Hello, I am looking for some reviews on an idea that I've had for a while. I plan on "finishing/opening" a hosting site in the next few weeks and I had an idea to offer a special for the launch. This special isn't for sale and I'm not even sure I'm offering it yet, but I want to know what you guys think of it. --- I plan on offering a $3.99 a month plan, that's nothing new. What is new about it is I am thinking of offering the first month free to all new signups plus a free .info domain. I would ask for $0.01 at signup which would be refunded. This would be to ensure that I wouldn't get a lot of newbies who don't have a paypal account. The hosting would be cpanel based and would offer features such as fantastico. --- I'm really wondering what other people think of this idea and I'm wondering what kinds of addons (besides fantastico) that people like the most. I'm not new to the hosting business, but things have changed a lot over the last 4 years since I sold my last company. Moderator: I'm not selling anything or offering anything in advance to anyone, if someone contacts me asking to try my "offer" they will be turned down as I am not yet offering anything.
1 month free would be for some sort of yearly sign up I assume? Seems like you might open yourself up to phishing sites if not. They publish the bait site for one month and then run.
Trials are good, but I would scratch the free .info idea because that's a spammy extension...maybe offer a free .com with yearly contract.
Hmmm. I was planning on offering it with the monthly plans. First month free, with free domain and $3.99 a month from then on. It wouldn't exactly be free because I would require $0.01 to prove they are a real person. You both have a good point, but no one ever pays yearly (At least they didn't the last time I did hosting). A yearly contract, there would be no way to force them to pay, but keeping the domain would help tighten up the chances. I'd really like to get some customers, but DP is filled with spammers and they are the only ones who get real business unless you offer something so low that everyone wants it. I wanted to offer something unique, that would get me a decent number of customers a month. I'd be happy to get 10 new customers a month with this economy. What about offering a $3.99 a month plan with a free .com? It would take 3 months to make a profit, but would it be more secure?
Perhaps load up on some scripts and make them available. The most important thing to me as a consumer is great customer service. I think this holds true with many people. Perhaps offer some design or setup assistance? As far as yearly, at $4 that is only $48. So this shouldn't be a big issue. Perhaps offer the freebies for 1 year advanced pay. So get 13 months at $48 when you sign up for a year.
A lot of people expect a contract to run for a year so offering a discount for the years subscription up front could work.
Ok... Sounds Good. I'll try 2 versions as my company is ready. One offering a free .info in the freebies section and one offering a free .com with my $6.99 a month plan in the hosting section.