I know when I am building a new niche website the last thing I ever think about is the domain name for the website. Rightly or wrongly I usally go ahead and do all of my niche research first, create all my content and then find a suitable domain name for the site after that. But how do you decide on the domain name to use? How do you decide what words to include? The hardest part of domain name searching is often trying to come up with a nice memorable domain name which isn't taken and which fits in nicely with your niche.

Ryan Stout has developed a nice group of tools under the umbrella of DomainFriend.com which incorporates 2 other sites called HostSearchR.com and BustAName.com. The site is completely free to use and is great for helping you find the right domain name & hosting package for your niche site.

Choosing Your Domain: How does it work?

The tool is really simple and easy to use, just take the list of keywords that fit your niche and add them into the 'Word Combiner' box and click add. The generator then adds your list of keywords into the system and begins to generate a new list of available domain names which contain your keywords. You can refine your search by several options including:

1) Domain extensions: Search for .com, .net, .org, .info & .biz.
2) Search by 2 or 3 word combinations
3) Divide your chosen keywords into groups i.e. group 1, group 2. Words from each group are not combined therefore preventing you from getting odd combinations and irrelevant domain name results.
4) Add simple prefixes such as I, The, My and also things like hyphens

You can then add your domain names to the 'purchase' box and buy the ones you want, there are around 9 domain registrars to choose from.

Choosing Your Hosting Package: How does it work?

Bust A Name also has a sister site, as previosuly mentioned, which helps you to choose the right hosting package for your new site(s). You simply click on 'Host Search' and it will take you through to HostSearchR.com.

On the left hand side of the screen you can manage your search and refine the results returned by using the simple scroll bars underneath each option. The system will allow you to refine your search by:

1) Plan type: Dedicated, shared & VPS
2) Disk space: From 1GB to 1600GB
3) Monthly transfer: From 0GB to 4500GB
4) By price: From $3.99-$900.00 per month.
5) Features: Including database types and number & scripting language type
6) Software: Including control panel options, software options and much more.

Once you have selected your options on the left of the screen a list of results will appear on the right, these are your hosting companies. This list gives you the hosting company name, hosting package type & price, disk space, transfer, setup cost and star rating.

Overall I think Ryan Stout has created a great little group of tools which will make finding the right domain and hosting easier for webmasters. The tool is useful whether you are a newby or a pro.

To Visit BustAName.com Click Here

Affiliate marketing is a mutal agreement between the seller and the promoter, kind of a revenue sharing agreement. This agreement comes because the product developer wants to promote and sell his/her product and get a greater exposure, this is where the affiliate marketer comes in. The affiliate marketer is anyone who is willing to promote a product for sale by advertising it using their own legal methods.

The whole idea behind affiliate marketing is about being able to sell products that you don't actually own. The benefit being that someone else has gone to the effort of researching and developing a product for you to promote and earn money from. Essentially they are doing all the work and you come along and collect the money, but is it really that easy?
Choosing the right product

Its essential that you choose the right product, program or niche to promote, this is because your income is directly releated to how well your selected product or service sells. This makes it extremely important that you are very choosey when it comes to selecting the program you wish to promote or the merchant you are going to be partnering with.

There are several things you should keep in mind when you are choosing to promote new products. Some of these are listed below:

1. Always choose programs which you have some interest in, do not recommend programs/products/services which you know you would never want to buy yourself or would not want any of your friends or family to buy. DO NOT promote a product you don't believe in just because it gives a high commission. This will lead to mistrust and a loss of interest from any current or future buyers.
2. Try to understand the area around the program you want to promote. In the long run you will find it much easier to write much better ads/articles and will ultimately make more sales and more profit.
3. Look for those companies who provide you with materials from the start. Many companies will provide you with marketing materials such as articles, emails and graphics which you can use to promote their products. This will take a lot of work of your shoulders and give you more time to promote the product and make more profit.
4. Always remember to look at the commission they give you, ask yourself is this worth promoting?, is it worth the time and effort you are going to need to put in to make those all important sales. Its better to bail out after spending 30 minutes researching a product than spending weeks trying to sell it.

Try to keep the above points in mind, the list isn't exhaustive but if you consider these general points before getting down to the hard work you are likely to save yourself a lot of wasted time and money in the long run.