WDTalk

I am a HUGE fan of cutting edge technology, so when I stumbled across this video http://www.wimp.com/sixthtechnology posted on a web hosting forum, I had to watch it – from start to finish (approximately 15 minutes).

Why?
Time after time, my jaw dropped as new innovations were presented, linking objects in the physical world to the digital world. The video started with a simple upgrade to a two roller mouse, enabling the user to mimic finger movements on his monitor. And it kept getting better – taking pictures by framing objects with his hands, making outbound calls via a projected keypad on his palm, projecting live weather information onto his newspaper map, and on and on.

I’m Excited
The future is here today, and I’m proud to share its contribution to innovative technology with articles that compliment the delivery of new ideas and broad vision.

Featuring the largest gathering of hosted services professionals in the world.

Join us at HostingCon 2010, the premier conference and trade show for the hosted services industry. The best and brightest from the industry will be in attendance to learn about the latest news, ideas and technology affecting their businesses. Whether you are showcasing your new services, or you are simply checking the pulse of the industry, this is your opportunity to meet and network with your business partners, in a fun and educational atmosphere.

HostingCon is celebrating its Sixth Anniversary, and with a projected attendance of over 1,500 Internet professionals from over 30 countries, the 2010 show promises to be the best yet. We’re looking forward to meeting you in Austin, Texas!

Bing was just launched by Microsoft, looking to capture a portion of Google’s success. I’m still testing it against Google, but I like what I’m seeing so far. Some changes (from Live Search) include the addition of related searches (called “Explorer pane” on the left side of search results), based on semantic technology from PowerSet, a search company Microsoft purchased in 2008, search suggestions as you type, and the ability to keep track of your search history.

Internationally

Qi Lu, president of Microsoft Online Services, announced that Bing’s official Chinese name is bì yìng, which literally means “very certain to respond” or “very certain to answer” in Chinese, yet on June 2, 2009, Bing was blocked in China, the date approaching the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Images

I just ran through a number of image related queries about web hosting and Hawaii – my two favorite topics. Again, I was quite impressed and foresee some real possibilities. Colocation returned 60,400 images. Drilling down, colocation providers returned 5,700 results and colocation St. Louis returned 260 results. Plus, you can refine your image queries by size, layout, color, style and people. For example, under color you can refine your query to just color, all or just black & white.

Have you searched Bing yet?

The general consensus on the Internet is favorable, even from hard core Linux admins. If you haven’t tried Bing yet, give it a whirl. You should be pleasantly surprised. If you’re a hard core Google or Yahoo addict, Bing will at least give you options – the more the merrier.

There is a current draft being discussed that will allow ARIN to investigate and deny any shell transfers of ASN /IP subnets. 

Under discussion at ARIN thru 7 April 2009

 8. Transfers

 8.1. Principles
Number resources are non-transferable and are not assignable to any other organization unless ARIN has expressly and in writing approved a request for transfer. ARIN is tasked with making prudent decisions on whether to approve the transfer of number resources.

It should be understood that number resources are not “sold” under ARIN administration. Rather, number resources are assigned to an organization for its exclusive use for the purpose stated in the request, provided the terms of the Registration Services Agreement continue to be met and the stated purpose for the number resources remains the same. Number resources are administered and assigned according to ARIN’s published policies.

Number resources are issued, based on justified need, to organizations, not to individuals representing those organizations. Thus, if a company goes out of business, regardless of the reason, the point of contact (POC) listed for the number resource does not have the authority to sell, transfer, assign, or give the number resource to any other person or organization. The POC must notify ARIN if a business fails so the assigned number resources can be returned to the available pool of number resources if a transfer is not requested and justified.

 8.2. Mergers and Acquisitions
ARIN will consider requests for the transfer of number resources in the case of mergers and acquisitions upon receipt of evidence that the new entity has acquired the assets which had, as of the date of the acquisition or proposed reorganization, justified the current entity’s use of the number resource. Examples of assets that justify use of the number resource include, but are not limited to:

• Existing customer base
• Qualified hardware inventory
• Specific software requirements.  

In evaluating a request for transfer, ARIN may require the requesting organization to provide any of the following documents, as applicable, plus any other documents deemed appropriate:

• An authenticated copy of the instrument(s) affecting the transfer of assets, e.g., bill of sale, certificate of merger, contract, deed, or court decree.
• A detailed inventory of all assets utilized by the requesting party in maintaining and using the number resource.
• A list of the requesting party’s customers using the number resource.  

If further justification is required, the requesting party may be asked to provide any of the following, or other supporting documentation, as applicable:

• A general listing of the assets or components acquired

• A specific description of acquisitions, including:
• Type and quantity of equipment
• Customer base

• A description of how number resources are being utilized
• Network engineering plans, including:  

• Host counts
• Subnet masking
• Network diagrams
• Reassignments to customers

 8.3 Transfers to Specified Recipients
Number resources may be released, in whole or in part, to ARIN for transfer to another specified organizational recipient, by any authorized resource holder within the ARIN region.  Such transferred number resources may only be received by organizations that are within the ARIN region and can demonstrate the need for such resources in the exact amount which they can justify under current ARIN policies.

Are you seriously interested in joining the web hosting market? Don’t have a ton of money? Is your plan to start small and grow?

There’s always room in this industry for new web hosts

Consider this. Every week I bought a targeted list of 150-200 new businesses in my area. At least 80% of them did not have websites or hosting. Multiply how many times in how many places worldwide that this happens week in and week out. You’ll never run out of prospects.

It does take some investment in time and money, but it can be done and is being done by new entrepreneurs every day. The ones who survive are normally those who have enough financial resources to withstand their first year in business.

My Advice

I read a lot of threads comparing domain name services where the OPs focus is on price rather than stability. Realistically, unless you’re planning on registering hundreds or thousands of domain names, price should be a secondary consideration. Choose a domain registrar with a reputation for great service, then price.

Should you register your domain name with your reseller host? The general consensus is NO. Why not? Too many small hosting companies encounter problems with their original host, then decide to transition to a different host only to find their domain name locked in dispute. If you have your domain name with a different provider than your reseller host, then you can simply point your nameservers to the new host and you’re good to go.

I’d also suggest that you provision your domain name to auto-renew. Forums are full of horror stories of expired domain names held hostage or sold at auction.

Marketing Your Business

The first consideration should be the design of your website. Be sure it represents your niche. So many new web hosting providers use a cookie cutter approach that never gets noticed, and they post threads months later wondering why? I understand it’s difficult at times to see beyond your own work. Solicit opinions from others in the industry. There are literally hundreds or thousands of forums filled with entrepreneurs just like yourself who are willing to provide honest opinions of your design, and give thoughtful insight and recommendations. Why try to reinvent the wheel when so many are willing and able to freely help?

Another consideration is Search Engine Optimization

Volumes of information have been written about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and opinions on how to best approach this vary widely. Some will recommend starting by reading published books, but the general consensus is to follow the major search engines (current) advice because SEO evolves dynamically. What worked yesterday may not work today. What always worked and still works is relevant content and well designed code.  Use cascading style sheets, check for browser compatibility, track the keywords that surfers enter to find your site, then tweak your site as needed. Too many small web hosts pour hours of original effort into their sites, but never update anything but price (running sales). The primary enemy of sales is complacency. Google analytics and awstats are great starting places to analyze traffic to your site.

Are you marketing to a local audience?

One marketing strategy is to obtain a targeted list of newly formed businesses, normally at 10 cents per business – then direct mail them an offer and follow up with a phone call within three days (provided there is a phone number). Always leave a voicemail if you cannot reach them. Schedule follow up calls (up to 3 over the period of a couple of weeks), then if you’re still unable to reach them, consider a quarterly direct mail post card campaign. If you haven’t budgeted for an aggressive advertising campaign, growing your new business will be that much harder.

Personalize your initial direct mail offer with your picture, and sign it in blue ink. With each new client, immediately ask for referrals and testimonials. And be sure to send them personalized thank you cards.

If you’ve considered on-site sales, consider leaving personalized scratch pads, with your picture at the top left and contact info at the bottom. Scratch pads are relatively inexpensive and can be found on every desk worldwide with some company’s info displayed – why not have it be yours?

Another great on-site promotion was recommended to me by a very successful sales rep – she has prospects pick a card from a deck, then posts a winner for the matching card weekly on her website’s blog. They’ll absolutely remember you and likely visit your site, increasing your odds of making that sale.

Don’t just leave your business card or literature. Most likely, it’ll find its way to a circular recycling bin. Be unique in your approach. Set yourself aside from your competition. And smile.

Networking

So many entrepreneurs in this business opt to go it alone, or with the aid of one or two techs. Networking is a very necessary ingredient to jumpstart and sustain your business.

I recently attended a conference sponsored by Yellow Tie where the guest speaker mingled with the attendees minutes prior, then started by asking everyone he had talked to, to stand up – we’re talking twenty to thirty people he had never seen or met previously. He then proceeded to ask them to sit down if he remembered their name and association – and one-by-one he called out all but two. How many times do you meet a prospect, exchange cards, chat briefly, then five minutes later cannot remember their name? Networking is a learned skill perfected via practice.

Team up a web designer, or two or ten. Possibly a business consultant? I personally recall a sales rep that networked with an IT consulting firm that directed thousands of dollars her direction when their existing clienteles’s ISP went under. Lay the groundwork for your success by maximizing your connections in the industry.

Merchant Account

A recent Google search for Merchant Account Providers produced 744,000 results. Accepting credit cards is absolutely necessary, but through which merchant provider? My advice is to check with your bank or financial institution first to ask their recommendation. PayPal is a great starting point. Different gateways allow you to receive your funds on varying schedules.

Billing Software

Of course you’ll need some type of billing software, and here again, there are lots of options. Some are open source while most are commercially available. If you’re starting with a reseller plan from a web host, that plan probably includes pre-installed billing software. Be aware that open source software may have limited features as compared to a program such as WHMCS. Do you need all of the bells and whistles? As you grow, how easily could you transition from open source to WHMCS? If there are demos available, try them. Get a feel for what best works for you.

Should you offer Live Chat Support

If you have the time and resources to interact with your prospects online, live chat services can certainly help convert prospects to clients.

Control Panels

While cPanel is a very popular control panel offered by many web hosts as part of their package, DirectAdmin is a feature rich, fast and stable alternative.

What makes DirectAdmin different?

Ease of use. DirectAdmin is the easiest to use control panel, period.

Speed. DirectAdmin is programmed to be the fastest running control panel available.

Stability. DirectAdmin avoids downtime by automatically recovering from crashes.

Integrated Ticket Support System

With DirectAdmin’s integrated ticket support system, you’ll provide better customer service with less hassle. You have XX messages waiting is displayed every time you sign in — and you can set DirectAdmin to notify you of support requests by e-mail, ensuring that no request will be missed.  If you prefer to offer support in a different way, simply turn this feature off.

Live Updates

Server administrators can click the “licensing / updates” button to view the current license and version status.  There is no need to manually download, extract, and install — DirectAdmin performs all updates automatically.

Completely Customizable

DirectAdmin is designed to be as unique as your business.  Every aspect of the DirectAdmin interface can be changed, and new designs are easily imported through the “skins” menu. 

Automatic Recovery From Crashes

DirectAdmin TaskQueue ensures that all services are up, all of the time.  If something crashes, DirectAdmin will attempt to fix the problem by restarting the service.  If this fails, DirectAdmin will notify the server administrator immediately. 

All Licenses are Unlimited-Domain Licenses

There is no limit to the amount of domains or user accounts that can be hosted with DirectAdmin

Site-Helper.com — Helping you get the most out of DirectAdmin and your web site! has outstanding User Features

E-Mail Menu.  Users can create POP3 accounts, catch-all e-mail addresses, forwarders, mailing lists, autoresponders, and webmail.  Filters allow users to block mail by domain, keyword, and size.  Adult Filter is also available.

FTP Menu.  Users can create FTP accounts and set directory permissions for each account.  Anonymous FTP is also supported.

DNS Menu.  Users can can add and remove records, change MX settings, and anything else that goes with full DNS control.

Statistics Menu.  Users have available every possible statistic about their account.  More advanced options and Webalizer are also included. 

FrontPage Extensions.  Users can enable or disable Microsoft FrontPage Extensions at any time with the click of a button.

Subdomains Menu.  Users can list, create, delete, and get statistics on subdomains.

File Manager.  A user-friendly and fast alternative to FTP.  Includes every feature needed to build and maintain a web site. 

MySQL Databases.  Users can easily create, modify, and delete MySQL databases from this menu.

Site Backup.  Using this powerful tool, users can backup and restore only what they want to.  For example, account data but not web site files.

Error Pages.  Users can create custom messages and outputs for 401, 403, 404, and 500 error codes.

Directory Password Protection.  Users can password protect any directory with a username and password.

Advanced Tools.  Users can install SSL certificates, view sever information and installed perl modules, set cron jobs, mime types, and apache handlers, and enable site redirection and domain pointers.

It also has great Reseller Features

Create / List / Modify Accounts.  Account creation, listing, modification, and deletion is done quickly and easily.

User Packages.  Resellers can create predefined account packages using this feature.  When creating an account, the reseller simply chooses a package instead of manually setting each account feature.

Reseller Statistics.  Resellers are provided with a complete overview of their total usage.  Resellers may also sort data by users to quickly assess the overall situation.

Message All Users.  Resellers can quickly send a message to all their customers by using DirectAdmin’s built in ticket support system.

Import / Manage Skins.  With this menu option, resellers can quickly import and apply new skins with the click of a button.

IP Assignment.  Resellers can allocate IP address to their customers by using this menu option.

System / Services Information.  By clicking this feature, resellers have instant access to server status and system information.

Name Servers.  Resellers can create personalized nameservers for their customers from this menu.

Check out DirectAdmin’s Administrator Features

Create / Modify Admins and Resellers.  Admins can create resellers or extra admins quickly and easily with this feature.

Reseller Packages.  Admins can create predefined account packages using this feature.  When creating an account, the admin simply chooses a package instead of manually setting each account feature.

Show All Users.  This feature allows the admin to quickly view every single account on the system and sort this list in various ways.

DNS Administration.  This feature allows the admin to create, modify, or delete any DNS records on the server.

IP Manager.  This is where the admin sets the IP address available to the server.  The admin can also allocate IP address to resellers from this menu.

System / Services Info.  The admin can view, stop, start, and restart services from this menu.

Complete Usage Statistics.  This feature provides the admin with a complete overview of system usage.  Exact input and output from the server’s Ethernet card is also monitored.

Licensing / Updates.  The admin can view his or her license status and download the latest DirectAdmin security and software upgrades from this menu.

Need online help managing DirectAdmin?

Site-Helper.com is a great online resource for getting the most out of your DirectAdmin Web Control Panel.

Summary

Web hosting is a highly competitive industry, but there is certainly room for new entrepreneurs. Hopefully this helps you with some insight. Cheers

Windows 7 beta was rolled out to the public this morning. It’s been available to developers and most threads about it are very positive – very quick. The question is, “Should you install it?” What are the pros and cons?

The Cons:

There may be an issue with trashing existing MP3s unless you install a Microsoft fix. Apparently when Media Player attempts to add album art to your MPs, it can corrupt them. Is there a workaround? Possibly set your MP3s to Read Only before you install this beta.

Release notes warn that Windows 7 will crash if your graphics card only has an XDDM driver. The only way to resolve this is to recycle power.

If you’re installing this beta on the same drive as your existing Windows, please please do a backup first. Returning to a previous version of Windows could be very tricky – don’t expect support from Microsoft.

All of your existing drivers may not be recognized. If you’re fortunate, Microsoft may be able to diagnose the problem and point you to a vendor with an updated driver.

The Pros:

The interface appears much cleaner.

This beta appears to be very stable.

This is much snappier – start up, open programs and shut down – definite improvement over Vista.

How long can you use the beta version?

If you install Windows beta 7 now, you will have to upgrade before August 2009 – little thing called a time bomb.

Has your spam decreased in the last two months?

I know mine has decreased dramatically. I only get one or two a day now, if that. If you’re like me, I hate spam. Recently one ISP was shut down that was responsible for directing systems to perform half of all spam sending attempts on the Internet.

The Good Side

ISP’s with strong content filters and multiple layers of IP blacklists saw a minimal change in the amount of spam delivered to their clients’ inbox. Why is that? They invested heavily in anti-spam infrastructure, significantly raising their level of protection.

Will more ISPs be shut down?

Removing the infrastructure of ISPs that traffic massive amounts of spam should have a chilling effect on that industry model.  I know I’d be much happier.

Financial war on spammers?

Remember what the USA did to the online gaming industry? It prohibited the online processing of credit cards for gaming purposes. That’s why I see so many OPs in forums asking for URLs of offshore hosts (for warez sites too).  Very illegal.

If we could somehow block credit card processors that process the spammer’s transactions, that would truly hit them where it hurts most – their wallets. No profit – no spam. We can only hope.