This will be a two-part post. I'm going to cover two Internet-related topics. If you have a bunch of siblings, kids and in-laws, definitely read the second part.
Avoiding The Domain Havesters
Pic: artist's conception of average domain harvester
If you ever, ever, think you might want to start up a blog or web site one day using your name (or future business name) as the domain, you need to do it ASAP, then hold onto it with both hands. The problem is that once a domain expires, the domain harvesters will grab it up, and then they'll charge you a pretty penny if you want to buy it back. I've seen them ask for upwards of $3,000.
And you can see why they do it. If you want to open Mary Brown's Boutique, and desperately want the 'marybrownsboutique.com" name, well, you'll probably be willing to shell out some bucks for it. And that'll be especially true since you'll then be able to write it off on your income tax as a business expense. In your mind's eye, that might be enough to justify it.
So, the answer is to get the rascal registered now, then desperately hold onto it until the day you want to use it. I'd suggest you use BlueHost, the web hosting company I've been using for 15 years. The domain will only cost you $3.95/mo, which beats the heck out of paying some domain harvester their blood money down the road. And BlueHost will help you keep the domain, either by billing you automatically every year, or notifying you by email when it's due.
Some tips on grabbing a unique domain:
— If you're looking to register "jimcrawford.com", but it's already been taken, try using your middle initial, your full middle name, or perhaps "james" instead of "jim".
— You can use hyphens, so if all the above are taken, try "jim-crawford.com".
— If you're opening a fun blog site and "coolestblogintown.com" is taken, try adding "the" to the beginning, or "a", "another", "yet another", "my", "your", etc.
As for using domain suffixes other than ".com", I tend to recommend against it. If someone's trying to remember your domain name from memory, and it finally comes to them, they're going to use ".com" just by default. And if someone else already has your domain but with a ".com" (which is likely, or you would have used it), that's where they'll end up.
BTW, there's no web site involved. All you're buying is the domain. Come the day you want to use it, that'll be when you either hire a webmaster or do it yourself using the remarkable WordPress software and my easy step-by-step guide.
Here's the link to BlueHost. The sign-up process is pretty simple. At one point you'll make up a BlueHost password. Scribble it and the domain into a Notepad file and keep that rascal safe. You might also print out a copy and stick it in some file folder.
Below the fold, the wonderful adventure of opening a family blog. If you've got a bunch of siblings, kids and in-laws, it's a great experience for everyone involved.
The Family Blog
Nan in the comments mentioned this the other day (which prompted this post), so I'll let her give the overview:
Welcome back, Doc!
Of all the wonderful posts you've made in the past, the most appreciated was the "Family Blog" one. Remember that? I come from a fairly large family (six brothers and sisters and six grown children with kids), and we all did the family blog thing. We'd post videos of "baby's first steps", videos of us water skiing on vacation, and everything in between. It really drew the family together like nothing else could. You should post it again, it might inspire others.
The process is fairly easy. Whoever in the family is the most tech-savvy builds the site using the easy step-by-step instructions on my how-to WordPress site. This person is the 'Administrator'. He or she then sends out the link of the WordPress editor to the other families. Whoever blogs for them is an 'Author', which means they have the ability to post a blog, but not touch anyone else's blog or get into the site settings.
So, they scribble out some words, and if they want to post a picture, that's three mouse clicks. Hit the 'Publish' button and it's online.
Posting videos is a tad more difficult, but the step-by-step instructions & tools are available on my how-to site. Basically, you first have to convert the video to an online streaming format like FLV, then upload the vid, then put the address and video size (height and width) into the simple page code. For the preview pic (the pic that displays before the video starts), you simply play the video in a player like Media Player Classic, stop on the frame you want, 'Save Image', and there's your preview pic.
Also, you'll probably want to keep the site private, and that's easy to do. Click one button in the settings, save the page, and Google and such won't be able to scan the site.
As for the domain name, unlike grabbing a 'personal' domain, like in the first half of this post, something like "jonesfamilyblog.com" is much more likely to be available. Use the above link to connect with BlueHost. Their $3.95/mo deal is hard to beat. And, if you run into a snag, their tech support people are very friendly and helpful.
Any questions, give a holler in the comments.
