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Reinsnitz
Snitz Forums Admin
USA
3545 Posts |
 Posted - 31 December 2002 : 13:33:54
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| aye... we're trying to appropriately research this and not just fly off the cuff... we're going to start out with a re-seller package it seems... no money to start up from scratch right now... |
Reinsnitz (Mike) |
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snaayk
Senior Member
USA
1061 Posts |
Posted - 06 January 2003 : 14:47:28
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One of the things I have noticed a lot in hosting plans is the advertising of "unlimited bandwith" which we all know doesn't exist  . Like Frutz mentioned, perhaps, especially for Snitzers, it would be a good idea to offer hosting with low bandwith and a low price to match. I have been working on my hobby site for about 2 years now (what can I say I am meticulous and methodical (and a libra)), and the only bandwith used has been by myself and a few people I show the site to. Probably a gig in 2 years. The fact that the hard drive space doesn't cost much and bandwith is barely used would it not make sense to offer a package that reflects this? Then additional packages if usage increases. I just hate paying $12 a month for unlimited bandwith, unlimited emails, unlimited autoforwarders, unlimited auto responders, unlimited dsns, unlimited this, unlimited that, etc that I never use...not now anyway. But there aren't any host that cater to the casual web developer/designer. All my stuff is on an intranet with no way out!!
MySQL might be nice also, its cheap for commercial uses and more robust than access, with an option for MSSL as well.
For personal, low usage sites I think $5 to $10 is fair. With a discount for yearly contracts. Including the normal stuff -emails, access db, ftp, etc. |
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seahorse
Senior Member
USA
1075 Posts |
Posted - 06 January 2003 : 22:35:20
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I think snaayk has got a point about the hobbyist/student coder. It might be worthwhile for you to look into targeting that segment. My site is mostly a practice code sandbox. I can probably count the users of my site with one hand and still have fingers leftover.
I'm a host's dream. Every other evening or so, I upload my code changes to my site with a new feature for testing. Upload some images. Vist the new page a few times. Fix any bugs, and then email my parents to tell them that they can see the latest pictures of their grandson. I don't think I've even needed to contact Readyhosting yet. A few thousand more people like me and that's easy money.
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Ken
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Worldwide Partner Group
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Gremlin
General Help Moderator
New Zealand
7528 Posts |
Posted - 06 January 2003 : 22:41:23
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| In a lot of ways thats the area we've gone for with our "Snitz Special" enough space & bandwidth to let you play around yet still trying to keep the price as low as possible. |
Kiwihosting.Net - The Forum Hosting Specialists
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seven
Senior Member
USA
1037 Posts |
Posted - 11 January 2003 : 21:08:25
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I had one other thought on this subject... be ready for good customer service. What I mean, is sometimes some of the moderators and admins here can get heated over someone asking questions multiple times, emailing them, or being just plain stupid. Getting frustrated over these things is understandable and accepted by most others because this product is free and we can't really ask for more than that.
But once you throw a paying service into the mix, all frustrations need to be left aside. The customer is always right (to a certain degree).
Just my 2 cents. |
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DJBBIZ
Junior Member
214 Posts |
Posted - 11 January 2003 : 23:17:59
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| Well you have lots of input and its all over the board. I have started about 20 businesses and ran just as many and consulted to hundred's of all sizes and all types. I think you need to look at your strategic competitive advantage. If I were you I would not get into this industry and slug it out with everyone stupid enough to give a service away and a customer looking for the lowest price, its like the water swirling downward in the toilet! Now what have you got that nobody else has? Its not just brains because you can buy that. You have an existing loyal customer base, and a brand name. If you can use this to your competitive advantage you can score. Now my guess is there are not enough members here to make this a huge business, but maybe enough to make a little extra money. What kind of business do you want? Some people will not enter a business if it can't grow to be a certain size and revenue level and then sold. As such do you want a standalone business or another product line? Based on this answer you can find out how much you can rely on your existing customer base vs. outside customers. If you find you need a lot of outside customers then you need to figure out if you can penetrate the market at certain price points. A better job at $10 or $60 per month...big difference. I always start with either something I want to do for fun or for money. If its for money it has to meet certain financial criteria or its not worth my time. Based on this I start with target size and operating margins to determine what I would like to take out of it. Then I determine the initial investment that must be made to make sure the operating return on the investment is adequate. Then I decide on how many customers at what price levels will be required to hit my targets. I look at competition to see if my price level can produce a better product than what is out there. If it passes this initial stage of criteria then I go to the next stage to assess the exit strategy and valuation, the strategy for growth and the ability to attract quality personnel for the venture. If all this is possible then I begin detailed operating plans and forecasts for implementation. For the business you guys are in you need brain powere more than money to start as you said you can use a resell agreement to make this happen. Hope this helps. |
"The difference between good ideas and good results is performance"
the management institute | tmiFinance | tmiCreative | ProfileOnDemand |
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TestMagic
Senior Member
USA
1568 Posts |
Posted - 11 January 2003 : 23:37:11
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Come again?
Bottom line: a good product at a good price with good service will always be a hit. And we know that Snitz has the traffic to attract a few customers. Snitz is hardly some "Johnny-come-lately" trying to get into the game--its presence is dominant on the 'Net, so it already has some credibility for that. |
Snitz rocks! · Search 2 |
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Roland
Advanced Member
Netherlands
9335 Posts |
Posted - 12 January 2003 : 12:20:07
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quote:
Originally posted by TestMagic
Come again?
 lol
quote:
Bottom line: a good product at a good price with good service will always be a hit. And we know that Snitz has the traffic to attract a few customers. Snitz is hardly some "Johnny-come-lately" trying to get into the game--its presence is dominant on the 'Net, so it already has some credibility for that.
I think what DJBBIZ said, in short would come down to "do your research, look at what you have, what you want and if you can get that, and only then you go on, otherwise drop it.(If its for money it has to meet certain financial criteria or its not worth my time.)"
Instead of "dropping it", you could also just adjust your targets and see if that can work. If it does, you can still go ahead and then you can raise the targets over time.
My dad started small (in my bedroom to be exact), but over time his hour-rate has gone up, and none of the clients complain because of the results. You have to prove yourself, no matter what business you're getting into. |
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DJBBIZ
Junior Member
214 Posts |
Posted - 13 January 2003 : 15:06:29
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FrutZle...you are right on point...I was COO for a well established sizeable Venture Group for 6 years, I saw many a company think because they had a name in one thing that they could automaticaly penetrate another...uh uh...this is inexperience talking...unfortunately the world don't work that way! Look around the world is full of examples. Under that logic, Snitz should fold up shop because MS has released their ASP.net forum and I would use this logic to guess that they will convert over all their customers. I don't think so...they thought this when they released Money but they could not knock out Quicken. These are different products in different markets with a crossover customer base. Your Snitz community should make up a portion of your business but not all, it just gives you a running start. You have a great name and in time you could diversify your brand accross multiple product lines and build brand value. After that you start to license your name to products meeting your specifications and charge a license fee. And after that you sell and buy a home on the beach!
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"The difference between good ideas and good results is performance"
the management institute | tmiFinance | tmiCreative | ProfileOnDemand |
Edited by - DJBBIZ on 13 January 2003 15:14:57 |
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TestMagic
Senior Member
USA
1568 Posts |
Posted - 13 January 2003 : 16:09:18
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Oh, I think I may have forgotten to mention that I would also look for some sort of shopping cart included (since many of them are so expensive) and 24/7 telephone support. My site gets a fair amount of traffic, and my forum is pretty active, so when my site is down, I get all kinds of emails and even phone calls at my office. So when I have a problem, I want to be able to call up the host and figure out what's going on. And the techs have to be knowledgeable--one of the main reasons I really don't like my current host is that I often have to explain to them what's going on with my site, or what I think is going on. Sometimes they don't get it, and I have to explain things very carefully and slowly to them (good thing I'm a teacher and have experience with this!), which can make it hard to get things done quickly and accurately.
The problem with email support is that sometimes you need a back-and-forth interaction to convey your thoughts correctly. I've found with email support that the techs often don't do what needs to be done, they often just want to get something resolved the fastest way, even if it's not the right way. On the phone, I can at least ask them what they're doing, how they're doing it, and try to figure out if it's right. |
Snitz rocks! · Search 2 |
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Reinsnitz
Snitz Forums Admin
USA
3545 Posts |
Posted - 11 March 2003 : 18:26:59
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awesome feedback... I'm going to read through everything at leaste one more time... if not 2 times and take notes...
You guys are awesome :) |
Reinsnitz (Mike) |
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Reinsnitz
Snitz Forums Admin
USA
3545 Posts |
Posted - 31 March 2003 : 12:35:35
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Ok, we're getting ready to launch with the following 6 plans:
1. Windows - ASP/PHP/MySQL 50MB Disk Space/1GB Bandwidth $10.00 / month
2. Windows - ASP/PHP/MySQL 150MB Disk Space/2GB Bandwidth $20.00 / month
3. Windows - ASP/PHP/MSSQL 50MB Disk Space/1GB Bandwidth $15.00 / month
4. Windows - ASP/PHP/MSSQL 150MB Disk Space/2GB Bandwidth $25.00 / month
5. Unix - PHP/MySQL 50MB Disk Space/1GB Bandwidth $10.00 / month
6. Unix - PHP/MySQL 150MB Disk Space/2GB Bandwidth $20.00 / month
Thank you so much for your input :) These are for low to mid sized forum sites, and we're refering anyone wanting a larger solution to Reddi-Web Hosting  |
Reinsnitz (Mike) |
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dl4gbe
Starting Member
Thailand
36 Posts |
Posted - 31 March 2003 : 12:46:30
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Hallo,
I am a little bit confused about this offers. First to say, they sound really cheap if it includes the forum. You write that you offer a php/mysql solution on unix. Do you have a php version of the snitz forum?
I am paying now 69 Euro for the server. 10 Dollars sounds quite cheap.
Sincerley
Chris
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Reinsnitz
Snitz Forums Admin
USA
3545 Posts |
Posted - 31 March 2003 : 12:55:04
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| Unix server does not support ASP and does not support the forums. The Windows servers do. |
Reinsnitz (Mike) |
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RichardKinser
Snitz Forums Admin
USA
16655 Posts |
Posted - 31 March 2003 : 13:32:44
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| Mike, it might be a good idea to put up a forum on your hosting site that we can direct interested parties to. |
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