Reseller Hosting Explained
|
Reseller Defined:
The term Reseller according to the dictionary means to sell again i.e. to sell a product or service to the public or to an end user, especially as an authorized dealer, while making sure that you make a profit on the sale.
Reseller Hosting
Reseller hosting is no different either, a reseller buys a Web hosting package from a hosting company and tries to sell it independently. The profit for the reseller lies in either the discount or in the commission s/he gets from selling an account.
For example: The reseller might purchase a package whose features are valued at $100 for $90. So, the reseller stands to make a $10 profit on selling the package to customers. Normally as the customers increase, so does the profit margin for the reseller.
Or, you can get some money by earning commissions from a hosting company. This happens when you refer potential customers to the hosting company. If the customer signs up with the company then you earn a small recurring commission until the customer uses the services.
Most web hosting companies try to outsource their services to resellers as it helps them to extend their business reach without the cost of marketing and sales and also helps them to concentrate on the business side of things.
What can be resold
As a reseller you can decide what kinds of services you can sell.You can provide shared, dedicated or co-location web hosting or merchant accounts, store fronts etc.
If you go with hosting then it might be useful to offer some other hosting related services like domain names, search engines etc.
Of course, if you have problems selling these value added services in the beginning then you can sell them later.
The cost and resources involved
The cost of becoming a reseller and the equipment and people required in order to be successful depends on many factors.
If you just plan to earn commission by referring people to the hosting company by using the Internet, then you do not have to put up a lot of money, all you need is an Internet ready PC and an Internet connection.
For a small start-up not a lot of money and resources are required. You can purchase a good reseller package from a hosting company by paying them some money upfront. All that is needed is a decent computer that can manage the accounts of customers and a good Internet connection.
It is advisable to start small if you are very new to the concept of web hosting and reselling. Then you can expand as you go on and start getting more and more customers in which case offering domain registration is also a very good way to make profits.
If you have the money and the experience then you can go as far as buying all the server equipment required, in which case you will also be responsible for all the server maintenance costs.
The other option could be leasing a server as this will be cheaper than buying the server, but here as well you are responsible for all the maintenance and running costs of the server.
In the above two cases you also need to make sure that you have multiple connections with the hosting company so there are no complications in case a connection goes down.
Upside
The best thing about being a reseller is that you do not require a lot of upfront investment.
There is no need to have a lot of technical knowledge. Account management and Internet skills are all that is required. However, it would be really handy if you have some sales and marketing experience so you can interact with your customers better.
The hosting company generally provides and maintains all the hardware and software.
You do not need to hire a lot of IT staff to provide support. Providing basic support and leaving the more technical issues to the parent company support staff can be easily achieved.
Downside
Support can sometimes be delayed, as you are dependent on the parent company to handle the technical aspects. If there is a delay from their side then you along with your customer are affected.
Sometimes customers leave you if they find out that you are a reseller and not a real hosting company.
Tips for marketing yourself
If you are starting out on a small scale then visiting message boards and posting your services there is a good idea. A lot of potential clientele with relatively small hosting needs also frequent message boards and outline their desired services.
Having contests is a great idea for bringing awareness and interest about your services.
Online ad campaigns, signatures, and text links are very helpful techniques.
Once you have gotten a bigger budget then you can go for Google ad words or PPC search engines.
The best strategy is to try out various combinations of these approaches and work out the best one for your needs.
Ashish Jain
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
|
|
|
Importance Of Educated Choice While Choosing A Web Hosting Provider
There are many attributes that makes a web hosting provider stand out from the crowd. But in this current highly competitive world the providers have become so adept in posing as the best out there that it becomes very difficult to choose the best for your business. Now it is the "knowledge" about what factors to consider becomes a must have, for your business. This is not an article about the factors themselves to consider but this makes the point for the need to have this knowledge and how to acquire this knowledge. In the services industry knowledge is almost everything. The knowledge about the technology behind the service, knowledge about the folks behind the service, knowledge of the customer service, quality of the hosting available and many more to list here. When you begin your search the first and for...(related: Web Hosting)
Personal Web Hosting ? Free Or Cheap?
After you have spent some time and creativity on designing your personal web site now it's time to publish it on the World Wide Web for all to see it.When coming to web hosting, many face the dilemma of choosing between free or paid web hosting. Although the costs associated with paid web hosting is rather small, it's still money.An easy and money free solution might seem to be registering it with a free web-hosting provider. They come in large numbers today and the 10-20 Megs of free per...(related: Web Hosting)
Confessions And Tips From A Top Web Hosting Salesman
Have you ever gone car shopping with a former car salesperson? Their industry and sales knowledge is powerful information vital to the average buyer. Gaining their street smarts and savvy gives the buyer an edge. This "edge" can be the difference between getting good value and being taken advantage of.As a former top web hosting salesman, I have decided to come forward and shed some light on the industry. The rapidly growing world of web hosting, domain names, and basic web design is still a mystery to many interested people. My intent is to help you understand ba...(related: Web Hosting)
Choosing The Perfect Deluxe Web Site Hosting Plan
If you are looking for a deluxe web site hosting plan there are some important considerations before you make a choice. Everyone has different needs so what is deluxe for you might be completely different for someone else. You want to end up with a complete web hosting package without paying for something you don't need.ReliabilityThis is the percentage of uptime the host guarantees and don't accept anything under 99.5% of uptime. Look for what safeguards and backup servers a hosting company uses because downtime means your site is invisible.BandwidthBandwidth is the amount of material that can be downloaded or transferred from your site each month. Inexpensive web hosting packages offer you a lower amount because when your site is new you probably won't need much. But if your traffic takes off a...(related: Web Hosting)
Getting The Best Web Hosting For Your Business
After the dot.com bubble burst a few years back I really thought that the Internet craze was over. With sites folding faster than newbies at a Texas Hold 'Em table it seemed like all those tech-crazed nerds would have to go out there and get real jobs like the rest us. Even the stock market seemed to lose interest in the Internet and the Nasdaq plun...(related: Web Hosting)
Managed Vs. Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting
"Unmanaged dedicated servers" - this is a pretty uninviting term to many, especially the non-gurus, but in most cases is not as "non-servicing" as it seems. In fact, I think someone one day soon, ( who knows maybe me ) will coin a new phrase to replace the term "unmanaged" - similar to how "used cars" is now "pre-owned" or how "apartment complexes" are now "rental communities". The truth is that unless you just picked a lousy provider or have unreasonable expectations, unmanaged hosting offer...(related: Web Hosting)
Budget Web Hosting - Dirty Secrets That Can Squash Your Websites Chance Of Success
When it comes to budget web hosting, there are a lot of dirty secrets that can really hurt your chance of success. However, if you know about these dirty secrets, you will be prepared and better able to handle any possible problems before they arise. Review the following secrets and make sure you know for sure what your web host is about before you sign up and risk your websites chance of success.Secret #1 No ExperienceThere are many budget web hosts on the web that have not been around for very long and have little to no experience at all. The last thing you want to do is sign up with a company that is brand new and inexperienced and be part of their learning curve. Instead, find a web ho...(related: Web Hosting)
How To Choose The Web Hosting Provider?
1. Does the company offer telephone support or 24/7 email support?24/7 Email support is always nice to have available, they can reply you within 1-2 hours. And you can talking your problem with customers service in telephone support.2. What sort of history does the company have? How long has this company been in business?Please read their company profile from their web page. How long has this company been in business? How ...(related: Web Hosting)
Is Free Hosting Really Free?
Sooner or later, as everyone finds out, nothing in this world is free. Although there are literally hundreds of Free Hosting adds surfacing on the Internet, no one can stay in business very long giving it away. So how can hosting services offer free hosting?Easy.One way is to make some of their money from registering your domain name. Domain registration is a necessary step for any future web site owner, (some low cost host play a numbers game between your monthly cost and your yearly domain registration ...(related: Web Hosting)
Overselling Web Hosting: What Does It Mean To You?
Overselling is a big trend in the web-hosting world at the moment. It's an easy way to get more out of your servers than normally is possible. The basic idea of overselling is that the majority of your clients are only going to use a fraction of the resources allocated to them so there's going to be a lot of wasted bandwidth and space. Overselling involves taking a gamble and selling more than you can handle assuming that the unused resources will cover it.Let's say for example that a server hard drive is 80GB and has 12...(related: Web Hosting)
Virtual Private Servers (vps) Web Hosting
A Virtual Private Server (VPS), also referred to as Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), provides the features of a dedicated server for multiple web hosting customers to share. At first instance it sounds contradictory, how can you have a dedicated server if it is being shared by multiple users? Isn't that a regular shared or virtual hosting environment? It is true that with a Virtual Private Server you still share system resources like the CPU and RAM with other users but the resources are allocated in such a way that you c...(related: Web Hosting)
Cheap Web Hosting Package? Ecommerce Web Hosting? - Choosing A Web Hosting Provider
One of the important decisions you'll make when you decide to put your business on the web is which web hosting provider to use. The web hosting company that hosts your personal page may not offer the best plan for your business needs. Here are some things to take into account when you're looking for a web hosting provider for your professional web pages.Windows or *nix Web...(related: Web Hosting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved.
| Web Hosting