Hello,

I officially launched my little hosting biz last week on the 18th. It's been almost a whole week now, and I've yet to get any signups.

I've been spending alot of time getting myself listed on all the directories (FindSP, Webhostdir, HostPulse, HostCatalog, etc), and I've purchased some Google AdWords and placed some cheap text ads on some websites. I've seen a fair ammount of traffic from alot of people looking, but no one wants to buy.

So, my question to everyone. How long did it take you before you got your first customer?

And, what other reccomendations can you make to increase my exposure and get some customers, while not spending my entire savings on advertising.

Thanks.

We got our first customer before we were done with our setup, but I guess we got lucky... =)

In reality though, I wouldn't expect a whole lot at first, no matter how much advertising you do. People often will visit a website many times before they actually signup. They want to make sure the site is up all the time, etc....

We have people who email us to ask questions, but don't signup for months..

I would say be careful with the ad money.. We blew alot of money at first, with high hopes of customers.. We now spend 1/3 the ammount, and get the same ammount of customers as before..

Also, choose where you advertise wisely.

Jay.

I visited your web site, and I'd have to say it looks very professional, although there's a few minor grammatical errors. I don't want to discourage you, but most people out there are cheapskates. I wouldn't call your prices expensive, but they're definitely not cheap. That's probably what's making it hard to start out, but don't get discouraged because if you can find the customers, it'll be worth it in the end. Your site states you target small to mid-sized businesses. That might scare away some people looking for non-business hosting. If you really want to target small to mid-sized businesses, then I suggest you try advertising locally first. You'll get much better results that way.

From your latest press release:
"Hostnix (http://www.hostnix.com), a new provider in web hosting, burst into the marketplace yesterday with tremendous results. "

Sounds like you're doing pretty good, huh? hehe

Anyways, it does take a little while. Try going out and targeting local companies first, to give you a solid customer base.

Have you put your site up for review in the Review Forum here?
I don't recall seeing it. But, I don't recall a lot of things.

On your index page; you state, "Flexibility is also important to us, so our goals and services will change and expand accordingly."
I would remove the "change and" from that line, as it implies that you would make changes to benefit yourself. (to me at least)

You, also, have an empty forum. Forums are only good if they actually have members. :)
You may want to consider restricting viewability to members only. Or removing it completely until you have enough members.

I didn't look at the whole site. These are just a couple of immediate impressions.

Good luck.

Yea, I put it up for review, allthough it didn't get many reviews: http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41593

I agree with the 'chage and' thing, and that has been removed.

The Forums are basically used for announcements. They are linked to on the main page for the news and such.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
Have you put your site up for review in the Review Forum here?
I don't recall seeing it. But, I don't recall a lot of things.

On your index page; you state, "Flexibility is also important to us, so our goals and services will change and expand accordingly."
I would remove the "change and" from that line, as it implies that you would make changes to benefit yourself. (to me at least)

You, also, have an empty forum. Forums are only good if they actually have members. :)
You may want to consider restricting viewability to members only. Or removing it completely until you have enough members.

I didn't look at the whole site. These are just a couple of immediate impressions.

Good luck.

Originally posted by Hostnix
. . . . . .

The Forums are basically used for announcements. They are linked to on the main page for the news and such.

I understand your intentions. But, when a prospective customer comes to your site and clicks on the link to the forum and sees a, basically, a dead zone after reading,

"Our online forums are visited daily and even hourly by many of our staff. We do have a support section set aside for clients to contact us at. Many of our clients also visit the forums and this gives you a unique chance to share helpful tips with other clients. We also post any outage or maintenance information in our forums in the Announcements section."

Which implies it's an active forum; they may think you are attempting to decieve them somewhat.
Forums are a great tool.
Empty forums can work against you.

Your site is excellent. It was nice to look at and easy to navigate around. Well done there indeed. :)

Your prices are not cheap but I say hold your own and don't go after the "cheap is best" market. Sell quality and super fast SUPPORT. These will win out in the long run over super cheap hosting with crap support.

For me, the first 50 accounts were the hardest. After that, they just roll in every day now. It's the momentum process as the more clients you get, then the more clients you will get. You expand your sphere of influence as your client base widens.

I don't worry about advertising or customer acquisition as my satisfied clients do the job for me. I am realeasing an affiliate program, more as a thank you to my clients for suggesting our services.

Good luck and keep believing!! :)

I like the colour scheme

I dont know if this is going to make you feel better or not but it took up 3 weeks to get our first customer besides ones that we had on our reseller plan before. You site looks very nice and has good navigation. The only thing I can see that might throw people off a little is that there is no FAQ section. This is really a must as users have alot of questions before they actually sign up. You will notice providing this will also cut down on support tickets. Well best of luck and not to worry most of us have been there and done that.

However....a couple of changes mentioned above I would like to emphasize...plus a couple of others.

1-I would not mention "new" provider....why advertise what many would interpret as negative....

2-Don't include things which aren't complete or don't indicate a fully functioning host...Your knowledge base has only one item...leave it out of the site until you complete it....Your Faq is under construction-leave it out until complete....your forum is empty...if you just want to make announcements, don't use a forum...if you are going to use it, get some people to post.

The impact of the above items is that you appear to be a start-up...not quite ready for prime-time. That does not instill customer confidence. Don't lie about your newness, but don't make it so obvious. Advertise and market your strengths.

Thanks everyone! I've tried to tackle some of the issues you all mentioned and hopefully I'll get a client or two soon.

Thanks again!

Your overall site design is excellent but you need to work on your 'copy' or the wording of your text. Also, you've mispelled "Featured Plans" on your home page -- you have 'fetured plans'. Little things like that are going to throw people off and make them click on to the next guy. Another problem I see is that you don't offer any MySQL db's until your $30 plan! Most people seeking Linux hosting are going to want at least one MySQL db and they aren't going to want to pay $30 for it.

Also, I would include a 'plan comparison' link on the home page.

Other than that I think you've done an excellent job. Especially with the layout/design. Just give it a little time. The signups will come. Just takes a while to get cranked up. :)

Just noticed something else that may be turning people off. On your order page you state this:

"You should receive a welcome email 24 to 72 hours after you've submitted your order. "

That is a long time to wait for someone that is searching for a web hosting account online. Most of your customers will "want it now". 72 hours is WAY too long to wait.

I would state that it will be setup as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours, or something similar. Definitely work on improving this. There are many, many hosts offering almost instant setup. Of course don't setup any account until you've checked it for fraud first, but the faster the better obviously. :)

I have an idea!

You can sponser a few people with like a basic free acounts. ;)

Then they will spread the news like wild fire.. and next second ya know.. lots'a people.

Wink, Wink.. Nudge, Nudge.

EDIT: BTW, great site.

I was thinking about that. I haven't decided yet though. ;)

wink wink, nudge nudge.

Originally posted by aura
I have an idea!

You can sponser a few people with like a basic free acounts. ;)

Then they will spread the news like wild fire.. and next second ya know.. lots'a people.

Wink, Wink.. Nudge, Nudge.

EDIT: BTW, great site.