Hello,

I'm in what I think is a unique situation in that I want to provide hosting service for businesses in my local community. I plan on going door to door to get the business and want to have unbeatable service and pricing. Most of the businesses will need a small brochure type site while some will need some programming. I am an ASP programmer, but PHP looks pretty inviting. I don't have the first clue what kind of server I would need if I went with a dedicated server or co-location solution. Any suggestions. I would like a solution that can host up to 200-300 domains if that is not unreasonable (I live in a small town and my goal is to host all 4000 local businesses - I know that is unrealistic, but shoot for the stars and you might make the moon). I am very open to reseller programs that are reasonable, but I can't see paying much for a static 3mb site that might get fewer that 100 requests/month. Any ideas or suggestion are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Originally posted by kell
I plan on going door to door to get the business and want to have unbeatable service and pricing.

This sounds like a fantastic plan, but I'll mention that you might not need to have unbeatable pricing for local businesses. Maybe people with more experience can verify this, but I think you'd actually be able to get premium prices from this type of clientele.

I'll let the board shoot off some recomendations before I do.

Whelp advertising in you community is another thing... Get a ad on a bill board.... It really helps

How much does an add on a bill board cost per month?

Thanks

Originally posted by kell
I am very open to reseller programs that are reasonable, but I can't see paying much for a static 3mb site that might get fewer that 100 requests/month. Any ideas or suggestion are greatly appreciated.


Your best bet would probably be a dedicated server (assuming you can handle the server management involved). The other good solution is to get a Bulk Reseller plan and slice it to include those 200-300 accounts.

Local businesses pay a lot for advertising so your prices do not need to be very low at all.
You might want to look at a Cobalt Raq if you are going to maintain the sites yourself.

Gordon

Kell,

Is there a way for any of us to get ahold of you?

I was thinking about doing something similar. What I thought about doing was offering hosting and design in one bundle. So they get a site with hosting for X$s a month... I think that's pretty much the same thing as you're doing. Alot of people seem to think it'll work well. I hope so. What does everyone else think?

I'd say seperate it, or else you'll get screwed. Or bundle it with two months of hosting. I've seen people bundle a design with a year of hosting, and to me they are cheating themselves. A year of hosting should be at least $240-$360 right there, plus design fees. Easier to sell them on the design and then tell them the monthly fee is $20-$30.

Or the other good one to do is offer them free hosting with their web design, but of course it's not free at all because you added a bit on to the design to cover the hosting. We have a reseller that does exactly the same thing and no body complains thjat his prices are too high, the other thing that it avoids is if the client wanted to pay yearly and wanted some of the money back because they decided to move before the year was up.

Originally posted by Chicken
I'd say seperate it, or else you'll get screwed. Or bundle it with two months of hosting. I've seen people bundle a design with a year of hosting, and to me they are cheating themselves. A year of hosting should be at least $240-$360 right there, plus design fees. Easier to sell them on the design and then tell them the monthly fee is $20-$30.

I agree with Chicken. Especially, for your mom and pop stores who are cost concious. They will look at the price you give them and think it is too high. I have gotten about 10 local clients and I made sure to seperate the hosting from the design. Not only was it easier for them to understand, but they didn;t see the higher lump sum price either.

Originally posted by Chicken
I'd say seperate it, or else you'll get screwed.

I think I'll use this advise for my future clients. I am still stuck with making a decision on how to provide hosting for my clients. I have been thinking about getting frame relay or ISDN and providing my own server as opposed to renting a dedicated server. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this?