I was just curious as to how many people in the WHT actually make a living from selling internet services, such as Hosting/Servers etc.

I myself do not make a living, or anywhere close to it. Would be nice to get up to that level though.

Yes, I make a good living from it. :)

My first piece of advice, based on your signature of "Cheap UK Shared + Reseller Packages!", is to consider targeting a market that is more concerned about something else besides "cheap".

Otherwise, you are always going to be competing on price, and you will always lose.

Yes, I make a good living from it. :)

My first piece of advice, based on your signature of "Cheap UK Shared + Reseller Packages!", is to consider targeting a market that is more concerned about something else besides "cheap".

Otherwise, you are always going to be competing on price, and you will always lose.
Not only that, but when you target a cheap audience, they expect a lot for their money.

You can always expect more tickets from them.

Yes, I make a good living from it. :)

My first piece of advice, based on your signature of "Cheap UK Shared + Reseller Packages!", is to consider targeting a market that is more concerned about something else besides "cheap".

Otherwise, you are always going to be competing on price, and you will always lose.
Advised noted, action taken. Thanks alot! :)

Back when I did shared hosting the money was ok but it wasn't as profitable as kernels and other system administration.

I've been making a living at it since around 1999, when I was finally able to quit my "real" job. Luckily, my husband gets health insurance at his job or we'd go broke. :P

--Tina

I'm close to that now, I would say pretty much making a living, however not able to afford that luxury boat yet!
Local markets is my key.

I quit my job since 2000 and focus on my business.

Yes, my job can't beat what I am earning from the business now.

I thank God for everything :-)

I make a fair bit. :)

Been making a living from hosting since mid 2002, and started hosting in 2001. It's a hard slog building up a client base these days, but there's still good rewards there for those who push through.

Been making a living from hosting since mid 2002, and started hosting in 2001. It's a hard slog building up a client base these days, but there's still good rewards there for those who push through.

There most certainly are great rewards :)
I've been making a living at it full-time since early 2006, prior to that handling support for a wage. Web hosting offers an awful lot of freedom with an awful lot of pitfalls.

Great industry nonetheless.

Not making a living off of my company yet, but getting closer to it

Im not making a living off of my business either but getting there.

Not everyone wants the hosting business as a full time job. You can make some pretty good money just doing it part time and keeping your other job or doing both part time.

Now with that said I do nto mean answer support tickets twice a day and take care of issues when you get home from work or before you go.

what I mean is some just outsource more than others so they can do both.

Congratulations to anyone who has/is making a living from selling Internet Services. The non geeks of the world are still amazed many of us pay the bills by sitting at our computers in our underwear (lol, some times!).

I've been paying my way through life using solely the internet since my final year of High School. I had a very (VERY) supportive father in terms of business advice, guidance, tips, etc. He's now my business partner!

Tina, not to go off topic but can't you buy into Insurance? My wife, myself, my daughter and my younger sister are all covered by the same insurance policy that we pay roughly $300-400 a month for.

Best of luck to everyone on here! :agree:

Web hosting offers an awful lot of freedom with an awful lot of pitfalls.
Yeah, there's some downside too, but mostly upside. I've never had a "job", and always been self employed. I would like to open a coffee shop down the track though. I could easily manage my hosting businesses from the coffee shop. No worries at all. :cool:

I could easily manage my hosting businesses from the coffee shop. No worries at all. :cool:

We strategically located our office within a block from 5 coffee shops - one of which is probably close enough to pick up our wireless LAN (never tried though) :)

I've been making a living at it for a few years. Our situation is slightly different in that we produce a specialized software product and offer it only via the SaaS model.. so we're not a traditional web hosting company. I think that helps because we have little competition and that means high profit margins.

Business partner and I both make a living off it :)

Wasn't an easy job, but loving every minute of it.

Not earning much yet from the hosting alone. Honestly speaking my server bills for the client hosting servers are still higher than money i make from them.

But still trying to build up a "quality" service in a country where clinets are mainly running for "cheap" solutions. Lets see where it takes me.

Apart from that, i earn a decent (thanks to God) from my portals/blogs/apps. And that allows me to cover up the "loss from the hosting biz" lol

I can afford to buy a bag os skittles once a month... But I just started a couple months ago. I am targetting local markets.

Tina, not to go off topic but can't you buy into Insurance? My wife, myself, my daughter and my younger sister are all covered by the same insurance policy that we pay roughly $300-400 a month for.



Not all insurance is as affordable as this - some other countries that would barely cover one person.

I've also been in the same boat as Mekhu - working for companies that are just online, creating my own which are just online - it's been great!

Not all insurance is as affordable as this - some other countries that would barely cover one person.

I've also been in the same boat as Mekhu - working for companies that are just online, creating my own which are just online - it's been great!

Thank Jebus I live in Canada! :D

I thought canada had a public health service like the UK?

I don't make a living off it, my car alone costs more than what hosting would give me but I hope to change that in the future. I mainly use it to fund my flight training.

I agree with most thats been said and would add a couple of 'related' comments.

Pick your market[the one you can best serve] and stay with it.

Let the 'tone' of your site be in tune with, not just your business but also your prospective clients.

As you are UK, I believe you need to provide a geographical address on your site.
Your refer to yourself as a company, might be better to say business, otherwise prospective clients, jump the gun, think your a ltd. company I cry blue murder when they find out your not..

As far as the 'pure money side' of it goes, I was taught by my 'business guru',
that you will never make money working for yourself.
However for me, I've been able to 'adjust my business' to fit in with my rather changing/confusing domestic situation.
If you just want money, stay with a 'real job' work bloody hard 9 - 5 and sell off any/all the family - wife, parents, children etc. If you realy can't sell them, give them away.

I've been making a living at it since around 1999, when I was finally able to quit my "real" job. Luckily, my husband gets health insurance at his job or we'd go broke. :P

--Tina
Sell your Hubby ! or at least find out what he's worth :cool:

Yeah, there's some downside too, but mostly upside. I've never had a "job", and always been self employed. I would like to open a coffee shop down the track though. I could easily manage my hosting businesses from the coffee shop. No worries at all. :cool:
Now you've got my brain ticking, if you could deliver coffee via the internet !
You could make some very serious money !

Tina, not to go off topic but can't you buy into Insurance? My wife, myself, my daughter and my younger sister are all covered by the same insurance policy that we pay roughly $300-400 a month for.



Yeah, we pay about $600 a month through my husband's job. They take it out of his paycheck. If I were to try to purchase insurance on my own, outside of a group plan, it would cost me several thousand dollars per month...and wouldn't cover nearly the amount of things my husband's policy covers.

--Tina

A living can be made from hosting providing you do some research first. Providing you don't try to compete with those companies which oversell and stick to one thing then you should be able to make a living after some hard work and alot of sweat.:cool:

Sell your Hubby ! or at least find out what he's worth :cool:


$150,000 in life insurance...and don't think I haven't thought about it! :D

--Tina

I've been paying my way through life using solely the internet since my final year of High School. I had a very (VERY) supportive father in terms of business advice, guidance, tips, etc. He's now my business partner!

I would be lying if I said my story was nothing like yours.

My own story:

In 2002, I made my first post here (September'ish), looking for work, willing to trade admin skills for server. I was still working a dead end city job @ the time, didn't really plan on anything major coming out of the offer. Boy, was I wrong!

That year, for my birthday, I gave myself a present, I quit my job. I walked in, handed the keys to my boss, said "I'm done" and left. That's how quickly I started "making a living" off the industry, and I don't even host (well, I do now, just free stuff).

5+ years later, I haven't looked back.

Do I make a killing? No, but I make enough to hang in there and survive, every month. Some months better than others, but at the end of the month (or beginning), I'm usually pretty damn happy with how things are going.

Sales is sales, sometimes you gotta dig your heals in there and go at it, but if you put the effort in, I think you'll find it'll pay off in the end.

One of the hardest things to do on my birthday was call my dad and say "Hey, I quit my job". Today, he's more than proud of that, because I am actually here and still going at this, making a living at it over 5 years later.

Hello,

I start webhosting business when I was 19 years old with my partners. At that time, we does not even have salary to survive.

But after 1 year of operation, we can see that our servers began to 'fruit'. Actually, I ventured into hosting solely because I want to marry early :) Man needs money to propose his wife.

Of course, after 5 years in the business, I and my partners can make a living with hosting.

Thank you,

I'm making a living from it. However, I am not sure if "life" is the right word to describe this situation I'm in :(

I'm making a living from it. However, I am not sure if "life" is the right word to describe this situation I'm in :(
Oh many of us have been / are where you are, you know how much the cheapest loaf of bread is, and where you can buy it at 03.55.

Your Quest it to reach Camelot, there, you will find no change, but the smiles are bigger, the sun a little brighter,and the sky a little blue er. :cool:

Oh many of us have been / are where you are, you know how much the cheapest loaf of bread is, and where you can buy it at 03.55.

Your Quest it to reach Camelot, there, you will find no change, but the smiles are bigger, the sun a little brighter,and the sky a little blue er. :cool:

What did you smoke ? I want the same stuff...

What did you smoke ? I want the same stuff...
No Wacky Backy, just 50 plus years to see the ups & downs of life.

I guess I"m one of the few on here that are making a living from what I do. I've actually been in the hosting world since '94, but comitted full time since 2000. At this time myself and staff (5 people) all survive 100% on what the hosting business generates.

It's a tough business, but any self owned business is a tough business.

We get some very good clients from here and some of then have been with us for more than 4 years..
the good thing is more accessability and for both suppliers and customers in here..
cheers

Yes, you can make a living. I've been doing it since 2002.
Don't expect it to come overnight though, and be ready to put in some sweat and tears.

I am making a living on hosting, after 1 year or so. I think getting the first 200+ customers is the hardest part. I too, quit my job to start an online solution business. I am based in Singapore. Hosting make up 30% of my annual revenue now. On a bad month, I am glad that web design and other services bring in some money.

Glad to hear many people here are doing ok with hosting and I am not alone in this great adventure of life. Most importantly, we are happy what we are doing.

I set up my company next to the company registration office in Singapore. So everyday, I get to meet business owners who just registered their business with the government. These are high potential customers. That's how I got started.

After 1 year or so, my google natural ranking crawl from page 34 to page 3 in local search. That helps too. Now I run Google adwords, which bring in some more deals.

Hosting is a lot of hardwork, late night support, damage control when server down etc. Hard earned money, i must say. If you can hang on for 1 year with 200 customers, you should be able to make a living.

I set up my company next to the company registration office in Singapore. So everyday, I get to meet business owners who just registered their business with the government. These are high potential customers. That's how I got started.


I love that - You obviously have a good 'business mind'. - :cool: -

My boss makes a living, me, all 26 of our companies employee's, plus I love my job.

This business enables me to handle the family of 5, that includes my parents.

We started saving big bucks since 2006. Before that it used to get even up or it used to give us enough to handle the office / staff / pocket expense etc

Hi,

I'm living out of hosting since about 1 year and a half, bought an apartment (long therm credit though), a car (but I am now living in China, life is cheap here). We got an employee (part time), and have good partners involved doing the same business, with which we team work. Thinking about getting more employees...

It took YEARS to build both our hosting software (released in open source), the company image, the partners network, etc. We started in 2003, and it only started to be really rewarding last year. Lucky, after all these nights without sleep, or having double work at the start...

A big up to the French unemployments help! :)

Thomas

At the end of the day we have 2 people making a 'living' off of this(thanks to the local market ;) ) and another one that is half way there.

It hasn't been easy, but it is really rewarding to put yourself out there and make it actually work.

Hi Guys,

I quit my job early 2007 - I was sick of the place, I just couldn't focus on the company and was getting stick because we was getting to a size, where I needed to be around 12 hours a day - so I took the plunge - I wasn't really making a full living from it - but I had about £10k savings, as I had saved the extra money I had made. It was a risk yes, we lived of my savings for about 4 months and with the constant 24/7 work from my part it earned more than enough to pay the bills. Currently, I am making a good wage and have just bought our first house.

I've been making a decent living online since 2000.

Great to hear that Bionic is doing so well Richard.. how's things? Be good to hear from you soon.

I guess it is important for smaller hosting companies like us, try to find a niche market and compete with quality services other than price. My customers like my hosting service is because I go extra miles to understand their needs.

I always believe hosting companies should help each other too, like providing advice and help each other out when needed. After all, we are competing to make a living from our customers, not directly head to head.

How about we start a small link exchange here? Let's do a three way link so that we increase our ranking in Google?

I was making a living off of it for awhile, before I sold my business. As part of the sale contract, I was out of the web hosting game for 2 years, just recently got back into it with a partner and am slowly getting there again.

I am make the same $ from my hosting as I am from my current full time job, but I'm sticking with my job for the time being as I'm taking a new approach to things. My partner and a few people I 'employ' run things for me while I can't, though I spend 90% of my time at work running my hosting business :)

I can't make a living because i just started off from this. But one day, I hope I can do a living from my hosting biz income only.

So, did anyone start their buisness while still attending school? Or is it kind of impossible, or how about a reseller account...would that be possible to manage while still having to go to school 8hrs a day?

So, did anyone start their buisness while still attending school? Or is it kind of impossible, or how about a reseller account...would that be possible to manage while still having to go to school 8hrs a day?

Forget about it. For hosting, you HAVE to be there whenever there is some troubles with your customer's server, or when they need support. I just can't imagine having to wait 8 hours when all sites are down, even on a single server. We had a VERY bad experience with someone still in school doing collocation, we just ran away.

Also, no offense, but I'm quite tired of kids trying to play the role of a hosting company. This is simply not serious.

Thomas

^ Ouch, now now if the "kids" have a full staff or several administrators all with the proper knowledge. Then it could easily be done by a kid because in reality there would always be support.

And some are serious and willing to go lengths to make it work so lets not bad mouth everything coming in the door.

And i do not make a living off of it currently, all though i see it as a possible out come further down the road.

I currently make a living off of this. I started this company from a mere reseller account years ago.

Do not currently make a living out of my compagny since we registered it quite recently and still building up our product but we have our target niche with the Montréal's queer community I am quite sure to be able to build the perfect solution for the right community. :)

First compagny and I like it really! Cant wait to make a living out of it which we plan would be in about 2 years. :)

I make a living software/script dept.

Forget about it. For hosting, you HAVE to be there whenever there is some troubles with your customer's server, or when they need support. I just can't imagine having to wait 8 hours when all sites are down, even on a single server. We had a VERY bad experience with someone still in school doing collocation, we just ran away.
Brent from hostgator started when he was a student in school, so I wouldn't write off those types of hosts so easily.

^Thank you...

I've been making a living since Jan 1998 and I would not change anything for the world. I feel very lucky but that is not to say that it has always been easy. We have seen a great many ups and downs, you just have to stick to it and take the good with the bad. Plus we also receive insurance from my wife's job. My company does offer insurance to its employees but the cost for a family plan is like over $1k/mo. My biz pays 1/2 and the employee pays 1/2 so if I take it then the cost is 100% which is prob what Tina is talking about.

Brent from hostgator started when he was a student in school, so I wouldn't write off those types of hosts so easily.
Yes, but Liverpool Liam started while still wearing nappies :stickout:

Making a living from it since 2004.

Back then, it was a tough budgeting.

Well, now its okay. Not on the extreme luxury. But a little lighter on the budget side of things.