What is reselling, and how do I get involved? This step-by-step guide will tell you what you need to know before you get started and show you how to take your Web hosting business to the next level.

If executed properly, reselling Web hosting and related services can be a low-maintenance, high-profit way to online success. Reseller programs allow businesses to lease servers, connections and bandwidth from established hosting firms, but brand the product as their own.

Even some of today's biggest hosting companies simply resell the products of bigger companies because it cuts down on staffing and equipment expenses in exchange for a reasonable fee.

Resellers act independent of Web hosting companies, and are not treated as employees. Most are paid on how many sign-ups they attract per month, and are paid on a recurring basis for each client attracted who retains your services (thereby retaining the services of the actual hosting provider as well).

The first step in becoming a reseller is determining exactly what services you want to resell. Do you simply want to resell Web hosting? Most aspects of a Web hosting operation can be resold, including connections and backbones, servers and e-commerce storefronts. What type of reseller you become depends on what you would like to outsource: many hosting companies like to outsource as much as possible so they can concentrate on running the business end of things, and sometimes bundle in additional features a regular hosting company might not be able to provide, like consulting or Web design services. Others, however, take the "hands-on" approach and essentially co-locate servers, giving them much more technical control over their company.

The next step is to actually choose a reseller program. There are countless programs out there; make sure to pick one from an established company with a proven track record. While other companies may promise higher yields, it's always worth it in the long run to choose an established company, as they are the ones with the most experience and therefore the most prepared to deal with issues that will surely arise during the day-to-day operations of your business.

Beyond being a simple reseller

If you're interested in running a complete, top-to-bottom hosting company, servers are only half the battle. Aside from machines to host sites on, you're going to need a number of other components.

One of the most important of these components is connectivity. To run a well-connected hosting company, you'll need a redundant connection to an Internet backbone. Make sure to pick a provider with multiple connections; if your provider's single connection goes down, so does yours. With multiple backbone connections, you can be sure that your client sites will be up and running virtually all the time.

Also be sure to take the issue of software very seriously, because your servers are going to need an operating system. Make sure you pick a system tailored to your needs: every operating system has its pluses and minuses. You'll also want to consider e-commerce, billing and control panel software to offer your customers more and make your company run smoothly.

\And finally, make sure you pick a reseller who offers solid technical support. Unless you have certified system engineers on staff, you'll need a helping hand every once in a while. Technical support will also be key during the implementation of your company; if you're going to connect to a major provider's backbone, you have to be able to know how to do it.

Marketing your program

Once you've established your company both offline and online, you'll want to attract clients. When starting out, your best bets are individuals and small businesses; people working on a smaller budget, much like yourself. Most of these clients don't require intensive hosting services; they have small sites and aren't overly concerned about things like back-end issues. Remember, when you're starting small, you don't want to get in over your head too quickly.

Larger operations may want to think beyond smaller shared accounts and look toward marketing high-end virtual packages and dedicated servers. Keep in mind that this will take a great deal of technical expertise, and should not be undertaken until you have an extensive background in the technical world of Web hosting (unless you're ready to hire engineers). Either way, once you've got a client - congratulations! You're officially a Web hosting company. Good luck.