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SMS Updates from Twitter

Juzar Noorani — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 20:07:19 +0000

If you haven’t joined twitter yet or you do not know much about the social networking site, it is one of the most fantastic things that could happen in the mobile industry, or short messaging or even mini-blogging. Whatever one might prefer to call it, TWITTER rocks.

All you have to do is create an account for yourself and receive updates from your contacts, ie those people whom you wish to follow or receive updates from. These updates are called tweets.

You can search for a friend and then follow him/her or you can simply go to their URL and follow. Example: http://twitter.com/juzarnoorani or http://twitter.com/ekhwan Simply click the “Follow” button to add the person to your contact list.

When I say twitter being a best thing for mobiles I mean it. Twitter sends sms updates to your handset. Not from all of those you follow but from those whom you opt to have their tweet updates sent to you as sms notification.

For this you can go http://twitter.com/devices and setup your mobile number to access twitter and you might allow messages from the your contacts or those you follow.

The good thing is that it has a do not disturb system in place as well, where you can choose not to receive sms alerts at certain times of the day.

Once you have authenticated your mobile to access twitter, you can receive tweets in sms from all the contacts you select, Free of charge.

Whats greater even is that when you tweet or send an sms to your twitter account, all those following you will receive the tweet on their home page or their mobile softwares like nimbuzz or even just get an sms on their handsets, depending on the options they choose.

Great isn’t it. You can simply message all those following you, in other terms, all those who have added you to their contact list, in one go. At the cost of a single sms. Or even free if you are doing it though the internet.

Twitter now works with the DU network in UAE and Airtel in India. There are several network providers that support twitter worldwide. You can check it out if your local service provider is available.

Helpful Presentation about Twitter

Follow me on Twitter:

Ekhwan Web Hosting

Juzar Noorani

Note: Just like every social networking site, you should also keep your privacy as priority on Twitter as well. Check who is following you, whom you follow. There are many verified celebrity accounts on twitter as well.

Profile Photos on Social Networks

Juzar Noorani — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:40:55 +0000

It not been much of a time since I have been playing with social networking website and I do feel that these websites have a massive effect on an individual’s life in many ways. Twitter is a cool tool for letting your friends know your thoughts and save your one liners when those witty words pop up in your mind. Even save and share the quotes and news you would like to share with your friends. One can share anything that might be useful and interesting for everyone and gather a good number of followers as well.

Blogging has been a wonderful excercise for the brain and its great to spread ones thoughts by reducing them to writing, but then who would be really interested in knowing what you thing. Twitter and facebook not only gives exposure to the writeups but also lets you know who ‘likes’ your post. There are several tools out there to connect the blog feeds with twitter and then twitter with facebook. As I said earlier its great to be on a social network and be known from a perspective you want.

Facebook has been a wonderful website that not only brings back old memories by uniting some of your very good friends of the past as well as those of today. The effect of such a massive network growth is viral and has to be discussed some other day, but now to the profile issue on the social network.

As the word suggests it is “YOUR” profile. The things that you want people to know about you so that they can recognize you. Who knows you might end up with a bichra huwa bachpan ka saathi lost in the kumbh mela .

Just like brevity in being witty in any other thing so it is in the profile. Be a little precise, cautious and limited in what you make available in your profile. Everything else being secondary, I regard the profile picture as being the most important aspect of the networking site. The profile picture is supposed to display who and what you are in a thousand unspoken words. People who know you will instantly recognize you from your profile picture even if you hide your other details from the public profile.

Many people on face book have their profile picture as a group photo where the actual object “THIS IS ME” is quite far off in the background that makes it difficult for people to recognize or even if its a single picture with a single pose, the one photographed is hidden in the background.

It should be remembered that if you hide your photo album from the public, which the case always should be, you should always have a closeup profile picture which would show “YOU” and not anything else in a thumbnail. That is, if you want to be recognized anyways.

The most absurd thing that anyone could do in the profile photo, which is not an avatar, is to use pictures of some celebrity or object. It does not prove anything. In fact it does prove that wanting to be something else is a waste of what you actually are.

Here are a few rules to keep in mind:

1. Always use a close-up picture that shows the face properly.

2. The picture should have an expression about the kind of person you are, pictures have a lot to say. If your profile is all about business have your picture in a ‘Suit” maybe.

3. Avoid group photos as profile picutes.

4. Better to avoid very High resolution pictures. The profile picture is supposed to be open for everyone and it should not be manupilated.

5. Try to avoid too much facial expressions, rather try to be recognized.

6. Last but not least, try to see yourself from the perspective of your visitor.

Social networks can promote you, your business and even make you a celebrity but then there are certain rules that should be observed.

Facebook and Privacy Matters

Juzar Noorani — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:06:57 +0000

Socializing websites are gems in terms of marketing and building your brand and so is facebook. With more then 4 Million or so users, facebook can remarkably turn you into a celebrity.

With the growth of people hanging on facebook, the diversity of its users and the rise in cyber crime people should be aware of the threats of identity theft. Identity theft is not to be taken by granted and should be understood by everyone out there on the internet. It is never too early to teach your children about this serious matter as well.

Remember when people openly start sharing their relations, their emotions and their personal details such as phone numbers and addresses they are revealing their real life to almost everyone on the internet. That is billions of people and billions of unknown minds and thoughts to expose yourself to. Its like the Indian saying “Aa bail mujhe maar”, you ask the bull to come and horn you.

Remember when you join any socializing website and especially facebook always take time to fine tune your privacy settings. What you want the world to see and what you want your friends and other groups to see. You can also also have a custom setting to allow only specific to certain details. Some most important things that need to be kept a tight watch on are:

1. Date and Place of Birth

2. Relationships

3. Private Photos that reveal your address and personal details

4. Never ever give out your credit card number

5. Be choosy about revealing your School and Education details. (Remember most of your school mates already know about it)

6. Email addresses, IMs, Phone Numbers and Addresses need to be kept a strict watch on. Mostly our friends know these and if they don’t and are i=on your Facebook they will ask you.

7. Be very careful about allowing access to applications as they have access to your profile. At times it may seem fun but you are revealing everything about yourself.

8. Never delete your accounts on any socializing site. Head Hunters can pose as you.

9. Be careful about your emotions and do not be cyber sentimental.

10. Enjoy and build good relations. Keep a watch on your friends list and if you do not have someone like the Big B on it, keep it private.

Here is an article from Times of India that might be of interest to all.

Payment Gateways

Juzar Noorani — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:42:08 +0000

Living in a country where getting a credit card is as easy as buying out a local news daily from the nearby grocery store one would easily be able to capture a market of plastic money holders. The power of plastic money extends beyond boundaries of nations and is indeed the most closest step to globalization. To this I am reminded of a quote “Think Global, Act Local” policy.

Most of us know that the any internet business that sells virtually any products is an international one and has no boundaries unless it is a one that has high volume tangible products.

The internet has made millionaires of people more then anything else in the past century and it is still a little true these days as well. Diligent work, honesty and consistency is the key to any business and any virtual business is no exception.

What one really needs to cross the boundaries for a virtual business is a payment gateway or merchant services whichever one might refer to. Though there is a difference but it does not matter to what we are discussing about.

There are several payment gateways and one might find it really tiring to search through Google for getting the best one in hand. One should keep in mind that here we are referring to a payment gateway as a service provider is a third party whose services you could integrate into your website so that your customers are able to pay you for your products and services virtually and digitally. The payment can be through credit cards, coupons or any other means accepted by your third party payment gateway. Here I would like to list a few of the payment gateways I am most familiar with, apart from the many services out there.

1. Paypal – Paypal is a number one choice of mine for various reasons, its simplicity and its ease of use must be the most preferred ones, and you do not need to register as a business owner to avail this service. However, one must remember that paypal does have its drawbacks as well. The fees of processing the payments could go as high as 5.5% per transaction and they do have a transaction limit places on each registration which can be increased by credit card verification, address verification and then bank account verification. Paypal also provides with API services for those who want to go deeper into developer services and it does integrate well with most shopping carts including the free ones such as Agora. Apart from this it does have its own shopping cart system if anyone would want to use it.

Apart from that it does have withdrawal options to the bank account as well as the credit card.

There are a few countries though where paypal is not yet available and it is mentioned on there website, although payments can be accepted from most of the countries. Recently there has also been some restriction from the RBI in India on paypal though its not quite clear yet.

2. 2Checkout - 2CO is the most preferred payment gateways by the giants with all its packed features it does have a few drawbacks. One needs to be a registered business and has to pay a 49$ setup few per account. There are strict rules of what can be sold and what not. Do checkout their website for details.

Withdrawing an amount from 2co is a bit tedious and has to be done through a check or bank deposit though its done every week it must meet the release level and pass verifications.

The user is presented has to enter his or her detail select the options available after the transaction is over. 2co can also be integrated with all kinds of shopping carts and softwares. I have personally used this to purchase stuff over the internet several times and it works like a charm. Their support system is also very good.

3. Moneybookers – This is a European payment gateway service which can be used by those who are dealing in Euros. You can create product listing using their own shipping cart system and use its buttons on your site. The transactions fees are very high again and there is a cap on the transactions that can be done every month. The limit can be raised through their verification process.

Your customers need to be registered to pay though moneybookers and it does accept bank transfers as well as credit card payments.

4. “AlertPay” – This is a canadian service provider and has basically the same system as paypal though not as much popular. I have just been acquainted with their services and can’t say much but the shopping cart integration part has been simple and the transaction fees do not differ much with that of paypal. Few people opt for “AlertPay” as an alternative to paypal as well.

A personal account with “AlertPay” has limitations which can be raised to an extent through some verification process while the Pro account is packed with features like: Mass Pay, Integration tools and website payment methods. To verify the pro account one might need to submit a few documents as well.

“AlertPay” does not have any country restrictions and have their own shopping cart system as well as API integration and so on. It would be personally my best choice as an alternative to paypal by any means. Signup to AlertPay today

Apart from all this one should really look for a vendor that is secure and your customers feel confident and secure in giving out their financial details to.

Last but not least look for a gateway provider with whom your money is yours and is secure and easy to get.

Photography and Cameras

Juzar Noorani — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Photography is an art just like any other. A paint brush in the hands of a child does not create marvels and neither does a novice understand the true depth of a painting that might get sold for a 100K and might think it as a waste of money. Photography used to be a pretty expensive hobby and I remember my first camera at the age of 12 used to cost somewhere around a 4 MP digicam nowadays and the cost of its photo processing was far more then today’s so called children in the field would afford.

With cameras growing cheaper nowadays and the pixel rate of the digicam rising up to 15 Mp and even more it is not surprising that every other person today acts like a photographer. With the DSLR in fashion today and the ease at which any other person would afford it, the amateurs just pretend to be Pros.

Point to shoot and DSLRs, there are several places where you could easily find the differences of both and their pros and cons, google is your best friend I would say. The DSLR is not for fashion or for show biz its a real pro’s game tool and ammo. Some one said that most of the cat walkers on the ramp don’t even know what DSLR stands for!!!

I have seen people just shoot and keep shooting without focus or without any meaning. When one acts like a pro photographer one should choose before releasing the shutter. If, for example, one is trying to capture a majlis scene, you should take care of the proper poses and postures of all those who will be seen in the picture, not that someone is touching the bread or standing for raza or so on. Its the timing in the entire pictures that matters not just the focus point of the picture. Also if you are not aware with handling the DSLR then you are sure to land into a bad situation.

Here are a few links for all those who have bought a huge canon to shoot wit:

1) DSLR Tips

2) Photography Guide

3) 20 DSLR Photography Skills

4) 10 DSLR Tips

5) Top Ten DSLR Cam Review

6) Camera Buying Guide
7) A nice Digital SLR guide

Smart Saving Tips

Juzar Noorani — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:49:00 +0000

Save 10% every day!

It’s a basic idea. If you remember to reduce ten percent on the quantity of things you use everyday, you’ll find you are spending less every day. And this will show in your bills, your grocery bills, and overall in how much you spend every month.

The small quantities add up to save you money.

Imagine, 10% less oil while cooking (good for your heart, anyway), less soaps and detergents, less electricity (turn off the AC, switch off lights, switch on the water heater just for a few hours before shower time)

Simple actions like doing laundry at home when possible may save you money every week as opposed to taking all your clothes into a dry cleaner.

Make less trips using your car, by planning trips ahead of time – and you’ll see major savings at the petrol station. If you have two cars, and one is a big SUV and the other a small run around, use the smaller car that consumes less fuel when possible.

Saving as a habit

You need to make savings a regular habit. Instead of saving whatever is left over at the end of the month, plan on saving – which is paying yourself – first. Set aside the amount you plan to save first before you start spending on everything for the month. Plan on this with your family, and this can be an exciting way to get everyone involved, once you have explained the benefits of saving money.

Making a budget

In order for you to make a regular savings plan and make a habit out of it, it’s best to sit down and prepare a budget – so you know exactly how much you want to spend, on what, and how much you want to save. A pre-planned budget will help you in allocating your spending and controlling on sudden bursts of unintentional spending.

Have a Savings Goal and meet it

“Don’t save what is left after spending; Spend what is left after saving” – Warren Buffet

The best way to figure out how much you want to save is to set specific monetary goals. If there is a specific thing that you are saving up for, start by calculating how much you will need to save in order to pay for it. Next, figure out how much money you will have to set aside each month in order to reach that goal in a reasonable amount of time. If you are saving for something with a less specific monetary value (such as money for an emergency fund, your retirement, or just a healthy nest egg), then you should try and come up with a figure to shoot for (i.e. Financial experts often recommend having enough money in an emergency fund to cover at least 3 to 6 months worth of household expenses).

Take advantage of the downturn?

Yes, you can. There are a lot of retail outlets and shops that have reacted to the downturn in the economy by offering special sales incentives. You can get discounts on many every day items and as well on some electronics and white goods (washer/dryers, fridges, ovens etc). If you have an immediate need for any of these items, this would be a good time to purchase them – while they are on discounted sale.

Simple economics: every day, every week, every month.

Eating out and treating yourself is fun, and once in a while, it’s a good idea. But a quick and easy way to curb your spending – and start saving – is eating out less. Try eating in more often and packing yourself a lunch for eating at work. Besides saving money, making your own food can often be healthier too. You can save a lot by eliminating that expensive coffee latte habit. You can save on unnecessary and unused magazine subscriptions, tv channels you pay for but don’t watch, phone related expenses. These are every day things you can either curb or totally cut down on. And yes, they add up to your savings.

Interesting Videos: Money Spent is Money Earned http://www.fakhriprofessionals.com/new/debate1/debate1.html

Access any site while sitting behind firewalls, office systems etc

Juzar Noorani — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:06:00 +0000

Many people have problems accessing sites like orkut, myspace, rapidshare, etc. cause they are blocked by their offices, schools or firewalls.

There are many methods described here but the best would be using proxies

to get daily proxies follow these steps

1. Go to http://www.google.com/reader/
2. Login in with your google account
3. Click on manage subscriptions
4. Click on Import/export
5. Download this file
6. Unzip, note the location
7. Browse to the location from google reader’s import/export
8. Upload the OPML file
9. Get daily updates of proxy lists via rss
10. There is no 10th step

Then chose a proxy and apply it in the following way

in firefox >>
Tools > Options > Advanced > Connection Settings > Manual Proxy configuration
Here enter the proxy ip and port
Presto visit almost all sites anonymously

For the people whose port 6969 is blocked (like mine) use SOCKS4/SOCKS5 Proxies

Web Hosting for Jamaats

Juzar Noorani — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:23:00 +0000

Six years with NextGen – mumineen.org Team surfing the WWW, writing articles, moderating a huge community like DBNet and publishing the web. It has been a long race and good horses are never tired. The same time I had spent with promoting my hosting business and developing internet solutions for people. As technology evolves and as we see shifts in paradigms we learn and get nurtured by experience in the school of life.

The year 1427 H was a turning point for mumineen.org we had a server melt down soon after Ashara and we started to think about aborting our unmanaged servers donated by Ali Dhoon to shared hosting. One of our team members suggested Dream Host and here we are. We have shifted most of our site to Dreamhost with a new site design in mind with more goody features and stuff for our visitors but the mailing list is really missed. Ezmlm is missed by all the mods and all are sure that mailman sucks to the very last bit.

Ezzi.Net has generously provided an opteron for mumineen.org and we are not quite sure what we are to do with it. Another server is an Athlon with a CPanel installation as promised by Ali Dhoon. This is a new server we are planing to provide jamaats hosting on.

I configured the server and created a single reseller with Bohra.net domain and created DNS entries through WHM. Unfortunately the DNS was broken and the IPs that AHP had given me were not for our use.

I talked to Dan for repairing the DNS but he didn’t. All he did was remove the wrong IPs and allot a few more for our use. Dan was not of much help with the DNS and the dnsstuff was also showing the errors. The next step was that I took the initiative to go through CPanel documents, blogs and forums to figure out what was wrong and finally fixed the DNS and completed the security tweaks that were needed for the server. We added 2 more domains for jamaats to use, jamaats.net and jamaats.info. Another domain was attalim.net which we intend to use for the madrasas. Finally I am through with the server set-up and the service was launched on Friday, 18 August 2006.

One thing pending is the Reverse DNS (PTR) record which I cannot figure out. Maybe someday I might be able to fix it.

Above all it was a good learning experience and I found many free SSH providers in the process which helps me hop my local proxy and use the SSH host as a proxy to surf the web. YG has written a how-to for that and I shall post it on the blog soon.

Don’t say “YES” when you want to say “NO”

Juzar Noorani — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 17:15:00 +0000

Tell me if this sounds familiar — someone asks you to do something that you really don’t want to do or you honestly don’t have time for. It might be a request or an unreasonable request from a friend, a neighbor, a close relative, a family member, your office colleague or your boss for just working late. But you feel like you will let the other person down if you say no. You feel GUILTY already, and you haven’t even responded yet! So you say, “Sure,” even though doing so is going to put you under tremendous stress and PRESSURE. You know that you will probably end up resenting this activity, and maybe even ducking some of your responsibilities because your heart’s just not in it, but you go ahead and agree anyway.

Why are we so afraid to tell people “NO”? For some reason, we have been taught that “no” is DISRESPECTFUL — and even insulting. We seem to value other people’s time more than our own — feeling that we need to bend over backward to accommodate others, even if it inconveniences us. I know we’re atoning for the “me” 1980′s, but let’s be reasonable! “No” is actually one of the healthiest words that can come out of your mouth. When you tell someone “no,” you are really saying that you understand and accept your own LIMITS, and don’t want to do a shoddy job by overwhelming yourself. That you value your time and priorities and aren’t willing to take away from the truly important things in your life. A little selfishness is necessary, if you want to maintain a balanced and sane life!

So how do you say “NO” without insulting the other person, feeling consumed with guilt, or hurting your own credibility? We need to find a way to say “no” without dragging up all of those HIDDEN FEARS — they’ll think I’m lazy or selfish, that I have no career drive, that I’m not ambitious, that I have no concern for other people. And it’s time to give up all of those roles you’re so proud of — supermom, martyr, hero — but are keeping you from finding true peace. Once you’ve accepted that you have the right (and often responsibility) to turn someone down, you can do it in a way that doesn’t seem like a REJECTION. Let me show you how:

Here are 20 ways to say “NO” without hurting others

“I CAN’T RIGHT NOW, BUT I CAN DO IT LATER”
“I’M REALLY NOT THE MOST QUALIFIED PERSON FOR THE JOB”
“I JUST DON’T HAVE ANY ROOM IN MY CALENDAR RIGHT NOW”
“I CAN’T, BUT LET ME GIVE YOU THE NAME OF SOMEONE WHO CAN”
“I HAVE ANOTHER COMMITMENT”
“I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF SEVERAL PROJECTS AND CAN’T SPARE THE TIME”
“I’VE HAD A FEW THINGS COME UP AND I NEED TO DEAL WITH THOSE FIRST”
“I WOULD RATHER DECLINE THAN END UP DOING A MEDIOCRE JOB”
“I’M REALLY FOCUSING MORE ON MY PERSONAL AND FAMILY LIFE RIGHT NOW”
“I’M REALLY FOCUSING MORE ON MY CAREER RIGHT NOW”
“I REALLY DON’T ENJOY THAT KIND OF WORK”
“I CAN’T, BUT I’M HAPPY TO HELP OUT WITH ANOTHER TASK”
“I’VE LEARNED IN THE PAST THAT THIS REALLY ISN’T MY STRONG SUIT”
“I’M SURE YOU WILL DO A WONDERFUL JOB ON YOUR OWN”
“I DON’T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THAT, SO I CAN’T HELP YOU”
“I’M NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT”
“I HATE TO SPLIT MY ATTENTION AMONG TOO MANY PROJECTS”
“I’M COMMITTED TO LEAVING SOME TIME FOR MYSELF IN MY SCHEDULE”
“I’M NOT TAKING ON ANY NEW PROJECTS RIGHT NOW”
or a simple, straight, direct “NO”

Contact for In-House Training on Assertiveness Skills.

With Kind Regards
Shabbar Suterwala
Corporate Trainer & Psychological Counsellor
Ph: +91 989 222 5864
ShabbarSuterwala @ Hotmail.Com

Why Your Business Will Fail

Juzar Noorani — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 09:53:00 +0000

This article is not about writing a business plan. Its not about your lack of technology savvy, nor your inability to slap together a few decent resources and turn it into a web hosting business. And its definitely not an article about why you should not start your own web hosting business.

Then what is it about? Good question. Its about why your business will fail, regardless of how good your business plan is, regardless of how much technological knowledge you possess, regardless of your experience and the resources you have available to you. Your business will fail. Why?

Web hosting is a very competitive field. As start ups spring forth on a seemingly daily basis, competition continues to grow and in essence, everyone is after the same pie. Granted the pie continues to expand as well, due to the ever increasing number of businesses finally realizing that they need a web site, and because of countries whose economic condition now make the internet an affordable commodity.

Sure, we are all after the same pie, and even if you are competing with businesses on a local level, you are still after the same customers, customers who will pay you money to host their web site.

One question continues to linger on, particularly in an industry as competitive as web hosting: why should customers choose you over your competitors?

It is this question that, if left unanswered, will eventually drive your business into the ground in due time. Regardless of your marketing plan, or how much money you have budgeted for advertising. And no matter how many books you have read about managing servers. Answering this question ought to be a priority for web host start ups.

Do I Have Your Attention?

Many web hosts have ventured into a plethora of different marketing strategies and explored different avenues when it comes to devising an advertising campaign that will reach their target market. But many web hosts fail to realize who their customers are, and ignore the fact that their very own competitors are out to reach the same customers.

Visit your favorite internet search engine, or more specifically, a web hosting directory and you will see what I am talking about. You are instantly bombarded by a number of web hosts screaming for customer attention. But just how do they grab customer attention?

What? By showing off their features and price? How many times have you seen advertisements of web hosts showing off the features of their web hosting plan, along with the price, and, of course, the name of their company? Now multiply that many times over and that is what customers are seeing.

How does a customer choose amidst a flood of data, features that vary from one host to another, disk space and bandwidth numbers that do not really mean much for customers new to web hosting, and prices that seem to be randomly pulled out of the air?

Compete By Price?

Okay, so one way of catching my attention is giving me the absolute lowest price imaginable for web hosting. Thats right. Give me your absolute best, ultra-loaded, gargantuan hosting plan for pennies on the dollar, and give me a free domain to boot. Do we have a deal? Yes? Well thats great! Now, where do I sign up?

You have probably seen web hosts offering ridiculous offers with prices that are so low they make you cringe with fear. How do they get away with it? Do they even survive? Who are their venture capitalists, mom and dad?

Competing by price is the lazy marketers way of attracting customers. First of all, if you can not afford to offer web hosting at such a low price, why would you be tempted to offer it in the first place? In high hopes of up-selling your clients? Or perhaps because you think volume will make up for it?

Consider this: the people that pay the lowest prices for web hosting usually demand the most service. Lets be straight up about it: they are cheap customers. From the experiences of many web hosts who have learned their lesson after trying the ridiculously low pricing structure, it doesnt make sense to charge customers a low price if they demand the most of your time and resources. You lose money. And you will eventually lose customers. Not to mention the fact that you will not make money taking this route. Your business will fail.

What Makes Me Different?

Ask yourself that question: what makes me different? What makes you different? Why should a customer choose your web hosting service over another company’s web hosting service? Don’t you both offer the same service anyway?

If you fail to realize the fact that you need to do something different in order to survive in this business, it will take sheer luck for you to survive. If you’re like everyone else, chances are your business will fail. Your business plan should have outlined a marketing strategy, but you should have also considered the competition, and what it takes on your part to generate enough business to grown and prosper.

Service Differentiation

Essentially, every web host offers the same service in the perspective of the customer. They pay you to host their web site. Wow, big deal isn’t it? With this kind of thinking, your competitors are set to fail because all you have to do is set your service apart from everyone else. Begin by brainstorming to yourself or with your team. How can we differentiate our service enough so that customers can see our service as superior to that of our competitors?

You’ve probably seen many claims including 99.999% uptime guarantee, or 24/7 support. In reality, these hosting companies are differentiating their services, although many are quick to jump on the bandwagon. Can you deliver an uptime guarantee to your customers? Do you provide customer service and technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

What do you provide that your competitors do not? Do you use a control panel that makes it easier for customers to manage the features of their web hosting account? Do you provide free antivirus software that protects their e-mail? Do you provide a solution to SPAM e-mail?

Differentiating your services simply takes a bit of creativity and being able to see your service in the eyes of your customer. What will excite them? What feature will switch them on and see you as the ultimate web hosting service provider? What will make your competitors envy you?

Brand Experience

Web hosting is not as dull a business as you think. In fact, it’s more than just hosting your customers’ web sites and hoping the server doesn’t crash. It takes more than answering the phone and helping them solve their technical problems.

The experience that your customers have with your company is one that is very important, and should be emphasized. The brand that you deliver to your customers is one they should feel strongly about, again, something that excites them every time they interact with it.

Start with your company name. Is it another one of those computer generated, high tech, dot com names, or did you actually think of something clever, something your customers can feel emotionally about? Now let’s have a look at your web site. Did you splash it together using bits and pieces from the web sites of other businesses, or did you do something unique, and make it easy for your customers to navigate?

Are your web hosting plans designed to suit the needs of your customers? Do they have enough choice? Your ordering process is it easy? Can customers order without running into problems or feeling inadequate? Can customers get in touch with someone if they are having difficulty?

When customers call for customer service or technical support, do friendly representatives answer the phone with a strong feeling of rapport with your customers? Do they genuinely care about the well being of your customers, ensuring that they do whatever it takes to keep them happy?

Let Them Talk

Unless your web hosting business is worth talking about, you will fail. The most effective way of promoting your business is out of your hands. It’s your customers that play an effective role in whether or not your business will succeed.

If your web host startup is just another mediocre, half-assed attempt to make money, or if it’s just a dedicated server sitting somewhere out there begging to be filled with data, you will fail. Nobody will even notice that you exist, regardless of how many ads you put up, how cheap your prices are and how technologically ingenious your team is.

The easiest way to get your business off the ground is to excite your customers and get them to talk about you. Think about it because it really is that simple. When was the last time you told a friend of yours about a product or service you really enjoyed?

Now, what can you do about your web host startup that will get customers to talk about you? How do you tickle them enough so that they get off their seat and tell just about everyone they know about how great your web host services are?

__________________
Johnder Perez writer for hire
The Startup Blog Join an entrepreneur as he builds the next successful web hosting company from scratch.

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