Or if you don't advertise, how do you obtain customers?

I have not long opened my hosting business and would like some suggestions on the best places to advertise. I have just started my advertising campaign with banner ads on two popular hosting sites.

Hopefully this will help my business because things are slow at the moment. This was expected. I do this full time so i need to get some customers so i have something to do :D

So, Has banner/button advertising helped your business? Can you reccommend any sites to advertise with?

Thankyou.

I know you've probabley been told this however it is so true so listen hard. Get a few customers and treat them really well. Once they realize how good the service and support is they will start spreading the word. Trust me :)

I post my little ad every sunday in the advertising section below.

I tried banners, got like 30 clicks on 40,000 banners, and 117 on 200,000 elsewhere, didn't feel like that was worth the money.

I get a few hits in from Google, and from other message boards I post on. And from one or two of those "internet company lists" thelist.com? I forget.

That's about it.

It's all about the right way to market your company, branding etc. Banner don't cut it anymore... They are used mostly for branding, what is working today are text ads, newsletters, sponsorships etc.

Be focused on your target market.
If the target market is java servlets and JSP guys...Find all places where JAVA people go and then tell them about your hosting.
Be focused.... That's important.


Have a nice day :)

Regards
amar

I have not heard of one good banner ad program. Everyone I hear who tried didn't get close to the results they wanted.

We get a lot from forums such as this one as webhostdir. People do react well to seeing a host post in a forum offering support to the community in general. Word of mouth also can never be under-estimated, though obviously you need a base of clients before hand.

Do a search of google for terms you think people may be looking for and might be interested in your service. If a directory or link base shows up in those results, make sure your URL is on it. Also search in general for any search engine or directory where you might be able to add your link. You *cannot* have yourself linked to too many other places :)

Also look for sites what offer links to anything remotely related to your business. Post on newgroups offering advice with you URL in the post.

Lots of small things... they all help.. That's probably the best free way to do it :)

Greg Moore

I agree Greg, Forums are an excellent way to promote your hosting company, however not the only way, advertising is required to get your name out there... - BRANDING! as welll as getting some clients along the way.

Thankyou for your replies :)

Looks like my advertising is starting to pay off, i've been 'open' for a couple of weeks now with zero signups and now on my first day of advertising i got my first customer :cool:

As far as search engines are concerned, i have paid a company that is getting me guaranteed top places in all the popular engines :D

EyeSee, god luck with your first customer. Just out of interest where do you advertise?

So far i've got ads at Web Hosts Directory (http://www.webhostdir.com) and Web Hosts Online (http://www.**************.com).

I'm also using the services at Top-Pile (http://www.top-pile.com)

Looks like my advertising is starting to pay off, i've been 'open' for a couple of weeks now with zero signups and now on my first day of advertising i got my first customer

Eyesee, just out of interest, how has your advertising campaign worked out now that a few months have passed by since your first customer?

Simple tip EyeSee, use the signature feature of this board and put information about your company in it.

Well i gotta say that the advertising i have done so far hasn't been too successful. I've had about ten customers in the 6/7 weeks i've been advertising. I'm just about to have an advert placed on hostsearch, hopefully that'll bring better results.

I used to have my company details in my sig but removed them. I just prefer to keep it separate from my activity on this board.

What I have found that works...try to get a lot of web designers and such, people who will require web hosting once that person is done with what ever it is they do, offer the client a free month of service for every referal, and most of the time they will refer all their customers to you, or they will offer hosting as part of their design/maintain package so that you have guarented business....also try to host a few non-profits, or special web events sites for free and require them not to put a banner on the top of the site, but a hosted by logo at the bottom and be listed in the sponsors section if they have one. This can generate a lot more business...and have a special rewards plan, so if customers refer people they get a free month of service per person....and who cares if they have 12 months free if you have just got 12 new customers!!

And try eBay, post an add there, that can generate alot of sales...but make sure you follow the guidelines, they get picky about that!

:cool: