My State Farm Domain :: Managing Internet Redirects for State Farm Agents

Get a new domain name today

Type a domain name in the box below to search for its availability:

www. .

Frequently Asked New Domain Questions:
What makes a good domain name?

Keep it simple. A domain name should be easily memorized, easily typed and easily pronounced. This typically means keeping them short.
Keep it familiar. A domain should be tied to your name or it should reinforce your business name.
Don't be dashing. Hyphens should be avoided if possible. Studies show that people forget to type the hyphens. Additionally, it's harder to explain to someone verbally when you have to include the word ìhyphenî. And if a user is attempting to guess your domain name, they are not typically going to try it with hyphens.
There's more than .com out there. .com is by far the most popular extension and should be your first choice, but .net is also quite common, unless you're running a non-profit and then .org is recommended.
Do a spell-check. If you have a name that can be spelled in more than one way (Kathy, Cathy), consider buying the other spellings for your customers who won't spell it right.

Should I get more than one domain name?

As a general rule of thumb, you don't need multiple domain names. From a marketing standpoint, you would only want to really promote one of the names as your "main" domain name. For your simplified e-mail, it only requires owning one domain name to buy multiple e-mail addresses for team members.

That being said, here are a few reasons that might justify buying two or more domains.

Protect Your Brand Image. It can be a good idea to secure alternate versions of your primary domain name as a means to prevent competitors from trying to take advantage or tarnish your name and branding efforts, especially if you are well known in the local community.
Name Variations/Misspellings Something else to consider would be the common variations and misspellings of your name and whether you want to register those too. If you do that, people who make common spelling mistakes will still end up at your micro-site on statefarm.comÆ. If you notice that your name is often misspelled on the correspondence or emails you get, this can be a good idea to capture traffic that you might otherwise miss.
Hyphenated Spellings While we don't recommend purchasing hyphenated domains as your primary domain, it may be worth getting the hyphenated version for the reasons stated above. Since any of the "extra" domains you purchase would all be pointing to your micro-site, you protect yourself from losing that traffic.
Popular Top Level Domains (TLD) On the Internet today, the most desirable domains end in .com. If that's available, it may also be a good idea to get the .net and .org version of your domain. Some people may also want to get the .us and/or the .biz versions as well. This ensures that no matter what people type they will get to your domain.

How are domain names and e-mails related?

In order to get your simplified e-mail address, you need a domain name. Here is some information about how they're related.

E-mail represents the messages you send back and forth through Outlook. An e-mail address always has the @ symbol in it, and for State Farm your email address typically looks like this: john.q.agent.b325@statefarm.com.
Domain Names are what you type into a web browser to view a web page. www.statefarm.com and www.google.com are two examples of domain names.
Think of it this way: Your domain name represents your office. So you would buy johnqagent.com to represent the office. To get an e-mail address for someone in your office, you would tie their name (usually just their first name) to your domain name. So for John, who works in the office, his e-mail address would be john@johnqagent.com.

What is the cost?

Put your cart to work. Search for a domain and click "Add to cart" - you can always remove it, but you'll be able to see all your costs immediately. Annual domain pricing, before any discounts, is as follows: 1yr - $65, 2 yrs - $60, 3 yrs - $55, 4 yrs - $50, 5 yrs - $45
Look for discounts. The cost for domains varies depending on how many you're buying and for how long you're buying them. If you buy more, you save more.
More years cost less. Buying 2 or more years of domain ownership in advance saves you on the per-year cost. More years = more savings.
More domains cost less. Additional discounts are available for purchasing mulitple domains. With the purchase of two domain names, you would receive 10% off your entire order. Buy three domain names gets you 15% off. Purchase four or more domain names and you'll receive 20% off your entire order.

How do I get E-Mail?

How do I start? First you buy or transfer a domain. Once you add a domain to your cart, there will be a small button next to it that looks like this: . Click it and you'll be able to add a new address.
What if I already bought a domain? Just log into Manage Your Domains, and you'll have the option to add emails to your domain from there.
How's it work? You're creating a simplified e-mail address that "re-directs" mail to your State Farm e-mail account. If your domain is "johnsmith.com" then you may want to get "john." Your new, simplified e-mail address would be "john@johnsmith.com." You would then point it to your normal State Farm address - "john.smith.wxyz@statefarm.com."
There are limits: Messages get "stuck" if someone with a State Farm address (some.person.zzzz@statefarm.com) tries to use your redirect address rather than your actual State Farm address. This is a known issue, and not likely to go away. The redirects are meant as a convenience primarily for clients.
And it costs...? It costs 2¢ a day for the length of the domain you're getting it for. That's about $7.30 a year.
Can I get them for my team too? Absolutely. You can buy as many e-mail redirects as you like.
What if I want to change something? Log in to Manage Your Domains, and you can edit existing addresses, or add new ones. You can even delete a redirect, but there are no refunds on unused time. We recommend modifying and re-using redirects rather than deleting them.

Add a LiveAgent Video to your microsite

What is a LiveAgent video?

It's a way to put a little more you right on your agent microsite. People arriving at your site can be met by you or a spokesperson, with a high-quality message and LiveLead Contact Form. Video technology like this isn't new, but the chance to use it on your microsite is.

Click here to see a sample LiveAgent video

What can I say in the video?

State Farm Corporate has provided some guidelines for what kind of things you can say and how you can stay compliant while still showing your individuality.

Want a copy of the generic script? Download the PDF

How much will it cost?

Video Shoot

This is a one-time fee, and can range from less than $200 to over $500.

Post Processing

This step prepares your video for display on the web. There is a $50 refundable processing fee.

Monthly Hosting

$25 a month, with no contract required. Stop at any time.

Let us shoot the videos for you.

If you're an AFS and are looking to have a group of agents filmed, we've got relationships with several video teams who produce spectacular looking videos. Trust us when we say that there are plenty of videographers who don't know how to correctly film green screen videos. We want the best quality possible and so we make sure the studios we recommend are going to do it right the first time. These teams will come to your location and will film it at most local AFOs, making it convenient for the agents. If you are interested in a group shoot, we really encourage you to contact us first at 877-828-3131 and let us help you get it set up.

Looking for a local studio to shoot just one video? While we cannot guarantee the end results from these companies, we would suggest you go to Google and do a search for "videographer" along with city and state or province you're located in and select a reputable firm from those results. If you or the videographer have questions along the way, feel free to call us.

What do I ask when I call a studio?

Services:
The kind of video work you're looking for is called Chroma-Key or GreenScreen work. It's the same technology used to put a weatherman over a map during the evening news.

Rates/Prices:
Ask if the studio does commercial work, and at what rate. Tell them you're shooting a 20-40 second clip. Usually they charge hourly for studio work, and it shouldn't take more than an hour to shoot your video.

Video Format:
The studio can record the final video in several industry standard formats that we can use:

AVI (NTSC 720x480 at 30 FPS)
MOV (QuickTime) Uncompressed
MPEG-1 or MPEG-4

What happens after the video is shot?

What you have:
The studio will give you a file, usually burned to a CD or DVD disc. Also, they may offer to send the video to us for you.

Where to send a disc:
If you have a physical disc with the file on it, you can mail it here:
Mirus Research
c/o LiveAgent Videos
105 N. Main St.
Bloomington, IL 61701

Where to send an electronic copy:
If you don't want to mail a disc, you can send it to us electronically via FTP upload. This is a faster and more effective way to get the file to us. If you have the capability, give us a call and we'll give you the details.

If you have any questions or want to get started, give us a call at (877) 828-3131

We always encourage agents to use themselves or a team member if possible in their videos. But using a professional spokesmodel for your office is a great way to go if you want to guarantee a professional, polished video on your website. If you'd like us to provide a spokesmodel for you, just let us know. The fees for using a professional spokesmodel between $150-$200 per hour.

As you know, what you say on camera and on your website is critical to your success. Corporate has come up with some generic scripts that can be customized to fit your office. Deviating from the language provided by Corporate will mean that your video may be delayed or denied from going on your website. Again, this is something that we can help you tailor to meet your audience while staying within Corporate guidelines.

These videos are produced using what's called a green screen or blue screen background. Using these specific background colors, we are able to remove, or chroma key for you video nuts, the green or blue portion of the video. This gives us the ability to put any background behind you that we want, in this case, the State Farm microsite.

If you're coming to Corporate in Bloomington, we can schedule to have your video produced at a nearby NBC television affiliate. We also are looking into attending various Agent Universities, regional and national conventions and other L & D related gatherings where agents could get their video produced during the event.

The third option available to agents is to have the video produced locally. We do not recommend you attempt to record the video yourself. It's critical that the audio, lighting and screen work is of a high quality or else the end video will suffer or you may be asked to re-record it. If you decide to have the video produced locally, we may be able to recommend a local studio or locate one for you. Please contact us at 877.828.3131 for more information.

So you want to produce your own video? Excellent. Many agents already have some public speaking experience, which will help. Here are some tips that we've seen be effective when producing your video:

Dress professional; remember, this is the first impression you will give many of your visitors. When picking out an outfit, it should not contain any bright green (or blue, depending on where it's being filmed). Wearing a color similar to the background fabric can cause problems when preparing your video.
Be enthusiastic; showing a little personality in your video is a good thing, because it's not just words that sell, but tone and body language.
Practice runs; get used to talking in front of the camera. Try writing down your script and practicing it in front of a mirror to get a feel for your facial expressions. Scripts should be memorized and practiced prior to arriving at the studio. Otherwise, you'll be wasting money at the studio while you attempt to memorize your script.

Assuming we don't film your video, you'll need to supply us with the raw video so we can edit it and prepare it for the microsite. The local studio or videographer will want to know what format you'd like the video put in. Here are the formats we can accept (if you aren't sure, call us first):

AVI (NTSC 720x480 at 30 FPS)
MOV (QuickTime) Uncompressed
MPEG-4 Uncompressed

These raw video files will typically be large and can be put on a CD or DVD and mailed to us at the following address:
Mirus Research
c/o LiveAgent Videos
105 N. Main St.
Bloomington, IL 61701

We recommend FedEx or UPS, but whichever shipper you decide to use, please make 2 copies of your video and hang onto one of them in case your package is lost.

FTP Video Upload
The quickest, cheapest and most effective method to getting your video to us would be to upload the video to one of our file servers. Most local studios or videographers could do this for you as part of their recording package. If they can do that, have them contact us for details.

If you've been given a chart with a variety of pricing plans, you need to realize that you should not be paying more money for more impressions each month. Why should you be penalized for doing a better job of promoting your office? If any company wants to charge you based on how many times your video is viewed, you're throwing away money.

You should be able to pay one flat rate each month for an unlimited number of impressions. Our flat rate to host and display your video is $25/mo. (this does not include the video preparation costs or spokesmodels, but we also have the best prices for that too).

Also, if you're being required to sign up for a 1 year contract, ask yourself why you'd want to commmit to that (and pay up front for any discounts) when you can pay a cheaper monthly rate and not be locked into any long term contract.

The bottom line is we offer better service, support and options with no contract required... and we still charge you less.

Search Engine Placement (SEP) Services

There are millions of Google and Yahoo searches being conducted every day by people who are interested in finding someone who offers insurance and financial services in their area. Some of these people live and work within minutes of your office. The key is being in front of them when that search takes place!

At the very top and down the right hand side of Google and Yahoo, you will find something called sponsored listings. Sponsored listings provide a quick and affordable way to buy your way to the top of the major search engines within a matter of days. It is an excellent opportunity to choose exactly what search terms you would like to be found under and pay only for those who click on your listings.

How Does It Work?
My State Farm Domain provides a simple, cost effective way to make sure potential customers find you with search engine placement services on Google and Yahoo while staying within your budget.

Key Components

Key phrase research & analysis
Ad Target Criteria
Budget allocations & spending limits
Search engine distribution
Keyword bidding strategy
Ad effectiveness measuring

Our search engine placement services are designed to quickly find highly qualified prospects online and drive them to your website cost-effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sign up?
Getting started is easy. Give us a call at 877.828.3131

What are the costs?
Ad campaigns start at $75/month and have the flexibility to grow with your business. You determine your budget and we never go over it. Budgets can be split between Google and Yahoo.

When will my ads will show up?
Typically it can take from 7 to 14 days for your ads to show up. This includes preparing your specific ads and having State Farm Corporate review them for approval. You aren't billed until your ads go live.

How is this related to my domain name?
Your domain name is critical to branding your business and we use it as part of the overall ad campaign strategy. If you don't have a domain name, we'll get you one as part of the Search Engine Placement (SEP) program.

What's the benefit of going through My State Farm Domain?
Some of the benefits that we provide that other companies may not:
   · Coordination with State Farm corporate on ad templates
   · Internal click fraud protection, which will protect agents from clicking on each other's links while in the office
   · On demand reporting of how your ads are performing and ongoing

Ready to get started? Give us a call at 877.828.3131

What's in your cart

Multiple Domain Discounts**
2 domains = 10% off
3 domains = 15% off
4 or more domains = 20% off
**Discounts do not apply to email redirects

This area is only for agents who have already bought or transfered a domain using the mysfdomain.com program. If you want to modify something purchased through us, please continue. Otherwise you don't need to log in.

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Transfer a domain you already own

Enter the domain name you want to transfer and we'll look it up:

www. .

Frequently Asked Transfer Questions:
What is a domain transfer?

What is it? Domain transfers are a way to take a domain name you've already purchased through another company and move it into the My State Farm Domain system.
Why would I want to do that?
1. This service will let My State Farm Domain manage the back end URL's to make sure the domain names are always pointing to the correct URL. If statefarm.comÆ needed to make changes to the URL address Corporate would have no way of contacting all the agents the change would impact.
2. Because My State Farm Domain is contracted through State Farm, we will not be selling your information thus resulting in additional spam.
3. Transferring your site will also get your domain information automatically pushed back into the Electronic Library.
4. After this program is set up, the My State Farm Domain will be working with statefarm.comÆ to give the necessary information to Google and Yahoo to move your agent domain names up in the search engine so you will get better results.
5. My State Farm Domain will also be working with Corporate to make additional functionality available such as customized emails and metrics as to how often the sites are being hit.
Is it difficult? Transfers do take several steps, and will require your participation. You'll start the process here, but it takes some time and a few e-mails to finish it. If you get stuck, we can help.

How does a transfer work?

For the sake of simplicity, we will be talking about transferring a domain name from your current registrar (Registrar A) to My State Farm Domain (Registrar B).

Before you do anything else, make sure the WhoIs contact information for your domain name is correct, specifically the administrative contact email address. You can contact Regsitrar A or login to your account on their website to see that information.

To be able to transfer a domain name you first need to "unlockî it. You can normally do this yourself through your account login at your current registrar (Registrar A). If you do not have this possibility, contact Registrar A by phone and ask them to unlock it for you. A list of popular registrars is available in the "Unlocking Your Domain" FAQ.
After that you initiate a transfer request on this website.
My State Farm Domain will contact you to validate your transfer request (usually within 4-6 hours) by sending an email to the administrative contact for the domain name. (This is one of many reasons why it is essential that you keep your WhoIs contact information up to date.) If you do not confirm the transfer within 3-4 days, your transfer request will be cancelled.
After you have confirmed your transfer request with My State Farm Domain, we will send a transfer request to the official registry (for example Verisign for the .com and .net domains). The official registry will then contact both Registrar A and Registrar B about the transfer.
That's it. We will work with the original registrar to get it transferred. It should all be complete in 5-6 days.

How much does it cost?

It depends. When you search for a domain to transfer, we find out how long you've bought it for. The price to transfer it is calculated only on what time remains - not the total number of years you originally bought.
You also get: A one year renewal/extension to your current expiration date.
So what's it cost? It costs 10¢ a day for the time left on your domain plus the one year extension. However, since transfers never happen "instantly," we subtract 30 days from your transfer costs to allow for any delays.
Show us a domain, and we'll show you the cost. Just search for a domain in the Transfer area, and if it's valid we'll display the exact costs to transfer it.

Unlocking Your Domain

To be able to transfer a domain name you first need to ìunlockî it. You can normally do this yourself through your account login at your current registrar. If you do not have this possibility, contact the registrar by phone and ask them to unlock it for you.
Once it is unlocked, confirm that the Administrative Contact info is accurate (it should be your name and email address) and then you can begin the transfer process. Listed below are some links to popular registrars and how to unlock your domain.

Go Daddy: Click here for instructions.
eNom:
1. Login to your eNom account at http://www.enom.com/Login.asp
2. Choose menu option DOMAINS, my domains
3. Click on the domain name you wish to unlock
4. Under UTILITIES, click on the ª "Set Auto-Renew/Registrar-Lock Options" for Domain Names and Services option.
5. Remove the check from the check box marked "Do not allow this domain to be transferred to a different registrar."
6. Click save changes
7. Logout of your account
NamesDirect:
1. Log into your account at http://www.namesdirect.com/manage/
2. Click the domain to manage
3. Under the "Services For Domain" section - click the 'manage' button next to "Domain Locking"
4. On the "Domain Lock down" page, click 'unlock'
Network Solutions: Network Solutions's registrar lock is called Domain Protect. To disable Domain Protect:
1. Log in to Network Solutions Account Manager at https://www.networksolutions.com/manage-it/index.jhtml.
2. If you have more than one domain name, click on the domain name you want to unlock.
3. At the top of the Domain Details section, click on the "Edit" link to the right of Domain Protect.
4. Select the radio button next to Turn Domain Protect Off, then click on the Save button to de-activate Domain Protect.
5. Otherwise, you may call Network Solutions at 1.866.391.4357 and tell them you want to turn OFF Domain Protect. This unlocks your domain and makes it available for you to transfer it. Support Page
Register.com: Click here for instructions.
Top Level Domain Registry System (TLDRS) : Many agents used this Canadian company several years ago to register their domain. Unfortunately, this company made themselves the owner of your domain instead of you and they are no longer answering their phone or responding to email requests. There has been a recent shift in their behavior however, which may provide a a new option. Please click here to find out more, or if all else fails, contact us at support@mysfdomain.com and we'll let you know the current situation.
Yahoo: Click here for instructions.