What domain name did I choose?
Ta-daaaaah! The time has come. How am I to pick my final ten names from the longlist? It seems to me the most basic requirement is that I should be able to envisage the kind of business that might want a particular name.
So, to take the first one, who would want HeavyBulldozer.com? Well, someone who sells bulldozers, obviously. Or someone involved in the building industry that uses them. But it’s a good, plain name. It says what it is, with no leaps of the imagination required. So HeavyBulldozer.com passes my test, dull-sounding though it may be, and becomes number one on my list.
Now let’s take a look at the names in the Financial category. First comes WiseInvestmentPlan.com. This is certainly something everyone wants, but with such a jittery current market how will I find a business that can offer it? Or a banker/broker who can spare the time to even read my humble email? Similarly, AdviceYouWant has an unspoken ring at the end of it – ‘but aren’t going to get.’ So I’ll pass on that one, too.
FindingTheFunds is something many people need to do now, whether for personal or business needs. This might be one I could offer to a credit establishment, although I think these are drawing in their horns for a while. It could be of use to someone who just wants to offer friendly, no-strings-attached advice on how to go about getting funds, but where do I find him/her? Still it might be worth thinking about, so onto the list it goes.
BankRevamp and DollarRecovery are obviously both highly topical, but the former is currently nothing unusual while the time for the latter may not yet have arrived. Still, there may be some wily financial person out there with an eye to the future, so I will also put DollarRecovery.com on my shortlist.
My ICollectable.com/ICollectibles/ables.net group I think I will also hold off on, although I understand that collecting is becoming seen as a way of investing that is market-proof. But I don’t know enough about it to even know where to look for someone who would want one or all of these names. That just leaves PhishingLine.com and MoneySkinny.com.
The more mired we become in financial problems, the more sharks there will be out there in the murky waters. PhisingLine.com would be ideal for a really good site giving serious and sensible advice about how to avoid online scams, listing the various ones around and so on. Apparently there are folk still out there (.1% of those online) who, through greed, desperation or innocence, fall for this sort of thing. So I’ll put that on my list.
Along with it goes MoneySkinny.com, which would be perfect for a site giving useful information on all kinds of money matters from those in the know. The ‘Skinny’ part, I think, takes the off-putting formality from the subject and gives a nice modern tone to an old trade.
So, with five names to go, on to the Fashion category. Of the five names here (EnchantedEveningDresses.com, FashionMetallics.com, GorgeousGarb.com, GoodDuds.com, ShoesToChoose.com, SpruceSuits.com), I think the first and third are the most attractive right now. If it’s true that when times get hard, luxury goods become even more sought-after, then these two would seem to fit the bill.
On the other hand, with so many bankers and business people out of work good interview suits are going to be wanted, so SpruceSuits.com seems even more relevant. I think I will put that one on my list. It’s nice and snappy, the ‘oo’ sounds give a sense of rhyme, and it would be ideal for a site selling suits to those men or women who want to get all spruced up and go looking for a job. In fact, it would also do for a site hiring suits, so this gives double the value.
In the Green category, I think ArcadianDream.com paints a lovely picture. So many people will be downsizing now that it would be good to have a site giving a positive view of this: not talking about ‘making do’ or ‘doing without,’ but about choosing to live the country dream. It’s also an old phrase, which imbues it with greater authority in terms of dreaming. The arcadian dream is a part of our heritage, from a time when most people lived in the countryside. It brings to mind streams and hills and peaceful meadows, far away from the turmoil of cities.
In the Health category, I find myself drawn to DentalGoss.com. There are plenty of dentists’ sites, but is there one that gives a general, all-over view of what is going on in dentistry with new treatments, including cosmetic. The Goss gives a nice, informal touch to the name, as well as standing in for ‘floss.’
For my last two names, I pass on down through the Humour, Luck/Casino, Social and PSI categories. I still think the names they contain are good ones, but it is quite difficult to clearly imagine end users for them. My last stop is in the Retail category. I bought IBookBuyer.com because, as a reader, it seemed to me that a lot of the emphasis of books on the net was on selling rather than buying them. OK, Amazon has lots of room on its site for reviews and ratings, but it’s still all about the reader discovering the books that it has on sale. I think that IBookBuyer.com puts the control back firmly under the hands of the Internet book buyer.
Instead of a scenario where you are looking for a book on painting and checking to see what a site has, you should be able to say, ‘This is the kind of book on painting I want – now find it for me.’ It would then be up to the website to scour the Internet booksellers to get such a book for you, new or used, and at a price you can afford. There is no reason this site couldn’t be attached to one of the large book-selling sites, just so long as the emphasis is on the reader’s needs rather than on the sales’ pitch.
Right at the end of my longlist, I come upon the last two names vying for my attention. The name before them – FirstClassStock.com – seems as if it could apply to almost any business. With an infinite choice of targets, I could find myself hitting none.
So my final choice is between BloomTycoon.com (a wealth of blooms for you), or BuyBlossoms.com. Each has its strong points and paints a pleasant picture. So, guess what? I’m going to give them the last place jointly, and offer them to the same end users. Perhaps this is a mistake but, if so, finding this out will be useful.
In my next entry I will consider how to actually set about finding possible end users for these names and how to approach them with my offerings. The most interesting but terrifying process of the whole project is about to begin.
