Why cheap hosting isn't cheap

 

What's your time worth?

It’s been a long time since I’ve changed the oil in my car. A really long time. Mainly because by the time I slip out of my strappy sandals and crawl under my SUV on the cold garage concrete, the guy down the street can have the oil changed, fluids checked, tires aired and bug kamikazies scrubbed off the windshield. I’d still be looking for the wrench. It’s easy to figure out why he’s so fast. He does it every day. He’s got the right tools. His shop is set up for exactly that function. The most common filters are in stock. Each of these factors brings his oil-change time down. And, if that’s how he makes his living, then time is a really good thing to have on his side. When he’s looking for his wrench, he’s not making money.

And, while you’re on the phone with the Hosting Company from Planet Zune listening to them explain All About DNS Servers (but they were CHEAPER!) you are not making money at what you do best: running your business, selling your product, providing your service. Nor are you enjoying a round of golf, a beer with a buddy or coffee with your friend from college.

 

There’s a bright side: you’ll learn everything you need to know about hosting and domain names and DNS routing, so you don’t have to depend upon someone else to know all that for you. Just like if I changed my own oil, I’d certainly know the part number on my oil filter. But, if you’re like most people who have just one web site, you’re learning something that you’ll likely seldom use again. Or you hope so, because contacting your hosting company means there’s something wrong with your Web site. And, there aren’t too many people who enjoy Musak enough to spend an afternoon on hold with their Web hosting company while they escalate your issue to ever higher levels of tech support. Meanwhile, your Web site languishes in Web limbo displaying the 404 Not Found message. Hard to sell product with that message out there.

Here’s  a thought: If you’re in business, you probably have a phone. It would be kind of odd to be phoneless, I guess. What do you pay for the phone service? If it’s reliable and has voice mail, in case you’re busy and caller id in case you’re trying to avoid someone, then you can justify paying a reasonable fee. After all, without a phone, it would be really difficult to run your business at all. Thank goodness you don’t have to learn all about how each phone call is routed to your business! What a waste of time that would be. Let the phone company take care of the technicalities of fiber optics and routing calls to the right place. You simply buy a phone, plug in the cord and start taking orders.

Here’s another thought: What do you pay for your phone book ad? Or should we say ads, because in this area, there are multiple phone books and guessing which one your potential customer chooses is just that: guessing. Where are those copious phone books anyway? Most people haven’t seen their phone book since it landed on the front steps in the rain last summer. And they’re probably not missing it a whole lot, because it’s a LOT easier to look you up online.  No problem finding Google.. . and from Google you can get just about anywhere, including to your Web site’s front door…if it’s online and functioning correctly.

And another: Have you had a brochure printed lately? Did you do it yourself, spending hours learning Microsoft Publisher and buying perfect paper and matching envelopes? Once again, you’ve learned a new software program, discovered a lot about brochure layout. But, it’s not something that you’ll use again until it’s time for a new brochure. And, while you were in the back room cutting and pasting, who was minding your business and dealing with your customers? So, you're probably better off to have your brochure printed by a professional printing company.

While Bob the Cheap Hosting Guy is in the back room kissing Martina, here at the BeeLine Hive we’re busy learning Google’s methods, discovering better domain names and targeting your site’s content to the right customers (the ones who BUY!). No gimmicks. Just doing our best at what we do best: making your web site work for your business. Cheap Bob doesn’t really care whether you’re successful. He just wants to be sure he gets thousands of customers like you, so HE can spend some time on the golf course while you talk to tech support to get your site working right.

So, let us take the headache out of hosting.  And stay with what you’re really good at: serving YOUR customers.

 

PS  I really did change my own oil when I was a teen. In fact, I even changed out the fuel pump in my first car, a Ford Falcon.