There is big business online taking advantage of what you don’t know. Better yet, taking advantage of what you won’t take the time to understand or read. We’re all rushed; not enough time in every day. Daily I hear folks who exclaim “Too much information!” when it comes to technology. That is the biggest challenge of all - for each of us - to determine what information you need to rely on, pay attention to or the majority of times simply ignore.

This is where having a technology partner you can rely on to give you the straight scoop is invaluable. Not the scoop that makes them the most money, not the scoop they “think” may work or “heard” about - the scoop that is important to you and your business’ online collateral.

Remember a while back when telephone companies were accused of “slamming” customers by either calling them in the guise of a customer service agent for their current provider or sending out $25 checks that you could cash? I still see these checks on occasion; they’re now up to $40. I have slamming protection on my phone lines which indicates my carriers cannot be changed without my verbal approval. By providing your account info to these “customer service” agents or cashing that check you were inadvertently switching your carrier without a clear and concise explanation that was in fact what you were doing. Well, if you read the fine print … but who does that?

This type of methodology has now made its way into the online arena. Say hello to domain slamming. A different company appears almost weekly pulling similar tactics. Some send “expiration notices” or “renewals” by snail mail or e-mail giving the perception that they are the company you have your domains registered with - which isn’t the case. What you don’t know or read will be used to get you to unknowingly transfer your domain. Do you want to work with a company that relies on this type of methodology to gain new customers? I think not.

Not to defend these tactics, but… the devil is in the details. These companies do state the reality of their offer in the fine print. If you don’t read the print - then who is at fault? Both sides! The registrar using these tactics knows you won’t read the fine print and/or don’t remember where you registered your domain and they count on that. The registrant (domain owner) who doesn’t read the fine print and just assumes or doesn’t verify the offer is also at fault.

So, let’s see how we can avoid this situation from the domain owner’s point of view by educating you on a couple issues in regard to domain renewals and transfers in general:

• Registrar: a company in the business of offering domain name services. Reputable companies are accredited by ICANN - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. You can file a complaint as an FYI with this organization for companies they have accredited that you have issues with. They cannot resolve the situation but they do track trends and may take action if enough users complain. Registrars can obtain ownership of domains where annual renewal fees are in arrears or they can choose to make the domain available to the public. Read the fine print specific to the terms for each registrar.
• Registrant: is the actual owner of the domain - you. If a domain’s ownership changes the registrant’s approval will be required in writing and notarized (sans not paying your annual fees). If you are not down as the Registrant for your domain, legally you are not the owner - the individual/company listed is and you will need to work with them, immediately, to get this information corrected.
• Administrative Contact: is generally the individual who knows the domain system well enough to make changes to the record if need be. They can be the Registrant, however, most registrants do not understand the process well enough to be their own Administrative Contact. This is where having a consultant you can trust as your Admin. contact is recommended.
• Technical Contact: is generally the individual/company responsible for the domain name servers where your domain is stored or hosted.
• Billing Contact: is generally the entity that will be contacted for renewal and billing issues.
• Domain registrars require a confirmation, usually by e-mail, from an individual already on the domain’s record who is authorized to make any changes to a domain record before a change/transfer can be formalized and processed.
• Transfers generally need to be initiated in advance of a 30 day window previous to the actual renewal/expiration date of record to be successful. Many registrars have a 30 to 15 day “lock-out” date that any requests made under that window will not be honored.

Now that we have some of the verbiage out of the way, let’s get to the crux of this article. Domain slamming. Some of the top registrars have sent out “renewal” letters to registrants that originally registered with other registrars stating that their domain is up for renewal. The more astute registrars have backed off these practices due to wide-spread complaints claiming deceptive practices. At almost any credible registrar you can find a message to their customers warning them to not assume renewal letters or e-mail are from their original registrar. The attention getter with these “renewal letters” is that they are many times offering a less expensive fee to entice you. This is certainly an instance, amongst many others online, where shopping on price alone is not recommended.

What happens? Businesses don’t realize that the letter is NOT from the company they originally registered with and end up unknowingly transferring their domain. If someone familiar with domain renewals/transfers does not handle this process properly, you could cause your Web site to go off-line or worse yet, lose ownership of your domain(s).

If you receive an “IMPORTANT NOTICE” or “DOMAIN EXPIRATION NOTICE” from any registrar who is not the one you originally registered your domain(s) with - simply throw it away. Regardless of their claims of you missing an opportunity or having to spend more money later - ignore them. Their “notices” are created to give you the impression that they are the original registrars offering you a deal. You send your check; confirm by e-mail and your domain gets transferred to them and you are then their customer. Worse yet, if you realize the error you made, just try to get them to provide a refund or resolve the situation in a friendly and professional tone. Based on my experience, that won’t happen.

One simple step to take to avoid any problems in regard to your domain collateral is to immediately contact your technology consultant to verify if in fact the communication (postal mail, e-mail or phone) is legit and to get their recommendations. Unless the communication is from the company you originally registered your domain name with and you know that for a fact - most likely the communication is nothing more than a sales letter trying to entice you away.

Most domain record information is publicly available. There is no reason for you to not know where your domain was registered or who is on your contact information. You can verify who your Registrar is as well as your contact and actual expiration dates at my “Do It Yourself” site: http://www.theistudio.net. Click on “Whois” at the bottom of the page to search the database.

Protect yourself from companies that will assume you will not double-check their claims. Take the time to note where your domains are registered, read the fine print and partner with a consultant you know can be your advocate on such issues. Because, as you know, with Information Technology - information is power - but only if you use it!

When you first get online, every site you go to is wondrous and filled with new experiences - flashing this, moving that. A virtual amusement park of sight and sound experiences. All that you see is neat and cool as you make mental notes about the most impressive flashing moving “thingamajigs” for when you get your very own Web site.

Personal “home pages” abound. Everyone has one, wants one or at the very least knows bunches-o-people who have them. Once online for awhile however, those incessantly flashing graphics quickly become passé and downright annoying after you have seen them 100’s of times. So, let’s start by differentiating between “home pages” and Web sites.

Home pages are for folks who want to show off their hobbies, share family photos with those across the country, post their resumes, have a calendar of the club and group activities they are involved in. Basically, noncommercial fun and informational. That is one of the great things about technology is the ease of access to anyone who makes even minimal efforts to get the basic knowledge. With Web page building software that literally requires no knowledge of code - anyone can post a page on the Web. That is one of the nifty things about technology - ease of access.

If you believe some of the commercials on TV even your pet dog with the click of a mouse is putting up his very own “home page”. With home pages, perception of credibility and legitimacy are simply not a concern. Your friends and family who know and love you will look at your home page and think how great it is simply because you made it.

Then, there are real Web sites. Those useful tools that entrepreneurs and businesses of every size, type and industry can use to build brand awareness, market their products and services, service current customers and attract new ones. However, you never hear anyone tell you about all those unknown pitfalls that are just waiting for you to fall into if you do not approach your Web site as you would any other form of marketing.

From business cards to brochures credibility is perceived. Admit it, we all notice when someone hands you a home made business card or brochure. Even with the best of effort and intentions they are, well, a bit cheesy. With advertising for print media most smart business owners realize they need to partner with those that have the skill and experience they do not posses to create materials that allow their business to be portrayed the way they need to be to be successful. You want to ensure you are perceived the way your business must be to build confidence and draw in those looking for your expertise to contact you.

Why is it then when it comes to a Web site, otherwise smart businesses choose the H.S. kid next door who is a “Web designer” or the software on sale at Wal-Mart to do it themselves? Because most simply do not realize all the nuances and variables that can cause even the best efforts to be perceived as unprofessional and low-end - and the cost is more attractive, little to none.

This leads to one other important factor you need to understand about any venture that exists for commercial gain. It takes money to make money - no way around it. Make your decisions based on a sales pitch or claims of “economical” or “affordable” (secret code words for cheap) and that is exactly how you will be perceived–as cheap; like it or not.

Online - perception IS reality! That statement cannot, should not, be minimized one iota. Whether you agree or disagree with other points in this article, this one has no fudge factor. To do so, to assume that one can with a software program create that cash-cow Web site you hear about so often in the media, either means you haven’t been online long or will believe anything that can convince you to not spend the necessary money to do things the right way.

Believe me, there is a entire industry online solely in existence to take advantage of what you don’t know to sell you something that will not provide the results that you would like. This lack of knowledge is also what many “Web designers” count on you to not have. If you had even a little bit more information, you most likely would not trust the majority in technology with the responsibility of your online image.

I see advertising all the time touting a software program and some free Web space so that you too can slap together a Web site in less than in 30 minutes! Don’t count on it. Whether or not you or your pocketbook likes it, a home-brewed site will look home-brewed and will produce minimal results.

Compared to traditional media - newspaper display ads, magazine, TV or cable advertising, the Web still is the most cost effective bang for the buck when done properly over any other marketing venue available to businesses and entrepreneurs. However, do not just assume some software combined with a lack of knowledge will ever compensate for:

• The fact that every version of the two most popular browsers, Microsoft IE, Mozilla and Netscape, will display the very same code create by your Web building software differently with varying degrees of effect on the layout and appearance of your site. In some cases breaking the site entirely making it unusable.Let’s not forget monitor resolutions. You can always tell when a site was designed on a 17″+ monitor when you are relegated to having to horizontally scroll back and forth just to read the site. The world is NOT on mongo monitors set at 1024 resolution! Most are on 800 x 600.And, while you are troubleshooting and taking the time to learn all this stuff - who is running your business? Professionals like myself who do online seriously literally are learning and honing our skills 10-12 hours every day - it IS our business. If you truly have a healthy growing business, do you have that much left over time to spend learning a completely new profession, keep up with the technology as it changes and still run your business effectively?
• The fact that there are those who still do not have access to fast connectivity. That nifty DSL or cable hook up you just received is a luxury. Designing with this information in mind ensures you will not loose those potential customers who will not wait for your 500K (500,000 bytes file size) logo to download to decide if they want to do business with you.
• The fact that a decent percentage of Web surfers may not have the latest version plug-in to view that nifty new moving “thingamajig” or scrolling “doohickey” you have on your site. This is where knowing your market’s user habits and demographics should contribute to the design of your site. I am always surprised when looking at the statistics of any of the 100’s of Web sites I have developed. These users are out there and in numbers that need to be taken into consideration. On the Web, just because you can doesn’t mean that you do - especially if it prevents potential customers from using your site.
• The fact that unless you have some experience in creating graphics for the online environment, combined with a good sense of color and design (Did you know there are only 216 completely Web safe colors?) your site will look like it was developed as a class project by Mrs. Crabtree’s 3rd grade. Use of color and creation of quality graphics that not only load quickly but are pleasant to the eye takes skill. If you are not good at knowing what colors go well together or you have been told at any time in your life that your clothes do not match - that’s a clue to not do your own site.
• The fact that because many sites online are not easy to use, are broken, not organized, visually pleasing or kept current raises the bar for “real” businesses to separate themselves from appearing to be part of that crowd. Look like a professional by investing in your business and potential customers assume you know what you are doing - it is called credibility.
• The fact that the type of Web server or host that you choose to store your Web site can and will effect how well your site operates and what tools you will have available to grow, market and evolve your site. Not being aware of these variables can lead to disaster for even the best Web site.
• The fact that once you launch your baby, the really, really hard work begins. There are now billions, yes, billions, of Web pages currently online. How do you really think that those interested in your product or service will find you? Because you register with Search Engines once and that will do the trick? In the year 2007, you don’t even have to register with Search Engines to get them to list you if you do things the right way and have a marketing plan.

By the way, the Search Engines are only one way of getting found–and should not be the only venue you rely on for traffic. You need to be aware of what each uses to rank your site so that you can cater to those requirements. These issues need to be considered during the development of your site for best results. If you don’t want to learn all of that and keep up with it as needed to continue to get found, you need to partner with someone who does.

Put things into perspective. Why should Search Engines be expected to list and categorize every file someone with a computer and phone line puts up on a Web server? The answer is they no longer do! There is simply too many unreliable, unwanted, uninteresting pages to list. How about listing only quality sites, that are credible that offer useful information of true value? What a concept! And, that’s how you gain rankings over time. Here again, lack of knowledge on how each Search Engine list sites as well as what you need to do to maintain optimum listings will ensure diminished results.

• The fact that how you personally are perceived from your e-mail address to your written replies will either impress those thinking of doing business with you or send them diving for the delete button. For business, no aol.com or ISP e-mail addresses. Make sure your Web server allows you to alias your ISP address and use your dot com address as your e-mail identity. That’s what I call professional!

Those who are successful in business both on and off-line know that the image they portray to prospective customers will determine the ongoing health of their enterprise. If you are perceived as cutting corners, not considering the importance of detail, using a tool such as technology incorrectly, inefficiently and haphazardly - would you do business with you? Nope.

So, what do you prefer? Having a “home page” or a real Web site? Your answer to this question, your commitment to making sure everything is in place to be as successful as you can be will determine whether potential customers contact you to do business or shrug their shoulders and hit the back button. How successful do you want to be? The choices are yours to make and will proportionately effect your outcome. Online, perception is the only reality that counts.