In today's interview we have hosting expert with us, Daren Low is the founder of Bitcatcha.com and co-developer of the free Server Speed Checker. With a decade of experience in website development and internet marketing to his name, Daren is considered a premier authority on all things related to building and managing an online presence. Feel free to pick his brain by connecting via Twitter.
I am sure you are going to learn lot from Darren about hosting industry.
I'm Daren Low, founder of the site web hosting review site, Bitcatcha.com. I have been in the hosting industry since 2008 and I have seen a lot of changes between then and now.
When I first started, shared hosting was the only type of plan a non-techie could buy. The control panel and web host manager panel were not near as advanced as you will find today - and they were not intuitive to use.
In recent years, the range of web hosting options for consumers and business owners alike has expanded quickly, to include VPS, cloud, reseller and other types of plans. The backend tools have become very user friendly, as well, making it much easier for the average person to quickly get their web presence online.
I have noticed that the customer service from host providers has been getting better and better, as well as being more comprehensive in scope. For example,support accessed from any option - whether it's live chat, email tickets or phone calls - is attended to almost immediately now. I believe this is in response to the increasing number of competitors in the web hosting marketplace.
Q2) Give me 3 solid reason why you started hosting review brand Bitcacha?First and foremost, I wanted to provide a lot of cold, hard data so that users could accurately evaluate a web host. We believe it unwise to choose a web hosting company based solely on the opinion of a reviewer. We study user shopping behavior to know what type of information they seek and provide that information to better educate them.
I also wanted to provide free, helpful tools to anyone who needs them. The Bitcatcha site features a proprietary server speed checker, free for every visitor to use. This tool checks the speed with which the website server responds from eight locations worldwide. In addition, Bitcatcha tracks server uptime for every web host profiled on our site. With these two pieces of data, potential buyers know what to expect from a host.
Lastly, Bitcatcha was formed to provide honest opinions about each web hosting service. We actively seek web host customers to interview regarding their experience. We want to learn firsthand what they have encountered with the web host they have used for more than a year. Then we provide that side-by-side with our own reviews from our experienced host-review team.
All in all, we want to help users make a better-informed shopping decision.
I see competition as a challenge. The world keeps changing and our competitors change along with it - and so must we. We must be equally good at delivering value to users. I believe there are many things I can learn from the competition. With that said, to win this tough race, I need to continue to build a site that offers relevant tools and information for users in order to keep them coming back for more.
Q3) How do you bear the competition in the market as the web hosting market is crowded and lots of competition is out there?Bitcatcha offers genuinely honest hosting reviews. Our reviews are backed with cold, hard data and non-biased customer interviews. We strive to offer a well-rounded perspective on each web hosting company and the plans they offer.
Q4) Why should bloggers use Bitcacha as compared to other hosting review services?Being an entrepreneur is mostly about your attitude toward life. When you see a problem, you have to solve it. The great part of that is when you solve a problem with the right solution, you are rewarded financially.
Q6) How has your life changed as an entrepreneur? How many hours do you work daily or weekly?Has my life changed? Definitely. My perspective on everything has changed. Whenever I see an issue, be it work-related or personal, I proactively fix it.
I work at least seven hours everyday of the week. Sunday is my day off and I define that as not checking my email messages.
Being an entrepreneur means you have freedom to do any and every thing. If you are hardworking, you achieve more. But you can overdo it by trying to take advantage of every business opportunity you come across. In that case, you end up achieving nothing.
Q7) How do you try to balance personal life and work life, as it is very difficult to do business while maintaining personal life?There is only so much time available everyday so I have learned to prioritize. I have to reject many opportunities so that I can focus on just one and make it more lucrative.
The same is true of my personal life. When it is off-work time, I switch my focus strictly to family and friends. Once you learn how to stop working and devote time to enjoying personal pursuits on a regular basis, you achieve a proper work-life balance as an entrepreneur.
Q8) which is your favorite social media channel for generating leads for Bitcacha.
For the time being Bitcatcha, has an active presence on Twitter and Facebook, although that may expand in the future. Both are very effective at driving leads and traffic to my site
When you blog, you tell a story. Only by telling a story can people begin to understand you and your products or services. At the same time, you are building a relationship with the readers.
Q9) Why do you think bloggers are best for brands to promote their services & products. And how bloggers can make money from Bitcacha?I believe strongly in this and therefore the Bitcatcha blog is designed purely for delivering value to our readers. We share our thoughts and experiences about building a successful online presence in order to help ecommerce site owners achieve the same.
BloggersIdeas is a nicely laid-out site with relevant information, great for people who are just starting out online.
Q10) What do you want to say about my blog. How do you feel about my blog BloggersIdeas. What is best & worst in my blog?If there is one thing I would suggest, it would be posting more how-to guides. Users love it when you solve their problems. You gain a better reputation and more engagement. It's a win-win.