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Dear hosts
- Thread starter Darknight
- Start date
That's because 'free hosts' don't set out to be successful long term, they just want to get to 200+ clients then sell up and wait for the 'business' to collapse!
FreeHostHQ will be opening quite soon but you wont find us offering 2GB web space and 100GB bandwidth! It's crazy, unsustainable and WILL fail!
Maaaaybe.
What set this off? (Ok, besides the thousands of hosts that employ business models that just won't ever make money.....)
Problem with your recent hosting company?
You know, I have been around these forums for a while. Nearly 10 years ago, there was only about a dozen free hosts available. (f2s, l33t, bizland, portland, and webpunkt just to name a few.) Then of course you had the giants, like angelfire and geocites. It was not like it is today with free hosting everywhere you look. Options were limited and you were lucky to get 50MB of space. (Yeah... MEGAbytes.) Sometimes you could get free hosting on a paid server if you knew somebody who knew somebody else who happened to be friends with somebody who owned a server somewhere.
These days you see free hosts giving out 50GB accounts with 200GB bandwidth. What the heck has happened?? The prices of hardware dropped and it became more affordable for kiddies to get their hands on a dedi or a reseller account somewhere and then oversell it to death, or just give out so much that it collapses. Back then, there was no overselling. Your server had a 20GB hard drive and you allocated exactly what you could.
I sit back and laugh at threads like these because of how different things where back then, but yet how everything is still so similar. Every 12 year old kid on this board has a big deam of becomming the next big free hosting provider that will somehow change the industry. Everything goes well for a month or two, and then they disappear into the night. Either they lose interest, their parents cut off their funding, or something goes horribly wrong and they poof into thin air.
These days you see free hosts giving out 50GB accounts with 200GB bandwidth. What the heck has happened?? The prices of hardware dropped and it became more affordable for kiddies to get their hands on a dedi or a reseller account somewhere and then oversell it to death, or just give out so much that it collapses. Back then, there was no overselling. Your server had a 20GB hard drive and you allocated exactly what you could.
I sit back and laugh at threads like these because of how different things where back then, but yet how everything is still so similar. Every 12 year old kid on this board has a big deam of becomming the next big free hosting provider that will somehow change the industry. Everything goes well for a month or two, and then they disappear into the night. Either they lose interest, their parents cut off their funding, or something goes horribly wrong and they poof into thin air.
i agree with deeplist.
I still remember that when a free host place a lot of forced ads in out pages, no one will say anything at all.
but now, ppl do not even want to post2host for a hosting that have no forced ads at all and they want damn large space and bandwidth without want to do anything in return at all...
I still remember that when a free host place a lot of forced ads in out pages, no one will say anything at all.
but now, ppl do not even want to post2host for a hosting that have no forced ads at all and they want damn large space and bandwidth without want to do anything in return at all...
The problem is not entirely the hosts... its also the clients that are so gullible as to believe that they are going to get some insane amount of space for free.
What really sucks [and this is part of the reason I am no longer a provider] is that the market is so saturated with oversellers that even if you do open and try and provide proven non oversold services people are like "well I can get 10 times that over at [insert overselling host name here]"
I recall a time where free resellers were a very rare thing. Now people are moving on to try and get a free vps and dedicated server!!!!
My only advice to the greedy people... goto a food chain and try and get a free meal... see what happens
What really sucks [and this is part of the reason I am no longer a provider] is that the market is so saturated with oversellers that even if you do open and try and provide proven non oversold services people are like "well I can get 10 times that over at [insert overselling host name here]"
I recall a time where free resellers were a very rare thing. Now people are moving on to try and get a free vps and dedicated server!!!!
My only advice to the greedy people... goto a food chain and try and get a free meal... see what happens
eSupun
New Member
Actually, overselling is a art these days. Even though I don't oversell at all, I must say Everyone oversells! (at least the bandwidth or memory)
Overselling is fine when you know what you are doing and what is your limit.
I do also believe that many free hosts come today and get vanished in the next morning. But that words doesn't describes of everyone.
Overselling is fine when you know what you are doing and what is your limit.
I do also believe that many free hosts come today and get vanished in the next morning. But that words doesn't describes of everyone.
RubyRingTech
New Member
The issue really isn't overselling or promising these insane plans. Almost every company/industry does it. They are called loss leaders. The issue is how one handles or manages those leaders. Example McD's it is what $1 for a double cheeseburger? While operation costs put that burger around $.80 "please don't quote me" a $1 drink is all of $.10 so the hope is more drinks are sold to make up the profit.
Same can be done with hosting but one has to watch out, or do three minutes worth of research on a company.
For example, company A is giving away for free 50GB HD, Unlimited Bandwidth, cPanel, and a domain. Really? Now doing research we find that company A is 2 months old.. Um yeah unless this is some trustfund kid, this is going to fail in about another month.
Now Company B, is offering $5/year for hosting, reasonable plan, but the $5/year?? Come on, well doing some research on that company we find out that they have been in business for 9 years, have a few racks of servers, and are able to fund this little side project until it can pay for itself. If it doesn't it is just absorbed into the companies other shared servers.
Just my 2cents.
Anthony
Same can be done with hosting but one has to watch out, or do three minutes worth of research on a company.
For example, company A is giving away for free 50GB HD, Unlimited Bandwidth, cPanel, and a domain. Really? Now doing research we find that company A is 2 months old.. Um yeah unless this is some trustfund kid, this is going to fail in about another month.
Now Company B, is offering $5/year for hosting, reasonable plan, but the $5/year?? Come on, well doing some research on that company we find out that they have been in business for 9 years, have a few racks of servers, and are able to fund this little side project until it can pay for itself. If it doesn't it is just absorbed into the companies other shared servers.
Just my 2cents.
Anthony
Seraphim
Active Member
Cheeseburgers and Donuts.
I would then open and operate a weight loss clinic right across the street.
The profits from the weight loss clinic would pay the operating cost of the fast food place, and everyone is happy because they have good food without the consequence- even though they still pay through the roof for indulging.
First person to pull off a similar stunt of loss leader to promote a different service entirely in the web hosting world will be the next GoDaddy.
But I also am annoyed by overselling as it makes it hard to promote my services.
On the flipside though, several of my current customer base are people who became so highly frustrated with the poor performance of oversold hosting that they agreed to test drive my services, and all of them have said they'd never go back. There is a way to tap this market, just it takes great care in promoting and maintaining the host that tries it.
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The problem with marketing your services blindly on forums like these is that you'll only be visible to the people who are here looking for a bargin in the first place. If they see your company offering 5 GB of space for 5 bucks per month and then they see Joe Blow's Kiddie Hosting Emporium offering 50 GB of space for 5 bucks per month, who will they go for? Clearly the guy offering 50 GB of space is overselling his server(s) because there is no way that if everybody on his machines uploaded 50 GB of data that the servers would sustain themselves. But remember, your average customer is not going to realize that. They see bigger numbers for the same (or lesser) value and jump all over it.
These days, you CAN'T compete because (as mentioned above) the market is too saturated. It's not like it was 10 years ago. Your average customer is not as wise when it comes to shopping around in regards to reviewing the background of the business they choose to go with. It doesn't matter to them. If they choose a fly-by-night to upload their worthless forum to, and the host disappears a week later, they'll just move somewhere else and think nothing of it.
In my experiences, if you really want to do this right, you need to establish a location locally in your town, not just online. Market your services to the local businesses around town. Send out literature in the mail, advertise in the local paper. Meet with people face to face. Take phone calls. Answer questions. Offer to help them transfer to your server. Explain to them why you're the company they can trust with their info. Explain why your services are worth the price that you're asking for. Locally based customers are more loyal and they are more likely to appreciate the fringe benefits of having a face behind your business name and a voice they can talk to when there's a problem/question. They're also more likely to appreciate features like no oversell policies, uptime guarantees, etc. In addition to that, they're not gonna just fill your server with warez, bot scripts, and junk.
These days, you CAN'T compete because (as mentioned above) the market is too saturated. It's not like it was 10 years ago. Your average customer is not as wise when it comes to shopping around in regards to reviewing the background of the business they choose to go with. It doesn't matter to them. If they choose a fly-by-night to upload their worthless forum to, and the host disappears a week later, they'll just move somewhere else and think nothing of it.
In my experiences, if you really want to do this right, you need to establish a location locally in your town, not just online. Market your services to the local businesses around town. Send out literature in the mail, advertise in the local paper. Meet with people face to face. Take phone calls. Answer questions. Offer to help them transfer to your server. Explain to them why you're the company they can trust with their info. Explain why your services are worth the price that you're asking for. Locally based customers are more loyal and they are more likely to appreciate the fringe benefits of having a face behind your business name and a voice they can talk to when there's a problem/question. They're also more likely to appreciate features like no oversell policies, uptime guarantees, etc. In addition to that, they're not gonna just fill your server with warez, bot scripts, and junk.
RubyRingTech
New Member
One of the biggest problems I have seen since the "unlimited" plans came out is that in general people don't want to be told what they can and can't do; or that they have limitations. The avg website is around the 100MB mark "mileage may vary" however if you tell a customer "Hey all your current website needs will be filled, and I will do this for you at a cost of $5/month" customer is like "Great!" however 3 minutes of search, and same customer can get unlimited for $4.95/month. Why wouldn't they go with that plan? Who cares about the nickel, but the idea that "what if I want to make another site, or add a photo gallery, or a blog, or whatever." It sucks but its true.
Think about it this way, when you go to your fav burger joint, do you get the Biggie/Extra large, or supersize for the penny more, even though you won't drink the one glass, but just incase you are thirsty and want more?
Just my 2cents.
Anthony
Think about it this way, when you go to your fav burger joint, do you get the Biggie/Extra large, or supersize for the penny more, even though you won't drink the one glass, but just incase you are thirsty and want more?
Just my 2cents.
Anthony
See the problem with overselling is that [in the case of this analogy] yes you buy the large because you may be extra thirsty BUT once you drink half of it the burger joint takes the rest away and says you are "abusing' the services
RubyRingTech
New Member
Yet again, what does one expect for a buck? Long and short people are cheap and if one wants to cater to the cheap then they must play the games of overselling, unlimited, and more. However playing that games turns one into the "abusing the system' providers.
Same can be said for the RackSpace/IBM uptime on a $5 budget. Had a customer leave us the other night because he lost connectivity to his site for 30 seconds in 6 months time. Was like "you do realize that this is still an 99.9998 uptime."
Ah the joys of doing business.
Anthony
Same can be said for the RackSpace/IBM uptime on a $5 budget. Had a customer leave us the other night because he lost connectivity to his site for 30 seconds in 6 months time. Was like "you do realize that this is still an 99.9998 uptime."
Ah the joys of doing business.
Anthony
When I pay for something whether it be $1 or $1000 I expect to get what I am paying for.... if I am paying for 100gb space and 10000000000gb bandwidth I expect to be able to use every single kb of that...
RubyRingTech
New Member
@Tracker, and there is the OP's point. Don't make bs promises that can't be kept.
People are uneducated. They go for whatever appears to be the best offer. Instead of jumping on the best "deal" they should do a little research into who their host really is, how long they've been in business, what their policies are, etc.
In addition to that, in light of recent (and not so recent) events, maybe they should find out if their host actually has their own servers, or if they are some kind of reseller for somebody else. If they're buying hosting from a reseller, then they should know who the parent company is, and then dig even deeper.
Ignorance is bliss until something like this happens.
In addition to that, in light of recent (and not so recent) events, maybe they should find out if their host actually has their own servers, or if they are some kind of reseller for somebody else. If they're buying hosting from a reseller, then they should know who the parent company is, and then dig even deeper.
Ignorance is bliss until something like this happens.
