Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m not sure if this is the best category for this post, but hopefully it`s close enough.

I brought my small design business to the world wide web in 2004... unfortunately (and as is the case for many businesses I`m sure) my business name was already in use by several other companies already online.

I was lucky enough to procure the country specific .CA domain name for my company, but the authoritative .COM was taken.  I realize I should have seen this as an indicator of a larger problem at the time, but at this point our name is pretty well established. We are #1 on Google for "sage media" and a few targeted search phrases.

The owner of sagemedia.com is running the site as one of those horrible link farms, and is not willing to sell. Other companies with the same or very similar names are selling competing services, but most of their sites are so terrible they do not present much of a threat (though they do make us look bad when referrals look for us and find them instead).

It happens too often that customers send me email, inadvertently replacing the .ca with .com, which of course results in me not receiving correspondence, and customers being unhappy.

I`m sure this is a common dilemma... do we embark on an ambitious (and possibly ill-fated) campaign to procure competing domain names?  if so, what is the best approach?

It can`t be worth rebranding our entire company and changing our business name... but at the same time I feel we shouldn`t just sit and do nothing.

Suggestions?

Much obliged,
Chanie


-------------------------

Sage Media :: Full Service Graphic Design Firm    |   Portfolio     |   Blog

What about buying a link on that site .. something like
Sage Media of Canada


What would happen is you changed all your e-mail to something else like
sagemediamail.com
or
You could pay the owner of .com to forward all the e-mail to you.
good luck
Jeff

Chanie,

I feel your pain. The first company I created was also already taken in dot com and then I had to settle for a country specific name. This is going to be one of the objectives of the website I plan to build called http://www.GetYourNAMEin.com
I am going to make it my mission to tell people about the importance of YourNAMEin.com

It`s just the reality of life. Dot com is king and I`m not sure that is going to change anytime soon. Perhaps in the next generation when everyone differentiates - at least so I am told - but I believe people are going to keep making the mistake.

So here`s my advice. You need to do either one of the following:

• Yes, as dreadful as it may sound, change your name and do all the re-branding but hopefully you have a mailing list and can alert your customer base about your new name so that they migrate with you. Then of course GetYourNameIn.com.
• The second option is what we`re going to do with one of our websites that ends in ".net." We`re going to highlight the .net part in a different colour that is visually unforgettable, like red or fluorescent green. But that`s not all. Then you come up with a catchy slogan that rhymes with your extension and makes sense to your business. For example, "SageMedia.ca, Can you feel the .ca baby?" OK, maybe that doesn`t rhyme, but you get the idea. Come up with something that will help make it stick in people`s minds that you`re a .ca kind of chick. Something that will sound hip. I can`t come up with one for you. I gots to go to sleep.
  

-------------------------

Get Your Name in ".com" at the International Internet Authority

Sage Media,
When a customer has a link farm it doesn`t mean he is actully using the domain name. That horrible Link farm page you see is a self propagated page when someone registers a domain name and "just parks it there".
Why? Because there is a huge trend going on right now called "Domainers" Domainers are people that register domain names looking to hit the jack pot and retire early.

These domainers have an annual conference in Miami (Its closed to the public) Its by RSVP only. Another reason why they just park the domain name there is because they are making residuals everytime someone lands on that page and clicks on any of the hyperlinks.

There is no need for you to rebrand your whole company... What you need to do is shorten your name, or choose something with a different extension such as .net, .biz, .info..... Although, these extensions might not be used more than the dot com one`s, they are starting to be popular.
Have you tried asking the person if he would sell it? If so, why don`t you put a back order on it? Back ordering means the minute he forgets to re-register the name it (renew) If you back order it, most-likely you will be able to get it.
Here is what you can do in the mean time:

1. Register another domain name closely parallel to what you do, and forward the domain name to your current .ca
2. Move all your files to the new domain (given that you have hosting) and let your customers know that you will be changing your domain name.
3. Since your customer`s are probably used to the .ca domain name, forward that domain name to your new extension.

These are simple ways to get around the domain name catastrophe.

-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

I`d also check with a trademark attorney. you might have a case to get the .com since the current owner isn`t really using it as expected.

other than that i concure that the .net domain is a good idea, or shorten or lengthen your current name to get a .com.

The idea of re-branding probably wouldn`t be worth it`s weight in the short or mid term but in the long term it might work out for you. but i would only go down this path as a last resort.

Well, A trademark attorney couldn`t do anything for him. The only way a trademark attorney would so something about it is, if he previously owned the domain name, and he trademarked it. But that is not the case, he never owned the domain name so there for he couldn`t even sue the guy if he wanted.
The trademark law only applies to physical belongings and not Virtual.
The internet and domain name registrars have their own rules.
Just like if the Domain name Dell.com was available anyone can register it, it doesn`t have to be owned directly by dell. Dell can fuzz and fight and threaten the preson who registered it, but if the registrant is not willing to sell Dell is out of Luck... I been down this route with one of my customers that is why I am telling you...
Your best approach is to register a different domain name that closely represents your company.

-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

There`s a show with Bob Parsons on this site where he answers Chanie`s question.  I believe this is the URL:

http://www.startupnation.com/pages/radio/RD_March18_2006.asp

So ignore my obvious bias and go listen to the billionaire.

All the best,
Aleem Khan


-------------------------

Get Your Name in ".com" at the International Internet Authority

.COM is a thing of the past. Most, if not all of the good .COM names are gone. There is a new player in town and some of the biggest names in business are starting to catch on. I think you can solve your problem here:

http://www.freedom.ws/mbrashad/show_dvd

Hope this helps you out!