Interview with Charlie of csn-uk.net

I recently added csn-uk.net on my Honest Host list and thought an interview was in order.  This guy is an active member of Hosting Discussion and is just an awesome person.  If you need a good provider, you can chose csn-uk.net without fear. Check out the interview below.

This is what I asked:

1. Was web hosting your first choice?
2. What made you decide you wanted to head into the hosting industry?
3. What were the most challenging aspects of your start?
4. What still challenges you now?
5. How long did it take for you to become financially stable?
6. Do you plan to branch out into a different field or stay in the hosting industry?
7. If you could go back in time and do something else, would you?
8. How has business been for you in 2009?
9.. Do you think business will pick up in 2010?
10. Advice for those wishing to start a hosting company?

1. Was web hosting your first choice?

No, in short webhosting was the furthest thing from my mind when venturing into what now is a hosting company, we originally where a separate group of web design firms under different names many of us individuals and some current and past students at different levels.
2. What made you decide you wanted to head into the hosting industry?

Most of us as individuals and as companies ran office based servers or hosting for clients (dedicated mainly) due to the adequate connection speeds for the databases’ or off site backups however the reliability could be shaky for some thought the support existed, after a number of bad start up attempts as separate companies and individuals we “grouped” or formed CSN-UK and as such gained the clients and equipment as a hosting provider to start with.
3. What were the most challenging aspects of your start?

Design, structure and marketing, as we as a group where web designers, network technicians, software engineers and the like we had the expertise but lacked a structure and having multiple web designers often sparked arguments as such structure was our main issue due to design however design closely effected our marketing or lack of it. For us it was the combination of the above and the time frame.
4. What still challenges you now?

Marketing is our main issue still and in our opinion always will be, due to the start-up costs we lacked a large marketing budget however we did utilise our original business and design throughput to power the webhosting as such the two complement each other.

Though structure could still be our main problem, support and the levels of it were no, it was more the understanding of some that they where no longer at the director or management level in what is their new role.
5. How long did it take for you to become financially stable?

As a startup we were stable in my eyes however this was due to design work mainly powering our ambitions though as said above we still struggled due to size to manage with marketing and the staff we had “gained” as such the design and webhosting split but are tied together none the less. The time scale would now as of January 2010 be one year.
6. Do you plan to branch out into a different field or stay in the hosting industry?

This could be easily answered as yes we did but this was both before and after, though we utilise services of other providers namely hired rack space (not the company), bandwidth, power and Comodo CA as well as others like many providers due to the use of WHMCS and similar packages.
7. If you could go back in time and do something else, would you?

Personally I would have jumped into the forums and similar places where our staff dwell under namely the same account but not always to meet more of the insightful people who I’ve shared information and received information from. As well as that on a more corporate level, hired a marketing professional earlier on as well as assign a greater marketing budget and enforce the structural changes much more vigorously then where then.
8. How has business been for you in 2009?

For us, fast originally as we gained the trust and custom of the clients of the combined companies as well as through design and local advertising, as well as that we have learnt a great deal more about the industry due to many sources though a personal favourite is hostingdiscussion.com. However all in all the year has been profitable, excitable and has lead to a number of strategic alliances and long term clients and investments.
9. Do you think business will pick up in 2010?

Yes certainly, most providers like ourselves do despite maintaining their current offerings or having Christmas sales do in January ramp up the marketing and the offers to secure as many longer (full payment for 12 months initially to receive the offers) clients but as well as this release new product ranges, services and gain new clients because of this and though I can’t reveal any secrets we are like any other provider on this front.
10. Advice for those wishing to start a hosting company?

Here is where I would like to say “DONT” but that would not be fair, personally hosting is a very competitive, interesting and ever changing industry. A reseller or dedicated wont set someone on the average wage back much however to get a return you do require some business knowledge and a good deal of marketing and or networking by which I mean you must make a “good” lasting impression on your clients in order to receive referrals.

Again Id personally reaffirm the word of many and say that hosting is not a quick quid industry, meaning it’s not a get rich quick, resellers, dedicated and vps may be cheap but they won’t lift you to the hundreds, thousands or millions unless you have a plan, a solid provider and great service backed by a good team and solid funding and marketing.

As such learn from other companies and don’t dive in head first unless you know there is a lifeguard there to pull you out, hosting isn’t for everyone!

Interview Update: Conor-Hands-on Web Hosting

I decided to get an update on an interview I did with Conor and his business seems to be doing OK for it’s self.  Check out the interview below.

First Interview

*NOTE: Questions were asked to a group and Steve responded to the ones that applied to him.*

1. How has business been for the year 2009?
2. Do you think business will get better in 2010?
3. Did you add a new service or take away a service?
4. Health care, how will this affect you and your company?
5. Has member activity increased or decreased?
6. Do you think the forum will get more active in 2010?
7. Are you a member of my blog? -.^
8. Is there anything else you would like to add?

1. How has business been for the year 2009?
Great. Actually it was better than great. We’ve seen the implementation of new products, better hardware and more reliable systems not just with our own hosting company with with other companies and the web in general. We saw a blip earlier this year with some eCommerce shops closing their doors, there were more people setting up NEW shops than there were people closing down.

2. Do you think business will get better in 2010?
Business a whole will continue to strive for 2010. There are some big pushes happening for June 2010 when it comes to PCI Compliance which will affect online commerce, so we expect to see some frantic running around by customers trying to find compliant software and compliant hosting (both of which we have and do!). The biggest issue for 2010 I think will be “The Cloud”. People are trying to push The Cloud as being the place to be, but it’s so new that when something happens, people are forced to sit on their hands and shrug their shoulders. I don’t see The Cloud taking off like VPS Hosting during 2010, maybe 2011 it’ll be tested enough!

3. Did you add a new service or take away a service?
We added more reliable systems and expanded our service offerings with more bandwith, disk space and features. Our VPS offering received a huge bump in April 2009, and another one is being implemented here in the coming days (Christmast or New Years). We didn’t remove any services from our line up, however we did improve existing ones. We also expanded into Europe with dedicated servers and shared hosting located in England and Germany. We have expanded into the Australian market with dedicated servers also.

4. Health care, how will this affect you and your company?
Health Care will play a part for our small business as we’ll be forced to provide health care to our employees. While we want to provide Health Care (and do provide it for some employees), I personally believe it should be the choice of the business and not a forced government regulation. If we’re forced to provide health care to everyone, either new employees won’t be able to receive as much money in pay, or prices for some services will have to raise in order to cover costs. We operate on a very thin line for profit margin (near zero, as our employees share in our growth), so if we’re forced to pay out on something, everyone will take a hit.

7. Are you a member of my blog? -.^
Yep.

8. Is there anything else you would like to add?
It’s cold! I live in Omaha and we had about 9″ of snow last week, and we’re gearing up for another 10-14″ this weekend. The fire is lit, the snow is falling currently, and the heat is cranked up. Thankfully our servers are located in multiples states (and countries), and all our staff work from home offices so nobody has to drive in the bad weather.

Interview Update: Steve-Hostirian

I decided to get an update on an interview I did with Steve and things seem to be going well for Steve over there   Check out the interview below.

First Interview

*NOTE: Questions were asked to a group and Steve responded to the ones that applied to him.*

What I asked:

1. How has business been for the year 2009?
2. Do you think business will get better in 2010?
3. Did you add a new service or take away a service?
4. Health care, how will this affect you and your company?
5. Has member activity increased or decreased?
6. Do you think the forum will get more active in 2010?
7. Are you a member of my blog? -.^
8. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Steve’s Answers:

1. Business is booming. With our acquisition of ATCI Hosting and NPSIS, we’ve added thousands of new accounts.
2. Business will absolutely improve in 2010. We’re going to run one heck of a dedicated server special to start the New Year right.
3. No change in services, other than those brought to the table with ATCI Hosting and NPSIS.
4. Health care – not a done deal yet, so hard to determine it’s impact. I don’t foresee any changes.
7. Yes, I’m a member of your blog.
8. Wishing the best to everyone this Holiday Season and on into the New Year and beyond.

Artashes of Hosting Discussion Interview

Artashes is the proud owner of HostingDiscussion.com.  HostingDiscussion is a webmaster forum where you can advertise, make friends and get advice for web design/hosting field. Artashes has made this forum (in my opinion) the best forum on the web!  I love to chat on HD and I love the friendly environment it has.  Go visit HostingDiscussion sometime and I guarantee you will have a good time 

1. What made you decide to start a webmaster forum?

Actually, I never planned to start my own forum. I wasn’t the one who started HostingDiscussion.com either. I first joined HostingDiscussion.com in 2002 as a moderator. Back then the forum counted just 300+ members. I purchased the site a year later when we were at 1,200-something member level. The previous owner did not have much time to run it anymore, so it was logical of him to make sure it stays in good hands by moving it in my hands. I did not expect it, but thought it would be an engaging hobby to have, as I clearly developed big interest in the subject.

2. How many years have you owned HD?

I purchased HostingDiscussion.com in 2003, so that makes it 6 years.

3. What were the most challenging aspects of maintaining and owning HD?

As I mentioned above, I was a very active staff member before the acquisition. Actually, the only staff member outside the owner himself. The most challenging task was to bring consistent activity to the site. Obviously, every website owner struggles with that part of the business, however, it is especially true for a community type of website. The nature of a community website is that if you don’t have activity – it creates an effect of a ghost town, and consequently it turns people off. So we tried numerous techniques, anything from traditional advertising to community contests. Some things worked, while others didn’t. The situation is much better today. Apart from a multi-thousand member community, we grew to a level when we have dozens of loyal members participating on the site daily, with more new members joining the discussion every day. It has enabled me to dedicate more time on developing new and exciting tools and services for our members to enjoy, which is a whole new challenge.

4. Were there times you wanted to give up?

Of course there were. When you work your hardest and not seeing the results, it hits you hard. When I was in my infant years of managing HostingDiscussion.com, I would sometimes get frustrated that something did not happen as quickly as desired. But such is the nature of a community – things don’t happen overnight. You always have to plan for long-term changes, not short-term changes that rarely stick. Thankfully I haven’t had that feeling for quite some time now.

5. If you could go back and do something else, would you?

That is a good question. Perhaps I would take more risk on some decisions, but overall, we had a very comfortable growth. Majority of our decisions turned good for us, so I have little to complain about.

6. Any advice for those who wish to open a forum of their own?

Well, I guess the one and most important advice I can give is to never give up and always stay sharp. What I mean by staying sharp is: take care of your members, stay proactive at moderating and always think outside the box. When members see your passion – they will be happy to get involved.

7. Do you plan to branch out into something or is HD your only goal for now?

While HostingDiscussion.com is very high on my priority list (and the year 2010 will be just as busy), I am always looking for other interesting projects I can get involved in. They don’t have to be in the publishing/media field I am comfortable with the most, but perhaps more of a traditional service/product type of Internet venture.

8. What is your ultimate goal for HD?

My ultimate goal is to build HostingDiscussion.com into high-end, most-talked about and most-referred to destination in the web hosting industry. Piece of cake.

Interview with Conor of HandsonWebhosting.com

I interviewed conor because he has made a success career in the web hosting industry.  Conor has built up his company to a point we all wish we had.  Conor is a respected member of HostingDiscussion and posts countless topics that are very informative.  Conor is always here to help people and I know for a fact that all his clients love him.  Conor has an amazing business and amazing job.  Check out the interview below!

What I asked:

1. Was web hosting your first choice?
2. What made you decide you wanted to head into the hosting industry?
3. What were the most challenging aspects of your start?
4. What still challenges you now?
5. How long did it take for you to become financially stable?
6. Do you plan to branch out into a different field or stay in the hosting industry?
7. If you could go back in time and do something else, would you?
8. Advice for those wishing to start a hosting company?

His answer:

1. BBS Systems is what I was originally involved in (back when 300 baud modems were standard and 2400bps was insanely fast).  I had developed a number of systems for people to be able to get information or communicate with others through that medium.  When the Internet became more main stream and the ability for the public to post online was common I jumped on the trend.   I started a web design business, and while I wasn’t a great designer myself, back in 1994 if you could build 4 tables and put a background color on it, you were a “web designer”.  Through the years my skills developed and I became quite a respected person on the about.com forums.

2. Web Hosting was something that I somewhat fell into.  I had been in the web design world and by 1994 I was frustrated with the lack of support that I was receiving from the hosting company that I was using.  I opened up shop allowing hosting only for customers that we made web designs for.  By 1998 I opened up the hosting so that friends of those that we did design work for could now have hosting with us.  And by 1999 I was getting so many requests for hosting that design became a back burner item, and I opened the doors to the public.  Many of the graphic designers and web programmers on the about.com forums were my target market, and they flocked to Hands-on in droves thanks to recommendations of other members. I no longer dabble with web design, there’s too many others that do it better (and cheaper) than me!  So it wasn’t that I WANTED to get into the web hosting world, it was more of I HAD to as I couldn’t get the support for my own clients.

3 & 4 The most challenging parts of then and now are still the same challenges; time and devotion.  There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done that I want to get done.  While there is additional staff to help with issues, some things are just better left in my hands as I treat them differently.  The devotion part is tricky for me as a web hosting owner as I’ll never find someone as devoted to Hands-on as myself.  This is true in any business.  I do have a loyal and dedicated staff, and I push them to their own levels, but as an owner I tend to push for more.  Over the years I’ve settled down, but finding time to break away from work and live life rather than work is a challenge for me.  I guess that’s what happens when you love what you do too!

5. Financially stable probably isn’t what I’d call it, but it was about a year in business.  This was due to some very large web design projects that I had worked on.  I’m an insomniac, so I constantly needed something to do, so I worked at a daytime job and I did web design at night.  Even today I do consulting work in my spare time.  Being Financially Stable is a state of mind as much as it is a wallet issue.  I live within my means, and like everyone else, I strive for more.  The business is very stable and our clients love us.  As long as we continue to treat our clients as they want to be treated, we’ll continue to be Financially Stable.

6. I have no plans to branch out into different parts with this business.  While we’re involved in shared hosting, VPS and dedicated servers, SSL Certificates and Domain Registrations, there’s no plans to get into anything different with Hands-on.  Personally I’m involved in a number of different ventures, but for our hosting company it’s a full time job to keep servers online and secure.  Bringing in something different such as programming or design services would mean a distraction for us more than a benefit.  So we’ll leave those to others, and focus on the job at hand – Web Hosting.

7. I really don’t think I’d go back and do something different than what I’m doing now.  There’s a lot to be said when you can keep thousands of people happy and know most of them by name (or domain name).  I don’t think I’d change anything about the business except maybe start with a larger capital and grow a little faster.  But if we did that, we wouldn’t remain true to our roots which is being small and customer service orientated.  So really I guess I wouldn’t change anything in the past as it would change where I currently am today.  I like where I am.

8. If you’re starting a hosting company there’s a few things that I’d suggest.  Do it because you love it, not because you want to get rich.  You’re not going to get rich!  Do it because you have time.  Hosting takes a LOT of time away from other parts of your life.  Do it because you like people.  I’ve personally met hundreds of our customers over the years, it’s very rewarding to meet customers that have been hosting with you for 9+ years.  Do not compare yourself to larger hosting giants, they’re not your competition.  Your competition when starting out is yourself.  You can learn a lot from other hosting companies on how they do things.  Spend time in forums and talk to other hosting companies.  Find a niche and go for it.  And if things are more than you can handle, or they’re not going the direction you want, know when to get out of the business.

Interview from Steve of Hostirian.com

I have decided to interview Steve from www.hostirian.com. Steve is a leading provider in the hosting industry.  Steve contributes countless guides for anyone seeking advice in the hosting industry.  You can find a lot of his guides on HostingDiscussion.  HostingDiscussion is a forum that is dedicated to help those in the hosting field.  HD offers a friendly environment with experts in the field.  www.HostingDiscussion.com

Questions I asked Steve:

1. Was web hosting your first choice?
2. What made you decide you wanted to head into the hosting industry?
3. What were the most challenging aspects of your start?
4. What still challenges you now?
5. How long did it take for you to become financially stable?
6. Do you plan to branch out into a different field or stay in the hosting industry?
7. If you could go back in time and do something else, would you?
8. Advice for those wishing to start a hosting company?

His answers:

1. No, web hosting was not my first choice. LOL. I joined the Marine Corps directly out of high school and went through school in San Diego, CA to become a Ground Radio Repairman. I re-enlisted to go into Communications Warfare – intercept, ECM & ECCM, direction finding, jamming, imitative deception and cryptology. I went from there to become a Customer Engineer, Field Service Supervisor and Account Executive with Varityper, a prepress graphic arts corporation. At the age of 40, I got a Pell Grant and received degrees in business management, print technology and microcomputers. My first real exposure to selling hosting began with Primary Network in St. Louis, MO in January 2000. They later sold to MPower Communications, and then back to River City Internet Group. I worked briefly for a competitor of Hostirian, then returned here in November of 2008 as their Inside Sales Manager.
2. Getting into the hosting industry was all about timing. I had just returned to St. Louis from Miami when one of my clients called asking if I wanted to come aboard with Primary Network as a sales representative. After seeing their data center, it didn’t take long to say YES.
3. The most challenging aspect of selling hosting was coming up to speed with the underlying technology, but we received excellent training and I bought a number of books that helped.
4. Today’s challenges are really no different than before – it’s about demonstrating value. Prospects are increasingly computer and Internet savvy, so there’s a continual learning curve.
5. Financially stable? That can be interpreted any number of ways. I’ve been financially stable since the first day I joined the Marine Corps.
6. I’ll probably always be involved in the hosting industry in some fashion. I love the technology and the scope of services we provide.
7. If I could go back, I would have stayed in Hawaii to fly with Panorama Air Tours as one of their pilots. I devoted a lot of hours pursuing a flying career and loved flying the Islands.
8. My advice for those wishing to start their own hosting business is the same for all entrepreneurs – do it if this is your passion. Don’t do this thinking you’ll get rich overnight. To stay balanced, you really need to pursue careers that capture your attention. Develop a business plan, measure your progress, tweak what works, throw out what doesn’t. Remember that you can’t please everyone, in any industry – but you can always be professional. Above all else, you need to be persistent – and provide value.