Creating a successful brand is a combination of wisely naming your product and services, and choosing one or more appropriate domain names.
IP attorney, Erik Pelton, summarized the process very nicely in a recent podcast, “Six Steps for Building a Strong Brand.”
Sometimes I receive inquiries for domain names that for whatever reason feel compelled to accompany a non-existing budget with an “or else” statement.
Not all statements are threatening, although I have received excessively arrogant or other passive/aggressive emails over the years. Some of these domain inquiries simply state they’ll seek alternate solutions, if their paltry offer isn’t agreed upon.
In a recent inquiry, the potential buyer used several methods that I identified as proxy attempts to acquire a strong, aged keyword domain; having decided to play along, I received this statement in the second email:
“There are other domain suffixes that I can use. It’s really up to you.”
Of course there are other “domain suffixes” they can use – hundreds of them. But why tell me so, under the pretense of an offer that is by default unrealistic? It comes across as an arrogant attempt to discount my asking price.
Shifting the decision onto me, via the “really up to you” statement, when I didn’t contact them in the first place, is yet another example of a failed negotiation attempt.
I have absolutely no need or intention to deliver a valuable domain asset to the doorstep of a stranger, who came knocking at my door without a budget.
This is all you should reply to them with: “I have absolutely no need or intention to deliver a valuable domain asset to the doorstep of a stranger, who came knocking at my door without a budget.”
Logan – Glad you liked that response!
“There are other domain suffixes that I can use. It’s really up to you.”
“There are other buyers that I can use. It’s really up to your budget”
Juan – Great response as well. Mirroring can be done effectively, if anything, to remind the person making the inquiry that the price isn’t arbitrary.
“And there is one .com, sitting all the way at the top, taking your traffic, eating your lunch and making your business look cheap, amateurish and untrustworthy to customers, clients and investors. And yes, it is up to me, I’m the owner who decides who owns it next.”
Interesting connotations come with different prefixes and suffixes … MyBest YourBest TheBest … GoAfter GoBefore GoNow …..ummm
I don’t follow a lot of blogs but Acro.net is starting to become one of my favorites.
I had to comment, what a terrific post!!