For those who have been in the hosting business for the last 10 years, last 5 years, last 2 years, or even last few months...

How is the business growing for you? I started back in 2001 and right from day 1 there were quite a few people showing interest... that was in the free accounts of course After a while I changed things around a lot and the business was more known among different countries and things just started to happen. Sometimes 2 - 5 people a day were signing up.

If you have started recently, how are things going for you? Do you see a nice amount of signups? or do you believe they are only going to the more established well known hosts?

I believe there is still room to start but it seems you need to start differently then 5 years ago. If I was to start again, I wouldnt just start up like before... I would plan more and have a lot more preperation in place and then target a niche I feel could do well.

So, how are the new start up's doing? and is it harder or easier then you expected to get clients?

It seems to me that niche marketing is really the way to go. Everything's so competitive for advertising and pricing - I would think catering to the needs of a specific group, and making it known that you want to serve that group, is probably the better way to grow a business anymore.

Competing on price wouldnt be high on my list anymore either. Specific groups (or even several specific groups) would be my next step if I were to start from scratch.