The TwitPitch - Post #4

Using Twitter to Market Your Business

You've just taken that big step and decided to start your own business. You have a great name, a cool web site and now you're ready to let everyone know that you are open for business. Then someone asks the dreaded question, "What do you do?"

How do you describe your business to this potential customer so he understands exactly what it is that you do without having to hand him your business plan?

The first thing every business owner learns is that you have to have a 30-second "elevator pitch." A good elevator pitch is short and to the point. In a few sentences you should be able to tell someone - in the time it takes to ride an elevator, what it is that your business does.

The new elevator pitch

In the world of social networking you take the same idea of the elevator pitch and narrow it down to 140 characters or less - about 20 words. 140 characters is the maximum length of a message on Twitter. If you want to get attention by using social media you have to be brief because everyone is already on information overload. A brief message with one link to your web site is all it takes.

Comparing Domain Name Services - Post #3

www.GoDaddy.com

The last few names I've registered have been with GoDaddy and I'm happy with the process. It's a simple, easy to use interface. Prices to register are generally $9.99 and if you buy 6 or more domains at the same time, you get a 65% discount. What a deal! For those entrepreneurs who can't wait to start using their domain names, they can get you up and running almost immediately with their do-it-yourself WebSite Tonight - although the templates are pretty limited.

Moniker
I haven't used Moniker yet, but I'll definitely try it in the future. Their prices are a bit less than GoDaddy and the interface is easy to use. Promo ads are a little cleaner and easier to read than some of the other sites and I found myself actually reading them. As part of Moniker's Web Site Promotion Service they partner with Monster.com, which is a plus for any business that does hiring. What they don't have, even though they promote it, is web hosting. They partner with a company called coolhandle.com.

Network Solutions
This is the company I registered my first domain name back in the 90's when it was the only game in town for top level domain registration. Also at that time the prices were much higher because of a"tax" that went to the National Science Foundation for R & D.

Using Network Solutions is easy, just like the other registration sites. The interface is a little better than most. The problem with NS is that it has had it's share of negative publicity. Complaints regarding people checking if a domain is available and if it isn't registered at the time, NS parks the name so they can't register it at any other site for several days. This should scare anyone away from using them.