[consulting] question about selling subsites

Fri Mar 5 16:33:53 UTC 2010

Another note:  explore reseller opportunities with the folks who did the
legwork to create a compelling feature set and automated servicing.

--D
--
D202 - People-Centric Websites
646.536.7502 ||  Office
twitter.com/davenotik
linkedin.com/in/davidnotik

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 11:30 AM, David Notik <dave at digital202.com> wrote:

> My approach is a Service & Support plan (paid quarterly) which covers up to
> X number of hours and/or X incidents per month.  Additional is billable per
> hour.  Ours start at about $250/month.  If you streamline a feature set and
> automate things well enough you can justify free initial customization,
> though many clients want more than the kit that's easily offered to them so
> you charge a flat rate upfront too.  It's a hybrid approach.
>
> Of course, when you've got a really compelling set of features (see Drupal
> Gardens and Buzzr) and an automated machine to attract many hundreds and
> thousands of customers, you simply offer a great product with great
> documentation and community support and you can then justify lesser income
> per customer because each customer's costing you less.
>
> I'd venture you start with the former, make your way to the latter.
>
> --D
> --
> D202 - People-Centric Websites
> 646.536.7502 ||  Office
> twitter.com/davenotik
> linkedin.com/in/davidnotik
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 11:13 AM, Sam Cohen <sam at samcohen.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Cameron.  From a technical perspective I think I've got things
>> covered.  Though technical tips are always appreciated.
>>
>> I am looking more for advice and experience on the business end of doing
>> this, such as what people are charging and how they are handling support.
>>
>> The idea of taking on hundreds or new clients and providing including
>> "free" support is a bit daunting.
>>
>> Sam
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 11:04 AM, Cameron Eagans <cweagans at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> You mean something like Drupal Gardens? (not that Gardens is super
>>> limited, but you get the idea)
>>>
>>> Should be pretty easy. Put together an install profile, bring up an Aegir
>>> installation, and just insert new jobs into the Aegir queue when you need to
>>> spawn new sites. For something like this, I'd say it'd be a pretty good idea
>>> to use Aegir because, aside from the fact that it can generate your sites
>>> for you, it will also help with updates and running cron on all those sites,
>>> too.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 8:59 AM, Sam Cohen <sam at samcohen.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> To clarify, this would be a locked down site where site administrators
>>>> are limited in what they can do.  They won't have ftp access or be able to
>>>> install modules or themes.  They will be able to add a banner and customize
>>>> their theme, blog, add pages, menu items,blocks, photos.  If new features
>>>> are added, they would be added across the system.
>>>>
>>>> I actually currently do this for a client who has subsites across the
>>>> country, but these are really independent sites, where the client can have
>>>> modules added and any customization they want.  In that case it's not very
>>>> different than normal practice.
>>>>
>>>> What I'm talking about is the possibility of hundreds of subsites where
>>>> the client would charge a pretty low monthly fee.  It's like using Drupal to
>>>> build a "website tonight" like product and admins would be seriously limited
>>>> in what they can or cannot do.
>>>>
>>>> Sam
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 10:48 AM, nan wich <nan_wich at bellsouth.net>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>  I have a reseller account with my hosting company so that I can host
>>>>> some of my customers' sites. I charge for that.
>>>>>
>>>>> How do you see this as being significantly different from my common
>>>>> practice?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *Nancy E. Wichmann, PMP*
>>>>>
>>>>> Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- Dr. Martin L.
>>>>> King, Jr.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>  ------------------------------
>>>>> *From:* Sam Cohen <sam at samcohen.com>
>>>>> *To:* A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting
>>>>> providers <consulting at drupal.org>
>>>>> *Sent:* Fri, March 5, 2010 10:38:41 AM
>>>>> *Subject:* [consulting] question about selling subsites
>>>>>
>>>>> This list has sure been quiet lately.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm in negotiations with someone who has a website with a large user
>>>>> base who wants to produce and sell Drupal subsites on scale to his users.
>>>>> In other words this person would be offering their users a Drupal site for a
>>>>> monthly fee.  The site would be pre-configured and customized to serve the
>>>>> needs of this audience.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm curious is anyone else here has done something like this or knows
>>>>> of anyone doing it.  I'm not talking about a project like Open Atrium, as
>>>>> this would be hosted (a subsite)  and would also include support.
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyone know of anyone else doing this?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Sam
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> consulting mailing list
>>>>> consulting at drupal.org
>>>>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> consulting mailing list
>>>> consulting at drupal.org
>>>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> consulting mailing list
>>> consulting at drupal.org
>>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> consulting mailing list
>> consulting at drupal.org
>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting
>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/consulting/attachments/20100305/a1738aeb/attachment-0001.html 