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Web Hosting Customers (categorized)

October 27, 2004 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

Web Hosting Customers (categorized)

What kind of clients do you have to expect when being a web host?! When a new client signs up, you do not know what to expect – all you have is that email with the domain name and the client data. Will it be an easy client who never needs support or will it be a nightmare for your support team?! Here is a look of what kind of customers you actually have to expect as a web host.

1) “I want all for less”

Some people just don’t care about quality. Everything they do, everything they get, has to be at least free or somebody has to give them money for it, before they take it. When (if) those people really need something and they realize they have to pay for it – they just want the cheapest deal possible. All for less. If you get one of these clients, be prepared that these people do not want to pay a fair value for your services and they will still expect full service at it bests. As soon as they see a better deal somewhere else, they pack their bags and move on. That one dollar that they will save over a period of one year seems to give them a special kick. They will make you look bad in public forums without hesitation, if they don’t get from you what they want. They will complain to the public to get what they want. A good web host should try not to cater these kinds of clients.

2) “I don’t know what I am doing”

These clients have no clue about web hosting – but they think they know it all. Nobody has ever told them, that they do not know anything about web hosting. Be prepared to hold hand for those customers. They will need a lot of attention and will submit helpdesk calls whenever they think something is wrong. They also like to play around with things they don’t know to handle (those evil control panels 😉 ). This can result in broken websites or scripts or whatever is related to web hosting. In most cases they accept help and are very thankful. They are good customers but if you have a short fuse, you would prefer to have different customers. If you love to deal with people and have the right hand for your customers, you can build up a very solid and loyal customer base this way.

3) Joe Average

Joe is not new to web hosting. He has a very good idea of what he wants and what needs. He likes to experiment a little bit – you will have to pick up the pieces every once in while. He knows that good quality requires a little more money to buy and he is willing to pay for it. He is usually on a budget and so he will choose not the cheapest package or the most expensive one. Once he is settled with his website, things tend to be quiet for a while until he starts experimenting again and it all starts over again.

4) The Pro

The pro is usually very knowledgeable. He/she came to you because he/she expects quality service and he/she expects certain features with his/her web hosting account. He/she will know when your server went down and expects you a) to fix it fast and b) to explain what happened. If your server platform is unstable he/she will move on and eventually tell others about problems – if it is justified and true. If you can explain what happened and fix the problem, the pro can be very loyal and supporting. Things break – no matter how good the quality of the hardware or the service is. It depends on how professional you can handle the situation. These kind of clients can be very rewarding because if you treat them right, they will be able to bring you much more business.

5) “I don’t know what I am doing II”

He knows he needs a website. He does know he needs a domain name and a web host. That’s all he knows. He eventually found somebody who made him a website a while back, but he still needs a web host. Money is usually not a problem. He rather pays a little more to really get the better service. If he has the choice between your budget plan and your top notch pro plan with 25 GB bandwidth, he will go for the big package. His site might only use 25 Megs bandwidth a month, but he rather has some spare resources available – even if it is overkill (but you never know).

6) The SPAMMER

The SPAMMER comes with a stolen credit card and either a fake or strange looking domain name. He only needs the account for a few days. As soon as you send him the account data he will upload his SPAM script and files and then start sending out SPAM until you shut him down. These people suck and make your life more difficult. The only protection is increased fraud filtering and common sense and monitoring.

7) The invisible client

Invisible clients pay for their account, upload their websites and then you will never hear from them again. The recurring payment never fails – they always pay. Sometimes you’re tempted to call them or email them to see if they are still alive (but you don’t or do you?!). The invisible clients use less than half of their allotted resources – if at all. These are the perfect clients and you wish everyone would be like this.

These are the main customer groups I have seen in the web hosting industry. There are a few more but most of your clients will fit into one of the categories listed above.

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 11/2004

October 27, 2004 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 11/2004 

Do you vote?

Next Tuesday is election day. This year the battle for office has been very dirty. Kerry blames Bush, Bush blames Kerry, and nobody is getting anywhere. The SWIFT Boat Veterans are very entertaining and as more dirt they produce the less likely anyone will trust them. It is just too obvious what that group is trying to accomplish and who is behind the campaign.

I voted early – last Friday already. I had to wait about 20 minutes before it was my turn. I had used my voters guide to make good decisions. We will find out next week if my voice has some impact.

I hope you vote. Voting is a major part in an democracy. Not voting is letting somebody else taking control and making decisions for you. If you complain about something you don’t like – well, you did not vote. Suck it down.

For the health of Democracy and for America I hope that the election result will be as clear as possible. If we see another Florida we have to ask ourselfs: Did we fail? What went wrong? Is that really what the fathers of our country wanted us to do? Are lawyers taking over voting?

I just hope that whoever gets elected has such a big advantage in votes that it is just not worth for a lawyer to fight the result. I am not asking to vote for this candidate or that candidate – I leave that decision up to you.

If you registered for voting – please go and vote. America and what it stands for needs your vote.

Thanks.

Until next time ….

Christoph

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 10/2004

October 24, 2004 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 10/2004 

Hi there

This Friday morning I received an email telling me that a well-known forum had been hacked. 

Quote:

the site is hacked by arab hackers team

reasons are : stop war on iraq

contact us at msn messenger :

The black hacker

a0d@hotmail.com

blackhacker@ahmed-shams.com

Immediately I went to the site but everything looked normal. No topics about the potential hacking attempt were visible. I went back to the email and noticed the email address it was sent to was not the one I did use at that paticular forum for notifications.

So, I checked my own forum here at webhostingreport.net to make sure it was not hacked either. Puh – Things were Ok. I am friend of patching software and OS as soon as possible. But still – something like this makes me sweat and nervous.

Anyway – I still have no doubt that a forum somewhere on the Internet got hacked. I hope the webmaster did not loose his/her work. It’s already bad enough being the victim of such an attack. This brings me back to the point – back up your existing work – always!!! If you have time – download the backup to your local machine, burn it onto a CD, and store it in a safe place.

Being hacked happens even to large sites – it’s how we deal with this mess afterwards that makes the difference. Tell your users what happened. Tell them what you did to fix it. Ask for support – you will be surprised how many people really like to help. Website defacing is not a cool sport. It’s a crime.

Until next time ….

Christoph Puetz
Owner Webhostingresourcekit.com

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 9/2004

October 17, 2004 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 9/2004 

Recently I started looking into buying some existing websites to add more streams of income to my business. I was not necessarily looking for websites related to web hosting – rather some generic websites which could create income in general.

However – during my research I found several web hosting businesses and websites for sale. The owners always seemed to struggle to find the right buyer or even to determine a fair price for their existing business. One sale I have seen was for a business that already generated $60,000 per year. That is quite impressive and I wonder how the host would find a buyer for it. Most forum advertisings on the Internet rather seem to cater to low price sales.

How would I sell such a business at that level? Well, honestly I can say – I don’t know. Personally I know from experience that it is easier to sell a business locally if you have many local ties (=local clients). Business brokers and banks often can help you to find an investor. But if you do not find a buyer you will need to turn to the Internet. And then there is the beauty of forums and service providers who help you selling your business. But will this really satisfy the seller? I am not too sure about it.

I bought 2 websites and domain names in the last 2 weeks just to find out that they were template based from a very cheap source. It was not critical to me – I expected templates. But it showed me a whole market of folks trying to sell turnkey websites. Offers were mushrooming all over the place and I consider this makret saturated pretty soon. Anyway – it shows that the buyer of existing websites or businesses needs to be very cautious before spending money.

I spend $65.00 on 2 sites and I have a plan. You might spend $6,000 and be ripped off. Spend your money wisely.

Until the next time ….

Christoph
Owner Webhostingresourcekit.com

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 8/2004

October 6, 2004 By Christoph Puetz Leave a Comment

Web Hosting Resource Kit – Editor’s Opinion 8/2004 

Well, at one point it had to happen. After being in business for more than 2.5 years for the very first time I had to suspend a customers hosting account for not making the required payment. Several reminders from my side and several promised to make the payment from his side later I pulled the plug on his website and suspended it.

It feels kind of weird playing the server god and suspending access to the domain and website this way. Did I wait too long to do this? Did I snap and pulled the plug too early? Should I have communicated with him more often? Was I not clear enough in pointing out the consequences? I feel a little bit that I failed to avoid this situation. But then again – how long does a web host need to wait before pulling the plug on a non-paying customer? Should it not be the customer responsibility at least to talk to you and explain the situation and try to work something out?

So, how are you handling situations like this and what can we do better to meet our needs and the serve the customer as good as possible?

It depends on how far you want to go. In my situation I had billed the hosting fees for 3 months at the end of August/Beginning of September (the clients need to pay hosting in advance). The payment was never made. 2 weeks (10 business days) later I reminded the client about the payment. A few days later he needed some emergency web design work done ( I also do some web design). I went the extra mile and took care of his needs (and also pointed out that I would bill him for the web design work). He promised to send out the check right away – he had been too busy and had forgotten about it (so his words). I also billed him the web design work. Of course his check never arrived. He called and needed some changes to his website again. He also wanted to send me 4 images for that purpose. The images never arrived, but I also told him that I am expecting the other payments to be made first. Another week passed. He emailed and promised payment. The next day came – but no payment in my mailbox.

Re-evaluating the situation I decided to pull the plug on him. The web hosting fees were not really that critical to me (less than $10.00 per month). But I had billed almost $500.00 in web design work and he was already 5 weeks behind with his other payment. The combination of things in this situation made me decide this way. The client had already access to the web design work and I did not really had anything to pressure him to make his payments other than taking down the website. So, in my situation I had several reasons to pull the plug. But things might look different in your situation.

Anyway – as I mentioned before – I feel kind of weird having this done and the customer yelling at me. I am prepared to loose this client. Luckily I am not depending this one client and at one point you have to be strict enforcing your business policies. I am running a business – not a charity. I guess I was kind of spoiled not having to deal with this for such a long time. Is this the fun part of running a web hosting business? No, certainly not. Was I really prepared for this? No, I wasn’t. Maybe you will after reading this ……?! 😉

Until next time.

Regards,

Christoph Puetz
Owner Webhostingresourcekit.com

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