hey, we are pretty new to the web hosting business and wanted to know, how can we actually get customers rolling into our services?

any information could be useful.

thank you for your time

To be a 100% honest wiht you, we're probably one of the smallest companies on this forum, but we're starting to average a couple of inquires a day and it's all coming from word of mouth and our cpanel skin beleive it or not :)

A couple of months ago we tried a fairly cheap advertising idea that didn't produce 1 single account... so we decided to just stick to it and keep hoping and the pieces are starting to fall into place.

Our best client is a developer whom we host for free and in turn he sends his clients to us. This has worked out to be a very good relationship that we've built with this individual.

Thanks,
Jeff

Are you advertising locally? That's always a good place to start. Hosting directories are good places to get listed, as well...

Being a small company, I always found hosting directories to be of no use, expecially with bigger companies buying top positions...

thanks for you replies, i ordered a box of business cards and plan to go around locally and give them out. but i will try to get in touch with a couple of web hosts

thanks. for your help

hosting clients for free in return for advertising and referrals has worked great for us, its worth a try :)

I agree with the free hosting. I am starting to talk to the independant web designers in this area and giving them a great deal. I figure I don't make as much profit off them but then again I am not advertising or killing myself.

i wanna be able to actually go past profits before offering free servers ya know?

we are new, really new and currently have no clients cept the ones who are switching in a few months when their original host expires.

Offering that free one could be what brings you the initial profit.

has anyone actually tried doing that and worked sucessfully?

i can take risks, just not stupid ones ya know?

thanks

I haven't tried the free route, but I am offering one of my clients very discounted hosting for his startup business. I also designed the website for them for a discounted rate. And in turn, he has someone in their group that owns an advertising company. So he is hooking me up with free local advertising :)

So, I'm not sure I would just go around and offer free or huge discounts to random people, but if you know a friend or someone who could benefit, take your business to a personal level. Work with them, and in the end you could get way way more than the few bucks you lost on the cheaper hosting you gave them.

I have. My first server is being installed Sat. but already I have the business of a local developer. I am hosting his site free and giving him a great deal on my packages. He has two sites he knows he is going to put on there. I knew the guy personally so I am not going to make many demands of him.

What I plan on doing is offer local independants a free package once they have 3 other sites of equal or greater value hosted with me. Those sites will be discounted as well so they should be pleased with the price and if they want to mark them up for their clients they can still offer them at a decent price.

We shall see how this works but I expect it to slowly be successful.

Honestly, offering 5 to 10 designers little 50mb accounts should be quite enough of a package for them... wouldn't be too much from your resources!

I think the local market is the best way to go.

Place an ad in the sunday paper for a part time 1099'd sales person. Give them a good commission and have them hit door to door. dont hit the big biz, but the small ma & pop operations. If your plan is sell hosting and web design as a package, you can close many deals.

My part time sales lady, sold 22 accounts last month. 20 with web design.

Wanna know why? No one else is marketing to the ma & pop operations.

Plus there is much more profit on the local side.

Just my 2 cents.

Market, market and market! Or advertise, advertise and advertise! Try the web hosting directories and webmaster, web dev sites.

It looks like from the suggestions people are giving, and the questions that others are asking, that none of you have a business plan (and if you do, maybe you need to revise it)

The business plan is the essential starting point for answers like these, by analyzing your potential market BEFORE you open your business, and planning such advertising strategies as those posted here, you will not need to worry near as much about bringing in clients.

Business plans are NOT just for big businesses and it is the one fatal mistake that I see many hosts falling prey to ... please ... do your research, plan, plan, plan, and THEN open. Once you have a plan, you're off to a good start, and your business skills/instincts can take you the rest of the distance.

I have a pretty solid business plan, but like the others here was just brainstorming for the fella.

Try not to blanket statement.

And how about offering some advice to him instead of just hacking on us?

Im sure many ppl have a business plan, but this was a thread created by competition. If he wants all the answers a trip to a business advisor would be a good start ;)

This whole site is basically competitors helping each other. Nobody is going to give away ALL their secrets or help you build you entire business but brainstorming some ideas is not going to really hurt your own.