Picked its name and bought it for $20,000 — How Hall.com

Firm founder has great message regarding the importance of (domain) names.

Brett Hellman of chat and collaboration firm Hall.com today posted an intriguing insight into the firm’s naming process.

It explains how the firm’s initial ideas for names, such as medium.com and foundation.com, were just too expensive. The owners wanted $300k+.

Then they decided on Hall.com but couldn’t get in touch with the owner. They settled on halleo.com, but then came to understand they needed something better.

They went back following Hall.com and were able to get it for just $20,000.

Brett’s blog post is worth reading in its entirety, but here are some of his take-aways that will resonate with Reglike readers:

– Great domains are still available – if you refuse to settle. Unfortunately, many startups do just that. It took almost a year of iterations and innumerable brainstorming sessions ahead of we even had the idea to call the product HALL.com.
– Don’t stop simply since you find an available domain. The key is finding the perfect product name, then getting the domain – NOT settling with what’s available.
– Don’t start off the conversation with a low ball offer. If the domain owner has held the domain since the early 90’s, they know what they’re doing. Still, they likely don’t have hundreds of offers. Bottom line:
Make a fair offer.
– Use an escrow service to keep both parties safe.

Amen.

(Thanks Jorge Monasterio)