Looking to put together new website....dot mac worth it?

Lee Kanne

I'm looking for a real economical solution to a new website for my new studio....

the .Mac one year membership from Apple offers what looks like a pretty remarkable value in terms of putting together a site, registering your domain name, etc...all for less than $100 year....

my question is....do people take your site seriously when they see
".mac" in your domain name?

what are some other reasonably inexpensive solutions to putting together a web site?

Erik Sheppard

Scott Greenia · Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007, 15:13 (GMT) Post subject:

I too would recommend a .com over anything else.

Bob Spencer · Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007, 15:48 (GMT) Post subject:

Lee,

My website is about as reasonably priced as your going to get if you don't know how to write your own code, or don't want to spend $500.00 for a good wysiwyg editor. I agree with everyone else who has said to get a .com name. .anything else says low-rent to me.

The way I have gone is cheap, but doesn't have to look that way. Take a look at mine and I will fill you in on the details if it is the way you want to go. Keep in mind there are about 20 templates to choose from and you can pick your colors. The only thing you have to do is pick your domain name and that is even included when you sign up. However, I would go to someplace like www.netsol.com or www.godaddy.com to register your domain and then have COMPLETE control over it so you can move it anywhere you want anytime you want. When it comes to domain registration, don't screw around with anyone but those two. Also, pay the extra 9 bucks a year and get privacy for your information too. It will save you on the spam, telemarketers and junk mail.

Good luck!

Bob

Larry Maizlish · Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007, 16:34 (GMT) Post subject:

Lee, as a Casting Agent, I view contact information from talents all the time. It comes down to one question, why are you getting a website?

Silly question, right? Well, not necessarily. If your answer is anything along the lines of the website is there to help you promote yourself, then the answers to your questions are clear: Do it the right way from the start.

You are promoting yourself as a voice talent, as a business person, so you want to give the impression that you are a professional business person. Each contact you have with a client or potential client should show off your professionalism.

As far as Web / Email info goes, Do most professional companies use .mac addresses? Of course not, they use dot coms first, than others. So always choose a dot com if you can get it. Using your FirstNameLastName.com is very standard for voiceover talent.

Bob mentioned a great tip. Get the dot com registered in your name with one of the big boys out there. He mentioned two of the best. Why are they the best? Just because, as he mentioned, YOU have control of the name. This will benefit you down the road, even if you do not understand why now. Also, take his tip and get the privacy option to avoid spam. Registering is easier than you think. Netsol has been around for the entire internet life. GoDaddy is less expensive. Take your pick. When you register, look for coupon codes online to save a few dollars.

Once you have the name, you can have any professional web company host your website and since you have control of the domain registration, you can move it somewhere else if there is a problem down the road.

Take the next step in your professional business image. Get your email address at your dot com. Do not keep using your gmail, yahoo, or aol address as your business address. Many talents who have a dot com website do not use their dot com for email and as an Agent, I do not understand why since we view email from the free email services, with all the advertising at the bottom of the message, as a message from someone who is not serious and not a pro. We host email here on our servers for many talents that want to show a professional business image with their own dot com, so I know how easy this is.

Once you have a dot com website and dot com email address, use this as your primary talent contact info whenever you contact a client or agent. Just a couple simple steps give you a huge boost in the impression you give clients.

Always keep in mind that any contact or promotion you do with clients should be very professional. Your website and email address is just the start. Of course, there will be exceptions, yet for most talents, showing yourself as a professional from the start is the right way to go.

Haneen Arafat · Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007, 17:45 (GMT) Post subject:

Larry makes a great point about dumping the yahoo, etc., extentions. I have thought about this before and never got around to doing it--I also have yahoo--perhaps now it's time.

Anyway, I also have the same host as Lee. Mine is a variation on his template. We maintain them ourselves, but they don't look that way. I also have parked 5 different domain names to point to my site that are variations of my name, as a kind of catch all--all of them .com

Haneen

www.haneenarafat.com
www.haneenvo.com
www.haneenarafatmurphy.com
www.haneenmurphy.com
www.ninadelrio.com (my radio name)

Lee Kanne · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007, 02:06 (GMT) Post subject:

To all who responded, unbelievably wonderful advice....

I'm in the process of working on two sites....1)my own
personal VO/acting site (or should they be separate?)
2) my Vo demo production studio...

I live and work in the Chicago market, and have not really
had the need until now for web visibility, because all my
work has been word of mouth...it's now becoming apparent
that web visibility is a MUST, especially with VO demo studio,
and I don't mean MY SPACE....(which is all I've had until now)

BOB:

thanks for the links....this definitely looks like the way to go for me
your site is amazing...is that one of templates? Blows way dot mac
and RapidWeaver..care to fill me in on the details?

LARRY:

Never occurred to me about the email addy......thanks so much for pointing that out...

HANEEN:

Very clever and interesting layout of your site (s)...Do you currently,
or have you thought about doing print or on-camera? If not, you should...

Haneen Arafat · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007, 02:44 (GMT) Post subject:

Thank you, Lee. Yes, I do on-camera and commercial print...but it's not as much fun as VO! I also preferred to keep my site just for VO clients. It keeps the site focused, and I'd rather my agency deal with on-camera work. I don't have as much experience in it, and that world can be kinda dicey.

Good luck!

Haneen

Bob Spencer · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007, 08:12 (GMT) Post subject:

Lee,

Drop me a line via the contact page on my site please and I will email you all the details and what it costs me. Plus if you need help on getting around the site builder, I can help you with that as well.

kaffee

Lee Kanne · Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007, 08:27 (GMT) Post subject:

will do..

thanks a lot, you don't know how I've been scrambling to figure this out...you're a godsend

Kim Snyder

I have a dot mac account (though I don't use it for my sites) but when I looked into it my understanding was that you can register your domain and have your dot mac domain forward to that so your clients will only enter your domain.

Mac definitely puts web design in the reach of anyone - go for it!

Kim Snyder
www.kimsnydermedia.com

Lee Kanne