How to make extra cash through reseller hosting
Photo by panumas nikhomkhai from Pexels
Reseller hosting is a lucrative way to make some extra cash on the side. It is an online business most people do not think about when they are looking for ways to pad their pockets. Resell web hosting is a simple concept that you can pick up with our ultimate guide to reseller hosting. When you do this, you are not controlling or managing any of the hosting servers. Instead, you are simply leasing out those servers, marking them with your company’s brand and in turn selling that server space to clients or potential customers.
You are able to tailor your own web hosting plans, get paid and even offer additional services like email and website backups. It is almost like you are in charge of your own web hosting services company, only you are not using your own servers. Before you jump to start this business, there are a few requirements you must meet.
Requirements
It is best to take a full assessment of your reasons for starting this type of business, your level of technical skills, as well as your business and marketing knowledge. Knowing your motivation for starting this business will help you establish a blueprint for what you want to do with this business and layout attainable goals. Having goals that are reachable are crucial. Owning your own business can be tough, and when times get difficult, knowing your motive will help you press on.
You can either start your reseller web hosting business with just you or with a team of people. If you are going into business for yourself, it is important that you have some technical skills. You should have a working knowledge, if not a deep knowledge, of how servers work. Knowing about basic web design and web development skills are great things to keep in your back pocket. You do not have to be a prodigy programmer, but some technical skills are better than none. If you are going into business with a team of people and you do not have the technical skills, you can outsource this to another team member.
The same thing can be said about your marketing and business skills. You will likely have to market your business’ services, so knowing a little something about marketing will put you a step ahead of some of your competition. Typically, the reseller host handles things like customer service support, maintenance and other tasks. You may also have to know about payment processing.
If you are going into the reseller web hosting business to beat out the competition, you will be in for a great surprise. These companies are very big so they will have huge competitive advantages over your small business. Keep in mind that your goal should not be to beat out the competition, but to provide for the niche market that you service. This could be small- to medium-sized business instead of big-ticket businesses. When you go for target markets, you increase your chances of standing out among the crowd of other web hosting service providers.
How to make money
Understanding what reseller hosting is and requirements for starting a business like this is the first step to making more cash. We can start talking about how to make money.
Do the proper research
Once you figure out your niche market you will service, take a deeper look at how you stand against your competitors. Look at what their main offerings are, how much they are charging and take note of some of their marketing tactics. This will help you tailor and craft your own business structure, especially if this is an industry you are very unfamiliar with. It is recommended that you look at these factors for at least four to five competitors.
Decide what your main offerings will be
Once you do the proper research, you will know what kind of hosting as well as any add-on features you want to include for your customers. You could offer things like shared hosting, VPS hosting, or dedicated servers. Some people only go for WordPress hosting. Whatever features you are able to provide, including the add-ons, depends on the parent hosting company. They may be able to offer additional things like domain name management and email features. Become a reseller that is a one-stop-shop. That would really set you apart from the rest of the competition, but again, that depends on the things your parent hosting company can provide.
Get everything together
You want to make sure that you go for a parent company that will be able to give you the offerings you want to provide for your customers. Whether you want to provide VPS, cloud and dedicated hosting or you want a reseller that gives excellent customer support, when you choose the right parent company you can find a reseller that aligns with those services. Of course, you will need an amazing website that is user-friendly and draws customers in.
Give excellent customer service
Remember that you are a small company. Providing excellent customer service should be the lifeblood of your company. Make it easy and simple for customers and potential customers to reach out to your business for any and all questions they have. The website should be easy to use. The sign-up process should be simple. If you go with a parent hosting company that provides all of that as part of their reseller package, you are in luck. All that means is that the parent company will be responsible for providing and giving out excellent customer service. They will be able to take care of any support requests as well.
Establish your marketing
A good business has a good marketing strategy. Your reseller web hosting business is not exempt from this. The easy part is that you will be vying for the attention of a niche market. Figure out the best way to reach this niche market. Create a budget for search engine optimization and social media advertising. Whatever your approach, track the success of your strategies by creating a measurable marketing campaign.