Experienced re sellers these Q's are for you??

[girlpsychic]

I am considering signing up with host gator. My main goal is to become a web designer. What I am wondering is as follows:

1. can i begin with a hatchling web host account to initially set up my web design business website and then upgrade to a reseller account when I begin receiving business?

2. can i sell a web/blog design package to clients where i offer to design for them a fully functional website, domain name registration/hosting etc for a fee amount chosen by me and then use the hostgator templates - with minimal customization - to reflect their individual business?

3. are the hostgator templates easy to customize - and how much can they be changed. Can I modify colors/titles/logos/graphics etc?

4. Is this practice frowned apon by the web designer communities who create their websites from scratch for their clients?

5. Can I call myself a web designer - even though I will just be using the templates?

6. Is it a steep learning curve for someone who has used web builders before but doews not know any coding?

Im very excited about this new venture - I would love to hear from experienced resellers who make a living from what I have described above some extra questions for you -

7. do you tell your clients that you build the website even though you use a template,

8.do you keep the host gator part a secret,

9. can you tell me a bit about how your business works?

If it is as good as it seems then I will sign up today!
Thank you in advance!!
Laura
lcaradonna@bigpond.com

[Jordanlw]

To be honest, You're not going to survive more then 3-5 months,
You might want to do some pro-bono work for friends/family to start off with (XHTML,CSS) then start moving to client side scripting & dynamic sites.
Also flaunting a Bigpond/Telstra domain isn't something (Australian-Techy) people like..

[HalbrookTech]

Originally Posted by girlpsychic

1. can i begin with a hatchling web host account to initially set up my web design business website and then upgrade to a reseller account when I begin receiving business?

Yes

4. Is this practice frowned apon by the web designer communities who create their websites from scratch for their clients?

Yes

5. Can I call myself a web designer - even though I will just be using the templates?

You can call yourself the queen of England, but that won't make you her. IMHO No, you shouldn't call yourself a "web designer". I don't use that term, and I do, occasionally, create designs from scratch, but most of what I do on the interface front is customizing and converting to Zikula Themes. I call my self a "Developer" even though the bulk of what I do ends up requiring no more than putting pieces of a puzzle together to create the end site, but I am capable of custom coding when needed, and one can argue that even if I'm just putting the blocks together, I'm still developing the site.

6. Is it a steep learning curve for someone who has used web builders before but doews not know any coding?

Depends on how you learn, and what you know. If you can customize, then you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of HTML right? I'd recomment sites like SItePoint.com, AListApart.com and NetTuts.com for some helpful information.

7. do you tell your clients that you build the website even though you use a template,

If I'm not going to do it from scratch, I send my clients to http://www.oswd.org and http://www.openwebdesign.org and have them pick a template to start from.

8.do you keep the host gator part a secret,

As a reseller, yes.

[girlpsychic]

Halbrook Tech thank you for your advice, it really helped me. I will check out those sites that you have suggested.

Thanks again - your a positive inspiration!

[Brand]

Originally Posted by Jordanlw

To be honest, You're not going to survive more then 3-5 months,
Also flaunting a Bigpond/Telstra domain isn't something (Australian-Techy) people like..

Wow jordanlw that was a real nasty reply to a potential fellow gator! Unnecessary I say.
This is a peer support forum for beginners looking for some direction not somewhere for you to try and get a rise out of belittle others (while sitting safely behind a computer screen) so shameful!

So To your immense shame a very well deserved Boooo

Brand
uratotalshame@big*******.com

[ldearing]

you're success of course will depend on you, but you're approaching it the right way. You have an avenue to design and host together for a value added advantage over many others. i set out to be a reseller and quickly learned the reality and neccessity of offering value adds. i find myself doing more and more websites myself

i really can't code and even modifying templates are very difficult for me. i use joomla and find there are many really great and professional templates out there. When they need modifying, i find it easier. i myself use the terms web development (developer) as opposed to designer. i will usually present a client with 5 or 6 templates for them to choose from.

Your idea of offereing sort of pre-packaged site with all the neccessities is a good product to offer. Host under your own name as well, they don't need to know about hostgator.

Are some of these methods frowned upon by the web design community? Who cares, its your business. if you are offering and supplying a service your customers like (and customers will let you know) then you are a pro!

good luck!

[virtvir5]

One cannot help wondering how well a similar "pro" business approach taken by Host Gator would be received by its customers.

Never mind. Just an passing thought that came into my mind for some strange reason.

[gwyneth]

Originally Posted by Brand

Wow jordanlw that was a real nasty reply to a potential fellow gator! Unnecessary I say.
This is a peer support forum for beginners looking for some direction not somewhere for you to try and get a rise out of belittle others (while sitting safely behind a computer screen) so shameful!

So To your immense shame a very well deserved Booo

While Jordanlw's reply may have been abrupt, it was not nasty. It also offered a helpful alternative path, so I doubt he had the motive you infer.

If someone posted in a chef's forum s/he wanted to open a restaurant, so which cookbooks to buy, it's not an insult to answer, "your approach isn't likely to work"--particularly with a suggestion about how to modify it (i.e., Jordan's advice about doing sites for others).

"Peer support forum for beginners" is sort of a contradiction in terms. 'Peer' here means all HG users; if it were just beginners it would be harder for them to get useful advice.

Your post was actually a lot more negative than Jordanlw's. It would have been more productive to say something like, "Jordan, that sounds too negative" instead of talking about "immense shame". It would have been a lot more productive to say, "That may be too negative" and go on to discuss your own starting point and subsequent reseller experience.

The non-public categories of the forum, which you have not seen, include several devoted to reseller topics. Although they're a fantastic resource for novice resellers, it doesn't do them any favors to be unrealistic: it takes work, determination, the willingness to learn (and admit how much s/he has to learn), and resiliency.

[Tradition]

No one can tell what natural talent you have, just from one post. I know a lady that posted a similar post in another forum and she took her time, learned what she could, bought some very good graphics programs and has built up a very nice little business. She added some retail sales also which helps a little on the side.

Get a hosting level that you can get some practice with and try building a few header logos and graphics. Try designing something for yourself and then ask people's opinions and who knows, you may have what it takes.
Good luck,
Ronald.