OT: A business thread about hosting
 

Okay, I was approached by a registrar that wanted GotWebHost to become a reseller for them.

To be honest, it never crossed my mind to offer a service like this, but it is an interesting idea, so I now ask:

Are you going to be more inclined to use a host that allows you to register your domains there, or if the option is there would you use it, or does it not matter and you are just going to use your usual registrar anyway?

use my own registrar anyways, from now on its only namecheap...

I usually dont trust the host of the resistrar companies. Unless I know something about that host.

In the case of GotWebHost, I would say no. Yours is a premium/specialty service created for the advanced webmaster, who will almost certainly have a registrar of choice when he comes to you.

With that said, though -- and I was thinking to talk to you about it soon, but this seems a good place -- I think you should consider creating different "skins" of the GWH services.

This is something that I advocate for paysite operators or to anyone who has a portfolio of "digital assets". Usually, when we conceive of a product or service we'd like to offer in the marketplace, we make the choices of "raw material" based on a specific vision of the final offering, which we then present and give final shape to via "external marketing choices"-- design, brand, messages, etc. If the product is successful, we're pleased and start thinking about the next product, and so forth. Seldom do we take a second look at those "raw materials" (or "core abilities" in the case of a services company) and think what other products (or services) might be made from them.

In online, we have the benefit of being able to deliver the same ASSETS to different customers simultaneously. For example, if I own a video that shows an Asian Teen getting fucked by a black guy, I could market it as "Asian", as "Teen" or as "Interracial" -- the differences in each case would be superficial marketing, and the same "raw material" would have yielded 3 products with little additional investment.

In the hosting space, likewise, there are different categories of customer, looking for different types of service -- ALL of which COULD BE serviced very effectively by GWH. You need only ask yourself who those OTHER customers are (beyond the customer you've decided is your primary), and from that you can build out separate marketing strategies for each. By having control of different customer categories -- in your case potentially from NOOB to Very Sophisticated -- you also have the valuable opportunity to "graduate" your customers from one category to the next, as their experience increases and their needs evolve.

A registrar's ad would be a reasonable thing to put on the NOOB-skinned version of GWH -- :winkwink:




2HP

Well, to be honest, we have been approached by a couple different companies that found alternate uses of what it is we can provide.

Most of the time it involves them just telling us what kind of software it is they need to perform the task. Honestly, we are open to all kinds of suggestions, and admittedly there are uses we had not even thought of because it involves services we never even thought of.


If anyone knows of a way they can use multiple IP's or Class C's that we haven't addressed, all they have to do is ask, and if it can be done on our end, we will do it.

i know with www.isprime.com you can register domains on the spot through them.

Thank you, that wasn't the question.

Do you register your domains thru the registrar provided by them, and if so, is that why you use them?

I always use my "trusted" registrars. The only time I ever registered a domain via a host was way back when just getting into the online thing. So I would think that if you have a lot of "newbie" type customers, or perhaps by including it as part of the package it looks like a less expensive offering, then it would be a good idea. :2 cents:

good point :thumbsup

I think most people will stick with their favorite registrar... It sucks having to keep track of domains, especially if its spread around different registrars.

no experienced webmaster is going to register their domains through a hosting company, too many people were fucked over when hosting companies tanked and took the domains with them. yes, today you could resell say enom and offer customers their own domain mgmt accounts under you, but it most will still be wary of putting all their eggs in one basket.

beyond that, i dont think it makes any sense for you from a financial standpoint. there just isnt much money in the domain game unless you are able to charge above $10 or do *a lot* of volume. you are not in a position to do a lot of volume because of the other services you provide and you probably cant charge the type of clientelle you have above $10 either. not worth it, imo. if you had a vanilla shared hosting service aimed at the mass market, things would be different of course.

the latter is what 2hp was alluding to. you are, essentially, selling shared and dedicated hosting. yes, you have a specialty service that appeals to people who have certain ip address requirements, but it is likely that you would incur low incremental costs to offer vanilla shared and dedicated hosting to the general consumer. i would throw up an alternate site for this and do a bit of seo on it in your free time, if i were you. speaking from experience, its definitely not going to make you rich though, just a supplemental stream of new customers to consider.

To be honest, I never really thought of it as a revenue generating thing any more than I expect to get rich offering $10/mo virtual hosting plans. It is more along the lines of offering it as a convenience to our customers.

Unfortunately, it would cost me a few hundred just to be able to offer the service, so I was wondering if anyone would even use it if I did.

the consensus seems to be 'no'. if your customers havent asked you for it either, id say shelve the idea.

I personally like the two registrars that I currently use and it wouldn't make a difference to me whether or not the hosting company I use offered this service because I would continue to use the ones I'm familiar with.