Choosing a domain name can be one of the most difficult aspects of web development and online marketing. As more and more businesses find they way onto the internet, the number of available domain names is rapidly diminishing. In the early 90's, if you wanted to sell staplers online, there was a good chance that a suitable domain name was available, such as staplersource.com or staplersupply.com. Now, with over 100 million websites consuming the ever dwindling supply of domain names, we are forced to pull out the thesaurus and simply settle for a domain name that contains some hint of what our business has to offer.

If you are willing to spend the time and effort to find a quality domain name that identifies with your product, there are a few techniques at your disposal:

• Expired Domains - These are domains which were previously registered in which the company went out of business, or simply forgot to renew the domain! Many tools are available to help your search for expired domains.  A couple such tools are:
• JustDropped.com
• dropHunt.com
• Domains for Sale - More often than not, your search for any given domain name will come up unavailable. Don't give up on that name just yet! In some cases, this domain was purchase for the sole intention of resale at a higher price. There are online services devoted entirely to the process of negotiating the sale of domain names. One such service is Sedo. While Sedo charges a fee to negotiate a domain sale on your behalf, there are other options. Yes, you too can be a "domain negotiator".
  
  Your first step is to find out how to contact the owner of a domain that you wish to purchase (or at least see if it's for sale). This will require that you use a Whois lookup tool, such as Name Intelligence, Inc's Whois Source. Simply provide the domain name, and they will return more information than you ever wanted to know about a domain name. Specifically, you'll need the Registrant e-mail or phone number. Contact this registrant and provide your offer to purchase the domain. After the negotiation process is complete, you'll be the proud owner of a new domain, or the current registrant will simply laugh at what he considers a rediculous offer and move on!
  
  If you come to an agreement, your next step is to transfer the domain to an account of your choosing. Presently, we recommend 1and1.com. You'll want to "transfer a domain". Now wait a minute, what about the money! Without a doubt, the current domain registrar will want to be paid in full before any transfer takes place. Considering that the current registrar may live across the country or on the other side of the globe, you might be as reluctant to send a check as he is to transfer the domain before receiving the check. This is where an escrow service comes into play. Escrow.com specializes in escrow services for domain name transactions.
• The Search - If you can't find an expired domain and don't have the resources to purchase a domain for sale, you are like most. Get ready to spend some time searching for your domain name! Thankfully, there are tools to help us with this arduous process. PCNames is an excellent tool which provides suggestions and all sorts of handy tools to assist your search. When you finally discover a domain name that appears to be available, don't get excited just yet. Many of these domain search tools aren't 100% accurate when it comes to determining whether a domain is actually available or net. Once you have found the domain of your dreams, hop on over to 1and1.com and try to register your domain. You might be hit with disappointment as you find that your domain has, in fact, already been registered. More often than not, however, you'll be pleasantly greeted with a message that says, "this domain is available!".