Admittedly, it's not that difficult to give a photographer, model, or casting director your OneModelPlace ID number. But wouldn't it be even easier (and infinitely cooler) if you could point them to your very own "JaneDough.com"? Or "ModelJuanita.com"? Or "JimThePhotographer.com"?

Not only will this work today for your OMP page, but you'll be free to use your domain name in the future for your own web site!

Plus: you can start using your very own "jane@janedough.com" e-mail address to forward e-mail to your existing e-mail account. This is an excellent way of creating an e-mail identity that will be usable for as long as you own the domain name. If you ever change your primary e-mail account (say, moving from Verizon to Comcast or from Yahoo! to AOL), all you have to do is log in to your domain management account, change the forwarding address, and "jane@janedough.com" continues to work perfectly.

For as little as $10 a year, you can do it - and it only takes a few minutes to set up. Here's how:

Step #1: Register your domain name

It used to be that you'd have to spend $30 or more each year to keep control of your domain. Thankfully, those days are gone. Sites like AlphaWebmasters offer the same level of service (often better) than the "big boys" of domain registration, while offering them at much lower prices - less than $10/year for most domains. Pick a good name. Go see if your name is available. If not, try slight modifications until you find something that fits you and is easy to remember.

When you make your domain purchase, you'll have to create a free account at AlphaWebmasters. Make sure you write down all the information (customer number & password), so that you can log in and make the necessary changes in later steps.

Step #2: Use the "domain forwarding" feature to point to your OMP page

Go to the AlphaWebmasters login page and log in using the customer number and password you created when you registered your domain name.

Click on the "Manage Domain Forwarding" link. A list of domain names will be displayed (probably just the one that you registered in Step #1).

Click on the link that contains your domain name (the "JaneDoe.com" or whatever, in blue linked text).

On the right side of the page a "Forward Domains" box will be displayed. In the box below "Forward to:", you need to enter the address of your OMP page.

Now, click on the green "Save Changes" button (near the bottom of the "Forward Domains" box) and you're done! A message will be displayed indicating that it might take as long as 24 hours for the forwarding to take effect, but it's usually working within a few hours.

After waiting a few hours, try entering your new "www.JaneDoe.com" address into your web browser. There you go, now you can publicize "www.JaneDoe.com" on your business cards and other promotional material!

Step #3: Set up the e-mail forwarding for your new domain

While logged in to your AlphaWebmasters account (go to the AlphaWebmasters login page if you're no longer logged in), put your mouse over the "Hosting & Email" link (it looks like an envelope next to a PC). With your mouse over the link a list of options should appear. Choose the "Email Accounts" option.

Click on the "MANAGE EMAIL FORWARDING" button.

Click on the blue "Setup Account" text link.

Make sure that the "Use a domain name hosted or registered at AlphaWebmasters" option is selected.

After "Email Account", enter the first part of the e-mail address you'd like to forward (such as the "jane" in "jane@janedoe.com").

After the @ symbol, click on the box and select your domain name from the list that pops up.

In the box next to "Redirect mail to:" enter the e-mail address you normally use (such as "janedoe45863@aol.com").

(If you want to set this up as a "catchall" account or have an "autoresponder" answer all your e-mail, that can be set up now. The instructions on the page are self-explanatory. You can always come back and set these up in the future.)

Click on the "Save Settings" button at the bottom of the page and you're done! It may take a little while for the changes to take effect, but you're now set up so that any mail sent to this new address ("jane@janedoe.com") will be automatically forwarded to your regular e-mail account. Give it a try by sending an e-mail to the new address and making sure it shows up in your regular e-mail.

Troubleshooting

If you run into any problems or see anything wrong in our steps, send us an e-mail and we'll try to help.