Thеrе arе соuntlеss mistaкеs that any nеw intеrnеt marкеtеr сan maке and many dо. Hоwеvеr, оnе оf thеm is vеry соmmоn and prоbably thе mоst еasily avоidablе оf all. This оnе simplе thing сan bе dоnе thе day yоu start yоur оnlinе businеss and failing tо dо it сan havе vеry nеgativе соnsеquеnсеs dоwn thе rоad.
Sо, what is this соmmоn mistaке?
It is failing tо rеgistеr your own name as a domain name.
For example, my name is Trent Brownrigg, so I registered http://trentbrownrigg.com a long time ago to ensure I would own it and control it forever. But actually I made the mistake of not doing it until a few years after I started my business. I should have done it a lot sooner.
Even if you don’t plan to use the domain for anything, you should still own it. You can keep it parked, forward it to another site of yours, throw up one page on it and link to your other websites, or do whatever else you want with it. That part doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you own it.
Even if you are a newbie and don’t think anyone else would want your name as a domain, so you think you can hold off and register it later on. Don’t wait! You should still go register it right now.
You never know who might consider you an and type it in assuming it is the domain to reach you at, or decide to register it themselves if they notice it’s available. You also never know when you might obtain “guru” status all of the sudden and then everyone will be trying to use your name. If the domain is available someone else will register it. Or even worse, one of your competitors could register it and use it to tarnish your reputation by pretending to be you.
Just the other day I happened to notice that a VERY well known internet marketer did not own his own name as a domain. Why he hasn’t registered it by now is a mystery to me. He should know better. So I registered it myself. Lucky for him, I happen to know him very well and am going to remind him of his mistake. If he wants it I will give it to him. But you might not be so lucky if the same thing happens to you!
Anyway, don’t make this easily avoidable internet marketing mistake. Go register your name as a domain right now. At least get the .com version because it’s the most important one to have. It’s probably smart to also get the .net, .org, and all the others but they are not quite as vital to own.
