Is there a market for this?

[TSO]

Do you guys think there's a market for paid, shared hosting in the $100/month range that would include a dedicated account representative who the client could call anytime of the day or night to discuss problems and issues with?

[sng]

$100 a month, I dont think anyone would pay that much for a shared hosting with support.

[Patrick]

Perhaps you could target non-tech businesses, and for the $100/month, take care of everything. I'd imagine there might be a market for that.

[TSO]

Patrick, by everything do you mean moving the site over, configuring email, etc?

[Patrick]

By everything I mean create the whole site for them (maybe charging more for design work), and keeping it hosted with support. Some non-tech businesses may have a tough time getting setup online, and that may be your market.

[doiz]

My boss pays $500 a month for their small business' hosting (only hosting, web development is separate), so yeah, there's definitely a market for it. You just have to target the business owners who'd rather deal with their own clients, and not be bothered with technical issues.

[TSO]

Patrick,

Thanks for the additional feedback.

doiz, wow that's encouraging! Does your boss think he's getting a good value for his money?

[~ServerPoint~]

$100 per month that is budget for the VPS or even for the dedicated server.
You will need to explain the advantage\s of this to your prospective customers

[Donetobuy]

Patrick,

Thanks for the additional feedback.

doiz, wow that's encouraging! Does your boss think he's getting a good value for his money?

At least the bos get value from those kind of services, it will be no problem. don't you think?
and the most important is, the business keep running smoothly and keep profitable :welcome:

[Richard]

$100 per month that is budget for the VPS or even for the dedicated server.
You will need to explain the advantage\s of this to your prospective customers

The advantage would be being able to talk to someone on the phone 24/7, and get accounts/settings changed in real time, EG: a fully managed hosting account with TRUE 24/7 support.

---

Yes - There is a BIG market for this kind of account, the buisness hosting industry is huge - and mainly taken by small companies reselling hosting for lots of cash.

BUT - You will need to look into other avenues, as website/internet sales are not your main target - you need to get fliers/letters/adverts out there on radios, in papers, ect, you wont get any/many such sales online due to competition.

[JasonS]

The advantage would be being able to talk to someone on the phone 24/7, and get accounts/settings changed in real time, EG: a fully managed hosting account with TRUE 24/7 support.

---

Yes - There is a BIG market for this kind of account, the buisness hosting industry is huge - and mainly taken by small companies reselling hosting for lots of cash.

BUT - You will need to look into other avenues, as website/internet sales are not your main target - you need to get fliers/letters/adverts out there on radios, in papers, ect, you wont get any/many such sales online due to competition.
I've used a fully Managed Shared host and the prices were from about $15/mo up to $40/mo... nothing more really.

I'd like my host to have 24/7 support anyway, not having to pay for it.

[doiz]

doiz, wow that's encouraging! Does your boss think he's getting a good value for his money?
Yeah, they like being able to talk to someone when they need to, and not have to wait for an email. It's just easier to communicate through the phone sometimes, especially if you're not a technical person. It can get frustrating to try to understand a technical email with "step-by-step" instructions, and if you're a busy business owner, you just don't have the time for it. I have suggested to them more cost effective solutions before, but they prefer to keep their current host, just simply because they don't have the time to deal with every little thing that might arise.

[LSComputers]

Hello,

I actually just finished doing a marketing and business strategy plan with a customer for something along this lines. They are charging $50/month, its going to be using a Clustered Network that they are partnering with (really helps with reliablitly). He then offers 24/7 support by phone, with design support as well.

I think it will be $250-500 for the website intial design and then the management and support is there avenue. They already have a solid customer base, so its def something you can get into.. Just get the right connections and your set.

[Keeper]

For $100/mo you may have to take it a step further and even manage their websites for them.

[Eric_HE]

Most host companies provide hosting plans with design works.So you do not need to program the website youself and they do offer a 24/7 support.Whenever you website come across a problem,just find their support department.
Sorry,you want you whole hosting to be managed by someone or you just want to have a dedicated REP. for you?
I do think there is a market like both of this.The only difference would be how much would that cost.

[SiberForum]

Most but not all. Sometimes web hosting provider is poor with design services

[alemcherry]

$100 is probably 10 times the normal rates, but there are many businesses that wont mind paying that much. In fact many businesses pay that much or more to their web development form for hosting and taking care of their website. There would be market, but reaching out to such people/ business who don't really trust unknown hosts for taking care of their websites won't be easy.

[webboy]

well, due to competition web hosting companies are offering dedicated servers in under $60
and in shared hosting prices are to low
$100 in shared hosting will not attract audience
anyway good luck!

[paperkool]

Yes you can call at any time of the day and ask all sorts of questions.
There's a market for this. Your price at $100 per month is beat, by other ISPs that only charge $7. Maybe you're gonna give golden pens, cookies, milk and a massage out with every account? :welcome:

[Richard]

Yes you can call at any time of the day and ask all sorts of questions.
There's a market for this. Your price at $100 per month is beat, by other ISPs that only charge $7. Maybe you're gonna give golden pens, cookies, milk and a massage out with every account? :welcome:
Actually no. A Business will NOT normaly select an ISP for their hosting needs, instead, they will check the local papers for "LOCAL" webhosts.

A few business's I know pay more than £45 ($80) per month for their hosting and domain, it's quite common, the small/medium companines do not wish to search around they just want it done.

And example would be a local restaurant to me - They pay £35/month ($60) for their hosting, and £30/year ($55) for their domain. And they think they are getting a good deal!

[TSO]

Thanks for all of the feedback! This information has been truly helpful. I will definitely begin pursuing businesses here in my local area for a service like this.

[sep]

I can see this working very well, it is actually an approach that is currently used by many other business types, like banks or marketing firms.

What I have in mind is that there will be several "Relationship Managers". These will have multiple clients clients each and their job description is to cater for their clients rather than having to worry about any over-all aspects of the company.

This creates a better user experience for the customers knowing that they are not just a number and feel more welcomed to discuss any issues with the relationship manager before taking any drastic measures, e.g. moving hosts.

I don't really see this working if you don't already have a large client base to be honest.

[~ServerPoint~]

Thanks for all of the feedback! This information has been truly helpful. I will definitely begin pursuing businesses here in my local area for a service like this.

You are welcome. I hope you will keep us updated about your experience

[TSO]

I definitely will! I think this should be pretty exciting.

[vWiz]

Perhaps you could target non-tech businesses, and for the $100/month, take care of everything. I'd imagine there might be a market for that.

Yeah $100 a month is expensive for shared hosting. But maybe if you take Patrick's advice you might have something.

[WebIntellects-R]

Yeah $100 a month is expensive for shared hosting. But maybe if you take Patrick's advice you might have something.

Well at this price you will be able to get good dedicated server instead. So I do not think that would be wise to sign up for the shared account.

[~ServerPoint~]

Yeah $100 a month is expensive for shared hosting. But maybe if you take Patrick's advice you might have something.

I believe you will be able to find more expensive web hosting. But why to pay more if you do not need to?

[DD-Mark]

theres a few problems with trying to get something like that to work, why wouldnt they pay somebody a one off fee of something like $200-$500 for site design, and then have there hosting for like $10 a month? at hostgator or somewhere that includes 24/7 support?

[Mike]

Yes and No. As long as you can keep up with the promises made to your clients with regards to support and service then you may get away with it. Maybe offer your services as a special "Niche" that is either not found yet or very quiet. Not quiet because it's not known but because people don't know about it. However, in this day and age, hosts are getting cheaper and cheaper, offering more and more. I could get shared hosting with a "dedicated account specialist" for $1.99 a month. Why haven't I gone for it? Because I know it's a load of ****, putting it bluntly :)

Run it right, Market it right, watch the $$$ role.

[webhostingdotam]

Perhaps you should offer perfect service and support, but you will have to work hard to attract the very clients that will agree to buy your services.

[wlsfred]

Depending on the needs, you could include a basic web design, and manage it completely. I think there could be a market for that. Targeting busines that don't want to take care of this and are not really interested in tech, you know, they just heard that it's important these days to be present on the internet :)