You’ve probably heard quite a bit about “social networking” lately. But what is it? Through sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, you can network with others who are in your field, as well as business contacts, customers, and potential customers.

When the Internet became popular, people checked to see if a business had a website. If they didn’t, that customer may very well have gone to a competitor who did have a website. These days, customers—current and potential—are looking to see if a business has a Facebook page, or a Twitter page (we do!). It’s free and easy to set up an account with these sites, and once you do, you’ll have the ability to connect with people in a whole new way.

Through Twitter, you can easily give quick updates about company news, sales, and promotions. You can even give a link to a new blog post, or promotion, which in turn could mean increased sales. With Facebook, you can draw in customers and potential clients in a non-invasive, laid-back environment. Sure, you have a product to sell, but through Facebook and Twitter accounts, you can give that extra level of service without the “in your face” tactics that many businesses use.

The opportunities are endless with Twitter and Facebook. You can keep your customers up-to-date through Twitter (or Facebook, for that matter), which will increase customer confidence, as they will be able to see that you’re quickly resolving the problem, and that you care enough about your customers to provide updates.

While it’s understandable that some may be hesitant to embrace social networking, it’s clearly taking the Internet by storm, and those businesses who don’t embrace it may find themselves left in the dust, as customers flock to customers who keep up with the times.

Don’t let your business be left in the dust. Let your business flourish, and gain even more customers by not only creating accounts with social networking sites, but actually taking full advantage of it by interacting with customers, and constantly keeping your content fresh and updated. Update your Twitter page daily, even if it’s only just once. Respond quickly to direct messages, and comments. Respond quickly, too, on Facebook, MySpace, and any other social networking sites you may join. By doing this, you’ll impress your customers, and enjoy one added bonus: word of mouth, which is part of the wonders of networking.

These days every business is trying to be as green as possible, but what about going green in web hosting companies? It seems almost oxymoronic that a data processing business would be able to go green. After all, it takes a lot of power to keep all those servers, PC’s and associated equipment humming along at max capacity. It would almost seem impossible. Unlike other businesses that use less energy, web hosting businesses can’t really use solar or wind power yet. Or, if they do it only accounts for a small portion of energy use.

So, how does a company go about going green in web hosting? Well, the truth is there are many creative ways for a data processing company to be green and they are all quite simple, inexpensive and can save lots of money and the environment when put in place. First of all bigger is not always better. Keeping your facility as simple as possible does a lot to keep costs down and protect the environment around you. Ask yourself, does my web hosting business really have to have an ornate entryway or waiting area? Most likely the answer is no.

Many Data Centers use additional gas or electricity to heat and cool the non-data portions of their facilities. However we’re implementing heat pumps that utilize the heat from the data center to heat the offices and generator quarters in the winter and utilize the data centers highly resourceful cooling towers to provide cooling to the offices in the summer. This not only saves us money on burning gas or electricity to heat the space, but is more environmentally friendly. Our use of well water for the cooling towers also provides geothermal heat removal since all the water being input to the towers is from the earth at a constant 55 degrees Fahrenheit which removes BTU’s from the water and the building naturally. This gives us natural BTU removal through geothermal cooling but it also gives us a big savings in water replacement and reduces the amount of electricity needed to allocate city water over long distances and the harmful chemicals used in its treatment for drinking purification, as well conserves potable water in the city’s watershed.

Going green in web hosting businesses is as easy as using some common sense. For instance it is well known that newer machines are more efficient. So, take some of that money you would have used for dressing up your facility and replace your servers and PC’s. Then make sure you have a good solid replacement program put in place so you can keep your facility efficient by replacing machines when newer models come out. What about those old machines? Why, recycle them of course. We recycle all of our cardboard, metals and our old computers. Nothing goes to landfills except non recyclable garbage. We’re serious about our commitment to the environment. As a customer, you can be sure that we’re doing our best to be the least wasteful, most energy efficient Web Hosting Company.

One other thing to consider when going green in web hosting businesses is the manner in which you cool down equipment. Take a good look at your cooling systems and make sure you are using the most efficient equipment in the best possible manner. You can save a lot of energy and a lot of money by just making some minor adjustments. Packaging materials are a real bane to the environment so come up with a program for reducing your use of packing materials. You will find it is easier than you may think. Can a web hosting business go green? You bet it can! It’s been proven.

There are millions of domains already registered, and more than one person has anticipated purchasing that perfect domain name, only to find that someone has already beaten them to the punch. Out of luck? Maybe, but maybe not.

If a domain is already registered, and you want to purchase it, you can always approach the owner by looking up the information in the WHOIS database. The best way to contact a registrant is through e-mail. If they decline to sell the domain, there’s not much you can do, provided that they keep the registration of the domain current.

However, if they allow their domain to lapse, services such as Snapnames may allow you to purchase it once it goes through the process. There is a grace period after the domain registration expires. After a while, the domain is finally “dropped”, or deleted from the system, allowing anyone to grab it. Many companies automatically track soon-to-expire domain names, and automatically grab a popular domain within seconds of it becoming available again. There’s no guarantee as to who will get it; many companies and private people grab expired domains, and competition is fierce.

One other weapon in your arsenal is backordering. Several companies, including GoDaddy, offer this service. As the name suggests, it allows you to try to stake a claim to an expired domain. There is a fee involved, and there is no guarantee that any given company or person will successfully snap up an expired domain, as it’s literally a matter of seconds that’s involved. One thing that experienced “domainers” do is backorder through several companies, increasing the odds that they will successfully obtain the expired domain name.

The domain business is one of fierce competition; the more popular a domain, the more intense the proverbial wolves will fight for a domain the second that it’s dropped. Let this also serve as a word to the wise: don’t let your domains lapse, and keep them current, so that someone doesn’t snap up your domain. However, if there’s a domain that you have your eye on, backordering and “snap” services are just a few methods that you can try to obtain the domain name should the owner not wish to sell.