Can I make money of my plan?

[Benzozation]

Hi guys,

I've been an observer here on the forum for quite a while now.
In the last couple of months. I've been buying crappy eBooks, surfing the internet for hours when I should be sleeping just to try to find a way to earn money online, instead I've lost alot of money on things I found out later I could get free, and I've been scammed enough times now.

Even though many eBooks has been crappy (lack of a better word), all of them has learnt me a few things here and there. Still I haven't made any money, though I haven't put much effort in it yet.
I always look at the bigger picture, so when I first wanna start something I want it to go big. I don't want to start spreading PPD, advertising hacks/cracks and all of that (no offence to those who do, keep hustling man, whatever keeps that paper rolling, do your thing).

Right now I've set up a website for free webhosting. I got a good VPS and can get more if I need too.

In the beginning I had set a price for the hosting. But, then it struck me why not do it for free (I think I believe to much in Karma & been scammed to much so I guess I have a softspot). Everything included in my hosting service is unlimited. Space, Bandwidth, FTPs, Databases, Emails, Sub & Addon Domains. And as a bonus everyone gets CPanel included.

The reason I ask on this forum is because so far in my journey to making money online this is the best forum I have come across, and the people here seems very friendly too.
So to my question. Do I have any chance of making money with my plan? I'm not talking rich over night bullcrap, or someone to give me a step-by-step guide and so forth.

Just a tip or an advice to put me in the right direction would be much appreciated.

My plan includes; NO AD's! - So I cannot make any money on Ad's, as I like to keep my word. Other than that, I'm fully open for any help and very much thanks in advance for replies!

And Happy new year people!

Edit: As I'm new to the "Making Online Money", I'm also happily open to work with somebody if they want in on my plan. Just send me an PM!

 

[cherry676]

1. Free hosting is scary for many people. Most of the us try to stay away from free hosting as the provider will suddenly drop a mail saying that unlimited usage has been over-used so the website will be brought down. It will be hard for you to win some trust when you offer free hosting. Offer lower-than-competition prices and guarantee good service. That might help you win some customers. Service is what matters if you want to stand out.
2. As far as money making is concerned, I don't know how you are planning to make money with this. May be some other experienced person might help you, I am not aware of the hosting business.

 

[web_riches]

The best way I can see to make some funds with this is to offer add on services.

like 1 click installs of web programs like WordPress (A $5 life time add-on)

Or offer additional services like web design, or VPS systems, or proxys... not sure of other ways if you do not want to put in adds.

Good luck!

 

[Benzozation]

1. I see your point. Using your time, making a website ++ And suddenly it all goes down. I see how it can be hard to win a persons trust that the website will stay up. But, I don't see why I should sell my hosting service when I can provide it for free. If people need to buy it, there is still the same "trust issue" if I that is the correct word to use, that your website might be brought down.
- What if I offer some kind of backup of all the customers files & databases? Because the files the customer has on lets say "my server" won't disappear into thin air if you know what I mean. It would still be on my server. By doing it that way, I will have the website backup and running again very fast or am I mistaken? But yes, I see your point regarding free hosting & "trust issue".

2. Thats the answer I'm kinda looking for. Maybe not the answer but some ideas, tips or advice you know

 

[Elon Snup]

If you offer everything for free, you expose yourself to 2 problems:
- Where do you get your profit? You will piss off people if that's a fake "free" hosting with payable addons or limited tim offer. Be careful. You can monetize different services on the site (SEO, Design etc etc).
- You may have a truckload of people signing up and this will be a nightmare for you. You have to find a solution to narrow that number down to a few people. You are responsible for what's hosted on your server, so you don't want any DMCA request every morning, pornography without rights, without consent, or even worth (won't get in details, but you should be careful when opening your service for free if you don't have the ressources to hire a "moderator").


That said, it seems like you a genuine good guy, so I wish you the best in your projects. But remain careful.

 

[Benzozation]

Addon Services was not a bad idea.

I like that. Many people think its hard to set up a website. And there is tons of different content management systems to use, so that was not a bad one. Thank you, sir
I was also thinking I could offer to make logo's for a price. And second maybe to promote my customers website? Maybe that could be an idea?

 

[Benzozation]

TayaX:

Yes, I currently have a system set up that works like this: 10 Customers at a time. So I wont get 100, 1000 people a day trying to sign up. When the stock is empty, you cant order until I re-open. And my re-opening time for new registrations is 1-7 days. Depends on how much time the work will take with new customers.

And I also have a like "Notes" Textbox you need to fill in, explain alittle bit about what you gonna use the hosting service for. I also got Terms and Conditions when its comes pornography, warez, etc.. That if any of the customers websites is used for things that goes against my T&C your service will be shutdown or atleast temporarily suspended so the customer will have time to fix the reason the website has been suspended.

Edit; I do not wanna scam people, offering something that I can't actually offer if you see my point. But there again comes the "trust issue" that I will have to work on. I don't know how to do that or show people that I really offer a free service, with no downside.

But also as you said, "Where is 'my' profit?". Thats the thing I need to learn how to make money without the customers if thats even possible. SEO, I'm very new to that. I've recently just started reading about it, and will get more and more into that.

"Trust Issue" - The only way I can see how I can make that work in positive way. Is to only have positive feedback. Keep my customers happy and make no promises I cannot keep. And by that way, it will grow by itself, maybe?

Edit; Thanks alot for the replies people. It helps me out more than you know, it helps me to get a grip on the problems and fix them before they arrive. By that I can have everything set-up perfectly before starting it up offically.

 

[dannyvriens]

Why not outsource some stuff, try to find some good guys that can deliver some SEO for your customers and charge them some little more for your own profit the same can be applied for other things like designs etc etc. Also consider the early given tips like add-ons, this can give you a nice income and some start features for your clients that don't wanna hassle into the installation.
But keep in mind that this will be always a one time income and you need to pay your server monthly, so keep in mind to charge enough to hide all the costs.

 

[Benzozation]

Thanks dannyvriens,

Pay for good services, offer them to my customers for a price little higher.
Yes I hope to earn enough to cover for the VPS'(s) even though addon services will mostly be one-time payment. So its gonna be hard, thats why I hope to get in contact with someone who would know a sneaky but a good way to also profit from the actual website itself aswell.

Right now on my list I have came so far with ideas after all of your replies ( thank you )

1. CMS Install (One-Time Payment)
2. Logo Creation (One-Time Payment)
3. Unique Web-Design (One-Time Payment)
4. Voice Servers (Monthly Payment)
5. SEO Services (One-Time Payment(?) - I don't know much about SEO, but I guess that will be a one-time payment) - Thanks danny for giving me that idea though

- Also I came to think of it. I offer ADD FREE Hosting. But could I use ADs on the main website? Aslong as the customer will not be bothered with ADs after they sign in to their service. What do guys think about that? Or would that just be annoying? I hate ADs myself. But when I came to think about it, after the customer has gotten his Hosting Account, he will be add free. (If I choose to do that).

Thanks once again BHW People, filling me with ideas

Edit; Could CPA be a method of income that the customers will not see and be annoyed by? I don't know much about CPA, all I know it is Cost-Per-Action. But if that will NOT in anyway annoy or be shown to customers (AD-alike, popups and such) could that also be a source of income? I see Tayax mentioned it above. I guess I have to look into it. I got alot of reading to do.

The reason for my newbie questions. Is that there is so many ways to earn money online, and I don't wanna waste more time on reading about things I don't really need to know about. Thats also one of the reason I created this thread in hope to get some great and friendly help as I have already gotten in just a few hours, else I probably would been wasting my time on wrong knowledge. But so far it seems that I need to get myself some reading material on CPA, SEO and also maybe how to earn the most out of ADs. (If I do decide to include ad's to the original website, but after your a customer you are 100% add-free).

 

[resz9]

Thanks dannyvriens,

Pay for good services, offer them to my customers for a price little higher.
Yes I hope to earn enough to cover for the VPS'(s) even though addon services will mostly be one-time payment. So its gonna be hard, thats why I hope to get in contact with someone who would know a sneaky but a good way to also profit from this!

Right now on my list I have came so far with ideas after all of your replies ( thank you )

1. CMS Install (One-Time Payment)
2. Logo Creation (One-Time Payment)
3. Unique Web-Design (One-Time Payment)
4. Voice Servers (Monthly Payment)
5. SEO Services (One-Time Payment(?) - I don't know much about SEO, but I guess that will be a one-time payment) - Thanks danny for giving me that idea though

- Also I came to think of it. I offer ADD FREE Hosting. But could I use ADs on the main website? Aslong as the customer will not be bothered with ADs after they sign in to their service. What do guys think about that? Or would that just be annoying? I hate ADs myself. But when I came to think about it, after the customer has gotten his Hosting Account, he will be add free. (If I choose to do that).

Thanks once again BHW People, filling me with ideas

You should spent some time on webhostingtalk, it is a great forum for anyone looking to build their web hosting business.

My suggestion, give it away free for a small package (1 gb storage, 1 domain, 10 subdomain) and make them pay if they want upgrade to bigger package.

 

[cherry676]

1. I see your point. Using your time, making a website ++ And suddenly it all goes down. I see how it can be hard to win a persons trust that the website will stay up. But, I don't see why I should sell my hosting service when I can provide it for free. If people need to buy it, there is still the same "trust issue" if I that is the correct word to use, that your website might be brought down.
- What if I offer some kind of backup of all the customers files & databases? Because the files the customer has on lets say "my server" won't disappear into thin air if you know what I mean. It would still be on my server. By doing it that way, I will have the website backup and running again very fast or am I mistaken? But yes, I see your point regarding free hosting & "trust issue".

2. Thats the answer I'm kinda looking for. Maybe not the answer but some ideas, tips or advice you know

1. I have seen people complaining that their free hosting provider(promising unlimited bandwidth, memory) comes back saying that the free usage has been exploited so hosting account will be closed with just a warning mail. In some cases, people lost their website related files also. Free always looks skeptical, my opinion might be subjective.

2. I have seen some good replies down the thread, that's a good knowledge for me as well.

My advice would be start with low price or even a price equivalent to the industry standards and offer something extra like other people have advised. I like to stress again, SERVICE is very important. Good luck!

 

[Benzozation]

You should spent some time on webhostingtalk, it is a great forum for anyone looking to build their web hosting business.

My suggestion, give it away free for a small package (1 gb storage, 1 domain, 10 subdomain) and make them pay if they want upgrade to bigger package.

There is so many website like that already. I want to create something unique. "Unique" is a wrong word too, there is alot of free hosting. Kinda hard to explain my vision on this. But I want people to have the option to choose free webhosting and get even a better deal then what they would of got If they paid for it somewhere else.

1. I have seen people complaining that their free hosting provider(promising unlimited bandwidth, memory) comes back saying that the free usage has been exploited so hosting account will be closed with just a warning mail. In some cases, people lost their website related files also. Free always looks skeptical, my opinion might be subjective.

2. I have seen some good replies down the thread, that's a good knowledge for me as well.

My advice would be start with low price or even a price equivalent to the industry standards and offer something extra like other people have advised. I like to stress again, SERVICE is very important. Good luck!

1. Well I guess my only way is to prove people wrong. I'm the owner, and as owner of a free webhosting service I would never delete files, databases, etc.. With a bogus excuse like "free usage has been exploited". So how I see it my only option is to prove people wrong, get nice feedback, and never write a promise I can't keep.

2. Yes, there have been some very good replies. Thanks people, and thank you cherry for your reply too

I've taken your advice into consideration, thanks for that. But I think I'll stick to free hosting. If people wanna pay, they can go somewhere else. But as I've stated above I see that "Free stuff" can scare alot people away. But that takes me back to answer nr. 1. I got to prove people wrong for a long while I guess.

Yes, service is very important. I can not manage that alone when / if I get alots of customers. Then I think I need to hire some people, maybe set up a live chat.

 

[dandan594594]

If you are planning to provide a top notch free service and customers are happy why not ask for donations.

You will be amazed at how generous people can be, especially when getting something for nothing.

 

[Elon Snup]

@Benzo:

On another note I would like to tell you that trying to build up your project perfectly before launching it big is great, but when you're starting, it's definitely not the solution. You will end up with a higher chance of giving up when you face a problem.

Start small. This is the only way you will be able to handle the problem, get experience and learn from the different mistakes you will make. Trying to have 10 affiliates at the same time may be overwhelming for you, especially if you're starting. Just take 1 guy, see what he needs, what services you can offer, how much ressources hes using, what he is complaining about. Then note everything down and get to your second affiliate, repeat the same steps and so on. You will identify problems before they become too big, and also opportunities you might miss with a crowd.

Good luck.

 

[Sythix]

Free hosting? Damn send me a link.

All jokea aside, this is a terrible business model. You need to make cash somehow.

Maybe keep the hosting free but have upsales. Keep the unlimited stuff for pro paying members.

 

[jb007uk]

Hi,

It is a dreadful idea looking at it from a business perspective. Why not consider something like free hosting for 12 months with x amount of bandwidth etc giving the user the option of jumping ship or pay for a user plan that you can come up with after 12 months. Meanwhile during this time happy users can sign up to unlimited. During the 12 month trial offer all sorts of services as is the case with many companies out there in the market place today.

This does defeat the object in your case as you are competing against everyone else but add a twist to the deal ie the hosting gets cheaper the longer the customer stays with you - not many companies offer a loyalty reward scheme.

mother

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[Benzozation]

Thank you, DanDan! Donations, will be added

I actually have a couple of people who want to beta test the service. So I will do that, thank you TayaX!

I will definitely consider having a trail period. I just woke up so my head is not 100% working here but that sounded like a real good idea though. Thanks jb007!