Most people who start an online business will spend far too much time just getting things set up and won’t have enough time or money to spend on the things that will actually make him or her money.

This chapter is set up to get past many of the start up issues as fast as possible, so you can focus on creating additional traffic to your website and improving your sales process.

Okay, let's get started!

If I were starting an Internet business now, these are the things I would need to accomplish.  In no particular order…

1.      The Name of the Business
2.      Domain Name
3.      Website Server
4.      Form an LLC or Inc.
5.      Trademark Registration
6.      Misc. things like business cards

The Name of Your Business.

For most situations I recommend the name of the business be the same as the domain name.  It makes things much easier in general as you'll see below.

There are two schools of thought here, go with a keyword generated name or go with a name you make up.  My preference is to go with a keyword generated name because it’s easier to target the search engines and it’s more recognizable in marketing campaigns that have the url listed in it. 

An example of a keyword generated name would be BuySellWebsite.com or BabyCribs.com and examples of made up names would be Yahoo.com or Digg.com.

As another example, when I chose BestWebsite as the name of this business, I registered the domain name BestWebsite.com, then formed an LLC in its name, BestWebsite, LLC then filed the Federal Trademark “BestWebsite”  I also opened a Bank account in its name and set up a PayPal account in its name.  The name also serves as my email account best@bestwebsite.com.

I think this is important because when people come to my site they like to see that the domain name is the same as the LLC name and when they make a payment they like seeing that the payment is going to the same business name as everything else.

Creating credibility with your website is certainly the most important thing when convincing people to do business with you.  The little things do matter.  And it is definitely worth it to spend the effort to set your business up this way.

Domain Name

In general you should try for a two or three word domain name that contains the keywords of your industry.  An excellent way to discover the best keywords for your industry is by using the keyword service by WordTracker.com  They do a great job of showing which keywords are the most searched for and least competitive, giving you the best chance of success.

More often than not, the most searched for keywords in your industry will already have the domain name registered.  However, as an example, if you really wanted BabyCribs.com.  You could register myBabyCribs.com or BabyCribsHome.com  (Before you select a name, read the Trademark section in this chapter.)

Having an excellent domain name will definitely make things easier when it comes to search engine optimization and creating credibility when people visit your site.  For instance, the domain name BestWebsite.com had already been registered to someone else before I negotiated to buy it.  I knew it was exactly the name I wanted and was willing to pay a premium for it. 

You can find lots of premium domains for sale at SEDO.com or GreatDomains.com.  If you are just starting out however, I recommend going to goDaddy.com and registering a domain name as close as you can get with your keywords in it.  That way you only end up paying nine dollars for your domain name, instead of possibly thousands of dollars for a premium domain name.

It's difficult to make a recommendation on what exactly to do without seeing your situation.  But a name is very important and carefully choosing the best name for your business is important.  As a general rule-of-thumb, don't spend more than 10% of your budget on it.  You'll probably need every dollar you've got to make sure you get through the start up process.  You can rethink the name when you’re profitable.  That might sound crazy, but businesses do it all the time.

For instance, here is another example of choosing a domain name.  A friend of mine is building her photography website to sell her photography services.  She has decided to use her own name, Sarah Martini as the name of the business Sarah Martini, LLC and the domain name is SarahMartini.com.  This arrangement is fine and works well for this situation.

My goal from here on out is to make sure you make it through the start up phase.  To me the start up phase lasts until the website can earn enough money to operate without any outside money being put in.  Only a very small number of people make it past this phase and I hope I can help you through it.

Note: Be aware that when you are registering a domain name with GoDaddy.com they will try to sell you a bunch of add-on services like hosting, advertising and an anonymous listing to name a few.  I don’t recommend purchasing anything else from them.  Also, there are certainly many other places on the Internet to register your domain name, such as NetworkSolutions.com and TuCows.com, I just have a preference for GoDaddy.com. 

Website Server

I've used many different web servers to host my websites over the years, and there is one clear winner that is the best in every category.  It is Intermedia.net.  I’ve discovered that no matter how big, small, or complicated your site or how many visitors you get to your site - Intermedia.net can handle almost every situation.  They have hosting packages that will fit most people’s needs, handling virtually any script you can think of to run on it, for $15.95 per month.

Please note: I do NOT receive compensation from any of the websites I recommend in this book.  I will disclose compensation information if there is an exception.

They also offer a very user-friendly control panel that lets you manage your server via any Web browser.  They make setting up e-mail accounts and filtering spam very easy.  They also include, at no additional cost, an excellent website statistics tracking software  that allows you to see who is visiting your site, where they are coming from, how long they are staying, what they are looking at and what keywords they used to find you, among other things.

The website statistics tracking is an incredibly helpful tool to understand how people are using your site and determine how to improve it.

Where you host your website IS very important.  Don’t be tempted to cut corners here.  If you try to save a few dollars, you will almost undoubtedly wind up frustrated dealing with web server downtime, hard to use server management tools and unknowledgeable Tech Support.

The Intermedia.net Tech Support is excellent, they usually respond in under an hour and can actually answer the most complicated questions you can have.  This has proven the case for me.  No matter if it's dealing with Java scripts or database connection issues, logging problems or anything else.  I have used them for five years, and they have only gotten better.

Action Step:  To setup your website server, follow these steps.  Go to Intermedia.net and click on Web Hosting, then click on the Windows graphic under the "Shared Web Hosting" and select the Basic Hosting account.

The basic hosting account is actually very robust, and can handle almost anything you want to do.  This package includes online server management, your e-mail accounts, website statistics program, superb technical support, and plenty of bandwidth.

Also, you can use virtually any website design tool you're comfortable with including Microsoft Expression Web, Adobe Dreamweaver, and Adobe Flash.  You may also FTP your files up.  I personally use Microsoft Expression Web, but any of these tools are excellent.  In chapter 3, I go over the different web design tools.

Tip:  After you register your domain name, here are the steps for how to point it to Intermedia.net, where your website is hosted, so that when you type in your domain name in a web browser, e.g..  www.yourname.com your website will come up.

This example assumes you've registered your domain name through GoDaddy.com but it is almost the same process for any Domain Register.

Login to your GoDaddy account and click on My Account, then Manage Domains, then click the domain name you'd like to modify. Then on the right hand panel under the NameServers Summary click on the link “see details or modify” and then select Custom Name Servers and then enter this information…

Name Server 1: NS2.INTERMEDIA.NET
Name Server 2: NS3.INTERMEDIA.NET

so it looks like this.

This will properly set up your domain name with your Domain Register.  All Domain Registers work the same so no matter where you register your name,the process is the same for modifying your DNS server information to point to Intermedia.net DNS servers.

Definition:  DNS stands for Domain Name Server. It is a pair of servers, one primary server and one for backup that stores the information on what server to send people to when they type in your web address.

Now login to your Intermedia.net server Control Panel and click on DNS server and then on Domains and enter your URL, leaving off the www. portion so you’d enter yourdomain.com instead of www.yourdomain.com. 

It will probably take three or four hours for the DNS server information to propagate throughout the Internet.  Once that time has elapsed, when you go to a Web browser and enter your domain name it will now show up with the default page that Intermedia.net puts up as a default before you've uploaded any of your content to your website. 

Congratulations!  You're now ready to start building your website.  But first...

 

• Always display that your company is a limited liability company by using the three letters, LLC.  LLC should  be prominently displayed on your website, on any payments made to you, and all payments should be payable to your business name. 
  i.e.  payable to Your Name, LL
  
• When signing contracts, always sign it appropriately.   i.e. YourBusiness, LLC John Doe member.
• Keep a copy of your Articles of Organization supplied by your state at your place of business.
• Open a separate bank account in the business’ name and keep all purchases and expenses separate from your personal account.
• File your Annual Report each year with your State

(Please note each State is slightly different with how LLC’s are governed, please check with your state to comply with local laws.)

To open a bank account in your business’ name you'll need an Employer Identification Number - also known as an EIN.   After you have filed your LLC you can call 1-800-829-4933 this is the government hotline to have your EIN number sent to you in the mail.

Your EIN number is just like a Social Security number, except it is meant to identify a business rather than a person.  When you file your taxes, you will use your EIN number to identify your business.

Trademark Registration

Before I begin I wanted to add some notes.  Properly filing a Federal Trademark is no easy task.  This is partly why Trademarks are so valuable.  The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) knows it has no competitors.  You cannot file a Trademark anywhere else, so they have no incentive to make it easy for you.

I also need to talk about First Use in Commerce.  When you conduct your first transaction involving your product for money, you have in effect gained trademark rights to your name and may use the “tm” symbol.  When you conduct your first transaction across state borders you have now gained national trademark rights.

It is this second example I’d like to expand upon.  Before filing a Trademark, I recommend establishing basic Trademark rights to your name by conducting at least one cross state border transaction.  This is pretty easy to do on the internet.  The reason to do this is because it allows you to file directly for a Federal Trademark and not an Intent to Use application. 

The Intent to Use application will require you to fill out another form and pay another fee after you have started using the Trademark in commerce.  It’s much easier to just file it once. 

Why file with the federal USPTO?  Is there a difference between having Trademark rights to a name and having Federally registered Trademark rights?  Yes, there are several important differences.  When you have established your rights only by using it in commerce and not registering it officially with the USPTO, the burden of proof lies upon you to show that you have rights to the name in a dispute.

Registering your business name with the USPTO as a Federal Trademark is a great idea for a number of reasons.  It guarantees your exclusive right to use the mark in your business category.  It creates additional credibility by using the ® symbol.  And it increases the value of your business.

When people make payment to my business over the Internet.  It shows they are making payment to…

BestWebsite® LLC

This looks professional and creates credibility, the two things I’m most interested in for my website.  It shows that my company name is a registered Trademark, and that payment is going to an official business entity, a Limited Liability Company.

By registering your name, you are securing ownership of it for your particular industry.  If you build something successful, you will quickly discover people will either use your name exactly, or something confusingly similar.  Either way, you are protected if you own the mark.

When you own the Trademark, it also increases the value of your business because you now have exclusive rights to that name and can brand it. It also gives you licensing rights of the name.

It takes about six months to get registered and costs $325.  It is however, money and time well spent.  Many people use a lawyer to file for them, but that increases the cost of registration by $500 to $1,000.  I can show you how to file it yourself, and learn about the process along the way.

Action Step: Go to www.uspto.gov and click on Trademarks on the left hand side.  Then click on search trademarks, and then on Basic Search.  We are looking to see if anyone else has registered your name as a trademark.  We will search for your name and confusingly similar names.

I'll use an example.  When I was registering a trademark for BuySellCompany.com.  I went first to the Basic Trademark search feature and typed in the name " BuySellCompany" since I saw that this name was not registered.  I then typed in the words individually "Buy Sell Company” to see if any registrations came up.

There were only two other trademarks with those words in it.  They were…

 “MOVIE TRADING CO. BUY SELL MTC”  and

"THE BUY FROM ME, SELL FOR FREE COMPANY"

Neither of these were confusingly similar to the mark  " BuySellCompany" so I knew I had a good name to start.  Even if there was another "buysellcompany" registered, I could still register the mark as long as I'm in a different Goods and Services category, but I would be careful you will be using the name in a definitively different business category. 

You'll need to select the Goods and Services category that your business is in to file your trademark.  It is a good idea to determine this before you start the online application.  It's a little difficult to locate on their website, so I’ve provided the link for you.  Go to http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm and click on Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual

Since BuySellCompany.com is a classified ad marketplace.  I entered the search term “classified” and the following results were returned.

Remember we are filing a Trademark for a name that has already been used at least once in an cross state border transaction.

You now have two choices, to file a…

Trademark/Servicemark Application – Principal Register or Trademark/Servicemark Application – Supplemental Register

The main difference is if you have made up your company name, such as TazzyTax and you sell tax help guides then you are eligible to file on the Principal Register that affords you slightly more protection than the Supplemental Register.  If you sell Baby Cribs and your business name is myBabyCribs then you will file it on the Supplemental Register because the name is descriptive.

The difference between the Principal and Supplemental Register is if someone infringes on your Trademark and you are registered on the Principal it is assumed damages have occurred.  If you are registered on the Supplemental then you need to show what damages has occurred by the infringement.

Don’t be too concerned at this stage between the two.  To me the point is to “have” a Federal Trademark.  Yes it’s best to be on the Principal Register but it’s certainly ok to have it only listed on the Supplemental.  Plus, if you’re still doing business in five years under the same name you can now have your Trademark also filed on the Principal, if you started out on the Supplemental.

Tip:  If you are confused by which Register to file under you can apply for the Principal Register and if your application is rejected you can reapply to the Supplemental Register without losing your original filing date or having to pay an extra fee.

At this point in the application process there are several things I’d like to mention.  Since it costs $325 and takes six months to hear whether you filled out the form correctly or not, it does create a little pressure to fill the form out properly.  So here are my notes for the preliminary questions it asks you before you actually start the application process.  I’ve only included notes on those things that I think might be confusing.

Notes for Preliminary Questions.
When the form asks “what is your filing basis?” select “Use in Commerce Section 1A” as this means you are currently using the mark in commerce. 

Notes for Section 1: Application Information
Since the form does not list Limited Liability Company as one of the choices for ownership of the mark,  you’ll need to select “other” and then select the entity type from the drop-down menu.  I recommend you hold the trademark in your company’s name and not your personal name.

Notes for Section 2:
I recommend using standard characters to represent your mark as opposed to a stylized drawing.  You have a better chance at getting it through using standard characters.

Notes for Section 3:
You’ll need to provide a JPEG or PDF image of the mark you are intending to file as used in commerce under the goods and services category you have selected.  This could be a screenshot of your web page, where it shows how you are selling the goods or services that are related to the mark. 

You’ll also need to list the goods and services category you determined before you started the application.  Each goods and services category is an additional $325.

The rest of the sections of the form are self-explanatory.

Well, congratulations, you can now put that aside and work on other aspects of your business.  It will be six months before you hear something back from the government.  For my part, filling out the applications myself allowed me to more completely understand the application process and appreciate the hard work they do at the trademark office.  With all the procedures that have to be followed and the research that they do for you to ensure correct ownership and assignment of trademarks, it is impressive and is partly what makes them valuable to own.

If something is wrong you’ll most likely receive what is called an Office Action that details what additional information they need to file your mark.  Once everything has been taken care of and it has been approved you’ll be mailed an official Trademark ownership certificate.  Congratulations, you are the proud owner of a United States Federal Trademark!

800 Number, Business Cards and other things…

The additional credibility that an 800-number provides your company, and the ease with which it can be set up definitely means you should have one.  You can have the 800-number ring to any phone you choose and have a separate voice mail for incoming business calls to the 800-number.  For instance, if you have the 800-number ring to your cell phone, and someone calls the 800-number it will ring to your cell, but the voice greeting will be for your business.  Then to retrieve the voicemail either call in to hear it or have them automatically e-mail it to you in a .wav file.

Most online businesses do not generate a lot of 800-number phone calls and your monthly bill for the number will likely be $15-$30, a great bargain.  There are a number of effective ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors and this is an excellent, easy way to do it.

The company I have been most pleased with is the company Kall8.com.  It only takes a few minutes to get set up and you can receive calls immediately.  They have the best online management I’ve seen and are a fantastic bargain.

As far as business cards go, when you are just starting out it’s probably best not to order business cards.  Too many things change in the beginning, from your business name, colors, e-mail, phone number and tagline.  Going to the office supply store and getting a packet of Avery business cards and designing them yourself to print on your printer allows you to print just 12 at a time.

I have a preference for the Avery Linen Finish or Glossy Finish.  Here is an example of the business card that I designed.

Nelson Bates, President (800.681.4176   7407.855.7112 ?best@bestwebsite.com þ www.BestWebsite.com -  13838 Fairway Island Dr. #1431  Orlando, FL 32837  -