My brother and I were talking this week and he brought up a great question: do you register the domain name of your kids?
This immediately made me think back to 1998 when I started working online. My first “dot com” was prowebresources.com and I paid $75 for it at Network Solutions.
During this time, I noticed the domain ryangray.com was also available, but I failed to register it. Given I was 13 years old at the time and my capital was extremely limited, I wanted to spend my money where I could get a return. I told myself I’d come back to registering my name later.
As procrastination normally goes, I sat on the fence and someone else registered the name in 2002.
Today, the domain is selling on Afternic for $50,000! Wow!
Should You Register Your Child’s Domain Name?
My answer to this question is ABSOLUTELY!
This is no longer 1998; dot coms are here to stay and they’re only increasing in value.
Once registered, the domain is yours, and as long as you keep it renewed no one can take it from you!
If I owned the domain ryangray.com I’d definitely use it for my personal email ([email protected]) and I’d prob also setup a blog where I could write about my business and other life experiences!
This also isn’t the only use for the domain name!
Create A Unique Experience
The question from my brother actually stems from the fact my wife and I are expecting our fourth child this summer.
As I thought about this question I had the idea that not only would the domain be a good investment for the future, but would also be useful over the next couple of months.
Rather than just registering the domain, I thought it would be a good idea to create simple one-page website where I could place a countdown to the delivery date.
If we plan on having a baby shower, this would also be a great place to put a link to our registry that we could include on invitations making it easy for friends/family to purchase gifts.
How To Register Your Child’s Domain Name Tutorial
I’ve filmed a tutorial where I talk more about why I think it’s important to register your child’s domain name and walk you through the steps to do so.
I also show how I made my one-page website with a countdown timer:
Don’t be like me and put this off only to have the domain go up 66,566% in value!
Feel free to ask any questions below!
Ryan Gray is the founder and CEO of NameHero, one of the fastest growing independent web hosts in the United States. Ryan has been working online since 1998 and has over two-decades experience in Internet Entrepreneurship.
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