Like many IT companies in the late 1990s, Jade Technology was established to take advantage of the rapidly expanding Internet market. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the company has been in business for four years, providing Internet, hosting, database and web site development services.Title: “Are You For Real?”

Deck: Recognizing explosive opportunities in cheap budget hosting, Jade Technology provides competitive pricing and good service to boot.

Byline: Adult TopHosts (http://adult.tophosts.com)

Like many IT companies in the late 1990s, Jade Technology was established to take advantage of the rapidly expanding Internet market. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the company has been in business for four years, providing Internet, hosting, database and web site development services.

Initially serving larger customers with high-level hosting and IT needs such as hotel chains, online stores, and auction sites, Jade Technology President and CEO, Greg Harris, soon recognized explosive opportunities in cheap budget hosting and the adult hosting industry. To gain a foothold in these markets, the company was expanded to include Websytz.Com and Erotihost.Com.

While Jade Technology serves larger clients, who pay between $100 and $600 per month for high bandwidth and data transfer, Websytz.Com provides cheap budget hosting at $4.95 per month to approximately 900 clients, and Erotihost.Com offers affordable hosting services at $8.95 per month to the adult industry. In addition to reaching a large North American client base, Jade Technology and its subsidiary companies have clients located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Spain, Columbia, and Israel.

While one may question how a company can survive by charging such low rates, Harris wonders why hosting companies are charging so much for their basic hosting services. His company is able to stay on top because of technology advancements, ownership of its own data center, and focus on customer retention.

Technology growth has enabled the company to create new accounts in minutes. Harris says, “Technology has grown so much that it’s become very easy to get somebody set up. We can put a server up in 20 minutes and have the software installed. It’s such an automated process. We use a software package called Plesk, which has enabled us to get into cheap budget hosting. It was more expensive before, but this software makes it so easy to set up a hosting facility. In addition, we’ve automated all the processes – we have our own programming that automatically creates accounts within minutes of the customer signing up on our web site.”

The technology used by the company also enables it to save on customer service costs. Harris states, “The software pretty much takes care of setting everything up so unless customers have a lot of technical questions we don’t hear from them much. It is an easy program so once they get the gist of how to do it they don’t seem to have any issues at all-very simple to use. We give customers the same uptime and quality they’d get on a $40 to $50 account.”

The company has also been able to offer low rates because it owns its data center. Harris says, “We have a cage over at Verio Data Centre in Newark, New Jersey and because we have a T-1 line in here, we do hosting out of here as well – another reason why we’ve been able to provide cheap hosting – our bandwidth charges are pretty low.” The company is in the process of moving all of its equipment from both locations into one location at the Verio Data Center in New York City.

Finally, quantity is very important in cheap budget hosting. “The only way I can make money is with a lot of accounts, 2000 to 3000 accounts as opposed to a lower number at more money,” Harris says.

As a result, the company focuses on gaining customers and retaining them. It gains many of its customers through two affiliate programs. One initiative, a referral program, pays $5 to customers who introduce new clients. The other program is an advertising initiative.

Harris explains, “We have about 150 affiliates who have the odd banner on their sites and we pay them 15 percent depending on the affiliate, the super affiliates get a little more – for anybody they send to us. So, if somebody buys a $100 plan they get $15. The adult hosting, if someone joins up, we give higher percentages on that plan.”

Jade Technology and its subsidiaries also have a number of competitive advantages, which enable it to compete against other cheap hosting companies like HostSave and Omnis Network.

In addition to its low prices, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing clients to try their service and opt out if it is not for them. Harris states, “If they cancel, we’re more than happy to give their money back. We figure we have another 100 clients because we give that guarantee.”

The company also offers high quality technical support. “Our telephone support is available during the day between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. E-mail is up until 11:00 p.m. or so. We get to overnight questions in the morning. Also, we’re putting in live tech support, where there’s live operator support online. Our tech support representative is on the web site and customers can chat with them about their problems while they work.”

Finally, customers have the option of paying a yearly fee instead of monthly rates. For instance, instead of paying $4.95 per month for basic hosting services, customers can choose to pay $36 per year, which means they’re only paying $3 per month.

Because customers pay such low rates, they wonder what services they are missing out on. Harris mentions customers actually can’t believe it when someone from Jade Technology calls them back or e-mails them back five minutes after sending in a question. “It’s obvious they don’t expect that kind of service with low hosting costs.”

Harris says, “On our order form we have a comments box and we always get some interesting comments.” One of his all times favorite’s is: ‘Are you for real?’ “I laugh every time I see that one.”