[bobbyg]

We are starting a new hosting "group".
After several years of doing internet hosting and development. One thing has occurred to me.
That the reseller business really demands a lot of support hours.
If you take a look at the number of support hours you spend on email and the phone providing support, then "apply" a typical hourly rate.
You really don't make much money-- realistically. Meaning that you put in a tonne of hours you don't get paid for.
Being that the amount of support you provide, in addition to all your marketing efforts, really adds up.

So I came up with an idea. If we all banded together and moved all the accounts under one company.
Then a dedicated support staff could handle all the support for you.
In return you would move all your clients on to the new servers.
You would no longer have to provide support, process transactions, do the accounting, do the client sign-ups, DNS, and domain set-ups.

You would simply maintain the marketing that you currently do online.
We could work out a deal where you receive 30% of the hosting fee every month.
We did some numbers and realized that most resellers (once they calculate in their own hourly rate) really do NOT make 30% of the hosting.
Being that your time is worth money and most hosts don't account for that when they offer reseller deals.
So they benefit from the hours of work you do in exchange for a small percentage.

What I was thinking is that if you receive 30% for every client you move over to the new servers--you will receive 30% every month as well as 30% for each new customer you gain.

That way you get 30% of the hosting fee then pays you for your marketing services only! The support will be taken care of on our end?

Let me know your thoughts,
I think its the only way we can all start making some true value on our time.

Robert Gaudette
bobgaudette@rogers.com

[bright-byte]

I may get flamed for this but, LMAO your not serious are you I mean, you want people that have spent their valuable time and money gaining clients and many hours already on support for the same clients to hand them over to you and they get a generous 30% for their troubles, sounds like you are trying to get some one else to get you clients.

Have you heard of affiliate programs, you can do the same thing and offer your affiliates 30% for gaining clients for you.

I would strongly advise against this offer to any one that is serious about becoming a reseller and/or moving on to becoming a full hosting service provider, as it is simply a glorified affiliate program.

If you are looking at becoming an affiliate then go for it.

[bobbyg]

Hey i wanted your opinions - fair enough

My intention was to show that you are probably NOT making 30% now or in the past.

Therefore for some of you this would be an improvement of your situation.

Calculate the number of hours you spend doing set-ups accounting and support and multiply it by minimum wage.

Then subtract this from your weekly earnings.

Not client stealing --- the 70% would pay for the equipment and bandwidth etc. also for the support staff.

I thought making 30% of the monthly hosting fee--each month would be a good wage for marketing only??

[bright-byte]

:) I suppose I am looking at it from the wrong angle, as I am not a reseller but in fact supply reseller packages and dedicated servers and most of our resellers go on to be hosting service providers themselves.

It's just that I can't see a reseller taking a step backwards to become an affiliate if their long term goal is to be a hosting provider.

BTW I never said you were Quote: client stealing, they are your words not mine. I simply meant if you want affiliates then call it that and don't call it something it's not.

And while 30% may be a decent percentage to an affiliate, a reseller would stand to make much more with the right business plan, a reliable hosting supplier and a reasonably priced reseller package

[bobbyg]

actually--there is no real difference between what you do and what i am proposing. Except that i reduce the work load the reseller will have and you benefit from the unpaid hours that the reseller puts in.

You have the equipment and get others to sell for you.

So really you do the same thing--only you structure it differently.

[bright-byte]

:) Sorry but there is a major difference between what we do and what you are proposing.

1.) we hire/lease space, bandwidth and/or equipment at a set price.

2.) Our resellers then sell the space and bandwidth allotted to them at their own pricing, allowing them to put as much or as little markup as they want on there services. They are not reselling for us, they are reselling for themselves and therefore all profit goes in their pockets.

3.) The only people that sell for us are our sales staff and affiliates.

What you are proposing is a great affiliate program that offers above average commissions and for that I commend you, but in our books this is not a way to be a reseller in the true hosting term/meaning of the word, it is simply an affiliate program albeit an above average one and would appeal very strongly to long term affiliates or people wanting to become affiliates.