Establishing credibility online, especially if you wish to operate as an internet marketer, has some similarities with the real world. The first thing to think about when launching yourself onto the online world would be your online name. Seems an easy enough concept.
But it’s not that straight forward. Naming your business requires you to consider your entire business strategy up front. It means you have to decide what you want to achieve, what you might wish to sell and what image you are going to want to present to the internet world and more specifically to your possible customer.
Let’s have a look at some of the issues here.
Calling your company ‘Sexy Girl’ or ‘Hot Stud” will not be the right move if you are hoping to establish a serious business that sells computers, serious books or even green technology.
It will take a considerable amount of time to brand those names to make people think of them as representing a serious business. The image that pops up in your possible customer’s mind when he sees those names has nothing to do with serious business.
If you want to sell sexy lingerie, or naughty pictures, possibly even pornography then the name would be an advantage and certainly add to the credibility of the business.
If you are an avid gardener and want to start up a small business online you might want to go for a name such as Gardening Guru. In that way you already establish in the minds of a visitor that you want to be taken seriously and that your intention is to be knowledgeable on this topic.
Regardless of the examples above, the only person who knows what the best name would be to select is yourself. You need to be able to identify with the name you have chosen and feel comfortable with the fact that it represents you as a person and that it shows your integrity and credibility.
Once you have your name selected then it is important to decide whether you wish to go the free route and create your blog using a free service such as WordPress or Blogger or whether you will pay the small fee to have your own domain name and site.
In general, if you wish to be taken seriously and have a credible presence online, it is advisable to buy and establish your own domain name and if you can get it, one with the .com extension.
This means that when selecting your name you need to keep an eye on whether the domain name is actually available. Sometimes it means you have to tweak your name. Most often it means you might have to add a word or two to make it unique.
It also requires you to pay for your hosting. One advantage is that the internet has become so popular that hosting services are truly competitively priced and it is affordable for even the smallest business to set up their own name site.
Once you have your name and domain name selected and reserved you are ready to start with the next step in building your online credibility.
Andrew Rondeau is the genius behind http://www.webuildyourblog.com.
Without Andrew, I wouldn't even have a blog -- I would still just be sitting here, staring at my computer, feeling confused and helpless. With Andrew, I no longer fear confusion and it's impossible to feel helpless. He exerts any and all necessary efforts to resolve any problem or perplexity -- quickly, kindly, intelligently, up to and including IM exchanges in real time via skype. I would urge anyone at any level of expertise (or not) to make the most of his extraordinary talent.
I wanted a stylish website that presented my original abstract art in a visually attractive way. Andrew came highly recommended to me as a "no nonsense" practitioner. He does exactly what he says he will do: I give him the parameters to work within and he provides a quick and precise service. You will receive nothing but the best from Andrew!
I've spent insane amounts of money in the past with former webmasters until I discovered Andrew Rondeau.
Andrew was kind enough to offer up his own time as part of an initiative to make the world a better place, and I was one of the beneficiaries of that effort. He spent an hour with me working on improving my bounce rate; he suggested several helpful strategies. Most importantly, he helped me with some key processes to help speed up my site, which had bogged down considerably with overuse of graphics. Andrew helped me get set up with Rackspace, which helped so much. From a load time of almost 30 seconds, the site sped up to about a 6 second load. Thanks so much, Andrew!
I happened to stumble upon Andrew's website (WeBuildYourBlog.com) while searching for blogging services that would help me start my very own blog. I was a total newbie when it came to the blogging world. Fast forward 3 months and not only do I have my own awesome blog, but friends and family are actually asking me how to start their own blog and I am able to set their blogs up for them! In only 3 months under Andrew's guidance I went from total newbie to being sought after. Thanks Andrew!
Thank you Andrew for your patience in getting my website and on-line courses on-line and selling. You were fantastic in learning the delivery platform software that I had chosen and you were across the complexities quickly. Your detailed approach in setting guidelines and deliverables bought my focus back to where it should be and got the job done. Thank you for all your efforts it was a pleasure.
The best blog builder, and the best blog maintenance, I've ever met is Andrew Rondeau. This fellow is an authentic professional in every sense of the word. He's lightning fast, knowledgeable, competent, a skilled listener. He goes the extra mile. He's able to share his passion for his work and products without being pushy. He as other great internet skills, too, but his most impressive attribute is mastery of website building.
I
was impressed with the excellent service. 
Andrew is the real deal and he knows his stuff! His customer service is superb and he gets your work done FAST! You won't need to wait around for endless weeks to see results. Most importantly he works on the site as if it's his own, thus you are assured that you will get the best quality service. I now give Andrew all of my new and old sites to work on. Trust me; you cannot go wrong with this gentleman!
Having worked with Andrew on and off over the last year, I have found him to be very patient, helpful and easy to work with. He is also very knowledgeable, supportive and a true expert.
I have been online since 1996 and in that time I have been involved in the development of almost 400 web sites for my clients. I have worked with a wide variety of vendors and I have to tell you that Andrew @ We Build Your Blog has far exceeded my expectations. In addition to his vast knowledge and expertise, he is a genuinely great guy, who always goes the extra mile. I highly recommend him, in fact I only recommend him now for web development.
Andrew is highly knowledgeable about blogs and very customer service focused. I knew nothing about blogs and Andrew was very kind, patient, pleasant to work with, receptive and responsive. Work was delivered in timely manner and if I need anything done for blog again I would use Andrew. If you are looking for quality work, excellent customer service and someone that really gets YOU and your needs, I recommend Andrew!.
Andrew
at WeBuildYourBlog.com is the most responsive and flexible person
I've worked with.
I was introduced to Andrew by a dear friend Corinne Edwards and Andrew as transformed by blog in ways that have reaped results. My membership has gone up and my blog always looks clean and easy to read. Whenever I send Andrew a request to check out - it's ALWAYS prompt and easy to understand. In my humble opinion he is the BEST when it comes to knowledge of the blogging world.
Andrew is an asset to our ongoing website and social media needs. He responds quickly, accurately, and cost effectively. Andrew plays a consultative role in many aspects to our online needs.
Andrew
has extensive knowledge about internet marketing, SEO and building web
sites/blogs. His course explained everything in an easy to understand
way and I now have a web site that is generating me new clients and
producing income from internet product sales.
I
approached Andrew in February 2010, because I needed to enhance the way I communicated
my business. 
The
end result is a fantastic site that is attracting a lot more attention
and visitors than my old one.
I
am very happy to provide a testimonial for Andrew Rondeau. All the parts of
the process of working with Andrew were a pleasure. He clarified what I was
wanting and he delivered it without fuss. He was courteous and prompt in all
his dealings with me. I have no hesitation in recommending Andrew to anyone
who wants work done on their blog.
Andrew
is highly knowledgeable about blogs, and you can get your blog up and running
successfully and fast. Andrew has helped me immeasurably with
my blog and he is patient and good natured and a wonderful teacher. 
Hi, Andrew Rondeau here and this blog, my blog, will not lie to you. I will give it to you straight.This blog is about blogging, the Internet and sharing my experiences and advice on
Great Post Andrew< really enjoyed reading this! will deffo be coming back to your Blog! Great Advice and I totally agree with you!
Yours, Phillip Dews
[rq=5749,0,blog][/rq]Struggling Ducklings
Twitter: andrewrondeau
Phillip,
Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
Hope to see you soon!
Andrew
.-= Andrew – We Build Your Blog´s last blog ..Understanding Affiliate Marketing =-.
Thanks for your submission to the Fifty Third edition of the Blog Carnival: Blogging. Your post has been accepted and its live:
http://thatsblog.com/blog-carnival-blogging/blog-carnival-blogging-fifty-third-edition
-ThatsBlog.com
.-= ThatsBlog.com´s last blog ..Blog Carnival: Blogging: Forty- Eighth Edition =-.
Great post, it reminds me with GoDaddy girls lol! what a promotion way!
I think I was lucky when I brought the Famous Bloggers domain name, even it’s not the .com one, I was pissed off because someone toke it before me and it has a one page site
Credibility is not easy to earn.
.-= Hesham @ FamousBloggers´s last blog ..GoDaddy is a Great Example of how Big Companies Fail to use Social Media =-.
Twitter: andrewrondeau
Hesham
The FB domain is a good one and yes it is frustrating when someone has the .com and does nothing with it.
Andrew
I took a lot of this into consideration when I purchased my domain name and decided with ‘Build That List’ because it is a call to action, and the whole goal of my blog is to get others to take action for their blogs and email lists.
.-= Tom@Free Squeeze Pages´s last blog ..The Aweber Code….And Why You Need To Promote It! =-.
Twitter: andrewrondeau
Tom,
Sounds like a good name – tells me exactly what you offer.
Andrew
[...] Credibility Starts With Your Name [...]
This is so true. Always choose a name that best represents your business. There are a lot of things to consider in choosing your name and you have to think about this over and over again. Cheers!