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bienvivre
Member
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 11 Nov 2008 14:56
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To anyone who can give me advice. I signed up for web hosting and a domain name last saturday through a company called hostazar. I still can't access my URL! It still shows up as "pending" on the hostazar website. I have sent the company two eamils and opened a support ticket. All I want to know is how long it takes for a URL to become active! Is this odd that it is Tuesday and the site is still not active? I'm new to this game so maybe this is normal - can anyone help me? I want to start building my blogs but do that until my url is active. Thanks!
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 1533
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# Posted: 11 Nov 2008 15:43
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Hi bienvivre,
Sorry you're having trouble. It varies from hosting company to hosting company. It can take several days or more than a week. No, it's not odd that it has been a few days. I would at least give it until Friday.
If they still haven't set up your account fully or answered your emails by then, you can take additional steps. How you handle that is up to you.
Most legitimate hosting companies either have a phone number or a live chat program. I don't see one on their site and find that disturbing. I wouldn't go with a hosting company that doesn't at least have a live means of communication with its customers.
However, it may be that they are a small, newer company and do not have the man power or finances to provide live communication.
I'd like to know why you chose them over other available companies.
If they don't serve you reasonably well, you should be able to get your money back. Most companies provide a 30-60 day money back guarantee.
I think you're panicking a little early. So, just relax a few more days.
Keep us posted,
~Newbie Shield~
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1209
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# Posted: 11 Nov 2008 15:53 · Edited by: mountainmom5
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Welcome bienvivre,
Yes, NS gave you excellent advice and one thing that I might add is why wait to add content to your blog??
Maybe I am wrong, but I think you could go ahead and work on your blog and then once your url is working it will be ready for you...it takes a bit for your blog to get indexed as well - so do it all together and you won't feel so panicky if you have something to do.
p.s. you missed one little duhickey on your sig line - if you fix that it will be clickable.. you need a [ before the last url
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tpalmer02
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Joined: 9 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 11 Nov 2008 16:22
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I will agree with the other 2 posts. I do know if you would have chosen a company like godaddy, it would have shown up the same day.
Going forward, I would make sure that the company you choose to get resources from has a way to contact them by phone. That way you can get your answers immediately.
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bienvivre
Member
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 11 Nov 2008 16:25
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Ok - you guys are the best! Thanks so much I feel a lot better. newbie shield - to answer your question, the reason I went with hostazar is because it was recommended by Rob Benwell in Blogging to the Bank 3.0. In retrospect it might have been an amateur mistake. They also use green technology and that appeals to me. Anyway, I'm going to wait it out and start my blog on wordpress - more good advice mountainmom. If it isn't up by friday I am just going to cancel and go to a more well known hosting service. I have a lot to learn and I'm glad there are folks like you guys out there to help me. I hope I can return the favor someday. Mountainmon - thanks for the tip on my link - I couldn't figure out why it wasn't clickable. I have too much spinning around in my head right now!
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Vishal P. Rao
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 957
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# Posted: 11 Nov 2008 23:11
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mountainmom5: Maybe I am wrong, but I think you could go ahead and work on your blog and then once your url is working it will be ready for you...
Viola, it's not possible unless the account is active (if you want a self-hosted blog).
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bienvivre
Member
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 12 Nov 2008 08:58
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Dear All - my hosting company just contacted me that my site is now active. I have to jump through a few hoops to get it uploaded but it looks like the problem is solved. Thanks for all of your great advice and I'll keep you posted if I run into further roadblocks.
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Grafica
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Joined: 27 Nov 2008
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2008 13:03
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Hello bienvivre:
How is Rob Benwell's strategy working out for you? I received an email on November 2nd promoting his "free" blog and looked at the Hostazar too, but was disenchanted that he wants you to sign up for hosting, and neither Rob Benwell nor Hostazar provide contact phone numbers. Despite emailing Rob Benwell a few times asking for a contact phone number, I have not had any response. However, he does keep emailing me about "Blogging To The Bank." He may have "Ben well" in the past, but he's not now.
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pcwork
Member
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 1627
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# Posted: 27 Nov 2008 19:23
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bienvivre: my hosting company just contacted me that my site is now active. I have to jump through a few hoops to get it uploaded but it looks like the problem is solved
Any specific reason why the account opening was delayed?
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bienvivre
Member
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 29 Nov 2008 16:14
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I ended up canceling the hostazar account. I had all these questions and they were completely nonresponsive. I finally got a phone number and it just goes to a voicemail account. I was really annoyed by all of this. I figured it's best to get my feet wet with a free blog first, and then work my way up to hosting my own site. I have no idea why the account opening was delayed but the point is moot now. Thanks for checking and if you happen to buy blogging to the bank, do not follow benwell's advice and get your own hosting. Defintely start with free blogging first so you can figure out what you are doing. Any other way will be an exercise in frustration!
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Seth
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Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 192
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2008 03:05
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i think you just picked the wrong "hosting company"
Why don't you go to google and type in " TOP WEB HOSTING"
You can get a decent hosting for as low as $4 upto $10 like hostgator, ix webhosting, hostmonster, bluehost ,lunar page or globat
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 1533
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2008 08:54
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Hi bienvivre,
bienvivre: I ended up canceling the hostazar account.
I figured that was coming.
Sorry you had so much trouble.
bienvivre: I figured it's best to get my feet wet with a free blog first, and then work my way up to hosting my own site.
Excellent call. Be sure to learn the fundamentals of online marketing well while you're at it.
After the fundamentals and experimenting with free hosting for a few months, you'll learn some important lessons and will be ready for paid hosting.
Thanx for sharing your experiences so others may learn and avoid the difficulties you've had to suffer through.
Good luck with your free hosting!
~Newbie Shield~
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bienvivre
Member
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2008 11:04
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Thanks Newbie Shield- I'll keep you posted. I've been experimenting with squidoo lenses, posting on blog/article sites, trying different content on my lenses, etc. Are you familiar with squidoo? I can't figure out how to use the RSS module to my advantage but I here it's a great way to get a lens indexed. Any words of wisdom?
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Sonni
Member
Joined: 10 Jun 2008
Posts: 347
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2008 12:59
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So your luck would have it NS is quite familiar with Squidoo and is sure to help you as long as you're willing to do your part.
I would also like to suggest the 30 Day Challenge it's FREE and you will learn a lot about IM. I can't think of a better FREE way to learn IM. In fact, there are many paid guru's who don't come close to Ed Dale and his team when it comes to educating newbies online.
Sonni
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adjeenyus
Member
Joined: 30 Nov 2008
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2008 13:15
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try bluehost, they are very familiar with "website re-directs" and will re-direct for free. I beleive the cost for domain is very reasonable
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Seth
Member
Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 192
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2008 04:38
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bienvivre: Thanks Newbie Shield- I'll keep you posted. I've been experimenting with squidoo lenses, posting on blog/article sites, trying different content on my lenses, etc. Are you familiar with squidoo? I can't figure out how to use the RSS module to my advantage but I here it's a great way to get a lens indexed. Any words of wisdom?
Check NewBie Shields Signature i think he's the expert in squidoo here =)
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 1533
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2008 08:29
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Hi Bienvivre,
To learn more about Squidoo, you can start by checking out the Squidoo folder right here on the forum:
http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/35_0.html
You can also go to Squidoo and do a search on what ever it is you'd like to know. There are search boxes all throughout Squidoo including on every individual lenses so you won't have any problem finding the boxes:
www.squidoo.com
There are many Squidoo tutorials on Squidoo. You can also join the Squidoo forum. As suggested above, you can check out my sig link. Currently, it is a link to a Squidoo tutorial lens.
As far as RSS (Really Simple Syndication) goes, I don't use it on my lenses but you can use it on your own if you like. I haven't seen that using it increases lens rank over not using it.
If you want your lenses indexed quickly, you can create links to your lenses and the indexing bots will find them. You can do several things: Write an article with a back link, write a press release with a back link, tweet, link from another Web 2.0 page, link from a blog comment, link from a forum sig, etc...
Just be sure to link back to your lens in each case and the bots will follow it.
You could also use Pingoat or another pinging service though some would argue that it's better for bots to find your lens the natural way via back links. That's up to you. Here is a link to Pingoat:
http://pingoat.com/
Hopefully the above resources will answer your questions else just post in the Work At Home Squidoo forum - link provided above.
~Newbie Shield~
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bienvivre
Member
Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Posts: 9
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2008 20:02
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Thanks everyone! great advice! Newbie Shield - I love your how to lens and will def check out the tutorials. Gosh I have so much to learn - it's a bit overwhelming and really hard work! I guess you guys already know that! I'll keep you all posted and happy lensing
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Moonraker
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Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Posts: 2
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# Posted: 18 Feb 2009 09:43
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Hi Bienvivre, I was interested in your post as I had exactly the same trouble. After about two weeks I managed, through the payment processing agency, to obtain a refund. In this case, the payment was done through "PayPal@Clickbank", whatever that means (!)
The story behind this: I had purchased the product "Blogging to the Bank 3". Presently I had an email from its creator, urging me to get a domain name and hosting, and he recommended Hostazar. So I went there, liked the look of the offerings, and the costs, and ordered two domains, plus hosting for one. I waited, as you did, for activation. Nothing doing after two weeks. Even though I had paid through the linked system, I found that the invoice remained listed as "unpaid".
Have you checked your invoice at the Support Area? I suggest you do that. Then click on that "PayPal" button at the top right of the page. I imagine you'll see what I saw: Message from PayPal saying "This company is currently unable to accept payments".
Now, if that domain name is important to you (as mine were to me), you could lose it to someone else while nothing continues to happen at Hostazar. Therefore I suggest you arrange a refund asap and register your domain name somewhere else. I use GoDaddy for some of my domain names (and I have about 60 altogether, some hosted; some just parked). Blue Host is fine as well. And Voda Host. As I'm in Cape Town, I have a lot of my accounts at a local host called Hetzner. This one is as solid as a rock.
Good luck, and I hope this will help,
Moonraker
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