You can always try people and and businesses you know. There are often more people around you that require web hosting than you may be aware of. Sometimes the best way to get started is by asking those closest to you if they can use web hosting for professional or personal needs.

I agree on starting local, is what I finally did. I focus on local small businesses and advertise by word of mouth at my 9 to 5 job at work for personal sites. Everyone will want to be online eventually in business so there is ALWAYS potential clients, from small precense sites for couple hundred bucks to larger companies that you can make thousands [per project on

but what about this senario.. Say I get the courage to talk to local businesses and they aggree to purchase a package from me..what do they expect?...
do they expect a designed site all set up for them?
Or will they expect them to have to do it?
Where im from its a small community with larger ones around so the normal business owner here wont have the knowledge to design their own site so i suppose if i want their business i would have to do everything for them..what kind of price would i need to set..im no designer by any means so i guess i would need to rely on someone else..many doubts I have about local business ppl...IDK..maybe im just scared..idk..make fun of me..lol

Getting the first few clients is the most important thing. Remember "Calm after Storm".
I have spent sleepless nights for getting my first few clients and now I have found some decent number of clients. After you get the first few clients, provide them with very good service and let them not loose hope in you.
I advice you to go for some new users who have purchased their domain and lack knowledge on hosting. Try to convince them that you provide good service to them.

try adwords or media advertisement.

This is a very good thread with lot of good ideas, Here's some of the things that you can try,

Come up with some promotional offers like free domain name with every web hosting plan

Write articles abt your chosen niche market.

Carry out a SEO campaign

Stay local. Sponsor local events. Forth of july /carnival ect.
Target bussniesses Make your plans attractive.

MOD NOTE: Advertising isn't allowed. Please read the rules:
Hosting Discussion - Rules

Extremely Effective Ways to Promote Your Website and Increase Website Traffic :

somebody posed alink that had some good ideas

For new it will take time Try to advertise on good IT sites and in forum try to make indirect marketing.. Send coupens as promotions

As someone who is looking into getting involved in web hosting, this thread has been so helpful. Thanks to everyone for all the information and expertise you have put into this thread. In general, this forum has already helped me out so much.

Good thread, and nice website to the thread starter.

I can't wait until learn enough to buy and sell web sites like you guys. Anybody know of a good training web site to start?

There isn't one. There are several. And which you use depends on what you want to study.

Do you want to offer dedicated hosting? Then you'll want to find a place to buy and house your dedicated server, or a company that sells dedicated servers which you can then resell.

Don't know how to manage a server? You'll need a web site to learn that. (But of course, you'll need to know which OS you're going to be managing, and learn all of its quirks and secrets, too.)

Want to offer web design services? Then you'll want to know HTML/CSS/PHP, as well as how to customize and develop the more popular software packages.

The questions just go on, and on, and on. (And I haven't even touched on the business issues yet: billing, taxation, registration, customer rights, liabilities, employee issues, and more.)

If you don't know anything, your best bet is to hang around forums that cover the topics you want to learn, read the threads to learn, participate (because asking questions expands your knowledge, and answering them can help you retain the knowledge), lather, rinse, repeat. You've already found one site - this place. There are plenty of others out there, each with their own specialties and areas of focus (as well as community feel and general environment.)

The process never, ever ends. Some days you may feel like screaming...but you'll never, ever be bored.

Welcome in. Newbies buy the beer