With all the programs and conferences about social media, social networking and new media for business, one thing I almost missed, and perhaps you did too, was that on June 26, 2008, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), overseer of domain naming, announced a relaxation of its policies.

Having a presence on the web hinges more than ever on having a memorable brand, being easy to find and search engine optimized and having a unique value proposition that stands out from the crowd. Businesses have always had to be vigilant, define their own space and not let others tread on that space.

I am reminded of an example from years ago when I was at AT&T and MCI was rapidly increasing its market share. What then seemed like a clever tactical maneuver now seems like a blip. I am remembering back when cell phones were almost non-existent, browsers were retail store shoppers, few people had easy access to the Internet and the majority of small and mid-cap businesses hardly knew it existed.

Consumers’ primary means of communicating with family, friends and peers was either by phone or regular mail, and having an 800 number was vital. Long distance rates were still high, and toll free numbers gave businesses an edge. In 1994 AT&T introduced 800-OPERATOR (800-673-2867), and MCI, counting on a lot of people not knowing how to spell ‘operator’ correctly, quickly snagged 800-OPERATER (800-673-2837) and made money at AT&T’s expense by not branding the call. For this and related stories among the telecom giants of yesteryear, check out http://www.icbtollfree.com/article_free.cfm?articleId=5853.

So, what does this have to do with today’s environment and marketing initiatives? A lot. As always, entrepreneurs and new start-ups must be more than a few steps ahead of their competition. It’s still important to have a name customers can spell and remember and a phone number that’s easy to dial correctly. And of course, customers and prospects must be able to reach you online without much effort or they’ll go elsewhere. Even if you never plan to use them, it’s advisable to protect your turf and get all currently available domain name extensions, and it’s a bargain. If you’re for profit, you probably have a .com or.net suffix, but what about .biz and others? And even if you are a nonprofit, it’s wise to also get other name extensions beyond ‘.org.’ This does not take elaborate care; all that’s needed on your alternative sites is perhaps your logo and a redirection to your main website. (That reminds me – I need to redirect my .biz to my www.lovenhart.com site!)

Quickly checking out this advice, I experimented, looking at random home pages. In the political arena, I searched on political.com and found Texas political resources. However, political.biz is available to anyone. Proctor & Gamble’s (P&G) website is pg.com. Surprisingly, pg.biz is not a P&G website; it is something else entirely (a quality index of games). AARP’s got the idea. Its website is www.aarp.org, but entering www.aarp.com redirects you back to their main website. AT&T (now SBC’s new name) has learned to protect itself; it has both .com and .biz. For a current list of accredited domain names, visit http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html.

So, whether it’s a services or brick and mortar business, organizations today must still make sure that, in addition to having a major online presence, they protect themselves from incursions by their competitors and by interlopers out to make a buck (e.g., a domain scalper or ‘cyber squatter’). This takes us back full circle to ICANN’s announcement. While the overall principals of good, sound business practices remain constant and endure, the game board may look very different in a year or so. Stay tuned!