Hi all

I have a small hosting business with about 100 customers but I stopped taking on new customers about 12 months back to work on some other projects and as we all know a lot has changed in that 12 months. I am thinking of getting back into the business but would like to know how other people are finding the market. Are sales still ok or are you finding a drop in the number of sales? What sort of sales do you get a week? I was getting about 2 new customers a week how many new customers do you find your getting a week?

Am just interested in everyone views of how the market stands.

Regards
Pablo

Good question; I'm interested in getting peoples' comments on this too.

I would have to say the industry is a alot more competitive. Over the last 12 months there has been a massive fluctuation of new hosts/resellers.

I would also say that there are more clients looking for web hosts these days as the internet is constantly growing.

Originally posted by vSector

I would also say that there are more clients looking for web hosts these days as the internet is constantly growing.


Yes but there looking for unlimited this and that, and they are looking to spend 2 bucks a month .

jtr

Originally posted by jtr
Yes but there looking for unlimited this and that, and they are looking to spend 2 bucks a month .

jtr

Somewhat true, not all are looking for such deals. I've noticed mainly on WHT and such forums there are such requirements (maybe because there are web hosts that agree to offer it!?). Eitherway, most of these users will be back after a month or two looking for a new and a little more expensive web host.

i think the web hosting market has slowed a lot lately

Originally posted by MadCool
i think the web hosting market has slowed a lot lately

i am seeing it the other way... i am a new host and have actually been doing very well lately.

I think it mostly depends on the crowd you are targeting. If you are targeting the WHT type of customer and don't offer unlimited everything for $2/year, you won't find much business. If you target more professional users, such as businesses, etc, you will probably find more clients and save a lot of trouble.

There's literally thousands of local businesses in every city looking for hosting, many of whom could also benefit from professional web design.

Don't try and take over the world in a week. Get a good plan in motion, reel in as many local yokels as you can - everyone loves the personal touch - and whem bang you get big without trying to compete with unlimited.

:D

-Matt

Originally posted by jtr



Yes but there looking for unlimited this and that, and they are looking to spend 2 bucks a month .

jtr


yes but one’s the people have tried the cheap hosting option and not found it very good because of poor service they look for a better hosting company don’t they?

Originally posted by pabloatwork


yes but one’s the people have tried the cheap hosting option and not found it very good because of poor service they look for a better hosting company don’t they?

Yes , but it makes it hard for them to trust another host. They somtimes think all hosts are the same , but if they do sign up you end up with a great client that stays around for a long time.

"I've noticed mainly on WHT and such forums there are such requirements (maybe because there are web hosts that agree to offer it!?)."

The day when webhosts realize what a business plan is is the day that both of these events slow down.

I was just going to say that. It's much like clients expecting to get logos for 30$. Designers complain about it, but then someone will find a designer that'll do it.

Sure, they won't be happy and will come finder another one (hopefully) and hopefully they find people like me who charge more but give them exactly waht they need (whether they know it or not). Every customer goes away happy, and that should be our business as web hosts as well.

If the customer isn't happy then all we're doing is selling ice to eskimoes. Sure, some people can do it, but the eskimoe will never buy from them again.

going broke slowly we cant keep up with the offers for 20g at $4.95/m

anyone want to buy an O neg kidney?

:D

I have been in the hosting industry for a very long time dating back to 1996 and have seen things come and go.

There are two phases that I see in the market. early, it was $50 dollars accounts and no one batted an eye at those prices as hosting was relatively new. As time went on, prices lowered and settled to about $19.99-$24.95 for a basic package.

When I started, there were no such things as control panels or shopping carts and people were still paying this much to host. Now that the market has died, the first wave of online websites either withered away or are still going at the same or higher rates per month because they are making money. They are the higher end market and know what they are getting for a higher price.

We are in the second wave. New people are entering the market with the aid of certain industry events like the deregulation of domain name services and addition of international ones as well.

These people either were user unfriendly a few years back and are trying now or are trying something new because they are sick of what they are doing. In addition, those kids that grew up with computers are old enough to pay for their own hosting.

This leads to a new bread..one that either does not have enough money to spend on highend hosting or just plain does not have the money.

Low end hosting is booming as I have a few friends that sign up over 1000+ new customers/month.

The market will adjust one more time in a few years when the second wave realizes that more often than not, you get what you pay for and if you get real good service from a cheap host, then you got lucky, but for the most part, the more you pay, the better quality of service you will receive.

People today expect soooo much for so little. This really bothers me, but I have to understand that these are different times..just like parents are a generation different than their kids. I am only 27, but in my days, it took 1 months or more to register a domain, 3-7 days to set up and account, no control panels, no shopping carts, $10/email additional and $125/GB transfer and the cheapest colo you could find was $500/mo.

For thoe of you relatively new to the market, you have it made.

Just my two cent.

8-)

Well said hostingguru :)

Originally posted by RackNine
There's literally thousands of local businesses in every city looking for hosting, many of whom could also benefit from professional web design.

Don't try and take over the world in a week. Get a good plan in motion, reel in as many local yokels as you can - everyone loves the personal touch - and whem bang you get big without trying to compete with unlimited.

:D

-Matt

Exactly , let these not so smart host that offer the rock bottom pricing kill each other , the local market is very profitable and in high demand.


Originally posted by dbodner
"I've noticed mainly on WHT and such forums there are such requirements (maybe because there are web hosts that agree to offer it!?)."

The day when webhosts realize what a business plan is is the day that both of these events slow down.

The webhost who offer it are just as gulity , you see it everyday in the request forums . Everyday people post rediculous request and guess what someone always , picks up the bread crumbs .

I don't understand the theroy if someone ask for specific needs like 100mb space and 1-2 gig of bandwith for 50 a yr , and host feel they should offer any more than what's requested . Look in the request forum and you'll see what I mean , one person asked for a similar plan and got offered 300 mb and 10 gig a mth for 50 a year :eek:

I really think people think hosting is a get rich quick type of thing and most people who start thinkcustomers will flood them if they build a site , most start on a shoestring buget and have to offer low priced plans to attract customer so they can make it 1 more month.

If you target WHT as you main customer base I would say you are pretty much setting yourself up for failure. I started in Hosting with a bussiness plan which included 1 yr of money to operate without a single customer signup. We have gained a few customers since we started and that just secures our future in the web hosting industry even further down the line.

I dont send customer to rave about my service and 90% of my customers dont even use WHT , It's tough making a good name on WHT without feedback but it can be done.

it's business as usual here - neither stellar, nor dead in the water. Slow and steady and growing. We've been at it now for over two years now and still around. While not having the spotlight as some of the hosts on this board, we've outlived most of the show ponies :D - as many of the 'quiet performers' do.

There's still a lot of money to be made in this market, but the key to being here this time next year is having that business plan worked out and tatooed into your head.

Greg Moore

Originally posted by akashik
it's business as usual here - neither stellar, nor dead in the water. Slow and steady and growing. We've been at it now for over two years now and still around. While not having the spotlight as some of the hosts on this board, we've outlived most of the show ponies :D - as many of the 'quiet performers' do.
Couldn't agree more. Slow and steady wins the race. It's a marathon after all, not a sprint. Slow & steady growth with your infrastucture moving slowly with your expanding client base and cashflow. :agree:

Have any hosts done any PR work and sent Press Releases about their existance, services to local media outlets? Back in 1998 when we were hosting, we found this worked very well. News agencies love it when a 'technology company" is in their town and they are more likely to cover it on a local level. This will build your exposure and help your word of mouth (viral) marketing. Just a tip!

Some of my best customers are the business owners that are not neccesarily web experts, but know what they want the web to do for their business. This type of customer really is a pleasure to work with and usually look onto my company as a solution provider where they ask if we can do something and then give us a week or so to make it happen.

So, while I do not turn down the savvy web shopper, I have found that local business owners that look on us as a hoster and consultant have been my best clients.

People now in days want the world for 2/month with no setup fee. Agree?

There are people who want the world for $2/month, but I choose not to cater to them. I would much rather have 10 customers paying $20 a month than 100 customers paying $2 per month. It keeps server load down, customer service up, and tends to make the customers tend to be a bit more professional.

I couldnt agree more to what Greg and Bob have said. We ourselves have had a steady growth over the years. We don't offer unlimited bandwidth for 2$/month or anything.
I have not been around much on WHT for a while, just sort of making a comeback so to speak and I must say, an awful lot has changed. There is now loads and loads of competition on this board, as said, people asking for 50Mb/2Gb and getting 50Gb/200Gb for their money (ok, thats the extreme..) We have never really been in a posistion to offer anything like that. I don't belive in 'overselling' as.. I belive that would lead to problems.. and it usually does. Each month we will get at least one customer thats been burnt by this and well, there is no such thing as a free lunch, thats for sure. Just taking things one step at a time, best thing anyone can do. As my dad says "can't rush a good job" which in this business i would aruge, is true.