help regarding a resellers business.

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