• Company name
• Acronym
• Tagline
• Domain name (URL or Web address)
• Toll-Free phone service
• Marketing – online and off-line
• Web site
• Web Hosting
• SSL Certificate
  

Within each of these categories there are a number of other interrelated or corresponding options or choices you need to be aware of, if you want your new business to have a solid foundation upon which to build.  We will breakout each of the above items and provide you with a number of resources you can use to learn more about what is involved and how to make the best choices in each of these areas.  Please feel free to click on any of the links below to learn more about that particular topic.

Then, return here and when you are ready to proceed with the implantation of your plans and click

Company Name
What's in a company name? A lot more than you may think. Here's another great article from About.com, Create a Great Business Name. Here's a link to a list of FAQs on Nolo.com that cast a little wider net than simply naming your business Business Naming FAQs One service that I have found useful – and in fact used it to create the name for my business is NameStormers. They have a variety of services, software and do-it-yourself tools that will help you find – that one-of-a-kind name that is just right for your business. http://www.namewave.com/ .

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Acronym

On the surface, many people totally miss this one.  Others obsess with it to the point of absurdity.  However, acronyms can be a powerful branding tool.  Acronyms – for those who may not be clear about what they are, here are a the two most common definitions.
An acronym is an abbreviation formed by (usually initial) letters taken from a word or series of words, and which is itself pronounced as a word, such as RAM (Random Access Memory), radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging), or scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus); sometimes contrasted with initialism.
Any abbreviation so formed, regardless of pronunciation, such as TNT (trinitrotoluene), IBM (International Business Machines), NFORC (National Foundation On Restoring Credit) or XML (eXtensible Markup Language).  Need help creating a good acronym?  How about Acronym Creator?  Acronym Creator is a tool that proposes a number of acronyms (defined in a rather relaxed way) that well suit the description of your concept.  For example, type "Real Acronym Creator" in the tool and click 'Get Acronyms'.  The program returns a list of the most attractive acronyms, such as:

RACE : Real Acronym CrEator,
(Try to include all the initial letters and possibly a few other letters)

RARE : Real Acronym cREator,
(Skip an initial letter if necessary)

REROT : REal acROnym creaTor,
(Accept some easy-to-pronounce non-dictionary words)

Range : Real AcroNym crEator,
(Insert some external letters to match dictionary words).

The external characters may help you modify the input phrase in a clever way.  For instance, replacing "Creator" with "Generator" leads you to RANGE : Real AcroNym Generator.  Pretty cool, huh?

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Tagline
Usually a descriptor that describes what your company does in a compelling way.  According to Wikipedia, a tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising.  The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product (like a film), or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product.
Examples of famous movie/television taglines are:

Alien – In space, no one can hear you scream

Love Story – Love means never having to say you're sorry

Star Trek – To boldly go where no man has gone before

Star Wars – A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

The X-Files – The truth is out there.

Jaws 2 - Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
Want to really get your brain cooking?  Take a look at the 100 most influential taglines in the past fifty years – then checkout the Tagline Guru for a host of resources on creating your next tagline.  The concepts of creating a tagline haven't changed over the years.  The purpose is always the same.  Here's an article by Jakob Neilsen, the Godfather of Web usability – Tagline Blues: What's the Site About?  We used a couple of Jakob's books when I was enrolled in my Masters' of Electronic Commerce program.  Here's a tool that helps you generate both a company name and tagline in one – Business Name & Tagline Generator.

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Corporate Identity
Your corporate identity is the persona of the corporation - a cohesive organizational philosophy – your corporate personality.  In general, this amounts to your logo and supporting pieces (business cards, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, Web site, E-mail communication, etc) commonly assembled within a set of guidelines. These guidelines govern how the identity is applied and conforms to approved color palettes, typefaces, page layouts and other such methods of maintaining visual continuity and brand recognition across all online and offline depictions of your brand.  In essence, you want customers to recognize your 'corporate identity' when they see any major component of your marketing materials, whether it be the logo, colors, typeface, etc.

Use of effective identity design and branding strategy can elevate your small business to the next level of success and take you head-to-head with larger competitors.  Though often overlooked or undervalued by small business owners, brand and identity are essential in the effort to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace.  Proper implementation of these fundamental tools can have a powerful impact on your company’s strategic advantage.  

Corporate identity, or brand identity, is the graphic and verbal representation of your company.  It visually conveys who you are and what you do, communicating the essence of a brand.  The root of a company’s identity is its logo, usually consisting of a name and unique logomark.  

Identity is a vital asset that must be invested in, leveraged and managed to ensure a company’s success.  At its foundation, compelling brand identity increases recognition and awareness and builds businesses.  Branding, on the other hand, is the cultivation of a feeling.  It is the creation of expectation, a promise of quality – the emotional response of your audience to your company and products.  Since brand consistency ensures that consumers will easily recognize your products and advertising, branding is especially important to young and growing businesses.  For the long term, branding standards must constantly be maintained throughout the life of a business.  A corporate style guide should be used to dictate execution of a company’s identity across various mediums and applications.

For small businesses to effectively develop a corporate identity and branding strategy they need to work with a company who is willing to take the time to get to know and understand your business – from your customers' perspective.  They also need to have strong graphic design experience, understand color, shapes and sizes to blend all of this knowledge together in a way that simply and succinctly personifies what works – from both an internal and external perspective.  The process is more art than science. )

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Domain Name (URL or Web address)
Your domain name needs to integrate with your corporate identity – it must make sense to the customer.  Discovering the best domain names is increasingly more difficult.  Gone are the days of short, catchy .com domain names.  Use of your best keywords in your domain name gives you a distinct advantage in regard to search engines.  Although people generally do not like to type 'dashes', the use of dashes between several of your best keywords in a domain name could be 'gold' to your new business.

A word about keywords.  The keywords you need to identify must meet the following qualifications: 1. They must be the ones your CUSTOMERS are searching for, 2. They must be ones that a lot of people are searching for, and 3. They must be ones that have the least amount of competition. 

Want to discover the best keywords for your business?  Go to Wordtracker.com.  You can rent the use of their database and tools by the day, by the week, month or year – your option.  They maintain a list of all of the keywords (search terms) used by everyone on all the 'metacrawler' search engines on the Web.  MetaCrawler is a metasearch engine that blends the top web search results from Google, Yahoo!, Live Search (formerly MSN Search), Ask.com, About.com, MIVA, LookSmart and other popular search engines.  In other words, probably 90%+ of all Web searches over the past 90 – 120 days.

The domain suffix with the most demand is the '.com' domains.  However, whenever you identify a domain name that you plan to use for your business, I highly recommend that you also purchase the '.net' and the '.org' extensions as well to prevent domain thieves from stealing your business when people 'type-in' domain names.  Another avenue to seriously investigate is the common misspellings of your domain name.  Again, domain spammers or thieves will steal your traffic when someone tries to enter your domain name and spells it incorrectly.  Don't let this happen to you.  Domain names are cheap to register – if they are available.  Once someone else registers it, trying to get it from another registrant – can be a very costly endeavor.  There is a whole sub-culture industry out there of people who buy up good domain names, only to sell them for a profit to someone who really wants them for a legitimate business.

If your business is an association, foundation, membership-based or the like, I urge your to register and use the '.org' domain extension as it was once reserved for non-profit companies, but now anybody can use them.  However, to the average person, they perceive a '.org' to be a more trustworthy organization.

You will find offers all over the Web to register domains from $0.99 cents to $35 or more.  If you see the prior, READ the FINE print.  In 100% of the cases, there are a number of caveats – you have to commit to other products or services that will cost you more than you could find elsewhere.  The lowest 'unencumbered' price for domain registrations that I am aware of are $7.95 - $8.95 per year for the most common domain extensions.  Be aware that '.TV' extensions are currently the most expensive at $45/year.  Other domain registration rates vary as much as gas prices – they can literally change every day.  Two good resources for domain registration are ISQ Solutions and our own Domain Name service.  (We are an affiliated partner of GoDaddy).

Still, generally, the shorter the domain names the better.  (People are lazy ;-)  The best domain names in many respects are those that use your primary keyword or keywords separated by dashes.  The use of keywords in your domain names has two major benefits.  First, your keywords likely reflect what your business does, and therefore communicates to your potential customers some important fact about your business.  Secondly, search engines index your domain using the words you put in it.  Keyword-rich domains are something you should strive for if you want to increase your chances of your company's Web site showing up in search results.  (There is much more to it than that, but this would be a good first step).

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Toll-Free Phone Service

Nothing so simple speaks "big company" than a toll-free phone number for prospects and customers to contact you.  These days, anybody can have a one.  There are even services available to enable you to secure one of those 'vanity' toll-free numbers and they are surprisingly easy to come by if you can be creative.  Many companies offering a complex sale or one that requires personal attention can often benefit tremendously from a toll-free phone number.

A new technology now available from Google is what is termed 'Click to Call'.   Google is testing a new feature that lets you speak directly over the phone, for free; to businesses you find on Google search results pages.  When this feature is available for a business, you'll see a green phone icon in their advertisement or a call link next to their contact information.  This is a new Web-version of a toll-free call.

On a separate note, how would you like to really 'stand-out-from-the-crowd'?  We know a team of smart, personable, off-site receptionists providing companies of all types and sizes throughout the US a richer, more customized experience.  In a friendly, courteous, and professional manner, their virtual receptionists answer your phone calls.  They connect you to your callers.  They provide your customers and potential customers with helpful information when you can't or don't want to be reached.  They get to know your business, so you can trust them with your business.  They do everything you'd expect a great receptionist to do except they're off-site.  Basically, they work for you, just not in your office.  Your callers can't tell the difference.  Virtual LIVE receptionists truly help your small business stand out from the crowd.  Contact Ruby.

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Marketing – Online and offline


We could write volumes on marketing your small business. You can find millions of articles, books, and Web sites that can teach you about small business marketing. The common thread underlying all of it is that you have to market your business. Nobody is going to know about you, what problems your products or services can solve until you get the word out. In terms of offline or traditional marketing, no matter how you do it, you are going to need some essential collateral materials you can put in the hands of your prospects that tell them what you can do for them. The most fundamental piece is your business card. However, remember how we discussed creating the design of your business card above? It must be tied into your corporate identity and integrated with your branding efforts.

Just like every business person must have a business card to identify them, their company, their contact information, and perhaps a snippet of what they can do for their prospects. Depending on the complexity of your products or services you will need to provide your prospects with some form of professionally designed and printed information ranging from a flyer, to a bi-fold or tri-fold brochure or as much as an 8-page folding brochure. Online, you MUST have a professionally designed and developed Web site. Again, when it comes to a tool as complex as this, we could write a book on this subject. Our site is chock full of information about what it takes to design, build and promote a professional Web presence that drives revenue to your bottom line. We can and will help you every step of the way. The MOST important aspect of your Web site is the content. In the Web world, and to search engines, content is king. Far too many businesses scrimp or forego altogether the use of a professional copywriter. How many offline publications do you think are written by anyone other than a professional copywriter and proofed by a professional editor?

Writing for the Web is different from writing for print publications. You can't just take your offline copy and paste it online and expect people to read it – let alone even like it. People generally don't read Web pages, they scan them, and they do so in a 'Z' pattern. If you don't grab their attention in the first five – seven seconds – they're out of there and they're not coming back. Every page on your Web site must have a 'Call to Action'. You must clearly state what you want a visitor to do on every page. If you don't, and you simply allow them to browse your site, chances are, they'll be gone within two clicks. However, creating these 'calls to action' isn't as easy as you might think. You have to write your pages from the visitors' perspective – WIIFM – 'What's in it for me?' Thinks about it; when you visit a Web site,

you don't care about all their corporate-speak and all that they have done, all you care about is 'What can you do for me?' If an answer to that question is not readily available or at least there is something there that is pointing you toward that answer, are you going to hunt for it? Or are you going to click the 'Back' button and find another site that gives you what you want NOW! If you want to project a professional image, one that says you can be trusted, your site must not look like you built it yourself.

Again, your corporate identity and branding strategy come into play in the overall look and feel of your Web site. Everything must tie together. All of your customer touch points must be congruent – that's how you build a brand. Your prospects and customers should have the same consistent feeling of who they are dealing with whether they receive your business card, brochures, visit your Web site or receive an E-mail from you.

This brings me to one other tool you need in your online toolbox – you need a professionally designed and branded HTML (graphics) E-mail template that continues your corporate identity in the holder for your message. Whenever you send email to your clients, ideally, that e-mail message should resemble – be branded to your Web site. It should have the same look and feel as if it were an extension of your brand.

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Web Site

Why businesses need a Web site:  Your Web site IS your business to your prospects and customers.  Therefore, it's no place to cut corners.  The quality and professionalism of your Site sets the tone of how your business is perceived in the marketplace.  Your Web site not only must look good, it must have intuitive navigation, provide lots of useful content for visitors and it must provide a 'call to action' on nearly every page.

You want more revenue.  More revenue requires more people taking action.  But people only do what they want to do.  You have to give them what they want in order to get what you want.

Our job is to understand what your customers want and to help them get it.  We provide blueprints to plan, measure, and improve your online sales and marketing.  You confidently use the blueprints to help your customers buy from you.  What you need is a blueprint.  A blueprint that helps you know what copy will drive your visitors to action, what images instill desire, what elements of your page establish trust.  We understand what makes people buy online.

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Web Hosting

In order for your Web site to be visible on the World Wide Web (Internet), it must be located on a Web server.  A Web server is a specialized computer designed to provide access for your Web site and millions of others on other servers throughout a secure data center.  The data center must secure – in every sense of the word; physically, electronically, environmentally and more.  The data center must be staffed by highly trained professionals to manage and support a wide array of hardware and software.

We are a partner with ISQ Solutions.  ISQsolutions provides a professional Web hosting service that is easy to setup and manage from anywhere in the World.  Both beginners and experienced users enjoy our easy-to-use Web-based control panels and real-time administration tools to manage services anytime 24/7.

ISQsolutions mission is to earn and maintain long-standing business relationships by providing reliable service and dependable support at an affordable price.
       
ISQsolutions custom built its own hosting provisioning software, web-based customer control panels, and administration tools using Microsoft ASP.NET.  ISQsolutions hosting provisioning software automates the process of configuring hosting accounts and services across the data center.  As a result we are able to provide real-time hosting account configuration and setup at time of order.  This enables our customers to publish a Web site and manage the hosting service immediately after completing a Web hosting purchase.   
    
ISQsolutions Web hosting and Domain Name services are available for purchase directly online anytime 24/7.  All services are configured and activated in real-time at time of purchase.  You can publish your website minutes after completing a Web hosting purchase.  Service includes ISQsolutions Web-based Control Panels with real-time Administration Tools, FREE LiveStats®, FREE WebMail, FREE Anti-Virus Protection, FREE Anti-Spam Filtering, FREE ASP and ASP.NET Components, FREE Secure FTP, FREE Secure POP3, FREE Authenticated outgoing SMTP, FREE unlimited domain aliases and much more!    
Online support is available 24/7 via our online Support Center, includes Help Desk, Knowledge Base and How-to Tutorials.  Toll-free customer support is available in the United States and Canada between the hours of 9:00AM to 6:00PM Eastern Standard Time Monday to Friday.   
    
ISQsolutions has instituted a connectivity control policy to ensure network availability and keep its data transfer capacity significantly underutilized.  By locating our data center at 151 Front Street we take advantage of direct fiber optic connections to multiple Tier 1 internet backbone providers.  If one connection goes down, traffic is automatically re-routed through another backbone provider.  This is critical not just for redundancy but also for performance.  The more backbones we connect to, the more likely it is that your website will have the shortest path to the visitor trying to retrieve it.  A short network path ensures a responsive website.  Our policy ensures network availability and leaves plenty of bandwidth for growth with the independence to increase capacity when needed.

We operate redundant high-performance Cisco routers protected by best-of-breed firewalls and managed by our own team of experienced network engineers.    
    
Our World-class data center is the backbone of our service and provides the physical environment necessary to keep our network up and running 24/7.  Our data center is located at 151 Front Street, one of North America’s premier Tier 1 technology facilities.  151 Front Street is home to more than 150 telecommunications companies and is one of North America's most connected buildings.

Our data center is equipped with raised floors, climate controls, security surveillance, fire-suppression systems, water detection systems, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, and standby power generators.

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SSL Certificate

Refers to the digital certificate used with the most popular security protocol on the Internet.  When you make a purchase or submit sensitive personal information from a Website on the Internet and notice the closed lock icon at the bottom of your browser or the HTTPS:// prefix in the URL, it means you have established a secure SSL connection.

Your browser has examined the signed certificate received from the Web site, determined it to be authentic and secret keys have been computed at both ends of the connection.  All the information you enter online is encrypted before being sent to the server.  This ensures that if the message were somehow intercepted, it would be in an unreadable format and useless.

If you plan to conduct E-commerce (i.e. collect credit card numbers) or request sensitive personal information such as someone's Social Security or Driver's License number, you MUST purchase and use an SSL Certificate to protect users information.

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Ok, either you have already reviewed the above material, you already know it, or you're just anxious to get going.  After you click on the Strategic Internet Catalog of Services, you will arrive at a page that has a list of 'Categories' down the left side of the page and contains our currently 'Featured Web Items'.  These are simply a collection of products or services we believe you may be interested in adopting for your new business.

Each item will consist of a photo, a catalog name or number directly below the image, the price, a 'Details' link, and an 'Add to Cart' link.  In order to learn more about the particular item, either click the 'Details' link or simply click on the image in the catalog.

You can also select any other category from the list of categories along the left side of the page to view more items available in our catalog.

Along the top in the light blue stripe is the menu bar – which is different from our main site.  Each menu item is self-explanatory.  Simply click an item to learn more.  The 'Home' link will bring you back to the 'Featured Web Items' page where you began.  'Jumpstart' brings you back to this page.

The first eight (8) categories are Web site designs from which to choose the look and feel of your new Web site.  They start with the Basic site designs that use the simplest technology to the most advanced 'All Flash 8' technology.  Take a look at the contents of each of the categories to get a better idea of the differences between each category.

When you click on the 'Details' link or on the image itself, when the new window opens, you may have to scroll either 'up and down' or even 'side to side' in order to see the full details page or sample product.

Additionally, many of the designs include many special interior pages for your Web site and others even include custom 'Pop-up' windows, banners, business cards and more.

Everything is customizable – within reason.  All customization and follow-up support is included in the one-time price.  If what you want to do in terms of customization or modification are beyond what we determine is "within reason," we will let you know specifically what it is and why.  We may offer alternatives that will not cost you any more or other more cost-effective options to achieve the same result.  If you are determined to implement those changes, we will notify you of the additional expense it will take to achieve the design you want.  Once you approve those changes and make payment to us, we will make it so.

Your first year of Web hosting is included on our servers.  Our 'Starter Plan' includes 100 MB of server storage, 10 GB of data transfer per month, 10 E-mail accounts, and 100 MB of E-mail storage.  Upgrade plans are available if you need more.  Second year hosting and beyond is only $90/year.

We are not satisfied unless you are thrilled with all of the work we do for you.  We are not the cheapest and this is why.  We deliver top quality work, back it up with unlimited support, and want you to refer your friends and associates to us.  We always welcome your feedback and suggestions on how we can better meet or exceed your needs.

>When you find an item or service you would like, simply click 'Add to Shopping Cart'.  Once you have added an item to your Shopping Cart, you will have the option to 'Continue Shopping' or 'Checkout'.  If you continue shopping, future selections will be added to your Shopping Cart.  If you add something and then later change your mind or find something better, you can simply 'Remove' it from your cart before 'Checking Out'.

The first step in the Checkout process requests your contact and related information.  The second page of this process invites you to provide 'Customization Instructions' for each of the items you are purchasing.  This is not the 'end-all, be-all', but just a starting point so that we have a good idea of how extensively you would like to customize the original design.

You will also be presented with various options that enhance the items you have chosen and can select to add them to your cart at this time.

We currently accept two payment methods: Pay by Check or Google Checkout.

Pay by Check is a form of electronic checking in which you enter the information on the front of your check into a Web form and submit it to us electronically.  We give you several options for doing this; standard SSL Secure encrypted Web form or Free QuickWire which is a service provided by one of our vendors for submitting checking account information via the FreeQuickWire.com Website.

Google Checkout accepts Credit and Debit card payments via the Google Checkout payment processing system.  Either you must already have or signup for a free Google account to use this service.  All transactions take place on Google's secure servers.

Once we receive payment for your purchase, you will receive a call from us verifying all of your information and to begin scheduling your project.  In many cases we may need further information and clarification about your order.  Your project will be assigned to one of our teams who specialize in the services you have ordered.  In some cases you may be working with several members of our team.  Each of them will contact you either by phone or E-mail to ensure we are all on the same page as we move forward.

In the case of Web Design & Development, when your new Site is 80 – 90% complete, we will post it to our 'Client Site Management' area and you will be send a login and password to access this area.  You will be able to review and assess all work to date and have the ability to provide immediate feedback to your development Team Lead from within the Site Management area.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact your specific Team Leader or Project Coordinator.  If you have general questions or feedback you may contact our Director of Internet Strategy and Operations, Shea Ellison at the corporate office in Atlanta at 770-454-1190.

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