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How to Setup Offline Client Domain and Hosting??

by GoPeterB
12 replies
I am curious as to how some of you setup your offline client's domain name and hosting packages?

Do you walk them through the domain registration process over the phone? Because they are the ones that will be getting the bill.

Same goes for hosting. I use Hostgators affiliate program rather than using my own hosting account. Hosting will have to be setup in their name and billing info.

Are your clients a little hesitant to do this on their own? Or if you do it for them, are they hesitant to give you credit card info over the phone?

What are some of your strategies?

Thanks,
-Peter
#client #domain #hosting #offline #setup
  • Profile picture of the author Superior Content Creation
    I use my hostgator affiliate account too, and honestly sometimes it is a real hassle. Some of these offline clients cannot even figure out how to purchase their hosting, and as a result sometimes I never hear from them again after sending them on this innocent errand.

    If you think the customer will be long term, you might be better off providing hosting. The $100 Hostgator commission is nice, but if you get enough customers set up on a reseller account, you could have a decent passive income coming in. Most people don't want to let go of their website once it's up and running even if they let it go stagnant, so they'll probably stick around for a while.

    You can even maintain control of the domain and possibly sign up a new customer under when they left if you wanted to. Here's a thread about using this as a business model. In the past, I've purchased a domain with my own credit card and had them deposit in my account, but if you did that too many times with an affiliate link you would undoubtedly be suspected of abuse. I myself still do the affiliate link because I need the extra upfront money right now, but in the future I want to offer hosting--if you experiment with the pricing you could really make a good income with this.
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    • Profile picture of the author GoPeterB
      Originally Posted by dru-man View Post

      I use my hostgator affiliate account too, and honestly sometimes it is a real hassle. Some of these offline clients cannot even figure out how to purchase their hosting, and as a result sometimes I never hear from them again after sending them on this innocent errand.

      If you think the customer will be long term, you might be better off providing hosting. The $100 Hostgator commission is nice, but if you get enough customers set up on a reseller account, you could have a decent passive income coming in. Most people don't want to let go of their website once it's up and running even if they let it go stagnant, so they'll probably stick around for a while.

      You can even maintain control of the domain and possibly sign up a new customer under when they left if you wanted to. Here's a thread about using this as a business model. In the past, I've purchased a domain with my own credit card and had them deposit in my account, but if you did that too many times with an affiliate link you would undoubtedly be suspected of abuse. I myself still do the affiliate link because I need the extra upfront money right now, but in the future I want to offer hosting--if you experiment with the pricing you could really make a good income with this.
      thanks...just curious. Since you are still using the affiliate method, do you actually walk them through it over the phone? Or do they feel comfortable giving you their credit card info? I wouldnt mind using my credit card to set it up, but I dont want the recurring hosting bill being charged to me.

      Also...who do you use for domain registration?

      Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Peter, I don't mess around with trying to walk clients through affiliate signups and such. One of the benefits I offer is simplicity. They pay me, I handle stuff.

    I buy the domain name. I set up the domain on my Hostgator reseller account.

    If our arrangement involves a monthly maintenance fee or retainer, it's the same thing - they pay me, I handle stuff.

    Once I have the information I need, they can be totally hands off if they choose; even the payments can be automated.
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    • Profile picture of the author GoPeterB
      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      Peter, I don't mess around with trying to walk clients through affiliate signups and such. One of the benefits I offer is simplicity. They pay me, I handle stuff.

      I buy the domain name. I set up the domain on my Hostgator reseller account.

      If our arrangement involves a monthly maintenance fee or retainer, it's the same thing - they pay me, I handle stuff.

      Once I have the information I need, they can be totally hands off if they choose; even the payments can be automated.
      Thank you. With Hostgators reseller account service, is your monthly fee $25 to have this account?

      Also, I am charging $597 for a custom website design and want to offer 1 year free hosting. If they pay me with a check for $597 then I can use that to cover their hosting costs for the one year. Correct?

      I would still need their billing info if I wanted to bill them monthly for the hosting after one year. Correct? Or would it be easier to just accept a check from them to pay for their hosting costs?

      Are their any other costs associated with the reseller account?

      THANK YOU ALL for your replies!
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by GoPeterB View Post

        Thank you. With Hostgators reseller account service, is your monthly fee $25 to have this account?

        Also, I am charging $597 for a custom website design and want to offer 1 year free hosting. If they pay me with a check for $597 then I can use that to cover their hosting costs for the one year. Correct?

        I would still need their billing info if I wanted to bill them monthly for the hosting after one year. Correct? Or would it be easier to just accept a check from them to pay for their hosting costs?

        Are their any other costs associated with the reseller account?

        THANK YOU ALL for your replies!
        That's correct - $24.95/month and I have hosting for both client accounts and my personal websites. One check for $597 covers your entire hosting bill for almost two years. The second one is profit. You don't need a separate reseller account for each client.

        As Sandi mentioned, for monthly billing I can simply invoice them and take payments, set up an EFT or recurring billing via PayPal. Since I control both the domain and the hosting account, I'm pretty easy to deal with when it comes to how I get paid.
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        • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
          I do it all for them and charge enough upfront that if they keep using that website for another 10-20 years and never pay me a cent it doesn't matter.

          The hosting for most business sites is very cheap...they don't get a whole lot of traffic so the bandwidth is usually negligable.

          Also with many hosting accounts you get hosting for a whole pile of domain names or even hosting for unlimited domain names.

          Kindest regards,
          Andrew Cavanagh
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          Old School Copy Like This Is BACK & Converting Like Crazy!
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    • Profile picture of the author Nathan Denton
      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      Peter, I don't mess around with trying to walk clients through affiliate signups and such. One of the benefits I offer is simplicity. They pay me, I handle stuff.

      I buy the domain name. I set up the domain on my Hostgator reseller account.

      If our arrangement involves a monthly maintenance fee or retainer, it's the same thing - they pay me, I handle stuff.

      Once I have the information I need, they can be totally hands off if they choose; even the payments can be automated.
      Sounds like the way to go John
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      Online marketing, offline marketing and various other things.
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      • Profile picture of the author Superior Content Creation
        GoPeterB
        I think John is dead on with this--keep it simple. I think you've got a good plan going with the custome packages and hosted websites, but you will lose customers if it isn't a no-brainer for them.

        On another note, is everyone sold on the Hostgator for reseller packages then? In the thread I mentioned earlier, a lot of people were into reseller zoom (I think that was it). Does HostGator handle the customer support, and if so, is that a higher-priced package?
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          dru-man, speaking just for myself, I wound up with HG when the original hosting company I was with had some service issues and some weird kinks in their server setup. I did some research here, checked some other sources, and actually called HG to ask questions.

          I can't speak for others, but I've been very happy with HG's support. For simple stuff, like changing passwords, etc., I do it through the WHM (Web Host Manager). If I run into something I'm not comfortable handling, HG will either tell me how to do it or just do it and tell me.

          Back to the simplicity angle - I don't want my clients calling HG for support. Remember, they pay me, I handle stuff...
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          • Profile picture of the author Superior Content Creation
            Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

            dru-man, speaking just for myself, I wound up with HG when the original hosting company I was with had some service issues and some weird kinks in their server setup. I did some research here, checked some other sources, and actually called HG to ask questions.

            I can't speak for others, but I've been very happy with HG's support. For simple stuff, like changing passwords, etc., I do it through the WHM (Web Host Manager). If I run into something I'm not comfortable handling, HG will either tell me how to do it or just do it and tell me.

            Back to the simplicity angle - I don't want my clients calling HG for support. Remember, they pay me, I handle stuff...
            Ah yes...how quickly I forget. I've got Hostgator for just my regular hosting package, and they've been awesome for sure. If you don't mind me asking, how many customers are you comfortable running hosting and maintaining sites for if you do everything, including support, yourself? I suppose you could always hire some help if you got overwhelmed...
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            • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
              Originally Posted by dru-man View Post

              Ah yes...how quickly I forget. I've got Hostgator for just my regular hosting package, and they've been awesome for sure. If you don't mind me asking, how many customers are you comfortable running hosting and maintaining sites for if you do everything, including support, yourself? I suppose you could always hire some help if you got overwhelmed...
              Sorry if this sounds like I'm dodging the question, but the simple truth is I don't know yet. I haven't had enough problems to put a limit on the radar.

              That said, I have to remind you that in most cases, I've set everything up, so others going in and messing with things is very rare. The biggest time-suck is keeping blogs and plug-ins updated. If that gets to be a problem, the next step will be a VA...
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  • Profile picture of the author Sandi Valentine
    I also buy everything and set it up for them. I have a reseller account and charge monthly for hosting - sometimes I throw in a free year's hosting as a promo. I pay the same amount either way, so it's no skin off my back If the customer wants the domain name in their name I have them register it, otherwise I set it up and stipulate in the contract that I'll transfer it to them after the contract's up if they don't want to renew.

    Oh, and I just send out invoices and take checks for local clients. If they want to use a credit card, I send them an invoice through Freshbooks (invoicing service I use) or Paypal, so there's no need for me to collect billing information.
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