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What should i charge for my MadSKillz?

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MadSkillzMan

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2003
Location
Cleveland OHIO
hey guys. im reading up on hosting a webserver out of my home. i know ill need GOOD hardware (blade-like server, running either BSD or solaris, probably apache) need to learn how to run multiple sites off of one IP...havent gotten that far yet. (i know its something to do with the domain you register).havent even gotten the ram so i cant test it

After i mentioned to a few people i was only thinking of starting a webserver at home, i suddently had a bunch of people asking me whens it going to be up, because they'd like some hosting..i wasnt even fully serious!

heres what im thinking,

no one can do photoshop+dreamweaver here. Its simple yes, but they cant do it, i can. score. Im no master of either, but i can wing it pretty darn good, they dont know its easy, nor want to learn. better for me.

Also today, my good friend sayd he'll pay me good cash to make music videos for his band. now music and video is my thing (i master movie stuff) he'll even help pay for costs of renting high end cameras if he likes my work after a vid or 2.

On top of that, a friends father asked me to make him a logo for his remodeling company, and is also interested in space on this server i dont even have up yet! talk about pressure.

So far, i figure i can do

websites
Video
DVDs
Website with downloadable video (doubt my 3mb line could handle streaming, will upgrade to 6mb if this all goes well)
Moderate recording

Im not sure what i should charge, i dont have any college degree in anything, im just good at this stuff..moreso the video..i was thinking first off give some freebies to my first friendly customers, just so i can have a bckround setup saying "heres what i can do"

Also on the sites, id lilke to do google AdSense, or something similar..id like to make a cost with adsense, which would be like next to nothing, and a cost without, which would be alittle more, a cost for video downloading site would be more, but slightly less with adsense. (plus the $$ for making, editing, spfx, mastering, mixing the video)

What is this all worth on the real market? i wouldnt dare charge that kind of money..but rather less, so its a bargain. of corse, discount for those who get me more business. Best part is, i have no problem sitting one on one with these guys designing everything to their specifications

For the server, im already knowing i need to get a raid 1 array of 10k drives. PRobably ill start with something small, 3x18gb per channel...its the server i garbage picked, the ram is on its way (gigs) i was told on 2CPU forums thats all i need..if not, ill fix it. hardware im not worried about, if its something this important, i wont skimp out, illl get the most reliable. I only put 10$ into it so far(nice lady on 2CPU!). If it takes off right away, great, ill invest some more $$. If it flops and no one even gets back to me...so what, i got a dually SCSI server for 10$...IMO a win win situation lol.

What do you guys think?

So far, ive got 3 bands tlaking to me (none can even really play, but tone deaf people love em...so what can i do?) friend's dad's remodeling biz, ditz ex gf who thinks shes got a fasion biz (not gonna fly, but still already offered to pay a bundle) gf's candle, soap and whatever thing (let that go free, or with alittle adsense)

the bands i figure are gonna have MP3s for DL, as well as video clips. 2 of hem said theyd like me to help film, edit, and master DVDs. of corse, then those would be sold on their sites..

so right there thats 6. plus id probably move my crappy yahoo sites on there, but just throw adsense on to get a few pennies here and there ( i had some rare custom combustion tutorials i made the star wars geeks loved)

so we've got about 8. (i have 2)

oh, lastly, i was just given a commercial printer, the epson stylus 5000. the friends father is looking to order business cards, and thinks me printing them would be cheaper. any suggestions there? it can print 13x19+ its a real beast to run

Im stumped guys. never had this much request for the things i wasted, rather used my summer for learning. i dont wanna rip people off, nor do i wanna get ripped.

thanks in advance.
 
Hmm, for logo design, charge $100, $50 upfront, and $50 after upon 'delivery' of the logo. Do the logo in Illustrator, or some other vector based imaging program.

For websites, hosting go $20 a year for 'basic' I.e 2GB Space, 10GB Bandwidth, or some such nonsense. Thats a steal, all things considering. Charge em like $15 a year if they do the adsense thing. make sure you give them an option to be free from ads.

For the music videos, those are going to be a serious investment of time(If, that is, you are doing some l337 stuff, and knowing your background, I bet you will ;)) I would do the same basic thing, charge $50 before hand, + equipment costs(I.E. they pay for tapes, good camera rentals, or whatever) and another $50 upon delivery of the completed video.

For the bands selling DVDs, offer em a good deal on the actual work, then take royalties. See if you can take charge of distribution/duplication, and act as their publisher. It will be alot of work, but if you have time, and smarts, you can do it, and make something of a good deal.

Of course, make sure EVERYTHING is written up in a contract, make it simple, define any odd terms, and make them sign it.(If they are over 18, the contract is binding, if under, well... just make them think it is...)

Keep the contracts simple, concise, and loop hole free. Alot of lawyers would be out of their jobs if people realized "Wait, I can write down exactly what I want, and describe it in no uncertain terms!" If you have a friend in the legal field, its always good to have him read over it for you.

Best of luck to you!
 
thank you..crap i didnt know webhosting has come down that cheap

however i just learned one can be their own DNS server, which really gets my attention..i like to cover all aspects if possible, wonder how hard this is in BSD/solaris.

linux would be a streatch, and windows is out of the question.

the logo, id preview with a big ole watermark over it. currently they have it, but low qual. theyre comming back for any prints.

the duplication, i hadnt thought much about that, but that could easily work..ince i could hookup onea my old duallies and just do a 4xDVDRW raid setup...then use the large printers to print mass copies of covers.

as for the contract, GOOD THINKING, thank you. we're all over 18. im 19, most band members are 20-21+

once i get the server up and running, ill have a TON to learn.

thanks!
 
Well, the web hosting hasn't come down that cheap. TBH, they could prolly get that setup for $10 a month, so yoiu could always do $7 a month.

See, do it cheap, if they're savvy, that way you can still make some cash... Basically, you want to make cost, for the IC, right?
 
Do you have sufficient bandwidth coming out of your house? What about guarenteed uptime? Power failure? Hardware failure? What kind of connection do you have? I am skeptical about any server out of any home for money.
 
I was wondering that too. I had considered it, long ago, before I knew about the general things of bandwidth and such (a VERY long time ago). Now I know that my simple connection would not be enough, but doing some sort of a deal where you are the front for another company that does the actual hosting would work.
 
currently, its only a 3mbps line. i figure, if im gettin enough hits, and people are PAYING, ill up it to the business one, which is 6...thus adding more sites..etc..

powerwise, our power is very terrible in our area, especially summer. im looking into some UPS units, however we all live so close, if i go out, so does everyone else around me, so the cant complain hey i'm out.

i mean if im getting flooded to the point where its unbearble (the dsl) then...well for one thatd be a huge up for me lol my sites have never gotten a ton of hits...and it wouldnt surprise me if i had to buy a huge amount of webspace, and have them go through me
 
Theres one place, that my company goes through, which has several very good plans. You are merely a reseller, and they pay you, and you pay a portion of that to the provider. It's all based on what YOU sell, I believe, and its fairly good. Now if only I could remember the name...
 
Make sure you ISP allows you to run a server.
MadSkillzMan said:
wonder how hard this is in BSD/solaris.

linux would be a streatch, and windows is out of the question.
BSD and Linux should be pretty much the same as far as difficulty in setting up.
You might want to set up a control panel on your server to manage the multiple sites, like this:
http://vhcs.net/new/

There was another one that I used for a little bit on my own server, but I didn't like it too much and I don't remember what it is called. I have not used vhcs, but it looks like it should be good and many people use it.

I'm not sure about the pricing. Good luck.
 
now i read i could setup my own DNS. what no one will answer me, is it intranet only? or can i make it so that, www.website.com points to 67.xx.xxx.xx WITHOUT having to pay?

some sites act like i can set it up, and make it work on the internet everywhere...then others only use the 192 examples
 
Well it would kind of be intranet only. Most ISP's dislike people hosting servers off of residential connections, if they allow it at all. Your ISP owns the IP address they assign you so you would have to get their permission to use it for comercial purposes. A 3mbps, doesn't mean you actually have 3mbps upload. Normally ISP's only list your theoretical download maximum. if you're hosting, your download means jack squat. What you need to find out is your upload. More often than not, it'll be less than half of your download speed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't take it up as a way to make some extra cash, or a living if you're really ambitious. I just don't think it's feasable to host from your house. One or two sites you may be able to handle, but anything past that is going to be pushing it. Especially if it's a band's website, during the first few days the site is up. They tend to tell all their friends, and you end up with not nearly enough bandwidth to keep up with the initail demand, and before you know it, you don't have enough upload to keep up with the demand. IMO, you're best off doing a little homework and finding a server host that will give you the necessary bandwidth for what you want to do. But, check into what your upload capability is. You may be able to host your initial site to show off what you can offer from your residential line.
 
MadSkillzMan said:
now i read i could setup my own DNS. what no one will answer me, is it intranet only? or can i make it so that, www.website.com points to 67.xx.xxx.xx WITHOUT having to pay?
www.zoneedit.com will provide DNS services for your site for free. I think they do up to five domain names for free, then you have to pay. Running your own DNS server is generally not recommended IIRC.
 
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