I had linked to TypeInShirts Blog’s post about Nike marketing the new Jordan XX3 sneakers. This was supposed to be one of the biggest sneaker launches in recent history since this is the 23rd Jordan shoe. Now if anyone knows anything about sneakers, they’ll agree that each year, the new Jordan’s are always the hottest kicks on the street. This year, the only difference is that it is the 23rd pair and they are launching in style.

Here’s a break down of the launch:

• January 25th - 23 pairs of the 23rd Jordan will be available at only 23 stores at $230.
• February 16th - Other colors are released at $185 at selected stores
• February 23rd - Full launch. $185 per pair.

The staggered launch technique works perfect with the famous Jordan shoes. And to top it off, they got really creative and tried to reinforce the brand and identity to 23 - the shoe’s mark/brand. We’re nearing the end of January and coming into the early days of February and already these shoes are being buzzed about all over. This may be the cause for Nike’s stock rising nearly 6% over the last couple of days.

If you check on Ebay, the shoes are easily going for over $1,200 a piece. Here are couple interesting auctions that feature the new shoe:

• This auction is going for $1,225.00 so far.
• This auction has a whopping $3,000 BIN price.

One of the demographics that Nike is targeting are their loyal shoe fanatics. They secured great exposure in the popular Entourage show where Turtle looks for the best shoes in town with some cameos of the Jordan XX3.

And that’s not all - these pairs are the 3rd Generation(?) of Nike’s new effort to make “green” shoes. They are environmentally friendly and the process which the shoes are made cut down on hazardous materials. However, Nike didn’t make this their strong marketing point as they preferred the “limited edition” marketing hook.

The Jordan sneakers have come a long way. They really spawned a new market of basketball shoes and after the initial success of Jordan, contractors all over went on a hunting frenzy to capitalize on popular basketball players to land shoe contracts. An interesting tid-bit is that Jordan’s shoes were initially banned from the NBA. However, he continued to wear them and was fined $5,000 every time he did. However, he didn’t have to pay a cent. Nike, determined to give their shoe the best exposure possible, paid for every single fine until finally the NBA relinquished the rule.

Kudos to Nike for pulling off such a massive and successful (so far) launch of their flagship shoe brand. Each auction is well over $1,200 and each auction has about 10-30 bids. This reminds me of the Wii when it first came out…

What do you guys think of this? Why do you think Nike went with the Limited Edition hook, rather then coming out with “regular” and “limited editions”? Why do you think they didn’t push how “green” the sneakers are? And finally, would you buy a pair of these?

I keep getting more requests for more “blog-style” updates. I guess you guys are getting tired of the whole “article” schmojo everyday. Anyways, I had my first day of class today and really enjoyed it. There was one thing that stuck out from my Government and Politics class that I thought would be relevant to share with all of you.

My professor told us a very interesting story that is supposed folklore from Berkley(?). It’s a basic economics rule of thumb, but I thought it’d be very important to share it with those who have never heard the story before. I believe its from Berkley Universeity in California from an Economics class, but I could be wrong.

There are two professors who walk the same route home everyday after teaching. Each day, they always encounter the same homeless man. From the very beginning, the professor had offered him (as a joke) the choice between $0.50 and $1.00.

As easy as the choice may seem, the homeless man continuously takes the $0.50 over the dollar.

After about a month of doing this, the other professor who wasn’t handing him the money asked him, “why do you take $0.50 over a $1.00? You do know the dollar is worth twice as much right?”. The homeless man looked at him and smiled and explain, “well, if I had taken the dollar the first day, he would’ve never given me another.”.

What does this economic story teach us? Simple - price point is critical to the survival of your product or service. Besides seeing how much money you could get away with charging people, price point is used to build trust and loyalty between the customer and business. This turns into long-term loyal customers who will continue to strengthen your brand by buying more of it.

By taking only the $0.50, the homeless man was able to build a relationship with the professor and maximize his potential revenue.

The moral can apply to anything. The core customer base of your product will be repeat customers (or at least that’s what you should always aim for), and the only way you can continue to build relationships is by offering your product at a price that is competitive enough to your competitors.

A company like Flickr is a great example. Flickr charges a measly $24.95 for an annual membership. They could easily get away with charging upwards of $30.00 year, or even a low monthly fee of $4/$5.00 (which even I’d pay). But yet, they keep it low and affordable and people continue to buy pro accounts.

Just today’s thought.
Bryan

Most Original:

I’ve rewarded some more colorful and busy designs for Most Original, but this one really caught my eye. Study In English has a great website that really breaks away from the norm of professional training or course/class design. Though the landing page is nothing impressive, the most original tid bit that I saw all week were the minor flash effects that really pack a lot of punch. The sub pages are fun to look at, and I love the way the animation displays the pictures that I click. Very original.

Tip: Breaking the norm can be a dangerous thing. After all, it is considered the norm for a reason. Small flash tidbits are slowly becoming popular again, sneaking their way into popular websites. It may be the next trend. Don’t be afraid to use flash when necessary, especially if it’ll give life to an otherwise boring and mediocre design.

Boldest Design:

Red has always been one of my most difficult colors to work with. It’s such a strong color that has strong connotations with it already. When you see read, you automatically assume romantic, or violent. It’s very hard to apply red (in large portions) to websites that fall outside of those themes. However, Move Networks did a great job using the Red as an eye-catching, sleek website that really puts the focus on its product by giving a heavy contrasting white center content.

Tip: How did Move Networks pull off using so much red? Well, when using heavy amounts of red, you need to keep the main page design simple. Red can be a very overwhelming and responsive color, so cluttering the main page or involving a lot of content that requires a lot of reading could push a user away. Less is more when using red.

Most Professional:

Webinale offers one of the more colorful designs I’ve seen all week. Multcolored websites are generally ruled as a no-no, but Webinale is able to pull it off because of its background. I offered a tip last week to take the background into more consideration. It can be the cohesive element that your website needs. By having such a colorful background, Webinale has automatically made their viewers aware of its colorful theme, and even works to their benefit by offering that they are diverse.

Tip: Yor color scheme will make or break your site design. Make sure that your background has a significant part in working with the colors of your content. Colors will set the mood of your site and that must reflect your client’s brand.

Most Innovative:

Beckfield College launched a brand new site design. I think it’s a complete success. A fairly young school (founded in 1984) their site appeals to their demographic. They understand what the college kids are looking for. I’m not saying that they are the only ones with a nice design, but its a trend setting one. College campuses are all starting to revamp their websites to reflect the new age and technology. I can’t wait to see some beautiful sites on the horizon. Beckfield is only the beginning.

Tip: Always be innovative. If you see that the project your working on is starting to look like every other one that you’ve made, it’s time to hit the think tank. Innovation is key to your career as a freelancer and by understanding how to set trends, and how to manipulate an industry to your advantage you will certainly succeed.

Site of the Week:

Puma launched a new social network called Puma Talk. I think it looks like a great success and is definitely appealing to the 18-25 age demographic. I think it’s a great new look for Puma and its wonderful to see the corporations slowly starting to take advantage of the whole “web 2.0″ wave. The design is creative and original and really reflects Puma’s brand and identity.

Tip: Knowing who your site is being shown too is probably one of the most essential bits of information that you could have. It should really dictate your color scheme and site’s theme and feel. Puma’s executed a nicely designed site that feels creative and unique, just like the demographic they are after.

Artist of the Week:

A great new group that I recently got into is OneRepublic. They’ve got an emotional single called, “Apologize” and it was really interesting to me. I ended up buying their CD, and a couple weeks later, I’ve got concert tickets. A couple weeks later, I’ve continued to listen to OneRepublic while I’m working and their catchy sounds and rhythmic voices are very appealing when I’m working. I highly recommend them to you guys.

So I’m working on a couple of articles for next week, and it’s Friday. And I’ll be honest with you…I’ve had a pretty intense week. So, I’m going to do something I probably shouldn’t do, and that’s take the rest of the afternoon off. Sorry guys, I’m not a machine!

But, that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you without some good readin’. After all, you did come to Sentences to see some…well, sentences. I guess every now and then when I’m this tied up with no completed articles to post, I’ll leave you with some nice linkage to others. This is an interesting link round up so be sure to check them all out!

On Young Go Getter, Monica O’Brien, a guest writer, published Word of mouth: the power of recommendation, and how even her Baby Boomer Father recommended Paramore.

Jack from BizStudent found an interesting video about entrepreneurs and their one cardinal rule: Innovate or Die.

Our friends over at Freelanceswitch gave some tips to freelancers about what to do when Meeting a New Client.

Ryan Carson, the founder of Carsonified (the guy who gave his staff iPhones) made a very entertaining and original video about How to Build a Web Startup.

TypeInShirts Blog writes about how Nike is marketing their newest Jordan sneakers, the XX3. It’s very interesting to read how how they reinforce the brand, and how they are creating buzz by making it one of the most expensive sneakers available.

Gizmodo posted a video about the highly buzzed viral marketing stunt that took place Tokyo, Japan. It involves lasers, lights, water, serpents. Come on, just watch the video.

Well, this is all I have for this week. I think this’ll hold you down for a day or two while I finish up the articles. I’m moving back home to my house (I was living with my parents over Winter Session) and so I’ve got my hands full with packing and such, so just give me some time and you’ll get your dose of Sentences for the weekend.

BTW - I sent out a few of the prizes to all those who responded. I’m still awaiting the rest of you, so be sure to send me an email if you won.

Be safe, have a great weekend.
Bryan

Sentences is now approaching the three month old mark and the growth has been explosive. Though we’ve failed to reach the Digg home page several times (Darn that new algorithm!) we’ve been able to hit the StumbleUpon pages, and Mixx front page and have really accelerated our traffic through those means.

Though Advertising was simply an after thought for Sentences (content came first), I’ve come to realize that it is almost essential. Not necessarily to make money, but to be able to have money to spend on Sentences. I think one of the key reasons why the forum is failing, isn’t because it’s not accessible - it’s because of the software. With money to spend, I can begin to get Sentences recognized, and be able to really turn it into what I think it can be (or hope it can be) - a world community of freelance designers and marketers. Yes, I know that’s an ambitious goal, but ambitious goals are what dreams are made of. And dreams are something I like to realize.

With all of this being said, I wanted to thank the current sponsors for Sentences. They took the chance to advertise with a relatively new site, and hopefully at this point, they are starting to realize what sort of potential and readership Sentences has. At the moment, February is 80% booked, and there has already been one reservation in March. I wanted to not only thank the sponsors who’ve worked with Sentences thus far, but also for you - the reader. Thank you so much for allowing Sentences to taste the success it has so far. Because of you’re interest in what we write, we’ve been able to grow and accelerate.

Eat Fruit Please:
Eat Fruit Please is the personal blog of designer James McDonald. “Aftermath” as he is better known to the design community, he is known for his flashy designs and sharp graphics. He’s a good friend of mine, and supported me when Sentences first launched, giving me vital feedback and suggestions.

FreshBooks:
FreshBooks is a vital took for Freelancers who want to send their clients professional invoices. FB has a sleek design and interface that’s simple to use. It’s no wonder why FB is considered the top invoicing tool in the industry. I’ve talked with one of the staff for FreshBooks, Sunir (Who’s also a reader of Sentences) and he is helpful and supportive. When Sentences launched, Sunir helped get FreshBooks to sponsor and support us in our infancy.

Conrad Barrett:
Conrad is a young and aspiring internet entrepreneur and marketer. This is his personal blog. He’s only just a teenager, but he is has a wealth of experiences and ideas, and his personality is refreshing. He runs a video blog which is updated pretty much daily, and is one of the friendlier people I’ve had the pleasure of associating with.

BizStudent:
BizStudent is owned by Jack Morrison, a frequent reader and contributer to Sentences. He’s a great friend of mine, and immediately offered to help Sentences grow, an offer anyone would be silly to reject. He runs a blog over at BizStudent that is frequently updated and read. I’d suggest everyone to read his blog as well if you like Sentences.

There are huge plans for Sentences over the next few months including a new, unique theme. I’m very excited as a new theme will give me the opportunity to really focus on the community aspect of Sentences. Writers are beginning to take notice of the site and I’ve gotten an increase in job queries (which I’m slowly getting to). Visitors are slowly turning into readers (a constant challenge that ALL bloggers face), and subscription levels are growing daily.

I’m very excited and thankful for everyone who has contributed to Sentences, and that includes you - the anonymous casual reader who hasn’t yet taken any action on this site (commenting, registering, subscribing… *hint hint*). No problem. I’ll take anyone who wants to listen to me (and I can talk a dead horse to sleep).

Thanks everyone,
B - ry

PS - Check out my personal blog if you haven’t done so already.

Threadless is home to one of the youngest millionaires. And with good reason. Threadless is quickly growing in popularity and people are becoming aware of the brand. I’ve been a fan of Threadless for about two years now (gosh, has it really been that long?) and I own probably about 10 - 12 Threadless T’s (I love those $10 dollar sales). With that said, I’m sure many of you reading this have heard, or own a piece of Threadless. I’ve always been curious to see what it’s like over at SkinnyCorp, and how someone under the age of 30 would run a multi-million dollar business. Turns out, I wouldn’t be disappointed as Threadless has one of the coolest offices I’ve seen.

Exterior Look:

I did some searching for Threadless’s main office building’s exterior but couldn’t find any shots. I found plenty of shots of their retail store in Chicago, but that doesn’t count. I won’t count this against Threadless. N/A (lack of real exterior shots)

Interior Look:

Uhm, can I get a job please? Threadless has one of the coolest offices I’ve ever seen. It’s as cozy as 50 foot ceilings and brick walls and hard tile floors can get. There’s a recreational area that has a ping pong table, large television, arcade cabinents, bean bags…it’s like working at home. There is still lots of empty space though, and I feel as though it could potentially be utilized better. I’m not sure how, but at the end of it, it still feels like you’re in a big warehouse.

But that’s not what I’m really eying. I’m talking about “The Pod”, the coolest personal office I’ve seen in a long time. The pod is built inside of an Airstream Trailer (correct me if I’m wrong) and is modified on the inside. The result is probably the nicest, coziest working spaces you can have. I could talk about how cool Threadless looks for hours, but I’ll just let the pictures do the talking. A-

Employees:

Employees? Threadless has employees? I thought it had to be work to be an employee? It’s more like Threadless has friends who have fun every day and … oops, a $50 million bucks ends up in the bank at the end of the year. Everyone looks extremely happy. And no wonder why. What’s cooler then having a 20-something CEO who makes tons of money, loves his staff, and has a passion for art? There’s parties, social gatherings, live bands, neon lights, ping pong tables, Macs…blah blah blah. A+

Environment:

The environment is what makes Threadless what it is. I wouldn’t expect an office that looked any different then the one they have. After all, the company breathes art, and depends on it. Throughout the entire office, you’ll see Threadless schwag, wall art, and young employees that give Threadless that “fun-to-work” feel. Even though you still have concrete pillars, rafters, and an industrial flooring. A

Furnishings:

Let’s see…I’ve got a ping pong table, a pool table…a bunch of love seats, couches, and lazy-boys…oh yea, a 50′ television…some nice Apple computers. Wait, where’s the teleporter and Segway? hah. Threadless makes a conscious effort to make work feel fun and cozy, something I think they’ve accomplished easily. A+

Overall:

Threadless. Oh how I love your company. You’re an inspiration to entrepreneurs, designers, and young aspiring individuals throughout the world. You’ve got one of the coolest offices that any employee could ask for, and you deliver the best products. Furthermore, you continue to grow and prosper. You’re employees love their jobs and your execs are human. It’s without a doubt that I reward Threadless with an A+. I would’ve expected nothing less.

Overall: A+

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This article was guest posed by Jack, a 20 yr old Canadian business student.

Whether you are an experienced marketing guru or still tightly gripping your copy of “Marketing for Dummies”, we all run into our fair share of troubles with the marketing process in itself. I find that sometimes, instead of making things more complicated, which it is often human nature to do, it would serve you better to go back to the basics and try to simplify your task.

If we go back to our introductory marketing course with our grumpy professor’s, what is the one thing that they absolutely would not let you forget?

If you guessed the 4 P’s, then you would be correct, and your crabby old marketing professor would be proud. If you are drawing a blank, than you may be in trouble.

What are the 4 P’s again?

The 4 P’s, or better known as the marketing mix, are/is the backbone with which every campaign is built upon, from corporations to the kid on the corner with the lemonade stand. Here is my take on the 4 P’s, I’ve tried to spin it so that it is most relevant to you, the web developers/freelancers who are out there looking for help.

Let’s get started.

Product - What are you marketing? Is it a forum? a service? your blog? You need to be wary of the basic definition for a product; A good or service or idea to satisfy the consumer’s needs. Think carefully about how your product will do this, and build off of it. Don’t sell it short, don’t try to make it out to be something that it is not. Tell people why they should be reading your blog, buying your website, or investing in your start-up.

Price - I’m not going to discuss pricing strategies here, because they deserve their own post. What I wanted to elude to in terms of pricing, was pricing your product effectively. Selling-Out too low or over pricing are mistakes that beginners often make, and it can often be frustrating and discourage many from successfully selling their product. There are many ways to appraise your product, ranging from professional appraisal, to examining similar products in your niche or channel. Perhaps you want to market an e-book on SEO, we’ll, why not use Aaron Wall’s SEO Book as an example. Since SEOBook really has no competition in terms of other e-books about SEO, Aaron could charge an arm and a leg for it, but he chooses not to. Why? SEO book is set at a price of $79, a price that will make him a tidy profit, yet is affordable to his target market of consumer’s. There are many, many factors to consider in competitive markets, but again, we are just going for the basics here. Aaron chose a price that he felt would be affordable to his target market, and that is where he succeeds.

Promotion - Promotion is often the most misunderstood out of the 4 P’s. You see the word promotion, and you think of extravagant deals, 2 for 1 deals, and all the run of the mill ploys used to get you to buy. Promotion, put simply, is a means of communication between the seller, and the buyer. Before you offer elaborate deals to your potential customers, think of your promotion in these simple terms. How am I going to tell people about my product? Your most important task at this point is to decide where you will advertise, who you are advertising to, and the format with which you are going to do it. It is important to do your research for this stage, because you will experience dismal results if you leave your advertisement’s for the wind to take them. Consider

Place - Place is simply described as the means of getting the product into the consumers hands. Depending on your product, this may be highly relevant to you, or less so, and you will be focusing more on the other 3 P’s. None the less, it is important to understand this concept anyway. When considering place, you are thinking about the platform from which you will sell your product. You can sell it from your own site and cut out the middle man, have it listed at a marketplace such as Sitepoint, or if you feel you have many target markets to reach, license it to be sold through 3rd party vendors. Again, this will require a lot of research on your part. Examine where and how similar products are sold, but don’t just copy what they are doing, strive to build of their ideas and create something unique.

If you found this article useful, then you will be happy to know that I am already planning to write a series of follow-up’s, in which I will cover some of the more specific marketing topics such as Building an effective marketing plan, Customer Satisfaction, and identifying market segments.

I would also encourage you to subscribe to the Sentences RSS Feed, if you haven’t done so already. You never know what you could be missing!

Hellooooo!

It’s been a hectic week over here. I’ve been running back and forth, finishing up client projects, and writing new articles (or at least trying to) and trying to develop some relationships with other people in the industry. With that said, I’m a little late on announcing the winners of the “Tell us what YOU think!” survey.

The response was great, almost 100% was positive. That’s very encouraging to hear from my readers. Furthermore, I’ve learned some valuable things about my readership, and what you guys like the most. It seems that it was a close race between Interviews and Articles, so I’ll try and get more of those to you guys soon. Surprisingly, “regular blog posts” scored well, meaning you guys want more personal stuff! Okay, so I’ll try my best to update as often as I can, even if it’s only a few (important) things I must say. I do have a personal blog though, so if your interested, check out The Last Ronin.

So, without further adieu, here are the winners picked randomly from those who left comments.

$5 CRAZY PAYPAL SHOPPING SPREE!!!! (lol):

• Taiyab Raja
• Andrew Yates
• Josh Buckley
• Neoraw
• Prateek Malhotra

AWESOME TEXT LINK AD MADNESS!:
Please note, the winners of the text link ads will run next week once the current campaigns finish.

• Tom Howell
• Aarom Fishbein
• Sahil
• Amaresh ray
• Andrew

Because I didn’t get enough responses on the survey (I got 23, but only 10 or 11 left comments), I’ll be rewarding pretty much everyone. Please contact me on Sentences to claim your prize. Please note that it must be the same email address that you left the comment with. I know it’s nothing special, but hopefully I can continue to keep handing some small prizes to the more loyal readerships. Surveys are a great way for me to learn about you guys, and to know what you want and expect out of Sentences, so I think each month I’ll be having a survey with similar prizes (and increasing them based on the readership).

Keep on Keepin’ On.

Regards,
Bryan

Most Original:

To be honest, I’m not sure what the name of this site is, but I can tell you two things. It’s from MTV, and it’s beautiful. If you look closely, the most important aspect of the design is the background. It helps keep the site flowing and is the sole reason why the design works. The layout is a bit wild, but the background creates a cohesive, tropical feel, exactly what the site needs to accomplish.

Tip: Never ignore the important of your background choice. Patterns, graphics, gradients, etc. are vital to your site design. Often times, the background is the last thing made, or created as an afterthought. Change that. You should always design your background to compliment your design. During your pre-design stages, it’s important that you dedicate some sort of time to deciding what your background will need to look like.

Boldest Design:

Book Keeping In a Box (Whew, that’s a mouthful) is a wonderful looking site. The designer did a great job getting your eyes to focus on one thing when you first check out the design, and that is the word, “Organize”. The sub pages are equally important, and look great. They are simple, and easy to read. The landing page is split horizontally into two (which sort of conflicts with the site’s horizontal theme), but accomplishes this well. The site really sells the product.

Tip: Take a look at the main focus or aspect of your design. Ask people what is the first thing they notice when they view it. Is it what you want it to be? Or is it that random stock vector that you bought for $5 bucks? If its the latter, you may want to reconsider your design. You need to bring focus to the important aspects, and if you haven’t done that, then your design may be a failure.

Most Professional:

There have been plenty of premium word press themes around, but none with a site as attractive as Quocommunications. This site (though seemingly inspired by Apple’s website) delivers an elegant and sleek design that really sells the product. One of the things that stands out to me about this design is the designer’s choice NOT to use any icons, screen shots, or thumbnails in the features section. I’m not sure if this was done on purpose or not, but it keeps the design simple and clean, and since the features are easy to read and neatly listed, I read through them (usually I like to skim, and pictures help).

Tip: It’s very easy for a designer to get carried away and try to fit in as many norms as they can. I’ll always recommend less graphics in your design because it keeps them easy to read and follow. By putting in too many graphics, you end up getting carried away and the design comes out distracting. If you don’t need it, don’t add it!

Site of the Week:

Those who know me, understand that I like simple designs. Heck, I just got done talking about it in the previous site. However, Eurovision’s site delivers one of the busiest, and most colorful designs I’ve seen - but it works. How? First of all, it fits the site’s theme. The chaos is controlled and well placed. Though I could do without a majority of the smaller design graphics within the content areas, I think the site delivers a solid theme and reinforces it’s brand. The background is also one of the most key contributing aspects to the success of the design. Your eyes are constantly moving on such a busy site, and the background acts as a barrier. Because of it’s starburst, it forces your eyes back into the site.

Tip: Though I will usually recommend less, sometimes if you need to go over board to strengthen a brand, go for it. But don’t fit too many “new” graphics. If you look at Eurovision, many of their graphics are slightly altered for each content space which makes it “normal” looking. If there’s to many new aspects in every content area, it can sometimes get a little overwhelming and you’ll lose some readers.

Artist:

Coldplay has always been my favorite band. They deliver such a smooth mood and it really helps me get through my work day. If you haven’t given them a chance yet, you should. They are calm, and the contents of their songs are easy to relate to, and it gives you that “feel good” feeling (though some of their songs are down right depressing).

Brainstorm is a new feature on Sentences. It’s where I can discuss some ideas with everyone and get comments and feedback. Anyone is welcome to use the ideas and employ it, but hopefully giving credit where credit if the occasion were to arise. Hopefully I can make this a weekly feature, and pending the success of the ideas and such, maybe I can list them more frequently.

Brainstorm #1: Laid Back Web Host

Synopsis:

The idea for Laid Back Web Host is simple. It is a web hosting company that doesn’t have that “corporate” feel to it, but rather that home-grown, “I’m your friend” touch. Clients can host whatever they want (adult, proxies, normal, etc.) at rates specific to the type of site they are hosting. When ordering, clients choose which industry their site will be hosted under with rates respective to each. They are then given a basic package and the rates are adjusted according to the size of the site. Clients pay for the space and bandwith they use…nothing more, nothing less.

Marketing:

LBWH should be marketed as a friendly, trustworthy company that is loyal to its clients. The image should appeal to teenagers and young adults ages 18 - 26. Though the image of LBWH is young and friendly, it is important to note that support should be extremely superior. After all, good friends are always available to help you at all times of the night. It should also make a conscious effort to interact and get to know their clients, so a blog is vital. A private forum board for clients to interact with each other as well as with the staff is a great idea. Furthermore, a showcase of some sort or a “buddy of the week” would be interesting. Give people an ease of mind and confidence in the hosting and support.

Don’t forget the main selling point. You’re lenient and laid back. Anything (legal) that you want to host, you can host it. Script heavy? No problem. Resource heavy? A cinch. As long as the content doesn’t break any laws, then it’s okay to host. You simply pay as you go, and you don’t have to worry about over paying for space you don’t even need.

Why it’ll work:

There are generally two types of hosts…your aspiring teenager who’s out to get a quick buck and buy some reseller to give to his friends, and the corporate hosts who oversell and overcrowd their servers with outsourced support and strict rules. There is a huge gap in between. Why not combine the best of both worlds? You get a friend who’s giving you an affordable rate, reliable support, with corporate servers and technology. Companies that do well have “champions” … a champion is a loyal customer or client who will most likely refuse to go elsewhere (for instance, Best Buy > Circuit City, or Target > Wal Mart). By getting to know your clients and being personal, they will return the favor and defend you, even when you have a problem and cause them an inconvenience. Friends defend friends.

Getting Started:

Web hosting has always been an industry that’s easy to get into, but hard to dominate. There are thousands of hosts out there who pop up over night, but end up dead the next morning. My suggestion to get this started would be to make sure you’re committed. Do you have a team that’s willing to provide the 24/7 on call support that you promise? Do you have the server capacity to focus on different types of sites (proxies, adult, etc.?). To get started, you need to answer all of those questions. In order for an idea like this to work, you and your team must be social and constantly interact with clients. Weekly newsletters are important, a community of some sort, some way to “brag” about your clients. Think basic: If you were hosting your friend, what would you do for him?

If you are appearing in the exam of itil certification, then you should practice for these tests from online resources like actual tests. There are a number of other such websites like testking which offers guaranteed success in mcsa certification.