domain names

According to this article, domain names have become a buyers market. That's good to hear. A friend and I have been brainstorming for a name for a business that he wants to start, for the last month or so. He's come up with a number of names, and given up on many of those. Finding a name for a company is not an easy thing to do. I've convinced him that a business name should avoid being too generic and should be easy for people to remember. If the name isn't hard to spell, that's a plus also. A name can give someone a sense of the type of services that the company performs, or give them a certain impression about the business.

We've been checking with the Delaware Division of Corporations, and looking at the US Patent and Trademark Office, to try to avoid using some other company's name. We've also been looking at the availability of a domain name. I offered one suggestion, and checked to see if the domain name was available. It was taken, but on the site's front page was an offer to sell the name for $25,000.00!

So, it's good to hear that domain name speculators are finding other targets, and the possibility of having to pay a sum like that for a small business may be getting less and less everyday. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act has helped to reduce the demand for domain names, and people are letting names lapse without renewal. My friend is hoping to spend around $15.00 to $30.00 for his domain name. We're both hoping that Brad Templeton was indeed joking when he came up with the name for www.all-the-other-names-were-taken.com.