I was recently powering down my PlayStation 3 after watching live TV through the web browser when I started to think how integral the device had become for my digital entertainment. I haven’t tuned in my TV for analogue or digital TV for at least 2 years now, not because I don’t watch TV, but because I don’t need to. And that’s thanks to my PS3. I watch TV on demand, I watch live TV, DVDs, movies on demand through LoveFilm, occasionally download a film from Sony’s rental service, listen to the radio in the background and I occasionally even play games on it.

Sony’s (and Microsoft’s) objectives for this generation of consoles has always been to position the device as much more than just a gaming device and more of an entertainment hub for the home. In my case, they have completely succeeded too. You may be asking “That’s all very nice, but what’s this love letter to the PS3 got to do with me or selling web hosting?” Looking beyond your traditional core service to increase revenue and integrate yourself further in to client’s lives is something all web designers can apply to their business.

Become essential

By offering such a wide range of digital entertainment services covering games, TV, film and music, I don’t have much of a need to use any other company’s devices. Web designers who sell hosting to their clients and other supporting products can position themselves as an essential service with recurring revenue and closer client relationships.

The truth is, the more integrated you are with their business the less likely they are to go elsewhere. It’s simply too much effort.  Our inherent laziness has been exploited by banks for years, targeting kids with their first accounts, because they know we will probably never leave.

Profit from add-ons

Sony was still losing money on every PS3 sold last year relying heavily on game licensing and additional services. Whilst running at a loss for 5 years plus is not an option for us, the basic principle of offering basic services at cost value to profit from additional products is tried and tested, for example razors and razor blade plus IKEA beds and bedding.

You could look at web hosting as your loss leader, priced to draw in customers and then cross-sell and up-sell through the order process and after sign up. Supporting products include, domain names, premium web mail, SSL certificates, Hosted Exchange, domain privacy, SEO software, goMobi etc. Dedicated servers have extras such as back up space, cPanel, and additional IP addresses to profit from.

Integrated services

Sony has worked hard to make sure its related products complement each other and work in tandem, a great example being the PS3 and PSP.  By taking a holistic approach to building and managing a website, web design simply becomes one service amongst many. On top of your web design, web hosting, email marketing fulfilment online project management tools, online file storage and more, are all available as white label services for you to offer clients.