Deciding on a URL and e-mail address

Hi there,
I'm just establishing myself in my area, and I'm getting requests for prints and portraits. Clearly, I need a name for my business, which would be part of my email address and URL. My name is too long and cumbersome: Wendy Wagner Welch. I'd love to hear your suggestions and advice!
Thank you!

Generally the advice around here is not to get too cute with your business name. So Welch photography or some variation on your name tells them who you are and what you do. You should look at some place like godaddy to see what variations of your proposed business names are available as websites.

Agree with Gonzo. Keep it simple and straight forward. Wendy Welch Photography, etc. I can imagine some really cool watermark type logos with two W's. I would decide on your name, make sure it is available for purchase, make a website (Really easy with wordpress) and then create a few business cards. That way your branding is consistent across the board.

www.www.com ... impossible to resist that one Never met anyone with three W's in a name. Neat.

But, I agree, something simple - any one of your names - WelchPhotography or any one like that ... make is easy to remember. Or, even two -- WendyWelchImages

Thank you!

[QUOTE=monkey44;166480​62]www.www.com ... impossible to resist that one Never met anyone with three W's in a name. Neat.

I love www.www.com, too. It's funny!

Other than your website name, you'll also need to make sure the name you choose is not already taken in your county at the court house while filling out a dba. Having your name registered will stop someone else from using the same name after you are established.

Email wise I love just using Gmail. One thing I don't need to worry about backups and keeping everything sync'd with the phone, etc. It's always there. Archive things and never had an issue.

I would keep it simple and do wwwphoto.com or wwwphotography.com. It looks like WelchPhotography.com is already taken. I registered my last name as a .com years ago so my email is dan@lastname.com

Aki78 wrote in post #16649539
Email wise I love just using Gmail. One thing I don't need to worry about backups and keeping everything sync'd with the phone, etc. It's always there. Archive things and never had an issue.

If you register your domain through Google Apps for Business, you can essentially have a custom Gmail account and still have access to all of Google's services. Their annual domain registration fee is $10.

http://www.google.com …l/en/business/d​omain.html

Thanks to all! I appreciate your advice!