What do you think is the BEST way to promote a webhosting website?

[inverthost.com]

What do you think is the BEST way to promote a webhosting website? Our company does not get great results from pop ups. We do better banner wise. You?

 

[webfreak08]

Our company does not get great results from pop ups.

I would take an educated guess and say that most Internet users find pop ups annoying and usually have enabled some level of pop up protection.

 

[inverthost.com]

Lol, yeah I have like 5 pop up blockers active, Google, IE, WIN, Yahoo, MSN, and yeah some others too!

 

[Zachary McClung]

Write an article and submit it to sitepoint.com. It is a great way to advertise your business.

 

[Senad]

Buy T-Shirts with your website logo and link, Get Business cards go around meeting people and giving them out, talk around town about your business and what it can offer to your local market, advertise in your local newspaper...pretty much take baby steps for local advertising. Banner advertisements in forums such as HostingDiscussion can help draw the internet target, buy advertising space on hosting directories too can also help.

 

[Artashes]

I truly believe that the local market should be the first on the list for any new/startup company. Going against the industry behemoths is costly, while your local niche could be an attractive start. I would say local newspapers, stores, flyers, addressed mailings, etc could start moving things forward.

Best,

 

[ANMMark]

I'd have to agree with Art here.

Although we did it completely opposite and backwards, looking back I wish we would have started local, rather than ending there.

I do have to ask though....

Lol, yeah I have like 5 pop up blockers active, Google, IE, WIN, Yahoo, MSN, and yeah some others too!

If you yourself do not like popups, and use popup blockers, why push them on anyone else? This is why they're not working for you. You should only market in methods you believe in. When you believe in your service, products, and methods of marketing, your target will ultimately believe in them, and you. They can tell when you're passionate about it, and of course, being passionate about what you do, equates to quality for them, as they know you'll work hard at what you do.

In any case, go local. There are many outlets to get into your local market quickly and easily.

Just sit down and think of businesses that can utilize your services. Go through the phone book for inspiration if needed. Determine how they will benefit...try to write down 5-10 benefits for each industry. Once you have these in place, start drafting a professional sales letter.

Proof read your sales letter. Professionals dislike nothing more than getting a letter from someone who can't spell or at least take the time to make sure things are spelled correctly, as if you wouldn't spend the time to spell properly, they feel that they weren't worth your time, thus you're not worth their business.

Send out the letter to qualified businesses. Request a followup meeting or at the very least, permission to make a followup phone call. However, never use your followup call to replace a face-to-face meeting. People like to SEE who they're dealing with. Use your phone call, if they grant permission for it, to push setting up a meeting.

If you get the meeting...great. Study the company a little before actually meeting with them. Professionals like to hear that you have heard about them, or know and value their history in their industry. Have some promotional materials handy (business cards, brochures, etc) which outline the benefits your service offers them.

Also be prepared to offer a loss leader if they seem only slightly interested. A loss leader helps pull them closer to a positive decision.

Take no for an answer. People don't like to be blatantly sold to. They like the ability to make their own decisions. So, if your prospect says "no," try to find out, in a non intrusive and polite manner, what they based their decision on. You'll find that most prospects are only too happy to tell you why they said no. Either way,whether they tell you or not, offer them your brochure, and business card so they can contact you in the future if their needs change.

Make sure to thank them for their time. Be appreciative that they allowed you to meet with them, as they are most likely very busy people.

Anyway, that is my lecture for the night, hope it helps.

 

[inverthost.com]

Thanks all for the helping tips! I'm taking all into good thought.

 

[Zachary McClung]

One more tip for you, is always be positive and professional when posting in a public forum. Many customers of ours have came back and said after seeing your posts, how you answer questions, and your outlook there was no other chose.

 

[inverthost.com]

Thanks BHNSupport, that was a great tip that I will use.

 

[Marks]

Key Ingredient

is always be positive and professional when

Thanks BHNSupport, that was a great tip that I will use.

Yes, you want to write professional but depending on the age group some customers expect personality as well, building relationships with the customer is a key ingredient to sucess.

 

[Talkfreelance]

I haven't been in the industry but from what i've seen the best way to promote a product is to be creative and put a spin on things. Every host advertises using banners, every host offers roughly the same thing....

So what makes your host so special? It's almost pointless advertising a product that's 99% similar to another 1,000 odd hosts. Hosting is hard to sell at first because people like to read testimonials and get feedback, everyone can say they have 99.9% uptime and great support....but is this really the truth?

This leads you to the question, how can I possibly gain new customers and compete in such a saturated market? Forget all the original and generic means of advertising, forget banners, forget popups and forget targetting your local market.

Look at what site5 decided to do, they broke the mold and pushed an agressive campaign at webhostingtalk for a solid day, they probably got 100 odd signups just from that marketing which would have cost them (I imagine, $10-20k). But if you look at the prices of their plans....that's not a bad deal

Be creative in what you do, the whole "superhosting" won me over and alot more, they're really just selling the same service other companies offer but they dressed it up and marketed it as something truely unique and unmatchable.

If all else fails....do some crazy publicity stunt, like run down a road naked with "myhost.com" painted on your butt cheeks and make a post on wht

 

[inverthost.com]

So what makes your host so special? It's almost pointless advertising a product that's 99% similar to another 1,000 odd hosts. Hosting is hard to sell at first because people like to read testimonials and get feedback, everyone can say they have 99.9% uptime and great support....but is this really the truth?
QUOTE]

Thats why we and many other hosts probably have a 30-day money back.

 

[Marks]

If all else fails....do some crazy publicity stunt, like run down a road naked with "myhost.com" painted on your butt cheeks and make a post on wht

Woudn't that make people you are desperate for customers?
and that would be a nice pleasent scenery to see.

Aside from that your post was well laid and well presentated and I 100% agree with you there.

 

[peter phillips]

I think online advertising can give you good return on your investment depending on the target audience. I would recommend you to advertise on the most appropriate ad vehicle close to your niche market.

 

[Talkfreelance]

Woudn't that make people you are desperate for customers?

Haha, well...I was sort of joking, but they say there is no such thing as bad advertising

 

[MMarko]

Praticipate in different discussion boards, partner sites, usenet discussion.

 

[ANVANA]

If yours is a company focusing on local customers, join your local Chamber of Commerce. This will give you the opportunity to meet local business owners and learn their needs. Once you learn what your customers are looking for, provide it for them.

 

[AllureHost]

For me local was the first way to go, as I have good friends back home who can spread the word for me and also at school it is easy to find people looking for hosting. Students looking to start portfolio's online and what not. I would not recommend spending like $800/month with iNET to get your advertising going unless you are doing really well with clients to start off with. Unless you have money like that, I mean.

 

[peter phillips]

I agree with Allurehost,
Local marketing can be very much effective and quite affordable to get a good start-up as you can get utmost response and recognition from your local contacts. After you get a few local visitors they will automatically spread the word of mouth for you if satisfied with your product or service.