Best selling plans/packages?

[Guest]

I'm guessing here when I build packages... is there strong demand for certain combinations of disk space / bandwidth? How small a plan do you suggest?

Thanks...

Diana
PS I'll make it up to y'all someday who are answring my questions now... honest!

[Guest]

Well, it has been suggested by RSP staff not to create a plan with specs lower than 5 GB disk space and 50 GB transfer. I would agree that this is a good starting point if you are in the mainstream market, but if you are going after a specific niche, my gut feeling tells me you could do with much less than this - as long as the needs of your niche target market are met. However, even here, I would not go lower than 500 MB disk space and 5 to 10 GB of transfer.

[Guest]

I agree. Basically, when you get that low, you're kind of overlapping free hosting territory. Potential customers will see the same specs at absolutely no cost to them and will most definitely opt for the free guys.

Of course, they'll find themselves sorely dissappointed in a couple months when the free hosting turns out to be complete ****, but they won't know that when they start, and, generally speaking, they never do learn it.

And although RSP keeps insisting bigger bang for less buck is better, it is a fact that 1and1, GoDaddy, Canaca, etc. (all the 4 TB for $2 hosts) receive across-the-board terrible reviews from customers. Also, Businesses that are serious about web hosting rarely focus their decision primarily on the price. If they are absolutely dedicated to presenting a professional, refined, dependable website, they expect their host to be as well.

Don't charge the absolute maximum price for your all your plans, but also don't drop down into measuring things in the MBs. Finding that sweet spot is incredibly difficult, but I'd say charge a little bit more than you think you should in most cases. You can always have sales later on.

[Nickolas]

I agree with all the remarks here!

Diana,

the idea of sellling hosting is not in the concrete trafffic/storage parameters but in the hidden value that is added to a package. Some people may find a bonus to be such a value, others may like the promotion method. In general, offering cheap hosting would create you a bad image because of the buyer's psychology. People evaluate a service mainly on its price - how much do they have to give in order to satisfy their needs. If they give more, they believe they are more satisfied. However, this does not mean that you have to offer packages at a price far beyond $10/mo. which have less than 500 MB disk storage. Do not underestimate your potential customers, offer them the "hidden value", think of a promotion. It is not necessary to be a real promotion, it is enough to look like a promotion that contains this value.

The pricing method is determined by your target group. If you are targeting the mainstream market, you should definitely offer bigger packeges at the lowest possible costs. However, if you try to reach a specific segment, try the differentiation method - hit them there where they want - by offering the exact bonus/promo which will give them the hidden value, the feeling of being satisfied.

[Guest]

Hmmm, you guys are making me think... which is good!

I'm NOT intending to compete with the freebie/cheapie hosts. I have several websites online, and an ezine, so will certainly mention my ShowMeWebHost.com to those people, but I intend to market primarily in my home town, which is a VERY entrepreneurial town. About 100,000 people, growing fast, main industries are education (3 colleges), medicine (4+ hospitals) and insurance. And as I've mentioned in another post, LOCAL webhosts charge prices that are quite high. I can certainly compete on price, there aren't many webhosts anyway, and the ReselleersPanel template looks quite professional.

What extra "value" can I add? Or bonus/promo? Will have to think about that (and might be a good topic for another thread.) People who KNOW me know I'll work to make sure their site it up & working properly, but I'll be marketing to people who DON'T know me.

But one question... if you DO add something, say a special offer or access to a course or whatever... where do you add it to the template? Is there a way to add another page?

Diana

[romx]

I agree with Nickolas the bonuses are really important, most web hosts offer more or less the same space and transfer, so good bonuses can make the difference. I suggest that every one that build their own web site for the hosting to highlight the bonuses. I always wanted to suggest that RSP add the adwords and overture bonus like many big web hosting company's do. it's really attractive bonus.

[Guest]

But one question... if you DO add something, say a special offer or access to a course or whatever... where do you add it to the template? Is there a way to add another page?

I do believe the "Contact Us" (or maybe "About Us") pages are editable, but I'm not so sure that's where you'd want to include special deals. There isn't any way to add a page (eg. with access to a course or a code for a special offer) after the user completes the order via a RSP template.

If you're really looking into this seriously, I'd suggest using your own custom template or design. It's really the only way to have complete control over every aspect of your hosting business.

[Nickolas]

Hi guys,

Template #16 allows you to place your own text in the "Contact Us" and "About Us" sections. However, these pages are not the right place to place a promotion.

I'll just say that we are on the right way. The new templates that are being prepared will have more options and editable areas for sure. We intend to provide you with more customizable templates so you can market your products the way you'd like. It would take a lot of time to edit the already made templates, but the new ones will be more powerful and independent. Patience, my friends!

[Guest]

Value Added Promotions in Templates...

Hello All --

First, Kudos and thanks to Resellers Panel that more templates are on the way with more editing options. This is great.

Diana asked what value added there might be that would help her sell hosting. Well, on another thread we discussed the idea of marketing what the scripts can do for a business and their mission (ie. the realty script for realtors, the dotproject script for sales teams, the JOOMLA script for publishing companies, etc.).

Now today, over at WebHelperNow.com there is an article that challenges web designers to realize that if they don't offer "Content Management Systems" (CMS) for their customers they will be left in the dust (read article here). What is a CMS? Well, shopping carts are a good example -- they manage and automate what you do with content. Blogging software does this too, and WordPress is a good example of it. JOOMLA is an excellent portal script...and guess what OUR advantage is? All of these are available in our elephante installer.

Of course there are other value-added things you could do, like providing SEO service, and other marketing specials, but I really like the script angle, since it serves business missions perfectly.

Best regards -
Scott

[Tony Turner]

Promote those Great Features!

G'Day Folks,

Of course Mr. Frangos is correct about touting your features. Space is space. You can get "space" at 1and1... but do they have the features that you can offer? No.

Pre-installed scripts are a great marketing tool. Especialy to beginner or aspiring web masters. Business, small-time eRetailers, anyone can install these software apps, and that is a very attractive way to promote the service.

Yes, offer big, fat, packages, but the real selling point is the ease of use, the plethora of fantastic features, and the industry-leading customer support.

These are areas where you can outperform your competition.
Offer the largest packages as you can, just to show some impressive, or at least competitive numbers... but know that the area where you can shame even the "big guys', is with the features that you can offer.

Does Blue or 1and1 have tools like you can provide? No.

Use that to your advantage.

- Tony

[Guest]

Where are the "New Templates"?

...I'll just say that we are on the right way. The new templates that are being prepared will have more options and editable areas for sure. We intend to provide you with more customizable templates so you can market your products the way you'd like. It would take a lot of time to edit the already made templates, but the new ones will be more powerful and independent. Patience, my friends!

Hello -

It is about 9 months since this post and no new templates yet. Are they almost ready?

Thanks - Scott

[Milen]

Hello -

It is about 9 months since this post and no new templates yet. Are they almost ready?

Thanks - Scott

No, unfortunately, new reseller templates are not ready yet. However, when new templates are ready forum members will be among the first to learn about them.

[Guest]

and Milen is back from well deserved vacation.. wb milen

[Guest]

How much longer should it be?
1 Month?
2 Months?
1 Year?

Even if you aren't exact, could you give us a ballpark number?
Thanks

[Milen]

How much longer should it be?
1 Month?
2 Months?
1 Year?

Even if you aren't exact, could you give us a ballpark number?
Thanks

I would give you a more specific timeline if I could, but I simply cannot. I just do not have this information. I have just spoken with our marketing director and he told me that one new reseller template should be ready soon. However, "soon" can be a very relative term, as you already probably know from experience and I do not want to oblige myself even with a tentative deadline that might not be met.