obviousl
03-05-2003, 06:22 PM
Hi All Resellers,
I am going to write a bit of a "how to" journal on becoming a successful reseller, and the tools you need, how to go about things and just over all business ideas. Please note not everything you may agree with, and please respond with your comments. I will edit this post each time I have more to add.
05/03/02 (AUS Date Format)
Hosting, this is a daunting task. Most people will jump at the first offer they see, and can end up with really poor service. What you need to do is shop around, think about how much space you need to start your company, look at the extras the account comes with. Are these the features you wish to offer your clients, can you make a profit from reselling this space. Remember, you also need room to grow, so look at how the pricing of the plans above the one you are looking at. Do these look reasonable? For hosts search on www.webhostingtalk.com or try www.google.com
Next is the layout of the company. What you need to do is sit down by yourself (or with partners) and think about the services you want to offer. How much will you charge for a service, what will attract people to get this offer and not someone else’s? Good place to check out for comparison of pricing is www.webhostingtalk.com -> they have ads being posted every day on pricing for different services. REMEMBER DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT. Do not offer the world if you can't provide it, over selling is not a good thing because it will in the end bring more charges than money.
Once you have thought of your plans, you need to think of how you will plan out your site. What areas do you need, how will you communicate with your clients, what methods of support will you use, how will billing work?
For Billing you need to get a merchant account of some sort, unless you wish to provide your services thru PAYPAL or via postal cheque or money order. For a starter solution look at www.paypal.com , www.2checkout.com , www.paysystems.com . There are many more just search on www.google.com for one.
Next you need to get a script that will use your merchant account, thus allowing you to take orders from the site. www.phpmanager.com , www.nixt.org , www.modernbill.com , http://www.whnbilling.com , www.perlbill.com . Once again there are plenty more out there, try www.google.com to find more.
Once you have your billing system setup, you need to think of support. To create a successful company, support is the 2nd top factor. There are numerous ways to provide this, via email, web based, and even chat (IM,IRC,ICQ,MSN) . Some of the suggested billing systems above have built in support systems, if you want a separate solution try: www.perldesk.com , www.hotscripts.com , www.totalscripts.com . Or search www.google.com for more.
So now you have a working billing system + merchant account, a support ticket system in place. Next you need to think about domain registrations. Will you want your clients to be able to register domains via your company? Or will you require clients to already have a domain? If you wish to provide this service, you will need to look into reselling domains. This way you can also make some extra money by offering this service. Remember that due to security, make sure that this registry process is offered via a SSL connection by either having your own SSL connection or using the domain registry SSL connection. www.enom.com is very popular to use, try their registry rocket program. If you can not get a good deal from them, have a look at www.webhostingtalk.com as in their forums they have many different service providers making offers all the time. Or search www.google.com .
Next you need to think of how you are going to layout your site, do you want any sort of customer interaction?
Customer Interaction is a great way to build a community between clients and potential clients. Forums are usually the best method of doing this, although some hosts provide an IRC channel (or even a whole server) for their clients to interact.
The look of your site is very important as this is what you are going to market. This is how you are going to sell your services, you want to take time and pride in this and to come up with something you are 100% satisfied with. Purchasing a layout from a design firm is one way of doing it, as long as you are buying FULL RIGHTS to the layout (so they can not resell it to other customers). Or try your hand at it, you know what you want it to look like, have a go at it. Once again try www.webhostingtalk.com for offers on layouts if you wish to purchase one. Or search www.google.com .
So now you have Billing System, Merchant Account, Domain registration, Support Centre, Customer Interaction, Site Layout.
What you now need is content. Remember to always have an AUP (Acceptable Usage Policy) , TOS (Terms Of Service) . This will save you trouble trying to explain to users that certain content is just not allowed. Also they will save you later with legal issues that may arise.
----> I have written too much, I will add more soon.
All rights reserved.. No unauthorized posting of the above text. Copyright 2003
I am going to write a bit of a "how to" journal on becoming a successful reseller, and the tools you need, how to go about things and just over all business ideas. Please note not everything you may agree with, and please respond with your comments. I will edit this post each time I have more to add.
05/03/02 (AUS Date Format)
Hosting, this is a daunting task. Most people will jump at the first offer they see, and can end up with really poor service. What you need to do is shop around, think about how much space you need to start your company, look at the extras the account comes with. Are these the features you wish to offer your clients, can you make a profit from reselling this space. Remember, you also need room to grow, so look at how the pricing of the plans above the one you are looking at. Do these look reasonable? For hosts search on www.webhostingtalk.com or try www.google.com
Next is the layout of the company. What you need to do is sit down by yourself (or with partners) and think about the services you want to offer. How much will you charge for a service, what will attract people to get this offer and not someone else’s? Good place to check out for comparison of pricing is www.webhostingtalk.com -> they have ads being posted every day on pricing for different services. REMEMBER DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT. Do not offer the world if you can't provide it, over selling is not a good thing because it will in the end bring more charges than money.
Once you have thought of your plans, you need to think of how you will plan out your site. What areas do you need, how will you communicate with your clients, what methods of support will you use, how will billing work?
For Billing you need to get a merchant account of some sort, unless you wish to provide your services thru PAYPAL or via postal cheque or money order. For a starter solution look at www.paypal.com , www.2checkout.com , www.paysystems.com . There are many more just search on www.google.com for one.
Next you need to get a script that will use your merchant account, thus allowing you to take orders from the site. www.phpmanager.com , www.nixt.org , www.modernbill.com , http://www.whnbilling.com , www.perlbill.com . Once again there are plenty more out there, try www.google.com to find more.
Once you have your billing system setup, you need to think of support. To create a successful company, support is the 2nd top factor. There are numerous ways to provide this, via email, web based, and even chat (IM,IRC,ICQ,MSN) . Some of the suggested billing systems above have built in support systems, if you want a separate solution try: www.perldesk.com , www.hotscripts.com , www.totalscripts.com . Or search www.google.com for more.
So now you have a working billing system + merchant account, a support ticket system in place. Next you need to think about domain registrations. Will you want your clients to be able to register domains via your company? Or will you require clients to already have a domain? If you wish to provide this service, you will need to look into reselling domains. This way you can also make some extra money by offering this service. Remember that due to security, make sure that this registry process is offered via a SSL connection by either having your own SSL connection or using the domain registry SSL connection. www.enom.com is very popular to use, try their registry rocket program. If you can not get a good deal from them, have a look at www.webhostingtalk.com as in their forums they have many different service providers making offers all the time. Or search www.google.com .
Next you need to think of how you are going to layout your site, do you want any sort of customer interaction?
Customer Interaction is a great way to build a community between clients and potential clients. Forums are usually the best method of doing this, although some hosts provide an IRC channel (or even a whole server) for their clients to interact.
The look of your site is very important as this is what you are going to market. This is how you are going to sell your services, you want to take time and pride in this and to come up with something you are 100% satisfied with. Purchasing a layout from a design firm is one way of doing it, as long as you are buying FULL RIGHTS to the layout (so they can not resell it to other customers). Or try your hand at it, you know what you want it to look like, have a go at it. Once again try www.webhostingtalk.com for offers on layouts if you wish to purchase one. Or search www.google.com .
So now you have Billing System, Merchant Account, Domain registration, Support Centre, Customer Interaction, Site Layout.
What you now need is content. Remember to always have an AUP (Acceptable Usage Policy) , TOS (Terms Of Service) . This will save you trouble trying to explain to users that certain content is just not allowed. Also they will save you later with legal issues that may arise.
----> I have written too much, I will add more soon.
All rights reserved.. No unauthorized posting of the above text. Copyright 2003