Webmaster forum - Pay For What You Use!

Author

Pay For What You Use!

Byron Archard

2005-12-28, 6:38 pm

I am creating a new hosting service where users can register for free,
but they only pay for what they use. I was just wondering if anyone had
any ideas about what features this service should have or even if i
should bother???

If you got any ideas then I would love to hear them!

William Tasso

2005-12-28, 6:38 pm

Writing in news:alt.www.webmaster
From the safety of the http://groups.google.com cafeteria
Byron Archard <ByronArchard@XXXXXXXXXX> said:

> I am creating a new hosting service where users can register for free,
> but they only pay for what they use. I was just wondering if anyone had
> any ideas about what features this service should have or even if i
> should bother???

if you're gonna write a tracking/billing system that counts

o cpu clicks
o ram utilisation
o bytes transfered
o bandwidth utilisation
o bytes stored

you will have the most complex billing system in the industry - all for
the sake of 2p

> If you got any ideas then I would love to hear them!
>

sell your skills and attributes

--
William Tasso

Save the drama
for your Mama.

mbstevens

2005-12-28, 6:38 pm

Byron Archard wrote:
> I was just wondering if anyone had
> any ideas about what features this service should have or even if i
> should bother???

Here's the way to make money with computers today...
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?...051224235348255

Paul Ding

2005-12-29, 6:49 pm

On 28 Dec 2005 06:32:45 -0800, "Byron Archard"
<ByronArchard@XXXXXXXXXX> posted something that included:

>I am creating a new hosting service where users can register for free,
>but they only pay for what they use. I was just wondering if anyone had
>any ideas about what features this service should have or even if i
>should bother???

Don't bother. It's not popular with users.
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/20...ropayments.html

One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is that they confuse cost
with value. The biggest costs in the hosting industry are support,
billing, and customer acquisition, but everybody charges for disk
space, bandwidth, and features like CGI because customers *know* they
want THOSE items...

Finally, you want to beware of teaching customers that you're not
worth much. When you are getting started, it's a fair assessment, but
if you get a reputation of being cheap, it's hard to live it down....

--
If we're losing 40-130 species a day,
How come nobody can itemize them?
And why can't fruitflies be one of them?

Mark Goodge

2005-12-29, 6:50 pm

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 20:51:55 GMT, Paul Ding put finger to keyboard and
typed:

>On 28 Dec 2005 06:32:45 -0800, "Byron Archard"
><ByronArchard@XXXXXXXXXX> posted something that included:
>
>
>Don't bother. It's not popular with users.
>http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/20...ropayments.html

That's not entirely true, and that article makes the common mistake of
assuming that what is typical for the US is typical for the rest of
the world.

I'm currently working on a couple of sites, one aimed at users in
Germany and the other at users in Australia. On both of these, users
are *demanding* micropayments, and the lack of them has severely held
back sales growth. We've finally got round to implementing them on the
German site, to begin with, and it's made a big difference already.

I'd agree that, on the whole, US consumers do seem to prefer flat
rates over pay-as-you-go. And that's likely to continue in the
immediate future, so sites aimed at a US market need to take that into
account. But, elesewhere, PAYG is far more common, and sites offering
it will do better in these markets. As with any form of marketing, the
most important thing of all is to understand your customers.

Mark
--
http://www.corporatecontact.info - a user-contributed
directory of contact information for faceless organisations.

Duende

2005-12-29, 10:31 pm

On 29 Dec 2005 Mark Goodge wrote in alt.www.webmaster

> As with any form of marketing, the
> most important thing of all is to understand your customers.
>

That's what I need, a customer!

Where can I buy one?

--
D?

William Tasso

2005-12-29, 10:32 pm

Writing in news:alt.www.webmaster
From the safety of the ? cafeteria
Duende <myusenet@sify.com> said:

> On 29 Dec 2005 Mark Goodge wrote in alt.www.webmaster
>
>
> That's what I need, a customer!
>
> Where can I buy one?

Where do I sign?

--
William Tasso

Save the drama
for your Mama.

Duende

2005-12-30, 3:22 am

On 29 Dec 2005 William Tasso wrote in alt.www.webmaster

> Writing in news:alt.www.webmaster
> From the safety of the ? cafeteria
> Duende <myusenet@sify.com> said:
>
>
> Where do I sign?
>

on the dotted line of course

--
D?