They had my domain name and expiry date correct and they conveniently offered renewal rates for various year terms.

Problem is, they were not the domain name registry  I registered my domain name with.  They do not make it clear that you are in fact transferring the registry from your current registrant to them as well as paying the annual fee.

What Domain Registry of American has done is get the public WhoIs records which list the domain name owner and then send these official looking notices out as though they are offering a convenient renewal service.  Their logo even has the American flag behind it for goodness sakes!

You might automatically pay this thinking it is a renewal bill from your rightful registrant.  Really, who remembers their domain name registrant?  And in order to cover the transfer fee they have to pay ICANN, the head registration authority, Domain Registry has almost double the prices of your actual registrant.

But don't worry, they explain everything on the back of the bill in print so tiny I cannot read it even with my new glasses! It is really quite a scam.  It is not illegal because it is carefully worded to mislead the domain name owner, but cover their legal liability, but it should be.

So find out who your domain name registrant is and find out if you are on automatic renewal or not, and if your payment information is up to date.  Also check that your contact information, especially your email is correct.  That way, your domain name cannot lapse and you can be sure all requests for payment are a scam, like this one.

SEO Rap Lyrics:

Your site design is the first thing people see
it should be reflective of you and the industry
easy to look at with a nice navigation
when you can't find what you want it causes frustration
a clear Call to action to increase the temptation
use appealing graphics they create motivation
if you have animation
use with moderation
cause search engines can't index the information

display the logos of all your associations
highlight your contact info that's an obligation
create a clean design you can use some decoration
but to try to prevent any client hesitation
every page that they click should provide and explanation
should be easy to understand like having a conversation
when you design the style go ahead and use your imagination
but make sure you use correct color combinations
do some investigation, look at other organizations
but don't duplicate or you might face a litigation

design done, congratulations but it's time to start construction
follow these instructions when you move into production:
your photoshop functions then slice that design
do your layout with divs make sure that it's aligned
please don't use tables even though they work fine
when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time
make it easy for the spiders to crawl what you provide

remove font type, font color and font size
no background colors, keep your coding real neat,
tag your look and feel on a separate style sheet
better results with xml and css
now you making progress, a lil closer to success
describe your doctype so the browser can relate
make sure you do it great or it won't validate

check in all browsers, I do it directly
gotta make sure that it renders correctly
some use IE, some others use Flock
some use AOL, I use Firefox
title everything including links and images
don't use italics, use emphasis
don't use bold, please use strong
if you use bold that's old and wrong

when you use CSS, you page will load quicker
client satisfied like they eating on a snicker
they stuck on your page like you made it with a sticker
and then they convert now that's the real kicker
make you a lil richer, your site a lil slicker
design and code right man I hope you get the picture

what I'm telling you is true man it should be a scripture
if it's built right you'll be the pick of the litter
everyone will want to follow you like twitter
competition will get bitter and you'll shine like glitter
if you trying to grow your company will get bigger
design and code right man can you get with it

Defining Your Online Business

Defining your new online business is an iterative process. You constantly refine your offerings and business identity until you have defined the essence of the business itself. Answering the following questions will help you clarify your business:

1. Exactly what products or services do you plan to offer?

2. Who are you planning to sell to?

Define your target audience in terms of age, education, gender, computer sophistication and knowledge of your product or service line. Write a small paragraph about each type of customer you plan to serve. For example, our masseuse might have several potential client types:

1. Women ages 27-66, middle to upper income, most computer savvy, might like Day of Pampering and Bridal Specials
2. Corporate HR Officers computer savvy, might like our quick Chair Massage during breaks at large meetings, or more services at retreats
3. Event Planners computer savvy, might like any or all of our services, but at a special rate. They may also have concerns about insurance and liability.

Just thinking about our disparate client types makes us aware that we will have to design special packages and pricing for each group. We can go back to our services plan and adjust the packages and prices.

3. How are your peers presenting similar items or services for sale? What configurations or variants are offered?

4. How are your online peers building trust with their potential customers?

Trust on the Internet is created by being considerate of your visitors' time and attention. Your site's graphic style shows you understand your visitors and want to create a pleasing atmosphere. Placing site elements, such as navigation and menu items, where they are expected to be also creates trust. A professional site is consistent throughout in look and feel. There are no broken links and everything behaves as expected. Site organization is another key area and deserves a great deal of thought. A well-organized site respects the visitors' time and intelligence and demonstrates your intent to make the visit a productive one. Looking at several elements of your competitions' websites will help you identify what you can do to establish trust with your virtual customers:

• Straightforward Privacy, Return and Guarantee policies
• Commonly used color palettes and graphical styles
• Information about products or services
• Business credentials (this can be much more subtle than an "About Us" page - look for all ways a business indicates their value)
• Customer support

5. What is unique or different about your business?

How is your business different from and better than other similar businesses? Is there something special about you or your services that make you stand out and become instantly identifiable? Kathy Cano Murillo, otherwise known as "The Crafty Chica", was simply interested in home-made craft projects. Her art projects were extremely joyous and exuberant, and based in her Latina heritage. She saw her unique character was that she was a Latina crafter, and she styled herself "The Crafty Chica". Her website www.craftychica.com is a colorful and vibrant expression of this difference, and is extremely professional.

Stand and Deliver: the Elevator Speech

Now that you have refined your online business idea, you should be able to give a 15-second pitch, otherwise known as the Elevator Pitch, containing the following essential points:

• Name and contact information
• Who you are
• What you do and why you're the best
• Your call to action

The last item, "Your call to action", may be new to you. A call to action is the conversion point of the pitch, which takes them to the next step. It may be simply "Call me anytime" or maybe "We're having a booth at the Trade Show - we would love to see you there and we're giving away free massages!"

 For a great little online wizard for creating your elevator pitch, go to www.15secondpitch.com.