0047 - DotCom Addiction !
There is nothing quite like owning a DotCom domain name. For a start it's a helluva lot cheaper than buying a shiny new car, and the annual maintenance, i.e the renewal fee, is minimal.
So, what do you do, you decide on a niche that you want to market, and you set about looking, on www.namecheap.com for example, for a domain name that isn't already taken. You know that you want a DotCom, or maybe a DotOrg, etc. and you know you want it all without hyphens because you've been informed that it is better for the domain name to be a continuous word, i.e., the wealthyaffiliate domain name is not wealthy-affiliate for a reason.
So you're looking through Namecheap and your niche is, woblets, (a name I have just made up as an example). You think to yourself, wonderwoblets.com would be perfect, so you do a search.... and are devastated to find that it's not available. Disappointed, you try wobletwonders.com, and are gutted to find that's taken too. You type the URLs into your browserbar, and find that they are undeveloped sites that have been purchased by cybersquatters hoping to sell these names at a profit in future, to someone who decides that they must have that name whatever the cost.
Undeterred you start to make a list of alternatives to check availability on, getting more desperate by the minute, hoping that there must be a DotCom name for woblets that hasn't yet been taken. You strike through those that are taken and tick those that are available.
After what seems like hours, and after you've found that perfectwoblets dotcom, bestwoblets, wobletworld, worldofwoblets etc. etc. have all gone, you convince yourself, although the DotOrgs are sometimes available, that you must have the dotcom name, because they are now so hard to get.
Getting more devious, or is it desperate, you do a domain name search for wobletwonderz.com, wobletwise.com, wobletheaven etc and eventually you have a shortlist of available possibilities. You settle on one that you think is the best of the bunch, and then panic sets in because you start to worry that someone else is searching for the same thing at the same time and they might checkout and buy it a split second before you do. You rush through checkout, put your credit card details in (all this is pre-saved with Namecheap if you have an account with them and have purchased from them before) and all your contact details and breathe a sigh of relief when your order is confirmed.
Your euphoria is short-lived when you suddenly doubt you've bought the best domain name available on your list, or you think of a completely new name that is perfect if it's available. Maybe you should have bought the DotOrg of the better name, i.e. is wonderwoblets.org better than your purchase, wobletwonderz.com, or should you have gone for wonderfulwobletz.com etc. etc.
What the heck you think. it's only another 11 bucks a year, I'll buy the other one too, so off you go and do precisely that.
The next morning you wake up, look at your shortlist of available domain names again, and realise that yet another name, worldofwobletz.com would have been better after all, because you can market it as WorldOfWobletz.com and that really has the WOW factor. So you panic (again) that someone out there is thinking the same thing at the same time (again) and you fly into Namecheap, and grab domain name number three, which you decide is better than name number two, which was better than name number one which at the time you were worried would be snapped up by someone else if you had hesitated for more than a few seconds.
Welcome to DotCom Addiction, part of the Domain Name Addiction group of addictions!
I've done exactly the same thing. In fact I now have FOURTEEN DotCom domain names, 13 of which I hope to eventually trade from, the 14th being my personal website, a sort of About Me blog, for when I'm as successful as Bill Gates, or Kyle and Carson :)
That's enough to keep me in website development for years, and that's without the time needed to market the two I have (only partly) developed so far.
The joys of internet marketing - but it keeps me off the streets. - Dave.
Recent Comments
10
lol it is easy to get hooked on it all, even the language changes and you start talking about plugins etc
My obsession is even deeper now I am seeking 7-8 year old domain names within my chosen niche that end in dot com. My latest site is perfectetraffic.com. I have worked on it the last 2 weeks and it is up and running so searching for my next one!
Been there, thought I was (or had) lost my marbles. Didn't have many to spare, now I know I am OK after all, thanks.
Caraid could sell small jellies! Yes there are so many onliners out there now that it is hard to find just what you want. The main message is not to PANIC.
Mmmm Jellieeeees . mmmm. Like it.
Yes it is very annoying to say the least. I don't get upset if the domain is actually in use but when you know that they have probably just been purchased in bulk by cyber squatters hoping for a good profit it is something else.
Great post, amusing but oh so true, Why is it the brain just goes walkabout when you need your creativity most.
I love the name Woblets, Woblets.com and WobletsHQ.com both available. if only I can think of a product to develop.
Perhaps they could be widgets before the bugs have been ironed out.
Wishing you every success with your 13 domains
Dave
See more comments
Nicely expressed, you kept me reading all the way to the end, like a good story!! I'm developing an addiction in the entire marketing process, as I learn. Knowing who my audience will be. What keeps them up at night. What they are looking for. What they want to buy. What solutions do they need. The message. Having a message that they want to read, hear, and or see because it solves a problem. Then addictively apply process of attracting that audience to that message, leading to an action I ultimately desire. The dotcom addiction? :)