How Do I Get Started?

You will need to select someone to buy a domain name from. This is called a Domain Registrar. A Domain Registrar is an agent, company or website which "hosts" your domain name, and basically takes care of all the necessary legal paperwork to keep your website active. All websites have to be renewed each year, although some Domain Registrars will allow you to select 2, 3, 4 and even 10 years registrations.

DIGITAL PULSE TIP #1: BE WARY OF LIFETIME PACKAGES
Don't register your domain or accept web hosting for longer than 2 years, unless you are using a very reputable Domain Registrar. It is a sad truth that website companies come and go daily. Legally, you are up the proverbial creek without the proverbial paddle if they simply turn their servers off.

Find A Good Home

For the sake of buying and/or selling multiple Domain Names, it is important that you choose a Domain Registrar service which will meet your needs. Some things to consider:

1) Can I host multiple domains with this service?
2) Can I "park" domains if I am not using them? (Park = Host a dormant domain with no website. Can be Paid or Unpaid)
3) Can I change nameservers without having to go through customer service? (Domain name servers translate domain names to IP addresses)
4) Does the Registrar offer bulk discounts or incentives to help defray purchase costs?
5) If I am going to sell domains to customers, is the process easy and affordable? (Some registrars charge $35 to transfer a domain)

DIGITAL PULSE TIP #2: GET A FREE GODADDY ACCOUNT
This is probably the most widely used Domain Registrar on the internet. goDaddy allows you to do what's called "a push" from your goDaddy account to your customer's goDaddy account. There are no fees involved, and the process only takes a day or so. If you are going to buy/sell/flip websites on ebay, or anywhere else, you can give yourself a big advantage by using this free service.

Budget Correctly

Remember, you will be spending @$9.99 per year for each domain you own. If you go into a frenzy and buy 10 domain names, remember that next year you will be looking at $100 in renewal fees (or more). This does not include hosting your websites. Web Hosting is an entirely separate expense.

DIGITAL PULSE TIP #3: Know When To Hold And When To Fold:
Only hold onto good investments: premium names, high google pr rank names, and names you are confident may be worth over $100 at some point. If you buy a questionable domain name, plan to install a website on it or sell it quickly. Your odds of selling a domain name increase if the domain is not due for registration renewal soon.

Spam/Hacker Avoidance

Do yourself a favor and plan ahead of time to limit the amount of personal information you want out there. Consider this: each website domain name you register will contain a publicly viewable record of your: name, address, telephone number and email address. This is required by law.

DIGITAL PULSE TIP #4: PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY:

                                         1) Choose your company or log in name as your registration name: example: Digital Pulse or Obama Girl.
                                         2) Use a phone number you won't mind receiving telemarketing calls on... or make one up.  ;o)
                                         3) Use a Post Office box, if at all possible. Not much snail mail is sent out, so this isn't critical. BE WARY OF
                                             RENEWAL NOTICES BY MAIL. THIS IS A CLASSIC SCAM DONE BY OTHER COMPANIES
                                             TO TRICK YOU INTO TRANSFERRING YOUR DOMAIN NAME. READ ALL MAIL NOTICES
                                             CAREFULLY.
                                         4) CREATE A SEPARATE FREE GMAIL ACCOUNT. Use this for your domain name registrations.
                                              There are thousands of bots out there designed to scan all new domain registrations to generate spam,
                                              trojans and viruses. This could put your primary email box at serious risk.

Give It A Test Run

It is always a good idea to be somewhat familiar with the process of buying a domain name, learning the process of changing nameservers, and "pushing" the domain to a customer's account.

DIGITAL PULSE TIP#5: BUY A .INFO DOMAIN NAME TO PLAY WITH

At goDaddy, you can purchase a .info domain name of your choice for $1.99 for the first year. This is a great way to begin your training without any serious investments. goDaddy also provides some very basic tutorials to help get you rolling.