i want to be a hosting reseller

I am thinking about doing it as well sometime in the future. And when the time comes I'm thinking about learning it from Daniel Brock and use his services. He currently has a WSO. Maybe you can contact him first asking for some advice.

Red

Going up against all the large hosting companies would be fairly futile so you have the right idea of marketing to your existing clients, that is what I do. This will allow you to keep some of the customer problems down if you screen out the pita customers early in the process.

I would not try and compete price wise though, charge more and give more and you will be better off. What I do is support the site itself as long as a client hosts with me so that when they break something (and most will) I go in and fix it for them, basically I give site support and not just for hosting issues. This is something that they will not be able to get somewhere else and it lets you charge a premium over the other guys. I have had clients move elsewhere to save money and then come back when they found the personal service was not there anymore.

Keep your monthly rate structure fairly high but when they sign up give them an option to sign up for a year at a discount(I give three months free). A lot will go for that, they feel like they are saving money and you lock them in for a year and since the beginning rates are good you still come out way ahead. Not sure of the exact number but my clients on shared hosting avg somewhere in the $11-$12 range per month even with the yearly discounts. It is way better to have 50 customers at $12 then 200 at $4 in my opinion. The same amount of money and less problems.