Monthly Archives: June 2009

Dedicated Server or Managed Hosting for Websites?

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Not too long ago, my ActiveBlogging site had a ‘downer’ in service – enough of a problem that I seriously considered moving it elsewhere.

The problem in making a move like this? The wide variety of hosting options out there. Servers, virtual servers, hosting, managed and unmanaged hosting and servers… you get the idea. The end result is a big headache trying to understand which is best – and which is affordable!

And as an article on this web hosting review site points out, the managed part has its pros and cons – managing costs more, but you DO get piece of mind.

In fact, you can even save in the long run – if you’re paying for someone to handle your technical work now, you won’t need them as often, which saves you money. And with labor costs the way they are, the small extra cost for ‘managed’ probably equals only a few hours of tech support.

The site also has a comparison chart for web hosting prices, so you can browse the different offers out there, both managed and ‘un’managed.

In my case, the decision was made (sort of), and I decided to ride the wave and stay with my provider. But I also know that in the future, I will be moving on and up – and a site like this will make short work of the side by side comparisons for dedicated server hosting, and I expect, save me money.

‘The Plant Lady’ Cometh via Print on Demand (POD)

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I’m very exited – the missus is well on her way to releasing her first novel, and it’s been a flurry of activity here at BBB Central.

Unlike ‘traditional’ writing, We’re using POD (print on demand), so we control the publishing ourselves. Of course, the result is we have to do more ourselves, such as cover artwork, proofreading and copyediting, formatting, etc.

The benefits? More money for ourselves, and NO loss of rights. For example, talk to a published author and find out what rights they’ve signed away to be in print – likely, they don’t even control the copyright anymore!

I’ll have more details soon – but it WILL be worthwhile!

Mosquitoes, West Nile, and Customer Support

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As a former Winnipegger (where the provincial bird was the mosquito), I’m always aware of the little blood sucker – even though Victoria’s variety are few and far between (and have never to my mind ever dined on me).

And every year I watch the spread of West Nile with annoyance – one more deadly thing we have to watch out for. So as you can imagine, I take more than the usual interest in mosquito killing.

But how can you kill them rapidly (and safely)? Try a mosquito magnet, from (obviously) Mosquito Magnet.

A very informative site on mosquitoes (not just for their product), I learned that a female mosquito can lay up to 400 eggs in a drop of water, and that the purpose of the bite is for the female to get protein for her egg-laying activities.

As for the product, it’s environmentally friendly: basically, it emits carbon dioxide (which attacks mosquitoes), and then vacuums them up. No females, no Next Generation.

Now, mosquito killing is always newsworthy – but my reason for discussing it here is HOW they sell – while excellent support.

Too many sites spend time on the product, and too little on customers AFTER the sale. The result is even a great product can fail if customers are confused by it.

You can read more about their product/customer service options in their press release, or visit their help section on mosquito magnet repair

One interesting aspect involves a troubleshooting guide online – so you can work with the product and make sure it’s set up properly.

Online troubleshooting is a huge advantage:

  • Tech support costs time and money – distilling the necessary steps to solve most problems online means you don’t have to pay to handle problems – the site can do it.
  • Likewise, as new problems arise, you can use tech support to first handle them, then add troubleshooting steps online – the result is the first time a new problem occurs, it costs to solve it – and then nevermore.
  • For the visitor, it gives an idea of what can go wrong, and just how easy it is to solve – this ‘hand holding’ in advance of a purchase can remove customer concerns, especially for a new variety of product.

By monitoring your website logs, you also can find out WHICH problems are looked at more often – and this might give you insight into what parts of the next version of the product needs changing.

“Extra mile” tech support, mosquito killing – it’s a winning package. I hope more sites get into the habit of including troubleshooting guides and detailed help info – an often overlooked aspect of any product release.