Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 7/2004
An article on News.com yesterday talked about a web host (or data center provider) to have all his servers and equipment powered by green energy. Solar and wind powered web hosting? Is that the market of the future? Is it a niche market? Or is it a hoax? The idea to power always on equipment with just solar power sounds not very promising. If your business depends on 24/7/365 availability of a web server – can you trust mother nature and her helpers to provide the ‘juice’ to power these machines long enough? I consider this business model not really as a viable option for the masses. Nobody expects the majority of web hosts to move to a ‘greener’ data center soon.
However – look at the marketing effect of this project. This company gets free publicity all over the place. They are trying something completely new. Something that has never been there before. They sure will get more attention than what other hosts will ever get in 3 life times. That is what we call free advertising. Now they just need to funnel this publicity into the right channels to really profit from it.
For us normal web hosts we can learn a little bit from this marketing stunt. Sometimes doing something really in a different way can get us the needed attention to have our business thrive and prosper. Think about it. Even a nice, free marketing blitz in local newspapers, radio, and TV would probably bring you a big bunch of new clients. Need something to think about? Maybe donate a new server to a local college or school or a charity. You get the idea ….
Until next time.
Christoph Puetz
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