Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : marketing

[Hyperpipe]

i run a relatively small webhosting + shell hosting company (about 30 customers)...

unfortunately it is costing me $175 a month to keep this server going, plus paying our commissioned sales personel and technical support people (who are paid $1 for every legitimate support session [we only have a few every month...maybe 3 or 4]) and its really hitting me in the wallet...

i find that i have a hard time getting the word out; we are represented on several large IRC networks throughout the world, and we know our customers well (we have come to know them since doing business with them, not the other way around) [which is helpful when your server dies and you have to explain the situation to them ] and they do pass the word on (word of mouth is your most efficient means of selling)...
but it isnt getting my site enough traffic, and it costs me money in commission when i have somebody get me a sale...

how do YOU get the word out about your company? do you have people post on bulletin boards? hire an advertising company? tv/newspaper ads? internet advertising (plz specify- email, ad banners, sponsorships, etc)? business cards?

also what is your average number of sales (# of customers, not money) every month, and your average traffic (number of hits and page views) if you dont mind sharing

also do you find this to be a very demanding job, one that requires your attention for most of the day, or do you just sit back, update your server software a few times a week, and just add / remove user accounts (or have an automated system to do this)? even with my 30 customers i have been spending almost every night for the past 2 months online until midnight or so...about 5 to 8 hours...and of course i check the server several times a day when i get the chance

[Biowaste XP]

Browse the forums. The 'SEARCH' feature can be your best friend at times.

[Jon FB]

a few things I do

1. Advertise on the newspaper
2. Advertise on forums (like WHT)
3. Advertise on radios
4. Advertise on city papers (other then the newspaper)


Do specials here and their that will bring in people. All I can say is advertise advertise advertise and advertise. It takes a while to get people to your business, and it is exspected the first couple of months that you will be losing money.

Are you a reseller or rent a server?

If you are a reseller you can go to bobcares and they give you a good deal for support 24/7/365.

Cheap ways to advertise is listed above. Thousands of people can see your advertisment for less then 10 dollars a week.

Another good thing is to sponsor stuff. Like where I live on the radio stations they will say "Where sponsored by so and so" or "Today special for subway's sub is sponsored by so and so"

If you are on a server maybe go towards the reseller way it can be much cheaper then owning a server.

[Hyperpipe]

i rent a server from a friend who owns a datacenter

how much is it to advertise on radio and in the newspaper?

i go to school and work afterwards and on weekends, and running this company is just something on the side, however i only make about $120 a week, so money isnt exactly easy to come by (and god knows i barely make any profit off the server, which after the outages i just had 2 weeks ago, i definately wont be making any money this month)

[Amish_Geek]

As to the site hits vs customer signups... I'm getting about 1000-1200 unique hits a month to my site (yeah, i know its not a lot) and I get about 1-2 signups every few weeks.

I'm getting more, more often now as word of mouth is spreading.

[lcshost]

This was a constant problem for me.

There are about 20 sites that offer a free listing of your business and some of the hosting plans you offer. That will help you show up in the search engines better.

Watch pay per click. I spent way too much on that service. Banner advertising is also overpriced.

I would advertise to local web developers, build relationships with them. That would be a key to getting a nice base of clients. Offer them lower rates for moving multiple clients to your servers. Then start spreading out to more of a regional focus, say 200 mile radius, still marketing to web site developers.

Once cash flow improves you will be able to market nationally.

Springer

[pmabraham]

The following are some thoughts to help you gain new business. These are thoughts that we have been putting into action at Dynamic Net, Inc.:

1. Asking existing customers for referrals.

2. Executing a direct, regular, mail marketing campaign.

NOTE: Credit of #2 goes to Aussie Bob!!

3. Cold calling.

4. Presenting at local business clubs.

Asking existing customers for referrals
===========================

One of the most forgotten, yet most fruitful methods of gaining new business is asking existing customers to provide you with one or more referrals.

If you are doing your best, you should have happy, satisfied customers, correct?

So why not ask your happy, satisfied customers who do they know who could use your services?

Before you do so, you may want to think about whether you want to provide your customer something in exchange for a referral.

That could be something as simple as a period of time of free hosting or a number of Web design maintenance changes or something else of value to your existing customer.

How often should you ask for referrals?

When I would have the time to go to sales training (in some years, weekly), the trainer would ask for a referral every time.

Over time you will gain a comfort zone of how often to ask customer x for a referral. But, if you never ask for one, then the answer is probably no.

Executing a direct, regular, mail marketing campaign
=====================================

One of the methods we have on our list to try that has been of great success for one of our overseas colleagues was a direct letter writing campaign.

Here is how they described their plan:

If I was to chase the market of local businesses, I would build a database from the Yellow Pages, of businesses that could benefit from a website. If you don't built sites, partner this with a local web developer.

The plan -

Then commence a 4 week marketing campaign to 100 of those businesses each week, by direct mail. You pick 100 businesses and you're going to target them for 1 month with a targeted campaign.

Week 1 -

The first letter introduces your services and how they benefit the client. Short and sweet. Nothing too detailed. This is just an intro and you're not expecting any response from this letter.

Week 2 -

The next week another letter goes out to those 100 businesses, and gives some more information about the benefits that these businesses will receive, with a web presence. Again, nothing too detailed, and don't expect any kind of response. If you get some businesses contacting you at this point, then great, that's a bonus.

Week 3 -

The next week another letter goes out to those same 100 businesses with even more information about what you can do for them. Now you have sent 2 previous letters and hopefully, most of those businesses know you exist and maybe a good % of them have read your previous letters. Push a little for a meeting in this letter and expect some kind of response.

Week 4 - Monday

You send the final sales letter to those 100 pre-selected businesses from your database. The object here is to get to a face to face meeting with someone who makes the decision, as to whether or not they go online etc.

Week 4 - Thursday -

Start to call each of these 100 businesses and see if you can make an appointment with them, to discuss this further. Don't try to close the sale on the phone. You need to be sitting down with the decision maker/s, and you then take it from there.

The above is just a quick guide and it will work [tons of work in coming up with each sales letter], if you apply yourself and take ACTION!! Good luck.


Cold Calling
========

While it is often the most dreaded tools for developing new business, cold calling continues to be a foundation for developing new business.

One of our board members, Barbara Boland, built an extremely successful management training consulting business by using the Yellow pages, and making cold calls.

She would make between 25 to 50 cold calls per day with a goal of one-to-two in-person visits per day; once she got half way through the phone book, she had her business built up to the point where she didn't have to make cold calls again. Her primary method of gaining new business today is referrals from existing customers.

Most people who try cold calling will learn quickly that approximately 96% of those called will say, "no thank you." And sometimes people will give up early because they look at the results as being black and white -- I only got 1 appointment out of every 25 calls.

Yet, each call provides you with value for the following reasons:

Every person to whom you talk, now knows your business exists and the services you provide.

You have an opportunity with ever call to find out who are your competitors in the area you called; and, potentially their strengths and weaknesses.

You get lots of practice ingraining in your heart, why you!
You should use a script as a basis of your cold call, and in your script you want to cover three areas:

Your name, and what business are you in.
What problems do you solve.
In layman's terms, how do you solve them.

Presenting at local business clubs
========================

Most communities have a number of business clubs. In Berks County, there are several Rotary clubs, at least one Toastmaster's club, at least one Lion's Club, an accounting club, and a techie club.

Most business clubs are hungry for business professionals to come and speak to their club members. They want you to speak to their club members!

Almost all have the catch that you cannot do a "sales presentation;" however, if you do your presentation carefully, you will be presenting to every club member why you are the most credible person / company in the world to handle certain situations.

When Jake Winemiller, John Robinson, and myself gave an anti-SPAM presentation for the local Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), we got several inquires from business owners who were sick to death of SPAM in their mail boxes, and employees threatening law suits due to sexual harassment.

You can find local business clubs in the Yellow pages as well as by calling your local chamber of commerce.

Thank you.

[Hyperpipe]

wow. tyvvvvvvm for the info =)

[ANMMark]

dynamicnet, that was some of the best advice I have seen given in a long time, on this topic.

These efforts do work, and work well.

I should point out, that when doing cold calling, try not to get the mind set that you are telemarketing. Always be friendly, and allow them to get the feeling you are not simply selling them something, but trying to help them. Learn to handle the word "no" with grace, and never respond to rude comments about yourself. In general, these people are not putting YOU down. So, don't take it personally. Always thank them for their time, regardless, if they were willing to talk to you or not.

I have found that, the more the person is rude to you, go just as far to be nice to them. I have actually had people call me back, apologize for their attitude, and wanted to hear what I had to say. That doesn't happen as often as you would like though lol

The point is, stay positive, smile while you talk to them on the phone....The person on the other end, can hear you smile. If you're kind, and happy, there's a good chance they will pick up on your mood, and recipricate.

[trade print]

Absolutely good advice - but when doing mailing campaigns make sure that you show prospective clients decent quality literature.

If you send leaflets then send them as full colour, and a full colour company letterhead looks much much more professional than mere black and white address text.

The local market makes or breaks local companies. Far far too many webhosts think they should be competing for idle surfers on the global internet - rather than approaching local business markets in a professional manner.