6 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
6 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

How Many Wesite Clients Becomes Too Many?

by amarketing
5 replies
Hi all,

I keep reading how the bread and butter for the website guys (some, anyway) is the monthly recurring hosting income. Makes sense since over a year or two this could equal or exceed the total cost of the site. Also, if you have a slow month, you'll still have that extra coming in.

However, I'd imagine that the more clients you host, the more people you have calling to get this changed and that updated, etc. At what point does it become too many?

Some guys talk about how good hosting income is at 50 - 100 clients. Assuming you could even get that many, would you almost need a secretary to answer all the incoming calls?
#clients #wesite
  • Profile picture of the author Neison
    hosting and change requests are different things and should be billed accordingly.

    whether you need a secretary or not will depend on how needy the clients are. most offline businesses are not needy at all when it comes to the website, after it's been setup. (hence so many with ancient websites updated every few yrs.)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8984306].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author jeffatrackaid
    The type of service you describe is what we in the industry call mass-market shared hosting. Think 1&1, Godaddy etc. There's little money in these services except at very large scale.

    If you are a web dev hosting your own customers' sites, then build recurring revenue streams by focusing on handling change requests -- for example, what if you bundled into a hosting package:
    - 1 site update each month
    - 1 SEO tweak each month
    - 1 X service your customer wants each month

    These services are at a far greater value to your customers than a hosting account they can purchase for as little as $50/year.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8984398].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author amarketing
    Thanks

    What I'm mostly talking about is when you build someone a website and then charge them like $25 a month to host it. Sorry I didn't distinguish between hosting calls and change requests. I'm talking about people calling up wanting changes/updates to the website you made for them.

    Hmmm, I never thought about charging them extra for major changes (things other than adding an extra page, etc.). Lots of calls wouldn't be bad thing, then!

    Another way to look at it is how many calls a year you get from your average client. It makes sense, though, that offline businesses could go years without needing a single change...especially if they don't change their address or number.
    Signature
    10 ORIGINAL PLR ARTICLES!
    HEALTH * FITNESS * DIET
    Each Article is 300+ to 500+ (MOSTLY 500+) WORDS
    **** -----> Only Selling This Pack to 4 PEOPLE <----- ****
    Only $80 PER PACK ...That's $8 an article! PM Me Before They're GONE!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8984795].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Nguyen
    I think you're asking the wrong question. You should be asking what systems do I put in place to help me handle all these hosting / website changes when the come in.

    I have about 16 clients on my books and I speak to a ton more so when you're involved with about 20 clients then it will get too much by yourself. This is a good problem to have because you're growing but you're bound to piss off a few clients while you're growing. I've already pissed of 2 already but I'm growing which is what matters.

    I don't intend to piss them off, it just happens. You want to be at breaking point so you can grow.

    my 2 pence
    Signature
    FREE Cold Calling Course: >>> Looking for Serious & Aspiring Cold Callers to Train for FREE <<<
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8986628].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author amarketing
      Originally Posted by Michael Nguyen View Post

      I think you're asking the wrong question. You should be asking what systems do I put in place to help me handle all these hosting / website changes when the come in.

      I have about 16 clients on my books and I speak to a ton more so when you're involved with about 20 clients then it will get too much by yourself. This is a good problem to have because you're growing but you're bound to piss off a few clients while you're growing. I've already pissed of 2 already but I'm growing which is what matters.

      I don't intend to piss them off, it just happens. You want to be at breaking point so you can grow.

      my 2 pence
      Thanks for your input.

      That's a really good point: having systems in place and being organized will probably help you to handle requests quickly and efficiently. The more I think about it, the industry probably plays a role as well. For example, a restaurant will want their site updated regularly to keep up with a changing menu. A plumber on the other hand, wouldn't have all those changes to make.
      Signature
      10 ORIGINAL PLR ARTICLES!
      HEALTH * FITNESS * DIET
      Each Article is 300+ to 500+ (MOSTLY 500+) WORDS
      **** -----> Only Selling This Pack to 4 PEOPLE <----- ****
      Only $80 PER PACK ...That's $8 an article! PM Me Before They're GONE!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8986841].message }}

Trending Topics