Choosing the Hosting Program that Matches Your Business
Picking the right hosting partner for your business can be critical to your success. It’s a given that you want a partner with high quality data centers, a low latency network and quality servers. At The Planet, we can offer you all that. But you may also want to select a provider with a la carte services that allow you to meet a broad range of customer service needs, without beginning your search anew.
The Planet offers the most extensive and cost-effective range of hosting solutions in the industry. Additionally, our Partner Plus program is designed to let you choose which business model works best for you as a partner. The Planet has three distinct partner models and each meet different business needs. Pick the program that works for you, and our sales and channel teams will work with you to help make your business a success.
The three programs differ based on the discounts/commissions applied, and to what extent a partner company is involved with the transaction. Here’s a high-level look:
Reseller Program
- Partner Involvement: Resellers build their business around marketing and selling Web hosting solutions. Whether those solutions are managed, shared, VPS or dedicated, the reseller is responsible for the day-to-day operations of their servers and their customers’ hosting-related support. We never interact directly with resellers’ end-customers because the resellers provide all service, support and billing.
- Commission/Discount: Based on the volume of business they do with The Planet, a reseller partner will get discounts from 10% to 20% on every server they order.
Referral Program
- Partner Involvement: Referral Partners function in an advisory role for their customers, and we provide the service, support and billing. Some Referral Partners may completely manage their customers’ environment and choose to outsource the day-to-day maintenance responsibilities to a trusted partner. Others may simply generate and compare quotes for their customers’ infrastructure solutions. These partners work with our sales team to determine the right solution for their customer and faciliate the customer’s transition to The Planet as a provider.
- Commission/Discount: Based on the volume of business with The Planet, a Referral Partner receives from 12% to 20% of a referred account’s monthly recurring revenue.
Affiliate Program
- Partner Involvement: Affiliates use specially coded hyperlinks to direct potential customer traffic to The Planet. Our system tracks users sent by those affiliate links, and every new customer order qualifies the affiliate for a commission.
- Commission/Discount: $150 for each server referred through an affiliate’s Web site.
Which Is Right For You?
Each program offers a unique opportunity build your business, and the programs aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. If you provide a mix of hosting and consulting services, it may make sense to for you to sign up for both the Reseller and Referral Partner programs. If you do a majority of your business as a Referral Partner while operating a tech blog for small business owners and entrepreneurs, you may want to include an affiliate link in your blog’s sidebar so you can earn commission on new servers ordered by your visitors … without having to lift a finger.
Our goal with the Planet Partner Plus program is to provide you with a financial model that matches your business requirements, backed up by marketing materials to help you grow. Check out the programs on our partner page at www.theplanet.com/partner-program, and use the online forms to apply or send us any questions. We want to help make you successful because that’s how we define being better than just a partner; we want to be your Partner Plus.
Lewis Schrock is the Channel Marketing Manager for The Planet. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s sponsorship program.
