Hello,

I have not done this before, so I am asking for some advice. Everyone that I talk to says that the local market is where the money is. Could I have some people who are successful with this confirm it. Also I have a fiew more questions.

1) Should I go to local businesses that already have a website and hosting?
2) What should I tell the people when I get to their business?

Could you guys just give me some advice and tips on how to "crack" into the local market.

Thanks Much
Ryan

Well to start with you might want to redesign your page your logo or main image there with the office building at a 45 degree angle or so needs work.

How long have you been in business?
Where are you located?
You might want to contact a friend with an MBA or something to that effect.

I would start with places you already do business at. Look at there websites if they have one. See how it is designed and if it needs work. Maybe you can help them or team up with a web developer that needs a place to host his or her customers.

Look at email addresses that companies use (small companies). You would be surprised at how many small companies use aol or yahoo email addresses. You can try to sell them on a domain name for there company with simple email hosting. This is a quick sale and most of the time does not require a lot of work on your part if they are not sending lots of spam.

Then once you are past the businesses that you use look at small businesses and see if they have websites and if not could they benefit from one. Many times you can use there competition as a selling point here if they have a website. Show them that there direct competition next store or around the corner has a simple site with basic information about there products and services. Even store hours and contact information can be useful to them and there customers.

I would try some of these ideas to start with and see how that helps you.

Hope this helps

Well to start with you might want to redesign your page your logo or main image there with the office building at a 45 degree angle or so needs work. Not sure what you mean here. I Love my design, something simple, and easy to navigate through.

How long have you been in business?
Where are you located?
You might want to contact a friend with an MBA or something to that effect.[/quote]
We have been in business for 1 year now.
We are located in Jamestown New York.

Well to start with you might want to redesign your page your logo or main image there with the office building at a 45 degree angle or so needs work.

How long have you been in business?
Where are you located?
You might want to contact a friend with an MBA or something to that effect.

Sorry how is contacting a friend with an MBA going to help him ?

Just because someone has an MBA does not make them good at business.

I would try and get a bit more content on your site and then you should get some business cards printed up and hand them out to anyone you meet/know.

Place some adverts in local newspapers or even you can go in and see local business and ask them, but be very careful doing that.

You need to get your name out and get potential business contacting you.

Ok, What type of content should I add to my site?

Well to start with you might want to redesign your page your logo or main image there with the office building at a 45 degree angle or so needs work.

I would agree with this. Re-work your opening paragrah too.

..we are here to change the web hosting industry.

Really? How?

Many people do in fact host web sites, but very few of them host them right.

How do they not host them right? What is wrong?

So, if you are ready to experience the best hosting on the market, you are at the right place, and we hope to see you on our servers.

Why are you the best? Why would I come to you?

=============================

As somone who does alot of local advertising I would suggest re-working that paragraph. That belongs more in a "who we are" or "why choose us" page. Not on the home page.

Simple layouts are GREAT! Just remember not to go to simple. Connect with the local market. If you are in Abc Town, ID then say you are a local company. If you have been there a number of years then say so. Etc.

The biggest local market question is.....WHY CHOOSE YOU? What are you going to provide that "Jims Telecom Shack" up the street won't. Understand? It seems you are still a bit "greyed out" on what exactly you are offering.

Just some thoughts as you venture out into the local market.

Good Luck!

I think the best way (especially if you live in a technologically "slow" part of the world) to get into the local market is doing the whole package.

Find a partner (if you are not yourself a talented designer) to build the website, and they should get a flat rate for what they do since essentially you are giving them business. I would STRONGLY advise you to work with someone you know or can meet with in real life (I've been dealing with absent designers for years who do not take you seriously).

Then you can charge them for the design and set up costs, and for any updates they need for their website whether it be a case to case scenario or hourly.

Also, I would recommend becoming involved more with the community you are in. Look for where businesses look. Maybe your local chamber of commerce, local businesses. You can even sponsor community oriented events like children's soccer teams, etc. The more socially involved you are with the businesses that you surround yourself, the more likely you are to do business with them.

All this stuff about trying to make yourself apart from the rest on your website is unnecessary if you show the community you are there for them.

Some classic marketing advice would be
- local networking groups, chamber of commerce, small business associations. This can take time, develop relationships, be the face everyone remembers and gets to trust
- direct mailshots
- outbound phone calls, offer to send information and follow up asking for meeting

Be wary of advertising in local press, an easy way to throw money away.

Web design is a very tough market, so many operators come and go. Pure web-hosting is a very niche technical service and hard to sell on its own to small businesses, try and focus on IT orientated companies referring leads to you.

There are good opportunities in "general Internet consultancy and implementation" if you can pitch it right.

1) Should I go to local businesses that already have a website and hosting?
If doesn't matter if they have a site or not, you just need to ADVERTISE locally and become the go-to-guy (or company) everyone would recommend when people search for hosting related services. Word of mouth is important to get local business, but initially you will have to spend on local advertising.


2) What should I tell the people when I get to their business?
Well you need to work on your marketing pitch (and your own site as well)

First of all to get started you need web site which will be selling web hosting service from.
Tou need to have idea about the niche you are going to cower. You will need marketing plan (as offline one fo your local area) and for www, because you are offering online services.
It is very vaguely of course. Once you start you will get new problems to solve.
Good uck with your getting started ;)

If you want to start targetting your local market, then you should consider offering web design services as well. Local business owners are most likely not going to be able to design their own website and won't be able to purchase hosting from you unless you design a site for them.

That's not necessairly a bad thing though, now you can make more money through web design fees :)