Business owners make a lot of choices everyday. Many times they don’t know whether or not they’re the right ones until they’ve put it into action and see the results. This is especially true for start-ups, where there’s a lot of trial and error in every step. What seems like a money-saving deal in the beginning could turn into your worst nightmare when you least expect it…or want it.

The most common area we see this is with web hosting. If you want a web presence, you need a home for your files so the browsers can access them. This is what hosting does. It gives a home to your domain name and the visuals for your site.

Free and Not So Easy

The Internet is full of places you can get blogs or sites hosted for free. This is fine if you just want to dabble. Free hosting like WordPress.com, Blogger, and others are a great way to get your feet wet.

But when you want to get serious about your business, they can be very limiting. You may not be able to add that nifty shopping cart plugin or make other customizations to the site that you want.

And if you decide to move to your own hosting, the migrating has the potential to be a real nightmare.

All Inclusive Too Exclusive

Another option we see a lot of clients falling for is the all inclusive hosting. In this scenario, you sign up for hosting with a company that will include hosting your site, getting your domain name, giving you tools to create a webpage and so on.

These may sound like a great deal, especially since many of them gear their marketing toward specific niches like church groups, photgraphers/artists and others. You think, hey, here’s someone who knows my field! They’re going to make this really easy for me!

Not really.

While you’re with them, life may be great. You need something done and can’t do it, their tech person is right there to do it for you. You never fully understand how it all works behind the scenes and you can never be sure how up to date the code on their pages are if you have them make customizations for you. Your files are magically uploaded to…somewhere.

The day finally comes you want to get on an operating system like WordPress. You consult a designer to give your site a new look and you’re really excited about it.

Then everything comes to a screeching halt.

Your designer can’t access the root directory to install WordPress. There is no FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for the designer to connect to your hosting service. Your freebie and ebooks can’t be uploaded, the databases and scripts your All Inclusive Service (AIS) used are badly outdated. Your designer is now telling you he can’t do anything at all without you having to update and reconfigure what you’ve got. It’s all a huge, costly mess.

And on top of that, the AIS is holding your files hostage.

Now, in all fairness, not all AIS is like this. There are some out there who we’ve worked with who have been very cooperative and helpful. But sometimes all the help in the world won’t get you a new blogging platform on your site if the AIS servers and everything on them are outdated and inaccessible.

Between Friends

Another common scenario we see is clients who get their sites hosted on a friend’s account. Maybe you have a web designer who’s got their own site and their own hosting account. You go to them to do your site and tell them you don’t have a lot of money for hosting. In fact, that’s probably the reason you’re going to your friend in the first place. They can give you a discount all around, right?

Your friend takes pity on you and says, “Hey, I’ve got plenty of space on my account. I can host you until you get on your feet.”

Wow, you say, that’s mighty generous! And it is, but is it smart?

No. If you and your friend have a falling out, or they don’t perform to your expectations to get a job done, or if they’re unreliable and flaky, you’re screwed. You’ll have to make sure you stay in their good graces and work around their schedule if you want any changes done. You will be constantly at their mercy.

Step Into Your Power

All three of these scenarios have one thing in common: Control. As a business owner, you have to be in control of your property at all times. Nothing should come between you and your files.

Not knowing how to use a hosting control panel shouldn’t deter you either. I’ve told clients plenty of times the main reason for hosting is to maintain control over what’s theirs. You can always learn how to use a control panel, or back up your site, or any number of things available to you with a hosting account.

You can always hire someone to do those things for you too. But when it comes right down to it, those files are still in your possession 24/7.

This is what we teach all of our Creative Clarity Coaching clients*. Empowering our clients is at the very core of everything we do. We want you to be self-sufficient. We want more than anything to see you fly with your own wings. It all starts with arming yourself with as much knowledge as possible. And if you discover it’s not your genius work? That’s okay, at least you have some understanding what goes on behind the scenes of your own site.

Don’t procrastinate when it comes to hosting. The easy way out may seem attractive now, but take if from us, we’ve seen how quickly a seemingly simple project can go downhill and end up costing you far more money than you’d care to spend.

Recommended Hosting Companies

Here are a few hosting companies Blue Sun has worked with over the years. Go check them out for yourself and stop putting this off.

• In Motion Hosting (what we’ve been using personally and professionally for the last 15 years)
• GoDaddy
• Blue Host

For a full listing of the 2011 Top Ten Hosting Services, click here.

*Note: If you’re interested in learning how to use WordPress or how to simply navigate the back end of your site, contact us for a consultation and personalized coaching package rates.

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