Tech
Does your business need a good Web address? Now’s a good time to check around. Prices of many reserved but unused domain names are coming back to earth after being out of this world for several years.
They’re available from resellers for only a few hundred dollars. Such companies include Moniker Online Services, Afternic, and Sedo.

To protect your firm’s Web address from domain name hijackers ...
Look into new “transfer lock” options offered by name registrars at little or no extra cost. Such locks require a password, encryption key, or other safeguard to validate a request to transfer your domain name to and from the 160-plus entities that register names on the Internet.
Another smart idea: Tap several employees as your firm’s contacts for domain name renewals and transfers, rather than just a single person.

A free tool to help keep private business data off the Internet:
SiteDigger, from McAfee Foundstone. It searches Google databases for information that’s on the Web but shouldn’t be ... financial data, etc. It can also check for outdated company material and help your IT staff guard against embarrassing leaks. Download it from www.foundstone.com.

Selling
Innovations in product packaging will light a fire under sales.
Aluminum beer bottles in different shapes and sizes and decorated with eye-catching graphics are turning heads among beer drinkers. More important, they’re attracting folks who don’t usually buy beer.
Sturdy cartons for food products ... from soup to condiments ... will be rolled out soon. They can keep food fresher than metal cans.
And “talking” packages with computer chips that activate when opened will give cooking instructions, health tips, and other info.

Want your firm’s name on your city park? Or local festival? Searching for badly needed revenue, more cities will sell naming rights to festivals, parks, and what have you, as well as ads in public places. Even New York City’s Times Square subway stop may soon get a corporate sponsor.

The Economy
The Federal Reserve’s quarter-point interest-rate hike on February 2 will be the first of several increases this year. Although economic growth will slow somewhat in the first half of 2005, monetary policymakers believe that additional rate hikes are necessary.
The Fed’s goal is to return rates to a neutral position, roughly around 4%, well above the current federal funds rate of 2.25%. Chair Alan Greenspan wants to leave whoever succeeds him next year the room to reverse course and cut rates should the economy head south.

Regional economies can get a big lift from hosting conventions and trade shows. Hotels, restaurants, taxi firms, and others all benefit.
That’s why so many cities are building convention centers.
But it’s clear that they are overreaching. Between 1990 and 2003, many big and small cities built new centers or expanded old facilities, increasing overall meeting space by 50%. And lots of new construction is in the works ... 5 million more square feet within five years.

City officials are partly to blame for the glut. As cities try to outbid each other for business, few pause to assess overall demand and supply.
But their loss is trade show planners’ gain.
There are bargains to be had in top-tier cities, including New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco, and even better deals in smaller cities: Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; and San Antonio, for example. Book years ahead and save even more.

© 2005 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.