BUSINESS OWNERS CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN NAME AND E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR THE LONG TERM

By Dr. Jeffrey Lant

When I get an e-mail message from a business person using a free e-mail account, my heart sinks. I think, "Here's another person who just doesn't get it."

Now, think for a minute. When you're in business what do you want and what do you want your customers to know about you?
That...

1) you're reliable

2) they can always find you

3) you're predictable

4) you're permanent.

In short, you don't want any surprises and your customers don't want any surprises about you, either.

Now think what happens when you have to change your phone number or your address. You've got to toss out all your stationery... notify a ton of people... divert your attention from money-making projects to set things right. It's more than a nuisance; it's expensive and time-consuming.

Sometimes, of course, it's not your fault you have to do these things; (phone companies will change area codes, for example).

But sometimes it is your fault as when you use a free e-mail service in a penny-wise/pound foolish attempt to save money that makes no business sense whatsoever.

Rule 1.  For Online Business Success Get Yourself A Permanent Domain Name, Get Yourself A Permanent E-Mail Address

There are businesses which are planning for long-term growth and return; there are other businesses that are just diddling, micro affairs that really are here today, gone tomorrow. Which are you? If growing a significant business is your objective, you've got to act like it in every way. This means getting your own domain name and your own e-mail account.

These indicate seriousness; these indicate permanence; these indicate that you plan on being around for the duration.If, that is, you select them carefully.

Rule 2.  Don't Get Cute

Let me ask you a question. All things being equal would you rather invest $10,000 in a product from mikey@mikey.com or webmaster@americaninstitute.com?

Obvious, isn't it? Like any sensible human being you'd go to the place that at least seemed to be most professional, most responsible, most concerned about lowering your anxieties and making you feel comfortable about doing business. "mikey@mikey.com" sounds like a kid playing at business. The other suggests a responsible institution.

What this suggests is equally obvious your domain name should help a customer make a purchase decision, not make him wonder if you're for real, responsible, able to handle his business.

Towards this end, don't even think of giving yourself some cutesey name. It's fatal.

By the same token, don't give yourself any other name that limits. Because most people are both egotistical and in need of ego reinforcement, they give their domain their own name instead of giving it a name that their business can grow into. A domain name, remember, should make the customer feel comfortable; it should also be a name which enables you to comfortably add new products and services. In other words, it should be a forward-looking name, not one that screams, "Hey, world, look at me!"

I ask you which of these names better positions the company for future growth and is likely to give the customer the feeling she's dealing with a real, substantial entity "http//www.marysmith.com" or "http://www.worldprofit.com"? It's obvious, isn't it?

Your domain name should not be

. personal to you

. cute (nothing is easier to dismiss than the seriousness of something "cute")

. slangey (nothing dates faster than slang)

. geographically limiting ("www.daytonassociates.com" becomes a handicap when you're selling outside of Dayton)

. too long (titles on the Internet should be as short as possible without compromising customer understanding and business clarity)

. focused on one kind of business (unless you are absolutely sure that you will never expand beyond it).

. limited by regional spellings. (The Internet is universal. You need to go with the word usage that is most used internationally. This means "center", for instance, "not centre.")
difficult to say or difficult to print. Simplicity is power. Think of Microsoft!

Your domain name should be, on the other hand,

. broad enough that you can grow your business without making that name obsolete

. as descriptive as possible (http//www.trafficcenter.com absolutely lets the customer know what he'll find traffic!)

. short. (The best Internet domain names are just a word or two in length, conveying, in just a few letters, strength, purpose, institutional clarity, while being, at the same time, easy to remember. (http://www.worldprofit.com is a very good illustration of a domain name which meets these criteria.)

. one that ends in .com This is the ending that is most used by business people for commercial purposes. It should be the ending you use, too.

Brainstorm Your Name

Because of the importance of the name, many new domain owners get hung up on it, unwilling to select the name and get on with the real business of business, making money. This isn't wise either. The best thing to do is either alone or with a couple of friends who understand what your business is about to brainstorm possibilities. Don't be judgemental. Write down every name that occurs to you, one after the other.

Then go back and review them. Ask yourself whether the name is attractive, makes sense, is something that you can live with for years to come, and conveys a good sense of your business. If so, see whether someone else already has it.

Go to http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/whois

Unfortunately, given the hundreds of thousands of domain names now being given out annually, there is an excellent chance your first choice will not be available. That's why you should select at least three choices from the list you compiled and reviewed. Check them all for availability. If your first choice isn't available but your second choice is, see if you cannot take an element of your initial choice and recast your second to strengthen it without losing the benefit you found in the first. Do the best you can!

Once You've Got Your Domain Name, Abandon That Free E-Mail Account

One of the things that puzzles me is when people have a good, solid, business-like domain name but continue to use a free e-mail account to transmit e-mail. I'm thinking, for instance, of a fellow I know who has an excellent domain name but whose e-mail account is "mary@staystrong.com"

(ISP changed to protect the guilty). An ex-Air Force officer, the marketer in question is most clearly not "mary." Why doesn't he understand that using this account (probably his wife's) tends to make him a figure of fun?

The reason, probably, is that he's lazy and/or has never thought about his image much. Yet he's selling items that sell for thousands of dollars. Under the circumstances, image most decidedly counts. He needs, therefore, to change his e-mail address pronto to "webmaster@profitnow.com" or "sales@profitnow.com" (again, not the culprit's real e-mail address.)

How can you make this change? Easy! Just follow the guidelines in Eudora 4.0. Do it as soon as your domain name is confirmed and your domain up and running.

Your Domain Name And E-Mail Address Are Yours Permanently

Few things in this life are permanent. Your domain domain and the e-mail address emanating therefrom are two that are. This permanence is very, very valuable

1) Your domain name is transportable. You can take it wherever you go. It's yours permanently. You may decide to change domain hosts. Still, your domain name remains yours.

2) A fixed entity, this is the name that'll get indexed in search engines and linked at sites. Over time this has terrific implications for both return visitors and traffic growth.

3) Your customers will like the fact that they'll always know where you are, always know how to find you. The human animal likes to go where he's been before. Permanent domain and e-mail account addresses reduce his anxieties and make it easy for him to find you. Real business pluses.

Conclusion

The Internet is fast-becoming institutionalized. Already the "Wild West" feeling that existed three or four years ago is gone. The 'net's getting civilized. And in civilization people value predictability, permanence, professionalism, certainty, security, and reliability. This is how your customers want you to be... and they start evaluating whether you are from the very first second, when they see your name... or your e-mail address.

Don't cause them to feel caution, hesitation, and mistrust. Let them see you, right from your domain name and e-mail address, as a solid, responsible, rock-solid, worthy business entity... just the kind of place they feel comfortable spending their money!

*****
Dr. Jeffrey Lant is Co-Founder of the Worldprofit Malls.