DesignersTalk - View Single Post

pgo · 13-09-2005, 07:32

I've recently had to set up hosting etc. for a client. Signed them up for an account and set up email, etc. No big deal.

I've been thinking about future clients - might it not be a good (and profitable, of course) idea to buy a VPS or something (not shelling out the cash for dedicated just yet) for maybe $50/month and then charge a client to host their site?

This would probably only work for smallish sites and those using up to a couple GB bandwidth/month.

In other words, host their site and manage it for a fee larger than simply hosting would cost. Say you host a site that would normally cost $5/month to host - charge them $10/month to keep an eye on it - maybe up to 1 hour/month - anything they ask for after that goes at hourly rate. Could even be combined with a regular maintenance contract.

That way, you could pay for the VPS and have a bit left over for the pocket.

Thoughts? Concerns? Experiences?

As an aside, I've always been curious about how much bandwidth others' sites use up. The various sites that I manage tend to range in the 0-100MB/month range (chump amounts for brochure sites and small forums/CMSs).

13-09-2005, 07:32	#1 (permalink)
pgo misanthrope Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 12,273	Hosting for Clients I've recently had to set up hosting etc. for a client. Signed them up for an account and set up email, etc. No big deal. I've been thinking about future clients - might it not be a good (and profitable, of course) idea to buy a VPS or something (not shelling out the cash for dedicated just yet) for maybe $50/month and then charge a client to host their site? This would probably only work for smallish sites and those using up to a couple GB bandwidth/month. In other words, host their site and manage it for a fee larger than simply hosting would cost. Say you host a site that would normally cost $5/month to host - charge them $10/month to keep an eye on it - maybe up to 1 hour/month - anything they ask for after that goes at hourly rate. Could even be combined with a regular maintenance contract. That way, you could pay for the VPS and have a bit left over for the pocket. Thoughts? Concerns? Experiences? As an aside, I've always been curious about how much bandwidth others' sites use up. The various sites that I manage tend to range in the 0-100MB/month range (chump amounts for brochure sites and small forums/CMSs).