Hello WHT'ler,
first of all, thank you for taking the time and reading this. I hope that someone is able to help me. And all help/advice etc. is very much appreciated.
I am looking for advice and suggestions in regards of web hosting and some services i'd like to offer.
Does anyone know how what it would take to setup a service like bandzoogle.com or hostbaby.com, how this might work and if there is a certain software that could be made to work the same? Important are those features/addons they offer which you can switch on or off and maybe the possibility to create and add new templates. I am just looking for ideas on how to build a similar service which i can combine with custom design and hosting plans.
Another question i have is about the hosting plan i should go for. As i am planning to offer those custom services mainly locally and nationwide would a reseller account be enough or should i go for a dedicated server and what would be good specs to start with?
If anyone can give me some advice would be great. :-)
Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Thorsten

Hello WHT'ler,Hi!
first of all, thank you for taking the time and reading this. I hope that someone is able to help me. And all help/advice etc. is very much appreciated.No problem.
I am looking for advice and suggestions in regards of web hosting and some services i'd like to offer.So I take it you want to be a web host of your own? Keep in mind this is a *lot* of work and isn't the "register a domain and set up hosting and sit back and enjoy the profits" type of thing that most people think it is.
Does anyone know how what it would take to setup a service like bandzoogle.com or hostbaby.com, how this might work and if there is a certain software that could be made to work the same?Any billing/support system should be able to do what you need to do (I made a cursory look over those sites you listed). WHMCS is the best in my experience (http://www.whmcs.com/).
Important are those features/addons they offer which you can switch on or off and maybe the possibility to create and add new templates. I am just looking for ideas on how to build a similar service which i can combine with custom design and hosting plans.It's doable but it's a cut-throat industry and the market is already over-saturated.
Another question i have is about the hosting plan i should go for. As i am planning to offer those custom services mainly locally and nationwide would a reseller account be enough or should i go for a dedicated server and what would be good specs to start with?I would start out with a reseller as a dedicated server would certainly be overkill and a waste of money up front. Plus you can always upgrade/transfer later.
If anyone can give me some advice would be great. :-)I tried :)
Thanks in advance.Your certainly welcome!

As i am planning to offer those custom services mainly locally and nationwide would a reseller account be enough or should i go for a dedicated server and what would be good specs to start with?
how this might work and if there is a certain software that could be made to work the same? There are various site builders out there that might to the trick, having ready to use templates too. Some of the "addons" I've seen at the host you mentioned are included in some control panels.
You may be able to pull this off with the use of a reseller account, but if you want a maximum degree of flexibility, you will need a dedicated server.
I'm moving this thread to the Running a Web Hosting Business forum.

Hi MikeDVB,
thanks for the quick reply. :-)
I am aware about the amount of work it takes. I am doing a bit of freelance work already and i do have a few clients already who host on my current reseller account as well. I just want to take the "next step". Oh .. and i am certainly not thinking about the big profits coming in. Just saying this, so that i won;t give the wrong impression. :-)
WHMCS can do this? Didn't know that. That's my major problem anyway. I was looking at it already before at it would come with the new hosting company I am going for but my English isn't that good when it comes to topic related (in this case hosting & the possibilities of WHMCS) talking and understanding.
Yeah i have seen a couple companies offering websites & hosting via sidebuilder. The only thing I've seen are those addons/modules that i.e. hostbaby.com offers. I haven't seen many companies offering that. Just the basic sitebuilder thingy. As i want to go into a niche i am not too worried about the saturation as this would only be 1 part of what i'd like to offer.
Ok. I was thinking about that but wasn't sure if it woudl work with a reseller.
Thank you very Mike. Much appreciated! :-)
Best regards,
Thorsten

Hi ldcdc,
thanks for the advice. :-)
Those pre-set site builder templates are nice but it would be great to be able to add templates myself. I did those demos of a few site builders but it seems that none of them had those addons/modules like "Newsletter", "Event Calendar", "MP3 or FLV Streaming" etc.. I'm wondering what hostbaby.com uses. But it must be some sort of a site builder software? Or?
Well, it could be that I'll be able to share a dedicated server with a friend of mine. Would cut the costs in half as well.
Thanks for your help and moving it to the right forum. Sorry about that. :-)
Best regards,
Thorsten

Hi Thorsten,
I'm the founder of Bandzoogle (and fan of WHT). The band site builder space is a lot more crowded and complex than you may think. Our members demand stuff like selling MP3s, mailing lists, streaming audio, widgets, forums, etc. A few years ago, competing at the level of features that HB offers would be an option, but the landscape is pretty different now.

I am just really curious about what kind of software you use (or have used in the past) and if those site builders can be customized for a similar service. You wouldn't tell me, would you? :-)
As I said, I only want to have it as an additional service to my main ones and run it more or less locally.
Best regards,
Thorsten