A server (or name server or domain name server or DNS) is a computer that translates domain names into IP or Internet protocol addresses. These are expressed in a series of numbers which other servers will understand. It makes things much simpler for us because instead of needing to type in series of numbers we can just type in coolwebsite.com and everything works.

But we have to tell servers where to find our websites, and because you just purchased your domain, you probably still have the registrar’s name server (or nameserver) addresses, and in order for your website to be seen, you’ll have to change them over to your hosting account. This won’t be the case if you’ve purchased a hosting account where you got a free domain or two for perks of joining, but never base your hosting decision on that alone. (See article 2 in the Getting Started with Internet Marketing” series for more buying tips.)

For this exercise, let’s say you’re going to have a separate hosting account. You’ll need to “point” your domain to your host’s name servers so that when someone types in your domain, they’ll land at your web site. So, at your domain registrar’s site, navigate to where the name servers are located. It may just say “DNS.” These are usually located near your domain listing or accessible through a link nearby your domains.

What you’re going to find are two addresses and they’ll look something like this: “ns1.yourregistrar.com” and “ns2.yourregistrar.com.” Both of those addresses will have to be changed. Now, open a new tab or window and go to your hosting account. Look for “name servers,” “nameservers, ” or “DNS.” Because these are sometimes hard to find, you may want to search for one of those terms.

When you find the hosting company’s name server addresses, write them down or select and copy. Then, go to your domain registrar’s tab or window and plug the new addresses in. That’s it! You’re done!

Though the Internet has become very fast and it can take only minutes to have these addresses changed, it can sometimes take a few hours. If it takes more than that, go back to the registrar and be sure that you entered the host’s DNS addresses properly. (You may have entered .com when it should be .net, for instance.) If you haven’t made a mistake, then call your hosting company’s support department and find out what the problem is.

For these reasons, setting up an online business is a way to catch up with the times as well as a brand new way of making profit. When you have an online business or a home based business, it is very necessary to have internet marketing or more commonly known as online marketing. Admittedly, there are hundreds of thousands of business websites. For each kind of product and service, there are also thousands of people who are in the background representing different small to big businesses. So if you are an online business owner, how do you separate your business from the thousand others? How do you make your product, brand or service stand out?

The answer lies in the many and various website promotion schemes. To promote a product or service, you definitely have to promote your website because it is through your website that people get in touch with your business. In the world of internet entrepreneurship, website promotion is most essential to make your business succeed or fail. Without this, your website and your product or service offering might as well stay in the dark.

One method in online marketing is video marketing. Internet video marketing is a kind of marketing strategy employed by online business owners to announce to the world about their business. In video marketing, what you sell and promote is not only the product or service but more importantly, yourself. Most consumers nowadays are very picky and seem to hesitate when it comes to easily trusting something from the Web. As we all know, there are online scams and there are real and genuine online businesses. Knowing the difference of the two is difficult from the common consumer. So one way to uplift business credibility is to create and show an internet video about the product, service or owner.

For products which require assembly or demonstrations, videos are also useful to graphically teach the consumers or buyers. It is not simply a how-to video but also a way to market future products. Having a video for a certain product is a way of saying that the company behind the product cares for the consumer to maximize the use and convenience of the product. This, in turn, encourages more people to buy.

Internet video marketing is an effective and creative way to market any product, service, and even a company name or brand. With the rise of many online businesses, having one is an edge over the thousand other online entrepreneurs.

At one time, in the not so distant past, computers were not commonly found in homes. Computers served as a time saving device for businesses and offices and they were big, heavy, unattractive and very expensive. Over time computers, have become smaller, lighter, operate faster and have price significantly dropped in price. Thus many more of us have incorporated computers into our daily lives and homes. Today, most of us would be lost without our computers, electronic devices and the Internet!

Before the age of computers, the only way to correspond with others at a distance was through letters written by hand or on a typewriter. There was no spell check or grammar check to make life easy. People had to rely on their own proof reading and language skills in order to be understood.

In the 1990’s when computers began popping up in homes all over the world and the Internet became readily available, chatting programs such as ICQ, MSN, and AOL Instant Messenger made their debut. With these developments, communicating through writing was forever changed, and the English language has never been the same.

The development of instant messaging programs has resulted in the use of a new ‘spin-off English’ and has quickly become the de facto means by which many young people communicate. The most common spinoff would have to be using short forms and it is common to see entire phrases abbreviated. This new language is often referred to as “Internet slang”. Examples include:

• lol = laugh out loud
• ur = you are, your, or you’re
• h2gtw – have to go to the washroom
• cmitm – call me in the morning
• btw = by the way
• b4n = bye for now
• l8er = see you later
• teotwawki – the end of the world as we know it
• p911 – parent emergency / parent near

Internet slang is a form of chat room shorthand that should only be used informally. However, this slang has spilled over the chat room wall and has made it into e-mails, written correspondence, and yes, it has even found its way into research papers and the homework of schoolchildren and college students.

When writing formally, important points such as capitalization, punctuation, and grammar structure should always be used. Writing English is a craft, and this craft should be practised regularly in order to train and engrain proper techniques. Unfortunately, the use of chat rooms and slang has begun to replace reading and letter writing as primary forms of communication, ultimately harming our language skills.

The use of Internet slang has undeniably affected grammar, punctuation and spelling. Grammar is the foundation of the English language. Punctuation sets the tone and the overall meaning of a sentence – without tone, meaning can be easily misconstrued. There are often many mixed-messages in chatroom slang and e-mails!

Today many people spend more time conversing over the Internet than they do face-to-face. The Internet (including instant massaging and e-mail) is quickly becoming the most prevalent form of written correspondence. It is therefore easy to understand how the use of Internet slang for hours a day can lead to the development of poor English habits. People even belting out “LOL” in the middle of a conversation instead of laughing when speaking to a friend or colleague!

So what can be done to keep slang out of formal writing such as research papers and homework? Upon finding slang in homework and test, are deducting are more pints than they would for the usual grammar mistake. This makes the student more mindful of what they are writing and for whom.
Replacing the use of chat rooms and slang with regular reading and writing with a conscious effort to observe proper English grammar, punctuation and spelling will go a long way. Practice certainly makes perfect where the English language is concerned.