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Wisdom of LET/Hosts Needed
Hi,
I am launching a site to provide a product and professional services to new online business owners e.g. domain name, site setup, CMS customisation, and general site planning.
I am considering partnering with hosting service providers to get a commission for 'encouraging' my clients to host with them. This is almost close to an affiliate system except in this case getting what we offer is conditional on client signing up and using the services of the specific host(s) we suggest.
In short we have some offers, we are not going to charge you but if you love what we have then use XYZ, ABC, or MNO host and continue using any of them.
The issues -
- On the average, between $100 - $200 is estimated to cover the premiums we are providing to customers.
- Although there are hosting companies offering $65, $100+ etc as affiliate commissions but this would not fit perfectly into the affiliate model. That model says 'no incentives'.
- I am after partnering with quality hosts both in services and in reputation; hosts we would really use for our own business sites.
- I definitely am not ready to launch a hosting service for this because that is not my strength
Kindly advice how best you think this could be executed.
Comments
Not at all.
Keep in mind that your job is tightly related to customers trusting you. If ever a customer find out about your hosting commission your business might sink.
The only acceptable way I see is to share the commission e.g. in the form "we can recommend proven good providers and we even can get you a better price with them".
Many thanks for this key point. I was thinking to make it clear from the start that we get commission from their making use of the recommended providers.
The problem is that some providers do not want incentives given to get a sale.
This makes sense as they provide quality services and would not like to have customers who would not understand what type of service they are signing-up for
You need to educate your customers on why you recommend one provider over other in terms of what value add they provide...
The reasoning - We host our sites with the same provider does not resonate much with me
It boils down to what your poison is-
Frankly, Its difficult to find any providers that offer both
Forcing customers to offer a service iff they signup with one of the suggested providers shows motivation only to earn $$ and nothing more to me.
My 2 cents. Good luck with your new venture.
The end is nigh.
No!
Yes, the end is nigh.
I don't really understand what the question is, exactly.
Thanks a lot for this. It is not like forcing specific hosts on clients, but rather giving them a set of hosts that they would likely choose if they have some level of experience.
Take for instance on LET here, if I ask you for recommendations for shared hosting, VPS hosting, and storage VPS I am sure you will mention the Rack.., Franc..., Mypw.., Series..., Ultra ... OVH, Net..., Lite..., etc and their likes who are proven.
Two great points I've got from your post - to educate, and to offer value added services to further make client's experience smooth.
May I message you?
The summary is I am willing to provide services to client in exchange for them using specific hosts that I recommend; how best can I go about doing that?
Do customers really come with a specific hosting company in mind? They've come to you for your expertise, and your expertise tells you to go with those companies. Just be clear and upfront. Although to be honest, who in the world is going to use this service? A service that just provides advice?? Well, let us know how it goes, after a few months.
In my experience, 99% of time, no. I think OP wants to target a very specific niche which, in my book, is a recipe for disaster.
Make partnership contract with those hosting providers.
Your service appear as an option in their billing system.
When their customer order the hosting package, they can order your service as an add-on.
Existing example:
Trend Micro sells their security software through AWS Marketplace.
Customer orders and pays AWS, but most of the revenue goes to Trend Micro.
Sure
I'd you can't answer this question on your own - you should not be doing it imo.
Use a quality reseller hosting. This keeps you with the client and extra revenue, very handy when times are quiet.
You can’t rely on kick backs from hosts. Keep control and enjoy the extra each month. Honestly reseller hosting required little support to clients.
A few good reseller hosts I have previously used would be:
Krystal.uk
HostWithLove.com
JoneSolutions.com
Keep away from your EIG ones.