The Dreamscape Multimedia Green Web Hosting Referral Program

• What is web hosting?
• What is "green" web hosting?
• What do the terms "green power" and "renewable energy" mean?
• Where will my site be hosted?
• Who do I approach about green web hosting?
• What does it cost to join?
• Do I earn 50 percent on my own account?
• How do I find solid candidates for green web hosting?
• I have someone who wants to host with Dreamscape Multimedia! Now what?
• What if person I'm talking to wants to sign up for web hosting but doesn't want the green upgrade?
• One of my green web hosting referrals signed on with Dreamscape Multimedia. What's left for me to do?
• I've signed up a new web hosting customer with Dreamscape Multimedia, but now they're calling me for assistance! Help! What do I do?
• How do I cancel a web hosting account?
• You've stated a couple times that this referral program can be the avenue to financial independence. What do you mean by that?
• How do I get started?

Q: What is web hosting?

A: In order for a website to be made available on the Internet, it has to be stored on a secure server and placed in a secure location with a reliable connection to the Internet; this is where web hosting comes in. Web hosting is an Internet service that allows individuals and organizations to make their websites accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosting companies provide the hosting environment, storage, Internet connectivity, security, redundancy and support necessary to present a website to the public. There is a wide range of web hosting services available, starting from free to buying a server for your sole use. You could spend thousands of dollars a year on web hosting alone.

Read our article, "Web hosting demystified," for a deeper explanation.

Q: What is "green" web hosting?

A: In regards to Prosperity, the Dreamscape Multimedia green web hosting referral program, the term "green web hosting" refers to the opportunity for any web hosting customer to upgrade their hosting account at any time to "green" by giving an additional $5 every month. This $5 is passed through to Sterling Planet, a leading retailer of clean, renewable energy. What this additional monthly $5 payment will accomplish:

• Sustain and protect the environment, reducing use of electricity from coal and other nonrenewable sources that emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants,
• Grow the market for renewable energy sources (sun, wind, etc.) with little or no environmental impact,
• Stimulate the domestic economy,
• Reduce dependence on foreign energy, and
• Preserve natural resources such as coal, oil, natural gas and water.

Learn more about how this $5 will be invested each month.

Q: What do the terms "green power" and "renewable energy" mean?

A: The terms "green power" and "renewable energy" refer to electricity that is partially or entirely generated from environmentally preferable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro resources. Renewable energy sources are cleaner than conventional sources of electricity that produce carbon dioxide emissions, a greenhouse gas linked to global climate change. Green power purchases (such as when buying Renewable Energy Certificates) help support the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide.

Q: Where will my site be hosted?

A: Dreamscape Multimedia leases our datacenter infrastructure from Liquid Web, a premier hosting company. By leasing our datacenter rather than owning, we greatly reduce our overhead costs, enjoy superior support, and are able to supply our clients with fast, secure, and reliable performance without the troubles associated with designing, building and maintaining an ideal server environment.

The Dreamscape Multimedia chose the Liquid Web network because it has been designed to accommodate clients demanding the highest quality network performance. There is a central focus on redundancy allowing the network to rapidly self-heal failures without interruptions to connectivity.

Read more about Dreamscape Multimedia's datacenter.

Q: Who do I approach about green web hosting?

A: Any person or company that has a website already (or is interested in acquiring one) and who wants to do their part to protect the environment. Dreamscape Multimedia's web hosting clients currently range from private individuals hosting basic portfolio or brochure sites, to the IT (Information Technology) departments of larger companies who already have enough on their plates.

Web hosting through Dreamscape Multimedia makes the most sense for businesses who either

1. don't have the IT personnel or infrastructure to maintain their own hosting environment, or who
2. want to keep the focus on their business efforts—not their technology.

Maintaining one's own web hosting means maintaining servers, routers, firewalls, spam filters, switches and backup systems. You're essentially sharing a computer on your network with the rest of the world, so you need to have the proper securities in place and your network has to be configured properly to allow people to come in, but not all the way in (using what is referred to as a "demilitarized zone".)

Once most business owners realize this, it's easy to conclude that self-hosting doesn't make good business sense from the financial, productivity or security stand-points, especially when you can pay someone else to manage this for considerably less than the hundreds (or thousands) you would pay each month if you wanted to do this on your own. Most companies find their attention is better invested in what they do best; their core products and services to their clients.

Q: What does it cost to join?

A: Nothing. Signing up for the Prosperity referral program is fast, easy and free. We collect some basic information about you, provide you with banner and link information if you want to place them on an existing website you might own, and will create your referral partner page. Your referral partner page will provide you with a tunnel for setting up your referrals, offering links to the frequently asked questions, datacenter specifications and your banner, which you’ll launch from to sign your referrals up.

Q: Do I earn 50 percent on my own account?

A: Unfortunately, no, you do not earn 50 percent on a web hosting account you buy for yourself. We considered this at length, and determined that we would not extend the 50 percent commission payout to direct customers because the referral program is intended to handsomely reward folks for referring hosting business to us. We already have competitive rates for direct hosting, so we didn't feel it was respectful to our referral partners to extend that same reward to someone who stumbles upon us on their own. Our best referral partners are spreading the word about our awesome hosting offerings while fostering an environmental awareness in others.

Simply put, we realize not all of our clients will actively promote us to others, so we felt we wanted to save this reward for those who do.

Q: How do I find solid candidates for green web hosting?

A: Through promoting Dreamscape Multimedia green web hosting via

• Networking events, such as your local chamber mixers, local business networking groups or tradeshows (order your own Dreamscape Multimedia business cards for these events for a professional, eye-catching first impression),
• Your own website, using our banners,
• Submit an article to your local news media (then send us a copy of the published article and we'll post it on the site),
• Casual (yet enthusiastic) word-of-mouth.

Remember: You're not a reseller who needs to sell people on the idea of green web hosting. Keep in mind that no one likes to be sold (read "convinced against their will"), but people love to buy. Your mission is easy: listen to them about their website or web hosting woes, tell them about Dreamscape Multimedia, about the opportunity to help the environment, and about the headache-free relationship they'll have. If you feel a passion for the global environment and for small business, that enthusiasm will come out while you're talking to people and it is your conviction that gets their attention. Finally, ask them if it is okay if you have Dreamscape Multimedia contact them. If they say yes, provide us their contact information and we will do the rest.

Q: I have someone who wants to host with Dreamscape Multimedia! Now what?

A: The customer-friendly thing to do would be to sit with them and walk them through the sign-up process. Establishing a new hosting account is fast and easy. If you're unsure how to do this—or if you just want the help—contact us with the customer's contact information. We'll help them establish their account and answer any questions they might have.

Q: What if person I'm talking to wants to sign up for web hosting but doesn't want the green upgrade?

A: That's okay (of course.) We want to encourage the green upgrade because it's good for the environment (obviously), but it is acceptable for a web hosting customer to opt for a basic Silver, Gold or Platinum package. Green web hosting won't be for everyone (though we think it should be!)

Note: The more web hosting customers we help, the stronger our bottom line (yours, and ours.) The healthier we are financially, the louder our voice can be environmentally through increased marketing and outreach efforts.

Q: One of my green web hosting referrals signed on with Dreamscape Multimedia. What's left for me to do?

A: Nothing. Your job is to collect a paycheck every month for the web hosting customers you bring to us, as long as they are active accounts with Dreamscape Multimedia. Dreamscape Multimedia maintains the service for you.

Q: I've signed up a new web hosting customer with Dreamscape Multimedia, but now they're calling me for assistance! Help! What do I do?

A: Please redirect them to us. We will happily answer their questions and assist them through any support issues relating to their Dreamscape Multimedia web hosting package.

Q: How do I cancel a web hosting account?

A: All Dreamscape Multimedia web hosting clients enjoy a 30-day money-back guarantee when they first sign on with us. This allows them to try us out, risk-free, for a whole month. If you contact us with your cancellation request anytime prior to the end of your initial 30 days, we will refund your money, in full. (This is where some companies will also add that you can cancel service with “no questions asked,” but we would like you to know that we will ask you what has brought about the decision to cancel your hosting relationship with us. We need to know where we’ve fallen short so we might continue to improve our offerings and right any wrong’s that may exist in our process.)

If you need to cancel after your initial 30 days has already passed, we will simply cancel your billing cycle and discontinue your web hosting account.

Q: You've stated a couple times that this referral program can be the avenue to financial independence. What do you mean by that?

A: Financial independence is a term used to describe the phenomenon of having enough recurring revenue to support oneself without the need to continuously trade products or services for it. The principle behind the Dreamscape Multimedia green web hosting reseller program is this: by rewarding our resellers on a monthly basis, we make it extremely reasonable for you to take the time to talk to others about green web hosting and the environment. When you refer Dreamscape Multimedia web hosting, you talk to people about their website, educating and inspiring others to take action. In the process, you begin to build for yourself a recurring revenue stream. The typical hosting client doesn't move around much once they're set up, so—providing the account doesn't become suspended due to non-payment—you'll see a check for it every month. This check will be directly proportional to your number of active accounts. (See the payment schedule.)

There will come a time—providing you put in the effort to sign up solid web hosting customers—when your number of accounts will become substantial enough for you to live on (assuming reasonable living expenses, of course). Dreamscape Multimedia manages your hosting accounts for you, so your need to work a typical 8 to 5 JOB* becomes greatly reduced and—depending on your monthly income needs—eliminated. The point at which financial independence is reached will vary for everyone, depending on your spending habits, debt load, and the effort you put into the Prosperity referral program (et cetera), but financial independence is possible for anyone who will claim it!

How do I get started?