When you first started, how long did it take to get your first 100 customers?

I have seen a couple of people post stating that they were getting more then 50 a month at first but I wanted to get a realistic time frame with normal WHT advertising and other forum posts to get there.

I am also an experienced SEO and will be targeting a select group of customers. Of course this is a long term goal.

When you first started, how long did it take to get your first 100 customers?

I have seen a couple of people post stating that they were getting more then 50 a month at first but I wanted to get a realistic time frame with normal WHT advertising and other forum posts to get there.

I am also an experienced SEO and will be targeting a select group of customers. Of course this is a long term goal.

I didn't know about WHT when I first started. First week had about 80 customers, the second week we got a further 70. This was 5 years back when things were a little less competitive.. I would take that into consideration when estimating your customer sign up rates..

From what i have read here on WHT about new startups. Unless you have something special / a niche or run a massive advertising campaign it can take you months to get your first client.

Webhosting is not a get rich quick scheme, save yourself the headache if you are thinking this is the way to make a quick buck.

Great question, but better answered by hosts who have started in recent years. Years ago, there was far less competition, and you could literally sit around the phone and take inbound sales calls all day, everyday - not so anymore.

3 months to get my first client.

3 months to get my first client.

What type of marketing did you try? Nice looking site btw.

After two months is when clients started to come in.

First week had about 80 customers, the second week we got a further 70. How and where were you advertising (in general terms, things that you can share publicly)? 80 customers a week is quite a number of a completely new business.

Yeah, that is just insane..Would like to know where you were advertising as well lol

"Years ago, there was far less competition, and you could literally sit around the phone and take inbound sales calls all day, everyday - not so anymore."

I have to disagree a little bit, even 7+ years ago things were pretty damn competitive, especially on these forums. Took me about a week to get my first customer then, but overselling was also really really high and bandwidth did cost a lot more then, at least from what I have seen now.

We got our first 3 clients in less than 10 hours.

"Years ago, there was far less competition, and you could literally sit around the phone and take inbound sales calls all day, everyday - not so anymore."

I have to disagree a little bit, even 7+ years ago things were pretty damn competitive, especially on these forums. Took me about a week to get my first customer then, but overselling was also really really high and bandwidth did cost a lot more then, at least from what I have seen now.
Well, I was going back to late '99 and early 2000 - when reps around here were fighting to get placed on phone duty, instead of the other way around. LOL

It took us 6 months to reach 100 clients and we're still a relatively new company.

These things take time and it's dependent on the type of hosting you're selling as well. I'm sure if you posted on every forum $2/yr hosting you'd easily get 100 sign ups or more within a month. Now having lots of sign ups and it being profitable are another thing. It's really a snowball thing we get as many orders in a day as we used to get in a month. A year from now we'll probably be able to say the same thing.

When you first started, how long did it take to get your first 100 customers?

It depends how serious you are and how much time and money you invest in your business. If I had to guess, I would say that the majority of WHT hosts never reach 100 customers.

I didn't know about WHT when I first started. First week had about 80 customers, the second week we got a further 70. This was 5 years back when things were a little less competitive.. I would take that into consideration when estimating your customer sign up rates..

Those must of been good times, 80 customers your first week? That's amazing!

If I can remember it took me 7-8 months to get my first 100 customers.

Those must of been good times, 80 customers your first week? That's amazing!

If I can remember it took me 7-8 months to get my first 100 customers.

and now how many are you getting?

How and where were you advertising (in general terms, things that you can share publicly)? 80 customers a week is quite a number of a completely new business.

I had another project which was doing well. It had accumulated a loyal database of users which I sent a mailing list out.. The sign ups was a result of advertising on that project.

"Years ago, there was far less competition, and you could literally sit around the phone and take inbound sales calls all day, everyday - not so anymore."

I have to disagree a little bit, even 7+ years ago things were pretty damn competitive, especially on these forums. Took me about a week to get my first customer then, but overselling was also really really high and bandwidth did cost a lot more then, at least from what I have seen now.

They were competitive, but not nearly as much as now.. I remember back in those days, offering a shared plan for $6.95 for 1GB space and 100GB bandwidth was seen as ridiculous, now some consider it as expensive..

I had another project which was doing well. It had accumulated a loyal database of users which I sent a mailing list out.. The sign ups was a result of advertising on that project.



They were competitive, but not nearly as much as now.. I remember back in those days, offering a shared plan for $6.95 for 1GB space and 100GB bandwidth was seen as ridiculous, now some consider it as expensive..By the way, are you the only founder of IH? If not, did your partner helped out as well? If yes, mind telling us about his/her marketing/advertising areas kind of thing? Sorry if I'm long-winded...

By the way, are you the only founder of IH? If not, did your partner helped out as well? If yes, mind telling us about his/her marketing/advertising areas kind of thing? Sorry if I'm long-winded...

I started IH, partner joined a few years later. I handle the marketing/advertising/customer relations, partner co-ordinates support staff, makes the technical decision and the overall technical side of things..

I started IH, partner joined a few years later. I handle the marketing/advertising/customer relations, partner co-ordinates support staff, makes the technical decision and the overall technical side of things..Its pretty cool, another female entrepreneur.

Its pretty cool, another female entrepreneur.

I'm actually male, and by partner I'm referring to business partner! :eek:

I'm actually male, and by partner I'm referring to business partner! :eek:Sorry, I always thought you are a female... Rameen sounds like a female name to me... :rolleyes:

For those that are stating that it took several months to get your first few clients, were you getting traffic to your sites but not getting the conversions? Or did the initial marketing just take a while?

The sign ups was a result of advertising on that project. Ah, so you had an ace up your sleeve. :P

In any case, that's a good tip, getting the word out in some webmasters newsletter etc. Forums often send such to their members.

Can you provide any other great advertising sources except WHT?

Thnx.

The first startup I did back in 2005 did 0-200 customers in the first year. The market was saturated then, now it's unreal.

The first startup I did back in 2005 did 0-200 customers in the first year. The market was saturated then, now it's unreal.

Saturated....nooooooo I only saw a couple of companies selling hosting.

Saturated....nooooooo I only saw a couple of companies selling hosting. Make that "super high quality hosting" and you may not be that far from the truth. :)

The trouble these days is that everyone is a host. The web designer is a host, the webmaster that rents a dedicated server for a couple of his busier sites is a host, the kid who started his summer vacation is a host, the SEO specialist is a host etc. And their host is a host too. :D

The trouble these days is that everyone is a host. The web designer is a host, the webmaster that rents a dedicated server for a couple of his busier sites is a host, the kid who started his summer vacation is a host, the SEO specialist is a host etc. And their host is a host too. :D

I have noticed that. I bought something off of QVC the other day and they offered me web hosting! :)

The trouble these days is that everyone is a host. The web designer is a host, the webmaster that rents a dedicated server for a couple of his busier sites is a host, the kid who started his summer vacation is a host, the SEO specialist is a host etc. And their host is a host too. :D
Maybe I should start hosting too! I rarely follow hypes, no blogging, no twitter, no profile websites etc..
I do want to follow at least 1 hype, starting a hosting company! :banana:

Sorry, I always thought you are a female... Rameen sounds like a female name to me... :rolleyes:

:laugh: I dont see anything feminine in that name! It seems he doesnt handle technical issue and thats why you guessed it. lol

it took 6 - 8 months for 100 customers

Its not up to addvertisement, its up the offers you are offering here, you can not suppose even a single customer if your prices are world's highest and support is zero level. dont mind, but its truth.

Around 3 months.

Maybe I should start hosting too! I rarely follow hypes, no blogging, no twitter, no profile websites etc..
I do want to follow at least 1 hype, starting a hosting company! :banana:

DEAR GOD HOW DO YOU LIVE WITHOUT TWITTER!!! I mean I cant go 5 minutes without letting someone know what I am doing that exact moment, especially when im alone.

heh, actually Im with you on that, blogging, twitter, profile websites all a waste of time, and sadly now its seems to be coming more of a must if you want to do advertising. Hell, now the newspaper I advertise in has just started offering for an extra fee to have your ad twitterd :(

It really depends on how you promote your business. if you are very serious to it, you will be able to have your targeted customers per month. I try webhosting business but I haven't still reach 100 customers for 3months. :)

I got a few customers from referrals before I started to post any offers. I have yet to really start to market things, but so far everything is going really well. The biggest thing for me has been word of mouth.

3 months here - That's over 150 clients.

it is very competitive now... my first hosting site took 5 months to get 17 clients

my most recent hosting site has no customers yet, been going for 3 weeks

The reason I started in the first place was to accommodate some local clients...as I just had them on a personal shared account.

I had about 16 clients on that account with me, and decided to just grab a quick reseller account from innohosting...this was about 2 months ago, and it's been going good so far!

Got a VPS to handle a quick acquisition on here, and last night got a dedicated server all set up to move everyone on to that.

I do not plan to take on hundreds a week, but a few clients a month is great. I have only done signature advertising on forums I frequent and am getting a decent client base :).

From what i have read here on WHT about new startups. Unless you have something special / a niche or run a massive advertising campaign it can take you months to get your first client.

Webhosting is not a get rich quick scheme, save yourself the headache if you are thinking this is the way to make a quick buck.

Yes its not get rich quick scheme. You have to be persistent. it all depends on marketing. Mine was about 10 days after we started :)

Took about 7 months to reach 100 :(. We don't really have a huge advertising campaign, though. Mostly WHT and other forums along with a few other popular sites. We are still new in the scene, will be in business for a year in Jul 09 :). Couldn't have done it without WHT imho. It's a great place for both hosts and clients.

It's been a week or so, and I've only managed to get local clientele. The online market is a hard sell, it seems. :)

How does advertising on WHT work?