Hello,

I would like to get some help of the experts in web hosting here.

How do I attract more and more customers?
Will adwords work/
Also, can someone name the forums(by PM or post here) wher I can list my plans to get more clients?

Help is greatly appreciated.

No, no. Dont worry, I wont take away your ones..:)

It all depends on your budget as well as the market niche you have put yourself in.

Sure you can put money into adwords, but it is a hard advertising means if your a general web hosting company with no niche to work in. Keywords are important there and as you can see most of the "big keywords" have a very high price. I wouldn't recommend it if you are a new company.

Word of mouth is always the best policy. Nothing sells better than one client telling some of his/her friends, co-workers, or other individuals how much they love your services. Keeping your customers happy with quality service works wonders here. This is a great way to get started with getting more customers.

Oh and remember to post any advertisements or promotions you have going in the Offers section here or on other hosting forums. Good way to get your name out for the right price. I am sure others will have better ideas, but I hope this helps you somewhat.

Good luck!

Thats what I need.

What forums to post? I have 5 but dont know anymore...;)

Thats what I need.

What forums to post? I have 5 but dont know anymore...;)

I sent you a couple in a PM, hope that helps you out. Maybe some other people can send you some more forums. Also Google works as well to find more. :D

Hey John, recon you could drop me a PM also with forums :)

Go with google adwords only if you are willing to invest a considerable amount of time fine tuning your ad campaigns etc.

Apart from forums, we use Adwords, AdBrite and Text-Ad-Links. For some reason, we are getting more sign ups referred by AdBrite than the rests.

Marty

Hello,

I would like to get some help of the experts in web hosting here.

How do I attract more and more customers?


My experience is that the only thing that will really keep a business afloat and profitable is high search engine positioning (Search Engine Optimization). Pay per click will bring some business also, but it is my experience that pay per click alone is not enough.

So, priority one should be search engine positioning. Spend all your effort and most of your budget on that, and you will be fine.

You all have established companies here. Butr you had also started in the past.

HOw did you get your first 100-200 clients?

Thanks again to all who helped me:)

I've found Google adwords to just eat money with little return so I would recommend avoiding this route for a new company. Most of my customers came from forums such as WHT and (believe it or not) ebay! You may have to offer discounts to begin with, then your existing customers will start telling their friends and you'll get some good signups. Most of the good traffic is by word of mouth from existing customers.

eBay is just filled with Unlimited hosting. And I really dont want to sell unlimited. Just crap overselling....

eBay is just filled with Unlimited hosting. And I really dont want to sell unlimited. Just crap overselling....

You can try eBay without overselling - let's see from there. I am sure that it will not do any harm.

Good luck
Marty

You can try eBay without overselling - let's see from there. I am sure that it will not do any harm.

Good luck
Marty

If you have a minute please write more about eBay ads.

You can try to local route. Go around your town and ask businesses if they'd like some new hosting and offer to do everything for free and give them a discount on the services. Also tell all of your friends, uncles, aunts, distant families and hand out business cards with your name and site on it. If you provide great service and support, all else will follow.

And what do you guys think about cold calling(b2b).
Lots of materials on the Internet scream that cold calling doesn't work anymore, do you agree?

Cold calling can work however it depends who you are calling.
Have a look at http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/marketing/articles/cold-calling-guide.shtml for some tips.
Personally I would only cold call businesses, starting locally so I could then organise an appointment with them. The phonecall itself would just be to organise an appointment rather than get a sale.

I see your point.
So you would not rely on it as on a primary sales method?

You can try eBay without overselling - let's see from there. I am sure that it will not do any harm.

Good luck
Marty

Agreed, at least with ebay you dont have high advertising costs and potential customers. We didn't oversell nor offer 'unlimited' plans and it's really how I started out. You have nothing to loose by trying it!

So you would not rely on it as on a primary sales method?

Again it depends on your market or niche. The worst that someone could say would be 'no'. As long as your courteous and polite then it wouldnt harm your business either. Its all about the research done before the phone call.
I have used cold calling before and found it to be very successful through local businesses.

Agreed, at least with ebay you dont have high advertising costs and potential customers. We didn't oversell nor offer 'unlimited' plans and it's really how I started out. You have nothing to loose by trying it!

How much do you spend per 1 interested customer if you use ebay ads?

I would reccomend buying ads on large communities such as this one and freewebspace.net, they both get high traffic, and are a far more targeted market.

In the end though, word of mouth is the most important thing... and managing your expansion from a lack/flood of clients.

good luck

I've never used adwords. However, be sure to advertise by word of mouth also. I feel that personal clients are usually the better ones as to the ones that may just be random.

ebay ........ :)

i get alot of customers that way

ebay ........ :)

i get alot of customers that way


And what do u sell?