Hi,

I set up my hosting company just before christmas:

http://www.acid-host.com

I have spent no money on advertising and dont plan to , yet...

I was wondering what people have done to promote thereselvesa, I have a customer database of 3, which isnt good at all for 4 months of work.

Please Help.

What are you currently doing to promote your business? This is not just a "If you build it they will come".

lol, I know. Well submitting to all search engines I can find, spreading through word of mouth, advertising on forums, chat rooms, and just anywhere I can.

You have to look into some "REAL" advertising. I am not saying that being listed in directories, search engines and having your business in your signature on forums doesn't help but you need to invest some money. Is there a local market for you? If so then you should try to tap into that one first. Flyers, computer papers are a place to start in that market. For online look into google ad words, advertising campaigns with hosting directories, and there are lots of other places. This form of advertising does cost money though, nothing is free :)

If you do a search about advertising on this forum you should get a list of some pretty good threads on the topic.

Maybe you should consider paid advertising on hosting directories.

Thats the thing, I am a student, well this is my last year of school, I have no cash, I have a special deal with hostsupreme for this resseler account and I cxurrently receive no money for the three accounts, I cant get a loan from the bank for another 2 years untill im 18. I would like to continue this a carrer, so I would like to without costs get a small customer database and then in 2 years time go to the bank with it.

Why is that you don't get any money from the three accounts?

Well they receive profits from the first 7 accounts adn then I get all the profits from the next 100, its a way that I dont have to pay upfront.

If you can, advertise locally and try to target local businesses and even local bands that could need hosting. Your local market should be less competitive then the "online" market wich makes things easier. Billboards at your local supermarket might also be a good place to put up a free add.

looks like we posted at the same time:)

well if you host is getting the profit from the first 7 customers... hang out in the web host request forum and give away the farm for $5/century.

Originally posted by Acid-Host.co
Thats the thing, I am a student, well this is my last year of school, I have no cash, I have a special deal with hostsupreme for this resseler account and I cxurrently receive no money for the three accounts, I cant get a loan from the bank for another 2 years untill im 18.

Sorry to say but you're not a business. This industry is full of 'little guys trying to get big' so unless you do something to stick out you'll just be more noise in the signal.

Webhosting is a long, hard. slow slog to the top - kind of like the real world. Stick to your guns, work hard to show yourself to be something other than the thousands of other people doing the exact same thing you are.

In all honesty I think you should spend you time studying - the first year or so of a webhosting business is a lot of Raman Noodles and dreams.

Greg Moore

Well urm thanks for the encouragment akashik, you were very helpfull. ......!! Thank you to everyone else.

heh.. well it's not meant to be a kick to the head as such. I'm just mentioning that it's a pretty hard grind to get any business off the ground, and especially one that's 100% online in an industry that's well and trully saturated.

Greg Moore