Believe me, it was last thing in world I wanted to do! After just spending tons of money and time on my own site, I wasn’t one bit interested in talking to Andrew. What I had was “good enough” for awhile. Sure there changes I wanted to make, but they could wait. Besides, doing business with your friend’s kid is dangerous - what if he did a lousy job?

With a gracious smile, I politely declined her offer of assistance. “Maybe in a year or so,” I said in my nicest, most discouraging manner. She finally dropped subject. Needless to say, I was relieved.

Imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from Andrew a few weeks later. I opened message and began reading. Sure enough it started, “My mom mentioned ...” “Poor fellow,” I thought, “He must really be desperate for business.”

“I took a look at your web site,” letter continued, “and I have some ideas ...”

I was surprised - selling ideas is a high level sales skill. Andrew was new at this, but he had checked out my site and spent time thinking about my business. I was downright curious too. What ideas did Andrew have for me? I had to learn more. I read on. He explained them, but being a non-tech savvy buyer, I was somewhat confused. He started to lose me; I quickly reject any sales pitch cloaked in techie terminology.

Then, what I read next blew me away!

Ideally, you want a name that conveys your product or service. Think of your domain name as your identity online. You want your name to be eye-catching, yet simple and easy to remember.

As first thing your visitor sees, your domain name gives them their first impressions about you. The last thing you want is your visitor to form a bad first impression. Here are some general Do's and Don'ts when deciding on a domain name:

*Be Professional

The best domain names sound professional. People are impressed by quality and value, but above all else, they expect professionalism. You want your domain to project a high level of quality. The right domain name, coupled with a quality product at a genuine value, will not only prove you're a professional, you'll also earn your customer's loyalty and trust.

*Get a .com extension

You should always try to obtain a .com extension rather than .net, .org, .biz, etc. The reason is most people will automatically add .com as extension when they type an internet address. There is nothing wrong with owning other extensions, but if you own a domain with a .net extension without first owning .com extension, you will lose visitors.

*Use keywords