I have a home based business and need to buy a domain name.  I want to
incorporate my name in the address.  firstlast.com is not available. 
first-last.com is available as is firstlast.info and firstlast.biz.  I
have not tried firstlastsomenumber.com, but am gusessing that I could
probably find some number that would work.  Also, things like
MYfirstlast.com, THEfirstlast.com and others seem to be available.  My
question is, does it really matter?  Does the extension make it
easier/harder for potential clients to remember?  Are there general
rules to follow in this area?  Thanks for your help.  Feel free to ask
for clarification.

You could use the country extention technically called "Country Code
Top Level Domains (ccTLDs)" of your country if the dot com is not
available for the domain name you want.

I suggest that you go through the following webpages for tips and
suggestions on choosing a domain name:

Tips on Choosing a Good Domain Name
http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/domainname.shtml


Tips for Choosing Domain Names
http://www.website101.com/Domain_Name/choosing-domain-name.html

How, Why and Where to Buy Effective Domain Names For Your Business
http://www.ablewebs.com/articles/effective-domain-names.htm

8 Quick Tips to Choosing a Domain Name 
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/tips-choosing-domain-name
http://www.perfectediting.com/tips-choosing-domain-name.htm


Hope that helps.

It is wise to choose a domain name that is somewhat relevent to the
business you are operating, but easy to remember. eg.
KarenJonesNovember1968.com is not easy to remember for your clients
(might be for Karen though), and would look silly printed on your
business cards or on your company car.

Do not use alternate spellings of any words in your domain name. eg.
Bobzfuntoyz.com

Always go for a dot. COM website. People are mind-conditioned to
expect a .com and will not remember anything like .BIZ .NET .INFO or
any of the alternates. Even though they exist and are sometimes
cheaper.

Also do not use sub-domains, such as toys.BobsFunToys.com for the same
reason as you use a .COM site. People will not understand why they are
typing the first part of the address, and will usually always type
"WWW.toys.bobsfuntoys.com"

Try to avoid using odd-symbols such as underscore_ or a dash -
Although sometimes you can't avoid it, do your best to.

Apart from that, The best I can say is just think it over carefully
and don't jump in too quickly.

Good luck!

This is just my opinion, but you may want to keep in mind that not all
sites are trustworthy, make sure you have a list of names that you are
willing to use before you search for availability. If the name you
want is available secure it right then and there.

I had an excellent one word name for a url, I knew it to be available
as I had searched for it in Yahoo many times. I read of a site were I
could search the availability of the name in many more extensions than
the top five i/e .com .net .US ect this site would search like 35
extensions (something like that) at a time, although I knew it to be
available I searched for it in this site out of curiosity nontheless,
sure enough it was available in all the extensions. I checked again
about two weeks later the name was taken the day after I had searched
in this new site! they had reserved it in all extensions and it was
for sale.

Something to keep in mind, my recommendation, if it is a good name and
it is available take it, don't delay or you may have to buy it, and
only use companies you know to be reputable i/e yahoo for your
searches.

Eli

I urge you to find a solution that enables you to use a .com
extension.  That's what people type in automatically and it looks
professional, whereas the .biz and the country extensions are hard to
remember and look rinky-dink becuase they're not yet in common use. 
Folks will just accidentally go to FirstLast.com.  I suggest you seek
out something like  FirstLastServices.com  FirstLastGroup.com,
FirstLastConsulting.com FirstLastLaw.com or whatever is both memorable
and appropriate to your field of endeavor.  Good luck.

THank you all very much.  Without an official answer, this site has
already been beneficial!  When I decide I will post the address as a
comment so you all can check it out.

Country extensions - depends on what area you are servicing. If it is
global or USA, then go for .com ;  but if you are a business in nother
country with no global reach go for .com.countrycode