Getting Started Reseller Tutorial
From BlueFur.com Support Wiki
Contents |
So many hosts so few clients?
Within the industry you may come across those that believe that their are to many hosts and not enough clients. That this is a very saturated market and that you shouldn't even consider becoming a host.
What these people aren't telling you is that they don't want you to become a host so that you don't get their new clients or steal their current clients.
In December 2003 as per HostTrends Global Reports in Canada 1,467,985 domains were purchased, in the US 22,052,967 domains were purchased.
Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that their are plenty of clients for everyone. These people who purchased domains obviously need somewhere to host them and are constantly looking for companies locally, nationally or regionally to help them get their business or personal site online. Why not let it be you?
Note: In December 2004 that this number was now 2,123,327 domains were purchased in Canada.
Finding a Niche
One way to improve your chances for success as a host we suggest you find a niche in the market place. Focus your business on one type of hosting and client base and become an expert in that area. I have seen several resellers specialize in business sectors.
Example: If you were to setup a hosting business that centers around manufactures. This is a relatively big industry but very few hosts specialize in offering services that fit the needs of those type of customers.
Narrowing the focus of your business will help you with success because you will have a clear understanding of who your customers are and then will only need to advertise and do sales to that target market. Companies that do not have a clear target market flounder to find any customer and end up getting no customers and going out of business.
Down to Business
Now your reseller account is setup and your ready to go and play with all the bells and whistles but wait there is one thing you need to do first.
Setup Your Nameserver
The first thing you should do is setup your nameservers. We have some video's that explain how to setup nameservers. I suggest you review that section of our wiki for more details. The nameserver proccess can take awhile (up to 72 hours) so I suggest you do that first.
Create a Package
Now you can login to your Web Host Manager (WHM) and start pushing some buttons. The first thing you should do in WHM is create some of your basic packages. In this step you will be able to setup the space/bandwidth and various options that will be available for your customers hosting packages. Before you can add a domain into WHM you need to create at least one package.
Note: Some resellers like to use a custom theme,
Upload a Default Page
If you are going to be providing customers access to upload there own files it is a good idea to create a welcome default page in your skeleton directory. The skeleton directory is setup to copy files over to all new accounts when they are created.
Create Your Own Account
So you have most of your WHM setup and ready to go now. Time to create your own account and upload your files to the server via FTP.
Note: You are provided a login account to WHM which you can view in your cPanel. Do not park your main domain or modify that account as it will cause problems for you later. You will want to create a brand new account for your own domain instead.
Web Site Design
Now that your site is ready to go live you may want to invest in a great looking design. If you have the skills to create a high quality site then your one step ahead. If you need help with creating a site then there are various options depending on your budget.
- Template Monster - You can choose a pre-made template and modify the content. Prices range from $20-$100 US.
- Design Outpost - You can have a custom design made in a contest format where multiple designers submit their pages and you decided the winner. Prices range from $350+.
- Local designers can be a great resource and future partners. Prices range from $500+.
Merchant Account
So your site looks great and your starting to look for customers but wait they want to pay you for your service. Now you will need to find a way to take money. You could of course take only cheques or cash but you will find the majority of customers want to pay with a Credit Card. There are lots of merchant accounts and options available to you.
- PayPal - This option is by far the cheapest online payment solution. There is no setup fee and the fee's per transaction is the lowest in the market.
- 2CheckOut - This option provides a 3rd party payment gateway. That means you will be using someone else's merchant account to accept payments for you and they will send you a cheque when ou reach $100+. This option is realatively cheap with a small setup fee and lowish transaction fee's.
- PSIGate and InternetSecure - These 2 options are very similar in that you are provided your own merchant account. The features are almost indentical and fee's are relatively the same. These options have a relatively high setup fee and lowish transacton fee's.
Note: We do not support or recommend Bean Stream merchant accounts.
Billing Software
One thing you may shy away from at first is a billing software. If you are just getting started these software's may seem a bit over kill for you but I guarantee that if you grown (and you will) that having a billing software in place will save you hours and hours of headache from trying to use one later. There are a few hosting billing software's to choose from.
