Branding is hard. There are literally millions of existing businesses, many of which offer the same thing, so standing out and shining is one of the keys to survival. Not just existing businesses benefit, considering that over 550,000 new businesses are launched every month!
Your brand needs to be easily identifiable among the crowd. You need to stick out and make a great first impression. You have to create credibility and trust with the face of your company and impress with your mission.
So how does one get a great jump start to all of this? What’s the ignition system to fire your engines? Your domain name. No, really! You can.
Let’s use a real-life example.
Tinkering in a garage resulted in a video doorbell that later resulted in the “fun” brand name creation of DoorBot. A brand is born. Great product, but surely doesn’t have that great first impression brand name. Does DoorBot install trust and credibility? Not by a long shot. Is it restrictive? Yes! Is it a bit confusing? Yes.
Fast forward many struggling years later and a new brand name was needed for this great product. Where was the starting point? Brainstorming and the domain name: Ring.com
With little money to spend to acquire such a great domain name, the past owner of the domain and the interested party, founder of DoorBot Jamie Siminoff worked out a deal for the domain asset to paid for in installments over 2 years. Grand total? $1 million dollars, just for the domain name.
By purchasing the Ring. com domain name, DoorBot went from a run-of-the-mill brand name to a powerhouse that creates instant credibility, powerful first impressions, and is as memorable as it can be.
The home security company creates a “ring of security” around your property and the brand name has a nice ring to it. Put a ring on it has a new meaning.
This wasn’t a company founded in the ’50s or ’60s. It was founded in 2012. Jamie pitched DoorBot on SharkTank in 2013, still working out of his garage. Shortly after being on SharkTank, in 2014 Jamie rebranded DoorBot to Ring. com and received $5 million in additional sales according to Ring’s Wikipedia page.
The company’s rockets were firing. A solid base was formed. The brand was growing and the domain name had a lot to do with it.
In early 2018, Ring.com was acquired by Amazon for around $1 billion dollars ($1.2-$1.8 estimated). Jamie made many statements that are powerful and spoke of the domain name purchase specifically in a podcast that is well worth your time listening to and learning from.
The domain talk in general starts around the 26:18 mark in the podcast. Here are some statements that stood out to me: “one of the best investment I’ve ever made” in regards to the purchase of the Ring.com domain name.
“I have to be on their level” in regards to competing with the Nest brand that already existed. “Ring.com felt powerful”. Jamie later expressed that he felt that the domain name added around $30-$50 million in brand equity (30:50).
Domain names matter and can be your ignition system to provide you and your brand a way to shine. Stand out and grow!
The Ring. com story is replicated often and a lot of these stories often reflect around the timing of and use of a premium domain name as the base of a brand.
If you’re not sure how to acquire a domain name that is owned by somebody already, we would suggest the best place to start is by speaking with the professional domain name brokerage services or go to domain marketplace
Branding isn’t easy but establishing a solid base by acquiring a powerful and lasting impression domain name for your brand is a solid start to your brand’s stardom. Love your brand! Love your domain name!
My Name is Sandra Butler and I am also the main source from the ‘Seeheadlines.com’ of all the exclusive and most delicate visualization of the activities in the business sector. My first step towards this journey was taken in the very early years of my life. I started with an independent financial consultant. However, I only had almost 4 years of skills and experience in this market.