Google calendar reminders, a domain investors best friend…
About 5-6 years ago, I agreed to work with a gentleman here in Austin to develop a website. For my time in developing the website and since he owned the domain, we agreed to split the advertising revenue.
At the end of our 2-year agreement, the same gentleman had a fallen out with mutual business partners about another website we operated. It was a pretty bad fallen out too, involving legal and lawsuits.
Allegedly, this gentleman had possession of a domain that was personally not his. He forced the company to purchase another domain name because he held the old name ransom.
Well, some time passed and cooler heads prevailed. The old domain was transferred to the company after some tough negotiations.
Not too long after this, I approached the gentleman with an offer about buying the domain that I had developed a website for years prior.
The domain was no longer being used, so I thought I had a decent shot at getting the domain at a reasonable price.
Having knowledge of buying and selling domains, I approached him with a reasonable offer. He responded with 2 times the offer.
Knowing things can and often do turn ugly with this gentleman, I opted to no longer pursue the purchase of the domain.
In lieu of pursuing him, I decided to set Google calendar reminders for every six months to go and check the renewal date and whether or not the domain was still registered. Every six months, I was often disappointed to find it was renewed.
Nevertheless, the music festival (kicking off today!) once associated with the same domain I approached the gentleman about was rolling around for another year.
After receiving a reminder alert from Google this week, I decided to check the domain’s availability. And to my surprise it was available for registration. You better believe I registered the domain like nobody’s business.
What’s more interesting and more delighting is that I have admin rights and ownership to matching social media handles too that still garner a few thousand followers. I even have the last backup of the website and database. YES!
What’s most interesting is that this gentleman operates another website using the matching keyword phrase of the domain I now own on this website.
Instead of letting the domain drop, he simply should have renewed it and redirected the domain’s traffic over to his new website, but he didn’t.
This is not the first domain that I’ve experienced a previous owner forgetting to renew the domain or simply let it drop. I’ve had 4-5 domains in the last year with active social media presences associated with the domain end up in my possession through expiring auction and hand registration.
Let this be a lesson to use Google calendar reminders to follow up with domains that you’re having a hard time securing and purchasing from owners.
Owners often slip up and forget to renew, or simply drop a gem of a domain in your lap at hand registration costs.
I’ve waited some years, but now I can continue on with my regularly scheduled program, having possession of the domain, website, and social media intact.
Wish me luck! 😉
