Hippo Pillows Ltd set up a simple email service and website with Internet Service Provider(ISP) freenetconnect and Ray's email address is
ray@hippopillows.freenetconnect.co.uk
Hippo Pillows Ltd website is at
http://www.hippopillows.freenetconnect.co.uk
They put this information on their Letterheads and Business Cards

Customer Phil sends a message to his contact Ray at Hippo Pillows Ltd

It takes the following route:

After a year or so Hippo Pillows Ltd. find the service is not giving them what they want and decide to use another ISP gratisnet. They set this up whilst the freenetconnect is being used. Names will become ray@hippopillows.gratisnet.co.uk and http://www.hippopillows.gratisnet.co.uk

Though for the time being, the original freenetconnect addresses are still working, Hippo Pillows Ltd will have to change all their stationery and advise their contacts of the change.

Almost inevitably, after the change over some contacts will be lost and potential new clients looking at old literature may think Hippo Pillows Ltd have gone out of business ! At the least it will cause frustration to people having to change their address databases.

What should they have done ? What should you do ?

Register your own internet name (domain name)

eg hippopillows.co.uk and use email and web-site re-direction. This means Hippo Pillows Ltd. OWNS the name hippopillows.co.uk and can use email addresses like ray@hippopillows.co.uk and their website can be advertised as being http://www.hippopillows.co.uk
When Phil sends an email to Ray (ray@hippopillows.co.uk) he does not know which ISP (freenetconnect or gratisnet) Hippo Pillows Ltd are using.
If Hippo Pillows Ltd decide to move their ISP again they will not need to advise their contacts of the change.