I often hear complaints from people that FTP programs are too hard to use.  There are too many options, too many buttons and too many configurations you have to learn about.  For those people out there looking for a  simpler FTP program I offer to you DropUpLoad.

This program is a very light, simple yet robust utility which manages your uploads in the way of a spooler.  It also is so small you can load it up on a USB device too.  You don’t even have to worry about getting it installed.  All you do is double click the .exe file and it is ready.

To use, just create or select a server you wish to connect to then drag and drop the file you wish to upload into the white box.  You also have the option to zip each file you upload too.  Another neat feature is that you can create a “locked” version of DropUpLoad, which limits connections to a single server and hides and encrypts login information inside the generated executable.

If you feel like you don’t need a full FTP program like Filezilla and the like to get the job done DropUpLoad is undoubtedly the simplest alternative program you could have in your web hosting tool belt.

Humyo.com is a new personal file hosting service that is now giving away 30GB of disk space for free to people who sign up today.  The tag line here is “access your life” and they want you to be able to reach the documents and file you need anywhere at any time.

You receive 25GB for Photos/Music/Videos and 5GB for other files.  You can also play your music, watch your video and edit your documents from any location.  Signing up for the free version will also give you a 14 day trial of the desktop client they have which promises to make transferring data from one PC to the other a simple task.

Need to access your files on the go?  They have the ability to get to your files via your phone or PDA.  You can also e-mail your files without worrying about file size limits.  One more nice feature of the free service is you can publish your files on the Web from Humyo.  The only thing you have to live with would be the Humyo logo in the bottom corner.

Paid users of Humyo can also:

• File transfers to and from your space protected with 256-bit SSL encryption
• Allow colleagues to edit stored documents and upload files to shared folders.

Paid customers also get access to 100GB of disk space, and 100GB more can be added at any time for an additional $99.99 per year.  The regular price for paid users is $59.99 for the first year then $79.99 per year after that.

I got an e-mail last week, where Tom was wanting to know…

“Hi Mitch, love the podcast.  I have just started up a reseller account of my own but I am in need of some billing or shopping cart software that will make it easier to resell the hosting space I have purchased.  Any suggestions?”

Sure, phpCOIN is a great solution for this type of problem.  Some of the features it provides includes:

• Site Content - create and manage site information for easy display for potential and existing clients. The content is searchable with the “Search” module.
• Order Process - provide a configurable of forms for collecting client information during order process, and provide a single “paylink” at the end of the process to direct the client to third party billing. Search orders feature available.
• Invoices - provide a method of invoicing clients for orders / services in either a one-shot invoice, or as a recurring invoice. Search invoices / transactions feature available.
• Client Management - keep client information profile, order history, invoice / payment history, support help desk ticket history. Search clients feature available.
• Support - provide an integrated support help desk trouble ticket system. Search trouble tickets feature available.
• Contact - provide a means for clients to contact you (ticket system or contact forms) and for the admin to contact the clients

Point your browser to phpCOIN.com and visit the download page to pick up the full package, and then install on your own hosting space.  If you have any other alternatives for Tom when it comes to free billing software for web hosting resellers drop in a comment.

From coast to coast, and all around the web hosting world. I can’t promise you you’ll be a millionaire if you listen to this week’s show. I can’t even make you better looking. What I can do for you is to make everything from server farms to domain name registrations make a little more sense and I can do so with what some may say is a funny accent.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 156!
Running Time: 18 minutes | File Size: 7.85 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode of the Web Hosting Show.

• ICANN Wants to Give You .Anything?
• Where to go to Get 30GB of Disk Space Free?
• Free Billing Software for Web Hosting Resellers?
• Best Tool to Update Your Blogs?

Podcast Exclusive - Part 4 of Our “How to Purchase a Web Hosting Business” Series with Web Strategist Errett Cord. Download the podcast to check it out!

I’m back again, and sad to say ICANN is still turning down my application to be the official spokesperson for the organization. Maybe it is because I have no boobs? If I did, I know at least I’d get work from Bob Parsons. Time to start answering some questions, and to make some sense out of all this web hosting lingo.

Not every web host out there has a multi-million dollar budget to spend on software, so I have come up with a few free alternatives for you to pass around your office next time your searching for the right tool for the job.

Foxit Reader (for PDF viewing) - Out of all the PDF reader programs out there, Foxit gets the job done and is not half as annoying as Adobe is.  If you want a PDF viewer that will not ask that you download updates for 20 other programs you do not have, Foxit is the best.

OpenOffice.org (for word processing, spreadsheets and more) - Microsoft Office is a program I have never really used.  Why?  I have always been a fan of the free alternative, OpenOffice.org.  This bundle of a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing and more might even be better than the expensive Microsoft bundle.

AutoHotkey (for helping with those quick responses) - In my bag of tricks, AutoHotkey is most likely to be the most used one of them all.  Thanks to a little simple script writing I can now type in a few characters instead of a two paragraphed e-mail each time I answer a customer’s question.

Thunderbird (for e-mail management) - I have tried a number of different e-mail clients and Mozilla’s Thunderbird wins out head over heels each and every time.  Manage multiple e-mail accounts and with the add-ons, you can build onto the functionality of the product.

Google Calendar (for dates and appointments) - Can’t tell you what I did for a calendar before Google’s came around because Google was the one who turned me onto using it.  Before Google Calendar I was stuck with ripped off sheets of paper with notes scribbled down.  After Google Calendar, I can quickly click a date, add a note and I’m done.

Now sure, those big web hosts might have the thousands of dollars to spend on programs but the budget web hosts out there have to count their pennies.  If you have any other suggestions feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Free photo or image web hosts come a dime a dozen these days.  EchoPic.com is another provider that gives you another choice to your image sharing.

They provide image and photo sharing services that make life easy when you need to upload and share files on your web site, blog or social network profile.

You can either upload or enter the image URL and “grab it” to host on EchoPic’s services.  All in all EchoPic isn’t doing anything really different but they are providing a quality free image hosting solution and when it comes down to it - what more could you ask for from your free hosting solution?

Just have a quick update for you for now.  Just finished up putting together the first (of hopefully many more) web hosting eBooks for you to enjoy.  The Best of the Web Hosting Show Guides is a collection of some of the most popular guides I have posted and talked about here on the podcast.

Unlike other eBook deals, you get an extra perk with this setup.  You can download both the digital eBook version, or head over the the official page for it and pick up all five chapters as audio downloads too.  I wanted to give to you the best of both worlds.  The topics covered in the eBook cover all aspects of the web hosting world:

• Moving from Web Host to Web Host
• Getting going with your own Ecommerce Store Online
• How to Find a Job in the Web Hosting Industry
• Best Methods and Tips for Setting up a New Blog
• The Ever Popular Handy Guide to Domain Names

Download the PDF and let me know what you think.  Also as far as distribution goes, please feel free to share the link to download it to anybody and everybody you know.  This is a project of mine I have been working on getting together for some time now and I want everybody to know it is free of charge.