Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Do you tell people you're new?

[Ben N]

I'm nearly finished with all the paperwork, planning, etc. (yay!) and am hoping to go live some time in January but I have a question about starting out.

1. Do you make it obvious you're new? Be honest and offer some sort of incentive to get people to try you out?

2. Don't make any particular mention of it? Pretend you've been going for a while?

Personally I would much prefer the option 1, being honest about it and making it worth their time & money to try out the new guys.

I think that n°1 would also help explain why there's absolutely no reviews, etc. If you go with n°2 they'll find it very fishy there's nothing about you anywhere on the web.

Does anyone have any opinions on this? Which did you choose when starting out?

[vj1q2]

From a customer point of view:

Everyone starts out somewhere, the key is how honest are they about it. I think you answered your questions. Be honest, that's the only way to go. Besides if you say you are old and the fact comes out later that you are not, well, you've damaged your reputation irreparably.

Lots of companies in the webhosting business try to hide their age; thinking that old is good. Well have you seen a launch of some products or services? its their biggest event. New is better.

So, be honest. Hype up the launch, give away some freebies, have some promos, hype up the fact that you are new.

take care and best of luck.

[kevster1]

yes honesty is the best policy as stated you could offer some pre launch sweetners

Its not too difficult to investigate and find out about the host
domain age not reviews help to point out that the host is new

So no need to hide anything

[kytech]

I would also go with number 1. Honesty goes along way, especially in this industry. I would be much more inclined to pick a new company without reviews rather than just another company without reviews. Good luck!

[Ben N]

Thanks guys, I also agree that honesty is always best. Now that's clear, time to start brain-storming for some sweet offers

[ukiroo]

I would surely say that now people have started appreciating that you are new in the field. This will make sure that they will be properly cared for instead of being in the "so-called" experienced hands, with companies which are too big to care about them.

So, being upfront about your status will help you to your advantage if you are a newbie.

[Hydro_Host]

Yes, be honest. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere. Without new comers there would not be a web hosting industry!

Good luck!

[SenseiSteve]

Absolutely be honest and upfront. I'm always checking ages of domains and comparing that to websites.
The best with your new business

[Kevin K]

Honesty is the key in this business. If you are found to be dishonest your reputation is shot right from the start.

The key to starting out is to assure your potential customers that you they are in good hands. Describe to them your experience in the industry and what you can offer them if they try your service.

It's not easy to start out and you will most likely miss many sales because of it, but in the long run the honest will get you ahead.

[The Stealthy One]

Here's my 2c:

While I absolutely would not recommend lying about the age of your service, I also don't think it's necessary to broadcast the age. Truthfully, is this something clients really care about? From what I've seen, the answer is probably not. Most often, feature sets, personal recommendations, support options, and quality of service are much stronger buying factors for prospects.

[energizedit]

Stealthy has a point. I don't advocate lying about age of a company but you don't have to advertise it. If someone asks you can tell them. However, if you want to use that as a selling point then be forward about it.

[MannDude]

I just let others know that we're, "New on the scene, and eager to please".

[Rhino-Nick]

Yes we are proud to be new! We know many people think a new company is more risky than a older company. Well in our eyes we all started off small right? I mean we didn't all just have nine servers to start out with.

[TBradley]

Originally Posted by SurmountedNET

I just let others know that we're, "New on the scene, and eager to please".

Exactly! By letting your customers know that your new, your showing them that your transparent, yet still professional! If your customer is coming from another provider chances are there last hosting experience was less then exceptional. Your new company might just be there saving grace!

[HostXNow]

Well I haven't put the year on the About Us page because I think it's better when you can put that you've been running for at least 1-3 years. Clients will usually just ask you on live chat or via the support ticketing system though. If they do, just be honest with them and tell them the truth.

Before I setup HostXNow I already had a lot of experience with various other hosting related projects + I was doing a web design manager course for 2+ years ( http://www.skillstrainuk.com/web-des...-syllabus.html ).

You should mention things like that as well as give them links to a few big sites you host (with the permission of the owner of the site, of course), as it will give them more of a reason to trust you.