After reading several items, I have a better understanding of what it takes to have my business go public...been freelancing for over 5 yrs, now is the time to go public!

Only question is the hiring of a "host" business for me to be able to maintain/update the websites I create?

After I register and pay for my domain name, do each business I create websites for have to do the same? Will I have to set up each one to have their own domain name? Different accounts for each one? (I have 4 clients who want websites).

OR

Will what I buy under my domain name (the memory allocation) go against these other sites I will be updating/maintaining?

does this make sense?

digraphicx...

You want to use your own web space and service provider to promote and run your business. If you host the websites you create you will be responsible for paying for all the storage and bandwidth that each of your clients and their visitors use. This will impact the amount of bandwidth that you and each of your clients will have. Exceed the total bandwith of your account and you either get hit with extra charges or all the sites get shut down until the next billing cycle.

You're right. Each of your clients needs to register their own domain name and sign up with their own host provider. You can offer to help them do this as part of your service. You will then need all the pertinent login and password information to upload and maintain their sites. This also means that each client will be financially responsible for their own site hosting and bandwidth, instead of you having to pay for all of it by hosting them yourself.

Hope that helps.

--Racc

Racc's reply is right on the money...and opens up the ground for a piggy-backed suggestion.

Since most people who need a website built will not have a clue as to how to go about purchasing a domain name, finding a provider, etc, it's not only a good idea to offer that as an additional service (I'd suggest you do it for no extra charge), but it also would be a good idea to make sure that the provider YOU sign up with offers referral points, of some sort. So you're just referring them to your provider, but you get additional space, bandwidth, or a small commission for doing so...and everyone's a winner! :-) (Also, you'd want to make sure that your host offers a variety of packages, that will fit different needs and budgets--from very small time businesses, to businesses needing a dedicated server. You don't want to offer a free service, then discover that your host won't meet their needs--and you have to spend your valuable time tracking down another provider!)

Absolutely!

The service provider I use a lot does something like that. Whenever you refer someone and they set up an account (or you set it up for them), you get a month of service for free.

If you're doing web design as a full time business, all you'd need is one client a month and your internet service is paid for whithout ever having to charge the client a penny for helping them get set up.

As you say, everybody wins!

--Racc

If you're wanting to turn into a mini ISP (which I would not reccommend unless you're familiar with server configuration, permissions, etc), you'll want to look into VPS2 type accounts with providers like viaverio.com (a reseller side of verio.com).

I'd agree with the others and say let your client take care of their own domain name purchasing/renewing, site hosting, etc. Otherwise you'll be getting calls 24/7 about site issues, stuff like that.

When you do get the setup with their own acct, etc., make sure they understand that you are not the one hosting their service. People get confused when it comes to that stuff.

No matter how many times I get clients setup and think for sure they understand how it all works....they always end up calling me when they have problems. I always end up acting as the middle man.

-B