I am the general manager of http://www.lexton.net and i recently have come apon alot of cool deals for stuff, but I have no way of paying for it since I offer free web hosting.

can anyone post me some ideas on how i can get back from offering free web hosting? Or perhaps where i can find a sponsor?

Incase you need it, i get APP. 10 million pageviews to my network monthly, i was thinking popups, but don't members like dislike those or somethin?

NetZero had the same problem that you have. I am pretty sure that most of the people on this site don't feal extatically friendly and generous towards the companies that offer free hosting. These type of companies have driven a lot of other companies into the ground. They have definately driven down the profitability of the industry.Personally, I think it's a big world out there, and to each their own. I am certain you are aware of all of this...
Anyways, I will make the same suggestion to you that they got.... ASP!!! If you don't make $$ on the bandwidth, you have to make $$ somewhere. Sell complete solutions, hardware, services, rackspace, design,....
P.S.
Tony, it's seems like you're a nice good-hearted fella. (I read one of your other posts where you were being the Knight in shining armor, very admirable.) I also took a look at your site to see if there was any more solid suggestions I could make for you. The bottom line is, you are working awful hard, for an awful little bit. It takes money to make money. You are going to have to start getting some compensation for your skills, bubba. In some way, shape, or form.

[Edited by IPC PRO on 04-13-2001 at 04:24 PM]

[b]Pay per service![b/]

You must realize that the every thing for free days (ad sponsored) of internet are over. There is no such thing as free! You have few options.
1- Charge them a few dollars per month and more if they run a large site.
2- add pop up banners
3- add a search box on top of their pages.

Kickster,
By "Pay for Services", I meant tech support, web site developement, security issues, etc/b!

thank you guys, alot of good ideas popping up ;)

Just looked at http://www.lexton.net/free.html - wow, looks really generous for a free service.

Low cost hosting's a really crowded field - tough to distinguish yourself. Retaining some free services is one way to do this.

I can't tell from lexton.net what audience you're reaching - what characterizes those 10 mil pageviews?

You would want to distinguish yourself from other free hosts by more than storage and bandwidth largesse. Being known as especially good for X type of sites would help.

Seems that you have a good base, and lots of room to define your brand. Best wishes for your success.

Hi,
Back to the origanl question...

I would much rather go to a site with a banner on top, or top and bottom than one with a pop up.

I hate pop ups.

Just my 2 cents.

Tim L