So you run a webhosting operation..

[Escaped]

Great! Maybe you're successful at it?

Something innovative has to happen, and soon. 1and1 is killing me, my customers have began looking at 1and1 and I have to give them a little shake up.

$2 hosting is NOT innovative. It upsets me to think someone can do that, making a mockery out of an entire industry.

So.. what needs to be done... we need a revolution.. one that will change the way we do business.

R-E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N...

*sigh*

Thinking.. Thinking.. Thinking.. Thinking..

I have an idea. I came up with it a few years ago.

I'm not sure *exactly* how it would work, but it would be beneficial to members.

It would generate leads..

It would share the wealth..

It would have a wide presense..

It would reshape an industry..

Heck, It would cure the common cold..



It would be a revolution.

An alliance of 50000 webhosts going after the big name webhosts!! :uzi2: :fork: :fork:

[Mark]

I bet you 99% of people looking for webhosting have or never will hear of 1and1.com. I sure know I've never heard of them. Nor do I or should I care what they do. They'll fail eventually, don't worry.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by Mark:

I bet you 99% of people looking for webhosting have or never will hear of 1and1.com. I sure know I've never heard of them. Nor do I or should I care what they do. They'll fail eventually, don't worry.

:clap:

and dont worry, when their servers start lagging and they cant support their customers (because their profit margins dont account for acceptable support levels for their customer base) - we (meaning the hosting companies that stayed the course) will be there to bail their clients out

[Robert]

actually 1and1 is all over dslreports.com

[Andrew]

people seem to be happy :)

[Escaped]

Originally posted by Robert:

actually 1and1 is all over dslreports.com Yep. I'm Taoron there, and I was hoping word never got out about it, but turns out they are advertising it in major PC magazines.

[Robert]

I do not fear 1and1. I do not fear nobody. I fear the thought of failing as a webhost, the thought of not providing my clients the support and respect they deserve and expect.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by Robert:

I do not fear 1and1. I do not fear nobody. I fear the thought of failing as a webhost, the thought of not providing my clients the support and respect they deserve and expect.

:clap:


Didnt realize how big 1and1 are. They will not fail. After some research, this limited time offer lasts until January.

Even if they filled 400-500 servers with this free offering, it still only represents a tiny portion of their entire server farm.

[noncompare]

1and1 is already generating a lot of buzz, and they haven't even gone out full swing yet (that's going to happen supposedly come January)... so obviously they won't take down the entire industry but this can be a harbinger for things to come.

Web hosting is approaching something akin to commodity status, and you know what happens when that occurs: prices are inexorably driven down.

Service, proximity and other factors will still be winning factors that biggies like 1and1 won't be able to commandeer.

But there are other companies who can also "afford" offering free bandwidth and hosting for a limited time, and if they do that, then others follow suit in an effort to control their hemmorrhaging market share, well you get the idea.

Sounds really bad doesn't it? But here's a nice fact:

People have been predicting the demise of the "hosting" industry since what, 1998? Like the PC (and you've undoubtedly heard of the "pc is dead" school), it's still here, and not doing too badly.

[Robert]

The hosting business obviously isn't a "get rich scheme". It requires time, dedicated, sleepless hours and hard work. But if you do it right and put your heart into it, within time you'll develop a well established hosting company and you never know where it can take you.

[Chicken]

Originally posted by noncompare:

Service, proximity and other factors will still be winning factors that biggies like 1and1 won't be able to commandeer.
I agree that these are areas in which smaller hosts will be able to capitalize on. Good ol' fashioned personal contact also. I made the decision to put my hosting business plans on hold a while ago to pursue the field of education, and my own educational goals. The few clients I still host I know by name, and know a bit about their life and sites. That's one thing that smaller hosts and resellers have, that larger hosts tend to lose. If someone sends in a request for help, I also mention something about their site or family or interests, just a quick note, just so they know that I'm not just their web host (which they can get anywhere for $$$ cheaper). It's at the point that I actually have very little interest in hosting these people, yet I feel bad because I wouldn't sell them to another provider.

I do think that this concept can be applied in a limited fashion no matter how large you are, with personal account managers (or whatever you want to call them), which are in charge of a limited number of clients. If you give customers the option of emailing 'their rep' or 'any rep' depending on the nature of the request, and how important it is to get a fast reply (one rep can't reply as fast as a general box that all reps handle.

Anywhoooo, just a thought I had for you guys who feel that you're being threatened by larger providers offering things you either aren't able to offer (due to your smaller size), or don't want to offer (different market, yet aware that your clients may see these offers).

Also, for newer hosts, I wouldn't worry about trying to offer tons of features and large amounts of space and transfer for a few dollars a month. You'll never be the cheapest, so don't bother trying. Remember that 100 customers paying $20 per month generates the same income as 500 customers paying $4 per month. I'd concentrate on offering reasonably attractive packages for a fair price, and letting your service and support attract new customers (word of mouth), and retain current ones.

[GChurch]

I agree with chicken you cannot compete with the economies of scale that companies like 1&1 operate on. You can however easily beat them on support and service. It is more important than ever to differentiate your services from the pack as the industry is maturing and once the market reaches saturation and growth tails off there will be a shakeout leaving just a few major players and small specialist providers.

[Velostream]

Everyone said the same thing about Verio, and look what happened?

[Robert]

What happened with Verio? I'm still averaging my daily signups, still making a profit, enjoying what I do, hjelping people, getting compliments about my service.

If you're gonna let another person ruin your day, be it, but they hell aren't gonna ruin mine.

[Chicken]

Originally posted by Velostream:

Everyone said the same thing about Verio, and look what happened?
Originally posted by Robert:

I'm still averaging my daily signups, still making a profit, enjoying what I do, hjelping people, getting compliments about my service.
I think that's what happened (his point).

[noncompare]

Indeed. Basically companies like 1and1 make other hosts feel threatened because of their economies of scale, but as noted that is just one "angle" that 1and1 can be good at, and there are other "angles" (call them niches, differentiators, unique selling points, etc.) that companies like 1and1 just couldn't match, personal service being the most common (but not the only one) and potent.

I now host my design clients from my own hosting operation, but while I can put all my very own sites internally, I actually still maintain an account (from over 4 years back) with my old web host simply because I really like those guys. That's something no other host can take away from them.

[Deb]

I agree with chicken you cannot compete with the economies of scale that companies like 1&1 operate on. You can however easily beat them on support and service. It is more important than ever to differentiate your services from the pack as the industry is maturing and once the market reaches saturation and growth tails off there will be a shakeout leaving just a few major players and small specialist providers. :clap: :clap: :clap:


If you were not planning to compete with the $2 hosts, then don't worry about competing with the 'free ones' either ;)

Compete for the loyalty of your own clients (you've got a head start with them over your competition).

[ljprevo]

Can I ask where their data center is? Whois shows Penn State, but a whois on the pinged IP address is a RIPE address?