Do Web Hosting Resellers Make A Profit? Start A Lucrative Venture

The grass always seems greener on the other side. But is it really greener or is it just an illusion which keeps hounding you? Web Hosting is a remunerative business, provided that it is done in the right way by the right people. Recently there has been a spurt in the Reseller segment, which indicates how, many technology businesses are focusing their time and money on reselling hosting services. This article explains the possible reasons why more people are trying their hand at being Web Hosting Resellers and what it really involves.

Ideal Resellers

The most ideal reseller is a person or business who has prior experience in the Information Technology or computer industry. Since the web hosting industry deals with a mixture of hardware, networking and software skills, people with all or any of these skills can be pretty successful. A certain amount of business acumen is also preferred. There have been instances when the founders of a reseller business had no prior technical knowledge, but with their marketing skills and a dedicated team of sales managers, they were able to make it big. Allied businesses like web design studios, software boutiques, hardware vendors, computer maintenance services and even mobile phone retailers have started reselling hosting as a side income. Web Designers and Software Developers can make good money by selling webspace, especially due to the fact that they have a ready customer base, which would necessarily already be using webspace for their website. Even home-based mothers have done well by providing affordable pricing when selling hosting space to their circle of friends.

Support Staff

There are many reseller businesses which run as a one-man-show with no support staff at all. But it is definitely advisable to hire a couple of people who are dedicated to servicing your hosting customers. Hiring tech savvy under grads and even freshers looking for a quick buck could be inexpensive and cost effective for your business. All major support issues are handled by the parent company. This leaves only basic entry-level support for the reseller to handle. This can take away a large burden for a new or non-technical reseller. However, most hosting companies will not provide support directly to the end user and will require that all queries are routed through the reseller or resellers login only. This helps enhance security and keeps data confidentiality in check.

Flexibility and Control

The webspace reseller is given a control panel by the parent company from where he buys the services. This control panel allows the reseller to handle the entire administration of hosting accounts of his clients and monitor the usage and traffic which he is paying for. This means that without the parent company being exposed to the end user, the end user gets the same level of services and also helps the reseller make his money. The control panel allows you to create new accounts, reset passwords, create email addresses, reallocate resources and much more.

High Earnings

The main web hosting company will bill the reseller for the entire reseller account just once. The reseller can collect payments and bill his clients in any way that he wants. He can also break up the account into very small packages and bundle other products with them. An ideal example is when a reseller takes a 20 GB reseller account and then makes his own customized packages of 50 MB and 100 MB each to sell to the end-user. Web designers often bundle web space plans with their services, so that the customer has everything under one roof.

When a service provider bundles his services with web hosting, the customer is more likely to renew with him so that all services are managed under one roof and there is a single point of contact. This increases customer retention for the hosting service as well as the primary service with which it was bundled, like a website design or software plan or maybe even a mobile phone.