The Boulevard of Expired Domains

by on April 16, 2012

in Entrepreneurs, Just for fun, The Life of Allison

My name is Allison and I am addicted to buying domain names.

I am in recovery.

I’m making progress.

I’m getting better.

But like any addiction, it is a lifelong thing.

At my highest point, I had around 100-110 domain names. For those of you who are hardcore, this is nothing. For the rest of you normal people, this is simply ridiculous.

At an average of $10 to renew each and every year, we are talking an average of $1,000 per year, every year, for years.

What for?

Well….

Ideas.

Hopes.

Flashes of inspiration.

Or nonsense.

Taking domain names off auto-renew  requires being honest. With myself.

Admitting that the brilliant idea I had…

1) wasn’t actually brilliant and/or

2) wasn’t ever actually ever going to happen and/or

3) made absolutely no f***ing sense.

Taking names like TheManifestoOfMe.com, MessMentor.com and ValetsWithVaginas.com (don’t ask) was much harder than you’d ever think. (They are available if you want them.)

Taking them off auto-renew means letting go of the mental and financial clutter that is a domain name addiction and moving on.

* * *

I’m down to 40-50 now.

I should be around 25 in a few months.

It is still too much, in my opinion.

It’s a process.

Every time I receive an email from Go Daddy warning me that my life could possibly end if this domain name is not renewed, I am reminded that it is possible to let go of anything.

Absolutely anything, from domain names to much, much bigger patterns and beliefs. To dreams that no longer match me, to old ways of being and thinking.

Making space for the new, for that which moved you forward powerfully, is the key to a lot of healing. To a lot, period.

It isn’t easy, but it is doable.

And usually, cheaper, too.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Comments

comments

Previous post:

Next post:

  • http://www.nichetwitch.com/ Retta Oliver

    I sympathize with you completely. I knocked my huge domain list down to less than a dozen and kept it below that dozen for well over a year, finding focus. Then I slipped off the wagon and bought a domain or three – but then I got rid of some again! I’m under 20 domains  - as long as I don’t cross that line in the sand at 20 I still consider myself a recovered domaining addict! 

    • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

      Good for you!

  • http://lisa-unmasked.com Lisa MB

    LMAO, A!

    I thought myself the most clever VA evah…coming up with domain names
    on the fly and then going off to buy them for the day I would showcase
    my brilliance.

    Uh-huh.

    Letting go of them has been difficult and yet, I’m still standing. :)  

    I never thought of it as clutter, but like all the stuff I’ve moved 5
    times in the past 4 years, I believed  that “someday” I would get around
    to using them.

    It’s nice to have company on the journey of “making space for the new…” :)

    xoxo

    • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

      You just described my journey to a “T” also!

  • http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com ElizabethPW

    I’m down to 99 domains (yes, I just checked godaddy right now to see) and almost all of them are set to expire, except for those that I’m actually using (and honestly, some of those could be let go – but that’s a different conversation). 

    Just like throwing all the stuff away in those boxes in my storage room, the detritus from various business ideas and ventures over the last 8 years. I am so resistent to it. 

    Yet … I feel so much better once I finally do it. Scary-better, but better. 

    BTW it annoys me that godaddy now thinks it is cool to call me whenever a domain is expiring. #rant

    • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

      Yes re all! Right after I saw this comment, GD called me. It is annoying. For an online company, they do too much phone stuff.

  • JackiYo

    I just let 3 more domains expire this week. I have that moment of panic when I ge that OMG! email from godaddy. Then I’m starting to go… #holdme

    • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

      I feel ya, sister! Exactly.

  • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

    Thanks for stopping by – not sure where that link went – can you repaste the full link? It gets cut off so I am not sure what it was.

  • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

    Leesa, I love your positive view of the domain addiction. “A domain name never tells lies, stabs you in the back or abandons you” <– awesome

  • http://www.monicawaughbenton.com MonicaWB

    This really made me think. Last summer, I got rid of most of my stuff without a moment of hesitation or regret, packed up my little Corolla, and moved across the country.

    But I didn’t stop auto-renewing domains until 2 months ago, because it was SO hard to let go of my flashes of brilliance.  I thought I was living clutter free, but I have a sh*t pile of digital clutter. Tons and tons of sh*t on hard drives, email accounts, drop box, social media. All of it brilliant and useless.

    The worst is letting it expire and then seeing that GoDaddy is now
    selling it as a “Premium Domain” for hundreds of dollars or seeing
    someone else have success with your old domain. Painful. lol!

    • http://loveyourmessbook.com Allison Nazarian

      Isn’t that amazing – you pack your whole life in a car and move across the country, but letting go of domain names is tough?! I get it!

Comments

comments