Getting your own dot-com

People often ask me how to get their own me@my-name.com email address or their own my-name.com website.

There are two parts to getting your own domain name -- you need to register the domain name (costs about $10 per year) AND you need a company to host that domain name for you (a special computer on the Internet that will house "my-name.com", or whatever you choose). Hosting will cost an additional $5 per month, or so. Once you register your domain name, you need to host it

For domain names many of my friends happily use GoDaddy which is only $8.95/yr. You'll pay more for certain domains like .tv and less for others like .info. The best choice is almost always a .com.

Once you register your domain name, you need to host it. Some registrars (like Dotster and GoDaddy) will offer to do this for you, but they are not cheap. You're best bet is Site5. They have an amazing plan that has much more than you will ever need for $5/month and they have GREAT technical support. The plan will allow for every feature you will ever need without having to worry about paying for additional services. Once you grow out of that plan, you'll have a huge staff that can chat with the folks at Site5 to move you to a dedicated server. I've been using Site5 for years.

I hope this helps. Post your questions or comments here.