Would you buy from someone with an "@yahoo.com" e-mail address? I wouldn’t. And the clients I’ve had the most trouble with use yahoo addresses or other free addresses. I understand that you don’t want your regular e-mail address in ads that your run on free ad sites to prevent spam, but lets use some common sense here.

If you don’t buy anything from yahoo’s off line why would you buy from a yahoo online? If you’re serious about your business you have to show it in your actions. The first action to take is to buy your own domain name and use it for all of your e-mails.

Lets say there’s a Bob Jones who starts up an online company. Will you be quicker to buy from him and trust him if his e-mail address is "bob@starpower.com" or if you read an ad from "bobjones711@yahoo.com?" He’s the same guy, but which address makes you trust him more and believe he’s a legitimate business?

Even if you’re not ready to put up a site (which you should be if you’re marketing online), at least create a professional presentation with your e-mails. They’re your main form of communication online and it’s the main brand people see when you communicate. Everytime you send an e-mail you’re advertising. Do you realize this? You’ll never make decent money online if your e-mail address ends with "@aol.com."

When you come up with a great name for your site or business get a ".com", not a ".net" or ".info" or ".tv" or ".someotherwordpeopledontthinkoffirst." If you can’t get a ".com" for your name, then come up with another name.

Since my main site is www.NetMarketingMastery.com and that’s a bit long to type out, I also use www.nmmastery.com for people to get to the same site and use sopan@nmmastery.com for my e-mail address.

There are 877 and 888 numbers that do the same thing as 800 numbers, but what do you think of first?

Have ever you ever heard anyone talk about 888 numbers? How many times? Okay, now how many times have you heard people talk about 800 numbers? 888 and 877 numbers are known as the step brothers and sisters of 800 numbers.

Similarly, when you want to send a package overnight what company do you think of first? Probably Federal Express because they were the first company to do overnight shipping. You can use UPS or Airborne Express or some of the other smaller companies, but FedEx is the company that gets the most business because they’re thought of first. You need to have a ".com" domain because that’s where visitors will go first no matter how many new domain endings are created years and years from now.

If you have ".net" domain name then you’ll be setting yourself up to lose visitors to whoever has the ".com" domain for your name. Outside of earthlink.net how many ".nets" come to your mind right now? On the other hand, how many ".coms" can you think of?

When you hear about a cool company and want to see if they have a website do you try their name with a ".com" or with a ".net" or ".info" or ".tv" 0r ".anythingelsebesidesa.com?" I’ll bet money that you try the ".com" first everytime and you always will because it’s always going to be your first choice.

So if you haven’t already, go buy a domain for your birth name and get crackin’ on coming up with a great name for your business and go buy a domain for that name before it’s taken. Honestly, we’re talking about a $15 a year investment. If you’re not willing to invest $15 into your business then you don’t have a business. If you want to be taken seriously you have to have your own domain name or you will die online trying to make money. Period, end of story.

About The Author

Sopan Greene, M.A. is a marketing & life coach & editor of the Net Profits newsletter. Grab Your 2 FREE eBooks & a FREE report: "Million Dollar Emails" "How To Start Your Own Traffic Virus" & "The 13 Deadly Internet Marketing Mistakes Almost Every Business Is Making…" mail to: webmaster87-5956@autocontactor.com

http://www.NetMarketingMastery.com

Ahhh… your company name.

Your identity. What separates you from everyone else.

I would be willing to bet that you spent a good deal of time coming up with the perfect name for your company. Am I right?

Something catchy, easy to remember, and unique. How am I doing so far?

What if I were to tell you that your company name is possibly the single biggest hindrance to your business’s success online.

Unfortunately, for many companies it is.

Choosing a name for your business online is much different than choosing a name for a brick and mortar business.

You see, in the real world, a business with a catchy, easy to remember name will get traffic simply from people driving by on the street or walking by in a shopping center even if they have never heard of you before.

Unfortunately, this is not how things work online. Online, there is no drive-by traffic, no people walking in to your business because they were next door shopping.

Online, you must be found among a pool of tens of thousands of other businesses.

Online, people don’t casually browse with friends to pass the time.

Online, people search… and unless your name is Microsoft, Wal-Mart, or another extremely well known and well branded name, people are not going to search for your company name.

Studies show that approximately 80% of Internet users find what they are looking for by way of search engines (i.e., Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite, etc.), and I guarantee you, they are not going to be searching for your wonderful catchy name, they will be searching for the topic they want.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you own a gourmet coffee business called "The Brewmaster" that you decide to take online. Of course you love your name and create your online identity around your offline name. You reserve the domain name "www.brewmaster.com," keep your company name, and title your site "The Brewmaster."

You’ve submitted your site to Yahoo as well as all the other directories and search engines. Ahhh… life is good. Orders should start rolling in any minute now…

Guess what? Unless you have a HUGE marketing budget for banner ads, etc., you’ve just doomed your business.

Let’s look at why.

First, let’s look at the…

*Site Title*

Whether you’re dealing with a directory or a search engine, the site title is the single most important aspect of your listing. For search engines, the text found within the title tags of the page is given more weight than any other single factor on that page (i.e., keyword density, keyword frequency, heading tags, etc.). In a directory, your entire listing is comprised of two things, your title, and your description.

In both cases, if the keywords related to your business are not found in your title, your chances of coming up in a search are virtually non-existent. If your site is about "gourmet coffee" then those words, or at the very least, "coffee," should be somewhere within your title.

*The Company Name*

Just as your site title should have your most important keywords within them, so should your company name.

Why, you ask?! The answer… directories.

In directories, when a visitor uses the search function (which is what the vast majority use) you will only be found if the search term the visitor uses is found either in your site title or your description. Unfortunately, virtually all directories require your site title to be your actual company name. Remember that directories are powered by humans, not software. A human reviews the site, and assigns the title and description that he/she decides is correct. Yes, they all let you suggest a site title, but ultimately, regardless of what you submit, your title almost always ends up as your company name.

Looking again at the above example, this would mean that your title in almost all of the directories would be "The Brewmaster." This means the only place you would have left to put your keywords would be the description, and this again is up to the editor. This means that any site that has the search term "coffee" or "gourmet coffee" in both the title and description would come up far ahead of your site in the search results, costing you traffic and sales that could have been yours.

*The URL*

Here is another very much overlooked tool. Whenever possible, your URL should contain your most important keywords. Many engines and directories will give your site a boost if your keywords are found within your URL. Also, when you submit your site to the directories, if your URL, your company name, and your site title all match, that will virtually guarantee that you will get the title you requested.

Let’s tie the three previous areas together with an example of what you could have named your site instead of "The Brewmaster."

Here’s one possible alternative: "Gourmet Coffee Brewmaster."

The above alternative would give you a company name that includes your most important keywords and the perfect title for your page.

You could then reserve the domain — http://www.gourmet-coffee-brewmaster.com — giving you a perfect trifecta. The same company name, page title, and URL — practically insuring that you get the directory listing you want.

Of course, this is only one possibility, but I think this should illustrate the point.

To Summarize

Follow these rules and you should have no trouble developing a very steady flow of large amounts of traffic from the directories, and you will be well on your way in the search engine arena as well.

About The Author

John Buchanan is the author of the book "The Insider’s Guide to Dominating The Search Engines," and publisher of a FREE monthly newsletter "The Search Engine Bulletin." Visit us at http://www.se-secrets.com for more information or to sign up for the newsletter.

Do you have domain names that you are not currently using?

Did you know that these domains can actually become a source of revenue for your online business?

There are several companies on the internet that will pay you to redirect your domain to a landing page, filled highly relevant PPC (pay per click) links. The links displayed on your landing page will be optimized based on what keywords are in your domain, and what links previous visitors have been interested in looking at. You can earn real money every time one of your visitors clicks a link on your landing page, in addition to guaranteed ad revenue for each and every unique visitor that you recieve. All this revenue building up month after month can form into a very nice income stream for your business.

Considering the fact that you can earn up to $5.00/click (depending on your domain, and what country your traffic comes from) with this type of program, there is no doubt that domain parking can be an extremely lucrative practice. If you would like to learn more about how to start earning money with your unused domain names and be recieving paycheques by the end of next month, please click here…

For more internet marketing articles and online business resources, please visit WealthStream.info…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

About the Author: Jeremy Maddock has been a successful internet marketer for over three years, and is the webmaster of http://www.WealthStream.info.

Domain Name speculation has become big business. According to recent study, the average domain name bought and sold by domain name speculators realized a 377% profit. In addition, the average domain name was sold in 12.5 months.

Domain name speculation involves finding domain names that appear valuable, and waiting with the domain in hopes that someone will want to purchase it in the future. With a great domain name like business.com, this can yield huge returns. Business.com was sold for over $7 million!

When domain name speculators buy a domain name, they generally put up a page indicating that the domain is for sale. This becomes a sort of free advertising, whereby someone interested in that domain name will naturally check out the site to see if it is a competitor, or if the domain can be purchased.

But selling the domain is not the only way domain name speculators make money. In addition to advertising that the page is for sale, most domain speculators park their domains with a domain parking service. These services store a simple website for free, and place content sensitive advertising on the parking pages. They share advertising revenue with the owner of the domain. In this way, domain name speculators get free website hosting for their domains, along with occasional advertising revenue.

There are important considerations that must be taken into account before embarking on a domain name speculation career. While it is always advisable to purchase any really high quality domain name available, actually making a stable income from domain name speculation can require significant resources. It will cost a considerable amount to purchase the domain names necessary to make a stable income, and it is certainly no get-rich-quick opportunity.

As a domain name speculator, you should carefully analyze the domain name registrars and communicate with them about bulk purchasing opportunities. A domain name speculator will be buying many – perhaps even hundreds – of domain names daily, and should therefore find the best discounts on domain names. Many registrars will allow for domain names to be purchased in bulk at substantial discounts. Taking advantage of these opportunities will likely be the difference between success and failure at this type of enterprise.

Deciding which domain names to purchase can be challenging. It is very difficult to find high quality .com names. But don’t rule out country-specific extensions. As countries get their own extensions, a new world of high quality available domain names is opened up to speculators. New top level domains are being created all the time, and most recently a .jobs domain name was created. A name like computer.jobs could prove very valuable in the long term.

While a lot has been mentioned of purchasing names like Mcdonalads.com, this practice is not particularly productive. Trademark laws allow corporations with trademarked names to take domain names that violate their trademarks. So rather than getting a big paycheck for registering a company’s trademarked name, you’re likely to be served with a lawsuit demanding you forfeit the name to them.

Domain name speculation should be viewed for what it is: an investment opportunity. Like all investments, the returns will be predicated on the wisdom and decision making skills of the investor.

Rex Ryan maitains the website:

http://www.domainnamesnews.info

If you ever registered a domain name and tried to re-sell it, you will know the agony of making a successful, profitable sale. The domain name game is not easy, and in fact it is quite challenging to any beginner. Many domain name investors are coming to the conclusion that the market is flooded with domain names, and there is just way more sellers than there is buyers. Now this may seem dreadful, but it’s not time to take a slap in the face just yet.

You see, the truth is that the market is flooded with “worthless” names that domain rookies registered and are trying to resell. Inexperienced domain name investors do not buy from other re-sellers; they just stick to registering domains at the lowest possible fee. What we begin to see is masses of worthless domains, and no buyers. The only one who is making money off this is domain name registration companies. Now, lets explore why the experienced domain name investor is unaffected by this “flood” of worthless domains.

First of all, knowledgeable domain name investors buy domains from other investors. If they see a good domain being auctioned off extremely under priced, they go for the kill. They know that they have a good domain name on their hands and they hold on to it, even if it takes several years to make a sale. You must be able to sort the “gold” from the “dirt”. Rookie domain name investors cannot wait more that one year; they usually seek a quick buck and register domains that are not worth anything causing a flood on the market. Since the average domain which has some value to it takes approximately 12 months to sell, the investor who does not know the true value of his domain will end up letting the domain name expire at the end of the year. This causes the flood to “evaporate” and only the good domains are left behind in the hands of serious investors.

The experienced investor is not affected by the mass of domains available on the market since they will all disappear very soon. Good domains are always selling, and bad ones are just left to expire and written off as a loss. If the domains would not expire, but would be left to sit on the market forever, we would have a huge problem on our hands. So there is actually a benefit to the yearly fee that we all have to pay in order to participate in this exciting investment revolution. The domain name market is no where near collapsing since the internet growing exponentially. Millions of new internet users are joining the world network each year, generating more traffic and more revenue onto the virtual marketplace.

Be wise. Don’t fall for the “quick buck” scheme. The flooded domain market only shows us that there are huge numbers of people trying to get rich without putting in much effort. These folks are heading for a sad downfall since the opportunity which they are looking for today already past us more than ten years ago when the market was first emerging. If you take your time and keep your cool when engaging on the marketplace, you will make money.

To determine a better idea of how much your domain name is worth check out the Live Human-Driven Appraisal Tool.

The process of selling a website or domain name can be demanding and time-intensive. Yet with some key tips the process can be made much more simpler and effective.

The first step you must do is determine the value of your website. There are many formulas for reaching a value. It’s important to remember that the valuation of a website business differs from a traditional business and that this must be kept in mind when valuating your Internet business. One of the most important factors is website traffic. If a website has no traffic, it has no business.

Just as important are other variables that can affect the value of an Internet business. Information that cannot be gleaned from financial and traffic data — such as the uniqueness of the business, the conditions of the market, the overall design, the customer experience of the website, and many others. These factors can cause a substantial variation of the value of up to 40% either way. Because of these factors, you should consider a professional appraisal of your website business. The business community spends over a billion dollars a year for outside business valuations. Not only does this give them important information for the day-to-day operations of their business, it proves invaluable for the sale of their business. Buyers are more likely to trust an independent appraisal as opposed to the seller’s own judgment. The appraisal also allows you to avoid the mistake of either undervaluing or overvaluing your website.

When writing the listing for your business there are a few key points to remember. First, always try to list a price. It’s fine to use OBO (or best offer) but be sure to list a price along with it. Also, be sure to list the net income (profit) and revenue of your website. Even if it’s low it’s still better than leaving the potential buyer in the dark. In fact, some buyers are looking for websites that are losing money so they can turn them around.

Secondly, try to include a phone number so potential buyers can contact you quickly. Finally, be sure to list anything that isn’t obvious to the buyer that adds to the uniqueness of your business, such things as copyrighted works, email lists, and trademarks.

Finally you are ready to make the deal. Remember to be patient. If you have followed these basic fundamentals you can be confident that the sale will go as smoothly as possible.

Good Luck!

Mark Samuelson has owned and operated numerous internet businesses. He has over eleven years of internet experience. Please visit http://www.buysellaussiewebsite.com/exchange/sell-a-website.htm to find out more.

Choosing a domain name is a very critical part of your website marketing strategy.

By choosing a domain name that targets the specific keywords for your website you’ll flood your website with laser targeted traffic by enhancing click through response.

Pick a domain name that gives your prospects what they most desperately desire. By including the keywords in your domain name that are your customers desires, including them in your marketing messages and your website content you can’t help but flood traffic to your website!

Wondering what your customer’s desires are? If so, you’ll need to determine what your really selling. Let’s look at an example product here: home security alarm system.

Keep in mind few people know, nor do they care what the heck the product looks like or the features of the product such as size, color, weight, speed, or availability. The only thing they have an interest in is the "results" your product will achieve for them. It all boils down to what’s-in-it-for-me?

Why would a prospect purchase a home alarm system? What’s-in-it-for-them? If you think for just a moment you’ll come up with the right answer.

Yes, it’s to protect their jewelry or valuables while they are at work or when the house is empty.

You must stop thinking of yourself or the features of your product to determine what your customer’s deepest desires are. By turning your product or service features into "benefits" or "results" you’ll be able to hit their hot buttons and flood traffic to your website in the process.

The easiest way to turn features into benefits is to list all the features of your product or service on a piece of paper first. (a feature is a characteristic of a thing: size, color, weight, speed, availability) Then one by one turn each feature into a benefit for your customer. What’s-in-it-for-me– save money? youthfulness? friends? security? money? power? luxury? prestige? thinner body? obedient pet?

The traffic driving potential of keyword targeted domain names is awesome, provided that you research your target market and satisfy their "true" needs, desires and benefits. Once you have established this system for marketing, you’ll be able to use your domain name to construct specific ad campaigns targeted to specific markets even if your website offers multiple products and services.

To take it a step further, you could formulate a domain name that works like a headline for a classified ad. When you break a headline down it should have several different parts. It should fan the flames of desire with a hint of information about solving a specific problem, satisfying a need, providing a benefit, or invoking curiosity with a call to action. Your domain name should contain as many of these "headline characteristics" as possible. Try and phrase the keywords into something relatively short, catchy and easy to remember.

Keep in mind "what’s-in-it-for-me?" as to "what your really selling". The job of your domain name is to act like a headline to drive targeted traffic to your website by "scratching the itch of your customers." If you’ve found the right words to scratch that itch, then ONLY YOU can put it to use in your domain name. You’ll find that not only will you do better on your search engine rankings you’ll also attract a lot more attention with your pay per click ads or any type of advertising you use.

Roxanna Wehrly makes it easy to learn from marketing experts. To claim your free video membership, visit http://www.webbizdeals.com.

Copyright 2005 © Roxanna Wehrly

Through my experience as president and founder of DomainPurpose.com, I’ve come to an understanding that behind every registration of a domain name lays a purpose. Further More, behind most domain projects is a story of passion, excitement and inspiration. Who better to illustrate this point then Michael Furdyk, who became a dot com millionaire in 1999 at the age of 17.

Michael Furdyk is a young man and domain name owner with a vision and a compassionate heart. He has a unique understanding that the Internet has the power to create positive change if used responsibly and with a purpose. In the Internet world, Michael Furdyk is a domain name owner who I root for. I’m excited to share his story and new domain venture with you.

Michael Furdyk is the co-founder of TakingITGlobal.org, a global non-profit online community for youth engaging members in over 195 countries. In the past, he has turned his interest of computers into a series of successful online companies, co-founding MyDesktop.com in 1997 (later sold to Internet.com in 1999 for $1-million) and BuyBuddy.com in 1999 (which closed a $4.5-million round of funding in late 2000). Over the last few years, Michael has done work for many large corporations, including Xerox, CIBC, IBM, and recently a 6-month consulting engagement with Microsoft in Seattle , Washington.

As one of the "10 entrepreneurs who shaped the year 1999", according to Profit Magazine, and one of Teen People’s "20 teens that will change the world (2000)", Michael has shared his experiences as a member of the Net Generation by speaking at many events, including two of Microsoft’s Anytime, Anywhere Learning Summits, the Boca Raton gathering of The Business Council, and TED11. He has made numerous media appearances including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Time Magazine, Fast Company, Business 2.0, BusinessWeek, CNN, MSNBC , USA Today, Globe and Mail, and the National Post. He is also a frequent contributor to Canadian Business Magazine.

I asked Michael Furdyk a few questions about his new domain venture. Here’s what he had to say:

Shaun Cronrath: What is the vision for your domain?

Michael Furdyk: TakingITGlobal.org is an outlet for my passion and excitement enabling young people to become empowered users of technology, using it to conquer any inhibitions they feel about their ability to change the world. Through both a vibrant online community, and active local initiatives led by youth from around the world, TakingITGlobal.org will instigate positive global change of unimaginable impact.

Shaun Cronrath: What is the purpose of your domain?

Michael Furdyk: To inspire young people to follow their dreams. To inform young people about the wealth of opportunities that surrounds them. To involve young people in online and offline communities where members & mentors contribute to, and gain from the TakingITGlobal.org experience while fostering a sense of global awareness, collaboration, and leadership.

Shaun Cronrath: How did you think of this idea?

Michael Furdyk: Rollerblading down Parliament Hill in Ottawa Canada, my friend Jennifer Corriero and I reflected on the experiences we had racked up over the previous few years, consulting for major corporations, advising governments, speaking at big events - and being listened to. We wondered, "What if every young person was connected with the kind of opportunities we had?" TakingITGlobal.org grew out of that simple question and developed into a dynamic global network driven by youth.

Shaun Cronrath: When did you realize that sharing your passion via TakingItGlobal.org could turn into something successful?

Michael Furdyk: After press coverage about our ambitious plans for a dynamic youth-led network to augment the stagnant educational system and provide real opportunities and inspiration for youth emerged; TakingITGlobal.org attracted a crowd of support and success followed.

Shaun Cronrath: How has your life changed since you registered and launched TakingItGlobal.org?

Michael Furdyk: I love the work we do at TIG, so my life has been great! I am super committed to the work we are doing and always talk about it. Since launching TakingItGlobal.org, I’ve got to travel all over the world and meet people from all walks of life. I’ve also been able to use these opportunities to speak with diverse audiences about my passion for technology, TakingItGlobal.org and important issues affecting the world.

Shaun Cronrath: How has other peoples lives been effected since you registered and launched TakingItGlobal.org?

Michael Furdyk: TakingITGlobal.org has helped inspire over 10,000 youth members from over 195 countries to become informed and involved with their ideas and visions.

Shaun Cronrath: As a successful domain name owner, any words of advice for people who want to use a domain name as a vehicle to share their passion in life?

Michael Furdyk: Subscribe to the belief that passion and persistence will get you further than desire. Love what you do, and you’ll do it well.

Shaun Cronrath is the President & CEO of DomainPurpose.com, a domain name registration company offering all the major domain extensions –.com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .name, .ca, .us, .cn, .eu, .de, .pro and more.

Domaining is a fascinating business and investment vehicle because once the initial investment is made, it is a business that requires minimal attention. This makes it one of the best models of a residual income business on the web. However, this is not to say that domaining is easy. Working as a domainer simply means that you have to invest all your attention, effort and money up front, while researching what domains to buy.

Definition of Domaining

Domaining is basically the business of buying domain names as an investment. When thinking about this business, a good approach is to think of domain names as real estate. Think of them as pieces of virtual internet-land that have some intrinsic value, where the majority of that value stems from their location and from their degree of development. Their "location" is akin to their visibility on the web. Short recognizable names have the best location, and so they are also the most expensive. The buildings on a piece of land are akin to a website developed at a domain name. The website is likely to attract visitors either through it’s content or functionality, and therefore increase the value of the domain name.

Like any mature property business, most of the valuable names have already been snatched up and are only available at a premium. Speculative names are still available, as are names with unproven extensions (.info, .biz, .us, etc.) A big difference in the domain world though is that new names with potential are available all the time, as new phrases and trends become popular, as old domain names expire, and as new technologies emerge.

Monetizing a Domain Name

There are a million way to monetize a domain name if you are willing to develop a website on it, but since this article is about the purest form of domaining, I will only address ways to monetize domain names without developing them.

Reselling Domains - As with any piece of property, your domain may be worth more to someone else than you paid for it. This may be the case if you develop a knack for coming up with brandable names ahead of time (ie. google, digg, myspace, zappos), or if you manage to snap up names related to a developing trend or idea (ie. bird flu, wimax, AJAX). This is a speculative way of making money from domains, but your initial investment of $6-9 per domain won’t break the bank and might create a hefty return. Once you buy a few domain names, list them for sale on websites such as Sedo and DomainState to see if any of them get picked up. Remember, patience is a virtue.

Parking Domains - On the web, targeted traffic is worth money. Targeted traffic are simply visitors interested in a specific topic. If your domain names get traffic (more on this later) you can monetize that traffic by parking your domains with a domain parking service such as Sedo, DomainSponsor or Fabulous. You simply register with the service for free, point your domains to their DNS servers, and voila, you’re done. The service puts up a simple one page website on your domain that has advertiser links and information based on the keywords and category associated with your domain name. When visitors follow those links, you share the revenue generated with the domain parking service.

Finding Domain Names

There are many different strategies for coming up with and researching domain names to buy. There is plenty of (well researched) speculation out there, but there are also many domainers buying names with the intention of creating passive income. For this, the domainers buy domains that receive traffic that can be monetized.

The simplest way that a domain receives traffic without having a website on it is through type-ins. We’ve all been responsible for type-ins before when we went straight to the address bar and typed yahoo.com or money.com or bored.com. Sites such as cellphones.com and business.com get hundreds or thousands of targeted visitors a day through type-ins. Often, people will type their search terms directly into the address bar with .com, hoping to find information of interest. This behavior is characteristic of an internet newbie, but keep in mind that there are more newbies on the internet every day, and as broadband becomes more widely available, this is a trend that is going to continue.

Research time is the biggest investment a domainer makes before buying a name. A great free tool that I use for domain research is Domain All-in-One from DomainState. It allows you to quickly check the availability of domains, as well as look up keywords on Overture and domain popularity via Alexa. Below are a few strategies for picking and finding domain names.

Speculation - If you have a good head for names and can come up with catchy ones that might one day be a company’s next product or brand name, give it a try. Also try to spot upcoming trends and catch phrases, and register names related to them. Names in other languages, and names in other Top Level Domains (TLDs) such as .info, .us, .biz, etc. are also quite open to speculation. Remember though that speculation is just that, and there is no guarantee of a future payoff.

Type-in Traffic - Most obvious keywords and phrases have already been registered, but new ones are coming into the public consciousness all the time. New music trends such as reggaeton, new global scares such as bird flu, and new technologies such as wimax present the early bird with an opportunity to register keywords and phrases that are likely to get more and more type-in traffic. Keep your eyes and ears open and do a little research every day to see what is available.

Typos - Misspellings of popular domains get traffic through type-ins. This includes domains such as gogle.com or yahooo.com, but also less obvious ones such as celphones.com and homelaons.com. These domains can be lucrative because you can park these domains using the right keyword and create instant revenue. For coming up with likely typos and determining their likelihood, I’ve found SearchSpell to be a very useful tool.

Expired Domain Names - Domain names expire every day without their owners bothering to re-register them. Expired domains may have hosted websites, portals, blogs, or businesses beforehand, and as a result they may have incoming links from other sites and they may come up in the search engines. This means that they are likely to get some traffic, which you can monetize through Sedo or other means. Since this is a such a profitable strategy, you most likely will have to go through a drop-catcher such as Pool, SnapNames, or NameWinner and pay a premium for the expired domain at an auction. Also, keep in mind that the traffic numbers at these sites are likely to drop over time as they fall in the search engine results and users realize the old page is no longer there.

Buying Proven Domains - If you have some capital laying around and are willing to pay a premium for an income stream, then you can buy domains that already have establish traffic and income. These domains can cost anywhere from the 1999 bubble price of $7.5 million for business.com, to more reasonable 5- and 6-figure prices of proven domains today, to a few hundred dollars for a domain with a minor income stream. Good places to start looking are SnapNames, Sedo, and the For Sale forum at DomainState. In this case, your investment might take a few months to a few years before you generate a positive return, but the security of an income has always been an expensive commodity.

Next Steps

If you are new to domaining, take time to learn the business and hold on to your wallet for now. There is a lot of great information out there at resources such as DomainState and DNJournal. Their articles and discussions are a great way to avoid many costly mistakes yourself and to learn where to invest your time and eventually your dollars.

Once you have a grasp of the business and enough confidence to get going, go ahead and start experimenting! Don’t spend large sums of money up front or buy hundreds of domain names at once. But do get started buying a few; one of the beauties of starting in this business is that you can register a domain for the price of a burger. Check out 1and1 and NameCheap. Put them up on Sedo, advertise them for sale, see what you get. And if you want to take the development route, go ahead and put a website up on them.

Be consistent and have fun. Learn about the business daily and try out new strategies until you find one that you’re comfortable with. Play your cards right and you too could soon be making money while you sleep.

See Domaining and Domainers for more info.

©2006 Cesar Gonzalez is a young entrepreneur living in LA. His interests lie at the intersection of the web and its social applications. Check out http://www.fleethecube.com.

The domain name is the entry to your site. The address people type in their browsers to get to it. You need to pay attention to it, because your company name will not always be the best domain name you can get for your website. There are certain considerations you should keep in mind when choosing the domain name you will use:

· your domain name should be easy to remember for the intended audience

· your domain name should contain keywords so it helps your site positioning in search engines.

With these in mind, you will soon discover that your-company-name.com is not always the best alternative. It depends on whether you have a well established company, with a known name, or you are starting your business.

The domain name is a tool you can use to help your business grow. So don’t miss the opportunity. Spend the necessary time thinking about possible domain names, and trying to find their good and bad aspects.

A good idea is to get more than one domain name and point them to the same website. So if people type your-company-name.com or they type your-keyword-rich-domain.com they get to the same website. This way you can still use your company name as domain name, and also some other keyword rich name you register.

Another good idea is to register common variations of your chosen domain name. For example, if you register mydomain.com, you could also register my-domain.com or mydomains.com.

Once you come up with the domain name(s) you want to use, you need to register them. The first step is to check if they are available, because they could have been already registered by someone else. Once you have verified this, you can register them for a period of time, and they will be yours to use for that period. You can always renew them afterwards, before the period expires.

Sergio Roth is an experienced freelance web programmer. You can contact him for domain registration, web hosting and website development services at http://www.ayreshost.com