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What to do to make this business successful?

by Daniel44
4 replies
Hi Guys,

After seeing the world of IM (with most people talking about affiliates) and trying some stuff myself I have decided to take a different approach and offer a service, hosting peoples websites.

A few months down the line I now have a dedicated Linux server (I am a good system admin) and a website running (not quite ready to take people yet, but getting there) and I would like some feedback and some "next steps"

The website is: Red Dragon Hosting | We burn the competition! and I am thinking of offering an affiliate program. Primarilly what I am after is your advice on the following issues:

-How does the website look, is it professional?
-Should I offer an affiliate program, if so..how much should I pay affiliates to bring in new sales?
-Should I offer a resellers program as well?
-Are the prices I am charging reasonable, would you pay them?
-How would I gain traffic to the site? I am thinking about not focussing on Google or SEO as the hosting market is fairly saturated.
-Trademark, "We burn the competition" tagline, would it be infringment on HostGators "We eat the competition" (I didn't realize this was there tagline until after I had my banner made)
-Would it be feasable to make partnerships with IMers using my "internet marketing" package.

Thank you for your constructive critism and tips to help me be successful
Daniel
#business #make #successful
  • Profile picture of the author RemingtonSteele
    Originally Posted by Daniel44 View Post

    -How does the website look, is it professional?
    I like clean and simple designs, so it looks good to me. The only thing that I might change is the font color -- it's a bit too light, and many people might have trouble reading it. You don't have to make it black, but a darker gray (#333333, #2a2a2a, or #3a3a3a) than what you have would be good.

    -Should I offer an affiliate program, if so..how much should I pay affiliates to bring in new sales?
    -Should I offer a resellers program as well?
    I would wait until you've got the business running for awhile. It may demand a lot of your time in the beginning, and, in my opinion, you should work out the kinks before taking on the responsibility of an affiliate or reseller program.

    -Are the prices I am charging reasonable, would you pay them?
    I think they're reasonable, although I wouldn't buy from a hosting company that promises "unlimited" bandwidth, as there's no such thing.

    -How would I gain traffic to the site? I am thinking about not focussing on Google or SEO as the hosting market is fairly saturated.
    A good starting point would be to become a regular, contributing member of Web Hosting Talk. There are a lot of hosting companies with a presence over there, and I know that as a consumer, I have discovered some good hosting companies just by looking at people's sig files, so it could be a promising way to get new customers, as long as you're not making a nuisance of yourself in the forum.

    -Would it be feasable to make partnerships with IMers using my "internet marketing" package.
    I'm not sure what you mean by that. Could you explain it a bit more?
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel44
      Thank you so much for the reply

      I have changed the font colour (to black for now, I will try various colours later) and also changed the word "unlimited" to "unmetered", which is what I was originally planning anyway, not sure how unlimited got into there!

      Thank you for the advice of Web Hosting Talk, I will be sure to go over there and take a look

      By partnerships, I was thinking of getting some partners in the IM niche who have a product which needs a server. I am thinking some good solid partnerships will be a good way to start in this saturated market.

      Daniel
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      • Profile picture of the author RemingtonSteele
        Originally Posted by Daniel44 View Post

        By partnerships, I was thinking of getting some partners in the IM niche who have a product which needs a server. I am thinking some good solid partnerships will be a good way to start in this saturated market.
        That sounds like a great strategy. Best of luck in your new venture.
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  • Profile picture of the author DontWorryBeHappy
    Hi Daniel,
    First off the website looks brilliant. Simple clear and easy to navigate.

    However with regard your prices. They are competitive to an extent but you can get small web hosting with unlimited space from as little as $4 these days so you really need to sell your other qualities as a business.

    As to the slogan it is tricky they might claim that it is an infringement. You could possibly change it to burning the competition or something similar so as to avoid this potential pitfall. Alternatively just wait to see if they send you a formal (i.e. lawyer written) warning.
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