By Rich Gorman 2 Comments

Ok, so you’re getting ready to spend years of your life invested in a new dot com startup.  You’ve set out on a path to conquer your industry and will do whatever it takes to win.  The opportunity costs in time, money, and energy are enormous.  Trust me, I get it.

I can’t emphasize this enough, INVEST in a badass domain name that you build your entire business around.  The domain doesn’t have to have ANYTHING to do with your industry, just make sure that it has the following characteristics:

-  It’s a .com domain name.  I hate .net and .org domains (yes, this is a .net and it bugs the hell out of me) because the .com’s get a ton of FREE traffic from people searching for it.

-  Buy 1 word or industry specific combo names.

This year we have completed a number of strategic 1 word domain acquisitions, including COMPLETED.com :)   One word .com domain names gain instant credibility in the marketplace.  They are expensive and rare.  Afterall there’s only 1 COMPLETED.com in the world!

Having a premium 1 word domain is going to cost big bucks.  But hey, you’re either on Fifth Ave. (or Rodeo Drive, your choice) or youU’re not. If you build a site at completedprofilesocialsite.com, you’re making it really clear to the surfer that you didn’t invest much money into your domain…so what type of investment did you put under the hood???

Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists LOVE sinking money into dot com companies with premium domains.  It helps build the case for an easy exit later on down the road.

BOTTOM LINE:  Build your business around a premium, world-class domain name.  If you can’t afford one today, work your ass off so that one day you can :)