Hi @all,

My question pertains to having two domains and getting a DBA ("Doing Business As").

I wanted to offer both Website Design and Web Hosting. But my website design site has a different domain name than my webhosting site. (Maybe this is a bad idea??? I'd like to hear your opinions on this also.)

Example (fictious name):
apple-web.com [webdesign business]
orange-host.com [web hosting]

Main reason I did this is because I got a cool hosting domain name which I believe can give my hosting site a unique personality/ "branding". My web design business already has an image to go along with a site design. I've agonized over this a long time. My concerns are that:

1. it looks like they are two different companies ( in reality it's only one person )

2.the webhosting image (domain name) is not easily transferable to a to the webdesign company. It would be like dotster.com offering cutting edge web design. Do you see what I mean? (In addition the domains aren't available)

3. Could I link the two sites or offer a seperate section?

What would your suggestions be?
(*I realize that a domain or business name is not going to guarantee success.)

If I did go with two different websites

Do I need two DBA's for two domains?

What are the legal questions I am faced with? Does it look unproffessional? Does secretary of state (where I get my DBA.?) frown on this behavior?

I could always put a small footer at the bottom of my hosting site saying:
"a apple-web.com comany" or "part of apple-web.com"

thanks
ciao;)

Those requirements are regulations of the individial states, so it's probably a good idea to ask your secretary of state's office. Or at least mention what state you're in and maybe someone here will know. Personally, though, I'd never take legal advice here or in any other similar forum; I've seen a lot of misinformation passed around! And already you seen to be in a somewhat unique situation; in most states fictitious names are filed with local governments -- usually the county clerk -- but yours is with the secretary of state... so again, I'd ask them.

In general, though, yes you probably can register two fictitious names to the same legal entity -- whether that's you or a corporation or LLC.

You should also consider that your domain name or the name of your website may not have to be the name of your business. But if you market under that name and want to bill under it, then it is your business name and should be registered. It sounds like for what you're talking about, that would be the case.

Hey JayC,
Thanks for the quick answer.


And already you seen to be in a somewhat unique situation; in most states fictitious names are filed with local governments -- usually the county clerk -- but yours is with the secretary of state... so again, I'd ask them.

I'm in the U.S.A !:D
I read somewhere about Sec. of State giving out business licenses or DBA, I wasn't really sure. (At the time, I knew it couldn't be Colin Powell - Sec. of State, I thought maybe State Secretary? Anyway I got it wrong, that's why I had the question mark.;))

So, you don't think it's a problem to run two different sites like that?