Of Domain Names and the web-experience-challenged

Yesterday I managed to register my domain name.

After hearing suggestions from several people to go with Godaddy.com I went with Godaddy.com. Registering there is cheaper than any other place I have found and all the web geeks I know seem to think it's a good place so I saw no reason not to go with them. My experience was a little more complicated than I expected, but not bad by any means.

The good: Price and the fact that the people who know what they're talking about recommend them. It's easy to look up the domain name you want and go from there.

The bad: If you don't know what you're doing it get's complicated quickly. I'm sure that anyone with a clue would have been registered in under 5 minutes. It took me nearly 30 because they kept asking me questions I didn't know the answer to and I would have to research the question before I could answer it. I wonder if there is a "Domain Name Registration for [insert deragatory term for someone who isn't very smart here]" book somewhere.

Overall: It was the only option for me. The research I did left competitors in the dust! $9.99 a year for a .com is just the best deal out there. If they were to ask me what to do to increase my rating I would have to say that they could make it a bit more foolproof and/or explain things a bit better to those who have no clue what they are doing. :-)

If I had to grade it: 3.0 (B)

I also had some fun "pointing" my domain name at this blog. Although I'm going to change the method a bit. Apparently you can "forward" your domain name to a different website and the website that you forward to will still show up as the address that you are going to. (IE - type in www.clothdiaperadventurer.com and the address bar will change to http://clothdiaperadventurer.blogspot.com when you get to my blog). What I think I want to do is called "masking" in which the actual site's address is covered up by the web address that is forwarded to it. (IE - type in www.clothdiaperadventurer.com and you end up at my blog while still seeing www.clothdiaperadventurer.com in the address bar).

Maybe I ought to write the Domain Names for [insert deragatory term for someone who isn't very smart] book myself as I learn! :-)

Resource #2

Name of Resource: Entrepreneur.com

Location of Resource: http://www.entrepreneur.com/

The Good: A TON of information for long-time business owners and for those looking to get started. Great ideas, inspirational stories, and more!

The Bad: It's a bit overwhelming if you're just getting started. There is way more information than any one person needs and it can take a bit of sifting to find things that apply to you specifically.

Overall: I like it. I've even signed up for a trial issue of Entrepreneur Magazine (will let you know how that goes).

If I had to grade it: 3.5 (B +)

Notes: For those mothers, like myself, looking to start your own business consider searching for "mompreneurs" on the site. That's the real jewel for me!