Consider this scenario: You've started an online consulting business, and you couldn't be more excited. You've created a five-phase business plan, you've printed business cards and letterhead, and you've even managed to secure a few clients already. All that's left to do is create a website, so you've hired the best interactive agency available to put together your site for you. The trick is that they don't provide you with a domain, so you decide to do it on your own, but after looking into a few different options, you find that the name you want is taken! This can be quite discouraging, but consider it a chance to make some creative changes in your business model.

With the internet being as widely used as it is today, it can be nearly impossible to secure the domain name of your choice, especially if it is fairly common sounding, such as "consulting.com" The best way to get around this is to find a cheap domain name selling website online and start getting creative with your name choices. For instance, if the name of your business is Rob Chapin Consulting. The domains robconsulting.com and chapinconsulting.com are likely taken, so your best bet would be to take the more professional route and use an abbreviation such as rcconsulting.com This way, you have the added bonus of having your business be taken more seriously (as robconsulting.com just doesn't look good) as well avoiding the original problem you had with getting a great domain name.

Also, shop around when choosing where to buy domain names. If you look around carefully, you'll find that a great domain name can be purchased for as little as eight dollars per year. Like anything else, it doesn't take much more than a few minutes of research to be sucecssful!