using-reseller-hosting-to-increase-your-revenue-streamsAs a small business owner, you need to be able to diversify your income streams in several different ways. Many website owners fail to realize there is a host of options available for you to diversify your website and improve your income through reseller hosting. Coping with the peaks and valleys of seasonal interest in your products is one of the most essential tasks you can perform if you plan to run your own business year-round and continue to draw in income.

Businesses Can’t Afford Seasonal Losses

Customers tend to purchase in streams, and the highest potential for profits is around the holiday season. Businesses must continue to keep their websites online throughout the year, especially if they are making sales through their website. Getting other businesses to sign up through your reseller hosting program is a sure-fire way to ensure that you’re getting sales year-round and keeping your own business in the black.

Understanding Reseller Hosting

When you break it down, when you resell your hosting services, you are giving your clients a branded web service to host their products or services. The catch is that you need to offer something unique. By selling hosting services to your clients, you can pick up an extra monthly fee for something that you’re already paying for. Your hosting provider will provide you with your own account management panel, and you’ll sell hosting services that provide real value to your customers. Think of the profits from a reseller service as a recurring finder’s fee. You get money for bringing new clients to your hosting provider, but you also have to do some extra work to keep your clients happy.

How it Works

Your hosting company will tell you how much it will cost to sell web hosting to your customer. They will take care of the service maintenance to make certain your clients experience reliable, fast and efficient servers. Your job is to keep your customers happy and make certain they are getting up and running based on the added service you’re offering. You have the power to choose how you want to bill your customers. Choose from monthly, bi-monthly or annual contracts to ensure a consistent income stream.

Client Configuration

You don’t have to do anything other than offer the service to your clients. If you like, you can put the design of the website entirely in the hands of your clients. Your clients will get a branded version of the same control panel you use to build your own websites. Then, the clients are able to build their website using any of the available apps or protocols that are available to you. This frees you up to bring in some income and avoid having to worry about any of the technical issues. Your hosting provider will take care of most technical issues for you. Some hosting providers will even handle technical support calls and help your clients set up their websites. Though, with automated installation options for many popular software programs, this is not a common issue.

Free Web Hosting

Once you get a few clients on board, you’ll be running your own website for free. By providing a hosting option for your clients, you’ll be able to use the money earned toward your own hosting fees. Most clients don’t use much bandwidth or resources, so this is a great way to bring in some extra money with little to no effort on your part. You’ll purchase a hosting package and then divide your space up into increments for your clients. In a sense, you’re paying to rent out a server, and the reselling contract gives you permission to sell that space at a premium. It’s somewhat similar to having an extra room in your house that you rent out. Your customers get the benefit of shared resources, and you get to put a little money in your pocket for the service.

The Cost of Reselling

In most cases, it doesn’t cost much more than your current plan to add on additional hosting for resellers. If you get a single customer, that’s extra money in the bank. Since your business reputation is on the line when you resell your hosting plan, it’s important that you have a good history with your hosting provider. If you begin selling hosting services on a disreputable hosting provider’s server, it’s your company that will be blamed for the service outages and other issues. Doing your research and picking a provider with a solid history is essential so that you don’t end up getting negative press.

Maximizing Your Profits

It’s important to find a niche that you can exploit when attempting to resell your hosting packages. If you run a music company, you should be catering to musicians who need a place to host their site but don’t have the technical know-how to do so. Offer templates for musicians to get started easily. If you’re into design, then offer a complete website setup package to your customers. You don’t even have to sell the hosting as a feature. Simply offer a package that gives your customers a completely designed website, and offer to host it and maintain the site for one yearly fee. As your customer-base increases, you can consider hiring a dedicated designer to help you. Whatever your industry, you need to think about the needs of your customers to ensure you are offering a value-added and unique service.

Finalizing Your Plan

Try out reselling as a viable part of your overall business plan. Set goals and advertise your services. Offer a free one-month trial of your service and help your customers get set up during that initial month. If your customers like the website they have, they will be less inclined to move to another hosting provider. It’s a guaranteed way to bring in extra money every month, but you need to make sure your marketing plan is well organized and primed to bring in your customers. Compare website hosting for other segments in your industry to get a realistic idea of how much you can charge. Aim to charge competitively for what you plan to provide, but don’t go too low since that will make you look like a cheap, untrustworthy hosting company.