It's rare in a business environment that everything goes your way. It hasn't happened to me, but I suppose it could happen to someone (hence "rare," not "impossible"). Let me explain...
I made a fatal error when I fell in love with my company name. I didn't research it extensively, at least, not at first. I was emotionally invested in the idea of Brewww, not realizing (yet) a Turkish software company had the same name and owned the coveted .com domain.
Shoot.
As time went on, and I had the relevant (but humbler) .co domain, I made the real error...I let it get to me. I assumed that having the right domain would somehow define my business, establish legitimacy, or increase my traffic.
There is a right and wrong way to approach discouragement in a business. Here is the way I approached the discouragement, and how I moved past it.
Now, in reality, I've never lost focus on my clients. Giving 110% and genuinely caring has gotten me to this point. I have put the needs of my clients before my own, and by doing that, steadily, my needs were met. That said, although externally I was devoted to them, I was on occasion letting the little things get to me (the .co vs. .com).
Here is what I realized...
I pride myself on finding where needs, stories, and technology overlap. Nowhere in that company vision does the "right" domain come into play.
I reached an important point where the domain I used, all of a sudden, no longer mattered to me. I wasn't going to change my company name, I wasn't going to go back to the drawing board. I wasn't going to waste another minute looking inward.
I would resume focus of my clients and, when I did that, I was once again firmly rooted in the right place (the client is #1).
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the root of many businesses. Understanding the thousands of changes to Google's algorithm is a full time job, and justifiably so. It is a wildly complex algorithm that many have tried to trick, but as the algorithm progresses, more and more Google articulates my first point.
To rank high in search engines the client/user must come first.
You can create alt tags, titles, and meta descriptions. You can optimize your website, shaving milliseconds off of your loading time. You can design and build your website to not only be mobile ready, but assume the majority of people accessing your site are on their mobile devices. You can do ALL of that and still...fall short.
I don't want to speak out of both sides of my mouth here. This stuff is widely important, and we'll talk about that elsewhere. But, fundamentally, your website MUST be genuine, and respond to the needs of your potential users.
Understanding SEO lets me know what my competition did, how they got there, and how to surpass them.
It'll be a case study for us (internally), and with the SEO Sword in hand, it's time for...
Every company has a boogie man, an adversary, or an elemental force that seems too large to overcome. Mine will never be inventory or outsourcing, but people typing in Brewww and ending up on Turkish site will be mine for awhile.
You will always have some opponent in your business, but don't spin your wheels trying to fight an adversary that doesn't exist. We have had a steady stream of clients since day one, and still haven't launched our site, created our logo, or made business cards.
Perspective matters.
Our success is not based on a domain name, but on the way we seek to understand and serve our clients. Period.
Every business owner I've ever spoken with has something they wish was a little easier. As you begin your endeavor, do not forget about your clients, about your goals, or about the end game. The absolute worst thing anyone can do is quit the fight long before it begins.
Perfect domain name or not, we're here to stay.
Bold, new, Brewww.
