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When you first think of starting a home based internet business, the first you might think off is internet and then immediately after would be the name of the new business you are about to launch. The name of the business, and actually the first thing about starting a home based internet business is the name, or as it is appropriately known, “domain”.

What is a domain? Domain is the name of your online business, and the very first thing you need to have when starting a home based internet business (and any other internet based business as a matter of fact). The domain will contain of three distinct parts, i.e. the first part which is www (or World Wide Web), followed by a dot. Then you will have your business name – let us say it is ‘xyz’ followed by another dot (or full stop) and lastly you will have com or org, au, ro, uk, etc. The last part will indicate what type or registration you have. If it is education, it will most likely be .edu, if it is Australia is can .au, .uk for UK, .ro for Romania and so on.

Your registration will determine in the end your full domain name. The registration can be directly by you over the net, or done through the web host. Both are genuine and trouble free, the charges for yearly registration seldom exceeding $100/-. Be careful however, when you do so, that you are named as the owner (registree) and not the web host.

When starting a home based internet business you will find it very useful to have sub-domains. In this way you can keep yourself organized your website free of clutter and have a separate address for each such sub-domain. The separate address would make it very easy to post links and link pages to search engines for best SEO results.

In similar lines you could use multiple domains. The difference between multiple domains and sub-domains is that the former is used a direction provider (re-direct) and the other is a separate folder. Both services are free and both are invaluable when starting a home based internet business since one organizes and de-clutters and the other boosts search engines capacity to identify your website.

There are a number of web hosts who promote free web hosting. Never go for free web hosting when starting a home based internet business. You can have that for a hobby or personal website, but for business is a definite NO-NO. The main reason for avoiding free web hosting, besides the fact that it gives very limited services, is because if tomorrow they go bust, you will disappear with their addresses. I advise you to use good professional services both for designing your website, as well as for hosting it. You cannot afford cheapness creep in when starting a home based internet business – value for money – YES, but not cheapness.

The domain is the first and last thing that a surfer will remember about your website. Make sure you choose a easy and remember-able domain name – or you will risk oblivion. Also always have on your page a link prompting for book-marking. This can be priceless when starting a home based internet business and you want to build up traffic.

Scott has his own website to help you find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home at: http://www.Pennies4You.com

Selecting a proper domain name is one of the first important steps when starting an online business. In the online community, your domain name actually represents the name and reputation of your business, so choosing a domain name for your website is just as important as choosing your business name.

The first step to selecting a domain name is to brainstorm a list of possible domain names for your business. Ideally, your domain name should contain your business name, if possible. Customers who remember your business name can then return to your website easily by entering the URL of your website on their browser.

If it’s not possible to register a domain name that contains your business name (because it has already been registered), then you need to include your business keywords in the domain name. These keywords should describe what your business does, or what products your business sells.

For example, if you plan to sell rare gemstones, you can register domain names like ‘uniquegemstones.com’ or ‘raregemsonline.com’. These domain names contain the word ‘gem’, which describes your business.

Another reason why you must include your business keywords in your domain name is that search engines will rank your website higher if your domain name contains the keywords you want to optimize your site for. You’ll benefit from a higher stream of targeted visitors from Google, Yahoo or MSN when visitors search for your keywords.

For instance, a website with the domain name ‘webtuitionservices.com’ is likely to rank higher than ‘tuition4you.com’, for the keywords ‘tuition services’, all else being equal.

Additionally, keep your domain name short and catchy. If your business name is too long and complicated, first-time visitors to your site may have a hard time remembering your URL, and cannot return to your website for future purchases.

When choosing a domain name, you should always register a ‘.com’ URL. The ‘Dot-Com’ domain name has become the industry standard, and everyone remembers ‘.com’ first before ‘.net’. If you use a ‘.net’ or ‘.org’, you risk losing potential customers, simply because they assume that your business uses ‘.com’.

Registering The Domain Name

After you’ve brainstormed a list of possible domain names, you need to check their availability before actually registering them.

An example of where you can determine the availability of a domain name is Register.com, Inc. (http://www.register.com)

You can then proceed to register the domain name you’ve chosen. Popular domain name registration services like http://www.register.com or http://www.godaddy.com easily come to mind. The costs of registering each domain name can range between a few dollars to less than $20 a year.

Take note that domain name registration and web hosting are two separate services. The domain name registration service only registers your domain name – nothing else.

A web hosting service, on the other hand, allows you to upload your website onto a server so that visitors can view it via HTTP on the internet. The web hosting service comes together with Domain Name Service (DNS), which is the tool that directs visitors to your website when they enter the domain name on their web browser.

Also note that some web hosting services also offer free domain name registration as part of their web hosting package. One such example is PowWeb, Inc. (http://www.powweb.com). Before you register your domain name at http://www.register.com or http://www.godaddy.com, you should decide on your web host first and find out if they offer free domain name registration. This can probably save you a couple of extra dollars for domain name registration each year.

In conclusion, you need to select a domain name that is short and memorable, so that your visitors can easily return to your website another time. Your domain name should also contain either your business name, or the major keywords of your website, to rank higher on the search engines.

Your first task in setting up a business web site may be deciding on a domain name. If your business has already established brand name recognition with consumers then you should probably consider using your actual business name as your domain name also. If however, like most businesses, you are trying to draw attention from customers who are searching for your products and services, but who likely don’t know who you are, then a different approach is needed.

For example, someone searching for an affordable interior decorator that can help them in the Denver area, a domain name such as - www.denverinteriordesigns.com tells people 2 things right off the bat when they look at this url - (1) You offer interior design services and (2) you operate out of the Denver area. So before planning anything else, you have already begun the process of capturing visitors who are pre-qualified by using an url such as this one in this example. Ultimately, this should be your goal.

A third thing to consider is that very likely, after completing the keyword research needed to optimize your web site for search engine listing, you will discover that “Denver” and “interior design” are 2 of your best key phrases. Having them placed strategically in the domain address may give you a slight boost in ranking as well.

Should you hyphenate long domain names?

Ideally you want the domain name you choose to be fairly short; it’s easier for people to remember the name. If you choose to use a slightly longer domain name hyphenating it may help keep from misspelling it when typing it in the browser bar. Some seo consultants will tell you that search engines like Google(c) will penalize you if you use hyphens. However, it is our experience that it makes no difference to the se’s whether the name is hyphenated or not.

The one thing we do recommend is that if you are going to use hyphens in your domain name, purchase the same domain name without the hyphens and re-direct visitors who forget to add the hyphens when typing, to the hyphenated version of the domain. That way, no matter what they type, they will arrive at your landing page.

To Dot.com or not to Dot.com . . . ?

Most people are conditioned to search using a Dot.com extension when looking for a web site. Dot.com was here first and it’s what people are most familiar with. Try to get the Dot.com extension for your domain name first. After that we recommend that you also purchase all of the secondary extensions of your domain name as well. This keeps other web site owners from benefiting from traffic that should rightfully be yours because someone purchased say, the Dot.net version of your domain and benefited from traffic that misspelled your domain name when typing it into the browser.

Secondly, you may find that owning the alternate extensions of your domain name may prove useful in other ways somewhere down the road.

Brad Knell is the owner of Better Search Solutions, a search engine optimization and web promotion company. Check out his website for more info -
http://www.bettersearchsolutions.com

Owning your own domain name (.com) is easier than you think. And, if you are in any type of business – even a hobby business, non-profit business or a club/association – having your own identity with a domain name is very important to your professional image.

It is important in:
• Customer recognition
• Easy to find in search engines
• Decrease in the website address length
• Cohesive email address – youremail@yourdomain.com
• Ability to offer additional email addresses to staff/workers/volunteers to keep business issues in a business email
• Personal ownership and pride

Acquiring your domain is really a simple process. All domains must be registered with InterNic. This registration service is offered by a variety of companies, called “registrars”. Registrars have the legal authority to sell the registration of a domain. They each also can set their own prices.

To find a registrar, you can search one of the search engines for “domain name registration” and then evaluate the pricing and what is included. (The company I use is www.TotalWebsitesOnline.com) In today’s market, a registration should not be more than $10 per year. Most are about $8.95 per year. Cheaper offers are there, but watch out for the fine print. More expensive ones are there as well.

Your registration fee should include, at a minimum:
• Complete Email
• Forwarding / Masking
• Starter Web Page (NOT an under-construction page)
• “For Sale” and/or Parked Page (under construction page)
• Domain Name Locking
• Email Forwards or aliases (at least 10)
• Telephone and Email support

Most registrars also offer hosting, marketing and a variety of other internet tools.

Once you find your registrar, you are ready to being the process. Most follow the same basic procedure. They should have a search form or box – “Register Your Domain Name Here” or “Search for Your Domain Name Here”.

Enter your domain name choice – choosing either a “.com” or a “.net”. If you are an organization, you can try for the “.org” as well. I do not recommend any of the other “extensions” such as “.ws”, “.info” or “.biz” as a first choice.

If a domain is already registered by someone else, you are not able to register that domain. Many companies, like TotalWebsitesOnline will offer suggestions that are available if your first choice is not. If your choice is not available, try again.

When you find a domain name that is available, you will have the option to continue with the registration process. You may also have the option to choose the other extensions at a discount. If you have a business, you may want to purchase these, especially if your name is trademarked or you plan on having it trademarked.

Complete the information accurately and be sure to use an email address that you have constant access to. Notices will go this email account.

Many registrars now offer “Privacy Registrations” or “Registrations by Proxy”. If you do not want your information (name, address, phone, email) to be accessible by a search of the InterNic database WHOIS, this is an add-on you might want to consider. Most companies offer this service for about $10 per year.

Once you have made your selections, check-out and the domain is yours!

Marian Brown has been involved with internet marketing since 1997. She has taught courses in website development and marketing online. Visit her site at http://www.totalwebsitesonline.com for more information and to subscribe to the free email newsletter.

When you are choosing a domain name you will probably be looking for a .com or maybe a .net. This on the whole is sensible advice, but if you are offering something a little bit different on your website and you want to stand out then there is another path you can take.

First let me give a quick and simple explanation of the different parts that domain names are made up of. Let us start with the top level, this is the end part of any web address such as .com or the myriad of other top level names that are now available. The part next to the top level domain is called the second level domain. The second level domain is the part that you register with a domain name registrar. For my site the second level domain is NameSearchDomain.

The part at the from of the web address is the third level domain, this is excluding the www part. The third level domain is often referred to by your web host as the sub-domain, it is just a sub-domain of the second level domain name. You can set this part up with your web host if it allows you to use sub-domains.

This is a very high level overview of how a web address is made up, there is more to this but for our purposes this is all we nee to know. To clarify here is an example using Google.

• Second Level - Google.com or www.Google.com
• Sub-domain - News.Google.com or www.News.Google.com

You do not need to enter the www part of the address in your browser, just typing in Google.com will take you to the website.

Now you know how a web address is made up you can use your imagination to come up with a clever and distinctive web address. If you take a look at del.icio.us you can see an interesting use of the available domain names to spell the word delicious. Here they have registered the domain name icio.us, the us part is the top level domain that represents North America. A sub-domain of del has been created on their web server which completes the creation of a catchy web address.

Why not use the same principal to create your own web address, there are many top level domains to choose from, far too many to list here. As many of the less well known top level domains are not used there will be a lot more domain names to choose from. You can use this method to create a distinctive web address and become more memorable to your visitors.

Allan is the webmaster at NameSearchDomain.com where you can find out all about Domain names.

Your web site is located by an IP (Internet Protocol) address such as 67.15.4.94 and is accessible on the Internet by typing http://67.15.4.94. Instead of typing a series of numbers which are difficult to remember, you can register an easier to remember domain name which becomes associated with your IP address. Visitors typing an easy to remember domain name will be pointed to your IP address. Similar to a 1-800 vanity phone number, some domain names pertain to the subject of the web site, while others may simply be the name or an abbreviation of your firm.

Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com is the primary domain name for my blog, which is instantly obvious that it is a blog concerning lawyer advertising. When you type that domain name into the address bar of your browser, the domain name servers on the Internet know that you’re looking for http://67.15.4.94 and take you there. You can have multiple domain names pointing to the same web site. For instance, I also registered LawyerAdvertisingBlog.com (without hyphens) which is used for branding because people never type hyphens. Because some people may remember the name incorrectly, I also registered many other domain names such as AttorneyAdvertisingBlog.com, LawFirmAdvertisingBlog.com and others, all of which will bring the visitor to Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com.

Tips to help you pick a domain name:

1) Choosing: Choosing a domain name is a lot like choosing a name for your company or law firm. Ideally the name should be consistent with your branding. Determine whether you are branding the name of your company, product or service. Your domain name should be good for branding - short, easy to remember, and has a “ring” to it or creates an image in the mind of the consumer.

2) Trademark: Before registering your domain name, be sure to check the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make sure that the name has not been trademarked. You can check at www.uspto.gov, click on Search under Trademarks. Assuming that your choice has not been trademarked and you have now registered a non-generic domain name, you may want to protect your name by filing a Trademark or Service mark application.

3) Ownership: When you register a domain name, make sure that you are the registrant of your domain name. Some web site design firms will register your domain name with their name as the registrant. This will give them ownership of your name keeping you hostage. You can easily register your domain name yourself for $8.95 per year at 8.95Domains.com or GoDaddy.com.

4) Hyphens: There have been misunderstandings about whether to use hyphens in a domain name. First of all, the domain name you give out to the public must not have hyphens. The domain name without hyphens is the domain name that everyone will type in the address bar of their Internet browser.

The reason that some people say that you should have a domain name with hyphens is to force the search engines to see keywords in your domain name so that your web site does better in search engine results. The bigger search engines can now see individual words without hyphens, however, smaller search engines may not and even the bigger ones may see a word differently than you want.

Thus, the importance of using a hyphenated domain name has diminished. If you wish to use a hyphenated domain name as I did with Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com, you should also register the unhyphenated domain name which you will forward to the hyphenated domain name. Use the unhyphenated domain name in print and advertising.

5) Extensions: Domain names are available with various extensions, such as .com, .net, .org and many other extensions. If it’s really important to you, you can register domain names in several extensions, however, for most firms only the .com extension is important. If you feel that you need to use .org, you should also register your name in the .com extension.

The .com extension is similar to 1-800 for telephone numbers. Most people automatically dial 1-800 even when they see 1-888. Likewise, most people will type
.com even when they see .net or .org. Additionally, many people including myself simply type in the domain name without http://www. or .com and press “Control, Enter”. Pressing “Control, Enter” will type http://www. and .com for you, automatically taking you to a web site with .com.

6) Top Level Domain vs. Sub-Level Domains: A sub level domain is a second level domain under a first level domain name and can look like yourfirm.freehosting.com. You must have your own domain name. Do not under any circumstances use a free hosting service, since free hosting services will only give you a sub level domain. No one will ever remember it and it’s sort of like handwriting your own letterhead.

7) Ethics for Law Firm Domain Names: A website name should be used as an address, not a trade name which is prohibited. Advertise your web site name as an address, a means for people to find your web site, not a trade name. Like a vanity telephone number, some web site domain names can violate legal ethics. Make sure that your web site name avoids use of certain words which could create a potentially incorrect expectation in the mind of the consumer or violate one of the other ethics rules.

Your domain name should not imply that you are better than another lawyer or that you can accomplish something that may not actually occur. Use of words such as “BEST”, “TOP”, “FOREMOST, “LEADING”, “WIN” and similar words in a web site domain name could create a misleading expectation in the mind of the consumer and will violate ethics rules in most states.

For instance, LeadingLawyer.com or BestLawyer.com will likely violate lawyer ethics rules by implying that you are a leading lawyer or the best lawyer. The question is by what standards are you leading or the best and in what? WinningLawyer.com or WinningCase.com may be better for a casino, because it will imply that the person who becomes a client of the firm will win money when, that may not happen and even if it does, it’s an award for just compensation, not gambling.

Laura Hodes in her article for the ABA Journal entitled Vanity Phone Numbers Make Your Firm Less Forgettable, at http://www.hurt911.org/hurt-911-articles/ABAJournal.htm, quoted Will Hornsby, an expert on lawyer advertising and staff counsel in the ABA Division for Legal Services, who said that while there is nothing unethical about vanity numbers, “1-800-I-WIN-CASES would be unethical because it is making an unsubstantiated claim, creating unjustified expectations that can be true but still be misleading.” The same can be said about domain names.

Advertising Your Domain Name: Be sure to include your domain name on your business cards, letterhead, and all advertising. When advertising in off-line media, always advertise your domain name with www. and without http://, such as www.LawyerAdvertisingBlog.com. Note that when publishing your domain name on the Internet, you may sometimes want to use http:// to ensure that you create a link back to your web site. When advertising in off-line media, always advertise a domain name without hyphens.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., publishes articles on Lawyer Advertising at www.Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com and created www.HURT911.org an accident and injury research web site for people hurt in an accident and personal injury lawyers.

Ian McMillan registered the internet domain name TrivialPursuits.net and won the right to continue using it, after a challenge from Horn Abbot, the makers of the board game, failed to stop him using the domain name. The makers of the Trivial Pursuits board game failed to obtain the TrivialPursuits.net domain name from the person who said he registered the name to lament life’s loss of individual creativity.

This decision has gone against the long established principle that once a brand is “well known”, the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)1 part of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), would be able to effect the transfer of the name. However, in this case, the panel was unclear about the intentions of the respondent, and his motive for registering the domain name. The panel did not believe that there was enough evidence to support an application for bad faith activity on behalf of the respondent.

Respondent Ian McMillan informed the WIPO panellist that he bought the name with with the intention of creating a website dealing with “the 21st Century’s unique trivial pursuits, specifically the fact that most aspects of life now involve a commodity as opposed to individual creativity, from sex to salvation via surgery and sweeteners”. Currently, the site is only one page long, and refers to the WIPO case as “a fine example of a quite unnecessary and utterly trivial pursuit,” adding that more content will be added, “but at the convenience of my lazy nature.”

There was little evidence of bad faith found by the panel, although McMillan does not appear to have intention of using the website.

Comment: Usually in cybersquatting cases where there “is no use of a sign in the course of trade” plus difficulty in establishing trade mark infringement or passing off, the UDRP approach is the recommended recourse as it is far cheaper and sometimes quicker.

If you require further information contact us.

Email: enquiries@rtcoopers.com

© RT COOPERS, 2005. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.

Rosanna Cooper is a partner in RT Coopers Solicitors. The firm is a full service commercial law firm covering areas such as E-Business, Education Law, Commercial Litigation, Data Protection, Intellectual Property, Corporate Finance and Commercial Contracts.

Contact us at enquiries@rtcoopers.com. visit our website at http://www.rtcoopers.com

How many times have you read or heard on the news that someone hit a state lottery? Winning Millions of Dollars.

The odds of winning a major state / multi-state lottery is for example:
1 in 120,526,770 is your chance of winning the most popular multi-state lottery in the U.S. Power Ball.

Trying to guess which of the 1 to 53 and 1 Powerball number from 1 to 42 will come out on is mind boggling and to make it even tougher; the rule is that you must get the 1 in 120,526,770 right on the night that you play.

No holding onto your ticket and see if it comes out in a couple of weeks. If you don’t hit it on the date on your ticket. You can just trash your hard earned $1.00.
If you purchased plays 10 then, just lost 10 of your hard earned dollars!

There is BETTER game for you to play with better chances to win (sort of speak)!
One day as I was cruising down the information highway I came across some information that made me slam on my breaks! People were playing the NEW Lottery!

This Game is so cheap that it comes out to about 0.025342465753424657534246575342466 (my trusty calculator) per day to play.
Being terrible with numbers I’m not even going to attempt to figure out what the odds of hitting this lottery is!
One thing I’m sure of… this NEW Lottery has to have much better odds!
What makes it special to me is; it’s for those of US who love letters and words.

I called it the Name Game.

One Play gets you a whole year to hit! Just about anyone can play it for less than pennies a day (refer to the 0.025 number above ….)

Simply come up with a domain name and buy it. Within days you could be on your way to Literally Millions!

Imagine if you were the one who came up with and bought Business.com.

You would have hit that Name Lottery for $8 million dollars! Yes, 8 Million! I repeat, that’s $8,000,000,00!

Business.com is the current record holder for that highest paid domain name.

It took the spot from Compaq who paid something like $3.300,000,00 million for the the domain Altavista.com back in February 3, 2000.
You probably recognize the Altavista name now but before Compaq bought it, it was likely a big dude in the world of internet.
Has these Million Dollar Figures made you decide to Play the Domain Lottery. If so here is a tip or two to get you started.
The most popular web address (not the same as email address) end in .COM.
The second most popular is .NET

The absolute major combination hit is to have a .COM consisting of just one word i.e. business.com if that isn’t available go for it’s sister version business.net. These names all go for just under $10.00. (If they aren’t already taken!

Just thought of one could you could you hold on please while I go check it out? ………… Thank you for waiting however I just tried business.TV and it is already taken and is probably up for sale.
Once you purchase a domain name it’s yours. You can transfer it, let it just sit there or SELL IT!

In fact there is so much money to be made in domain names that there are companies who do just that. They put you domain name up for sale on their site!

You are charged a listing fee; usually starting at about $50.00 to $250.00.
If your domain is sold through their site you are charged a commission fee which can be anywhere between 5 – 10% of the purchase price.

During the research for this article, I came across one which charges just $0.79 cents to list a domain name and NO Commission fees.

All in all when you are getting paid $8 Million for simply coming up with a name.

I’d say that’s a great way to hit any lottery, without having to get dressed, hurry to the convenient
store before the deadline cut-off time!

Now: What would I do if I hit one of these Domain lotteries? I must state like many other multi-million dollar lottery winners. I’d keep working because words and writing is a part of me and is what I love!

Happy Domaining to You All!

Terri Wells
http://www.kingdom-domain.com
twells@writeme.com

Terri is a freelance writer, writing articles for businesses for a small fee.