Hi,

As some people know my partner and I are about to launch our hosting service. Nothing big mostly a reseller account. We are targeting the local market have a couple of client's lined up and about 4 more after these two.

But I digress. I run the programming and hosting side of the operation and I wanted to open the hosting account up to the 'Net market, but I would like to know after how many months was your site up, and when did you get the first hosting client who wasn't a friend or relative the true first 'stranger' to sign up from your service? How did you get that person (online ad, banner,etc...) Are they still with you?

Looking to start an inspirational thread for all the would-be hosters out there sort of Chicken Soup for the aspiring hoster :)

Sam C

Our first real client had his web site activated on our servers in October of 1998. We had other clients but they were obtained via the "friends and family" methods.

I believe he found us in a HostSearch.com list because of a "HostSearch Special" we were running at the time. He had sent in an email asking a few questions about our services and we pounced on it!! I personally was quite excited when his order came through.

A couple of years later he made a trip to the States (he lives in Germany) and we had the opportunity to treat him to a steak dinner. That was awesome.

I'm proud to say we are fortunate enough to still host his domains along with many others that signed up in that first year. It's exceptionally hard to see an "old timer" move to another host and extremely exciting to still be hosting our first :D

Deb, I heard a lot about you on these forums :) That's nice how you remember the date almost exactly about your first client. Did it take awhile, and did you get pics of your dinner? Would make a nice attachment :)

Was your site always that big or great in the beginning? Or did you start from humble beginnings like us? I love stories about companies growing...it gives me inspiration.

We had half a dozen clients before we were truly "open" for business, plus two friends/family accounts. In fact, of all the clients who joined us in the first four months of our existence (since I happen to be looking at some accounting stuff right now), 97% are still here more than two years later, either as individual domains, converted to reseller status with their own clients, or moved up to dedicated servers through us. Trust me, if you treat your customers right, don't play the "who can go lowest" game (and thus price yourself right out of business), and have some fun, you'll do fine.

Originally posted by Annette

Trust me, if you treat your customers right, don't play the "who can go lowest" game (and thus price yourself right out of business), and have some fun, you'll do fine.

Thxs for the insight. That is why we are starting with the local market mostly to be able to give personal attention as well as develop the "personal" client relationship. We're hoping it goes a long way in estabalishing us. I mean if we can get 100 local hosting accounts we would be set :) We already know we can't compete on the net not yet anyways...with everyone giving away the farm. But if they can sustain it more power to them.

Was your site always that big or great in the beginning? Or did you start from humble beginnings like us? We started from the rockiest of bottoms. I recall failing to pay my rent to cover a T1 bill and then having to make up for it via more web design work and other various freelance tasks. My then best friend, now husband, and my three children lived off of the famous bags of Noodles (15 for a dollar on sale at the time -- any real tech knows what I'm talking about LOL).

No silver spoons here just a lot of hard work and the willingness to give up on silly things like sleep in an effort to make it happen. We reg'd the domain name in Jan and didn't get that first 'real client' until October. After October things started to pick up for us but prior to that it was tough.

Terra and I slept opposite shifts to uphold the 24 hour watch even when we had only a few clients. The first time we tried to leave work together our server went down -- yikes! So we remained faithful to the company (meaning treating it like a newborn where one parent was on watch at all times!) a while longer until we were finally able to earn enough to afford to hire some help ...

...and as those who know us know... we finally got married... which we accomplished during a half hour lunch break ... Didn't need much more than that and couldn't afford more anyway.

Someday we hope to have a honeymoon. We've never been away from work together for more than 20 hours since 1998. Some find it insane others inspirational. For us it's just a way of life in hopes of accomplishing what needs to be accomplished so we can actually take that thing they call a vacation (though we'll call it a honeymoon hehe). Mind you I think the main thing stopping us now is just that we need to train ourselves that it is ok to be away for a while (with beepers, cell phones, and laptops of course lol).

I recently posted a pic of the team and our families on our message forums. I'm not sure if it's ok to post them here since the company sign is behind us but if you search our forums for "Extremely rare photos" you'll find them ;) I didn't get a pic of the steak dinner :bawling:

Long, Long, LONG, story short... we had to start from "humble beginnings" and are still working at it with a great deal of pride ;)

Annette hit the nail on the head though... just treat them right.

Deb,

Hello friend... I was really impressed with your story, however had read it before in different threads. But always it's something new for me and more interesting.

As a friend mentioned, we heard good stuff about you, your husband and finally your company.

Myself I wish you lots of lucks.

PS: All the newbie hosts should read your threads and realize that since you are not willing, you wont get it. Once you have willing, you'll work 24/h and finally could be something after 2-3 years.

As FutureQuest.net made it true.

Forza FQ

Deb, that's wild. You guys need a honeymoon. It looks like you have a big enough staff now, you should risk it. :)

We originally did domain reservations (with email and URL forwarding). We had customers lined up before we started offering hosting who had inquired about the extra service.

Now adays, domain reservation services are offered for free from the registrars. We stopped offering the domain reservation service back in 1998 (when register.com offered it for free) and we lose a lot of the existing customers each year, but we are still providing service for a few of them (71). I find it amazing how many people still use the service.

Our first real client found us through Google (back when we had a decent placement!, in 1999). We will never forget the excitement of landing that first customer...

I also second Annette's point: Treat 'em Right.

eyow, I pound that point home with my employees every day: It's never just one customer you are dealing with. A happy customer will tell 10 of her / his friends about how great your company is. An unhappy customer will tell 10 of his / her friends about how much your company sucks.

BTW, Annette and Deb are two of the most upstanding hosts that post in this forum.

And Annette: I never publicly thanked you for helping us out with your advice last year. Annette took time out of her busy life to provide us advice on issues that she had already conquered. Host to host. Ladies and gentleman, that is a class act. You are awesome and Thank You.

A happy customer will tell 10 of her / his friends about how great your company is. An unhappy customer will tell 10 of his / her friends about how much your company sucks.

It might be safe to change the ratio a little. A happy customer might tell 5-10, while an unhappy customer probably tells 15-20+ --- or tries to broadcast to the world on WHT, etc.

The point is, an unhappy customer should be considered more of a liability than a happy customer is an asset. Accumulate assets and minimize liabilites. ;)

yjack

Our first client was 31-12-01. The account came through about 15 minutes to midnight [aussie time]. I was so excited that I forgot all about the new years eve thing. I setup the account [shaking with such excitement] and then looked at the clock and it said 12:13am. I'm too old for new years eve parties anyway. :blush:

Wow Deb,

Your story is wonderful, so very inspirational.

I think my first client found us through a forum board, and is still with us. I think I can relate to AussieBob in the shaking aspect. It was pretty exciting getting that first client.

Thanks to all who have shared there stories thus far. They are all very inspirational. We have our first client a local loan processor, but I'd be happy and nervous to get the first internet based client :)

We're starting locally because at this moment there is no WAY we can compete with the internet crowd (anyone have any hints on how to offer prices so LOW? :) ) But we are doing some banner impressions and getting listed in last place on Google *g* just to build awareness. But I would someday like to join the fine ranks of the people who have posted here. That would be excitement enough for me to be able to post "our first (net) client". :D

Our first client came to us in June 2001, within 3 days of opening.

We did not pay for any advertising or anything. We just got listed in lots of Hosting Directories, which I tihnk is where he came from.

And yes, he's still with us now and he pays yearly :D

I think from the sorts of people that this forum attracts you'll find the majority of people started very low.

The guys who got $10m VC and built a data centre with no customers backing them up generally won't browse around the forums. :)

Originally posted by Coran
And Annette: I never publicly thanked you [snip]

You're most welcome, and I'm very happy things have worked out well for you. Information is power, right? :D

Originally posted by alohahosts
I think I can relate to AussieBob in the shaking aspect. It was pretty exciting getting that first client.
I still get a buzz in setting up new accounts. I don't shake now, but the thrill is still there. :D:agree:

First customer? Wow... the account was created with a fairly high amount of dread, because we realized that now we actually had to start working.

I still get excited with each new customer, especially since opening up my own hosting company completely seperate from the one I originally started with partners. There's something amazing about doing it all by yourself.

Every time I hear that "KA-CHING" sound on my computer, I come running. (Am I the only one who has a special sound that plays when certain emails arrive?)

heh.

:stickout

I've only been here for a lil bit, but let me just say how pleased i am to be able to read this forum! (this one, in particular). Personally, i used to be a part of a hosting biz... i won't share details, but the care for clients was just poor. hence why i started my own hosting, only to completely flip that focus. It's starting back all over again (like any of you care ;)), but i know it's going to be done right.

But yes.. that's the most thrilling thing in the world.. it's NOT just having someone that's been around for a long time, but HAVING that person later say "hey, i appreciate what you all do.. keep it going" that makes **my** day. :)

Our first client was a friend of a friend who we also made a website for.
After that i think it was about a month until we got our first real stranger............we had other clients who were friends in the mean time
I still get excited each time i get a new customer as i went solo and only one person actually had any faith that i could make it work.
In fact iam one of the younger hosts on here (over 18 tho) and still my parents seem to think i am playing a game, they don't even know what my business is called!!

very cool tazd9t9!

Am I the only one who has a special sound that plays when certain emails arrive?) We've a wav that says "Excellent...!" in a sort of maniacal tone (not Mr. Burns from the Simpsons..but something quite close) and still my parents seem to think i am playing a game, they don't even know what my business is called!! Mine have no computer skills whatsoever and being on the Internet is still just a fable to them, no matter how hard I try. Yet they still believe I "play on my computer and people send me money" while mumbling to friends that I don't have a real job. Go Figure.

I recently started charging my parents whenever I help them out with a computer problem... now they understand that it really IS possible to make money on the net.

haha. just kidding.. I actually did send them an invoice, but it was just a joke.

my parents seem to be on a nasty streak atm, so not only do they go on about how i do nothing and have no job...........i felt ill 2day and asked my dad if he could walk 2 the end of the road and pay some cheques in for me. I got told to do it myself an then they wonder why im not all sweetness and light with them !

My first hosting client found me a few hours after I went live and must have found me on page 33 of some online list of hosting sites, he made a Medal of honor fan site and was a great first customer! I even helped him install PHP Nuke :)

What an extremely pleasant thread - such a refreshing change from some of the rubbish on this board recently.

First Client - strewth almost forgotton is was a fair while ago (around '95 or '96 i think). We didn't really do much hosting at first - basically our own site on another guys server and a couple of others - and we didn't actually call it hosting back then.... "Internet Service Provision" - LOL. Earliest i can find on archive.org is '96 - http://web.archive.org/web/19961230134440/http://www.waterside-press.co.uk/ - click on Internet Services.
I was working for a printing company at the time and eventually i managed to pursuade the boss to let me buy a 200MHz Dual Pentium Pro which i stuck under my office desk and put a webserver on (IIS3 on NT) on the end of a 64k leased line. (http://web.archive.org/web/19970129181421/http://www.waterside-press.co.uk/ - click on 'contact mark castle' and scroll to 'Current Projects'). I can remember most people saying "No way you can't host websites on NT", but i thought i'll show ya. We got the first real client in 1996 who continued as a client until he setup his own hosting business with his own connections etc in 2000. I remember when we employed our first tech guy and at the same time we got a client that needed IIS4 (we were still running 3) so we had to set it up on the employees albiet quite powerful desktop box. Worked well but didn't perform too hotly when he had photoshop open - LOL. By this time also demand for hosting was pretty clear and we'd setup another company for it (http://web.archive.org/web/19981212032824/http://www.sksl.com/) - we had some nice clients at the time - HP, Saatchi & Saatchi, News International and others. I also remember that we kept on adding more and more expensive hosting plans thinking clients would never go for them but someone always did so we've have to come up with an even bigger one. Later on, and by the time we were doing clustered dedicateds....in March 2000 - someone paid £1m for 10% equity valuing my personal stake quite nicely (http://web.archive.org/web/20010418213826/www.sharedknowledge.net/news/default.asp?item=20). Unfortunately we didn't sell out when Integra offered us £8m - doh! (Integra were later bought by Genuity who recently pulled the plug - http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/26707.html). It was all going nicely until one of the partners became greedy and wanted 100% of the company and assets - and managed to engineer a situation where he was able to do so.
Anyhow - i was ousted in Oct'01 and the best guys were disgusted at what had happened and resigned. The biggest clients wanted to leave as soon as they heard and some practically begged us to set up a new company - which we did and it is now going from strength to strength - basically because of the customer service. Sorry - that last bit sounds like advertising - it isn't meant to be - i just believe very highly in keeping clients happier than they could possibly be. We make mistakes, sure, but do our utmost to make up for them and learn from them.
So far with the new company we have not advertised and don't intend to as we just want good solid growth but not too fast. Anyhow THE best advertising is word of mouth IMHO. We still go the extra mile with new clients just like in the old days and it really does make all the difference and we certainly still get a kick out of signing new clients up.
We'll thats the summarised version of my hosting history - sorry perhaps too much information for the thread. Not quite from such difficult beginnings as Deb, but still, quite an adventure. Rags to Riches to Rags and with more hard work, hopefully to back Riches again - LOL.

What a great tool archive.org is - i would never have remembered all the dates!

Cheers

Woo-Hoo I would like everyone to know we got our first client 2 days after going live and paying about $50 in advertising cost :) I am extremly happy as we also have other clients signing up as well.

Our first client was a little bit of a pain, and lots of intrepidation as it was our first, and we can now actually call ourselves a business :)

Still looking for other clients we had 3 people sign up so far at about the same cost for advertising. It is so thrilling to actually get the first client. And we 'bend over backwards' to try to make the first few (maybe first 50) happy as we know a strong base will allow for more clients (word of mouth)

Originally posted by eyow
Woo-Hoo I would like everyone to know we got our first client 2 days after going live and paying about $50 in advertising cost :) I am extremly happy as we also have other clients signing up as well.

Well let me be the first to congratulate you :D

Our first client was a little bit of a pain, and lots of intrepidation as it was our first, and we can now actually call ourselves a business :)

Ssssh - public forum. Don't call them a pain LOL - i am sure you didn't mean it like that.

Still looking for other clients we had 3 people sign up so far at about the same cost for advertising. It is so thrilling to actually get the first client. And we 'bend over backwards' to try to make the first few (maybe first 50) happy as we know a strong base will allow for more clients (word of mouth)
Even better - go for making the first 5000 happy. Heck - make that 50,000.

Cheers

Originally posted by markcastle

Well let me be the first to congratulate you :D


Thank you :beer:


Ssssh - public forum. Don't call them a pain LOL - i am sure you didn't mean it like that.

Err...not 'pain' but very picky and very verbose :erm:


Even better - go for making the first 5000 happy. Heck - make that 50,000.

Good advice! it is a daunting trail still but one I look forward to making with my business partner :)

Great post markcastle. I was glued to my seat. We've been in business since Dec 01 and I look forward to the time when I can write something like that, except for the bit about you losing all the $$$$$. lol. :D

LOL Bob - Gee you should read the Full and Uncensored version!! Unfortunately not for public consumption.

Originally posted by markcastle
LOL Bob - Gee you should read the Full and Uncensored version!! Unfortunately not for public consumption.

OOOH OOOH I want to read it let me read it please! :D

Originally posted by eyow
OOOH OOOH I want to read it let me read it please! :D
Yeah :D we wanna know :D

I remember that my first client sent me a check for $50 which bounced back later on - but it was a great feeling :)

that was in 1995..

I bet you quickly got the next $50 in though !