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Your Business Web Site HostingA Lesson Learned:Don't be satisfied with mediocre services from your ISP. The Internet is a global medium, and you shouldn't feel restricted by geographical boundaries. If you can't get what you need from your ISP, look somewhere else - even in another country. In 1996, while looking for a way to earn money from home, I came across a advert for a book on "How to make money on the Internet". Well, I didn't know what the Internet was but the advert was intriguing and I ordered the book from the USA. This set me off on a journey of discovery, adventure and learning. After I read "How to make money on the Internet" I went to a local computer shop in Johannesburg, South Africa, and asked the salesman to show me what the Internet was. He linked up to a chat room with a 3D graphics display and started a conversation with someone somewhere in South America. To put it mildly, I was IMPRESSED. My objective, however, was to make money on the Internet and I got a book on HTML and while working through it, got my first WYSIWYG editor by downloading the advanced version of Netscape. I spent some months to learn how to design a website and started building my first website. But that's another story. When I was nearly ready to publish my website I contacted my dial-up ISP, one of the big ones in South Africa at the time, and asked them if they would host my site. Obviously this wasn't a problem and I went to see them to arrange this. I met with one of their "experts" and discussed my venture onto the World Wide Web. And got one of the worst pieces of advice I could get. "Don't worry about a domain name, that's for the big boys like Coca Cola, who have name recognition." Well, I soon learned that if you want to build a long term presence and want transportability of your site you need your own domain name. Listen and learn! Well, the website was set up with a reasonable monthly payment and I got my site up and going during the early part of 1997. The first month I paid the monthly installment. In the meantime I learned about search engines and directories and registering my site where ever I could. The second month my payment nearly doubled. When I contacted my ISP I was told that I exceeded my bandwidth allocation and had to pay for the next band. As the price was still OK I accepted this. But when, within three months, my payment exceeded R1000 per month! (today $140 but then it was about $220). And this was for a basic site! Stats, forms, etc. were all charged extra if you wanted it. I couldn't set up sub-domains (I had a sub-domain!). No email aliases. POP email addresses were extra. I contacted one of the sales managers and was told that: "If you can't afford to be on the Net, maybe you should reconsider". This guy didn't realise that the Internet is global and neither did I. Yet! This sent me on another journey of exploration. I contacted various ISPs in South Africa and they all had similar rate structures, which I couldn't afford to pay for a site which was, at that stage, only a hobby site. This was when I started looking outside the borders of South Africa and contacted an ISP in the USA I had read about. I asked them whether they would host a site in South Africa and they responded that they didn't care where the site was as long as it was paid for. For $50 (around R200 at the time) I got the web space I needed and more than enough bandwidth to last me a while. I also got site stats, hit counters, CGI-BIN facilities and a lot more. Over time my web space, my bandwidth and my facilities were improved without an increase in my monthly payment. In fact, I can get more than enough facilities for $30 (presently R300). The cost of this lesson was high. Let's forget the increasing monthly fees. As I was starting on the Net and building traffic I had to start over. My web address (URL) changed and had had to rebuild my traffic. My email address changed and I had to try and get my new email address to everyone who ever contacted me. Who knows how many people (and potential customers) I lost. I lost 3 to 6 months' work! In the long run, however, I gained so much more. People take you more seriously when you have your own domain name. My domain name got established in my target market and 5 years later people could STILL find my at the same address. Note: The original web site isn't running anymore as a lot has changed in my Internet business. However, I still apply the lesson I learned in 1997. Look for the best service for your money. Success! Jens
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