LESSON #23: Choosing and Registering a Domain Name
In the previous lesson, we talked about branding your business and naming your product.
Once you’ve come up with a product name, you’ll need to register a domain. However, some domains are much better than others, so I want to take a few minutes to explain it to you right now…
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
- .COM is usually the best, especially if it’s for the primary website of your business
- .ORG can be beneficial in gaining trust, and may be preferable for some information and service oriented websites.
- Country-specific extensions (ex. .CA, .IN, .JP) can be advantageous if you’re marketing exclusively to a niche within a certain country.
In general, I would prefer a domain with no hyphens. It’s debatable, but hyphens may create a visual advantage in some cases for SEO and PPC. However, it also makes the domain harder to remember, and more difficult to say out loud.
- If your product name is 2 or 3 words, it would be ideal for the domain to match it.
- If your product name is not available to register as a domain, you’ll want to check to see if that domain is currently in use. If someone is using that domain to sell a product in your niche, I would recommend coming up with a new product name to avoid conflicts.
- If your product name is long, you’ll need to come up with a shorter domain. (see example on video)
- There are hundreds of places on the internet where you can register a domain. Some are better than others. If you’ve already found a good and reliable registrar, feel free to stick with them.
- I recommend registering your domain with someone OTHER than your web host. (reasons explained)
- It’s important that you have good control over your domain (easily be able to change DNS, set up child name servers, etc)
- I recommend using www.LifeDomains.NET
(see registration walk-through on video)
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY:
You may want to consider getting your own domain sales business, like mine. There are always people who need to register domains, so if your business has anything to do with business or money, then this could be a good side business for you. Domain resellers are making as much as $37k per month with this opportunity!
Click here for info about getting your own turn-key domain business
(Includes bonus advertising credits and other freebies. See details on site…)
Action steps:
1) Register a domain for your business.
Use the guidelines from this lesson to register a good one!
After you’ve registered your domain, the next step is to get it hosted. There are good hosts, and there are bad hosts, and choosing the wrong one could be a costly mistake. Having been a web hosting company owner, it’s a subject that I know a fair amount about, and I’ll be sharing the important facts with you in the next lesson.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 
(Feel free to let us know about your new domain, even if it’s just parked right now)
Have a great day!
Eric,
This is a very important lesson. I would suggest that if someone is unsure about a particular domain name, they should register a couple names. I think another important point here is that the .com extension is probably the most popular and widely used domain name extension. The majority of people will automatically attach the .com extension to website names that they type in.
It is very important to come up with a name that people will remember. Eric, your site is very easy to remember and also to spell. If you are able to come up with a name that is short and is easy to remember, this is the best possible way to go. If you pick a domain name that is complicated, people won’t remember your site and this could cost you potential customers.
I agree with Eric. I think that hyphens should be avoided unless you have a very good reason for using them. When someone tries to remember your website name, they may forget to put the hypen in and they will never make it to your website. You want to make this whole process easy for people to remember without having to write it down. Eric’s domain name is so easy to remember that you don’t have to write it down.
Eric, another excellent lesson.
Thank you for your time and thanks for sharing this valuable information. It is greatly appreciated.
Tom
http://www.vipmarketingsecrets.com
that’s exactly right, thanks Tom
Whoooooooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooo
It’s here. (Not that I’ve been waiting or anything)
Okay Eric Ive gone thru your recomended products and they have covered the next lesson Getting hostgator to host your site and parking your other domain on there. lesson 25 I think will be Christmas for me..
What Do you suggest I do in the mean time constructively. I am trying to get my head around HTML but other than that?
Please help regards
Mark
ps ” http://www.onlinemarkseting.com ” anygood?
In the mean time, I would suggest spend some extra time developing your product and backend monetization strategy.
I’m not too sure about your domain. markseting is a misspelling, right? I think it looks a bit funny, and will be hard for people to remember. I’m guessing it’s a play on your name? If you’re trying to play your name into it, I would suggest something along the lines of MarksMarketing, or MarketingMark…
Thank you I managed to bag one of them.
http://www.marksmarketing.com it’s not pretty but its mine.
regards
Mark
Cool, I like it
Eric,
That was a great eduaction on domain names and registration. Before listening to your lesson I was thinking there couldn’t be much to this at all…however thats only because I didn’t realize the depth or details that go into the complete process. As you can tell I’ve used hyphens in my past domain names but will no longer do this.
Ps: Also Eric…I Hope thats your affiliate link you provided for Joel Comm’s new book. I’ve been waiting for that book release for awhile and was happy to get the book while giving you credit in return for these wonderful lessons(as always).
I do have a question though thats been in the back of my mind for some time now. If it’s none of my business…just let me know
How does someone like you or any other well established marketer(guru) get to a point where their able to rub elbows with all the other Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trumps of the internet marketing world? I’ve always wondered this because evertime there’s a major release from someone well known, I always receive an email from all the other high profile marketers as well. From a newbie point of view this can seem a little overwhelming or self defeating because we have to stand on our own(at least for now). Not only does each marketer(guru) have a large email list but every other well known markerter has a large list and I take it that your all emailing each others lists. In the meantime us newbies are just trying to establish one list that we can use for ourselves. Did you have to prove yourself first? Just wondering what your thoughts on this was since your by far the most approchable high profile marketer I’ve come accross. It almost feels like a club that we can never be a part of.
Thanks,
Gary
Get 150 *Top Quality* NICHE Websites With Your Paypal ID On Each!
http://Instant-Paysites.com
Thanks Gary. Again as for the hyphens, it depends on what the domain is for. If it’s just going to be marketed via PPC and organic SEO, hyphens are probably fine. But if it’s the flagship of your company and you want people to remember it, I’d skip the hyphens.
To answer your question…
To rub elbows with the guru’s, all you really have to do is go to an internet marketing seminar and be a cool enough person to carry on a nice conversation without acting like you’re trying to “get” something from them.
But I know what you’re saying about the “club”…
It really comes down to having a list or other way of driving serious traffic. If you promote a guru’s product and sell a ton of it, that’s your ticket into the club.
It’s also possible to start with “lesser known” marketers and work your way up to the bigger gurus. For example, start by building a list of 300 subscribers, then do a JV email swap with someone else who has 300 subscribers. Then with someone who has 500 subscribers, then 1000, etc. Once you have 1000 subscribers maybe you can find someone with a 5000 list who is willing to swap ads. Then when you have 5000, maybe you can jv with someone with a 10k list, etc. If your goal is to be a part of the club, the best way into it is through list-building and relationshop building.
It’s a club that is open to anyone at any time, and new players are always welcome.
On the other hand, there is NO actual club! It’s just a matter of relationships and lists. And the theoretical club that we’re speaking of consists of only a tiny percentage of all the successful internet marketers in the world. We’re just one niche. There are plenty of successful online marketers out there who make tons of money and don’t care about being a part of any so called club
Thanks for being straight forward Eric. I’ve never been to one of those expensive(in most cases) internet marketing seminars but I hear you when you say:
“be a cool enough person to carry on a nice conversation without acting like you’re trying to “get” something from them”. I imagine theres a lot of networking going on at those meetings and good sincere communication is always best.
One thing I’ve learned in the medical field is to always be compassionate, sincere and genuine with patients who are looking to you for help. I assume this would carry over to all aspects of life and is a good outlook also when dealing with business customers and carrying on conversations(networking) with other marketers.Thanks again for the great advice!
Gary
Great points on registering a domain. What seems like a straight forward process that there is much more to it then simply get a domain and away you go.
Would you ever recommend if someone has a domain that is the same as your business to try and buy it or just come up with something close?
Rich
Hi Eric, I agree with Gary that just when you think “how much can there be to know” you show why you’ve had the success you’ve had and why every little piece in the jigsaw is vital.
I guess I’d just reinforce to try and be pretty sure before you start with your domain name because once you have you pages up loaded and you start to get quite a lot of stuff on the server it can be a bit of hassle if you decide you didn’t like your original choice of domain name.
Cheers
Glen Crosier
Brighton, UK
Hey Glen…from the UK!
I just saw your website and twitter page…looks like some fun stuff. Also looks like you’ve been doing this for awhile. I’ve got to get a twitter page set up myself but haven’t had time yet
Hi Eric, What a blessing! I am going to register my domain name tomorrow, and looks like I need to change the name now based on your advise on selecting the correct domain name. You saved my life Eric. Thanks so much. Warm regards, Charles.
Choosing a good domain name is crucial to the success or failure of your business.
6 Qualities of a Good Domain Name
1.) Memorable
It should be easy, memorable, and straight forward.
2.) Short and Sweet
Twenty characters is the maximum that you should use for a good domain name, ten is even better.Keep it short and sweet.
3.) Be Choosy On Your Extension
There are several domain extensions available to you such as .com, .net, .org, .tv, .info, .gov and so on. The .com domain name extension is the best by far, because it is the most widely used.
4.) Spelling Means Everything
If your domain name is hard to spell, they may end up at a competitor’s website.
5.) Tells a Story
A good domain name should be descriptive and tell a story.
6.) Avoid Fancy Symbols
It is never a good idea to use numbers or hyphens within your domain name. Many people will not pay attention to the symbols, which could lead them to someone else’s website.
To your Success
Bryan Hee
for example:what about careweelcom.com? is it bad?
I’m not sure about ‘weelcom’… isn’t that a mispelling?
is i am affiliate marketer and i promote lots of products its not better for me to buy domain .info? cause .com is 8 dollar and . info ists 2 dollar.
thanks so much
It doesn’t matter that you are an affiliate marketter. The com ext. is more acceptable. People just love the .com. Stick with that.
All you need to then do is register your name for branding(Eric talked about that already), and then use affiliate cloaking software to soft sell which means you will be talking like an expert recomending good products or services which are your affiliate products or services.
That makes you look like you are helping them while you make cool sales.
You can buy this tested recomemded cheap one here
http://hotshorturl.com/rf26
You Can Calculate Success
Kola Adebayo
Hello Kola Adebayo nice comment, going thru your comment thats nice, i am into web designing and Hosting, Do u have any idea how i can get an email marketing software.?
The affiliate cloaking i talked about is what proson is using below.
Look at that link as it says recommends. It works.
You Can Calculate Success
http://www.IncomeChamber.com
Kola Adebayo
Eric, much help always for your help, concern and genuine good character. Your links for biz info for domain sales very inoperative.
I had to revise link on domain sales itself
to get to it. thank you again, jm
Yes! I agree with all the tips. Now, my domain must include Web 2.0, I cannot avoid figures, but I think it is enough to put
…Web2…,
3 words Web2 being the middle one, 2.0 I think it an unnecessary complication. What do you think?
Michaela
If the topic involves “Web 2.0″ then it’s fine to have the number 2 in the domain name.
Thanks eric, I actually have a domain reseller
account, but I don’t do heavy marketing for that website since a domain is just about $8 and I have to sell decent numbers to get a decent income… and beside domain registration are every where… and just like hosting, everywhere… or may be I am overlooked with this business I don’t know..
Anyway Eric your comment is generally good but
if you want to attract search engine traffic and forgot the branding use keyword rich domain
like if you are targeting seo niche, your domain should include seo in the name to increase search engine traffic. I speak like that because I have a website rank top 10 in google using the keyword “affordable web hosting hong kong” and also I have a seo cert at searchenginecollege.com, one of the respectful search engine coaching site.
Proson
want to have some f.ree money making products?
for a limited time, you can download 1000+ Meg of ebooks, software, videos for f.ree! Get your instant access here now!
http://www.prosoncheng.com/recommends/newbie-giveaway
Thanks again Eric,
Your tips help clear up some questions I had about the hyphens, since I’m seeing a lot of them on some popular sites. I used the word “best” as part of one website name, but will change it based on your recommendation…
Hello Eric….thanks for all the good tips…question if you have 4 sites, biz, info, net, i forget the other one but would you run them together like a group with different subject matter, or should they be kept seperate? what are your feelings?
thanks Liz
It really depends on your business strategy. If it’s your main company site, I would put the site on the best of the 4, and just direct the others to it. Then focus your traffic efforts (SEO and otherwise) on the one domain rather than creating 4X the work for yourself.
If you actually want to utilize all the domains, I’d put the main site on the best domain, and then use the other domains as “feeders” to feed traffic to the main site. You can try various SEO and landing page techniques on each of the domains, to capture a veriety of traffic sources.
However, if the domains are different, with different subject matter… that’s a whole nother story. You would treat them as individual sites and develop and optimize each of them seperately.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for this guide on domain name registration. A quick question If we are to host a e-commerce site, SSL is definitely needed right? Any additional features that we need to include in our hosting packages when we are hosting a ecommerce site?
Your Free Digital Resource Center
http://www.dbookworm.com
SSL is generally not needed unless you’re planning on processing credit cards on your site. There are some other places you might want to consider it, like if you want to offer secure login on a membership site, but in general you only need SSL for credit card processing. If you’re going to use a 3rd party payment processor such as Paypal, then you do not need SSL.
For an e-commerce site you would likely need a database such as MySQL. The hosting I recommend is Hostgator and my coupon code is: ERICSTIPS.COM
Hi! Eric,
The domain part was easy, I choose only 2.
As usual you give us very good and practical advice.
Please, I need free software to create covers for eBooks; actually I need the feature to rotate the Picture after I created on flat. What I have is not handy. Can you suggest good software for me?
Thanks
Michaela
I use Photoshop… but I’ve had a couple of requests now for a free e-cover program, so I’ll be sure to look into it for when I get to that point in the product development process. I’ve seen a couple of free ones before, but they weren’t good. But maybe there’s a good one out there…
(I use Photoshop)
Is that Adobe Photoshop?
Hi Michaela,
Just an option….I use a product called web graphics creator. It’s high quality,easy to use and I like it very much. However it’s not a free software product…I think it was 29.00 but it’s something worth looking at….it does a lot more than ecovers, like logos and much more! You can find it at laughingbird.com
Thanks Gary, I’ll lookit over
Michaela
Gimp is a free program that has many of the same features as Photoshop. You can find it at http://www.gimp.org/.
If you need any help with the program, reply here, and I will contact you through your website.
What are you using now? Maybe, I can give you a suggestion.
Try GIMP, Opensource image editing. Very similar to Photoshop. You can get it at:
http://www.gimp.org
Read up on their documentations and search for some tutorials on google. There’s plenty of it when I typed out GIMP tutorials.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Hi Eric,
This is the second time - lesson 22 & 23 has stopped before it reached the end. Lesson 23 only last 2min but they could have important information and lesson 22 last 18min. Has anyone else had this problem? Can you resend them to me? I have very fast broadband connection.
Otherwise all is good and I am enjoying the content.
Ann
I recommend closing ALL programs. Clear your internet files. Then reopen a browser and try again. (The reason for this is perhaps your computer was low on memory). If the problm persists, I recommend trying a different browser, such as Firefox, which is a free download at http://www.mozilla.com
Hi Eric
I purchased web traffic machines from you , but it will not run on my comp,i had a techi check it .He say’s the problem is from the source,they do not rsepond to my queries.How do i get refund.
Kind regards
Pat
how do I promote my site?
Eric.
I followed directions from lesson 22 and 23. Registered two domains (used your service too). I will continue developing my product and brand and hope to have much more done by the next lesson.
I looked at several of your sites and was happy to see that on the prayer site our basic beliefs seem to be the same. So many people say one thing and do another, it looks like you do what you believe.
My educational site about rare fruit and plants is:
http://www.quisqualis.com
Bob
Ecc. 10:12
I am not writing this to make politics, it just struck me this week, and I want to share with you.
The idea is - an element of surprise works very well, starting with politics and ending with Internet Marketing.
If you can find a good quality element of surprise on your Info Products, sale pages, campaigns etc is going to work. Actually, what is it a “USP”, it can be a unique element of surprise as well.
I don’t like “leeches”; in 90% they are tasteless. I am talking only about pure, honest, quality elements of surprise.
Michaela
I just created a lens on the idea of surprises, which is dedicated to conservative republican VP Sarah Palin, who is the best surprise you can get in the last 2 weeks:
http://www.squidoo.com/2008Surprises
Hi! Eric, I was a little surprised when you said at the end of #23 lesson “Feel free to let us know about your new domain”. Ok! I’ll share with you:
1) I register with my registror, namecheap.com 2 domains:
freeweb2traffic.com and
freeweb2traffic.info
One of them I want to use for a web site in which I’ll adv. all my web 2.0 activities and the blog.
The other one I want to use it for the squeeze page of the first eBook
2) My host is hostgator; I create the addon domains for both. I can concentrate now on my first digital product. (the name is not identical with the domain; the domain has a generic name for all I intend to do with Web 2.0)
3) As I already said I’ll work with 2 niches, first will be an application of Web 2.0 which has potential to make money (I badly need to start with this one). The second niche is like your invention, no money on ads but I like it and I think it is useful and that will be the second Digital Product, the subject is strongly related with Web 2.0.
4) Actually the intention is to take One Web 2.0 Application at a time and create a digital product; this will keep me busy the next 2 years at least. And considering the variety of Web 2.0 Applications, some can be profitable, some cannot, but I’ll definitely help to clarify some Web 2.0 issues, teach to get free traffic, expend the potential of Web 2.0 beyond imagination. It has some risk because it is a competitive market, but I’ll try to do my best.
Your comments on what I want to do will be very helpful.
Michaela
Hello Eric,
I was following your lessons step by step but I think I got a little bit a head of you.
Like 2 lessons ago I asked you about some marketing system I think it was a scam but thank god I did not have to pay for anything.
The reason that I’m posting a comment it’s because I feel very proud to present you my new webpage, I did my research and well found out that Tamarindo Beach in Costa Rica has a very competitive market, but I still decided to go for it and I´m doing well(for an amateur)
This my website is still under construction
I hope all of you will Like it.
This is it
http://www.tamarindobeach.ws
Please I would like you to tell me some comments.
Pura Vida
Nicolas Velasquez
Hi Eric, great article is really important in choosing a right domain, would you suggest that a person first name is more important in the begginning of a domain site also; Eric would you suggest that buying a domain name in the beginning of a person first site. Thanks again, http://www.learnhowtotradeforex.blogspot.com
Hi Eric,
I have been follow your lessons and excited to have my own domain after years blogging from free website.
I have two domain now. The first one http://www.ihomecash.com is where I setup wordpress to become my main domain in blog form.
I use this domain to create subdomains to promote affiliate’s through my landing page e.g. http://ihomecash.com/secretofworkfromhome.
Is this the correct technique to be use?
The second one is http://www.smartonlinetoday.com. I registered the domain and get the free generated website to promote affiliate products. Again I hope you can give suggestion whether it is good or not to have this kind of free already setup website.
Now in a way to produce good contents and learn to generate traffic to my new websites.
I will continue follow your lessons and thank you for all the information.
Ida
hi ! erics , you are so great ful who share such tricky ideas for all public
Rajendra
Thanks,Eric,for giving us so much practical info for us newbees.
1st question - When a person is just getting started, does the business name (DBA) and domain name have to be the same?
Thanks again. You are appreciated!!
2nd question - Since you can have multiple domains, do their names need to be similiar to the business name (DBA)?
[…] In the previous lesson, I talked about the importance of having your own website, and we went through the process of registering a domain name. […]
Hi ! erics, ofcourse we have to consider what is our websites objectives? why are we going to register a domain? it’s a primary factors before register a domain or web address. we can register yourdomain.com for commercial purposes, yourdomain.org for organizational and communities, yourdomain.edu for educational purposes and others for special purposes. we also provide all informations about website design, web development, domain registration, website hosting.
thank you erics for your good tips for publics.
best regards
Rajendra
info@meroblog.net
http://www.meroblog.net
thank you very much for such a wonderful online lessons that have actually brought a great understanding to many people online.
Michael
http://www.joboppoortunities.blogspot.com
Eric,
Thank you for these wonderful lessons. You have helped me tremendously, as I’m sure you have others. I’m looking forward to more great insights from you. I also enjoy all the comments. One can learn from so many sources. LOL!
Hi Eric,
Last June 2008, when we got hold of IAT from you and Joel Comm, we registered our domain name with the webhost recommended in IAT. But except for the price which is a little more expensive, it was relatively quick to get one directly from the webhost. Before once can sign for webhosting, they ask for the domain name. And isn’t it the case also that when you register for a domain name, the registrar also asks for the domain server where it will be hosted? So it’s kind of confusing for an absolute beginner like us.
Because of IAT, we had the confidence to put up a website; even without really using any of the templates there. We had never written an html file much less use the cpanel and everything before this. It was really a great learning experience.
Many thanks to your free lessons, we have even learned more. But we find it’s not so easy to learn wisely really; if one is a beginner. So in our recent blog post at http://www.usefulstrategy.com/blog, we put up a link to one of your video lessons. Is this an accepted practice? Anyhow, this is also like our way of thanking you for the great work you are doing in Eric’s tips; and mostly for free. As you’d expect, we are always looking forward to your every lesson. Many thanks!
Hi Eric,
I’m going to upgrade my hostgator account. Is there a way to do it so that you get an aff credit?
Thanks,
Colin
thanks for thinking of me man, but I don’t think I can get credit for it. You could ask them, but it’s OK if not. thanks
[…] couple lessons ago, we went through the process of registering a domain name. Then in the previous lesson, we signed up for web […]
Hello Eric; Your tips are fantastic, I’ve been following them from the beginning. I’ve had my website on the net for 2 months now, unfortunately not much traffic to it. I’ve even written a free ebook listed on a seperate domain on the subject of internet marketing. That domain is http://www.freeinfoebook.com. Not much traffic there either. I don’t know why? I was wondering if you could possible spare some time and take a look at both of my websites and possibly give me some feedback on them I would appreciate this very much as I value your opinion as well as your tips. Thanks Brian
Brian, your http://www.planetinfoxpress.com/ site has numerous problems from a marketing standpoint.
-avoid using frames
-make it less cluttered
-the text looks jumbled, with not enough white space… needs to be more conducive for reading
- needs to be more focused
Your http://www.freeinfoebook.com site looks better. Still need to air out that text and make it easier to read. Might want to test adding a picture or video.
The headline is not catchy. “Major Companies Downsizing:Creating Massive Layoffs.” That’s old news… it will not connvince them to read the page. Be sure to focus on the BENEFITS. What’s in it for the visitor?
As far as not getting much traffic… that’s too much to cover in this reply. I’ll be doing about 20 lessons devoted to traffic. If you’re in need of a good course quicker, I recommend John Reese’s Traffic Secrets 2.0:
http://www.trafficsecrets.com/ericstips
Hi Eric - just a quick question….is this product yours? i have a alot of contacts that might be interested in purchasing it - are you open to set up a J.V or an afifliate on this product?
Speak soon,
Shah 07930385492
which product are you referring to?
my name is MARK
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the great lessons. Also thanks for the invitation to the ‘Illuminate’ convention. It was the best thing I have done for my IM education so far (with the exception of signing up for Eric’s tips)-unabashed plug for the good thing you are doing here to help us all learn the basics. It was really nice meeting you and your wife there. I like what you stand for Eric and it was nice to be around a lot of other IM’rs who were like minded. With all the hype and garbage on the Internet now days, it was good to be with a group of people who strive for integrity and have a desire to give something of real value. Marketers who try to put a face on the folks they deal with and who work for their customers as if working for the Lord. I still have a lot to learn but the most important lesson I learned as a complete newbie is to take action, just do a little bit everyday and don’t worry about it being perfect. If you are waiting for it to be perfect, you will never go anywhere in your Internet business. I am looking forward to being at Illuminate again next July. ‘Illuminate II” is bound to be even better.
Pete’s tip for ‘Eric’s Tips’ readers…. get on Eric’s early-bird list and get a special bonus if you attend. You won’t regret it!!
Hi Eric….
Your statments i DO-NOT….Find offensive….
Bro …Your coming from__heart & passion.
YET , currently …. folks are living in HI-
climate of : “Whats-Up ? ” ….
I think the french-President + american-President….allays ‘FEARS’….
NOW , is time to reassure All-marketers….
REGRADLESS….of Christian OR other persusions…
‘The-Time-Is-NOW’… to seize….
International-Co-Operation…
french & american__current-Presidents_
ASSURE Me WE can do This….
Thanks For_Your : Religlious-Honesty…
Honest-New- Maslows-Advertising is ‘Way-To-Go ‘…forget Freud & his nephew…..
Just-Be-REAL….
Let’s go ‘Open-REAL ‘…
Here’s to BE-REAL….
Larry
[…] the past few lessons, we’ve registered a domain name, and then we acquired web […]
Hi all,
My name is Jeff. I’m in the IT industry for 6 years.
I live in sunny Miami. You have a nice place here and I hope to become a serious contributor.
hi eric, again you have provided valuable info in an easy to understand way. I have viewed this lesson 4 times now and finally registered a domain name through life domains
my new domain is effectiveplrprofit.com
what do you think?
I think it’s a good domain. I think there might have been a better adjective than effective, but you definitely have the right idea.
[…] in lesson 23 I talked about why you need to have your own […]
Hi Eric,This is the first occasion i came across your web site.It is great.I am a newbie (and has been that way for the last 6 months lol).I specially liked the article on the young iranian lady (which I stumbled upon because we also have a similar problem with PayPal in my country!)It gave me a different perspective of what we have been taught to date!Hope to pass it on to a few of my friends ASAP.
Incidently I viewed your video on IM terms dictionary today.Very Useful I must say.Thanks for everything.
kind rgds
Great info regarding domain names. Thanx for your time and consideration, Eric.
Hi Eric,
I was psyched up after lesson #23 and was ready to get my domain name @ your site link posted in the lesson, and although I found one that I liked and was available, I could not get any further than that page. I did click continue but it says my session has expired after 20 minutes, so I tried again and again, but it still gives me the same error message. Can you help? I tried to go directly to the site and got the same thing. Is the site being worked on? Why can’t I sign up? Frustrated, pls help.
I am guessing it is a rare cookie issue with your browser. I would suggest, clear your internet history and delete cookies. Close all browsers. Then come back here and try again.
OK, thanx. I’ll try it again.
Hi Eric,
I’m brainstorming with domain names and I want to go with one that I think is right…it has total of 35 letters that describes the website…do you think that’s ok or is it to long.
thank you eric ,j am researcing my business from home almoust 6months and j reali mean that you are best teacher jve ever hade .j”am locking forward to start my online business and to work with you in the future best thanks to you from zeljko from macedonia -balkans europe YOU ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST
Thank you again for the great information.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
Hey Eric,
Thanks you for shedding some light on the disadvantages of using a free website. I own and operate chezsante.com and do my own site maintenance. Since this site is geard towards health and wellnesses services, would it be OK if I use it to sell information products? I await your response. Thanks
yes! there are plenty of information products that you can sell in the health and wellness niche. Just keep your site focused. If the main attraction of the site is to provide free information, do not detract from it. Keep all the free info in the forefront, and monetize it with the info-products on the back end. Build a subsciber list, and sell them the info-products through a series of autoresponder messages, etc.
Hi Eric,
Love the lessons. I look forward to a new one each day. I had a question about your HostGator affiliate URL. Is there some particular reason you use GetGator as a link to their homepage? Thanks.
It is a domain which I have redirected to my affiliate link. It is much easier to tell you to go to this short web address, rather than to give out my full affiliate link. When someone uses my affiliate link and orders hosting, I get paid a commission. That is one of the primary ways that I make money from these lessons.
Hello Eric,
Sorry for calling to the wrong number,I just didn’t know…
well what i wanted to ask is if the business opportunity of “your own domain Business” can be use in Mexico in regards of pricing, service info ..etc..this is were i would try to market. or it is best for USA and English speaking countries
thank you
Irving Orta
Best regards
No problem. Yes you can definitely use it in Mexico. However, all of the site an materials are in English language.
However, they do also have an API available, so you could build your own site in Spanish and tie it into the program. But obviously that wouldn’t be turn-key; it would be a lot more work for you to set it up.
oh , ok… actually i am currentlly in mexico so when i go to lifedomaine, I get pricing in Pesos..so, i guess currency conversion will not be a problem..
by the way..what is API..? =(
Currency conversion should not be a problem.
API is a programming interface, so you can connect a website with the back end of their system. I have not used it personally, but they said they have it.
I have been looking into getting a domain name but right at the moment I am only going to be affiliating so I kinda of having a problem picking a name. Ive been thinking dawnsbusiness.com and dawnsbusinessonline.com. I know they say you should have more than one name but should they be similar or not. Based on the fact that Im not really sure what I am doing at the moment.
any input would be greatly appreciated.I know this probably seems like a newbie stupid questions.
You could always start with one domain, and register another one later if you need it. I’d go with dawnsbusiness.com out of those choices. It’s a pretty good domain.
I may like to be your affiliate marketer as well. As a newbie, do you provide free website for us to start out first in our homebased business? Please let us know asap.
Is it risky for us to get a new domain name and web hosting for a fee and later on become a failure and waste all those money for nothing.
I do not provide free websites, as I teach how to build your own website. I think you have a better chance of success if you have some of those skills. Sure there’s always risk in business, but the point of these lessons is to minimize your risk and maximize your chances of success. Also, your risk for a domain and hosting is less than $100.
Protecting Your Business from Online Threats
Brief Description
Prescriptive advice on how businesses can protect their domains, customers, and assets
On This Page
Quick Details/Overview/System Requirements/Instructions
Download files below
Quick Details
Version: 2-2008
Date Published: 2/5/2008
Language: English
Download Size: 448 KB - 1.1 MB*
*Download size depends on selected download components.
Overview
This case study, which is a collaborative effort by Microsoft, the US Chamber of Commerce, and other industry groups, provides prescriptive advice on how businesses can protect their domains, customers, and assets.
Eric,
I’ve got such a download by clicking on “Search the Microsoft Download Center” from Microsoft Update > Administrator Options > Get more updates > Downloads A-Z > then clicked on S > found security & clicked on security > clicked NEXT till I found “Protecting Your Business from Online Threats - Prescriptive advice on how businesses can protect their domains, customers, and assets which was released on 2/5/2008 with Popularity of 9351 (or more).
Eric, will you be teaching us on how we can protect our business from possible copycats despite they might be possibly unintentional? I heard that we may need to get a software to protect us from some unfair competitors who know about hacking from trying to damage our online business by doing something funny. How do we do that as well? We can’t be simply focusing on how we must succeed by being complacent about protecting our butts. Where business competitions are most concerned, hackers don’t just hack into homes but banks, govenments, the Pentagon and mind you, also our online business. Do you protect yours, too?
Eric, as a newbie, this is one different question I need to know. Concerning developing a new business website, I was advised by Richard Quick’s book on Web Design that we shouldn’t use frames in our web because Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will fail to get us any traffic for sure. Can you advise us more about it?
Unfortunately it is not possible to completely protect your business from copycats. It’s just part of the nature of doing business online. I’ve dealt with my fair share of them, and I will answer questions for my subscribers and advise them of how to deal with it if any of them run into such situations.
Regarding frames and SEO, that is generally correct. You should not use frames.
Eric,
I was lured into buying web traffic softwares to get into SEO traffics much much more without paying so much like in PPC ads. Please advise.
I actually like PPC a lot, and it is my favorite traffic method. But there are some good traffic related software. In fact I recommend these ones: Web traffic machines
Eric,
BlueVoda software was the first thing I had downloaded to give me a free beautiful blue website meant for my future online business but when I heard from one blogger who became a virus victim caused by BlueVoda on the following day, I clicked on to Control Panel and removed its programs at once. Prevention is better than cure. So, I did what I did. Nothing is truly free these days. What do you advise on this serious matter? There are so much things for newbies to learn indeed! Please advise.
If you have any malware/spyware on your computer, there are usually ways to deal with it, but sometimes it may require expert intervention. Here are some tips:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/malware/
Hey Eric this just great.I did not receive lesson 22.What do I need to do?
here it is:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson22/
HI THANKS FOR THE GREAT INFORMATION YOU ARE MAKING AVAILABLE TO THE WORLD. PLEASE HOW CAN I DOWNLOAD THE TIPS.
for now I am not making them downloadable, you will just have to view them here on this site. When I am done completing the 100 lessons I will sell them as a collection.
Hi Eric,
Another great lesson, thanks much!
Remember I told you I’m working on reinventing and marketing my Dad’s website (www.mystockpoint.com), do you think using the same name for product and domain is good i.e. product name is mystockpoint and domain remains mystockpoint.com?
With your lessons and guidance, I’m already beginning to formulate how the redesign new site will flow. Things are beginning to take more shape now, this is getting more and more exciting, thanks to you!
I know you will be talking about hosting in the next lesson, however I have 2 questions regarding hosting:
1. while I’m building on the new redesigned website with a new host, can the existing site with the current host still be available online? or when do I do the domain name transfer? since we have daily data posted we would like to have the existing available until the new website is launched, what’s the best way to handle?
2. I don’t know what tools I will use to build the new website. However, can you comment on the site build tools that comes free with hosting eg Hostgator vs xsite pro which costs about $200? As you mentioned in earlier lessons, at this point I want to minimize costs and buying, what’s your thoughts?
Thanks,
Shirley
1) Yes the existing site can still be online at the old host. You would change the DNS only when you are ready for it to go live on your new hosting account at hostgator.
2) I actually talk about both of those tools in lesson #31
Between the two I would definitely recommend XSite Pro, but if you’re short on cash you might want to wait until you watch lessons #28 through #33 to see which method appeals to you. You might decide to go with Wordpress, which is free (and Hostgator has one-click install for it).
Hi Eric,
With respect to 1) above, the logical steps to do if I sign up hostgator to be my web host - I will sign up with hostgator and specify I have an existing domain, next I will build the new website and then change the DNS? Please correct me if I’m wrong.
In your video example, we will change the DNS with the domain registrar. My Dad’s website is registered and hosted by Yahoo. Will I change the DNS in Yahoo webhost similar to your example or I need to do something different?
I’m still on lesson 26 and am taking it very slowly to learn all the correct steps before I start redesigning the new site (don’t want to mess up). And thanks again for all your invaluable advice and guidance!!
Shirley
You are correct. You would build the website, and then change the DNS at Yahoo (which might automatically cancel your Yahoo hosting) to point to your new name servers (as assigned by hostgator in your welcome email).
Here is a walkthrough: Change DNS at Yahoo
ERIC…. GREAT LESSONS. i SORT OUT THE REPLIES AND HIGH LIGHT THOSE OF INTEREST AND COPY. A GREAT REFERENCE SOURCE. ? DO YOU COVER HOW TO MASK AND ARE ANY OF YOUR KEY SITES SURROUNDED WITH OTHER DOMAINS DESIGNED TO BRING THEM TO THE ‘KEY’ SITE? I’M A NEWBEE - BUT EXTREMELY DETERMINED. I NEED TO REHEAR THE SEARCH WORDS’ AND GRAVITY STATS AGAIN. THANKS LOADS. AL
I will probably not cover masking in these lessons. The easiest way to mask a domain is probably in your domain account (such as godaddy), you can forward and mask any domain. But the kind of masking you’re probably referring to is the use of shadow domains, which is basically a black hat tactic. I’ve done some of it, but it does take work, and the results were not spectacular. It’s tough to beat google in the long run, so the techniques I teach in these lessons are more white hat, and more accessible to the average marketer.
Eric, I hope you will be teaching some lessons about the importance of the words you will be using on your website. Especially the correct way to spell the words, and not the abbreviated words you use for instant messaging your friends. It wouldn’t take me a nanosecond to click off some of these websites of people who think everybody knows what they are talking about when they can’t use the correct spelling and writing of the english language. If you don’t have a lesson about this, please make one. I’m sure alot of people will thank you for it.
Thanks Eric - Great lesson. I had some trouble with lesson 22 fyi. The video would not start up. No big deal, just thought I would let you know.
Thanks for the info. I have made a troubleshooting page for this:
http://www.ericstips.com/trouble-viewing-flash-videos/
If you encounter any new problems/solutions be sure to let me know.
Eric, must ipay befor i get my domain name registered?
Yes you need to pay for it. There are some web hosts who offer free domain with their hosting, but ultimately you’re still paying for it because then you’re locked into their hosting.
Eric can I wait to register domain.I am researching two different information products. I want to see which one is more ever green. I don’t have money to waist and The names are available. I am on a very tight budget, I feel I would be better off viewing more lessons and more research be for spending money on something that may not work.This is very hard for a newbe. Thank you for your GREAT INFORMATION. LOL…
Yes you could wait, but of course the risk is that your desired domain could be registered by someone else.
I would suggest going back to lesson #19-20, and try to nail down which of your 2 possible niches is…
a) potentially more profitable
b) what you are more interested in, or knowledgable about
Thank you for the feed back Eric. I did watch lesson 39 and I got scared about all the legal issues you talked about and now I am thinking for the first site keep it simple and I would not have to deal with all the headaches you talked about in the 39th lesson. I don’t need that much stress. It was a very realistic and in formative lesson. Thank you very much. You scared me a whole lot. I am going back and watching the lesson again, after watching lesson 39 I have to narrow my niches trying to stay green and safe and white and do more research to see what a lot of people are looking for. Thanks Richard…
Eric,
Great lesson today! You look familer to me have you ever wrote a book called Walk across America?
No I didn’t but that sounds like a good book
Actually there is a book of that title by Peter Jenkins. I know this because I own another of his books– the Road Unseen.
Hi Eric,
Wow! You are right in saying there are many places where a domain name can be registered!
I know you recommend lifedomains.net but I was wondering if you would be willing to expand a little and possibly offer some specifics on why that would be a better choice than specifically godaddy.com?
There are many factors to consider and as a newbie in this game, price is one of the only things I can compare on, but that shouldn’t be the deciding factor, which is why I ask for your more experienced opinion.
Thank you in advance if you manage to find the time to respond, if not I do understand.
Regards,
Bob Skinner
Hi Bob, actually http://www.lifedomains.net is the same domain registrar as Godaddy (Same parent company), and the service is the same. The only difference is that lifedomains is my own reseller site under their reseller program (as mentioned on the video), so I earn commission from all domains registered at lifedomains.net.
I generally try set the prices on lifedomains to comparable prices as Godaddy. But sometimes Godaddy does have special sales that I don’t have. Here is my aff link for Godaddy as well:
Godaddy domains
Eric–
Aw, shucks. Here I thought that adding the 4U on the end of the domain name was a cool way of branding them to me. If I had my druthers, every website would relate to my corporation, Fantasy Designs for the Ages, but not all of my interests relate directly with Interior Design. It just so happens that I used the names of domains I purchased when I first started my e-commerce business for my booths on Bonanzle. I’ve been trying to get my business off the ground for almost two years without having my own website. That nasty old habit of fear is my biggest roadblock. I am afraid of committing to nearly $40 per month when I have no income to pay for it.
Since the business plan was created for my service business, I will look for a domain name for that service. I wanted the 4U on the end to emphasize the fact that the service I would be providing has my client’s best interests at heart — just like my company logo has the caption “Your Wish is Our Desire!”
I have to use FFE because “furniture fixtures and equipment” is just too long.
Okay, I just went to lifedomains and tried ffedirect, but it was already taken. Since you do not recommend using 4u, which I felt would be justified, I tried ffedirecttoyou. It is available, but I have NO money in the bank at the moment. When I deposit some money, I’ll get my domain.
When I am ready to start with my info product, lessons on reading music, I hope the domain readingmusicbasics.com is available. It is right now. Maybe I’ll get that domain when I get my service one in the next day or two.
Louise
UPDATE:
Woohoo!! I made a sale on eBay and was able to purchase my domain. In case you are curious, the domain is FFEdirectforyou.com. I hope you think that is satisfactory. Now I can move forward…..
Louise
Great lesson! Here is my new domain name:
http://www.friendlyprofits.com
hello Eric, I just register a domain with lifedomains!! =) i got my own name for this one… http://www.irving-orta.com =))
Hello Eric.
you know I really want to get into the “The Domain Business Owner Program” I feel it could be an affordable start..right? so I’m saving for the Basic plan so my question is, all I have to pay is for the plan registration fee and the transaction fees? also I would like to know if I set all customer support to be done through “the domain business owner program” for the future customers, would it be included in my plan(the basic plan for now) or i have to pay any fee for the customer support?
thank you Eric… =)
Hello Irving,
Yes, customer support should always be free!
Wow..I’ve been at this for months and have yet to start making any $’s. My fault…I keep getting stuck but will continue to bang my head against the wall! I’m totally determined I can do this!
i’ve had the same problem with those two lessons.i wasn’t running anything except yahoo mail.but this lesson stopped dead with the timer at 36.37 and hasnt moved from there. i rebooted and still same problem.so i just came down and read the lesson and comments its not the same as seeing the lessons but its better then not getting the lesson at all.
Hello Robert,
Here is a link that should help you to be able to view the videos properly:
http://www.ericstips.com/trouble-viewing-flash-videos/
before i got into erics tips i bought nine domain names for $217.00 i didn’t now what i was doing an i really couldn’t afford to do this.so i went to cb and became an affiliate now i have products but still no idea on what i’m doing,but i’m stil taking an learning from you.wish i had done this first it would have save me a lot of hadches.still havn’t earned a dime still not sure what i’m doing but still working on your lessons hopefully it will all come together soon and i’ll start making some money but it hard to stay encouraged when you make these kind of misstakes in the begininng if it wasn’t for faith in you i would have quit but i’m no quitter and i know following you will help me become the i i want to be thanks eric.some times i just have to unload the errors and keep on plugging.thats what i learn from you never say never.
Hi Eric,
I need your help. I have got this far and am a bit stuck
I want to set up a website /forum so that Maltese dog owners can send in photos, stories and chat about their dogs. This site would have paid advertisement on it to bring in a revenue. (I have bought a programme that puts the ads on your site although this could have been a waste of money.) Also I thought I would write an ebook on toy dog breeding as there does not seem to be one. I have been trying to find out the demand for both of these things. I suspect nither of these things will make me a fortune but perhaps a small income. So I will need something else.
You are suggesting we make our money through info products but do you not need to know your subject really well to develop a product? As other than the above I am not sure that I have enough knowlage of anything else that has not been done before.
Thank you in advance. Lyndsay
Hello Lyndsay,
Eric has a number of lessons that go into detail on how to create your own information products. You can view them at the following links:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson44/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson45/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson46/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson47/
Unfortunately, we have already done this & have our site up. Wish we had found Eric’s tips before we did our site… Oh, well… Such is life. However, we have learned a lot so far that we didn’t know before so it’s been useful. Thanks so much.
Eric,
great domain info…
Hi Eric, Really great lesson! I appreciate you sharing what you are doing and pointing out safe to try business opportunities that we can try..I got a copy of keyword Elite 2.0
and am looking forward to trying that out.
Eric whenever you try to sign up for a new name “reregister” the computer is broken at lifedomains.net
Kent Stryker
to retrieve your login info click here
They also have email and telephone support available on the site…
Eric,
I already heard what you said in your video that you don’t need a website to as a marketer but I learned that, that is not safe. I made a blog (blogger) then I registered the domain name of that blog. My problem now is, how will I use that domain name to a website I am planing to make? My mistake was I register my domain name and its hosting. As of now I have not made a website because I don’t know how.
Please help me…thanks!
You can point that domain to any hosting… you can then install a website on your domain using any of a number of different methods. You will see all of this in the upcoming lessons
This is to follow up my previous question…
Now that I have registered a domain name in the name of my blog, can I still use that domain name to my website if ever I will make one? Ty
yes you can.
Thank you so much! God bless you!
hi, eric is there any way you can send me all your lessons from 4 to the least as i am 60 and i think i will most likaly called on from a higher plase. i would like to start befor it all end,s i have no website so i can not sell that i bought from you yours brian,ps your god be with you on your trip
Hello Brian,
The next lesson will soon be completed and will be sent to you soon thereafter. You can also visit EricsTips.com to see the latest lesson updates and revisit earlier lessons:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/category/lessons/
Here is the direct link to lesson 4, 5, etc…:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson4/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson5/
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson6/
”
“
Hi Eric,
What comes through to me is to keep it simple which is not what other people told me.
Thank you
Butch Hannan
Hi, Eric,
I’m enjoying the lessons very much. Thank you for them.
My first domain was http://www.beststressreducers.com and when I discovered something about the hosting bunch, I changed.
http://www.BustingStress.com is Stress Busters for Stress Management. This briefly conveys exactly what the site is about. Since I wasn’t able to get a more keyword rich name, I get to really work with the keywords for each page of the site and everything else I do.
I’ve been a telemarketer for 9 years and am finding the marketing on the internet is a wee bit different. Really having the time of my life learning all of this and working to make it work and feel like I’m where I should be.
Thanks again.
Karen
I seem to have lost you iv been whating for 24 if you ar on holls sorry for been pushey yours brian may your god be with you
Hi Brian. What are you waiting for?
Another very good lesson… and thanks a lot for the tip with the domain business owner program…!!!
All the best,
Arne
hi eric
im really new to all this and finding tour lessons really honest and informative, which i have to say is very refreshing. I am looking forward to the rest and an only imagine that they can only be beneficial. I do have a quesstion that maybe you can help me with. As you can see i do have a website which i purchaed ages ago and can’t remember who or where, but the content on it has nothing to do with me and i have not been able todo anything with it myself , 1 because i dont know how and 2, im not sure if i can access it . I would like to keep the domain name now to utilize it for doing something with all the knowledge im gaining from you. If anyone has any ideas i would be grateful,
If you own the domain you should definitely be able to access it. It is registered with Godaddy, so you should be able to login to Godaddy to manage it. From there, you can follow the next few lessons to transfer it to your own hosting account, and set up your own website on it.
wow thank you eric . I am so impressed with what you do. how do you find the time to answer everyone. I just hope that Im right in crediting you as being a dynamic inspired good person and NOT that Im bordering the realms of being indolent thank you for the information I really wasnt expecting you to get back to me on it. Anyway I am following your lessons avidly and have registered a new site with your recomendations . I just wish I had more time as i am now positive that, with the help im getting from these lessons, i can generate a modest income. Thank you again.
God Bless ..Steve
I just register this last week….
http://softwarethebest.com/
but after I listen to this lesson I register this one instead….
http://www.barbsoftware.com
When I get starting with my website, will be OK to give away the eric’s lesson has a tool to get emails?
If yes tell me more and how thanks you are a great teacher Barbara
Good thinking
No you can’t give away these lessons on your website, but I have other stuff that you can give away, such as the PDF tip sheets from this page:
http://www.ericstips.com/media/
Also I will be extensively teaching how to build your list.