Customer Reviews

The Web Hosting Manager

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I agree with reviewer Maggin and am astonished at the number of great reviews for this book. The author's friends? Any adult could write most of this book off the top of her head. Where to get funding: personal funds (DUH!), the bank (DUH!). How to fire an employee? Sigh. This is generic stuff, most is not about web hosting in particular. Same with suggestions for advertising. Maybe if you are a person with zero business experience you will benefit from some of the generic advice, but you'd do just as well with a book from your local library about starting a business in general. I returned this book in the next mail.

Essentially the point of this book is to assert that hosting web pages for yourself and your friends creates its own secondary income streams. This book, for example, which the writer self-published and marketed through Amazon. It's encouraging to learn that self-publishing is actually a relatively worthwhile pursuit here in the twenty-first century, but it's not terribly useful to someone looking for a nuts-and-bolts account of web-hosting -- which is ostensibly what the book is about. Rah, rah, Chris; thrilled to hear it's working out so well for you, but I've got a life too. See you around.

I considered The Web Hosting Manager to be a fantastic book, especially for those just beginning in the web hosting business - or for those who need to remind themselves why they're in the business. The information does not get too technical (I consider this to be a good thing), and grammatical errors run rampant (I consider this to be a bad thing. Ok, so I'm a writer and kind of freak out about that - most folks probably wouldn't notice.). This book holds a great wealth of information.

The book starts off by detailing the costs for getting started, and the exact actions to take. It does a superb job of guiding one along from wanting to start a business to actually getting the startup process done. Everything is covered here - from legal to reseller accounts and more. One thing I liked about this book was that it did not detail one hundred different ways to start - i.e. reseller account, dedicated server, own data center, etc. - Christoph Puetz, the author, realizes that most folks reading this book have limited funds and so want to startup as quickly, easily, and inexpensively as possible. Therefore, the book assumes that the reader will go with a reseller account, and everything from the beginning forward is based on that.

This book evaluates typical competitors and typical customers, and also details financing, employment, pricing, and more. This section was extremely useful to me, as it helped me cement my business plan and actually feel comfortable with it when I was finished! Again, it does not go very in-depth into any of the subjects, but there is also not too much of a need to do so, in my opinion. I found the section about employee motivation to be particularly useful, as I am getting to the point where I will need to hire some folks, if I go after VC funding.

The last section of the book deals with marketing. It is filled with many quite brilliant marketing techniques, and includes sections on business cards, AdWords, local marketing, and other proven techniques. Even if you buy the book only for this section, it is still very much worth the $20 or so you will pay.

All in all (grammatical errors aside), this is an excellent read, and I highly recommend that every web host purchase a copy. It is the only book written wholly for the startup/small web host, and perhaps the only book that would enable these smaller hosts to become larger. It is the industry's one true "bible", and I recommend getting your hands on a copy ASAP.

I was looking for a book about web hosting, however, this provides little information. It is a VERY basic guide - mostly about business, little about web hosting.

I thought the book was an excellent way to get a feel for the world of web hosting. The prices are a little outdated on some of the costs involved, but overall, it covers the bases.

This is by far the best book about starting a web hosting business that I have read. There is just not something comparable on the market. Easy to read "instructions" and the author leaves enough room for everyone to follow without over-loading the reader with information he might not need.

This book is one you'll want to keep on hand as a reference that you'll go back to again and again after your first read. I think it's an excellent companion to The Complete Web Hosting Kit Professional, which I also own. With the Web Hosting Manager you have a great "how to" and with the Complete Web Hosting Kit you have the software to do it.

Excellent resource. Well written and easy to read. I especially enjoyed the high level step by step guide on how to start out as a web host. The marketing section is resourceful for the beginner and the pro. This book is a must to have.

This is a book you'll want to keep near your PC for reference everyday. If you're serious about host a web site, you should also get "The Complete Web Hosting Kit Professional," which has TONS of practial how-to's as well as all the software you need to set up a web and e-mail server.