[consulting] question about selling subsites

[Sami Khan]

Nail on head.

Support is the bottleneck, the tech is straightforward. Also, upgrade
issues in the long run is something I would give a lot of consideration
to... It sounds like an easy proposition but in the end if you can't bill
the $120/hour in support then you're losing money.

Sami

On Fri, 5 Mar 2010 11:13:34 -0500, 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
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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