RE: FN-FORUM: Query re. web hosting reselling

date posted 11th October 2006 14:18

=20
I learnt the hard way not to supply connectivity. I had a client who =
was
being charged something like =A3800 a year for ADSL. I said that was
ridiculous then supplied and installed a modem/router and connected it =
to
his network. As part of the package I also offered to setup all his =
email
account to various users on various PCs. Big mistake. Alas he was =
using
Microsoft Small Business Server and I knew didly squat about it. =20

I spent 3 days fumbling about trying to get ADSL, web browsing and =
emails
working. Nightmare. What I charged covered about 1/2 a day :o(

From then on I simply supply clients with web hosting and email =
addresses.
I just send them the email details, server, login, web mail, etc. It's =
up
to them to work out how to connect it. Which is what most if not all =
ISPs
would provide.

The Hostgator control panel provides a download (think it's a registry =
file)
which when installed sets up the email account in outlook on the system.

Even just supplying the emails details, I've had badly setup companies
ringing up expecting support. In one instance, they were using AOL and
couldn't get or send emails. AOL broadband doesn't support separate =
Pop3
accounts apparently. It does work, but have you have to restart Outlook
each time you send!!!

I'd suggest you add an additional extra of email/telephone support in, =
or
consider it and include it in the price.

If you do want to offer on-site setup and installation, unless it's your
field and expertise, I'd strongly suggest farming it out to a 3rd party
support company who can cover your area or UK in general.

Over the two and a half years I've been freelancing, I'm constantly =
reminded
to stick to what you're best at! I'm off to put my feet up then.

Peter.


-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Libby [EMAIL REMOVED]
Sent: 11 October 2006 10:42
To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: RE: FN-FORUM: Query re. web hosting reselling


Hi Peter and Ash,

I have had a look at Hostgator - it does seem to be very good. However, =
I do
have one question - being a newbie (! - I was thinking of a previous =
posting
from someone about this :-) ) - in terms of hosting websites for =
clients,
are you also providing the means to connect to the Internet as well, if =
they
need it? Or is it simply a matter that you recommend another service to
fulfill this requirement, or work on the basis that they already have a
connection, but no online presence? The only reason I was thinking of =
this
was that I wanted to be sure of the extent of the services offered under =
a
reseller plan - so far, I have noticed that most do not indicate =
anything
regarding connectivity, and that their services are limited to just =
hosting.

Is this a common practice? I guess this is just me thinking outside of =
the
box; it occurred to me late last night that Hostgator being a US =
reseller, I
was wondering what normal practices were for connectivity, or whether
freelancers / web designers would not necessarily provide connectivity, =
but
just the hosting for clients...

Any comments are more than welcome - thank you so far for your help,

Alex.