Invest in your domain name
Don’t let your domain name expire.
Especially when you’ve created a successful business presence.
Essentially, an investment is something that adds value to something already valuable. Investments don’t have to be monetary in order to be important. Taking time out of your busy schedule to walk 3-5 times a day is an investment in your health. Mentoring a child or allowing a co-worker to shadow you at your job is an investment of your time and expertise into someone else’s life. Investments are important, they help things to grow. Regardless of what type of investment, they are created for the sole purpose of advancement, improvement and development.
Now that you have a mental picture of an investment being more than money, picture the benefits of an investment. When a tree is planted, it needs water, sun and fertile soil to grow. The tree itself is designed to grow, but it needs fuel for it to grow at its best and produce peak performance. I imagine a sapling being planted in a place where there is not much sun exposure, maybe on the side of a tall building. It may get some sun part of the day, but not as much as it would get if it was out in an open field, or at least further away from the building. I’m not talking about holly and ivy scaling along a brick wall; I’m talking about a baby sapling that needs space to grow into a towering tree that provides covering for lots of other plants and animals. As the tree grows, it gets taller and fuller, most likely producing juicy, vibrant fruit. Fruit so succulent that when you bite into it, the juice is running down the side of your mouth! Can you taste it?
Now, let’s put another piece of the puzzle together. Imagine you’ve created an awesome product or a service that your customers have desperate need of. Calling you to order your invention is “ok.” The clients who are loyal may even decide to drive by the office or storefront to pick it up. The gung-ho patrons decide that if they order online, they’d be at the top of the list when it’s time for distribution. So far, we’ve got some basic means for getting your product “out there.” Now envision the launch party for your website. The flashy term alone is enough to draw new subscribers to your company, not to mention your faithful customers who feel like they’re visiting the VIP lounge of your business because they’ve “been with you for years” and “they know you personally” however they “love this new website and its convenience!”
Swipe the screen in the history of your business … a year of successful e-commerce has gone by and the unthinkable happens. You wake up one morning and there are several complaints in your inbox. Subjects like: WHERE’S MY PRODUCT?? Or My login doesn’t work or even This page is no longer valid. When you get to the office and check the voicemail, you hear over and over again “I keep getting an ‘HTTP Error. The request is badly formed.” Worst of all, social media posts of their dissatisfaction!
WHAT HAPPENED!!!!???
As you surf through all of the emails that are YELLING at you for not being able to access your website, you find one buried from a few weeks ago warning you to renew your account with your web page provider or renew your subscription for your domain name. Since business was booming, you may have overlooked it. Either way e-commerce cannot thrive without a platform –your website. Your website cannot function when the domain name is expired. You lose money and possibly customers when they can’t order what they’d like, reach your website or find you active in a search engine. Worst case scenario, the domain name expires and some unsuspecting new business owner thinks your domain name is a great name for their company. It doesn’t even matter what service they offer once they take your hard earned identity. The proverbial ball was dropped and they picked it up
–GAME OVER, or at least on hold until you create a new online presence.
Moral of the story –as you invest in various components of your business, remember to invest in your domain name –don’t let it expire, especially if you’ve created a successful business presence. You don’t want that domain name to belong to someone else. Your online identity is important –keep it alive and thriving.
