A piece of advice on email accounts for your business. This overlaps into the topic of marketing, but it's worth mentioning.

When you have your domain name, what's your next step? What do you do with it besides connect it to your Website? (Your Web developer can help you do that.

Email addresses, you may have noticed, all end in .com, .net, .org, etc. They are tied to domain names. You may be using email that your internet service provider supplies to you, using their domain name (like verizon.net, comcast.net, earthlink.net, cox.net, etc.), or you may have an email address from a third party provider that you check by logging into their Web-based service (like aol.com, msn.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, gmail.com, etc.). Either way is fine.

Once you have your own domain name, why not start using it for your emails? It's part of your identity and marketing. You'll have more credibility and better exposure when people go to YourName@YourBusiness.com rather than SomeNickname@AnotherProvider.com. Give it some thought.

I've even seen some Website designers (usually small freelancers) that either don't have their own site, or if they do, their email address is linked to a generic email service provider... It makes me scratch my head. Along the same lines as the old expression "Never trust a skinny cook," how experienced and savvy is a Web developer without a Website, or one that doesn't have an email address from their own domain? Pet peeve of mine... Things that make you go "hmmmm. "

Just the same, you should work under your own flag versus flying someone else's. If you are "married" to your third party or Internet service provider's email account (meaning that you don't want to stop using or miss anything going into those accounts), most of them allow you to forward incoming message to another account (Your domain's).

The best advice I can give you is to find a reputable service provider that offers complete solutions (including domain name management), get a consultation to define your identity online, and let them register it on your behalf (ensuring that YOU own the rights to it.). You can manage your domain name(s) yourself, but if you'd rather not tangle with the process, your Website solution provider can handle the technical details, annual verifications, and periodic renewals.