Hello,

I'm about to launch my e-commerce hosting website, i need some advice, I want to release it as private beta for a month making it free for 1 month and then publicly advertising it all over the net, btw i am new to web hosting. Let me know how does that sound?
Thanks!

1 month sounds like a short term..for it to advertise all over the net tho..That also depends on your target market,size of it.

running a new business is always hard. It needs constant works and improvements for the market recognition. Besides I think there is already a huge level of competition for the Ecommerce Hosting business..

But anyways hope that works out for you. :)

As 'junoc' said it is always hard starting a new company in web hosting but if you have a good plan and can put in the work then I would say go for it. Just watch your finances to make sure you can keep everything going.

Good luck and hope all goes well :D

Hello!
I think that you can offer first month for free only in case if customer pay for second month. Only in this case you will determine that customers can pay at all otherwise you will get one month subscriptions for free host and nothing more

Yeah i would say that you could just watch your finances.

Go with what ServerPoint has said if you want to offer a month free. You'll soon find out that even if it's only a buck, recieving an actual payment is the best way to filter out scammers and other people that would otherwise cause you the most trouble.

But yeah, if it helps you attract business (And your finances allow for it), Offering a free month is a great way to help pick up extra customers.

.... only if you preauthorise the card......

Good point.

Well, it's not a 100% solution, BUT it is a wonderful deterrent for most scam artists (Or honest people who want to try it for a month with no intention of buying).

I believe that there is no way to stop a determined scammer 100% of the time. If someone is determined enough then they'll eventually get through any security measure, but by providing a deterrent you make yourself less of a target.

That's what I was getting at... Guess I wasn't really that clear in my above post.

I would give a discount on first X number of customers instead. Or a buy one-get one promotion. So whenever the client purchase one month of hosting I would match an extra month free of charge. Or finally offer a trial period of three days or less.

Giving a month free of charge is a bad idea.

could be a worthwile strategy but make sure you have rock solid support and enough funding to cover that second month in business :)

Marketing and pricing are core to attracting customers
Compare the competitors and how they are priced

If you are offering annual payment plans, then 12 months for the price of 11, or 1 month free, would work quite well

However, if you are offering monthly payment plans, then 2 months for the price of 1, or indeed 1 month free, does not make real business sense

Most customers will tend to be looking to use your services for 11 to 23 months
It therefore makes more sense to consider annual payments, that way customers pay the invoice and can then get on with running their website, and you get all the money up front!
However, there may also be customers on a budget, so automated monthly payments may be more appropriate to them, but I wouldn't be offering any form of discount as each transaction will cost you money, up to 12 times more from a customer that pays annually

I've tried this a few times. It helps out gaining customers. I say go for it and give it a try. They'd be likely to true the second month. Provide good support and stable hosting.

What sort of service are you offering that would make it viable to offer potential clients a 1 month trial/beta test? If it's just regular hosting what makes your hosting so special that you need to offer a free month? These are things you want to explain to your market. If you do decide to offer a free month, why not try doing some sort of GMail like invite system?

Also, you need to be prepared to stay in business for at least 6-12 months before making a profit. So be ready to pay out of pocket.

I always offered a 50% discount on the first month. The reason for the promotion always changed but I always had it as an incentive.

I didn't have any problem with scammers and I don't think anyone ever quit after the discount ran out.

I always offered a 50% discount on the first month. The reason for the promotion always changed but I always had it as an incentive.

I didn't have any problem with scammers and I don't think anyone ever quit after the discount ran out.


Good point. I've done the same thing for a while now and never experienced a scammer, Most customers do appreciate the half off trial period, and stay after they have tried out your service, in my experience.

just extend the 1month..

Do you mean like the first month of it being up you will give a month free? Or when some one signs up they will get a free month?
I was thinking of doing something like this.

Go in for these things...
quality of service<for getting dedicated customers>
proper advertisement
a bit freebies<free hosting as u intend to say>

Wrong post. Sorry.

That's what I did was offer a free month. It helped get me started. And now I have a referral program. For every three clients that referred to me, the person that referred them will get another month free of service. So it can work out in many ways. You just have to make sure during that free month you give them that you show them its worth their month after the free month. Provide good support, hosting, etc.. You'll get a good start that way.

I agree. Another way to do it as well as to provide them a service credit within 14 days after initial activation

I would give a discount on first X number of customers instead. Or a buy one-get one promotion. So whenever the client purchase one month of hosting I would match an extra month free of charge. Or finally offer a trial period of three days or less.

Giving a month free of charge is a bad idea.

I wouldn't say its a bad idea at all. First of all not many of these type of "scammers" exist, infact I'm pretty sure when I ran a web hosting company for 3 years that I've never come across one. I did background checks on every single domain with a software I had and nothing ever looked suspishus (WHOIS history).

Also think about how this "scammer" has to go through the trouble of finding a host that offers a free month/trial, sign up again, fill out stuff, reconfigure name servers, wait for the account to be setup, download and reupload files, wait for the DNS to update, and more. It just isn't worth the time for anyone to have to deal with this crap.

I highly doubt these people last long. :rolleyes:

I've always run 2 months free when paying annually on shared hosting plans, but never anything like this on a monthly based plan.

should i run a 1 month free on all my plans or just two of mt lowest plans?

We offer 2 months free on pre-paid 12 months payment. I would never offer the first month for free.

but I'm targeting the local market im not goign to much with online marketing

I wouldn't say its a bad idea at all. First of all not many of these type of "scammers" exist, infact I'm pretty sure when I ran a web hosting company for 3 years that I've never come across one. I did background checks on every single domain with a software I had and nothing ever looked suspishus (WHOIS history).

Also think about how this "scammer" has to go through the trouble of finding a host that offers a free month/trial, sign up again, fill out stuff, reconfigure name servers, wait for the account to be setup, download and reupload files, wait for the DNS to update, and more. It just isn't worth the time for anyone to have to deal with this crap.

I highly doubt these people last long. :rolleyes:

Maybe you just had good luck. Go buy a lotto ticket, IMO.

The webhosting industry is ripe with scammers / stolen CC'ers. In my experience I would say easily 5% of orders are fraudulent.

should i run a 1 month free on all my plans or just two of mt lowest plans?


All because it gives the customer the opprotunity to feel it out.

Hi!
Just please tell me you're not trying to sell reseller hosting on a vps. Please tell you're not.

I thought that silliness was over. I was wrong.

Bryon