Reseller Hosting Explained
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.
By Ashish Jain
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
Confessions and Tips from a Top Web Hosting Salesman
by: Jamie Chantiles
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 basic "do's and don'ts" in order to help you make a better more-informed decision.
When I got into this business several years ago a close friend if mine had paid $35 for a domain name and had monthly expenses of $20 for simple hosting. By quickly checking the domain name I discovered it was in the hosting company's name and not the actual owner of the website! I also quickly realized that this $275 annual expense was available at less than $100.
Not controlling your domain name can become a huge problem to website owners even though it is the smallest annual expense. You can be "held hostage" by hosting companies who control your domain name. This is how they keep you paying more than you should monthly, because you cannot leave! Make sure you are dealing with a reputable reseller or actual Registrar when you buy your domain name. Also consider buying the name for 5 or 10 years for $40-$80. If your email address changes or the credit card expiration changes, you can accidentally lose the name and have fines of $200 to get it back. Be wary of free domains and free web hosting, as you still get what you pay for. For more info on the subject refer to DomainInformer.
Not having the username and passwords to access the web hosting accounts is another huge mistake many buyers make. If your web designer turns up missing, and you cannot gain access to the files you bought and paid for, then you cannot leave that web host. This is the most common problem I encountered in my selling names, sites, and design! By the time you realize you are over-paying, you are frustrated because you are powerless. Do not trust anyone to keep this information for you. The relationship may change and you will be glad you are independent, informed, and in control of the situation.
Finally you also need to keep a copy of the files on your hard drive and/or backed up on a CD. This way if the web host loses the files or your designer is MIA you have a backup plan. Be sure the domain name is registered with you as the administrative contact, and that you have all username/password combinations for names and hosting accounts.
When you are a prospect everyone acts professionally, but what about after you are a customer? To be really comfortable with your web host make sure they give a 30-day money back guarantee. Load the files and see what kind of performance and customer service you get for a few weeks. If they promised 24/7 customer care on the 3rd ring and you are getting voice mail or being on hold for 15 minutes... you will be free to leave!
Web hosting is simply space in a computer where your html documents and jpeg. images are stored. Good web design allows for easy navigation through the written words and the pictures you want the world to view. What you need to be concerned with is the speed with which your website loads and the amount of uptime your host claims to give. When traffic is a heavy a slow loading website will frustrate interested viewers, and cause them to leave. In addition the host needs a backup plan for power and Internet connectivity. Many top hosts claim 99+% uptime year round. Get details about top hosts at HostReview.com.
Things to consider when buying web space are as follows: Will you utilize a database for a dynamic searchable site? Are you going to have a store, selling products online in a shopping cart? Are you going to have Unix or Windows based hosting? Do you need a secure site (static IP) needed to enter sensitive information like social security or credit card numbers safely? How much space do you need for large audio and video files, versus pictures and text only? And what is the difference between shared and dedicated hosting?
To answer all the above simply I will paint some broad stokes below. More knowledge about technical info can be found at WebKnowHow.net http://www.webknowhow.net. People are unclear on the differences between shared and dedicated hosting. Most everyone starts with shared hosting as it is more affordable and works fine. In a shared hosting environment, the computer space is sliced up and "shared" among many small sites. Shared hosting ranges from a few dollars a month for a simple site to as much as $30-50/mo if you are selling online. Dedicated hosting usually begins at $59 and can easily reach $200/mo. and more.
If your site ever gets really popular and/or you have many transactions happening you to will move to a dedicated server. Dedicated meaning that all of that computer's resources are allocated to you alone. If you do not know how to configure the server then you will need technical assistance in the form of an IT employee.
This technical expert will monitor the data center operations; of your hosting company to make sure data is backed up and protected by firewalls. Firewalls protect your computer from being "hacked" into unauthorized people. Another option you may consider is an emerging trend known as "managed dedicated servers". The host helps to manage the servers daily operation, in order to help the novice operator.
Both shared and dedicated hosting requires a decision between Unix and Windows. This has been compared with people's preference to Ford or Chevrolet. Some people grow up and get used to one and prefer it for some reason. Others know both and utilize what will be best in each situation.
From the viewer's perspective, both Unix and Windows look the same. If you are going to use ASP (Active Server Pages) you will need Windows. Unix utilizes PHP instead of ASP, and is generally more stable and affordable. This is because the license fees paid to Microsoft increase the hosting company's overhead and they pass that on to the consumer.
Many PC users have Front Page design software from Microsoft included as a gift in their original purchase. Unix hosting now includes front-page support for well under $10/mo. So you can utilize design software you already have, and host for under $100 per year.
Dreamweaver is the other popular design software program you should investigate if you are thinking about doing website design. Be wary of friends or relatives who will do the design for free. If they are gainfully employed, the tasks that they are paid for will take priority, which places unnecessary strains on the relationship. More info on web design and search engine optimization can be found at PromotionWorld.com http://www.promotionworld.com/.
We also need to understand the relationship between the static IP address, using a database, and using eCommerce features to sell products online. IP addresses help identify where the actual end user is located physically. This is important if we need to locate to the original sender of a message or a live user creating havoc on the Internet.
Many of us have bought an airline ticket online by now. You may have noticed the screen that alerts you to the fact your connection is secure. This secure certificate assures a computer user that it is safe to enter credit card info and buy without fear of someone intercepting your sensitive data.
The static IP allows authorities and credit card processors to track storeowners and their computers to insure 100% honesty. Most shared web hosting sites share IP addresses as well. This is fine for a simple informational website with just pictures and text.
Dynamic sites are capable of storing your name and user profiles at an initial visit. This allows the site to "recognize" you on a subsequent visit and quickly load the profile for instant access. Dynamic sites also search for products or names in the company's stored database. Searching for different items quickly and the site saving all your personal information, is a direct benefit of a database.
Most initial sites will not use static IPs or databases unless you are going to be selling online. These stores are referred to as eCommerce web hosting and are the most expensive of all. Monthly charges can easily exceed $50/mo when you consider all expenses of the static IP, payment gateway, merchant account, and shopping cart.
Buyers add items to their "shopping cart"; it totals shipping and taxes and charges your card. Merchant account banks process your buyer's online purchase, charging 2-3% fee total to send money to your bank. You are then free to ship the product they bought.
My personal website has lots of pictures and text, yet is barely over 50 MB in size. 1 GB (1000MB) of storage, now is available for $10/mo, and has 20 times the storage I need. Large video files such as streaming video and audio are the largest users of space. 200MB and 10 email addresses are going to be as much as many small sites will ever need. Often of you prepay the year you can get a free month or the setup fees waived. Also find a host who pays you to refer friends, and you can get free months that way.
I hope this information helps you better understand the power of the Internet. We are all connected through this World Wide Web, and it is your right to benefit in every way possible. Come on, jump in, the water's fine...
About The Author
Jamie Chantiles is Director of Sales for DevStart. He has been featured in magazines and on TV as an expert in peak performance. His speciality is in increasing productivity and attaining peak performance by harnessing the power of your own brain. Jamie has worked in the web hosting industry, selling and training for the last 2 years. Read more stimulating, probing and revealing articles on HostReview ( http://www.hostreview.com ).
Resellerspanel.com Launches a cPanel Reseller Hosting Program
By Ross Todoroff
Resellerspanel.com has launched a cPanel reseller hosting program, which offers four plans, perfect for those who wish to sell hosting to their own customers.
Resellerspanel.com (www.resellerspanel.com), the only company in the web hosting business offering a free reseller hosting program, announces the launch of its cPanel program, which offers four reseller plans, perfect for those who wish to sell hosting to their own customers. The four plans offer 5, 7, 10 and 15 GB of disk space, and 50, 70, 100 and 150 GB of bandwidth respectively, as well as the ability to host multiple domains, and come with the Fantastico free scripts installer.
Beside the around-the-clock prompt and reliable technical support, the cPanel program offers each and every reseller a dedicated IP address, which guarantees them complete anonymity, and which provides secure protection against DDoS attacks. Moreover, the cPanel control panel, which is the most widely used user-friendly control panel in the hosting industry allowing resellers to administer individual and reseller accounts, is translated in many languages, including the most commonly used and widespread ones.
Kalin Blaskoff, CEO of Resellerspanel.com, said that Resellerspanel.com's cPanel reseller hosting program is a completely risk-free enterprise as it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, that its prices are very well balanced and correspond to the plans' features and properties, that the program offers several GB of free disk space for the main reseller account, so that resellers can host their sites for free without the need to recourse to their reseller accounts' resources and thus lower their profits, and that with the launch of the cPanel reseller hosting program, Resellerspanel.com finally meets the demands of all resellers.
Contact ResellersPanel.com at:
LiquidNet Ltd.
28 Kersfield House
11 Kersfield Road
Putney, London SW15 3HJ
United Kingdom
1 800 574 0902 US TOLL FREE
+1 510 870 2470 International
+44 (0)20 7993 2768 United Kingdom
E-mail: pr@resellerspanel.com
URL: http://www.resellerspanel.com
About the Author
My name is Ross Todoroff. I am the PR officer of http://ResellersPanel.com - a UK-based reseller hosting provider established in 1999, which boasts some 30 000 resellers, and which makes it possible for everyone to resell web hosting and domain names without any investments.
Resellerspanel.com Launches an Automated PHP Script Installer
By Resellers Panel
Resellerspanel.com (www.resellerspanel.com), a reseller hosting provider, which allows everyone to resell web hosting and domain names without any investments, announces the availability of a new multi-language option in beta mode in its web hosting control panel. Besides English, German and Spanish, the resellers and their customers can now choose to manage their hosting accounts in French, Portuguese, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian. The new multi-language option of Resellerspanel.com's web hosting control panel will be in beta mode from three to six months.
Nick Blaskov, co-owner of Resellerspanel.com, said that Resellerspanel.com's business model is unparalleled in that it gives resellers the opportunity to sell hosting and domain names at absolutely no cost on their part, and that the new multi-language option is aimed at increasing the user-friendliness of Resellerspanel.com's web hosting control panel, thus making it more accessible to potential international customers who can now take advantage of control panels that are fully identical with the English-language version with regards to structure and content.
In addition, an automated script installer called Elefante Installer has been made available in Resellerspanel.com's web hosting control panel. The Elefante Installer is a PHP web application services installer with which customers can automatically install various PHP script packages through their control panels. The script installer is available in the Tools section of Resellerspanel.com's web hosting control panel.
The Elefante Installer provides automated installation of over 30 popular PHP scripts, among them phpAdsNew, phpList, Geeklog, PhpWiki, phpWebSite, phpBB2, OS Commerce, Mambo, PHP Nuke, PostNuke, phplinks and many others, grouped in the following categories: Ad Management, Blog, Calendars, Classified Ads, Content Management, Customer Support, Discussion Boards, E-commerce, File Manipulation, Groupware Tools, Image Galleries, Portal Systems, Server Management and Web Hosting Tools.
Kalin Blaskoff, CEO of Resellerspanel.com, said that there is no need for the clients to know PHP or anything about the scripts configuration, that the Elefante Installer will handle all configuration settings instead of them, and that in this way clients can install popular PHP packages in seconds without any PHP scripts installation knowledge.
Contact ResellersPanel.com at:
LiquidNet Ltd.
28 Kersfield House
11 Kersfield Road
Putney, London SW15 3HJ
United Kingdom
1 800 574 0902 US TOLL FREE
+1 510 870 2470 International
+44 (0)20 7993 2768 United Kingdom
E-mail: pr@resellerspanel.com
URL: http://www.resellerspanel.com
About the Author
ResellersPanel.com is a UK-based reseller hosting provider established in 1999, which boasts some 30 000 resellers, and which makes it possible for everyone to resell web hosting and domain names without any investments.
Reseller Hosting: The Good and The Bad!
By Anthony Jewell
Reseller webhosting can be a great way to earn some extra money on the side for your business or even a full time job once you get into it. Though this can be a great way to do business, it can come with some un-foreseen downsides, headaches and a whole lot more. Not to say that you can't be successful at it, but you must first take the steps to assure that down the road it doesn't ruin your business.
An important part when dealing with reseller hosting is that some of the control has been taking out of your hands. This is important because you have to trust in the company you are doing business with and this limits to some things you can do. I speak from personal experience on this, the worst thing you can face when reselling hosting is having a great amount of downtime. If you every want to have some bad emails from your clients, choose a host that doesn't have good uptime.
How much uptime and downtime you have is really not for you to decide, as you are not the one looking over the server. The company you are going through may not be as professional as you and they figure what is a few hours of waiting to get your site up, Right? Wrong! The worse thing I have seen is clients sites going down and when you go to that company's website who you do business with, all you think is "oh my, their site is down too and I can't get in touch with them". This can cause allot of headaches for your and your clients, it can even cost your business.
The best thing to do before going with a hosting company is to get a list of reference sites if you can, to see if they go down. Also watch the company's site you are planning to go with and see if it ever goes down. If so, how quick does it come back up? Another great thing to do is ask around, if the company has good or bad service, then there will be people out there to comment on this, trust me. Also don't be afraid to email those people who had a problem with that hosting company and ask them what exactly happened.
Also when dealing with a company, make sure they offer a good list of services and features that you can offer to your clients. Check with them to see how flexible they are with different scenarios as well as adding on new features. Remember a good company with go the extra mile to show you that they can be trusted.
About the Author
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Anthony Jewell has over 6 Years experience in the Web & Graphics World. You can visit my business at http://www.logo2d.com
©Copyright 2005 Logo2D.com : Feel free to use this article freely but please keep in the copyright
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