I realize that this is not the Californian Gold Rush. There is no hurry and the domains will always be available for your business, anyhow. I know of companies with strangest of names and their domain names have no connection with what they do or what they are called. They are still doing well!

A domain name is only a domain name. It is not equivalent to ‘your name’ or the quality of work that you do. One of the biggest companies that I came across didn’t have their own dotcom name and I know that it did get a few eyebrows raised. Having said that, the domain name does not have any apparent effect on their business and they appear to be doing pretty good!

My learning from the entire process is that please do not try to register a domain unless you know why you want it and you have a real purpose in mind. A domain name is not equivalent to a business idea and a business idea cannot be held back due to non-availability of a domain name. If you think you need a domain name, get it, but not because you think you may need it in the future.

Remember, it is easier to get a domain registered, it is far more difficult to let it go; and when your renewals run in hundreds of dollars, it is too late!

There was a generous Canadian lady who owned this domain for about 10 years. She got this first registered in 1997 and then in 2007 I first got to see it (because that was when I started the company!). I contacted her via the form on her new website and requested her to let me know if she was interested in parting with the domain as she was not using it at that time.

She surprised me with her quick and pleasant response. She politely refused to give me the domain at the moment because she didn’t know if she wanted to give it to me, or to anyone. I told her that I am starting my company and it will be a great boost to me if I have the TLD. She probably understood and told me that she will think about it and let me know when she has decided something.

I mailed her a couple of times and she promptly responded, telling me her situation or point of view. In the beginning of the year 2009, I wrote again and she said that she was leaving for a vacation. She told me that she will decide about transferring the domain once she is back, finally. She was back in a couple of months and wrote to me saying that she was all prepared to transfer it to me. I could send the payment to her and she will ensure that the domain is transferred without any trouble.

I didn’t know if this was the right thing to do, it was a decent amount by any means. I was sure that she genuinely wanted to give me the domain otherwise she wouldn’t have written to me. I knew my money was safe but I was only unsure of the registrars as I had never transferred a domain comfortably before. I moved 2 of mine from Rediff to Znet and it was a horrifying experience.

Well, I did transfer the money and she sent me the authorization code in less than 12 hours of receiving it. I tried to move the domain to my registrar and as I had expected, something went wrong somewhere and the transfer didn’t happen. I was really troubled and anxious to get it all happen. I wrote to the support staff and they were as usual, clueless.

She was a great help in the meantime. She kept on writing to me to find out about the status of the transfer and she also ensured that I was comfortable during the entire process. She didn’t disappear after receiving the money but let the transfer complete till the end. It was a great relief and I am really thankful to her.

So, don’t forget to check techspeak.com in a couple of days. I am trying to figure out the best CMS at the moment and will ensure that the site is up before the end of next week. Fingers crossed!!