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People don't like free stuff anymore?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by WebDeveloperSahil, Dec 24, 2013.

  1. #1
    I've created a new community some days ago in which I'm providing free web hosting with really good specs. But I'm amazed nobody interested in that. Basically my plans are way better than other free hosting companies. It's limited but good. So any idea how to get users that are interested in free web hosting?
     
    WebDeveloperSahil, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  2. Waqar Akram

    Waqar Akram Active Member

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    #2
    I am sorry but people think like there is catch if someone is providing something for free,

    I helped students for free for 2 years, I needed some money to expand the organization and I asked for donation and no body was donating,

    when you help someone for free they are always reluctant to accept it, and they don't even value it , sad but true.
     
    Waqar Akram, Dec 24, 2013 IP
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  3. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #3
    As someone who has multiple websites, I would not be interested in having them hosted by a free service, mostly because I would be worried that the hosting company's business model would not work and it would shut down due to lack of revenues. Not worth the potential trouble to save a small amount of hosting fees.

    I would also be concerned about the level of technical support that a free service could provide.

    Bottomline, hosting fees are so low these days that it makes sense for any serious webmaster to use a known, functioning commercial business for the reasons that I outline above.
     
    jrbiz, Dec 24, 2013 IP
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  4. DEBooks

    DEBooks Guest

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    #4
    The problem with Free web hosting sites - Google can't find them
     
    DEBooks, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  5. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #5
    That sums it up nicely. If you're offering limited free hosting as an introduction offer to a paid hosting option, people will trust it a bit more (because the paid option indicates you're a serious hosting company).

    Your best audience will probably be newbies who want to start a blog and don't have a clue. They won't realise that free hosts are rarely as reliable as paid hosts, and 90% of them won't stick with their blog for more than a month or two anyway. Target writing and basic internet forums. :)
     
    TIEro, Dec 24, 2013 IP
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  6. WebDeveloperSahil

    WebDeveloperSahil Active Member

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    #6
    @TIEro as you said, I'm also offering limited packages. I'm not offering unlimited bandwidth etc. as this is impossible. The stuff i'm giving out is really exists and reliable, but anyway I think i need some more promotion
     
    WebDeveloperSahil, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  7. Annea

    Annea Well-Known Member

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    #7
    I think internet users have become suspicious of free stuff because they can't tell which ones are legitimate and which are spam/viruses. Is it possible for you to get some sort of trust badge?

    Also, your service is probably better for personal users or cash-strapped newbie affiliates, so perhaps target forums, blogs, etc. with that demographic, maybe.
     
    Annea, Dec 24, 2013 IP
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  8. Waqar Akram

    Waqar Akram Active Member

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    #8
    I agree, I don't even work with any low reputed hosting company , I pay more but at least I get something in reward


    Satisfaction
     
    Waqar Akram, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  9. Arick unirow

    Arick unirow Acclaimed Member

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    #9
    There is nothing wrong with offering free hosting for everyone. What really matter here is the status of the service itself.
    Here are what really matter for providing free hosting for everyone:
    1. The hardware itself.
      It is really important to own the hardware (renting) before providing free hosting.
    2. The policy from 'upper network'. It is important to check the policy (TOS, AUP, etc) from the upper network. Some of them didn't allow their hardware to be used by anyone that offer free services. They did this to save their credibility and also their overall rating.
    3. Has full control over the server.
      This is the most important factor. Everyone whom offer free hosting should have full control over the services.
      Full control in this term mean the owner should handle any DMCA request, Abuse report, Server monitoring and tweaking, Anti virus and malicious script remover, IP blacklist management and much more.
    4. Fail-safe and back-up procedure. Always think for the worst. Create simple but effective procedure to handle any bad situation that may happen. There should be at-least one fail-safe procedure. Having internal and Off-site back-up is necessary (should be automatic). Off-line backup is the next priority (auto or manual).
    5. Know the limit of the hardware.Fair usage and sharing system should be calculated based on the hardware capabilities. It is necessary to protect the hardware from excessive usage. Hardware is a precious stuff so it is necessary to keep it operate at the normal and acceptable environment.
    6. Having internal security system to filter bots and unnecessary hits is necessary. However, relying to other third parties might be good idea (especially for free hosting). The use of CDN maybe helpful but not recommended (may need special configuration and optimization).
    7. Support related with the use of free hosting. Basic support is a nice idea.
    8. Avoid providing free hosting from another parties. It is hard to find out the real limit and capabilities of the hardware. There is no full-control over the services (see point two above). Vendor manage it all the time and may de-activate it anytime under any circumstances.
    I do provide free hosting for my student in the past. The free hosting was used to help them build their personal blog. I am glad most of them already have their own hosting (and domain) at this time. Free hosting was used only to help them understand about hosting.

    Actually free hosting has their own market and may reward great amount of money if managed properly. The revenue may come from:
    1. Member donation (up to 10% - not required)
    2. Upgrade into paid services . Affiliate with well-established company or buy different server for paid user (around 3% - 150%)
      Always make sure in second year, all fees to pay server and manage the services should be covered by Paid service.
      Reseller hosting is the first step if buying server is not possible. Having own server for paid user is preferred but managing it would need more dedication. Affiliating with established company could be good idea (they manage server all the time and provide excellent support. The owner just need to focus on managing hosting and provide additional support to paid customer).
    3. Advertising (fluctuate between 1% - 5%)
    To answer the question:
    1. Why no one (less peoples) interested in free hosting?
      (personal) Answer: It could be due to the nature (general impression) of free hosting. Lots of peoples didn't satisfy with free hosting (I have no sources for it, need some surveys to prove it) and didn't want to use it.
      (personal) Solution:
      - Offer free hosting that satisfy user. Offer internal feedback system to get the opinion from each user. Ask selected users to provide their feedback each month (or specified days).
      - Offer friendly hosting.
    2. Why no one (less peoples) interested in high specs hosting?
      (personal) Answer: Because most people think it is hard to believe someone would offer high specs for free.
      (personal) Solution:
      - Explain to customer about each specification of the packages and how it is possible. Using simple but detail explanation is recommended.
      - Offer reasonable spec that is supported by the hardware.
    3. How to attract more user to use free hosting?
      (personal) Answer: Quantity is not important. However, it is necessary to get minimum amount of user to keep business stay on the track. Explain to each (prospective) user if the service is running by professional which really concern on the user and the services.
      (personal) Solution:
      - Create special pages which explain about the status of the services. Use simple but detail explanation. The explanation should be backed-up by the facts. General rules applies: Be honest and think (prospective) user as your valuable friends. :)
      Having stunning templates might help but the most important is working features in both clients and public areas.
      - Avoid telling (prospective) user about too many too good features. Just explain what they would get by using the services. Explain the limit as well as it will greatly help both owner and (prospective) user.
      - Offer free hosting to (credible) individual that offer honest review. Any respective owner will take this route as it will provide more credibility to the company.
    4. Is it true peoples didn't like free stuffs anymore?
      (Personal) Answer: I think peoples wouldn't refuse free stuffs. What they really hate is false-promise.
      (Personal) Solution:
      - Provide high quality stuffs (services).
      - Maintain quality as high as possible. Set minimum accepted quality as high as it should be.
    I always respect anyone that provide free hosting because I believe lots of people would find it helpful. I do believe some peoples may start from free hosting (whether it is BlogSpot, WordPress, self-hosted WordPress, etc) before they become successful blogger.

    Disclaimer: I am not an expert in hosting industry and thus mean my opinion above may not relevant. :)

    Edit:
    - Fix spelling mistake.
    - Add more opinion.
    - Fix slight layout error.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2013
    Arick unirow, Dec 24, 2013 IP
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  10. webinsane

    webinsane Well-Known Member

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    #10
    I think that you should concentrate on offering hosting locally in your community. Give them first year for free. You will be surprised how quickly it can spread.
     
    webinsane, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  11. sirjorgeofculver

    sirjorgeofculver Well-Known Member

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    #11
    I've been trying to give away an MMA manual and haven't found any takers. You can't give some stuff away, that's for sure.
     
    sirjorgeofculver, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  12. Waqar Akram

    Waqar Akram Active Member

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    #12
    I agree I am creating new website and membership would never be free
     
    Waqar Akram, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  13. Dionne Taylor

    Dionne Taylor Active Member

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    #13
    Offering hosting for free? I would feel a little suspicious about that. Maybe people think it is too good to be true.
     
    Dionne Taylor, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  14. WebDeveloperSahil

    WebDeveloperSahil Active Member

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    #14
    My web site is just post 2 host, in which you post threads to get free web hosting, I don't think public should feel any kind of negative impression
     
    WebDeveloperSahil, Dec 24, 2013 IP
  15. azulita

    azulita Active Member

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    #15
    I guess people think that is not going to be support and maybe the hosting service is going to be really bad quality and you get all that kind of idea in your head. So people prefer to pay for that kind of service. But the one thing that I notice is that people life free stuff like video courses of ebooks.
     
    azulita, Dec 25, 2013 IP
  16. Waqar Akram

    Waqar Akram Active Member

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    #16
    people even don't select a freelancer bidding lower than the job actually is
     
    Waqar Akram, Dec 26, 2013 IP
  17. TIEro

    TIEro Active Member

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    #17
    That's usually because price is not the most important determining factor in choosing a good freelancer. It comes very low on my list of criteria, for example.
     
    TIEro, Dec 26, 2013 IP
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  18. sirjorgeofculver

    sirjorgeofculver Well-Known Member

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    #18
    You're telling me. Even on DP I apply for content gigs and everyone wants to pay less than $1 per 500 words! Really? How am I going to pay bills with article writing less than $1 each?
     
    sirjorgeofculver, Dec 26, 2013 IP
  19. Waqar Akram

    Waqar Akram Active Member

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    #19
    Not true for eveyone
    Because some people will care about price others will think low price low quality , which is not always true.
     
    Waqar Akram, Dec 26, 2013 IP
  20. matt_62

    matt_62 Prominent Member

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    #20
    people will look at your domain age to see if they trust you. New hosts are a dime a dozen (seriously, with youhosting now there are new ones starting daily as there is only domain name costs to start free hosting "company") At least once you have made it after a long time, people will start to trust your brand more.
    To be honest, I dont even want paid hosting if it is too cheap. If it is free.... I dont expect it to be reliable.
    How are the plans better? Are they cheaper? Do you have higher allocation of ram and cpu per account compared to other hosts? In all seriousness, the major limit is not bandwidth, or HDD, its more cpu and ram. Most free hosts, you will never come close to the limit without exceeding cpu and ram limits first.

    My free hosting sites, gets signups pretty much daily. but that is ranking well in google. Spend big on SEO and get your site ranking really well in google, and you will have daily signups.
    Advertise your site on freewebhostingtalk.com and you will gain a few signups a month from that forum. (provided you are not youhosting, they *hate* providers that use this platform and will run you off the forum)
    It may be better for you to buy an existing site, (check out flippa or other), rather then have to spend large amounts advertising, and on SEO.
    If you are really desperate, I have seen a few scams running on ebay. its like "I will host your site for $1" and you just sign them up for free hosting somewhere. Some of the ones I have seen come across as being dishonest, but this gives you ideas on how you can do this, such as :
    - do listings on classifieds like craigslists
    - on ebay, offer to setup their site and host it for free for a small fee (so only paying small setup fee, like site installation, but you make it clear the hosting is free)
    - sell on fiver that you will install their site / wordpress / other on your free hosting service.

    post to host is not genuinely free hosting. You are working, in exchange for free hosting. People are lazy, I can tell you that much.

    Reality is, if your thing is just days old... you gotta be patient. People will signup when people they signup. Just keep you running costs low, mention your site on a few different platforms and just wait, slowly work on SEO (or hire people to help with this). And eventually you will have a large client base. Allow a year or two for your site to gain trust, and make sure you provide all clients with fast response times, and a high level of customer service, as this is critical for gaining client reviews, and genuine word of mouth referrals.

    Remember, Rome wasnt built in a day.
     
    matt_62, Dec 26, 2013 IP