How important do you feel that "word of mouth" promotion is in the world of web hosting? If you feel that it is extremely important, how do you achieve this with a shortage of clients?

It's a catch 22 situation?

It takes clients of course, to generate word of mouth, which is why one either advertises heavily in the begining, offers discounts etc., or accepts that it will take a long time for word of mouth to become a main source of new customers.

First step, get noticed. Second step, keep getting noticed. Even if it's small, the momentum will build.

Become involved in your community, even if it's in seemingly small ways: help out with a parks and rec program, see about sponsoring a local theater troupe, something anything. Write to the local papers to see if they're interested in doing an article. Then about nine months later, nudge them again - or hit up a different publication (and have something different to talk about.)

I think that both of you make excellent points. I think that starting local and later targeting a wider audience is a good idea to start with. Now I'm just thinking of different ways I can incorporate that into a web hosting business. Thanks for the tips!

The word of mouth effects are generally short-term which you gain after long term in business however it is also important to control on word of mouth especially sometime when it goes negative side.

Utilize the clients you have by offering them an incentive to send their friends to you. "Tell-A-Friend" Add the program to your sigs, and other communique'. Make sure your phone reps ask for referrals as well. Good Luck.

I like the idea of doing some sort of referral program. It would help retain a client base, and also pick up a few more. I think that's the best way to start off, people are always looking for some sort of deal, and if you provide a quality service at the same time, it seems like you're well on your way.

I disagree with it being a temporary effect. Yes, if you go from good to bad then the good rep won't last long, but otherwise I see nothing temporary about it.

I also disagree that it takes a long time to achieve. Yes, it takes work. But even one good experience can have a customer write a good review of you, or tell their friends.

I think that it can be temporary in certain situations. You need to make sure that you make a lasting impression on people - sometimes previous clients can be fickle, and love your servcies one day, forget about you the next.

I think that you need to have very big base of customers. No one customer which get what he PAID for will not spend time for reviews. I think that 5 % Max. But word of mouth is really way. I think that your customer service plays the main role in it