One of the biggest - and most fun - parts of launching a new site is coming up with the domain name.  This is it - this is going to be your identity on the Web for the foreseeable future, and it’s important to get it right the first time.  Sometimes the decision’s made for you - you go with the name of your business or something like that.  That’s fine.  But other times, you’re presented with the unique challenge of coming up with an online identity from scratch.  On those occasions, here are five tools to help you come up with great domain names.

Your Keyword List

Boring, but highly functional.  When generating domain names for your new site, don’t neglect to include your keywords if possible.  For example, if you’re a photographer, don’t go with YourName.com; opt for YourNamePhotography.com.  Why?  Search engines consider domain names as part of their ranking calculations.  If the domain name contains certain keywords, search engines naturally assume that the page’s content has something to do with those keywords too.  It’s more relevant, so it ranks higher.  This can be a very powerful tool.  If your niche isn’t very competitive, having the keywords in the domain name might be enough to launch you to the first page of Google results.

Instant Domain Search

There’s no better tool to go along with a domain brainstorming session than the Instant Domain Search.  The site tells you instantly whether your given name is available - no buttons to press or pages to load.  I’ve spent tons of time typing in endless permutations of ideas and keywords until I found one that finally worked, but the process would have taken a lot longer without this site.  Trust me - it’s a timesaver.

Makewords

If you’re looking to develop a new online brand, Mywords can be a great tool.  The site specializes in developing nonsense words that are both pronounceable and brandable.  Some of the results are a bit dubious - I don’t think anyone is going to want a Web site named “bahschu.com,” but occasionally you strike gold with a name that’s got just the right amount of weirdness to it.  Hey - think anyone would have understood sites like squidoo.com or even flickr.com years ago?  Doubtful.

Dot-O-Mater

Dot-o-Mater lets you combine your own lists of prefixes and suffixes into different domain combinations.  For example, you could have a prefix list of “value” and “bargain” and a suffix list of “boats” “ships” and “yachts,” and it will check every possible combination of those terms for availability.  The site has some default lists too if you’re hurting for ideas, and a Web 2.0 Name Generator which functions a lot like Makewords.

Nameboy

Nameboy will take two base words and run with it to find pages and pages of domain names.  For example, if your site is about budget photography, it will generate a list of domains with synonyms for each term and even rhyming terms.  It’s a lot to comb through, but it’s a powerful tool for finding domains related to your site’s content.

E-mail is no longer only an effective tools in online direct marketing, but also in direct marketing in general. With virtually no postage or printing costs, e-mail marketing is slowly beginning to replace direct mail as the easiest and most effective way to reach a company’s clientele. And in some cases, e-mail marketing is producing better results than with traditional forms of print direct marketing.

Whether a real estate agent, an architecture firm, or an E-commerce site, e-mail marketing allows you to let customers know about promotions, industry news, and new products, and is definitely a marketing tool your company should consider. Click here to read about three companies implemented e-mail marketing campaigns and how this move did wonders for their company.

F/G can design and implement an e-mail newsletter for your company today. For more information, visit our Web site or e-mail us at contact@fletchergiglio.com.

I had someone write me in a panic the other day. They had just switched their Web site between servers, only to watch their search traffic plummet from Google. In the week after they switched, they went from about 150 unique visitors from Google to just 20. What was the problem?

I went through a quick checklist with the site’s owner, checking to see if he may have been penalized by Google or if there was a problem with his site. Did he start selling links on his site, or was his site hacked? No, so a penalty was unlikely. Did he delete or change the links to his content? No, so errors weren’t the cause. So the only explanation left was the mythical Google sandbox effect.

Web developers are in disagreement as to whether the sandbox actually exists, and it has never been confirmed or denied by Google. I’m a firm believer in the sandbox effect’s existence, at least for certain sites. What is it and how can you escape it? Read on.

The Sandbox Effect Defined

Simply put, the Google Sandbox is a holding area for a Web site. Pages may be indexed by Google, but they don’t appear in the search engine results. This is because Google is testing the long-term reliability of the site - is there fresh, natural content updated frequently or is the site just spam? Some people argue that a site may be manually sandboxed, but it likely is the side-effect of some Google algorithm designed to combat spam. Once a site is sandboxed, the effect can last as long as a few months.

In my experience, the Google sandbox effect occurs in two situations: the early days of a site’s development, and after the transfer of a site between servers that requires a change in the DNS information (the nameservers regulating which server is serving your site). Both situations would be common times where a site might become spammy. In the case of the webmaster I was working with, the likely cause of his drop in search rankings was because of the change in his DNS information. Google has no way of knowing if some sort of spammer purchased the site for his own nefarious means, and a trip to the sandbox protects the quality of their search results until this could be determined.

How Can You Escape the Sandbox?

For new sites, the important thing is not to be discouraged. Many young webmasters get frustrated and quit from the lack of search traffic early on, but there are ways to escape the sandbox effect. Focus on developing high-quality links with sites in your niche. Produce fresh, clean content for Google to index on a regular basis. See if you can get some play on social media sites like Digg and Reddit - nothing helps you escape the sandbox quicker than the hundreds of quality backlinks a trip to one of these sites’ front pages can bring.

For newly-transferred sites, the strategy is much the same. Focus on continuing to build links and generate new content. In some situations, you might just have to wait it out. One strategy some Web site owners find effective is to keep your site active on your own domain. Google takes longer to adapt to DNS changes than the average Internet user, which means its robots might be looking for content at your old location for as long as three weeks after the fact. Keeping your old hosting active for this period allows for an adjustment period and ensures your content can always be found.

It’s important to note that some sites may never get any sort of sandbox penalty at all. Others may be mired in it for months at a time. That’s why the sandbox effect is so difficult to prove - everyone has a different experience with it. But sometimes, as was the case with my friend’s site, there just seems to be no other explanation.

This man and this business card are not famous, but I ran across it on Matt Cutts’ blog last night as I was browsing around the Internet. He found it in a book, knows nothing else about it but he’s never going to forget it. That’s the whole point of a business card, right? So I got to thinking - what do the business cards of the rich and famous look like? I spent some time scouring the Web for as many examples I could, hoping I could find some common thread in their business cards that got them to where they are today. Didn’t happen, but the resulting collection is pretty cool nonetheless. Have any more examples? Let me know in the comments.

Bill Gates

This is one of Gates’ first business cards, all the way back from when Microsoft used to be headquartered in New Mexico. No indications of the billions to come - just a tired, dated design.

Donald Trump

A surprisingly restrained choice from The Donald.

Eric Schmidt

Google’s founder missed the error in his business card. Not sure he wants to be remembered as the Chariman.

Steve Wozniak

Cast-iron cool from one of the founders of Apple.

Al Capone

While the card hasn’t survived the ages, legend has it that the gangster’s business card listed him as working in the used furniture business.

Abraham Lincoln

The president’s business card from his days as an attorney.

William Davidson

Simple design from one of the founders of Harvey Davidson.

Kevin Mitnick

The security consultant’s card doubles as a lockpick set.

ASP - Application Service Provider - Company that offers access to software applications and related services over a network or the Internet.

B2B - Business to Business - Refers to trade between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers

B2C - Business to Consumer - Refers to businesses selling products or services to end-user consumers.

CGI - Common Gateway Interface - A way web servers pass information to and from application programs (to process forms for example). CGI programs or “scripts” can be written in several programming languages, including C, C++, Java and Perl.

CPA - Cost Per Action - Cost to an advertiser for each visitor that takes a specific action in response to an ad, such as subscribing to an ezine, requesting a free trial, or making a purchase. Also used to describe advertising employing this model.

CPC - Cost Per Click - Cost to an advertiser for each click on a promotional link by a site visitor or newsletter reader. Also used to describe advertising employing this model.

CPL - Cost Per Lead - Advertising expenditure required to obtain each new sales lead.

CPM - Cost Per Thousand - The amount charged per thousand impressions (showings) of an ad (”M” is the Roman numeral for 1000). Whilst websites sell ad impressions in blocks of 1000, with newsletters the number of subscribers determines the final price. Also used to describe advertising employing this model.

CPS - Cost Per Sale - Advertising expenditure divided by sales generated to determine the cost to make each sale; or the commission payable for each sale generated by an affiliate.

CR - Conversion Rate/ Ratio - The percentage of respondents to an ad, or readers of a sales message that complete the action desired (usually making a purchase, but can also be subscribing to a newsletter, for example).

CRM - Customer Relationship Management - Improving interaction with customers through better understanding, with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty (thus increasing profits).

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets - Used to globally define how elements in a Web page are displayed instead of relying on HTML code in the page. Makes designs more flexible and reduces HTML file sizes.

CTR - Click-Through Rate/ Ratio - The percentage of website visitors or newsletter readers who click on a particular link. Used to measure response to ads or sales messages.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - Often used as the title of a page on websites that answers commonly asked questions about a product or service.

FFA - Free-For-All Links - Web pages that allow anyone to add a link back to their own website, usually in exchange for accepting promotional messages from the FFA page owner.

PFI - Pay For Inclusion - Paying to have web pages included in a search engine’s database and regularly updated.

PPA - Pay-Per-Action - Affiliate commissions where a set amount is paid for generating a specific action, such as taking a free trial or subscribing to an ezine. PPL, PPC and PPS are usually considered as PPA.

PPI - Pay Per Impression - Where an advertiser pays for each display (impression) of their advertisement (usually a banner).

PPL - Pay-Per-Lead - Where a commission is paid for each sales lead generated by an affiliate. A “lead” is usually defined as somebody who signs up for a free trial, or requests further information, etc.

PPC - Pay Per Click - Ad sales or affiliate commissions where a set amount is paid for each click on a promotional link by a consumer.

PPCSE - Pay Per Click Search Engine - A search engine where the results are composed of advertisers who pay a fee for each click on their listing. Using a bidding system, the advertiser willing to pay the most is ranked highest.

PPS - Pay-Per-Sale - Where a commission is paid for each sale generated by an affiliate. The commission is usually a percentage of the sale, although sometimes it’s a fixed amount.

ROI - Return on investment - How much profit is made after advertising and other costs have been subtracted. A measure of how successful a marketing campaign is in terms of the returns on money spent.

RON - Run Of Network - Where ads (usually CPM banners) are shown (rotated) across the pages of the entire network of sites owned by a company, or controlled by a particular advertising network. Cheaper than only having the ad appear on selected sites.

ROS - Run Of Site - Where ads are rotated across the pages of a single site. Cheaper than only having the ad appear on selected pages.

SE - Search Engine - A searchable database of pages on the Web. Different from an Index (like Yahoo) in that pages are not reviewed by a human editor before inclusion.

SEM - Search Engine Marketing - Similar to SEO (below), and sometimes used to emphasize that generating quality targeted traffic is of greater importance than simply obtaining high rankings. Can also include PPCSEs and other search engine advertising.

SEO - Search Engine Optimization - The process of optimizing web pages to achieve high rankings in the search results of a search engine, in order to attract more visitors.

SEP - Search Engine Positioning - Getting your page listed on the search engine results page. Similar to SEO.

SERP - Search Engine Results Page - The page of listings displayed upon completion of a search at a search engine.

SSI - Server Side Include - A way for a web server to include variable values and information from an external source into a web page as it is requested by the browser. Uses include automatic display of data like the Last Modified date of the page, or storing common page elements in their own files, enabling site-wide updates by modifying a single file.

USP - Unique Selling Proposition - The reason why somebody should buy from you and not your competition. The unique benefits that your products or services offer consumers. What it is that makes you special, different.

And for full disclaimer - the list is © 2003 Azam Corry. “Do it Better. Do it Faster. Do it Right!”
Online since 1998, Azam Corry helps marketers succeed. Get Free Guides, Tools & Web Marketing Resources at: http://NowSell.com/?a
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Interesting article on the Fast Company Web site about the 10 most unusual social networks. I think one of the overarching themes of the Internet’s development over the next five or six years is going to be the tremendous growth of these niche networks catering to just about any interest imaginable. The Fast Company article does a good job illustrating just how…interesting…things can get, chronicling a site devoted to gerbils and toilet aficionados, among others.

My favorite on the list? BeautifulPeople, a site where only the prettiest people (voted on by current members) can join. The site brags that only 1 in 10 are selected. Guess the Web’s just like high school all over again.

A typical e-mail pitch by the Obama campaign. Companies can draw several lessons from Obama’s approach to use in their own campaigns.

Politics aside, Barack Obama’s use of Internet small donors to build his campaign has been nothing short of impressive, and his strategies will certainly become the model for politicians in the future. But some of the successes of the Obama campaign will translate well to the business world as well. One of the linchpins of Obama’s success has been his e-mail campaign. When the campaign needs a quick influx of donations to bolster its monthly figures or to run a new ad, they turn to their e-mail list. Why is their approach to e-mail marketing so successful, and what lessons can you take to improve the conversions on your own e-mail campaigns?

1. Focus on Building your E-mail List

On barackobama.com, the e-mail sign up form is ubiquitous on almost every page. It’s tough to avoid - this is a campaign that clearly wants you to sign up for their e-mail blasts. While this approach would probably go overboard in the business world, its worth taking a look at how easy you make it for your customers to sign-up for e-mail updates. Is your sign-up form hidden away on some sad lonely page? If so, make it more prominent. E-mail subscribers are customers who want to build a better relationship with your business; make it easy for them to do so.

2. Give your e-mail a News Peg

A news peg is a term from the journalism world describing the point of writing a story. What makes this relevant now? The Obama campaign consistently gives each of their e-mail campaigns a news peg; they are always including something the readers can connect with immediately. Consider this recent e-mail the Obama campaign sent out after McCain released his “Celebrity” ad:

As we face the fundraising deadline at midnight tonight, I want you to know what we are up against.

Less than 24 hours ago, the McCain campaign launched the latest and lowest in a series of misleading attack ads.

This Karl Rove-style ploy misleads people about Barack’s energy plan and even mocks his ability to inspire voters and bring Americans back into the political process.

The e-mail contains two separate news pegs - the fundraising deadline and the response to the McCain ad. Obama’s supporters are likely concerned about each. By connecting their e-mail campaign to these current events, the Obama campaign is able to capitalize on these emotions while they are still fresh. This means higher conversions — and more donations.

How can this translate to the business world? Your company is never going to dominate the news cycles like Obama and McCain, but you can still look for news pegs to connect your e-mail campaigns to. For example, a Realtor could connect her e-mail marketing campaigns to the current housing downturn and talk about how her services could help. A construction company could link to a recent article about a building boom in its hometown and discuss how they played a role. By including a news peg, you give your e-mail marketing campaign relevance beyond it being a simple pitch for business. This will drive your conversions higher.

3. Make It Personal

In the Obama e-mail campaign, every e-mail is personally addressed to the subscriber and signed by “Barack.” Not Barack Obama. Just “Barack.” Sometimes “Michele” writes as well.

It doesn’t matter if some mid-level staffer is actually writing the fundraising pitches (and one undoubtedly is) — the subscriber feels more connected with the candidate. You want to put this same friendly face on your business. Address each of your subscribers by name - most e-mail blast services give you this option - and create a signature or a persona to use in your e-mails. Subscribers connect much better when they feel like there’s another, actual person on the other side — not some faceless campaign or corporation.

4. Use a Reliable and Reputable Delivery Method

As your e-mail list grows, you may find it harder and harder to manage the influx of new requests to join and to unsubscribe. It’s important to have a reliable processor who can send out your e-mail blasts and handle all this information. The Obama campaign uses iContact, which can link directly in with the forms on your site to automate the entire newsletter process. Another good option is Constant Contact. These services will manage your lists, but for a monthly fee. They also don’t allow the use of purchased lists and limit the number of e-mails you can send in a month before incurring an additional fee, so they might not be the best options for all.

Great post today over on Troxel on 24 creative business card designs. I never understand why businesses don’t make their business cards more interesting. In many cases, it’s one of the most lasting impressions you’ll leave with a potential customer. My favorite of the 24? The one posted above from Diesel Design, which includes business cards for every staff member involved in a design job. Pretty cool.

In the early days of your blog, you may feel like Sam Brownback during the 2008 primaries: perpetually speaking to an empty room.

For a business, the Internet can be a brutal place. And businesses that blog are businesses that put themselves in the center of the storm. Blogs take a while to mature, and along the way, every business blogger will deal with languishing in obscurity, cutting criticism, and a lack of motivation. Here’s a guide to handling the growing pains along the way, but keep this in mind too: the payoff is worth it. Those bloggers that can weather the rough, early days, will be rewarded with a collection of strong content that attracts new readers, promotes discussion and feedback, improves search engine ranking and ultimately generates new business.

1. Get used to speaking to an empty room.

If there’s one thing that kills a business blog in its early days, it’s this: businesses put tons of effort and research into a post only to look at the stats the next day to see that no one read it. Discouraged, they quit blogging altogether.

This is the wrong approach to take, and it’s the only sure way all that hard work put into those first posts is wasted. Blogs take a while to get indexed by a search engine and to develop a following. Those first posts are always going to fall on deaf ears, but they’re the necessary steps to building an audience. Keep at it. In time, your work will circulate and you’ll develop a following. Try to make your first posts evergreen- write about content that’s relevant at any time. That way, when you do develop a readership, you can link back to the early content and get it read then.

2. Develop a thick skin.

There’s something about the anonymity of the Internet that brings out the worst in people. Undoubtedly, you will get “flamed” at some point, the victim of a scathing, personal diatribe posted to your blog that probably goes so far to question your worth as a human being. Get used to it. It’s the cost of doing on the business on the Internet. And just wait until your content gets picked up by sites like Digg and Reddit - you’ll be subject to the most vituperative attacks you’ve likely ever seen. Accept that the benefit of getting on these sites - lots of new traffic and inbound links - is well worth the insult.

A cautionary note: don’t over censor your blog. Separate careless attacks from thoughtful criticism. Readers can sense when your blog is filtered; remember, you don’t want this to be a pure PR piece for your company. Respond to criticism and learn from it, but don’t be afraid from putting it on your site.

3. Keep posting.

You’ve worked hard to develop readership and subscribers, and nothing loses them faster than an extended hiatus in your posting. So give them fresh content. Generate new ideas for features - links of the day, ask the expert - anything to keep them coming back. The search engines notice, too. Stop posting too long and your new content will stop getting indexed and your rankings will fall. It’s important to post at least three times a week - anything less and you may struggle to keep your readers.