Hi:

I have long worked at a prominent hosting company and am quite experienced in the hosting industry. Due to personal reasons I have left this host (non-existent support and proud of it) and am currently in the process of setting up my own hosting company. I just need some guidance in regards to marketing. As I don't have a large marketing budget at the start I wanted to know ways to boost my traffic and signups and virtually have people know about my company. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Bobby

Three words: Word of Mouth

Also always remember this saying:
"Be good to your customers and your customers will be good to you" It pretty much means if you treat all your customers great then they will be really happy and recommend you to everyone.

Originally posted by netsolutions
Three words: Word of Mouth

Also always remember this saying:
"Be good to your customers and your customers will be good to you" It pretty much means if you treat all your customers great then they will be really happy and recommend you to everyone. I TOTALLY Agree most of my customers are from word of mouth and I get more signs up every week cause of it. Just remember to respect and treat your customers well.

Even on those bad days ;) :stickout

Wow,
it's nice to see these responses. These guys have given you a real good advice worth a million...
You must always be nice to customers, be fast in responding and be very warm when you respond. They must not hesitate while sending a query to you. They must feel at home. Customer care is a real must.

Have a great day :)

Regards
Amar

I do appreciate all the great responses...but when you have no customers to go from where do you find you first couple to keep your business going...on/on average how many signups can you expect a week?

Thanks again
Bobby

Get over to www.hostsearch.com and purchase some banner impressions. At $22.00/CPM, its well worth the investment. Also, the showcase host is really good at $300.00/month.

Jim

Research where you are advertising, if you plan on advretising in a host search engine, see what others had to say. I heard of some people who have paid much more then they should of for only a few impressions.

Word of mouth helps. But you can't count on it.

You need to market otherwise too.

I'd start working on branding... usually achieved by banners, showcase spots and message boards like this one.

WHT is a great place to advertise for free!

edit: and if a WHT person likes your company, you can count on a posting that will draw in more people!

Jim

Originally posted by jimb
WHT is a great place to advertise for free!

edit: and if a WHT person likes your company, you can count on a posting that will draw in more people!

Jim

Hi Jimb,

Sorry I am new to this game. I didn't know that. Can you tell me how much exactly I have to pay Chicken to make such a post and if it is tax deductable or not?;)

Advertising is free. You can post no more than 1 message every 5 days in the Advertising section.

Originally posted by Pilgrim


Hi Jimb,

Sorry I am new to this game. I didn't know that. Can you tell me how much exactly I have to pay Chicken to make such a post and if it is tax deductable or not?;)

Why go with chicken, you can send me $50.00 and ill make a post for you!...;) :D :D

naw, its all free at WHT.

:)

Jim

No offense, but Chicken has more credibilaty :)

If he says (censored).net is the best hosting company he has never seen I'm sure I would see a great number of new clients:)

Originally posted by Pilgrim

If he says (censored).net is the best hosting company he has never seen I'm sure I would see a great number of new clients:)

But the thing is, he would never say that....:)

Jim

If you are the best web hosting company my words won't affect you that much. If you do what you gotta do and keep your customers happy, help people on the forums, advertise a bit in the right places, hit the local folk, you'll do fine.

I've used hosts (some of whom are on the forums), and have put in a good word when people ask about them, if they have 'done good'. I've posted about my experiences with tera-byte (colo of RaQ3 and lease of RaQ4r) and soon will post about a new server I have with intraspatial.net (PIII933 w/ Plesk @ Equinix).

While I've had some rather dismal experiences with some hosts, I've moved off them quickly and on to better days and have been extremely pleased lately. No complaints, which is a good thing.

If you have any questions, I'd be glad to help either via PM/Email or on the forum. I just don't post about hosts much unless I see a question asking about a particular host I've had a good personal experience with.

Chicken, do you own a hosting company?

Jim

I tinker on a very small basis. When I'm not on the forum, I teach 3rd grade here in S. Cali. which takes up most of the early day, then I get a couple of hours and take classes from 5:30 - 10 p.m. some days (2 x week, plus a Sat. going for that Masters, heh). McNugget takes up any spare time after that. Leaves little time to do much else.