= How To Become a White-Label WordPress Hosting Reseller =
Becoming a WordPress hosting reseller is not only quick and easy âÃÂàbut can also be very profitable. In addition to your usual web developer fees, you can generate Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) reselling products and services (like ours!)
In this post weâÃÂÃÂll show you how to set up your own hosting business that will benefit you and your clients in terms of pricing, site management, and ease of use. Keeping it all under your brand or company name means itâÃÂÃÂs yours to sell. (And your secret is safe with us. We wonâÃÂÃÂt mention that weâÃÂÃÂre doing all the heavy lifting for you on the backend of your services. ; )
Oh, and it wonâÃÂÃÂt cost you anything to get set up and going! Read onâÃÂæ
This article will walk you through the essentials of becoming a WordPress hosting reseller. WeâÃÂÃÂll be covering:
ThereâÃÂÃÂs a lot to reselling, but youâÃÂÃÂll see how easy it is to manage, run, and maintain a WordPress hosting reselling business once implemented
== Hosting Reselling âÃÂàThe Quick, Easy, and Profitable Way to Increase Revenue ==
Why You Should Be a Reseller For Web Hosting
You already know that WordPress is the worldâÃÂÃÂs leading CMS platform, but have you thought about the opportunity to provide managed WordPress hosting under your own brand and significantly boost your revenue without any additional effort?
If youâÃÂÃÂre an agency or just taking on freelance clients, hosting can provide continuous revenue after initially setting up. You can generate subscriptions, charge for maintenance, and ensure that a clientâÃÂÃÂs hosting is always up and running
Adding hosting is just another package to include, and it often is just a matter of mentioning to your clients that you can host their sites as part of your services
Even though itâÃÂÃÂs us behind the scenes, with everything white-labeled, your clients wonâÃÂÃÂt know that youâÃÂÃÂre a reseller. It will be your hosting services without the mention of WPMU DEV anywhere
Best of all, getting your clients set up is easy as ever with The Hub. Everything you need is there, making hosting reselling organized, convenient, and simple. And, of course, profitable
Benefits of Reselling Managed WordPress Hosting
IâÃÂÃÂve already touched on a lot of perks of reselling hosting. However, to put it into perspective hereâÃÂÃÂs a quick rundown of several reasons why hosting reselling is beneficial:
- MRR is a great way to build additional income
- The hosting is optimized for your clients
- You will build value by offering the total service packages (bundle hosting with website development, or sell separately)
- Hosting reselling is much better than affiliate marketing because we donâÃÂÃÂt charge commissions or fees for selling our hosting services
- Everything is done for you in the backend. We manage it all for you, leaving you to build relationships with your new and existing clients
So now, the question is:
Are You Ready to Resell?
As you can see, itâÃÂÃÂs quick (add a service for new customers), easy (all done in The Hub), and profitable (subscriptions = recurring payments)
LetâÃÂÃÂs get into the nitty-gritty now of what it takes to become a WordPress hosting reseller
==Label Hosting and Make It Your Own ==
labeling is the foundation for creating a hosting reseller, so itâÃÂÃÂs important to touch on it first. After all, if you are selling hosting, it needs to be your own
We wonâÃÂÃÂt get into too many details here, considering we wrote a whole article aboutlabeling our hosting
Still, this is where you start. And it begins withâÃÂæ
The Hub Client Plugin
The first thing youâÃÂÃÂll need to do is
** install and activate** The Hub Client Plugin. This plugin was made so that you can replace our branding with yours and provides the perfect place to manage your hosted sites. ItâÃÂÃÂs a complete CRM for your hosting business
Keep in mind that you need to be a current WPMU DEV member to use The Hub Client plugin. Not a member? Try us with a no-risk membership free trial to get a sense of what weâÃÂÃÂll be covering in this article
Customize and Brand Your Hub
Once you have The Hub Client installed, you will customize and brand your Hub the way you want it
This includes giving your Hub:
Custom Branding and Colors Custom Navigation Menu and Hub Client Page Manage Users and Roles Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Pages Help Button and Live Chat Support
This will be down the road a bit, but youâÃÂÃÂll also invite your clients to
**view their site **manage your clientâÃÂÃÂs users & roles **create custom client roles ** invite new users and more! All of this will be done from your customized Hub (or whatever youâÃÂÃÂd like to name it)
Your clients will get an invite to log in to their new site, where they can view, edit, or use however you set up their roles for the site (including paying their hosting invoice in a safe a secure checkout)
Now that you have your essential business established with The Hub Client plugin, youâÃÂÃÂre ready to move ontoâÃÂæ
== Creating Sites with Free Templates and Cloning ==
You have a new client
*Great!* AND they want to host a new site with you and have you set it up for them. So, how do you go about getting a new hosted site quickly and easily?
The fastest way is with
**Custom Templates Our templates offer a variety of options (e.g. business, freelancer, charity, etc that provide quick and instant setup
Keep in mind, you can also migrate or create a new site that will be hosted with us, too. However, our custom templates are a quick solution. It starts by selecting
**Clone** from the options when creating a new site
To implement this, instead of cloning from a site, you select the
**Clone From a Template** option
You can create your templates or use one of our premade templates directly from The Hub
Templates are a quick and easy way to clone a site for a hosted site and get your client set up to your specifications
Read more in this article about how to set templates up and implement templates in detail
Cloning From an Existing Site
Already have a site set up that fits the bill for your client? Along with using a template, you can also clone from an existing site!
Our cloning tool duplicates a WordPress siteâÃÂÃÂs files and database. It then recreates them in a new installation, making for a new site with a new domain. Just simply go to
**Clone From My Sites where a dropdown will appear of all the sites you have hosted with us
The cloning consists of a precise copy of a WordPress site, including plugins, themes, site settings, and content
So, whether you use a template or clone from an existing site, cloning streamlines the process of duplicating a site like never before, considering how easy it is from The Hub. Get more information about cloning here
ANY site you create with us will be hosted with us, which means you can sell that hosting service to the client
== Manage Different Reseller Sites with The Hub and Configs ==
What comes next is to applying configurations to new sites built with a template or existing sites with
**Configs Configs will instantly tweak and build WordPress sites, all while eliminating precise manual adjustments for individual sites
ItâÃÂÃÂs a set-it-and-forget-it when it comes to applying your preferred WPMU DEV plugins and uptime settings to unlimited sites. So, you can easily implement a TON of our plugins and settings directly to a clientâÃÂÃÂs website instantly
TheyâÃÂÃÂre easy to set up and implement. Be sure to read this complete guide on using Configs. Plus, check out the video below
== Run Your Reselling Business with Client Billing ==
HereâÃÂÃÂs the bulk of your operation. You have a new site created for a client. The layout, plugins, uptime settings, and design are done. YouâÃÂÃÂre ready to handle business matters. Essentially, how do you charge and manage all of this?
Thankfully, with The HubâÃÂÃÂs
**Client Billing** portal, you can create and sell services packages and products, plus manage all your billing. This is the mecca of reselling hosting; with **automated subscriptions **branded invoices & emails a **secure client checkout** âÃÂàand more!
ItâÃÂÃÂs a cinch to access Client Billing and get started from The Hub. Clicking on the
**Client Billing** button on the upper right part of the Hosting screen under a website. From there, itâÃÂÃÂs just a matter of clicking **Set Up Client Billing**
Client Billing works in conjunction with
**Stripe If you already have your account set up with Stripe, youâÃÂÃÂll get a notification that itâÃÂÃÂs connected
It features a
** Client Billing Overview. **This is where you can quickly access and view anything about clients and billing, including **revenue, clients, products & services and **configurations**
Manage unlimited WP sites for free
The Overview gives you a 360-degree view of what your hosting reselling business is looking like
Setting Up Your Hosting Service
From the
** Products & Services **tab, you can view all of your products, see whether theyâÃÂÃÂre active, the number of pricing plans for each product, and more
This is also where youâÃÂÃÂll add your hosting service as a
** New Product The New Product button gets you started. You can also click **Add Product or Service** from the Product & Services section in the Overview
Once you click New Product, create the hosting service plan of your choice. YouâÃÂÃÂll give it a
**Product Name **Billing Type** (recurring vs one-time), **Price decide how often billing occurs, and can even include a **Billing Cycle**
And itâÃÂÃÂs worth this reminder,
**you sell the hosting we provide for the sites you set up for clients
Choose your own price, whether to have reoccurring payment plans and billing cycles. After all, this is your business
When clicking on individual products or services, it will open up an area with
**General Information** about the product, including name, status, pricing plans, and an option to upload a product image
Change anything in this area that youâÃÂÃÂd like
Clicking on the ellipsis gives you the option of editing, duplicating, and archiving the plan
This makes keeping tabs on your products, plans, and pricing as efficient as possible
Invoices
Since your plan is set up, when it comes to your invoices, you can manage them all from the
**Invoices** tab
Create a new invoice from the
**Bill Client** button. From there, you will pick your client from the dropdown. Plus, youâÃÂÃÂll include the services to charge for, quantity, amount, and more
Once you preview and confirm your invoice, you can send it on its way to your client (without a stamp). When they receive it, theyâÃÂÃÂll have an option to pay it right from their own dashboard!
Clicking on Invoices will show you all of the individual invoices. From here, you can see the past due invoices in detail, paid invoices, and drafts. The invoices that are due are in red and say
**Payment Due** by them, and the paid ones are marked in green and say **Paid**
Plus, you can see the date, invoice number, amount, client, and website
Click on an individual invoice to get more specific information, including invoice amount, any notes on the account, and more
Click anywhere on the line of the invoice to open
Need a PDF of the invoice? You can do that as well by clicking
**PDF Invoice**
And that will immediately download a PDF of the invoice
Have a client thatâÃÂÃÂs old school and likes to mail you a check (yes, with a stamp)? You can mark an invoice PAID manually. Our hosting reselling doesnâÃÂÃÂt require that everything is paid within the system
Organizing your clientsâÃÂàinvoices is manageable like never before. Invoices allow clients to pay instantly, manage cash flow, and offer a secure checkout for clientsâÃÂàin their dashboard
Revenue
Now that youâÃÂÃÂre up and running, how much did you bring in this month? Or last? The
**Revenue** section breaks down your cash flow in an easy-to-understand layout
It shows your
**Monthly Recurring Revenue Active Subscriptions, and New Billing
This section is a great quick glimpse of where your revenues stand
Clients
The
** Clients** area is where you can view clients, manage them, see the average billing per client, and more
You can see all of your clients by clicking on
**View All This will open up an area with a **Clients **tab
Click on individual clients to view and edit information. Here, you can see how many active subscriptions a client is on, the average billing per site, and the number of websites attached to them
Plus, you can edit their name, email address, User Roles, and more
Easily add a client by clicking on the
**New Client **button
On top of that, you can edit clients at any time by clicking the ellipsis button next to their name and information. From this, you have the options to
**Manage Client **Invite Client and **Delete Client**
And as clients build up (youâÃÂÃÂre a hosting reseller rockstar, you know they will), effortlessly search clients in the Search Bar to access them quickly
As I mentioned, clientsâÃÂàcan also pay and edit their information once a role has been established to access billing. This makes for a safe and secure checkout and effortless payment issues on their end! Find out more about allowing clients to access billing in our documentation
As you can see, thereâÃÂÃÂs a lot that can be done in the Clients area to ensure your clients are up-to-date, invoices are paid, and to manage your clientele efficiently
Plus, this makes it easy for your clients to be in the know on invoices, their services, and keeping their information up to date (and payments paid on time)
Client Billing is a game changer when it comes to running your reselling hosting. It handles staying on top of your billing for you! Plus, provides all the tools you need to start a service, charge customers, organize clients, and more!
For more information on the Client Billing and a detailed look, be sure to check out this overview
== HereâÃÂÃÂs Toasting to Reselling Hosting! ==
This was your hosting reselling roadmap. Simply go through and implement everything we covered, and youâÃÂÃÂll be doing some toasting to reselling hosting!
Instead of needing a ton of software and resources, itâÃÂÃÂs all right here, in one place. It really canâÃÂÃÂt get any simpler
As you can see, itâÃÂÃÂs just a matter of marketing your services and implementing it all from The Hub. All the tools are at your disposal âÃÂàeverything from templates to client billing. Toss in our award-winning plugins and 24-7 support, and youâÃÂÃÂre totally covered
And the best part? It doesnâÃÂÃÂt cost you a thing to get started! If youâÃÂÃÂre already a WPMU DEV member, youâÃÂÃÂre all set! If youâÃÂÃÂre not a member yet, use our membership free trial to start reselling
~~our~~ your new hosting services today
Plus, thatâÃÂÃÂs not all. ThereâÃÂÃÂs always more coming. Be sure to follow our Product Roadmap to see whatâÃÂÃÂs ahead on the horizon for hosting reselling and all other new developments
HereâÃÂÃÂs to a new source of steady recurring income and happier clients with our completely white-labeled hosting reselling!