Save Yourself the Stress, Don't Go It Alone

I'll be doing a few home renos in coming months, so I made a trip to the nearest building supply monster store this weekend. I thought I'd familiarize myself with my options, check things out, get my feet wet so to speak. Hah! I didn't get a little wet, I drowned.

I'd set aside a couple of hours to wander leisurely up and down the aisles, latte in hand, getting the lay of the land. I lasted about 35 minutes (that, only because I waited in line to speak with the gal in kitchens). In that time I uncovered a dizzying multitude of basic questions I need to answer before I can even begin to ask the intelligent questions.

When I went in, I didn't know what I don't know. And now, I know I haven't got a clue. The solution lies in one of two directions: (a) engage in a steep and time-limited learning curve; or (b) call someone who cares. I mean, (b) call someone who knows.

I know me, and I know I won't enjoy the former. Not only that, but some of the best learning is a result of making mistakes. My motto has always been to work smarter than harder-I prefer to learn as much as possible from other people's mistakes rather than waste valuable time making them all myself!

So, I'm going to apply the same advice I give and live for being a smart entrepreneur—I'll call an expert and take their advice. I'll make the final decisions, but I'm not going to do it on my own. I plan to tap into the resources of professionals who know this stuff far better than me.

Tips & Tricks of the Trade

The devil is in the details—one of which is your website domain, or URL (i.e. www.companyname.com). A client once experienced a stressful few moments when they could not immediately determine who had access to their domain registration, and whether it was actually in the name of the company. We were able to resolve the issue fairly quickly, but it could have turned out otherwise.

At the dawn of the Internet age, easy-to-remember domain names were handy to have. As the Internet evolved, they became cool and trendy. Today, they can make or break your business. Make sure you stay on top of yours:

1. Ensure your company is listed as the registered owner for all domain names you use. Not your web developer, not your outsourced tech company. You wouldn't put your real estate in the name of the maintenance man; take the same care with your online assets.
2. Your primary registered contact person should be someone within the company, and in a high level of responsibility where a higher level of accountability is expected. While a junior employee may, in extreme circumstances, resort to unprofessional behavior, it is less likely with a key executive where a higher investment in reputation is at stake.
3. Keep the access information for your domain registrar in a safe and memorable place. It must be both! It's no good having it so well stored away that no one can find it. Only a couple of trusted staff should know where it is, in the event that the primary contact is not available.
4. Be sure to diarize the expiry date of your domain name in a couple of places. Registrations are commonly renewed for several years at a time, during which the key contact may leave or change. I recommend diarizing for 60 days, 30 days, 1 week and 1 day ahead of expiry to ensure it does not slip between the cracks.

Your domain name becomes a significant asset of your business, particularly once you've invested time and money promoting it. Just imagine what would happen if you were suddenly offline. Taking care of the details is about doing smart business.