Hi guys, been a while since I've been here, but my client's needs have brought me back to the idea of offering hosting.
Clients need reliable yet affordable hosting. I plan to give it to them, but tar targeting strictly small business owners. But I need to make this a profitable venture for me in order to give it any amount of my time. I have done a few spreadsheets on projections for clients. I have set a goal of 20 new clients a month at around $20/mo average. Even this is not a large profit, but I am also offering other services to enhance their online presence.
My question is, what have you found to be a good source of decent clients. Do you do only word of mouth referrals or do you advertise locally and if so where.

If you're targeting small business owners, local is the best way to start off.

I find advertising more helpful. Advertise is some of your local Russian newspapers. It's cheap, and it got me 9 clients in a month. That's not the only thing you can do though, if you have a goal of 20 clients per month you will need to invest a lot of money.

You could try ringing local companys from a local phone book and that could work i got a few clients doing this.

I knew quite a lot of people when I started my business, friends, associates and acquaintances, and just asked around and asked them to ask around. Word of mouth is pretty much how I started and how I keep getting customers.
I prefer to let them come to me and decide for themselves. It's not a quick process, but if you have patience, it will pay off if you know the right people.

Well what I've experienced, seen, and read over and over is, word of mouth it going to be one of the major ways to build your client base.
One thing that could help is making sure your service/support superb as that will and can go a long way.
Of course, as some said above, advertising to local businesses around you will help as well. Most like doing business with someone local than afar, and some you'll find out will want a website but have no idea how to create, or where to start. So I'd advise you to maybe offer to do the website for them, as more than likely, once you create it, that will be it, as most just want a website just to have one, and so people can go online to maybe view their products, location, and contact info.
As far as the competition, they probably wont care as long as the site stays online and there is no downtime, so it's more less a win win game.

I would say the best advertising is word of mouth. That has been a key factor for us. Other then that you can try some adsence or adsdaq. It really depends what type of clients your trying to attract, find yourself a nice little niche market and go to town then the word will spread from there (given you provide quality service)

I always read about start offering to local companies, but what if you just offer web hosting not design services? and I don't want to focus in websites, just web hosting? It's really difficult to explain what domain it's, etc.

I always read about start offering to local companies, but what if you just offer web hosting not design services? and I don't want to focus in websites, just web hosting? It's really difficult to explain what domain it's, etc.
What you could simply do is form a partnership with someone who does. Simply get someone to create the site, and you host it. Of course this is only if you run into a situation like that where someone requests a design to be made as well.

uuf! a lot of troubles comes in my mind reading that! no thanks, just hosting ;)

uuf! a lot of troubles comes in my mind reading that! no thanks, just hosting ;)
Forming partnerships causes problems?
It really mostly depends on the reliability/quality of the company/person you are partnering with. It's best to research the company, call the company etc. before hand to get a general idea.
But if you simply just want to turn down the deal completely since it's not what you offer, there's nothing wrong with that either. :agree:

Did you ever try what you say?

Did you ever try what you say?
Yes, I have had many partners throughout my experience in the web hosting industry, and quite frankly, from my experience and researching, it's quite hard to make it in most industries just all by yourself.
What I mean by that is, not that you cannot start and run a company fully solo (sole proprietor), but to actually provide all the services alone. Such as, web servers, you could consider your provider a partner, or simply someone with common interest to achieve a goal etc. It's in most cases, not all, easier to achieve your goals when you network with others and swap ideas, make trades, create special offers for one another etc.
:)

So, I didn't found the perfect partner yet! the local design market here it's really kaotic! a lot of small companies doing all, from sell pcs to websites, antivirus, etc, No one it's specialized in just one thing.

So, I didn't found the perfect partner yet! the local design market here it's really kaotic! a lot of small companies doing all, from sell pcs to websites, antivirus, etc, No one it's specialized in just one thing.
Exactly, so I'm pretty sure those small companies "doing it all" either are expanding their services by their own income or forming partnerships with other companies so they can provide those extra services to create interest in the company.
Just keep doing what works for you as well as your company/targeted audience. :agree:

There's no big trick to finding clients. Find out what your target market it, walk a day in their shoes, put your advertisements where they will see them.
If that's the local paper, Google, forums, direct mailing, conferences, etc... that's where you need to advertise.
Word of mouth is certainly the best form of advertising out there but I would never rely on it alone (and especially not at the start).
uuf! a lot of troubles comes in my mind reading that! no thanks, just hosting ;)
And to hit back on the target market I hope yours doesn't require web design. If small business is who you want to sell hosting to then I'd certainly figure out a way to offer design / SEO services to go with it. If you're targeting web developers on the other hand, well you can forgo the design services and instead focus on giving them a great development experience.

Wow, nice to see such an active community.
I plan on doing mostly word of mouth at first until I break even, then I will get more serious when I see the justification for spending advertising dollars.
I plan on offering top notch service to small business owners who want to make monthly to weekly changes to their web presence without paying ridiculous charges as well as allow them to make more major changes like design and development through a small team of trusted talent.
Russian newspaper though, seriously. Wouldn't that attract customers I couldn't service well, like in that I can't speak their language? Or perhaps you are Rusky.
PS - as I type this quick reply I see a banner ad on this site that has bold "professional web hosting" with 750GB space and 10,000GB transfer plus a free domain for $4.95/mo. What a deal! Shouldn't there be a policy on this site on advertising only honest companies? sheeeesh.
PS2 - @publosnet, if you are only offering hosting then you are just like 1000 little startups out there that won't get far. You need to differentiate your services from the rest. I focus on small business owners and offer a complete set of services to manage their online presence like marketing, design, and development. Find your niche.

There's no big trick to finding clients. Find out what your target market it, walk a day in their shoes, put your advertisements where they will see them.
This is a sound advise. Would work on starters and small ones.
Word of mouth is certainly the best form of advertising out there but I would never rely on it alone (and especially not at the start).
Soooo true! Word of mouth only works when you have already built your name and credibility in your niche or industry.
... focus on small business owners and offer a complete set of services to manage their online presence like marketing, design, and development. Find your niche.
Another sound advise imho. ;)

One marketing strategy is to obtain a targeted list of newly formed businesses, normally at 10 cents per business - then direct mail them an offer and follow up with a phone call (provided there is a phone number). I used to purchase a weekly list that averaged just under 200 businesses. Personalize your offer with your picture, and sign it in blue ink. With each new client, immediately ask for referrals and testimonials.
Cannot overemphasize the value of networking, especially in this industry.

I agree with Steve, that really is a great way to get started.
Networking and cost effective marketing is really the key to becoming successful.
Nothing every comes easy in life.

Word-of-mouth advertising is quite helpful. Be the best (best support, etc.), and know that people will talk about you.
Otherwise, advertising can be quite helpful - in almost any venue, just depending on the results you obtain for the money you spend.
-mike

One marketing strategy is to obtain a targeted list of newly formed businesses, normally at 10 cents per business - then direct mail them an offer and follow up with a phone call (provided there is a phone number). I used to purchase a weekly list that averaged just under 200 businesses. Personalize your offer with your picture, and sign it in blue ink. With each new client, immediately ask for referrals and testimonials.
Cannot overemphasize the value of networking, especially in this industry.
That right there is some quality advice. I've also suggested in the path going as far as to make a short 4 page or so "flyer" that you mail tailored to each business.
It doesn't have to be a written history of the business, but use their name, speak about their industry specifically, and explain why your services will make them specifically money.

Word of mouth is the best advertising method. If you give high quality service and support for your customers they will refer you to their friends and business associates, on that way you got more leads and customers.