Over the last seven years, I've bought website hosting from several different companies. I noticed that the majority of webhosts make the mistake of thinking they are in the webhosting business. They only offer website hosting and, maybe domain name registration. As a marketer, I see huge missed opportunities to make more profits.

Some website hosts see these opportunities. They realize that they have gold. They have a group of clients who crave something more than hosting. What do hosting clients want? To make sales from their websites.

Knowing this, these webhosts create backend Profit Centers so they can make more money with their clients. A Profit Center is an area of your business that brings more cash to your bank account. Webhosts who bring in lots of profits offer their clients useful information, tools, software, audios and more to help their clients become successful. It doesn’t have to be difficult or labor intensive. First

ASSESS YOUR CURRENT PROFIT CENTERS

In your website hosting business, you may have these current Profit Centers:

Website hosting, of course Domain name registration, an easy tie-in Website design Higher level programming services Search Engine Optimization services Search Engine submission services

If you don't have all of these Profit Centers, remember you don't have to provide these with in-house talent. You can joint venture with other quality businesses and get referral fees. This is a wise way to go because you don’t have the up-front investment and risk if it doesn’t sell. If a service DOES sell, you may decide to later offer it in-house.

And this is just a beginning. There are more Profit Centers your business and your clients can benefit from.

NEW PROFIT CENTER IDEAS

You can add new Profit Centers to your webhosting business. Some of them require a few hours up front, then they run automatically for months or years with minor updating. You decide how much time you want to put in. The key is to ask yourself - Does this help my clients make more sales?

Three new Profit Center Ideas are:

*An upsell on your check out page. This works because it catches them when they are already buying. *A mini-marketing course sent by sequential autoresponder, offering solid information and products to help them achieve their website marketing and sales goals. *A Resource Center webpage that's available only to your clients.

Remember, each Profit Center needs to be more than just a pitch. I must warn you... you can do all of the above and STILL fail at creating Profit Centers that go ka-ching. How?

Imagine, a man wants to get married. A friend tells him to start on the road to marriage by simply finding a nice woman and asking her for a date.

Will this work? It CAN, but you and I both know there are many factors that make a difference...

WHO he asks, WHEN he asks, HOW he asks, WHERE he asks, and WHAT he says

All this makes a difference to him (and her) and it makes a difference to you when you're building Profit Centers. Profit Centers need marketing finesse. You may remember Beta videotapes. It was a superior video format, but it failed because it wasn’t marketed as well as VHS.

CONSIDER THIS WHEN BUILDING NEW PROFIT CENTERS

WHO you make the offer to - are they a good match for the product or service? If they are not in the market for what you offer, it's very unlikely they will buy.

WHAT offer you make - will this offer make a difference for your clients or do they feel like you're pitching them for your own benefit?

WHEN you make your offer to them. Before they buy hosting? After they buy hosting? Once their site is live?

WHERE will you make the offer - on your website or in an email? Either can be successful. WHAT will you say? This is crucial. You can have a useful product or service and still may not make sales.

What you say makes a huge difference. Use poor copywriting and people will click away from your offer like water jumping off a hot skillet. Great copywriting can inspire people to GO FIND THEIR WALLETS. That's the level of copywriting you want - compelling.

To start building your Profit Centers, test your offer on a group of clients. See if it sells, and if not, analyze why not. Edit your Profit Center until it consistently helps your clients and brings your website hosting business more money.