Boy, it seems there are countless new web hosting sites set up every single day. Nowadays, it is so easy to hang a shingle and call yourself a web host. I feel sorry for the average Joe Surfer out there looking for reliable hosting. Because I would imagine that only a fraction of the new hosting sites will actually be there for the long haul. Then Joe Surfer, if signed up with a defunct host, has to scramble to sign up elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I fall into that category as well. I set up a hosting site a few months ago. Although, I'd like to think that I'm serious about it, and did not get into it to grab some $$ and run. But there are, I'm sure, some who set up without reallly thinking through all that is involved. And they end up closing up shop.

One of the unfortunate side effects of this is that it tends to tarnish the industry as a whole. I'm sure many responsible and dedicated hosts on this discussion board don't appreciate being considered suspect in their business practices, just because others jump into the industry and jump out just as quickly.

I can't imagine that trying to effectively "regulate" the industry could be possible. I guess the only thing to do is to stick to a sound business plan, work hard, and hope that you can develop a good reputation that makes you stand out from the crowd?

Vito

Greetings:

In 1998 there was an article about how a local municipality picked the "right man" for their Web site design. The article's play was how much money the municipality was saving by going with a 9th grader who was only charging them $10 per hour.

You are right about consumers not always having the right resources to educate and validate.

$10 sounds cheap when compared to what our parent company was charging (back when they offered design services); they were at $200 per page.

However, careful readers of the article would have noted that the 9th grader put in over 20 hours on one page (that was not even done at the time the article was printed). So much for saving money.

One of our parent company's sales persons went to a meeting set up by the municipality to talk with their board about utilizing them for Web hosting.

Jeff (whose since moved on from us) started the presentation only to be interrupted by one of the board members who asked, "what does this have to do with copy machines?" (seriously; so much for them paying attention <smile>).

Well to make a long story short, the 9th grader was there with a friend. They announced to the board that they started a Web hosting company, and that the municipality should use their hosting company instead of our parent company or any other.

Now our parent company was three years old at the time, had in-house technical support, was open for two shifts in terms of live coverage, was available by pager for the 3rd shift, used their own dedicated servers (instead of renting space / accounts / plans), had toll free support, etc.

Also, we were local to them (five minutes away); if locality matters.

The 9th graders would be pure resellers, and would not be able to provide any technical support during most of the day because they would be in school.

Believe it or not, the board had to ask they question to Jeff, "why should we pick your company over them?"

I still sigh today looking back. But our parent company runs into those issues on a regular basis.

We to do on the managed service and managed security end. "But our hosting company provides managed servers...." <sigh> But they don't provide a,b,c,d,e,f...,x,y,z <grin>.

In any event, there are few barriers to entry and the market is not educated enough... hence the problems of these types will most likely continue.

Thank you.

Originally posted by dynamicnet
Greetings:

In 1998 there was an article about how a local municipality picked the "right man" for their Web site design. The article's play was how much money the municipality was saving by going with a 9th grader who was only charging them $10 per hour. Who said child labour was dead in the modern world? :D

Been there, done that... Wonder whose son the kid was?

Vito,

I wouldn't be too concerned. There's still a large market out there, and most 12 month+ companies are still showing growth. There's a core group of customers that older businesses never get - the deal chasers. A bucket of space, and transfer for the spare change in their pockets. They go with new businesses that fold in a few months once they figure out that bottom feeding isn't profitable or good for long term stability.

On the upside, when these people finally decide that stability is worth a few extra bucks they come to the more mature companies, and bring a large amount of experience with them, making them ideal customers. (self helping/low support needs).

We 'put out our shingle' in March 2000 and still around, even in the face of massive growth in competition. We've had one price adjustment, and one plan adustment in that time.

We get some enquiries that verge on hostile and accusational at times, but that's due to the person's past experience with hosts. I agree that the industry does have a smell to it, caused by Johnny-come-Weekend using Dad's CC card to resell someone else's services before getting bored when there's a 'c00l pArtY nEXt WeeKeNd d00d'. When we get an enquiry like that all we can do is explain ourselves and what we offer. If they don't believe what we say, then there's not much that can be done about it :)

I tend to think, if you enjoy helping people you'll go a fair way. The money comes in time by default. Plan your pricing well and recieve fair payment for the work you do, but maintain a sensible approach to what you expect people to pay.

Listen well and show concern for others, and they'll learn to appreciate you. (we have one guy who's in the habit of "Praising God" when we help him out - very good for the Karma I think) :D A good reputation is worth it's weight in gold. Online it counts for a very large percentage of your future.

Greg Moore

Well said, Greg.
On the upside, when these people finally decide that stability is worth a few extra bucks they come to the more mature companies, and bring a large amount of experience with them, making them ideal customers. (self helping/low support needs).
I guess, though, in the wonderful world of the Internet, a start up company with no real dedication to the business can, with a great site design, present the "deceptive illusion" of being a large and well established online entity. I know that in the long run, a company with a good reputation will prevail. But to the average Joe Public surfer looking for hosting, many of them will make a decision based on perception rather than research.

Caveat emptor has never been more appropriate, I guess...

Vito

Originally posted by vito
Caveat emptor has never been more appropriate, I guess...

Yes, and that's why we're not too upset when people's enquiries can be a little 'sharp edged' at times. Sometimes it's a healthy reward to turn that initially skeptical customer into someone who'll happily refer you to others later on.

Greg Moore

Originally posted by akashik
Yes, and that's why we're not too upset when people's enquiries can be a little 'sharp edged' at times. Sometimes it's a healthy reward to turn that initially skeptical customer into someone who'll happily refer you to others later on.I wouldn't argue with that...

Sometimes the best you can do, is say "try us..." and only promise what you can deliver. Quite a few hosts seem to offer the earth and then deliver a bag of manure. :rolleyes:

Ironic thing is that it's often the sharp edged ones who prove to be the best referrers. People have gotten so used to them banging on about how bad, this, that or the other host is that they really notice when they start hearing good things from the same person.

unless someone can tell me different,

I was under the understanding that there is something to the affect of 14,000 new domains registered every month ( about 6000 were in the .com or .net area )

so that means to me that there is enough business that everyone should be able to get some.

as for the service issues. the example provided with the 9th grader is a clasic example of non-education of the buyers. they did not do there research. I've seen this atleast 20 times, I have to completely point out that the competitor is
1) under 18 and there is no legal recourse to the buyer
2) 24 hour service is not there
3) the portfolio of completed projects under budget with letters of recomendation that I have.

Also I have to fualt the seller slightly because they might not have presented the total cost of ownership ( not including the donations that might be required to the political bosses of that town, happens and we know it ).

Mike

Originally posted by ADEhost
unless someone can tell me different,

I was under the understanding that there is something to the affect of 14,000 new domains registered every month ( about 6000 were in the .com or .net area )

so that means to me that there is enough business that everyone should be able to get some.

as for the service issues. the example provided with the 9th grader is a clasic example of non-education of the buyers. they did not do there research. I've seen this atleast 20 times, I have to completely point out that the competitor is
1) under 18 and there is no legal recourse to the buyer
2) 24 hour service is not there
3) the portfolio of completed projects under budget with letters of recomendation that I have.

Also I have to fualt the seller slightly because they might not have presented the total cost of ownership ( not including the donations that might be required to the political bosses of that town, happens and we know it ).

Mike
Not being picky here but why is it that there are so many spelling mistakes in these forums? It's also not uncommon to spot errors in the ad_copy of host's sites these days. Spelling and punctuation mistakes really irritate me. :eek:

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

Not being picky here but why is it that there are so many spelling mistakes in these forums? It's also not uncommon to spot errors in the ad_copy of host's sites these days. Spelling and punctuation mistakes really irritate me. :eek:

Because I for one can not spell, at least I know where my limits are, I have had that problem since I was a kid. Every time I had a company the first person I would hire was an assistant. Thier job was to translate everything I recorded and write it out.

I still do that to this day, tape everything that has to be formal and then have my wife proof read it after I have placed it in the spelling checker

Mike.

Originally posted by ADEhost


Because I for one can not spell, at least I know where my limits are, I have had that problem since I was a kid. Every time I had a company the first person I would hire was an assistant. Thier job was to translate everything I recorded and write it out.

I still do that to this day, tape everything that has to be formal and then have my wife proof read it after I have placed it in the spelling checker

Mike.
Spelling and the correct punctuation is critical for good ad_copy, IMO. There's nothing worse than spelling errors on sites. It's a big turn off for me.

Anyways, bringing this back ontopic - I don't think we can assume that a site with heaps of spelling mistakes is a 15yr old running his business on daddy's credit card. :)

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
It's also not uncommon to spot errors in the ad_copy of host's sites these days. Spelling and punctuation mistakes really irritate me. What really irritates me is when people use underscores to create one word from what should be two. Such as, for example, in a term like "ad copy."

Or, for that matter, when people misuse a term like "ad copy," which should be used to refer to copy used in advertisements. :)
Anyways, bringing this back ontopic - I don't think we can assume that a site with heaps of spelling mistakes is a 15yr old running his business on daddy's credit card. Certainly not. But it's often a sign of a company that's cutting corners, or that doesn't have the good financial position that would allow them to pay to get a job done right. Or, perhaps worse, a sign of a one-person operation run by a person not willing or able to recognize that they aren't qualified to to "do it all;" or of a company run by a person who doesn't pay attention to fine detail.

Originally posted by vito
Boy, it seems there are countless new web hosting sites set up every single day. Nowadays, it is so easy to hang a shingle and call yourself a web host. I feel sorry for the average Joe Surfer out there looking for reliable hosting. Because I would imagine that only a fraction of the new hosting sites will actually be there for the long haul. Then Joe Surfer, if signed up with a defunct host, has to scramble to sign up elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I fall into that category as well. I set up a hosting site a few months ago. Although, I'd like to think that I'm serious about it, and did not get into it to grab some $$ and run. But there are, I'm sure, some who set up without reallly thinking through all that is involved. And they end up closing up shop.

Vito

This is no different than what happened to Internet Service Providers when the internet boomed into what it is today. During the last 10 years there were tons of ISP's popping up all over your town and it was difficult to figure out who to use. Hell if you didn't like who you were using you had 20 other companies to sign up with.

Now that e-commerce is the "next big thing" the very same situation is happening with web hosting companies. In a few years, a lot of them will go away, either bankrupt, or forcing themselves to sell out.

The only thing, in my opinion that is going to make companies stand out is prompt customer service and support. If you give your customers what they need, when they need it, then your company will surely last and will be standing when everyone else is selling out or broke.

Originally posted by vito
Boy, it seems there are countless new web hosting sites set up every single day. Nowadays, it is so easy to hang a shingle and call yourself a web host. I feel sorry for the average Joe Surfer out there looking for reliable hosting. Because I would imagine that only a fraction of the new hosting sites will actually be there for the long haul. Then Joe Surfer, if signed up with a defunct host, has to scramble to sign up elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I fall into that category as well. I set up a hosting site a few months ago. Although, I'd like to think that I'm serious about it, and did not get into it to grab some $$ and run. But there are, I'm sure, some who set up without reallly thinking through all that is involved. And they end up closing up shop.

Vito

This is no different than what happened to Internet Service Providers when the internet boomed into what it is today. During the last 10 years there were tons of ISP's popping up all over your town and it was difficult to figure out who to use. Hell if you didn't like who you were using you had 20 other companies to sign up with.

Now that e-commerce is the "next big thing" the very same situation is happening with web hosting companies. In a few years, a lot of them will go away, either bankrupt, or forcing themselves to sell out.

The only thing, in my opinion that is going to make companies stand out is prompt customer service and support. If you give your customers what they need, when they need it, then your company will surely last and will be standing when everyone else is selling out or broke.

Another factor that will be more apparent in the near future is value added services, considering the fact that business is still to fully explore the realms of the internet. Most of these "small" hosts as such, won't have the accessibility to provide such additions which in turn will create a segmented portion of a segmented market already in existance.

Analogy of this would be my own roots, being the automotive industry where mechanics working in workshops would just do basic servicing, and repairs. Next, came along the inclusive free safety checks and extra's that some especially franchises employed to create their own niche segment within the market.

WHile it is good for competition, consumers and business will judge according to "needs and wants" which in the end will determine the lifecycle of these small players within the market.

Originally posted by Nishtec
Another factor that will be more apparent in the near future is value added services...
I agree. Point in fact, I have a hosting site, but so what? So do countless others. But I also have a site that offers certain webmaster services. Offering those services free of charge, bundled with the hosting service, will hopefully set me apart from the crowd. Who knows? It all depends on the perceived value of the value added services, I guess...

Originally posted by Nishtec
Next, came along the inclusive free safety checks and extra's that some especially franchises employed to create their own niche segment within the market.
Yes, good example. Refering to the auto market, in the '60s and '70s, there were just auto mechanics. Then came the specialized services. Nowadays, you see a place that deals only in mufflers, or only in brakes, or only in transmissions. Specializing in a niche market, I think is the key. Trying to be everything to everyone is just too difficult.

I have another site, for example, that caters strictly to the bottled water industry. If I can provide a service to this market and present myself as an expert in catering to their specific needs(which I am, BTW), I think I will have the edge over most competitors.

Pick a specific market, provide value for money spent, and service the heck out of them. IMHO, a perfect recipe for success...

Vito

On the basis of this, amounts of competing hosts simply shows also to a great extent how little real understanding is known of the market, when many actually base their differenciation on price and space. Sure, they are the basic parameters to work with yet if you did a realistic industry analysis based on generic offerings, it would show that there is no realistic profitability guaged on industry standards for assesing business ventures. It also extends to the basis of unrealistic statements of competitive advantage, where in reality there is none for a new host. This is especially true of those who lease servers or even resell, althought there is nothing wrong as such with those utilising methods like that for deployment.

Leading back to the topic thread, i would think that there are too many small fish yet on the other hand say differenciation is lacking in a market with the ability to expand easily beyond its immediate boundaries.