Gift a Personalized Domain Name to the Graduates of 2011

It’s graduation season, and with graduation comes graduation gifts. It’s not easy to pick something unique and thoughtful that a grad will actually find useful, so most people resort to cash. While no graduate is going to complain about cash, we have a better suggestion: buy the graduates in your life their own personal domain name.

A personalized domain name like “jimmysmith.com” or “katejackson.com” is a great gift for new grads for several reasons:

1) Job Prospects

The job market for new grads is very competitive, and just about every hiring manager today does a Google search to see what comes up for applicants. It’s crucial that job hunters rank well for their name and present a professional front online. A personalized domain name will help them rank well in search results, and when job hunters use website content on their domain focused on their skills or a resume, it will only increase their chances of getting hired.

2) Pursue New Hobbies

New graduates (particularly those without employment immediately out of school) will find themselves with more time on their hands without homework, tests, and social events. It’s a great time to pick up new hobbies and explore interests further rather than feeling forlorn about job prospects. Building a website or a blog for their hobby will help them share their passions in today’s online socially-networked world. This also has the side-effect of potentially helping them land a job.

3) Improve Tech Skills

In today’s world, knowing the basics of Internet technology, website building, and some basic HTML and design skills goes a long way. This applies to graduates from all fields of study, and even high schoolers preparing to go to college. With the Internet being a part of everyday life, learning the infrastructure that supports it could be considered on the same level of importance that learning a foreign language is!

Get a Graduate You Know Started Online Today:

Most grads are already on Facebook, but a domain name is a much better way to present themselves online in a professional manner. Our domain names start at only $10 for a 1-year registration, and we offer up to 10 year registration if you want to secure their domain name for longer!

If you want to provide a larger gift to a graduate, we suggest adding web hosting so that they will be able to build their website and host it online at their domain name. Our web hosting plans include SiteBuilder and an application vault with all the necessary tools to create a website.

A final option to pair with a domain name is Instant Website, which is perfect for novice users who are looking to quickly build a simple one-page website.

So if you’re sold that a domain name is a unique gift for graduates in your life, search for their domain name today! If extensions like .COM or .NET aren’t available, there are plenty of other options available such as .ME and .CO to choose from.

Graduates – The Time is Now to set Yourself Apart with a Domain Name!

Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2010 Next comes the real world and with it the harsh reality that the economy still has a long way to go in recovering. The job market continues to be ultra-competitive, and it can be particularly hard for new graduates to find work. If you’re still searching for a job post-graduation, setting yourself apart from the competition can make all of the difference. In an era where hiring managers regularly conduct internet searches on candidates and browse social network profiles, having a strong online presence is a must. Here are some ideas on how to build your online presence:

1)      Get a personalized domain name. Find YourName.com or similar variation (if the .com extension is taken, .ME is a great alternative). This will make it easy for potential employers to find you  online and can help you rank well for your name in search results. Domains are powerful marketing tools, and at under $10 per year, they’re a great investment.

2)      Once you have your domain name, put it to use. Start a blog, create a website to showcase your resume, or point your domain at a social networking profile where you can best display your knowledge and skills.

3)      Set up your domain name with customized email. You@YourName.com is much more professional on a resume than your decade old blondie87@hotmail.com email address.

4)      Clean up your Facebook profile. You might want to hide those drinking pictures and other information you don’t want potential employers to see. Because of Facebook’s ever-changing privacy policies,, try to avoid posting anything you wouldn’t want to be public for everyone to see.

5)      Set up profiles and start conversations with your network on Linkedin, Twitter, and other social sites. Connect with second or third degree acquaintances who might just be the contact you’ve been looking for to gain an edge in your next interview.

6)      Expand your reach and showcase your personality with online media. Post videos on YouTube, photos on Flickr, and more! The more well-rounded you are online, the better you’ll fare when it comes to getting noticed and landing a job.

7)      Link all of your websites and accounts together! Creating multiple channels doesn’t do much good when they’re all isolated. If someone finds one of your online presences, you want them to be able to easily find the others as well.

Once you’ve taken these steps, you’ll discover how important  a domain name is as the backbone of your online presence . It will allow you to centralize your online presence and truly own your personal content, rather than relying on social networks that store your information on your behalf.

For a limited time only, save 15% on your entire order at MyDomain.com with no minimum purchase* by using coupon GRAD15 at checkout.

What are you waiting for? Grow your presence online today and start networking! You’ll be surprised how far your online persona can take you towards finding a great job. Need some inspiration for building your online presence? Check out Dan Schawbel’s PersonalBrandingBlog.com

*LIMITED TIME OFFER. GRAD15 coupon and offer expires June 6, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. GRAD15 coupon is good for 15% off new products and services. No minimum purchase required. All renewals on products and services after the initial discounted period will be charged at the current standard list price for the selected period. Coupon is not valid with certain TLDs, renewals, transfers, custom website design, .CO pre-registrations, Sunrise registrations, Landrush registrations, other coupons, or special pricing.

.CO Domains Coming!

MyDomain is among an exclusive group of registrars that will be selling the new .CO TLD at launch. This new extension is poised to be very popular, as it provides a great alternative for companies given the lack of good available .COM domains.

The global sunrise, where trademark holders can reserve their .CO domains, is happening right now, but we’re also offering pre-registration for the landrush and general availability phases coming up. The landdrush give everyone to get first pick at the best premium .CO domains available, and begins on June 21st. In general availability (starting July 20th), .CO domains will be available for registration on a first-come, first-served basis like other already released extensions. However, if you pre-register your .CO with MyDomain, we’ll purchase it for your automatically as soon as the .CO registry is opened for general availability. Learn more about .CO domains on the product page and pre-register yours today!

MyDomain Brand .ME Contest Winners

We recently announced the winners of our Brand .ME Contest. We had a great time running this contest and were very excited to see the response from people who value personal branding and the benefits a domain and website can provide to networking and branding online.

We received over 300 entries, and the 15 finalists did a great job of rallying their online followings to vote for them. The three winners stood out for having great all-around personal brands, and it happened that all three also won the voting in their categories. We felt reassured in our choices because we judged the finalists prior to the beginning of the voting, and the voting agreed with our choices.

All three winners currently have $1,000 Apple Gift Cards on the way, and all 15 finalists won a .ME Domain Name and web hosting from MyDomain as well. We partnered with the .ME registry on this promotion because we feel that .ME domains are among the best options available when it comes to a highly brandable domain name for a personal website, portfolio, or blog. We also partnered with personal branding expert Dan Schawbel during the promotion to reach out to a very specific audience for this promotion. The response was great, and many of the finalists came from his network.

Overall, we were very happy to see a great response to the contest. Look for similar opportunities in the future from MyDomain!

MyDomain Brand .ME Contest Voting

Vote now for finalists in the MyDomain Brand .ME Contest! Pick your favorites in each of our three categories (Job Hunting, Hobby, and Subject Expert) to help decide who wins $1,000 Apple gift cards. The finalists have already won .ME Domain Names and a year of Web Hosting, but now they’re competing for the grand prize! Voting ends April 28th, so vote today.

Each finalist was selected because of their outstanding personal brand online. Their personalities, skills, and strengths are immediately apparent when you visit their websites. Build your personal brand today with a website from MyDomain, and consider a .ME domain as a great choice for a personal website.