There is nothing more liberating than owning a business and being one’s own boss. In the online realm, one way of making money that encompasses these liberties is to go into the hosting reseller business.

Now, most people would ask why anyone would go into the hosting business (and that too as an affiliate of a larger company) when the market looks to be saturated with a dime-a-dozen hosting providers out there and the majority of the hosting market is already cornered by the big players in the industry.

Well, for one, there is no shortage of customers. The internet is expanding faster than ever today and every single page that is created on it needs somewhere to reside. As more and more people gain access to the internet, and then decide to share their information or contribute to the expansion in their own unique way, they create a need for more hosting space. That’s why it will always be a market that will never stop growing.

So, now that we know you can do it, how do you – a web hosting reseller business owner – keep your business competitive and make it come out ahead? Let’s see a few pointers:

1. Always Go With a Winner: if you intend to win in the hosting reseller business, you will need to have a winner backing you up. If the hosting provider you are doing the reselling for has an excellent – not just good, but excellent – reputation ride their coattails at any cost. If their servers don’t crash, yours don’t either. If they have great processing power and huge bandwidths, you do too. Your hosting business will always be up and running smoothly. If there’s a better hosting provider than the one you’re reselling for, don’t be ashamed to switch to them.

With time your hosting business will be known for reliability too and your reputation will spread far and wide – and that’s always good for business.

2. Choose a Unique Niche: reselling web hosting is just like owning a blog in that you need to have a niche to stand out from the crowd. Every other hosting provider out there is in the business of offering almost the exact same service you are, so opt for a niche of your own.

For example, there’s hosting and then there is WordPress hosting. You can target an even smaller market by offering to host sites that are made by, or for, people that speak a certain language. You can have your site’s default language changed to accommodate your clients. Throw in tech support that can reply in that language (even if it is just answering tickets raised via email, translating them and then sending them on to the mother company for resolution and then reversing the process) you will find yourself sitting on a market that you, and only you, control. Create marketing campaigns in that language and you are guaranteed to capture the attention and, hopefully, the businesses of a select set of customers.

3. Keep Your Technology Options Open and Scalable: when choosing reseller plans, don’t limit your options. As technology continues to transform so too should your business. Whenever possible keep your options open – go for Linux and Windows reselling, target small and large businesses as your clients and offer them as many varied plans as possible.

This not only keeps you in business with various clients it also means you aren’t limited and can target a wider range of future ones too. As your clients’ sites grow, so too will your income – if you make it easy for them to migrate to bigger plans, that is.

4. Offer your Services as Secondary Benefits: although you are in the web hosting reseller business you can add a little twist to your sales pitch. How about starting a web design company (or partnering with an existing one) and offering your hosting services at a discounted (or even free) service?

The cost can be covered by the price for the design of the site or vice versa: offer hosting at your regular price and throw in a professionally designed website for free. The point here is everyone, but just about everyone, loves to hear – or read – the word “free,” so take advantage of that fact.

5. Always Let Your Customers Speak for You: of course, we are talking about the ones that are happy with your services. Create a separate site where you can share all the good reviews you get from your clients. Every single time you communicate with your current customers gently remind them that you would appreciate their honest reviews on the services they are getting. Most, if not all, of your clients will be more than happy to help you succeed.

Nothing reels in more new clients than the honest reviews that are written by current ones – and they can tell which are genuine and which ones are not, so don’t even think about adding false reviews.

The hosting reseller business is just like any other business: you will need to put your back into it, but if done right, it could be the source of the economic freedom you are looking for. So, good luck; better yet, work hard!